Unit 3

Text 1 Out of Step

Text 2 Skylines and Skycrapers

------by Fan Jiaolan

Learning Objectives

By the end of this unit, you are supposed to

• the author’s purpose of writing

• the structure of the whole passage

• comprehend the topic sentences

• paraphrase

• get a list of new words and structures

• be aware of the cross-cultural differences

Lead in

The United States is said to be a nation on wheels. How important do you think is the car to an ordinary American?

If you have a car, will you be driving it wherever you go? If not, when do you prefer to walk, and when to drive? Do you think people will become over-reliant on cars in the future?

Bill Bryson- the Author of Text 1 Bill Bryson, 比尔 · 布莱森，享誉世界的旅游文学作

1951 年出生于美国爱荷华州，毕业于美国德雷克大学。从 1973 年起，曾在英国居住 20 年之久，任职于《泰晤士报》与《独立报》，同时也为《纽约时报》、《国家地理杂志》等刊物撰文。后搬回美国，现与妻子和四个小孩居住于新罕布什尔州的汉诺威市。 布莱森擅长用不同的眼光来看待他所游历的世界，在他的书里，英国式的睿智幽默与美国式的搞笑绝妙地融合在了一起。他的尖刻加上他的博学，让他的文字充满了幽默、机敏和智慧，使他自己成为“目前活在世上的最有趣的旅游文学作家” ( 《泰晤士报》 ) 。 代表作有《哈！小不列颠》 (Notes from a small island) 、《欧洲在发酵》 (Neither her nor there) 、《一脚踩进小美国》 (The lost continent) 、《别跟山过不去》、《请问这里是美国吗？》 (I'm a stranger here myself) 、《万物简史》 (A short history of everything) 等多种，每本均高居美、英、加畅销书排行榜前列。其中《哈！小不列颠》更被英国读者推选为“最能深刻传达出英国灵魂的作品”。作者不但才华横溢，兴趣亦十分广泛，在语言学方面著有《麻烦词汇词典》 (A dictionary of troublesome words) 、《母语》 (The mother tongue) 、《美式英语》 (Made in America) 等书，皆为拥有广大拥趸的幽默之作。

Vocabulary Study

1.Sedate: a. calm, serious and formal ; v. make calm or sleepy, esp. with a drug ; Derivation: sedately (ad.), sedation (n.), sedative (a., n.)

• She is a sedate old lady; she is caring but never talks much.

• The fight against a nuclear power station site has transformed a normally sedate town into a battlefield.

• The patient was heavily sedated and resting quietly in bed.

Vocabulary Study

2. eccentric: a. (of people or behavior) unconventional and slightly strange ; n. a person of unconventional and slightly strange views or behavior

• The old gentleman, who lived alone all his life, was said to have some eccentric habits.

• The old gentleman enjoyed a colorful reputation as an engaging eccentric.

Vocabulary Study

3.Contortion: n. a twisted position or movement that looks surprising or strange;Derivation: contort (v.) cause sth. to twist out of its natural shape and looks strange or unattractive

• The spectators cannot but admire the contortions of the gymnasts.

Vocabulary Study

4. curb: n. (British English: kerb) a line of raised stones separating the footpath from the road; v. / n. (place) a control or limit on sth. undesirable

• Poor nutrition can curb a child’s development both physically and mentally.

• There will be curbs on drunk-driving from next month.

Vocabulary Study

• 5. habituate: v. accustom by frequent repetition or prolonged exposure

• You must habituate yourself to reading aloud. • By the end of the school term, the students had

been habituated / accustomed / used to rising at five o’clock.

Vocabulary Study

6.entertain: v. consider an idea, etc. or allow yourself to think that sth. might happen or be true.

• He refused to entertain our proposal. entertain ideas, doubts, etc.

Vocabulary Study

7. negotiate: v. get over or past (an obstacle, etc.) successfully; manage to travel along a difficult route

• The only way to negotiate the path is on foot. Frank Mariano negotiates the dessert terrain in his battered pickup.

• The climber had to negotiate a steep rock face. 那攀登者得攀越一陡峭岩石。

Vocabulary Study

8. coo :v. speak in a soft, gentle, and loving way, esp. when expressing surprise

• —How wonderful to see you again, darling,‖ she cooed.

• The little girl is always cooing over those parrots of hers.

Vocabulary Study

9. anew: adv. (fml.) again or one more time, esp. in a different way

• The scientists started the experiment anew. The film tells anew the story of her rise to stardom.

Vocabulary Study

10.acquaint :v. → acquaintance n. → acquainted• 那位律师了解委托人生意上的详情。 The lawyer acquainted himself with the details of hi

s client’s business affairs.• 他交友甚广。

He has a wide circle of acquaintances. • 你对莎士比亚的作品熟悉吗 ? Are you acquainted with the works of Shakespeare?

Vocabulary Study

11.ridicule: v. / n.→ ridiculous a. • 反对派揶揄政府的建议，把它的说成是老调重弹。 The opposition ridiculed the government’s propos

als, saying they offered nothing new.• 你穿上那紧身牛仔裤样子真可笑。

You look ridiculous in those tight jeans.

Vocabulary Study

12.triumph: n. → triumphant a. → triumphal a. • 获胜的队奏凯而归。 The winning team returned home in triumph. • 胜利的欢呼声 a triumphant cheer • 凯旋门 a triumphal arch

Vocabulary Study

13.deficient: a.→ deficiency n. • 我们对此事了解不足。 Our knowledge of the matter is deficient.• 身体缺乏维生素就会生病。 Deficiency in vitamins / Vitamin deficiency

can lead to illness.

Vocabulary Study

14.woe: n. → woeful a. → woefully ad.• 她把自己的不幸遭遇都告诉他。 She told him all her woes. • 可悲的无知 woeful ignorance • 准备工作未免太不够了。 The preparations were woefully inadequate.

Vocabulary Study

15.go about: When you are “going about” your normal activities, you are doing the

• 尽管战争一触即发，人们仍像平时一样工作。

Despite the threat of war, people go about their work as usual.

Vocabulary Study

16.go through: If you “go through” an experience or a period of time, especially an unpleasant or difficult one, you experience it.

• 鉴于他经历过的种种遭遇，他的乐天达观令人惊叹。

He’s amazingly cheerful considering all that he’s gone through.

Vocabulary Study

17.pop out: come out suddenly• 我们一打开兔箱，兔子就突然跑出来了。 The rabbits popped out as soon as we opened the h

utch.• 他一看到自己赢得的东西，顿时两眼瞪得大大

的。 His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he sa

w what he had won.

Vocabulary Study

18.pace off: measure sth. by taking regular steps across it

• 我步测出那座木桥长约 100 英尺。 I paced off the wooden bridge and found it

was about 100 feet long.

Comparison

distort, twist, deform, contort, warp These verbs mean to change and spoil the form or character of sth.

distort: To distort is to alter in shape, as by torsion or wrenching; the term also applies to verbal or pictorial misrepresentation and to alteration or perversion of the meaning of sth.

• The human understanding is like a false mirror, which, receiving rays irregularly distorts and discolors the nature of things by mingling its own nature with it. (Francis Bacon).

Comparison

twist: Twist applies to distortion of form or meaning. • a mouth twisted with pain • He accused me of twisting his words to mean what I wante

d them to. deform: If you deform sth., or if it deforms, its usual shape

changes so that its usefulness or appearance is spoiled.• Great erosion deformed the landscape. • The earlier part of his discourse was deformed by pedantic

divisions and subdivisions.

Comparison

contort: If you contort sth., or if it contorts, it twists out of its normal shape and looks strange or unattractive.

• a face contorted with rage• a contorted line of reasoning warp: Warp can refer to a turning or twisting from a flat or

straight form; It also can imply influencing sb. in a way that has a harmful effect on how they think or behave.

• The floorboards had warped over the years. • Prejudice warps the judgment.

Comparison

bring sth. home to sb: make sb. realize sth. • The news report has brought home to us all the plight of th

e prisoners of war. drive sth. home to sb.: make sb. realize sth, esp. by saying

it often, loudly, angrily, etc.• The professor drove home to them that they must finish the

writing assignment by Friday.

Comparison

hit / strike home: (of remarks, etc.) have the intended (often painful) effect

• You could see from his expression that her sarcastic comments had hit / stricken home.

Main Idea of Text 1

Out of Step is an exposition that presents the absurdity of the Americans’ dependence on cars. The Americans, being so accustomed to using cars, have almost forgotten the existence of their legs. Wherever they go, they go in their cars. As a result, pedestrian facilities are neglected in city planning or rejected by the inhabitants.

Structure Analysis

The passage can be divided into three parts. Part One: (Paragraph 1-6) the writer introduce his

idea with an anecdote. Part Two: (Paragraph 7-13) in this part, the

author presents the fact that the Americans are habituated to using cars for everything.

Part 3: (Paragraph 14-20)in this part, the author explains that pedestrian facilities are neglected or discarded.

Rhetorical Features

A wide disparity is vividly shown between the

author and other people in their views towards

cars in various ways, among which two are quite

conspicuous, one being a kind of self-debasement

in a humorous manner, the other being satire on

the ridiculous contradiction, in a particular act.

Essay Writing

How to write the introduction of an essay? The introduction may be written according to the following scheme:

• General information• Attention grabber• Information on the topic leading to the

thesis statement• Thesis statement

Translation Exercises Ⅱ

The university is one of the most venerable institutions of higher learning in the world.

2. If one is deficient in practical experience, he can hardly make himself a success with only what he has accquired in class.

3.I felt exasperated by constant interruptions, for I had to finish writing the monograph by the end of this week.

4.He feels that it is ludicrous to write on a contemporary the

me in an ancient style.

Translation Exercises Ⅱ

5.The Bund in Shanghai was a place where young couples liked to come to coo in the 70s and the 80s of the last century.

6.His daughter is very sedate for a girl of about ten, for she likes morn reading than playing.

7.The couple strolled hand-in-hand along the country road when the sun in its first splendor steeped the earth.

8. the poet was commonly considered as an eccentric romantic genius when alive

About the Author of Text2

John A. Kouwenhoven (19091990) was an associate editor of Harper’s Magazine, and a professor at Barnard College. The text is an excerpt from a collection of essays The Beer Can by the Highway: Essays on What’s American about America. First published in 1961, The Beer Can by the Highway takes a provocative, wide-ranging look at America’s ever-changing physical and intellectual landscapes, from advertising and jazz to Manhattan’s skyline and the prairies of the Midwest.

Language Work

1.Manhattan (Paragraph 1): Manhattan is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River. It is also one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, the thirdlargest in population but smallest in area of the five boroughs. Manhattan is a major commercial, financial, and cultural center of both the United States and the world.

Language Work

2.all the other ills that metropolitan flesh is heir to (Paragraph 1): all other problems which are inherent in metropolitan cities

Language Work

3.a carnival of rugged architectural individualism (Paragraph 3): Carnival is a festive season that typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, masque and public street party. People often dress up or masquerade during the celebrations, which mark an overturning of daily life. A carnival of rugged architectural individualism suggests that buildings there take dramatically different forms and styles.

Language Work

4.RCA Building (Paragraph 7): RCA Building, a Magnificent structure of 70 stories, is the tallest building in the Rockefeller Center. There are 27 radio studios in the building, among them the largest in the world.

Language Work

5.Chartres cathedral (Paragraph 7): Partly built starting in 1145, and then reconstructed over a 26-year period after the fire of 1194, Chartres Cathedral marks the high point of French Gothic art. The vast nave, in pure ogival style, the porches adorned with fine sculptures from the middle of the 12th century, and the magnificent 12thand 13th-century stained-glass windows, all in remarkable condition, combine to make it a masterpiece.

Language Work

6.Giotto (Paragraph 7): Giotto di Bondone (12671337), better known simply as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence. He is generally considered the first in a line of great artists who contributed to the Italian Renaissance.

Language Work

7.Aztec pyramid (Paragraph 8): one of a number of monumental structures built by the Aztec civilization in the shape of a pyramid with a rectangular base

Text Comprehension

1. What are those engaged in discovering America likely to notice at once about the Manhattan skyline? What do they possibly conclude from their discovery?

2. How do you understand the author’s idea when he says that it would be helpful to consider the skyline in the way we might consider a lyric poem or a novel when we analyze its aesthetic quality?

3. How could the fluid and ever-changing unity be achieved?

Text Comprehension

Key1:They are likely to notice at once the seemingly incongruous opposites about the Manhattan skyline. They may conclude that it is not sensible from either human or aesthetic angle and that it is the result of insane politics, greed, deliberate intention to impress others and megalomania. The ill effects of the result are, in turn, traffic jams, bad ventilation, noise and all the other problems any metropolitan city can hardly avoid

Text Comprehension

• Key2:The total effect which is termed as —the Manhattan skyline‖ is made up of numerous buildings, each competing with all of the others in height, or glamour, or efficiency, or respectability. Though each goes its own way, the skyline as a whole evokes the universal feeling of exaltation and aspiration out of all this irrational, unplanned, and often infuriating chaos. There actually exists an unforeseen unity.

Text Comprehension

• Key3:It is achieved mainly by means of two elements, namely the gridion ground plan and the vertical grid of steel cage construciton, both of which are composed of simple and infinitely repeatable units. So far as the first element is concerned, the artificial geometric grid imposed upon the land without regard to contours has one important quality of rational simplicity. The second element, the vertical thrust or the motion upward, is, in effect, only a three-dimensional variant of the gridiron street plan.

Question for Discussion

Do you like prefer living in a small town or a big city?

• Tip: Making a decision that is right for you and your family can be tough when it comes to where to locate. Though small towns and big cities both have desirable qualities, they each also possess less appealing attributes.

Memorable Quotes

All cities are mad: but the madness is gallant. All cities are beautiful: but the beauty is grim.

---------Christopher Morley Cities forth growth, and make men talkative and

entertaining, but they make them artificial.

---------Ralph Waldo Emerson