Unit 4The Boy and the

Bank Officer

Unit 4The Boy and the

Bank Officer

I.Warming-up QuestionsI.Warming-up Questions

Why did the author go to the bankone day?

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What was his first impression of thebank?

What did he see in the bank that remind him of his friend’s comment about the bank?

4Why did the author’s friend comparea bank with a church? Did he likebanks?

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Why did the boy have trouble withdrawing his money? What was thereason given by the bank officer?

What happened in the end? How didthe boy feel when he left?

II.Background knowledge of the TextII.Background knowledge of the Text

• About the author Philip Ross(1939-) 1) an American writer; 2) newspaper reporter (4 years) →freelance

writing 3) Many of his articles have appeared in the

New Yorker ， Reader’s Digest and New York Times;

4) This text is taken from Strategies for Successful Writing: A Rhetoric and Reader.

● Introduction to the History of Banks

1) It first emerged in the Middle Ages; 2) The Medici family, one of the most prominent

banking families in Europe during this time, became quite wealthy from its banking and money lending practices.

● Medici Family

3) Functions performed by banks today have been carried out by individuals,

families, or state officials for at least 4,000 years. Clay tablets dated from about 2000 BC indicate that the Babylonians deposited personal valuables for a service charge of one 60th of their worth. Interest charges on loans ran as high as one third.

4) The widespread commerce of Rome required a well-developed banking system. Roman authorities set aside the Street of Janus in the Forum for money changers. These individuals not only bought and sold foreign coins; they accepted deposits, made loans, issued bills of exchange and bills of credit (similar to today’s checks), and bought mortgages.

• 5) Banco di Rialto Banco Giro

(1587, Venice) (1619, Venice)

↘ ↙

Banco Giro

(emerged in 1637)

6) Bank of Amsterdam Bank of Sweden

(1609) ↘ ↙

emerged in 1668

7) The Bank of England was founded in 1694 , England’s goldsmiths were its first bankers.

8)Banks of the 17th century also began to issue bank notes as a form of money. Bank notes were probably first issued in the 166os by the Bank of Stockholm in Sweden; the practice soon spread to England

9) The Bank of France was founded in 1800. For most of the 19th century the money markets of Europe were dominated by the House of Rothschild.

Introduction to the TextIntroduction to the Text

• Modern societies can’t do without banks. Banks keep, lend and issue money as well as offering many other financial services. They also help to regulate the economy with changes in interest rate and in money supply. However, traditionally, poor people and people who sympathize with them have regarded banks as evil, as enemies of the poor. Such suspicions and misgivings obviously still linger on. This article seems to prove that the prejudices of people like the author are ungrounded.

• The author’s friend hates banks, saying that they act like churches. And the author obviously shares his friend’s view. What they are trying to say here perhaps is that the bank is just an ordinary store; it must not act as if it represents Almighty God; it has no right to tell people what to do and what not to do.

III. Detailed Discussion of the Text

III. Detailed Discussion of the Text

• 1. The only difference is that a bank’s goods happen to be money which is yours in the first place.

★ to happen to do/to be : to do /to be sth. by chance, e.g.

I happen to know something about medicine,so he could not fool me.

She happened to be away, so we didn’t see her. in the first place: used to introduce a series of

points in an argument or to talk about what should have been done.

2. If banks were required to sell wallets and money

belts, they might act less like churches.

The word “church” has certain associations.

People usually think of a church as the

spokesman of God, as a powerful organization

that controls your life and can interfere in your life.Therefore, the author thinks it is ridiculous for

banks to act like churches.

3. … a small, overlighted branch office on the west side.

overlighted: too brightly-lit, having too much light.

branch office: 分行 , 支行 , 营业所4. I had come to open a checking account. checking account ： it is also called current

account in Britain, allows people to withdraw any amount of money any time by writing checks.

to open an account; to close an account; to settle an account

• 5. … the only officer on duty was a fortyish black man with short, pressed hair, a pencil mustache, and a … suit.

fortyish: about forty The suffix “-ish” : 1) here means “approximately”; 2) typical of or like a particular type of person; 3) the ending of some adjectives that show

disapproval; rather e.g. bookish; brownish; childish; feverish; selfish;yellowish

• 6. Everything about him suggested a carefully dressed authority.

→ Everything about him—his clothes, his manner, etc. indicated that he was a carefully dressed man who had an important position and who exercised power.

7…Who was wearing a V-necked sweater, khakis, and loafers.

suffix “-er”: it often refers to things as well as to people, e.g.

sweater, loafer, can-opener, pain-killer, cooker, boiler, bomber, duster, dish-washer, etc.

8 a kid from a prep school.→ a kid from a preparatory school.

Preparatory school:(AME) a private school that prepares students for college.

9 to hold my attention: to keep my attention to pay attention to; to give attention to; to draw attention to; to catch attention; to attract attention; to get attention; to have one’s attention

10. because of To turn “because of” into “because” in the

following sentences. e.g. He prefers to live in warm places because of his

poor health. She made a terrible mistake because of her

ignorance of the law. Many people can’t even find enough water to

drink because of pollution.

11. He was holding… savings-account book and wearing an expression of open dismay.

savings-account ： a fixed account in Britain, has more limitations but offers a higher interest rate.

Wearing an expression of open dismay: looking very worried, disappointed and upset.

12 … a fourteen-year-old is not allowed to withdraw money…

→ … a fourteen-year-old person is too young to take money out of his account.

“ (not) to be allowed to do sth.” e.g.

Was the boy allowed to deposit money in the bank?

13. “ But that doesn’t seem fair,” the boy said, his voice breaking. (absolute construction)

∥ with his voice breaking

e.g. She was preparing the dinner, with her daughter helping to set the table.

Absolute Construction1) infinitives e.g. A number of officials followed the emperor,

some to hold his robe, others to adjust his girdle, and so on.

2) the present participle phrase e.g. There being nothing else to do, we left.3) the past participle pharse e.g. His voice drowned by the noise, the speaker

interrupted his lecture.4) Verbless clause He went off, gun in hand.

14. I didn’t think twice. → I didn’t think very carefully (before I said…)

e.g. Next time you must think twice before you decide.

This will teach her a lesson. Now she will think twice before she borrows money.

15. … this boy is old enough to deposit his money.

adj + enough

e.g. strong enough; quick enough;

tall enough; rich enough etc.

16. And since there doesn’t seem to be any question as to whether it’s his money…, the bank’s so-called policy is…ridiculous.

1) “since” is used here to give the reason for something. e.g.

Since you already know something about it, let me tell you the whole story.

Since you are all here, let’s discuss it now.

Since you are so busy, why do you spend so much time watching TV?

a) Since 自从 I haven’t seen him since his wedding day.b) 如果 Since 分句中的动作或状态延续到说话时

间，通常要用持续性动词，或静态动词的现在完成时。

e.g. The house had been in bad repair since he has

lived in it. He was written to me frequently since I have

been ill.

C) 但在 since 分句中有时也可用持续动词或静态动词的一般过去时，只是含义不同。

e.g.

The house had been in bad repair since he lived in it.

He was written to me frequently since I was ill.

2 ） as to (whether, who, which, etc.): concerning, e.g.

I can’t decide as to when we should start.

It is still unclear as to who this car belong to.

She was uncertain as to why her boss offered her that job.

17 It may seem ridiculous to you, … but that is the bank’s policy and I have no other choice but to follow the rules.

“May … but…” is used to show that although one thing is true, something else that seems very different is also true, e.g.

You may be rich, but you can’t buy everything.

I may be stupid, but I am not as stupid as you think.

You may lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink.

18 … I have no other choice but to follow the rules.

→ … I can’t but act according to the rules./ I can’t do it in any other way./ There is nothing else I can do.

e.g.

He had no choice but to leave the company.

She had no choice but to sell the house.

We have no choice but to continue our reform.

19. I had my opening.→ I found a good chance to do or to say something.

opening: an opportunity to do sth. e.g. His help make an opening for resolving

problem.

20. … I moved in for the kill. → I began to prepare to kill, destroy or

defeat my enemy.

21… you really shouldn’t have interfered.

The word “shouldn’t” here is used to

express a criticism.

e.g.

You shouldn’t have been so careless.

I shouldn’t have told him.

She shouldn’t have taken that job.

22. more than & more…than… & no more than

1) more than : (colloquial) very; extremely; beyond

e.g. They were more than willing to help.

2) more…than… : it is used to emphasize that one thing is truer, more important than sth.

e.g. The child was more frightened than hurt.

3) no more than :

a) only, just

e.g. It cost me no more than $5 to buy the book.

b) the same as

e.g. He is no more able to read Spanish than I am.

23. too scared to tell anyone: so scared that he didn’t tell anyone.

e.g. He was too excited to sleep. She was too tired to work.

24. Anyway, the police are on the case…→ Anyway, the police are working on the case…(doing sth. about it)

“Anyway” is often used in spoken English when you want to change the subject or return to the previous subject, to give additional information, to finish saying something, or to continue without all the details.

Oral ActivityOral Activity

Turn the story into a short play and act it out.

Thank you!Thank you!

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