Unit 5 straight A illiteracy.docx

Unit 5 straight A illiteracy.docx

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Unit5straightAilliteracy

UnitFive

1.Lead-in

MovieClip

Watchthefollowingvideoandthendotheexercise.Youcanfindtheinterpretationofsomewordsandphrasesin"WordBank".

Book6Unit5.mp4（00:

00–02:

34）

Script

-Oh,hello.

-Oh,hello.

-Hi,howareyou?

-Fine.

-Sodoyouladiesuh...

-Comehereoften?

-DoIcomehere?

Icomehereabit.I'mhereyouknowfromtimetotime.Doyougotoschoolyet?

-Yep.

-,that'sit.SoIthinkIhadaclasswithyou.

-Oh,yeah?

Whatclass?

-History.

-Maybe.

-Yes,Ithinkthat'swhatitwas.Youdon'tnecessarily...maynotrememberme.YouknowIlikeithere.Itdoesn'tmeanIgohere.I'magenius.Iamverysmart.

-Hey.

-Hey,how'sitgoing?

Howareya?

-Good.Howyadoing?

-Whatclassdidyousaythatwas?

-History.

-Justhistory.Itmusthavebeenasurveycoursethen.

-,itwas.Itwassurveys.

-Right.

-Youshouldcheckitout.It'sagoodcourse.It'dbeagoodclass.

-How'dyoulikethatcourse?

-Youknow,frankly,Ifoundthatclass,youknow,ratherelementary.

-Elementary.YouknowIdon'tdoubtthatitwas.IuhIrememberthatclass.Itwas...um...itwasjustbetweenrecessandlunch.

-Clark,whydon'tyoujustgoaway?

-Whydon'tyourelax?

-Whydon'tyougoaway?

-I'mjusthavingfunwithmynewfriend.That'sall.

-Arewegonnahaveaproblem?

-Nononono.There'snoproblemhere.Iwasjusthopingyoumightgivemesomeinsightintotheevolutionofthemarketeconomyinthesoutherncolonies.MycontentionisthatpriortotheRevolutionaryWar,theeconomicmodalitiesespeciallyinthesoutherncoloniescouldmostaptlybecharacterizedasagrarianpre-capitalist.

-Letmetellyousomething,allright?

-Hangonasec.You'reafirst-yeargradstudent.YoujustgotfinishedreadingsomeMarxianhistorian,PeteGarrisonprobably.You'regonnabeconvincedofthattillnextmonthwhenyougettoJamesLemon.Thenyou'regonnabetalkingabouthowtheeconomiesofVirginiaandPennsylvaniaareentrepreneurialandcapitalistwaybackin1740.That'sgonnalastuntilnextyear.You'regonnabeinhereregurgitatingGordonWood,talkingabout,youknow,thepre-revolutionaryutopiaandthecapital-formingeffectsofmilitarymobilization.

-Wellasamatteroffact,Iwon'tbecauseWooddrasticallyunderestimatestheimpactof...

-"Wooddrasticallyunderestimatestheimpactofsocialdistinctionspredicateduponwealth,especiallyinheritedwealth."YougotthatfromVickers."WorkinEssexCounty",page98,right?

Ireadthat,too.Wereyougonnaplagiarizethewholethingforus?

Doyouhaveanythoughtsofyourownonthismatter?

Oristhatyourthing?

Youcomeintoabar.Youreadsomeobscurepassageandthenpretendyoupawnitoffasyourown,asyourownideajusttoimpresssomegirls?

Embarrassmyfriend?

（FromGoodWillHunting）

WordBank

1.elementary:

introductory,fundamental

e.g.I'monlyfamiliarwiththesubjectatanelementarylevel.

2.recess:

apausefromdoingsomething,break

e.g.Thestudentshavea15-minutemid-morningrecess.

3.colony:

thecountryordistrictsettledorcolonized殖民地

4.modality:

aparticularmethodorprocedure

e.g.Thestudentsarefamiliarwiththetraditionalmodalitiesofrepresentingtimeandspace.

5.agrarian:

relatingtofarmingorfarmers

e.g.Chinausedtobeatypicallyagrariancountry.

6.regurgitate:

repeataftermemorization

e.g.Fortheexam,youmustbeabletoregurgitatetheinformation.

7.predicate（up）on:

involveasanecessaryconditionofconsequence

e.g.Solvingtheproblemispredicatedonunderstandingitwell.

8.plagiarize:

takewithoutreferencingfromsomeoneelse'swritingorspeech

e.g.Heaccusedotherscientistsofplagiarizinghisresearch.

9.pawnsomethingoff:

topersuadesomeonetobuyoracceptsomethingoflowquality

e.g.Themantriedinvaintopawnoffanoldbicycletosomegirls.

Exercise

1.Clarkinterferesintheconversationbecausehewantsto___________.

A.discussaproblemwiththeboyB.impressthegirl

C.showoffhishistoryknowledgeD.embarrasstheboy

2.ItseemsClarkis___________.

A.recitingsomeone'swords

B.pretendingthatheknowsmorethanhedoes

C.seekingafight

D.interestedinthegirls

Key:

1.D2.A

InspirationalQuotes

Auniversityiswhatacollegebecomeswhenthefacultylosesinterestinstudents.

—JohnCiardi

Discussion

DoyouthinkitisimportantforacollegestudenttogetA'sonallsubjects?

Why?

II.TextI

Pre-readingQuestions

1.Yousurelyknowwhatkindofstudentastraight-Astudentis,andyoumayalsoknowwhat"illiteracy"means.Doyouthinkitabitunusualtoassociatethenotionofastraight-Astudentwiththatofilliteracy?

Does"straight-Ailliteracy"soundparadoxical?

2.Makeaguessastowhatkindofilliteracytheauthorisgoingtodiscussinhisessay,andwhatmadehimthinkofsuchasubject.

GeneralReading

I.Whichofthefollowingdoyouthinkmostappropriatelydescribesastraight-Ailliterate?

A.Awell-educatedperson,typicallyonewithaPh.D.degree,orworkingtowardit,andwithahighI.Q.,butdisabledbylong-termexposuretoacademicjargontowriteinclear,plainEnglish.

B.Acollegestudent,usuallyoneworkingtowardadegree,whogetsallA'sforthecourseshetakesandisthusapromisingcandidateforacovetedfellowship,butisunabletoverbalizehisthoughtsclearlybecauseofover-concentrationonacademicreadings.

C.Acollegestudent,auniversityprofessor,oranypersonoftheacademicworld,whoisanexpertinusingtheacademicjargontoexpresshimselfbutatadisadvantagewhencommunicatinginplaineverydayEnglish.

Key:

A

II.Determinewhetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueorfalse.

1.InDegnan'sopinion,ofallthoseatuniversitymanyarenotabletoreadorwriteproperly,andthisproblemhasalreadybecomeagravesocialconcern.

2.Thesortofwritingthestraight-Ailliteratesproduceishardlyintelligibletoothers,butcrystallycomprehensibletothemselves.

3.Ifwecomparestraight-Ailliteracytoadisease,asDegnandoes,thenthevirusthatcausessuchadiseasemustbenootherthantheuniversityprofessors.

4.Straight-AilliteracyisregardedasanimportantqualificationforPh.D.degreesandfellowshipsbyuniversityauthorities.

5.Althoughstraight-Ailliteracyaffectsfewerpeoplethanordinaryilliteracy,Degnanstillthinksitisworsethanthelattertype.

Key:

1.T2.F3.F4.T5.T

BackgroundNotes

1.AmericanSociologicalReview:

abimonthlypeer-reviewedacademicjournalcoveringallaspectsofsociology.ItispublishedbySagePublicationsonbehalfoftheAmericanSociologicalAssociation.Itwasestablishedin1936.

2.MalcolmCowley（1898–1989）:

U.S.critic,andliteraryandculturalhistorian.Heestablishedhimselfasanimportantwriterin1934withthepublicationofExile'sReturn.Andin1965,hewassaidtobe,"nexttoEdmundWilson（1895–1972）,oneofAmerica'sforemostliterarycritics,thefinestliteraryhistorianandcriticaliveinAmerica".HisotherimportantworkisASecondFloweringWorksandDaysoftheLostGeneration（1973）.

TextStudy

Text

Straight-AIlliteracy

JamesP.Degnan

1Despiteallthecurrentfussandbotherabouttheextraordinarynumberofordinaryilliterateswhooverpopulateourschools,smallattentionhasbeengiventoanotherkindofilliterate,anilliteratewhoseplightis,inmanyways,moreimportant,becauseheismoreinfluential.Thisilliteratemay,asoftenasnot,beauniversitypresident,butheistypicallyaPh.D.,asuccessfulprofessorandtextbookauthor.ThepersontowhomIreferisthestraight-Ailliterate,andthefollowingiswritteninanattempttogivehimequaltimewithhiswidelypublicizedcounterpart.

2Thesceneismyoffice,andIamatwork,doingwhatmustbedoneifoneistoassistinthecureofadiseasethat,overtheyears,Ihavecometocallstraight-Ailliteracy.Iaminterrogating,Iamcross-examining,Iampryingandprobingforthemeaningofastudent'spaper.Thestudentisacollegeseniorwithastraight-Aaverage,anextremelybright,highlyarticulatestudentwhohasjustbeenawardedacovetedfellowshiptooneofthenation'soutstandinggraduateschools.HeandIhavebeenatthis,havebeengoingoverhispapersentencebysentence,wordbyword,foranhour."Thechoiceofexogenousvariablesinrelationtomulti-colinearity,"Ihearmyselfreadingfromhispaper,"iscontingentuponthederivationsofcertainmultiplecorrelationcoefficients."Ipausetocatchmybreath."Nowthatstatement,"Iaddressthestudent—whomIshallcall,allegorically,Mr.Bright—"thatstatement,Mr.Bright,whatonearthdoesitmean?

"Mr.Bright,hisbrowfurrowed,triesmightily.Finally,withbothofuscombiningourlinguisticandimaginativeresources,finally,afterwhatseemsanotherhour,wedecodeit.WedecideexactlywhatitisthatMr.Brightistryingtosay,whathereallywantstosay,whichis:

"Supplydeterminesdemand."

3Overthepastdecadeorso,Ihaveknownmanystudentslikehim,manycollegeseniorssufferingfromBright'sdisease.Itattacksthebestminds,andgraduallydestroysthecriticalfaculties,makingitimpossibleforthesufferertodetectgibberishinhisownwritingorinthatofothers.Duringtheyearsofhighereducationitgrowsworse,reachingitsterminalstage,typically,whenitsvictimreceiveshisPh.D.Obviously,thevictimofBright'sdiseaseisnoordinaryilliterate.Hewouldneverturninapaperwithmisspellingsorerrorsinpunctuation;hewouldneveruseadoublenegativeortheword"irregardless."Nevertheless,heisilliterate,intheworstway:

heisincapableofsayin