Unit3ThePolitician.docx

Unit3ThePolitician.docx

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Unit3ThePolitician

III.ThePolitician

Abouttheauthor

Menchen----Mencken,H（enry）L（ouis）,1880–1956,Americanauthor;b.Baltimore.Hewasajournalist,notablyonBaltimore’sSunpapers（1906–56）.HeandGeorgeJeanNATNANeditedtheSmartSet（1914–23）andstarted（1924）theAmericanMercury,whichMenckenaloneedited（1925–33）.Hisascorbiccriticalessays,aimedmainlyatthecomplacentbourgeoisie,werecollectedinPrejudices（6vol.,1919–27）.Healsowrotemanyothercriticalandautobiographicalworks.Inphilology,hecompiledthemonumentalTheAmericanLanguage（1919;4thed.,1936;supplements）.

MenckenwasacentralfigureinAmericanintellectuallifeduringthe1920’s.HelaunchedthemostcuttingattacksofanywriteragainstAmerica’smiddleclassculture.Heinventedtheword‘booboisie’,combiningthetwowords‘bourgeoisie’and‘booby’（anawkward,foolishperson）.Incaustic（hurtful;intentionallyunkind）wittyessays,hederidedtheinstitutionswhichsupportedthemiddleclass.Heenjoyedcontroversyandtriedtoarousehisantagonistswithhisdirect,devastatingattacks.Hehatednarrow-mindedreligionandcommercialism,andhedidnotsupportdemocracybecauseheconsideredthemassestooignorantandgreedytoexerciseitwisely,declaringthatAmericanswere‘themosttimorous,sniveling,poltroonish[i.e.cowardly],ignominiousmobofserfsandgoose-steppersevergatheredunderoneflag…”.Hejeeredatthechurches,businessandthegovernment.

Mencken’sessayswerereceivedwithdelightorhorror,dependingonthereader’spointofview,hewasalsohighlyrespectedforhisliterarycriticismandheexertedapowerfulinfluenceonAmericanliterature.

Menckenwasalsoaleadingscholarinthefieldoflanguage.HismonumentalbookTheAmericanLanguageisconsideredanoutstandingworkofphilosophy.Init,heexaminedthedevelopmentoftheEnglishlanguageinAmerica,contrastingEnglishandAmericanexpressionsandusages,explainingtheoriginsofmanyAmericanidioms,andtracingtheinfluenceofimmigrantlanguagesonAmericanEnglish.HemadealargecontributiontothestudyoflanguageandparticularlyencouragedscholarlystudyoftheAmericanbranchofEnglish.

Menckenwrotewithverse,gustoandexaggeration.Hisexuberant,extravagantuseofthelanguagewassoamusingandstartlingthatevenhismostviolentlycriticalessaysbecameacceptabletohisreaders.Heemployedahugevocabularyandlikedtoinsertunusualorunexpectedwords,forsurpriseorcomiceffect,intootherwisenormalsentences.Althoughhisstyleisoccasionallydifficulttoread,Menckenisstillconsideredoneofthebestandliveliestessayistsofthiscentury.

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Aboutthetext

damn----blameorstronglycriticize

Nomatterwhatdecisionyoumake,you’redamnedifyoudoanddamnedifyoudon’t（=criticizedwhateveryoudecide）.

Theinquiryintothedisasterdamnsthecompanyforitslackofsafetyprecautions.

uphillanddowndale----〖dated〗everywhere

Wherehaveyoubeen?

We’vebeensearchinguphillanddowndaleforyou.

rogue----〖dated〗adishonestorimmoralperson

Hewasknownasbeingabitofaroguewhohadlefthiswifeandrunoffwithhissecretary.

（Arogueisalsoapersonwhojokesandbehavesinawaywhichyoudonotapproveofbutwhomyoudonotwanttocriticizebecauseyoulikethemtoomuch:

‘Whatanoldrogueyouare,’shesaid,blushing.Arogues’galleryisacollectionofphotographsofcriminalskeptbythepolice:

（fig.）Heoccupiesaprominentpositionintherogues’galleryofthefinancialworld.）

vagabond----〖olduseorliterary〗apersonwhohasnohomeandusuallynojob,andwhotravelsfromplacetoplace,esp.inthepast,onewhowasthoughttobeoflowworth

Aseriesoflawsin16thcenturyEnglandspecifiedhowidlevagabondsweretobedealtwith.

fraud----apersonwhoisnotthattheyareclaimed

Hetoldpeoplethathewasaseriousandwell-knownmusician,buthewasafraudreally.

scoundrel----〖datedorhumorous〗aperson,esp.aman,whotreatsotherpeopleverybadlyandhasnomoralprinciples

He’sanabsolutescoundrel–hetookoutantiquevasetogetitvaluedandwehaven’tseenhimsince.

‘Everymanoverfortyisascoundrel.’

–GeorgeBernardShawinMaximsforRevolutionists,1903

Ioftenexpecttoomuchofthem.----Ioftenrequirethemtosotoomuch（becauseIbelieveit’stheirdutytodothisorthat）.

lookto----expect（somebody）todo（something）;hope（thatsomeonewilldosomething）

Weshouldlooktotheeconomistsforadviceonhowtoovercomeinflation.

Healwayslookstootherstostructureeverythingforhim.

…thatistoolargeanorder----…that’satoobigrequest.

enchant----haveamagiceffecton（someoneorsomething）;fill（someone）withafeelingofgreatdelight

Tome,CentralParkhasanatmosphereofmystery,asifitwereenchantedwithfairies.

Hercharismamanagedtoenchanttheaudience.

theintellectuallyunderprivileged----thosewholackintelligenceandtheirownmind,andareconsequentlyeasytobeenchanted（thecommonAmericanPeople）

crooner----asinger,esp.aman,whosingsslowlovesongs

takeon----（something）develop/assumeanewappearanceorquality

Hisvoicetookonanewnoteofuncertainty.

Theword‘profession’istakingonanewmeaning.

austere----plainandwithoutdecoration

Theroomwithitswhitewallsisbare,austereandbeautiful.

Shehasanaustereeleganceinherplaingreyandblackclothes.

respectability----kindofsocialacceptancebecauseofhavingagoodcharacterorappearanceorbehavinginawaythatisapprovedof

Thecountryhasrestoreditsdiplomaticrelationswithitsneighboursinanattempttogaininternationalrespectability.

Herideasgainedrespectabilitywhentheyweretakenupbyawell-knownmemberofthecouncil

Thecompanyoperatesoutofmodernofficesandexpensivehotelsuitestocreateanairofrespectability.

identical----beexactlythesame,orverysimilar

Mysonhasgotthreeidenticalschooluniforms.

Theinterestsofthetwopartiesmaynottheidentical,buttheydooverlapconsiderably.

statecraft----theskillofgoverningacountry

adamantine----verysolid（likeadamant）

integrity----thequalityofbeinghonestandhavingstrongmoralprinciplesthatonerefusestochange

Noonedoubtedthatthepresidentwasamanofthehighestintegrity.

（Peopleoftenrefertosomeone’sartistic/professionalintegrityortheirintegrityasawriter,doctor,etc.,meaningtheirhighartisticstandardorstandardsofdoingtheirjobandtheirdeterminationnottolowerthem:

Keentopreservehisintegrityasadoctor,herefusedseverallucrativeHollywoodoffers.）

aglamorgirl----agirlwhoisattractive,fashionable,pretty,admirable,and,aboveall,sexual

dipsomaniac----apersonwhohasanuncontrollableneedtodrinkalcohol

butbyturninghimlooseonthestump----butbylettinghimbeatlargeandcampaignfortheelectionoftheirownwill

enterprising----goodatthinkingofanddoingnewanddifficultthings

Thebusinesswasstartedbyacoupleofenterprisingyoungwomen.

Thatwasveryenterprisingofyou,Jack.

hooey----〖informal〗nonsense

boob----（alsobooby）asillyorstupidperson〖old-fashioned〗

disquiet----make（someone）feelanxious;worry

Herunpredictabilitydisquietsme.

Theson’scriticismgreatlydisquietedthemother.

Theintensityofhisangerdisquietedthem.

indistinguishable----impossibletojudgeasbeingdifferentwhencomparedtoanothersimilarthing

Theseforeignersaresogoodthattheyaremoreorlessindistinguishablefromtheoriginals.

Whichoftheseindistinguishablecandidatesareyouvotingfor?

larval----immature

tapsamorehumankeg----sayssomethingmorehuman/reasonable/appealingtothegeneralpublic

hallelujah----thewordisusedtoexpresspraise,joy,thanks,etc.

…andwhenthereturnscameinthecandidateisonhiswaytotheWhiteHouse----Theconsequenceoftalkingnonsensetothevoterswasthatthestatesmanwaswinningthepresidencyelection.

Darwinian----ApersonwhodoesnotbelieveinGod.Instead,hebelievesinthetheoryofbiologicalevolutiondevelopedbyCharlesDarwinandothers,statingthatallspeciesoforganismsariseanddevelopthroughthenaturalselectionofsmall,inheritedvariationsthatincreasetheindividual’sabilitytocompete,survive,andreproduce.〖ironicalhere〗

…I’dtrustwithmydiamonds,mydaughterormyliberty----Diamonds,daughterandlibertybelongtodifferentnotions,andtheyareneverputunderthesamecatalogue.Theforcedanalogymakesonefeelthatironicandhumorous.Thelatterpartofthesentencereinforcestheeffect.

itchfor/todosth.----wanttodosomethingverymuchandassoonaspossible

Byfouro’clockIwasitchingforthemeetingtoend.

IitchedtotellherwhatIhadheard.

incumbent----apersonwhoofficiallyholdsaparticularpostataparticulartime

…andItestifyfreelythat----Theword‘testify’isaformalword.Itsmeaningistomakeasolemnstatement:

HetestifiedhisfaithinChristianityopenly.Andaseriouspersonwillnottestify‘freely’.

sound----solid;down-to-earth

soundscholarship/education

asoundbeginningforfurtherstudy

…andquiteashonestasanyAmericancanbewithoutbeingclappedintoamadhouse----IfanyotherAmericanisashonestashim,theywouldbeconsideredcrazyandimmediatelysenttoamadhouse.（Astatesmanisanexception,andthereasonisthatheisastatesman.）

prodigy----apersonwithanunusualgreatnaturalabilityforsomethingsuchasmusicormathematics,whichshowsitselfatanearlyage

The16-yea