高英6Fineartsofputtingthingsoff.docx

1、高英6FineartsofputtingthingsoffUnit TwoText 1: The Fine Arts of Putting Things Off. Learning objectives. Warm-up questions1. How do you find the text, easy or difficult? (general impression)2. What are the specific difficulties you came across when reading the text?i. Diction (formal, big words) ii. S

2、tyle (formal) iii. Tone (serious? humorous?)iv. Allusions III. Questions on the text1. What is the authors argument/message? You can well put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Procrastination is not altogether a bad practice. Sometimes it is recommendable.(Compare with conventional ideas: Nev

3、er put off till tomorrow what you ca do today. Procrastination is the thief of time2. How would you comment on the authors tone? half serious, half joking 3. Read quickly the beginning of each paragraph. Can you see the general organizational pattern of the text? Work out the outline I Opening to pr

4、esent the topic (para 1) II Classification of human beings into two categories III Main argument: Procrastination as a worldwide way of life Para 3: literary/artistic Para 4: military, diplomatic, legal Para 5: commercial/business Para 6: administrative Para 7: academic Para 8 medical IV Conclusion

5、IV. Analysis of the textParagraph 1:1. What advise did Lord Chesterfield give to his son?Was he himself a good example of doing things promptly?Explain the irony.2. To support his theme that even well-known people are in a habit of delaying things, the author gives several examples. What examples ar

6、e given? (Quintus Fabius Maximus, Moses, Hamlet) Read the notes and explain in your own words what is the thing that each of them postponed?i. Quintus delayed battle (caution and delay to wear out the enemy.)ii. Moses delayed passing Gods message to Pharaoh.iii. Hamlet put off revenge 3. Are you imp

7、ressed/amused by the authors effective opening? Whats your impression of the authors style? In the first paragraph, the author refers to 5 people who are well-known either in history or literary/religious circles, who are they? 5 well-known historical figures: Lord Chesterfield, Dr. Johnson, Quintus

8、 Fabius Maximus, Moses, HamletWhat makes the five people related in this context? Or what is the thing that each of them postponed doing?1. Is the authors way of beginning the essay effective?2. Why does the author refer to visits to the barber, the dentist and the doctor “Faustian encounters”?3. Re

9、ad the topic sentence and comment on the organization pattern of the paragraph.4. Examine how the author contrasts the two different ways of doing things and underline the verbs. Are they used in parallel?5. In line 14, the author writes “until the apocalyptic voice of Diner threatens doom for Denve

10、r”. Explain what the “Apocalypse” is and what is the metaphorical use of “apocalyptic”?6. Read note 8 and tell what you know of “Faust”7. What is typical of those “do-it-nowers”? And what about the “delayers”?8. Read the 3rd paragraph, think: what kind of people may belong to “a creative soul”? How

11、many supporting details are given in the paragraph? Please note how the author refers to a particular novelist and later to “many a writer” to convince the readers that delay can do benefits to writers/artists in general.9. Note the topic sentence of paragraph 4 and how it is developed. Explain the

12、humor/irony in the examples given.10. Military/diplomatic/legal matters are normally urgent business that asks for immediate action. However according to the author, postponement remains a prevailing practice in these circles. What are the details?11. What are the excuses normally given by those who

13、 postpone writing academic papers?12. How does the explosion of information become an excuse for those who hesitate to take action?. Relevant information1. Lord Chesterfield:Lord Chesterfield (16941773): English Statesman, orator and author; literary reputation rests upon his letters to his illegiti

14、mate son who was born in Holland in 1732. The letters are noted for wit and worldly wisdom. They were published in 1774 under the title “Letters to His Son”.2. Dr. Samuel Johnson (17091784): English poet, critic, and man of letters; the literary dictator in England in the later half of the 18th cent

15、ury; strong influence on literary thought and style; one of the most famous personalities; best known for Dictionary of the English Language( innovation in lexicography)rank of British nobleman: Duke-Marquis-Earl-Viscount-Baron Duches-Marquise-Countess-Viscountess-Baroness3. Quintus Fabius Maximus:

16、Roman general, whose cautious delaying tactics gave Rome time to recover its strength and take the offensive against the invading army; so get the nick name “ Cunctator”; Fabianism( derived from his name “ Fabius”)4. Fabian Society: founded in 1884; advocating social change through gradual reform ra

17、ther than by violent revolution actionAdj. employing a cautiously persistent strategy to wear out enemy5. Moses: a Hebrew Patriarch; born in Egypt, led the Jewish away from their bondage and, across the desert. During the journey he was inspired by God.6. Jehovah: the name of God used in the Old Tes

18、tamentParaphrase: Moses justified his unwillingness to pass Jehovahs order to Pharaoh, saying that he was “slow of speech”.7. Faustian encounters: Faust: a wandering artronomer and necromancer who lived in Germany (14881541) and was reputed to have sold his soul to the Devil; he was the hero of dram

19、as by Marlowe and Goethe (“Faust”). In Goethes the hero had many encounters with Mephistopheles, the Devil. Organization of the textPara.1: Opening to present the topicClassification of human beings into two categoriesMain argument: Procrastination as a worldwide way of lifePara 3: literary/artistic

20、 Para 4: military, diplomatic, and legalPara 5: commercial/businessPara 6: administrativePara 7: academicPara 8: medical Conclusion . Language points1. exhort: try hard to persuade sb. to do sth.e.g. to exhort the man not to drink too muchexhortation: n. e.g. fervent exhortations to revolutionary ac

21、tions2. get round: also come round to; to find time for sth. Or doing sth. Esp. after delay e.g. -I should be able to get round to that job next week. -After a long journey he got round to writing the letter. -The committee will get round to your suggestion after they have dealt with urgent business

22、. 3. attest to: testify/be the proof of/to prove sth. e.g. The fingerprints on the gun attested to his guilt.4. be dubbed: a. be given the name of e.g. London was dubbed the “insurance capital of the world”. b. to dub a film e.g. The TV series is dubbed into six languages. 5. plead: a. to plead a pa

23、rticular thing as an excuse e.g. He might find it convenient to plead ignorance. -I pleaded that I fell ill. c.f. b. to plead guilty/not guilty in a court (to officially state that ) c. to plead with sb. to do sth. e.g. to plead her to control herself. 6. ungodly: (colloq.) a. outrageous e.g. an ung

24、odly hour to arrive(at an unreasonably precise hour)精确到不近人情的时间 b. wicked 7. to dine on sth.: to eat sth e.g. How pleasant it is to dine on fine well-cooked fish and fresh vegetables, in such charming surrounding. c.f. to dine out: to eat dinner in a restaurant e.g. Lets dine out tonight. to dine off

25、: e.g. Does the emperor readily dine off gold plates?用金盘子吃？ 8file for: a. to apply formally 正式申请to start action in law towards sth.e.g. The actors wife has filed for divorce again. b. (Am.E) to offer oneself formally for a poste.g. How many people have filed for this office? 9. apocalyptic: forebodi

26、ng imminent disaster or final doom预示世界末日的 from: the Apocalypse 启示录a. the last book of the New Testament, recounting a divine revelation to St. John; It describes visions of heaven and a prophetic account of the end of the world. b. revelation esp. of the end of the world.10. Diners Club: introduced

27、in 1950 the first universal credit card.11. Denver: the capital and the largest city of Colorado (probably: where the headquarters of Diners Club)12. doom: (biblical) end of the world. (text) withdraw the credit card from the owner.13. geodetic: from geodesy, the branch of mathematics dealing with t

28、he figures and areas of the earth.测量学14. proconsul: an administrator in a colony殖民地总督15. Singapore sling: an alcoholic drink16. ruminate about/on/over/upon: reflect on/think; to consider sth. carefully and at length. e.g. As people grow old, they begin to ruminate on the uncertainty of life.瞻前顾后 -Ma

29、ny valuable ideas have come through ruminating over various possibilities.17. nattering: chattering, noisy18. order in: a. to obtain (supplies) by ordering, usu. in quantity e.g. Have you ordered in enough envelopes this month? b. to order sb. to enter e.g. The teacher ordered the children in. (text

30、): to obtain supplies of machine guns and fresh troops by sending out telex. 所幸的是他没有现代化的电传催他调进更多的枪支和援兵。19. addicted postpones: 不可救药地20. echelon: a level/rank in an organization/society e.g. the upper echelons21. corporate dynamics: 公司运行机制/动力 dynamic：adj. sb. full of energy e.g. The new president is

31、a dynamic and able man. c.f. the dynamics: motive forces that cause changes. e.g. the dynamics of industrial development工业发展的动力22. speedy: e.g. A speedy settlement of the strike is essential. -Such doubts were now speedily removed.23. bureaucracy: a. a government by central administration b. the off

32、icials of such a government, esp. regarded as oppressive and inflexible bureaucratize: governed by or transform into a bureaucratic system bureaucratization: excessive red-tape官僚主义化24. to smother sb./sth. in/with: to cover sb./sth. with a heavy cover of sth. e.g. to smother the fire with earth to make sure it stops burning -The m