Unit One.docx

1、Unit One研究生英语综合教程教师用书Unit OneAbout the text: The abridged text is taken from The New Millennium Reader. It is a story that Jill Nelson tells about her father and his beliefs. She speaks about a Sunday breakfast that her family had every Sunday. This breakfast was like there church every Sunday, and

2、her father was the preacher. He always preached about being number one, and he represented number one by holding up his middle finger. Her father never told the family exactly what he meant by number one, and when she was old enough to have the courage to ask, her father had gone through too many st

3、ages to remember. This is a good learning story. As I was reading this, I put myself in Jills place. I asked myself, what does her father mean by number one, and why does he use his middle finger to represent it? I had a few theories, but the one that made the most sense was being all you could be.

4、When she said that phrase, it was like a door of understanding was opened. Be all you can be is all any parent can ask of there children. Her father probably was preaching the whole number one thing to them so they would always ask themselves Am I number one? If I had a job I enjoyed, a loving famil

5、y, and friends, then I asked myself, Am I number one my answer would be Yes. Hell, if I asked myself that question now, my answer would be Yes. There is no actual definition of number one no matter where you are in life there is always someone or something above you. The whole middle finger deal mad

6、e me think of more theories on what the father might have meant. He might have been telling his family to go fuck themselves, which would explain why he ended up leaving them. But he also might have been saying to be number one, you have to say fuck the world and get the job done. But in the end all

7、 you can really do is have theories about this story, Nelson didnt really say what number one meant because her father never told her what it meant. She only gave her theories on what her father might have been trying to say. One might even come to the conclusion that her father did know what number

8、 one even meant it just sounded a lot better then saying do your best. And look how much impact that one phrase had on her life. She graduated the City College of New York and Columbia Universitys School of Journalism. She is a frequent contributor to Essence, U.S.A. Weekend, The Village Voice, and

9、Ms. In conclusion, Nelson showed me the power that one phrase can have on an individual and their life.About the author:Jill Nelson was born and raised in Harlem and has been a working journalist for over twenty years. She is a graduate of the City College of New York and the Columbia School of Jour

10、nalism. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, includingThe New York Times,Essence, The Washington Post, The Nation, Ms., The Chicago Tribuneand theVillage Voice. Jill was a staff writer for the Washington Post Magazine during its first years of existence, and was named Washington D.C. Jour

11、nalist of the Year for her work there. She freelances and lectures widely, and writes a twice-monthly column, “On the Verge,” for NiaO and is a monthly contributor to the Op Ed page of USA Today. She was a professor of Journalism at the City College of New York from 1998 to 2003. Jill wrote the best

12、-selling memoir,Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience(Noble Press, hardcover, 1993 and Penguin, paperback, 1994) which won an American Book Award. She is the author of Straight, No Chaser: How I Became A Grown-Up Black Woman(Putnam, Fall 1997, Penguin, Winter 1999) and editedPolice Brutal

13、ity: An Anthology, for WW Norton, published in April 2000. Her first novel,Sexual Healing, was released in June 2003. Her latest book, the non-fictionFinding Marthas Vineyard: African Americans at Home on an Island, was published in May 2005 by Random House.课文译文力争第一1那晚，我梦见了父亲，不过与其说它是个梦，倒不如说它是我对父亲的记忆

14、。 2 “第一！不是第二！是第一！”父亲的声音从早餐桌的桌首传来。我们四个孩子，一边两个，坐在10英尺长的柚木桌两边，神情严肃地专心听着。母亲坐在桌尾那端，抬头望着父亲，脸上的表情既骄傲又焦虑。她会不会是觉得无聊呢？那一年是1965年，我12岁。 3“你们这些孩子必须得做第一名，而不是第二。”父亲吼道，他黝黑的面孔因为吼叫而变得更黑了。他竖起食指和中指，“只能是第”他这时戏剧性地停顿了一下，在那一刻，他好像一个牧师在祈祷神示，他的四个孩子就像全神贯注听讲的教民，而母亲则像是教堂里虔诚的修女。“第一。” 4当他吼出最后这几个字时，他会弯起他的食指。我父亲有一双巨大的黑手，修长漂亮的手指上长着椭圆

15、形的指甲，指甲是那么大，好像手指上的风景画一样。连着指甲根部的甲晕占据了指甲大部分，仿佛要侵蚀、威胁并吞掉指尖，乃至是整只手似的。我一直想，他之所以当牙医是不是就是想把他那巨大的手指伸到人们嘴里乱搞，让他自己和他的病人们每天为他那精巧的医术所惊叹呢。 5很多年后，父亲对我说如果有个女人抱着孩子跑来声称他是孩子的父亲，那么他只需看看孩子的手就行了。假如那双手不大，又没有巨大的指甲和像大海冲刷海岸一般的甲晕，那他就会赶他们走。 6以前，我对父亲的记忆就是星期天早上的早餐会和他那双手，食指羞怯地弯着，只有中指竖立出来。 7当他大喊“第一名”时，那只中指就好像长大了，挺出来，指着我们，鞭策着我们 -

16、我姐姐，林恩，15岁，我哥哥，史丹利，13岁，我弟弟，拉夫，9岁 - 做到最好，勇争第一。父亲那洪亮浑厚的嗓音从桌子那端传来，震彻着我们肮脏战栗的身躯。 8当我醒来时，我又一次颤抖起来，但这次是因为空调开得太强的缘故。在纽约，空调是个奢侈品，但在华盛顿就是必需品了。我起来将空调的温度调高了点，看了看米素，点了根烟，想着刚才的梦。9 我从未和家人去教堂做过礼拜。当其他的黑人中产阶级家庭在周日去基督教堂感激上帝的恩惠并向已被他们甩在身后的黑人穷兄弟捐几块钱的时候，我们正在虔诚地享用着我们的“星期日早餐会”，那是我们自己的礼拜仪式。 10 在我们那有着11个房间的公寓的餐厅里，- 我们家是那栋楼里唯

17、一的黑人家庭，为了住进那栋楼，父亲曾威胁要起诉他们对我们有种族歧视 - 父亲宣讲着他自己的福音。他经常讲的是要我们每个孩子都成为第一的必要性，但他也讲任何他能想到的事：时事，黑人英雄，黑人演出，我们作为家境富裕的孩子所应承担的责任，以及他自己的家世。 11他立的规矩和在教堂做礼拜要守的规矩一样，要求我们准时，不烦不燥，专心听讲，慷慨解囊。但老爸的礼拜里没有募捐盘；在碗里扔几个五分硬币可能对我们太容易了。父亲要求我们完全理解他的训导，成为他想要我们成为的那种人，做第一名的人。他从未告诉过我们这是什么意思，要怎样才能做到。我过了很多年才能够原谅父亲没有把这点解释清楚，又花了更长的时间去理解和接受他

18、这个解释不清的训诫。 12和训诫的过程相比，父亲像大多数牧师一样更擅长形象化的描述，有说服力的演讲和向我们灌输恐惧。经过15年的星期日早餐会，我知道当第二名是不够的，但我丝毫不清楚第一名是什么或怎样才能成为第一名，只知道当第一名更棒。 13当我还是个孩子的时候，我只是严肃地听着父亲的训导，努力去理解他所说的意思。我和姐姐林恩经常争吵，但因为父亲，我们成为了亲密无间的姐妹。父亲高谈阔论时，我们两个家里小洗碗工的灵魂就默默地相遇了。当我们看着盘中的蛋黄变硬，香肠的油脂凝结起来，鸡肝静静地从卤汁里显露出来的时候，我们分担着彼此的苦闷与痛苦。 14对于父亲的说教，我们都有各自喜欢的片段。我喜欢的是“洛

19、克菲勒都不会让他的狗在我们家的餐厅里拉屎”那段。15“你们觉得我们家已经过得很不错了吗？”父亲会看着我们四个孩子每个人的脸，开始他的说教。我们知道这时最好不要大胆地回答他。因为父亲与人的谈话就是个人的演讲，甚至到现在都是这样。所以把你的鼓掌，- 和提问，- 留到最后吧。 16“我们是过得不错，”他会自己回答自己提出的问题，“我们住在西尽大道。我有稳定的工作。你们的母亲不用外出工作。你们都上私立学校。我们夏天到马萨葡萄园去度假。但是我们有这一切是因为另外有100,000的黑人同胞们没有这些。他们什么都没有！过得像狗一样！” 17父亲有一副极具表现力的嗓音。当他讲到狗的时候，你好像几乎可以听到那些

20、狗低低的啜泣声。在我的脑海里，我看见一大群数不清的怪物，长着黑人的面孔，野狗的身躯，正向着高处爬去，争取一个更好的生活。不知什么原因，他们总是出现在125街上，阿波罗剧院的大帐篷下面。多年之后，当我开始对政治有了兴趣并决定要成为黑人民族主义者的第一人时，我激动地发现父亲的这段言辞可能是受到了克劳德麦克凯一首开头为“如果我们必须要死，也不要死得像狗一样”的诗的启迪。 18“这个国家对黑人是有配额制的，你们的母亲和我只是被允许得到了它，才过上了好日子，”父亲接着说道。很难想象我那6.3英尺高，世故聪明，从不受制于人的父亲会要得到什么人的允许才能做什么事。也许这只是他的一种修辞方式吧。 19“看看你

21、们周围，”他继续说道，用他那长长的手臂支撑着他的大手，指着餐厅。我环顾四周： 8英尺高的瓷器碗柜闪闪发亮，我们的管家玛吉每周都给它上光，里面放满了我外祖母的瓷器和银器；还有翠绿色的地毯，到了节假日就因为装满蛋糕、馅饼和曲奇而下坠的餐柜，和墙上的绘画。我们的日子过得还真不错，我想，然而这个想法只持续了一小会儿。 20“纳尔逊洛克菲勒都不会让他的狗在这儿拉屎！”父亲咆哮着。“与洛克菲勒和统治这个世界的那些人所拥有的东西相比，我们简直就是一无所有，一无所有！甚至都比不上他的狗。你们四个要记住我说的这些话，以后要过得比我好。不仅是为你们自己，也是为我们的同胞，黑人同胞。你们必须做第一。”21父亲继续说

22、着，但我的思绪却停留在这里开始飘荡。洛克菲勒的狗的形象使我着迷 - 我把它想象成威尔士矮脚狗，或者是阿富汗或苏格兰小猎犬 - 包了一肚子的屎尿，在我们家餐厅绿色的地毯上四处乱嗅，却不愿在这儿方便。 22我倒对它不愿方便的原因颇感兴趣。难道是因为他不喜欢绿色的地毯？还是他只习惯在稀有的波斯小地毯上大便，而我们家那100%纯羊毛的地毯不够好？还是因为我们是黑人？但是狗不是色盲吗？ 23我用了很长时间试图弄清楚父亲所谓的第一名是什么意思。父亲出生于华盛顿一个贫寒的黑人家庭，我想他一直用他自己的方式保护我们远离失败的阴影，而他那一代人就是在这阴影中成长起来的。我认为他的意思就是，像在军队里常听到的那句

23、，“尽你所能，做到最好”，但我还不是很确定。多少年来，我的心一直得不到安宁，因为我时常只能做到第二，因为我还没有一所好到能让洛克菲勒的狗大小便的房子，因为父亲竖起的中指不停地训诫鞭策着我。人如果一直停留在对过去的回忆中，是很难进步的。 24我年轻时没有问过父亲他说的第一是什么意思。等我有足够的自信去问他时，他已经经历了那么多的变化 - 从一个牙医变成一个嬉皮士，再变成一个退休了的顾问， - 他已经忘记了，或是努力使自己忘记了，那些星期日早上的说教。当我再提起他的那些说教时，他显得十分困惑，目光呆滞，说什么“吉尔，你在说什么啊？你想象力这么丰富应该去做演员”之类的话。 25但我不是演员。我是个记

24、者，是我父亲的女儿。我用了一生中很长的时间努力去做一个优秀的黑人女性，同时力争第一。明天我就要到华盛顿邮报期刊去上班了，我将是那里第一个黑人女性。困意又起的时候，我想这是不是就意味着做到了第一呢。Key to the exercisesText analysis and comprehension1. 12, New York, 15, Lynn, Stanley, Ralph, 13, 9, Washington D.C., Misu2. the two sides, the head, the foot3. great/ big black; long, perfectly shaped;

25、 oval/vast/ enormous/big; the half-moon cuticles; the delicacy of the work; dentist; being number one; spurred4. her father had threatened to file a discrimination suit; Baptist church; the necessity to be “number one”; current events; great black heroes; lousy black sell-outs; our responsibility as

26、 privileged children; his personal family history; the church5. B6. A7. D8. scrambling to elevate themselves to a better life; Claude McKays poem; live and die with dignity9. paintings; carpets; a sideboard; china cabinet; Jills maternal grandmothers china and silver; their life was not good enough

27、compared with the rich such as Rockefeller.10. Rockefellers dog in her house; the boredom of her fathers sermon11. the failure experienced by his generation; Be all that you can be12. he forgot those Sunday morning sermons after many changes in life from dentist to hippie to lay guru13. being number

28、 one; journalist; Washington Post magazine; it is a world famous magazine and the first-class magazine in the industryCloze1. which 2. copies 3. factors 4. In the first place 5. as 6. little 7. engulfed8. suitable 9. subject 10. message 11. established 12. maintained 13. springs from14. suppressed 1

29、5. orWriting ExercisesI. Error correction: 1. We enjoyed almost the whole movie; only the ending was a disappointment2. After criticizing both my work and my attitude, my boss fired me.3. As a college student constantly faced with new assignments, I find the pressure sometimes intolerable.4. Not bei

30、ng reliable about arriving on time, she cannot be hired to supervise others who are punctual.5. After an enjoyable dinner, I like to drink a cappuccino, eat a dark-chocolate mint, and occasionally, smoke a good cigar.6. With the fast development of the city, the river is not as clean now as it was t

31、wo years ago.7. One of the runners suffered from heat exhaustion, so she collapsed two miles from the finish.8. It was a great moment: after making the speech of a lifetime, Catherine was chosen by the delegates o lead the party into the next election.9. Most working people get at least a raise a ye

32、ar; nevertheless, inflation often leaves them with no increase in buying power.10. If it is to be useful, your report must be organized clearly, well written, and thoroughly researched.I. Sentence refiningA) Combining1. Plump, round and purple, Sandors turnips impressed the judges from all over the world.2. Ronald Reagon, who governed the state of California from 1967 and 1975 and became president of the United States six years later, first made his name in the movies.3. Janet ye