真 爱
145 Science and Technology
3 Enjoying the Humor
Story 1
The punch line is: “Thanks, and by the way, it’s a Ferrari, not a Porsche.” The rich guy wants the poor guy to paint his porch, but the poor guy didn’t find any Porsche and painted his Ferrari instead.
Story 2
The punch line is: “OK, I give up! Where’d you hide the ship?” The parrot thought the magician was once again playing a trick and had hidden the cruise.
151 Literature
Story 3
The punch line is: “Don’t pay any attention to him, Officer. He always talks like this when he’s had a few drinks.” We can imagine that the man will be fined or even jailed for drunken driving, in addition to going through three red lights and exceeding the speed limit.
PART 2 Reading-Centered Activities
In-Class Reading
Pre-Reading
Sample
• I have read Romeo and Juliet, one of Shakespeare’s best-known plays. It is a sad romantic story about two young people, Romeo and Juliet, who fall in love although their families are great enemies. They marry secretly, but are prevented from being together, and finally they both kill themselves for the sake of love. They are considered to be typical examples of unlucky young lovers, and unlucky lovers in modern days are called “modern Romeo and Juliet”.
• I have read Hamlet, a great tragedy by Shakespeare. Hamlet is the prince of Denmark, who becomes melancholy because he is unable to decide what he should do to take revenge on his uncle Claudius for murdering his father King Hamlet, then succeeding to the throne and marrying his mother. There are many famous phrases from this play, for example, “To be or not to be, that is the question.”
• I have read Twelfth Night, a humorous play by Shakespeare. It tells a complicated story about a young woman called Viola, who dresses as a boy to work as a servant for the Duke Orsino.
Eventually she marries the Duke and finds her twin brother, Sebastian, whom she believed to be dead.
• One of my favorite plays by Shakespeare is The Merchant of Venice, telling about a man called Antonio who borrows money from the moneylender Shylock. When Antonio cannot pay back the money, Shylock demands the right to cut out a “pound of flesh” from Antonio’s body. A famous speech from the play, made by the main female character, Portia, begins like this, “The quality of mercy is not strained”, by which she tells Shylock that he cannot be forced to show mercy, but that this would be a morally good thing to do.
• I have read King Lear, a play about an old king who decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters according to how much each of them says she loves him. Two daughters, Goneril and Regan, pretend to love him very much, and he divides the kingdom between them. The third daughter, Cordelia, is the only one who really loves him, but she receives nothing because she says that she loves him no more and no less than she should. As a result there are many sad and terrible events, including the deaths of Lear and his three daughters.
152 Unit 10
Passage Reading
Note
In this story, Shakespeare is brought to the present and takes a course in Shakespeare. And satirically enough, he fails the course. Isaac Asimov created the story according to one of his own experiences. In his autobiography Isaac Asimov told the story about how, when he was 30 years old and not yet famous, he attended a lecture by one Gotthard Guenther, in which Guenther used Asimov’s short story “Nightfall”
as an example of the ways in which American science fiction inverted and distorted Old World views of the universe in ways in which European science fiction did not. Guenther went on and on in this vein, building up an interpretation of the story that, in Asimov’s words, “had me gasping”. After the lecture, Asimov went up to Guenther and informed him that his interpretation of “Nightfall” was all wrong. Guenther replied, “Well, that is a matter of opinion.” Asimov replied, “No, I’m certain that you’re wrong, because I am Isaac Asimov, and nothing of what you said was in my mind when I was writing that story.” Guenther replied, “Oh, I’m very pleased to meet you! But tell me, what makes you think, just because you are the author of ‘Nightfall’, that you have the slightest inkling of what is in it?”
Words, Phrases and Grammatical Points 1 overhear (Line 3, Para. 3)
Compare: “overhear” and “eavesdrop”
The word “overhear” means “accidentally hear what other people are saying, when they do not know that you have heard”, while the word “eavesdrop” means “deliberately listen secretly to other people’s conversations”.
e.g. I) Claire, who was outside the door, overheard their conversation.
II) How did you know I was going? You’ve been eavesdropping, haven’t you?
2 vaguely (Line 2, Para. 11)
The word “vaguely” has the following meanings:
1 in a way that shows you are not thinking about what you are doing e.g. I) She smiled vaguely at the ceiling.
II) “How was it?” he asked vaguely, absorbed in his own thoughts.
2 slightly
e.g. I) I vaguely remember a woman in a red dress standing outside the door.
II) I found the whole situation vaguely upsetting.
3 not clearly or exactly
e.g. I) He vaguely remembered his mother talking about it.
II) I vaguely recall something from long, long ago that involves cuddling by the fire.
3 universal (Line 2, Para. 17)
The word “universal” has the following meanings:
1 true or suitable in every situation
e.g. I) Teaching and guiding seem to be universal parental activities.
II) It is an almost universal truth that the more we are promoted in a job, the less we actually exercise the skills we initially used to perform it.
153 Literature 2 involving or affecting everyone in the world or in a particular group
e.g. I) The insurance industry has produced its own proposals for universal health care.
II) Popular culture seems to have universal appeal.
4 manners (Line 1, Para. 19)
The word “manner”, used in its plural form, means:
1 traditionally accepted ways of behaving in social situations e.g. I) Dad gave us a lecture about our table manners.
II) Children learn manners by observing their parents.
2 the customs of a particular group of people
e.g. The book is about the life and manners of Victorian London.
5 memento (Line 5, Para. 21)
Compare: “memento”, “souvenir” and “reminder”
The three words “memento”, “souvenir” and “reminder” are synonyms, all meaning “sth. that reminds sb. of sth.” But there is some difference between the words. A “memento” is “a small thing that you keep to remind you of sb. or sth.”, a “souvenir” is “an object that you buy or keep to remind yourself of a special occasion or a place you have visited”, while a “reminder” is just “sth.
that makes you notice, remember, or think about sth.”
e.g. I) Please keep this brooch as a memento of our friendship.
II) Tourist souvenirs like furs, ivory, animal skins, coral necklaces and shells can devastate wildlife.
III) The dentist’s office sent you a reminder about your appointment next week.
6 fumble (Line 1, Para. 23)
The word “fumble” means “try to hold, move, or find sth. with your hands in an awkward way”.
e.g. I) She dressed, her cold fingers fumbling with the buttons.
II) He fumbled around in the dark looking for some matches.
It also means “speak in a clumsy and unclear way”.
e.g. I) He fumbled his lines, not knowing what he was going to say.
II) Although she had sensed that a fiasco (完全失败) like this was inevitable, Amanda fumbled for an appropriate response.
7 script (Line 4, Para. 24)
Besides the usage in the passage, the word “script” has some other meanings:
1 the written form of a speech, play, film, etc.
e.g. Jenny’s writing a film script.
2 the set of letters that are used in writing a language
e.g. The text was in the Malay language but was written in Arabic script.
3 a piece of writing that a student does in an examination e.g. She had a large pile of scripts to mark.
Compare: “script” and “manuscript”
The word “manuscript” means “a handwritten or typed document, especially a writer’s first version of a book before it is published”.
154 Unit 10
e.g. I) All Kingston’s original manuscripts were lost in the fire.
II) Please send me a copy of your manuscript when it’s finished.
8 reference (Line 2, Para. 30)
The word “reference” has several meanings:
1 sth. you say or write that mentions another person or thing
e.g. There is no direct reference to her own childhood in the novel.
2 a book, article, etc. from which information has been obtained e.g. There was a long list of references at the end of the paper.
3 the act of consulting sb. or sth. in order to get information or advice e.g. I) Please keep this sheet in a safe place for reference.
II) Keep their price list on file for future reference.
4 a letter containing information about you that is written by sb. who knows you well, usually to a new employer
e.g. I) We will need references from your former employers.
II) I don’t think I’ll get the job—they haven’t taken my references.
The word is also often used in the expression “in / with reference to sth.”, used to say what you are writing or talking about, especially in business letters.
e.g. I am writing to you in reference to the job opening in your department.
9 account (Line 2, Para. 32)
The word “account”, when used as a noun, has the following meanings:
1 a written or spoken description about what happens in an event or process
e.g. I) Her account of the events of that day was wildly different from the first witness’.
II) He gave a detailed account of what happened on the fateful night.
2 (written abbreviation: a/c or acct.) an arrangement in which a bank takes care of your money e.g. I) I’d like to deposit this check into my account.
II) How do I open an account with your bank?
Apart from the expression “on account of” used in the passage, the word can also be used in the following expressions:
1 take account of sth. / take sth. into account: consider or include particular facts or details when making a decision or judgment about sth.
e.g. These figures do not take account of changes in the rate of inflation.
2 by / from all accounts: according to what a lot of people say e.g. It has, from all accounts, been a successful marriage.
3 on your own account: by yourself or for yourself
e.g. Carrie decided to do a little research on her own account.
4 on no account / not on any account: used when saying that sb. must not, for any reason, do sth.
e.g. I) On no account must you disturb me when I’m working.
II) On no account should you attempt this exercise if you’re pregnant.
5 on this / that account: concerning a particular situation e.g. There needn’t be any more worries on that account.
155 Literature 6 of no / little account: not very important
e.g. I) The color of someone’s skin should be of no account.
II) These obscure groups were of little account in national politics.
10 extension (Line 2, Para. 36)
Besides the usage in the passage, the word “extension” has the following meanings:
1 the process of making a road, building, etc. bigger or longer, or the part that is added e.g. The city is building an extension to the subway line.
2 another room or rooms which are added to a building
e.g. I) We’re building an extension on the back of our house.
II) You’ll find the Picasso collection in the extension to the museum.
3 an additional period of time allowed for sth.
e.g. I) Professor Lohman gave me a one-week extension on my paper.
II) He first entered Britain on a six-month visa, and was given a further extension of six months.
4 one of many telephone lines connected to a central system in a large building, which all have different numbers
e.g. She can get me on extension 308.
11 posterity (Line 3, Para. 36)
Compare: “posterity” and “offspring”
The word “posterity” means “the people who will be alive in the future after you are dead”, while
“offspring” means “sb.’s child or children”.
e.g. I) A photographer recorded the scene on video for posterity.
II) Parents with the disease are likely to pass it on to their offspring.