新标准大学英语综合教程4unit2.docx

新标准大学英语综合教程4unit2.docx

《新标准大学英语综合教程4unit2.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《新标准大学英语综合教程4unit2.docx（38页珍藏版）》请在冰点文库上搜索。

新标准大学英语综合教程4unit2

Unit2

Activereading

（1）

Danger!

Booksmaychangeyourlife

Culturepoints

LewisCarroll（1832–1898）isthepen-nameofCharlesDodgson.Hewasapriest,amathematicianwho

taughtatOxfordUniversity,aphotographer,humoristandwriterofchildren’sliterature.Alice’sAdventures

inWonderland（1865）wasimmediatelysuccessful,amasterpiecewhichrevolutionizedchildren’sliterature,

givingcoherenceandlogicthroughwitandhumourtounlikelyorimpossibleepisodesinwhichimaginary

creaturesembodyrecognizablehumancharacteristics.HeisalsoknownforThroughtheLookingGlassand

whatAlicefoundthere（1871）andnonsensepoems,suchasTheHuntingoftheSnark（1876）.

WilliamCowper（1731–1800）:

anotableEnglishpoet,writerofhymnsandletter-writer.Hewrotegentle,

pious,directpoemsabouteverydayrurallifeandscenesofthecountrysidewhichhavebeenseenas

forerunnersoftheRomanticmovement:

ColeridgecalledCowper“thebestmodernpoet”.Hetranslated

Homer’sGreekepics.TheOdysseyandTheIliadintoEnglish.Anotherexampleofhisverseswhichhave

becomecommonsayingsis“Godmovesinmysteriousways,Hiswonderstoperform…”

JohnSteinbeck（1902–1968）:

AmericannovelistwhowasawardedtheNobelPrizeforLiteraturein1962.

TheGrapesofWrath（1939）isawell-known,longtragicnovelaboutanAmericanfamilyoffarmerswhoare

drivenofftheirlandinOklahomabysoilerosioninthefamous“dustbowl”era.TheyfleetoCaliforniato

whattheyhopewillbeabetterlife.ThebookwonthePulitzerPrizeandwasmadeintoafilmin1940.Other

well-knownnovelsincludeOfMiceandMen（1937）,CanneryRow（1945）,ThePearl（1947）,EastofEden

（1952）andanaccountofapersonalrediscoveryofAmerica,TravelswithCharlie（1962）.

JohnIrving（1942–）:

AmericannovelistandscreenwriterwhotaughtEnglishatcollegeandwasawrestling

coach.TheFourthHand（2001）isacomic-satiricalnovelaboutaTVjournalist,Wallington,whosehandis

seenbymillionsofviewerstobebittenoffbyacircuslion.Asurgeongiveshimahandtransplant（athird

hand）butthewifeofthedeaddonorwantstovisitherhusband’shandandhaveachildbyWallington,who

feelswherehisoriginalhandusedtobe（thefourthhand）.

AudreyNiffenegger（1963–）:

Americancollegeprofessorwhoteacheswritingtovisualartistsandshows

studentshowtomakebooksbyhand.Herfirstnovel,TheTimeTraveller’sWife（2003）–filmedin2009–isa

sciencefictionandromancebestselleraboutamanwhotravelsuncontrollablyintimetohisownhistoryand

visitshiswifeinherchildhood,youthandoldage.Hiswifeneedstocopewithhisabsencesanddangerous

lifewhilehetravels.Thestoryisametaphorfordistanceandmiscommunicationinfailedrelationships.

PaulTorday（1946–）:

aBritishbusinessmanwhoworkedforacompanythatrepairedship’senginesfor

manyyears.SalmonFishingintheYemen（2007）washisfirstnovel.Itisapoliticalsatireandcomedyabout

adullcivilservantwhobecomesinvolvedinaplantopopulatethedesertwithScottishsalmon.Politicians

managethemediato“spin”thisasaplantheysupportinordertodivertattentionfromproblemsinthe

MiddleEast.Therearethemesofcynicismandbelief,andEast-Westcultureclashes.

AleksandrSolzhenitsyn（1918–2008）:

aRussianwriterwhowasimprisonedinSovietlabourcampsin

1945;aftereightyears,hewasexiledtoKazakhstanandnotfreeduntil1956,whenhebecameateacher.

In1970hewasawardedtheNobelPrizeforLiteraturebutnotreceiveituntil1974.HewenttoGermany,

SwitzerlandandtheUSA,returningtoRussiain1994.Hisbestknownnovelswerebasedonhisexperiences

asaprisonerandinclude:

OneDayintheLifeofIvanDenisovich（1962）,CancerWard（1968）,TheGulag

Archipelago（1974–1978）.HislaterworkswereaboutRussianhistoryandidentity.

GrahamGreene（1904–1991）:

aBritishnovelist,short-storywriter,playwright,travelwriterandessayist.

Hewroteanumberofthrillers（hecalledthem‘entertainments’）whichdramatizeanambiguousmoral

dilemma,oftenrevealingguilt,treachery,failureandathemeofpursuit.Greenewasalsoafilmcriticand

allofthesenovelshavebeenmadeintofilms:

BrightonRock（1938）,ThePowerandtheGlory（1940）,

TheHeartoftheMatter（1948）,TheThirdMan（1950）,TheQuietAmerican（1955）,andOurManin

Havana（1958）.

E.M.Forster（1879–1970）:

aBritishnovelistandwriterofshortstoriesandessays.Helivedatdifferent

periodsinItaly,EgyptandIndiaandtaughtatCambridgeUniversity.HisbestknownnovelsincludeARoom

withaView（1908）,Howard’sEnd（1910）,APassagetoIndia（1924）whichhaveallbeenmadeintofilms.

Hiswritingaboutreadingandwritingincludesabookoflectures,AspectsoftheNovel（1927）.

ThomasMerton（1915–1968）:

anAmericanCatholicwriter,whowasaTrappistmonkinKentucky.He

wroteover70books,includingmanyessaysaboutBuddhismandatranslationintoEnglishoftheChinese

classic,ChuangTse.HehadagreatdealtosayaboutthemeetingofEasternandWesternculturesandwrote

manyletterstowriters,poets,scholarsandthinkers.HereadalotinEnglish,Latin,FrenchandSpanishand

saidhealwayshadatleastthreebookswhichhewasreadingatanyonetime.

WilliamBlake（1757–1827）:

aBritishpoet,artistandmystic,whoreadwidelyinEnglish,French,Italian,

Latin,GreekandHebrew.HemademanyengravingstoillustratetheworkofsuchwritersasVirgil,Dante

andChaucer,aswellashisownpoems.Hestressedthatimaginationwasmoreimportantthanrationalism

andthematerialismofthe18thcenturyandcriticizedtheeffectsoftheindustrialrevolutioninEngland,but

hisworkwaslargelydisregardedbyhispeers.HeisbestknownforhispoetryinSongsofInnocence（1787）

andSongsofExperience（1794）.Hisbeliefintheonenessofallcreatedthingsisshowninhismuch-quoted

verse,“Toseetheworldinagrainofsand/Andaheaveninaflower,/Holdinfinityinthepalmofyour

hand/Andeternityinanhour.”

CliftonFadiman（1904–1999）:

anAmericanwriter,radioandTVbroadcasterandeditorofanthologies.For

over50yearshewasaneditorandjudgefortheBook-of-the-MonthClub.In1960hewroteapopularguide

togreatbooksforAmericanreaders,TheLifetimeReadingPlan,whichdiscusses133authorsandtheirmajor

work:

the1997editionincludes9authorsfromChina.

J.K.Rowling（1965–）:

BritishwriterofthesevenHarryPotterfantasybooks.ShestudiedFrenchand

ClassicsatExeterUniversity,beforeteachingEnglishinPortugalandtrainingtoteachFrenchinScotland.

ThemainideaaboutaschoolforwizardsandtheorphanHarryPottercameonadelayedtrainjourney

fromManchestertoLondonin1990.ShebegantowriteassoonasshereachedLondon.TwelvepublishersrejectedthefirstbookbeforeBloomsbury,asmallLondonpublisher,agreedtopublishit.Laterbookshave

repeatedlybrokenallthesalesrecords（ashavesomeofthefilms）.SheisoneoftherichestwomenintheUK

andanotablesupporterofmanycharities.

Languagepoints

1Variety’stheveryspiceoflife,/Thatgivesitallitsflavour…（Para2）

Spicesaremadefromplantsandaddedtofoodtogiveititsparticularflavourortaste.TheEnglishproverb

“Varietyisthespiceoflife”（theproverbcomesfromCowper’spoem）thereforemeansthatvarietygives

lifeextravalueandallowsyoutoappreciatelifeinparticularways.

2Welearntolookbeyondourimmediatesurroundingstothehorizonandalandscapefarawayfrom

home.（Para3）

Thismeansthatthroughreadingwelearntolookbeyondourimmediateexperienceorfamiliar

environmenttothingsbeyondourimmediateexperience,ietocompletelydifferentthingsthatwecan

imagineandexperiencethroughbooks.

3Whenabaseballplayerhitsahomerunhehitstheballsohardandsofarhe’sabletorunroundthe

fourbasesofthediamond,andscorepointsnotonlyforhimselfbutfortheotherrunnersalready

onabase.（Para9）

IntheAmericangameofbaseball,thefieldofgrassisdiamond-shapedandhasfourbases（specificpoints

markedaroundthediamond）,roundwhichplayersmustruntoscorepoints.Oneteambats（ieteam

memberstaketurnstohittheballandrunroundthebases）andthemembersoftheotherteamthrow（pitch）

theballand,whenitishasbeenhit,trytocatchitorgetitquicklytooneofthefourbases.Ifabatting

playercanhittheballhardenough,hecanrunroundallfourbasesbeforetheotherteamcangettheball

andthusscoremaximumpoints–withahomerun.Inthepassage,areallygoodbookisahomerun.

3Choosethebestanswertothequestions.

1WhyarewelikeAliceinwonderlandwhenwereadabook?

（a）Because,likeAlice,weoftenhaveaccidents.

（b）Becausereadingmakesusfeelyoungagain.

（c）Becausereadingopensthedoortonewexperiences.

（d）Becausebooksleadusintoadreamworld.

2Accordingtothewriter,whatistheadvantageofreadingoverreallife?

（a）Thereismorevarietyinbooksthaninreallife.

（b）Wecanexperiencevarietyanddifferencewithoutgoingoutofthehouse.

（c）Thepeoplewemeetinabookaremoreinterestingthanrealpeople.

（d）It’shardertomakesenseofreallifethanabook.

3WhatdothesevennovelslistedinParagraph4haveincommon?

（a）Theirtitlesstimulateimagination.

（b）TheyrepresentthebestwritingbyBritishandAmericannovelists.

（c）Theyhavebecomeclassics.

（d）Youcanfindalloftheminanylocallibrary.

4Atwhatmomentinourlivesdobooksbecomeimportant?

（a）Assoonaswestartreading.

（b）Whenwestartbuyingbookstofillourshelvesathome.

（c）Whenwestartlisteningtobedtime