the discus thrower unit 8 the discus thrower unit8

THE DISCUS THROWER

Unit 8Unit 8

THE DISCUS THROWER

Watch the video and answer the following questions.

1. What is Mrs. Gump’s attitude toward death?

She seems quite peaceful in face of her own death. She seems to accept death as something she is destined to do.

This is probably because she thinks she has lived a satisfactory life. She believes that death is a part of life, something one is destined to do. She assumes that she has done the best she could to be a good woman.

2. Why does she have such an attitude?

Audiovisual supplementCultural information

From Forrest Gump


Forrest: Where’s Momma?Black woman: She’s upstairs.Mrs Gump: Hah, Forrest!Doctor: I’ll see you tomorrow.Mrs Gump: Fine.Doctor: Sure got you straightened out, didn’t we

boy?Forrest: What’s the matter, Momma?Mrs. Gump: I’m dyin’, Forrest. Come on in, sit down

over here.Forrest: Why are you dyin’, Momma?Mrs. Gump: It’s my time. It’s just my time. Oh, now,

don’t you be afraid, sweetheart. Death is just a part of life. It’s something we’re all destined to do. I didn’t know it, but I was destined to be your momma. I did the best I could.


Forrest: You did good, Momma.Mrs. Gump: Well, I happened to believe you make

your own destiny. You have to do the best with what God gave you.

Forrest: What’s my destiny, Momma?Mrs. Gump: You’re gonna have to figure that out

for yourself. Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you’re gonna get.

Forrest (V.O.): Momma always had a way of explaining things so I could understand them.

Mrs. Gump: I will miss you, Forrest.Forrest (V.O.): She had got the cancer and died on

a Tuesday. I bought her a new hat with little flowers on it.


(EXT. BUS STOP － PRESENT The elderly woman and Forrest sit. The woman is crying and wipes her eyes with a hankie.)

Forrest: And that’s all I have to say about that. Didn’t you say you were waiting for the number 7 bus?

Elderly woman: There’ll be another one along shortly.

Forrest: Now, because I had been a football star and war hero and national celebrity and a shrimping ...


The Psychological Aspects of Amputation Regardless of the cause of the amputation, an amputee will probably go through basically the same psychological stages. Some may go through the grieving process in a short time, while others will suffer several months. However, it is important that one acknowledge and understand the process as he is going through each stage, for it possibly helps him to survive psychologically.


1. The Five Stages of the Grieving Process● DenialPeople who go through traumatic amputations usually experience Denial, but normally those who have had surgical amputations will not experience it.

● AngerOften people will blame God, the doctor, or others for their loss.


● BargainingIn this stage, patients may attempt to postpone the reality of amputation, and most patients will try to bargain with their doctor or through a higher authority such as a religious figure.

● DepressionIn this stage, anger is taken place by depression. This is probably the most complicated stage of grief, but it too will disappear. Common symptoms include sleeping either too much or too little, negative feelings about the environment and the future, feelings of hopelessness, and talking about death.


● Acceptance and HopeEventually, the amputee will come to terms with his loss and start living again. This is more easily achieved if he has a visit from a peer counselor who has been through this entire process and can give him some advice.


2. Complicated Grief Complicated grief is not common in amputee patients, however its symptoms are more harmful, which include severe isolation, violent behavior, suicidal ideation, workaholic behavior, severe or prolonged depression, nightmares, and avoiding reminders of the amputation. It is urgent for the amputees with these symptoms to seek appropriate professional medical treatment.


This text is a piece of chronological narration about an amputee, a difficult and only semi-communicative patient who floundered in his last days in agony and depression and eventually died.

The text can be divided into three parts:Part I

(Paragraph 1): This part serves as an introduction to the background of the story.

Part II (Paragraphs 2 — 13): This part describes the strange behavior of a particular patient dubbed the “discus thrower” and his conflict with health workers.

Rhetorical featuresStructural analysis

Part III (Paragraph 14 — 15): The last part tells the readers about the patient’s death.

This narration also poses interesting challenges: what to think of this man, how to understand him, and how to treat him? Clearly the man’s enigmatic speech and action are saying something, and Selzer suggests that few are listening. The story offers no answer, but it suggests that the kind of sympathy the narrator develops through watching the patient (though not expressed) is a good start. The patient’s provocative behavior and the story’s openness make it a good point of departure for a discussion.


1. Ought not a doctor to observe his patients by any means and from any stance that he might take for the more fully assemble evidence? (Paragraph 1)2. Is he mute as well as blind? (Paragraph 3)3. What is he thinking behind those lids that do not blink? Is he remembering a time when he was whole? Does he dream of feet? Or when his body was not a rotting log? (Paragraph 6)

A notable feature of this text is the extensive use of questions on the part of the narrator. He asks questions in his dialogue with the patient, and he also asks himself questions.

First look at the questions he asks himself: For example:


These questions call for no answer but they reveal the inner thoughts of the narrator. He seems to be trying to place himself in the position of the patient to feel a better understanding of the patient’s psychology.

Now look at the questions he asks in his dialogue with the patient:For example:

1. How are you? (Paragraph 5)2. How do you feel? (Paragraph 5)3. Anything more I can do for you? (Paragraph 7)

All these questions help to show that the doctor is very patient with and, responsible for his patient.


Practice: Study the text and pick out other questions he asks, and see how these questions help reveal his attitude towards the patient.


THE DISCUS THROWER Richard Selzer

1 I spy on my patients. Ought not a doctor to observe his patients by any means and from any stance, that he might the more fully assemble evidence? So I stand in the doorways of hospital rooms and gaze. Oh, it is not all that furtive an act. Those in bed need only look up to discover me. But they never do.

Detailed reading

2 From the doorway of Room 542 the man in the bed seems deeply tanned. Blue eyes and close-cropped white hair give him the appearance of vigor and good health. But I know that his skin is not brown from the sun. It is rusted, rather, in the last stage of containing the vile repose within. And the blue eyes are frosted, looking inward like the windows of a snowbound cottage. This man is blind. This man is also legless ― the right leg missing from midthigh down, the left from just below the knee. It gives him the look of a bonsai, roots and branches pruned into the dwarfed facsimile of a great tree.

Detailed reading

3 Propped on pillows, he cups his right thigh in both hands. Now and then he shakes his head as though acknowledging the intensity of his suffering. In all of this he makes no sound. Is he mute as well as blind?4 The room in which he dwells is empty of all possessions ― no get-well cards, small, private caches of food, day-old flowers, slippers, all the usual kickshaws of the sick room. There is only the bed, a chair, a nightstand, and a tray on wheels that can be swung across his lap for meals.

Detailed reading

5 “What time is it?” he asks. “Three o’clock.” “Morning or afternoon?” “Afternoon.” He is silent. There is nothing else he wants to know. “How are you?” I say. “Who are you?” he asks. “It’s the doctor. How do you feel?” He does not answer right away. “Feel?” he says. “I hope you feel better,” I say. I press the button at the side of the bed. “Down you go,” I say. “Yes, down,” he says.

Detailed reading

6 He falls back upon the bed awkwardly. His stumps, unweighted by legs and feet, rise in the air, presenting themselves. I unwrap the bandages from the stumps, and begin to cut away the black scabs and the dead, glazed fat with scissors and forceps. A shard of white bone comes loose. I pick it away. I wash the wounds with disinfectant and redress the stumps. All this while, he does not speak. What is he thinking behind those lids that do not blink? Is he remembering a time when he was whole? Does he dream of feet? Or when his body was not a rotting log?

Detailed reading

7 He lies solid and inert. In spite of everything, he remains impressive, as though he were a sailor standing athwart a slanting deck. “Anything more I can do for you?” I ask. For a long moment he is silent. “Yes,” he says at last and without the least irony. “You can bring me a pair of shoes.” In the corridor, the head nurse is waiting for me. “We have to do something about him,” she says. “Every morning he orders scrambled eggs for breakfast, and, instead of eating them, he picks up the plate and throws it against the wall.”

Detailed reading

“Throws his plate?” “Nasty. That’s what he is. No wonder his family doesn’t come to visit. They probably can’t stand him any more than we can.” She is waiting for me to do something. “Well?” “We’ll see,” I say.8 The next morning I am waiting in the corridor when the kitchen delivers his breakfast. I watch the aide place the tray on the stand and swing it across his lap. She presses the button to raise the head of the bed. Then she leaves.

Detailed reading

9 In time the man reaches to find the rim of the tray, then on to find the dome of the covered dish. He lifts off the cover and places it on the stand. He fingers across the plate until he probes the eggs. He lifts the plate in both hands, sets it on the palm of his right hand, centers it, balances it. He hefts it up and down slightly, getting the feel on it. Abruptly, he draws back his right arm as far as he can. 10 There is the crack of the plate breaking against the wall at the foot of his bed and the small wet sound of the scrambled eggs dropping to the floor.

Detailed reading

11 And then he laughs. It is a sound you have never heard. It is something new under the sun. It could cure cancer. Out in the corridor, the eyes of the head nurse narrow. “Laughed, did he?” She writes something down on her clipboard.12 A second aide arrives, brings a second breakfast tray, puts it on the nightstand, out of his reach. She looks over at me shaking her head and making her mouth go. I see that we are to be accomplices.

Detailed reading

13 “I’ve got to feed you,” she says to the man. “Oh, no, you don’t,” the man says. “Oh, yes, I do,” the aide says, “after the way you just did. Nurse says so.” “Get me my shoes,” the man says. “Here’s the oatmeal,” the aide says. “Open.” And she touches the spoon to his lower lip. “I ordered scrambled eggs,” says the man. “That’s right,” the aide says. I step forward. “Is there anything I can do?” I say. “Who are you?” the man asks.

Detailed reading

14 In the evening I go once more to that ward to make my rounds. The head nurse reports to me that Room 542 is deceased. She has discovered this by accident, she says. No, there had been no sound. Nothing. It’s a blessing, she says.15 I go into his room, a spy looking for secrets. He is still there in his bed. His face is relaxed, grave, dignified. After a while, I turn to leave. My gaze sweeps the wall at the foot of the bed, and I see the place where it has been repeatedly washed, where the wall looks very clean and white.

Detailed reading

Does the doctor feel guilty of spying on his patients? Why or why not? (Paragraph 1)

No, he doesn’t. Instead, he finds the activity justifiable. For one thing, he thinks the activity is well-meant, i.e. he wants to collect more pathological evidence in order to give the patients more effective treatment. For another, his activity is not spying in the true sense, for the act is far from furtive.

Detailed reading

How would you account for the possessions in Room 542? (Paragraph 4)

The fact that there are no get-well cards, no small, private caches of food and day-old flowers shows that he has been abandoned by his family and friends.

Detailed reading

Why does the patient ask for shoes time and again? (Paragraphs 7)

As a blind man, he is restrained in activity. Now without legs he is completely confined to bed. Like a caged bird, he longs for freedom and dreams of going back to his career. Thus it is understandable why he repeatedly asks for shoes.

Detailed reading

Why does the patient throw his plate? (Paragraphs 9－ 10)

This is the way he expresses his wrath with the unfair fate. He is deprived of sight and now his legs. Deserted by society, he is left with very little. Indignant as he is, he can avenge himself upon nobody. What he can do is only to crash his plate against the wall to vent his anger and despair. Moreover, he would rather die in a stroke like the plate than linger in agony.

Detailed reading

What kind of laughter does the patient give? (Paragraph 11)

The laughter is unique as is indicated in Paragraph 11. It comes both from the pleasure after revenge by crashing the plate and the hope to extricate himself from his agony by means of an abrupt death like the plate. Since freedom in this material world is impossible to him, he wishes to have it in the other world.

Detailed reading

Group discussions

How do you think a dying man will most probably behave? Should euthanasia (physician-assisted suicide) be legalized?

Detailed reading

The US government the movements of the terrorists since 9.11.

Translation:

公司派他去侦查竞争对手的销售实力。The company sent him to spy on the competitor’s sales force.____________________________________________________________

_______

Collocations: spy on: secretly or furtively observe sb. or sth.

e.g.The children loved spying on the grownups.

Blank filling:

has been spying on_____________________

spy: v. notice

Detailed reading

stance: n. an attitude or view about an issue that you state

clearlyCollocations:

stance on/toward/against

e.g.Tell us what your stance is on capital punishment.

Detailed reading

e.g.Paul heard stealthy footsteps on the stairs.

furtive: a. done on the sly or in a sneaky way

Synonym:

secret, stealthy, covert, clandestine, surreptitious, underhand

e.g.The thief gave a furtive glance at the defense attorney when the judge read the charges.

Comparison:

Secret is the most general.

e.g.a desk with a secret compartment; secret negotiationsStealthy suggests quiet, cautious deceptiveness intended to escape notice.

Detailed reading

Detailed reading

Covert describes something that is concealed or disguised.

e.g.Every measure, both overt and covert, is being taken against terrorists.Clandestine (a. & n.) implies stealth and secrecy for the concealment of an often illegal or improper purpose.

e.g.clandestine intelligence operations

Furtive suggests the slyness, shiftiness, and evasiveness of a thief.

e.g.Chris kept stealing furtive glances at me.

Surreptitious is stealthy, furtive, and often unseemly or unethical.

e.g.His surreptitious behavior naturally aroused suspicion.Underhand implies unfairness, deceit, or slyness as well as secrecy.

e.g.He’s a gentleman and would never say anything underhand about me.

Detailed reading

frosted: a. covered with frost or sth. like frost

e.g.a frosted windowfrosted glassfrosted blue eyes

Detailed reading

bonsai: n. an ornamental tree of shrub grown in a pot and artificially prevented from reaching its normal size

Detailed reading

dwarf: n. & a. (of) sth. or sb. much shorter than the normal

e.g.dwarf tree, plant, animal

v. to cause to appear small by comparison

e.g.Together these two big men dwarfed the tiny Broadway office.

buildings dwarfed by the surrounding hills被周围的小山衬得低矮的建筑物

Detailed reading

facsimile: n. an exact copy of sth., especially a book or

documente.g.

He spread out several facsimile weather charts.

Detailed reading

prop (up): v. support by placing against sth. solid or rigid; shore

upe.g.

Try to prop up the tent with the branch from the tree.

He can’t always expect his colleagues to prop him up.

to prop up a new regime扶植一个新政权

Detailed reading

cup: v. support or hold sth. with the hands that are curved like a dish

e.g.He cupped her chin in the palm of his hand.

Make a sentence with the following key words: kneel, cup, hand, river water.

David knelt, cupped his hands and splashed river water onto his face.____________________________________________________________

_______________

Detailed reading

swing: v. (swung, swung) move sth. from side to side

e.g.A large pendulum swung back and forth inside the grandfather clock.

His mood swings between elation and despair.

Detailed reading

probe: v. physically explore or examine sth. with the hands or an instrument

e.g.Detectives questioned him for hours, probing for any inconsistencies in his story.

Collocations:

probe in/into

e.g.The official enquiry will probe into alleged corruption within the Defence Ministry.

They probed in/into the mud with a special drill, looking for a long-buried shipwreck.

Detailed reading

heft: v. lift or hold sth. in order to test its weight

e.g.I watched him heft the heavy sack onto his shoulder.

Detailed reading

accomplice: n. sb. who helps another person to do sth. illegal or

wronge.g.He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.

Derivation:

complicity: n. (formal) the act of taking part with another person in a crime

e.g.complicity in a crime

Confusing words:

accomplice, accomplish

Detailed reading

go/make one’s rounds:(1) deliver mail door to door; go round (esp. a

hospital ward); inspect

e.g.make/go the rounds of the wards （医院）查房

e.g.a paragraph going the rounds of various journals转载在各种杂志上的一段文章War rumors are going the rounds.有关战争的谣言正在流传。

(2) spread

Detailed reading

deceased: a. dead

e.g.flowers on the grave of deceased relatives

e.g.The deceased was a highly respected member of the farming community.

Confusing words:

deceased, diseased

the deceased: (formal and legal) person(s) who has(have) recently died

Detailed reading

“Yes, down,” he says. (Paragraph 5)

Explanation:

“Yes, I am going down,” he says, meaning literally that he is going down with the bed but metaphorically that his physical condition is going from bad to worse.

Detailed reading

It is a sound you have never heard. It is something new under the sun. It could cure cancer. (Paragraph 11)

Paraphrase:

The wild, relaxed laughter is a totally new sound in the world that nobody has ever heard. The joyful laughter could even give a promising future to cancer patients.

Detailed reading

She looks over at me shaking her head and making her mouth go. (Paragraph 12)

Paraphrase:

The aide looks across at me, shaking her head to express her frustration and pursing her lips to signal her annoyance.

Detailed reading

Words and phrases practice

Word derivation

Synonym / Antonym

Vocabulary Translation Integrated skillsOral activitiesWritingGrammar

1) peculiar a. → peculiarity n.

e.g. 这是 18世纪特有的风俗。

诗人的特别之处在于他有表达自己感受的冲动。

This is a style peculiar to the 18th century.

A poet’s peculiarity is that he has the impulse to express what he feels.


I’m surprised that you got an unfavourable impression of him.

2) impress v. → impressive a. → impression n.e.g. 我使他铭记自己工作的重要性。

他们的婚礼令人印象深刻。

我很惊讶你对他印象不佳。

I impressed on him the importance of his work.

Their wedding ceremony was impressive.


How can I know where to find him? I haven’t even been to his dwelling!

3) dwell v. → deweller n. → dewelling n.e.g. 自出生以来他就居住在那个小村舍。

对城市居住者来说交通是一大问题。

我怎可能知道去哪里找他？我甚至都没去过他的住处 !

He has dwelled in the cottage since he was born.

For city dwellers, traffic is a big problem.


4) deliver v. → delivery n.

e.g. 你把我的口信带给你父亲了吗？

我们保证送货及时。

Did you deliver my message to your father?

We guarantee prompt delivery of goods.


It may also do harm to health to abuse disinfectant.

5) disinfect v. → disinfection n. → disinfectant n.e.g. 汤姆患过猩红热之后，这房子消了毒。

消毒可以杀死大部分细菌。

滥用消毒剂也会对健康有害。

The house was disinfected after Tom had scarlet fever.

Disinfection may kill most bacteria.


6) assemble v. → assembly n.

e.g. 学生在学校礼堂里集合。

他没有出现在学生和教师的每日集会上。

Students assembled in the school hall.

He didn’t show up in the daily assembly of students and teachers.


7) probe v. → probing n. & a.

e.g. 这名记者下定决心深入调查这桩丑闻。

他对邻居的打探很恼火。

The journalist is determined to probe into the scandal.

He was annoyed with his neighbour’s probings.


8) awkward a. → awkwardness n.

e.g. 他们之间出现了令人尴尬的沉默。

婴儿笨拙地使用勺子的样子把每个人都逗乐了。

There was an awkward silence between them.

The awkwardness of the baby with his spoon made everyone laugh.



1) The woman detective shifted her from one foot to the other.

stance________

2) The duke’s daughter became after a shock.

mute______

3) The police officer his body from top to bottom, suspecting him of drug trafficking.

probed________

4) Helicopters with searchlights the park which was sealed off.

swept_______


5) The plane was flying normally for about 15 minutes before a warning light started .

blinking_________

6) The top half of the door to his office was of glass.

frosted________

7) Quite , she came up with a brilliantly simple solution.

by accident_____________

8) The last of the sunlight was shining the latticed window.

athwart________


e.g. 我们从不同的角度得出相同的结论。

We came to the same conclusion from different stances.

stance: position


e.g. 小说的主人公是一个哑女。

The heroine of the novel is a mute woman.

mute: dumb


e.g. 潜水员一寸一寸地在浑浊的水域搜索。

Divers probed the murky waters inch by inch.

probe: search


e.g. 暴风雪横扫全国。

A blizzard swept the whole country.

sweep: move across steadily from side to side


e.g. 我们看到一艘轮船上的灯光在地平线上闪烁着。

We saw the lights of a steamer blinking on the horizon.

blink: flash on and off


e.g. 磨砂玻璃既透光又能保护一定的隐私。

Frosted glass both lets some light in and protects privacy to some degree.

frosted: roughened and thus not transparent


e.g. 由于很偶然的原因，分离的家庭重聚了。

By accident, the parted family reunited.

by accident: by chance


e.g. 那位水手独自横穿了大西洋。

The sailor came athwart the Atlantic alone.

athwart: across

live, reside, inhabit, lodge, stay

1. So I stand in the doorways of hospital rooms and gaze.

Synonym: stare, watch, look

2. The room in which he dwells is empty of all possessions …

Synonym:

3. I watch the aide place the tray on the stand and swing it across his lap.

Synonym: sway


tense, nervous, stressed, anxious

4. “Yes,” he says at last and without the least irony.

Synonym: satire, sarcasm, derision, ridicule

5. His face is relaxed, grave, dignified.

Antonym:

6. In spite of everything, he remains impressive.

Synonym:remarkable, extraordinary, notable, striking


stretch, extend

7. It is rusted, rather, in the last stage of containing the vile repose within.

Antonym: desirable, pleasant, agreeable

8. In time the man reaches to find the rim of the tray.

Synonym:


Vocabulary Grammar

As though/if

Plural

Subject-predicate agreement

Translation Integrated skillsOral activitiesWriting

As though/if

After as if and as though, we often use the past tense to show that we think what is said in the clause is “unreal”, and we use the present tense when we think what is said is real.

Unreal situations:

He acts as if/though he knew me. 他显得认识我似的。They treat me as if/though I were a stranger. 他们待我如陌生人。He talks as if/though he had been abroad. 他说起话来好像曾出过国似的。

Vocabulary Grammar Translation Integrated skillsOral activitiesWriting

Real situations:

It looks as if/though we are late. 看起来我们迟到了。This meat tastes as if/though it goes bad. 这肉吃起来好像坏了。He talks as if/though he is drunk ．从他谈话的样子来看他是醉了。


Practice: Fill in the blanks with the proper tenses of the verbs in the brackets, paying special attention to real or unreal situations. 1. She loves the boy as if she (be) his

mother.(unreal)

2. The child talks to us as if he (be) a grown-up. (unreal)

3. He acts as if he (be) a fool. (unreal)

4. She listens carefully as if she (be) quite interested in the topic ． (real)

was/were____________

was/were____________

was/were____________

is___


5. You look as if you (not care). (unreal)

6. He talks as if he (know) where to find her. (unreal)

knew_______

didn’ t care_____________


Plural

e.g. snake － snakes, ski － skis, mark － marks

- The plural form of most nouns is created simply by adding the letter s.

e.g. witch － witches, box － boxes, grass － grasses

- Words that end in -ch, x, s or s-like sounds, however, will require an -es for the plural.

e.g. child － children, woman － women, deer － deer

- There are several nouns that have irregular plural forms. Plurals formed in this way are sometimes called mutated (or mutating) plurals.


e.g. medium － media, syllabus － syllabi, focus － foci

- And, finally, there are nouns that maintain their Latin or Greek form in the plural.

e.g. baby － babies, gallery － galleries, reality － realities

- With words that end in a consonant and a y, you’ll need to change the y to an i and add es.

e.g. potato － potatoes, hero － heroes, photo － photos

- Words that end in o sometimes create special problems.


e.g. knife － knives, leaf － leaves, hoof － hooves

- Plurals of words that end in -f or -fe usually change the f sound to a v sound and add s or -es.

e.g. dwarf － dwarfs, roof － roofs

- There are, however, exceptions:


Practice:

bus →

kiss →

Jones→

goose→

mouse →

thesis→

phenomenon →

Change the following singular forms into plural forms

buses( )

index →

appendix→

criterion →

cello →

stereo →

elf→

kisses( ) Joneses(

)

indices/indexes( )

geese( ) mice( )

theses( ) phenomena(

)

cellos( ) stereos(

)elves( )

criteria( )

appendices/appendixes( )


Subject-predicate agreement A predicate must agree with the subject of the sentence in number and person. That is, in any particular sentence, a singular predicate must express the action or being of a singular subject, while a plural predicate must express the action or being of a plural subject. Lack of agreement between Subjects and Predicates often occurs in sentences.e.g. Each of the students are (×is) responsible for

paying tuition costs on time.

Some nouns appear to be plural in form but take a singular verb:

e.g. The news is bad.


e.g. Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money.

Some nouns might seem to be singular in nature but take a plural form and always use a plural verb:

e.g.My pants are torn.

Numerical expressions are usually singular, but can be plural if the individuals within a numerical group are acting individually:

When a noun names the title of something or is a word being used as a word, it is singular whether the word takes a singular form or not.

e.g.Faces is the name of the new restaurant downtown.


1. Gymnastics is fun to watch.

√

2. Statistics are said to be difficult.

Statistics is said to be difficult.

Practice: Correct the predicates when there are agreement errors.

3. Fifty percent of the students has voted already.Fifty percent of the students have voted already.


4. Her scissors was stolen.

Her scissors were stolen.5. Chelmsley Brothers is the best moving company in town.

√


1. 探照灯的光柱掠过漆黑的水面。 (finger across)

If you finger across sth., you move your fingers on its surface.

Translate the following sentences into English.

Search lights fingered across the black water.


Practice ：她用指尖划过光滑的丝绸。

他的手指拂过她的长发。

She fingered across the silk.

He fingered across her long hair.


2. 自从这座大厦发生了一起抢劫案之后，守夜人就更加小心了，他每小时都要巡视一次。 (make one’s rounds)

When you make your rounds, you go from one person or a place to another.

Since a robbery happened in this building, the night watchman has become more careful and makes his rounds once every hour.


Practice ：他被解雇的谣言正在四处传播。

他这些天在各个脱口秀节目中赶场。

The rumor that he has been fired is making the rounds.

He has been making his rounds in all talk shows these days.


3. 虽然已经没有任何力量支持他了，他依然坚持自己的计划。(prop up)

To prop up sb. or sth. is to help or support a person, government, system, organization, etc.

He stuck to his plan, though there was nothing left to prop him up.


Practice ：这项新方案是为了支撑经济孤注一掷的尝试。

政府拒绝补贴效率低下的行业。

This new initiative is a desperate attempt to prop up economy.

The government refuses to prop up inefficient industries.


4. 他被警方雇佣刺探恐怖分子的活动。 (spy on)

If you spy on someone, you watch him/her secretly so that you know everything he/she does.

He is paid by the police to spy on the activities of the terrorists.


Practice ：真要想在乔尔家里的计算机上窥探他隐私并不是那么困难。

他以前的工作是侦察敌军。

It won’t be difficult to really spy on Joel at his home computer.

His job was to spy on the enemy.


5. 总有一天他们会接受这个残酷的现实的。 (in time)

When sth. will happen in time, it will happen eventually, sooner or later.

In time they will come to accept the harsh reality.


Practice ：事态总有一天会好转的。

你将来会学会如何做这件事情的。

Things will mend in time.

You will learn how to do it in time.


6. 那个人的行为非常可疑。他假装睡觉，却不时窥视过往的行人。 (furtive)

Furtive is marked by quiet, caution and secrecy; it indicates taking pains to avoid being observed.

That man’s behaviour looks very suspicious. He is pretending to sleep, but now and then he steals a furtive glance at the passers-by.


Practice ：在离开她的房间前，她朝旅馆的走道鬼鬼祟祟地瞥了一眼。

老师对这个学生在考试时偷偷摸摸的行为感到很可疑。

She cast a furtive glance down the hotel corridor before leaving her room.

The teacher was suspicious of the student’s furtive behaviour during the exam.


7. 这个国家近几年发生的社会、经济变化如此彻底，使所有邻国相形见绌。 (dwarf)

If sb. or sth. dwarfs sb. or sth. else, it makes them appear small by comparison.

The social and economic changes that have taken place in this country are so sweeping that it has dwarfed all its neighbours.


Practice ：去年的债务与今年相比就微不足道了。

这座超级大城市把周边的城市都衬得非常渺小。

This year’s debt dwarfs that of last year.

The super metropolis dwarfs the cities around it.


8. 在拂晓前昏暗的光线中，我看到一个黑影挡在门口。(athwart)

This preposition means from one side to the other side.

In the dim light of the daybreak, I saw a dark shape looming athwart the door.


Practice ：轮船横着停泊在港囗里。

远山横亘在地平线上。

The ship was anchored athwart the harbour mouth.

The far mountain lies athwart the horizon.


Dictation

Cloze


Dictation You will hear a passage read three times. At

the first reading, you should listen carefully for its general idea. At the second reading, you are required to write down the exact words you have just heard (with proper punctuation). At the third reading, you should check what you have written down.


The longer I live, / the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. / Attitude to me is more important than facts. / It is more important than the past,/ than education, than money, / than circumstances, than failures, than successes, / than what other people think or say or do. / It is more important / than appearance, gifted ability, or skill. / It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is / we have a choice every day / regarding the attitude we will embrace from that day. / We cannot change our past, / we cannot change the fact / that people will act in certain ways. / We cannot change

Dictation


the inevitable. / The only thing that we can do / is play on the one string that we have / and this string is Attitude. / I am convinced / life is 10 percent what happens to me / and 90 percent how I react to it. / And so it is with you.


Fill in each blank in the passage below with ONE word you think appropriate. I believe attitude is one of the most overlooked secrets of recovery. By choosing to have a positive, healthy attitude about life, suffering, the past, the future, relationships, etc., I can actually control the quality of my serenity (1) a minute-by-minute basis.

Notice I did not say “control my life” or “control my circumstances.” These are not necessarily always (2) my control — but my attitude is always under my control. My attitude is one of the few things that I can maintain and control at all times.

on____

under______


If I fail to control my attitude, life invariably gets messy and out of control. But (3) if my circumstances are terrible and my life is filled with pain, I can control my attitude.

Attitude is simply a matter of choosing (4) I will respond to the situations life presents. Life is constantly asking questions of me, and my responses are all-important.

Any situation (5) I find myself is an opportunity for me to choose how I will respond. Any situation that life throws (6) me, I am capable of choosing an appropriate, healthy attitude and appropriate response. Even if my worst nightmare came (7) , I could still choose my attitude in that situation.

where_______

true_____

at___

even______

how_____


Viktor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning chose his attitude in the Nazi concentration (8) . Jesus Christ chose his attitude when he was crucified (9) a criminal.

I’m unlikely to ever face (10) of those extremes in my life. More often, for me, the little annoyances of life are the ones I must guard against.

camps_______

as___

either_______


I believe attitude is one of the most overlooked secrets of recovery. By choosing to have a positive, healthy attitude about life, suffering, the past, the future, relationships, etc., I can actually control the quality of my serenity (1) a minute-by-minute basis.


Collocation “on … basis”.

on____

under______


I believe attitude is one of the most overlooked secrets of recovery. By choosing to have a positive, healthy attitude about life, suffering, the past, the future, relationships, etc., I can actually control the quality of my serenity (1) a minute-by-minute basis.


Collocation “under one’s control”.

on____

under______




Any situation (5) I find myself is an opportunity for me to choose how I will respond.

where_______

even______

how_____

Judging from the context and the logic of the passage, we need the adverb “even” to modify “if”, which introduces an adverbial clause of concession.





Here “how” introduces an object clause, and within the clause “how” modifies the verb “respond”.

where_______

even______

how_____





In this sentence, “where” introduces an attributive clause to modify its antecedent “situation”.

where_______

even______

how_____


Collocation “throw sb. at sth.”. Here we have an inverted sentence for the purpose of emphasis.

opportunity for me to choose how I will respond. Any situation that life throws (6) me, I am capable of choosing an appropriate, healthy attitude and appropriate response. Even if my worst nightmare came (7) , I could still choose my attitude in that situation.

true_____

at___


Collocation “come true”. If a dream, wish, or fear comes true, it really happens.

opportunity for me to choose how I will respond. Any situation that life throws (6) me, I am capable of choosing an appropriate, healthy attitude and appropriate response. Even if my worst nightmare came (7) , I could still choose my attitude in that situation.

true_____

at___


“Nazi concentration camp” is a proper name.



camps_______

as___

either_______


“As” as a preposition together with its object “ a criminal” plays the role of manner adverbial in this sentence.



camps_______

as___

either_______


According to the context, “those extremes” refers to the cases of Viktor Frankl and Jesus Christ. We use “either” in the negative statement of both of two things or people.



camps_______

as___

either_______


Giving a talk

Having a dialogue


Giving a talk

Topic A: How to resolve the doctor-patient conflict number of doctors, quality of service, work ethics, legislation, rules, regulations, supervision, media, training, education

Words and phrases for reference:


Having a dialogue

A nurse talks with a senior doctor or nurse and asks him or her for advice as to how a responsible and sympathetic medical worker should deal with the patients in such a situation as tending some patients who are suffering from a highly infectious fatal disease. attitude, responsible, sympathetic, considerate, ready to help, necessities, needs, psychological problems, distress, pain, cure, optimistic

Words and phrases for reference:


Essay writing: Suppose you find yourself having a financial

problem or a health problem. Write a 250-word composition on

the attitude you are going to take.

Essay type: problem-solution essay

Structure: 1. State your problem. 2. Tell the reader what attitude you will take

towards this problem.3. Imagine what will happen if you take an entirely

different attitude.


Task Response

Coherence and

Cohesion

Lexical Resource

Grammatical Range

and Accuracy

Fully and appropriately answer the question with clear, relevant and well-supported ideas in required length.

Information and ideas are well organized, presented and linked.

A wide range of vocabulary used in an accurate and appropriate manner for the task.

A wide range of structures used in an accurate and appropriate manner for the task.

What makes a good essay:


Sample topic sentences:1. Modern people are confronted with various health

problems: diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, etc.

2. To improve health, we need to adopt healthier life style in terms of food, exercise, and relaxation.

3. Relying totally on medical treatment will lead us astray.


Text II Memorable quotes

Lead-in questions

Text

Questions for discussion

Lead-in questions

What are the possible emotions involving death?a. griefb. angerc. panicd. relaxation


A RAGE AGAINST DYING Stanley L. Englebardt

1 Sian Evens, a striking 17-year-old with dark, waist-long hair, worked as a waitress as she tried to sort out her future. She lived with her father in Dallas, Texas, and often hung out at the houses of several friends. That’s where she headed after work in the early hours of Friday, December 4, 1981.2 Entering the kitchen, Sian was shocked to find a young man working on a motorcycle. “What are you doing with that thing in here?” she asked.


3 “It’s too cold to work outside,” he told her. “I’ll be finished soon.”4 A tear-shaped gas tank sat on a chair. She picked it up and felt gasoline slosh around inside. This shouldn’t be in the house, she thought. Sian didn’t know a trickle of gasoline had already streamed across the floor toward a space heater. Just after she grabbed the tank, the vapor caught fire and flames shot across the room, reaching the tank and igniting it in a blinding-white flash.5 At first Sian tried to spin out of the flames. Then, suddenly remembering that rolling on the floor was safer, she dropped into a puddle of slippery liquid. Gasoline!


6 Someone from the living room raced in and threw a jacket over her to smother the flames. When he pulled the jacket away, she wondered why all the faces staring down at her bore such shocked expressions.7 Strangely, she felt no pain. She stood up, walked dazedly out the kitchen and down the street. A pickup truck driven by one of the young men from the house pulled up next to her. “Get in,” he shouted. “We have to get you to a hospital.” They sped to White Settlement Hospital just blocks away.8 Sian’s injuries were too serious to be treated there. Doctors contacted Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, a regional burn center.


9 Sian had suffered third-degree burns, which penetrate deep into muscles, blood vessels and nerves. Most of the wounds were concentrated on her face, neck, hands and upper body. Her scorched eyelids and nostrils were swollen shut, her lips were blackened and puffy and her right ear was charred. Blood and fluids were seeping from her body. 10 Wakened by a phone call, Robert Evans raced toward Parkland. It must be serious, the 42-year-old geologist thought. Only the worst burn cases are taken there.


11 I must help her get through this, he vowed. Bobby, as Sian called him, was soon put to the test. He remained at her side for as long as doctors would allow. Sian was drifting in and out of consciousness. Once, when awake, she tried to tear out the I.V. tubes that were delivering life-sustaining fluids to her body.12 Two or three times a day, nurses performed a painful medical procedure on Sian. Using sponge-brushes, they dislodged scorched and dying layers of skin, and scrubbed the wounds down to raw, bleeding tissue to reduce the risk of infection.


13 Sian was slipping into longer periods of unconsciousness. When Bobby arrived at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for his morning visit three days after the accident, she was unresponsive. “She hasn’t stirred for hours,” a nurse told him. “I think she’s giving up.” 14 Not if I can help it, Bobby thought. Then, as the hospital staff listened in fascination, he read to her the poetry of Byron, Keats, Shelley, and that of Dylan Thomas: “ Do not go gentle into that good night… Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” Sian lay without motion or sign of comprehension.


15 A few days after the accident, Sian’s sister Rhiannon brought in a portable tape player and a tape of Sian’s favorite rock bands. As the music played, Rhiannon and her father watched for signs of awareness. Still nothing. Then a nurse exclaimed excitedly, “Look at her feet!” One of Sian’s feet was moving in time to the music.


16 Encouraged, Bobby kept up the one-sided conversation. Sian gradually regained consciousness, but the ventilator she was on temporarily prevented her from speaking. She couldn’t even blink acknowledgement with her swollen eyes. So Bobby outlined a method of communication: he would go through the alphabet, and she’d wiggle her foot at the letter she wanted. The first two words she spelled out were “time” and “where.” She had no idea where she was or how long she’d been there.


17 The next word started. Slowly, she wiggled out the letters “H,” “A,” “I” and “R.” Bobby explained that the nurse had to shave her head.18 The next word began with the letter “U.” After that came a “G” and then an “L.” “No,” Bobby cut in before she could finish. “Ugly is a word I don’t like. There are more important things than good looks.” He sensed she was thinking of giving up. “Dying is not an option. You still have an undamaged brain. And we’re going to use it to make you whole.”


19 At Bobby’s request, the nurses covered the mirror in Sian’s room. But they couldn’t hide her looks from her forever. When Bobby said it was okay, they uncovered it. One morning, Sian finally saw what everyone else had seen. The hair that had once been her crowning glory was little more than down. Below that, a large bandage masked what was left of her right ear. Her eyes were puffy, and there was no hint of eyebrows. Large patches of scar tissue crusted her forehead, nose, cheek, lips, chin and neck. 20 It’s not me, she thought to herself. I’m a complete stranger.


21 After four weeks in the ICU, Sian was transferred to the burn ward, where her treatment continued. Surgeons sliced off layers of healthy tissue from her thighs, hips and stomach to graft onto her arms, neck and face.22 Eight weeks after her accident, Sian was released from Parkland Hospital. But she faced a score of further operations. Some were to graft healthy tissue onto her fingers. As they healed, they were often inelastic, limiting her movement to a claw-like position. Sian cried in frustration trying to hold a pencil or bring a piece of food to her mouth.


23 But she was now showing her old mettle. Determined to regain full function as soon as possible, she adopted a relentless workout schedule beginning at 8 a.m. and ending in late evening. On weekends she took long bicycle rides for added exercise.24 Then one afternoon during a therapy session, Sian closed her right hand all the way. That night, at her father’s house for dinner with family and friends, she could barely contain her excitement. “Bobby, Bobby, look!” she exclaimed. She held up the hand and made a tight fist.


25 It brought a round of cheers and applause. Sian did it again, clenching even harder this time. The fragile skin over her knuckles split and began to bleed.26 “Don’t worry,” she said quickly, “it will heal.”27 There was a moment of tense silence. Bobby held back tears. Then he said, “Okay, if you can make a fist, you can feed yourself. Tonight you eat without help.” It took three and a half hours for Sian to finish the meal. Afterward, the white tablecloth was splattered with blood from her split knuckles. But the look of triumph exchanged between father and daughter was worth every crimson stain.


About the text ― This text is an abridged version of an article with the same title which appears in Reader’s Digest August 1994.


hung out at the houses of several friends (Paragraph 1) ― spent time at the houses of several friends


Her scorched eyelids and nostrils were swollen shut (Paragraph 9) ― Her scorched eyelids and nostrils were so swollen that they couldn’t open.


I.V. tubes (Paragraph 11) ― intravenous tubes


Not if I can help it, ... (Paragraph 14) ― She will not give up if I can help it, ...


Byron (Paragraph 14) ― Lord George Gordon Byron (1788 － 1824), British poet


Keats (Paragraph 14) ― John Keats (1795 － 1821), British poet


Shelley (Paragraph 14) ― Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 － 1822), British poet


Dylan Thomas (Paragraph 14) ― British poet (1914－ 1953)


Do not go gentle into that good night … Rage, rage against the dying of the light. (Paragraph 14) ― This is taken from Dylan Thomas’ poem Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night. This poem is the poet’s address to his dying father and its theme is that one should go violently, not gently, to one’s death. The whole text reads: Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way. Do not go gentle into that good night.


Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. And you, my father, there on the sad height, Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


She couldn’t even blink acknowledgement with her swollen eyes. (Paragraph 16) ― She couldn’t even express her recognition and understanding by blinking her swollen eyes.


down (Paragraph 19) ― fine soft hair or feathers


showing her old mettle (Paragraph 23) ― display her ability or determination


1. What happened to Sian when she was 17?

She was caught in a fire caused by the spilled gasoline from a gas tank in a kitchen and became seriously injured.


2. How serious was her case?

She suffered third-degree burns, which means about 40 percent of her body was burned. As the text tells us, these burns penetrated deep into her muscles, blood vessels and nerves. Most of the wounds were concentrated on her face, neck, hands and upper body. Her scorched eyelids and nostrils were swollen shut, her lips were blackened and puffy and her right ear was charred. Blood and fluids were seeping from her body.


3. How did her father try to help her get through?

Her father rushed to the hospital as soon as he got the message and stayed by her side as long as he was allowed. During his visits he tried to help her regain consciousness by playing music tapes and encourage her to live on by one-sided conversation. His deep love and great patience contributed immensely to her daughter’s physical and mental recovery.


4. Imagine what Sian would do after she was well enough to move around.There could have been many options and possibilities for Sian to choose from. But here is what really happened to her after she left hospital: She attended university and studied biology; she got interested in medicine and finally became a surgeon in a hospital!



1. It hath been often said, that it is not death, but dying, which is terrible.

— Henry Fielding

2. To die: － to sleep:No more; and, by a sleep to say we endThe heart-ache and the thousand natural shocksThat flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummationDevoutly to be wished.

— William Shakespeare

Questions for discussion

1) Why is dying possibly more terrible than death itself?

2) What do you think of the comparison between death and sleep?


Dying is more terrible than death because death is far away while dying is at hand.

Smart comparison. Differences do exist, however. Temporary or eternal. Dream or dreamless. To wake or not to wake any more.

1) Suggestion:

Guidance:

2) Suggestion:


Henry Fielding (1707 － 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones.


William Shakespeare (1564 －1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England’s national poet and the “Bard of Avon”. His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.


the discus thrower unit 8 the discus thrower unit8

Documents

mrs gump

wheres momma

elderly woman

good woman

black woman

satisfactory life

psychological stages

youre gonna