Text I
Unit Eleven
Cultivating a Hobby
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Before Reading: Background
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Sir Winston Leonard Spencer
Churchill (1874-1965), the son of
Lord Randolph Churchill and an
American mother, was educated at
Harrow and Sandhurst. After a brief but
eventful career in the army, he became
a Conservative Member of Parliament
in 1900. He held many high posts in
Liberal and Conservative governments
during the first three decades of the
century. At the outbreak of the Second
World War, he was appointed First Lord
of the Admiralty - a post which he had
earlier held from 1911 to 1915.
Before Reading: Background
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In May, 1940, he became Prime
Minister and Minister of Defence and
remained in office until 1945. He took
over the premiership again in the
Conservative victory of 1951 and
resigned in 1955. However, he
remained a Member of Parliament until
the general election of 1964, when he
did not seek re-election. Queen
Elizabeth II conferred on Churchill the
dignity of Knighthood and invested him
with the insignia of the Order of the
Garter in 1953. Among the other
countless honours and decorations he
received, special mention should be
made of the honorary citizenship of the
United States which President Kennedy
conferred on him in 1963.
Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin at the conference of Teheran,
28th Nov. to 1st Dec. 1943.
Before Reading: Background
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Churchill's literary career began
with campaign reports: The Story of
the Malakand Field Force (1898)
and The River War (1899), an
account of the campaign in the
Sudan and the Battle of Omdurman.
In 1900, he published his only
novel, Savrola, and, six years later,
his first major work, the biography
of his father, Lord Randolph
Churchill. His other famous
biography, the life of his great
ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough,
was published in four volumes
between 1933 and 1938.
Before Reading: Background
•
Churchill's history of the First
World War appeared in four
volumes under the title of The
World Crisis (1923-29); his
memoirs of the Second World War
ran to six volumes (1948-1953/54).
After his retirement from office,
Churchill wrote a History of the
English-speaking Peoples (4 vols.,
1956-58). His magnificent oratory
survives in a dozen volumes of
speeches, among them The
Unrelenting Struggle (1942), The
Dawn of Liberation (1945), and
Victory (1946).
Before Reading: Background
• Churchill, a gifted amateur
painter, wrote Painting as a
Pastime (1948). An
autobiographical account of
his youth, My Early Life,
appeared in 1930.
• Winston Churchill died in
1965.
• From Nobel Lectures,
Literature 1901-1967,
Elsevier Publishing Company,
Chiang Kai-shek , Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Churchill
Amsterdam
at the Cairo Conference in 1943
Before Reading: Background
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Periods in Office:10 May 1940 to
27 July 1945
26 October 1951 to
April 7, 1955
PM Predecessors:Neville Chamberlain
Clement Attlee
PM Successors:Clement Attlee
Anthony Eden
Birth:30 November 1874
Place of Birth:Blenheim Palace,
Woodstock,
Oxfordshire, England
Death:24 January 1965
Place of Death:LondonPolitical
Party:As PM:Conservative
Also: Liberal
Winston Churchill on the cover of TIME magazine (30 Sep. 1940).
Before Reading: Background
•
In 1953 he was awarded two major
honours: he was invested as a
Knight of the Garter (becoming Sir
Winston Churchill, KG) and he was
awarded the Nobel Prize for
Literature "for his mastery of
historical and biographical
description as well as for brilliant
oratory in defending exalted human
values". A stroke in June of that
year led to him being paralysed
down his left side. He retired
because of his health on 5 April
1955 but retained his post as
Chancellor of the University of
Bristol.
Churchill during his second term
Before Reading: Background
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Churchill was a prolific writer
throughout his life and, during his
periods out of office, regarded
himself as a professional writer
who was also a Member of
Parliament. Despite his aristocratic
birth, he inherited little money (his
mother spent most of his
inheritance) and always needed
ready cash to maintain his lavish
lifestyle and to compensate for a
number of failed investments.
Some of his historical works, such
as A History of the English
Speaking Peoples, were written
primarily to raise money.
Global Reading: Theme
• the importance of
cultivating a hobby
• how to cultivate a
hobby
• 人情必有所寄，然后能
乐。……古之达士，高人一
层，只是他情有所寄，不肯
浮泛虚度光景。每见无寄之
人，终日忙忙，如有所失，
无事而忧，对景不乐，即自
家亦不知是何缘故，这便是
一座活地狱，更说甚么铁床
铜柱、刀山剑树也。大抵世
上无难为的事，只胡乱做将
去，自有水到渠成日子。
• 《袁中郎随笔·李子髯》
Detailed Reading: Language Points
• 1.
Worry is a spasm of the emotion; the
mind catches hold of something and will not let
go. (l.1-2)------The psychological nature of worry
is a sudden violent spell of the emotion. People’s
mind, at least temporarily, forms a kind of bigotry,
i.e., it cannot help thinking continually about
something. This spell of emotion is beyond one’s
control and cannot be got rid of through any
conscious effort.
Language Points
• 2.
It is useless to argue with the mind in this
condition. (l.2-3)------ When one is in the worry,
it’s impossible for one to dissuade himself from
considering the subject of his worry.
• 3.
The stronger the will, the more futile the
task. (l.3)------The more you attempt to shake off
your worry, the harder it will be for you to get rid
of it.
Language Points
• 4. One can only gently insinuate
something else into its convulsive grasp.
(l.3-4)------The course of getting rid of
worry can only be carried out in a gradual
manner. The way to achieve this purpose is
to transfer one’s attention from the thing
one formerly worrying about to something
else bit by bit.
Language Points
• 5.
attended by the illumination of (l.5)-----(if it can) bring with it some valuable
epiphany from
• 6.
undue grip (l.6)------excessive control
(of one’s mind by worry)
Language Points
• 7.
a public man (l.9)------a person engaged in
the affairs or service of the people; a person who
participates in social activities or works for the
society. The cultivating of a hobby is extremely
important to such a person because the
peacefulness of mind is something he cannot
afford to lose, or he would fail to exert his
responsibility to the society, the consequence of
which would deprive him of his social position
upon which his individual value rests.
Language Points
• 8. swiftly improvised by a mere command
of the will (l.10)------had the idea casually
practiced no sooner than it occurred in one’s
mind.
• 9. alternative mental interests (l.10-11)-----other interests of the mind.
Language Points
• 10. The seeds must be carefully
chosen…when needed. (l.11-13)------The
cultivation of a hobby (the seed of a plant)
must be carefully chosen for a person (good
ground); then the process of cultivating a
hobby, like that of growing a plant, requires
care and effort. Only in this way can one
reap in due time the fruit of one’s labor--the relaxing effect of one’s hobby.
Language Points
• 11.
It is no use starting late…or that.
(l.15-16)------It is not a good idea to begin
thinking of pursuing a hobby when you
have already grown old.
• 12.
aggravate (l.16)------to make worse.
Language Points
• 13.
A man may…or relief. (l.17-18)-----The cultivation of a hobby has its own
track and one has to pay due time in
acquiring his hobby.
There is a gap
between having a hobby and having all the
external features of a hobby. It would be
impossible for you to get relaxation from
your hobby if one hasn’t invested enough
time as well as efforts in cultivating it.
Language Points
• 14.
It is no use doing what you like; you have
got to like what you do. (l.18-19)------It is no
good believing that you are in a position to enjoy
at a moment’s notice any pastime which happens
to catch your fancy; pleasure comes from exerting
one’s talents in a hobby suited to one’s
circumstances.
• 15.
those who are toiled to death (l.20)-----manual laborers, blue-collar workers.
Language Points
• 16.
those who are worried to death (l. 20)-----people who work with their brains, e.g.,
professionals, public man.
• 17.
those who are bored to death (l.21)-----people who are not doing anything seriously,
perhaps the leisured class.
• 18.
command (l.26)------have control of; be
master of.
Language Points
• 19.
gratify every caprice (l.27)-----satisfy every whim; gratify: satisfy a desire;
caprice: a sudden wish to have or do
something without any reason.
Language Points
• 20.
As for the unfortunate people…an
additional satiation. (l.26-28) ------Since those
very wealthy people can afford to get access to
almost anything they may think of and to turn the
most fanciful ideas into reality, there is nothing in
this world that can interest or excite them any
more. To them, a new pleasure, a new excitement
may very often make them even more bored about
life.
Language Points
• 21.
avenging boredom (l.29-30)-----boredom that gives (them) no peace or that
inflicts suffering (upon them); here also
carries the meaning that the more efforts
you make to get rid of boredom, the more
boredom you would get.
Language Points
• 22.
clatter and motion (l.30)------refers
to the frantic rush from place to place of
those who can command all they want;
clatter refers to the noise (as from hilarious
parties) and motion refers to trips from
place to place since those hollow-minded
people are easily get bored.
Language Points
• 23.
modest (l.37)------simple, humble or
shabby.
• 24. grudge (l.40)------complain about.
• 25.
Indeed…from their minds. (l.4243)------In fact, it is probably those whose
work provides them with their enjoyment
are those who are most in need of periodic
distractions from their work.
After Reading: Exercises
• 1. Oral practice: Name one of your hobbies and try
to evaluate it with the criterion provided by Mr.
Churchill.
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• 2. Written work: Write a short composition about
your hobby. Lay emphasis on describing how you
cultivate this hobby and the enjoyment you’ve
drawn from it.
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