Part I: pre-reading
 Background information
 Max Shulman (March 14, 1919 – August 28,
1988) was an American writer who was
popular in the third quarter of the 20th
century. His writing often focused on young
people, particularly in a collegiate setting.
 Shulman was the author of several fairly
well-received novels Shulman was also a
screenwriter.
Charles Lamb
 Charles Lamb (1775-1834), English
essayist and poet, most famous for his
collection Essays of Elia (1823, 1833). The
poem "The Old Familiar Faces" and the
essay "Dream’s Children" are among his
most popular works. He’s a famous English
essayist and created the style of informal
and free essay.
 Fallacy: (logical term)
a false idea or belief; an error.
 Topic: There is a deceptive quality about
love.
 logic: "the science of reasoning, proof,
thinking, or inference”
Background
 Logical fallacy: An argument in logic
presents evidence in support of some thesis
or conclusion. An argument has two
components: a conclusion, the thesis
argued for; and certain premises, the
considerations adduced on behalf of the
conclusion.
Fallacies in the text:
 Dicto Simpliciter： 基于限定条件的论点from a
saying (taken too) simply to a saying according to
what(it really is)
 Hasty Generalization： 草率结论, 不完全归纳
 Post Hoc： 拉丁文，全称为 Post Hoc, Ergo
Propter Hoc，意思是假性因果
 Contradictory Premises：二立背反，大前提有毛病
Fallacies in the text:
 Ad Misericordiam：拉丁文，意思为诉诸同情;
a Latin phrase meaning "to pity“
 False analogy：错误类比，其他类似名称：
False Analogy, Faulty Analogy, Questionable
Analogy.
 Hypothesis Contrary to Fact： 与事实相反的
假设
 Poisoning the Well：投毒下井 against the
person
characters
 Dobie Gillis: smug, self-conceited ;vain;
talented. (protagonist; main character)
 Petey Burch: petty (low, unimportant,
unintelligent, emotional and impressionable,
faddist) (antagonists; adversary)
 Polly: Poll Parrot. unintelligent, dumb,
beautiful.
 Lead-in: para. 1,2, and 3
Part II; while reading
 Language points study
 Literary appreciation: rhetoric devices;
Greek myth
Language points:
 Enterprising: willing to try or to think about
new ideas or methods.
 in a month of Sundays: a long time.
(colloq.)
 unfetter: liberate or free
 There follows --- frontier: metaphor,
comparing the limitations set by Lamb to a
frontier. The informal essay that follows
here is freer than the one Charles Lamb
wrote.
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limp: not firm or strong
flaccid: soft and loose
spongy: like a sponge; soft, full of air.
(Metaphor) It would perhaps be more
correct to call this essay a limp, flaccid or a
spongy essay
 Vague: not clear.
 pedantic: of or like a pedant.(书呆子气的，
迂腐的)
 discipline: a branch of knowledge or
learning
 Trauma: damage to one’s mind caused by
sudden shock or terrible experience.
 It is a metaphor comparing logic to a living
human being.
Para 4
Inversion is used to emphasize “cool”
Keen: strong and quick at understanding
Calculating: (derogatory) Scheming
Perspicacious: showing or having clever judgment
or understanding
 It is very perspicacious of you to find the cause of
the trouble so quickly.
 你真是明察秋毫, 问题的原因这麽快就找出来了。
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 Astute: wily or shrewd
 He is a very astute merchant, and can not accept
to be the first offers a price.
 他是个非常精明的商人, 不可能接受第一个出价。
 Simile, parallelism, ellipsis.
 It is not often –a giant intellect: hyperbole for
effect
 giant intellect: great mind or intelligence
 (American slang) nothing upstairs:
empty-headed; a nitwit
 British Slang: unfurnished in the upper
storey.
Fad: fashion; craze
Negation of: lack of.
To be swept up: to follow enthusiastically.
Surrender oneself to: to give up to
the acme of mindlessness: the height of
stupidity; the greatest lack of
intelligence
 Appendicitis 阑尾炎; meningitis 髓膜炎;
Myelitis 脊髓炎…
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Raccoon:
Para.6
 flight: quick running.
 incredulous: unwilling to believe; skeptical;
showing disbelief.
 He looked at me with an incredulous expression.
 他怀疑地看着我。
 (incredible: impossible to believe or amazing,
fantastic. objective)
 That's the most incredible coincidence I've ever
heard of!
 那是我听说过的最难以置信的巧合！
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in the swim: conforming to the current fashions,
or active in the main current of affairs.
Investment is a hazardous business; even those
who are in the swim sometimes come a cropper.
投资是一项风险事业, 就是那些懂行的人有时也会
栽跟头。
It so happened--- a raccoon coat: Luckily by
chance I knew where I could get hold of a
raccoon coat
21
 Further: promote, help.
 with one omission: with one exception.
(intelligence)
 Inversion. (for emphasis)
 Pin-up: a picture of a beautiful lady usu. on
the wall.
 Shape of the body.
 Makings: quality or condition for developing.
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The manner of carrying one’s body.
Indicated the best of breeding: showed she was
well educated and trained.
She walked with her head and body erect and
moved in a natural and dignified manner—all this
showed she was well educated and trained in
manners and social behaviour.
Veer: turn or change direction.
Euphemism. She was very stupid.
Smart + en = smarten: make smart, become
clever.
Keen kid: nice girl.
 Go steady with: to date with some
one regularly and exclusively.
 Be out of the picture: not involved in
the situation; have nothing to do
with…
 e.g. I was absent when it happened,
so I was out of the picture.
From the very beginning I felt the tall
girl was out of the picture and Jean
would win the prize.
 To be high up in the picture: become an
important person or succeed in doing
sth.
 Old man: father. (slang)
 Gamy: smelly.
 Wonderful.
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 greasy: 1. containing of grease.
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2. smarmy.
 a greasy smile.
 He speaks in greasy (unctuous) tones.
 他说话油腔滑调.
 His greasy hair repelled her.
 Pelt: skin or fur of a dead animal
 Canny: wily, shrewd; clever
 Stout: adj. brave; determined.
 The Chief of Police stoutly denied the accusation.
 警察局长坚决否认这个指控。
50
 Tear: torment, agitate. (tear sb.)
 He was suffering of the trouble that he
did not know what’s the right thing he
could choose.
 waif: a homeless child or animal.
 Simile.
 resolutely: firmly
 Waxing: increasing;
 Waning: lessening; reducing
 Antithesis.
 mad lust: very strong desire for sth.
 Parody.
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An occasional pleasure.
Swallow up:
eat quickly.
use up, run short of;
disappear.
e.g. The ships were swallowed up by the
waves.
 The company was swallowed up by one of
the multinationals.
Swallow up
 The increase of expense swallowed up
the profits.
 The plane was swallowed up in the
clouds.
 to accept patiently or without asking
why.
 e.g. I find that a bit hard to swallow.
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Delish= delicious
Marvy=marvelous
Bade, bid: to say goodbye to …
Gravely: seriously.
Euphemism.
 Understatement. (litotes)
litotes
 To teach her how to think appeared to
be a rather big task.
 Wince: to draw back, as with fear or pain;
withdraw
 He winced as she stood on his injured foot.
 她踩着他受伤的脚，他疼得缩了回去。
 irritation
Pa.107
 testy: impatient and bad-tempered; easily irritated or
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annoyed
notorious—infamous; widely but unfavorably known
Exultant: jubilant; exulting
Few people would not exult at the smash of "the
gang of four".
Liverpool were in an exultant (jubilant) mood after
their cup victory.
利物浦队夺得优胜杯後喜气洋洋.
Para.115-118
 There is --- can bear: synecdoche, material
for the thing made.
 There is a limit to what any human being
can bear.
 From her eyes I could see that for the first
time she was beginning to understand the
problem.
 to keep emphasizing or talking about
 Let-up: stopping; relaxing
 Five grueling --- worth it: Inversion. This
(teaching Polly logic) took five extremely
exhausting nights, but it was worth all the
trouble—
 I had made --- Polly: I had turned Polly into a
logician.
 out of: from (material, etc.)
 e. g. be made out of stone
 She was worthy --- at last: This, once again,
shows the conceit of the narrator. Polly was
now good enough to be his wife.
 Well-heeled: (American slang) rich,
prosperous
 I will wander --- hulk: hyperbole. Worn,
wearied and dragging my feet, I’ll roam
disconsolately all over the world a holloweyed wreck.
 Shambling: walking in a lazy or clumsy
manner, barely lifting the feet
 I was not --- by the throat: These two
allusions are well chosen. He planned to be
Pygmalion, to fashion an ideal wife for
himself; but he became Frankenstein for
Polly (his student) ultimately rejected him
(her teacher).
perspiration
 croak: to make a deep, hoarse sound, as that of a
frog (showing desperation)
 literally: actually; in fact
 Don't be so literal-minded you know what I meant!
 别那麽死心眼嘛－－你知道我是什麽意思。
 A literal translation is not always the closest to the
original meaning.
 逐字翻译不一定最接近原义。
 Move up and down happily
 That did it: That made me lose my patience/selfcontrol.
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Parallelism.
Unstable man
antithesis
Unexpected ending.
(O Henry)
“The Cop and the Anthem”
“The Gift of the Magi”
“ The Last Leaf”
“The Four Million”
Part IIIPost-reading
 Conclusion of the lesson
 Exercises discussion
 Homework: general knowledge of TEM-8
Exercises
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To follow a passing fashion or craze, in my
opinion, shows a complete lack of reason.
she was beautiful and attractive enough to
arouse the desires and passions of men,
but I would not let feelings or emotions get
the upper hand of reason or good sense.
She was not yet as beautiful as a pin-up
girl but I felt sure she would become
beautiful enough after some time.
Key to Exercises
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In fact, she went in the opposite direction.
Plainly speaking, she was rather stupid.
If you’re no-longer involved with her, others
would he free to compete for her friendship.
To teach her to think appeared to be a
rather big task.
There is a limit to what any human being
can bear.
Homework Exercises:
 1.The Declaration of Independence was adopted
by the Second Continental Congress on July
4,____
A 1774 B 1778 C 1775 D 1776
 2.The second largest state of the United States is
____
A Texas B Alaska C California D Hawaii
 3.The backbone of North America refers to the
____
A Appalachian Mountains B Rocky Mountains
C Cascade Mountains
D Sierra Nevada
Mountains
 4. The headquarter of the United Nations is
located in ____.
A Washington D.C. B Geneva C New York D
Boston
 5.Each of the fifty states of the USA elects ____
senators.
A 10 B 4 C 3 D 2
 6. When the president of the U.S signs an act
passed by Congress into law, it still can be
cancelled if ____.
A the lower federal court decides that it goes
against previous laws
B the Supreme Court decides that it goes
against previous laws
C the lower federal court decides it is
unconstitutional
D the Supreme Court decides it is
unconstitutional