Unit 7
Audiovisual supplement
Cultural information
Watch the video and answer the following questions.
1. What do you think of the boy that the teachers
were talking about? What attitudes did the
teachers have towards the boy?
The boy had some study problems. Most of the
teachers did not believe that the boy could make any
progress, but the young lady thought that he could.
2. Do you have any study problem? What’s your
teachers’ attitude?
Open.
Audiovisual supplement
Cultural information
Audiovisual supplement
Cultural information
Teacher 1: The big kid’s been here for, what, a month? He’s
still not cutting it in my class.
Teacher 2: Why does Admissions do this? I mean, it’s not fair
to us or the boy.
Teacher 3: They’re just setting him up to fail.
Teacher 1: I don’t think he has any idea of what I’m teaching.
Teacher 3: And how would you know if he did? He won’t
even talk.
Teacher 4: He writes.
Teacher 2: His name. Barely.
Teacher 4: He threw this in the trash can. “I look and I see
white everywhere: white walls, white floors, and
a lot of white people. The teachers do not know I
Audiovisual supplement
Cultural information
have no idea of anything they are talking
about. I do not wanna listen to anyone,
especially the teachers. They are giving
homework and expecting me to do the
problems on my own. I have never done
homework in my life. I go to the bathroom,
look in the mirror and say: ‘This is not
Michael Oher.’” He entitled it “White Walls.”
Teacher 1: How’s the spelling?
Audiovisual supplement
Cultural information
1. Quote
Histories make men wise; poems
witty; the mathematics subtle;
natural philosophy deep; moral grave;
logic and rhetoric able to contend.
— Francis Bacon
Audiovisual supplement
Cultural information
2. Grades
Grades
are
standardized
measurements of varying levels of
comprehension within a subject
area. Grades can be assigned in
letters (for example, A, B, C, D, or
F), as a range (for example 4.0 –1.0),
as descriptors (excellent, great, satisfactory, needs
improvement), in percentages, or, as is common in some
post-secondary institutions in some countries, as a Grade
Point Average (GPA). The GPA can be used by potential
employers or further post-secondary institutions to assess
Audiovisual supplement
Cultural information
and compare applicants. A Cumulative Grade Point
Average is the mean GPA from all academic terms within
a given academic year, whereas the GPA may only refer
to one term.
Text analysis
Structural analysis
1. What issues does the writer of the letter intend to deal
with?
How should students regard grades, both good and
bad? Are grades as important as they are assumed to be?
Do good grades necessarily lead to achievements and
bad grades result in failure in a student’s later life?
Text analysis
Structural analysis
2. What’s the theme of this piece of writing?
It is explicitly stated in the first sentence of the
third paragraph: to put a B student’s disappointment in
perspective by considering exactly what the grade B
means and doesn’t mean.
Text analysis
Structural analysis
1. Divide the text into parts by completing the table.
Paragraphs
1
2-5
6-8
Main idea
It introduces the topic of the letter.
Grades do not mean everything.
Getting a B in class does not mean one
will always be a B performer in life.
Text analysis
Structural analysis
Paragraphs
9-10
Main idea
In a complex society like ours, labels
are necessary but they should be kept
in perspective.
Main idea
Structural analysis
2. Apart from the first paragraph, the rest of the text falls
clearly into three parts, each of which is marked at the
beginning by a key word or words. Try to find these key
words.
Paragraphs 2–5: Disappointment
Paragraphs 6-8: The student as performer; the
student as human being.
Paragraphs 9-10: Perspective
Detailed reading
Letter to a B Student
Robert Oliphant
1 Your final grade for the course is B. A respectable
grade. Far superior to the “Gentleman’s C” that served as
the norm a couple of generations ago. But in those days
A’s were rare: only two out of twenty-five, as I recall.
Whatever our norm is, it has shifted upward, with the
result that you are probably disappointed at not doing
better.
I’m certain that nothing I can say will remove
that feeling of disappointment, particularly in a climate
where grades determine eligibility for graduate school and
special programs.
Detailed reading
2 Disappointment. It’s the stuff bad dreams are made of:
dreams of failure, inadequacy, loss of position and good
repute.
The essence of success is that there’s never
enough of it to go round in a zero-sum game where one
person’s winning must be offset by another’s losing, one
person’s joy offset by another’s disappointment. You’ve
grown up in a society where
winning is not the most
important thing — it’s the only thing. To lose, to fail, to go
under, to go broke — these are deadly sins in a world
where prosperity in the present is seen as a sure sign of
salvation in the future. In a different society, your
disappointment might be something you could shrug away.
But not in ours.
Detailed reading
3 My purpose in writing you is to put your
disappointment in perspective by considering exactly
what your grade means and doesn’t mean. I do not
propose to argue here that grades are unimportant.
Rather, I hope to show you that your grade, taken at
face value, is apt to be dangerously misleading, both
to you and to others.
Detailed reading
4 As a symbol on your college transcript, your grade
simply means that you have successfully completed a
specific course of study, doing so at a certain level of
proficiency. The level of your proficiency has been
determined by your performance of rather conventional
tasks: taking tests, writing papers and reports, and so
forth. Your performance is generally assumed to
correspond to the knowledge you have acquired and will
retain. But this assumption, as we both know, is
questionable; it may well be that you’ve actually gotten
much more out of the course than your grade indicates —
or less.
Detailed reading
Lacking more precise measurement tools, we must
interpret your B as a rather fuzzy symbol at best,
representing a questionable judgment of your mastery
of the subject.
5 Your grade does not represent a judgment of your
basic ability or of your character. Courage, kindness,
wisdom, good humor — these are the important
characteristics of our species. Unfortunately they are
not part of our curriculum. But they are important:
crucially so, because they are always in short supply.
Detailed reading
If you value these characteristics in yourself, you will be
valued — and far more so than those whose identities are
measured only by little marks on a piece of paper. Your B
is a price tag on a garment that is quite separate from the
living, breathing human being underneath.
6 The student as performer; the student as human being.
The distinction is one we should always keep in mind. I
first learned it years ago
when I got out of the service
and went back to college. There were a lot of us then:
older than the norm, in a hurry to get our degrees and
move on, impatient with the tests and rituals of academic
life. Not an easy group to handle.
Detailed reading
7 One instructor handled us very wisely, it seems to me.
On Sunday evenings in particular, he would make a point
of stopping in at a local bar frequented by many of the GIBill students. There he would sit and drink, joke, and
swap stories with men in his class,
men who had but
recently put away their uniforms and identities: former
platoon sergeants, bomber pilots, corporals, captains,
lieutenants, commanders, majors — even a lieutenant
colonel, as I recall. They enjoyed his company greatly, as
he theirs. The next morning he would walk into class and
give these same men a test. A hard test. A test on which
he usually flunked about half of them.
Detailed reading
8 Oddly enough, the men whom he flunked did not
resent it.
Nor did they resent him for shifting suddenly
from a friendly gear to a coercive one. Rather, they loved
him, worked harder and harder at his course as the
semester moved along, and ended up with a good grasp of
his subject — economics. The technique is still rather
difficult for me to explain; but I believe it can be
described as one in which a clear distinction was made
between the student as classroom performer and the
student as human being. A good distinction to make. A
distinction that should put your B in perspective — and
your disappointment.
Detailed reading
9 Perspective. It is important to recognize that human
beings, despite differences in class and educational
labeling, are fundamentally hewn from the same material
and knit together by common bonds of fear and joy,
suffering and achievement. Warfare, sickness, disasters
public and private — these are the larger coordinates of
life. To recognize them is to recognize that social labels
are basically irrelevant and misleading. It is true that
these labels are necessary in the functioning of a complex
society as a way of letting us know who should be trusted
to do what, with the result that we need to make
distinctions on the basis of grades, degrees, ranks, and
responsibility.
Detailed reading
But these distinctions should never be taken seriously in
human terms, either in the way we look at others or in the
way we look at ourselves.
10 Even in achievement terms, your B label does not
mean that you are permanently defined as a B
achievement person. I’m well aware that B students tend
to get B’s in the courses they take later on, just as A
students tend to get A’s. But academic work is a narrow,
neatly defined highway compared to the unmapped
rolling country your will encounter after you leave school.
Detailed reading
What you have learned may help you find your way
about at first; later on you will have to shift to yourself,
locating goals and opportunities in the same fog that
hampers us all as we move toward the future.
Detailed reading
1. What change about grades has the author mentioned
briefly?
The author has mentioned briefly the change in the
way grades are regarded, i.e. the norm has shifted
upward.
2. What, according to the author, has caused the feeling of
disappointment?
It has to do with the general social climate where
grades determine eligibility for graduate school and
special programs. This is why the author says there is
nothing he can do to remove the feeling of
disappointment.
Detailed reading
3. Has the author stated his purpose of writing in this
paragraph? If yes, what is it? If not, where is it stated
in the text?
The purpose of writing the letter is not stated in this
paragraph. It is not specifically mentioned until the
third paragraph.
Detailed reading
1. How does the author explain the notion of
disappointment?
Refer to Paragraph 2. Disappointment is a negative
feeling. It is the stuff bad dreams are made of. What
deserves our attention here is that the author explains
disappointment in relation to success.
Detailed reading
2. How do you interpret the second sentence in Paragraph 2
“The essence of success is that …”?
There does not exist the situation in which all those
who are involved will turn out successful and no one
feels disappointed. Wherever there are winners, there
are losers. When someone feels happy about his
success, someone else may feel disappointed at his
failure. In a highly competitive society where the
importance of winning is emphasized so much, it is
inevitable that those who fail in the competition will
feel disappointed.
Detailed reading
What does the phrase “put sth. in perspective” mean?
It means “judge the importance of sth. correctly.” So
what the author wants to do is to show the students
how they should regard / view their disappointment
correctly.
Detailed reading
Try to find out what a grade means and what it does not
mean.
It means the successful completion of a specific course
at a certain level of proficiency. It is an indication of
the student’s performance of some conventional tasks.
However, it may not be a truthful indication of the
student’s knowledge. It does not represent a judgment
of the student’s basic ability or of his character.
Detailed reading
1. What is the author’s view concerning social labels?
Social labels are on the one hand irrelevant and
misleading and on the other hand necessary in a
complex society.
Detailed reading
2. How do you interpret the sentence “To recognize them
is to recognize that social labels are basically irrelevant
and misleading”?
If we are aware that human beings, despite their
apparent differences, are basically identical physically
and emotionally, we would think definitely that the
social labels used to distinguish them are irrelevant, i.e.
meaningless, and misleading, i.e. distorting the fact.
Detailed reading
How does the author relate a student’s academic
performance with his future life?
While a student’s performance at school may be quite
consistent throughout his school years and what he has
learned at school may help him after he leaves school,
in the long run he will depend much more on himself,
i.e. he will have to learn to find his way when traveling
in his life path. A grade B student may turn out to be a
grade A life achiever.
Detailed reading
norm n.
1) an accepted standard or a way of behaving or doing
things that most people agree with
e.g. You must adapt to the norms of the society you live in.
2) the norm = a situation or type of behavior that is
expected and considered to be typical
e.g. One child per family is fast becoming the norm in
some countries.
Derivation: normal a.
normally ad.
normalize v.
normalization n.
Detailed reading
shift vt.& vi.
1) to (cause something or someone to) move or change
from one position or direction to another, especially
slightly
e.g. She shifted (her weight) uneasily from one foot to
the other.
The wind is expected to shift (to the east)
tomorrow.
2) transfer sth.
e.g. This simply shifts the cost of medical insurance
from the employer to the employee.
Detailed reading
Collocation:
shift sth. (from A to / onto B) 转移或转换某事物
shift (your) ground （辩论中）改变立场或方法
e.g. He’s annoying to argue with because he keeps
shifting his ground.
Derivation:
shift n.
shiftless a.
Detailed reading
Translation:
1. 教师让学生们挪动了教室里的椅子，以便小组成员坐
在一起开展讨论。
The
teacher asked the students to shift the chairs
_______________________________________________________
around
in the classroom so that the group
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
members
could sit together for the discussion.
2. 最近，媒体的注意力转移到了环境方面的问题。
_______________________________________________
Media attention has shifted recently into
________________________
environmental issues.
Detailed reading
eligibility n.
the qualifications or abilities required for doing something
e.g. I’ll have to check her eligibility to take part in this
competition.
Derivation:
eligible a.
eligible (for sth. / to do sth.)
Detailed reading
Translation:
1. Her qualifications and experience confirm her
eligibility for the job.
她的资历和经验确定她适合做这项工作。
_______________________________________________________
2. 只有在公司工作三年以上的人才能得到住房补贴。
Only those who have worked in this company for at
________________________________________________________
least three years are eligible for housing allowance.
________________________________________________________
Detailed reading
I’m certain that nothing I can say will remove that
feeling of disappointment, particularly in a climate
where grades determine eligibility for graduate school
and special program.
Translation:
我肯定无论我说什么都不会消除你的沮丧心情，特别是
在我们生活的环境中，考试分数直接决定你是否有资格
读研究生和申请一些特别的学习项目。
Detailed reading
inadequacy n.
1) being too low in quality or too small in amount
e.g. The inadequacy of water supply for city people has
already been a problem no government can take
lightly.
2) fault or failing; weakness
e.g. I always suffer from feelings of inadequacy when I’m
with him.
Detailed reading
Derivation:
inadequate a.
inadequately ad.
Antonym:
adequacy
Detailed reading
Exercise: Use the following words to fill in the blanks.
inadequacy inadequately adequacy adequate adequately
1. Unemployment can often cause feelings of inadequacy
____________
and low self-esteem.
adequacy for the job.
2. He doubted her ___________
adequate to meet world
3. Will future oil supplies be ___________
needs?
4. While some patients can be _____________
adequately cared for at
home, others are best served by care in a hospital.
5. Our scientific research is ______________
inadequately funded.
Detailed reading
essence n.
the most basic and important idea or quality
e.g. The essence of his argument was that education
should continue throughout life.
Yet change is the very essence of life.
Collocation:
in essence 本质上，大体上
e.g. In essence, both sides agree on the issue.
of the essence 非常重要的，不可缺少的
e.g. In any of these discussions, of course, honesty
is of the essence.
Detailed reading
Derivation:
essential a. & n.
essentially ad.
Detailed reading
offset vt.
to counterbalance or compensate for
e.g. In basketball, he offsets his small size by his
cleverness and speed.
Forests can help offset human-caused climate
warming, and scientists want to know how big a
role these particular forests will play.
Collocation:
offset sth. by sth. / doing sth.
Detailed reading
Translation:
1. The extra cost of travelling to work is offset by the
lower price of houses here.
此处的低房价可以抵消从这里去上班时交通方面的
_______________________________________________________
_____________
额外支出。
2. He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of
materials.
他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。
________________________________________________________
Detailed reading
go under
to fail; to be overwhelmed
e.g. His business went under because of competition
from the large corporations.
Poor Donaldson had no head for business, and it
was not long before he went under.
Detailed reading
go / be broke
to become penniless; to go bankrupt
e.g. The business kept losing money and finally went
broke.
I can’t afford to go on holiday this year — I’m
broke.
A lot of small businesses went broke during the
recession.
经济不景气，很多小公司都倒闭了。
Detailed reading
perspective n.
a way of regarding situations, facts, etc.
e.g. His father’s death gave him a whole new perspective
on life.
The novel is written from the perspective of a child.
Collocation:
in / out of perspective
e.g. The background of this picture is all out of
perspective.
e.g. He sees things in their right perspective.
Detailed reading
Collocation:
put / see / view sth. in perspective to compare
something to other things so that it can be accurately
and fairly judged
get / keep sth. in perspective to think about a
situation or problem in a wise and reasonable way
e.g. You must keep things in perspective — the overall
situation isn’t really that bad.
Detailed reading
take … at face value
to accept something for what it appears to be
e.g. She took his stories at face value and did not know
he was joking.
If you take his remarks only at their face value,
you will not have understood his full meaning.
Detailed reading
Translation:
1. 如果这一生中我学会了一件事的话，那就是绝不要听什
么就相信什么。
If
there is one thing I have learned in life, it is
_______________________________________________________
never
to take anything you are told at face value.
_______________________________________________________
2. 我们不应只看到失败的表面，而要从失败中得出经验教
训。
We
shouldn’t take failures at face value. Instead,
________________________________________________________
we
should learn from our failures.
________________________________________________________
Detailed reading
be apt to
to have the tendency to
e.g. A careless person is apt to make mistakes.
My pen is rather apt to leak.
Synonym:
be inclined to
be likely to
Detailed reading
Translation:
1. 第一次来到异国的人往往感到自己周围的一切既陌生又
有趣。
Anyone
who has come to a foreign country for the
_______________________________________________________
first
time is apt to find everything around him both
_______________________________________________________
____________________________
strange
and interesting.
2. 正如醉汉易认为自己很是清醒，年轻人往往认为自己十
分聪明。
Young
men are apt to think themselves wise enough,
________________________________________________________
as
drunken men are apt to think themselves sober
________________________________________________________
__________
enough.
Detailed reading
proficiency n.
skill; ability
e.g. It said in the job ad that they wanted proficiency
in at least two languages.
You have to take a test of proficiency in English
before you can apply for the job.
Collocation:
proficiency in sth. / doing sth.
Derivation:
proficient a.
proficiently ad.
Detailed reading
conventional a.
traditional and ordinary
e.g. conventional behavior / attitudes / clothes / method
I find his art rather dull and conventional.
Derivation:
convention n.
conventionally ad.
conventionalize v.
conventionality n.
Antonym:
unconventional
Detailed reading
correspond to
to match; to be similar or equal to
e.g. The wing of a bird corresponds to the arm of a
man.
The American Congress corresponds to the British
Parliament.
Detailed reading
assumption n.
what is thought to be true or will happen, without any real
proof
e.g. These calculations are based on the assumption
that prices will continue to rise.
I’m working on the assumption that the money will
come through.
Collocation:
assumption of sth.
Detailed reading
Translation:
1. 这一理论是以一系列错误的设想为根据的。
The
__________________________________________________________
theory is based on a series of wrong assumptions.
2. 看见不明飞行物时，有些人就设想在其他行星上有生命。
Some
__________________________________________________________
people assume that there is life on other planets
when
they see UFOs.
__________________________________________________________
Detailed reading
Fill in each blank with the proper form of the following
words or expressions.
inadequacy
offset
proficiency
assumption
conventional
be apt to
correspond to
go under
essence
perspective
1. Through this failure, he realized his personal inadequacy
____________.
2. The essence
_________ of his speech is that this accident will
bring great impact on the factory’s production.
3. He gave his wife a luxurious car to _______
offset her hard
work in bringing up children.
Detailed reading
inadequacy
offset
proficiency
assumption
conventional
be apt to
correspond to
go under
essence
perspective
4. A great many companies _____________
went under in the fierce
financial risk.
5. Everyone sees things from his or her own ______________
perspective .
6. She ____________
was apt to live in the country, but her husband
wanted to live in the city.
7. Tom’s _____________
proficiency as a professor is well known.
Detailed reading
inadequacy
offset
proficiency
assumption
conventional
be apt to
correspond to
go under
essence
perspective
8. English is always thought to be a ______________
conventional nation.
9. The working of this machine ________________
corresponds to that of the
human brain.
10. The _____________
assumption of their son’s coming back after the
war proved to be wrong.
Detailed reading
The essence of success is that there’s never enough of
it to go round in a zero-sum game where one person’s
winning must be offset by another’s losing, one
person’s joy offset by another’s disappointment.
Paraphrase:
“Zero-sum game” refers to a situation in which if
one person gains an advantage from it, someone else
involved in it must suffer an equivalent disadvantage.
Translation:
我们所生活的社会就像一个零和游戏，只要有人赢，就
会有人输；只要有人感到幸福，就会有人感到沮丧。从
来都不存在大家都成功而没有人失落的情况。这就是成
功的核心因素。
Detailed reading
… winning is not the most important thing — it’s the
only thing.
Explanation:
This is a special type of negation. The author is not
negating the importance of winning; rather, with the
sentence that follows the negative one, the author
gives the utmost emphasis to the importance of
winning. What the author wants to say is “Winning is
of primary importance; nothing could be more
important than winning.”
Detailed reading
e.g. To improve your oral English, practicing is not the
most important thing — it’s the only thing.
Ours is a time of information explosion; to keep up
with the times, updating our knowledge is not the
most important thing — it’s the only thing.
Translation:
成功不是最重要的事情——它是唯一的事情。
Detailed reading
In a different society, your disappointment might be
something you could shrug away. But not in ours.
Paraphrase:
If you are in a different society, you could just
ignore your disappointment, but in our society,
it’s inescapable.
Translation:
假如你处在另一个社会里，你可以对你的沮丧置之不理，
但是在我们这个社会里是无法回避的。
Detailed reading
make a point of
to take particular care to do sth.
e.g. He makes a point of jogging for an hour every
morning, rain or shine.
To prevent loss of data, I always make a point of
making a copy on a floppy disk of what I have done
during the day.
Detailed reading
Translation:
1. 作为未来的英语教师，我们认为掌握好英语语法是很有
必要的。
_________________________________________________________
As would-be English teachers, we make a point of
having a good knowledge of English grammar.
_________________________________________________________
2. 她一直保存所有的购物小票。
She makes a point of keeping all her shopping receipts.
____________________________________________________________
Detailed reading
flunk vt.
1) to fail an examination or course of study
e.g. I flunked my second-year exams and was lucky not
to be thrown out of college.
2) give a failing mark to sb.
e.g. If he is no good, flunk him.
Collocation:
flunk out 因成绩不及格而被学校除名
e.g. Dan won’t be in college next year — he’s been
flunked out.
Detailed reading
resent vt.
to feel angry because you have been forced to accept
someone or something that you do not like
e.g. Her father seems to resent her new boyfriend for
he has no job.
Her roommate seems to resent my being in their
dorm.
Derivation:
resentment n.
resentful a.
resentfulness n.
Detailed reading
gear n.
1) the machinery in a vehicle that turns power from the
engine into movement
e.g. Don’t turn off the engine while you’re still in gear.
2) a piece of machinery that performs a particular job
e.g. The landing gear of a plane has jammed.
3) a set of equipment or tools you need for a particular
activity
e.g. We’re only going for two days; you don’t need to
bring so much gear.
Collocation:
change / shift gear 换档
Detailed reading
coercive a.
using force to persuade people to do what they are
unwilling to do
e.g. coercive methods / measures
The president relied on the coercive powers of the
military.
Derivation:
coerce v.
coercion n.
Detailed reading
Collocation:
coerce sb. into sth. / doing sth.
e.g. The Chamber of Commerce was making efforts to
coerce the strikers into compliance.
商会正在努力迫使罢工者妥协。
You can’t coerce her into obedience.
Detailed reading
… when I got out of the service …
Explanation:
Usually the plural form “services” is used to refer to
the three armed forces, i.e. the Army, the Navy, and
the Air Force.
Paraphrase:
… when I got out of the army …
Translation:
……当我退役的时候……
Detailed reading
... men who had but recently put away their uniforms
and identities: former platoon sergeants, bomber
pilots, corporals, captains, lieutenants, commanders,
majors — even a lieutenant colonel …
Explanation:
Here “men who had but recently put away their
uniforms and identities” refer to former GIs, who,
like the author himself, had taken off their army
uniforms and changed their identities from
servicemen to civilians. Many of these men had been
officers of various ranks.
Translation:
他们刚脱下军装、离开自己军人的身份，他们曾是：陆
军副排长、轰炸机飞行员、下士、海军上校、中尉、指
挥官、陆军少校——甚至还有陆军中校……
Detailed reading
Nor did they resent him for shifting suddenly from a
friendly gear to a coercive one.
Explanation:
The word “gear” originally means a device in a
vehicle which controls the rate at which the energy
being used is converted into motion. While driving, a
driver sometimes shifts or changes gear. In this
sentence, the shifting of gear refers to the change in
the instructor’s manner of dealing with his students.
When drinking with the students in the pub, he was
easy-going and friendly; but in the classroom, he
became stern and severe.
Translation:
他们也不因他突然从和蔼可亲的态度转向严厉苛刻的面
孔而憎恨他。
Detailed reading
To recognize them is to recognize that social labels are
basically irrelevant and misleading.
Translation:
如果弄清了它们的真实意义我们就会明白社会标签本来
就毫无关系，它只会掩人耳目，使人误入歧途。
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Phrase practice
Word derivation
Synonym / Antonym
Prefix
Writing
Listening
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
essence: inner nature; indispensable quality; the most
important part 本质，实质，精髓
e.g. His works reflect the essence of fascism.
他的作品反映出法西斯的本质。
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
mislead: make you think or act wrongly 误导，误入歧途
e.g. He deliberately misled us about the nature of their
relationship.
关于他们究竟是什么关系，他故意给我们留下错误印
象。
This sentence has misled us into thinking that the
answer was wrong.
这句话误使我们认为那个答案是错误的。
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
conventional task: task traditionally required of students
传统任务
e.g. This conventional task is so easy that even a pupil
can finish it.
这个传统任务是如此简单，甚至小学生都能完成。
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
in short supply: far from enough 供给不足，缺乏
e.g. The water and food for disaster area is in short
supply.
这些水和食物给灾区是远远不够的。
Potatoes are in short supply because of the bad
harvest.
由于收成不好，现在马铃薯供应不足。
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the
given words.
1. His vision was nearly restored to normal after the
(remove) of the tumor in his brain.
removal
_________
2. The major issue of the conference was how to cope
with the severe consequences resulting from the
(climate) changes on our planet.
_________
climatic
3. This company is in trouble and the latest plan for its
(salvage) has few supporters.
salvation
__________
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
4. It is said in the job ad that those who apply for the
vacancy should have _____________
(proficient) in at
proficiency
least two languages.
5. Don’t rely on the information she gave you — it’s pure
(assume) on her part.
assumption
____________
6. The age of college students normally
__________
from 18 to 22.
(norm) ranges
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
7. The government’s inaction to curb inflation and
unemployment caused strong resentment
(resent)
_____________
among the public.
8. The Sichuan earthquake turned out to be the most
(disaster) one the country has witnessed
disastrous
___________
in the past one hundred years.
Vocabulary
Grammar
1. remove
removable
removal
Translation
v.
a.
n.
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
消除，除去；脱掉
可除去的，可移动的
移动，移居；除去
e.g. 我们的家已从北京迁到上海。
Our home has removed from Beijing to
Shanghai.
他脱下帽子表示敬意。
He removed his hat as a sign of reverence.
Vocabulary
Grammar
2. climate
climatic
Translation
n.
a.
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
气候；风气
气候上的
e.g. 她很快就适应了这种多变的气候。
She adapted herself quickly to the changeable
climate.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
v.
3. salvage
salvageable a.
salvation
n.
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
打捞，抢救
可抢救的，可打捞的
得救，拯救；赎罪
e.g. 房子里没有什么东西可救的了。
There is nothing that is salvageable in the
building.
天气干旱了这么久，这场雨成了农民的救星。
After so much dry weather, the rain has been the
farmer’s salvation.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
4. proficient a.
proficiency n.
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
熟练的，精通的
熟练，精通
e.g. 我可以说对唱歌很在行。
I’d say I am quite proficient at singing.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
v.
5. assume
assuming
conj.
assumption n.
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
假定，设想；承担；认为
假定，假如
假定，设想
e.g. 我以为你能讲流利的英语。
I assumed you could speak English fluently.
假定那是真的，我们现在该怎么办？
Assuming that it is true, what should we do
now?
Vocabulary
Grammar
6. norm
normal
normality
normalize
Translation
n.
a.
n.
v.
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
标准，规范
正常的，正规的
常态
使正常，使标准化
e.g. 过了几天，洪水才退，生活恢复了正常。
It was several days before the floodwater sank
and life returned to normal.
我们的关系正常了。
Our relationship has been normalized.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
7. resent
resentment
resentful
resentfulness
v.
n.
a.
n.
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
憎恨，生气
怨恨，愤恨
不满的
怨恨，愤恨
e.g. 我非常讨厌别人侵占我的时间。
I bitterly resent the encroachment on my time.
他对所受的待遇感到忿恨。
He is resentful at the way he has been treated.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
n.
8. disaster
disastrous a.
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
灾难
灾难性的
e.g. 这场灾难过后，许多人既没有食物又没有住处。
After the disaster there were many who
wanted food and shelter.
国家的经济形势非常糟糕。
The economic condition of the country is
disastrous.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Give a synonym or an antonym of the word underlined
in each sentence in the sense it is used.
1. The essence of success is that there’s never enough of
it to go round in a zero-sum game where one person’s
winning must be offset by another’s losing …
Synonym: balanced, compensated
2. The level of your proficiency has been determined by
your performance of rather conventional tasks …
Antonym: unconventional
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
3. But they are important: crucially so, because they are
always in short supply.
Antonym: abundant, plentiful
4. If you value these characteristics in yourself, you will
be valued — and far more so than those whose
identities are measured only by little marks on a piece
of paper.
Synonym: evaluated, assessed
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
5. There were a lot of us then: older than the norm, in a
hurry to get our degrees and move on …
Synonym: average
6. It is important to recognize that human beings, despite
differences in class and educational labeling, are
fundamentally hewn from the same material and knit
together by common bonds of fear and joy …
Synonym: essentially, basically
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
7. But these distinctions should never be taken seriously
in human terms …
Antonym: lightly, frivolously
8. Even in achievement terms, your B label does not mean
that you are permanently defined as a B achievement
person.
Antonym: temporarily
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Write in each space one word that has the same prefix
as underlined in each given word.
1. interfere
international
___________________
2. transcend
translate
___________________
3. circumstances
circumference
___________________
4. neocolonial
neoclassical
___________________
5. control
conform
___________________
6. antibiotic
antisocial
___________________
7. unlock
undo
___________________
8. outnumber
outshine
___________________
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Explanation:
inter-: between
e.g. interaction, interdependent, interconnect
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Explanation:
trans-: across or beyond
e.g. transplant, transform, transatlantic
Listening
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Explanation:
circum-: surrounding
e.g. circumcision, circumlocution, circumspect
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Explanation:
neo-: new, in a later form
e.g. neonatal, neo-fascist, neo-Georgian
Listening
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Explanation:
con-: strengthen or reinforce
e.g. convince, constrain, conquer
Writing
Listening
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Explanation:
anti-: opposed to, against
e.g. antiwar, antihero, antidote
Writing
Listening
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Explanation:
un-: in verbs that describe the opposite of a process
e.g. unfold, unload, unbend, uncut
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Explanation:
out-: greater, better, further, etc.
e.g. outgrow, outlive, outwit
Writing
Listening
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Disjunct
Relative words
whatever, wherever, whoever,
whichever, whenever, and however
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
A disjunct is a type of adverbial that expresses
information that is not considered essential to the
sentence it appears in, but which is considered to be the
speaker’s or writer’s attitude towards, or descriptive
statement of, the propositional content of the sentence.
More generally, the term disjunct can be used to refer
to any sentence element that is not fully integrated into
the clausal structure of the sentence. Such elements
usually appear peripherally (at the beginning or end of
the sentence) and are set off from the rest of the
sentence by a comma (in writing) and a pause (in speech).
e.g. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it.
Unfortunately, Kim has had to leave us.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Practice
Rewrite the following sentences using proper disjuncts.
1. It is hoped that the report will go out to shareholders
no later than June 1.
Hopefully, the report will go out to shareholders no
later than June 1.
2. It is odd enough that he did not raise any objection
to the plan.
Oddly enough, he did not raise any objection to the
plan.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
3. She was so wise to spend the money.
Wisely, she spent the money.
4. It is regrettable the book was not well served by its
proof-readers.
Regrettably, the book was not well served by its
proof-readers.
5. It is strange enough that the burglar should not have
taken the diamond away.
Strangely enough, the burglar didn’t take the
diamond away.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
6. It is sad that one of the problems with being on public
radio is that people tend to think you’re being sincere
all the time.
Sadly, one of the problems with being on public
radio is that people tend to think you’re being
sincere all the time.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Relative words are used to refer to a noun mentioned
before and of which we are adding more information. They
are used to join two or more sentences in the way we call
“relative sentences”.
e.g. I know many boys who / that play rugby.
The shirt which / that Carl bought has a stain on the
pocket.
This is the boy whose mother works for the BBC.
Barnstaple has a very old covered market where I
bought some lovely old plates.
Sunday is the day when people usually don’t go to
work.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
If the verb in the relative clause needs a preposition,
we usually put it at the end of the clause:
e.g. The music which / that Julie listens to is good.
Sometimes, the preposition can also be placed before
the relative pronoun.
e.g. My brother met a woman with whom I used to work.
It was the stream in which the elephant and the
mouse preferred to swim.
Notice that we cannot use who or that after a
preposition, for the relative pronoun now serves as the
object of the preposition.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Practice
Fill in each blank with a proper relative word. Use
“preposition + relative word” if necessary.
1. Good writing is built on a solid framework of logic,
argument, narrative, or motivation which
_____________
/ that runs
through the entire piece of writing and holds it
together. This is the time ______
when many writers find it
most effective to outline as a way of visualizing the
hidden spine __________
by which the piece of writing is
supported.
whose father is a professor, forgot his
2. The man, _______
umbrella.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
3. Australia is one of the few countries where
__________________
/ in which
people drive on the left.
4. James Russell is a man ___________
for whom I have the greatest
respect.
5. His glasses, without
_______________
which he could see nothing, fell
on the ground and broke.
6. He built a telescope through
_______________
which he could study the
sky.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
The words whatever, wherever, whoever, whichever,
whenever and however have similar meanings to “no
matter who, what, which …”. A word of this kind has a
double function: it acts as a subject, object or adverb in
its own clause. It also acts as a conjunction joining its
clause to the rest of the sentence.
e.g. Whatever you may say, I am not going to take him
back. (No matter what you say, ...)
Wherever you go, I shall follow you. (No matter
where you go, I shall follow you.)
Whoever disobeys the law must be punished. (No
matter who disobeys the law …)
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
e.g. However much he eats, he never gets fat. (No
matter how much he eats, …)
These words are also used to suggest something not
definitely known.
e.g. I shall come whenever I can slip away.
We shall send whoever is available.
You will have to be content with whatever you can
get.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Practice
Complete the following sentences with the appropriate
words in the box.
whoever
however
wherever
whenever
whatever
whichever
1. ___________
Whatever problems you may have, we will help.
2. Take whichever
___________ book you like best.
3. However
__________ late it is, you must come to the party
because it will be something fantastic.
Vocabulary
Grammar
whoever
however
Translation
Integrated skills
wherever
whenever
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
whatever
whichever
4. You will see this product advertised __________
wherever you like.
5. Whenever
___________ you come, you will be warmly welcomed.
6. __________
Whoever uprooted that tree ought to be ashamed of
themselves.
7. This is one possible solution to the problem. __________
However ,
there are others.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Translate the following sentences into English.
1. 他因急性阑尾炎住院治疗，结果连期末考试都没参加。
(with the result that)
He was hospitalized with acute appendicitis, with
the result that he missed the final examination.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Practice：
盗贼戴上手套，因而没有留下指纹。
The burglar wore gloves, with the result that there
is no fingerprint to be found.
建国以来我们犯的几次错误，都是由于要求过急，目标过
高，脱离了中国的实际，结果发展反倒慢了。
The mistakes we have made since the founding of
the People’s Republic were all due to overeagerness: disregarding China’s realities, setting
excessively high targets, with the result that
progress was slowed.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
2. 前来听讲座的人远远超出原来的计划，分发给大家的讲
义不够了。(go round)
As many more people came to the lecture than
expected, there were not enough handouts to go
round.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Practice：
你领的书不够数。
You didn’t get enough books to go round.
计算机不够整个年级学生用的。
There aren’ t enough computers for the whole grade
of students to go round.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
3. 第一次来到异国的人往往会感到自己周围的一切既陌生，
又有趣。 (be apt to)
Anyone who has come to a foreign country for the
first time is apt to find everything around him both
strange and interesting.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Practice：
我对此类鸡毛蒜皮的小事总是很不在乎。
I am apt to be very reckless in such shirt-button
affairs.
她常常直言不讳地说出全部真情，而其他人在这种情况下
则往往会保持沉默。
She was apt to speak out the whole truth, in cases
where other people would have kept silence.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
4. 他的话，你得好好想一想，千万不要他说什么就信什么。
(take at face value)
Never take what he says at face value. Think it over
yourself.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Practice：
她好像很亲切，可是我不应该信以为真.
She seems very friendly but I shouldn’t take her at
face value.
如果你只听懂她说的话的字面意义，那你就不能充分理解
她的用意。
If you take her remarks only at their face value, you
will not have understood her full meaning.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Dictation
Cloze
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
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.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Professors may establish social relationships with
students / outside of the classroom, / but in the
classroom they maintain the instructor’s role. / A
professor may have coffee one day with students / but
the next day expect them to meet a deadline / for the
submission of a paper or to be prepared for a discussion
or an exam. / The professor may give extra attention
outside of class / to a student in need of help / but
probably will not treat him or her differently / when it
comes to evaluating schoolwork. / Professors have
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
several roles in relation to students; / they may be
counselors and friends as well as teachers. / Students
must realize / that when a teacher’s role changes, /
they must appropriately adapt their behavior and
attitudes. /
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Student life at American universities is chaotic
during the first week of each quarter or semester.
Registering (1) ____
for classes, becoming familiar with the
buildings on campus, buying books, (2) ________
adding and
dropping classes, and paying fees are confusing for
everyone. During this busy period there is (3) little
______time
for students to anticipate (4) ______
what they will later
encounter in the classroom.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
International students, accustomed to their countries’
education expectations, must adapt to new classroom
norms in a (5) ________
foreign college or university. Whereas in one
country prayer may be acceptable in a classroom, in
another it may be (6) ___________
forbidden . In some classrooms
obey their
around the world students must humbly (7) _____
remain absolutely silent during
teacher’s commands and (8) ________
a class period. In (9) _______
others , students may talk, eat, and
smoke during lectures as well as criticize a teacher’s
methods or even contradict his or her statements. It is not
easy to understand a new educational system.
always (10) _____
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Giving a talk
Having a discussion
Writing
Listening
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Suppose you are a B student, and this is disappointing
to your parents, who always expect you to be a straightA student. In a recent English test you got a B again. Now
talk to your parent, exchange ideas about grades with
him / her, and try to persuade him / her into believing
that while grades do mean something, they are not
everything.
For reference
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
You may use the following words or expressions in your talk:
norm, repute, put … in perspective, take … at face
value, be apt to, proficiency, flunk, resent, shift,
determine, assumption, successful, indicate, correspond
to, represent, measurement tool, be determined by,
judgment, make distinctions, achievement
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
It is not unusual nowadays that some students who
did not do well at school turn out to be very successful in
life after leaving school while some A students are far
less successful. Thus some people believe that grades are
not as important as they seem. Do you agree or disagree
with their opinion? Give three reasons to support yourself.
Then form two opposing groups to debate the issue.
For reference
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Viewpoints for reference:
• I agree with their opinion. First, one’s grade can
mean one’s achievement in study but can not
represent a judgment of his basic ability or of his
character such as courage, virtue, wisdom which are
important to one’s success. Second, the
classification of grade, which is created by man, is
not a precise measurement tool to indicate one’s
overall proficiency. Third, to judge whether a
student is excellent or not, we should consider the
combination of moral qualities, intellectual ability,
physical fitness and aesthetic appreciation.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
• I disagree with their opinion. First, A students tend
to get A’s. Their A grade means that they have
successfully completed courses of study with a high
level of proficiency, which will lay a solid foundation
for their future success. Second, A students’
characters such as courage, diligence and
persistence contribute to their good performance at
school. Those characters are also good cornerstone
of their future success. Third, when A students
graduate from school, they are more favored by
employers and are given more job opportunities with
which they may enjoy greater possibility of success.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated skills
Oral activities
Writing
Listening
Paragraph development — Classification
In our daily life we are constantly organizing things
in one way or another. Classification is the grouping of
items into categories according to some consistent
principle. Most families of things can be divided or
classified according to several different principles. The
key to good classification writing is to use a single rule of
division for each part. Classification is done of things that
belong to one family, things that have something in
common, but the purpose of classification is to compare
and contrast them, showing their differences, so that the
reader might have a better understanding of them.
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Classification is extensively used in technical writing, but
the strategy can also be used for nontechnical purposes.
Original and interesting classification for rhetorical effect
can surprise the readers and capture their attention.
Words and expressions often used for classification
include, among many others, the following: include,
comprise, contain, have, be sorted into, be classified into,
differ in, be divided into, be a type of, fall under, belong
to, be a part of, fit into, be grouped with, and be
associated with.
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Exercises: Write two paragraphs based on the following
topic sentences with the classification strategy.
1. High school teachers tend to sort their students into the
following categories: perpetual studier, average studier,
crammer and never studier.
Ideas for reference:
• The perpetual studier studies until really late at night.
• The average studier studies sufficiently but doesn’t
work more than necessary.
• The crammer studies only when the threat of taking
that class over is very great.
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Sample:
The perpetual studier is a rare breed indeed. They
usually write about three pages of notes a day
regardless of how much material the teacher covers.
They don’ t talk to anyone except to answer questions.
When a perpetual studier goes home, before he does
anything else, he takes out all his books and begins
studying for the classes that he has the next day. He
studies until really late at night, stopping only once or
twice for a quick snack. The majority of students fall
into a category called the average studier. This person
studies sufficiently but doesn’t work more than
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necessary. When he studies for a test, he will look over
the notes taken, reread appropriate pages in the
textbook, and study with a friend sometimes. Overall,
he may put in anywhere from two to six hours a day
studying during the week leaving Friday and Saturday
for his social life and then spend from four to eight
hours studying on Sunday. The third type of studier is
the crammer. This type of person studies only when the
threat of taking that class over is very great. When he
studies for a test, he doesn’t begin until the night
before or the morning of the test. He spends most of his
time doing anything that doesn’t have to do with school.
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Their homework is last on their list of things to do. But
before they do such a deed, they will rack their brains
trying to think of something else to do. Cleaning the
room even takes precedence over homework — not to
mention sleep. It can be argued, of course, that there
should be a fourth category — the never studier, one
who quite literally never studies not even at the very
last minute. But then, this person doesn’t remain
classified as a student for very long.
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2. In Shanghai, the most popular English language
examinations include, among others, TEM 4, TEM 8,
Interpreter Certificate, TOEFL, and IELTS.
Ideas for reference:
• There are regional differences between the five tests.
• The five tests differ in their compulsoriness.
• Testees are also divided on the purposes for which
they take the five tests.
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Sample:
In Shanghai, the most popular English language
examinations include, among others, TEM 4, TEM 8,
Interpreter Certificate, TOEFL, and IELTS. There are
some differences between these tests. The first three,
TEM 4 (short for “Test for English Majors Band 4”), TEM 8
and Interpreter Certificate, are domestic tests, and
among them Interpreter Certificate is a local one,
peculiar to the city. Both TOEFL (Test of English as a
Foreign Language) and IELTS (International English
Language Testing System) are international tests,
organized by the American and British educational
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authorities respectively. The five tests differ in their
compulsoriness. The first two are compulsory: almost all
college English majors are required to take them; the
other three fall under the optional group. Besides,
testees are also divided on the purposes for which they
take the five tests. They sit in the two mandatory tests
for their bachelor’s degree, while the Interpreter
Certificate is popular because it helps when a holder of
it is looking for a job. Unlike them, participants in the
two international English tests are usually planning to
receive higher education in English-speaking countries.
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A. Listen to the report — “Go to the Head of the Class.”
Write in the second column of the table below the
five ideas that can help you leap to the top of the
class. Then listen to the report again, and write in the
third column of the table the key words and phrases
that best illustrate each idea. The first one is already
given as an example.
1
Make reading
automatic.
key to school success / take
practice / automatic reader /
read with expression / read with
a sense of meaning
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2
3
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Win equal
opportunity in
the classroom.
Learn to think.
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same classroom / different
educations / no equal-opportunity
education / discuss with the
teacher / let the teacher know
what’s on your mind
lower mental process – rote
learning / higher mental processes
– problem-solving, analyzing,
interpreting / improve thinking
skills / gain in rote learning
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4 Have classmates
help.
teamwork / cooperative learning /
reward / peer pressure / bonuses /
self-esteem / value of cooperation /
better attitudes toward classmates
5 Educate at
home.
home / better predictor of success /
great impact / homework and
reading / given priority / parents /
encourage and praise / family
members / talk and do things
together
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B. After listening, discuss the following two questions.
1. Do you agree with the saying “Inside almost every
poor to average student, there’s a smart kid
yearning to get out”?
2. What can you do to help bring your “smart kid”
out?
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Go to the Head of the Class
How smart are you? How much can you learn? How
high can you climb? Until now, schoolchildren seemed
frozen in place. An average student in second or third
grade paddled along, just fair to middling, until
graduation from high school. A poor student languished at
the bottom of each successive class. Studies showed that
more than four out of five students began and ended
schools at the same level of performance.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Benjamin Bloom, a
professor of education at the University of Chicago,
supervised two separate research projects. In each,
students were selected at random and provided with
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private teachers. With this one-to-one instruction, belowaverage students climbed to better-than-average, while
average students outperformed 98 percent of the boys and
girls in conventional classrooms.
Bloom identified and tested five remarkable simple
ideas aimed at reproducing in the classroom the most
effective components of one-to-one instruction: attention,
feedback, support, encouragement, and self-esteem.
Here are the five ideas that can help you leap to the
top of the class:
1. Make reading automatic. Reading is the key to school
success and, like any skill, it takes practice. A child learns
to walk by practicing until he no longer has to think about
how to put one foot in front of the other. And you do the
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same thing when you learn to read. You are not an
automatic reader until you can read with expression, with
a sense of meaning of the sentences rather than read one
word at a time, without expression or meaning.
2. Win equal opportunity in the classroom. Sitting in the
same classroom, different students get very different
educations. Teachers often tend to give most of their
attention to a handful of students, usually the top third of
the class. If you think that you are not getting an equalopportunity education, discuss it with your teacher. Let
your teacher know what’s on your mind. Just raising the
question will make your teachers take a closer look at
what they’re doing.
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3. Learn to think. Are you learning to remember
information — or to use it? Do you memorize a math
formula, or do you learn how it applies to all the circles of
your life? According to Bloom, about 95 percent of today’s
teaching focuses on the “lower mental process” — rote
learning of grammar, multiplication tables, historical
names and dates. Most teachers spend very little time on
the “higher mental processes.” — problem-solving,
analyzing and interpreting. When you improve your
thinking skills there is a gain in rote learning too. Knowing
what an idea or a principle means, and how it can be
applied, helps you learn better and remember longer.
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4. Have classmates help. More and more schools are
trying teamwork or, as educators call it, “cooperative
learning.” There are a number of ways to organize these
teams, but two things are essential. First, youngsters need
a reward — praise, a certificate of recognition — for doing
well as a team. Second, the teams’ success must depend
on how well each member learns. It’s the good side of
peer pressure. There are also important bonuses to team
study. Self-esteem goes up. Students learn the value of
cooperation and develop better attitudes toward
classmates with different social backgrounds or physical
handicaps.
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5. Educate at home. According to the experts, what
happens in your home is a better predictor of success in
school than in any I.Q. or achievement test. The home
environment has great impact on how a child learns. It is
as important as the quality of teachers or curriculum. In
the homes of top achievers, homework and reading are
given priority over play or television; parents encourage
their children’s intellectual interests and praise school
achievement. Family members talk together and do things
together.
Inside almost every poor to average student, there’s a
smart kid yearning to get out. With these ideas, we can
help to unlock that potential.
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Lead-in questions
Text
Questions for discussion
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Do you find college life always exciting? If not, what kind
of frustrations do you have?
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College Pressures
(Abridged)
William Zinsser
1
I see four kinds of pressure working on college
students today; economic pressure, parental pressure,
peer pressure, and self-induced pressure. It is easy to
look around for villains — to blame the colleges for
charging too much money, the professors for assigning
too much work, the parents for pushing their children
too far, the students for driving themselves too hard.
But there are no villains; only victims.
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2
“In the late 1960s,” one dean told me, “the typical
question that I got from students was ‘Why is there so
much suffering in the world?’ or ‘How can I make a
contribution?’ Today it’s ‘Do you think it would look
better for getting into law school if I did a double major
in history and political science, or just majored in one
of them?’” Many other deans confirmed this pattern.
One said:
“They’re trying to find an edge — the
intangible something that will look better on paper if
two students are about equal.”
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3
Note the emphasis on looking better. The transcript
has become a sacred document, the passport to security.
How one appears on paper is more important than how
one appears in person. A is for Admirable and B is for
Borderline, even though, in Yale’s official system of
grading, A means “excellent” and B means “very good.”
Today, looking very good is no longer good enough,
especially for students who hope to go on to law school
or medical school. They know that entrance into the
better schools will be an entrance into the better law
firms and better medical practice where they will make
a lot of money.
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4
The pressure is almost as heavy on students who just
want to graduate and get a job. Long gone are the days of
the “gentleman’s C,” when students journeyed through
college with a certain relaxation, sampling a wide variety
of courses — music, art, philosophy, classics, anthropology,
poetry, religion — that would send them out as liberally
educated men and women. If I were an employer I would
rather employ graduates who have this range and curiosity
than those who narrowly pursued safe subjects and high
grades. I know countless students whose inquiring minds
exhilarate me. I like to hear the play of their ideas. I don’t
know if they are getting As or Cs, and I don’t care. I also
like them as people. The country needs them, and they will
find satisfying jobs. I tell them to relax. They can’t.
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5
Nor can I blame them. They live in a brutal economy.
Tuition, room, and board at most private colleges now
comes to at least $7,000, not counting books and fees.
This might seem to suggest that the colleges are getting
rich. But they are equally battered by inflation. Heating
oil is up. Insurance is up. Postage is up. Health-premium
costs are up. Everything is up. Deficits are up.
We are
witnessing in America the creation of a brotherhood of
paupers — colleges, parents, and students, joined by the
common bond of debts.
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6
Along with economic pressure goes parental pressure.
Inevitably, the two are deeply intertwined.
7
I see many students taking premedical courses with
joyless tenacity. They go off to their labs as if they were
going to the dentist. It saddens me because I know them
in other corners of their life as cheerful people.
8
“Do you want to go to medical school?” I ask them.
9 “I guess so,” they say, without conviction, or “Not
really.”
10 “Then why are you going?”
11 “Well, my parents want me to be a doctor. They’re
paying all this money and …”
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12
Poor students, poor parents.
They are caught in
one of the oldest webs of love and duty and guilt. The
parents mean well; they are trying to steer their sons and
daughters toward a secure future. But the sons and
daughters want to major in history or classics or
philosophy — subjects with no “practical” value. Where’s
the payoff on the humanities? It’s not easy to persuade
such loving parents that the humanities do indeed pay off.
The intellectual faculties developed by studying subjects
like history and classics — an ability to synthesize and
relate, to weigh cause and effect, to see events in
perspective — are just the faculties that make creative
leaders in business or almost any general field. Still, many
fathers would rather put their money on courses that point
toward a specific profession.
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13 Peer pressure and
self-induced pressure are also
intertwined, and they begin almost at the beginning of
freshman year.
14 “I had a freshman student I’ll call Linda,” one dean
told me, “who came in and said she was under terrible
pressure because her roommate, Barbara, was much
brighter and studied all the time. I couldn’t tell her that
Barbara had come in two hours earlier to say the same
thing about Linda.”
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15
The story is symptomatic of all the pressures put
together. When every student thinks every other student
is working harder and doing better, the only solution is to
study harder still. I see students going off to the library
every night after dinner and coming back when it closes
at midnight. I wish they could sometimes forget about
their peers and go to a movie. I hear the clacking of
typewriters in the hours before dawn. I see the tension in
their eyes when exams are approaching and papers are
due: “Will I get everything done?”
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16 Part of the problem is that they do more than they
are expected to do. A professor will assign five-page
papers. Several students will start writing ten-page
papers to impress him. Then more students will write tenpage papers, and a few will raise the ante to fifteen. Pity
the poor student who is still just doing the assignment.
17
“Once you have twenty or thirty percent of the
student population deliberately overexerting,” one dean
points out, “it’s bad for everybody. When a teacher gets
more and more effort from his class, the student who is
doing normal work can be perceived as not doing well.
The tactic works, psychologically.
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18 Ultimately it will be the students’ own business to
break the circles in which they are trapped. They are
too young to be prisoners of their parents’ dreams and
their classmates’ fears. They must be jolted into
believing in themselves as unique men and women who
have the power to shape their own future.
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About the author: William Zinsser was born in 1922 in
New York City, and studied at Princeton University. He
was a feature writer, film critic, and drama editor for the
New York Herald Tribune and later a columnist for Look
and Life, and has also written numerous books. In 1971
he took a teaching position in the English department at
Yale University. He is the author of the best-selling book
On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction
(1976).
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They’re trying to find an edge — the intangible something
that will look better on paper if two students are about
equal.: “Edge” here means an advantage over others, as in
the expression “have the edge on / over,” meaning “be
slightly better than someone or something because you have
an advantage they do not have.” What the dean means is
that they try to find an advantage over others, i.e. they try
to have higher marks on their transcript, so that they will
appear to be academically superior to others. This is
especially so when two students are more or less the same.
But the dean seems to think that marks are not really very
reliable and valid indications of the real quality of the
students.
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sampling a wide variety of courses: taking numerous
courses without necessarily going deep into any of
them …
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If I were an employer I would rather employ graduates
who have this range and curiosity than those who
narrowly pursued safe subjects and high grades.: If I
were an employer, I would employ those students who
take all these courses and thus have a wide range of
knowledge and are always curious about what is new and
unknown; I would not employ those who only take those
courses they can safely pass and score high marks.
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But they are equally battered by inflation. : But they
(the colleges) are as badly affected by inflation as the
parents and the students are.
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We are witnessing in America the creation of a brotherhood
of paupers — colleges, parents, and students, joined by the
common bond of debts.: Here in America we find coming
into being a union of colleges, parents, and students; what
they have in common is that they are all in debt.
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tenacity: determination to continue what one is doing
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They are caught in one of the oldest webs of love and
duty and guilt.: A web is a complicated pattern of
connections or relationships. Both the students and
their parents find themselves caught in a web: The
parents, out of good intention, want their children to
take courses which they think are more profitable; the
children are not interested in these courses, but they
feel they just have to take them, otherwise they
would suffer from a sense of guilt because it is their
parents who have paid for their education. Such a web
has long been in existence in human history, thus “one
of the oldest webs.”
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Where’s the payoff on the humanities?: What financial
benefit can students get from courses in humanities?
“Humanities” are subjects such as history, philosophy,
and literature, which are concerned with human ideas
and behavior. Such courses do not usually lead
immediately to profitable occupations as courses
related to law and medicine do.
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self-induced pressure: pressure brought on by the
students themselves
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The story is symptomatic of all the pressures put
together.: The story indicates all the pressures
combined.
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1. How do you interpret the last sentence of the first
paragraph “There are no villains; only victims”?
No one is really to blame for the pressures working on
college students, not the colleges, or the professors,
or the parents, or the students themselves. In fact,
they (the colleges, the professors, the parents, and
the students) are all victims.
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2. From Zinsser’s quotation of a certain dean in the 2nd
paragraph, what idea do you get of the difference
between the students in the late 1960s and students
of the time when the article was written (presumably
in the 1970s–1980s)?
The students in the late 1960s seemed to be more
concerned with what was happening in the world as a
whole, and what they could do to make our world a
better place to live in. The college students of the
time when the article was written were more
concerned about their own future and career; they
seemed to be more egoistic.
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3. Why do students, both of those who want to enter
graduate schools and those who just want to graduate
and get a job, attach so much importance to grades?
To both kinds of students, a good transcript will serve
as a passport to security. They want their grades to
look better so that they can either be enrolled by a
graduate school or find a good job.
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4. Zinsser obviously holds a different opinion from many
of the parents with regard to the courses the students
should take. Describe this difference and voice your
own opinion.
Most parents want their sons and daughters to take
courses that would lead them to occupations
with a good payoff such as law and medicine. But
Zinsser would rather that they took a wide range of
courses in the humanities, such as philosophy, history,
music, and religion, so that they would become
liberally well-educated men and women.
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5. According to the text, what mentality underlies peer
pressure and self-induced pressure?
The mentality that underlies peer pressure and selfinduced pressure is the fear of being outshone by
one’s fellow students, the fear of appearing inferior.
6. As a college student do you feel any of the four
pressures Zinsser has described in the text? Is there any
other pressure you feel? Discuss with your classmates
the pressure(s) you feel and try to suggest a way “to
break the circles in which you are trapped.”
Open to discussion.
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What do you think are the aims of education? Read the
following quotes and find out whether your opinions
echo the speakers’.
Guidance: The aim of education, as Newman said, is to
nurture a person, a good citizen rather than a hero.
Education could be a philosophical problem with its social
responsibility and responsibility for personal growth.
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1. Nothing in education is so astonishing
as the amount of ignorance it
accumulates in the form of inert facts.
— Henry Adams
It is astonishing that education would only increase a lack
of knowledge about the world, if it is about the factual
information such as theories, concept and facts regardless
of the real application.
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2. The purpose of education is to replace
an empty mind with an open one.
— Malcolm Forbes
The aim of education is to help one who knows little
become receptive to new ideas and more possibilities.
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Henry Adams (1838–1918) was an American educator,
journalist, historian, and novelist.
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Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (1919–1990) was the
publisher of Forbes magazine, today run by his son.
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