• Unit 52 They Will not Be
forgotten
Part I Listening & Speaking Activities
• Brainstorming
• Listening
• Speaking
Brainstorming (1)
• Prepositional phrases denoting the past:
- in the Tang Dynasty, during the Second World War, at the Battle
of Gettysburg, after the Nanking Massacre, from ancient Athens,
until Song Dynasty, by 1914, from time immemorial, since long
ago, ages ago, in times past, in the old days, during the reign of
Wu Ti
• Some common patterns for expressing past events/acts:
(sb.) would do.., dated back to.., originated from
• Adjectives evaluating past events /acts:
negative: atrocious, bestial, dark, barbaric, uncivilized, savage,
cruel, cold-blooded, harsh, unmerciful
positive: prosperous, enlightened, beneficial, patriotic,
benevolent, humane, humanitarian, gallant, civil, chivalrous
Brainstorming (2)
• Expressions of forgetting:
forget, loss of memory, lapse of memory, fall into oblivion,
pass out of public consciousness, unable to recall, suffer
from amnesia, have a mental block
• Expressions of remembrance:
memorize, remember, recall, remind, something brought
back a lot of memories, made somebody think of the past
days, bring somebody back to childhood / sweet memory of
one's childhood, get lost / be deep in memory, call to mind,
bear in mind, look back, dig into the past, become nostalgic,
reminisce about, reminiscences, recollection ,
commemorate, commemorative activities, in
commemoration of …, memoirs
Listening
• Pre-listening discussion:
1. How long is Chinese history?
2. How many dynasties in Chinese history can you name?
夏商与西周,东周分两半,春秋和战国,一统秦两汉,三分魏蜀吴,两
晋前后延,南北朝并立,隋唐五代传,宋元明清后,皇朝至此完
3. Do you know anything about Sima Qian? Do you happen to
know any stories from Shi Ji or Historical Records?
4. What qualities should historians possess?
“For historians ought to be precise, truthful, and quite unprejudiced,
and neither interest nor fear, hatred nor affection, should cause them
to swerve from the path of truth, whose mother is history, the rival of
time, the depository of great actions, the witness of what is past, the
example and instruction of the present, the monitor of the future.”
• Listen to the recording and complete the blank-filling
exercise.
Speaking
• Task 1: Importance of history
Do you like to study history? Do you think
the study of history is necessary? Give your reasons.
• Task 2: Making your history
As a future father or mother, do you think it is necessary for your
children to know your personal history?
If yes, make a list of the events that you think are worthwhile going
down to a history book for your future children to read. And then
share it with your partner.
– What are the events? (List at least three)
– What are the details of these events? Why are they
important?
• Task 3: Everlasting memories
Work in groups to name three events in Chinese history which, in
your opinion, are of outstanding significance to the history of China.
Part II Reading & Language Activities
• Pre-reading Tasks
• Read the Text
• Words & Expressions
Pre-reading Tasks
• Do you know anything about the Nanjing Massacre? When and
where did it take place?
• What is the significance of refreshing that page of painful
history? What lessons can we draw from this great tragedy?
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat
it. (George Santayana (1863 — 1952), The Life of Reason,
Volume 1, 1905 )
Never forget the importance of history. To know nothing of
what happened before you took your place on earth, is to
remain a child for ever and ever. (Anonymous)
Haunted by the past, Iris Chang was determined to expose the truth about
Nanjing Massacre
“They Will Not Be Forgotten”
by Ralph Kinney Bennett
• Questions for skimming:
1. Where would you possibly read this kind of writing? What
kind of writing is this?
2. What’s this article about?
3. What about Chang and her book “The Rape of
Nanking” does the author tell you?
I. What prompted Chang to look into the truth
of Nanking Massacre
II. What she discovered through her researchWhat happened in Nanjing
III. How the public has /have responded to the book
Iris Chang (张纯如) (1968 –2004)
• An American historian and journalist;
• Best known for her best-selling 1997 account
of the Nanking Massacre, The Rape of Nanking:
The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II;
• Committed suicide on November 9, 2004;
• The subject of the 2007 biographical book,
Finding Iris Chang, as well as the 2007
documentary film Iris Chang: The Rape of
Nanking;
• Campaigned to persuade the Japanese
government to apologise for its troops'
wartime conduct and to pay compensation;
• Based on the book, an American documentary
film, Nanking, was released in 2007.
• Questions for close reading:
(1) When and from whom did Chang first learn about
the Nanking Massacre?
In what way did the parents tell her about it?
What was her reaction then?
- She was just a little girl when she heard the stories from her parents
whose voices had ‘quivered with outrage’. The story seemed unbelievably
frightening.
(2) Why did Nanking remain only on the periphery of her thoughts?
- She was too young to understand and she didn’t learn much on the
carnage from libraries.
(3) Why did the West fail to notice the brutality of the Japanese soldiers in
Nanking?
- The Nanjing Massacre failed to arouse sufficient attention in the West
for a number of reasons: the West was at first also involved in WWII so that
the reports about it were overshadowed by frightening events in Europe;
the West was then involved in the cold war against the Soviet Union and
was therefore eager to turn Japan into a friendly bulwark; and the
outbreak of Korean War once again diverted attention from the war crimes
tribunal that briefly focused on Nanjing.
(4) What rekindled her concern for what had happened in Nanking?
- She attended a conference where she saw photos of the
Nanjing Massacre.
How did she feel while standing in
front of the photos of the Nanking
Massacre? What was she
determined to do ?
- She was almost paralyzed by the
wave of anger and revulsion that
swept over her. She was
determined to expose the truth
about it (“I will tell these people’s
story”)
(5) How did Chang gather her material for the book?
- From the libraries from different places, she gathered various
materials including secret cables, missionary letters and diaries, war
crimes trial testimony, interviews with victims and Japanese soldiers.
(6) What could best expose the atrocities
committed by the Japanese soldiers in
Nanking? Cite examples.
- the huge number of people they
slaughtered and the ruthless killing of
disarmed soldiers and civilians: the
massacre lasted three months; some
ponds were so stuffed with corpses that
the water was completely displaced;
thousands of bodies were dumped into
the Yangtze and its water turned red;
civilians were herded into buildings that
were burned down; people were half
buried to be killed by ravenous dogs; old
men and little children were mowed down
by guns; women were raped no matter
how old or how young.
(7) Who was John Rabe? What did he do during the massacre? Why was he
considered a most unlikely hero?
- He was a German businessman and a member of the Nazi Party in Nanjing.
He sent telegrams and phone calls to the Japanese embassy to voice his
protest against the Japanese atrocities. Since Japan was an ally of Germany,
he hoped his status would give his weight to his protests, but they were
ignored. He was the leader of a group of Westerners who established a safety
zone in the town. He also tried to prevent the Japanese atrocities himself by
wading into scenes of brutality.
(8) What became of John Rabe after the war? How did the Chinese help him?
- He was reduced to poverty and the survivors raised money for food parcels
to be later sent to him.
(9) Why does Chang refer to him as “Schindler of China”?
- He played a similar role in the Nanjing Massacre as Schindler did in
Osweicim (a concentration camp in Poland) to help the innocent victims.
(10) What has been the public
response to the publication of
the book?
- The book first struck a chord
with overseas’ Chinese
communities and then with the
general public . It has triggered
political and intellectual
reverberations in Japan and
China.
(11) What did Chang mean by
saying “civilization itself is
tissue-thin?”
- Civilization is itself very fragile
and easily gives way to
barbarism.
Words & Expressions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
conjure up
[make sth appear in one’s mind; evoke]
e.g. For some people, the word 'England' may still conjure up images of pretty
gardens and tea parties.
bestiality
[brutality, atrocity]
turn up
[find]
e.g. Our efforts to trace him turned up nothing.
carnage
[slaughter, massacre, butchery]
on the periphery of …
[be the outer edge of …]
e.g. Many women feel they are being kept on the periphery of the armed forces.
pass out of the public consciousness
[be somewhat ignored by the public]
be engulfed in …
[be surrounded and covered by something or someone completely]
e.g. Northern areas of the country were engulfed by/in a snowstorm last night.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
bulwark
[base, support]
e.g. a bulwark against Communism
repulsion
[strong dislike or disgust]
a trickle of …
[a small amount of]
cull
[select; gather from a large quantity]
retain
[SLIGHTLY FORMAL to keep or continue to have something …]
e.g. She has lost her battle to retain control of the company.
set off
[cause]
e.g. The court's initial verdict in the police officers' trial set off serious riots.
exterminate
[kill off]
•
read
[(of something written or printed) to have or give the stated information or
meaning]
e.g. The start of the American Constitution reads 'We, the people of the United
States...'
• ongoing …
[adj. happening at the present moment]
e.g. an ongoing investigation/process/project
• under way
[(also underway) happening now]
e.g. Economic recovery is already under way.
• herd
[make people move somewhere as a group, often with force or against their wishes]
e.g. The football fans complained that they had been herded into a small alley.
• be reduced to …
[make someone unhappy or cause them to be in a bad state or situation]
e.g. His comments reduced her to tears.
I'd run out of cigarettes and was reduced to smoking the butts left in the
ashtrays.
Allied bombing reduced the city to ruins/rubble.
•
•
•
•
•
•
imminent
[impending, about to occur]
carve out
[create or set aside a small place from a larger area with difficulty; work hard in
order to get a successful career or reputation]
e.g. She carved out a reputation for herself as an aggressive businesswoman.
mark off
[separate an area by putting something around it]
e.g. Police had marked off the area where the body was found.
weight
[respect, influence, trust or importance]
e.g. Her experience does give her opinions quite a bit of weight.
After he was voted out of power, few people attached much weight to what he
said.
Radical views don't carry much weight anymore.
wade into
[force into with determination]
appeal to
[make a serious or formal request]
e.g. The police are appealing to the public for any information about the missing
girl.
Church leaders have appealed to the government to halt the war.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
interrogate
[ask someone a lot of questions for a long time in order to obtain information,
sometimes using threats or violence]
subjugated
[defeated]
what become of sb.
[where is sb. and what happened to him/her]
e.g. And Mickey Adams - I wonder what became of him.
plight
[a difficult and sad situation]
e.g. Few of us can be unmoved by the plight of the Romanian orphans.
meticulously
[carefully and fastidiously]
at the urging of …
[in response to the request of …]
oblivion
[being completely forgotten]
e.g. These toys will be around for a year or two, then fade/slide/sink into
oblivion.
•
•
•
•
•
•
strike a chord with …
[causes people to approve of it or agree with it]
e.g. The party's policy on childcare facilities has struck a responsive chord with
women voters.
Her speech struck a sympathetic chord among business leaders.
trigger (off)
[cause … to start]
e.g. The racial killings at the weekend have triggered off a wave of protests
throughout the country.
reverberation
[effects, consequences]
e.g. This move is likely to have reverberations throughout the health service.
quirk
[something bizarre or unusual]
unspeakable
[too bad or shocking to be expressed in words]
e.g. unspeakable crimes/ No report can convey the unspeakable suffering that this
war has caused.
pose a threat to …
[cause a problem or threat to …]
e.g. Nuclear weapons pose a threat to everyone.
Part III Extended Activities
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dictation
Read More
Words & Expressions
Grammar Work
Translation
Cultural Information
Dictation
The past has left many traces, including traditions, folk
tales, /works of art, archaeological objects, and books and
other written records. /Historians use all these sources, but
they mainly study the past as it has been recorded in
written documents. /Thus, history is generally limited to
human events/ that have taken place since the development
of writing about 5,500 years ago./
Historians study all aspects of past human life/—social
and cultural conditions as well as political and economic
events./ Some study the past simply to understand better
how people of other times acted and thought. /Other
historians seek to draw lessons from those actions and
thoughts as a guide for decisions and policies today.
/However, they disagree on history’s lessons, and so there
are many different interpretations of the past./ (10’)
Read More – The Hiding Place
• Questions for reading comprehension:
1. The five Ws of the story?
2. What was “the razzia”?
- the method of lightning search and seizure for male between
16 and 30 to be transported to work in the munitions factories.
3. How did the family cope with “the razzia”?
- they rearranged their kitchen to give the boys an emergency
hiding place.
4. Was this hiding place totally safe? Why or why not?
- No, it is a totally inadequate hiding place, too low for one
thing and it might be “the first place they’d look”. But it was
probably sufficient for a swoop by soldiers, not for a sustained
search by trained people.
5. Where was Nollie when the razzia came?
- she was shopping for a pair of shoes for Flip even if she had to
stand in line all day.
6. How did the family hide the boys?
- jerk; snatch away; tug open; lower; tumble in; drop shut; yank
over; pull back in place
7. If the German soldiers had looked closer at Katrien, what would
have happened?
- she would surely have given herself away: her face
was a mask of terror.
8. What did Cocky tell the German soldiers? Why did she
do so?
- her brothers were under the table.
9. Why didn’t the German soldiers believe her?
- in such situations the soldiers tended to thin that people
would not tell the truth. They were skeptical of her words. After
they searched under the table without finding the boys, they
came to the conclusion that the girl was playing a trick on them.
• The Hiding Place is a 1971 book on the life of
Corrie ten Boom, written by ten Boom together
with John and Elizabeth Sherrill.
• Corrie ten Boom(1892 –1983) was a Dutch,
Christian Holocaust survivor who helped many
Jews escape the Nazis during World War II.
• In 1967, Ten Boom was honored as one of the
Righteous Among the Nations by the State of
Israel. She was knighted by the Queen of the
Netherlands in recognition of her work during the
war, and a museum in the Dutch city of Haarlem
is dedicated to her and her family.
• After the war, she returned to the Netherlands to
set up rehabilitation centres.
• She also traveled the world as a public speaker,
appearing in over sixty countries, during which
time she wrote many books.
• She appeared on many Christian television
programs discussing her ordeal during the
Holocaust, and the concepts of forgiveness and
God's love.
Words & Expressions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
live in dread of …
[live in worry or fear about]
e.g. I live in dread of bumping into her in the street.
sustain
[maintain; suffer; uphold; bear]
jerk
[move suddenly]
give away
[betray]
thick-accented
[with a strong accent]
pent-up
[adj. (of emotions or feelings) repressed]
e.g. Screaming at the top of your voice is a good way of venting pent-up
frustration.
a spasm of …
[short period of something, especially something uncontrollable]
e.g. a spasm of guilt/coughing/laughing
Grammar Work
• should do 用在“ It is / was necessary/ important/ strange/ incredible
”或“ It is a pity/ a shame/ no wonder ”之后由 that 引导的主语从句中
。should 有“应该”、“必须”、“竟然”、“居然”之意。
e.g. It is necessary that he （should） be sent there at once. 有必要
马上派他到那里去。
It is strange that the wheel should turn so slowly. 真奇怪，这个
轮子竟然转动得如此之慢。
It is a great pity/ shame/ that he should be so conceited. 真遗
憾，他竟会这样自高自大。
• should have done 意为“竟然已经……”，“居然已经……”，即表示说话人
对已经出现的事态感到“惊奇、惊喜、怀疑”。
e.g. I'm surprised that he should have been so foolish. 我很奇怪，他
竟然会这么傻。
I'm amazed that Mr Harris should have said nothing about the
matter. 这件事，哈里斯先生竟然只字未提，对此我大为惊异。
It is wonderful that you should have achieved so much these
years. 这几年你竟然取得如此大的成就，你真了不起。
Grammar Work (b)
• 1. It is a disgrace that he should lie in public.
• 2. It is a pity that he should be so displeased /upset.
• 3. It is a nuisance that I should have forgotten my
ticket.
• 4. It is a shame that our picnic should be spoilt by the
rain.
• 5. It is essential that you (should) attend the meeting.
• 6. It is important that we keep up with the latest
development in the world.
• 7. It is desirable that university students know how to
work with computers.
• 8. It is strange that he should have left without letting
us know.
Translation
• 1. There is a Greek art collection on display in the museum at
the moment.
• 2. Lost in the forest and out of food, he was reduced to living
on wild herbs and fruit.
• 3. This place has been marked off for a new playground.
• 4. There was no choice but to wade across the muddy water.
• 5. The congressman appealed to the government that more
schools be set up.
• 6. They were in a dreadful plight when they had their money
and passports stolen while they were on holiday in a foreign
country.
• 7. At the urging of her friends, I arranged for a doctor to see
her.
• 8. He tried hard to appear calm but his quivering voice gave
him away.
• Chang learned from her research that “civilization
itself is tissue-thin.” She adds, “Some quirk in
human nature allows even the most unspeakable
acts of evil to become banal within minutes,
provided that they occur far enough away to pose
no personal threat.”
张女士从自己的研究中了解到“文明本身就很脆弱”，
她说，“人性中的某些怪异之处使得即使是最难以启
齿的罪恶行径，只要发生在足够遥远的地方，而且对
个人不构成威胁，也会变得平淡。”
Cultural Information – Police Force in Britain
• Does Britain have a national
police force?
• How many police forces are
there?
• What will the British police force
do if there has been a murder
which is particularly difficult to
solve?
• What is the ranking system in the
British police force?
• What do the CID members do?
• What do traffic wardens do?
• Do British policemen carry guns?
UK Police Ranks