-
Unit 3
On Reading
Consolidation Activities
I.
Text Comprehension
1.
Decide which of the following best states the
author's purpose.
A.
To recommend some masterpieces for
pleasurable reading.
B.
To let the readers share his experience
of reading.
C.
To
urge the exercise of personal taste in the
selection of what to read from the books
he is going to recommend.
Key: [ C ]
2.
Judge, according to the text, whether the
following statements are true or
false.
1). If books can fulfill your
utilitarian purposes, you will find reading them
enjoyable. [F]
2). All masterpieces,
due to their importance and value acknowledged by
critics, should
be given priority on
readers’ booklists. [F]
3).
The first criterion in book-selection is that the
reader should get pleasure from his/her
reading. [T]
4). Reading
habits vary from person to person, depending on
individuals’ preferences. [T]
5). The author does not believe in
skipping, because he often worries that he may
have
missed something important and
valuable in reading as a result of skipping. [F]
4. Explain in your own
words the following sentences taken from the text.
1.
Even though many scholars
highly praise a book, you don’t have to read it at
all if you
don’t find it
interesting.
2. Later on,
when I finish my work, and I f
eel
relaxed, and don’t want to beat my brains, I
usually read history, essays, criticism
or biography, and in the evening I read a novel.
II. Writing
Strategies
1) Read the
following sentences that are structured in an
inverted sequence.
a. Such books we read with resignation
rather than with alacrity. (Paragraph 1)
b. That,
however, they cannot do unless you enjoy reading
them. (Paragraph 1)
c. Now of such books as this I mean to
say nothing. (Paragraph 3)
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d. ... but how you are to learn it I
cannot tell you ...(Paragraph 6)
Try to give the normal order of these
sentences and comment on their stylistic
functions.
a. Normal sequence: We read
such books with resignation rather than with
alacrity.
Function: To create a closer
relation between “books” in this sentence and
“them”
in the preceding one.
b. Normal sequence: However, they
cannot do that unless you enjoy reading them.
Function: To
achieve emphasis by putting “that” at the
beginning of the sentence.
c. Normal sequence: Now I mean to say
nothing of such books as this.
Function: Both to achieve emphasis and
to create a closer relation between “this”
in the sentence and what has been
discussed in the preceding one.
d.
Normal sequence: ... but I cannot tell you how you
are to learn it ...
Function: Both to
achieve emphasis and to create a closer relation
between “it” in
the sentence and “to
know how to skip” in the preceding one.
2)
With the exception of Paragraphs 1 and
4, the author supplies his own experiences in
the second half of each paragraph to
shed more light on the suggestions he puts
forward.
Read these experiences again,
and identify the author’s viewpoints.
The author’s viewpoints involved in his
personal experiences:
a. The
author’s experience in reading George Eliot’s
Adam Bede
(Paragraph 2)
—
to
indicate
that masterpieces do not necessarily bring
enjoyment in reading.
b. Reading
certain books makes the author feel the richer
(Paragraph 3)
—
to suggest
that what pleases one person does not
necessarily please another.
c. The
a
uthor’s reading habit (Paragraph 5)
—
to advise people that they need to
read
according to their own interests.
d. The author’s experience as a bad
skipper (Paragraph 6)
—
to
prove that reading
could be more
enjoyable, if you know how to skip.
III. Language Work
1. Explain the underlined part(s) in
each sentence in your own words.
1). Such books we read with resignation
rather than with alacrity.
?
read with unresisting acceptance because we know
we have to; eagerness
2). The books I
shall mention in due course will help you neither
to get a degree nor to
earn your
living.
?
later, after these
introductory remarks
3). I wish to deal
only with the masterpieces which the consensus of
opinion for a long
time has accepted as
supreme.
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?
for a long time have
generally been accepted as the most important
books
4). Don’t forget that critics
often make mistakes —
the history of
criticism is
full of the
blunders the most eminent of them have
made ...
?
full of mistakes;
famous and respected
5). ... I would
not go so far as to pretend that to read a book
will
assuage the pangs of
hunger or still the pain of unrequited
love ...
?
ease the painful
feeling; kill
6). But who
is going to acquire the habit of reading for
reading’s sake, if he is
bidden to
read books that bore him.
?
told to
7). It
sets me off for the day.
?
warms me up and gets me ready for a
whole day’s work
8). Later
on, when my work is done and I feel at ease, but
not inclined for mental exercise
of a
strenuous character, I read history, essays,
criticism or biography ...
?
ready for; a toilsome / difficult nature
9). ... I am aware I have not done it
justice ...
?
have not
treated the book in a way that is fair
10). I am apt to think that I might
just as well never have read it ...
?
tend to; it might have
been equally good if I had never read it (Note: it
is a phrase
used to mean that another
course of action would have an equally good
result.)
2. Fill in the
blanks with the appropriate forms of the given
words.
1). They received
the news with resignation. (resign)
2).
The company has begun to challenge the supremacy
(supreme) of the current leading
manufacturers in the textiles industry.
3). All four proposals to the committee
were unanimously (unanimous) approved.
4).
Having
achieved
eminence
(eminent)
as
an
actor,
he
now
intends
to
perform
a
comparable feat in politics.
5). This part of the law is only
applicable (apply) to companies employing more
than five
people.
6). The
museum houses a fascinating miscellany
(miscellaneous) of nautical treasures.
7). I’m not sure of the
chronology (chronological) of the
events.
8). The children sat listening
attentively (attention) to the story.
9). My own inclination (incline) would
be to look for another job.
10). He
strenuously (strenuous) denies all the allegations
against him.
3. Fill in the
blank(s) in each sentence with a phrase taken from
the box in its
appropriate form.
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incline | resign | class as | with
equanimity | rob of | stall off |
apt | dip into | apply to extract | do
justice to | set off
1).
She
didn’t really
do justice
to herself in the interview.
2. He
resigned from the company to take a more
challenging job.
3). A last-minute
injury robbed me of my place on the team.
4). It’s the sort of book you can just
dip into now and again.
5).
That bit of the form is for foreigners
—
it doesn’t
apply to you.
6). No one
seemed inclined to help.
7). I’m 17,
but I’m still
classed as a child when I
travel by bus.
8). She’s in her
eighties now and
apt to be a bit
forgetful.
9). She’s finally stopped
crying —
n
ow don’t
set her off again.
10). The
oil which is extracted from olives is used for
cooking.
11). The thief broke into the
office while his accomplice stalled off the
security guard.
12). He received the
news of his mother’s death
with
remarkable equanimity.
4.
Explain the meaning of the underlined part in each
sentence.
1). There is a
supreme moment at the end of the opera.
?
a moment which causes
great excitement
2). The air was so
still that not even the leaves on the trees were
moving.
?
There was so
little wind
3). He bade them to leave
at once.
?
ordered or told
4). If symptoms persist, seek medical
attention.
?
visit a doctor
5). The kitchen roof is apt to leak
when it rains.
?
likely to
6). She felt that life had lost most of
its savour.
?
pleasure and
interest
7). Somebody set the alarm
off.
?
made the alarm bell
ring
8). I incline to disagree with you
on that point.
?
I more
disagree than agree
9). I’ve only
dipped into the book.
?
read a few pages of the
book, not from cover to cover
10). The
winner has been disqualified for cheating, so
justice has been done.
?
fairness has been achieved
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5.
Correct
the
errors
in
the
following
passage.
The
passage
contains
ten
errors, one in each indicated line. In
each case, only one word is involved.
Corrections should be done as follows:
Wrong word: underline the wrong word
and write the correct word in the blank.
Extra word: delete the extra word with
an “×.”
Missing
word:
mark
the
position
of
the
missing
word
with
a
“
∧
”
and
write
the
missing word in the blank.
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad led a fascinating life.
Born in Poland, he
moved
around the world as a sailor and eventually
settled in
England. He must
have been an excellent
language’s
learner
(1)
language
as he soon became a famous English
writer. He wrote a large
number of short stories and a lot of
novels, mainly about the
sea.
Many
also,
as
he
lived
around
1900,
were
concerned
∧
colonialism.
Nostromo
exposed
the
way
Western
(2)
with
capitalism
sometimes
exploiting
the
third
world,
and
Lord
(3)
exploited
Jim
was
about
a
ship’s
officer
who
lost
his
honor
when
he
abandoned
passengers
on
a
sunk
ship.
Perhaps
his
most
(4)
sinking
famous
and
powerful
book
is
The
Heart
of
Darkness
.
A
decent
man,
Marlow,
is
sent
to
investigate
what
has
happened to Kurtz, an ivory trader,
based a long way up one
of
the
great
African
rivers.
Kurtz’s
behavior
has
become
increasingly odd, and his employers
want to know what has
happened. As Marlow travels up to the
river, moving into the
(5) to
heart
of
Africa,
through
thick,
dangerous
jungle,
he
finds
himself
also
traveling
into
the
heart
of
darkness,
man’s
savagery and evilness. But at the very
heart he finds, not an
(6)evil
African,
but
Kurtz,
the
representative
of
white
civilization,
who has turned himself over
into a god-king, ruling over his
(7)
over
own
tribe.
Terrible
things
happen,
and
eventually
the
mad
Kurtz
dies
whispering,
“Oh,
the
horror,
the
horror.”
The
story has been filmed for a
number of times, and was used by
(8)
for
Coppola as the base for his film
Apocalypse Now
, a study of
(9) basis
the
American
present
in
Vietnam.
It
remains
a
powerful
(10) presence
warning of the danger of superiority.
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6. Fill in each
blank in the passage below with ONE appropriate
word.
The Beauty of Reading
All good books have one thing in (1)
common
—
they are truer than
if they really (2)
happened and after
you have finished reading one you will feel that
all that happened to
you
and
afterwards,
it
all
(3)
belongs
to
you:
the
good
and
the
bad,
the
ecstasy,
the
remorse and sorrow, the
people and the places and how the weather was.
—
Ernest Hemingway
Books, as we all know, are the stepping
stones to human progress, for they reflect the
world’s greatest minds. However, they
are only gaudy ornaments on the (4)
shelves until
someone
reads
them.
So
it
is
reading
that
(5)
makes
the
difference.
Reading
is
to
the
mind what food is to the
(6) body, for it transforms the way people
understand the world,
invokes self-
awareness and helps to fulfill (7) personal
potential.
Reading unfolds a sketch of
the real world in front of readers’ (8)
eyes. Books present
the
landscape and stories of the whole world beyond
the (9) limitations of time or space.
And by reading, readers get to (10)
know exotic cultures and traditions, enjoy
numerous
anecdotes,
and
even
(11)
experience
the
legendary
life
of
their
idols.
In
this
regard,
reading (12) enables people to
understand the world from a new perspective.
Reading motivates personal development.
Merely (13)
sustaining life is a
vegetable
state. Thoroughly (14) living
life requires continuous exploration of mankind
itself. And
reading enhances people’s
capacity to judge themselves i
n a moral
and rational way, and
then correct
their (15) misunderstanding of the concept of
themselves.
Reading develops potential.
Books are the legacies that great geniuses leave
to (16)
mankind. And reading provides
readers with a shortcut by which they can get (17)
access
to
their
great
minds.
The
beauty
of
reading
is
just
like
the
sunshine,
illuminating
(18)
everything.
By
reading
and
getting
access
to
great
(19)
minds,
readers
tend
to
be
encouraged and
enlightened, (20) which naturally makes life more
meaningful.
IV. Translation
1. Translating Sentences
Translate the following sentences into
English.
1).
她欣然接受了那笔钱。
(with alacrity)
?
She accepted the money
with alacrity.
2).
< br>但是他并未能从胜利中获得满足，因为他发现有个无辜的男孩在战斗中被杀死了。
(extract)
?
However, he could
extract no satisfaction from the victory, because
he found that
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