发布时间 : 星期六 文章Unit 5 straight A illiteracy - 图文更新完毕开始阅读e05329a35901020206409c14
Book 6 Unit 5
Unit Five
1. Lead-in
Movie Clip
Watch the following video and then do the exercise. You can find the interpretation of some words and phrases in \ Book 6 Unit 5.mp4 (00:00 – 02:34)
Script
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Oh, hello. Oh, hello.
Hi, how are you? Fine.
So do you ladies uh ... Come here often?
Do I come here? I come here a bit. I'm here you know from time to time. Do you go to school yet? Yep.
Yeah, that's it. So I think I had a class with you. Oh, yeah? What class? History. Maybe.
Yes, I think that's what it was. You don't necessarily ... may not remember me. You know I like it here. It doesn't mean I go here. I'm a genius. I am very smart. Hey.
Hey, how's it going? How are ya? Good. How ya doing?
What class did you say that was? History.
Just history. It must have been a survey course then. Yeah, it was. It was surveys. Right.
You should check it out. It's a good course. It'd be a good class. How'd you like that course?
You know, frankly, I found that class, you know, rather elementary.
Elementary. You know I don't doubt that it was. I uh I remember that class. It was ... um ... it was just between recess and lunch. Clark, why don't you just go away? Why don't you relax? Why don't you go away?
I'm just having fun with my new friend. That's all.
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Book 6 Unit 5
- -
Are we gonna have a problem?
No no no no. There's no problem here. I was just hoping you might give me some insight into the evolution of the market economy in the southern colonies. My contention is that prior to the Revolutionary War, the economic modalities especially in the southern colonies could most aptly be characterized as agrarian pre-capitalist. - Let me tell you something, all right?
- Hang on a sec. You're a first-year grad student. You just got finished reading some Marxian
historian, Pete Garrison probably. You're gonna be convinced of that till next month when you get to James Lemon. Then you're gonna be talking about how the economies of Virginia and Pennsylvania are entrepreneurial and capitalist way back in 1740. That's gonna last until next year. You're gonna be in here regurgitating Gordon Wood, talking about, you know, the pre-revolutionary utopia and the capital-forming effects of military mobilization.
- Well as a matter of fact, I won't because Wood drastically underestimates the impact of ... - \drastically underestimates the impact of social distinctions predicated upon wealth,
especially inherited wealth.\right? Yeah, I read that, too. Were you gonna plagiarize the whole thing for us? Do you have any
thoughts of your own on this matter? Or is that your thing? You come into a bar. You read some obscure passage and then pretend you pawn it off as your own, as your own idea just to impress some girls? Embarrass my friend? (From Good Will Hunting)
Word Bank
1. elementary:
introductory, fundamental
e.g. I'm only familiar with the subject at an elementary level.
2. recess:
a pause from doing something, break
e.g. The students have a 15-minute mid-morning recess.
3. colony:
the country or district settled or colonized 殖民地
4. modality:
a particular method or procedure
e.g. The students are familiar with the traditional modalities of representing time and space.
5. agrarian:
relating to farming or farmers
e.g. China used to be a typically agrarian country.
6. regurgitate:
repeat after memorization
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Book 6 Unit 5
e.g. For the exam, you must be able to regurgitate the information.
7. predicate (up)on:
involve as a necessary condition of consequence
e.g. Solving the problem is predicated on understanding it well.
8. plagiarize:
take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech e.g. He accused other scientists of plagiarizing his research.
9. pawn something off:
to persuade someone to buy or accept something of low quality e.g. The man tried in vain to pawn off an old bicycle to some girls.
Exercise
1. Clark interferes in the conversation because he wants to ___________.
A. discuss a problem with the boy B. impress the girl C. show off his history knowledge D. embarrass the boy 2. It seems Clark is ___________.
A. reciting someone's words
B. pretending that he knows more than he does C. seeking a fight
D. interested in the girls
Key: 1. D 2. A
Inspirational Quotes
A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students.
— John Ciardi
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Book 6 Unit 5
Discussion
Do you think it is important for a college student to get A's on all subjects? Why?
II. Text I
Pre-reading Questions
1. You surely know what kind of student a straight-A student is, and you may also know what
\with that of illiteracy? Does \
2. Make a guess as to what kind of illiteracy the author is going to discuss in his essay, and what
made him think of such a subject.
General Reading
I. Which of the following do you think most appropriately describes a straight-A illiterate? A. A well-educated person, typically one with a Ph.D. degree, or working toward it, and with a high I.Q., but disabled by long-term exposure to academic jargon to write in clear, plain English.
B. A college student, usually one working toward a degree, who gets all A's for the courses he takes and is thus a promising candidate for a coveted fellowship, but is unable to verbalize his thoughts clearly because of over-concentration on academic readings.
C. A college student, a university professor, or any person of the academic world, who is an expert in using the academic jargon to express himself but at a disadvantage when communicating in plain everyday English.
Key: A
II. Determine whether the following statements are true or false.
1. In Degnan's opinion, of all those at university many are not able to read or write properly, and
this problem has already become a grave social concern.
2. The sort of writing the straight-A illiterates produce is hardly intelligible to others, but
crystally comprehensible to themselves.
3. If we compare straight-A illiteracy to a disease, as Degnan does, then the virus that causes
such a disease must be no other than the university professors.
4. Straight-A illiteracy is regarded as an important qualification for Ph.D. degrees and
fellowships by university authorities.
5. Although straight-A illiteracy affects fewer people than ordinary illiteracy, Degnan still
thinks it is worse than the latter type.
Key: 1. T 2. F 3. F 4. T 5. T
Background Notes
1. American Sociological Review: a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering all
aspects of sociology. It is published by Sage Publications on behalf of the American
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