新世纪高等院校英语专业综合教程第四册(修订版)Unit8

THE DISCUS THROWERUnit 8 I Watch the video and answer the following questions.1. What is Mrs. Gumps attitude toward death?She seems quite peaceful in face of her own death. She seems to accept death as something she is destined to do.This is probably because she thinks she has lived a satisfactory life. She believes that death is a part of life, something one is destined to do. She assumes that she has done the best she could to be a good woman.2. Why does she have such an attitude?Audiovisual supplement Cultural information From Forrest GumpAudiovisual supplement Cultural information Forrest: Wheres Momma?Black woman: Shes upstairs.Mrs Gump: Hah, Forrest!Doctor: Ill see you tomorrow.Mrs Gump: Fine.Doctor: Sure got you straightened out, didnt we boy?Forrest: Whats the matter, Momma?Mrs. Gump: Im dyin, Forrest. Come on in, sit down over here.Forrest: Why are you dyin, Momma?Mrs. Gump: Its my time. Its just my time. Oh, now, dont you be afraid, sweetheart. Death is just a part of life. Its something were all destined to do. I didnt know it, but I was destined to be your momma. I did the best I could.Audiovisual supplement Cultural information Forrest: You did good, Momma.Mrs. Gump: Well, I happened to believe you make your own destiny. You have to do the best with what God gave you.Forrest: Whats my destiny, Momma?Mrs. Gump: Youre gonna have to figure that out for yourself. Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what youre gonna get.Forrest (V.O.): Momma always had a way of explaining things so I could understand them.Mrs. Gump: I will miss you, Forrest.Forrest (V.O.): She had got the cancer and died on a Tuesday. I bought her a new hat with little flowers on it.Audiovisual supplement Cultural information (EXT. BUS STOP PRESENT The elderly woman and Forrest sit. The woman is crying and wipes her eyes with a hankie.)Forrest: And thats all I have to say about that. Didnt you say you were waiting for the number 7 bus?Elderly woman: Therell be another one along shortly.Forrest: Now, because I had been a football star and war hero and national celebrity and a shrimping .Audiovisual supplement Cultural information The Psychological Aspects of Amputation Regardless of the cause of the amputation, an amputee will probably go through basically the same psychological stages. Some may go through the grieving process in a short time, while others will suffer several months. However, it is important that one acknowledge and understand the process as he is going through each stage, for it possibly helps him to survive psychologically.Audiovisual supplement Cultural information 1. The Five Stages of the Grieving Process DenialPeople who go through traumatic amputations usually experience Denial, but normally those who have had surgical amputations will not experience it. AngerOften people will blame God, the doctor, or others for their loss. Audiovisual supplement Cultural information BargainingIn this stage, patients may attempt to postpone the reality of amputation, and most patients will try to bargain with their doctor or through a higher authority such as a religious figure. DepressionIn this stage, anger is taken place by depression. This is probably the most complicated stage of grief, but it too will disappear. Common symptoms include sleeping either too much or too little, negative feelings about the environment and the future, feelings of hopelessness, and talking about death.Audiovisual supplement Cultural information Acceptance and HopeEventually, the amputee will come to terms with his loss and start living again. This is more easily achieved if he has a visit from a peer counselor who has been through this entire process and can give him some advice.Audiovisual supplement Cultural information 2. Complicated Grief Complicated grief is not common in amputee patients, however its symptoms are more harmful, which include severe isolation, violent behavior, suicidal ideation, workaholic behavior, severe or prolonged depression, nightmares, and avoiding reminders of the amputation. It is urgent for the amputees with these symptoms to seek appropriate professional medical treatment.Audiovisual supplement Cultural information This text is a piece of chronological narration about an amputee, a difficult and only semi-communicative patient who floundered in his last days in agony and depression and eventually died. The text can be divided into three parts:Part I (Paragraph 1): This part serves as an introduction to the background of the story. Part II (Paragraphs 2 13): This part describes the strange behavior of a particular patient dubbed the “discus thrower” and his conflict with health workers. Rhetorical featuresStructural analysis Part III (Paragraph 14 15): The last part tells the readers about the patients death. This narration also poses interesting challenges: what to think of this man, how to understand him, and how to treat him? Clearly the mans enigmatic speech and action are saying something, and Selzer suggests that few are listening. The story offers no answer, but it suggests that the kind of sympathy the narrator develops through watching the patient (though not expressed) is a good start. The patients provocative behavior and the storys openness make it a good point of departure for a discussion. Rhetorical featuresStructural analysis 1. Ought not a doctor to observe his patients by any means and from any stance that he might take for the more fully assemble evidence? (Paragraph 1)2. Is he mute as well as blind? (Paragraph 3)3. What is he thinking behind those lids that do not blink? Is he remembering a time when he was whole? Does he dream of feet? Or when his body was not a rotting log? (Paragraph 6) A notable feature of this text is the extensive use of questions on the part of the narrator. He asks questions in his dialogue with the patient, and he also asks himself questions. First look at the questions he asks himself: For example:Rhetorical featuresStructural analysis These questions call for no answer but they reveal the inner thoughts of the narrator. He seems to be trying to place himself in the position of the patient to feel a better understanding of the patients psychology. Now look at the questions he asks in his dialogue with the patient:For example:1. How are you? (Paragraph 5)2. How do you feel? (Paragraph 5)3. Anything more I can do for you? (Paragraph 7) All these questions help to show that the doctor is very patient with and, responsible for his patient. Rhetorical featuresStructural analysis Practice: Study the text and pick out other questions he asks, and see how these questions help reveal his attitude towards the patient. Rhetorical featuresStructural analysis THE DISCUS THROWER Richard Selzer1 I spy on my patients. Ought not a doctor to observe his patients by any means and from any stance, that he might the more fully assemble evidence? So I stand in the doorways of hospital rooms and gaze. Oh, it is not all that furtive an act. Those in bed need only look up to discover me. But they never do.Detailed reading 2 From the doorway of Room 542 the man in the bed seems deeply tanned. Blue eyes and close-cropped white hair give him the appearance of vigor and good health. But I know that his skin is not brown from the sun. It is rusted, rather, in the last stage of containing the vile repose within. And the blue eyes are frosted, looking inward like the windows of a snowbound cottage. This man is blind. This man is also legless the right leg missing from midthigh down, the left from just below the knee. It gives him the look of a bonsai, roots and branches pruned into the dwarfed facsimile of a great tree.Detailed reading 3 Propped on pillows, he cups his right thigh in both hands. Now and then he shakes his head as though acknowledging the intensity of his suffering. In all of this he makes no sound. Is he mute as well as blind?4 The room in which he dwells is empty of all possessions no get-well cards, small, private caches of food, day-old flowers, slippers, all the usual kickshaws of the sick room. There is only the bed, a chair, a nightstand, and a tray on wheels that can be swung across his lap for meals.Detailed reading 5 “What time is it?” he asks. “Three oclock.” “Morning or afternoon?” “Afternoon.” He is silent. There is nothing else he wants to know. “How are you?” I say. “Who are you?” he asks. “Its the doctor. How do you feel?” He does not answer right away. “Feel?” he says. “I hope you feel better,” I say. I press the button at the side of the bed. “Down you go,” I say. “Yes, down,” he says.Detailed reading 6 He falls back upon the bed awkwardly. His stumps, unweighted by legs and feet, rise in the air, presenting themselves. I unwrap the bandages from the stumps, and begin to cut away the black scabs and the dead, glazed fat with scissors and forceps. A shard of white bone comes loose. I pick it away. I wash the wounds with disinfectant and redress the stumps. All this while, he does not speak. What is he thinking behind those lids that do not blink? Is he remembering a time when he was whole? Does he dream of feet? Or when his body was not a rotting log?Detailed reading 7 He lies solid and inert. In spite of everything, he remains impressive, as though he were a sailor standing athwart a slanting deck. “Anything more I can do for you?” I ask. For a long moment he is silent. “Yes,” he says at last and without the least irony. “You can bring me a pair of shoes.” In the corridor, the head nurse is waiting for me. “We have to do something about him,” she says. “Every morning he orders scrambled eggs for breakfast, and, instead of eating them, he picks up the plate and throws it against the wall.”Detailed reading “Throws his plate?” “Nasty. Thats what he is. No wonder his family doesnt come to visit. They probably cant stand him any more than we can.” She is waiting for me to do something. “Well?” “Well see,” I say.8 The next morning I am waiting in the corridor when the kitchen delivers his breakfast. I watch the aide place the tray on the stand and swing it across his lap. She presses the button to raise the head of the bed. Then she leaves.Detailed reading 9 In time the man reaches to find the rim of the tray, then on to find the dome of the covered dish. He lifts off the cover and places it on the stand. He fingers across the plate until he probes the eggs. He lifts the plate in both hands, sets it on the palm of his right hand, centers it, balances it. He hefts it up and down slightly, getting the feel on it. Abruptly, he draws back his right arm as far as he can. 10 There is the crack of the plate breaking against the wall at the foot of his bed and the small wet sound of the scrambled eggs dropping to the floor.Detailed reading 11 And then he laughs. It is a sound you have never heard. It is something new under the sun. It could cure cancer. Out in the corridor, the eyes of the head nurse narrow. “Laughed, did he?” She writes something down on her clipboard.12 A second aide arrives, brings a second breakfast tray, puts it on the nightstand, out of his reach. She looks over at me shaking her head and making her mouth go. I see that we are to be accomplices.Detailed reading 13 “Ive got to feed you,” she says to the man. “Oh, no, you dont,” the man says. “Oh, yes, I do,” the aide says, “after the way you just did. Nurse says so.” “Get me my shoes,” the man says. “Heres the oatmeal,” the aide says. “Open.” And she touches the spoon to his lower lip. “I ordered scrambled eggs,” says the man. “Thats right,” the aide says. I step forward. “Is there anything I can do?” I say. “Who are you?” the man asks.Detailed reading 14 In the evening I go once more to that ward to make my rounds. The head nurse reports to me that Room 542 is deceased. She has discovered this by accident, she says. No, there had been no sound. Nothing. Its a blessing, she says.15 I go into his room, a spy looking for secrets. He is still there in his bed. His face is relaxed, grave, dignified. After a while, I turn to leave. My gaze sweeps the wall at the foot of the bed, and I see the place where it has been repeatedly washed, where the wall looks very clean and white.Detailed reading Does the doctor feel guilty of spying on his patients? Why or why not? (Paragraph 1)No, he doesnt. Instead, he finds the activity justifiable. For one thing, he thinks the activity is well-meant, i.e. he wants to collect more pathological evidence in order to give the patients more effective treatment. For another, his activity is not spying in the true sense, for the act is far from furtive.Detailed reading How would you account for the possessions in Room 542? (Paragraph 4)The fact that there are no get-well cards, no small, private caches of food and day-old flowers shows that he has been abandoned by his family and friends. Detailed reading Why does the patient ask for shoes time and again? (Paragraphs 7)As a blind man, he is restrained in activity. Now without legs he is completely confined to bed. Like a caged bird, he longs for freedom and dreams of going back to his career. Thus it is understandable why he repeatedly asks for shoes.Detailed reading Why does the patient throw his plate? (Paragraphs 910)This is the way he expresses his wrath with the unfair fate. He is deprived of sight and now his legs. Deserted by society, he is left with very little. Indignant as he is, he can avenge himself upon nobody. What he can do is only to crash his plate against the wall to vent his anger and despair. Moreover, he would rather die in a stroke like the plate than linger in agony.Detailed reading What kind of laughter does the patient give? (Paragraph 11)The laughter is unique as is indicated in Paragraph 11. It comes both from the pleasure after revenge by crashing the plate and the hope to extricate himself from his agony by means of an abrupt death like the plate. Since freedom in this material world is impossible to him, he wishes to have it in the other world.Detailed reading Group discussionsHow do you think a dying man will most probably behave? Should euthanasia (physician-assisted suicide) be legalized?Detailed reading The US government the movements of the terrorists since 9.11.Translation:公司派他去侦查竞争对手的销售实力。The company sent him to spy on the competitors sales force._Collocations: spy on: secretly or furtively observe sb. or sth.e.g. The children loved spying on the grownups.Blank filling: has been spying on_spy: v. noticeDetailed reading stance: n. an attitude or view about an issue that you state clearlyCollocations: stance on/toward/againste.g. Tell us what your stance is on capital punishment.Detailed reading e.g. Paul heard stealthy footsteps on the stairs.furtive: a. done on the sly or in a sneaky waySynonym: secret, stealthy, covert, clandestine, surreptitious, underhande.g. The thief gave a furtive glance at the defense attorney when the judge read the charges.Comparison: Secret is the most general.e.g. a desk with a secret compartment; secret negotiationsStealthy suggests quiet, cautious deceptiveness intended to escape notice. Detailed reading Detailed readingCovert describes something that is concealed or disguised.e.g. Every measure, both overt and covert, is being taken against terrorists.Clandestine (a. shore upe.g. Try to prop up the tent with the branch from the tree.He cant always expect his colleagues to prop him up.to prop up a new regime扶植一个新政权Detailed reading cup: v. support or hold sth. with the hands that are curved like a dishe.g. He cupped her chin in the palm of his hand.Make a sentence with the following key words: kneel, cup, hand, river water.David knelt, cupped his hands and splashed river water onto his face._Detailed reading swing: v. (swung, swung) move sth. from side to side e.g. A large pendulum swung back and forth inside the grandfather clock.His mood swings between elation and despair.Detailed reading probe: v. physically explore or examine sth. with the hands or an instrument e.g. Detectives questioned him for hours, probing for any inconsistencies in his story.Collocations: probe in/intoe.g. The official enquiry will probe into alleged corruption within the Defence Ministry. They probed in/into the mud with a special drill, looking for a long-buried shipwreck.Detailed reading heft: v. lift or hold sth. in order to test its weighte.g. I watched him heft the heavy sack onto his shoulder.Detailed reading accomplice: n. sb. who helps another person to do sth. illegal or wronge.g. He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.Derivation: complicity: n. (formal) the act of taking part with another person in a crimee.g. complicity in a crimeConfusing words: accomplice, accomplishDetailed reading go/make ones rounds:(1) deliver mail door to door; go round (esp. a hospital ward); inspecte.g. make/go the rounds of the wards （医院）查房e.g. a paragraph going the rounds of various journals转载在各种杂志上的一段文章War rumors are going the rounds.有关战争的谣言正在流传。(2) spreadDetailed reading deceased: a. deade.g. flowers on the grave of deceased relativese.g. The deceased was a highly respected member of the farming community.Confusing words: deceased, diseasedthe deceased: (formal and legal) person(s) who has(have) recently diedDetailed reading “Yes, down,” he says. (Paragraph 5)Explanation:“Yes, I am going down,” he says, meaning literally that he is going down with the bed but metaphorically that his physical condition is going from bad to worse.Detailed reading It is a sound you have never heard. It is something new under the sun. It could cure cancer. (Paragraph 11)Paraphrase:The wild, relaxed laughter is a totally new sound in the world that nobody has ever heard. The joyful laughter could even give a promising future to cancer patients.Detailed reading She looks over at me shaking her head and making her mouth go. (Paragraph 12)Paraphrase:The aide looks across at me, shaking her head to express her frustration and pursing her lips to signal her annoyance.Detailed reading Words and phrases practiceWord derivationSynonym / AntonymVocabulary Translation Integrated skills Oral activities WritingGrammar 1) peculiar a. peculiarity n.e.g.这是18世纪特有的风俗。诗人的特别之处在于他有表达自己感受的冲动。This is a style peculiar to the 18th century.A poets peculiarity is that he has the impulse to express what he feels.Vocabulary Translation Integrated skills Oral activities WritingGrammar Im surprised that you got an unfavourable impression of him.2) impress v. impressive a. impression n.e.g.我使他铭记自己工作的重要性。他们的婚礼令人印象深刻。我很惊讶你对他印象不佳。I impressed on him the importance of his work.Their wedding ceremony was impressive.Vocabulary Translation Integrated skills Oral activities WritingGrammar How can I know where to find him? I havent even been to his dwelling!3) dwell v. deweller n. dewelling n.e.g.自出生以来他就居住在那个小村舍。对城市居住者来说交通是一大问题。我怎可能知道去哪里找他？我甚至都没去过他的住处!He has dwelled in the cottage since he was born.For city dwellers, traffic is a big problem.Vocabulary Translation Integrated skills Oral activities WritingGrammar 4) deliver v. delivery n.e.g.你把我的口信带给你父亲了吗？我们保证送货及时。Did you deliver my message to your father?We guarantee prompt delivery of goods.Vocabulary Translation Integrated skills Oral activities WritingGrammar It may also do harm to health to abuse disinfectant.5) disinfect v. disinfection n. disinfectant n.e.g.汤姆患过猩红热之后，这房子消了毒。消毒可以杀死大部分细菌。滥用消毒剂也会对健康有害。The house was disinfected after Tom had scarlet fever.Disinfection may kill most bacteria.Vocabulary Translation Integrated skills Oral activities WritingGrammar 6) assemble v. assembly n.e.g.学生在学校礼堂里集合。他没有出现在学生和教师的每日集会上。Students assembled in the school hall.He didnt show up in the daily assembly of students and teachers.Vocabulary Translation Integrated skills Oral activities WritingGrammar 7) probe v. probing n. it indicates taking pains to avoid being observed.That mans behaviour looks very suspicious. He is pretending to sleep, but now and then he steals a furtive glance at the passers-by.