Text A

Text Generation Gap: U R 2 Old

21 世纪大学新英语读写译教程 Book IIUnit 5 Generation Gap

Part I Lead-in

A. Describe and comment on the following pictures.

B. Questions for Discussion

1. Is there a digital divide between your parents’ generation and your generation?

2. List at least five Pig Latin words ( language used on Internet ) popular among netizens and discuss the reasons for their popularity.

3. What are the possible causes of generation gap? Is it because of the different growing environment of parents and children or is it because of parents are more experienced and know better?

Part II Background Information

A. About the author

M. Holson:

an American reporter who currently writes about communications, media and the mobile lifestyle from New York. This article originally was published in the New York Times, March 9, 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/business/09cell.html).

B. Cultural notes

Orlando Bloom

a movie star (1977—) who was born in Canterbury,

England. He starred in Disney’s movies, Pirates of

the Caribbean, a series of adventure moves.

pig Latin:

It is a coded way of talking, based on English and

used chiefly by children who think or believe that this

system allows them to speak without being

understood by others. Parents whose children don’t

know pig Latin have also been known to use it in

order to speak “privately” in their children’s presence.

iPod

a portable media player designed and marketed by Apple and launched on October 23, 2001

BlackBerry

a smartphone that is widely used in the enterprise for its wireless email handling capability

Part III Writing Features

This text is adapted from a feature — a special article in a

newspaper or magazine. It is written to inform. The writer

of the article lets the actions and comments of

personalities carry the story. The text begins with a

delayed lead — an anecdote that illuminates the point:

Children increasingly rely on personal technological

devices like cellphones to define themselves and create

social circles apart from their families, changing the way

they communicate with their parents. The body contains

additional incidents, many quotes and news peg. All this is

typical of a feature article.

Parts Paragraphs Main Ideas

1 1-6

2 7-8Innovation has always spurred broad societal changes.

3 9-11The popularity of the cellphone will further exploit

and accelerate these trends.

Children increasingly rely on personal

technological devices to define

themselves and create social circles of

their own and change the way they

communicate with their parents.

Parts Para Main Ideas

4 12

5 13-14

6 15-17

7 18-20

Marketers and cellphone makers are only too happy to fill the newest generation gap.

Cellphones, instant messaging, e-mail and

the like have encouraged younger users to

create their own inventive, quirky and very

private written language.

Cellphones, iPods and hand-held video

game

players can have a very destabilizing effect

on family relations.Kids need to have a chance to learn to use things.

Part IV Difficult Sentences

1. (Line 2, Para 1) Or he thought as much until he was driving his 14-year-old daughter, Katie, and two friends to a play last year in Los Angeles.

Or we can say he thought in this way (he understood teenagers quite well) until he drove his car to take his 14-year-old daughter and her two friends to see a play last year in Los Angeles.

2. (Line 1, Para 8) The automobile ultimately shuttled in an era when teenagers could go on dates far from watchful chaperones.

The automobile ushered in a historical period in

which young people could go to distant places to date their friends without the close attention of their parents.

3. (Line 1, Para 9) Business analysts and other researchers expect the popularity of the cellphone – along with the mobility and intimacy it affords – to further exploit and accelerate these trends.

Business analysts and other researchers believe

the widespread use of cellphones could allow young people to maintain close contact even when they are away, and therefore cellphones both make use of and speed up the change of lifestyles.

4. (Line 1, Para 12) Marketers and cellphone makers are only too happy to fill the newest generation gap.

Maketers and cellphone makers are very happy to produce cellphones specially for kids and their parents.

5. (Line 2, Para 13) That has given them the opportunity to essentially hide in plain sight.

The private written language used among teenagers allow the young users to hide their communication from the notice of their parents even when they are present.

Part V Language Points

1.chasten: v. to make someone realize that their behaviour was wrong or mistaken 惩戒，通过责罚使（犯错误的人）改正（或变好）

e.g. These teachers, chastened by their students, have learned to be cautious.

Too late to admit us, he stood, chastened, and confessed he’d been knocked out.

2. innovation: n. 1) the introduction of new ideas or methods 创新，革新

e.g. We must encourage innovation if the company is to competitive.

2) a new idea, method, or invention 新事物，新方法

e.g. recent innovations in English teaching

3. spur: v. to make an improvement or change happen faster 刺激，激励

e.g. Lower taxes would spur investment and help economic growth.

The growth of tourism has spurred equivalent developments in the hotel and leisure-related sectors.

4. ubiquitous: adj. seeming to be everywhere 普遍存在的，无处不在的

e.g. Plastic containers are ubiquitous nowadays. Coffee shops are ubiquitous these days.

5. shuttle: v. to travel frequently between two places 穿梭往返

e.g. Susan shuttles between Rotterdam and London for her job. During the week, I often shuttle easily to appointments in central London by car.

6. distinctly: adv. clearly 明确地，清楚地

e.g. Speak clearly and distinctly. He distinctly remembered the day his father left.

7.sibling: n. a brother or sister 兄 弟 （ 或 姐妹）

e.g. Most young smokers are influenced by their friends' and older siblings' smoking habits

How can siblings, raised in the same family, be so different?

8. accelerate: v. to happen or make something happen at a faster rate （使）加快，促进

e.g. Rather than stopping change, it accelerated change.

From then onward the pace of change accelerated.

9. track: v. to record or study the behaviour or development of someone or something over time 密切关注（某事的进展）

e.g. The progress of each student is tracked by computer.

The study tracked the careers of 1226 doctors who trained at the University of Michigan Medical School.

10. morph into to develop a new appearance or change into something else, or make something do this （使）变形为，（使）变成

e.g. Even as people try to learn how to use them, computers are morphing into something new.

11. depict: v. to describe something or someone in writing or speech, or to show them in a painting, picture, etc. 描绘，描写

e.g. The god is depicted as a bird with a human head.

In this new biography she is depicted as a lonely and unhappy woman.

12. poke fun at: to make unkind jokes about someone or something 嘲笑，嘲弄

e.g. I think they were poking fun at themselves for missing such a huge error.

A whole category of jokes has been created to poke fun at Microsoft and its operating

system, Windows 95.

13. destabilize: v. to upset the stability or smooth functioning of 使…动摇

e.g. The conflict destabilized the whole region. Further increases in imports could destabilize

the economy. The news had a destabilizing effect on the stock market.

14. compel: v. to force someone to do something 强迫

e.g. The law will compel employers to provide health insurance.

She felt compelled to resign because of the scandal.

15. unfettered : adj. without limits or controls 不受限制的，不受约束的

e.g. an unfettered free market But less well known is how he uses state

laws to create an unfettered channel of contributions from donors across the

country.

Part VI Practice

A. Translation skills

1. “Katie and her friends were sitting in the back seat

talking to each other about some movie star; I think

it was Orlando Bloom,” recalled Mr. Hampton,

whose company produced the “Pirates of the

Caribbean” movies, in which the actor starred.

汉普顿先生回忆说：“凯蒂和她的朋友们坐在汽车座上互相在谈论某个电影明星，我想她们谈论 的是奥兰多 · 布鲁姆。”奥兰多 · 布鲁姆是汉普顿的公司发行的《加勒比海盗》系列电影的主演。

英语句子比较长，翻译时对原句顺序做了适当调整，并分成两句。把 whose 引导的定语从句另译成一句，把“奥兰多 · 布鲁姆”，即原文中 the actor 作为主语。此外，原文 movies 用的是复数，译成“《加勒比海盗》系列电影”。

2. It’s a common scene these days, one playing out in

cars, kitchens and bedrooms across the country.

当今这种景象十分普遍，在全国各地的车里、厨房里以及卧室里都在上演。

这句话没有译成“这是一种的普遍景象”，而是把原文中“ scene” 译成主语，原文中“ common”

的词性在译文中作了调整。“ playing out” 是“进行，发生”的意思，可译成“上演”。

3. And the computer, along with the Internet, has given

even very young children virtual lives distinctly

separate from those of their parents and siblings.

计算机和互联网甚至让小孩子们都有了自己的虚拟生活，与自己父母和兄弟姐妹们生活显然不同的生活。

这句采用了顺译法，按原文的顺序译成汉语。

4. Ms. Turkle recalled a vacation with her daughter in

Paris, where she hoped to immerse her in the local

culture and cuisine.

特克尔女士回忆起和女儿在巴黎的度假，她希望在巴黎能让女儿亲身浸泡在当地的文化和美食中。

原文中有一个“ where” 引导的定语从句，在译文中用“在巴黎”译出。“ immerse

someone in something” 译成“亲身浸泡在……中”，译文中添加了“亲身”。

B. Writing techniques

Exemplification: The word exemplification is derived from example, and a paragraph of exemplification uses examples, a kind of factual evidence, to support the point made in the topic sentence. Besides reasoning, exemplification is another approach widely used by writers to support themselves. Remember, facts speak louder than words. If we can find actual facts to support our ideas, readers will most probably believe in what we want to say.

To give students a better idea of what can be used

to support the point in the topic sentence, the

following techniques can be used. Some reading and

writing researchers classify supporting evidence into

the following seven types:

√ Statistics √ Expert testimony

√ Examples √ Personal experience

√ Shared knowledge √ Logic and reasoning

√ Analogy

The first four types are factual evidence, and the

last three are non-factual evidence. In English writing,

these factual evidence are believed to provide stronger

support than the non-factual ones, so sometimes they

are also referred to as hard evidence and soft evidence

respectively. Of course, this does not mean that the

first group is good evidence, and second group bad. In

fact a combination of both is a better choice. Students

may not be forced to use hard evidence, but they

should know that hard evidence, esp. examples, will

help to improve the power of their writing.

C. Assignment

1. Oral Practice: Imagine you were Russell Hampton and retell how kids today behave differently from older people in terms of using cell phones and texting and their manners. Try to use as many expressions you have learned from the text as possible.

2. Questions for Text B:1) Does the author agree that we should judge people by the generation they belong to?2) Why does the author create a “Beyonder” generation?

The End