Unit 11 Book II

郧阳师专英语系综合英语教研室郧阳师专英语系综合英语教研室

Contents of Unit 11

1. language structures: It Patterns 2. dialogue I: The Young on the Old 3. Reading I: The Virtue called Devotion 4. Reading II The Changing Concept of Family in Ameri

ca 5. Exercises

Language structure 1). It as the introductory subject for an infinitive, e.g., It’s terrifying to see the fire burning at midnight. It makes Jack angry to hear his son talk like that at the meeting.

2). It as the introductory subject for an –ing participle, e.g., It’s no use crying over spoilt milk. It’s enjoyable sitting in the sun in winter.

3). It as the introductory subject for a nominal clause, e.g., The manager was late last time. It seemed his watch didn’t keep go

od time. It doesn’t matter what mistakes Johnson made. He finally passed th

e exam. It doesn’t matter how you did it so long as you could finish.

The word it in these patterns is called respectively empty it and anticipatory it.

1). Empty it As distinguished from the third-person singular, ne

utral pronoun, it does not refer to anything. It is meaning less and is chiefly used as formal subject in sentenced denoting time, distance, and atmospheric conditions.

e.g. It seemed that everything went wrong this morning.

Empty it, as formal subject, also occurs in sentences denoting a general situation.

It was amusing when the magician produced the rabbit.

Empty it also occurs in some idioms where it functions as formal object or prepositional complementation.

You could make it( be successful).

2). Anticipatory it Anticipatory it commonly occurs in sentences with a nomi

nal clause as subject or object. The subject / object clause is usually shifted to the end of the sentence, leaving the vacancy to be filled by an Anticipatory it. The extraposed subject / object may be a finite clause or a non-finite clause, that is, an infinitive or –ing participle construction. For this kind of subject / object, extra-position is more frequent than its natural position.

e.g. It’s illegal to drive without a license. ------To drive without a license is illegal. Tom made it clear that he didn’t want to do that job.

Dialogue I: The Young on the Old

Questions to discuss:

1) Why is B worried about his fate when he grows old? 2) What problems do you think people will have when the

y grow old? 3) Is it good to have clubs and associations for the old? W

hy? 4) How will you treat your aged parents in the future? 5) Will you live with your children when you are too old to ta

ke care of yourself?

Language points

1). Beyond recognition: can no longer recognize sb./sth. Here ‘beyond’ means ‘not within the range of sth.; surpassi

ng’. More phrases: beyond the memory of men, beyond sb.’s grasp, beyond hope, beyond endurance, beyond all doubt/praise, beyond challenge/comparison, beyond example,

2) You’ve grown from a tomboy into a graceful lady. tomboy: girl who enjoys rough noisy games, boyish girl-si

ssy graceful: showing a pleasant pleasing beauty of form, mov

ement or manner e.g. a graceful young girl / cat gracious: (of persons and behavior) kind, polite and genero

us (esp. to sb. who is socially inferior) e.g. Helen welcomed her guests in a gracious manner. Her Gracious Majesty the Queen gracious living

bear, suffer, endure, tolerate, stand

3) The local people couldn’t bear to see the old man suffer…---The local people felt very upset when they saw the old man suffer.

bear—bore— (be) born bear---bore---borne bear + sth / infinitive / -ing participle

bear, suffer, endure, tolerate, stand

bear 和 suffer 可以表示“对强加的任何东西的忍受”， bear 侧重于表示“忍受沉重或难办的事”。

e.g. In the end, I could not bear it. When my old friend Brian urged me to accept a cigarette, it was more t

han I could bear.

而 suffer 侧重于表示“忍受或经受令人不愉快的、甚至于痛苦的事”。

endure 强调“长时间的忍受痛苦而不屈服”。 e.g. What can't be cured must be endured. tolerate 和 stand 都表示“忍受令人生厌的事”。 tolerate

的内涵是“为了和平或融洽而不反对

stand 常与 bear 通用，如果用词确切， stand 总包含着“不退让”、“不畏缩”的“忍受”。

e.g. He can stand more pain than anyone else I know. He stood the test of war.

Reading I The Virtue called Devotion

Questions: 1) In what physical condition is the writer’s

grandmother? Is she happy? Why or why not? 2) Why can the writer’s family hardly put up with

her? 3) How are elderly people treated in many

cultures? 4). Are retirement homes all bad? Why are old

people unhappy in a nursing home?

Language points

1. At times she is so childishly demanding that we can hardly put up with her…

--- Sometimes she requires too much just like a child that…

demanding: adj. requiring much effort or attention e.g. a demanding job a demanding manager

Language points

2. Mother flatly stated that Grandma would not end up in a nursing home. When the time came, Grandma would take up residence in her home.

flatly: directly, completely e.g. It's hopeless, he said flatly. I flatly refused to attend their reception. end up: die, age away, pine away. More phrases: meet one's death, kick the bucket, pass awa

y, breathe one’s last, cash in one's chips, paid one’s debts to nature, return to dust, slip one’s breath, turn up one’s heels, go hence, made one’s exit

take up (one’s) residence in some place: live in some place

3. What would be the point of living? point: (U, single) essential meaning, main fe

ature; reason, purpose; value e.g. The students have got your point. I don't see the point of waiting for her. She is

probably not coming. There's no point in wasting time and money

on such project.

4. The indignity of it would be almost unbearable---It here refers to living in nursing homes, which is considered undignified.

n. dignity indignity( rude or unworthy treatment causing shame or loss of respect)

vt. dignify undignify adj. dignified undignified e.g. Although she is very poor, she has not lost her dignity. The dignity of the occasion was lost when he cut in with an

unrefined joke. Ladies and gentlemen should always act with great dignity. beneath one's dignity

5. The share of out-of-wedlock births has soared

the share: the part be born out of wedlock: be born out of the m

arriage soar: go up high in the air quickly a soaring imagination

6. Many Americans are more materialistic and … materialism: n(U). (1) (usu derog) obsession with material possessio

ns, bodily comforts, etc while neglecting spiritual values.

(2) (philosophy) theory or belief that only material things exist Idealism

materialistic: adj. of materialism e.g. a ~ person, society, theory

Discussion

China is stepping into a country with a large proportion of the senior citizens. How can our government handle this?

Divide the students into different groups and discuss them.

Reading II

The Changing Concept of Family in America

1. What is the original concept of family in America? How about now?

2. Make the comparison on the concept of family in China and America.

Homework

1. Finish the exercise in the workbook.

2. Write a composition on the aging society.