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Unit One

Never Give In, Never, Never

海南大学外国语学院 基础英语教研室

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• Contents• A. Text one• I. Pre-reading: • (I). Warm-up questions • (II). Background information • II. While-reading: Text Analysis• (I) Structure analysis• (II) Comprehension questions • (III) Language points• (IV) Difficult sentences • III. Post-Reading:• (I) Grammatical items• (II) Translation Exercises• (III) Oral activities• (IV) Writing practice • B. Text two• （I）Questions for text comprehension• （II）Language points

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• I. Pre-reading: • Cultural information• World War II, or the Second World War, the most

widespread war in history, lasted from 1939 to 1945 and involved most of the world’s nations which formed two opposing military alliances, the Allies and the Axis.

• The war began on 1 September, 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany and Slovakia, and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and most of the countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth.

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From late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or subdued much of continental Europe. Britain and the Commonwealth remained the only major force continuing the fight against the Axis in North Africa and in extensive naval warfare. Churchill’s speech at Harrow as was adapted in the text was delivered in this historical context.

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• Winston Churchill• Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill

(30 November 1874 — 24 January 1965) was a British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War (WWII) and his success in leading his country from the brink of defeat to victory. He served as Prime Minister twice (1940 — 1945 and 1951 — 1955) and is widely regarded as one of the great wartime leaders. He is a noted statesman and orator, historian, writer, and an artist. To date, he is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and the first person to have been recognized as an honorary citizen of the United States

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Winston Churchill was born to an aristocratic family, with renowned ancestors and a politician father. As a prolific writer, he wrote a novel, two biographies, three volumes of memoirs, and several histories in addition to his many newspaper articles. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953 “for hismastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values”.

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• II. While-reading: Text Analysis• (I) Structure analysis This text is an inspiring speech

made by Winston Churchill, Great Britain’s then Prime Minister, when he visited Harrow School on 29 October, 1941. The whole speech can be divided into three parts.

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Part I (Paragraph 1): Some opening remarks, in which Churchill summarized the events that had happened since his last visit to Harrow.

Part II (Paragraphs 2 — 5): The body of the speech, in which Churchill drew the lessons to be learned from the past year.

Part III (Paragraphs 6 — 8): The concluding part, in which, by changing a word in the additional verse of the school song, Churchill expressed his conviction that the entire nation was blessed with the chance to display its courage to the full in what was, as he elsewhere put it, its finest hour.

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Rhetorical Features 1As a representative piece of oration by the great

orator Churchill, this speech was made eloquent and encouraging by employing many rhetorical devices. With generally short (in length) and simple (in structure) sentences, the message conveyed by the speech was highlighted by constant repetition, e.g. “Never, Never, Never” in the title, and strengthened by the use of antonyms, e.g. “ups/downs” and “short/long”.

• Practice: • Find more examples of repetition and pairs of

antonyms in the speech.

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Detailed readingQuestionsWhat was the difference between the

present situation and the situation when Churchill came to Harrow School ten months ago? (Paragraph 1)

Ten months ago, Britain was poorly armed, fighting alone, and faced with unmeasured menace of the enemy. Now, Britain was not that poorly armed, and the situation was improving.

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What did Churchill mean by saying “we must learn to be equally good at what is short and sharp and what is long and tough”? (Paragraph 2)

By saying this he meant to make his audience fully aware that they should not only be able to fight and win short and quick battles but also be ready to fight and win hard and enduring wars.

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What lesson had they learnt? (Paragraphs 3 — 4)

The lesson learnt throughout the past ten months was that one should not be deceived by appearances and should never give in to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. With a combination of imagination and courage, the British people could overcome any kind of difficulties and smash any attack of the enemy.

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Why did Churchill replace the word darker with sterner? (Paragraphs 7 — 8)

Because he had a strong conviction of victory. The word darker carries a pessimistic tone, for it usually indicates “a period of unpleasant and frightening time” and implies hopelessness in a difficult period. But the word sterner, although it has the identical referent, suggests a time that is testing, but testing in a way that offers the British the opportunity to display their courage to the full.

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• Group discussions • Topic A: How does the speaker

Churchill impress you in the speech? Does it contribute to your understanding of the WWII?

• Topic B: Have you learned anything from Churchill’s oration about making a powerful speech?

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Words and Expressions

at your Head Master’s kind invitationat: in response to

at one’s invitation/request/suggestion, etcA meeting was arranged at the ambassador’s request.At my suggestion, Mrs. Carey wrote to her former employer.

应胡锦涛主席之邀，美国总统将对中国进行国事访问。At the invitation of President Hu Jintao, President of the United States will pay a state visit to China 。

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• catastrophic: a. involving or causing sudden great damage or suffering 灾难性

• catastrophic floods/losses/effects/results

• 灾难性的洪水 / 损失 / 效应 / 结果

ups and downs: a mixture of good things and bad things

Sitting beside the window, he recalled the ups and downs of his parenthood.

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position: situation at a particular time • It is time those companies revealed more about their

financial position.• Their soccer team is going to be in a very difficult

position if nothing particular shows up.• throwing our minds back to our meeting here

ten months ago: recollecting our meeting at Harrow School ten months ago

Please throw your mind back to 1945, when people all

over the world were engaged in a great war against

the Fascists.

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meet with: experience; undergo• Attempts to find civilian volunteers 平民志愿者 have

met with embarrassing failure. • Efforts to put the Russian space programme into

market have met with little success. • She was worried that he might have met with an

accident.• ... imagination makes things out far worse ...: • ... what one imagines tends to be worse than

reality• make out: see or understand• How do you make that out (= what are your reasons

for thinking that)? • [+ wh-] I can’t make out what she wants.

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• far-reaching: a. having important and widely applicable effects or implications

Farreachingconsequences/implications/changes/reforms

• The consequences of the decision will be far-reaching.

• They decided to carry on far-reaching constitutional reforms.

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conviction: n. (1) a strong opinion or belief • political/moral convictions• She was motivated by deep religious convictions. • In face of difficulty, he held a conviction that all

would be well in the end. • (2) [U] the feeling or appearance of believing sth. • strongly or of being sure about it• He said he agreed but his voice lacked conviction. • The leader’s speech in defense of the policy didn’t

carry much conviction.

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• yield: v. • yield (to sth./sb.): (formal or literary)

give up control (of)• After a long siege, the town was forced

to yield. • He reluctantly yielded to their

demands. • If the newly founded regime does not

yield, it should face sufficient military force to ensure its certain defeat.

• I yielded to temptation and had a chocolate bar.

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• overwhelming: a. very great in amount• The evidence against him was overwhelming. • She had the almost overwhelming desire to tell him

the truth. overwhelm: v. defeat or make powerless (usu. a group

of people) by much greater force of numbers; e.g. to overwhelm the opposing army

persevere: v. continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no indication of success 坚持

persevere (in sth. / in doing sth.); persevere (with sth./sb.)

• Despite a number of setbacks, they persevered in their attempts to fly around the world in a balloon.

• She persevered with her violin lessons.

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compliment: v. politely congratulate or praise (sb.) for sthcompliment sb. (on sth.) . She complimented him on his excellent German.Comparison:compliment & complement These words have similar spellings but completely different meanings. If you compliment someone, you say something very nice to them. If one thing complements another, the two things work or look better because they are together.

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A. The different flavors each other perfectly. B. She me on my English.

complement______________

complimented________________

Blank filling:

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Collocations:venture sth.; venture to do sth.; venture + speech; venture that …

venture to do sth.: be brave enough to say sth.

e.g.She hardly dared to venture an opinion.She would never venture to ask for a raise.“And if I say no?” she ventured.

Translation:

我小心翼翼地说她可能犯了个错误。I ventured to suggest that she might have made a mistake. _______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

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e.g.你最近让你的家人受了不少苦。You have put your family through a lot recently.

put sb. through sth.: make sb. experience sth. very difficult or unpleasant

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e.g. 我们必须要致力于交通污染问题。We must address ourselves to the problem of traffic pollution.

address oneself to: (formal) think about a problem or a situation and decide how you are going to deal with it

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e.g.我钦佩她经历了那么多苦难以后，依然这样开朗快乐。

I admire the way she’s still so cheerful after all she’s gone through.

go through: experience or suffer sth.

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1) catastrophe n. → catastrophic a. → catastrophically ad.e.g. 那场地震是个大灾难，夺去了许多人的生命。

战争的灾难性后果很快显现出来。

关键时刻，预警系统灾难性地崩溃了。

The earthquake was a major catastrophe, causing heavy loss of life.

The catastrophic consequences of the war soon unfolded.

The Warning System catastrophically collapsed at that critical moment.

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2) deceive v. → deceptive a. → deceptively ad. → deception n.

e.g.他们骗她在文件上签了字。

外表往往是靠不住的。

房子从外面看起来很小（实际上很大）。

他通过欺骗手段获取了那份资产。

They deceived her into signing the paper.

Appearances can often be deceptive.

The house looks deceptively small from the outside.

He obtained that property by deception.

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3) convict v. → conviction n.

e.g. 他被判犯有谋杀罪。

她是一个道德信念坚定的女子。He was convicted of murder.

She is a women of strong moral convictions.

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5) persevere v. → persevering a. → perseverance n.e.g.如果你把工作坚持下去，最终会取得成功的。

玛丽是一位锲而不舍的学生。

他学得慢，但面对困难却表现出坚忍不拔的毅力。

If you persevere with your work, you will succeed in the end.

Mary is a persevering student.

He is slow to learn, but shows great perseverance in the face of difficulty.

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6) desperate a. → desperately ad. → desperation n.e.g.国家正遭受严重的食物短缺。

因为缺乏食物，他病得奄奄一息。

他不顾一切地拼命踢门，企图逃出去。

The country is suffering from a desperate shortage of food.

Due to the lack of food, he became desperately ill.

In desperation, he kicked at the door, hoping to escape.

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7) flinch v. → flinching a. Ant. unflinching a. → unflinchingly ad.e.g.看到血，他畏缩了。

在最艰难的时期，她忠贞不移地陪伴着他。

他毫不畏惧地直面我的注视。

He flinched at the sight of blood.

In the hardest time, she accompanied him with unflinching loyalty.

He met my gaze unflinchingly.

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8) courage n. → courageous a. → encourage v. → encouraging a.e.g.她听到这个坏消息时，表现出了非凡的勇气。

你坦白承认自己的错误，真是勇敢。

你应该鼓励她去追逐自己的梦想，而不应该将你自己的想法强加于她。

最近的贸易数字非常令人鼓舞。

She showed remarkable courage when she heard the bad news.

It was courageous of you to frankly admit your mistake.

You should encourage her in pursuit of her dreams, instead of imposing your own thoughts upon her.The latest trade figures are very encouraging.

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1. 我安排他们在小酒吧见面，但那个小伙子一直都没有来。(turn up)

If sb. turns up, he or she arrives or makes his or her appearance.

Translate the following sentences into English.

I had arranged for them to meet each other at the pub, but the young man never turned up.

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Practice： 她什么事情都迟到。

她儿子已经失踪五年了，她还在期望儿子有一天会出现。

She turns up late for everything.

It had been five years since her son disappeared, but she still hoped her son would turn up one day.

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2. 你无法仅凭表象判断形势是否会变得对我们不利。 (tell from appearance)

If you tell from appearance, you are making judgment from the outside qualities or the way a person or thing looks to other people, which can be wrong.

You cannot tell merely from appearances whether things will turn out unfavourable to us or not.

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Practice: 从表面看来，他要赢了。

这个故事教育我们，不应该以貌取人。

Telling from appearances, he would win.

The story gives us a lesson that we should not tell people from appearances.

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3. 我们正筹划为你举办一次盛大的圣诞聚会。 (in sb.’s honour)

If you do sth. in sb.’s honour, you do it in order to show respect and admiration for him or her.

We are planning a big Christmas party in your honour.

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Practice：五十周年时，人们举办了一个仪式，纪念在战争中死亡的人们。

人们为她举办了一个盛大的宴会。

A ceremony in honour of those killed in the war was held on the fiftieth anniversary.

A grand banquet was held in her honour.

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4. 听到那个曲子，我回想起了儿童时代。 (throw one’s mind back)

If you throw your mind back to a period or a thing, you recall it.

Hearing that tune threw my mind back to my childhood.

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Throwing our minds back to twenty years ago, we would immediately tell how different our life is now.

Practice： 看着那个男孩在操场上欢快地跑，他的思绪回到了自己的少年时代。

回想一下二十年前，我们马上就能看出我们现在的生活有多么不同。

Watching the boy running happily on the playground, he began to throw his mind back to his boyhood.

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•III. Post-Reading Having a dialogue

Topic: Have a dialogue with your partner, talking about your feelings and experiences in learning English. Words and phrases for reference: I know how it feels, frustrating, progress takes time, my experience in language learning, learning method, practice makes perfect, perseverance, diligence, the importance of confidence in language learning, keep going

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Writing Essay writing: An introductionEssay type: argumentative essays

Suggestion: Quote concrete examples to support the idea; progressively build up argumentation; stress the thesis.

Practice: Write an essay on the given topic: How to Stay Cool with Success. Please employ examples to help explain your idea, and build up your argumentation progressively.

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1. What was Churchill interested in when he was in India and the Sudan?

He was interested in both literature and public affairs when he was in India and the Sudan.

2. What kind of Nobel Prize did Churchill win?

He won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

3. When and how did Churchill step onto the world stage?He stepped onto the world stage at the outbreak of the World War I in 1914 in the capacity of First Lord of the Admiralty of Great Britain.

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5. What helped Churchill to be as important as Roosevelt and Stalin?It was the fact that Britain, under the leadership of Churchill, stood alone as Hitler’s only enemy in 1942.

Because he knew very well that his country alone was not demographically, industrially or financially strong enough to win the war against the Nazis and the intervention of the U.S., the most powerful country in the world, would bring the war to its end much sooner.

4. Why did Churchill hope the U.S. could join the war against Hitler?

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Ever since he became the premier of his country, Churchill placed his hope of the final victory on the intervention of the U.S. In order to get the U.S. involved in the war, he established a personal relationship with President Roosevelt. When his request was declined by Roosevelt, he was still optimistic and believed that things would work his way. The later development of the world situation proved that he was right.

6. In what way, according to the author of this text, was Churchill a successful statesman?

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Questions for discussion1) Do you think one should love one’s country? Share

your opinion of patriotism with your classmates. 2) Share with your classmates a story of a

patriotic person.

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