Unit 2 Happiness Is a Choice 21 世纪大学新英语读写译教程 Book II

Text A

The Last Chapter

Part I Lead-in

A. Describe and comment on the following pictures.

B. Questions for Discussion

1. What , in your view, constitutes happiness?

2. Do you think there is some truth in the time-honored proverb “Happiness lies in contentment”?

Part II Cultural notes

The term, fairy tale, is used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, as in “fairy tale ending“ (a happy ending) or ”fairy tale romance” (though not all fairy tales end happily). Colloquially, a “fairy tale” or “fairy story” can also mean any far-fetched story or tall tale which is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual and some of which are exaggerations of actual events.

Every bride and groom embarking on their married journey long for a happy ending at their joint destination in spite of everything that could possibly happen as is reflected in the traditional wedding vows:

MaleI _____, take you ______, to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.

 FemaleI, _____, take you ______, to be my wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.

Fairy tales, such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Beauty and the Beast, in which the Prince and his Princess live happily ever after their wedding without exception, provide base on which for people in real life to build their hopes and dreams. However, things do not always turn out the way people desire. Even a real prince and his princess do not live up to the expectations people hold so dearly to, a glimpse of which is caught in the saddest fairy tale of Lady Diana: how the fairy tale turns into a heartbreaking tragedy

For the story , visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/pimu/1237592530/in/photostream/

Part III Text OrganizationParts Paragraphs Main Ideas

1 1Their loving reassurances were sweet, touching and surprising.

2 2-4Their romance didn’t last long and seed of difference soon sprouted.

3 5-6A party was given to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.

4 7-8While their memories started to fade, they acted as a team, helping each other with searches.

5 9 They stubbornly kept separate accounts.

6 10We took care of the books and chores and cleared the house of alcohol.

7 11-15Something that had been buried deep was coming up and taking shape: They loved each other.

8 16 Conclusion: they are lucky to have each other.

Part IV Writing Features

The use of metaphors in the essay, the examples of which are listed below, deserves readers’ attention. Metaphor is the concept of understanding one thing in terms of another. A metaphor is a figure of speech that constructs an analogy (comparison) between two things or ideas; the analogy is conveyed by the use of a metaphorical word in place of some other word. For example: “Her eyes were glistening jewels”. Metaphor is or was also occasionally used to denote rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects by means of association, comparison or resemblance.

Examples:1.(line 1, para 3 ) Seeds of difference sprouted almost immediately.2.(line 1, para 4) … the furious winds did calm somewhat, but what remained steeled itself into bright, hard bitterness.3.(line 5, para 4) It was a miserable duet.4.(line 1, para 6) The truce was honored. 5.(line 5, para 10) … we cleared the house of alcohol, the fuel that turned more than one quarrel into a raging fire.6.(line 4, para 14) … they lavished on each other was a brick in this unseen creation, a structure that reveals itself increasingly as the world ….

Part V Difficult Sentences

1. ( line 4, para 3) To make matters worse, they owned a business together, and the everyday frustrations of life at the office came to roost at home.

To make the situation even more unpleasant or difficult, they two shared a business, and the unhappy feelings they had at the office resulting from their differences caused them to start quarrels at home.

2. ( line 4, para 4) The litany was recited so often, I can reel it off by heart today.

I heard my mother repeat the long list of my father’s faults so many times that even today I can say it quickly from memory.

3. ( line 5, para 4) It was a miserable duet.

The quarrel between them made us feel very sad. A duet literally means a piece of music for two singers or players. The word is used here figuratively to mean the quarrel between the old couple.

4. (line 1, para 8) These crises would have at one time … you’re just tired.”

In the past these crises would have made them argue with each other angrily, but now they worked together, helping each other in looking for something, giving comfort or sympathy to each other by saying “Everyone does that” or “It’s nothing; you’re just tired.”

5. ( line 3, para 10) Finally — on doctors’ orders — we cleared the house of alcohol, the fuel that turned more than one quarrel into a raging fire.

Finally, to follow doctors’ orders, we removed alcohol from the house. Alcohol had caused their quarrels to become more fierce.

6. (line I, para 14) I don’t doubt that if my mother and father magically regained their old vigor, they’d be back fighting.

I’m sure if my parents, as if by magic, became vigorous as they used to be, they’d fight against each other again.

Part VI Language Points

1. a good bet: something that would be useful, clever or enjoyable to do 最佳选择，最好的决定

e.g. Putting your savings in a high-interest account is a good bet.

Only a few months ago he had looked like a good bet.

2. captivate: v. to hold the attention of someone by being extremely interesting, exciting, charming or attractive 使入迷，吸引

e.g. I was captivated by her smile.

With her beauty and charm, she captivated film audiences everywhere.

3. respective: adj. relating or belonging to each of the individual people or things you have just mentioned 各自的，分别的

e.g. We all went back to our respective homes to wait for news.

The leaders met to discuss the problems facing their respective countries.

4. launch into: to start saying something or criticizing something with a lot of energy or anger（积极地）开始（解说或批评）

e.g. He launched into a verbal attack on her handling of the finances.

Don’t just launch into exercise without warming up first.

5. reel off: to say a long list of things quickly and without stopping 一下子说出，一口气报出

e.g. Jack reeled off a list of names. The old man reeled off the names of his

twenty-two grandchildren.

6. abide by: to follow a rule, decision, or instruction 遵守，信守（规则、决定或指示）

e.g. Companies wishing to join will have to abide by a code of conduct.

We have to abide by the rules, whether we like them or not.

7. hindsight: n. the ability to understand an event or situation only after it has happened 后见之明

e.g. In hindsight, it would have been better to wait.

With hindsight, I should have seen the warning signs.

8. lavish on: to give someone a lot, or too much, of something 非常（或过分）慷慨地施予，滥施

e.g. She lavishes money on her grandchildren.

The committee lavished praise on the project.

9. dilemma: n. a situation in which it is very difficult to decide what to do, because all the choices seem equally good or equally bad （进退两难的）困境

e.g. Many single parents struggle with the dilemma of dividing time between work and children.

With a child on each opposing team, Dad was faced with a dilemma: which supporters should he sit with?

10. make the best of things /it: to make an unsatisfactory situation as pleasant as possible 在不利的情况下尽力而为

e.g. We’ll have to spend the night here, so we might as well make the best of it.

It’s not going to be fun, but we might as well make the best of it.

11. duet: n. a piece of music for two singers or players 二重唱，二重奏

e.g. He now formed two child duets.

She practiced the duets with Jimmy again.

12. litany: n. a long list of problems, excuses, etc. 陈述

e.g. an endless litany of complaints

A part of the Democratic campaign litany is the claim that Republicans cut spending for Medicare.

13. mutter: v. to speak quietly so that your voice is difficult to hear, often when complaining about something 含糊不清地小声说，嘟哝，小声抱怨

e.g. He muttered something about his wife and left.

“I never want to come here again,” he muttered to himself.

14. whittle away: to gradually reduce the size or importance of something 逐渐削弱，逐渐削减

e.g. The museum is worried that government funding will be whittled away.

By the 1990s much of his earnings had been whittled away.

15. engage in: to be doing or to become involved in an activity 从事，忙于

e.g. Only 10% of American adults engage in regular exercise.

They may want time to travel, study or engage in leisure activities.

Part VII Practice

A. Translation skills

1. The handsome, well-educated man who came by the office where she worked looked like a good bet.

这位顺道到她工作办公室来的英俊、受过良好教育的男子看上去是个挺不错的选择。

原文中有两个定语从句：“ man who came by”，“ the office where she worked”在译成汉语时可以处理为前置定语。也可以调整原句的词语顺序，译为：那位顺道来她办公室的男子长得英俊，受过良好教育，看上去是个挺不错的选择。

原文中有两个定语从句：“ man who came by”，“ the office where she worked”在译成汉语时可以处理为前置定语。也可以调整原句的词语顺序，译为：那位顺道来她办公室的男子长得英俊，受过良好教育，看上去是个挺不错的选择。

2. It wasn’t the happiest marriage, but as their 60th anniversary approached, my sister and I decided to throw a party.

虽然他们的婚姻算不上是最幸福的，可是在他们结婚 60周年纪念日来临时，我和妹妹还是决定给他们举行一个聚会。

对这句的翻译，可以采用“顺译法”，即按原文的顺序译成汉语。按汉语的习惯表达，加上“虽然”。

他们除了经常满屋里找眼镜，找车钥匙，他们还把买的食品杂货忘在了柜台上，一张张帐单忘了去付。

3. Added to the frequent house-wide hunts for glasses and car keys were the groceries left behind on the counter, notices of bills left unpaid.

原句的“ Added to the frequent house-widehunts for glasses and car keys” 翻成“他们除了经常满屋里找眼镜，找车钥匙”，“ the groceriesleft behind on the counter, notices of bills leftunpaid” 译成“他们还把买的食品杂货忘在了柜台上，一张张帐单忘了去付”，并增加了主语“他们”。

4. Sharing being unthinkable, they’d devised financial arrangements so elaborate they could trigger war at any time.

由于钱财共享对他们来说是绝对无法想象的，他们想出的钱财管理办法非常复杂，随时都可能引发战争。

原文中的一个 V-ing 短语，根据其意义在汉语中处理为表示原因，原文中 so…(that)（如此……以致于），在译文并没有直接译出，但其意思已包含在译文之中，而且这样处理更符合汉语表达习惯。

B. Writing techniques

Writing techniques in this unit aim at clarifying some commonly used quality criteria for paragraph writing: unity, coherence and cohesion. Unity emphasizes the relevance of information in the paragraph. Students should first learn to tell relevant ideas from irrelevant ones. An easy way to achieve this goal is to find out the central idea of the paragraph, and then study the supporting points and supporting information against the central idea one by one.

The second criterion is coherence. It emphasizes that the information, especially the supporting points, in a paragraph should be arranged in logical order so that readers can understand them easily. This logical order may cover a lot. For example, time order is expected in a story, and space order in a space description. In expository writing, there may be further patterns of development, such as ascending order (from the least important to the most important points), descending order (from the most important to the least important points).

The third criterion is cohesion, which requires various linguist devices to help streamline the paragraph. These devices may involve the use of various connecting phrases, the use of pronouns, and the repetition of a particular word or sentence pattern. It should be noted that coherence is about the order of information, while cohesion is about language usage.

C. Assignment

1. Oral Practice: Try to point out virtues that are essential to a successful and happy marriage from your observation of your own parents, friends, relatives or people from literary works.

2. Questions for Text B:1) Do you identify yourself with the varying

degrees of importance of the determinants of happiness claimed by the writer?

2) Do you believe there are factors that possibly contribute to happiness in addition to the ones that have found their way into the writer’s list. Name some of them.

The End