新视角研究生英语读说写2六单元答案.ppt

Exercises,Reading Comprehension,Structure of the Text,Unit 6: Exercises,,Vocabulary,Cloze,Translation,,Unit 6: Reading comprehension,,1. At the very beginning of the article, the author points out: “ambition is a quality that is hard to praise and easy to deplore”. Why does he say so? And how is this related to the fact that presently many people are doubtful about ambition? What belief do these people hold about ambition?,Because ambition is “an unrelenting oppressor, which robs us of time and peace of mind”, meaning that ambition can mercilessly cause people much distress and suffering, driving them to work overtime with little time left for leisure and relaxation and filling their minds with dissatisfaction, worry and anxiety. This is especially true in economically booming periods such as the present when there are more opportunities alluring people. As a result, presently many people are doubtful about ambition, believing that ambition has become too hard to control and is forcing us to make too great efforts and hold too strong desires which will finally destroy ourselves.,Reference,,,Ex. I, pp.114~115,,Unit 6: Reading comprehension,2. In paragraphs 2 and 3, the author cites some examples to show that ambition is not merely the pursuit of wealth, actually people from every walk of life have their own ambition to achieve. What different ambitions do different people have? According to the author, which of them is most commonly shared by people? And what role does money play in its fulfillment?,,,,,Unit 6: Reading comprehension,The author cites four examples: 1) Al Gore’s ambition is to be elected American president; 2) America’s computer moguls’ ambition is to control the nation’s cyberagenda; 3) American football players’ ambition is to score a touchdown; 4) Most people’s ambition is to search for status symbols that separate them from the crowd. The last one is most commonly shared by people. Money is not the only way but surely the most common way to realize this ambition, as it can easily change into some other symbol of identity and status, such as a bigger house, a more exotic vacation, a niftier bike, a faster computer.,Reference,,,,,Unit 6: Reading comprehension,3. In paragraph 3, the author says “One-upmanship is a national mania.” Do you know the meaning of the word “one-upmanship”? And can you find some other expressions in the article which have similar meaning? What’s the relationship between one-upmanship and all the above-mentioned examples of ambition? In the author’s mind, ambition is not only “a quest for riches”, then what is it?,The word “one-upmanship” means gaining an advantage and a feeling of superiority over other people. Expressions such as “outdo”, “excel” have similar meaning. The desire for one-upmanship can summarize all the above-mentioned examples of ambition. In the author’s mind, ambition is a quest for one-upmanship — to be better or more successful than other people.,Reference,,,,,Unit 6: Reading comprehension,4. In the sentence “One-upmanship is a national mania.”, the word “mania” is also a deliberate choice on the part of the author. What image does it evoke in your mind?,The word “mania” originally refers to a mental illness in which somebody has an obsession about something that makes them extremely anxious, violent or confused（躁狂症）. Here it means an extremely strong desire or enthusiasm for something shared by a lot of people at the same time. It evokes a picture of a lot of people behaving in an anxious, violent and confused way in order to surpass each other.,Reference,,,,,Unit 6: Reading comprehension,5. In paragraph 4, the author says “the contest seems futile.” What does “the contest” refer to? Why is it “futile”? To prove this point, the author describes a paradoxical phenomenon in today’s society, that is, although people’s income is rising, they still have to work hard only to be able to make ends meet. According to the author, what is the cause of this phenomenon?,,,,,Unit 6: Reading comprehension,“The contest” refers to the consumption competition — the competition for one-upmanship in the search for status symbols that separate one from the crowd. It is “futile” because there is no chance of winning it since material pursuit is endless. The cause of this paradoxical phenomenon is that “they’re running in the pack with everyone else”, that is, people are not simply struggling to own more material wealth, instead, they are struggling to surpass others — to own more material wealth and thus achieve higher social status than others. They not only have to possess widely owned consumer products in order not to be considered a crank or a pauper, but also have to buy expensive products beyond their financial capacity so that they can be more successful than other people with whom they compare themselves. As there are always more fashionable and more expensive luxuries coming out, their material desires seem infinite. Consequently, their rising incomes often。