全新版大学英语综合教程第一册 Unit8

Unit 8
Coping with an Educational Problem

Part I Pre-reading Task

Listen to the recording¹ two or three times and then think over the following questions:
1. What was the teacher's purpose in asking his class the riddle²?
2. What can you learn about Little Geoffrey from his answer to the riddle? Was he used to trying to think clearly? Had he formed the habit of making good use of his brain?
3. Is the story related to the theme of the unit — coping with an educational problem? In what way?

The following words and expressions in the recording may be new to you:

riddle
n. 谜语

scratch one's head
挠头（表示迷惑等）

knit one's brows
皱眉

Part II

Text A

Benjamin Stein weaves a tale to bring home to young Americans the need to change the way they think about education. Read it and see whether you think it holds any lessons for us as well.

FABLE³ OF THE LAZY TEENAGER

Benjamin Stein

One day last fall, I ran out of file folders⁵ and went to the drugstore to buy more. I put a handful of folders on the counter and asked a teenage salesgirl how much they cost. "I don't know," she answered. "But it's 12 cents each."
I counted the folders. "Twenty-three at 12 cents each, that makes $2.76 before tax," I said.
"You did that in your head?" she asked in amazement⁶. "How can you do that?"
"It's magic," I said.
"Really?" she asked.
No modestly educated adult can fail to be upset by such an experience. While our children seem better-natured than ever, they are so ignorant — and so ignorant of their ignorance — that they frighten me. In a class of 60 seniors at a private college where I recently taught, not one student could write a short paper without misspellings. Not one.
But this is just a tiny slice of the problem. The ability to perform even the simplest calculations is only a memory among many students I see, and their knowledge of world history or geography is nonexistent.
Moreover, there is a chilling indifference⁷ about all this ignorance. The attitude was summed up by a friend's bright, lazy 16-year-old son, who explained why he preferred not to go to U.C.L.A. "I don't want to have to compete with Asians," he said. "They work hard and know everything."
In fact, this young man will have to compete with Asians whether he wants to or not. He cannot live forever on the financial, material and human capital accumulated by his ancestors. At some point soon, his intellectual laziness will seriously affect his way of life. It will also affect the rest of us. A modern industrial state cannot function with an idle, ignorant labor⁸ force. Planes will crash. Computers will jam. Cars will break down.
To drive this message home to such young Americans, I have a humble⁹ suggestion: a movie, or TV series, dramatizing just how difficult it was for this country to get where it is — and how easily it could all be lost. I offer the following fable.
As the story opens, our hero, Kevin Hanley 1990, a 17-year-old high school senior, is sitting in his room, feeling bitter. His parents insist he study for his European history test. He wants to go shopping for headphones for his portable CD player. The book he is forced to read — The Wealth of Nations — puts him to sleep.
Kevin dreams it is 1835, and he is his own great-great-great-grandfather at 17, a peasant in County Kerry, Ireland. He lives in a small hut and sleeps next to a pig. He is always hungry and must search for food. His greatest wish is to learn to read and write so he might get a job as a clerk. With steady wages, he would be able to feed himself and help his family. But Hanley's poverty allows no leisure for such luxuries as going to school. Without education and money, he is powerless. His only hope lies in his children. If they are educated, they will have a better life.
Our fable fast-forwards and Kevin Hanley 1990 is now his own great-grandfather, Kevin Hanley, 1928. He, too, is 17 years old, and he works in a steel mill in Pittsburgh. His father came to America from Ireland and helped build the New York City subway. Kevin Hanley 1928 is far better off than either his father or his grandfather. He can read and write. His wages are far better than anything his ancestors had in Ireland.
Next Kevin Hanley 1990 dreams that he is Kevin Hanley 1945, his own grandfather, fighting on Iwo Jima against a most determined¹⁰ foe¹¹, the Japanese army. He is always hot, always hungry, always scared. One night in a foxhole¹², he tells a friend why he is there: "So my son and his son can live in peace and security. When I get back, I'l1 work hard and send my boy to college so he can live by his brains instead of his back."
Then Kevin Hanley 1990 is his own father, Kevin Hanley 1966, who studies all the time so he can get into college and law school. He lives in a fine house. He has never seen anything but peace and plenty. He tells his girl friend that when he has a son, he won't make him study all the time, as his father makes him.
At that point, Kevin Hanley 1990 wakes up, shaken by his dream. He is relieved to be away from Ireland and the steel mill and Iwo Jima. He goes back to sleep.
When he dreams again, he is his own son, Kevin Hanley 2020. There is gunfire all day and all night. His whole generation forgot why there even was law, so there is none. People pay no attention to politics, and government offers no services to the working class.
Kevin 2020's father, who is of course Kevin 1990 himself, works as a cleaner in a factory owned by the Japanese. Kevin 2020 is a porter in a hotel for wealthy Europeans and Asians. Public education stops at the sixth grade. Americans have long since stopped demanding good education for their children.
The last person Kevin 1990 sees in his dream is his own grandson. Kevin 2050 has no useful skills. Machines built in Japan do all the complex work, and there is little manual work to be done. Without education, without discipline, he cannot earn an adequate living wage. He lives in a slum where there is no heat, no plumbing¹³, no privacy and survives by searching through trash piles.
In a word, he lives much as Kevin Hanley 1835 did in Ireland. But one day, Kevin Hanley 2050 is befriended by a visiting Japanese anthropologist¹⁴ studying the decline of America. The man explains to Kevin that when a man has no money, education can supply the human capital necessary to start to acquire financial capital. Hard work, education, saving and discipline can do anything. "This is how we rose from the ashes after you defeated us in a war about a hundred years ago."
"America beat Japan in war?" asks Kevin 2050. He is astonished. It seems as impossible as Brazil defeating the United States would sound in 1990. Kevin 2050 swears that if he ever has children, he will make sure they work and study and learn and discipline themselves. "To be able to make a living by one's mind instead of by stealing," he says. "That would be a miracle."
When Kevin 1990 wakes up, next to him is his copy of The Wealth of Nations. He opens it and the first sentence to catch his eye is this: "A man without the proper use of the intellectual faculties¹⁵ of a man is, if possible, more contemptible¹⁶ than even a coward."
Kevin's father walks in. "All right, son," he says. "Let's go look at those headphones."
"Sorry, Pop," Kevin 1990 says. "I have to study."
(1213 words)

New Words and Expressions

fable
n. 寓言

teenager
n. a person who is between 13 and 19 years old 青少年

run out of
use up or finish a supply of (sth.) 用完，耗尽

file
n. a collection of papers on one subject 档案，卷宗

folder⁴
n. holder¹⁷ for loose papers 文件夹

drugstore
n. (AmE) （兼营杂货的）药房

handful
n. 一把；少量

counter
n. 柜台

tax
n. 税

in amazement
with a feeling of great surprise or disbelief 惊讶地

modestly
ad. not in very large quantity, size, etc. 不太多，不太大，适中

upset
vt. make (sb.) worry or feel unhappy 使苦恼，使心烦意乱

ignorant
a. knowing little or nothing 无知的；不知道的

ignorance
n. 无知；愚昧

senior
n. (AmE) student in the last year of college or high school （大学或中学）毕业班的学生

slice
n. a part of sth.; a thin flat piece cut from sth. 部分；（薄薄的）一片

ability
n. 能力

nonexistent
a. not existing 不存在的

chill
v. become or make (sth. or sb.) cold （使）变冷；（使）不寒而栗

indifference
n. a lack of interest or feeling 漠不关心

sum
vt. 合计；总结；概述

sum up
总结，概括

compete
vi. 竞争

compete with/against
try to be better than (sb. else) 与…竞争

Asian
n., a. 亚洲人；亚洲（人）的

financial
a. connected with money 财政的；金融的

accumulate
v. collect, or gather together, esp. over a period of time 积累，积聚

ancestor
n. 祖先，祖宗

intellectual
a. 智力的

affect
vt. have an influence on 影响

industrial
a. 工业的

function
vi. operate; act 运作；起作用
n. 作用，功能

idle
a. lazy; not doing anything 懒散的；空闲的

jam
v. get stuck 发生故障；卡住；堵塞

break down
stop working; fail, collapse¹⁸ 停止运转；失败，垮了

drive home
make (sth.) clear so that people understand it 使清楚无误地理解

humble
a. 谦卑的；卑微的

suggestion
n. sth. suggested 建议

movie
n. film 电影

dramatize
vt. write (sth.) again in a form which can be performed 将…改编为剧本，将…戏剧化

European
a., n. 欧洲（人）的；欧洲人

portable
a. light and small enough to be easily carried or moved 便携（式）的，手提（式）的

CD = compact disc
激光唱片；（计算机用的）光盘

county
n. （英国的）郡；（美国的）县

hut
n. 小屋；棚屋

search for
look for 寻找

wage
n. 工资，工钱

poverty
n. the state of being poor 贫穷，贫困

leisure
n. spare time 空闲，闲暇

luxury
n. 奢侈品；奢华；奢侈

mill
n. a factory 工厂，制造厂

subway
n. (AmE) underground railway 地铁

better off
richer; more comfortable 更富有；更舒服

foe
n. (lit) an enemy 敌人

scare
v. frighten （使）惊慌，（使）恐惧

foxhole
n. 散兵坑（小型掩体）

security
n. the state of feeling safe and free from worry 安全

wake up
stop sleeping 醒了

porter
n. （旅馆、火车站等的）搬行李工人；搬运工人

wealthy
a. rich; having wealth 富的，富裕的

complex
a. not simple 复杂的

manual
a. 体力的；手工做的

adequate
a. enough 充分的，足够的

slum▲
n. 贫民窟

plumbing
n. （水、煤气等）管道设施

privacy▲
n. the state of being alone and undisturbed （不受干扰的）独处；隐私，隐秘

trash
n. (AmE) 垃圾；废物

befriend
vt. help; act as a friend to 帮助；以朋友态度对待

decline
vi., n. 衰败，衰退；下降

acquire
vt. get 取得，获得

ash
n. 废墟；灰，灰烬

astonish
vt. surprise very much 使惊讶

swear
vt. make a serious promise about 发誓，宣誓

make a living by
靠…维持生计

miracle
n. 奇迹

faculty¹⁹
n. any of the powers of the body or mind 官能

contemptible
a. 令人鄙视的，可轻蔑的

coward▲
n. 懦夫

pop
n. (infml) father

Proper Names

Benjamin Stein
本杰明·斯坦

U.C.L.A. = University of California at Los Angeles
（美国）加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校

Kevin Hanley
凯文·汉利

Kerry
克雷（爱尔兰郡名）

Ireland
爱尔兰

Pittsburgh
匹兹堡（美国宾夕法尼来州城市）

Iwo Jima
硫黄岛（日本岛屿）

Brazil
巴西

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

3 fable   

n.寓言；童话；神话

参考例句：

• The fable is given on the next page. 这篇寓言登在下一页上。
• He had some motive in telling this fable. 他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

4 folder   

n.纸夹，文件夹

参考例句：

• Peter returned the plan and charts to their folder.彼得把这份计划和表格放回文件夹中。
• He draws the document from its folder.他把文件从硬纸夹里抽出来。

5 folders   

n.文件夹( folder的名词复数 )；纸夹；（某些计算机系统中的）文件夹；页面叠

参考例句：

• Encrypt and compress individual files and folders. The program is compact, efficient and user friendly. 加密和压缩的个人档案和folders.the计划是紧凑，高效和用户友好。 来自互联网
• By insertion of photocopies,all folders can be maintained complete with little extra effort. 插入它的复制本，不费多大力量就能使所有文件夹保持完整。 来自辞典例句

6 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

7 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

10 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

11 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

12 foxhole   

n.（军）散兵坑

参考例句：

• On an impulse he kicked some sand into Ridge's foxhole.一时性起，他就提起脚来将一些沙子踢进里奇的坑里。
• The sentry guard dived into his foxhole and closely observed the stranger towards him.哨兵跳入了散兵坑，密切注视着陌生人向他走来。

13 plumbing   

n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究

参考例句：

• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
• They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

15 faculties   

n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院

参考例句：

• Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬，但头脑仍然清晰。
• All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中，你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 contemptible   

adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的

参考例句：

• His personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible.他气貌不扬，言语粗俗。
• That was a contemptible trick to play on a friend.那是对朋友玩弄的一出可鄙的把戏。

17 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

18 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

19 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。