|
Unit 12
Time
After-Class Reading
PASSAGE I Social Time: The Heartbeat of Culturem
Proper Names
Anglo
adj. 盎格鲁的(Anglo-作形容词前缀，表示“与英国<人>有关的”。美国人中有许多是有英国血统的，故该词也适用于本文。)
Brazilian
巴西人
adj. 巴西人的
Henry David Thoreau
(男子名)梭罗(美国作家，超验主义运动的代表人物)
Niteroi
尼泰罗伊(巴西东南部港市)
Rio de Janerio
里约热内卢(巴西东南部港市)
New Words
annoying *
adj. making one feel slightly angry or uneasy 讨厌的，恼人的
e.g. He was making an annoying noise by tapping on the glass with his fork.
briefly *
adv. using very few words 简短地
e.g. She told them briefly what had happened.
chord *
n. 弦
conception *
n. a general idea that you have in your mind 概念
e.g. He had a conception of how he wanted things arranged.
consistently *
adv. 一贯地，一致地
e.g. He consistently got marks of over 90.
drummer *
n. someone who plays drums 鼓手
honesty *
n. the quality of being honest 诚实，正直
e.g. I insist on complete honesty with the people in my life.
inaccurate *
adj. 不准确的
e.g. To call their relationship "love" is inaccurate.
informal *
adj. 非正式的
e.g. The atmosphere at work is fairly informal.
latecomer
n. 迟到者
nearby *
adj. 附近的
e.g. He took the bag and tossed it into some nearby bushes.
oversimplify *
v. describe or explain something too simply 过于简单化
e.g. We must be careful not to oversimplify the issue.
stumble *
v. walk unsteadily and often almost fall 跌跌撞撞地走; speak in a hesitant manner 结结巴巴地说
superb *
adj. extremely good; excellent 极好的
e.g. The children's library is superb.
terribly *
adv. very, extremely 非常地，极度地
e.g. They were terribly pleased to see you.
undergraduate
adj. 大学本科生(阶段)的
vagueness *
n. 模糊
e.g. The vagueness of the statement enabled both sides to claim moral victory.
Social Time: The Heartbeat of Culturem
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." This thought by Thoreau strikes a chord[1] in so many people that it has become part of our language. We use the phrase "the beat of a different drummer" to explain any pace of life unlike our own. Such colorful vagueness reveals how informal our rules of time really are. The world over, children simply "pick up" their society's time concepts as they mature. No dictionary clearly defines the meaning of “early” or "late" for them or for strangers who stumble over the annoying differences between the time sense they bring with them and the one they face in a new land.
I learned this a few years ago, and the resulting culture shock[2] forced me to search for answers. It seemed clear that time "talks." But what is it telling us?
My journey started shortly after I accepted an appointment as visiting professor of psychology at the federal university in Niteroi, Brazil, a small city across the bay from Rio de Janeiro. As I left home for my first day of class, I asked someone the time. It was 9:05 a.m., which allowed me time to relax and look around the campus before my 10 o'clock lecture. After what I judged to be half an hour, I glanced at a clock I was passing. It said 10:20! In panic[3], I broke for the classroom, followed by gentle calls of "Hola[4], professor"and "Tudo bem[5], professor?" from unhurried students, many of whom, I later realized, were my own. I arrived breathless to find an empty room.
Frantically, I asked a passerby the time. "Nine forty-five" was the answer. No, that couldn't be. I asked someone else. "Nine fifty-five." Another said: "Exactly 9:43." The clock in a nearby office read 3:15. I had learned my first lesson about Brazilians: Their timepieces are consistently inaccurate. And nobody minds.
My class was scheduled from 10 until noon. Many students came late, some very late. Several arrived after 10:30. A few showed up closer to 11. Two came after that. All of the latecomers wore the relaxed smiles that I came, later, to enjoy. Each one said hello, and although a few apologized briefly, none seemed terribly concerned about lateness. They assumed that I understood.
The idea of Brazilians arriving late was not a great shock. I had learned about "manha," the Portuguese equivalent of "manana" in Spanish. This term, meaning "tomorrow" or, "the morning", stereotypes the Brazilian who puts off the business of today until tomorrow. The real surprise came at noon that first day, when the end of class arrived.
Back home in California, I never need to look at a clock to know when the class hour is ending. The shuffling of books is accompanied by strained expressions that say, "I'm starving... I've got to go to the bathroom... I'm going to suffocate if you keep us one more second." (The pain usually becomes unbearable at two minutes to the hour[6] in undergraduate classes and five minutes before the close of graduate classes.)?
When noon arrived in my first Brazilian class, only a few students left immediately. Others slowly drifted out during the next 15 minutes, and some continued asking me questions long after that. When several remaining students kicked off their shoes[7] at 12:30, I went into my own "starving / bathroom / suffocating" routine.
I could not, in all honesty, attribute their lingering to my superb teaching style. I had just spent two hours lecturing on statistics in halting Portuguese. Apparently, for many of my students, staying late was simply of no more importance than arriving late in the first place. As I observed this casual approach in infinite variations during the year, I learned that the "mnha" stereotype oversimplified the real Anglo/Brazilian differences in conceptions of time.[8]
Phrases and Expressions
attribute to
归因于
e.g. The fall in the number of deaths from heart disease is generally attributed to improvements in diet.
break for
suddenly run or drive somewhere
e.g. Teddy broke for the exit but was caught.
in all honesty
truthfully, hiding nothing
e.g. I must add, in all honesty, that I think the task ahead of us will be difficult.
keep pace with
move or change as fast as someone or something else
e.g. She followed Bobby, barely keeping pace with him.
show up
arrive
e.g. I was almost asleep when Chris finally showed up.
PASSAGE II The Voices of Time
New Words
absurd *
adj. completely stupid or unreasonable 荒谬的，可笑的；不合理的
e.g. It seems absurd to carry a twenty-five-pound camera about.
agriculturist
n. 农业家，农业技师
attache
n. someone who works in an embassy and deals with a particular subject (在大使馆工作的)专员，随员
barely *
adv. just 只不过，仅
e.g. We have barely enough money to live on.
concrete *
adj. definite and specific rather than general 具体的
e.g. They now realized that they could begin to do something concrete to fight racism.
distortion *
n. 歪曲
doubly *
adv. 1) twice the degree 加倍地
e.g. It was a doubly painful blow, for the ball hit him on the most sensitive part of his body before it fell to earth.
2) in two ways or for two reasons 两方面地，由双重原因造成的
e.g. We were doubly disappointed that Jane didn't come either.
embassy *
n. 大使馆
e.g. The United States Embassy does not provide a service to those seeking information on employment opportunities.
explicit *
adj. clear 明确的，明晰的
e.g. She was not explicit about what she felt.
heel *
n. 脚后跟
e.g. He drummed one heel on the ground so that his whole body seemed to vibrate.
interval *
n. the period of time between two events, activities, etc. 间隔
e.g. The baby woke up for another feeding after an interval of three hours.
legitimate *
adj. fair, correct, or reasonable according to accepted standards of behaviour 合情合理的
e.g. Parents have a legitimate reason to be concerned about the issue.
misunderstanding *
n. 误解，误会，
e.g. He could not face the thought of any misunderstanding between himself and his uncle.
party *
n. (条约，会议，诉讼等的) 一方，当事人
e.g. The UN called on all parties in the conflict to take a positive attitude toward the new peace initiative.
relay *
v. pass a message from one person or place to another 转告，传达
e.g. He quickly relayed this news to the other members of the staff.
stir *
v. make someone have a strong feeling or reaction 激起
e.g. I ) Despite its dull academic look, the book stirred the readers' imagination.
II ) The political debate was reopened and a new mood was stirring.
unfortunate *
adj. unlucky 不幸的
e.g. It is unfortunate that this sort of thing should happen.
unreasonable *
adj. behaving in an unfair, unpleasant, or stupid way 无理的，不理智的
e.g. There are, however, more optimistic assumptions which are not unreasonable.
urgency *
n. the need for something to be done without delay 紧急，迫切
e.g. There was a note of urgency in his voice.
utmost *
adj. extremely important or serious 极度的，最大的
e.g. Learning is of the utmost importance.
The Voices of Time
Time talks. It speaks more plainly than words. The message it conveys comes through loud and clear. Because it is manipulated less consciously, it is subject to less distortion than the spoken language. It can shout the truth where words lie.
Different parts of the day, for example, are highly significant in certain contexts. Time may indicate the importance of the occasion as well as on what level an interaction between persons is to take place. In the United States if you telephone someone very early in the morning, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call usually signals a matter of utmost importance or extreme urgency. The same applies for calls after 11:00 p.m. A call received during sleeping hours is apt to be taken as a matter of life and death, hence the rude joke value of these calls among the young[1].
How troublesome differing ways of handling time can be is well illustrated by the case of an American agriculturist assigned to duty as an attaché of our embassy in a Latin country.[2] After what seemed to him a suitable period he let it be known that he would like to call on the minister who was his counterpart. For various reasons, the suggested time was not suitable—all sorts of cues came back to the effect that the time was not yet ripe to visit the minister. Our friend, however, persisted and forced an appointment which was reluctantly granted. Arriving a little before the hour (the American respect pattern), he waited. The hour came and passed; five minutes—ten minutes—fifteen minutes. At this point he suggested to the secretary that perhaps the minister did not know he was waiting in the outer office. This gave him the feeling he had done something concrete, and also helped to overcome the great anxiety that was stirring inside him. Twenty minutes—twenty-five minutes—thirty minutes—forty-five minutes (the insult period)!
He jumped up and told the secretary that he had been "cooling his heels" in an outer office for forty-five minutes and he was "sick and tired" of this type of treatment. This message was relayed to the minister, who said, in effect, "Let him cool his heels." The attaché's stay in the country was not a happy one.
The principal source of misunderstanding lay in the fact that in the country in question the five-minute-delay interval was not significant. Forty-five minutes, on the other hand, instead of being at the tail end[3] of the waiting scale, was just barely at the beginning. To suggest to an American's secretary that perhaps her boss didn't know you were there after waiting sixty seconds would seem absurd, as would raising a storm[4] about "cooling your heels" for five minutes. Yet this is precisely the way the minister perceived the protests of the American in his outer office![5] He felt, as usual, that Americans were being totally unreasonable.
Throughout this unfortunate episode the attaché was acting according to the way he had been brought up. At home in the United States his responses would have been normal ones and his behavior legitimate. Yet even if he had been told before he left home that this sort of thing would happen, he would have had difficulty not feeling insulted after he had been kept waiting forty-five minutes. If, on the other hand, he had been taught the details of the local time system just as he should have been taught the local spoken language, it would have been possible for him to adjust himself accordingly.
What bothers people in situations of this sort is that they don't realize they are being subjected to another form of communication, one that works part of the time with language and part of the time independently of it.[6] The fact that the message conveyed is not expressed in any formal vocabulary makes things doubly difficult, because neither party can get very explicit about what is actually taking place. Each can only say what he thinks is happening and how he feels about it. The thought of what is being communicated is what hurts.[7]
Phrases and Expressions
be apt to
have a tendency to do something
e.g. Some of the staff are apt to arrive late on Mondays.
be subject to
likely be affected by something, especially something unpleasant
e.g. These areas are always subject to strong winds.
bring up
educate and care for a child until it is grown up
e.g. He left her to bring up three young children on her own.
call on
visit someone for a short time
e.g. Why don't you call on my sister when you're in London?
cool one's heels
be forced to wait for someone for a long time; be kept waiting for a long time
e.g. The receptionist kept me cooling my heels for over an hour.
in effect
in fact, in practice 事实上，实际上
e.g. So in effect the government has lowered the taxes for the rich and raised them for the poor.
in question
正在被谈论的
e.g. The goods in question had been stolen.
lie in
在于
e.g. The root of all these events lay in history.
loud and clear
in a way that is very easily understood
e.g. Tom got his message across loud and clear.
on the other hand
另一方面
e.g. On the one hand I want to sell the house, but on the other hand I can't bear the thought of moving.
sick and tired
angry and bored with something that has been happening for a long time
e.g. We're getting sick and tired of listening to them argue all the time.
to the effect that
with (the stated) general meaning or result 大意是
e.g. Karl's remarks were to the effect that we all needed to think more about marketing possibilities.
|