Transcript Document

Unit 7 The Greatest Invention
Background knowledge
 Language learning
 Exercises
 Discussion

Biography: Lord Dunsany

Lord Dunsany (July 24, 1878 - October
25, 1957) was a well-established
English writer and dramatist, who was
best-known for his creative works in
science and fantasies.
Lord Dunsany

Lord Dunsany served as an
officer World War I. He was a
keen huntsman, sportsman, and
was at one time the chess and
pistol （射击）champion of
Ireland.
 His fame arose, however, from
his prolific writings of short
stories, novels, plays and poetry,
mostly written with a quill pen.
（鹅毛笔）
Writings

His most notable fantasy short
stories were published in collections
from 1905 to 1919: he had to pay for
publication of his first book, "The
Gods of Pegana". The stories were
set within an invented world, with its
own gods, history and geography.
His significance within the genre of
fantasy writing is considerable.
Some of his works
The
book of
Wonder
Illustration from 1922
edition of Dunsany's
Don Rodriguez:
Chronicles of Shadow
Valley,
drawn by S. H. Sime

fantasy
A fantasy is a situation
imagined by an individual or
group, which does not
correspond with reality but
expresses certain desires or
aims of its creator. Fantasies
typically involve situations
which are impossible (such as
the existence of magic powers)
or something highly unlikely
(such as world peace).
Fantasies can also be sexual
in nature.
fantasy

In literature， fantasy is a
form of fiction, usually novels
or short stories.
 As a genre, fantasy is both
associated and contrasted with
science fiction and horror fiction.
Fantasy features magic, brave
knights, girls in distress , mythical
beasts, and quests.(探索）
Fable

a short moral story (often with animal
characters)
 In its strict sense, a fable is a short story
or folk tale with a moral at the end. It
often, but not necessarily, makes
metaphorical use of an animal as its
central character. In some cases, usage of
the term has been extended to include
stories with mythical or legendary
elements.
Modern fable





fabled characters of more modern
archetypes(原型）
using familiar characters in an
unfamiliar setting
introduce people’s characters in
modern life
updated message with
contemporary circumstance and
plot line
If all people in this world take the
moral message from fables, there
will not be any violence and the
world will be peaceful.

The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group
of islands in the Caribbean Sea . These
islands curve southward from the bottom tip
of Florida to the Northwest of Venezuela in
South America. There are at least 7000
islands, islets, reefs（暗礁） and cays（珊瑚
礁） in the region. They are organized into
twenty-five territories including sovereign
states,
overseas
departments
and
dependencies.
 The name "West Indies" originates from
Christopher Columbus' idea that he had
landed in India when he had in fact reached
the Americas. The Caribbean consists of the
Antilles and the Bahamas and is part of
North America.
Germ Warfare
 Germ
is an informal term for a disease-causing
organism, particularly bacteria(细菌）.
 Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare,
is the use of any organism (bacteria, virus 病毒
or other disease-causing organism) or toxin（毒
素） found in nature, as a weapon of war. It is
meant to kill an adversary.
Germ Warfare
 Biological
warfare is a cause for concern
because a successful attack could result in
thousands, possibly even millions, of deaths
and could cause severe disruptions to
societies and economies. However the
consensus among military analysts is that
except in the context of bioterrorism,
biological warfare is militarily of little use.
Examples of Biological warfare
2001 anthrax attack

In September and
October of 2001, several
cases of anthrax caused
deliberately broke out in
the United States . This
was a well-publicized act
of bioterrorism.
Bodies to be disposed after
experiment by Unit 731
The FBI's Kevin Donovan displays a
reward flier offering up to $2.5 million for
information leading to the arrest and
conviction of those responsible for mailing
anthrax-tainted letters.
I was tired of looking at the tropical sea, so I went ashore and walked
into a tavern to see if they had any decent wines in that country.

go ashore: go to the
shore
prefix “a-”加在名词、动词、形容
词前,构成副词或表语形容词



They were walking abreast.
He was standing a few
steps apart from them.
She left the door ajar.（半
开）
decent: acceptable,
good enough
 a decent
meal/job/house/
hotel
 decent clothes/
wages
When the bottle had been uncorked and the wine poured out, like liquid
tropical sunlight, I watched it go down under that black mustache.

The bottle was opened and the wine
was poured out. The man with black
mustache drank it up although it was
pretty strong, like hot liquid sunlight.
We aimed at the mastery of the whole Caribbean.

It was our purpose to have complete
control of the whole Caribbean.

The enemy had complete mastery of the
seas and no ships could get through.

Everybody was impressed by her quick
mastery of those complicated theories.
…he was not at all what one would regard as the
figure of a soldier.
the figure of a soldier: the kind of
person one would expect to see as a
soldier, tall and strong
figure





You have to watch our diet if you want to
keep your figure.
Shape
the exact figure
Number
both a political and a religious figure
Person
character
to play the figure of a judge
Our Minister … was a cavalry officer and could not adapt his
ideas to modern science. He thought of war simply as an
opportunity for cavalry charges and fine uniforms and glory.
cavalry charges: rushes to attack the enemy on horseback
1.
The hotel charged me $50 for a room for the night.
(ask in payment)
2.
Suddenly the wild animal charged at us.
(rush in or as if in an attack)
3.
He was charged with murder and betrayal.
(to declare officially and openly)
4.
5.
The soldiers charged their guns and prepared to
fire.
(to load)
He is always charged with strength and power.
(to take in the correct amount of electricity)
Once, if a nation had twelve battleships it was a
Great Power…
It refers to the 19th century when
colonialists and imperialists pursued
gunboat diplomacy.（炮舰外交）
 Gunboat diplomacy: the use of a
threat of show of armed force by a
country to support a claim, demand,
complaint, etc. against another.

But what if we know how to let loose a plague
capable of destroying whole nations?
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what if: what would happen if
let loose: to let sb. or sth. go free
plague: any disease causing death and spreading
quickly to a large number of people
我们把画移到这儿怎么样?

What if we move the
picture over here?

你不该用这种方式发泄愤慨.

You should not let loose
your indignation in this
way.

A
great many people have
been swept away by the plague.
That
child is a plague of her
life.
The
little boy plagued his
father by begging over and over
to go to the zoo.
You’ve
been plaguing me with
silly questions all day!
We knew that we had marvelous powers within our
grasp, if only Carasierra could be kept at his work.


have sth. within one’s grasp: to be able to
achieve or attain sth.
keep sb. at sth.: to force sb. to continue to do sth.
Success is within our
grasp now.
现在我们已有成功的把握了.
To do exercise once in
awhile is not enough. You’ve
got to keep at it.

她唾手可得一个很好的职位.

She has an excellent
position within her grasp.





He keeps at his studies,
although he is ill.
Keep at him for payment.
Always spurred on by a fierce ambition. His very life was
devoted to making inventions.

spur: to urge sb. to try harder
 fierce: very strong, done with very strong feelings
and energy
The rider spurred on to his
destination. (疾驰)

fierce emotions

fierce attack

fierce
competition
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He was spurred on by poverty to
commit a crime.(刺激）

To him difficulties were simply
spurs to endeavor.(刺激（物）)

fierce anger

fierce look

fierce heat
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雄心是青年人的一种极好的推动力.
Ambition is an excellent spur for
the young.


fierce tempest

fierce pain
I tried everything: threats, appeals to him to think of
our ancient glory, even bribes.


think of our ancient glory: to think of his patriotic
duty to help to recover our past glory
bribe n. / v.:money or sth. valuable given to sb. to
persuade him to do sth. dishonest

take/ offer a bribe

bribe sb. into silence

commit bribery
The children were
given candy as a bribe to
be good.

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return with glory 凯旋

in one’s glory
得意之时

go to glory
死,升天

glory to do/in doing sth.

glorify oneself
自夸

a glorious death
光荣的牺牲
为做某事而自豪
We were so nearly one of the Great Powers but for a
fancy that came to this man’s mind.

but for: if not for要不是…

要不是他一把抓住,我就摔倒了.


I would have fallen but for his sudden arm.
要不是你的帮助,我无法完成这工作.
But for your help, I would not have finished
the work.

I saw only a square yard of grass, marked off with a strip of
white tape.


mark an area off: to make an area separate by
drawing a line around it or putting a rope around it
a strip of: a thin narrow piece of (paper, cloth, tape,
sand)
We marked off the limits of our
lots with stakes.


mark off spheres of influence
a strip of paper/
cloth/ board/ tape

a strip of garden/
territory

Her smiling eyes marks her off
from other girls.

The place was marked off as a
tennis court.


landing strip
… he fell then to silent brooding, gazing,
She sat there brooding on
whether life is worth living.

Don’t brood over lost
opportunities.



Just as physicists worry
about he nature of matter,
historians brood about the
study of man’s past.

His mind has lost its grip.
（理解力）
The policeman would not
lose his grip on the thief.
He has a good grip of
several modern languages.

his country had lost on the Caribbean, …


brood: to keep thinking for a long time about sth. that
makes you very angry or worried
lose the grip on: to lose the power and control over

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ashore on a rock. (shore)
The ship got ________
aspire to obtaining a
Mr. Spears did not ______
better position in life. (aspiration)
The shock was deadly
_____ to him. (die)
dominantin most people.
The right hand is ________
(dominate)
idleness (idle)
A sword rusts in _______.
inspiration to his
A brave leader is an __________
followers. (inspire)
rivalry for these appointments.
There is keen ______
(rival)
He’s very unhappy about her promotion; he
seems to feel that his own job is ________.
threatened
(threat)
Exercises

There were some _______
flowers on
A
the table.
A. artificial
B. unnatural
C. false
D. unreal
Exercises

People were surprised to find that he
B
had the ability to _____
everything he
was involved in.
A. precede
B. dominate
C. effect
D. instruct
Exercises

When people become unemployed, it
is ____
C which is often worse than
lack of wages.
A. laziness
B. poverty
C. idleness
D. inability
Exercises

C
Although the two players are ______
in the tennis court, they are really
good friends.
A. partners
B. enemies
C. rivals
D. companions
Exercises

D
By _____
computation, he estimated
that the repairs on the house would
cost him a thousand dollars.
A. coarse
B. rude
C. crude
D. rough
Exercises
B good
A well-written composition ____
choice of words and clear organization
among other things.
A. calls on
B. calls for
C. calls up
D. calls off
A
 Craig assured his boss that he would ___
all his energies in doing this new job.
A.号召，呼吁
A. call on
B. call for
B. 邀请，要求，需要
C. call up C. 打电话，召集，使
D. call off

人想起
D. 放弃，取消
Exercises

B
______
the speech contest I would
have gone to the dance party last
Sunday.
A. In spite of
B. But for
C. Because of
D. As for
Exercises

A he
I’m sure he is up to the job ___
would give his mind to it.
A. if only
B. in case
C. until
D. unless
Discussion
“I do not work for use, but for wonder.”
Do you support this view of science for
science’s sake? Should scientists mainly
aim at those “purposeful effort”?
 In order to make their voice heard, many
small nations and nationalities resort to
terrorism. Is it a necessary approach for
them to get powerful? Discuss with your
partners.

Quotes:
Logic, like whiskey, loses its beneficial
effect when taken in too large
quantities.
------- Lord Dunsany