Unit
Unit 14
14
Homeless
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
Watch the video clip and answer the following questions.
1. What does April propose to do?
She suggests that they should go to Paris to start a
new life and have a new home there, to pursue the
dream they once failed.
2. Why does she have such an idea?
Because she is unsatisfied with their present life
and wants to have a change. Meanwhile, she wants
to wake up her husband’s courage to leave from the
settled life after having children.
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
From Revolutionary Road
April: Paris!
Frank: What?
April: You always say that it was the only place you
have ever been you want to go back to, the only
place that was worth living, so why don’t we go
there?
Frank: You are serious?
April: Yes. What’s stopping us?
Frank: What’s stopping us? I can think of a number of
different things. For example, what kind of job
can ever possibly get?
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
April: You won’t be getting any kind of a job because I
will.
Frank: Oh, right, right.
April: Don’t laugh at me. Listen to me. Do you know
what they pay for secretarial positions in
governmental agencies in Europe?
Frank: No, I don’t.
April: Listen, Frank. I’m serious about this. Do you
think I’m kidding or something?
Frank: Ok, ok, I just have a couple of questions, that’s
all. For one thing, what exactly am I supposed to
be doing while you are earning all this money?
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
April: Don’t you see? That’s the whole idea. You will be
doing what you should have been allowed to do
seven years ago. We have time. For the first time
in your life you have the time to find out what it
is actually you want to do. When you figure it
out, you’ll have the time and freedom to start
doing it.
Frank: Sweet heart. That’s just not very realistic at all.
April: No Frank. This is what’s unrealistic. It’s
unrealistic for a man with a find mind to go on
working year after year at a job he can’t stand.
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
Coming home to a place he can’t stand, to a wife
who is equally unable to stand the same things.
Do you want to know the worst part? Our whole
existence here is based on this great promise
that we are special, superior to the whole thing.
But we are not. We are just like everyone else.
Look at us. We bought into the same ridiculous
illusion, this idea that you have to resign from
life and settle down the moment you have
children and we’ve been punishing each other
for it.
Audiovisual Supplement

Cultural Information
The theme of “home” is sentimental, and most
writers and poets have some works related to
“home”, and Emily Dickinson, the famous American
poet, is one of them.
Audiovisual Supplement

Cultural Information
She has been “locked” at her house for almost a
whole life, yet a sense of “homelessness” can be felt
from most of her poems. It does not mean material
house shortage, but the feeling of isolation.
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
Home
by Emily Dickinson
Years I had been from home,
And now, before the door
I dared not open, lest a face
I never saw before
Stare vacant into mine
And ask my business there.
My business, — just a life I left,
Was such still dwelling there?
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
I fumbled at my nerve,
I scanned the windows near;
The silence like an ocean rolled,
And broke against my ear.
I laughed a wooden laugh
That I could fear a door,
Who danger and the dead had faced,
But never quaked before.
Audiovisual Supplement
Cultural Information
I fitted to the latch,
My hand, with trembling care,
Lest back the awful door should spring,
And leave me standing there.
I moved my fingers off
As cautiously as glass,
And held my ears, and like a thief
Fled gasping from the house.
Text Analysis
Structural Analysis
Rhetorical Devices
Modern life is progressing on an accelerating pace
and the majority of modern people are losing more and
more control of their own lives. This makes them the
victims of endless anxiety. Yet they do not know the
cause of all this, nor can they find any solution to it.
The author of this essay wants to find the cause of this
problem and she focuses her attention on home. By the
word “homeless”, we generally mean the state of not
having a material house. Yet, through her investigation
and observation, the writer adds new meaning to this
word which reveals a worse problem suffered by many
people living in modern society, even if they do have a
Text Analysis
Structural Analysis
Rhetorical Devices
house. The problem is the loss of the traditional
conception of home and traditional family values in
people’s mind. With the development of modern life,
the concept of home has gradually lost its connotation
of permanence and stability. People living in a house
have no sense of belonging and pride of ownership at all.
The writer points out the faults of society in dealing
with this problem, which is turning the problem into an
issue while ignoring people’s delicate feelings. If society
does not take the problem seriously, all modern people
would become homeless in this way or that.
Text Analysis
Structural Analysis
Rhetorical Devices
In terms of organization, the article clearly falls into
three main parts:
The first part (Paragraphs 1-3) starts with a specific
example and then naturally moves on to the discussion of
the topic.
The second part (Paragraphs 4-7) gives a definition of
home and points out the symptoms of the problem
concerning home in modern society.
The third part (Paragraphs 8-9) is also the ending of the
writing, the writer talks about the fault of society in
dealing with the problem of homelessness and calls on
people to look at the problem from a microcosmic
perspective.
Text Analysis
Structural Analysis
Rhetorical Devices
The rhetorical device used in the text is a kind of
loose structure. A general statement is followed by some
specific details, which serve as a minor adjustment of the
statement so as to make it more exact, or as supporting
evidence, or as a further explanation.
e.g. “She had a house, or at least once upon a time had
had one.” (Paragraph 2)
“That was the crux of it; not size or location, but
pride of ownership.” (Paragraph 7)
“We turn an adjective into a noun: the poor, not poor
people; the homeless, not Ann or the man who lives in
the box or the woman who sleeps on the subway
grate.” (Paragraph 8)
Detailed Reading
Homeless
Anna Quindlen
1
Her name was Ann, and we met in the Port
Authority Bus Terminal several Januarys ago. I was doing
a story on homeless people. She said I was wasting my
time talking to her; she was just passing through,
although she’d been passing through for more than two
weeks. To prove to me that this was true, she rummaged
through a tote bag and a manila envelope and finally
unfolded a sheet of typing paper and brought out her
photographs.
Detailed Reading
2 They were not pictures of family, or friends, or
even a dog or cat, its eyes brown-red in the flashbulb’s
light. They were pictures of a house.
It was like a
thousand houses in a hundred towns, not suburb, not
city, but somewhere in between, with aluminum siding
and a chain-link fence, a narrow driveway running up to
a one-car garage and a patch of backyard. The house
was yellow. I looked on the back for a date or a name,
but neither was there. There was no need for discussion.
Detailed Reading
I knew what she was trying to tell me, for it was
something I had often felt. She was not adrift, alone,
anonymous, although her bags and her raincoat with the
grime shadowing its creases had made me believe she
was. She had a house, or at least once upon a time had
had one. Inside were curtains, a couch, a stove,
potholders.
You are where you live. She was somebody.
Detailed Reading
3 I’ve never been very good at looking at the big
picture, taking the global view, and I’ve always been a
person with an overactive sense of place, the legacy of
an Irish grandfather. So it is natural that the thing that
seems most wrong with the world to me right now is that
there are so many people with no homes. I’m not simply
talking about shelter from the elements, or three square
meals a day or a mailing address to which the welfare
people can send the check — although I know that all
these are important for survival. I’m talking about a
home, about precisely those kinds of feelings that have
wound up in cross-stitch and French knots on samplers
over the years.
Detailed Reading
4 Home is where the heart is. There’s no place like it.
I love my home with a ferocity totally out of proportion
to its appearance or location. I love dumb things about:
the hot-water heater, the plastic rack you drain dishes
in, the roof over my head, which occasionally leaks.
And yet it is precisely those dumb things that make it
what it is — a place of certainty, stability,
predictability, privacy, for me and for my family. It is
where I live. What more can you say about a place than
that? That is everything.
Detailed Reading
5 Yet it is something that we have been edging away
from gradually during my lifetime and the lifetimes of
my parents and grandparents. There was a time when
where you lived often was where you worked and where
you grew the food you ate and even where you were
buried. When that era passed, where you lived at least
was where your parents had lived and where you would
live with your children when you became enfeebled.
Then, suddenly where you lived was where you lived for
three years, until you could move on to something else
and something else again.
Detailed Reading
6 And so we have come to something else again, to
children who do not understand what it means to go to
their rooms because they have never had a room, to
men and women whose fantasy is a wall they can paint
a color of their own choosing, to old people reduced to
sitting on molded plastic chairs, their skin blue-white
in the lights of a bus station, who pull pictures of
houses out of their bags. Homes have stopped being
homes.
Now they are real estate.
Detailed Reading
7 People find it curious that those without homes would
rather sleep sitting up on benches or huddled in doorways
than go to shelters. Certainly some prefer to do so
because they are emotionally ill, because they have been
locked in before and they are damned if they will be
locked in again. Others are afraid of the violence and
trouble they may find there. But some seem to want
something that is not available in shelters, and they will
not compromise, not for a cot, or oatmeal, or a shower
with special soap that kills the bugs. “One room,” a
woman with a baby who was sleeping on her sister’s floor,
once told me, “painted blue.” That was the crux of it; not
size or location, but pride of ownership. Painted blue.
Detailed Reading
8 This is a difficult problem, and some wise and
compassionate people are working hard at it. But in
the main I think we work around it, just as we walk
around it when it is lying on the sidewalk or sitting in
the bus terminal — the problem, that is. It has been
customary to take people’s pain and lessen our own
participation in it by turning it into an issue, not a
collection of human beings. We turn an adjective into a
noun: the poor, not poor people; the homeless, not Ann
or the man who lives in the box or the woman who
sleeps on the subway grate.
Detailed Reading
9 Sometimes I think we would be better off if we
forgot about the broad strokes and concentrated on the
details. Here is a woman without a bureau. There is a
man with no mirror, no wall to hang it on. They are not
the homeless. They are people who have no homes. No
drawer that holds the spoons. No window to look out
upon the world. My God.
That is everything.
Detailed Reading
What is the writer’s emphasis in her definition of “home”?
She is not merely talking about shelter from the
elements, but what would provide people living in it
with certainty, stability, predictability and privacy.
What is the writer’s method in investigating this problem?
The writer’s method is a microcosmic one which
focuses on specific people and their detailed feelings.
Detailed Reading
What is the author’s definition of home?
In defining home, the writer considers both the
material and the emotional elements. In her definition,
home is not only a shelter, but a place of certainty,
stability, predictability and privacy for all the members
of the family.
Detailed Reading
What is the problem concerning home in modern society?
In modern society, people do not live in one place all
their life, so the word “home” has lost its connotation
of permanence and stability. People do not own the
place they live, so they have no sense of belonging and
pride of ownership about such a home.
Detailed Reading
What does the author think is the fault of society in
dealing with the problem of homelessness?
Society turns the problem into an issue, taking people’s
pain and lessening its own participation in it. By doing
so, society will not be able to solve the problem from
its origin.
Detailed Reading
What is the perspective suggested by the writer in solving
the problem?
The writer suggests people forget about the broad
strokes and concentrate on the details. This would
bring people back to the essence of the problem and
enable them to have real sympathy towards those
people who have no home.
Detailed Reading
Class Activity
Brainstorming: “Home” is a broad concept, so write
down by yourselves anything relevant to this concept
and then compare your notes with your classmates’.
Perhaps from this activity you can find out different
values of “home” in different people’s lives.
Finding “Home” Poems: Search more poems about
home, including “Home, sweet home”, and feel about
them. If interested, you can compose one by yourself.
Detailed Reading
pass through v.
experience
e.g. China is passing through the stage of urbanization
and modernization.
Detailed Reading
rummage v.
search unsystematically and untidily through a mass or
receptacle.
e.g. He rummaged the drawer for his false teeth.
Collocations:
rummage around / in / through sth. for sth.
e.g. rummaging through (the contents of) a drawer for a
pair of socks
Detailed Reading
wind up v.
come to be in an unexpected and usually unpleasant
situation, esp. as a result of what one does
e.g. Because of ill management, the company wound
up having a huge debt to pay off.
Detailed Reading
edge v.
move slowly with gradual movements or in gradual stages
e.g. She edged her way through the crowd to the front
just to be closer to her idol.
Derivation:
edging (n.)
e.g. a white handkerchief with blue edging
Detailed Reading
Collocations:
edge your way into / round / through, etc. sth.
e.g. Maggie edged her way round the back of the house.
edge up / down
e.g. Profits have edged up.
be edged with sth.
e.g. The tablecloth is edged with lace.
Detailed Reading
huddle v.
crowd together; nestle closely
e.g. They huddled together for warmth.
Synonyms:
assemble, cluster, congregate, crowd, gather
Detailed Reading
crux n.
the basic, central, or critical point or feature
e.g. Now we come to the crux of the problem.
Derivation:
crucial (a.)
e.g. This aid money is crucial to the government’s
economic policies.
Detailed Reading
It was like a thousand houses in a hundred towns, not
suburb, not city, but somewhere in between, with
aluminum siding and a chain-link fence, a narrow
driveway running up to a one-car garage and a patch of
backyard. (Paragraph 2)
Explanation:
With this description of a house, a very ordinary one
found nearly in any town in the U.S. the author wants to
indicate Ann’s real situation: what she had really got was
a house, but not a home in the real sense of the word.
Detailed Reading
You are where you live. She was somebody.
(Paragraph 2)
Explanation:
One belongs to the place where he or she lives. The place
where one lives gives him his identity. So Ann claims her
own identity, given the house she once had and
everything inside it.
Detailed Reading
I love my home with a ferocity totally out of proportion
to its appearance or location. (Paragraph 4)
Paraphrase:
Even if my home is small and shabby, and of a
disadvantageous location, I still bear strong and deep
love for it.
Detailed Reading
Now they are real estate. (Paragraph 6)
Paraphrase:
Now homes have been degraded into pieces of
material possession that can be rent or sold, which
means they are no longer the embodiment of the
love among family members.
Detailed Reading
But in the main I think we work around it, just as we
walk around it when it is lying on the sidewalk or
sitting in the bus terminal — the problem, that is.
(Paragraph 8)
Paraphrase:
But on the whole I think we have not addressed the
issue honestly and directly; it is like that the
problem is lying on the floor and we just walk
around it.
Detailed Reading
That is everything. (Paragraph 9)
Explanation:
They (the above-mentioned problems) are not
unimportant things, but so significant as to affect a
person’s feeling of existing as an integrated person.
Or, if people cannot have a real home with all its
emotional features and relative family values, they
can not have certainty, stability and privacy in
modern society.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Word Derivation
Phrase Practice
Synonym / Antonym
Writing
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
1) anonymous a. → anonymity n.
e.g. 作者希望姓名不公开。
The author wishes to remain anonymous.
这本书的匿名引起许多猜测。
The anonymity of the book causes many gusses.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
2) ferocity n. → ferocious a.
e.g. 狮子凶猛地扑向猎物。
The lion attacked its victim with great ferocity.
猛烈的狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the
ship to pieces.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
3) predictability n. → predict v. → prediction n. →
predicable a.
e.g. 学术研究中的普遍性、确定性与预测性问题
universality, certainty and predictability in
academic research
我能很准确地预测某事。
I can predict something with great accuracy.
这个预言确实实现了。
The prediction was literally accomplished.
可预测的结论
a predicable conclusion
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
4) leak v.→ leakage n. →leaky a.
e.g. 煤气泄漏时，必须把阀门关上。
You must shut the gas supply off if it leaks.
泄露机密信息
leakages of confidential information
房顶是漏的，雨进来了。
The roof is leaky and the rain comes in.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
5) spoon n. → spoonful a.
e.g. 她把糖放进咖啡里，用勺子把它们混合起来。
She put the sugar into the coffee and mixed
them up with a spoon.
请给我两勺糖。
Two spoonfuls of sugar, please.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
6) damn v. → damnable a.→ damnation n.
e.g. 评论家们谴责该剧。
The critics damned the play.
这鬼天气!
This damnable weather!
受到永远的惩罚
suffer eternal damnation
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
7) qualify v. → qualified a. → qualification n.
e.g. 我队已有资格进入半决赛。
Our team has qualified for the semi-final.
她能胜任这一工作。
She is qualified to do the job.
做这项工作需要什么资格?
What sort of qualifications do you need for the
job?
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
8) terminal a. → terminate v.
e.g. 我们在终站下车。
We got off at the terminal station.
他们已中止了合同。
They have terminated the contract.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
Fill in the blank in each sentence with an appropriate
phrasal verb or collocation from the text.
1) It’s not that you’re so asocial, but a man who likes
up
_______
people doesn’t wind
in the Antarctic.
run up to
2) Our debts will ________
six million pounds by the
end of the year! Isn’t it horrible?
3) Please go ahead. I am not in the line — I am just
passing through .
______________
4) It is difficult to understand how lava could have been
reduced to
dust.
__________
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
sat up
5) The novel was so intriguing that I ______
reading it.
all night
6) Shawn was the real estate agent for five years before
move on to
deciding to __________
fresh challenges.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
wind up: arrive finally in a place; end up
e.g. 我们最终在一个很棒的海滨旅馆落脚（住下来）。
We eventually wound up (staying) in a super
little hotel by the sea.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
run up to: reach a particular amount
e.g. 修复损失耗资逼近一百万美元。
The cost of repairing the damage could run
up to $1 million.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
pass through: go through a town, etc. stopping there for a
short time but not staying
e.g.
我们路经此镇，顺便来看你。
We came to say hello as we were passing through.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
reduce to: bring sb. / sth. into a specified (usu. worse)
state or condition
e.g. 这场火灾把那所房子化为灰烬。
The fire reduced the house to ashes.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
sit up: not go to bed until later than the usual time, esp.
because one is waiting for sb.
e.g. 我们很晚都没睡觉还在看电视影片。
We sat up late watching a film on TV.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
move on to: leave your present job, class, or activity and
start doing another one
e.g. 这项练习完成后请继续做下一个练习。
When you finish, move on to the next exercise
please.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
1. She was not adrift, alone, anonymous, although her
bags and her raincoat with the grime shadowing its
creases had made me believe she was.
Synonyms: dirt, soot, filth
2. I’ve never been very good at looking at the big picture,
taking the global view, and I’ve always been a person
with an overactive sense of place, the legacy of an Irish
grandfather.
Antonyms: local, partial, restricted
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
3. I love my home with a ferocity totally out of proportion
to its appearance or location.
Synonyms: fierceness, intensity
4. And yet it is precisely those dumb things that make it
what it is — a place of certainty, stability, predictability,
privacy, for me and for my family.
Synonyms: security, safety
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
5. People find it curious that those without homes would
rather sleep sitting up on benches or huddled in
doorways than go to shelters.
Synonyms: crouch
6. But some seem to want something that is not available
in shelters, and they will not compromise, not for a cot,
or oatmeal, or a shower with special soap that kills the
bugs.
Antonyms: inaccessible, unobtainable
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
7. This is a difficult problem, and some wise and
compassionate people are working hard at it.
Antonyms: indifferent, heartless, apathetic
8. Sometimes I think we would be better off if we forgot
about the broad strokes and concentrated on the
details.
Synonyms: specific, particular
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
If-clauses
Subjunctive Mood
Punctuation
Writing
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
1) If-clauses
Type 1
If-clause
If / Unless / If ... not
+ present tense
If I learn my vocabulary,
+ main clause
+ future
+ shall / will / can / may /
might + verb
I’ll get a good mark
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
Type 2
If-clause
If / Unless / If ... not
+ past tense,
If I learnt my vocabulary,
+ main clause
+ conditional I
+ should / would / could /
’d / might + verb
I’d get a good mark.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
Type 3
If-clause
If / Unless / If ... not
+ past perfect,
+ main clause
+ conditional II
+ should / would/ could /
might + have + past perfect
If I had learnt my
vocabulary,
I would have got a good mark.
If-clauses in front position are more emphatic.
If-clauses in front position get a comma.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
Practice
Recast the sentences below by using if.
1. Take a deep breath and you will feel relaxed.
If you take a deep breath, you will feel relaxed.
2. Had I worked harder, I would have passed the exam.
If I had worked harder, I would have passed the exam.
3. Drive more carefully, or you’ll cause an accident.
If you don’t drive more carefully, you’ll cause an
accident.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
4. Should the flight be delayed, passengers will be
informed immediately.
If the flight should be delayed, passengers will be
informed immediately.
5. Had I known the address, I would have called into the
office.
If I had known the address, I would have called into
the office.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
2) Subjunctive Mood
A verb is in the subjunctive mood when it
expresses a condition which is doubtful or not factual.
It is most often found in a clause beginning with the
word if. It is also found in clauses following a verb that
expresses a doubt, a wish, regret, request, demand, or
proposal.
These are verbs typically followed by clauses that
take the subjunctive mood: ask, demand, determine,
insist, move, order, pray, prefer, recommend, regret,
request, require, suggest, and wish.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
Practice
Put the verbs in brackets into the correct forms.
were kinder to me.
1. I wish he ____
2.
But I blame the real culprit even more. If he
wouldn’t have
had admitted (admit) his guilt, Peter ____________
____________
been (not be) expelled.
____
3.
We came in last just because we got lost. If we
hadn’t got (not get) lost, we _______________
_________
would have come
(come) in somewhere in the middle. We certainly
_________________
wouldn’t have been (not be) last.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Translation
Integrated Skills
Oral Activities
Writing
4. Be careful about the time. If you spend
_____ (spend) too
long on the first question, you ___________
will not have (not
have) enough time to do the others properly.
5. His requirement is that everyone be
__ computer
literate.
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3) Punctuation
The purpose of punctuation is to make clear the
meaning of what we write. The full stop marks the end
of a statement. The comma is mainly used to group
words that belong together and to separate those that
do not. It can also be used to set off nonessential
clauses and nonessential participial phrases.
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Practice
Punctuate the following sentences, using commas or
full stops.
1. The butterfly is a marvel it begins as an ugly caterpillar
and turns into a work of art.
The butterfly is a marvel. It begins as an ugly
caterpillar and turns into a work of art.
2. It’s warm enough here in London a little too warm if
anything.
It’s warm enough here in London. A little too warm, if
anything.
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3. I was feeling hungry so I made myself a sandwich.
I was feeling hungry, so I made myself a sandwich.
4. Both John and I had many errands to do yesterday John
had to go to the post office and bookstore I had to go
to the drugstore the travel agency and the bank.
Both John and I had many errands to do yesterday. John
had to go to the post office and bookstore. I had to go
to the drugstore, the travel agency, and the bank.
5. The child hid behind his mother’s skirt for he was afraid
of the dog.
The child hid behind his mother’s skirt, for he was
afraid of the dog.
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Translate the following sentences into English.
1. 她翻了五个抽屉之后才找到结婚戒指。(rummage)
If sb. is rummaging, he / she turns things over or
disarrange them while searching for sth.
She rummaged five drawers before she found her
wedding ring.
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Practice:
老太太开始在口袋里摸索，找她的眼镜。
The old lady began to rummage in her pocket for her
spectacles.
他在抽屉里翻找。
He rummaged around in his drawer.
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2. 十多年来，每当遇到新的情况，我习惯于三思而后行。
(customary)
Sth. that is customary is according to custom; usual.
Over a decade, it has been customary for me to think
before I leap whenever I come across something new.
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Practice:
给人送生日礼物是惯常的事。
It’s customary to give people gifts on their birthdays.
这次，她一反平素的沉默寡言，表现得很活跃。
For once, she dropped her customary reserve and
became quite lively.
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3. 盎格鲁-撒克逊（the Anglo-Saxon）民族的伟大史诗《贝
奥武甫》，讲述的是远古时期人们战天斗地的英雄业绩。
(the Anglo-Saxon, Beowulf, the elements)
“The elements” mean the weather, especially bad
weather.
Beowulf, the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons,
describes how the primitive people waged heroic
struggles against the hostile forces of the elements.
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Practice:
船员勇于和恶劣天气搏斗。
The sailors are battling against the elements.
士兵经受风吹雨打。
The soldiers are exposed to the elements.
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4. 他自以为会成为第二个比尔盖茨，在我看来这只是个幻
想而已。(fantasy)
A fantasy is an idea or belief that is based only on
imagination, not on real facts.
He thinks he will be a second Bill Gates, which, to me,
is nothing but a mere fantasy.
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Practice:
乔治整天生活在幻想的世界中。
George lives in a world of fantasy.
别想找十全十美的工作了—那简直是幻想。
Stop looking for the perfect job; it’s just a fantasy.
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Dictation
Cloze
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Dictation
You will hear a passage read three times. At the first
reading, you should listen carefully for its general
idea. At the second reading, you are required to write
down the exact words you have just heard (with
proper punctuation). At the third reading, you should
check what you have written down.
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Dictation
Families with children comprise 34% / of the
homeless population of the United States, / and this
number is growing. / Within a single year, / nearly all
homeless children have moved, / at least 25% have
witnessed violence, / and 22% have been separated
from their families. / About half of all school-age
children experiencing homelessness / have problems
with anxiety and depression, / and 20% of homeless
preschoolers have emotional problems / that require
professional care. / Their education is often disrupted /
and challenges in school are common.
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Fill in each blank in the passage below with ONE word
you think appropriate.
The number of homeless people (1) worldwide
_________ has
grown steadily in recent years. In some Third World
nations such as India, Nigeria, and South Africa, (2)
homelessness
____________ is rampant, with millions of children (3)
living and working on the streets. Homelessness has
_____
become a problem in the (4) countries
________ of China,
_______
Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines (5) despite
their growing prosperity, mainly due to migrant workers
finding permanent homes. For
who have trouble (6) _______
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people in Russia, (7) especially
_________ the youth, alcoholism
and substance abuse is a major cause for becoming and
(8) continuing
_________ to be homeless.
The United Nations Center for Human Settlements
(UN-Habitat) wrote in (9) its
__ Global Report on Human
Settlements in 1995: “Homelessness is a problem in (10)
developed
_________ as well as in developing countries. In London,
for example, (11) life
___ expectancy among the
homeless is more than 25 years (12) lower
_____ than the
national average.”
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And while you may be in school to learn, you will, at some
point, have to draw your own line in the sand. Pick a career
and course of study that suits you, (9) not
____ your parents.
Pay attention to the fire in your belly and learn what you’re
truly passionate about. Make sure you’re happy at your
school. And once you’ve made a choice, feel confident in
your decision and do all you can to (10) ______
learn from the
resources around you.
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From the whole paragraph we can see that it is talking
about the situation of homeless people in many countries
around the world and the first sentence summarizes the
main idea in general. The word in the blank is a
postpositive attributive, meaning “around the world”.
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The sentence is talking about homelessness in the third
world, so this rampant thing is just about such situation.
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As people there are homeless, they can only live and
work on the streets. And from the grammatical aspect,
the form of present participle should be used here.
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Several country names are mentioned after of, so the
blank should be filled with a noun generalizing these
names.
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The problem of homelessness and the growing prosperity
of these countries forms a contrast, and here we should
find a preposition expressing such contrast.
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A common problem for migrant workers is that it is not
easy for them to find a permanent home. Grammatically
speaking, have trouble is followed by a gerund.
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An adverb is needed here to specify a group of people in
Russia.
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Alcoholism and substance abuse not only triggers the
problem of homelessness, but also makes the problem
last longer because it has harmed people from very
young. So an -ing participle of a verb meaning “last
longer” is expected here.
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Global Report on Human Settlements is the official
report of UN-Habitat, so a corresponding determiner is
needed here.
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As well as indicates a coordinate relation, so what is
needed in the blank is an adjective which corresponds
to developing.
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Judging from the number 25 talked about in the latter
part of the sentence, it is talking about the age of
people expected to be living. A noun is expected here to
form a phrase with such meaning.
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The life expectancy of the homelessness must be below
the average.
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Giving a Talk
Having a Discussion
Writing
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Topic: Comment on Anna Quindlen’s Essay and
Thought on Homelessness
Structure for reference:
1) The definition of home: instead of a material shelter,
it is the safe place for the heart to settle down
2) Homelessness may not just refer to tramps; those
people who have the house but never have the feeling
of security and belonging are also homeless.
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Having a Discussion
Topic: Homelessness in China
Reasons for reference:
1) The social welfare system has not covered all walks of
people.
2) The increasing numbers of migrant workers in big
cities.
Suggestive solutions:
Providing the underprivileged with more care and
consideration on the part of the government, etc.
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1. Essay Writing
Essay Writing: How to Write a Critical Essay
The critical essay refers to any writing that utilizes the
intellectual tools of a particular academic major for the
purpose of critiquing an idea or point of view.
The key to writing a good critical essay is understanding
and defining the standard against which the object
under study is being evaluated.
 Whether your critical essay is focusing on the negative
or positive elements of a certain topic or thing, a good
deal of the planning process should be devoted to
comprehending and explaining the critical standard, or
the basis of critique.

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Sample: A Critical Essay
1
So why won’t Hamlet just do it? What flaw in his
character leads to his tragic demise? Throughout the
play, Hamlet has several opportunities to take revenge
on Claudius, yet he does not take advantage of them.
Some people say that it is because he is a procrastinator,
or that he is a coward, or that madness destroys his life
before he seeks revenge. But I see more than these
reasons. To me, Hamlet’s “hamartia” is the
overconfidence he has in himself to go through with the
revenge.
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2 One of the earliest indications that Hamlet may be
just a little too sure of himself is when he first sees and
talks to the ghost. In a state of great excitement,
Hamlet declares himself ready to revenge: “Haste me to
know’t, that I with wings as swift / As meditation, or
the thoughts of love, / May sweep to my revenge” (I, v,
29-31). Hamlet is so overwhelmed that he agrees to
seek revenge before the identification of the murderer
is made and the details of the crime are provided. The
arrogance in Hamlet’s character is further shown soon
after the ghost leaves. Even though Hamlet has told the
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ghost he would revenge whoever was the murderer
immediately and he has sworn that the ghost’s
“commandment all alone shall live / Within the book
and volume of my brain” (I, v, 102-03), Hamlet develops
the idea to act crazy: “to put on an antic disposition” (I,
v, 172). Why act crazy? Why not directly kill the King (as
Laertes threatens to do to Hamlet in revenge later in
the play)? Hamlet’s first act in carrying out his revenge
really delays the enactment of that revenge. His choice
to delay wasn’t due to fear or procrastination; he acted
crazy because of his comfortable sureness — his pride in
his craftiness — to revenge.
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3 In addition, we can see more evidence of Hamlet’s
overconfidence in the scenes revolving around the play
within the play. Despite the fact that two months’ delay
and pretended madness have led him to doubt the ghost,
he latches onto his little plot to test Claudius and the
ghost with sureness and a kind of giddiness. When he
asks the player to play The Murder of Gonzago, we hear
command and quick determination in his voice, “Well
ha’t [the play] tomorrow night” (II, ii, 511). His
confidence in his plot is clearly seen in his soliloquy
right after the players have left: “I’ll observe his looks /
I’ll tent him to the quick, if a’ do blench / I know my
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course” (II, ii, 571-573). Hamlet bravely is sure that this
elaborate and indirect plot will lead him to kill Claudius
if he sees he is guilty. Interestingly, Hamlet fails to kill
the King when he does show his guilt during the play.
Why doesn’t Hamlet do the bloody deed? Because he is
sure of his ability to do the killing when he wishes. This
overconfidence in his craftiness shows itself in the
rapidity with which he re-adopts his pretended madness
when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern return after the
play to speak with him. Guildenstern asks Hamlet to put
his “discourse into some frame, and start not so wildly
from my affair” and says his “courtesy is not of the right
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breed” (III, ii, 290-1, 296). Hamlet confidently sinks
back into his crafty method of carrying out the revenge.
In the same scene, Hamlet’s true lion nature comes out
when he admonishes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern:
“‘S’blood, do you think I am easier to be played on than
a pipe? Call me what you will, though you can fret me,
you cannot play upon me” (III, ii, 347-350). This is not
wimp speaking. This is no madman. This is the powerful
voice of confidence.
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4 Further evidence that Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his
overconfidence can be seen when he fails to kill
Claudius when he was praying. Hamlet sees his
opportunity and confidently says, “Now might I do it
pat” (III, iii, 72). But Hamlet doesn’t kill the king at that
moment. Instead, he chooses to wait for a better
moment: “Up sword, and know thou a more horrid hent
/ When he is drunk asleep or in his rage, / Or in th’
incestuous pleasure of his bed” (III, iii, 87-90). Hamlet
arrogantly and surely presumes that he will do the
revenge in a better way than the one presented to him.
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5
In conclusion, it is Hamlet’s overconfidence that he
can do the revenge that causes his tragic death and
downfall. Even in his speech near the end where he tells
Horatio that “the readiness is all” can be seen as
evidence that to the very end he knew that he could do
the revenge whenever he wished. His overconfidence
made him sloppy and drew others who didn’t deserve to
die into the net of his revenge as well. If only he had
channeled his conceitedness from the start into a quick
and direct revenge (like Laertes’), then perhaps no one
but the King would have died.
Sample Analysis
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This essay is very well focused. In the introduction,
the writer raises the essay question clearly, and answers
the question at the end of the introductory paragraph.
That is the thesis and focus — Hamlet’s “hamartia” is his
overconfidence in himself to go through with the revenge.
The point is supported by three body paragraphs,
which are the primary supports. And in each primary
support, there are secondary supports, which include
quotes. It is noteworthy that the sentences following the
quotes clarify their significance to prove the essay’s point.
So the supporting paragraphs follow a clear logical order
with the help of links and transitions.
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The conclusion is very clear and straightforward, and
restates the thesis presented in the introductory
paragraph — it is Hamlet’s overconfidence that he can do
the revenge that causes his tragic death and downfall.
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2. Practice
Write a critical essay on the given topic: A Critical
Reading Report of Jane Eyre.
Sample:
JANE EYRE AND ROCHESTER: SOUL
— MATES IN SEARCH OF THEIR ESSENTIAL SELVES
by Orah Rosenblatt
“Come Baby find me,
Come Baby remind me
Of where I once begun;
Come Baby show me,
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Show me you know me,
Tell me you’re the one ...
It’s like my whole life never happened
When I’m with you, as if I’ve never had a thought;
I know this dream It might be crazy,
But it’s the only one I’ve got ...”
(Bob Dylan, “Emotionally Yours”)
Each of us carries within us the seed of a unique
plant. When circumstances conspire to caringly nourish
that seed in the manner most appropriate to its true
nature — circumstances which, sadly, are as rare as they
are fortunate--the germ of our original selves is likely to
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flourish. When, however, this tender seed receives
attention which is insufficient or antithetical to its
essential inclination, growth is inevitably blighted in
some way. Weaker or more sensitive seedlings may
wither outright; others will be irreparably stunted.
Stronger plants may yet grow to imposing heights, but
they will be bent and twisted at the places where their
needs were unmet, and may well feel eternally
compelled to somehow loosen the knot of those
deforming deprivations, so as to come closer to their
originally intended shapes: Jane Eyre and Rochester are
two such plants; driven by an indomitable will to find
and follow their essential selves, they discover in each
other a vital key to the realization of that end.
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As every conscientious parent knows, a child needs
both roots — love and security — and wings — belief in,
and encouragement of, his autonomy — in order to
mature. While gifted with the latter — the drive for selfrealization previously mentioned — Jane and Rochester
have been severely deprived of the foundation of the
former. They are both outsiders. The identities they
have succeeded in forging for themselves thus have a
quality of rare integrity, for they primarily have come
from within, not from the outer prompting to please and
emulate others. At the same time, these characters lack
the sense of security and connectedness which is the
vital prop of such gifts. When the two meet, that
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“mysterious chemistry [which] usually links partners
who are virtually psychological twins” (Napier and
Whitaker, The Family Crucible, p. 116) enables them to
quickly recognize their kinship, the great strength and
intense neediness both share. The bond forged between
them serves as a dual link for both — back to the sense
of belonging which both lacked In their most
impressionable years, and forward to the recognition
and realization of their individual true selves.
That one must frequently go back in order to move
ahead is a principle well known in both religion and
psychology. In Judaism, the word teshavah means both
repentance and return. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, an
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early nineteenth century sage, stresses the theme of
“descents” and “ascents”: Each time one wishes to rise
to a new stage of spiritual development, one is
generally forced to descend first, in order to reclaim the
“lost sparks” of potential holiness buried in the
“excrement” of prior confusion and misdeeds (Nachman
of Breslov, M’Shivath Hefesh). The radical
psychotherapist R. D. Laing calls this process “regression”
and “progression”: If the schizophrenic wishes to spend
hours staring at a blank wall, well, then he should be
encouraged to do so; he will eventually break through;
after all, when Zen monks do it it’s called the search for
enlightenment (R. D, Laing, The Voice of Experience).
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In many ways, Jane appears to be further advanced
than Rochester in this inner work of regression /
progression. In part, this may be due to the early
spiritual guidance of the saintly Helen Burns. We see
evidence of Jane’s increased maturity and compassion in
the objective, forgiving way she re-encounters, and
masters, those demons of her childhood, the Reeds.
Jane has apparently come far in healing the wounds of
her old bitterness and anger; this letting go of old
grievances is essential if she is to move on and grow.
Other events and characters in this novel similarly test
Jane’s ability to confront situations reminiscent of
childhood conflicts, where she must weather a
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threatened loss of self in order to emerge with that self
chastened, strengthened and renewed. During the three
days she spends homeless and hungry after fleeing from
Rochester, she re-experiences the utter aloneness and
rootlessness of her early years yet retains her faith in
G-d’s will; rescued by the Rivers family, she is rewarded
by Providence with the elevating discovery of a true
kinship — in blood as well as spirit such as she has
always longed for but never before known.
Her relationships with both Rochester and St. John
Rivers involve Jane in the regression of sexual selfsurrender, threatening the immersion of her hard-won
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identity in theirs. Her refusal to be Rochester’s pseudowife constitutes Jane’s triumph in her most crucial
spiritual test, as she makes the wrenching choice
between her idolatrous love for him and her belief in Gd. Though her bond with Rochester provides her hardest
trial, it also gives her the clarity and strength to
successfully avoid what would have been another,
probably fatal, snare to her self development — the
marriage proposal of St. John Rivers. St. John, too, is
stamped with an inviolate integrity of self, but he sees
Jane solely as an instrument for his own ends and
acknowledges only those parts of her nature which
dovetail with his own designs. It is because she has
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experienced Rochester’s sincere, if flawed, love and
appreciation, that Jane is able to recognize the
inadequacy and destructiveness of this proffered bond.
Rochester, while yearning for what is good, honest
and pure, and attracted to those redemptive qualities in
Jane, must overcome the hubris and narcissistic selfindulgence which has goaded him into self-idolatry,
placing the gratification of his own desires above the
will of G-d. In his regressive flirtation with Blanche
Ingram, reminiscent of his initial attraction to Bertha
and his various mistresses, he re-confirms his preference
for inner, rather than outer, beauty in a mate. His
desertion by Jane and the subsequent loss of his arm
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and eyesight return Rochester to a state of alienation
and despair from which only humility and belief in G-d
can redeem him. In the end, by placing G-d first in their
lives and accepting His chastisement, both Jane and
Rochester are rewarded by reunion with one another,
their separate salvations of self crowned by the
redemption of re- unification on a higher level. The
sense of acceptance and belonging which they
experience with one another, and the recognition each
feels for long-denied facets of the other’s true nature —
Rochester for Jane’s passion, Jane for Rochester’s
yearning for honesty and goodness — has helped both to
re-connect with their original essential selves.
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Because the love between Jane and Rochester —
despite its darker, inevitable element of power
struggle — is rooted in this recognition of, and respect
for, each other’s true selves. I found the final felicitous
resolution of their relationship to be satisfying and
acceptable, and was even able to wink and overlook the
improbable and melodramatic route that resolution took
(though I do wish it could have been reached without
the taint of Rochester’s disempowerment). There is
something moving and beautiful about these two people,
indefatigably reaching for love: like two trees in a dense,
dark forest, bending, twisting and inter-twining to reach
an aperture of warm, bright sunlight, more beautiful to
my mind than their unblemished brothers.
Text II
Memorable Quotes
Lead-in Questions
Text
Questions for Discussion
Text II
Memorable Quotes
Lead-in Questions
What do you think the role of family in people’s life and
also, what is you feeling in playing multiple roles in the
family?
Text II
Memorable Quotes
The Ideal of the Family vs
the Ideal of Personal Individualism
Lin Yutang
1
The ideal of the family system is necessarily
dead
set against the ideal of personal individualism. No man,
after all, lives as an individual completely alone, and the
idea of such an individual has no reality to it. If we think
of an individual and regard him as neither a son, nor a
brother, nor a father, nor a friend, then what is he? Such
an individual becomes a metaphysical abstraction. And
being biologically minded as the Chinese are, they
naturally think of a man’s biological relationships first.
The family then becomes the natural biological unit of our
existence, and marriage itself becomes a family affair, and
not an individual affair.
Text II
2
Memorable Quotes
In place of this individualism and nationalism of the
West, there is then the family ideal in which man is not
regarded as an individual but as a member of a family
and an essential part of the great stream of family life.
That is what I mean by the “stream-of-life” theory.
Human life as a whole may be regarded as consisting of
different racial streams of life, but it is the stream of
life in the family that a man feels and sees directly. In
accordance with both a Chinese and Western analogy,
Text II
Memorable Quotes
we speak of the “family tree”, and every man’s life is
but a section or a branch of that tree, growing upon the
trunk and contributing by its very existence to its further
growth and continuation. Human life, therefore, is
inevitably seen as a growth or a continuance, in which
every man plays a part or a chapter in the family history,
with its obligations toward the family as a whole,
bringing upon itself and upon the family life shame or
glory.
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Memorable Quotes
3 This sense of family consciousness and family honor
is probably the only form of team spirit or group
consciousness in Chinese life. In order to play this game
of life as well as, or better than, another team, every
member of the family must be careful not to spoil the
game, or to let his team down by making a false move.
He should, if possible, try to bring the ball further down
the field. A derelict son is a shame to himself and to his
family in exactly the same sense as a quarterback who
makes a fumble and loses the ball. And he who comes
out on top in the civil examinations is like a player
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who makes a touchdown. The glory is his own and at
the same time that of his family.
The benefits of one’s
becoming a chuangyuan (“No. 1” in the Imperial
examinations), or even a third-class chinshih, are both
sentimentally and materially shared by members of his
immediate family, his relatives, his clan, and even his
town. For a hundred or two hundred years afterwards,
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the townspeople will still boast that they produced a
chuangyuan in such and such a reign. In comparison with
the family and town rejoicing when a man got a
chuangyuan or chinshih and came home to place a
golden-painted tablet of honor high upon his ancestral
hall, with his mother probably shedding tears and the
entire clan feeling themselves honored by the great
occasion, the getting of a college diploma today is a
pretty dull and tame affair.
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4
In this picture of the family life, there is room for
the greatest variety and color. Man himself passes
through the stages of childhood, youth, maturity and old
age: first being taken care of by others, then taking
care of others, and in old age again being taken care of
by others; first obeying and respecting others, and later
being obeyed and respected in turn in proportion as he
grows older. Above all, color is lent to this picture by
the presence of women. Into this picture of the
continuous family life comes woman, not as a
decoration or a plaything, nor even essentially as a wife,
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but as a vital and essential part of the family tree —
the very thing which makes continuity possible. For the
strength of any particular branch of a family depends so
much upon the woman married into the home and the
blood she contributes to the family heritage. A wise
patriarch is pretty careful to select women of sound
heritage, as a gardener is careful to select the proper
strain for grafting a branch. It is pretty well suspected
that a man’s life, particularly his home life, is made or
unmade by the wife he marries, and the entire
character of the future family is determined by her.
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The health of one’s grandchildren and the type of
family breeding that they are going to receive (upon
which great emphasis is laid) depend entirely upon the
breeding of the daughter-in-law herself. Thus there is a
kind of amorphous and ill-defined eugenic system, based
on belief in heredity and often placing great emphasis on
menti (literally “door and home” or lineage or family
standing), but in any case based on standards of
desirability in the health, beauty and breeding of the
bride as seen by the eyes of the parents or grandparents
of the family. In general, the emphasis is upon family
breeding (in the same sense that a Westerner would
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choose a girl from a “good home”), representing the
fine old traditions of thrift, hard work, good manners
and civility. And when sometimes a parent discovers to
his sorrow that his son has married a worthless daughterin-law with no manners, he always secretly curses the
other family for not training their daughter better.
Hence upon the mother and father devolves the duty of
training their daughters so that they shall not be
ashamed of them when they marry into another
household as, for instance, when they do not know how
to cook or how to make a good New Year pudding.
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5
According to the stream-of-life theory as seen in
the family system, immortality is almost visible and
touchable. Every grandfather seeing his grandchild going
to school with a satchel feels that truly he is living over
again in the life of the child, and when he touches the
child’s hand or pinches his cheeks, he knows it is flesh of
his own flesh and blood of his own blood. His own life is
nothing but a section of the family tree, or of the great
family stream of life flowing on forever, and therefore
he is happy to die. That is why a Chinese parent’s
greatest concern is to see that his sons and daughters
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are properly married before he dies, for that is an
even more important concern than the site of his own
grave or the selection of a good coffin. For he cannot
know what kind of life his children are going to have
until he sees with his own eyes what type of girls and
men his sons and daughters marry, and if the daughtersin-law and sons-in-law look pretty satisfactory, he is
quite willing to “close his eyes without regret” on his
deathbed.
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6
The net result of such a conception of life is that
one gets a lengthened outlook on everything, for life is
no more regarded as beginning and ending with that of
the individual. The game is continued by the team after
the center or the quarterback is put out of action.
Success and failure begin to take on a different
complexion. The Chinese ideal of life is to live so as not
to be a shame to one’s ancestors and to have sons of
whom one need not be ashamed. A Chinese official when
resigning office often quotes the line:
Having sons, I am content with life;
Without office, my body is light.
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7
The worst thing that can happen to a man, probably,
is to have unworthy sons who cannot “maintain the
family glory” or even the family fortune. The millionaire
father of a gambling son sees his fortune dispersed
already, the fortune that he has taken a life time to
build up. When the son fails, the failure is absolute. On
the other hand, a farsighted widow is able to endure
years of misery and ignominy and even persecution, if
she has a good boy of five. Chinese history and literature
are full of such widows who endured all kinds of
hardships and persecutions, but who lived for the day
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when their sons should do well and prosper, and
perhaps even become prominent citizens. … The success
of widows in giving their children a perfect education of
character and morals, through woman’s generally more
realistic sense, has often led me to think that fathers are
totally unnecessary, so far as the upbringing of children
is concerned. The widow always laughs the loudest
because she laughs last.
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Such an arrangement of life in the family then, is
satisfying because a man’s life in all its biological
aspects is well taken care of. That, after all, was
Confucius’ chief concern. The final ideal of government,
as Confucius conceived it, was curiously biological:
“The old shall be made to live in peace and security, the
young shall learn to love and be loyal, that inside the
chamber there may be no unmarried maids, and outside
the chamber there may be no unmarried males.”
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This is all the more remarkable because it is not merely
a statement of a side issue, but of the final goal of
government.
This is the humanist philosophy known as
tach’ing, or “fulfillment of instincts”. Confucius wanted
to be pretty sure that all our human instincts are
satisfied, because only thus can we have moral peace
through a satisfying life, and because only moral peace
is truly peace. It is a kind of political ideal which aims at
making politics unnecessary, because it will be a peace
that is stable and based upon the human heart.
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About the author and the text: Lin Yutang (October 10,
1895 - March 26, 1976) was a Chinese writer and
inventor. His informal but polished style in both Chinese
and English made him one of the most influential writers
of his generation, and his compilations and translations
of classic Chinese texts into English were bestsellers in
the West.
The text is the second half of Part Four “The Chinese
Family Ideal” of Chapter Eight “The Enjoyment of the
Home” from The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang. “The
Ideal of the Family vs the Ideal of Personal Individualism”
is not the original title of the text selected here, but given
chiefly based on its contents, which is to a large degree a
technical necessity.
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dead set against (Para. 1): totally opposed to someone
or something, e.g. I’m dead set against the new tax
proposal.
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The benefits of one’s becoming a chuangyuan (“No. 1”
in the Imperial examinations), or even a third-class
chinshih (Para. 3): chuangyuan 状元；chinshih 进士
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patriarch (Para. 4): Originally a patriarch was a man who
exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an
extended family. The system of such rule of families by
senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a
composition of πατήρ (pater) meaning “father” and aρχων
(archon) meaning “leader”, “chief”, “ruler”, “king”, etc.
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Having sons, I am content with life;
Without office, my body is light. (Para. 6)
These lines are from a poem by Su Dongpo, a highly
reputed poet in the Song Dynasty. The Chinese version
goes: 有子万事足，无官一身轻。
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tach’ing (Para. 8)： 达情
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The old shall be made to live in peace and security, the
young shall learn to love and be loyal, that inside the
chamber there may be no unmarried maids, and outside
the chamber there may be no unmarried males. (Para. 8)
This is a blending of Confucian ideas: “the old shall be
made to live in peace and security, the young shall learn
to love and be loyal”, or 老者安之，少者怀之 in the
Chinese version, which comes from his Analects, a book
of dialogues between Confucius and his students. The
other part, “that inside the chamber there may be no
unmarried maids, and outside the chamber there may be
no unmarried males”, or 内无怨女，外无旷夫 in the
Chinese version, is from Mengzi, or Mencius.
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This is the humanist philosophy known as tach’ing, or
“fulfillment of instincts”. (Para. 8) tach’ing, or 达情 in
the original Chinese, is a Confucian idea, although it is
not an expression by Confucius per se. It is an ideal of a
philosopher in the Qing Dynasty about the government:
善治必达情，达情必近人, meaning that one who governs
best must understand the feeling or instincts of the
people, and to understand the feeling or instincts of the
people, he must get closer to them.
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1. What is the family if we see a man in terms of his
biological relationships?
In terms of his biological relationship, a man is a son,
or a father or a brother. Thus the family may well be
deemed as the natural biological unit of human
existence.
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2. What might be the only form of team spirit or group
consciousness in our Chinese life?
The sense of family consciousness and family honor is
probably the only form of team spirit or group
consciousness in our Chinese life. So everyone is
supposed to be loyal to the family and endeavor to
add credit to the family, and any misdeeds which
might incur shame upon the family are severely
condemned.
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3. How could one see the greatest variety in the family
life?
One’s life cycle includes childhood, youth, maturity
and old age. Accordingly, one is taken care of by
others in the early stage; one takes care of others in
the middle stage and one is taken care of by others
again in the last stage so far as the family life is
concerned.
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4. How does Confucius conceive family life?
Confucius conceives the family life as curiously
biological as he says, “The old shall be made to live in
peace and security; the young shall learn to love and
be loyal, that inside the chamber there may be no
unmarried maids, and outside the chamber there may
be no unmarried males.”
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Home is where the heart is.
— Pliny
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’Mid pleasures and palaces through we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like Home.
— J. Howard Payne
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Questions for Discussion
1. If you are pursuing your study in a place outside your
hometown, what is your feeling about home now. Is it
different from that when you are staying at your
hometown everyday?
2. Make comments on “There’s no place like Home.”
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A Pliny the Elder (23 AD-August 25, 79 AD),
was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural
philosopher, as well as naval and army
commander of the early Roman Empire, and
personal friend of the emperor Vespasian.
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John Howard Payne (1791-1852) was an
American actor, poet, playwright, and
author who had most of his theatrical
career and success in London. He is today
most remembered as the creator of “Home!
Sweet Home!”, a song he wrote in 1822
that became widely popular in the United
States, Great Britain, and the Englishspeaking world.
Notation (type here)