Unit 9
Where Is the News Leading Us
I. Teaching objectives

1. Understand the role of the news media
in social life.

2. Develop an ability to criticize the social
function of the news media.

3. Learn to use argument in combination
with other expository means.
About the author
Norman Cousins (1912-1990)
Beliefs and Activities
 He graduated from Columbia University
Teachers College in 1933
 In 1940 he became executive editor of the
Saturday Review of Literature (later
Saturday Review), becoming editor just
two years later at the age of twenty-seven.
 In the course of his tenure Saturday
Review grew from a small and struggling
literary magazine to a weekly forum of
ideas with a circulation of over 600,000.



He believed that enduring world peace
could only be achieved through
effective world governance.
To generate support for world
government he made more than 2,000
speeches both in the United States
and around the world.
Driven by the shock and portent of
Hiroshima, he worked to combat
unchecked nationalism, promote
federalism, and build a sense of world
citizenship, in the belief that people as
a whole might yet construct a new
world order of peace and justice.




During the 1950s Cousins was outspoken in his
criticism of atmospheric nuclear testing.
In 1957 he was among the founders and
became the first cochairman of the National
Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE).
In the early 1960s he became an unofficial
citizen diplomat, facilitating communication
between the Vatican, the Kremlin, and the White
House which helped to lead to the SovietAmerican nuclear test ban treaty.
Upon ratification of the treaty in 1963, President
Kennedy publicly thanked Cousins for his help
with the treaty, Pope John XXIII awarded
Cousins his personal medallion and several
other peace awards in the following years in the
1960s.
During the sixties and seventies Cousins
was a leading voice among those opposed to
the American role in Vietnam; he continued to
oppose the nuclear arms race, and he
continued to argue for a strengthened United
Nations leading to world government.
A Man of Strong Will


Norman Cousins died on November 30, 1990, following
cardiac arrest, and having lived years longer than
doctors more than once had predicted: ten years after
his first heart attack, sixteen years after his collagen
illness, and twenty-six years after his doctors first
diagnosed heart disease.
When Cousins had a heart attack fifteen years following
his earlier illness, he wondered whether it would be
possible to recover from two life-threatening conditions in
one lifetime, but he was determined that he would. As he
was brought into the hospital on a stretcher following the
attack, he sat up and said, "Gentlemen, I want you to
know that you're looking at the darnedest healing
machine that's ever been wheeled into this hospital."


Cousins's own words, from his 1980 book
Human Options: An Autobiographical Notebook,
perhaps best capture how he strived to live his
life:
"I can imagine no greater satisfaction for a
person, in looking back on his life and work, than
to have been able to give some people, however
few, a feeling of genuine pride in belonging to
the human species and, beyond that, a zestful
yen to justify that pride."
Ⅱ.Language points

nitrogen fixation(固氮作用):
The formation of nitrogenous compounds
by the metabolic assimilation of
atmospheric nitrogen by certain soil
bacteria.
Example:
- those living symbiotically on the root
nodules of various leguminous plants
 When these bacteria die, the fixed
nitrogen is made available in the soil as
plant food.

IV. Organization of the text

Part I: (Para 1 - 4)
Introducing the topic by referring to a
question raised in a public symposium

(“Why are the newspapers and the
television news programs so disasterprone?”)
IV. Organization of the text

Para 1: An introduction of the public symposium
and the other two speakers.

Para 2: The purpose of the symposium.

Para 3: The question asked by the gentleman

Para 4:The answer and the reaction by the
anchorman and the editor
IV. Organization of the text

Part II: (Para 5 -- 10)
By defining the word “news”, the author
explains why “bad news” is always reported
while “good news” overlooked. He goes on
to point out the adverse consequence of
such practice.
IV. Organization of the text
Para 5:
 The author interprets the question raised
by the gentleman and the answer given by

the anchorman.
IV. Organization of the text

Para 6-7： The author gives his definition of
“news”. (“News is supposed to deal with
happenings of the past 12 hours—24 hours
at most.”).
IV. Organization of the text

The definition helps to explain partly why
“bad news”(eruptive) is mostly reported
whereas “good news”(i.e. progress which
comes in bits and pieces) is neglected.
IV. Organization of the text

Para 8: The author criticizes the normal
practice of the media by pointing out the
harm done to the public mood by media’s
obsession in “bad news”.
IV. Organization of the text

Para 9: The author’s self-defense for the
necessity of reporting both “good” and
“bad” news ( “I’m not suggesting …” “Nor
do I define …” “ ‘What I’m trying to get
across is the notion …”)
IV. Organization of the text

Para 10 The author further elaborates and
strengthens his viewpoint by citing
examples of what he considers positive
developments of the world.
IV. Organization of the text

Part III: (Para 11-13)

The author argues that the media are obliged
to serve as the “public philosopher”,
responsible for affecting the public attitude in
the right manner (obligations of the media) .
And this explains why progress (“good news” )
should be reported.
V. Rhetorical focus

Argument in association
expository devices
with
other

Argument: a reason or a set of reasons.
Argument

The aim:

1) to convince others that an action/idea is
right or wrong so that they will give up their
belief and accept what is said to be right.

2) to persuade others to believe in sth. so
that they will act in accordance with what
they are advised to do.
Argument

The essay aims to argue for the premise
that the responsibility of the news media is
to search out and report on important events.
It also aims at persuading newsmen and
women to take up this responsibility.
Other Expository Means

In order to make his argument reasonable,
convincing and valid, the author resorts to
other modes of expression and expository
means, including:
Other Expository Means
1. Narration
 Happenings
at
the
symposium;
descriptions of the two speakers,
questions raised at the symposium, etc.

Other Expository Means
2. Definition:
“news”,
“civilization”,
“progress”,
“ positive news”
Other Expository Means
3. Cause-and-effect
 Cause:
people being over-informed
about disasters while under-informed
about progress;

Effect:
a public mood of defeatism and despair,
detrimental to society; inhibiting progress
Other Expository Means
4. Exemplification:
nitrogen fixation, which is not eruptive,
but which will make a contribution to
human life and progress.
Other Expository Means
5. Quotation:
From Walter Lippmann and Bernard de
Chatres to illustrate the role the media
should play.
Other Expository Means
6. Analogy:
between History and News
 to illustrate that reporting more good news
can better improve ourselves


So, the present argument is well-knit and
convincing, and will undoubtedly be
accepted by sensible and responsible
newsmen and women.
The Use of nominalization
Compare
A: You would not be so fat if you took more
exercise.
B: Taking more exercise would keep you
thinner / help you to loose weight.
多锻炼锻炼你就不会这么胖了。
 英镑进一步贬值必将引起货币危机。
If the pound is further devaluated, it will
surely cause monetary crisis.
 Further devaluation of the pound will
surely cause monetary crisis.

 朋友及时提供住处，解除了我的忧
虑。
My friend offered accommodation
immediately, and this relieved my anxiety.
 My
friend’s immediate offer of
accommodation relieved my anxiety.

 到达旅馆的时候，请打我的手机通
知我。
When you arrive at your hotel, please
notify me on my mobile.
 On arrival at your hotel, please notify me
on my mobile.

 你不在期间，务必通过手机与我保
持联系。
While you are absent, be sure to keep in
contact with me through the cellphone.
 During your absence, be sure to keep in
contact with me through the cellphone.

 遍地都是深深的积雪，继续前进已
不可能。
Further progress was impossible because
there were deep snowdrifts all over the
place.
 Deep snowdrifts all over the place made
further progress impossible / blocked
further progress.

 今天我们不能在黑板上书写了，因
为没有粉笔。
We can’t write on the blackboard today
because we have no chalk.
 There is no writing on the blackboard
today because we have no chalk.

 她不懂演艺界的“潜规则”，因此
至今一事无成。
She is ignorant of the “unwritten rules” in
showbiz so she has failed to accomplish
anything so far.
 Her failure to accomplish anything so far
is due to her ignorance of the “unwritten
rules” in showbiz.

 他以某教授的名义给自己写推荐信被
认作是伪造。
He wrote a letter of recommendation for
himself in the name of a professor, which
was regarded as forgery.
 His writing of a letter of recommendation
for himself in the name of a professor was
regarded as forgery.

 旁观看这位老人在网上同他在美国的
小孙女儿下国际象棋，真有意思。
It is a delight to watch while the old man
plays chess on line with his little
granddaughter in the United States.

The old man’s playing chess on line
with his little granddaughter in the
United States is a delight to watch.
