1. Not everybody can draw on that reservoir：draw on/upon sth意为“使用，运用，利用”。例：We drew on her experience throughout the project.我们这一项目自始至终都借重她的经验。

2. Some cancer in their character has eaten away their Englishness：该句要注意对cancer一词的理解。cancer此处用了比喻的手 法，并不是指“癌症”，而是指“人们性格上的一些邪恶点、阴暗面”。

3. …cannot feel at home in the contemporary world：习语feel at home指“（像在自己家里一样）自在，无拘束”。

4. …while at the same time, unlike almost everybody else, keeping well clear of economics：习语keep clear of sth意为“避免涉及 或接触某事物”。例：Try to keep clear of trouble.尽量避免麻烦。

5. It hangs upon the final result of a battle that has been going on for some year：hang on/upon固定搭配，意为“依赖某事物”。 例：A great deal hangs on this decision.这个决定关系重大。

6. …too many exhausted salesmen taking refuge in bars and breaking up their homes：take refuge in some place在某处寻求庇护。 此处是委婉语，作者真正表达的意思是“商人们在酒吧借酒消愁”。

7. Englishness would support an immediate demand, at the expense of many other things：at the expense of“在损失或损坏某物的 情况下”。例：He built up a successful business but it was all done at the expense of his health.他创建的企业很成功，但这一切 却损害了他的健康。

8. To begin with, not all the English hold fast to Englishness：习语hold fast to sth指“坚持（某种思想、原则等）”。

9. It must have some more moral capital to draw upon…：该句使用了比喻修辞，作者将Englishness“英国风格”比作一位从银行 取钱的人，指出，它需要获得更多道德资金。

10. Zeitgeist：源自德语，意为“时代精神，时代潮流”。

11. Or are we kidding ourselves：句中kid意为“欺骗，戏弄”。与之相关的另一常用表达为Are you kidding?你不是在开玩笑 吧？（表达说话人的质疑）

12. Too many of them lack of the individuality to stand up to Admass：stand up to sth经得起（考验等）。例：Your argument just won’t stand up to close scrutiny.你的论点经不起仔细推敲。

13. I have far more faith in the quieter young：have faith in对……有信心，信任。例：I haven’t much faith in this medicine.我对 这种药没多大信心。

14. …no longer told to clear out if they aren’t properly respectful：clear out意为“迅速离开某地”。例：He cleared out before the police arrived.警察尚未到，他就急忙溜掉了。

15. …refusing to be cut off from instinct and intuition：词组cut sb/sth off from常用于被动语态，表“切断某人或某事物的去 路，使之与外界隔绝”。例：an army cut off from its base与基地失去联络的军队。

16. Englishness cannot be fed up with the east wind of a narrow rationality：be fed up with厌倦、厌烦。

1. 文体

本文是一篇议论文（a piece of argumentation）。

文章开篇提出议论的主题：the English are different。英国人容易产生无聊情绪，因此他们喜欢公共场所的娱乐活动；英国 人有sense of community；英国人会凭本能的感觉而不是理性的思考做事；英国人怀疑bigness，severe efficiency，admass。 接下来文章讲到了英国的未来取决于admass和Englishness较量的结果，admass方兴未艾，而Englishness已然衰退，这也是一 种不可避免的发展趋势；英国的未来还取决于英国的工人和管理者们，他们必须结束这场战争；英国的未来还取决于那些 意志坚强、执着于Englishness、反对admass的人；英国的未来取决于那些受到高瞻远瞩、能预测未来的人影响的较为安静 的年轻一代。在保持英国的Englishness的争斗中，boredom是一个阻碍和威胁。作者认为，只要英国人精神上不堕落，能坚 持Englishness不放弃，他们就不会被物质上的困难所打败。文章结构较为松散。

2. 修辞

本文涉及的修辞手法主要有euphemism，ellipsis，metaphor，simile，transferred epithet，metonymy等。

（1）euphemism

Euphemism就是用转弯抹角的说法来代替直截了当的话，把原来显得粗鲁或令人尴尬、犯忌触讳的语言温和、含蓄地表达 出来。如：用sanitation engineer替代garbage man（清洁工）；用the disadvantaged替代the poor（穷人）；用industrial action替 代strike（罢工）等。值得一提的是Euphemism和Understatement（低调陈述）比较类似，Euphemism存在一种相对固定的说 法，总是用于取代犯忌触讳，或显粗鲁及今人不快的表达。而Understatement较之Euphemism具有更广的使用域，其修辞功 能也更加丰富多彩，故二者之间是两个相互独立的辞格，各领风骚，自成一体。

（2）ellipsis

省略修辞法是指故意从原文中省略一个单词或者一个词组，省略修辞法也指说话时停顿，或指没有完成的思考，或指在句 尾突然停顿，等等。如：（She likes ice-cream.）Me, too.

因为metaphor，simile，transferred epithet，metonymy这些修辞手法在前面的单元已经提到过，所以在此不再赘述。

Exercises

I. Oral Presentation i)

Make a five-minute presentation in class based on your research or close reading of the text.

Suggested topics: 1. J. B. Priestley and his major works ~ 2. Sum up the main idea of each paragraph and then make an outline of the essay.

cp — oe ir eR rire ee

Il. Questions

A. Questions on the Content 1. What role, according to Priestley, does instinctive feeling play in the behavior of an Englishman? 2. What does the writer mean when he says, “Some cancer in their character has eaten away their Englishness” in Paragraph 2? Whom is he referring to? 3. How, according to the writer, are the real English people different? 4, What is the conflict between Admass and Englishness? What importance does the writer attach to the outcome of this conflict? 5. What force may play a decisive role in this battle between Admass and Englishness according to the writer? How? 6. Who are those people who have rejected Admass? What an important role can they play? 7. What does Priestley think about the young in England? 8. Why is there widespread boredom in heavily industrialized societies? How does 9. Does the writer consider politics important? Why? 10. Is there a conflict between Admass and the traditional Chinese character? Support your view with evidence.

B. Questions on Structure and Style

1. What is the dominant intention of this piece of argumentation? Is the proposition clearly stated?

2. What conflicts or issues are put forward in this argumentation? Are all the conflicts resolved?

3. Do you find this essay highly readable? If so, what skills does the writer employ to achieve this effect?

4. Are there any special characteristics in Priestley’s diction? Pick out some words and idioms that you think are peculiar to British English. 5. Does the writer use similes and metaphors in the essay? Pick out some and comment

on their effectiveness.

Ii]. Paraphrase _

Explain the following sentences in your own words, bringing out any implied meanings. 1. ...below the noisy arguments, the abuse and the quarrels, there is a reservoir of instinctive fellow-feeling... (Para. 2) 2. ...at heart they would like to take a whip to the whole idle troublesome mob of them. (Para. 2) 3. ...there are not many of these men, either on the board or the shop floor... (Para. 2) 4. It demands bigness, and they are suspicious of bigness. (Para. 3) 5. Against this, at least superficially, Englishness seems a poor shadowy show... (Para. 4) 6. ...while Englishness is not hostile to change, it is deeply suspicious of change for change'’s sake... (Para. 5) 7. To put cars and motorways before houses seems to Englishness a communal imbecility. (Para. 5) 8. I must add that while Englishness can still fight on, Admass could be winning. (Para. 6) 9. It must have some moral capital to draw upon, and soon it may be asking for an overdraft. (Para. 6) 10. They probably believe, as I do, that the Admass “Good Life” is a fraud on all counts. (Para. 9) 11. ...he will not even find much satisfaction in this scrounging messy existence, which does nothing for a man’s self-respect. (Para. 11) 12. To them the House of Commons is a remote squabbling shop. (Para. 14) 13. ...heavy hands can fall on the shoulders that have been shrugging away politics. (Para. 14)

TN Oe Wit Ores eee

A. Look up the dictionary and explain the meaning of the italicized words and phrases. 1. ...there is a reservoir of instinctive fellow-feeling... (Para. 2) 2. Not everybody can draw on that reservoir. (Para. 2) 3. ...there are in England some snarling shop stewards... (Para.2) 4. ...either on the board or the shop floor... (Para. 2) 5. ...but seem altogether out of scale in England. (Para. 3) 6

. ...keeping well clear of economics. (Para. 4)

it 8. 9. LOn sar sia | ete ES; aa

...and soon it may be asking for an overdraft. (Para. 6)

...there may be a catch in it. (Para. 7)

It’s all a racket anyhow. (Para. 7)

the sudden walk-outs and strikes... (Para. 8)

...they were in the van... (Para. 8)

the Admass “Good Life” is a fraud on all counts. (Para. 9)

...take to crime, all kinds from shop-lifting to ferocious robbery... (Para. 12) bowler hats or ungovernable mops of hair. (Para. 15)

B. The following sentences all contain metaphors or similes. Explain their meaning in

plain, non-figurative language.

lL. Zr

C 1 2 2 4 5

V. Translation

A.

ie

Some cancer in their character has eaten away their Englishness. (Para. 2) As it is they are like a hippopotamus blundering in and out of a pets’ tea party. (Para. 8)

. ...because they have fallen between two stools, the old harsh discipline having

vanished and the essential new self-discipline either not understood or thought to be out of reach. (Para. 11)

. But it (Englishness) needs reinforcement, extra nourishment, especially now when

our public life seems ready to starve it. (Para, 14)

. ...who seem to regard politics as a game but not one of their games—polo, let us say.

(Para. 14)

. Englishness cannot be fed with the east wind of a narrow rationality, the latest

figures of profit and loss, a constant appeal to self-interest. (Para. 15)

. But we do not have to go on like that, to enter a Common Market of national

character. (Para. 15)

. Discriminate between these words that the writer uses in pairs.

. rational and reasonable

odd and eccentric

. instinct and intuition . politician and statesman . refuse and reject

Translate the following sentences into Chinese. The English are even more different than they think they are, though not more different than they feel they are. (Para. 1)

2. This is because there are fewer fanatical believers among the English, and at the

same time, below the noisy arguments, the abuse and the quarrels, there is a

reservoir of instinctive fellow-feeling, not yet exhausted though it may not be filling up. (Para. 2)

3. The real English, who are “different”, who have inherited Englishness and have not yet thrown away their inheritance, cannot feel at home in the contemporary world, representing the accelerated development of our whole age. (Para. 3)

4. Against this, at least superficially, Englishness seems a poor shadowy show—a faint pencil sketch beside a poster in full colour—belonging as it really does to the invisible inner world, merely offering states of mind in place of that rich variety of things. (Para. 4)

5. But it is worth noting along the way that while America has been for many years the chief advocate of Admass, America has shown us too many desperately worried executives dropping into early graves, too many exhausted salesmen taking refuge in bars and breaking up their homes, too many workmen suffering from monotony or time-and-motion studies and wondering how the hell they got into these traps. (Para. 5)

6. Now Englishness, with its relation to the unconscious, its dependence upon instinct and intuition, cannot break its links with the past: it has deep long roots. (Para. 5)

7. Furthermore, while Englishness is not hostile to change, it is deeply suspicious of change for change’s sake, rejecting the idea that we are now committed to some inevitable mechanical progress. (Para. 5)

8. Behind the constant bickering, the sudden walk-outs and strikes, the “bloody-mindedness’, which bewilder so many foreign commentators, is the conflict Bemvech Admass, offering so much, and the Englishness that instinctively recoils from Admassian values and life-style. (Para. 8)

9. Moreover, sooner or later they will have to put an end to this conflict between Admass and what remains of their Englishness, coming down decisively on one side or the other, for they cannot enjoy both together. (Para. 8)

10. All heavily industrialized societies are in the boredom business. (Para. 12)

11. Dictatorships have thrived on majorities that are apathetic and then frightened, and on minorities that are fanatically divided, brutally quarrelsome and stupid. (Para. 14)

12. A rather poorer and harder way of life will not defeat them so long as it is not harder and poorer in spirit, so long as it still refuses to reject Englishness—for so many centuries the secret of the islanders oddity and irrationality, their many weaknesses, their creative strength. (Para. 15)

B. Translate Paragraph 7 into Chinese.

“Tees =

Read, Think and Comment

The passage below is from E. M. Forster’s “Notes on the English Character.” Read it and be prepared to respond to the questions: What is the main idea of this passage? How does the writer illustrate his idea? What does the writer think of this characteristic of the English?

A note on the slowness of the English character. The Englishman appears to be cold and unemotional because he is really slow. When an event happens, he may understand it quickly enough with his mind, but he takes quite a while to feel it. Once upon a time a coach, containing some Englishmen and some Frenchmen, was driving over the Alps. The horses ran away, and as they were dashing across a bridge the coach caught on the stonework, tottered, and nearly fell into the ravine below. The Frenchmen were frantic with terror: they screamed and gesticulated and flung themselves about, as Frenchmen would. The Englishmen sat quite calm. An hour later, the coach drew up at an inn to change horses, and by that time the situations were exactly reversed. The Frenchmen had forgotten all about the danger, and were chattering gaily; the Englishmen had just begun to feel it, and one had a nervous breakdown and was obliged to go to bed. We have here a clear physical difference between the two races—a. difference that goes deep into character. The Frenchmen responded at once; the Englishmen responded in time. They were slow and they were also practical. Their instinct forbade them to throw themselves about in the coach, because it was more likely to tip over if they did. They had this extraordinary appreciation of fact that we shall notice again and again. When a disaster comes, the English instinct is to do what can be done first, and to postpone the feeling as long as possible. Hence they are splendid at emergencies. No doubt they are brave—no one will deny that— but bravery is partly an affair of the nerves, and the English nervous system is well equipped for meeting a physical emergency. It acts promptly and feels slowly. Such a combination is fruitful, and anyone who possesses it has gone a long way toward being brave. And when the action is over, then the Englishman can feel.

A.

1. Everything that happens in England is directed and influenced by instinctive feeling and not rational thought.

2. By saying this sentence, the writer means the serious defects of their character has excluded them from the English. He is referring to some shop stewards and wealthy employers who have lost their Englishness.

3. Priestley puts forward six points to show that the English are different:

1) It is instinctive feeling and not rational thought that shapes and colours actual events in England. 2) The English do not feel at home in the contemporary world, representing the accelerated development of our whole age. They are suspicious of largeness, severe efficiency and Admass. 3) The English are also deeply suspicious of change for change’s sake. 4) The English can soon feel bored and that’s why they gamble and booze so much and enjoy any dramatic change in public life. 5) The English have a sense of community, decent fellow feeling, fairness. 6) The English are at heart and at root an imaginative people immediately responsive to any suggestion of drama in their lives.

4. Admass stands for ruthless competitiveness, treating men simply as a producer and consumer and playing upon dissatisfaction, greed and envy; while Englishness stands for the invisible inner world, offering states of mind. The outcome of this battle between Admass and Englishness will decide the future of the English.

5. The future of the English may be shaped by the decision of the now vacillating huge trade unions. It will be shaped by the role they decide to play. They must come down decisively either on the side of Admass or that of Englishness.

6. The following people have rejected Admass: 1) workers in smallish, well-managed and honest enterprises, 2) crusty High Tories who avoid the City and directors’ fees, 3) men and women in the professional classes. The last group of people are the most important for they are articulate and people are ready to listen to them. If the battle with Admass can be won, it will probably be these men and women who will help Englishness to win it.

7. Priestley divides the English young into two groups. He is dubious about the noisy types: they lack individuality to stand up to Admass. He has more faith in the quieter young, who may have come under the influence of some mature professional men and women. They, too, might help to swing the battle.

8. There is widespread boredom in all heavily industrialized societies not simply because so much of the work they offer is boring. It is also because, after having shattered the slow rhythms, the traditional skills, the closely knit communities of rural societies, they crowd people together, excite them by large promises that cannot be kept, so drive them into boredom.

When the English are bored they gamble and booze a lot. They enjoy any dramatic change in public life, any news that encourages excited talk. Bored teenagers, who have not been able to use up enough energy during the day turn at night to idiot vandalism. Later, if boredom hardens into frustration, some of them take to crime.

9. Priestley considers politics very important. If honest people ignore politics, then some unscrupulous dictator may seize power and exercise his tyranny over the people.

10. Actually Admass conflicts with all national traditions and values, and the traditional Chinese character being no exception. Traditionally, Chinese people aspire to the harmony between people and nature. The greed, competition and envy Admass stands for will inevitably violate the harmonious relationship between people and nature. Environment pollution is an example. Besides, endless greed will also challenge Chinese people’s expectation of family and intimate relationships, since it will shorten family time.

B.

1. The dominant intention or the controversial topic (thesis) of his argument is stated early in paragraph 1 in one succinct sentence:

2 No. Priestley does not provide sufficient evidence to support his position, nor is his reasoning on some points logically sound. Hence not all his issues or conflicts are resolved. This is a rather informal piece of argumentation, so the writer doesn’t marshal enough evidence to prove his points. In fact he appeals more to the emotions of his English readers than to their reason to drive home his point of view.

3. Yes, this text is highly readable. In the first place, Priestley uses mainly informal, sometimes colloquial words and expressions in this article to create an atmosphere of intimacy as if he were talking face to face with his readers. Instead of saying “overthrow the system”, Priestley uses “bring the whole system crashing down”; he uses “keeping well clear of economics” (Para. 4) rather than “avoid” or other formal words. Moreover, Priestley also uses some very British words and expressions. If the use of informal words and expressions helps to shorten the distance between the author and readers, the English flavor added by these British words and expressions tends to arouse what Priestley calls “fellow-feeling” in his fellow British readers. Examples: enterprises (Para. 3); everybody nudging everybody for more money (Para. 6); If we don’t work like the old man used to do, we’re not turning out the honest stuff the old man was expected to turn out. (Para. 7) Last but not the least, he uses some long sentences which help to create a general sense of smoothness and eloquence, thus making I the argumentation more effective.

4. Yes, there are many words such as: stuff, shop, cosy, nudge, the City, safe to say, take a whip to, shrug off, along the way, etc.

5. Metaphors and similes can help add vividness, richness to the article.

Metaphor:

① There is a reservoir of instinctive fellow-feeling, not yet exhausted though it may not be filling up. (Para. 2)

② Some cancer in their character has eaten away their Englishness. (Para. 2)

③ Englishness, ailing and impoverished, in no position to receive vast subsidies of dollars. (Para .4)

④ a faint pencil sketch beside a poster in full colour (Para. 4)

Simile: they are like a hippopotamus blundering in and out of a pets, tea party (Para. 8)

1. The English people may hotly argue and abuse and quarrel with each other but there still exists a lot of natural sympathetic feeling for each other.

2. What the wealthy employers would really like to do is to whip all the workers whom they consider to be lazy and troublesome people.

3. There are not many snarling shop stewards in the workshop, nor are there many cruel wealthy employers on the board of managers (or governing board of a factory).

4. The contemporary world demands that everything be done on a big scale and the English do not like or trust bigness.

5. At least on the surface, when Englishness is put against the power and success of Admass, Englishness seems to put up a rather poor weak performance.

6. Englishness is not against change, but it believes that changing just for changing and for no other useful purpose to be very wrong and harmful.

7. To regard cars and motorways as more important than houses seems to Englishness a public stupidity.

8. I must further say that while Englishness can go on fighting, there is a great possibility of Admass winning.

9. Englishness draws its strength from a reservoir of strong moral and ethical principles, and soon it may be asking for strength which this reservoir of principles cannot supply.

10. These people probably believe, as I do, that the “Good Life” promised by Admass is false and dishonest in all respects.

11. He will not even find much satisfaction in his untidy and disordered life where he manages to live as a parasite by sponging on people. This kind of life does not help a person to build up any self-respect.

12. These people think of the House of Commons as a place rather far away where some people are always quarreling and arguing over some small matter.

13. If a dictator comes to power, these people then will soon learn in the worst way that they were very wrong to ignore politics for they can now suddenly and for no reason be arrested and thrown into prison.

A.

1. reservoir: a supply; especially an extra or reserve supply

2. draw on: obtain something from a reserve, store, etc.

3. shop steward: a person chosen by his fellow trade unionists in an industrial establishment to speak for them to the management and to watch over their interests

4. board: board of managers; governing board of a factory

5. scale: proportion ; relative dimensions

6. keep clear of: avoid, refrain from

7. overdraft: a) a withdrawal of money from a bank in excess of the amount credited to the drawer; b) the amount withdrawn in excess

8. catch: a deception; surprise; a hidden qualification; tricky condition

9. racket a dishonest scheme

10. walk-out: a strike (generally spontaneous and of a short duration)

11. van: the foremost position in a line, movement, field of endeavor, etc.

12. count: (legal term) any of the charges in an indictment, each of which gives a reason and is sufficient for prosecution

13. shop-lifting: stealing things from shops

14. bowler hat: a hard round black hat that business men sometimes wear

B.

1. There is in their character something destructive and malignant that has made these people lose their Englishness.

2. At present they only create disorder and confusion.

3. Because they have failed to be either of the two satisfactory alternatives. The old harsh discipline has disappeared and the new self-discipline has not been established.

4. Englishness needs extra nourishment and improvement so that it can become strong especially now because public life seems ready to weaken it.

5. These people regard politics as a game of polo, the game of which they themselves do not play.

6. Englishness cannot flourish on narrow logical reasoning, the latest financial figures of profit and loss and a constant appeal to self-interest.

7. But the English should not continue in this way to have a character that is similar to those of other people. They should have their own special characteristics.

C.

1. rational强调“有理性和思考、推理能力的，如：Man is a rational being.（人类是有理性的动物。）reasonable语意较弱，强 调思考所得出的结论，意为“合情合理的”“（价格）公平合理的”，如：I’ll buy the car if the price is reasonable.（如果价钱公 道，我就把这辆车买下。）

2. odd指与普通的、通常的或所期望的不同的，含有“奇怪的，古怪的”的意思。eccentric一般用于形容性格特征，指行为古 怪、反传统。

3. instinct意为“本能”，指不受主观意识控制、天生的对刺激物的反应能力。intuition意为“直觉”，指通过某种不易觉察的思 考而迅速做出理解或判断的能力。

4. politician意为“政客”，通常从事于政党政治或身居要职，暗含为了获得个人利益或政党利益、阴谋或机会主义等意思， 为贬义词。statesman意为“政治家”，在处理国家事务或外交事务上通常表现出智慧、技巧和远见，为褒义词。

5. refuse指直接拒绝，有时含有粗鲁之意。reject指委婉拒绝，语气稍缓。

V. See the translation of the text.

1. The main idea of the passage is about the slowness of the English character.

2. The writer illustrates his point with an anecdote that shows the different responses of an Englishman and a Frenchman to the same incident.

3. The writer thinks this slowness in the English character enables them to postpone feeling and do what can be done at emergencies. In other words, this slowness in character makes them calm and brave and, to some extent, respectable.