Lesson OneLesson OneLesson OneLesson OneAnother School Year --------Another School Year --------

What For? IIWhat For? II

• • Content

• I. Questions and Answers• II. Explanation of the text (part 1)

• I. Questions and Answers

1. What can college do for me?Studies indicate that college graduates enjoy significantly higher earnings over their lifetimes than do non-graduates.

An associate degree can mean 35 percent more income than just a high school diploma.

A bachelor's degree can mean 74 percent more income than just a high school diploma. A master's degree can mean 115 percent more income than just a high school diploma.

2. What if I am not sure I can afford it?

College is an investment in your future.

True, the up-front costs are considerable,

and in most cases, it is difficult for a family

to pay the entire cost of college. That is

why there are many different options for

financing your education, such as

scholarships, grants, and loans.

3. What can I expect of a college?

Attending university or college lets you experience a rich cultural and social scene and meet a variety

of people, while studying something you love.

4. What does a university mean to

me?

• a better paid job

• a greater choice of job

• higher future earning

•

5. What can I study there?

Higher education courses range from

familiar academic subjects such as

English or History, to less familiar ones

such as Philosophy, and a host of work-

related (vocational) courses such as

accountancy.

II. Detailed Discussion of the Text

1.Let me tell you…as a teacher: Let me tell you something that happened when I first became a teacher. It was one of the exasperating experiences in the first days of my teaching career.• 1) Disaster: an unexpected event such as a very ba

d accident, a flood or a fire that kills a lot of people or causes a lot of damage. Here means “a complete failure”. The writer exaggerates the situation and uses the word humorously.

…I was fresh out of graduate school… at the University of Kansas City: I had just completed my graduate studies and began teaching at the University of Kansas City.

• 1). be fresh out of / from sth.: to have just come from a particular place; to have just had a particular experience. 刚从（某地）来，刚有过（某一特殊经历）

– students fresh from college2. Part of the student body was a beanpole…as if

to say “All right, teach me something.”– The sentence tells us what an unfavorable impre

ssion the student left on the writer the first day he came to class. First, he was referred to as “a beanpole with hair on top” ( 顶上长了毛、种豆角时用的长竿 ). Also, his manners irritated the writer: instead of listening attentively and taking notes, he behaved as if he had paid to watch a show of some sort and was waiting to be entertained.

• 1) beanpole: a tall thin person. Here the writer deliberately evokes a beanpole, a pole farmers uses as a support in vegetable gardens. 瘦高个子

• 2) Part of the student body: one of the students

• 3) The student body: all the students of the university

• 4) Body: a group of people who work or act together, often for an official purpose, or who are connected in some other way. 集体；团体；群体；机关

• a) a law-making body 立法机构• b) the governing body of the university 大学管

理机构

3. Two weeks later we started Hamlet: Obviously the writer was teaching a course in Shakespeare. In such a course, generally five of Shakespeare’s plays are studied, Hamlet generally included.

4. three weeks later…why do I have to read this stuff?

• 1) cultural notes:• a) In American universities, an instructor h

as office hours during which students taking the course can go and ask questions or discuss term papers with him/ her.

• b) College students in the US are required to take a number of courses in areas other than their major. That was why the pharmacy major took a course in literature.

• 2) with his hands on his hips: this shows that the student wasn’t carrying anything, and what’s more, this business-minded young man came to challenge his instructor 双手叉腰

6. New as I was to the faculty…a number of things:

• Though I was a new teacher, I knew I could tell him what a university was for, but I didn’t. ( 我虽然经验不多 ) 也讲得出这些道理（但我没有讲）。

• 1) In the remaining part of the paragraph, the writer tells us what he could but did not say to the student.

• 2) Note that the writer now referred to the student as a specimen in a humorous way, meaning he was typical of a type of students who came to university just to get training for a career, as if he were typical of a certain race of animals.

• 3) New to sth: not yet familiar with sth. because you have only just started, arrived, etc.( 因为是新手，或刚刚开始 ) 尚未习惯的，不熟悉的

6. I could have pointed out that…for a scroll that read Bachelor of Science:

I could have told him that he was now not getting training for a job in a technical school but doing a B.S. at a university.

• 1) mean to do sth: to intend to do sth.• 2) reach for sth: to try to obtain sth. 获得• 3) read B.S.: to have Bachelor of Science written on t

he scroll

7. It would certify …within its history: The B.S. certificate would be an official proof that the holder had special knowledge of pharmacy, but it would also be a proof that he/she had learned/absorbed some profound ideas of the past.

• 1) enroll (BrE enrol) to arrange for yourself or somebody else to officially join a course, school, etc.

• a) He is enrolled in a two-month course for TOEFL.

• b) When he failed the national college entrance exams, he decided to enroll in a private tertiary school.

• 2) certify that…: to state officially, especially in writing that…,

• a) This is to certify that Ms. Li worked for IBM Beijing Office from January 2004 to June 2008. 兹证明

• b) Sign here to certify that this statement is correct. 在这里签字证明该说法是正确的。

• 3) specialize in: to limit all or most of one’s study, business, etc. to a particular activity or subject.

• CF: major in• a) Professor Zhang specializes in American drama.• b) My sister majors in law, but she specializes in cont

ract law in her postgraduate years.• c) At age 30, he started a company specializing in ho

me computers.

8. That is to say, he had not entered a technical training school …for both training and education.

• 1) Here the word education is used in a broad sense, not only the process of acquiring knowledge and developing skills, but also that of improving the mind.

• 2) What is the difference between training and education, according to the writer?

• Training is preparation for a job, or a career, such as the training in a certain skill. Education, on the other hand, is learning to develop one’s mental and moral powers.

9. It would certify that he had specialized…has generated within its history.

• The B.S. certificate would be an official proof that the holder had special knowledge of pharmacy, but it would also be a proof that he /she had learned / absorbed some profound ideas of the past.

10. I could have told him… for it to matter: I didn’t actually say all this to him, because I didn’t think he would stay at college very long, so it wouldn’t be important whether or not he knew what university education was for.

• 1) be around: to be present in a place; available• 2) matter (to sb.): to be important or have an imp

ortant effect on sb./sth.• a) It doesn’t matter whether or not you agree. M

y mind is made up.• b) Does it matter if I write in pencil?• c) It hardly matters what you learn, as long as it de

eply interests you and helps to broaden your horizon.

• 3) Pay attention to the two “it”. The first is an introductory / anticipatory, while the second refers to “whether I told him all this”. “For” is used to introduce the performer of the action “to matter”

• This is the end of Part Two.