Our Schedules, Our Selves Unit 13 Cultural information 1 Cultural Information Walden Pond is a lake located in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United

Our Schedules, Our SelvesOur Schedules, Our Selves

Unit 13Unit 13

Cultural Information

Walden Pond is a lake located in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United States.

The writer, transcendentalist, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau lived on the shores of the pond for two years starting in the summer of 1845. His account of the experience was recorded in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, and made the spot famous.

Walden Pond

Cultural Information

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” (from Henry David Thoreau, Walden, “Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”)

Now the Walden Pond has the cultural embodiment of leaving the busy city life and immersion into the nature so as to pursue one’s own self.

All the efforts we make in our social life may lead to the ultimate purpose of seeking happiness. Yet in modern world people are so drifted by their busy schedules that we may one day find out that we have been far away from our original target. This text is written from those who might get lost during our long journey of struggle. We learn from the text that the problem of overscheduling has three main causes, which are economic cause, technological cause and, the most important, psychological cause. All these causes, when working together, make us the slaves of our own schedules and lose our fun in doing things. Besides this macroscopic change in our value judgment,

Structural AnalysisText Analysis Rhetorical Features

it is also necessary to seek help from outside efforts such as expanding vacation time and shortening the work week. Another, which is more important and more difficult to achieve, is to adopt a new perspective of time. Only through this can we be back to our original journey to pursue happiness.


(Paragraphs 1-3) introduces the fact that most Americans have become the slaves of their schedules.

1) In terms of organization, the article clearly falls into four main parts:


The first part

(Paragraphs 4-6) lists the three major causes of overscheduling, namely, economic cause, technological cause and psychological causes.

The second part

(Paragraphs 7-10) tells us the bad effect of overscheduling: it deprives us of the fun of life and it also reveals the author’s opinion on this problem — “We are bigger than our schedules”. This part also brings us to his suggested solution to this problem in the last part of the essay.

The third part

2) The transitional paragraphs of this text is Paragraph 9 and 10 where the author not only reveals his opinion on this problem — “We are bigger than our schedules” — but also brings us to his suggested solution to this problem, which is presented in the last part of the essay.


(Paragraphs 11-14) suggests the political solution which consists of mainly the outside efforts as well as our own psychological adjustment.

The fourth part


1) Extensive employment of short sentences, ellipsis and even one-word sentences:

e.g. “DAMN!” ,“That would do it.”, “Whew!”, “Yes!”, “No!” (Paragraph 1)


2) Syntactical features: in a single sentence, a succession of verbs are used

e.g. “You’ll skip yoga class, blow off the neighborhood meeting, ignore the piles of laundry and just relax.” (paragraph 1)

“ Determined and sternly focused, we march through each day obeying the orders of our calendars.” (Paragraph 2)

“… virtual slaves to their schedules” (Paragraph 3)

“onerous obligations” (Paragraph 3)

“… but merely following a dizzying timetable of duties” (Paragraph 3)


3) Semantic features: to bring into prominence the idea that one is constantly driven by endless apparently urgent trifles in life

e.g.


“feel the pinch” (Paragraph 4)

“… they fuel the trend that every minute must be accounted for.” (Paragraph 5)

“You can’t happily savor an experience because your mind races toward the next one on the calendar.” (Paragraph 7)

“fell hemmed in by our schedules” (Paragraph 11)

Detailed Reading

Our Schedules, Our Selves

Jay Walljasper

1 DAMN! You’re 20 minutes — no, more like half an hour — late for your breakfast meeting, which you were hoping to scoot out of early to make an 8:30 seminar across town. And, somewhere in there, there’s that conference call. Now, at the last minute, you have to be at a 9:40 meeting. No way you can miss it.

Let’s see, the afternoon is totally booked, but you can probably push back your 10:15 appointment and work through lunch. That would do it. Whew! The day has barely begun and already you are counting the hours until evening, when you can finally go home and happily, gloriously, triumphantly, do nothing. You’ll skip yoga class, blow off the neighborhood meeting, ignore the piles of laundry and just relax. Yes! … No! Tonight’s the night of the concert. You promised Nathan and Mara weeks ago that you would go. DAMN!

Detailed Reading

2 Welcome to daily grind circa 2003 — a grueling 24-7 competition against the clock that leaves even the winners wondering what happened to their lives. Determined and sternly focused, we march through each day obeying the orders of our calendars. The idle moment, the reflective pause, serendipity of any sort have no place in our plans. Stopping to talk to someone or slowing down to appreciate a sunny afternoon will only make you late for your next round of activities. From the minute we rise in the morning, most of us have our day charted out. The only surprise is if we actually get everything done that we had planned before collapsing into bed at night.

Detailed Reading

3 On the job, in school, at home, increasing numbers of North Americans are virtual slaves to their schedules. Some of what fills our days are onerous obligations, some are wonderful opportunities, and most fall in between, but taken together they add up to too much. Too much to do, too many places to be, too many things happening too fast, all mapped out for us in precise quarter-hour allotments on our palm pilots or day planners. We are not leading our lives, but merely following a dizzying timetable of duties, commitments, demands, and options. How did this happen? Where’s the luxurious leisure that decades of technological progress was supposed to bestow upon us?

Detailed Reading

4 The acceleration of the globalized economy, and the accompanying decline of people having any kind of a say over wages and working conditions, is a chief culprit. Folks at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder feel the pain most sharply. Holding down two or three jobs, struggling to pay the bills, working weekends, no vacation time, little social safety net, they often feel out of control about everything happening to them. But even successful professionals, people who seem fully in charge of their destinies, feel the pinch. Doctors, for example, working impossibly crowded schedules under the command of HMOs, feel overwhelmed. Many of them are now seeking union representation, traditionally the recourse of low-pay workers.

Detailed Reading

5 The onslaught of new technology, which promised to set us free, has instead ratcheted up the rhythms of everyday life. Cell phones, e-mail, and laptop computers instill expectations of instantaneous action. While such direct communication can loosen our schedules in certain instances (it’s easier to shift around an engagement on short notice), overall they fuel the trend that every minute must be accounted for. It’s almost impossible to put duties behind you now, when the boss or committee chair can call you at a rap show or sushi restaurant, and documents can be e-mailed to you on vacation in Banff or Thailand. If you are never out of the loop, then are you ever not working?

Detailed Reading

6 Our own human desire for more choices and new experiences also plays a role. Just like hungry diners gathering around a bountiful smorgasbord, it’s hard not to pile too many activities on our plates. An expanding choice of cultural offerings over recent decades and the liberating sense that each of us can fully play a number of different social roles (worker, citizen, lover, parent, artist, etc.) has opened up enriching and exciting opportunities. Spanish lessons? Yes. Join a volleyball team? Why not. Cello and gymnastics classes for the kids? Absolutely. Tickets to a blues festival, food and wine expo, and political fundraiser? Sure. And we can’t forget to make time for school events, therapy sessions, protest rallies, religious services, and dinner with friends.

Detailed Reading

Detailed Reading

7 Yes, these can all add to our lives. But with only 24 hours allotted to us each day, something is lost too. You don’t just run into a friend anymore and decide to get coffee. You can’t happily savor an experience because your mind races toward the next one on the calendar. In a busy life, nothing happens if you don’t plan it, often weeks in advance. Our “free” hours become just as programmed as the work day. What begins as an idea for fun frequently turns into an obligation obstacle course. Visit that new barbecue restaurant. Done! Go to tango lessons. Done! Fly to Montreal for a long weekend. Done!

Detailed Reading

8 We’ve booked ourselves so full of prescheduled activities there’s no time left for those magic, spontaneous moments that make us feel most alive. We seldom stop to think of all the experiences we are eliminating from our lives when we load up our appointment book. Reserving tickets for a basketball game months away could mean you miss out on the first balmy evening of spring. Five p.m. skating lessons for your children fit so conveniently into your schedule that you never realize it’s the time all the other kids in the neighborhood gather on the sidewalk to play.

Detailed Reading

9 A few years back, radical Brazilian educator Paulo Freire was attending a conference of Midwestern political activists and heard over and over about how overwhelmed people felt about the duties they face each day. Finally, he stood up and, in slow, heavily accented English, declared, “We are bigger than our schedules.” The audience roared with applause.

10 Yes, we are bigger than our schedules. So how do we make sure our lives are not overpowered by an endless roster of responsibilities? Especially in an age where demanding jobs, two-worker households or single-parent families make the joyous details of everyday life — cooking supper from scratch or organizing a block party — seem like an impossible dream? There is no set of easy answers, despite what the marketers of new convenience products would have us believe. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make real steps to take back our lives.

Detailed Reading

11 Part of the answer is political. So long as Americans work longer hours than any other people on Earth we are going to feel hemmed in by our schedules. Expanded vacation time for everyone, including part-time and minimum wage workers, is one obvious and overdue solution. Shortening the work week, something the labor movement and progressive politicians successfully accomplished in the early decades of the 20th century, is another logical objective. There’s nothing preordained about 40-hours on the job; Italy, France, and other European nations have already cut back working hours.

Detailed Reading

An opportunity for employees outside academia to take a sabbatical every decade or so is another idea whose time has come. And how about more vacation and paid holidays? Let’s start with Martin Luther King’s birthday, Susan B. Anthony’s birthday, and your own! Any effort to give people more clout in their workplaces — from strengthened unions to employee ownership — could help us gain much-needed flexibility in our jobs, and our lives.

Detailed Reading

12 On another front, how you think about time can make a big difference in how you feel about your life, as other articles in this cover section illustrate. Note how some of your most memorable moments occurred when something in your schedule fell through. The canceled lunch that allows you to spend an hour strolling around town. Friday night plans scrapped for a bowl of popcorn in front of the fireplace. Don’t be shy about shucking your schedule whenever you can get away with it. And with some experimentation, you may find that you can get away with it a lot more than you imagined.

Detailed Reading

13 Setting aside some time on your calendar for life to just unfold in its own surprising way can also nurture your soul. Carve out some nonscheduled hours (or days) once in a while and treat them as a firm commitment. And resist the temptation to turn every impulse or opportunity into another appointment. It’s neither impolite nor inefficient to simply say, “let me get back to you on that tomorrow” or “let’s check in that morning to see if it’s still a good time.” You cannot know how crammed that day may turn out to be, or how uninspired you might feel about another engagement, or how much you’ll want to be rollerblading or playing chess or doing something else at that precise time.

Detailed Reading

14 In our industrialized, fast-paced society, we too often view time as just another mechanical instrument to be programmed. But time possesses its own evershifting shape and rhythms, and defies our best efforts to corral it within the tidy lines of our palm pilots or datebooks. Stephan Rechtschaffen, author of Time Shifting, suggests you think back on a scary auto collision (or near miss), or spectacular night of lovemaking. Time seemed almost to stand still. You can remember everything in vivid detail. Compare that to an overcrammed week that you recall now only as a rapid-fire blur. Keeping in mind that our days expand and contract according to their own patterns is perhaps the best way to help keep time on your side.

Detailed Reading

What is the author’s categorization of all the things in North Americans’ schedules? What is the use of such a categorization?

Some of them are obligations that people have to do, some are wonderful opportunities, and most fall in between. Such a categorization may help people to have a more general and macroscopical view of their life and makes the readers ready to accept the following parts of the article which is a deep reflection of the purpose of life.

Detailed Reading

The acceleration of the globalized economy, and the accompanying decline of people having any kind of a say over wages and working conditions. Even successful professionals cannot control their schedules.

What is the economic reason for North Americans’ tight schedules?

Detailed Reading

In what way does new technology make people’s schedules tighter?

New technology is supposed to set people free, yet by offering direct ways of communication, it has in fact accelerated the rhythms of everyday life.

Detailed Reading

What is the psychological reason for the quickened pace of life of North Americans?

People cannot resist their desire for more choices and new experiences. They want to use the saved time for something they haven’t tried before.

Detailed Reading

Detailed Reading

What do people lose from overscheduling?

People may lose from overscheduling the fun in doing things and the magic, spontaneous moments that make people feel alive.

Detailed Reading

What does the author think is more important than the political solution?

People should make their own psychological adjustment and set aside some of their time on calendar for life.

Class Activity

Detailed Reading

Group discussion: Do you make specific daily schedules and follow them? Think about the advantages and disadvantages of a life with schedules. Are people in China facing the same problem with the Americans as the author mentions in the essay?

Dialogue making: A is occupied with his daily schedules and leaves very little time for himself. B, as his friend, is trying to persuade A to take a vacation in the suburb with all its advantages. We’ll see how effective B’s persuasion will be.

scoot off

scoot over

scoot v.run or move very quickly or hastily

e.g.Scoot, or you will be late.

Detailed Reading

e.g. She scooted off on her bike.

Collocation:

e.g. He scooted over so I could sit down.

Detailed Reading

blow off v.permit to be released; here, cancel an appointment or anything one does not wish to do

e.g.Bob and I did make plans to go out last night. But he blew me off.

Practice:

凯莉刚放了我鸽子——她说她再也不想见我了。

Kelly just blew me off — she said she didn’t want to see me any more.

recourse n.sth. or sb. turned to for assistance or security

Detailed Reading

e.g. I couldn’t tell which direction to take without recourse to a map.

Synonym:

resort

Detailed Reading

ratchet up v.cause sth. to rise as a step in what is perceived as a steady and irreversible process

e.g.The Bank of Japan ratcheted up interest rates again.

account for v.give reason for

e.g. Can you account for all these absences?

Detailed Reading

Practice:

他被要求解释他的行为。

He has been asked to account for his conduct.

overpower v.overcome by superior force

e.g.Police overpowered the criminal and took him away.

Detailed Reading

overpowering (a.)e.g. He finds the smell overpowering

Derivation:

Synonym:

conquer, crush, defeat, master, overwhelm

Detailed Reading

Practice:

敌军把我们包围了。

The enemy troops were hemming us in.

hem inengulf or surround

e.g.The soldiers were hemmed in on all sides.

preordain v.determine beforehand

Detailed Reading

e.g.You might think the company’s success is preordained.

preordained (a.)

e.g. Is everything we do preordained?

Derivation:

Detailed Reading

scrap v.abolish or cancel (a plan, policy, etc.)

e.g. A bold decision was taken to scrap the existing law.

Practice:

我们不得不放弃我们的计划。

We had to scrap our plans.

shuck v.abandon, get rid of

e.g. the regime’s ability to shuck off its totalitarian characteristics

Detailed Reading

shuck off

e.g. She shucked off her jacket and ran upstairs.

Collocation:

Detailed Reading

corral v.keep sb. or sth. in a particular area, esp. in order to take control or possession of them

e.g. The slaves were corralled into a small room.

Detailed Reading

You’re 20 minutes — no, more like half an hour — late for your breakfast meeting, which you were hoping to scoot out of early to make an 8:30 seminar across town.

Explanation:

A breakfast meeting is typically a business occasion where people discuss business or political issues while they are having breakfast. The author means that, despite the importance of the occasion, one may want to finish it as soon as possible so that he can meet the next appointment.

Detailed Reading

And, somewhere in there, there’s that conference call.

Explanation:

A conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party wishes to have more than one called party listening in to the audio portion of the call. The author mentions several versions of meetings which are designed for saving time (breakfast meeting and conference call), intending to convey that even with such time-saving means of having meetings, people still feel overscheduled. The irony here is obvious.

The term “the labor movement” is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and political governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour relations.

Detailed Reading

Shortening the work week, something the labor movement and progressive politicians successfully accomplished in the early decades of the 20th century, is another logical objective.

Explanation:

Phrase Practice

Word Derivation

Synonym / Antonym

Vocabulary Translation Integrated SkillsOral ActivitiesWritingGrammar

1) The young couple their van with everything they might need for the trip and drove off.


loaded up____________

2) To make things worse, their plans at the last minute.

fell through_____________

3) If you thought you could cheating me, you would be very much mistaken.

get away with_______________

Fill in the blank in each sentence with an appropriate phrasal verb or collocation from the text.


4) We have just a tremendous opportunity. What a shame!

missed out on________________

5) The Central Bank interest rates again.

6) Business has been good during the past year. We a branch in Frankfurt.

ratcheted up_______________

opened up____________


e.g.我们把砖装进了卡车里。

We have loaded a lorry up with bricks.

load up: if a ship, aircraft, etc. loads, goods are put onto it


e.g. 工作室打算制作一部电影，但最后没成。

The studio planned to make a movie of the book but the deal fell through.

fall through: if an agreement, plan, sale, etc. falls through, it is not completed successfully


e.g. 考试作弊必予追究。

If you cheat in the exam you’ll never get away with it.

get away with: steal sth. and escape with it; receive (a relatively light punishment); not be punished for sth.


e.g. 提前准备下食物，以免没有时间玩。

Prepare food in advance to ensure you don’t miss out on the fun!

miss out on: lose an opportunity to benefit from sth. or enjoy oneself


e.g. 提高最低工资会在总体上增加实际收入。

Raising the minimum wage would ratchet up real incomes in general.

ratchet up: increase sth. by a small amount, especially after a series of increases, or to increase in this way

e.g. 显微镜的出现为研究领域打开了全新的世界。

With a microscope, a whole new world of investigation opens up.

open up: if a shop, office, etc. opens up or is opened up, someone starts it; if opportunities open up, or a new situation opens them up, they become available or possible


We’ve already finished the work anterior to the schedule.

Rain or shine, the game will be held as scheduled.


1) schedule n. → scheduled a.

e.g. 我们已经提前完成了工作。

不论下不下雨，比赛照常举行。

What he said showed he was really defiant.


2) defy v. → defiance n. → defiant a.

e.g.他们违抗父母的意愿而结婚了。

他们公然向政府挑战。

他所说的话显示出他真是目中无人。

They defied their parents and got married.

They declared open defiance to the government.


3) spontaneous a.→ spontaneity n.

e.g. 他自愿提供帮助。

她的表演不够自然。He made a spontaneous offer of help.

There is a lack of spontaneity in her performance.

a seaside vacationer


4) vacation n. → vacate v. → vacationer n.

e.g. 我们希望能在七月底去度假。

客人被要求在中午 12 点以前退房。

在海边度假的人

We’re hoping to take a vacation at the end of July.

Guests were asked to vacate their rooms before 12:00.

A small adjustment will equalize the temperature in the two rooms.


5) equal a. → equality n. → equalize v.

e.g.他说阿拉伯语和英语都一样自如。

女性在工作上尚未和男性完全平等。

稍作些调节就会使两间房内的温度相等。

He speaks Arabic and English with equal ease.

Women have yet to achieve full equality with men in the workplace.


6) rhythm n.→ rhythmic a.

e.g.说英语时，重音和节奏是很重要的。

心脏有节奏的跳动

Stress and rhythm are important in speaking English.

the rhythmic beating of one’s heart

We’ve taken steps to minimize the losses.


7) minimum n. → minimal a. → minimize v.

e.g.我们已最大限度地削减了开支。

我们住在朋友家，所以我们的花费很小。

我们已采取措施尽量减少损失。

We have pared down our expenses to a bare minimum.

We stayed with friends, so our expenses were minimal.


8) serendipity n. → serendipitous a.

e.g.用他的话说是“一直都很走运”。

阅读应是一种探险，一种充满意外惊喜的个人经历。

“It was serendipity all the way,” he says.

Reading should be an adventure, a personal experience full of serendipitous surprises.

simple, plain, spartan

1. Welcome to daily grind circa 2003 — a grueling 24-7 competition against the clock that leaves even the winners wondering what happened to their lives.

2. Where’s the luxurious leisure that decades of technological progress was supposed to bestow upon us?

Antonym:


exhausting, wearying, fatiguing Synonym:

3. The acceleration of the globalized economy, and the accompanying decline of people having any kind of a say over wages and working conditions, is a chief culprit.

Synonym: induce, generate

4. Cell phones, e-mail, and laptop computers instill expectations of instantaneous action.

Antonym: deceleration, slowdown


5. Just like hungry diners gathering around a bountiful smorgasbord, it’s hard not to pile too many activities on our plates.

Synonym: soothing, pleasant

6. Reserving tickets for a basketball game months away could mean you miss out on the first balmy evening of spring.

Antonym: meager


7. Shortening the work week, something the labor movement and progressive politicians successfully accomplished in the early decades of the 20th century, is another logical objective.

Antonym:reactionary, conservative


8. Keeping in mind that our days expand and contract according to their own patterns is perhaps the best way to help keep time on your side.

Synonym:shrink, dwindle, diminish

Vocabulary Grammar Translation Integrated SkillsOral ActivitiesWriting

Coordination

Reflexive Pronouns

A way of joining clauses, or clause elements with coordinators such as and, or and but


e.g. Jane is a good teacher, and her students really like her.

Correlatives: either … or …, both … and …, neither … nor … (The first word is an endorsing item and the second is a coordinator)

e.g.Either Sylvia or her sister will stay with us.


PracticeComplete the following sentences using the proper coordinator.

1. Switch the radio I will miss the news.

2. Continue spending like this you’ll be

bankrupt in a year.

3. Mr. Smith Mr. Jackson is going to

attend the conference.

4. Mary John washed the dishes.

5. She believes the report, I do too.

or

and

Either

Both

___

____

______ or___

_____ and____

and____


A reflexive pronoun is a special kind of pronoun that is usually used when the object of a sentence is the same as the subject.

· I-myself · you (singular)-yourself · you (plural)-yourselves · he-himself · she-herself · it-itself · we-ourselves · they-themselves

e.g.She kept on muttering to herself.


PracticeFill in the blanks with a proper form of -self / -selves if possible.

1. Do I make clear?2. You have only to blame.3. He got out of the swimming pool and dried4. He got up, washed , shaved and dressed

5. If someone attacks you, you need to be able to defend

myself______yourself________

himself_______.

yourself________.

/__ /__ /__.

We don’t use –self / -selves after concentrate, feel, relax, meet, wash, shave, dress.

1. 如果协商不成，他最后的一招是诉诸法律。 (recourse)

Resource is something that you do to achieve something or deal with a situation, or the act of doing it.


Translate the following sentences into English.

If negotiations should fail, his last recourse was to resort to the law.

Practice: 你只有靠诉讼了。


You can only recourse to law.

他们不寻求外援也能应付过去。

They managed without recourse to outside help.

2. 在火车车厢这么促局的地方，我有种被禁闭束缚的感觉。(hem in)


If sb. or sth. is hemmed in, there are things surrounding sb. or sth. closely.

In such a confined space of a train compartment, I feel hemmed in.

Practice: 市场被商店和银行紧紧包围。

他感到受清规戒律的束缚。


The market place is hemmed in by shops and banks.

He felt hemmed in by conventions.

3. 这个雄心勃勃的年轻人希望在这个充满机会的大城市里为自己开创一番事业。 (carve out)


To carve out is to succeed in getting the job, position, life, etc. that you want.

The ambitious young man wishes to carve out a career for himself in this city full of opportunities.

Practice:她在电影界功成名就。

他移居旧金山为新的人生而打拼。


She carved out a very successful career in the film industry.

He moved to San Francisco to carve out a new life for himself.

4. 学生们正在为期末考试临时抱佛脚。 (cram)


If sb. (esp. a student) is cramming, he / she is to prepare for an examination by learning a lot of information quickly.

The students are cramming for their final examinations.

I have to cram for my chemistry test tomorrow.


Practice: 她整个礼拜的突击式学习都很卖力。

我得为明天的化学考试抱抱佛脚。

She’s been cramming hard all week.

5. 随着故事的展开，几个主要人物之间的关系变得越来越复杂。 (unfold)


If a story unfolds, or if sb. unfolds it, it is told; if a series of events unfold, they happen; if you unfold sth. that was folded, or if it unfolds, it opens out.

As the story unfolds, the relationships between the main characters become more and more complicated.


Practice:随着影片的放映，故事情节展开了。

The story unfolds as the film goes on.

她渐渐向他透露了自己的计划。

She gradually unfolded her plan to him.


Dictation

Cloze


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.

How is it that hard work and greater efficiency / do not necessarily result in a sense of achievement? / Social scientists drew a crucial distinction / between two words often used as synonyms: / “efficient” and “effective”. / “Efficient” emphasizes the means of production, / the degree of economy with which it is carried out, / while “effective” focuses on the result or purpose / for which the activity is carried out. /

It is noted that / by using a minimum amount of energy and time, / we can be very efficient / in performing a certain task. / Yet our work is actually


Dictation


effective / only when it contributes to our goals. / True effectiveness is not a matter of doing things right / but of doing the right things, / and we shouldn’t let the apparent success of being more efficient / mask the mistake of performing an activity / that is not important.

The heart of effective time management is in weekly time organization; (1) , you also need a semester-long calendar to lay (2) all of your major obligations. Remember, if you don’t have clearly (3)

goals, scheduling will be (4) for you for two reasons. (5) , you won’t have any guidelines to use for prioritizing your activities; and second, you will have trouble motivating (6) to complete the tasks in your schedule (7) are not immediately gratifying.

Fill in each blank in the passage below with ONE word you think appropriate.

however__________

out____

defined_________


difficult / hard_________________

First______

yourself__________

which / that______________

Two general approaches (8) weekly scheduling can work well. The first is fairly simple and (9) a daily list of things you want to accomplish that day. In order to use this method you need to know what your activities and obligations (10) for several weeks. This kind of approach (11) most to people who don’t like too much structure and (12) want to be locked into an hour-by-hour schedule.


involves_________

to___

are_____

appeals_________

don’t______

A conjunction is needed to indicate the shifting of meaning.



Grammatically speaking, the blank should be filled a preposition to form a verbal phrase with “lay”. As from the context we can see that the meaning of phrase should be “to arrange”.


Grammatically speaking, an adjective is needed here, between an adverb and a noun. Usually goals should be clear, so “clear” is the quality that is set. The adjective filled in the blank is expected to have the same meaning with “set”.


The first clause saying that “if you don’t have a clear goal”, so this clause stating the result may have the meaning that it is not an easy task for scheduling.


The previous sentence saying that for two reasons, so the next sentence must talk about what these two reasons are. As in the latter part of this sentence we see second is used, it is natural to come up with the other one.


The blank needed to be filled is the object of motivate. From the context we can see that there is nobody but the author himself / herself should be motivated, therefore, a reflexive pronoun is expected here.


_________ are not immediately gratifying is an attributive clause, so the blank should be filled with a relative pronoun.


Grammatically speaking, a preposition is needed here for the collocation of approach as a noun.


The sentence is talking about what the content of the first approach is, therefore, a verb meaning “include” is expected here.


What-clause lacks a verb to lead the predicative.

A verb is needed which has the collocation with to meaning “attracts” or “very suitable for”.


_________ want to and don’t like are parallel structure in the attributive clause here.



Giving a Talk

Having a Discussion

1) Compared with the essay of the unit, the overscheduling problem is also harassing Chinese people.

2) Personal life experience and some other people’s life have also reflected the same problem.

3) The accelerating living pace along with the globalization and the overall anxiety in the society altogether account for the current situation.

Current Situation of Life in China


Structure for reference:

1. Giving a Talk

1. Tell each other your daily routine. 2. Make self comments on your life.


Procedure:

2. Having a Discussion


Essay Writing: How to Write a Definition Essay

A definition essay is an essay that concentrates on the explanation of the meaning of a certain term. The term may be analyzed in the sense in which it is normally defined as in a dictionary, or from the subjective point of view of the person who is trying to define it.

A good definition essay is required to have a strong thesis statement in which the point of view the writer holds on a certain term is revealed.

1. Essay Writing


Dictionary definitions must be only a start for the writer’s unique definition of the term.

In order to make a definition essay effective, it is then necessary to find a definition of the term that corresponds to the opinion of the writer.

Definition Essay Structure

Introduction

Giving basic information on the term to be definedProposing the writer’s more specific definition, or the thesis


Giving clear examples to support the writer’s opinion, or the proposed definition

Providing, if possible, contrasting ideas about the definition

Restating the proposed definition

Restating the key points that support the definition

Body

Conclusion

Have a Heart1 What does the word “heart” mean? Strictly speaking, a heart is an organ of the physical body which pumps blood into the organism. The term “heart,” however, extends to more than the physical body.2 When lovers part, one will often claim to have a broken heart yet still remains alive. A saddened gent or lady will often clutch the area between the ribs at the center of the chest, and moan in sorrow over a lost lover. Physical or not, the heart in this case is also something that pumps life into the emotional body.


Sample


3 “Don’t lose heart,” says a friend to another who has been discouraged by one of life’s many trials. Now how can anyone lose his heart? I ask. Easily, by getting discouraged. Again, the heart becomes a symbol for pumping life into a system, but not a physical one.4 When one gets to the heart of the matter, she gets to its center — that which gives it meaning. When people beg, “Have a heart,” they are asking you to be compassionate — to recognize the soul in another. Having a heart-to-heart talk means to share something from the center of our being with someone else. Speaking from the heart always implies communicating from what is real and essential in our lives.


5 Perhaps the most common definition of the word “heart,” therefore, should recognize that “heart” is something essential to every human being, whether it is physical or not.

Sample Analysis


2. PracticeWrite a definition essay on the given topic: The Definition of Love.

The Definition of LoveA wise man once said that love is a wonderful

thing. Although this statement leaves sparse room for argument, it does little to define what love is beyond the vague realm of wonderful. It is my duty as a devout romantic to embark upon the seemingly difficult task of defining love by looking at the history, explaining what love is not, and examining the uses of love and the results of that usage.

Sample


The origin of the word is probably the most logical place to start. As with many words in the English language, love is a derivative of the Latin word “causemajoraproblemus” which means “You’re miserable when you got it and miserable when you don’t.” The word was created to explain the biological phenomenon that existed when certain individuals came into contact with each other and either remained together or went about their lives separately. Regardless of the outcome, the relationship was usuallycharacteristic of throat lumps, knotted stomaches, weak knees, temporary loss of language, sweaty palms, dizzyness, sneezing, and occasional nausea. Belligerent insanity also resulted. History clearly illustrates

this. Can we ever forget the face that launched a thousand ships? Federally expressing Van Gogh’s ear? The construction of Le Tour Eiffel? All of these were results of love and love lost. Star-crossed lovers have stated that love is not hand nor foot nor any part belonging to a man. Matrimonial ceremonies also claim that love is not jealous or boastful. Let it be stated here that love also is not a gourmet dish, a domesticated animal, or a latest trend. Love is not a strategic defense mechanism nor the best kept secret at the Pentagon. Love is not another seasoning to bottle and stick on the dust-lined shelves of the spice rack. Love is not to be confused with adhesive tape.



Instead, love is a great counterpart to late, evening thunder storms on hot July nights. Love goes well with cold pizza on picnic blankets. Love is cold, wet sand between bare toes. Love is a capitalistic sell-all for novels, Top-40 pop songs, summer movies, and greeting cards.

In its simplest terms, love is a four-letter word. Much like other words of similar letter make up, when expressed it can evoke laughter, pleasure, pain, anger, and virtually any wave of reaction. Love also can be confused with feelings of indigestion and gas. Houses have been built, burned, and banished because of love.

In this essay, the writer tries to define the word “heart” in his own way. In the introduction, the writer raises the question and provides the general definition: an organ of the physical body which pumps blood into the organism. After that, his personal definition, or the focus of the essay, is revealed: it is more than a physical organ. In the first sense, the meaning of “heart” is something that pumps life into the emotional body, or to put it concisely, “love”. Secondly, “heart” means courage, or power of life. And last but not least, it means compassion or soul. All this is beyond the physical part of the body, and more important for a man. It is notable, also, that the ideas are summed up at the end of each body paragraph. So in the conclusion, “heart” is defined as “something essential to every human being”, and it is not necessarily physical, which echoes the introduction.


Text II Memorable Quotes

A Lead-in Question

Text

Questions for Discussion

A Lead-in Question


Where is happiness from? Tell some happy moments you still remember now and give the reasons.

1 It used to be said that English people take their pleasures sadly. No doubt this would still be true if they had any pleasures to take, but the price of alcohol and tobacco in my country has provided sufficient external causes for melancholy. I have sometimes thought that the habit of taking pleasures sadly has crossed the Atlantic, and I have wondered what it is that makes so many English-speaking people somber in their outlook in spite of good health and a good income.

The Unhappy American Way


Bertrand Russell


2 In the course of my travels in America I have been impressed by a kind of fundamental malaise which seems to me extremely common and which poses difficult problems for the social reformer. Most social reformers have held the opinion that, if poverty were abolished and there were no more economic insecurity, the millennium would have arrived. But when I look at the faces of people in opulent cars, whether in your country or in mine, I do not see that look of radiant happiness which the aforesaid social reformers had led me to expect. In nine cases out of ten, I see instead a look of boredom and discontent and an almost frantic longing for something that might tickle the jaded palate.


3 But it is not only the very rich who suffer in this way. Professional men very frequently feel hopelessly thwarted. There is something that they long to do or some public object that they long to work for. But if they were to indulge their wishes in these respects, they fear that they would lose their livelihood. Their wives are equally unsatisfied, for their neighbor, Mrs. So-and-So, has gone ahead more quickly, has a better car, a larger apartment and grander friends.


4 Life for almost everybody is a long competitive struggle where very few can win the race, and those who do not win are unhappy. On social occasions when it is de rigueur to seem cheerful, the necessary demeanor is stimulated by alcohol. But the gaiety does not ring true and anybody who has just one drink too many is apt to lapse into lachrymose melancholy.


5 One finds this sort of thing only among English-speaking people. A Frenchman while he is abusing the Government is as gay as a lark. So is an Italian while he is telling you how his neighbor has swindled him. Mexicans, when they are not actually starving or actually being murdered, sing and dance and enjoy sunshine and food and drink with a gusto which is very rare north of the Mexican frontier. When Andrew Jackson conquered Pensacola from the Spaniards, his wife looked out of the window and saw the population enjoying itself although it was Sunday. She pointed out the scandal to her husband, who decreed that cheerfulness must cease forthwith. And it did.


6 When I try to understand what it is that prevents so many Americans from being as happy as one might expect, it seems to me that there are two causes, of which one goes much deeper than the other. The one that goes least deep is the necessity of subservience in some large organization. If you are an energetic man with strong views as to the right way of doing the job with which you are concerned, you find yourself invariably under the orders of some big man at the top who is elderly, weary and cynical. Whenever you have a bright idea, the boss puts a stopper on it.


The more energetic you are and the more vision you have, the more you will suffer from the impossibility of doing any of the things that you feel ought to be done. When you go home and moan to your wife, she tells you that you are a silly fellow and that if you became the proper sort of yes-man your income would soon be doubled. If you try divorce and remarriage it is very unlikely that there will be any change in this respect. And so you are condemned to gastric ulcers and premature old age.


7 It was not always so. When Dr. Johnson compiled his dictionary, he compiled it as he thought fit. When he felt like saying that oats is food for men in Scotland and horses in England, he said so. When he defined a fishing-rod as a stick with a fish at one end and a fool at the other, there was nobody to point out to him that a remark of this sort would damage the sale of his great work among fishermen. But if, in the present day, you are (let us say) a contributor to an encyclopedia, there is an editorial policy which is solemn, wise and prudent,


which allows no room for jokes, no place for personal preferences and no tolerance for idiosyncrasies. Everything has to be flattened out except where the prejudices of the editor are concerned. To these you must conform, however little you may share them. And so you have to be content with dollars instead of creative satisfaction. And the dollars, alas, leave you sad.


8 This brings me to the major cause of unhappiness, which is that most people in America act not on impulse but on some principle, and that principles upon which people act are usually based upon a false psychology and a false ethic. There is a general theory as to what makes for happiness and this theory is false. Life is concerned as a competitive struggle in which felicity consists in getting ahead of your neighbor. The joys which are not competitive are forgotten.


9 Now, I will not for a moment deny that getting ahead of your neighbor is delightful, but it is not the only delight of which human beings are capable. There are innumerable things which are not competitive. It is possible to enjoy food and drink without having to reflect that your have a better cook and a better wine merchant than your former friends whom you are learning to cold-shoulder. It is possible to be fond of your wife and your children without reflecting how much better she dresses than Mrs. So-and-So and how much better they are at athletics than the children of that old stick-in-the-mud Mr.


Such-and-Such. There are those who can enjoy music without thinking how cultured the other ladies in their women’s club will be thinking them. There are even people who can enjoy a fine day in spite of the fact that the sun shines on everybody. All these simple pleasures are destroyed as soon as competitiveness gets the upper hand.


10 But it is not only competitiveness that is the trouble. I could imagine a person who has turned against competitiveness and can only enjoy after conscious rejection of the competitive element. Such a person, seeing the sunshine in the morning, says to himself, “Yes, I may enjoy this and indeed I must, for it is a joy open to all.” And however bored he may become with the sunshine he goes on persuading himself that he is enjoying it because he thinks he ought to.


11 “But,” you will say, “are you maintaining that your actions ought not to be governed by moral principles? Are you suggesting that every whim and every impulse should be given free rein? Do you consider that if So-ad-So’s nose annoys you by being too long, that gives you a right to tweak it?” “Sir”, you will continue with indignation, “your doctrine is one which would uproot all the sources of morality and loosen all the bonds which hold society together. Only self-restraint, self-repression, iron self-control make it possible to endure the abominable beings among whom we have to live. No, sir! Better misery and gastric ulcers than such chaos as your doctrine would produce!”


12 I will admit at once that there is force in this objection. I have seen many noses that I should have liked to tweak, but never once have I yielded to the impulse. But this, like everything else, is a matter of degree. If you always yield to impulse, you are mad. If you never yield to impulse, you gradually dry up and very likely become mad to boot. In a life which is to be healthy and happy, impulse, though not allowed to run riot, must have sufficient scope to remain alive and to preserve that variety and diversity of interest which is natural to a human being. A life lived on a principle, no matter what,


is too narrowly determined, too systematic and uniform, to be happy. However much you care about success, you should have times when you are merely enjoying life without a thought of subsequent gain. However proud you may be, as president of a women’s club, of your impeccable culture, you should not be ashamed of reading a low-brow book if you want to. A life which is all principle is a life on rails. The rails may help toward rapid locomotion, but preclude the joy of wandering. Man spent some million years wandering before he invented rails, and his happiness still demands some reminiscence of the earlier ages of freedom.

About the author: Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872-1970) was a British philosopher, logician, essayist, and social critic, best known for his work in mathematical logic and analytic philosophy. His most influential contributions include his defense of logicism (the view that mathematics is in some important sense reducible to logic), and his theories of definite descriptions and logical atomism. Over the course of his long career, Russell made significant contributions, not just to logic and philosophy, but to a broad range of other subjects including education, history, political theory and religious studies. In addition, many of his writings on a wide variety of topics in both the sciences and the humanities have influenced generations of general readers. Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.


English people take their pleasures sadly (Paragraph 1): The original quote by Maximillian, Duc de Sully is “The English take their pleasures sadly after the fashion of their country.” The saying indicates that the English, either the nation or the people, are not cheerful. They tend to be reserved and conservative when they have any pleasure.


an almost frantic longing for something that might tickle the jaded palate (Paragraph 2): an extremely strong desire for something that might raise the wearied spirit. To tickle the jaded palate means to please someone or oneself.



On social occasions when it is de rigeur to seem cheerful (Paragraph 4): De rigueur is a French expression that literally means “of rigor” or “of strictness”. In English language usage, it means “necessary according to etiquette, protocol or fashion.”

When Andrew Jackson conquered Pensacola (Paragraph 5): Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767-June 8, 1845) was the seventh President of the United States (1829–1837). He was military governor of Florida (1821), commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans (1815), and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy. In 1818, he served in the military during the First Seminole War. He was ordered by President James Monroe in December 1817 to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Seminole and Creek Indians. Jackson was also charged with preventing Spanish Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves. But he believed the best way to settle all the problems was to seize Florida. Eventually Jackson captured Pensacola, Florida, with little more than some warning shots, and deposed the Spanish governor.



Dr. Johnson (Paragraph 7): Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr. Johnson) (1709-1784) was an English author. He made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, novelist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. After nine years of work, Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755; it had a far-reaching impact on Modern English and has been described as “one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship”. The Dictionary brought Johnson popularity and success; until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary, 150 years later, Johnson's was viewed as the pre-eminent British dictionary.

the millennium would have arrived (Paragraph 2): A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years (from Latin mille, thousand, and annum, year). The term may implicitly refer to calendar millenniums; periods tied numerically to a particular dating system, specifically the ones that begin at the starting (initial reference) point of the calendar in question (typically the year 1) or in later years which are whole number multiples of a thousand years after it. The term can also refer to an interval of time beginning on any date. Frequently in the latter case (and sometimes also in the former) it may have religious or theological implications such as Millenarianism, the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming major transformation of society, after which all things will be changed in a positive (or sometimes negative or ambiguous) direction.



If you try divorce and remarriage it is very unlikely that there will be any change in this respect (Paragraph 6): Even if you get rid of your wife who asks you to be a yes-man, and marry another woman, the problem won’t get any better, probably because this is a prevalent conception to which no one is an exception.


you are condemned to gastric ulcers and premature old age (Paragraph 6): Nevertheless, people suffer and remain unhappy.


you have to be content with dollars instead of creative satisfaction (Paragraph 7): For the sake of a good income, people have to give up their creative ideas and therefore feel sad.


The rails may help toward rapid locomotion, but preclude the joy of wandering (Paragraph 12): On rails, people may travel at a much higher speed, but they are unable to wander off into the wilderness and experience unexpected joys.

1. What is a kind of fundamental malaise which seems very common and which poses difficult problems for the social reformer?

People are troubled by a feeling of boredom and discontent, so they seem to yearn for something that may help to boost their spirits. The rich often feel depressed and professional men often feel hopelessly thwarted.



2. What is the first of the two causes that prevent people from being as happy as one might expect?It is the necessity of readiness to submit to others in some large organization. Conformity is encouraged and submission is a virtue. If you are bubbling with energy and laden with ideas, you constantly find yourself in trouble. You are bossed about by some big man at the top who is elderly, weary and cynical. The bright people always suffer from the impossibility of doing anything they believe to be right.

Most people act on some principles rather than on impulse. They believe in a general theory on how to make one happy, but the theory is basically false. A competitive struggle dominates life in which happiness lies in getting ahead of those who are your neighbors, colleagues or friends. They forget joys devoid of competitive elements. Though it is true that you are mad if you always yield to impulse, it is no less true that you may dry up by soft degrees if you never yield to impulse. If you desire to live a

3. What is the major cause that prevents people from being happy as much as possible?



healthy and happy life, you should allow impulse to have sufficient scope to remain alive and you should preserve a range of interests. However, if you live merely on principle, you can hardly feel happy.

In such a life, one may score earthly achievements in a fairly fast manner, but he may succeed in attaining his particular goal at the cost of freedom, which is an indispensable element of happiness.

4. How do you understand the statement that a life which is all principle is a life on rails?



We are closer to the ants than to the butterflies.

Very few people can endure much leisure.

— Gerald Brenan


I think that there is nothing, not even crime,

more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to

life itself, than this incessant business.

— Henry David

Thoreau

1. Do you sometimes feel bored in your summer vacation? If you do, think about why in working days you dream about having a rest, but when the day comes, your life seems empty. If you don’t feel in that way, how do you draw inexhaustible fun from the leisure time?

2. Have you ever thought about leaving the hustle and bustle city life to be a hermit where you do not have to keep pace with your work or study and you can grasp your own pace of life?


Questions for Discussion


Edward FitzGerald “Gerald” Brenan, CBE (1894-1987) was a British writer and Hispanist who spent much of his life in Spain. He is best known for The Spanish Labyrinth, a historical work on the background to the Spanish Civil War, and for South from Granada: Seven Years in an Andalusian Village.


Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American author, poet, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

Documents

Our Schedules, Our Selves Unit 13 Cultural information 1 Cultural Information Walden Pond is a lake located in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United