Grass never forgotten (P4)

I. Pre-reading 

Discuss the following questions with your partner.

Who is your favorite writer? Which of his/her works do you like best? Why?

 

II. Reading 

Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.

1. What is the author’s purpose in writing the article?

A. To analyze what has made The Tin Drum so popular in Germany.

B. To introduce the reader to Günter Grass and his most famous work. 

C. To present the history of Germany at the beginning of the 20th century.

D. To explain what inspired Günter Grass to write the novel The Tin Drum.

 

2. In The Tin Drum, the hero Oscar Matzerath refuses to grow up because ____.

A. he wishes he could always play at his father’s grocery

B. he considers it a way to escape from the war 

C. he doesn’t want to be a grocer as his father expects

D. he is afraid to be separated from the tin drum he is always banging 

 

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article? 

A. Grass was regarded as “Germany’s conscience” because his works faithfully reflected Germany’s splendid history.

B. Grass’s argument for the continued separation of the two German states in 1989 was widely supported in Germany.

C. Grass was criticized when his early experience in the Waffen-SS was revealed in his memoir.

D. Grass’s condemnation of the Waffen-SS in his memoir angered many Germans.

 

Key:

1. B。本文主要介绍了作家Günter Grass的写作特点以及他最有名的作品，所以答案为B。

2. C。由文章开篇的“ONE day a little boy, disgusted by his father’s decision to become a grocer (杂货商), decides that he will never grow up. Grocery is a dull, philistine (俗气的) job and staying a child is his protest (反抗) against it.”可知答案为C。

3. C。由第三段的“And Grass was called a hypocrite (伪君子) when he revealed in his memoir (回忆录) Peeling the Onion (2006) that he had been a teenage member of the Waffen-SS, the Nazi party’s fighting force. The man who had condemned the actions of others had a less-than-perfect record himself.”可知C为正确答案。

 

III. Post reading

Fill in the blanks below according to the article. 

Günter Grass, who passed away on April 13 at the age of 1. _____, was a German novelist, poet, and playwright. In 1999, the Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Prize in 2. _____, praising him as a writer "whose fables portray the forgotten face of history". 

Grass is best known for his first novel, The Tin Drum (1959), a key text in European magic realism. This book established Grass as one of Germany’s leading authors. 

Grass was a very 3. _____ man, always having much to say about Germany and its 4. _____ with the world. He was called “Germany’s conscience” because he reminded Germans of a 5. _____ – the Third Reich (1933-1945) – that many would rather have 6. _____.

During the events leading up to the reunification of Germany in 1989–90, Grass argued for the continued 7. _____ of the two German states as he believed a united country would be too strong and 8. _____ the world’s peace. Many Germans did not agree with this argument. He was also criticized as a hypocrite when his early 9. _____ in the Waffen-SS were revealed in his memoir.

 

Key:

1. 872. Literature3. political   4. relationship 5. past 

6. forgotten7. separation 8. threaten  9. experiences

 

Experiences change us (P5)

I. Pre-reading 

Discuss the following questions with your partner.

When you look at or experience something awesome, how do you feel? 

Do you think awe-inspiring experiences can change us? Why or why not?

 

II. Reading 

Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.

1. The underlined word “empathetic” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ____.

A. tolerantB. enthusiastic

C. independentD. understanding

 

2. The following things are mentioned as awe-inspiring experiences EXCEPT ____.

A. scuba diving or witnessing the birth of a child

B. watching a meteor shower or visiting a forest

C. listening to your favorite music or going to a pop concert

D. looking at a waterfall or going on a nature hike

 

3. How do awe-inspiring experiences change the way people think about time and make them more prosocial, according to the research?

A. By changing their emotional response to something large.

B. By making them more focused on the present moment.

C. By making them realize that life is too short to waste.

D. By inspiring them to face the challenges ahead of them.

 

4. According to Paul Piff, ____.

A. awe is beneficial for social harmony

B. awe often comes in an unexpected way

C. only adventurous experiences inspire awe

D. awe makes us more confident in ourselves

 

Key:

1. D。由下文的“allowing us to recognize another person’s emotional expressions better and respond with concern”可以推测出，该词的意思应该是“感同身受的”。

2. C。根据第三段的“The examples mentioned by the journal include scuba diving (潜水), witnessing the birth of a child, watching a meteor (流星) shower, and visiting a forest”、第五段的“like looking at a waterfall or a sky filled with stars”和最后一段的“for example, listening to a piece of music you haven’t heard before, going on a nature hike, or going to a pop concert”可以得出C为正确答案。

3. B。根据第五段可以得此答案。

4. A。Paul Piff提到“Awe makes our individual identity less important and gets us to think about things bigger than ourselves”，使人不再以自己为中心，也会多想想别人，所以A为正确答案。

 

Tidying up the car (P6)

I. Skimming

Read the article quickly and find out what it is mainly about. 

What is the article mainly about?

A. How the author’s daughter got her first new car. 

B. How the author taught his daughter to keep her car clean.   

C. The author’s family’s strong desire for new cars.

D. The author and his daughter’s attitudes toward their old and new cars.

 

Key:

D。本文主要讲的是作者的女儿对待新车与旧车的态度与作者如出一辙，所以D为正确答案。

 

II. Scanning 

Read the article again and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.

1. By saying “I must admit that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”, the author means that ____.

A. it’s common for people to keep their old automobiles messy

B. Lauren’s old car was messy because she didn’t like it at all

C. he found it hard to figure out why Lauren’s old car was always messy 

D. the author used to treat his car the way Lauren treated her old car before he got his present one

 

2. What was the biggest problem with Lauren’s old car?

A. There was something wrong with the front passenger side.

B. Leaks in the car created a lot of problems on rainy days.

C. It was always over-packed and had barely enough room in the back seat.

D. Its engine didn’t work well, making it hard to drive uphill or downhill.

 

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE about Lauren’s purchase of her new car according to the article?

A. She bought it with money she had earned all by herself.

B. After negotiating, she bought it for a good price. 

C. She decided to buy the car the very first time she visited the dealership.

D. She eventually changed her mind and bought a car recommended by Anthony.

 

4. Which adjective best describes the writer’s tone in the article?

A. Excited. B. Critical. C. Humorous. D. Doubtful.

 

Key:

1. D。从下文“because until I got my present car, all of the many automobiles I have had been messy too.”可知作者对待新车和旧车的态度与他女儿一样，所以这里the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree表示“有其父，必有其子”，故选D。

2. B。根据第三段的“The worst thing about her car was that it took on water every time it rained. No one could ever find the source of the leak (漏洞)”可以得出B为正确答案。

3. B。根据倒数第三段可知B为正确答案。由第五段的“She had her other eye on my wallet.”可知A不对；由倒数第四段的“He spent a lot of time with Lauren each of the three or four times she visited the dealership”可知C不对；由第五六段可知Anthony并没有向Lauren推荐某款车，所以D不对。

4. C。整篇文章行文幽默风趣，所以答案为C。

 

III. Language study 

1. I must admit that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree because until I got my present car, all of my many automobiles had been messy too.

释义：我必须得承认，有其父必有其子，因为截止到我买现在的这辆车，我以往所有的小汽车也都脏乱不堪。

分析：The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. 是一句英语谚语，从字面上理解是，从树上落下的苹果跑不了太远，翻译为中文则是“有其父必有其子”。

 

2. I turned over a new leaf and, for the first time since I got my driver’s license, cleaned up my act.

释义：我改过自新，而且这也是我拿到驾照以来第一次好好地清洗我的车。

分析：turn over a new leaf 指“翻开新的一页”，也就是“重新开始，改过自新”。clean up one’s act既是固定短语，有“改掉不良行为”的意思，又是一种双关的修辞手法，指他要开始好好清洁车了。如：You’re going to have to clean up your act if you’re serious about keeping your job.