Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Third Edition
Tehnoredactori:
Coperta:
JANETA LUPU
To my children,
Alexandru and Mayada
J.L.
CONTENTS
Foreword ..
GLOBAL ISSUES
Lesson 1. Globalization
The Present Tense ..
Lesson 2. International Crime ..
The Present Perfect Tense ..
Lesson 3. Demands of Human Solidarity .
The Past Tenses ..
Lesson 4. Communications ..
The Modal Verbs
9
14
19
23
27
29
33
37
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS
Lesson 1. Education ..
The Subjunctive .
Lesson 2. Career ...
Direct and Indirect Speech .
Lesson 3. Family Life ...
The Passive Voice ..
Lesson 4. Feminism ..
The Sequence of Tenses .
43
46
49
56
59
63
67
71
73
77
5
Lesson 2. Sculpture ..
The Participle .
Lesson 3. Music..
The Gerund .
Lesson 4. Beauty Pageants ...
81
85
89
93
97
Consolidation Exercises
Specimen Lesson Plan ...
Punctuation ...
Teaching English through Games
Translation Corpus ...
103
107
108
113
119
Bibliography .
144
FOREWORD
GLOBAL ISSUES
Lesson 1
GLOBALIZATION
We live now for the first time in human
history - in a new era when our planet is enveloped by
a single civilization
Vclav Havel
Social aspects
a) The demands of the global economy are bringing about
profound changes in the work habits and lifestyles of people in their
own native countries.
b) To meet the challenge of global competition, national
economies are obliged, if they are not to fall behind, to retool
themselves.
c) Competition often entails widespread social transformation
and dislocation, something which is naturally disruptive of established
social practices, and it is thus negatively viewed by both citizens and
governments (people do have a deep-seated craving for stability, a
human susceptibility that socialists know well how to play to).
Political aspects
a) Globalization poses a serious challenge to the old idea of
national sovereignty.
b) The new global economic order both requires and calls forth
the ever increasing liberalization of trade and investment, and
multilateral trade agreements necessarily restrict the ability of national
governments to act unilaterally in their own parochial interests.
Globalization and Culture
It does not make sense to talk of a world of 6 billion people
becoming a monoculture.
The spread of globalization will undoubtedly bring changes to the
countries it reaches, but change is an essential part of life. It does not
mean the abolition of traditional values. Indeed, new global media,
such as the internet, have proven a powerful means of projecting
traditional culture.
Capitalism is essentially diverse, as the traveller from Tokyo to
Hong Kong, Zurich, Buenos Aires and New York will discover. The
fact that American cultural products are successful in world markets
reflects no more than their popularity. American culture should no
more be vilified than should non-American culture be placed on a
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12
Comprehension
Answer the following questions:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Divide the text into units and make your own commentaries on
each of the aspects of globalization mentioned in the text.
The text is adapted from a longer essay. What characteristics of
the academic style can you infer from the text?
Find the meanings of the words in italics and use them in
sentences of your own.
Make sure you understand the meanings of the following
phrasal verbs and then make up sentences: to break into, to break off,
to break up, to blow off, to knock down, to point out, to hold up, to tell
off, to put off, to let down.
Grammar
Present Simple for Daily Habits
Read the sentences of a diary and mind the use of the present
simple for daily habits with the following verbs: give, touch, start,
end, do, try, get up, have, collect, sort out, manage, collapse, update,
print off, drive, leave, grab, go.
I at 7.45 am and a bath. I home at 9am and to work.
At 9.30 am I the voicemails from the previous evening, as we deal
14
with different time zones. Then I the e-mails and either action or
file them.
At 10.15 am I the post for my boss as I try to have everything
ready before I speak to him.
At 10.30 am I my boss a call. He dictation with me over the
phone for letters and e-mails.
At 1 pm I to get a break and a sandwich, although I try to
take two proper lunch breaks a week. Otherwise my day and in
one breath.
At 2 pm I to sort out my calls in between doing the typing,
which I try to finish before 4 pm. I usually e-mail, fax or read things
over the phone for my boss to proof.
At 5 pm I base with my boss and him on what he has asked
me to do, then I fax him a list of messages.
At 6 pm I home and , although I do go to the gym when I
have got the energy.
(from The Times, 2000)
Write a short paragraph describing a typical day's activities.
Extend upon the following, using the present simple:
a) Describe the day-to-day activities at your school or your place
of work.
b) Describe how you spend your leisure time in the evenings or
on weekends.
c) Describe what happens on Christmas/Easter day, or on some
other important day in the calendar.
Present Simple with frequency Adverbs
Answer the following questions using the present simple of the
verbs together with the adverbs given below: often, generally, never,
hardly ever, sometimes, usually, nearly always, occasionally,
frequently, always.
1. When do you get up?
2. What do you do on weekends?
3. Where do you spend your summer holidays?
15
I run to the bus stop and find I've just missed the bus! (real event,
colloquial usage).
When Hamlet meets his father's ghost, he learns the truth about
his uncle Claudius. (fictitious event)
Find more such examples.
f) in stage directions:
Kent: Go to: have you wisdom? so. (Pushes Oswald out)
Lear: Now, my friendly knave, I thank thee: there's earnest of thy
service. (Gives Kent money)
Look for more stage directions in three different English plays.
Written Assignment
Extend upon the following:
1. Those who make difficult choices in life often make lots of
mistakes. But those who avoid difficult choices make the biggest
mistake of all.
2. National characteristics.
3. The world as it will be a hundred years from now.
18
Lesson 2
INTERNATIONAL CRIME
To appreciate the growing phenomenon of globalized crime,
consider the following:
The drug Ecstasy, manufactured primarily in Netherlands, is
trafficked to the United States by, among others, Israeli organized
crime groups.
A computer virus designed and sent from the Philippines caused
computers at many U.S. government agencies to be shut down, some
for as long as a week.
A major U.S. bank discovered that it was being used by Russian
organized crime to launder money.
Columbian crime groups reportedly check via computer the
bank accounts of drivers stopped at roadblocks to select rich
kidnapping victims.
The September 11th terrorist attack on WTC, the Twin Towers,
and the Pentagon building, has resulted in the loss of thousands of
human lives.
These examples represent the new face of crime. The extent of
such illegal activity has increased enormously in the wake of
globalization. And those involved in it have no respect for, or loyalty
to nations, boundaries, or sovereignty.
Certain types of international crime terrorism, human
trafficking, drug trafficking, and contraband smuggling involve
serious violence and physical harm. Other forms fraud, extortion,
corruption, money laundering, intellectual property theft, and
counterfeiting dont require guns to cause major damage. Moreover,
the spread of information technology has created new categories of
cybercrime.
19
Terrorism
Terrorism is a unique form of crime. Terrorist acts often contain
elements of warfare, politics and propaganda. For security reasons and
due to lack of popular support, terrorist organizations are usually
small, making detection and infiltration difficult. Although the goals
of terrorists are sometimes shared by wider constituencies, their
methods are generally abhorred.
While the issues behind terrorism are usually national or regional,
the impact of terrorist campaigns is international. Their form of
psychological warfare is propaganda by deed. It is thus not possible
to look at international terrorism in complete isolation from
domestic terrorism, which is considered an internal matter of
sovereign states. Domestic terrorism often has spill-over effects into
other countries and linkages with foreign terrorist groups are not
uncommon.
Innovations in global communications have given some local
groups international standing, while internationally operating groups
use todays rapid international transportation to hit, run and hide.
Perpetrators of terrorism in one country frequently use other states as
safe havens or for fund-raising. They sometimes receive training
abroad and use foreign countries for staging terrorist acts or as
launching bases for their operations elsewhere. Victims of
domestically oriented acts of terrorism are often foreign business
people, diplomats or tourists.
Terrorists sometimes hide among emigrant diasporas and refugee
communities. Some terrorist organizations are partly engaged in illicit
smuggling of drugs and weapons. Most do not operate in a vacuum,
but rather side-by-side with non-violent militant groups pursuing the
same objectives but by peaceful means.
Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of ODCCP says: Success in
combating terrorism requires both strategic insights from research and
international cooperation based on best practices and lessons
learned.
20
Money Laundering
In recent years, crime has become increasingly international in
scope and the financial aspects of crime are complex due to the
rapidly changing advances in technology. International organized
crime is an enormous and multifaceted problem. It is not only a law
enforcement problem but a national and international security threat as
well.
With few exceptions, criminals are motivated by one thing
profit. Greed drives the criminal, and the end result is that illegallygained money must be introduced into a nations legitimate financial
system. Money laundering involves disguising assets so they can be
used without detection of the illegal activity that produced them.
The success of organized crime is based upon its ability to
launder money. Through money laundering, the criminal transforms
the monetary proceeds derived from criminal activity into funds with
a seemingly legal source.
This process has devastating social consequences. For one thing,
money laundering provides the fuel for drug dealers, terrorists, arms
dealers, and other criminals to operate and expand their operations.
Criminals manipulate financial systems in the United States and
abroad to further a wide range of illicit activities. Left unchecked,
money laundering can erode the integrity of our nations and the
worlds financial institutions.
Consider the fact that money laundering extends far beyond
hiding narcotics profits to include monies tied to crimes ranging from
tax fraud to terrorism and arms smuggling adding many additional
billions of dollars to the criminals profits. Criminal activities, without
restraint, fundamentally destabilize political and economic reform. As
history demonstrates again and again, political stability, democracy
and free markets depend on solvent, stable, and honest financial,
commercial, and trade systems.
There is now worldwide recognition that we must deal firmly and
effectively with increasingly elusive, well financed, and
technologically adept criminal organizations. These organizations are
determined to use every means available to subvert the financial
systems that are the cornerstone of legitimate international commerce.
21
Grammar
Present Perfect
Match each description of the use of the present perfect with
one of the example sentences below:
to talk about an action which started in the past and is still
continuing;
to talk about a very recent past action, for which no definite
time reference is given;
to talk about an action which is part of a persons experience,
and for which no definite time reference is given;
to talk about a past action which has had a result which can be
seen in the present;
to show that one action must be completed before another can
happen.
a) Weve just arrived.
b) As she has waited for three months, she can wait another ten
minutes.
c) Ill give you the book after youve paid for it.
d) How beautiful youve become!
e) Have you ever been to Britain?
You often use the present perfect with some of the following
time adverbials. Which ones?
all my life, ever, just, last month, already, next week, lately, now,
for three days, never, so far, since 1989, yesterday, yet, recently.
23
24
Written Assignment
1. There is a lot of violence around us today. Extend upon the
causes and possible cures.
2. How do you see a politically united Europe? Write three
paragraphs on this topic.
25
26
Lesson 3
The teachings of the religions have often been adjusted to suit the
dominant social order as of male domination, slavery, the class and
caste system and not contested their evils over long periods of time.
Though their messages are universal and open to all persons and
times, they have not generally been concerned with their application to
global realities, especially in relation to the worldwide organization of
socio-economic life. While religious funadamentalisms lead to
unfortunate social conflicts, religious values can be the underpinning
base for coalitions for world justice and peace.
World religions, as international agencies with a message of
justice and good-will to all, have the opportunity and obligation to
face this crisis of humanity. Religions, led by persons of good-will
and generosity can be bases for global networking of the people of
good-will. They must endeavour to work together for the realization of
their core values and thus give meaning to the present search for
human solidarity and the safeguarding of nature for future generations.
Comprehension
Answer the following questions:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
28
Read the text attentively and consider its style; can you realize
what is the profession of its author?
Congratulations! The text is indeed written by a specialist in
religions. He is Fr. Tissa Balasurija from Sri Lanka, a leading
spokesperson of Third World Theologies. How would you
characterize his style and attitude toward the global issues?
What is your personal opinion on the role of religions in our
changing world?
Look up the meanings of the following phrasal verbs and then
make up sentences: to pay back, to pay down, to pay for, to pay off, to
pay out, to pay up.
Grammar
The Past Tenses
Past Simple (narrative) for past events
Complete the following newspaper report using the past simple
of the verbs in brackets:
For the past three years, Lindita Rexhepi, an ethnic Albanian high
school student from the mining city of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo,
has not been able to go home. She (be) 14 when Serb troops
(expel) her and her family from their cement-block home and
(force) them across the border into Montenegro. When the war
(end) in 1999, they (return) to find the narrow road into their
hillside neighbourhood blocked by Serbs. The last time Lindita
(try) to visit (be) nearly a year ago. Riding in a police car under the
protection of French troops from the NATO-led peace-keeping force
KFOR, she and her family (attack - passive) by a gang of men who
(lob) a tear-gas canister through the front window. I (freeze),
Lindita says of the incident. I (can) not even move my legs. Now,
we dont even try anymore.
(TIME, February, 2002)
29
Past Progressive
Read the sentences and explain the use of the past progressive
in each situation:
a) I asked my children not to make a noise. I was trying to
understand what the newsreport was saying.
b) They called in without notice. We were all having dinner.
c) At 4 pm my husband was reading the newspaper.
d) When it started to snow I was looking for my woollen gloves.
e) Thomas, my best friend, was working all day last Sunday.
f) We were watching television all evening.
g) When my daughter arrived home I was baking an apple pie.
h) My friend was giving her course of lectures between 11 am
and 3 pm.
i) I thought she looked fatter. Apparently, she was putting on
weight.
j) They had moved the TV set into their bedroom they were
watching television there during the cold weather.
30
Written Assignment
1. Use the sentence below as the last sentence of an explanatory
paragraph, taking care to ensure that your use of tenses is correct:
He began to wish he had never come to the party.
2. Extend upon the following:
My greatest disappointment in life.
3. Translate into English:
Impresia pe care am avut-o adesea c unei valoroase buci
literare un comentariu bine conceput i sporete parc i mai mult
valoarea, e cu att mai puternic atunci cnd aud sau citesc un
asemenea comentariu privitor la o bucat muzical sau la un tablou,
domenii n care sunt ct se poate de profan. Ceea ce-mi spusese Vlad
despre imaginea care reprezenta cteva mobile din secolul al 18-lea
m-a fcut s m uit i mai atent la acel fotoliu pe care sttea o femeie
i la masa n jurul creia mncau civa aristocrai. in minte c m-a
ntrebat ce mai observ eu acolo i i-am rspuns foarte cinstit c eu, cu
slabele mele mijloace, n-a mai avea ceva de adugat
S-ar prea c ai mai vzut imaginea asta!
Ei, cnd am vzut-o prima oar nu tiu, dar pot s-i spun
cnd am vzut-o aievea, cci cu ochii minii am mai mngiat-o de
multe ori de atunci, de cnd am vzut-o ultima oar.
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Lesson 4
COMMUNICATIONS
IT an indispensable tool in communications
Human beings have various ways of communicating to each
other, such as music, art, dance, and facial expressions, but some of
these are more amendable than others to being expressed as strings of
symbols. Written language is the easiest of all, because, of course, it
consists of strings of symbols to begin with. If the symbols happen to
belong to a phonetic alphabet (as opposed to, say, ideograms),
converting them into bits is a trivial procedure, and one that was
nailed, technologically, in the early nineteenth century, with the
introduction of Morse code and other forms of telegraphy.
Computers do arithmetic on bits of information. Humans construe
the bits as meaningful symbols. But this distinction is now being
blurred, or at least complicated, by the advent of modern operating
systems that use, and frequently abuse, the power of metaphor to make
computers accessible to a larger audience. Along the way possibly
because of those metaphors, which make an operating system a sort
of work of art people start to get emotional, and grow attached to
pieces of software.
About twenty years ago Jobs and Wozniak, the founders of
Apple, came up with the very strange idea of selling information
processing machines for use in the home. The business took off, and
its founders made a lot of money and received the credit they deserved
for being daring visionaries. But around the same time, Bill Gates and
Paul Allen came up with an idea even stranger and more fantastical:
selling computer operating systems. This was much weirder than the
idea of Jobs and Wozniak. A computer at least had some sort of
physical reality to it. It came in a box, you could open it up and plug it
in and watch lights blink. An operating system had no tangible
33
35
Comprehension
After reading the first text, look up the meaning of the words in
italics using them in contexts of your own.
Answer the following questions:
a) Do you have any computing abilities?
b) How do human beings communicate?
c) What do software and hardware mean?
d) What was Bill Gates fantastical idea?
e) Does the operating system business have a future?
f) Enumerate the advantages of using computers.
Here is a list of phrasal verbs. Match the verbs with the
explanations on the right:
to call back
to call for
to call forth
to call in
to call off
to call on (upon)
to call out
to call up
Grammar
Functions of Modals
Ability/Inability
I can see smoke in the distance.
She cant speak German.
When I was at school, I could play a lot. (repeated action)
He was able to escape through a window. (single action)
She wasnt able to/couldnt eat the sandwich. (Both types can
be used in the negative for either a repeated or a single action)
Possibility/Impossibility
You can have a piece of cake if you want one.
You could ask someone for help.
You may be lucky this time.
She might come with us. (But I dont think so)
You cant rely on British weather.
Is she likely to come?
Is it likely that shell come?
Permission/Concession
Can I ask you a question?
Could you give me some advice?
May I make a suggestion?
Might I borrow your newspaper? (formal)
You can sit here if youd like to.
You may take the last sweet.
37
Obligation/Duty
She must pay the rent by Friday. (strong obligation or duty)
I have to speak to the boss. (obligation/necessity)
He had to have an X-ray.
Necessity
I need to improve my English.
The house needs cleaning.
He has to make up his mind soon.
Must I go with you?
Do I have to finish this now?
Need he sign the form?
Prohibition
You mustnt smoke in this room.
You are not to smoke in this room. (= its against the rules)
You cant join the Rotary Club. (= you arent allowed to join)
Absence of Obligation or Necessity
You neednt worry everythings under control.
I dont have to leave until 3 pm.
You neednt have waited for me. (But you waited)
They didnt need to make any more food. (And they didnt)
Logical Assumption (affirmative)
He must be nervous about the test.
You must be feeling very sad.
She must have left by now.
He must have been lying all along.
38
Written Assignment
1. It is generally agreed that society benefits from the work of its
members. How is the contribution of scientists valued in our society?
2. Extend upon the following:
Science is an ocean. It is open to the cockboat as the frigate.
One man carries across it a freightage of ingots, another may fish there
for herrings
(Bulwer, The Caxtons)
Knowledge is not an inert and passive principle, which comes to
us whether we will or not; but it must be sought before it can be won;
it is the product of great labour and therefore of great sacrifice.
The powers of man, so far as experience and analogy can guide
us, are unlimited; nor are we possessed of any evidence which
authorizes us to assign even an imaginary boundary, at which the
human intellect will, of necessity, be brought to a stand.
(Buckle, History of Civilization)
41
42
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS
Lesson 1
EDUCATION
Gap years: a growing trend
It was heartening to see a rise in the number of school-leavers
applying to take a gap year before embarking on university study. One
student in six chooses to stay at home rather than face the financial
burden of starting a new life away at college. Clearly, these are also
likely to be the least able to afford a traditional gap year. And yet
employers and university dons agree that students who have taken a
year off to travel or work overseas often make the best students and
the most employable graduates.
The experience confers extra maturity and determination while
studying, as well as those key skills of communication and teamworking that the Government wants youngsters to be able to
demonstrate.
A host of gap-year companies and charities has sprung up to meet
demand and some can offer financial help to a few youngsters.
However, it still helps in making the decision to travel if you can pack
a credit card or phone home for cash when the going gets tough.
As the most adventurous school-leavers are the ones that
universities and employers most want, there should be a more formal
nationwide system for helping to organise gap years. In no way should
the experience be made compulsory, as it is clearly not for everyone.
43
to come about
to come across
to come by
to come down
to come in
to come of
to come on
to come out
Grammar
The Subjunctive
Three categories of subjunctive may be distinguished (according
to Randolph Quirk):
a) The mandative subjunctive, used with any verb in subordinate
that-clauses when the main clause contains verbs like: demand,
require, move, insist, suggest, ask, etc. that .The use of this
subjunctive occurs chiefly in formal style (and especially in Am E)
where in less formal contexts one would rather make use of toinfinitive or should+infinitive:
It is/was necessary that every member inform himself of these
rules.
It is/was necessary that every member should inform himself of
these rules.
It is/was necessary for every member to inform himself of these
rules.
Other examples:
a) It is important that children associate education with men as
well as women.
b) It is important that we have parental support.
46
If he {
Written Assignment
Comment upon the following ideas:
1. The mind of a child is a virgin page, on which we can write
almost what we like; but when we have once written, the ink is almost
indelible.
2. We should teach our children something of everything, and
then, as far as possible, everything of something.
3. Without popular education, moreover, no government which
rests upon popular action can long endure.
48
Lesson 2
CAREER
Make your holiday pay
August is quite a good time to be job searching in Britain because
students who have been working in July are now setting off on
holiday. Many permanent employees are doing the same and these
positions need to be filled. In Autumn, the Blue Arrow Agency is to
introduce mobile recruitment centres which will visit universities to
allow students to register for Christmas holiday jobs.
Then there are the Internet sites. Revolver.com has a wide range
of job opportunities, including those that appear in The Times.
Hotrecruit.co.uk caters specifically for students and young people. It
offers some of the zaniest jobs around both in the UK and abroad. It
does have normal office and bar tempting work, but its openings for
summer jobs also include wing walking for a stunt team, tank driving,
dungeon keeping (at the London Dungeon) and a scuba diving
assistant in Greece. A look at the sites demonstrates that temporary
work does not need to be boring.
A Web future in journalism
Bigbluespot has been set up to give away free computers to
students. The site has an online student magazine and I am proud of
my work on that. I know the idea of free computers sounds too good
to be true but it isnt.
They are second-hand computers, previously used by large
organisations. We wipe the hard drives and load Windows 95 which is
fine for writing dissertations. To be eligible, students need to sign up
for an account, which gives them an e-mail address, and fill in a
lifestyle questionnaire. There is an 85 returnable deposit and 14 is
49
51
Closing:
State your availability for an interview. Better yet, give a
time when you will recontact the company to further discuss
employment opportunities.
52
and easy to peruse. Use capitals, underlines, bold print and bullets
appropriately to lead the readers eyes where you want them to go.
Use ample blank space between sections, and leave generous margins
on all four edges. This is not a time to save paper. Make the most
important information stand out on the left side of the page. Create a
document that welcomes the readers attention.
Before starting to prepare your cover letter and CV, make sure
you understand all the words underlined as well as the ideas.
Use the following phrasal verbs in contexts of your own: break
away, break down, break in, break off, break off, break out, break
through, break up, break with.
Grammar
Direct and Indirect Speech
Report the following, paying attention to the sequence of
tenses:
1. The Chancellor said: My first concern is to lift pensioners
out of poverty.
2. He added: We cant go back to the earnings link. What we
must do is help the poorest pensioners and people on modest
incomes.
3. A union official insisted: Of course there was dissent,
otherwise why would they have to redraft the document?
4. The chief executive said: We are back in the race, which is
all that we ever wanted.
5. Mr. Richards said: The commission has decided on a
procedure that results in such unfairness as to render the
decision unlawful.
6. Cdr. Fry said: They will be uppermost in our minds.
56
57
Written Assignment
1. Prepare your cover letter(s) and CVs for a position in a
school, university or a company.
2. Comment upon the following:
The real price of labour is knowledge and virtue, whereof wealth
and credit are signs. These signs, like paper money, may be
counterfeited or stolen, but that which they represent, namely,
knowledge and virtue, cannot be counterfeited or stolen.
(Emerson)
Real intelligence is a creative use of knowledge, not merely an
accumulation of facts. The slow thinker who can finally come up with
an idea of his own is more important to the world than a walking
encyclopedia, who hasnt learned how to use the information
productively.
(D. Kenneth Winebrenner Argonaut)
58
Lesson 3
FAMILY LIFE
The Spectrum of family relations across cultures and time
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Marital Disunions
Divorce
Death
Institutions affecting & affected by family systems
religion
work
science
political orders
law
mass media
Remembering our roots: genealogy
(Journal of Marriage and Family, February, 2002)
In the second group are people who use an aggessive style and
react angrily to many different things. Their aggession is a way to
dominate others and control the situation. It also can be a barrier to
building relationships.
In the third group are people who use an assertive style to express
anger and communicate their feelings without blaming the other
person. The focus is on the behaviours involved, not on the persons
character.
Easing the Parent/Teen Crisis
What are some ways parents can begin to break the circle of
disagreement with their teens? First, recognize that teenagers must
become independent, to learn to become adult, just as they had to
learn to walk and talk to grow from infancy to childhood. The first
toddling steps away from the mother and the first No, I wont are
the beginnings of growth toward independence, the task of every
healthy child.
If becoming independent is the task of children, then the task of
parents must be to help their children reach independence by allowing
them to walk (and fall), talk (and make mistakes) and slowly take
control of their lives.
The changing parent/child relationship is bound to cause some
problems and stress in all families. Parents can no longer control every
part of their teens life, but they can keep communication lines open
and be a positive example for their teen to follow. The warmth with
which mature parents speak of their relationship with their teens is
evidence that the struggle to help and let the children go is wellrewarded, for only then will they want to come back.
(Donna Rae Jacobson, family science
specialist, 1995)
61
The following are among the questions that the nations courts
have had to wrestle with as the nature of American life has, in the
course of a generation, been revolutionized:
Does a father have the right to give his children his last name
even if his wife objects?
Can an expectant mother obtain an abortion without her
husbands permission?
Should a teenager, unhappy with her parents restrictions on
her smoking, dating, and choice of friends, be allowed to
have herself placed in a foster home?
Should a childless couple be permitted to hire a surrogate
mother who will be artificially inseminated and carry a child
to delivery?
62
64
65
Written Assignment
66
Lesson 4
FEMINISM
Pre-reading discussion
Here are a few quotations from the French writer Simone de
Beauvoir. How would you comment upon them?
Legislators, priests, philosophers, writers, and scientists have
striven to show that the subordinate position of woman is willed in
heaven and advantageous on earth. The religions invented by men
reflect this wish for domination. In the legends of Eve and Pandora
men have taken up arms against women. They have made use of
philosophy and theology, as the quotations from Aristotle and St.
Thomas have shown.
The parallel drawn by Bebel between women and the proletariat
is valid in that neither ever formed a minority or a separate collective
unit of mankind. And instead of a single historical event it is in both
cases a historical development that explains their status as a class and
accounts for the membership of particular individuals in that class.
But proletarians have not always existed, whereas there have always
been women. They are women in virtue of their anatomy and
physiology. Throughout history they have always been subordinated
to men, and hence their dependency is not the result of a historical
event or a social change it was not something that occurred. The
reason why otherness in this case seems to be an absolute is in part
that it lacks the contingent or incidental nature of historical facts.
Womans brain is smaller; yes, but it is relatively larger. Christ
was made a man; yes, but perhaps for his greater humility. Each
argument at once suggests its opposite, and both are often fallacious.
If her functioning as a female is not enough to define woman, if
we decline also to explain her through the eternal feminine, and if
67
exploitation
discrimination
battle of the sexes
sexist
70
Grammar
The Sequence of Tenses
Use the correct tense form of the verbs in brackets:
1. They indicated that the minimum income guarantee (extend)
to include those drawing small private pensions.
2. English Heritage argued that Seahenge, with a massive oak
centrepiece, (risk) destruction unless its timbers (be) restored.
3. Mr. Lambert, the head of a haulage firm, has said he (pay) to
have the circle put back in the sea.
4. British officials said it was unlikely that the government
(increase) its deployment of troops.
5. Ministers suggested that senior citizens (spend) too much
time on cruises and not enough doing voluntary work for the
community.
6. He needed to understand that the manager (want) him for a
reason, and hes grabbed that his job (become) part of his
image and hes proud of it.
7. The student declared that she (learn) about restrictive relative
clauses a long time before.
8. She has just told me that she (not like) rap music.
9. I was thinking what a pleasure it (be) to see my friends in
England again.
10. I hope you (not forget) that there (be) a meeting tonight.
Supply the correct tense of the verbs in brackets; then turn the
passage into reported speech.
I apologise for not (type) all the letters, said the bosss
secretary, but I (have) too much work to do, she explained.
You always (make) this excuse, complained the boss; perhaps
you (not work) hard enough, he suggested.
No, that (not true), she denied. But I (arrive) rather late, she
admitted.
71
I (cut) your pay unless you (start, work) properly, the boss
threatened.
Afterwards the boss (wonder) if he (be) a bit too hard on her.
When Ann (join) our firm ten years ago, he said she already
(work) in the same business and (learn) a lot about it. For the first
five years with us, he added, she (work) in the Sales Department,
and (work) there when I (become) Managing Director, but since then
she (work) as my personal assistant. I sincerely hope, he pointed
out, that she (go on work) here until I (retire).
Translate the following paragraph into English:
Niciodat nu a fi crezut c soia mea era o femeie att de crud,
n stare s-mi fac fr folos atta ru. Pn a doua zi, care mi se prea
la captul unui interminabil trecut, simeam c voi nnebuni. tiam c
iubirile sunt trectoare, dar mi spuneam c sfriturile trebuie s fie
cinstite, c ntre oameni, care dup ce au fcut o cltorie plcut
mpreun, se despart elegant, se salut cu cordialitate i la nevoie cu
prere de ru c totul a durat att de puin. Sfritul acesta mi se prea
o nemeritat infamie. Mi-e cu neputin s notez toate ncercrile prin
care am trecut, haosul de gnduri pe care le-am confruntat aa cum n-o
mai fcusem pn atunci i nici de atunci ncoace.
Written Assignment
Comment upon the following using specific reasons and
examples to support your ideas.
1. Modern life is causing many traditions and beliefs to become
less important. Explain why certain traditions should be continued and
maintained.
2. Research revealed the ten most expressive words in the English
language: the most bitter word is Alone; the most reverent,
Mother; the most tragic, Death; the most beautiful, Love; the
most cruel, Revenge; the most peaceful, Tranquil; the saddest,
Forgotten; the warmest, Friendship; the coldest, No; the one
bringing the most comfort, Faith.
72
Make sure you understand the words in italics in both texts, and
use them in contexts of your own.
Learn the following idioms by using them in sentences of your
own:
to give the go-by to to ignore (a person or thing);
to give a handle to to provide an enemy/opponent/critic, with
an occasion/argument/excuse/pretext, that can be made use of or taken
advantage of;
to give the palm to to admit as best/pre-eminent/winner;
to give a person beans/socks to punish or defeat severely;
to give tongue (or mouth) to to express in speech;
to go into a flat spin to become muddled, to panic;
to go to the country (of a government) to resign and have a
general election;
to go to pieces of a thing, to be ruined; of a person,
physically/mentally/morally, to deteriorate, to break up;
to go under for a person, to fall into a state in his
career/business/social position, where he no longer has the
importance/success/prestige, he formerly had;
to go up (or end) in smoke to lead to no effective result, to be a
failure.
Grammar
The Infinitive
Remember the forms of the infinitive!
Active:
Common aspect: Present: (to) give
(to) go
Perfect: (to) have given
(to) have gone
Contin. aspect: Present: (to) be giving
(to) be going
Perfect: (to) have been giving
(to) have been going
Passive:
(to) be given
77
79
Written Assignment
Comment upon the following:
A book is the product of mind and yearning, spread patiently
across long centuries. It is the sign and symbol of mans culture and
understanding. It prevents the loss of good thinking and it expands
mans highest moments of permanency. It is the carrier and distributor
of the germinations of the mind. It will not permit noble visions to
wither. It breathes vitality into the past and brightens the eyes that
search the future.
(Peabody Journal of Education)
A man will turn over half a library to make one book.
(Samuel Johnson)
If teachers can accumulate degrees and write books, well and
good, but the first requisite should be their ability to inspire youth.
(Eleanor Roosevelt)
80
Lesson 2
SCULPTURE
Pre-reading discussion
1) Do you like plastic arts? Which do you prefer, sculpture or
painting?
2) Do you know any famous Romanian sculptors/painters?
3) Which famous museums of the world would you like to visit?
4) Do you have any artistic talent?
5) What do you know about the art schools in Romania?
VCU Sculpture: A Prominent Profile
Richmond It is critique day at Virginia Commonwealth
Universitys graduate sculpture program, a demanding, nationally
ranked crucible of young artistic talent that one professor here refers
to as boot camp for the battle of Sotto. Twice each semester,
students are required to invite three faculty members into their studios
to see and discuss the works in progress.
Critiques, or crits , are used by many of Americas top art
schools. But at VCU students are given usually broad lattitude to
pursue their artistic visions, and they spend months working
independently. That policy puts tremendous weight on the critiques. It
has produced a steady stream of acclaimed young artists and made
VCU, a nondescript urban university located in this citadel of
Southern culture, arguably the hottest graduate sculpture program in
the country.
These meetings between students and professors are usually
collegial, serious and unflinchingly frank, a mixture of midterm, cabin
inspection, brainstorming session and encounter group. Occasionally
81
they turn rough. Crits can get ugly. But then after youve bitten
somebodys head off, everyone goes out for a beer, says Tara
Donovan, a sculptor who received her masters degree from VCU last
spring and was recently selected for the Whitney Biennial, one of
Americas premier contemporary art exhibitions. The teachers treat
you like a professional. The point is to give you feedback on your
work, to make you think about what youre doing and why youre
doing it.
On this particular day the grad students, most wearing the
standard-issue art school colors of black or gray, arrive at their studios
early. Their faces bear the tired-but-wired look born of late work, bad
sleep and stress.
A trio of professors files into Peter Tascarellas spacious studio in
VCUs new $14 million sculpture building. In the center of the room
is an exact plywood replica of a video arcade game console, complete
with glowing computer screen and pistol-grip joystick. The teachers
gaze at the contraption as if it were an alien spacecraft.
Those art schools tend to stress art about socio-political issues
such as gender and identity. The emphasis is clearly on process, on
conceiving and producing first-rate art. Grad students are given broad
lattitude to develop and pursue their own work. Everyone here likes
making stuff and making it as technically sophisticated as possible.
Many VCU grads had gallery shows outside Richmond while still
in school. Using water-soluble fabric, Renee Rendine sewed series of
concentric cylinders that were suspended from the gallery ceiling. At
the opening of the exhibit, she wore a bodysuit and slipped inside the
cylinders and carefully rubbed holes in the fabric, creating gossamer
honeycombs that had a womblike quality.
Donovan, who creates lyrical, tactile and beautiful installations
based on the innate physical properties of common materials such as
fiber optic cable or toothpicks, filled the Hemphill Gallery with
roofing felt, turning it into a topographical survey of some black
planet reeking of tar. In both instances, the artists were assisted by
their fellow students.
(Ferdinand Protzman, Special to the
Washington Post, Sunday, January 30, 2000)
82
John Van Alstine is widely known for works that combine stone,
steel, and found objects (sometimes industrial in origin and sometimes
natural or manmade forms cast in bronze). The work is abstract yet
allegorical, exhibiting an ongoing narrative that is carried forward by
the artists alchemical combination of forms and materials. He began
his career as a stone sculptor, emulating Brancusi, Arp and Moore, but
he soon became interested in Noguchis use of rough-hewn rocks and
in the Postminimalist strategies of Richard Serra and Jackie Ferrara,
among others. In the 1970s, he began assembling stones, taken
straight from the quarry, with added wood and steel elements.
His later works continue to juxtapose stone and steel, but in the
context of the inherent imagery of found objects that suggest human
industry and labor as well as the history and fate of the environment
and the landscape. Tether (Boys Toys) (1995) is a key work that
includes a huge airplane fuel tank that floats at the end of a chain
above a large round stone and an anchor. The assemblage suggests a
vessel or a missile and brings to mind both the constructive and the
destructive, the comic and the apocalyptic aspects of boys toys.
Van Alstines works establish places of contemplation about
humanitys many physical, cultural, and spiritual relationships with
the land and our planetary home.
(Glenn Harper, Washington Post, 2000)
83
Comprehension
Answer the following questions:
a) Why is the day referred to in the first text called critique
day?
b) What is the policy of VCU?
c) Why is it important for the graduates of VCU art school to
meet with their professors and the critics?
d) How are the students dressed on that particular day?
e) What do most art schools in America tend to stress about?
f) What materials do graduate students use in their creations?
g) How would you characterize the works of John Van Alstine?
Match the phrasal verbs on the left with the corresponding
explanation on the right:
look after
look ahead
look for
look down on
look up to
look out
look onto
look up
look at
look to
84
Grammar
The Participle
Remember the forms of the participle!
Present:
Perfect:
Past Participle:
Active:
giving
going
having given
having gone
gone
Passive:
being given
given
Written Assignment
88
Lesson 3
MUSIC
Pre-reading discussion
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
91
Comprehension
Answer the following questions:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
control (oneself/feelings)
delay; prevent development
wait to get sth desired
postpone
keep at a distance; delay
endure; resist
wait
delay; rob
keep a secret from sb
92
Fill in the blanks with one of the idioms: on the quiet, out of the
question, be in the same boat, be in sbs shoes, through thick and thin,
on second thoughts, make ones day, in deep water, make waves,
frosty welcome.
1) Although he was collecting unemployment benefit, he was
working as a cosmetics distributor.
2) It is that you should drive the car without your licence.
3) As far as jobs go, were both . I havent worked for
months either.
4) If I , I would think twice about taking that job.
5) Dont ever leave me, pleaded Bussaba. Dont worry, well
be together ., answered Alex.
6) Write this essay for homework, the teacher said. No,
do it now, he added.
7) She when she accepted his proposal; it was the happiest
day of his life.
8) Unless you can explain where you got the money, Im afraid
youll find yourself .
9) My boss accused me of when I complained about our
working conditions.
10) We got such a when we arrived at the party that we almost
wished we hadnt gone.
Grammar
The Gerund
Remember the forms of the Gerund!
Tense
Voice
Active
Indefinite
requiring
going
Perfect
having required
having gone
Passive
being required
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Formally the gerund has the same form as the participle and it
also has a verbal origin, only its function is both verbal and nominal.
e.g. He had an aptitude for mimicking people.
He had a bad habit of smoking before breakfast
The gerund may be associated with certain parts of speech: a)
verbs, b) verbs with prepositions, c) nouns with prepositions, d)
adjectives with prepositions.
e.g. a) (to) avoid, bear, begin, finish, hate, intend, keep, prefer, start,
stop, I cant help;
b) (to) accuse of, agree on, aim at, believe in, consist in, prevent
from, result in, succeed in;
c) art of, disappointment at, experience in, fear of, habit of
hope(s) of, idea of, importance of, objection to, process of,
reason for, right of, surprise at, way of;
d) capable of, conscious of, proud of, responsible for. Also:
worth.
Make up sentences of your own practising the gerund.
Written Assignment
Write an essay starting from the famous idea that music is
the real universal language.
Translate into English:
Ceea ce este esenial n crezul artistic al lui Celibidache, nu st
sub semnul perfeciunii, cum ar putea s par natural, ci sub semnul
adevrului artistic.
Romnul Sergiu Celibidache maestru vrjitor n a obine cele
mai rafinate nuane El poate fi cnd charmeur , cnd demon,
cnd acrobat Cu gestul su impulsiv dar foarte precis, aci nbu o
voce, aci o realizeaz din desiul partiturii, aci rotunjete o cantilen,
aci subliniaz contururile incisive ale almurilor.
Felul n care marele artist i structureaz programele ndreapt
atenia asupra esenei muzicale, propunnd o singur vedet, muzica
nsi i, paradoxal, un singur solist: orchestra nsi.
(Iosif Sava Iubii muzica secolului 20)
96
Lesson 4
BEAUTY PAGEANTS
Pre-reading discussion
1)
2)
3)
4)
Comprehension
True or false?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
102
CONSOLIDATION EXERCISES
Use the words in brackets in the correct tense.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
They say that this book was written by two people. (said)
There is nothing we can do about it. (done)
I hate them to leave me behind. (left)
You shouldnt take delight in other peoples failures. (gloat)
Could someone answer my question? (there)
It is usual for children to ask a lot of questions. (apt)
I disapprove of people who lie, he said. (disapproval)
Dont talk during the lesson! the teacher said. (forbade)
He flew to New York with no stop-overs. (direct)
A speech was delivered and the film was shown. (first/later)
Why dont you give all these old clothes away? (rid)
He felt that his employers didnt appreciate him. (granted)
She said she was worried about the problem of pollution.
(concern)
14. Some friends put his name forward to be spokesman.
(nominated)
15. He suffers from delusions and hallucinations. (prone)
16. The end of the film was completely unexpected. (taken)
17. A rejection of their offer would have been foolish. (accepted)
18. It obviously wasnt her intention to offend you. (mean)
19. You should do what your tutor advises. (advice)
20. She said she disliked loud music. (expressed)
Make up new sentences as suggested between brackets.
1. She heard the news. She told all her friends.
(On)
2. When you finish your work, you can leave.
(The sooner)
3. The rain stopped. The sun came out.
(Hardly.)
4. Who does this house belong to?
(Who is .)
105
C. Objectives
D. Contents
E. Additional possibilities
107
PUNCTUATION
g) in direct speech:
e.g. Ive got a lot of work to do, he said, so Id better go
home now.
h) in figures, the comma is used instead of the full stop in
Romanian:
e.g. 1,000,000 = 1.000.000
The Dash ()
It marks an unfinished idea, or a long pause; sometimes it has the
role of a comma.
The event will bring them here when?
Errits a its a nice hat youre wearing, she uttered timidly.
The Hyphen (-)
It is used:
a) in compound words:
e.g. forget-me-not; kind-hearted; blue-eyed; up-to-date; washingmachine, etc.
b) to link a prefix with a proper or abstract noun:
e.g. pre-war, anti-American, post-Victorian
c) to separate a prefix from a word whose first letter is the same
as the last letter of the prefix:
e.g. co-ordination, re-examine, re-enter, co-operation
110
c) after interjections:
e.g. Hush! Hush! said the Rabbit.
Beware of dogs!
Tut! Tut!; Fie!; Ugh!; Shame!; Alas!; You dont say!
112
SPELLING GUESS
Level: any
Type: blackboard
Choose two teams of not more than 10 members each for this
game. One team decides on the word, and one of its members puts
dashes on the blackboard to represent the number of letters in the
word. Suppose the word chosen is chemistry. The player puts on the
blackboard:--------- (nine dashes). The play continues with each player
on the opposite team in turn calling out a letter. The letter is put in its
proper place if it belongs in the word. Suppose the first player says A.
Since there is no A in the word, the next member of the team calls a
letter. He says E, and the player at the blackboard puts it in its proper
place: --E------ Because E was correct, the player gets another turn.
If the word is completed before or by the time each member of
the team has called out a letter, the team scores one point.
For the second word, the teams reverse their roles. The game
continues in this way to any number of words the group decides on.
VOCABULARY ON THE DOUBLE
Level: any
Type: oral
The person who has been chosen IT gives a three-letter word like
hat or bag and then begins to count to 12. The person addressed must,
before the count of 12, give words beginning with each of the three
letters in the word given or become IT.
For example, if the word is hat, the player might say, Hand,
arm, toe . If the word is bag, the player might say, Beam, apple,
gum.
113
WORD FAMILIES
Level: intermediate to advanced
Type: oral or paper
Within the limits of the vocabulary the students have studied,
prepare a list of words, each of which will suggest at least one other
word, also known to the students, that is in the same family.
Here are some words that might be in the list, with the words that
they suggest in parentheses: law (lawyer, lawless), science (scientist),
difference (different), pronounce (pronunciation), etc. The words may
be given to the students one by one either orally or in a list on paper.
Score correct answers accordingly.
HAVE YOU SEEN MY SHEEP?
Level: intermediate to advanced
Type: active
Structures emphasized: questions and answers. All the players
except IT, who is outside the circle, goes up to one of the players, taps
on his back, and asks, Have you seen my sheep?
The player addressed asks, How was he dressed?.
Then IT begins to describe one of the players in the circle. As
soon as the player who is being described recognizes himself, he
begins to run around outside the circle with IT running after him. If
the player does not get back to his place in the circle before IT catches
him, he becomes IT and the play is repeated.
WHICH SOUNDS ARE ALIKE?
Level: intermediate to advanced
Type: paper
Prepare in advance and give each student a list like the one
bellow. The object of the game is for the players to circle the word on
the right in each line which has the same sound as the letter or letters
114
underlined in the word on the left. The student who gets the most
correct is the winner.
try
his
little
cold
made
feet
money
sit
sat
peace
ruler
largest
get
kind
115
MENTAL HIDE-AND-SEEK
Level: any
Type: oral
Structure emphasized: Use of prepositions.
First, the group should decide on the limits of the territory to be
considered in the game, such as in the building, in the room, on the
grounds, in the city. Then one player thinks of a hiding place, in other
words, hides himself mentally. The others try to guess where he is
hiding and the player who guesses correctly becomes the next one to
hide. Since the game is imaginative, the player may be hiding behind a
picture, in a desk, on a high shelf, etc.
BROKEN PROVERBS
Level: advanced
Type: oral
The leader should have a master list of proverbs with the division
into halves indicated, e.g. A stitch in time / saves nine. The second
halves of all the proverbs on the list should be written on cards ahead
of time. Before the play begins, these cards should be spread out so
that all the members of the group can see them.
The play begins with the leader reading the first half of the
proverb on the list. The members of the group who recognize it grab
for the card containing the other half. The play continues in this way,
the player with the most cards at the end being the winner.
WHATS WRONG?
Level: advanced
Type: paper
Prepare in advance a number of sentences each having one word
that is obviously wrong. The object of the game is for the players to
rearrange the letters of each wrong word to make a word that fits the
meaning of the sentence. One point is scored for each correct word.
Here are some examples, with the solution written in parantheses
after each one:
116
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
ANAGRAMS
Level: intermediate to advanced
Type: paper
In this game players may work individually or in teams of two or
three persons.
Give each player or team a list of words, each of which can be
rearranged into at least one other word. The lists may be typed
beforehand or written on the blackboard. Give the players a limited
time in which to rearrange each word in the list to form a second
word. The person or group that gets the most words correct is the
winner.
BUILDING WORDS
Level: intermediate to advanced
Type: paper
Write on the blackboard a list of 20 word endings: ted, ent, ket,
her, red, dow, sty, ure, ase, tch, wly, ter, ons, try, mes, ast, ics.
Give the players a limited time in which to make these endings
into words. The score is the number of correct answers. Any known
uncapitalized word is acceptable. The first three above might be
wanted, student, basket. The play may be repeated with other lists of
117
118
TRANSLATION CORPUS
English source texts
Consciously or unconsciously, men are proud of their firmness,
steadfastness of purpose, directness of aim. They go straight towards
their desire, to the accomplishment of virtue sometimes of crime
in an uplifting persuasion of their firmness. They walk the road of life,
the road fenced in by their tastes, prejudices, disdains or enthusiasms,
generally honest, invariably stupid, and are proud of never losing their
way. If they stop, it is to look for a moment over the hedges to make
them safe, to look at the misty valleys, at the distant peaks, at cliffs
and morasses, at the dark forests and the hazy plains where other
human beings grope their days painfully away, stumbling over the
bones of the wise, over the unburied remains of their predecessors
who died alone, in gloom or in sunshine, halfway from anywhere. The
man of purpose does not understand and goes on full of contempt. He
never loses his way. He knows where he is going and what he wants.
Travelling on, he achieves great length without any breadth, and
battered, besmirched, and weary, he touched the goal at last; he grasps
the reward of his perseverance, of his virtue, of his healthy optimism:
an untruthful tombstone over a dark and soon forgotten grave.
Lingard had never hesitated in his life. Why should he? He had
been a most successful trader, and a man lucky in his fights, skilful in
navigation, undeniably first in seamanship in those seas. He knew it.
Had he not heard the voice of common consent? The voice of the
world that respected him so much; the whole world to him for to us
the limits of the universe are strictly defined by those we know. There
is nothing for us outside the babble of praise and blame on familiar
lips, and beyond our last acquaintance there lies only a vast chaos; a
chaos of laughter and tears which concerns us not; laughter and tears
unpleasant, wicked, morbid, contemptible because heard
imperfectly by ears rebellious to strange sounds. To Lingard simple
himself all things were simple. He seldom read. Books were not
much in his way, and he had to work hard navigating, trading, and
also, in obedience to his benevolent instincts, shaping stray lives he
119
found here and there under his busy hand. He remembered the
Sunday- school teachings of his native village and the discourses of
the black-coated gentleman connected with the Mission to Fishermen
and Seamen, whose yawl-rigged boat darting through rain-squalls
amongst the coasters wind-bound in Falmouth Bay, was part of those
precious pictures of his youthful days that lingered in his memory. As
clever a sky-pilot as you could wish to see, he would say with
conviction, and the best man to handle a boat in any weather I ever
did meet! Such were the agencies that had roughly shaped his young
soul before he went away to see the world in a southern-going ship
before he went, ignorant and happy, heavy of hand, pure in heart,
profane in speech, to give himself up to the great sea that took his life
and gave him his fortune. When thinking of his rise in the world
commander of ships, then shipowner, then a man of much capital,
respected wherever he went, Lingard in a word, the Rajah Laut he
was amazed and awed by his fate, that seemed to his ill-informed
mind the most wondrous known in the annals of men. His experience
appeared to him immense and conclusive, teaching him the lesson of
the simplicity of life. In life as in seamanship there were only
two ways of doing a thing: the right way and the wrong way. Common
sense and experience taught a man the way that was right. The other
was for lubbers and fools, and led, in seamanship, to loss of soars and
sails or shipwreck; in life, to loss of money and consideration, or to an
unlucky knock on the head. He did not consider it his duty to be angry
with rascals. He was only angry with things he could not understand,
but for the weaknesses of humanity he could find a contemptuous
tolerance. It being manifest that he was wise and lucky otherwise
how could he have been as successful in life as he had been? he had
an inclination to set right the lives of other people, just as he could
hardly refrain in defiance of nautical etiquette from interfering
with his chief officer when the crew was sending up a new topmast, or
generally when busy about, what he called, a heavy job. He was
meddlesome with perfect modesty; if he knew a thing or two there
was no merit in it. Hard knocks taught me wisdom, my boy, he used
to say, and you had better take the advice of a man who has been a
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fool in his time. Have another. And my boy as a rule took the cool
drink, the advice, and the consequent help which Lingard felt himself
bound in honour to give, so as to back up his opinion like a honest
man.
(Joseph Conrad - An Outcast of the Islands)
Paul would be built like his mother, slightly and rather small. His
hair went reddish, and then dark brown; his eyes were grey. He was a
pale, quiet child, with eyes that seemed to listen, and with a full,
dropping underlip.
As a rule he seemed old for his years. He was so conscious of
what other people felt, particularly his mother. When she fretted he
understood, and could have no peace. His soul seemed always
attentive to her.All the children, but particularly Paul, were
peculiarly against their father, along with their mother. Morel
continued to bully and to drink. He had periods, months at a time,
when he made the whole life of the family a misery. Paul never forgot
coming home from the Band of Hope one Monday evening and
finding his mother with her eyes swollen and discoloured, his father
standing on the hearthrug, feet astride, his head down, and William,
just home from work, glaring at his father. There was a silence as the
young children entered, but none of the elders looked round.
William was white to the lips, and his fists were clenched. He
waited until the children were silent, watching with childrens rage
and hate; then he said:
You coward, you daren't do it when I was in.
But Morels blood was up. He swung round on his son. William
was bigger, but Morel was hard-muscled, and mad with fury.
Dossnt I? he shouted. Dossnt I? Hae much more o thy
chelp, my young jockey, an Ill rattle my fist about thee. Ay, an I
sholl that, dost see.Morel crouched at the knees and showed his fist in
an ugly, almost beast-like fashion. William was white with rage.
Will yer? he said, quiet and intense. It ud be the last time,
though.
Morel danced a little nearer, crouching, drawing back his fist to
strike. William put his fists ready. A light came into his blue eyes,
almost like a laugh. He watched his father. Another word, and the men
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would have begun to fight. Paul hoped they would. The three children
sat pale on the sofa.
Stop it, both of you. cried Mrs Morel in a hard voice. Weve
had enough for one night. And you, she said, turning on to her
husband, look at your children!
Morel glanced at the sofa.
Look at the children, you nasty little bitch! he sneered. Why,
what have I done to the children, I should like to know? But theyre
like yourself; youve put em up to your own tricks and nasty ways
youve learned em in it, you ave.
She refused to answer him. No one spoke. After a while he threw
his boots under the table and went to bed.().Paul hated his father. As
a boy he had a fervent private religion.
Make him stop drinking, he prayed every night. Lord let my
father die, he prayed very often. Let him not be killed at pit, he
prayed when, after tea, the father did not come home from work.
That was another time when the family suffered intensely. The
children came from school and had their teas. On the hob the big black
saucepan was simmering, the stew-jack was in the oven, ready for
Morels dinner. He was expected at five oclock. But for months he
would stop and drink every night on his way from work.
In the winter nights, when it was cold, and grew dark early, Mrs
Morel would put a brass candlestick on the table, light a tallow candle
to save the gas. The children finished their bread-and-butter, or
dripping, and were ready to go out to play. But if Morel had not come
they faltered. The sense of his sitting in all his pit-dirt, drinking, after
a long days work, not coming home and eating and washing, but
sitting, getting drunk, on an empty stomach, made Mrs Morel unable
to bear herself. From her the feeling was transmitted to the other
children. She never suffered alone any more: the children suffered
with her.().
She knew that the man who stops on the way home from work is
on a quick way to ruining himself and his home. The children were yet
young, and depended on the breadwinner. William gave her the sense
of relief, providing her at last with someone to turn to if Morel failed.
But the tense atmosphere of the room on these waiting evenings was
the same.
(D.H.Lawrence Sons and Lovers)
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Ursula went home to Beldover faint, dim, closed up. She could
scarcely speak or notice. It was as if her energy were frozen. Her
people asked her what was the matter. She told them, she had broken
off the engagement with Skrebensky. They looked blank and angry.
But she could not feel anymore.
The weeks crawled by in apathy. He would have sailed for India
now. She was scarcely interested. She was inert, without strength and
interest.
Suddenly a shock ran through her, so violent that she thought she
was struck down. Was she with child? She had been so stricken under
the pain of herself and of him, this had never occurred to her. Now
like a flame it took hold of her limbs and body. Was she with child?
In the first flaming hours of wonder, she did not know what she
felt. She was as if tied to the stake. The flames were licking her and
devouring her. But the flames were also good. They seemed to wear
her away to rest. What she felt in her heart and her womb she did not
know. It was a kind of swoon.
Then gradually the heaviness of her heart pressed and pressed
into consciousness. What was she doing? Was she bearing a child?
Bearing a child? To what?
Her flesh thrilled, but her soul was sick. It seemed, this child, like
the seal set on her own nullity. Yet she was glad in her flesh that she
was with child. She began to think, that she would write to
Skrebensky, that she would go out to him, and marry him, and live
simply as a good wife to him. What did the self, the form of life,
matter? Only the living from day to day mattered, the beloved
existence in the body, rich, peaceful, complete, with no beyond, no
further trouble, no further complication. She had been wrong, she had
been arrogant and wicked, wanting that other thing, that fantastic
freedom, that illusory, conceited fulfilment which she had imagined
she could not have with Skrebensky. Who was she to be wanting some
fantastic fulfilment in her life? Was it not enough that she had her
man, her children, her place of shelter under the sun? Was it not
enough for her, as it had been enough for her mother? She would
marry and love her husband and fill her place simply. That was the
ideal.
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Suddenly she saw her mother in a just and true light. Her mother
was simple and radically true. She had taken the life that was given.
She had not, in her arrogant conceit, insisted on creating life to fit
herself. Her mother was right, profoundly right, and she herself had
been false, trashy, conceited.
A great mood of humility came over her, and in this humility a
bondaged sort of peace. She gave her limbs to the bondage, and loved
the bondage, she called it peace. In this state she sat down to write to
Skrebensky.
Since you left me I have suffered a great deal, and so have come
to myself. I cannot tell you the remorse I feel for my wicked, perverse
behaviour. It was given to me to love you, and to know your love for
me. But instead of thankfully, on my knees, taking what God had
given, I must have the moon in my keeping, I must insist on having
the moon for my own. Because I could not have it, everything else
must go.
I do not know if you can ever forgive me. I could die with shame
to think of my behaviour with you during our last times, and I don't
know if I could ever bear to look you in the face again. Truly the best
thing would be for me to die, and cover my fantasies for ever. But I
find I am with child, so that cannot be.
It is your child, and for that reason I must revere it and submit my
body entirely to its welfare, entertaining no thought of death, which
once more is largely conceit. Therefore, because you once loved me,
and because this child is your child, I ask you to have me back. If you
will cable me one word, I will come to you as soon as I can. I swear to
you to be a dutiful wife, and to serve you in all things. For now I only
hate myself and my own conceited foolishness. I love you I love the
thought of you you are natural and decent all through, whilst I was
so false. Once I am with you again, I shall ask no more than to rest in
your shelter all my life
This letter she wrote, sentence by sentence, as if from her deeper,
sincerest heart. She felt that now, now, she was at the depths of
herself. This was her true self, for ever. With this document she would
appear before God at the Judgement Day.
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For what had a woman but to submit? What was her flesh but
childbearing, her strength for her children and her husband, the giver
of life? At last she was a woman.
She posted her letter to his club, to be forwarded to him in
Calcutta. He would receive it soon after his arrival in India within
three weeks of his arrival there. In a months time she would receive
word from him. Then she would go.
She was quite sure of him. She thought only of preparing her
garments and of living quietly, peacefully, till the time when she
should join him again and her history would be concluded for ever.
The peace held like an unnatural calm for a long time. She was aware,
however, of a gathering restiveness, a tumult impending within her.
She tried to run away from it. She wished she could hear from
Skrebensky, in answer to her letter, so that her course should be
resolved, she should be engaged in fulfilling her fate. It was this
inactivity which made her liable to the revulsion she dreaded.
It was curious how little she cared about his not having written to
her before. It was enough that she had sent her letter. She would get
the required answer, that was all.
One afternoon in early October, feeling the seething rising to
madness within her, she slipped out in the rain, to walk abroad, lest
the house should suffocate her. Everywhere was drenched wet and
deserted, the grimed houses glowed dull red, the butt houses burned
scarlet in a gleam of light, under the glistening, blackish purple slates.
Ursula went on towards Willey Green.
(D.H.Lawrence The Rainbow)
Ralph lay in a covert, wondering about his wounds. The bruised
flesh was inches in diameter over his right ribs, with a swollen and
bloody scar where the spear had not hit him. His hair was full of dirt
and tapped like the tendrils of a creeper. All over he was scratched and
bruised from his flight through the forest. By the time his breathing
was normal again, he had worked out that bathing these injuries would
have to wait. How could you listen for naked feet if you were
splashing in water? How could you be safe by the little steam or on
the open beach?
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Ralph listened. He was not really far from the Castle Rock, and
during the first panic he had thought he heard sounds of pursuit. But
the hunters had only sneaked into the fringes of the greenery,
retrieving spears perhaps, and then had rushed back to the sunny rock
as if terrified of the darkness under the leaves. He had even glimpsed
one of them, striped brown, black, and red, and had judged that it was
Bill. But really, thought Ralph, this was not Bill. This was a savage
whose image refused to blend with the ancient picture of a boy in
shorts and shirt.
The afternoon died away; the circular spots of sunlight moved
steadily over green fronds and brown fibre but no sound came from
behind the Rock. At last Ralph wormed out of the ferns and sneaked
forward to the edge of that impenetrable thicket that fronted the neck
of land. He peered with elaborate caution between branches at the
edge and could see Robert sitting on guard at the top of the cliff. He
had a spear in his left hand and was tossing up a pebble and catching it
again with the right Behind him a column of smoke rose thickly, so
that Ralph's nostrils flared and his mouth dribbled. He wiped his nose
and mouth with the back of his hand and for the first time since the
morning felt hungry. The tribe must be sitting round the gutted pig,
watching the fat ooze and burn among the ashes. They would be
intent.
Another figure, an unrecognizable one, appeared by Robert and
gave him something, then turned and went back behind the rock.
Robert laid his spear on the rock beside him and began to gnaw
between his raised hands. So the feast was beginning and the
watchman had been given his portion.
Ralph saw that for the first time being he was safe. He limped
away through the fruit trees, drawn by the thought of the poor food yet
bitter when he remembered the feast. Feast to-day, and then tomorrow
He argued unconvincingly that they would let him alone; perhaps
even make an outlaw of him. But then the fatal unreasoning
knowledge came to him again. The breaking of the conch and the
deaths of Piggy and Simon lay over the island like a vapour. These
painted savages would go further and further. Then there was that
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before. They were always cold, and usually hungry as well. Only
Boxer and Clover never lost heart. Squealer made excellent speeches
on the joy of service and the dignity of labour, but the other animals
found more inspiration in Boxers strength and his never-failing cry of
I will work harder!
In January food fell short. The corn ration was drastically
reduced, and it was announced that an extra potato ration would be
issued to make up for it. Then it was discovered that the greater part of
the potato crop had been frosted in the clamps, which had not been
covered thickly enough. The potatoes had become soft and
discoloured, and only a few were edible. For days at a time the
animals had nothing to eat but chaff and mangels. Starvation seemed
to stare them in the face.
It was vitally necessary to conceal this fact from the outside
world. Emboldened by the collapse of the windmill, the human beings
were inventing fresh lies about Animal Farm. Once again it was being
put about that all the animals were dying of famine and disease, and
that they were continually fighting amongst themselves and had
resorted to cannibalism and infanticide. Napoleon was well aware of
the bad results that might follow if the real facts of the food situation
were known, and he decided to make use of Mr. Whymper to spread a
contrary impression. Hitherto the animals had had little or no contact
with Whymper on his weekly visit: now, however, a few selected
animals, mostly sheep, were instructed to remark casually in his
hearing that rations had been increased. In addition, Napoleon ordered
the almost empty bins in the store-shed to be filled nearly to the brim
with sand, which was then covered up with what remained of the grain
and meal. On some suitable pretext, Whymper was led through the
store-shed and allowed to catch a glimpse of the bins. He was
deceived, and continued to report to the outside world that there was
no food shortage on Animal Farm.
Nevertheless, towards the end of January it became obvious that
it would be necessary to procure some more grain from somewhere. In
these days Napoleon rarely appeared in public, but spent all his time in
the farmhouse, which was guarded at each door by fierce-looking
dogs. When he did emerge, it was in a ceremonial manner, with an
escort of six dogs who closely surrounded him and growled if anyone
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And the submatron and two of the Board ladies had heard the
compliment. And Ginger Mooney was always saying what she
wouldn't do to the dummy who had charge of the irons if it wasn't for
Maria. Everyone was so fond of Maria.
The women would have their tea at six o'clock and she would be
able to get away before seven. From Ballsbridge to the Pillar, twenty
minutes; from the Pillar to Drumcondra, twenty minutes; and twenty
minutes to buy the things. She would be there before eight. She took
out her purse with the silver clasps and read again the words A Present
from Belfast. She was very fond of that purse because Joe had brought
it to her five years before when he and Alphy had gone to Belfast on a
Whit-Monday trip. In the purse were two half-crowns and some
coppers. She would have five shillings clear after paying tram fare.
What a nice evening they would have, all the children singing! Only
she hoped that Joe wouldn't come in drunk. He was so different when
he took any drink.
Often she had wanted her to go and live with them; but she would
have felt herself in the way (though Joe's wife was ever so nice with
her) and she had become accustomed to the life of the laundry. Joe
was a good fellow. She had nursed him and Alphy too; and Joe used
often to say:
Mamma is mamma but Maria is my proper mother.
After the break-up at home the boys had got her that position in
the Dublin by Lamplight laundry, and she liked it. She used to have
such a bad opinion of Protestants but now she thought they were very
nice people, a little quiet and serious, but still very nice people to live
with. Then she had her plants in the conservatory and she liked
looking after them. She had lovely ferns and wax-plants and,
whenever anyone came to visit her, she always gave the visitor one or
two slips from her conservatory. There was one thing she didn't like
and that was the tracts on the walks; but the matron was such a nice
person to deal with, so genteel.
When the cook told her everything was ready she went into the
women's room and began to pull the big bell. In a few minutes the
women began to come in by twos and threes, wiping their steaming
hands in their petticoats and pulling down the sleeves of their blouses
over their red steaming arms. They settled down before their huge
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mugs which the cook and the dummy filled up with hot tea, already
mixed with milk and sugar in huge tin cans. Maria superintended the
distribution of the barmbrack and saw that every woman got her four
slices. There was a great deal of laughing and joking during the meal.
Liz Fleming said Maria was sure to get the ring and, though Fleming
had said that for so many Hallow Eves, Maria had to laugh and say
she didn't want any ring or man either; and when she laughed her
grey-green eyes sparkled with disappointed shyness and the tip of her
nose nearly met the tip of her chin. Then Ginger Mooney lifted up her
mug of tea and proposed Marias health while all the other women
clattered with their mugs on the table, and said she was sorry she
hadn't a sup of porter to drink in it. And Maria laughed again till the
tip of her nose nearly met the tip of her chin and till her minute body
nearly shook itself asunder because she knew that Mooney meant well
though, of course, she had the notions of a common woman.
(James Joyce Dubliners)
Stephens mother and his brother and one of his cousins waited at
the corner of quiet Foster Place while he and his father went up the
steps and along the colonnade where the Highland sentry was
parading. When they had passed into the great hall and stood at the
counter Stephen drew forth his orders on the governor of the bank of
Ireland for thirty and three pounds; and these sums, the moneys of his
exhibition and essay prize, were paid over to him rapidly by the teller
in notes and coin respectively. He bestowed them in his pockets with
feigned composure and suffered the friendly teller, to whom his father
chatted, to take his hand across the broad counter and wish him a
brilliant career in after life. He was impatient of their voices and could
not keep his feet at rest. But the teller still deferred the serving of
others to say he was living in changed times and that there was
nothing like giving a boy the best education that money could buy. Mr
Dedalus lingered in the hall gazing about him and up at the roof and
telling Stephen, who urged him to come out, that they were standing
in the house of commons of the old Irish parliament.
God help us! he said piously, to think of the men of those
times, Stephen, Hely Hutchinson and Flood and Henry Grattan and
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Charles Kendal Bushe, and the noblemen we have now, leaders of the
Irish people at home and abroad. Why, by God, they wouldnt be seen
dead in a ten-acre field with them. No, Stephen, old chap, Im sorry to
say that they are only as I roved out one fine May morning in the
merry month of sweet July.
A keen October wind was blowing round the bank. The three
figures standing at the edge of the muddy path had pinched cheeks and
watery eyes. Stephen looked at his thinly clad mother and remembered
that a few days before he had seen a mantle priced at twenty guineas
in the windows of Barnardos.
Well thats done, said Mr Dedalus.
We had better go to dinner, said Stephen. Where?
Dinner? said Mr Dedalus. Well, I suppose we had better, what?
Some place thats not too dear, said Mrs Dedalus.
Underdones?
Yes. Some quiet place.
Come along, said Stephen quickly. It doesnt matter about the
dearness.
He walked on before them with short nervous steps, smiling.
They tried to keep up with him, smiling also at his eagerness.
Take it easy like a good young fellow, said his father. We're
not out for the half mile, are we?
For a swift season of merrymaking the money of his prizes ran
through Stephens fingers. Great parcels of groceries and delicacies
and dried fruits arrived from the city. Every day he drew up a bill of
fare for the family and every night led a party of three or four to the
theatre to see the Ingomar or The Lady of Lyons. In his coat pockets
he carried squares of Vienna chocolate for his guests while his
trousers pocket bulged with masses of silver and copper coins. He
bought presents for everyone, overhauled his room, wrote out
resolutions, marshalled his books up and down their shelves, pored
upon all kinds of price lists, drew up a form of commonwealth for the
household by which every member of it held some office, opened a
loan bank for his family and pressed loans on willing borrowers so
that he might have the pleasure of making out receipts and reckoning
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the dark pressure of her softly parting lips. They pressed upon his
brain as upon his lips as though they were the vehicle of a vague
speech; and between them he felt an unknown and timid pressure,
darker than the swoon of sin, softer than the sound or odour.
(James Joyce Portrait of the Artist)
Yes, of course, if its fine tomorrow, said Mrs. Ramsey. "But
youll have to be up with the lark, she added.
To her son these words conveyed an extraordinary joy, as if it
were settled the expedition were bound to take place, and the wonder
to which he had looked forward, for years and years it seemed, was,
after a nights darkness and a days sail, within touch. Since he
belonged, even at the age of six, to that great clan which cannot keep
this feeling separate from that but must let future prospects, with their
joys and sorrows, cloud what is actually at hand, since to such people
even in earliest childhood any turn in the wheel of sensation has the
power to crystallise and transfix the moment upon which its gloom or
radiance rests, James Ramsey, sitting on the floor cutting out pictures
from the illustrated catalogue of the Army and Navy Stores, endowed
the picture of a refrigerator as his mother spoke with heavenly bliss. It
was fringed with joy. The wheelbarrow, the landmower, the sound of
poplar-trees, leaves whitening before rain, rooks cawing, brooms
knocking, dresses rustling all these were so coloured and
distinguished in his mind that he had already his private code, his
secret language, though he appeared the image of stark and
uncompromising severity, with his high forehead and his fierce blue
eyes, impeccably candid and pure, frowning slightly at the sight of
human frailty so that his mother, watching him guide his scissors
neatly round the refrigerator, imagined him all red and ermine on the
Bench or directing a stern and momentous enterprise in some crisis of
public affairs.
But, said his father, stopping in front of the drawing-room
window, it wont be fine.
Had there been an axe handy, a poker, or any weapon that would
have gashed a hole in his fathers breast and killed him, there and
then, James would have seized it. Such were the extremes of emotion
that Mr. Ramsey excited in his childrens breasts by his mere
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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