新视界大学英语综合教程4-unit5

1、 Talking pointTalking pointWarming uWarming up pSkimmingSkimmingDiggingDiggingCritical thinkingCritical thinkingLanguage in useLanguage in useUnfamiliar wordsUnfamiliar wordsInterpretingInterpretingDo you know how to say “八卦八卦” in English, both its original meaning and extended meaning? Watch the vi

2、deo clip and find out the answer.Warming upWarming up Listen and underline any words or expressions which are different from what you hear. Conversation 1 A Whos going to win the big match on Sunday, then?B Not much doubt about it to my mind, its going to be the Hammers.A What? West Ham? Against the

3、 league champion Man United? You must be joking!B No, Im not. Theyre playing at home, theyve had a string of good results recently, theyve got two great players A Whos going to win the big match on Sunday, then?B Not much doubt about it to my mind, its going to be the Hammers.A What? West Ham? Again

4、st the league champion Man United? You must be joking!B No, Im not. Theyre playing at home, theyve had a string of good results recently, theyve got two great players Warming upConversation 2 A Have you heard about Justin?B No, whats he done?A It seems hes started going out with a woman half his age

5、. She sounds it too. I cant think what he sees in her, shes not exactly an English beauty.B Never! I dont believe you! He must be mad!A Have you heard about Justin?B No, whats he done?A It seems hes started going out with a woman half his age. She sounds it too. I cant think what he sees in her, she

6、s not exactly an English beauty.B Never! I dont believe you! He must be mad!Warming upAnswer: Conversation 1: Sunday Saturday champion leaders great newConversation 2: half twice sounds looks beauty roseWarming up Work in pairs and discuss the questions. 1 Did you find anything strange about the two

7、 conversations?2 Which do you think is most likely to take place, and why?3 Do you have conversations like these? Who with?4 What are the usual subjects of your conversations?5 What do you think are the differences between the way that men speak to each other and how they speak to women?6 What do yo

8、u think are the differences between the way that women speak to each other and how they speak to men? Warming up Check () the statements about gossip which you think are true. 1 Men gossip just as much as women. 2 Men talk more about politics than women. 3 Men talk more about football than women. 4

9、Women talk more about themselves than men. 5 Men dont admit they gossip. 6 Women dont admit they gossip. Now read the passage from the book Watching the English and check your answers. The passage mentions points 1, 3 and 5.SkimmingBrowse the passage within 8 minutes to get a rough idea about it.Ans

10、wer the questions of Activity 2 and 3 on page 93.TaskTaskSkimming Number the different parts of the passage in the order they occur. Give a detailed, technical account of how women gossip. Refer to recent research to dispel the myth about male gossip. Conclude that the vital difference between male

11、and female gossip lies in the positive response of the audience. Suggest that the myth about male gossip is really a problem of terminology. Reveal that men change the topic of conversation when women are present. Focus on the difference of content between male and female gossip.Answer: 5, 1, 6, 4,

12、2, 3Skimming Answer the questions.1 What does the research quoted in the passage show?2 What do men talk about when they are on their own?3 What do men do when women are present?4 What is the main difference between male and female gossip?That men gossip as much as women. Mostly social topics.They t

13、alk more about highbrow topics such as politics, work, art and cultural matters. Men talk more about themselves, women gossip more about othersSkimming5 What is the “tone rule” in womens gossip?6 What is the “detail rule”?7 What does the “feedback rule” say about listeners? 8 How do women listeners

14、respond to gossip?9 Why do men respond differently to gossip? A particular tone of voice is required to convey gossip. The particular details of a piece of gossip are very important. Listeners must give appropriately dramatic reactions to what they hear. They sound suitably surprised or shocked. Bec

15、ause the feedback rule does not apply to men as it does to women. Sex differences in English gossip rules译文译文Digging1 Contrary to popular belief, researchers have found that men gossip just as much as women. In one English study, both sexes devoted the same amount of conversation time (about 65 per

16、cent) to social topics such as personal relationships; in another, the difference was found to be quite small, with gossip accounting for 55 per cent of male conversation time and 67 per cent of female time. As sport and leisure have been shown to occupy about ten per cent of conversation time, disc

17、ussion of football could well account for the difference.Background informationDigging2 Men were certainly found to be no more likely than women to discuss “important” or “highbrow” subjects such as politics, work, art and cultural matters except (and this was a striking difference) when women were

18、present. On their own, men gossip, with no more than five per cent of conversation time devoted to non-social subjects such as work or politics. It is only in mixed-sex groups, where there are women to impress, that the proportion of male conversation time devoted to these more “highbrow” subjects i

19、ncreases dramatically, to between 15 and 20 per cent.译文译文Digging3 In fact, recent research has revealed only one significant difference, in terms of content, between male and female gossip: Men spend much more time talking about themselves. Of the total time devoted to conversation about social rela

20、tionships, men spend two thirds talking about their own relationships, while women only talk about themselves one third of the time.译文译文Digging4 Despite these findings, the myth is still widely believed, particularly among males, that men spend their conversations “solving the worlds problems”, whil

21、e the womenfolk gossip in the kitchen. In my focus groups and interviews, most English males initially claimed that they did not gossip, while most of the female readily admitted that they did. On further questioning, however, the difference turned out to be more a matter of semantics than practice:

22、 What the women were happy to call “gossip”, the men defined as “exchanging information”. 译文译文Digging5 Clearly, there is a stigma attached to gossip among English males, an unwritten rule to the effect that, even if what one is doing is gossiping, it should be called something else. Perhaps even mor

23、e important: It should sound like something else. In my gossip research, I found that the main difference between male and female gossip is that female gossip actually sounds like gossip. There seem to be three principal factors involved: the tone rule, the detail rule and the feedback rule.译文译文Digg

24、ingThe tone rule6 The English women I interviewed all agreed that a particular tone of voice was considered appropriate for gossip. The gossip-tone should be high and quick, or sometimes a stage whisper, but always highly animated. “Gossips got to start with something like quick, high-pitched, excit

25、ed tone Oooh Guess what? Guess what?” explained one woman, “or Hey, listen, listen quick, urgent stage whisper you know what I heard?”译文译文DiggingAnother told me: “You have to make it sound surprising or scandalous, even when it isnt really. Youll go, Well, dont tell anyone, but even when its not rea

26、lly that big of a secret.”译文译文Digging7 Many of the women complained that men failed to adopt the correct tone of voice, recounting items of gossip in the same lat, unemotional manner as any other piece of information, such that, as one woman sniffed, “You cant even tell its gossip.” Which, of course

27、, is exactly the impression the males wish to give.译文译文DiggingThe detail rule8 Females also stressed the importance of detail in the telling of gossip, and again bemoaned the shortcomings of males in this matter, claiming that men “never know the details”. “Men just dont do the he-said-she-said thin

28、g,” one informant told me, “and its no good unless you actually know what people said.” Another said: “Women tend to speculate more Theyll talk about why someone did something, give a history to the situation.”译文译文DiggingFor women, this detailed speculation about possible motives and causes, requiri

29、ng an exhaustive raking over “history”, is a crucial element of gossip, as is detailed speculation about possible outcomes. English males find all this detail boring, irrelevant and, of course, unmanly.DiggingThe feedback rule9 Among English women, it is understood that to be a “good gossip” require

30、s more than a lively tone and attention to detail: You also need a good audience, by which they mean appreciative listeners who give plenty of appropriate feedback. The feedback rule of female gossip requires that listeners be at least as animated and enthusiastic as speakers. The reasoning seems to

31、 be that this is only polite; the speaker has gone to the trouble of making the information sound surprising and scandalous, so the least one can do is to reciprocate by sounding suitably shocked. DiggingEnglish men, according to my female informant, just dont seem to have grasped this rule. They do

32、 not understand that “You are supposed to say NO! Really? and Oh my GOD!”Digging10 My female informants agreed, however, that a man who did respond in the approved female manner would sound inappropriately girly, or even disturbingly effeminate. Even the gay males I interviewed felt that the “NO! Re

33、ally?” kind of response would be regarded as decidedly “camp”. The unwritten rules of English gossip etiquette do allow men to express shock or surprise when they hear a particularly juicy bit of gossip, but it is understood that a suitable expletive conveys such surprise in a more acceptably mascul

34、ine fashion. 1. As sport and leisure have been shown to occupy about ten per cent of conversation time, discussion of football could well account for the difference. (Line 9, Para 1)Researchers have found that men spend about ten per cent of their conversation time talking about sport and leisure, t

35、herefore the small difference between men and women in gossip time men gossip about 12 per cent less than women can be explained by the time spent on discussing football, which women are less likely to talk about, and which does not count as gossip.Difficult sentences Difficult sentences 2. On furth

36、er questioning, however, the difference turned out to be more a matter of semantics than practice: What the women were happy to call “gossip”, the men defined as “exchanging information”. (Line 8, Para 4) The sentence means that in practice there was not so much difference between men and women in g

37、ossiping; the difference lies in how men and women defined the meaning of “gossip”“gossip” for women was the same as “exchanging information” for men.Difficult sentences 3. Clearly, there is a stigma attached to gossip among English males, an unwritten rule to the effect that, even if what one is do

38、ing is gossiping, it should be called something else. (Line 1, Para 5)English men feel it is somehow wrong or embarrassing to gossip, so when they gossip, they give it another name.unwritten rule: a rule or custom which is not written down. People will recognize it, but may not be fully conscious of

39、 such a rule until someone draws attention to it.Difficult sentences 4. Theyll talk about why someone did something, give a history to the situation. (Line 8, Para 8)give a history to the situation: to explain the background to what has happenedDifficult sentences 5. For women, this detailed specula

40、tion about possible motives and causes, requiring an exhaustive raking over “history”, is a crucial element of gossip (Line 10, Para 8)Women speculate about the reasons why people have done things and what caused them to do so. his requires them to go over the history of an event or talk in detail a

41、bout something. For women, this is a key part of gossip.Difficult sentences 6. allow men to express shock or surprise when they hear a particularly juicy bit of gossip (Line 8, Para 10)juicy: Juicy stories are slightly shocking but interesting or fun to listen to.gossip 释义释义1n. U conversation about

42、unimportant subjects, especially peoples private lives (尤指关于人们私生活的)闲言，流言例句例句There has been much gossip about the possible reasons for his absence.关于他缺席的原因有很多传言。 翻译翻译WordsWords例句例句Polly follows all the gossip about the royal family. 波莉关注一切有关王室成员的八卦消息。 翻译翻译释义释义2vi. to talk about other people or about

43、things that 闲聊，说长道短WordsWords例句例句Mrs White never gossiped. 怀特夫人从来不说长道短。翻译翻译例句例句This is where the locals gather to gossip and talk politics. 这里是本地人聚集在一起闲聊和谈政治的地方。 翻译翻译gossip 释义释义a. ( to) completely different or opposed to something else 相反的，对抗的 WordsWords例句例句Contrary to what you might think, neither

44、man was offended. 你也许以为那两个人生气了，但实际上正相反，两个人都没有生气。翻译翻译例句例句Contrary to popular belief, gorillas are shy and gentle creatures. 与人们普遍的看法恰恰相反，大猩猩是一种害羞而温顺的动物。 翻译翻译contrary 释义释义a. likely to interest people who are interested in learning, culture, and art 文化修养高的WordsWords例句例句The programme was too highbrow to

45、 appeal to most viewers.该节目太高雅，对多数观众没有吸引力。翻译翻译例子例子highbrow classical music高雅的古典音乐翻译翻译 highbrow 释义释义a. sudden and surprising or easy to notice 突如其来的，引人注目的WordsWords例句例句That program talks only about the dramatic change in society.这个节目只谈论那些引人注目的社会变化。 翻译翻译例句例句She plays a very dramatic woman with flashin

46、g eyes. 她饰演一位双眼闪光的引人注目的妇人。翻译翻译dramatic 释义释义n. U a feeling that something is wrong or embarrassing in some way 羞耻，耻辱，见不得人的感觉例句例句Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma. 做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。翻译翻译WordsWords例句例句翻译翻译Most of the time people dont get treatment for mental problem to avoid the st

47、igma of mental illness. 很多时候人们精神上有问题时不去接受治疗，免得被人认为自己有精神病。 stigma 释义释义a. something that is scandalous shocks you and makes you feel very angry because it seems unfair 让人震惊的，令人愤慨的例句例句翻译翻译WordsWords例句例句It is absolutely scandalous that a fantastic building like this is just left to rot away.翻译翻译一栋如此气势辉煌

48、的大楼就任其腐朽败落，真令人愤慨。Its scandalous that people have to wait so long for operations. 人们要等这么久才能做手术，真是不像话。 scandalous 释义释义1vi. ( at) to criticize something or suggest it is not good enough for you 对嗤之以鼻，轻蔑地批评例句例句Veteran audio fans may sniff at such ready-made stereo packages. 老音响迷可能对这种现成的套装立体声音响不屑一顾。 翻译翻译

49、WordsWords例句例句翻译翻译Foreign Office sources sniffed at reports that British troops might be sent. 外交部消息人士对有可能派出英国军队的报道不屑一顾。sniff 释义释义2v. ( at) to smell something 嗅，闻例句例句Officers used dogs to sniff out hidden mine. 警员们用狗来闻出掩藏的地雷。 翻译翻译WordsWords例句例句He sniffed and found there was a smell of burning. 他吸了吸鼻

50、子，发觉有一股烧焦的味道。 翻译翻译sniff 释义释义vt. (fml) to complain or say that you are disappointed about something 抱怨例句例句People shouldnt underestimate their own capabilities and constantly bemoan their fate.人们不应该低估自己然后自怨自艾。 翻译翻译WordsWords例句例句Universities and other research establishments bemoan their lack of funds.

51、高校及其他研究机构抱怨经费不足。翻译翻译bemoan 释义释义1n. C someone who gives information about their language, social customs etc to someone who is studying them 资料提供人（尤指为研究者提供语言、风俗资料的人）例句例句The research did not want to reveal the identity of his informant. 研究人员不想透露消息提供人的身份。翻译翻译WordsWordsinformant 释义释义2n. C someone who se

52、cretly gives information about someone to police or to someone in authority 检举者，密告者例句例句The informant claims to be one of many undercover spies working in Mexico. 这名告密者声称自己是众多在墨西哥秘密工作的间谍中的一员。 翻译翻译WordsWords例句例句Working as an informant, Johnson provided the FBI with details on the Mafias criminal activ

53、ities. 翻译翻译约翰逊充当线人向联邦调查局提供了黑手党犯罪活动的细节。informant 释义释义a. thorough or complete 彻底的，完全的 PhrasesPhrases例句例句翻译翻译The authors treatment of the subject is exhaustive. 该作者对这个问题的分析很透彻。例句例句翻译翻译The rescue team made an exhaustive search of the area. 救援队在这个地区进行了全面彻底的搜寻。 exhaustive 释义释义例句例句翻译翻译他说政治对大多数美国人来说已经变得越来越不

54、重要了。He said politics has become increasingly irrelevant to most Americans.a. not important or not relevant to what you are discussing or doing 不重要的，无意义的，不相关的PhrasesPhrases例句例句翻译翻译 Her comments seemed irrelevant to the real issue. 她的评论似乎与真正的问题不相干。 irrelevant 释义释义例句例句翻译翻译鲍勃似乎对提议的这项行动不太感兴趣。Bob seemed l

55、ess than enthusiastic about the proposed move.a. very interested in something or excited by it 极感兴趣的，热情的，热心的PhrasesPhrases例句例句翻译翻译There is enthusiastic support for a new high school. 大家热情支持建一所新的中学。 enthusiastic释义释义例句例句翻译翻译政府当局还没有意识到这场危机的严重性。The Government has not yet grasped the seriousness of the c

56、risis.vt. to understand something 理解，明白，领会PhrasesPhrases例句例句翻译翻译Taylor manages to explain technical ideas in a way that non-specialists can grasp. 泰勒成功地通过非专业人员也能够理解的方式解释了技术概念。 grasp 释义释义例句例句翻译翻译a. suitable for girls and women rather than boys or men 女性的PhrasesPhrases例句例句翻译翻译 girly 我讨厌健美和瑜伽这些比较女孩子气的运

57、动。I hate these girly sports like body building and Yoga. Do you think this watch looks too girlie? 你觉不觉得这块表看上去太女孩子气？ 释义释义例句例句翻译翻译a. making you feel extremely worried or upset 令人烦恼的，令人不安的PhrasesPhrases例句例句翻译翻译disturbing他身上有某种东西使她不安。There was something about him she found disturbing. Its very disturbi

58、ng, the way theyre getting rid of older employees. 他们解雇老员工的方式让人不安。 释义释义1例句例句翻译翻译to form, use, or produce a particular amount or part of something （在数量或比例上）占，占据PhrasesPhrases例句例句翻译翻译account for 计算机占去该国商业用电的5%。Computers account for 5% of the countrys commercial electricity consumption. These products,

59、 in total, account for about 80 of all our sales. 这些产品总共约占我们全部销售额的80。释义释义2例句例句翻译翻译to be the reason why something exists or happens 是的原因，引起，导致PhrasesPhrasesThe gene they discovered today doesnt account for all those cases.他们现在发现的基因无法解释所有的病例。 account for 释义释义例句例句翻译翻译used for showing that you are givin

60、g a general idea of what someone said instead of their actual 大意是，大致是PhrasesPhrases例句例句翻译翻译to the effect that他发表一项声明，大意是他将很快辞职。He made a declaration to the effect that he would soon resign. The letter is to the effect that he will soon arrive. 信的大意是说他不久就会来。1 1 研究人员发现，与人们的普遍看法相反的是，男人聊八卦一点儿也不逊色于女人。英国的