大学高级英语课件Unit 5 A Few Kind Words for Superstition

1、coverA Few Kind Words for SuperstitionUnit 5新世纪高等院校英语专业本科系列教材（修订版）综合教程第六册(第2版) 电子教案上海外语教育出版社南京信息工程大学 刘杰海Contents pageContents Learning Objectives Pre-reading Activities Global Reading Detailed Reading Consolidation Activities Further EnhancementobjectivesLearning Objectives Rhetorical skill: clarifi

2、cation with anecdotes and examples Key language & grammar points Writing strategies: classification and division Theme: superstition from different perspectivesPre-R: picture activationWhats your sign? And do you believe in horoscope?Picture Activation | Pre-questionsPre-R: pre-questions-11. People

3、are more or less superstitious. For example, we Chinese all think that the numbers “six” and “eight” can bring good luck, while “four” and “thirteen” are unfavoured numbers. Whats your favourite number? Why do you like it?Picture Activation | Pre-questionsOpen for discussion.Pre-R: pre-questions-22.

4、 Its well known that different colours have quite different connotations in different cultures. For example, “yellow” in Chinese is associated with pornography, while in most English-speaking countries it connotes cowardice. Can you give some other examples of this kind? Picture Activation | Pre-que

5、stionsOpen for discussion.G-R: text introductionThe text is developed by means of the authors classification of the four types of superstition, and his explanation of its history, popularity and characteristics, and the reasons for peoples fascination with it. Davies uses a variety of examples in ev

6、ery paragraph, with the exception of the first two paragraphs, to develop the text. These examples include anecdotes, facts and personal experiences. In many of these examples we notice the words “a deeply learned professor,” “another learned professor,” “Dr. Samuel Johnson,” “a good scientist.” All

7、 this helps to build the impression that superstition is not only for the naive and ignorant but it is also “alive and flourishing among the people who are indisputably rational and learned.”Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- transcendental meditation-1transcendental medi

8、tation (Paragraph 1) Transcendental meditation (超脱禅定法) is a technique of meditation derived from Hindu traditions that calms the mind and promotes deep relaxation through the use of a mantra (符咒), a sacred verbal formula repeated in prayer, meditation, or incantation (符咒，咒语), such as an invocation(祈

9、祷) of a god, a magic spell, or a syllable or portion of scripture containing mystical potentialities. Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- transcendental meditation-2Transcendental meditation is unique and fundamentally different from any other systems of meditation and rel

10、axation. Over 5 million people around the world have learned the technique since it was founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1957.Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- enlightmentenlightenment (Paragraph 1) In Hinduism and Buddhism, enlightenment is the highest spiritual stat

11、e that can be achieved. It is a blessed state in which the individual transcends desire and suffering and attains Nirvana, the ineffable ultimate in which one has attained disinterested wisdom and compassion. Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- Vain ObservancesVain Observa

12、nces (Paragraph 3) An observance is an act performed for religious or ceremonial reasons. Here “vain” roughly means “proud.” Not walking under a ladder is a vain observance because people believe that they should not be humble in front of the Devil.Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | Struct

13、ureG-R: CN- I ChingI Ching (Paragraph 4) The I Ching (or Book of Changes易经), is an ancient Chinese divination manual and book of wisdom that offers slightly ambiguous advice on how to act. Especially since the 1960s, its poetic text and extraordinary symbolism to say nothing of its strange effective

14、ness in divination have gained it a following in the West.The I Ching was traditionally held to be written by the legendary Chinese Emperor Fu Hsi (伏羲) (2953 B.C.2838 B.C.). Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- I ChingIt is possible that the I Ching originated from a prehis

15、toric divination technique which dates back as far as 5000 B.C. Further commentaries were added by King Wen and the Duke of Chou in the 11th century B.C.Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- Samuel JohnsonDr. Samuel Johnson (Paragraph 8) (17091784) English poet, essayist, cr

16、itic, journalist, lexicographer, conversationalist, regarded as one of the outstanding figures of 18th century life and letters. Johnson became Doctor Johnson when Dublin University gave him the honorary degree in 1765. Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- Orthodox JewsOrth

17、odox Jews (Paragraph 9) Orthodox Judaism (正统的犹太教) is the branch of Judaism that is governed by adherence to the Torah (旧约的首五卷，即摩西五经) as interpreted in the Talmud (塔木德经，犹太古代法典). It is the oldest form of Judaism practiced by Jews. Orthodox Jews are Jews who believe in Orthodox Judaism.Text Introductio

18、n | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- MelanesianMelanesian (Paragraph 9) Melanesia is a division of Oceania in the southwest Pacific Ocean comprising the islands northeast of Australia and south of the equator. It includes the Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, the Bismarck Archi

19、pelago, various other island groups, and sometimes New Guinea. Melanesian is a member of any of the indigenous peoples of Melanesia. Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- roman Catholic-1Roman Catholic (Paragraph 11) The Roman Catholic Church sees itself as instituted by Jes

20、us Christ for the salvation of souls. It accomplishes this goal through teaching and through the administration of sacraments, including baptism, the Eucharist, and the forgiveness of sins, through which God grants grace to the believer. The teaching authority or magisterium of the Church bases its

21、teachings on both Scripture and apostolic tradition. Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- roman Catholic-2As well as ordained secular clergy, the Church encourages monasticism, and has many orders of monks, friars and nuns who live in celibacy, and devote their lives entire

22、ly to God. Other religious practices include fasting, prayer, penance, pilgrimage and meditation.Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- Battle of the Boyne-1Battle of the Boyne (Paragraph 11) No year in Irish history is better known than 1690. No Irish battle is more famous t

23、han the Battle of the Boyne. The Boyne is a river of eastern Ireland flowing about 113 km (70 miles) to the Irish Sea. In the Battle of the Boyne on July 1, 1690, the armies of King William III (Prince of Orange, a Dutch-speaking Protestant) defeated the forces of James II (a Roman Catholic who had

24、lost the throne of England in the bloodless “Glorious Revolution” of 1688), who fled to France.Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- Battle of the Boyne-2The Battle of the Boyne is recalled each July in the celebrations of the Orange Order, not on the first day but on “the T

25、welfth,” for eleven days were lost with the change from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752. Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- OrangemenOrangemen (Paragraph 11) In Northern Ireland, a solely Protestant organization called the Orange Order was founded in County A

26、rmagh, in 1795, in opposition to the Defenders, a Catholic secret society. It was a revival of the Orange Institution founded in 1688 to support William III of Orange, whose victory over the Catholic James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 has been commemorated annually by Protestants in parades

27、 since 1796. Orangeman is a member of one of the Ulster Protestant Orange societies founded in Northern Ireland in 1795 to maintain the political and religious ascendancy of Protestantism. Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: CN- gypsygypsy (Paragraph 12) A member of a race of

28、people, originally from Asia, who travel around and traditionally live in caravans. Many gypsy groups have preserved elements of their traditional culture, including an itinerant existence, tribal organization, and the Romany language.Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: author

29、 bio-1Robertson Davies, one of Canadas foremost writers of plays, novels, and satire, was born on August 28, 1913, in the small village of Thamesville, Ontario. He was educated at Upper Canada College, Queens University, and earned a degree in literature from Oxford. After a few years in theatrical

30、life, he shifted into journalism, as the literary editor of Saturday Night magazine, and later the editor of the Peterborough Examiner. Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructureG-R: author bio-2During this period, he began to write plays, and then novels, starting with Tempest-Tost in 1

31、951. He wrote 10 other novels, grouped into trilogies, as well as many plays. In 1961, Davies was appointed Master of Massey College at the University of Toronto, the post where he remained until his retirement. He died on December 2, 1995, at the age of 82. Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Autho

32、r | StructureG-R: structure analysis-1Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructurePart 1(Para 1-2) introductory part which tells of peoples different reactions to superstition and the rampant superstition among learned people. Part 2(Para 3-6) the author describes and explains one by one t

33、he four manifestations of superstition.Part 3(Para 7-8) the relationship of superstition and psychology, religion and science.G-R: structure analysis-2Text Introduction | Culture Notes | Author | StructurePart 4(Para 9-11) the persistent popularity of superstition and its reasonPart 5(Para 12) concl

34、uding remarksDR-p0-textA FEW KIND WORDS FOR SUPERSTITIONRobertson Davies“A Few Kind Words for Superstition” originally appeared in Newsweek magazine (November 20, 1978). Looking closely at why some people believe in magic and chance, Davies divides superstition into categories for the purpose of ana

35、lyzing this complex topic. The four divisions he presents are certainly familiar to most of us, though few of us have taken the time to label them. In taking a rational approach to what many people consider to be an irrational subject, Davies offers some fascinating observations about human nature.D

36、etailed ReadingDR-p1-text1.In grave discussions of “the renaissance of the irrational” in our time, superstition does not figure largely as a serious challenge to reason or science. Parapsychology, UFOs, miracle cures, transcendental meditation, and all the paths to instant enlightenment are condemn

37、ed, but superstition is merely deplored. Is it because it has an unacknowledged hold on so many of us?Detailed ReadingDR-p2-text2.Few people will admit to being superstitious; it implies navet or ignorance. But I live in the middle of a large university, and I see superstition in its four manifestat

38、ions, alive and flourishing among people who are indisputably rational and learned.Detailed ReadingDR-p3-text3.You did not know that superstition takes four forms? Theologians assure us that it does. First is what they call Vain Observances, such as not walking under a ladder, and that kind of thing

39、. Yet I saw a deeply learned professor of anthropology, who had spilled some salt, throwing a pinch of it over his left shoulder; when I asked him why, he replied, with a wink, that it was “to hit the Devil in the eye.” I did not question him further about his belief in the Devil, but I noticed that

40、 he did not smile until I asked him what he was doing.Detailed ReadingDR-p4-text4.The second form is Divination, or consulting oracles. Another learned professor I know, who would scorn to settle a problem by tossing a coin (which is a humble appeal to Fate to declare itself), told me quite seriousl

41、y that he has resolved a matter related to university affairs by consulting the I Ching. And why not? There are thousands of people on this continent who appeal to the I Ching, and their general level of education seems to absolve them of superstition. Almost, but not quite. The I Ching, to the emba

42、rrassment of rationalists, often gives excellent advice.Detailed ReadingDR-p5-text5.The third form is Idolatry, and universities can show plenty of that. If you have ever supervised a large examination room, you know how many jujus, lucky coins, and other bringers of luck are placed on the desks of

43、the candidates. Modest idolatry, but what else can you call it?Detailed ReadingDR-p6-text6.The fourth form is Improper Worship of the True God. A while ago, I learned that every day, for several days, a $2 bill (in Canada we have $2 bills, regarded by some people as unlucky) had been tucked under a

44、candlestick on the altar of a college chapel. Investigation revealed that an engineering student, worried about a girl, thought that bribery of the Deity might help. When I talked with him, he did not think he was pricing God cheap because he could afford no more. A reasonable argument, but perhaps

45、God was proud that week, for the scientific oracle went against him.Detailed ReadingDR-p7-text7. Superstition seems to run, a submerged river of crude religion, below the surface of human consciousness. It has done so for as long as we have any chronicle of human behavior, and although I cannot prov

46、e it, I doubt if it is more prevalent today than it has always been. Superstition, the theologians tell us, comes from the Latin supersisto, meaning to stand in terror of the Deity. Most people keep their terror within bounds, but they cannot root it out, nor do they seem to want to do so.Detailed R

47、eadingDR-p8-text8. The more the teaching of formal religion declines, or takes a sociological form, the less God appears to great numbers of people as a God of Love, resuming his older form of a watchful, minatory power, to be placated and cajoled. Superstition makes its appearance, apparently unbid

48、den, very early in life, when children fear that stepping on cracks in the sidewalk will bring ill fortune. It may persist even among the greatly learned and devout, as in the case of Dr. Samuel Johnson, who felt it necessary to touch posts that he passed in the street. The psychoanalysts have their

49、 explanation, but calling a superstition a compulsion neurosis does not banish it.Detailed ReadingDR-p9-text9.Many superstitions are so widespread and so old that they must have risen from a depth of the human mind that is indifferent to race or creed. Orthodox Jews place a charm on their doorposts;

50、 so do (or did) the Chinese. Some peoples of Middle Europe believe that when a man sneezes, his soul, for that moment, is absent from his body, and they hasten to bless him, lest the soul be seized by the Devil. How did the Melanesians come by the same idea? Superstition seems to have a link with so

51、me body of belief that far antedates the religions we know religions which have no place for such comforting little ceremonies and charities.Detailed ReadingDR-p10-text10.People who like disagreeable historical ceremonies recall that when Rome was in decline, superstition proliferated wildly, and th

52、at something of the same sort is happening in our Western world today. They point to the popularity of astrology, and it is true that sober newspapers that would scorn to deal in love philters carry astrology columns and the fashion magazines count them among their most popular features. But when ha

53、s astrology not been popular? No use saying science discredits it. When has the heart of man given a damn for science?Detailed ReadingDR-p11-text11. Superstition in general is linked to mans yearning to know his fate, and to have some hand in deciding it. When my mother was a child, she innocently j

54、oined her Roman Catholic11 friends in killing spiders on July 11, until she learned that this was done to ensure heavy rain the day following, the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, when the Orangemen would hold their parade. I knew an Italian, a good scientist, who watched every morning before

55、 leaving his house, so that the first person he met would not be a priest or a nun, as this would certainly bring bad luck.Detailed ReadingDR-p12-text12. I am not one to stand aloof from the rest of humanity in this matter, for when I was a university student, a gypsy14 woman with a child in her arm

56、s used to appear every year at examination time, and ask a shilling of anyone who touched the Lucky Baby; that swarthy infant cost me four shillings altogether, and I never failed an examination. Of course, I did it merely for the joke or so I thought then. Now, I am humbler.Detailed ReadingDR:p1-2

57、AnalysisParagraphs 1-2 AnalysisThe two paragraphs make up the introductory part which tells of peoples different reactions to superstition and the rampant superstition among learned people. Detailed ReadingDR:p3-6 AnalysisParagraphs 3-6 AnalysisFrom Paragraph 3 to Paragraph 6 the author describes an

58、d explains one by one the four manifestations of superstition. What is worth our notice is that all the examples used in these paragraphs are about learned people, either professors or college students, thus proving that superstition is not a preserve of the ignorant and nav. Detailed ReadingDR:p7An

59、alysisParagraph 7 AnalysisAfter he describes the four forms of superstition, the author goes on to explore its history and its relevance to human psychology.Detailed ReadingDR:p8 AnalysisParagraph 8 AnalysisThis paragraph tells us that superstition has a spell that somewhat differs from religion and

60、 cannot be dispelled by science. Detailed ReadingDR:p9-10 AnalysisParagraphs 9-10 AnalysisIn these two paragraphs, the author points out one of the characteristics of superstition its persistent popularity, regardless of time, race, creed and even modern science.Detailed ReadingDR:p11 AnalysisParagr