《基础英语》课件 the damned human race

1、O Henry (pen name) 欧亨利 The Gift of the MagiErnest Hemingway 海明威 The old Man and the SeaJack London 杰克伦敦 The Call of the WildMark Twain (pen name) 马克吐温 The source of humor is not laughter but sorrow.-Mark Twain This text helps us to understand Mark Twains:Humor Satire Pessimism Unit 9 Text AThe Damne

2、d Human RaceStructure of the TextPart I (Paras 1-4) The author states the thesis and introduces his scientific experiment. （What experiment?)Part II (Paras 5-9) The author analyzes various traits and dispositions of human beings in contrast to the “higher animals”. (What traits & dispositions?)Part

3、III (Paras 10-17) The author argues with people who believe in mans superiority. (What argument?)Part IV (Paras 18) The author arrives at a conclusion: men have descended and degenerated.Detailed Discussion of the TextPara One 1. I have been studying the traits and dispositions of the “lower animals

4、”, and contrasting them with the traits and dispositions of man. I find the result humiliating to me.(1) traits and dispositions: characteristics; features; nature; qualities; personalities(2) humiliating: making me feel ashamed; embarrassing; mortifyingParaphrase: I have been studying the character

5、istics of the so-called lower animals in comparison with those of man. The result of this study makes me, as a man, feel terribly ashamed.For it obliges me to renounce my allegiance to the Darwinian theory of the Ascent of Man from the Lower Animals and to name it the Descent of Men from the Higher

6、Animals.(1) to oblige sb to do sth: to force sb to do sth (2) to renounce: to abandon or give up; to reject or disown(3) allegiance: loyalty, esp. to a nation or a causeParaphrase: Because the result of my study forces me to cast off / give up (to abandon) my loyalty to (firm belief in) Darwins theo

7、ry of evolution and to change the theory of the Ascent of Man from the Lower Animals to the theory of the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals.1. In proceeding toward this unpleasant conclusion I have not guessed or speculated or conjectured, but have used what is commonly called the scientific me

8、thod.(The three verbs mean very much the same thing. They are used in a row to give emphasis and to make it sound academic.)Para 22. That is to say, I have subjected every postulate that presented itself to the crucial test of actual experiment, and have adopted it or rejected it according to the re

9、sult.postulate: n. (fml) assumption; theory; hypothesis 假定，假设to subject sth / sb to sth: to cause sb / sth to undergo or experience sth unpleasant or difficult and often for a long time, 使遭受，使经历e.g. The inquiry found that they had been subjected to beatings and interrogations in prison. 调查发现他们在狱中常遭到

10、毒打刑讯。3. These experiments were made in the London Zoological Gardens, and covered many months of painstaking and fatiguing work.Some of my experiments were quite curious. In the course of my reading, I had come across a case where, many years ago, some hunters on our Great Plains organized a buffalo

11、 hunt for the entertainment of an English earl- that, and to provide some fresh meat for his table.Para 3Culture: (1) the Great Plains: It is a large area of flat, high land located in the west central North America between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River, 2000 miles long and 500 miles

12、 wide. Much of it is natural grassland. Inhabited first by nomadic Indians known as Buffalo Indians, the Plains were settled by white ranchers in the 1860s.(2) earl: a title of British nobility, equal to the French count伯爵duke公爵; marquis侯爵; earl (count)伯爵; viscount子爵; baron男爵I was aware that many me

13、n who have accumulated more millions of money than they can ever use have shown a rabid hunger for more, and have not scrupled to cheat the ignorant and the helpless out of their poor savings in order to partially appease that appetite.Para 4 I knew that many men who have more money than they can ev

14、er use have shown a mad desire to get more, and they have not hesitated to cheat poor people and steal their few savings in order to satisfy that desire.Para 5In the course of my experiments I convince myself that among the animals man is the only one that harbors insults and injuries, broods over t

15、hem, waits till a chance offers, then takes revenge. (1) harbor: v. to hold back a thought or feeling about：She is harboring a grudge against him. 她对他怀恨在心。(2) to brood over: to think about sth for a long time because it makes you angry or worried 念念不忘（尤指忿恨不满）：It doesnt help to brood over your failur

16、es.对自己的失败耿耿于怀是无济于事的。(3) to take revenge: to do sth to punish sb who has harmed youParaphrase: The experiments make myself believe that among the animals man is the only one that remembers insults and injuries, thinks about them for a long time, waits until a chance comes up and then takes revenge.In

17、decency, vulgarity, obscenity-these are strictly confined to man; he invented them.(1) indecency: n. 猥亵，下流，无礼 indecent adj. (2) vulgarity n. 粗俗，粗鄙 vulgar adj. (3) obscenity n. 淫秽 obscene adj. Para 8 He will not even enter a drawing-room with his breast and back naked, so alive are he and his mates t

18、o indecent suggestion.so alive are he and his mates to indecent suggestion: . he and other fellows are so aware of indecent suggestions.Para 9He is the only one that inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it.to inflict on sb: to make sb suffer sth unpleasantParaphrase: He is the only one that enjoy

19、s causing pain (Only man can be a sadist).The cat is moderateunhumanly moderate, she only scares the mouse, she does not hurt it; she doesnt dig out its eyes, or tear off its skin, or drive splinters under its nailsman-fashion; when she is done playing with it, she makes a sudden meal of it and puts

20、 it out of its trouble.unhumanly moderate: reasonable, not so violent, not so excessive or extreme, unlike human beings (unhuman is not to be mixed up with inhuman. It is actually a word coined by the writer. )man-fashion: like man; as man does to put sb out of his trouble: to end sbs trouble Paraph

21、rase: The cat is reasonable. She is not so extreme or excessive like human beings. She only wants to make the mouse frightened but not to do any harm to it. She doesnt dig out its eyes, or tear off its skin, or squeeze wood chips under its nails, which are ways of human beings. When she feels tired

22、of playing with the mouse, she eats it suddenly and ends its pain.Man is the Cruel Animal. He is alone in that distinction.in that distinction: in that distinguishing factor; in that respectPara 10 The higher animals engage in individual fights, but never in organized masses. Man is the only one tha

23、t deals in the atrocity of atrocities, War. to engage in: to participate in the atrocity of atrocities: the greatest or the worst atrocity Paraphrase: The higher animals fight as individuals, but unlike man, they never fight wars. ( they never organize armies to fight each other. )He is the only ani

24、mal that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and with calm pulse to exterminate his kind.in cold blood and with calm pulse: in a cruel and cold-blooded way to exterminate: vt. ( fml) to get rid of; to destroy (a race or group of people or animals) completely Paraphrase: He is

25、 the only animal that gets his compatriots together around him and launches wars to destroy his kind completely in a cruel and cold-blooded way.He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out, as the Hessians did in our Revolution, and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who ha

26、ve done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel.(1) sordid: dirty; filthy(2) to slaughter: to kill in large numbers and usually in a violent and brutal manner; massacreCulture: the Hessians: This refers to the German Mercenaries (外国雇佣军) serving with the British during the American War of Indepen

27、dence. The Germans constituted about one third of the kings troops in America. For these mercenaries, Britain paid the German rulers a total of 1.77 million pounds.Para 11There is not an acre of ground on the globe that is in possession of its rightful owner.Paraphrase: Not a single piece of land is

28、 in the hands of its original owner. Every piece of land has been stolen.Para 12 Man is the only Slave. And he is the only animal who enslaves. He has always been a slave in one form or another, and has always held other slaves in bondage under him in one way or another. to hold sb in bondage: to ke

29、ep sb in the state of being a slavePara 13Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other peoples countries. to set oneself apart from . :

30、to make oneself feel that he is different from and better than other peopleto sneer at: to scorn at; to mock at; to laugh at contemptuously嘲笑 multitudinous: a. extremely large in number众多的，大量的 on hand: available; close by and ready for use uniformed assassins: murderers in uniform (This is Twains co

31、ntemptuous term for army soldiers. ) at heavy expense: costing a lot of moneyParaphrase: It is claimed that man is the only Patriot. Only man is capable of such a noble sentiment. But what does it mean? It simply means that he keeps himself away from others, occupies a piece of land, calls it his ow

32、n country, and thinks that he is better than all others, then he puts up a flag and gathers together a group of killers and steals land from others. and in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands andworks for “the universal brotherhood of man”with his mouth.to work for . wi

33、th his mouth: to pay lip service to . ; to give empty promises to.the universal brotherhood of man: the idea that all living human beings are brothers and sisters to each other四海之皆兄弟的思想; 博爱 Paraphrase: . and when they are not fighting each other, they will start talking about peace and universal bro

34、therhood, but without any sincerity. Para 14He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself, and cuts his throat if his theology isnt straight.straight: normal and correctParaphrase: He is the only animal that talks about loving his neighbors, but only when they have the same religion. Othe

35、rwise he will kill them.He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brothers path to happiness and heaven. to make a graveyard of: to cause the death of many people in this areaParaphrase: In trying to make it easy for his brother to find happiness and go to Heaven,

36、he has turned the world into a graveyard (he has caused the death of millions around the world in converting them to his religion).He was at it in the time of the Caesars, he was at it in Mohammeds time, he was at it in the time of the Inquisition, he was at it in France a couple of centuries, he wa

37、s at it in England in Marys day, he had been at it ever since he first saw the light. to be at sth: to be engaged in a certain activityto see the light: to come into existence, to be bornCulture: (1) the Caesars: The name of a powerful Roman family which became a title borne by the intended successo

38、r to the imperial throne. Julius Caesar was the Roman general who ruled the country. In the times of the Caesars, the early Christians were cruelly persecuted by the Romans.(2) Mohammed: (570-632) 穆罕默德Mohammed was the founder of Islam. When he was 40, he began his mission to preach the unity of God,

39、 the brotherhood of man and the necessity of a virtuous life. Persecuted in his native Mecca, he journeyed to Taif, but was stoned and forced to return to Mecca. In the next few years, however, Islam took root in Median, and as the Moslems grew in number, Mohammed returned to Mecca with 10,000 follo

40、wers and became the undisputed head of a Moslem Arabia. In Mohammeds time, the Muslims were cruelly persecuted.(3) Inquisition: 宗教法庭；异端裁判所 It means inquiry or investigation. Specifically, it refers to the former tribunal in the Roman Catholic Church directed at the suppression of heresy. A Roman Cat

41、holic tribunal in the Middle Ages for the investigation and discovery of heresy. It is commonly regarded as a symbol of religious persecution. Highly organized and effective, the judges would first attempt to bring the accused back to the faith; upon refusal, the person would be condemned and handed

42、 over to the civil power for the execution of a sentence, which was often death by burning.(4) he was at in France for a couple of centuries: This line by Mark Twain is to be understood against the background of the French history from the events leading up to and the events following in the wake of

43、 the French Revolution. One only has to remember the poverty and misery of the people; the corruption and cruelty of the lords, the monarch and the Church; the storming of the Bastille; the overthrow of the king; and the way Jacobins guillotined first the king and queen, lords and royalists, and fin

44、ally guillotined each other to see what Twain had in mind.(5) (Queen) Mary: Mary I (1516-1558), commonly known as Bloody Mary, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and half sister to Elizabeth I, who succeeded her. She alienated her subj

45、ects by marrying King Philip of Spain, reestablishing the Roman Catholic Church, reviving the church courts and the laws against heresy, and initiating religious persecution resulting in the death of 300 Protestants. And we are told that they are going to be left out, in the Hereafter. I wonder why?

46、 It seems questionable taste. in the Hereafter: in the world to come after death句中的the Hereafter指的是“来世，来生”。questionable taste: poor judgment on the part of God (God does not seem to know what is good and what is bad. )Paraphrase: And we are told that they will not be allowed to go to the next world

47、(Heaven). I wonder why? It seems to show poor taste to leave out the higher animals and allow only human beings to go to Heaven.Para 15Man is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute.to be open to dispute: If sth is open to dispute, it means that it is not certain and y

48、ou can argue about it. Paraphrase: Human beings say that they are the only animals who have reasoning power (who can think). But I think this is rather doubtful (or: debatable).It seems plain to me that whatever he is he is not a reasoning animal. Paraphrase: It seems clear to me that he is anything

49、 but a reasoning animal.Para 17 Next, in another cage I confined an Irish Catholic, and then as soon as he seemed tame I added a Scotch Presbyterian. Next a Turk; a Greek Christian; a Methodist from Arkansas; a Buddhist from China. Finally, a Salvation Army Colonel from Wapping. Culture:(1) Irish Ca

50、tholic: The large island of Ireland is divided into two parts. The northern part is part of the UK, and most of its people are Protestants, whereas the southern part is inhabited mostly by Catholics, and it became an independent state in 1921 (called the Republic of Ireland).(2) Scotch Presbyterian:

51、 A Presbyterian is a member of the Presbyterian Church (a Protestant Church), the national church of Scotland. It is governed by a group of people called “elders” who are of equal rank and has strict rules about behavior and morals. (Note: Dont use Scotch as adjective for Scot or Scotland. The Scott

52、ish people dont like it. Only whiskey is called Scotch.)(3) Turk: People of Turkey, who are primarily Muslims. (4) a Greek Christian: The national church of Greece is the Orthodox Eastern Church, which rejects the authority of Rome and considers itself to be the continuation of the original and true

53、 Church of Christ. It is descended from the Eastern Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire, which split into two in the5th century A.D.(5) a Salvation Army Colonel from Wapping: The Salvation Army is a Christian organization which helps the poor and needy. It is organized and operated on military l

54、ines. Its members wear military uniforms and have military ranks. They often sing and play religious music in public. It has established numerous hospitals, schools, second-hand stores, and residences worldwide for poor people. When I came back to note results, the cage of Higher Animals was all rig

55、ht, but in the other there was but a chaos of gory odds and ends of turbans and plaids and bones and fleshnot a specimen left alive. (1) gory: a. bloody; blood-stained; covered with blood, covered in gore沾满血污的，血淋淋的：The policemen found a gory dagger not far away from the body.警察在离尸体不远处发现了一把血淋淋的匕首。horrific or bloodshed骇人听闻的，血腥的：a gory accident流血事件(2) odds and ends: 零星东西，零碎的东西：I only heard some odds and ends. 我只听到