Unit 7 The Greatest Invention

Background knowledge Language learning Exercises Discussion

Biography: Lord Dunsany

Lord Dunsany (July 24, 1878 - October 25, 1957) was a well-established English writer and dramatist, who was best-known for his creative works in science and fantasies.

Lord Dunsany

Lord Dunsany served as an officer World War I. He was a keen huntsman, sportsman, and was at one time the chess and pistol （射击） champion of Ireland.

His fame arose, however, from his prolific writings of short stories, novels, plays and poetry, mostly written with a quill pen.

（鹅毛笔）

Writings

His most notable fantasy short stories were published in collections from 1905 to 1919: he had to pay for publication of his first book, "The Gods of Pegana". The stories were set within an invented world, with its own gods, history and geography. His significance within the genre of fantasy writing is considerable.

Some of his works

Illustration from 1922 edition of Dunsany'sDon Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley,drawn by S. H. Sime

The book of Wonder

fantasy A fantasy is a situation

imagined by an individual or group, which does not correspond with reality but expresses certain desires or aims of its creator. Fantasies typically involve situations which are impossible (such as the existence of magic powers) or something highly unlikely (such as world peace). Fantasies can also be sexual in nature.

fantasy In literature ， fantasy is a

form of fiction, usually novels or short stories.

                                           

       

As a genre, fantasy is both associated and contrasted with science fiction and horror fiction.

Fantasy features magic, brave knights, girls in distress , mythical beasts, and quests.( 探索）

                     

                                                                

Fable a short moral story (often with animal

characters) In its strict sense, a fable is a short story

or folk tale with a moral  at the end. It often, but not necessarily, makes metaphorical use of an animal  as its central character. In some cases, usage of the term has been extended to include stories with mythical or legendary elements.

Modern fable fabled characters of more modern

archetypes( 原型） using familiar characters in an

unfamiliar setting introduce people’s characters in

modern life updated message with

contemporary circumstance and plot line

If all people in this world take the moral message from fables, there will not be any violence and the world will be peaceful.

The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea . These islands curve southward from the bottom tip of Florida to the Northwest of Venezuela in South America. There are at least 7000 islands, islets, reefs （暗礁） and cays （珊瑚礁） in the region. They are organized into twenty-five territories including sovereign states, overseas departments and dependencies.

The name "West Indies" originates from Christopher Columbus' idea that he had landed in India when he had in fact reached the Americas. The Caribbean consists of the Antilles  and the Bahamas and is part of North America.

Germ Warfare

Germ is an informal term for a disease-causing organism, particularly bacteria( 细菌） .

Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of any organism (bacteria, virus 病毒 or other disease-causing organism) or toxin （毒素） found in nature, as a weapon of war. It is meant to kill an adversary.

Germ Warfare Biological warfare is a cause for concern

because a successful attack could result in thousands, possibly even millions, of deaths and could cause severe disruptions to societies and economies. However the consensus among military analysts is that except in the context of bioterrorism, biological warfare is militarily of little use.

Examples of Biological warfare

2001 anthrax attack In September and

October of 2001, several cases of anthrax caused deliberately broke out in the United States . This was a well-publicized act of bioterrorism.

The FBI's Kevin Donovan displays a reward flier offering up to $2.5 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for mailing anthrax-tainted letters.

Bodies to be disposed after experiment by Unit 731

go ashore: go to the shore

prefix “a-” 加在名词、动词、形容词前 , 构成副词或表语形容词

They were walking abreast.

He was standing a few steps apart from them.

She left the door ajar. （半开）

decent: acceptable, good enough

a decent meal/job/house/ hotel

decent clothes/ wages

I was tired of looking at the tropical sea, so I went ashore and walked into a tavern to see if they had any decent wines in that country.

When the bottle had been uncorked and the wine poured out, like liquid tropical sunlight, I watched it go down under that black mustache.

The bottle was opened and the wine was poured out. The man with black mustache drank it up although it was pretty strong, like hot liquid sunlight.

We aimed at the mastery of the whole Caribbean.

It was our purpose to have complete control of the whole Caribbean.

The enemy had complete mastery of the seas and no ships could get through.

Everybody was impressed by her quick mastery of those complicated theories.

…he was not at all what one would regard as the figure of a soldier.

the figure of a soldier: the kind of person one would expect to see as a soldier, tall and strong

figure You have to watch our diet if you want to

keep your figure. the exact figure both a political and a religious figure to play the figure of a judge

Shape

Number

Person

character

Our Minister … was a cavalry officer and could not adapt his ideas to modern science. He thought of war simply as an opportunity for cavalry charges and fine uniforms and glory.

cavalry charges: rushes to attack the enemy on horseback

1. The hotel charged me $50 for a room for the night. (ask in payment)

2. Suddenly the wild animal charged at us. (rush in or as if in an attack)

3. He was charged with murder and betrayal. (to declare officially and openly)

4. The soldiers charged their guns and prepared to fire. (to load)

5. He is always charged with strength and power. (to take in the correct amount of electricity)

Once, if a nation had twelve battleships it was a Great Power…

It refers to the 19th century when colonialists and imperialists pursued gunboat diplomacy. （炮舰外交）

Gunboat diplomacy: the use of a threat of show of armed force by a country to support a claim, demand, complaint, etc. against another.

But what if we know how to let loose a plague capable of destroying whole nations?

what if: what would happen if let loose: to let sb. or sth. go free plague: any disease causing death and spreading

quickly to a large number of people

我们把画移到这儿怎么样 ?

What if we move the picture over here?你不该用这种方式发泄愤慨 .

You should not let loose your indignation in this way.

A great many people have been swept away by the plague.That child is a plague of her life.The little boy plagued his father by begging over and over to go to the zoo.You’ve been plaguing me with silly questions all day!

We knew that we had marvelous powers within our grasp, if only Carasierra could be kept at his work.

have sth. within one’s grasp: to be able to achieve or attain sth.

keep sb. at sth.: to force sb. to continue to do sth.

Success is within our grasp now.现在我们已有成功的把握了 .

她唾手可得一个很好的职位 .

She has an excellent position within her grasp.

To do exercise once in awhile is not enough. You’ve got to keep at it.

He keeps at his studies, although he is ill.

Keep at him for payment.

Always spurred on by a fierce ambition. His very life was devoted to making inventions.

spur: to urge sb. to try harder fierce: very strong, done with very strong feelings

and energy

The rider spurred on to his destination. ( 疾驰 )

He was spurred on by poverty to commit a crime.( 刺激）To him difficulties were simply spurs to endeavor.( 刺激（物） )

雄心是青年人的一种极好的推动力 .

Ambition is an excellent spur for the young.

fierce emotions

fierce attack

fierce competition

fierce anger

fierce look

fierce heat

fierce tempest

fierce pain

I tried everything: threats, appeals to him to think of our ancient glory, even bribes.

think of our ancient glory: to think of his patriotic duty to help to recover our past glory

bribe n. / v.:money or sth. valuable given to sb. to persuade him to do sth. dishonest

take/ offer a bribe

bribe sb. into silence

commit bribery

The children were given candy as a bribe to be good.

return with glory in one’s glory go to glory glory to do/in doing sth. glorify oneself a glorious death

凯旋

得意之时

死 , 升天

为做某事而自豪

自夸

光荣的牺牲

We were so nearly one of the Great Powers but for a fancy that came to this man’s mind.

but for: if not for 要不是…

要不是他一把抓住 , 我就摔倒了 .

I would have fallen but for his sudden arm.要不是你的帮助 , 我无法完成这工作 .

But for your help, I would not have finished the work.

I saw only a square yard of grass, marked off with a strip of white tape.

mark an area off: to make an area separate by drawing a line around it or putting a rope around it

a strip of: a thin narrow piece of (paper, cloth, tape, sand)

We marked off the limits of our lots with stakes.

mark off spheres of influence

Her smiling eyes marks her off from other girls.

The place was marked off as a tennis court.

a strip of paper/ cloth/ board/ tape

a strip of garden/ territory

landing strip

… he fell then to silent brooding, gazing,

She sat there brooding on whether life is worth living.

Don’t brood over lost opportunities.

Just as physicists worry about he nature of matter, historians brood about the study of man’s past.

His mind has lost its grip.（理解力） The policeman would not lose his grip on the thief.

He has a good grip of several modern languages.

his country had lost on the Caribbean, …

brood: to keep thinking for a long time about sth. that makes you very angry or worried

lose the grip on: to lose the power and control over

The ship got ________ on a rock. (shore) Mr. Spears did not ______ to obtaining a better

position in life. (aspiration) The shock was _____ to him. (die) The right hand is ________ in most people.

(dominate) A sword rusts in _______. (idle) A brave leader is an __________ to his followers.

(inspire) There is keen ______ for these appointments.

(rival) He’s very unhappy about her promotion; he

seems to feel that his own job is ________. (threat)

ashoreaspire

deadlydominant

idlenessinspiration

rivalry

threatened

Exercises

There were some _______ flowers on the table.

A. artificial

B. unnatural

C. false

D. unreal

A

Exercises

People were surprised to find that he had the ability to _____ everything he was involved in.

A. precede

B. dominate

C. effect

D. instruct

B

Exercises

When people become unemployed, it is ____ which is often worse than lack of wages.

A. laziness

B. poverty

C. idleness

D. inability

C

Exercises

Although the two players are ______ in the tennis court, they are really good friends.

A. partners

B. enemies

C. rivals

D. companions

C

Exercises

By _____ computation, he estimated that the repairs on the house would cost him a thousand dollars.

A. coarse

B. rude

C. crude

D. rough

D

Exercises A well-written composition ____ good

choice of words and clear organization among other things.

A. calls on B. calls for

C. calls up D. calls off Craig assured his boss that he would ___

all his energies in doing this new job.

A. call on B. call for

C. call up D. call off

B

A

A. 号召，呼吁

B. 邀请，要求，需要

C. 打电话，召集，使人想起D. 放弃，取消

Exercises

______ the speech contest I would have gone to the dance party last Sunday.

A. In spite of

B. But for

C. Because of

D. As for

B

Exercises

I’m sure he is up to the job ___ he would give his mind to it.

A. if only

B. in case

C. until

D. unless

A

Discussion

“I do not work for use, but for wonder.” Do you support this view of science for science’s sake? Should scientists mainly aim at those “purposeful effort”?

In order to make their voice heard, many small nations and nationalities resort to terrorism. Is it a necessary approach for them to get powerful? Discuss with your partners.

Quotes:

Logic, like whiskey, loses Logic, like whiskey, loses its beneficial effect when its beneficial effect when taken in too large taken in too large quantities.quantities.

------- Lord Dunsany