Unit 6 The Man in the Water

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Unit 6 The Man in the Water
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About the Author
Roger Rosenblatt Professor of English
Professor of Writing AB, New York
University Ph.D, Harvard University
3
About the Author

• Roger Rosenblatt is a journalist, author,
  playwright and professor. As an essayist for Time
  magazine, he has won two George Polk Awards, and
  awards from the Overseas Press Club and the
  American Bar Association, among others. His
  television essays for the MacNeil/Lehrer
  NewsHour have won him a George Foster Peabody
  Award and an Emmy. He is also the author of six
  books.

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About the Air Crash
One of the worst snowstorms in the history of
Washington, D.C. hit the city 20 years ago on
Jan. 13, 1982. Just about everything closed down
the government, businesses, schools, the
airports.
By about noon, the skies cleared and
Washingtons National Airport reopened for
business. The crew of Air Florida Flight 90
began preparing for a nonstop trip to sunny Fort
Lauderdale, Florida. At 359 p.m., the
twin-engine Boeing 737 was cleared for takeoff
and began rumbling down the runway on its final
flight.
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About the Air Crash
Minutes later, the plane smashed into the 14th
Street Bridge, only 1,200 yards from the
Pentagon, destroying four automobiles and killing
five people. The jet then fell into the
ice-covered Potomac River , bringing all the
passengers to their instant death except five
four passengers and one flight attendant from
the tail section, who found themselves gasping
and struggling in the icy water.
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About the Air Crash
These five people however survived and they were
able to survive because of four heroes. The
author wrote this essay in praise of these
heroes, three of whom had risked their lives to
rescue the survivors and were able to live to
tell the story, but the man that really held the
whole nations attention was the fourth one who
had kept pushing his lifeline and flotation rings
to others until he went under.
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Moments After the Crash
At 359 the plane shuddered as it took off and
tried to gain altitude. It cleared two of the
bridges on the Potomic River, but was losing
altitude. The crew and passengers knew they were
in trouble before it struck the 14th Street
Bridge and it tore in half as it slammed through
cars and railing (??)then plunged into the cold,
icy, dark waters.
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Moments After the Crash
Moments later only the tail section remained
afloat, 79 people were aboard Flight 90, six were
to survive the crash, but only five would
live. Huddled together in the cold icy waters,the
survivors waited for the rescue helicopter to
arrive. Treading (?,?)water, the survivors held
on, some with broken arms and legs, two with
collapsed lungs caused from the impact. "We're
all going to die," someone said,
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Moments After the Crash
Aboard Flight 90 was Arland K. Williams Jr. , who
always sat in the tail section of the plane, the
safest part of the plane, he said. Not long
before, Williams had just discussed his marriage
with the woman he loved, I think were going to
marry soon.
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Moments After the Crash
It was 420 before the helicopter arrived at the
scene, dropping the first lifeline delivering
Bert Hamilton 100 yards to shore. It would be ten
minutes before the helicopter returned, dropping
the line to Williams. He caught it, but instead
of wrapping it around himself, he passed the line
to flight attendant Kelly Duncan, the only crew
member to survive. She took the line, wrapped it
under her arms and held tight as she was carried
to shore.
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Moments After the Crash
With room for only one helicopter at a time
between bridges, it returned with two lifelines,
and again Williams caught it and handed it off to
yet another survivor, Joe Stiley, the most
seriously injured passenger.
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Moments After the Crash
Tirado , who also clung to Stiley and her life
line, however, exhausted, in pain and shock, soon
lost her grip and plunged back into the cold icy
waters of the Potomac. Rescuers again tossed her
a life line but she was unable to grasp it to
save her own life. Upon seeing this and as Tirado
was about to go under, an onlooker, Lenny
Skutnik, plunged from the banks of the river into
the freezing water and brought her safely to
shore.
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Moments After the Crash
By 430 p.m, Williams had been in the freezing
water for 29 minutes, and his turn had finally
come. The helicopter turned once more toward the
sinking tail, its two-man crew eager to meet the
man in the water, "to tell him they had never
seen such selfless courage."
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Moments After the Crash
They strained (????)for signs of the hero of
Flight 90. But the balding man was gone. "He
could have gone on the first trip," pilot Usher
wept, but he put everyone else ahead of himself.
Everyone. Why? Why did he do this? What did he
do this for?
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Comments on the Event
The following are a few words his mother
Virginia Williams used to describe her son. "He
was average," she said. "Just average." Others
comment Its people like these that are heroes.
Those people who step out of the norm(??, ??) and
put their life second in consideration of others
in a crisis. For isn't it, in times of danger,
the average man who saves us all?
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Theme of the Text
Heroism. Heroism of course has been admired. But
this mans heroism was unusual. People usually
expect revolutionaries to die martyrs true
believers to be willing to die for their faith
people ready to lay down their lives in
performing their duty even people to show
courage in their attempt to win power, influence,
money or to save their loved ones. But the man in
the water did not fit any of these descriptions.
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Theme of the Text
Heroism. The man in the water did not have to
give his rings to others he did not even know
these people. He was extraordinary precisely
because he was ordinary. He showed what everyone
of us could do. The display of his heroism was a
song to the beautiful human character. This is
true heroism.
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Related Information
Washington D.C. , the city of form and rules
Downtown Home
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Related Information
Washington D.C. , the city of form and rules
Sightseeing Map
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Related Information
Washington D.C. , the city of form and rules
Metro Map
21
Related Information
Presidential Monuments Washington Monument
In recognition of his leadership in the
cause of American independence, Washington earned
the title "Father of his Country". With this
monument, the citizens of the United States show
their enduring gratitude and respect for the
first president in the United States.
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Related Information
Presidential Monuments Jefferson Memorial
Thomas Jefferson political philosopher,
architect, musician, book collector, scientist,
horticulturist(????), diplomat, inventor, and
third President of the United States, also author
of the Declaration of American Independence, and
Father of the University of Virginia.
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Related Information
Presidential Monuments Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is a tribute to
President Abraham Lincoln and the nation he
fought to preserve during the Civil War
(1861-1865). The Lincoln Memorial was built to
resemble a Greek temple. It has 36 Doric columns,
one for each state at the time of Lincolns
death. A sculpture by Daniel Chester French of a
seated Lincoln is in the center of the memorial
chamber.
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Related Information
The Potomac River
The Potomac River is often referred to as
the "Nation's River," because it flows through
the nation's capital, where the magnificent
monuments of the Washington, Jefferson, and
Lincoln memorials are reflected in its waters. It
is one of the most beautiful and bountiful rivers
on the East Coast and is known for its historic,
scenic and recreational significance. It begins
as a small spring at the Fairfax Stone in West
Virginia, and winds its way through the mountains
and valleys of Appalachia, past battlefields and
old manufacturing towns. The river flows more
than 380 miles and grows to more than 11 miles
wide as it reaches the Chesapeake Bay at Point
Lookout, Maryland.
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Related Information
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) is one of
the most famous American essayist, poets and
philosophers. Known as a transcendentalist, his
main themes are individualism, independent
thinking, self-reliance, idealism and the worship
of nature. His works include Nature,
Self-reliance, American Scholar, Overload and
many other essays and poems.
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Related Information
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Transcendentalism a philosophy
/doctrine that knowledge may be obtained by a
study of the mental processes, apart from
experience. ???? ?????????????????????????
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Related Information
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Quotes from Emerson The sum of wisdom is
that time is never lost that is devoted to
work. "Do your work, and you shall reinforce
yourself."Good bye, proud world! Im going
homeThou art not my friend I am not thine.
A man is a bundle of relations, a knot of roots,
whose flower and fruitage is the world.
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Related Information
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Quotes from Emerson Discontent is the want
of self-reliance it is infirmity of will.
"Every sweet has its sour every evil its good.
Everything in Nature contains all the powers of
Nature. Everything is made of one hidden stuff.
The only reward of virtue is virtue the
only way to have a friend is to be one
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Language Points

• 1. As disasters go, this one was terrible, but
  not unique
• asgoes compared with sth. average
• As writers go, Oscar Wilde was not the most
• talented. But he was among the most
  popular.
• ???????, ????????????

• As businessmen go, he is considered pretty
  honest.

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Language Points
2. Washington, the city of form and rules,
turned chaotic by a blast of real winter and a
single slap of metal on metal. (para 1)

• chaotic adj. in a state of disorder and
  confusion
• chaos n.
• The room was in a chaos.
• blast strong , sudden movement of wind or air
• When the window was opened, an icy blast came
• into the room.
• slap strike with the palm of the hand, used
  figuratively here.

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Language Points
3. And there was the aesthetic clash as well
-blue and green Air Florida, the name of a
flying garden, sunk down among gray chunks of ice
in a black river. (para 1)
aesthetic ????????? aesthetics ?????
anaesthetic / anesthetic ????????? chunk
thick, solid piece or lump ???,???
a chunk of meat / ice
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Language Points

• clash V. 1. make a loud, broken, confused noise
  (as
• when metal objects strike
  together)
• Their swords clashed.
• 2. meet in conflict
• The two armies clashed outside the town.
• 3. (of events) intefere with each
  other because
• they are to be at the same
  timeon the same date
• Its pity that the two concerts clashed. I want
  to go to both.
• 4. be in disagreement with
• I clashed with him at the meeting.
• The color of the curtain clashes with the of
  the carpet.
• n. the clash of weapons / views / opinions

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Language Points
And there was the aesthetic clash as well
-blue and green Air Florida, the name of a
flying garden, sunk down among gray chunks of ice
in a black river. (para 1)
When the air crash occurred, it was not just
a clash of metal against the bridge, but also a
clash between colors the blue-green color of the
plane ant the gray and black color of the ice and
river.
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Language Points
4. Last Wednesday the elements, indifferent as
ever, brought down Flight 90. And on that same
afternoon human nature groping and struggling
rose to the occasion. (para 2)

• the elements the forces of nature ????,? ????
  
• be exposed to the fury of the elements
• grope feel or search in the dark
• grope for the door-handle / light switch
• We groped our way in the dark corridor.

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Language Points

• indifferent to having no interest in not
  caring for
• How can you be so indifferent to the sufferings
  of
• those people?
• rise to the occasion /challenge /task prove
  oneself able to deal with an unexpected problem,
  a difficult task, etc.
• Im sure he will rise to the occasion when he
  realizes
• what is at stake. (??????)

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Language Points
Last Wednesday the elements, indifferent as
ever, brought down Flight 90. And on that same
afternoon human nature groping and struggling
rose to the occasion. (para. 2)
Last Wednesday, the bad weather, unconcerned
about the consequences it might bring about as
always, made Flight 90 fall down. On that same
afternoon, human nature, groping for the
flotation rings and struggling in the icy water,
came to prove its greatness displayed in an
unexpected tragedy.
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Language Points
5. Of the four acknowledged heroes of the event,
three ate able to account for their behavior.
(para. 3)
Only three out of these four heroes lived to
tell people what they actually had done and how
they rescued the five survivors.
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Language Points

• acknowledge
• 1. admit
• He refused to that he was defeated.
• He having been cheated.

• 2. express thanks for
• We should gifts promptly.
• 3. indicate that one recognizes sb. by
  greeting
• I passed her in the street , but she didnt
  even me when I smiled.
• 4. acknowledgement n.
• We are sending you a small sum of money in
  acknowledgement of your help.

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Language Points

• account for
• 1. give an explanation or reason for
• He can account for every penny in his pocket.
• Science can now account for many things that
• ancient people could not understand.

• 2. answer for
• You will have to account for the misprints in
  the article.
• 3. amount to
• In that country the production of raw materials
  account
• for a considerable proportion of the national
  economy.
• ????????????? ???????????

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Language Points
6. On television, side by side, they described
their courage as well in the line of duty. (para
3)

• line range of activity
• His line is banking. ???????
• Thats not my line. ????????
• in line with in agreement with
• Our foreign policy is in line with the
  interests of
• all the people of the world.
• (be) in line with (be) out of line with

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Language Points
7. Skutnik added that somebody had to go into
the water, delivering every heros line that is
no less admirable for being repeated. (para 3)
deliver ones line give a remark
deliver a speech deliver a lecture Skutnik
gave a remark that has been said before by many
people in similar situations, but it is still
admirable.
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Language Points
8 . In a mass casualty, youll find people like
him, said Windsor. But Ive never seen one with
that commitment. (para 4)
mass casualty large number of people hurt or
killed in an
accident or battle We can always find heroic
people like him in a mass casualty because
although not everyone is a hero, theres bound to
be a fair representation of heroes in a big
crowd. But Ive never seen anyone with such a
strong sense of responsibility.
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Language Points
9 . His selfishness was one reason the story held
national attention his anonymity another. (para
4)
anonymity n. anonymous
adj. an letter an gift
We can always find heroic people like him in
a mass casualty because although not everyone is
a hero, theres bound to be a fair representation
of heroes in a big crowd. But Ive never seen
anyone with such a strong sense of
responsibility.
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Language Points
10. The fact that he went unidentified gave him a
universal character. (para 4)
The fact that he went unidentified made him
a representative man, like everyone of us could
do. We may feel that it might have been anyone.

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Language Points
11. For a while he was Everyman, and thus proof
(as if one needed it) that no one is ordinary.

(para 4)
Everyone echoes the title of a medieval
play about a typical human being. It conveys the
idea that this anonymous man really represents
the best of human nature. What he did was not the
act of a supernatural being, but the act of an
ordinary person. Yet
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Language Points
12. Still he could never have imagined such a
capacity in himself. (para. 5) ability
capability capacity ability
??????????,???????????? capability???
??????,?? ability??,??? ????? capacity
?????,?? ??????.

He has the ability to swim like a fish. He
has the capability of solving practical
problems. The theater has a seating capacity of
300 people. The book is within the reading
capacity of young readers.
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Language Points
13. He was there, in the essential, classical
circumstance. (para 7)

essential basic typical, most important
classic traditional or long established
What happened that day was a typical situation
in which nature and man fought each other. And
when nature begins to show its power, you always
find man fight back. He is always there. We can
always expect to find such a hero.
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Language Points
14. So the age-old battle began again in the
Potomac. For as long as man could last, they went
at each other, nature and man. (para 7)


the age-old battle between nature and man
here refers to the traditional idea that human
civilization is a record of mans gradual
conquest of nature. go at attack fight

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Language Points
15. the one making no distinctions of good and
evil, acting on no principles, offering no
lifelines the other acting wholly on
distinctions, principles and , perhaps, on faith.
(para. 7)

Nature is indifferent. It does not have any
idea what is good or what is bad for human
beings, and it does not care. It has no moral
principles. Human beings, on the other hand, are
different. They have moral standards. They have
feelings. They care and they love. Therefore
they are able to choose between right and wrong.

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Language Points
16. In reality, we believe the opposite, and it
takes the act of the man in the water to remind
us o four true feelings in this matter. (para.
8)

Actually, the death of the man did not mean
that human beings had lost the battle. In a moral
sense, man had won because mans courage to defy
death was also a tremendous power. Therefore,
what happened to this man in the water should
fill us with pride rather than sadness.

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Language Points
17. The man in the water set himself against an
immovable, impersonal enemy he fought it with
kindness and he held it to a standstill. He was
the best we can do.. (para. 9)


set sb. against make sb. start to fight or
quarrel with an immovable, impersonal enemy
refers to nature, which is indifferent and cannot
be persuaded to change its attitude towards us
humans standoff a situation in which
neither side in a fight or battle can give an
advantage
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Vocabulary Grammar Exercises
B
1. His long service with the company was ____
with a present. A. admitted B.
acknowledged C. attributed D. accepted


2. Teaching students of threshold level is hard
work but the effort is very ____. A.
precious B. rewarding C. worth D.
challenging
B
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Vocabulary Grammar Exercises
A
3. Among all the changes resulting from the ____
entry of women into the workforce, the
transformation that has occurred in the women
themselves is not the least important.. A.
massive B. quantitative C. surplus D.
tragic

A
4. Whether their football team will win is a
matter of ____ to me. A. indifference B.
discrimination C. deviation D. interests

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Vocabulary Grammar Exercises
D
5. The plane ____, its bombs exploding as it hit
the ground. A. collided B. crushed C.
plunged D. crashed

B
6. The morning news says a school bus ____ with
a train at the junction a group of policemen were
sent there immediately. A. stumbled B.
collided C. crashed D. struck
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Vocabulary Grammar Exercises
A
7. Today the public is much concerned about the
way ____. A. nature is being ruined B. which
nature is ruined C. on which to ruin nature D.
of nature to be ruined

B
8. These surveys indicate that many crimes go
____ by the police, mainly because not all
victims report them. A. to be unrecorded
B. unrecorded C. to have been unrecorded
D. unrecording
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Discussion

• 1. We find heroes in all societies and cultures
  and at all times. Who are the greatest heroes in
  your mind? List some of them and account for
  their deeds.
• 2. Many people think that heroes are made of
  special materials, but the author seems to
  suggest that every one of us has the capacity to
  be a hero. What do you think of this point of
  view?

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So much for The Man in the Water
58
Vocabulary Grammar Exercises
D
7. The plane ____, its bombs exploding as it hit
the ground. A. collided B. crushed C.
plunged D. crashed

A
8. The morning news says a school bus ____ with
a train at the junction a group of policemen were
sent there immediately. A. stumbled B.
collided C. crshed D. struck
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Comments on the Tragedy
The following are a few words his mother
Virginia Williams used to describe her son. "He
was average," she said. "Just average." The
authors comment He did not have to give his
rings to others he did not even know these
people. He was extraordinary precisely because he
was ordinary. He showed what everyone of us could
do. The display of his heroism was a song to the
beautiful human character.
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Comments on the Tragedy
The following are a few words his mother
Virginia Williams used to describe her son. "He
was average," she said. "Just average." The
authors comment He did not have to give his
rings to others he did not even know these
people. He was extraordinary precisely because he
was ordinary. He showed what everyone of us could
do. The display of his heroism was a song to the
beautiful human character.