Unit Six

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Unit Six

• The Pace of Life

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Teaching Objectives

• Students should be able to
• Grasp the main idea and structure of the text
• Learn to distinguish supporting facts from
  opinions, and to use both in their own writings
• Master the key language points and grammatical
  structures

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Lead-in Activities

• Remarks about the pace of modern life
• (1) In the past century weve invented
  computers, production lines, white goods(????),
  cars, trains, planes etc all justified as
  time savers. In theory we should have stacks of
  MORE time. And yet people talk as though they
  have less and less time. Either there is
  something seriously wrong in our obsession with
  "labor saving devices", or the stuff about the
  pace of modern life is made up.

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Lead-in Activities

• (2) The modern pace of life is just too
  fast. Everyday as you open your eyes in the
  morning, you have to move fast or you won't get
  things done on time. You have no time to enjoy
  breakfast you have to run in order to catch a
  bus you have to shout and yell to get other
  people moved you have to be nervous all day
  long. Since what time we human become such
  miserable creatures? It's because of money, which
  can buy almost every thing in the world. With
  such a powerful stimulus, we people act like drug
  addicts and become oblivious to the true meaning
  of life.

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Lead-in Activities

• Class Discussion
• What did we use to expect from technology? Has
  technology made our lives easier or more
  burdensome?
• Write down three examples in your life when
  time-saving devices actually caused you to waste
  or lose time. Compare what you have written with
  your partner.
• Have you thought of the reasons why people are
  time-stressed now?

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Old Father Time
Becomes a Terror
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Contents

• Background Information
• Text Organization
• Language Points
• Writing Styles
• Useful Expressions
• Word Study
• Information about Text B
• Assignment

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1. Background Information

• Old Father time a personification of time. He is
  usually depicted as an elderly
• bearded man, dressed
• in a robe, carrying an
• hourglass or other
• timekeeping device
• (representing time's
• constant movement)
• and a scythe.

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1. Background Information

• Richard Tomkins consumer industries editor of
  the Financial Times, where he has been a member
  of editorial staff since 1983.

Tomkins was born in England in 1952. His
formal education ended at the age of 17. Before
becoming a journalist, he was a casual laborer, a
factory worker, a truck driver, a restaurant
cashier, a civil servant, and an assistant
private secretary to a government minister.
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1. Background Information

• He left government service in 1978 to
  hitchhike around the world, and on returning to
  the U.K. in 1979, joined a local newspaper as a
  trainee reporter

(????). He joined the Financial Times as a
sub-editor (????) 4 years later. In this
selection, he discusses the time squeeze that
many people are experiencing and offers a way of
combating the problem.
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• The press of the modern life makes
  people out of breath. However, Richard Tomkins'
  essay explores a reality of American life that
  many of us ignore at our peril time-related
  stress. In his essay he points out the three
  kinds of reactions people have to time-famine.
  Finally, he analyzes several reasons for this and
  provides an answer.

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2. Text Organization

• Part I. (Para. 1 11)

Three reasons of time stress
1. Technology, instead of liberating us,
has enslaved us.
2. The Internet points the way to a second
reason why we feel so time-pressed the
information explosion.
3. The third reason is rising prosperity.
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2. Text Organization

• Part II. (Para. 12 18)

Not everyone is overstressed, and in the
case of Americans they have actually gained more
free time in the past decade. Cited evidences
1. It only applies to half the population.
2. The feeling of pressure can be exaggerated
or self-imposed
3. Americans have gained 5 hours a week in
free time.
4. The gains were unevenly distributed.
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2. Text Organization

• Part III. (Para. 19 23)

The perception of the time famine has
provoked a variety of reactions
1. An attempt to gain the largest possible amount
of satisfaction from the smallest possible
investment of time.
2. An attempt to buy time.
3. The growth of the work-life debate.
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2. Text Organization

• Part IV. (Para. 24 28)

The key to the problem and a remedy for
the stress
It is not more time we need it is fewer desires.
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How time stress is formed?
Technology / innovation
Convenience
Shortage of time
More desires
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3. Language Points

• (Para. 1) leaving us with ever-increasing
  quantities of time to waste (away) on idleness
  and pleasure.
• waste sth. on somebody/something
• e.g. Don't waste your money on that junk!
• CF. waste away to gradually become thinner and
  weaker, usually as a result of illness. ????,
  ????

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• waste away
• e.g. His muscles were slowly wasting away
  because of his illness.
• There was nothing we could do -- she just
  wasted away and within six weeks she was dead.
• NOTE away is used to emphasize that an action
  continues
• e.g. Sue was singing AWAY to herself in the
  bath.

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3. Language Points

• (Para.2) And as each invention arrives, it eats
  further into our time.
• eat into something phrasal verb
• (1) to gradually reduce the amount of time, money
  etc that is available
• e.g. John's university fees have been eating
  into our savings.
• (2) to gradually damage or destroy something
• e.g. Acid eats into the metal, damaging its
  surface.

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• (Para. 3) The motorcar, for example, promised
  unimaginable levels of personal mobility.
• promise v.
• to tell someone that you will definitely do or
• provide something or that something will
• Happen ??, ??
• promise sth.
• promise to do sth.
• promise (that)
• promise somebody (that)
• promise sth. to sb. or promise sb. sth.

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• (2 ) to show signs of something ??,??
• promise to be something
• e.g. Tonight's meeting promises to be a
  difficult one.
• dark clouds promising showers later
• (3) I cant promise (anything) (?????)
• spoken used to tell someone that you will try
  to do what they want, but may not be able to
• e.g. I'll try my best to get tickets, but I
  can't promise anything.

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• (4) I promise you (???,???)
• spoken used to emphasize a promise, warning, or
  statement
• e.g. I promise you, it does work!
• promise n.
• keep a promise ????
• break a promise ????
• make / give a promise ????

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3. Language Points

• (Para.16)that is time left after working,
  sleeping, commuting, caring for children and
  doing the chores.
• commute
• (1) to regularly travel a long distance to get
  to work ?????
• commute to/from/between
• e.g. Jim commutes to Manhattan every day.

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• (2) commute a sentence (to something)
• technical to change the punishment given to
  a criminal to one that is less severe??
• e.g. Baldry's 20-year prison sentence was
  commuted to three years.
• (3) commute something for/into something
• technical to exchange one thing, especially
  one kind of payment, for another ??
• e.g. He commuted his pension for a lump sum.
  ????????????

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3. Language Points

• (Para. 18) working fathers in the U.K. average 48
  hours of free time a week.
• average
• (1) v. to be equal to a particular amount as
  an average
• e.g. We average 8 hours' work a day.
• The rainfall averages 800 mm. a
  year.
• (2) adj. and n.
• e.g. The cars were being sold at an
• average price of 11000.
• The average of 3, 8 and 10 is 7.

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3. Language Points

• (Para. 21) And on-line retailers are seeing big
  increases in sales --- though not, as yet,
  profits though they havent seen big increases
  in profits yet.
• ?????????????
• as yet
• used in negatives until and including the
  present time - used to say that something has not
  happened although it may happen in the future
  ??,?????
• e.g. None of them had as yet discovered a
  deep, rewarding love.

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3. Language Points

• (Para. 22) You hear more about people taking
  early retirement or giving up high pressure jobs
  in favour of occupations with shorter working
  hours.
• in favor of
• (1) in exchange for another thing (because
  the other thing is better or you want it more)
• e.g. He abandoned teaching in favour
• of a career as a musician.

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• (2) In support of approving ????
• e.g. We are in favor of her promotion to
  president.
• ?????????
• I am in favor of stopping work
  now.
• ??????????
• (3) To the advantage of ???
• e.g. The court decided in favor of the
  plaintiff.
• ??????????

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3. Language Points

• (Para.23) if the hours gained are immediately
  diverted to other purposes.
• divert
• (1) to change the use of something such as time
  or money
• divert sth. into/to/(away) from
• e.g. The company should divert more resources
  into research.
• ???????????????

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• (2) to change the direction in which something
  travels
• divert a river/footpath/road
• e.g. The high street is closed and traffic is
  being diverted .
• (3) to deliberately take someone's attention from
  something by making them think about or notice
  other things
• divert sb's attention away from
• e.g. He'd been trying to divert suspicion
  away from himself.
• A loud noise from the street
  diverted my attention.

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4. Writing styles

• As the article is taken from Financial
  Times, it belongs to a certain type of
  journalism. It is not a news-oriented journalism,
  like news stories, but such writing can finds its
  home in the editorial or comment section where
  journalist and others contribute regular or
  occasional columns reflecting on topical issues.
  Such columns are intended to give free range to
  the expression of personal opinions.

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Characteristics

• Contrast
• In the first part of the article, the
  author uses a lot of contrasts between the past
  and the present to tell us that technology has
  brought a great deal of changes to our lives, but
  meanwhile, it has also brought some unexpected
  social consequences, some of which can be
  conceived as a destructive process.
• Read Part I (Para. 1 5) and see how
  this technique is used

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Characteristics

• Quotations
• Although not a news story, the article
  nevertheless shares with newspaper reporting in
  general a taste for seeking support from the use
  of direct quotations. These quotations are
  provided together with the name of the person and
  background information on them.
• Read Part II (Para. 12 18) and see how
  this technique is used.

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Characteristics

• Concession
• In order to show the familiarity with
  the complexity of the problem under discussion,
  the author often employs concession.
• (1) outlining the problem of the pressure of
  
• time
• (2) going on to concede that not everybody
• is affected to the same extent
• (3) detailing the differences that exist
  before
• returning to his more general point
• (4) concluding with his solution.

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5. Useful Expressions

• ????????
• ???????
• ???????????????,???????????
• ????????????

set about untangling the problem
ever-increasing quantities of time
but instead of liberating us, technology has
enslaved us.
free women from having to toil over the laundry
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• ???????????????????????
• ?????????
• ?????????????
• ????
• ??????

news, facts and opinions pour in from every
corner of the world.
the expanding frontiers of scholarship
Its almost got to the point where theres stress
envy.
hour-by-hour log
paying job
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• ???????
• ??????
• ???????????????
• ???????

the perception of time famine
provoke a variety of reactions
gain the largest possible amount of satisfaction
from the smallest possible investment of time
a growth market
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• ???????????????????
• ????,???????
• ????

give up high pressure jobs in favour of
occupations with shorter working hours
understanding the problem rather than evading it.
being curious by nature
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• Words that are related to time
• time-consuming ???
• time-pressed ?????
• time-starved ?????
• time stress ????
• time famine ????

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5. Word Study

• eat into
• convention
• oblige
• gender
• nurture
• confine

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• eat into
• (1) gradually reduce the amount of time, money
  etc that is available
• e.g. Our holiday has eaten into our savings.
  
• (2) gradually damage or destroy something ??
• e.g. Acid eats into the metal, damaging its
  surface.
• Cf. eat up
• (1) to eat all of something
• (2) to use a lot of something, especially until
  there is none left
• e.g. A big luxury car eats up money.

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• convention
• (1) all habits or traditions with any culture ??
• synonym custom
• e.g. It is convention for Christian in church
  
• on Sunday.
• (2) a group of meeting in a large place. ??
• e.g. a teachers' convention
• (3) a formal agreement, especially between
  countries, about particular rules or behavior
• synonym pact, treaty
• e.g. conclude a military convention
• ??????

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• Expressions often used
• sign a convention ????
• social conventions ????
• a matter of convention ????
• break away from convention
• 
  ??????
• by convention ????, ????

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• oblige
• if you are obliged to do something, you have to
  do it because the situation, the law, a duty etc
  makes it necessary
• ??,??????(??)
• oblige somebody to do something
• feel obliged to do something
• e.g. The minister was obliged to report at
  
• least once every six months.
• The police obliged him to leave.
• Many parents feel obliged to pay for
  at
• least part of the wedding.

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• (2) help someone by doing sth. that they have
  asked you to do????,??
• happy/glad/ready to oblige
• e.g. If you need a ride home, I'd be happy to
  oblige.
• Please oblige me by closing the door.
• ????????
• (3) would be obliged (if)
• formal used when you are asking someone
  politely to do sth.
• e.g. I'd be obliged if you'd treat this
  matter as strictly
• confidential.
• (4) (I'm) much obliged (to you)
• formal used to thank someone very politely
• e.g. I'm much obliged to you. ?????????

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• gender
• (1) used primarily to refer to the grammatical
  categories of masculine, feminine, and
  neuter
• (2) but in recent years the word has become well
  established in its use to refer to sex-based
  categories, as in phrases such as gender
  gap(????) and the politics of gender(????).

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• Cf. sex referred to biological categories
• gender referred to social or cultural
  categories.
• e.g. The effectiveness of the medication
  appears to depend on the sex (not gender ) of
  the patient.
• ????????????????
• In peasant societies, gender (not sex )
  roles are likely to be more clearly defined.
• ??????,??????????????.
• Note This distinction is useful in principle,
  but it is by no means widely observed, and
  considerable variation in usage occurs at all
  levels.

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• nurture
• (1) to help a plan, idea, feeling etc to develop
  ??,??
• e.g. European union is an ideal that has been
  
• nurtured since the post-war years.
• a hatred of foreigners nurtured by
  the
• media
• (2) to feed and take care of a child or a plant
  while it is growing ??,??
• e.g. plants nurtured in the greenhouse
• nurture a student's talent. ???????

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• nurture cultivate foster nurse
• The central meaning shared by these verbs
  is to promote and sustain the growth and
  development of
• e.g. nurturing hopes ????
• cultivating tolerance ????
• foster friendly relations ???????
• nursed her business through an
• economic downturn.
• ????????????

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• confine
• (1) ?LIMIT?
• to keep someone or something within the
  limits of a particular activity or subject
• sym. restrict
• confine something to something
• e.g. We confined our study to 10 cases.
• confine yourself to (doing) something
• e.g. Owen did not confine himself to writing
  only one type of poem.

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• (2) ?KEEP SOMEBODY IN A PLACE?
• to keep someone in a place that they
  cannot leave, such as a prison
• confine somebody to something
• e.g. Any soldier who leaves his post will be
  confined to barracks (made to stay in the
  barracks) .
• be confined in something
• e.g. He was allegedly confined in a narrow,
  dark room for two months.

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• (3) ?STOP SOMETHING SPREADING?
• to stop something bad from spreading to
  another place
• confine something to something
• e.g. Firefighters managed to confine the fire
  to the living room.
• (4) ?STAY IN ONE PLACE?
• (usu. passive) if you are confined to a
  place, you have to stay in that place, especially
  because you are ill
• e.g. Tom is confined to a wheelchair.
• She's confined to bed with flu.

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5. Exercises for Unit 6

• Directions For each of the following sentences
  there are four choices marked A, B, C and D.
  Choose the ONE answer that best completes the
  sentence.
• 1. In Chinese teaching, teachers often _____
  facts down the childrens throats.
• A. insert B. burden
• C. pour D. cram

D
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D

• 2. Ive been _____ since eight oclock this
  morning, preparing my presentation for tomorrows
  class.
  
• A. on the movement B. on the action
  
• C. in the procedure D. on the go
• 3. The forthcoming concerts ____ a feast of music
  from around the world.
• A. promote B. advocate
  
• C. provoke D. promise
• 4. Cigarette smoking combining with irregular
  life will ____________ the risks of lung cancer.
• A. double B. multiply
• C. expand D. add

D
B
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• 5. People are now ordering and purchasing
  virtually anything over the Internet. books,
  compact disks, even sticks are available from
  websites that seem to _______ almost daily.
• A. spring up B. go in
  existence
• C. strike up D. come
  round
• 6. Today, as multimedia technology _________, the
  number of available tools is growing
  correspondingly.
• A. fulfill B. proliferates
• C. deliver D. favor
• 7. The President seemed willing to _____ himself
  to Senate desires.
• A. divert B. devote
• C. accommodate D. oblige

A
B
B
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A

• 8. The ______ of medical knowledge are being
  pushed farther outwards every year.
• A. frontiers B. borders
• C. areas D. fields
• 9. The secretary took down in _______ what was
  said.
• A. shortage B.
  shorthand
• C. summary D.
  conclusion
• 10. Increasing the powers of ________ is one
  part of school education.
• A. knowledge B. ability
• C. diversion D. perception

B
D
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End