Unit 3 The Unhappy American Way
小托福-建筑法规试题
The Unhappy American Way ---Bertrand
Russell
1
Unit Three The Unhappy American Way
It is embarrassing to live in the most
comfortable time in history and not be happy.
Happiness is not best achieved by those who
seek it directly.
————————————
About the author
See „ How To Grow
Old ‟
In his Nobel Prize acceptance
speech in 1950, Russell claimed that the
fundamental motives of
most people are
acquisitiveness, rivalry, vanity, and love of
power. In this essay, he analyzes two
of the
reasons behind the unhappy outcomes of these
motives in American life as he viewed it.
About the text
no doubt ---- probably
No doubt he will help us if we ask
him.
… but the price of alcohol and
tobacco in my country has provided sufficient
external causes
for melancholy. ---- Going to
the pub is still among the most popular social
activities among the
adults in Britain today.
… has crossed the Atlantic ---- has
reached the land of the United States of America
somber ---- serious, sad and without
humour or amusement
a somber
atmospherevoiceface
somber parents waiting
for the news of their children
outlook
---- a person‟s view of life; a person‟s way of
understanding and thinking about
something
he has a strangefairly positive
outlook on life.
in the course of ----
during
In the course of the interview
it became clear that he was not suitable for the
job.
In the course of lifetime‟s research,
she made some very valuable discoveries.
The Unhappy American Way ---Bertrand
Russell
2
malaise ---- a general feeling of bad health
or lack of energy, or an uncomfortable feeling
that
something is wrong (esp. with society )
and a lack of ability to change the situation
She wrote about the depression and malaise ( =
lack of interest and energy ) felt by women
trapped in their urban homes.
They
claim it is a symptom of a deeper and more general
malaise in society.
millennium ---- one
of the periods of a thousand years before or after
the birth of Jesus Christ.
1987 is in the
second millennium AD The millennium is a period of
a thousand years during
which Christ will rule
on earth, according to the belief of some
Christians, thus a period of great
peace,
happiness, prosperity, etc.; an imagined golden
age
opulent ---- behaving or made in a
way which shows great wealth; having great wealth
an opulent hotelrestaurant
an
opulent lifestyle
radiant ---- obviously
very happy, or very beautiful
He gave
a radiant smile when he heard the news.
You were at your most radiant this morning.
frantic ---- almost out of control because of
extreme emotion, such as desire, anxiety, etc.
Exams always drive him frantic --- he
gets so nervous.
tickle ---- excite
agreeably; gratify
Could you see
anything that tickles youtickles your fancy (that
you like and want to have)?
palate ----
intellectual or aesthetic taste; a sense of taste
… and an almost frantic longing for
something that might tickle the jaded palate ----
( figurative ) and a very strong desire to
have some interesting things happen to them, so
that their
otherwise boring life could be
changed, and they would have something interesting
to do, to feel,
and to taste.
thwart
---- frustrate; stop ( something ) from happening
All his attempts to become rich were
thwarted.
His holiday plans have been
thwarted by the strike.
indulge ----
satisfy
The Unhappy American Way
---Bertrand Russell
3
Will you indulge my curiosity and tell
me how much it cost?
He indulges her every
whim.
livelihood ---- ( the way someone
earns ) the money people need to pay for food, a
place to live,
clothing, etc.
They earn their livelihood from farming.
For most of the people of the country, a home,
clothing and a means of livelihood were
pressing concerns.
grand ---- of great
importance or distinction
The
Jacksons think they are very grand (= important
and better than other people) but
they‟re
not really.
de rigueur ---- ( adj. )
demanded by fashion, custom, etc.
At
the place where I work, smart suits are de rigueur
for the women.
Among the kids in my class,
it‟s de rigueur to have a girl friend.
demeanor ---- conduct; behaviour
His demeanor is beyond reproach.
gaiety
---- a feeling of happiness and excitement
As the effects of drink gradually wore off
the mood of gaiety evaporated.
I felt
there was an air of forced gaiety about her
manner.
one drink too many ---- slightly
too much alcohol
Your friend
looks as if he‟s had one drink too many. ----
You‟d better take him home now.
From the
way he was lurching about you could see he‟d had
one drink too many.
lapse into ---- slip
or fall into ( to end one activity and change to a
less active one )
No one could think
of anything more to say, and the meeting lapsed
into silence.
lachrymose ---- sad andor
tending to cry often and easily
Julia
plays the lachrymose heroine of the film.
He is better known for his lachrymose ballads than
hard rock numbers.
swindle ---- obtain (
money ) dishonestly from ( someone ) by deceiving
or cheating them
The Unhappy American
Way ---Bertrand Russell
4
You won‟t get away with trying to
swindle the tax authorities.
They swindled
local businesses out of thousands of
poundsswindled thousands of pounds
from local authorities.
with a gusto ----
with great energy, enthusiasm and enjoyment (
which is experienced by someone
taking part in
an activity )
The actors sang
and danced with such gusto that they managed to
compensate for the play‟s
weakness.
Andrew Jackson ---- Jackson, Andrew,
1767-1845, 7
th
president of the United
States of America
(1829-37)
Pensacola
---- a city (1990 pop. 58, 165) in NW Florida. On
the site of early Spanish
settlements
(1559-61, 1698), it belonged to several nations
before becoming (1821) part of the U.S.
purchase of Florida. Fishing, shipping, and
manufacturing are important. Much of the city‟s
economic and community life centers around
military air bases.
Forthwith ---- at
once; immediately
We expect these
practices to cease forthwith.
subservience ---- willingness to do want other
people want, or considering your wishes as less
important than those of other people
Independence came to the country after centuries
of subservience to powerful neighbours.
invariably ---- always
Invariably, strong periods in an economy give
way to recession.
cynical ---- contemptuously
selfish and concerned only with one‟s own
interests
a cynical disregard for others‟
safety
put a stopper onput the stoppers
on ---- stop something happening; cause something
to come to
an end
I had a new lock put on
my office door, and that soon put a stopper on
people borrowing my
books without
asking.
vision ---- ability to view a
subject, problem, etc. imaginatively; imaginative
foresight; the ability
to imagine how a
country, society, etc. will develop in the future
and to plan in a subtle way
The new
theater company director is a person of great
artistic vision.
The Unhappy American
Way ---Bertrand Russell
5
As a Prime Minister, he lacked the
strategic vision of, say, someone like Churchill.
condemn ---- cause something very bad to
happen to someone
The rain condemned her
to an afternoon indoors with her tedious aunt.
prudent ---- sensible and careful
It is prudent of you to save money.
idiosyncrasy ---- a particular strange or
unusual habit, way of behaving or feature that
someone or
something has
It
is an idiosyncrasy of hers that she always smells
a book before she opens it.
One of the
idiosyncrasies of this printer is that you can‟t
stop it once it has started to print.
Poverty
had condemned him from birth to a life of crime.
Everything has to be flattened out except
where the prejudices of the editor are concerned.
---- All the compilers of the encyclopedia
must think and write in a uniform way. No
individual
preference or taste in the course,
and the only exception is the editor ( -in-chief
), whose
prejudices which he or she often has
are always highly respected.
And so you
have to be content with dollars instead of
creative satisfaction. ---- You should not
take the risk of indulging your own likes at
the expense of your livelihood. You must always
remember that you‟ve got a family to support.
And, consequently, you must always conform your
way of doing things to that of your boss, ----
whoever heshe is.
on impulse ---- without
previous thinking or planning
On
impulse, he picked the phone and dialed his sister
in Beijing.
On a sudden impulse, he
stopped and went to the library.
ethic ---- a
system of accepted beliefs which control
behaviour, esp. such a system
based on morals
Having faster
computers would make for a more efficient system.
concern ---- perceive
The ethic of
some people in business seems to be to maximize
profit and it doesn‟t
matter how.
The
ethics of journalism are much debated.
make
for ---- make possible; result in
The
Unhappy American Way ---Bertrand Russell
6
felicity ---- happiness or luck; a
condition which produces positive results
the
dubious felicity of marriage
Wealth is
for most people a prospect of unimaginable
felicity.
reflect ---- think deeply and
carefully, esp. about possibilities and opinions
The manager demanded time to
reflect ( on what to do ).
She reflected that
this was probably the last time she would see him.
cold-shoulder ---- behave ( towards
someone ) in a deliberately unfriendly way ( to
show them
that you do not care about them or
that you want them to go away )
Chris Pattern was cold-shouldered during his
visit to Beijing.
stick –in-the-mud ---- (
also fuddy-duddy ) a person who does not like to
do anything that is new
or fun
get
the upper hand ---- win the position of
masterycontroladvantage; be more powerful
Armed with statistics, he
easily gained the upper hand in the debate.
I
tried to be sensible and cool, but sometimes my
feelings get the upper hand of me.
The
reformers have got the upper hand over the
conservatives.
turn against ---- start to
dislike or distrust
They
might at any time against their masters.
Public opinions turned against him.
conscious ---- determined and intentional
whim
---- a sudden desire or idea, esp. one that cannot
be reasonably explained
When you are
subject to the whims of a complete madman there‟s
no saying
He is obviously making a conscious
effort to be nice to me at the moment.
It
wasn‟t a conscious decision to lose weight, it
just happened.
Was it conscious or did you sit
down next to her chance?
maintain ---- claim,
believe, or state ( your opinion, when others
disagree )
Throughout his prison sentence Dunn
has always maintained his innocence.
He
maintained that he had never seen the woman
before.
The Unhappy American Way
---Bertrand Russell
7
what will happen.
But, Dary1, marriage is
not something to be entered into on a whim.
Purely on a whim I took up belly-dancing
classes.
Oh for a husband who would indulge my
every whim!
impulse ---- a sudden wish to do
something
They are influenced more by impulse
than by reason.
She almost yielded to an
unexpected impulse to dance in the street.
give free rein ---- allow oneself or one‟s
mind great freedom to act or to think as one
pleases
The young film-makers
were given free rein to experiment with new themes
and techniques.
In writing that novel she gave
free rein to her imagination.
tweak ----
pull and twist with a sudden small movement
He is fond of tweaking the cat‟s
tail.
doctrine ---- a belief, theory or a set
of beliefs, esp. political or religious, taught
and accepted by a
particular group
They denounced impractical political doctrines.
uproot ---- destroy; eradicate
The conquerors uprooted many of the native
traditions.
iron ---- determined; strong
He controlled the finances with
an iron fist (= firmly and severely ).
( „ An
iron handfist in a velvet glove ‟ is used to
describe someone who seems to be gentle but
is
in fact severe and firm. An iron man is a person
of great physical strength and the ability to
continue doing something difficult for a long
time. )
abominable ---- very
unpleasantdisagreeabledistasteful
The prisoners are forced to live in
abominable conditions.
The tea tastes
abominable.
The weather has been abominable
this week. ( informal )
force ----
persuasive power; power to convince
The Unhappy American Way ---Bertrand
Russell
8
The felt the force in his arguments.
yield ( to ) ---- accept ( that one has been
defeated by something )
It‟s very easy to
yield to the temptation to sign for a lot of
money.
( To yield to traffic coming
from another direction is to wait and allow it to
go first. )
to boot ---- ( old-fashioned,
literary ) too
She is brilliant, rich
and beautiful to boot.
Chinese people will
never yield to any foreign pressure.
run
riot ---- behave without restraintin a wild and
uncontrolled manner
After the match
their supporters ran riot in the streets near the
ground.
scope ---- space for activity;
opportunity for operation
This
is a large old house with muchconsiderable scope
for me to use my Japanese.
The government is
hoping there will be plenty of scope for tax cuts
before the next
diversity ---- a range of
difference ( of )
Does television
adequately reflect the ethnic and cultural
diversity of the country?
There is a
wide diversity of opinion on the question
unilateral disarmament.
Care about ---- be
worriedconcernedinterested
Don‟t you
care about this country‟s future?
All she cares about is her social life.
impeccable ---- perfect; not damaged by any
faults or bad parts
culture ---- the quality of being well-
mannered and well-educated, esp. when one has a
Good knowledge of the arts and an interest in
them
She is a person
of culture ( She likes and knows a lot about
literature, music, art, etc.).
She is a very
cultured woman ( She has a good education and
knows a lot about art, music,
painting, etc.).
impeccable tastemanners
We‟ve just
witnessed an impeccable performance by one of
China‟s finest athletes.
The Unhappy
American Way ---Bertrand Russell
9
( A cultural desert is a place where aren‟t
many activities connected with art, literature,
music,
etc.)
low-brow ---- uneducated or
uninterested in intellectual activities or
pursuits, lacking in cultivated
tastes
lowbrow cultureentertainment
She
enjoys going to lowbrow action movies once in a
while.
Compare HIGHBROW; MIDDLEBROW
all ---- being influenced or controlled by
He is such a kind man; he is
all heart.
I feel awkward and feel all thumbs.
locomotion ---- ability to move; movement
A fish uses its fins for
locomotion.
preclude ---- prevent ( something
) or make it impossible, or prevent ( someone )
from doing
something
The large number of demonstrators precluded
the option of using force.
His contract
precludes him from discussing his work with any
one outside the company.
Domestic problems
have precluded the government from pursuing an
active foreign policy.
reminiscence ----
something that reminds or suggests
Translation
From “ I will admit at
once that there is force in this objection. I have
seen many
noses … … ” to “ man spent some
million years wandering before he invented rails,
and his happiness still demands some
reminiscence of the earlier ages of freedom.”
我愿意立刻承认，这种反对意见具有说服力。我见过许多不顺眼的鼻子，不过我从来
没有情不自禁地去拧
过。但是，象任何其他事物一样，这里也有一个尺度问题。如果你总是
冲动行事，那你就疯。如果你绝不
冲动行事，那你的创造力就会渐渐干枯，你很可能同样发
疯。要过健康幸福的生活，虽不能让冲动放肆猖
獗，但也应给予发挥作用的足够余地，使人
类天然具有的多种多样的兴趣得以满足。囿于任何原则的生活
，必然狭隘、刻板和单调，不
可能是幸福的。不管你多么关心成功，你也应有不考虑得失只是纯粹地享受
生活乐趣的时刻。
不管你作为妇女俱乐部主任对自己无暇可击的教养感到多么自豪，如果你想去看一本粗
俗的
书，你应该放心地去阅读，不必感到惭愧。除了原则别无他物的生活，犹如在铁轨上行驶，
There is a reminiscence of his father in the way
he walks.
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The
10
Unhappy American Way ---Bertrand Russell
铁轨可能有利于迅速前进，却排除了漫游的快乐。人类在发明铁道之前曾漫游了上百万年。
今天
人类为了幸福仍然需要类似过去时代的那种自由。
The
11
Unhappy American Way ---Bertrand Russell
Unit Three The Unhappy American Way
Key to Exercise II
1. felicity
5.
outlook
9. indulge
13. subservience
17. rings
21. lowbrow
Key to
Exercise III
tage
r
Key to
Exercise IV
Among the portraits of Soviet
heroes that used to
hang in every Russian
school and library the one of
Maxim Gorky was
nearly always given pride∧place
with Lenin.
Gorky was an icon of a Soviet cultural
establishment. He was therefore hailed as the
first great
Russian writer to emerge ∧the
proletariat, as
a life-long friend
of∧Bolsheviks, and as the founder
of Socialist
Realism. The Soviet cult of Gorky took
off in
his own lifetime: there were a trilogy of
three films about his youth; the main street
in the
1. of
2. the
3.
therefore
4. from
5. the
6. √
7.
was
8. three
cally
iveness
3.
keep
ent
end
e
ented
ingly
s
f
e
ting
hing
20. effective
l
tio
2.
cold-shouldered
6. malaise
10. demeanor
14. vision
18. abominable
3.
uproot
7. jaded
11. cynical
15. moan
19. impeccable
4. uniform
8.
thwarted
12. swindled
16. prudent
20.
preclude
The
12
Unhappy
American Way ---Bertrand Russell
capital is named after him; and his native
city of
Nizhnyi Novgorod was renamed as Gorky.
Still there was another Gorky, the man
behind the
icon, ∧the Soviet public was not
allowed to know. In
his native land Gorky was
a writer of a hagiography
but no biography.
The opening up again of the Soviet
archives
has revealed out a much more complex and
tragic figure than the one whom appeared in
the
censored collections of his works in
Russia. From
his journalism ( long ago known
in the West ) and his
voluminous
correspondence(most∧which was buried
in the
archives ) it was clear that Gorky was no
doubt Bolshevik, that he harboured
doubtfulness about
the revolution and the
course ∧took after 1917 which
drove him into
exile in 1921, and that ∧he returned
in 1928,
far from support the Soviet government, he
became its prisoner and, it may yet emerge,
its
murder-victim too.
Key to
Exercise V ( for reference only )
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
9. was
10. as
11.
Yet
12. whom
13. with
14. again
15. out
16. that
17. √
18. ago
19. of
20. is
21. doubts
22. it
23. when
24. supporting
25. √
The
ship being stranded, they were condemned to a
fortnight stay on the desolate island.
In the
third round he gained the upper hand over his
opponent and knocked him out.
It is easy to
lapse into bad habits or even crimes if you don't
listen to people's advice.
His tongue ran riot
when he was asked to talk about what he saw and
heard in Japan.
The charms of Egypt consist in
not only its long history and scenic beauty, but
also its
mysteries: unusual customs and
peculiar traditions.
6.
7.
Your heart
is badly diseased. You mustn‟t give free rein to
your temper like that.
Fresh from school, she
worked with gusto, and came to the clinic very
early everyday to
treat patients.
8. On
impulse he submitted his resignation, giving up
the well-paid job.
The
13
Unhappy American Way ---Bertrand Russell