Unit 4 Changing times

Unit 4 Changing timesStarting point1 Imagine you are your mother or father, and do the questionnaire.1 When something goes wrong with your computer, you (a) .(a) try to fix it yourself(b) ask someone to help fix it(c) speak loudly and harshly to it(d) think “What’s a computer”2 Whenever you call a help desk, the person (a) .(a) is very helpful and supportive, and solves the problem quickly(b) is rather impatient and condescending(c) thinks you’re unbelievably ignorant(d) asks for help with their own problems3 When you need to tune a new television, you (a) .(a) read the instruction manual from cover to cover, and carefully do as you’re told(b) press AUTOMATIC TUNING, then go and make a cup of tea(c) burst into tears and hysterical laughter, and hide behind the sofa(d) ask your younger and much smarter son or your cousin to do it4 If you had the technology to conduct virtual meetings with family, friends and co-workers, you would(a) .(a) use it as often as possible, and save the environment by travelling less(b) decide there’s nothing like a face-to-face meeting, then use it once to prove your point(c) unplug the power supply, and pretend the technology isn’t working(d) stay at home and never go out2 Do the questionnaire again and compare your own answers. Note: Technophobia is a strong dislike or fear of technology. A phobia is a strong feeling of dislike or being afraid of something or someone, eg some people have a phobia about computers.Answers with mainly (a) mean you are very familiar and confident with technology; (b) answers are less confident about technology; (c) and (d) answers show a lesser or greater extent of technophobia. Some (butnot all) older people are likely to give some (c) and (d) answers.3 Now talk about the diff erences between your parents’ generation and your own generation. How has society changed?A main difference could be that our parents’ generation tends to be more technophobic and our own generation is at ease with technology and competent in IT skills. Society has changed a lot since our parents’ generation, because modern technology is now much more common in our daily life – the most obvious examples are mobile phones and computers.Active reading (1)1 Look at the first sentence of the passage and choose the best answer to the question. (注：绿色选项为答案，下面内容也是如此)Why is it not surprising that children are unhappy that one day they will have to “go to work”?(a) Most of them have never done any hard work in their lives.(b) They feel demotivated about the qualifications they will have to get.(c) They can’t make up their minds what they want to do.(d) They don’t understand what most of today’s jobs are.Reasons: The reason for this may be that children are not familiar with what their parents actually do at work; they just have a vague idea about work.Comments: I suppose this is a real problem but it can be solved in several ways. First, parents can tell their children in detail what they do on a daily basis at work. Second, schools can include more examples of day-to-day work in different occupations in curriculum subjects; and third, schools can provide more work experience through work placement programmes (internships) for older students. In these ways students will become more familiar with the career world before they leave school. Work in corporate AmericaBackground informationThis was written by Russell Baker (1925 – ), a well-known American journalist and writer, in 1972 as an essay collected by Sandra Fehl Troppand Ann Pierson D’Angelo in their edited book Essays in Context (2000), published by Oxford University Press. The essay leads readers to think from a child’s perspective to evaluate how a job is seen and understood in corporate America. It uses satire and humour to illustrate the writer’s critical views on corporate America.Please note that in the passage the word paper is being used as a satirical term to include anything with paperwork and paper trails – records, files, documents, memos, minutes of meetings, plans, schemes, projects, business deals, accounts, designs etc. The writer persistently repeats the word paper in different ways to show that the lifeblood of corporate America is paper. After students have understood the passage, they could be asked whether they think this also applies to emails, electronic files and folders – is a corporate society nowadays an e-society?Language points1 Work in corporate America (Title)Corporate America is a general term given to a large non-government owned organization or company in the United States, eg a bank, a marketing research company etc. It has both positive and negative connotations. Positively, it means that a company or an organization produces wealth and improves people’s living standards in a free market and a competitive society by people working together to achieve the goals. This mainly refers to financial gains and success. Negatively, it indicatesthe promotion of selfinterest, financial gains, greed and irresponsibility in the workplace.2 It is not surprising that modern children tend to look blank and dispirited when ... (Para 1)Someone who is dispirited does not have the hope, enthusiasm, or interest that they had earlier; they are in low spirits or downhearted.3 The parent could take his offspring to his place of business and let him watch while he repaired a buggy or built a table. (Para 2) Buggy is a vehicle used for babies and toddlers by careers (parents, grandparents and adults in caring professions) to push them around. It is also called a pushchair.4 When a child asked … his father could answer in terms th at a child could come to grips with, such as “I fix steam engines” or “I’ll make horse collars”. (Para 3)The expression come to grips with is an idiom which normally means to face up to a problem, situation or difficult job and deal with it. Here, it means that someone gets to understand something that is difficult or unpleasant. It has the similar meaning as to come to terms with, tackle, handle, manage etc.Horse collars are made of leather and they fit around the animal’s neck to allow it to pull heavy things.When horses are used to pull carts or carriages they wear horse collars.Here, in corporate America, this is a deliberate image of something very old-fashioned, just like steam engines.5 How can he possibly envision anyone analyzing a system or researching a market? (Para 5)The word envision is a verb which means to show a visual scene in your mind, to envisage or imagine something that is outside your experience, which has not happened or does not exist.6 The machines that make things make them in such a fashion that they will quickly fall apart in such a way that repairs will be prohibitively expensive. (Para 7)The cost is prohibitively expensive when it prevents you from buying something, as it is beyond the limits of what you can afford. Or, we may say the cost is prohibitive.7 The handful of people remotely associated with these machines can, of course, tell their inquisitive children “Daddy makes junk”. (Para 8)Inquisitive children are those who like to ask lots of questions, especially things that adults do not want to talk about.8 Most of the workforce, however, is too remote from junk production to sense any contribution to the industry. (Para 8)The workforce refers to the total number of people who work in a particular company, industry or area, more generally, people who work.9 Others telephone to ascertain the whereabouts of paper. (Para 12) The expression ascertain the whereabouts of something means to find out where something is.10 He telephones another man and says they had better lunch over paper. (Para 15)Here, the word lunch is a verb which means to have lunch. The sentence means that the father and the person he phoned had decided to have a business lunch together to discuss paper.11 Back at the office, the father orders the paper retyped and reproduced in quintuplicate, and then sent to another man for comparison with paper that was reproduced in triplicate last year. (Para 16)The word quintuplicate means that something is made into five copies. To quadruplicate means to make into four copies; triplicate three copies; and duplicate two copies.Reading and understanding2 Choose the best summary of the passage.1 In today’s America jobs are not what they used to be. Everything is made by machines, not people. Nearly all the jobs today are office jobs, and for an outsider, such as a child, it is difficult to understand what these jobs really are.3 Check (¸) the true statements.√ 1 Children today don’t have much idea what jobs their parents do.2 Nobody makes or repairs things like tables any more.√ 3 Children can’t understand job titles like “systems analyst”.4 It’s easy for adults to understand other people’s job titles.5 Most manufactured goods can be repaired cheaply by machines.6 The typical office in America is a 12-floor building made of glass.7 Typical office workers feel they are not really working.8 If you walk into any office, more than half of the people will be talking on the phone.√ 9 Almost everyone in the world has a job which involves paper. Dealing with unfamiliar words4 Match the words in the box with their definitions.1 old, broken or useless things (junk)2 relating to large companies, or a particular large company (corporate)3 to not approve of someone or something (disapprove)4 to form a picture of someone or something in your mind (visualize)5 an agreement in which you risk an amount of money by saying what you think will happen (bet)6 to find out something (ascertain)7 the space at the left or right side of a page where words are not usually printed or written (margin)8 to discuss something with other people in order to reach a decision(confer)9 important, respected, and admired (eminent)10 to twist your face into an expression that shows you are angry (scowl) 5 Complete the sentences with the correct form of the words in Activity 4.1 It’s not easy to visualize what life was like in the age of the steam engine.2 If you disapprove of these plans, you should let me know exactly what you find wrong with them.3 Thomas’ room is full of junk like broken electrical equipment and old computer parts he doesn’t need.4 My bet is that this type of job won’t give you much satisfaction.5 We’re going to need some time to confer with our lawyers before we make a decision.6 The margins of the pages in this document have all been written on.7 We can’t accept your application, without ascertaining the authenticity of your qualifications.8 It was a corporate decision to close the bank, not the choice of any individual.9 She’s a very nice person, and a very eminent professor.10 Why is he scowling at me? What have I done?6 Replace the underlined words with the correct form of thefollowing words. You may need to makeother changes.1 A curious child is often eager to inquire about the jobs their parents do. (inquisitive)An inquisitive child is often eager to inquire about the jobs their parents do.2 Most people think the decision they took is impossible to understand. (incomprehensible)3 Could you write down any ideas you have during the meeting on this piece of paper? (jot)4 You are very careful about noticing details if you can remember exactly what the manager was wearing.(observant)5 I’m afraid we don’t know the place w here Helen is right now. (whereabouts)I’m afraid we don’t know the whereabouts of Helen.6 Don’t be unhappy and lacking in enthusiasm. I’m sure one of the applications will be successful.(dispirited)7 I’d like to buy an open top car, but they’re all so terribly expensive. (prohibitively)7 Answer the questions about the expressions.1 If you look blank about something, do you (a) understand, or (b) not understand it?2 If you come to grips with a problem, do you (a) start to deal with it, or(b) stop thinking about it?3 When something falls apart, is it (a) in the wrong place, or (b) broken?4 When something wears out, does it (a) not look very nice, or (b) become old and unusable?5 If you mull over a problem, do you (a) think carefully about it for a long time, or (b) quickly solve it?6 Do people sometimes say “It beats me” because they (a) understand, or(b) don’t understand something?Reading and interpreting8 Work in pairs and choose the best answer to the question.103What is the writer’s main pu rpose in writing the passage?(a) To complain that people in America don’t work anymore.No, because he talks a lot about people working; obviously they do work.(b) To make fun of people who spend their time in offices.Yes, because all of the second part of the passage does this, with the repetition of the word paper.(c) To show how far removed today’s workforce is from manufacturing industries.No, although bits of the first part make this point, this is not the main purpose.(d) To express regret that a lot of traditional jobs have been lost.No, if he feels regret, it is because children do not understand their parents’ work. But this point aboutregret is really only an introduction.(e) To discourage young people from looking for a job in “corporate America”.No, although the writer seems cynical about “corporate America”, he would know that young peoplewill need jobs somewhere. His purpose is to criticize with humour or make fun of “corporate America”.Now discuss any other aims you think the writer may have.The passage is humorous and somewhat exaggerated, but the purpose is not only to make fun of “corporate America” through irony but also to satirize it, or to criticize it. The constant repetition of phrases with “paper” indirectly makes the poin t that all this paperwork has gone too far.9 Work in pairs. Look at the sentences from the passage and answer the questions.answers.1 In effect, the machines are making junk. What does the writer use the word junk to refer to?The word junk here indicates that the products are of a low quality and are made to be disposed of.2 … “Daddy makes junk”. Why would most people probably be unwilling to say this?The word junk sounds negative. If someone makes rubbish products, this may imply that the person is incompetent. Thus, it is hard for people to admit this.3 … the typical 12-story glass building in the typical American city. What kind of buildings is the writertalking about?The writer refers to a tall office block or a skyscraper.4 Constructed as a piece of junk, the building will be discarded when it wears out … Why is the buildingdescribed as junk?Because it was cheaply built, and it may be cheaper for the company to get rid of the building and build another one on the same site rather than repair it.5 … the building is filled with people who think of themselves as working. Are the people actuallyworking, in the writer’s opinion?No, in the writer’s opinion, these people do not work effectively, although they may think they are doing so.6 … fill p aper with words. Which word would you normally use instead of this phrase?Write or type.7 Some persons mail paper. Some persons telephone other persons and ask that paper be sent to them.Others telephone to ascertain the whereabouts of paper. What is the overall effect of the repetition of the words persons and paper?It emphasizes how repetitive and mundane the work appears. People all appear to be busy at something, but what they do is monotonous and unnecessary.8 He reads paper. What is strange about the sentence?There is a missing of the definite article the or a quantifying phrase such as a piece of paper. This indicates that what he reads is not anything particular because paper is here a mass noun. You can’t count it; paper is just a mass, like junk.Developing critical thinking10 Work in pairs and discuss the questions.1 According to the writer, what has changed in our society within the last generation?The writer believes that society has changed a lot. This society does not produce anything valuable anymore. To many people, work simply means sitting in an office to make phone calls and to deal withpaperwork.2 Do you think the writer approves of these changes?No, clearly not. The writer has written about the society and work in a sarcastic way to make readers reflect on the society.3 Do you think that our society encourages a culture in which nothing is built to last?Yes, I think so. Because we are encouraged to buy things cheaply and change them quickly according to fashion. Ironically, the only thing lasts long is the plastic rubbish, which may take a long time to rotor to be biodegraded and dissolved in a landfill site.4 Apart from employment, what other areas of society have there been similar changes? Think aboutsocial welfare, education, telecommunications, and leisure activities. There are a lot of changes in all aspects in society.• In the West, the social welfare system may, in reality, encourage people not to work if a low salary job is the only real possibility, because the income may be less than what they get from the social welfare benefit. Thus these Western societies seem to have cultivated a generation who does not know what work means. At the same time, this generation may also feel they have been neglected by society. In some developing countries, building up a social welfare system is needed to help those who are in poverty. However, these systems should learn a lesson fromthe West to avoid creating a future generation which loses the ability to work.• Nowadays, education is a way to give people opportunities for work. The availability of jobs motivates people to learn. Education is now aimed to offer learners both thinking ability and practical skills.• The revolution in telecommunications has made a huge change in communication. People do not need to be in the same place forface-to-face conversation. This may save a lot of time. However, can this really replace people’s physical communication and socialization?• The changes in society may give more time and opportunities for people to relax and travel. It would be interesting to know at what cost this leisure style remains.5 Do you consider the changes to have had a positive or negative effect? Well, I would say there are positive and negative effects. For example, it can be faster for people to communicate with each other, no matter where the person is, and people have more time for leisure activities. However, it is dangerous to see that in a corporate society, people are doing repetitive work without thinking it through; some of them seem to lack creativity and imagination.Talking pointWork in pairs. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of new technology and the traditional way of doing things.• New technology has made everyone’s life easier. It has improve d living standards everywhere, and it has made us healthier and able to live longer lives and also happier, because we can have more time to relax and go on holiday.• Anther point which is worth considering is this: The Internet and other telecommunication systems have given people a lot of advantages –opportunities to get more information instantly, to connect to more people in the world without travelling so that time and costs are saved, to work from home so that they can spend more time with family.•And there’s another point: The shorter work time and more holiday time will improve people’s health, because they are less stressed.• The development of new technology also creates new jobs for different professions. For example, in education, teachers are needed in the specialized areas of new communications technology; all companies and industry would need new technicians to maintain and develop software systems; the new technology itself becomes an industry for more employment.Example:• That’s simply not true. Technology has certainly changed people’s lifestyles everywhere, but not necessarily for the better. On the contrary, it makes people busier because people feel they have to reply to constant emails and phone calls anytime of the day and any day of the week.People who cannot escape from their virtual working environment cannot relax because they are constantly on call.• It makes people lose touch with reality in society. For example, with online shopping, everything is virtual, but not real. However, real artifacts are a part of our history, culture and life. Tere is more to life than electronic buttons and switches, or screens and phones.• As a matter of fact, new technology has put many people out of their jobs, eg those who did not receive education in using new technology. They may feel less important and competent. They will become unhappy and negative towards society.• Since the new technology evolves very rapidly, it becomes old technology very quickly. The feeling of chasing the ever-new technology can give pressure to people who are in the industry and to others who have difficulties to follow the latest revolution or fashion. Society may become very unsettled by the constant changes.• We also know that often new technology creates dis asters, because we have not got enough time to test every new innovation properly to see how well it really works or what the long-term effects are, then the fashion moves on to a new phase of technology. We don’t even have enough time to see the potential negative effects of innovations on people. The traditional ways, on the other hand, have at least been tested by time. So using traditional ways will have minimum risks on people and society.Translation of the passagesActive reading (1)在美国公司工作现在的孩子要是有人跟他们说长大后要“去工作来谋生”，往往会表现出一脸的茫然和沮丧，这并不奇怪。