现代大学英语

1. His work，African Mother and Child，not only excited the admiration， but touched the conscience or heart or whatever it was that responded，of white South Africa． • His sculpture，African Mother and Child，not only won the admiration of the white people for its artistic merit，but also deeply touched or moved their hearts and conscience because the work made them see the injustice of racial discrimination and the black people’s yearning for a better 1ife for their children．
Part Two
Introduction to the Text
The writer of the story， Alan Paton, was an important South African novelist and political activist，whose novel Cry， the Beloved Country(1948)brought world-wide attention to the tragedy of apartheid and has since become an international classic． In his writing, Paton explores the relationship between whites and blacks in his country. In this story ,a well-educated black finds himself cordially invited to split a bottle with a white man in the latter’s apartment building. The black man is admired and praised by a group of friendly white people, but he has to drink in the passage.
Word study
• Word formation: • suffix—wide: extending or effective throughout a specified area or region • e.g. nationwide, worldwide, communitywide
Part Two Detailed Discussion of the Text
Part two introduction to text
• I. Text Analysis • Plot: a well-educated black finds himself cordially invited to split a bottle with a white man in the passage of the latter’s apartment building • Setting: social setting: Apartheid South Africa in 1960, in the city Olando • story setting: in the passage • Protagonists: “I”—the black sculptor Edward Simelane; “he” —a white man named Van Rensburg
Lesson 4 A drink in the passage
• Part One pre-class work
• Part Two Introduction to the Text • Part Three Detailed Discussion of the Text
• Part Four
Homework
• Throughout the story one can see that the two sides are both anxious to reach out to each other, but they do not know how. Obviously there exists an invisible wall between them which hampers their free communication and full understanding, not just a wall imposed by apartheid laws, but a wall deep in their hearts. • Apartheid • South Africa was colonized by the British and Dutch in the 1 7th century．British domination of the Dutch descendants (known as Boers or Africaners)，speaking a Dutch dialect known as Afrikaans) resulted in the Dutch establishing the new colonies of Orange Free State and Transvaal．The discovery of diamonds in these lands around 1 900 led to a British invasion which resulted in the Boer War．Following independence from Britain，there was a period of uneasy power—sharing between the two groups until the 1940s， when the Afrikaner National Party was able to gain a strong majority．
• Theme: • The story tells us how racial prejudice can prevent us reaching, touching and connecting with each other. This invisible wall exists between the white and the black and hampers their free communication and full understanding. It is not just a wall imposed by apartheid laws, but a wall deeply rooted in their hearts. • Structure : • Part 1 (Paras. 1-6 ) about: Against what background and from whom the story comes • Part 2 (Paras. 7-76) about: How the story goes
Pre-class work
• Questions: • 1. What do you know about South Africa? • 2. What do you know about the situation in South Africa at the time the story was written? • 3. Have you ever heard of the “apartheid”? What do you know about it? • 4. What dramatic changes have taken place in this country since the time this story was written? • 5. Has racism been a serious problem in human history? Is the problem resolved? • 6. How much do you know about Nelson Mandela?
• Toward the end of the 1980s，amid increasing racial tension and criticism from the outside 百度文库orld， Nationalist president F．W．De Klerk started a serious reform． • He removed the ban on the African National Congress，the principal anti—apartheid organization， and released Nelson Mandela，the ANC deputy president，after 2 7 years of imprisonment．Negotiations between the government and the ANC cornmenced． • In June 1991，the Parliament started scrapping the country’s apartheid laws．With Mandela’s election as President in 1994，apartheid was completely brought to an end．
• Strategists in the National Party invented apartheid as a means to strengthen their control over the economic and social system．The aim，in reality， was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation． • Race laws touched every aspect of social life， including a prohibition of marriage between nonwhites and whites，and the sanctioning of “whiteonly” jobs． • In 1950，the Population Registration Act required that all South Africans be racially classified into one of three categories：white，black (African)，or colored (of mixed descent)．Non-compliance with the race laws was dealt with harshly．Chinese settlers， mainly laborers，were classified as coloreds，while Japanese，mainly businesspeople，were classified as white．
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918• South African antiapartheid activist, President of South Africa (term 1994-1999) • Leading the antiapartheid movement, first through militancy and later through diplomacy, and symbolizing the struggle of black South Africans during his long period of imprisonment • Negotiating the end of apartheid and leading South Africa's peaceful transition to democratic rule • Winning the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with F.W. de Klerk