高级英语 张汉熙 上册第十一课

II. Detailed study of the text
Textual Structure
Part 1: ( 1-3 ): Opening paragraphs: raising the question
Part 2: ( 4 – 17): Statements before basic principles
Para.1
The storm of abuse in the popular press that greeted the appearance of Webster’s Third International Dictionary is a curious phenomenon. Never has a scholarly work of this stature been attacked with such unbridled fury and contempt. …Atlantic viewed it as a ―disappointment,‖ a ―shock,‖ a ―calamity,‖ ―a scandal and a disaster. The New York Times, in a special editorial, felt that the work would ―accelerate the deterioration‖ of the language and sternly accused the editors of betraying a public trust. The Journal…saw the publication as ―deplorable,‖ ―a flagrant example of lexicographic irresponsibility,‖ ― a serious blow to the cause of good English.‖ Life called it ― a non-word deluge,‖ ―monstrous,‖ ―abominable,‖ ―a cause for dismay.‖ They doubted that ― Lincoln could have modeled his Gettysburg Address‖ on it – a concept of how things get written that throws very little light on Lincoln but a great deal on Life.
Βιβλιοθήκη Baidu
Webster’s Third New International
Dictionary -- published in 1961 -- In content , size, shape, and design, this dictionary of 2,752 pages is the great library of the English language. It has over 460,000 entries, 200,000 usage examples, over 3,ooo pictorial illustrations, and more than 1,000 synonym articles. ( addition of 100,000 new words or new definitions that were not included in the Second International Dictionary) -- This unabridged Merriam—Webster involved enormous work and money. over 200 permanent staff of language experts who specialize in dictionary making, together with a hundred special outside consultants. -- 27 years -- over $3.5 million were spent on the preparation and making of this dictionary. -- a total of 10 million citations were collected as background for definition. -- three virtues were held for making this new edition: accuracy, clearness, and comprehension. Accuracy always comes first .
Teaching Objectives of Unit 11
• Acquaint students with basic ideas of dictionary making; • Help students to understand the relation between the science of linguistics with dictionary making; • Help students to understand the author’s viewpoint and his argument style
Part 3: (18 – 31): Illustrations of good dictionaries
Part4: (32– 33): Conclusion
Detailed Study of the text
Part 1: ( 1-3 ):
Opening paragraphs: raising the question
Comparison: statue, status • statue: figure of a person, animal, etc., in wood, stone, bronze, etc. the Statue of Liberty / Venus status: condition, position in relation to others one's class / political / social / marital status
b. wrong use, MISUSE, improper treatment,
Borrowing money is an abuse of friendship. abuse of power, drug abuse, to abuse one's power, authority, position, wealth, etc.
Para. 2
What underlies all this sound and fury? Is the claim of the G & C. Merriam Company, probably the world’s greatest dictionary maker, that the preparation of the work cost $3.5 million, that it required the efforts of three hundred scholars over a period of twenty-seven years, working on the largest collection of citations ever assembled in any language – is all this a fraud, a hoax?
Para 3.
• So monstrous a discrepancy in evaluation requires us to examine basic principles. Just what’s a dictionary for? What does it propose to do? What has the purchaser of a dictionary a right to expect for his money?
•
• non-word deluge: It's like a flood of unacceptable words. non: so bad as not to deserve the name It was really a bad book --- non-story with non-characters. non-words: words that are not yet acceptable, such as new slang or newly coined words. • non-person: a person without social status or without legal identity 无用的人/无合法身份的人 • deluge: a sudden very heavy fall of rain, a great flood
Words and Expressions
• abuse: n. & v. abusive, adj. a. unkind, cruel or rude words,
He burst into a storm of abuse. He constantly addressed her in terms of abuse. You are always abusing and offending people.
• betray:
a. If you betray someone's trust, confidence, etc, or you betray your principles, you fail to act in the good and morally correct way that was expected of you. He betrayed his friends to the enemy. She betrayed her promise. Judas betrayed Jesus (to the authorities. • b. If you betray a secret, a plan, etc, you tell people things that you have been asked to keep secret. c. To betray a feeling means to show it without wanting to or intending to. I’m afraid that my face may betray sth. Her eyes betrayed her sadness. His accent betrayed the fact that he was foreign.
•
stature a. Someone's stature is their height and general size. She was rather small in stature. b. The stature of a person or of their achievements is the importance and reputation that they have. a musician of international stature
How did the writer raise the question? a) (para 1) sums up the worst attacks on the dictionary by the popular press. b) (para 2) states the claim of the dictionary compilers (using a rhetoric question) c) (para 3) the discrepancy between the criticism and the great efforts calls for an examination of dictionary-making principles (using four questions )