新视野大学英语-第三版读写教程第二册unit5A教案

Unit 5 Section A Spend or save — The student's dilemma

花钱还是存钱，学生进退维谷

1 Do you feel as confused and manipulated as I do with this question, "Should

I spend or should I save?" I think that the messages we get from our environment seem to defy common sense and contradict each other. The government tells us to spend or we'll never get out of the recession. At the same time, they tell us that unless we save more, our country is in grave danger. Banks offer higher interest rates so we increase savings. Then the same banks send us credit card offers so we can spend more.

1 你是不是跟我一样对“我应该花钱还是存钱”这个问题感到困惑，且有被操纵的感觉？我觉得我们从生活的环境里所获得的信息似乎是有违常识、互相矛盾的。政府告诉我们要花钱，否则我们将永远走不出衰退；与此同时，他们又告诉我们，除非我们节省更多的钱，否则我们的国家会处于严重危险之中。银行提供较高的利率以增加储蓄。然后，同样是这些银行

又提供信用卡让我们可以花更多的钱。

1 Do you feel as confused and manipulated as I do with this question, “Should I spend or should I save?” (Para. 1)

Meaning: When asking yourself whether you should spend or save, do you feel puzzled and controlled as I do?

Meaning beyond words: According to the conventional concept, we are the master or the boss of the money we have earned. It is up to us to decide how to use our money. However, the sentence gives us the hint that we are actually no longer in control of our money.

2 I think that the messages we get from our environment seem to defy common sense and contradict each other. (Para. 1)

Meaning: In my opinion, the messages we g et in our daily life about the question “Should I spend or should I save?” are against common sense and they often don’t agree with each other.

Usage note: defy, deny

defy 和deny 都是及物动词，词形相近，但实际上两者词义有别，用法也不同。

1 defy 主要表示“违抗；反抗；蔑视”，后接名词；而deny 主要表示“否认；拒绝承认”，后接名词或that 引导的从句。

Nearly 11 thousand people have been arrested for defying the ban on street trading. 近一万一千人因违抗在街上交易的禁令而被捕。

The government has denied that the authorities have uncovered a plot to assassinate the president. 政府已否认当局发现了一个暗杀总统的阴谋。

2 defy 后接动词不定式表示“挑战；刺激某人做某事”时，不能用动名词形式；deny 表示“否

认；拒绝承认”时，后面不能接动词不定式，只能接动名词形式。

I defy you to come up with one major accomplishment of the current prime minister. 我倒要看看你能否讲出一项现任首相作出的重大成就。

He denied doing anything illegal. 他否认做过任何违法的事。

3 The government tells us to spend or we’ll never get out of the recession. (Para. 1) Meaning beyond words: To help the country recover from the economic recession, the government is encouraging people to spend, which will help stimulate production, job markets and bank liquidity.

4 At the same time, they tell us that unless we save more, our country is in grave danger. (Para.1)

Meaning: Meanwhile, they warn us that if we don’t save more money the economic recession will grow and severely harm our country.

Usage note: unless

1 unless 作连词，表示“除非… ；如果不…”，引导条件状语从句，意为“如果某个条件不出现，某件事就不会进行”。使用unless 时必须留意从句中动词的时态。虽然unless 所说的条件都是未出现或未发生的，但必须用一般现在时或过去时，不能用表示将来的时态。例如：I will not go to Beijing unless the company pays for the trip. 如果公司不支付旅费，我不会去北京。（不能用will pay）

She wouldn’t do that unless I allowed her. 如果我不允许，她不会去做那件事。（不能用would allow）

She will keep on singing unless she is told to stop. 她会一直唱下去，除非有人叫她停止。（不能用will be told）

She would not come to work as before unless her mother’s health condition turned for the better. 她不会像以前那样来上班了，除非她母亲的病情好转。（不能用would turn）

2 unless 和if … not 都可以引导条件状语从句，但适用情况不同，很容易混淆，要注意区别。指将来可能发生或可能真实的情况用unles s；如果知道事情没有发生或不真实则用i f … not。可以说If you weren’t always in such a hurry, your work would be much better。不说Your work would be much better unless you were always in such a hurry 。见更多例句：Unless they get protection, they will not testify. (= If they do not get protection, they will not testify.) 如果得不到保证，他们不会作证的。

I would go out if it wasn’t raining. (= But it is raining, so I am not going out.) 要是不下雨，我就出去了。

5 Banks offer higher interest rates so we increase savings. Then the same banks send us credit card offers so we can spend more. (Para. 1)

Meaning beyond words: Here is the “spend or save” paradox. On one hand, the government tells us to spend, and, on the other hand, thay want us to save more. While