Have All the Heroes Died?

Part B

Hero, it is said, is someone who is "larger than life," whom we can admire for great qualities or abilities that we may never have. Our heroes reflect the values, hopes, and beliefs of a particular time. Heroes have included political and religious leaders, athletes, movie stars, and musicians. In the United States, for example, political leaders who led the country to greater freedom and democracy have been heroes to many. George Washington, the nation's first

president, John Kennedy, the vibrant young president who inspired hope, and Martin Luther King, the civil fights leader who fought for racial equality, all attained hero status amongAmericans. Sports was, and still is, the first source of heroes for many American children.Picture, for example, the 1930s sports stadium: a red-haired, freckled-faced boy sits in thestands, magnetized by the style, grace, and action of the larger-than-life athlete, Lou Gehrig, the famous baseball player who died

民权种族平等

of a nerve disease that was later named after him. That young boy was a true believer. Today, however, many people say they do not have heroes. It is difficult to find an equivalent of Washington, Kennedy, King, or Gehrig. Political figures in today's world of leaders rarely, if ever, appear larger than life to us. In today's world of curious inquiring journalists and a television-age public, it seems difficult for anyone to attain heroic status. What is worse, we now dredge up information about our past heroes, only to take

A person's public image o

r presence:

away their heroism: we now know that John Kennedy ran around with other women; there appears to be evidence that Martin Luther King did, too. And today, more and more of our heroes have been forced to give up their hero status as new discoveries of their real lives have been made. For athletes, the days of hero worship may be over as well, as more and more sports figures have been discovered breaking the roles of the game, exhibiting violent behavior in competition, using steroids to intensify muscle development, and abusing

Did what?

adverbial of reason

alcohol and drags. Like political leaders of the past, heroic athletes of the past have fallen under the umbrella of "heroes with feet of clay," heroes with human weaknesses. Even the famous baseballhero, Babe Ruth5, has fallen to shame in our modem world. {Considered a hero for his outstanding record of home runs, overall excellence as an athlete, and generous contribution to the community}, he was a model for many young boys. Today, however, his "model personality" is considered a sham, and he is put down by many

including everything, comprehensive,

全面杰出

榜样人格模范人格

people. They now focus on his failures. Because he ate and drank too much, he had a potbelly, something that would never be tolerated in a baseball player today. And, like John Kennedy, he is criticized for having chased women, another unacceptable behavior in a modem-day hero. With the loss of our heroes, then, what is left for us to look up to? The buzzword in today's language is "role model," {someone whose behavior is "imitated,"} but not necessarily "courageous" or "heroic." Sports players

refers to ???

fashion word

continue to be regarded as role models by their fansand by the baseball team owners, who have an interest in "selling" the heroic quality of theirplayers. Business leaders who have stood up to economic pressure to save American industryfrom failure have also been considered role models. Take, for example, Lee Iacocca, chief executive officer of Chrysler Corporation , who saved his corporation from bankruptcy and perhaps even prevented a fatal outcome to the American car industry. He persuaded American consumers to buy

Chryslers for the good of America; consequently, many considered him a successful business role model. But even being a role model in today‘ s world is not easy. In fact, anyone daring to enter public life must have an ego big enough to survive the daily investigations into his or her personal affairs. Much of the public, critical of their poor behavior and drug use, has rejected ballplayers as role models. Players' unions, who represent the fights of ballplayers to be treated fairly and paid reasonable

salaries, will argue that baseball players are just normal people like everybody else, denying any special treatment of them. The business world hasalso shared in the loss of role models. In another example within the car industry, Roger Smith, chief executive officer of General Motors8, is a man who could have, or should have, served as a role model in American business. Yet, he, like so many other public figures, allowed his ego to get in the way. Reports indicate that through bad management andselfishness he allowed his company to fail while his

pension was raised; he retired from his position a millionaire. If our heroes have died and our role models are examined carefully, what can be said about our society? Perhaps the crux of the issue lies in the fact that Americans have always looked to heroes and role models to exemplify traditional American values. Yet today's public has become ungrateful and ungenerous toward its public figures. It doesn't want to let them get away with having fame and fortune if they are not perfect human beings. Perhaps the

evaluate,

value

Not agreeable

public knows too much about them and has become too demanding, or perhaps today's rolemodels are too self-possessed. But is living without heroes and role models a satisfactory stateof affairs?

The state of having

individuality.selfhood

larger than life : being more amusing and exciting than most people, then can attract a lot of attention.

the vibrant young president who inspired hope : the lively and energetic young president with lots of hopes.

attain : to arrive at, as by virtue of persistence or the passage of time.

attain one's goal 达到目的attain the age of ( 年龄 ) 有 ... 岁了attain to power 得到权力

It is hard to picture life 200 years ago. 很难想象 200 年前人们的生活。She pictured herself at school in a foreign country. 她想象自己在国外上学。

picture: to form a mental image of; visualize.

name after （另一人）同名，以…命名 John was named after his uncle.in the name of 以…的名义；为了…的缘 故；凭…的权威 He attended the party in the name of his father. to (one's) name 属于某人的 I don't have a hat to my name.make a name for oneself 出名，成名

dredge up(1). 挖掘 , 疏浚dredged up the silt. 挖出淤泥

(2). 追忆dredged up bitter memories.挖掘苦涩的记忆

run around东奔西跑 , 奔忙 , （尤指孩子）到处玩耍游逛I am always running about, looking for my lost memory.

run around with : 周旋于，与…有亲密关系

…, as more and more sports figures have been discovered breaking … exhibiting … using …and abusing…

• as: “for”, “because”, indicate a reason. •The clause is an adverbial of reason.• “sports figures” is the subjects of the clause. •“ breaking, exhibiting, using, abusing” is the complement.

feet of clay ( metaphor )泥足（比喻站不住脚的事物）

paraphrase:the past sports heroes have now been discovered with human weak points, as ordinary as anybody is.

put down (1) 写下；记下 "Put it down to my account, please." (2) 控制；击败to put down the opposition (3) 付（定金）Put down 200$ if you want to have a reservation. (4) 使（某人）自惭形秽

compare : put down as 视为；看作

I'd put him down as an uneducated man. 我把他看做没有受过教育的人 ?

I put his bad temper down to his recent mood of frustration.我把他的坏脾气归因于他近来沮丧的情绪。

With the loss of our heroes, then, what isleft for us to look up to?

with: 表示伴随状况，说明某种原因。look up to : admire for / respect Since we have lost so many heroes today, then what that is left can we admire for?

stand up to勇敢面对；顶得住One way to judge a person’s ability is to see whether he can stand up to rigorous challenges.

stand up for站到一边；保卫

stand up with在婚礼中做男或女的傧相

for the good of 为了 ... 的好处= for the interest of

paraphrase : should be courageous enough to stand up to the peeking and inquiring of their private life.

get in the way 妨碍

get out of the way (1) 让开 ; 避开 (2) 解决某事 , 除去某人

get under way 出发 ; 开始前进

Perhaps the crux of the issue lies in the fact that Americans have always looked to heroes and role models to exemplify traditional American values

the crux of the issue : the central problemexemplify : act as good examples

Perhaps the central problem is the fact that Americans always expect their heroes and role models to act as good examples according to their traditional value.

It doesn't want to let them get away with having fame and fortune if they are not perfect human beings.

What does “it” refer to? And what about “them”?

it public

them public figure

If the public figures are not perfect in personality, people would not let them retreat with both reputation and fortune.

Translate the following phrases:

种族平等种族歧视特定的价值观与信仰传奇色彩人物泥腿英雄行为榜样不断遭到窥探的私生活

The End The end