Lesson 10 The Telephone

Study Focus

1. To learn something about the Arab culture.

2. To appreciate the use of figure of speech esp. with a local flavor, e.g. metaphor, paradox and etc.

Part One Pre-reading Tasks

Warm-up Activities

Background Information

Evolution of the Telephone On March 10, 1876, Alexander Bell

invented the first telephone in the world.

In 1973, the first mobile phone weighing 1.9 kg was born in New York.

Nowadays, pretty tiny cell phones prevail all over the world.

Proverbs

Every medal / coin has two sides. Every medal has its reverse. Every advantage has its disadvantage. (Globalization) is a double-edged

sword. (Globalization) cuts both ways.

Arab League Algeria 阿尔及利亚 Bahrain 巴林 Comoros 科摩罗 Djibouti 吉布提 Egypt 埃及 Iraq 伊拉克 Jordan 约旦 Kuwait 科威特 Lebanon 黎巴嫩 Libya 利比亚 Mauritania 毛里塔尼亚 Morocco 摩洛哥 Oman 阿曼 Palestine 巴勒斯坦 Qatar 卡塔尔 Saudi Arabia 沙特阿拉伯 Somalia 索马里 Sudan 苏丹 Syria 叙利亚 Tunisia 突尼斯 United Arab Emirates 阿联酋 Yemen 也门

The Republic of Lebanon Independence Day: November 22nd,

1943 Religion: 46% Christians, 54% Muslims Capital: Beirut

Part Two While-reading Tasks

Preview QuestionsStructure of the Text

Language StudyIdiomatic Expressions

Preview Questions 1. Is the narration given in the first person

or the third person? Is the tone of the article serious or humorous?

2. Where did the narrator grow up? What was the overall picture of the village before the telephone arrived?

3. Did the villagers use any real calendar or clock? Why ? How did they keep track of the important events in their lives?

4. How old was the oldest woman in the village? How did other people describe her age?

5. Why did the narrator say that the year of the drought was one of the best years for him personally? What interesting things did he remember vividly as a boy that year?

6. Why did he say that it was also one of the worst years for him?

7. Why does the author introduce the subject so late in the article?

8. How was the decision made to install a telephone in the village? Was there any objection?

9. What changes did the telephone bring to the village? (positive & negative)

10. Where had the village center been in the past? And now?

11. Why did the telephone end the narrator’s business?

12. To sum up, what is the view of the author about the coming of the telephone into the village?

Structure of the text

Part I (Para. 1-10): detailed description of the villagers’ way of life before the telephone came.

Part II (Para. 11-25): how the telephone was installed, and what changes it brought about in the village.

Language Study (to the) east of some place in / to/ on the east of some place

to keep track of sth.: to keep oneself informed about a person, a situation, etc.

他们打算了解 IT 业所有的新发展情况。 They plan to keep track of all the new

developments in the IT industry. C.f. to lose track of

每次上网他都会忘记时间。 He loses track of time whenever he surfs

the internet.

to have need of 医生说他太累了，他唯一需要的是充分的休

息。 The doctor said that he was exhausted

and the only thing he had need of was enough rest.

“The seasons rolled by”: The seasons came and went in steady

succession. 年复一年，村民们仍然过着原来的生活。 The years rolled by, and the villagers still

lived in their old way of life.

sow, sowed, sowed / sown

to harvest / reap / gather in sth. As a man sows, so he shall reap. Whatever a man sows, that shall he

reap.

Cultural note about the intermarriage among cousins

In the ancient times, the Arabs were mostly nomadic herdsmen; there were very few options open to young people in the choice of spouse.

Today, this marriage saves trouble of exchanging dowries and spares people from the transfer of their property.

divine (adj.) having the qualities of a god or connected with, or coming from God

crack (v.) to break with a sharp, snapping sound

I know that this nut is hard to crack. Don’t put the delicate china in the

dishwasher – it may crack.

“and that’s the way…” And that’s how we kept track of the

important events in our little village for as long as the oldest people could remember.

“until it was…” Until the event became one of the things

by which we kept track of the important events in our lives.

to incorporate something into sth.: to add or include something as part of sth. else.

We’ve incorporated many environmentally– friendly features into the design of the building.

C.f. to integrate sth. with sth. to integrate into sth.

“slowed to a trickle”: gradually there was only a small amount of water coming slowly out of the spring

to (prep.) : used for stating what condition or state somebody or something is after a change

The disease has reduced the patient to a bag of bones.

After years of neglect the palace has been restored to its former glory.

to be packed with / packed full of sth.: containing a lot of a particular kind of thing

pack (v.) They packed as many people as

possible onto the bus. She packed her suitcase and headed

for the airport. Pack the newspaper around the china

so that it doesn’t break.

sinewy (adj.) lean and muscular

to play tag /hide-and-seek to play tug-of-war to play on/ at a seesaw to play on the slide to play marbles rope jumping/skipping

wet babies: the babies who were breast fed

wet nurse to be wet behind the ears C.f. He was so scared that he nearly

wet himself.

escalate (v.) to increase in intensity or extent

他们不想让这场斗争升级为全面的战争。 They don’t want the fighting to escalate

into a full-scale war. (n.) escalation escalator

full-blown (adj.) fully developed or matured

a full-blown flower; a full-blown war; full-blown AIDS

to call somebody names: to abuse them by insulting words

tingle (vi.) to feel uncomfortable My cheeks were tingling with the cold.

Arabic clothes

The traditional robe Arab women wear outdoors is a three-piece garment:

A long-sleeved black dress reaching to the heels;

A large black shawl to hide the hair and to wear over the shoulders;

A black, nontransparent veil to cover the face showing only the eyes.

Arab Women

Arabic Wedding

to get anywhere/ somewhere/ nowhere: to make some/ no progress

你的项目有进展了吗？ Have you got anywhere in your project? 如果你坚持下去，你一定会成功的。 You’ll surely get somewhere if you

persist in it. C.f. not to get somebody anywhere: will

not help somebody to succeed Losing your temper won’t get you

anywhere.

to talk somebody into / out of (doing) sth.: to persuade somebody to do / not to do sth.

他终于说服了她接受这个工作。 Finally he talked her into accepting the

job offer. 一旦她想做什么，就没有人可以让她停下

来。 Once she wants to do something, no

one can talk her out of it. to persuade somebody into doing sth. to convince somebody to do sth.

outnumber, outshine, outlive, outshout, outrun

The north outnumbered the south. Women usually outlive men.

at somebody’s elbow, at the elbows of sb. = very close to or beside sb.

proceed (vi.) to proceed with sth., to proceed to do

sth. 他停下看了看笔记，接着问他的问题。 He paused to consult his notes, then

proceeded with his questions. 我们现在可以继续谈合同了。 We can now proceed to negotiate the

contract.

Communion It refers to the celebration of the Lord’s

supper in the Christian Church. In this religious ceremony believers eat bread and drink wine as signs of Christ’s body and blood.

to wriggle one’s way to wriggle out of/ under/ through/ into

sth. 门口太窄了，他不得不扭动身体钻出来。 The doorway was so narrow that he had

to wriggle his way out.  The eel wriggled out of my fingers. Stop wriggling (about) and sit still!  C.f. to wind (one’s way) through/ along Highway 99 winds its way along the

coast.

supposedly (adv.) used when saying what many people say or believe is true, esp. when you disagree with them.

1912 年 4 月，号称永不沉没的泰坦尼克号轮船撞上了冰山。

In April 1912, Titanic, the supposedly unsinkable ship, hit an iceberg.

crank

jet-black

to charge somebody some money (for sth.)

to charge for sth. 餐馆收了我们 40 美元酒水费。 The restaurant charged us 40 dollars for

the wine and soft drinks. 如果你现在付款，我们就可以免费送货上门。 We won’t charge for delivery if you pay

now.

Compare other meanings: She was charged with malicious

destruction of public property. The general charged the soldiers to

cross the river. They charged the enemy three times. The battery needs to be charged. Please charge my account.

to keep somebody out of somebody’s hair

to get in somebody’s hair: (inf.) to annoy somebody esp. by always being near them

confessor (n.) one who listens to a confession and gives forgiveness

troubleshooter (n.) to shoot the trouble

bustling (adj.) busy (place) bustle (vi.) to move around quickly,

looking very busy He bustled round the room putting

things away. a bustle of people coming and going C.f. hustle

to deliver somebody from sth. : (literary or Biblical) to help somebody escape from something bad or evil

E.g. to deliver sb. from temptation

errand (n.) a short journey in order to do something for somebody for example delivering or getting something for them

I have a couple of errands for you. to send somebody on an errand to run an errand

to trail off/ away: (of somebody’s voice, speech) to become gradually quieter and then stop

C.f. to die down: to become gradually less strong, loud, noticeable

A solid three minutes passed before the applause died down.

deli, delicatessen, delicacy

to be /become a skeleton /shadow/ ghost of one’s former self:

not to be at all like the cheerful, healthy, strong etc. person that one used to be

“Magdaluna became a skeleton of its former self, desolate and forsaken, like the tombs, a place to get away from.”

With the healthy, the young, and the able-bodied all gone, Magdaluna was no longer alive with laughter and the loud voices of the people talking, laughing and arguing. It became a much-deserted place, a place to escape from, like a graveyard or cemetery.

“Like the others who left Magdaluna before me, I am still looking for that better life.”

The search for a better life seems to be endless. Having achieved some success and attained a little fame, the writer is still striving to satisfy the human need to feel worthwhile and the need to get the maximum reward from his life experience.

Idiomatic Expressions to keep track of time The sun rises and sets. Seasons roll by. to sow seeds to cave in to be incorporated into sth. to be packed full of sth. to play tag /hide-and-seek / marbles to shoo flies

wet babies to be wet behind ears to escalate into to grab sb. by the hair to call somebody names to fetch water to get somewhere/ nowhere/anywhere to talk somebody out of doing sth. to come into view at the elbows of sb.

to chime in to wriggle one’s way to charge sb. some money for sth. to wring one’s hands to keep sb. out of one’s hair to attend to endless chores to be exhausted from sth. back and forth to deliver sb. from sth. to run errands to trail off

Part III After-reading Discussion

Should we always embrace the new because what is new always means progress, and what is progress is good?