 Preparation  Listening-Centered Activities  Reading-Centered Activities

1. Unit Twelve: Ambition  Preparation  Listening-Centered Activities  Reading-Centered Activities

2. 1. Quotations on Ambitions.Directions: Read the following quotations from the world’s greatest motivators and work in pairs to translate them into Chinese. • All ambitions are lawful except those which climb upward on the miseries of mankind. 所有的雄心壮志都是合法的，除了那些建立在人类的苦难之上的野心之外。 • Every man believes that he has a greater possibility. 每个人都相信自己有更大的潜能。

3. First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. 首先对自己说你想成为什么样的人； 然后做你必须做的事。 • Who begins too much accomplishes little. 开始贪多，往往一事无成。/ 开始期望太高， 最好成功很少。 • Always to be the best. 永远争取第一。 • Ambition, the soldier’s virtue. 雄心壮志是士兵的美德。

4. 2. How ambitious you are? Step two: Sample. Of the five students in our group, three scored above 100 and two scored between 50 and 100. this means we are all quite or very ambitious. Of the ten jobs in Item 3, the engineer is favored the most, followed by the manager. All of us consider money as something more important in our life than anything else, and we are all kind enough to be willing to help those who don’t have money. What is interesting about our group is that all of us want to be over 30 to have children. The reason is very simple: being professionally successful is given top priority. Few say that they will get married soon after graduation.

5. Directions: listen to the song twice and fill in the blanks with what you get from the tape. Then compare our version with your neighbor’s. If I Could I’d rather be a sparrow than a snail. Yes, I would. If I could, I surely would. I’d rather be a hammer than a nail. Yes, I would. If I only could, I surely would. Away, I’d rather sail away. Like a swan that’s here and gone. A man gets tied up to the ground. He gives the world its saddest sound Its saddest sound. I’d rather be a forest than a street. Yes, I would. If I could, I surely would. I’d rather feel the earth beneath my feet. Yes, I would. If I could, I surely would. sparrow, snail, swan

6. Directions: work in groups and discuss the following questions. 1. What do “snail, nail, swan, forest and street” symbolize respectively? a snail symbolizes something confined to the earth, just the opposite of a sparrow which can fly freely in the sky. a nail symbolizes something passive, just the opposite of a hammer which is a tool for action. A swan symbolizes man’s greatest dream, something graceful and free from earthly constraints. A forest symbolizes nature. A street symbolizes something man-made and life on earth.

7. 2. What would you like to be if you could? Why? Sample. If I could, I’d like to be the wind, so I could visit every corner of the world. I could taste the tears and share the happiness of people in different parts of the world. I could have a better understanding of others and myself. if I could, I’d like to be a bird, flying freely anywhere I want to go. I don’t like to be confined to the earth. High above in the sky, I can have a bird's-eye view of everything on the earth.

8. Directions: listen to the first part and fill in the information about James in the table. Then work in groups to guess what Hugh was thinking about that morning. Use your imagination. Joyce, Huge, Mercedes, Mandy, stagger, aspirin, ulcer, groan, Stumble, fiancée， Buffalo

9. Sample: • Huge was thinking about how to make up with his fiancée, so that they could get married that year. • Hugh was thinking about how to get a contract form a computer company. • Hugh was thinking about his poor brother James. “How boring his life is!” he sighed. Then, he smiled to himself, “How lucky I am!”

10. In-class reading

11. ambition n. ambitious a. unambitious e.g. His lifelong ambition is to be a teacher. e.g. He no longer had political ambitions.

12. mutual adj. • Mutual interests/ enemies/ friends/ efforts. • Mutual help/ suspicion/ affection • Mutual contacts.

13. graduate n. • postgraduate n. A student who has a first degree from a university and is studying or doing research at a more advanced level. • undergraduate n. A student at a university or college who has not yet taken his/her first degree.

14. major • n. e.g. My major is English. e.g. They are history majors. • adj. Significant. e.g. Jones played a major part in the improvement of the article. • v. (in) to study a particular subject as one’s main subject at university. e.g. I decided to major in accounting.

15. open up e.g. The land is beginning to open up. e.g. They begin to open up trade with China. e.g. open up a wound. e.g. open up a mine/ a new territory/ resources.

16. potential • n. e.g. Has this woman get executive potential? e.g. Many children do not achieve their potential. • adj. e.g. potential market/ investors/ customers/ wealth/ resources/ sales

17. specials • Special adj. 特别的 • Specialize v. 专攻 • Specialist n. 专家 • Specialty n. 专业，特性 • Specialization n. 专门化， 特殊化

18. turn out • 原来是， （最后)证明是. e.g. It turned out to be a fairly sensational evening. • To produce e.g. Our new factory is turning out a large quantity of goods. • To extinguish. e.g. She did not turn out the light when she left the room.

19. leave behind • To desert or abandon. e.g. We must leave our heavy equipment behind. • Fall behind. e.g. You have to follow closely if you want to avoid being left behind. • To remain. e.g. I leave these little details behind for you to settle.

20. decide on e.g. He decided on a career in the army. e.g. Have you decided on a course of action?

21. consume • Use up or exhaust. e.g. The ship consumed a great deal of fuel. e.g. Whole days were consumed by exhausting discussions. • To destroy or overwhelm. e.g. The fire consumed the whole city. e.g. His hatred of them consumed him. • Enchant, be filled with or be full of e.g. He was consumed with grief. e.g. She was consumed with an interest in expedition.

22. overdue adj: be late. e.g. I’ve got three books that are overdue. e.g. The rent on his apartment was three weeks overdue.

23. come to terms with e.g. He has come to terms with death. e.g. He has come to terms with the fact that he has been left behind.

24. I like big ambitions that suggest that the world could open up at any time, with work and luck and determination. (pa.4) • “suggest” here means that make one think of e.g. The sight of the birds suggested a new idea for flying machines. • “with” here means “by means of” e.g. I succeeded, with his advice. 3. 我喜欢有远大的志向，这种志向让人感到只要勤奋、运气好、有决心，世界在任何侍侯都会向我们敞开。

25. There is nothing wrong with a little delayed gratification every now and then, but a job you do only because of where it will get you---and not because you like it---means a life of muttering to yourself. “someday this will be over.” (pa. 9) 时而将成功的喜悦稍稍推后并不是件坏事，但是，如果工作只是因为这使你达到某一目的，而不是因为你热爱这种工作，那么工作就意为着不断的对自己嘀咕：“总有一天这会过去的”，以此度日。

26. After-class reading

27. Romantic Ambition

28. determine Compare: determine, decide, resolve • Determine v.确定（特别指某事物的身份、特征等） • Decide v. 决定（强调在几种可能中作出选择） e.g. One decides to give a dinner party but determines the guests to be invited. • Resolve v. 下定决心（比decide 的理由、决心或目的 更强） e.g. I resolved to work harder in the future.

29. while • though e.g. While she is a likeable girl, she can be extremely difficult to work with. • Whereas e.g. Fred gambled his money away while Julia spent hers all on dresses. • During the time, when. e.g. He was so tired and fell asleep while reading the newspaper.

30. furnish v. e.g. The gardener furnished me with the necessary information. Compare: furnish, provide, supply, equip. • Furnish 强调装备 （适合某人、某事的必需品） • Provide 强调总体设备情况。A poorly furnished kitchen 也许缺少桌椅， 但a poorly equipped kitchen 指烹调炊具、电器不够。 • Supply 强调弥补所需或缺陷。 e.g. An informer supplied the police with the names of those involved in the crime. • Equip 强调提供帮助，进行准备。 e.g. The hotel provides shoe-cleaning service for quests.

31. at the expense of e.g. Economic growth must not be pursued at the expense of our environment. e.g. High production rates are often achieved at the expense of quality of work.

32. Perhaps they take their position from the biblical statement that “It is hard for a rich man to enter heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle”, but more often the reason is more directly related to the same reason many persons do not aspire to great power during their lives. (pa. 2) 或许他们的这种立场源于一句圣经， “富人想上天堂比骆驼穿过针眼还难”， 但是在更通常的情况下，持这种立场的原因更直接的与为什么许多人一生中并不热衷于追求大的权力的原因有关系。

33. There clearly are goals which do not lead to greater romance in living, do not add zest to life, and do not support enthusiastic and energetic participation in relationships. (pa. 3) 很显然的存在着这样一些人生目标， 这些目标不会给生活带来太多浪漫，给生命增添激情，也不会有助于人们热情洋溢、精力充沛地参与人际关系。

34. The Virtues of Ambition

35. Neutral. Neutralize v. • adj. e.g. I always tried to remain neutral when they started arguing. e.g. Since I was neutral in the conflict, I was a welcome visitor. • n. e.g. It is essential that we transform them from active enemies into passive neutrals.

36. lest Clause introduced by lest should be “should +v” e.g. They went out of the big building quickly lest the wall (should) collapse. e.g. She pulled away from the window lest anyone (should) see her.

37. Surely, ambition is not only behind dreams of wealth, of glory, of distinction, and of accomplishment, but also behind dreams of love, of pleasure, and of goodness. (pa. 1) 的确，雄心壮志不仅是梦想财富、辉煌、杰出和成就地动因，而且是人们产生爱情、快乐和仁慈梦想的原因。

38. What has happened is that people cannot admit their dreams as easily and openly as they once could, lest they be thought of as pushing, acquisitive, and vulgar. (pa. 5) 所发生的是，人们不能想从前一样轻易的、公开的承认自己的雄心壮志，唯恐他们被认为是爱出风头， 贪得无厌，庸俗。

39. Remove ambition and the essential elements of society seem to fly apart. (pa. 8) 没有了雄心壮志，社会的基本元素便会土崩瓦解。

40. Hacker or Mike

41. Excel v. excellence n. Excellent a. Excellently adv. e.g. It is in this area of embroidery that women excel. e.g. He excels at sports. Compare: excel, exceed, surpass, outdo. • Excel 指做事方面超过别人。 • Exceed. 指数量或程度方面的超越。 e.g. He was find for exceeding the speed limit. • Surpass. 指在质量上（如美德、技术方面）的超越。 e.g. It was a skill that no one could have surpassed. • Outdo 指超越他人所为。 e.g. The economies of Southeast Asia are already outdoing Western competitors.

42. Relinquish v. e.g. The Duke was obliged to relinquish all rights to the territory. e.g. She relinquished the editorship of the newspaper. Compare: resign, surrender, abandon. resign: quit a job. e.g. She has just resigned from the committee. surrender: give up to or yield. e.g. The hijackers surrendered to the police after about an hour. abandon v. throw away or give up. e.g. They were accused of abandoning their socialist principles.

43. reconcile • v. 1. 使和好。 e.g. After 20 years of silence, he was finally reconciled with his family. 2. 使无奈的接受。Reconcile oneself to sthg. e.g. He told them to reconcile themselves to the misery of losing their son. 3. 调和，使一致。 e.g. I can’t reconcile the two points of view. • Reconciliation n. e.g. All out attempts at reconciliation have failed.

44. humble Compare: humble, meek, modest. humble a. low, referring to be in lower social rank, poor or not important. e.g. He is a man of humble origin. meek a. soft in temper. e.g. He was a meek and obedient child. modest a. 谦虚的，质朴的，适度的，不太大的 e.g. He made a modest living by painting. e.g. a modest house/ flat/ amount/ wage. e.g. modest rate/ improvement/ success.

45. A hacker can get away with the most outrageous stupid plays merely because he is doing what everyone expects of him. (pa. 4) 臭球手的球虽愚蠢之极却能够免于责难， 这仅仅是因为人人都认为这是臭球手的正常表现。

46. Until recently, I was reconciled, more or less, to being mediocre for life. (pa. 5) 直到最近，我开始有点安于平凡的生活了。

47. I was out for two weeks, and during that time all I could do was worry about whether I still was good. (pa. 11) 我退出比赛两个星期，在这段时间内， 我所能做的便是担心我是否仍然会表现良好。 I was out here means I was out of the play; I didn’t play basketball for two weeks.