Unit Two

1. Unit Two Space Invaders Richard Stengel

2. Pre-reading Questions • What is personal space? Is personal space important to you? Why or why not?

3. Why do they do that?

4. If you get on this subway, where would you sit?

5. What message can you get from this picture?

6. How about in this picture?

7. So... People need personal space to feel comfortable.

8. Discussion • Discuss in groups, and come up with the possible factors that may influence the personal space. Illustrate your points of view with examples.

9. Pre-reading Activities • Watch the video and answer the following questions. • How is the “getting through the door” movement understood by many people? • What is the hidden message behind the scene? • What does this story tell us?

10. From Secret of Body Language

11. Script Voiceover: But body language is often complex, and easily misunderstood. Here, President Clinton leads the Israeli and Palestinian leaders Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat up before the press during peace negotiations. It’s all smiles for the cameras, but behind the façade of bonhomie, there’s a power struggle going on. The body language then reveals just why that works.

12. Script Expert A: Wow. It’s almost a physical fight. Voiceover: Many view this apparently light-hearted tussle as a sign that Arafat and Barak were getting on well. Think again. Expert A: There is a great meaning behind who goes through the door first. Now of course here in the West, letting someone through the door first doesn’t really matter. Polite maybe. But in the Middle East, it has significant cultural impact. Expert B: The host, the power person, says, “I’m in control. I’ll help you through the door. I’ll show you the way.”

13. Script Voiceover: Throw in the fear and tension present in most Middle East negotiations, and suddenly, the desire ofboth Arafat and Barak not to go through that door before the other starts to make sense. Expert C: This is a classic example in its extreme way of how the last man through the door is the winner. So Barak reaches for Yasser Arafat. Arafat literally grasps his arm, moves on, and starts waggling his finger at Barak, who, then, Barak, uses this opportunity as a wrestling match to move around, to actually be behind Arafat, and then literally grasps Arafat, holds him by the arm, and shoves him through the door. Expert B: So you’ve got fear and power struggle, showing in big big big big bold body language with it.

14. How would you feel if you were in any of these situations?

15. So... “Space invaders” make people feel uneasy.

16. Shared Places • Elevators, buses, theaters, and many other similar “shared places” tend to reduce personal space. People who routinely find themselves in such situations tend to have smaller personal space and more tolerance for “space invasion” than those who are not used to crowding.

17. Structural Analysis • Paragraph 1-2: This part tells us about the author's experience of how his personal space was invaded and how his individual border was intruded on. • Paragraph 3-7: This part shows that the phenomenon of invading personal space has become more and more serious in the current society. • Paragraph 8-9: The last two paragraphs show that the shrinking of personal space is less a physical matter than people's psychological withdrawal.

18. Language PointsPara. 1 • snake v. • move in a twisting way • The train was snaking its way through the mountains. • 小路沿着山坡蜿蜒至远方。 • The path snaked away into the distance along the hillside. • 她站在食堂里面弯弯曲曲的队伍里。 • She stood in a queue snaking around in the canteen.

19. Para. 1 • some tired velvet ropes • some slackened/loose velvet ropes. • (personification)

20. Para. 1 • inch • v. to move very slowly and carefully in a particular direction • He was inching his way across the high roof. • inch one's way forward • 慢慢前进 • Prices are inching down. • 物价在缓慢下降。

21. Para. 1 • inch • n. unit / measure of length equal to 2.54 cm or one twelfth of a foot • His legs are too long for his inches. • 就他的身高而言, 他的腿太长了。

22. Para. 1 • Collocations • by inches: bit by bit, gradually • every inch: completely, entirely • not budge/yield an inch: not give way at all • within an inch of: very near, almost

23. Para. 1 • Evil comes to us by ells and goes away by inches. • 罪恶来时，尺进寸退。 • He looked every inch a gentleman. • 他看上去完全是正人君子。 • Betty came within an inch of being killed. • 贝蒂差一点就被杀死。

24. Para. 1 • deposit • n. a partial payment made at the time of purchase; a payment given as a guarantee that an obligation will be met • n. money deposited in a bank • 沉积物，矿床，矿藏

25. Para. 1 • deposit • v. to put money or something valuable in a bank or other place where it will be safe • You may deposit your returned books with the librarian. • You are advised to deposit your valuables in the hotel safe. • v. to leave a layer of a substance on the surface of something, especially gradually. • When the River Nile is in flood, it deposits a layer of mud on the fields. • 尼罗河泛滥时, 便在田野上沉积一层泥。

26. Para. 1 • minutely • adv.carefully and precisely; in great detail • He examined the jewels minutely before saying how much it was worth.

27. Para. 1 • minute • adj. careful and exact; very small • He gave me minute instructions about my work. • His writing is so minute that it’s difficult to read.

28. Para. 1 • minute • Before the meeting started, the minutes of the last meeting were read out. • I would like you to minute what I said at the meeting. • 我想要你们把我在会上说的记入议事录。 n. v.

29. Para. 1 American Newspapers & Magazines: • Wall Street Journal • New York Times • Washington Post • USA Today • Newsweek • Reader’s Digest • Time • Financial Times

30. Para. 1 • annoy • vt. cause slight anger to sb.; cause trouble or discomfort to sb. • be annoyed by sb./sth.: be disturbed by • be annoyed at sth./with sb.: be irritated

31. Para. 1 • annoy vs. irritate • The lady seemed annoyed because I had dialed the wrong number. The second time, she seemed irritated.

32. Para. 1 • annoy vs. bother • I was annoyed by his bad manners. • Pardon me for bothering you with such a small matter. • annoyance: • n. noun form of annoy; person or thing that causes annoyance • I felt annoyance at being teased. • Mosquitoes are an annoyance.

33. Para. 1 • sidle • v. walk in a timid manner, esp. sideways or obliquely, to walk towards something or someone slowly and quietly, as if you do not want to be noticed • A man sidled up to me and asked if I wanted a ticket for the match.

34. Para. 1 • Compare: • sneak: go quietly and furtively • stroll: walk in a leisurely or idle manner; ramble • stride: walk with long steps • plod: walk with heavy steps or with difficulty

35. Para. 1 strolled • A huge crowd ________ down Fifth Avenue in the Easter Parade. • The poor old man ________ along, hardly able to lift each foot. • We ________ around to the back door. • We ________ purposefully up to the door and knocked at it loudly. • The young man began to ________ near the pretty girl sitting on the log. • stroll, plod, sneak, stride, sidle plodded sneaked strode sidle

36. Para. 1 • scribble: v. write or draw carelessly or hurriedly; to draw marks that have no meaning. • scribble down

37. Para. 1 • shuffle • v. walk by dragging one’s feet along or without lifting them fully from the ground • He slipped on his shoes and shuffled out of the room. 

38. Para. 1 • shuffle sth. off: avoid talking or thinking about sth. because it is not considered important • shuffle out of sth.: try to avoid some unpleasant task by acting dishonestly

39. Para. 1 • 他推卸责任，换了话题。 • He shuffled off his own responsibility and changed the topic. • 她说她有病，把杂事都推掉了。 • She shuffled out of the chores by saying she felt ill.

40. Para. 1 • shuffle sb. to and from 把某人调来调去 • shuffle sth. out of sight 把某物塞在看不见的地方 • shuffle one's clothes on [off] 笨拙[匆匆]地穿上[脱下]衣服 • shuffle cards 洗纸牌 • shuffle the cards [喻]改变机构人事; 改变政策

41. Para. 1 • … until we were all hugger-mugger against each other, the original lazy line having collapsed in on itself like a Slinky. • … until we were all pushing against each other, leaving the line in a disorder. • ……直到我们互相推挤，原本松松垮垮的队伍早已挤做一团，跟压缩的弹簧玩具似的。

42. Para. 1 • Slinky as a toy “机灵鬼”，一种用软弹簧做成的会翻跟头的玩具

43. slinky as adj. Sextually attractive

44. Para. 1 • How does the author describe the violation of personal space that happened in a bank? -- He uses a series of verb phrases and adverbialswhich vividly described the process in which the people in line, though reluctant, had to give away their personal space to the invaders.

45. Para. 1 • How many people at least are described here? -- Five.

46. Para. 1 • Why does the writer tell his experience at the bank? -- Because he wants to show the importance of personal space in maintaining public order. If one's personal space is invaded, he may, in preserving his own space, break into others' personal space. This chain of reations can cause chaos in public order.

47. Para. 2 • The phrase “personal space” has a quaint, seventies ring to it … • The phrase “personal space” sounds old fashioned and reminds one of the seventies ... • The phrase "personal space" has an odd touch that was with the characteristic of the 1970s. • “私人空间”这个词听起来有点古怪，让人想起70年代来。

48. Para. 2 • quaint • adj. attractively unusual or old-fashioned • a quaint old house一座古雅的老房子 • a quaint method一个奇怪的方法

49. Para. 2 • Compare: unique, eccentric & outlandish • unique: having no equal; being the only one of its sort • eccentric: (of a person’s behavior) peculiar, not normal or conventional • outlandish: looking or sounding odd, strange or foreign

50. Para. 2 • ring n. • a quality, or an impression of having the quality that is mentioned • Her story had a ring of truth about it. • ring true/false: sound true/false • His promise rang false to me.