Contemporary College English Book One

1. Contemporary College EnglishBook One Unit 1 Half a Day

2. Unit 1 Half a DayNaguib Mahfouz • About the author • education and background • important works • how he pictures the world • Text appreciation • structure analysis • topic discussion • Language understanding • sentence paraphrase • word study & phrases • Assignment

3. Naguib Mahfouz纳吉布•马福兹

4. Naguib Mahfouz—Education & Background Naguib Mahfouz was born on the 11th Dec. 1911 in an old quarter of Cairo, the youngest son of a merchant. He studied philosophy（哲学）at King Faud I (now Cairo) University, graduating in 1934. He worked in university administration（行政部门） and then in 1939 he worked for the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. He was later Head of the State Cinema Organization at the Ministry of Culture(文化部）. He also worked as a journalist（记者）.

5. Although widely translated, his works are not available in most Middle Eastern countries because of his support of Sadat’s Camp David initiative. In 1994 he survived an assassination（暗杀） attempt by Islamic extremists（极端主义分子）. He is married, has two daughters and lives in Cairo. Naguib Mahfouz—Education & Background

6. Naguib Mahfouz—Education & Background Guess This is …

7. Naguib Mahfouz——important works Naguib Mahfouz was the first Arab to win the Nobel prize for literature, in 1988. He has been described as “a Dickens(迪更斯1812-1870, 英国著名现实主义小说家)of the Cairo cafés” and “the Balzac(巴尔扎克1799-1850, 法国小说家) of Egypt". He is now the author of no fewer than 30 novels, more than 100 short stories, and more than 200 articles. Half of his novels have been made into films which have circulated （流通；传播）throughout the Arabic-speaking world.

8. Naguib Mahfouz——important works Mahfouz began writing when he was 17. His first novel was published in 1939 and ten more were written before the Egyptian Revolution of July 1952, when he stopped writing for several years. One novel was republished in 1953, however, and the appearance of The Cairo Trilogy（三部曲）in 1957 made him famous throughout the Arab world as a depictor（描写者） of traditional urban（城市的）life.

9. Naguib Mahfouz——important works The Cairo Trilogy (published 1955-1957) is a tale of the lives of a Muslim family and spans（跨过） the first half of the 20th century. Each book in the trilogy was named after a suburb of Cairo. The first, Palace Walk was set during the British occupation of Egypt early in the century. The second, Palace of Desire covered the changing times of the 1920s. The third book, Sugar Street brings the family into the mid 20th century. In this final part the head of the family is now old and frail（weak). He surveys the world while the main story centers on the grandsons.

10. Naguib Mahfouz——important works

11. Naguib Mahfouz——important works Cairo

12. Naguib Mahfouz——important works Works of his second writing period: The Children of Gebelawi (1959) The Thief and the Dogs (1961) Autumn Quail (1962) Small Talk on the Nile (1966) Miramar (1967) several collections of short stories.

13. Naguib Mahfouz——how he pictures the world The picture of the world as it emerges（出现） from the bulk (大量） of Mahfouz’s work is very gloomy（暗淡的；阴沉的；令人沮丧的） indeed, though not completely disappointing. It shows that the author’s social utopia (乌托邦；理想国）is far from being realized. Mahfouz seems to conceive o f（构思；想象） time as a force of oppression. His novels have consistently shown time as the carrier of change, and change as a very painful process, and very often time is not content until it has dealt his heroes the final blow of death.

14. Naguib Mahfouz——how he pictures the world To sum up, in Mahfouz’s dark description of the world there are only two bright spots（点）. These consist of man's continuing struggle for equality on the one hand and the promise of scientific progress on the other; meanwhile, life is a tragedy.

15. Text Appreciation • Structure of the text Part 1 (para. 1- ) about: Part 2 (para. ) about: Part 3 (para. ) about: The boy’s misgivings about school 7 How the boy felt about school. 8-16 Walking out of the school, he found time had changed everything. 17-20

16. Text Appreciationfor group discussion in class • Plot of the story: • Setting of the story: • Protagonist v.s. Antagonists: • Drama of the story lies in: • Writing technique: (Have you ever read a story using the similar technique?) • Theme of the story:

17. Text Appreciationfor group discussion in class The following are a few possible understandings of the message the story conveys. Which one do you agree with? Argue with your group partners. • Time and tide wait for no man. • Life is a tragedy. There is nothing permanent in life but change. • Education can never keep up with changes in society. • Life is short and time is precious. • Life is a dream. Do not take anything seriously.

18. Text Appreciationfor group discussion in class Read the following suggestions made by the father. Which ones do you agree with and which ones not? Have you ever been given some suggestions by your parents when entering the university? List them out. • School is a place that makes useful men out of boys. • Don’t you want to be useful like your brothers? • Put a smile on your face and be a good example to others. • Be a man. • Today you truly begin life. • __________________________________________ • __________________________________________

19. Text Appreciationfor group discussion in class • From the description between Para.8 and Para.16, we can see different aspects of school life. Try to list as many aspects as possible in the following table.

20. Text Appreciationfor group discussion in class In the last part of the text, the boy walked out of the school to find that the outside world had changed beyond measure. How might he feel about the changes? List exact words that support your choice. He was _____  frightened  surprised  angry  puzzled excited  satisfied  delighted  sad  indifferent critical Supporting words startled, … …

21. Text Appreciationfor after-class thinking "who has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind” • After reading “Half a Day”, how do you understand the comment on Naguib Mahfouz?

22. Text Appreciationfor after-class thinking Great works never fail to reveal the common human experience. • After reading the story, do you feel emotionally or spiritually touched? Why or why not?

23. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 1. I walked alongside my father, clutching his right hand. alongside: side by side, next to clutching his right hand: present participle as adverbial modifier list other examples from the text: My mother stood at the window watching our progress… …...

24. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 2. They did not make me happy, however, as this was the day I was to be thrown into school for the first time. • What does “they” refer to? • What does the narrator imply by using “to be thrown into school”? But I wasn’t happy as I usually was when I had new clothes to wear because it was the day I started school.

25. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 3. My mother stood at the window watching our progress, and I turned towards her from time to time, hoping she would help. • What does “progress” mean here? • What kind of help could his mother offer? • What does the sentence tell us about the boy’s relationships with his parents? Slow and difficult movement towards the school.

26. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 4. We walked along a street lined with gardens … a street where there are gardens … along both sides lined with…: past participle phrase used here to modify “a street”. It can be regarded as a relative clause cut short, eg. • a novel (that was) written by Charles Dickens • personal computers (that are) made in China

27. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 5. “Why school?” I asked my father. “What have I done?” • elliptical question & rhetorical question Please give more examples. “Why do I have to go to school? I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong to be punished like this.”

28. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase • elliptical question & rhetorical question • A: Headmaster: We want you to go and tell the boy’s parents the news. B: Teacher: Why me? • Father: We’ll go to Tianjin this weekend. Daughter: What for?/ Why this weekend?/Why Tianjin? • Don’t you want to be useful like your brothers? • Can’t you see I’m busy? (Don’t disturb me!) • What good is a promise for an unemployed worker? • Does nothing ever worry you?

29. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 6. I did not believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from my home and throwing me into the huge, high-walled building. There is no good to be had in doing sth. It is no good/use doing sth. I didn’t think it was useful to take me away from home and put me into that building with high walls.

30. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 7. … we could see the courtyard, vast and full of boys and girls. vast and full of boys and girls: adjective phrase as an attributive modifier More examples: There’s nothing wrong with the computer. Can you recommend some books easy for freshmen to read?

31. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 8. You will find me waiting for you when it’s time to leave. I’ll come to fetch you when school is over. I’ll be waiting for you here at the gate. “waiting for you” as object complement find + obj + v-ing eg. They found the lost child ______ in the cave. As I walk down the familiar routes on campus, I find myself _____ a lot of soul-searching and reminiscing.

32. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 9. A lady came along, followed by a group of men. followed by a group of men: an adverbial modifier of manner eg. ( combine, give, guide) ____ by the teachers, all the students are studying very hard. ____ enough time, I’ll complete the job in time. ____ with practice, theory may be learned easily.

33. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 10. The men began sorting us into ranks. The men began arranging us into lines/ rows.

34. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 11. We were formed into an intricate pattern in the great courtyard. We were made to stand in different places to form regular lines or shapes in the big courtyard.

35. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 12. … from each floor we were overlooked by a long balcony roofed in wood. … on one side of the courtyard was a building with a long wood-roofed balcony on each floor where we could be seen. Or … from the balcony on each floor of the building people could see the pattern into which we formed.

36. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 13. Well, it seemed that my misgivings had had no basis. Well, perhaps my doubt, worry and fear about what school would be like were all groundless. Or Well, it seemed that I was wrong to think that school was a dreadful place.

37. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 14. It was not all a matter of playing and fooling around. What we did at school wasn’t just playing and wasting time doing nothing useful. all: completely a matter of sth.: a situation that involves sth. to fool around: to waste time instead of doing sth. that you should be doing Learning is a matter of seeing much, suffering much and studying much.

38. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 15. In addition, the time for changing one’s mind was over and gone and there was no question of ever returning to the paradise of home. There is no question (of doing): there is no possibility Besides, it was impossible for us to quit school and return to the good old days when we stayed home playing and fooling around all day. Our childhood was gone, never to come back.

39. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 16. Nothing lay ahead of us but exertion, struggle, and perseverance. nothing but: only We would have to do our best and keep working very hard until we finished school. This is what I imagined our school days would be like. Or The kind of life that was waiting for us at school would be full of exertion, struggle and perseverance.

40. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 17. Those who were able took advantage of the opportunities for success and happiness that presented themselves. to present itself/ themselves: (formal) to appear, happen If there came opportunities, capable students would seize them to achieve success and happiness.

41. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 18. How did these hills of rubbish find their way to cover its sides? How did the street come to be covered with so much rubbish on both sides? Where did they come from? to find one’s way: to arrive or get to a place

42. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 19. … here and there stood conjurers showing off their tricks, or making snakes appear from baskets. an inverted sentence Conjurers stood everywhere. They were showing off their tricks or making snakes appear from baskets. More examples: There are some exceptions to this reaction. Were there no air on the earth, there would be no life on it. In no case should we waste our time. There goes the bell. Away hurried the customers.

43. Language Understanding——sentence paraphrase 20. Then there was a band ..., with clowns and weight lifters walking in front. More examples: He stood there with a stick in his hand. (with + n. + prep.) Paul soon fell asleep with the light still burning. (with + n. + participle) She can’t go out with all these dishes to wash. (with + n. + to do.) He was lying on the bed with all his clothes on. (with + n. + adv. )

44. Word Study band 1.a group of musicians a jazz band 2.flat, thin material for fastening things together or for placing round an object to strengthen it papers kept together with a rubber band 3.group of persons doing sth together under a leader and with a common purpose a band of robbers Band of Brothers brand 商标； 牌子 bandage 绷带 brand-new 崭新的

45. Word Study convince convince sb of sth/that…make sb feel certain I couldn’t ~ him of his mistake. I am convinced of his honesty. a convincing argument

46. Word Study dazeV. make sb feel stupid or unable to think clearly 使茫然 If someone gave you a heavy blow on the head, you would probably feel ~d. dazzle使眼花；使目眩 dazzling dazzling sunshine

47. Word Study exert exert on/upon 发挥；运用 exert pressure on sb exert all one’s strength/influence to do sth 打工对大学生的个性培养和今后生活都具有深远的影响。 For college students to do a part-time job will exert a profound influence on their personality and life. exert oneself:make an effort exert oneself to arrive early

48. Word Study intricate • an intricate plot • 情节复杂, 错综复杂的情节 complex complicated sophisticated

49. Word Study lift: raise sth to a higher level or position lift articles in a shop shoplift elevator(America): box-like apparatus in a building for taking people up or down to another floor

50. Word Study observe observe traffic rules 遵守规则 observe a person's birthday 庆祝某人的生日 observant an observant boy observant of the rules observatory 天文台