(Book 2)

1. CONTEMPORARY College English Lesson 9 Quick Fix Society －by Janet Mendell Goldstein (Book 2) 创 作 单 位：辽东学院外语学院本单元作者：齐家媛

2. Lesson 9 Part One: Background InformationPart Two: Text AppreciationPart Three: Text in Details Quick Fix Society －by Janet Mendell Goldstein Contents

3. Home Background Information • Janet Mendell Goldstein (1940— ) • Fast roads in America • 3. Pennsylvania Dutch town • 4. Cliff’s Notes

4. 1. Janet Mendell Goldstein (1940— ) Home • received her advanced degrees at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. An educator for thirty years, she now works as an editorial consultant, freelance writer, and textbook author. Her work has appeared ina veriety of newspapers and magazines, including the English Journal, Faith and Inspiration, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

5. 2. Fast roads in America Home • Highways: connect cities • Superhighways: a road with six or more lanes • Interstate highways: connect cities in different states • Freeways: roads within a city • Expressways: fast roads in or near cities • Turnpike: pay money before you use it.

6. 3. Pennsylvania Dutch town Home • Location: Lancaster County, PA • The heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country is located in south central Pennsylvania 1 1/2 hours west of Philadelphia. Most of the Amish Country attractions are in Lancaster County, and almost all of the local Amish people live here as well. 

7. 3. Pennsylvania Dutch town • People: Amish • The Amish are a religious group who live in settlements in 22 states and Ontario, Canada. The oldest group of Old Order Amish, about 16-18,000 people live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Amish stress humility, family and community, and separation from the world.

8. 3. Pennsylvania Dutch town Home • Beliefs: The Amish was part of the early Anabaptist movement in Europe, which took place at the time of the Reformation. The Anabaptists believed that only adults who had confessed their faith should be baptized, and that they should remain separate from the larger society. They also believe in non-resistance and basic Bible doctrines. Life style: They are a private people who believe God has kept them together. They are a strong example of a community that supports and cares for its members. They are a people apart; they are also a people together.

9. 4. Cliff’s Notes Home • Cliff’s notes is a series of reference book written to help undergraduate students to understand and appreciate important literary works. With such notes, students don’t have to read the work itself and be able to write papers and take exams.

10. Home Text Appreciation • Structure of the text • 2. Writing techniques

11. Structure of the text Home • the introduction (paras. 1 – 3): the writer compares her ride on fast roads to West Virginia and her return trip of a different route. The contrast set her thinking whether there was something wrong with Americans quick-fix lifestyle. • the body (paras. 4 – 6): three ways Americans seek a quick fix. • the conclusion (paras. 7 – 8): the thesis: let’s slow down and enjoy what nature offers us and what mankind has left us and rediscover life.

12. Writing Technique 1 • Comparison-contrast • It is a way of developing an essay. It means explaining the similarities and differences between events, people, ideas and so on. In this essay the writer concentrated on differences rather than similarities. In the first two paragraphs, she contrasts her featureless ride driving on fast roads and the pleasure of the return trip of a different route. In Paragraph 4, she points out how Americans’ lifestyle has changed from “saving for a rainy day” to “relax now, pay later”, and what they did in the past when they wanted to lose weight, and how they try to get quick results today.

13. Writing Technique 2 • Examples • Using an example or examples is one of the simplest  ways of explaining anything. In Para. 5, several examples are given to illustrate how the “I-hate-to-wait” attitude is reflected in various aspects of American life. In the next paragraph, the writer lists facts to show how the iceberg principle applies to the way many Americans live their lives.

14. Writing Technique 3 • Rhetorical Questions • In para. 3, 5 and 7 • Why is it that he featureless turnpike and interstates are the route of choice for so • many of us? • Why doesn’t everybody try slowing down and exploring the countryside?

15. Writing Technique 4 • Repetition of structure and words • Of structure: in Para. 4, four if-clause are used to contrast the way Americans did things in the past and the way they seek a quick fix today. • Of words:  The writer repeats the word “fast” throughout Para. 5 with negative implications.

16. Home Text In Details

17. Text in Details Home 1. Of course, we couldn’t wait to get there, so we took the Pennsylvania Turnpike and a couple of interstates. (para1) • Because we were eager to get there as soon as possible, we took the fast roads like the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the interstates. • can’t wait/ can hardly wait: used to indicate that sb. is very excited about sth. or keen to do sth. • e.g. When she received the letter of admission from Tsinghua University, she couldn’t wait to tell her parents the good news.

18. 2. “Look at those gorgeous farms!” my husband exclaimed as pastoral scenery slid by us at 55 mph. (para1) •        gorgeous: very beautiful •         exclaim: (written) to say sth. suddenly and loudly, esp. out of emotion or pain •         slid by us: moved past us quickly •          mph=miles per hour • “Look at those beautiful farms!” my husband couldn’t help shouting when the countryside scenery moved past us quickly at the speed of 55 miles per hour. 

19. 3. rear-view mirror: a mirror in which a driver can see the traffic behind • rear n. usu. the rear: the back part of sth. • e.g. the rear of the truck. • adj. at or near the back of sth. • e.g. the rear entrance or the building • v. to raise, to bring up, to tend • e.g. to rear a family to rear sheep 

20. 4. For four hours, our only real amusement consisted of counting exit signs and wondering what it would feel like to hold still again. (para1) • The 4-hour drive on fast roads was tedious; the only fun we had was to count the exit signs we were passing and to figure out how we’d feel if we stopped again.

21. 5. Getting there certainly didn’t seem like half the fun; in fact, getting there wasn’t fun at all. (para1) • We had expected that our ride to West Virginia would be fun, and that half of the fun we’d get from the trip would come from it. But we were wrong. It wasn’t fun at all.

22. 6. The two days it took us to make the return trip were filled with new experiences. (para2) • Our return trip took two days; the route was longer and we drove much more slowly. But we had many discoveries.

23. 8. We drove slowly through main streets of sleepy Pennsylvania Dutch towns, slowing to twenty miles an hour so as not to crowd the horse carriages on their way to market. (para2) • •         sleepy: quiet; inactive •          slow vi. to become slow or slower •          crowd: to cause to move together, here it means to cause the horses and horse carriages to move close together to make way for us • This time instead of driving past towns at 55 mph, we would enter quiet Pennsylvania Dutch towns and drive slowly through the main streets, at 20 mph, in order not to disturb the horses and horse cattiages on their way to market.

24. We stuffed ourselves with spicy salads and homemade bread in an “all-you-can-eat” farmhouse restaurant, and then wandered outside to enjoy the sunshine and the herds of cows-no little dots this time-lying in it. (para2) • stuff… with… to fill with sth. • e.g. His wallet is always stuffed with coins. • We had a meal in a farmhouse restaurant where for a certain amount of money you could eat as much as you wanted, and we fed ourselves with lots of spicy salads and homemade bread. After the meal, we walked leisurely outdoors to admire the sunshine and watch the herds of cows-this time they did not seem like little dots-lying in the sunshine.

25. 7. We toured a Civil War battlefield and stood on the little hill that fifteen thousand Confederate soldiers had tried to take on another hot July afternoon, one hundred and twenty-five years ago, not knowing that half of them would get killed in the vain attempt. (para2) • We visited a Civil War battlefield and stood on the little hill where 125 years ago, on a hot July afternoon, 15,000 soldiers fighting for slavery, while trying to occupy the hill, had no idea that they would fail and that half of them would be killed in the battle.