Unit 6 A French Fourth
Key to the Exercises
Text Comprehension
I. Decide which of the following best states the author's purpose of writing.
A
II. Judge, according to the text, whether the following statements are true or false.
1. T (Refer to Paragraph 2. \"People don't have barbecues in Paris
apartments, and most other Americans I know who have settled here suppress such outward signs of their heritage)
2. T (Refer to Paragraph 3. \"... so American history is mostly something they
have learned -- or haven't learned -- from their parents.\")
3. F (Refer to Paragraph 4. They do not try to completely conceal the dark
side of American society but try to keep their children from such follies of American society as school shootings.)
4. T (Refer to Paragraph 11.)
5. F (Refer to Paragraph 12. Globalization is both beneficial and detrimental. It helps to blur the clear-cut divide between cultures on the one hand but makes children less than fully immersed in a foreign world on the other.)
III. Answer the following questions.
1. Refer to Paragraph 1. For one thing, hanging out the American flag is the
only thing he can do in Paris to celebrate Independence Day, which is part of his national heritage. For another, he wants to use this opportunity to teach his children about American history and as a reminder of their American identity.
2. Refer to Paragraph 4. The children seldom mix languages up because
they have acquired French at school and English through communication with their English-speaking parents. And they seem to know when to use which.
3. Refer to Paragraphs 4 and 8. The benefits of raising children in a foreign
culture, as the writer suggests, include acquiring a foreign language and culture and staying away from the follies of the native culture.
4. Refer to Paragraph 12. Globalization is like a double-edged sword to the
growth of children in a foreign culture. On the one hand, it helps to reduce the differences between the foreign culture and the native culture, and facilitates the physical and spiritual re-entry into the native culture. On the other hand, it unfortunately makes it more difficult than ever for children to be fully immersed in the foreign culture.
IV. Explain in your own words the following sentences.
1. July 4 is one of the times I, as a native American, feel instinctively uneasy
about the great gaps in our children's understanding of their American identity, and thus I am motivated to do something to fill the gaps.
2. And living away from our native country does not matter much (in our
children's acquisition of our native language).
3. In the days when I lived in France as an expatriated child, French children
were dressed in the unique French style, thus looking quite different from their counterparts in other countries.
4. Full immersion in a truly foreign world no longer seems possible in Western countries, and I think this is a deplorable impact of globalization upon the growth of children in a foreign country.
Structural Analysis
The author follows a \"specific-to-general\" pattern in his discussion, i.e. he first talks about what it means to his children to hang out the national flag of their native land in a foreign country on July 4 every year and then expresses his view on the importance for expatriated people in general to keep their cultural identity, especially when the whole world is undergoing a process of globalization. The specific points can be found in his discussion of the costs and benefits of raising
children in a foreign culture in Paragraphs 4-9 while the general conclusion can be found in Paragraphs 10-12, especially Paragraph 12.
Rhetorical Features
I've never seen anyone look up, but in my mind's eye an American tourist may notice it and smile, and a French passerby may be reminded of the date and the occasion that prompts its appearance. The function of but here is to express the
author's wish that American tourists may notice the flag and be reminded of their national identity.
The particular narratives of American history aside, American culture is not theirs alone but that of their French classmates, too. The music they listen to is either \"American\" or \"European,\" but it is often hard to tell the difference. In my day little French kids looked like nothing other than little French kids; but Louise and Henry and their classmates dress much as their peers in the United States do, though with perhaps less Lands' End fleeciness. The function of the three buts here
is to show the diminishing difference between American culture and European culture.
On the other hand, they are less than fully immersed in a truly foreign world.
The function of on the other hand here is to tell the reader the possible disadvantage if the existing cultural differences all disappear as a consequence of the on-going globalization.
Vocabulary Exercises
I. Explain the underlined part in each sentence in your own words.
1. important event
2. refill their hearts and minds with their cultural traditions
3. the American beliefs, values and loyalties
4. true demonstration of what happened
5. brief experience or idea
6. live in the way of
II. Fill in the blank(s) in each sentence with a phrase from the box in its
appropriate form.
1. took pride in
2. was immersed in
3. resonating with
4. had ... been exposed to
5. in his mind's eye
6. a glimpse of
7. convey ... to
8. turned ... to
III. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the given words.
1. fluency 2. enrollment
3. accessible 4. obtainable
5. personification 6. enlightenment
7. globalization 8. promptly
IV. Choose the word or phrase that can replace the underlined part in each sentence without changing its original meaning.
1. C 2. B 3. A 4. C
5. C 6. D 7. D 8. C
V. Give a synonym or an antonym of the word underlined in each sentence in
the sense it is used.
1. Synonym: education (instruction, illumination)
2. Synonym: available (attainable, accessible)
3. Synonym: tale (story)
4. Antonym: harmless (auspicious)
5. Synonym: begin (start, commence)
6. Synonym: tackle (face, handle)
7. Antonym: comfort (relaxation, ease)
8. Antonym: immigrate
VI. Explain the meaning of the underlined part in each sentence.
1. literature 2. joined
3. motionless 4. more than
5. quickly 6. has
Grammar Exercises
I. Complete the following sentences with where, when or why.
1. why 2. where
3. when 4. where
5. where 6. where
7. why 8. when
II. Rewrite the sentences where either the antecedent or the relative adverb can be omitted.
1. Sam knows where we are meeting.
2. /
3. Four o'clock in the afternoon is the time he always reads. / Four in the afternoon is when he always reads.
4. /
5. I don't know the exact time I should meet him.
6. The reason he resigned is still unknown.
7. I remember the morning he first came to school.
8. I'll never forget the day we first met.
III. Rank the following sentences according to their degree of formality.
More formal → Less formal: 2 3 1
More formal → Less formal: 4 6 5
IV. Rewrite the short passages, using the passive form whenever possible.
1. When Mrs Brown arrived home, she found that her flat had been robbed
and all her silver had been taken. Enquiries were made by the police to find out possible clues. The burglar hasn't been caught yet but he is expected to be arrested before long.
2. After a hideout for terrorists had been discovered yesterday a raid was
carried out by the police and five terrorists were arrested. The police said more terrorists are expected to be arrested in the next few days.
V. Complete the following sentences with shall, will, should or would.
1. shall 2. should
3. shall 4. would
5. would 6. will
7. shall 8. will
VI. Make sentences of your own after the sentences given below, keeping the underlined structures in your sentences.
(Reference version) 1.
He failed in part because of his carelessness.
2. The thief was finally found. It was none other than the manager himself.
Translation Exercises
I. Translate the following sentences into Chinese.
1. 虽然我没见过有人抬头看它一眼，但打心眼里希望来自美国的旅游者能看到它并会心一笑，或者路过此地的法国人能想到悬挂它的日期和理由。
2. 7月4日是一个这样的日子：我的美国心为孩子们对自己的身份一片空白而感到焦灼万分，这促使我想填补所有空白。
3. 美国的校园枪击事件对我们的孩子来说是活生生的一课，让他们了解到千里之外那
个社会丑恶的一面。
4. 一方面，我们的孩子所面对的不和谐的文化差异比我们小时候要少，而且他们有更多的机会接触本族文化。
II. Translate the following sentences into English, using the words and phrases given in brackets.
1. The hall resonated with the notes of the trumpet solo.
2. I saw, in my mind's eye, the pale face of the mother when she heard the news of her son's death.
3. The way he walks reminds me of the way his father used to walk.
4. I mixed the dates up and arrived on the wrong day.
5. Her heart swelled with pride when she learned that her daughter had been admitted by Oxford University.
6. Theoretically speaking, the whole population should have direct access to information without waiting for its being filtered by the government or the media.
7. Democrats have launched a campaign to win women voters over in this presidential election.
8. After he inherited his father's estate, he was immersed in all kinds of sensuous pleasures.
III. Translate the following passage into Chinese.
美国人热情友好，不像许多外国人想象的那样浮于表面。人们认为美国人易动感情。在典礼上看到国旗或者参加庆祝美国昔日荣耀的游行时，美国人可能会热泪盈眶。与家人团圆或与朋友相聚时，他们也会十分激动。他们喜欢穿着得体，即使“得体”无异于奢华炫耀。他们爱说大话，虽然只不过是说说而已。他们有时会嘲笑自己，嘲笑自己的国家，有时候甚至过于自责，然而他们始终有着强烈的爱国之心。他们对日常琐事知之甚广，对自己所在的城市和州深为关切。然而，有时候外国人却抱怨说，美国人对外部世界漠不关心，一无所知。
Exercises for Integrated Skills
I. Dictation.
People who identify themselves as members of a social group / acquire common ways of viewing the world / through their interactions with other members of the same group. / These views are reinforced through institutions / like the family, the school, the workplace, / and other sites of socialization / throughout their lives. / Common attitudes, beliefs, and values / are reflected in the way / members of the group use language, / for example, what they choose to say or not to say / and how they say it. / Thus in addition to the notion of speech community / composed of people who use the same linguistic code, / we can
speak of discourse communities / to refer to the common ways / in which members of a social group use language / to meet their social needs.
II. Fill in each blank in the passage below with ONE appropriate word.
(1) by (2) but
(3) on (4) for
(5) although (6) avoid
(7) ones (8) celebrations
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