现代大学英语精读6(第二版)-教师用书-Unit-1

Unit 1Paper TigersWesley YangAdditional Background Information(About Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother)What follows is a comment on Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Elizabeth Chang, an editor of The Washington Post's Sunday Magazine, which carried the article on January 8th, 2011.The cover of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother was catnip to this average parent's soul. Although the memoir seems to have been written to prove that Chinese parents are better at raising children than Western ones, the cover text claims that instead it portrays "a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory" and how the Tiger Mother “was humbled by a 13-year-old.”As a hopelessly Western mother married into a Chinese family living in an area that generates immigrant prodigies as reliably as clouds produce rain, I was eager to observe the comeuppance of a parent who thought she had all the answers.And, in many ways, "Tiger Mother" did not disappoint. At night, I would nudge my husband awake to read him some of its more revealing passages, such as when author Amy Chua threatened to burn her older daughter's stuffed animals if the child didn't improve her piano playing. "What Chinese parents understand," Chua writes, "is that nothing is fun until you're good at it." By day, I would tell my own two daughters about how Chua threw unimpressive birthday cards back at her young girls and ordered them to make better ones. For a mother whose half-Chinese children played outside while the kids of stricter immigrant neighbors could be heard laboring over the violin and piano, the book can be wickedly gratifying. Reading it is like secretly peering into the home of a controlling, obsessive yet compulsively honest mother—one who sometimes makes the rest of us look good, if less remarkable and with less impressive offspring. Does becoming super-accomplished make up for years of stress? That's something my daughters and I will never find out.Chua is a law professor and author of two acclaimed books on international affairs, though readers of "Tiger Mother" get only a glimpse of that part of her life, with airy, tossed off-lines such as "Meanwhile, I was still teaching my courses at Yale and finishing up my second book" while also "traveling continuously, giving lectures about democratization and ethnic conflict." Her third book abandons global concerns to focus intimately on Chua's attempt to raise her two daughters the way her immigrant parents raised her. There would be no play dates and no sleepovers: "I don't really have time for anything fun, because I'm Chinese," one of Chua's daughters told a friend. Instead, there would be a total commitment to academics and expertise at something, preferably an instrument. Though Chua's Jewish husband grew up with parents who encouraged him to imagine—and to express himself, he nonetheless agreed to let her take the lead in rearing the children and mostly serves as the Greek chorus to Chua's crazed actions.In Chinese parenting theory, hard work produces accomplishment, which produces confidence and yet more accomplishment. As Chua note s, this style of parenting is found among other immigrant cultures, too, and I'm sure many Washington-area readers have seen it, if they don't employ it themselves. Chua's older daughter, Sophia, a pianist, went along with, and blossomed, under this approach. The younger daughter, Lulu, whose instrument of Chua's choice was a violin, was a different story. The turning point came when, after years of practicing and performing, Lulu expressed her hatred of the violin, her mother and of being Chinese. Chua imagined a Western parent’s take on Lulu's rebellion: "Why torture yourself and your child? What's the point? (I)knew as a Chinese mother I could never give in to that way of thinking." But she nevertheless allowed Lulu to abandon the violin. Given that the worst Lulu ever did was cut her own hair and throw a glass, my reaction was that Chua got off easy in a society where some pressured children cut themselves, become anorexic, refuse to go to school or worse. No one but an obsessive Chinese mother would consider her healthy, engaging and accomplished daughter deficient because the girl prefers tennis to the violin—but that's exactly the point.And, oh, what Chua put herself and her daughters through before she got to her moment of reckoning. On weekends, they would spend hours getting to and from music lessons and then come home and practice for hours longer. At night, Chua would read up on violin technique and fret about the children in China who were practicing 10 hours a day. (Did this woman ever sleep?) She insisted that her daughters maintain top grades—Bs, she notes, inspire a "screaming, hair-tearing explosion" among Chinese parents and the application of countless practice tests. She once refused to let a child leave the piano bench to use the bathroom. She slapped one daughter who was practicing poorly. She threatened her children not just with stuffed-animal destruction, but with exposure to the elements. She made them practice on trips to dozens of destinations, including London, Rome, Bombay and the Greek island of Crete, where she kept Lulu going so long one day that the family missed seeing the palace at Knossos.Sometimes, you're not quite sure whether Chua is being serious or deadpan. For example, she says she tried to apply Chinese parenting to the family's two dogs before accepting that the only thing they were good at was expressing affection. "Although it is true that some dogs are on bomb squads or drug-sniffing teams," she concluded, "it is perfectly fine for most dogs not to have a profession, or even any special skills." On the one hand, she seems aware of her shortcomings: She is, she notes, "not good at enjoying life," and she acknowledges that the Chinese parenting approach is flawed because it doesn't tolerate the possibility of failure. On the other hand, she sniffs that "there are all kinds of psychological disorders in the West that don't exist in Asia." When not contemptuous, some of her wry observations about Western-style child-rearing are spot-on: "Private schools are constantly trying to make learning fun by having parents do all the work," and sleepovers are "a kind of punishment parents unknowingly inflict on their children through permissiveness."Readers will alternately gasp at and empathize with Chua's struggles and aspirations, all the while enjoying her writing, which, like her kid-rearing philosophy, is brisk, lively and no-holds-barred. This memoir raises intriguing, sometimes uncomfortable questions about love, pride, ambition, achievement and self-worth that will resonate among success-obsessed parents. Is it possible, for example, that Chinese parents have more confidence in their children's abilities, or that they aresimply willing to work harder at raising exceptional children than Westerners are? Unfortunately, the author leaves many questions unanswered as her book limps its way to a conclusion, with Chua acknowledging her uncertainty about how to finish it and the family still debating the pros and cons of her approach (anyone hoping for a total renunciation of the Chinese approach will be disappointed).Ending a parenting story when one child is only 15 seems premature; in fact, it might not be possible to really understand the impact of Chua's efforts until her daughters have offspring of their own. Perhaps a sequel, or a series ("Tiger Grandmother"!) is in the works. But while this battle might not have been convincingly concluded, it's engagingly and provocatively chronicled. Readers of all stripes will respond to "Tiger Mother."Structure of the TextPart I (Paras. 1-2)The author, an Asian living in the United States, introduces himself as a ‘banana’.Part II (Paras. 3-5)The author describes how he believes Asians are generally viewed in the United States and how he views Asian values himself. It is clear that his overall attitude toward his cultural roots is negative. Part III (Paras. 6-8)The author agrees that Asians (especially Chinese) are over-represented in American elite schools and that, percentage-wise, more Chinese earn median family incomes than any other ethnic group in the United States. However, he does not accept the idea that the Chinese are “taking over” top American schools. He particularly ridicules the idea that the United States has to worry about a more general Chinese “takeover”, as Amy Chua’s book seems to suggest.Part IV (Paras. 9-14)In these paragraphs, the author tells the story of a Chinese American whose experience as a graduate of one of the most competitive high schools in the U.S. proves that while Asian overrepresentation in elite schools is a fact, the success of Asian students is not an indication of their higher intelligence but rather of their constant practice of test-taking. The fear that U.S. schools mig ht become “too Asian” (too test-oriented) in response, narrowing students’ educational experience, has aroused general concern.Part V (Paras. 15-22)The author points out that the ethnic imbalance in elite schools is not only resented by white students and educators, but that even Asian students are beginning to raise serious doubts. They are tired of the crushing workload and believe there must be a better way. They envy their white fellow students who finally get to the top - strong, healthy, with a high level of academic achievement, and with time even for a girlfriend or boyfriend. They cannot help but still feel alienated in this society.Part VI (Paras. 23-28)In these Paragraphs, the author tells the story of another Chinese student who describes the subtle influence of his Chinese upbringing, which makes it difficult for him to be culturally assimilated.Part VII (Paras. 29-36)In these Paragraphs, the author discusses the problem of the “bamboo ceiling”—the fact that in spite of high academic achievement, virtually no Asians are found in the upper reaches of leadership. The author believes that this is because Asian upbringing fails to provide children with the requisite skills for leadership.Part VIII (Paras. 37-43)Between Para. 36 and Para. 37 in the original essay, there are many more case studies reflecting vividly the negative effects of Asian culture. But in order to limit the essay to a manageable length, we (the compilers) were unable to include them. Therefore, in this section, the essay comes to a somewhat abrupt conclusion.Interestingly enough, the author feels that the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is well worth reading although he does not agree with Amy Chua, because, in his opinion, the book provides all the material needed to r efute what ‘the Tiger Mother’ stands for. More importantly, the author thinks that Amy Chua should be praised for her courage to speak out and defy American mainstream views.Detailed Study of the Text1. Millions of Americans must feel estranged from their own faces. But every self-estrangedindividual is estranged in his own way. (Para. 1)Millions of Americans must feel alienated (separated) from the essence of themselves by their own faces.The author is referring here to ethnic minority people in the United States, especially Asians.Note that “face” here does not refer to skin color or facial features alone, but also to cultural differences. His point is that these attributes force him into the category of “immigrant”, though he doesn’t feel like o ne.2. You could say that I am a banana. But while I don't believe our roots necessarily defineus, I do believe there are racially inflected assumptions wired into our neural circuitry. (Para. 2)A banana is white inside and yellow outside. The term is often used ironically to refer to anAsian American who is like all other non-Asian Americans people except for the color of his skin.The author admits that people can call him a banana, but he does not like it, because he does not believe his Asian roots determine who he is. However, he has to admit that there are racially inflected assumptions wired into many Asian Americans’ neural circuitry.racially inflected assumptions: racially based prejudices, beliefs and ideaswired into our neural circuitry: deeply planted in our brains (in our minds)3. Here is what I sometimes suspect my face signifies to other Americans: An invisibleperson, barely distinguishable from a mass of faces that resemble it. A conspicuous person standing apart from the crowd and yet devoid of any individuality. An icon of so much that the culture pretends to honor but that it in fact patronizes and exploits. Not just people “who are good at math” and play the violin, but a mass of stifled, repressed, abused, conformist quasi-robots who simply do not matter, socially or culturally. (Para. 3) This is how I sometimes guess other Americans look at us. (This is what I sometimesthink my face means to other Americans.)An invisible person: a person much the same as others of the same group; a person who is hardly distinguishable; a person nobody will pay special attention todevoid of any individuality: without any individualityAsian culture is said to stress uniformity or conformity. The individual is encouraged to merge with the collective. Self-promotion or assertiveness is considered in bad taste whereas invisibility is regarded as a sign of modesty.icon：n. 偶像The successful Asian student has become a symbol to be worshipped.to patronize and exploit: to treat somebody in an offensively condescending manner and make use of him or herThe author says that American culture pretends to honor the ‘Tiger Child’ (the successful Asian) as an icon (a symbol of success and everything it represents), but actually it treats Asians in a condescending way and makes use of them.a mass of stifled, repressed, abused, conformist quasi-robots: a large number of peoplewho are not allowed to act or express themselves freely, treated in a harsh and harmful way, and made to behave similarly, like robots.do not matter socially or culturally: do not have much social or cultural importance.4. I've always been of two minds about this sequence of stereotypes. (Para. 4)of two minds: (BrE: in two minds) not decided or certain about something.this sequence of stereotypes: this series of stereotypes. On the one hand the author is angry that Asians should be viewed this way, and he thinks it racist, but on the other hand, he has to admit that these views do apply to many Asians.It is ironic to note that the author himself seems to be especially influenced by these racist prejudices. One may also wonder whether the stereotyped views some people have when they first encounter people of other races necessarily have devastating effects. For example, Chinese thought of Westerners as a mass of blue-eyed, yellow-haired, big-nosed, hairy chested aliens at one time. Fear of the unknown or unfamiliar is a common human reaction.5. Let me summarize my feelings toward Asian values: Damn filial piety. Damn gradegrubbing. Damn Ivy League mania. Damn deference to authority. Damn humility and hard work. Damn harmonious relations. Damn sacrificing for the future. Damn earnest, striving middle-class servility. (Para. 5)Now the author is talking about much more serious things. He is talking about his feelings toward Asian values rather than features or skin color, and his attitude is one of total rejection and condemnation. While we must realize that all cultures or civilizations have drawbacks, and we have every reason to listen to the bitter reactions of angry young Asians toward our shared culture, we should also remind ourselves that young people’s judgments may be hasty, imbalanced, and immature.Damn: Note that this word is generally considered extremely offensive and obscene in all its usages, and is therefore avoided, but here the author is so bitter that no other expression seems adequate. Indeed, he may have deliberately chosen this word to shock the Asian community, especially Asian parents.filial piety: love for, respect for, and obedience to one’s parentsgrade grubbing: striving for high academic scoresivy league mania: craze, obsession regarding entry to ivy league universitiesdeference to authority: respect for and submission to authorityhumility and hard work: modesty, humbleness; diligenceearnest striving middle-class servility: Middle-class people usually “hope to rise and fear to fall” (Bunyan) and therefore work slavishly and behave submissively.One may wonder whether what the author describes here is racially determined or mainly a reflection of social and economic conditions. Many of the values listed above are similar to those of the American Puritans when obedience, respect for the old, diligence, thrift, simple living, family loyalty, discipline, and sacrifice were considered essential virtues.6. I understand the reasons Asian parents have raised a generation of children thisway. …This is a stage in a triumphal narrative, and it is a narrative that is mu ch shorter than many remember. (Para. 6)The author says that he understands why Asian parents have raised their children this way. It is natural for most Asian parents to try to improve their children’s lives through education.a stage in a triumphal narrative: A stage (the beginning stage) of a success story. Andmany Asians have achieved success in a much shorter time than people realize.7. Asian American success is typically taken to ratify the American Dream and to provethat minorities can make it in this country without handouts. (Para. 7)to be taken to: to be considered toto make it: to succeed8.Still, an undercurrent of racial panic always accompanies the consideration of Asians,and all the more so as China becomes the destination for our industrial base and the banker controlling our burgeoning debt. （Para. 7）But there always exists a feeling of racial panic, though it may not be obvious, whenever people think of Asians. This undercurrent is now becoming stronger as more American industrial companies move their manufacturing base to China, and China has become the banker controlling our growing national debt.9. But if the armies of Chinese factory workers who make our fast fashion and iPadsterrify us, and if the collective mass of high-achieving Asian American students arouse an anxiety about the laxity of American parenting, what of the Asian American who obeyed everything his parents told him? Does this person really scare anyone? (Para. 7)The author is pointing out the contradicti on here: If…, then what about…? It is clear that he doubts if there is any reason for Americans to be afraid of the Asian American who obeys everything his parents tell him. Children brought up in this submissive culture cannot pose any threat.fast fashion: This is a contemporary term used to refer to products designed and brought to market quickly in order to capture ever-changing fashion trends.10.Earlier this year, the publication of Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother inciteda collective airing out of many varieties of race-based hysteria. But absent from themillions of words written in response to the book was any serious consideration ofwhether Asian Americans were in fact taking over this country. (Para. 8)to incite a collective airing out of many varieties of race-based hysteria: To provoke many people into stating openly various kinds of strong racist opinionsb ut absent from the millions of words…was any serious consideration…: But there wasno serious consideration in all these mi llions of words…11.I mean, I'm proud of my parents and my neighborhood and what I perceive to be myartistic potential or whatever, but sometimes I feel like I'm jumping the gun a generation or two too early. (Para. 9)The second sentence of this sentence means that I feel like I am changing into a new person a generation or two too early.This shows that the changes he has to make in response to a new cultural environment have come in conflict with his old cultural legacy, and he feels lost.12. I ride the 7 train to its last stop in Flushing, where the storefront signs are all written inChinese and the sidewalks are a slow-moving river of impassive faces. (Para. 10)the storefront signs: 店面招牌Note that Flushing (法拉盛) now has the largest Chinese community in New York city, larger than Chinatown.impassive faces: faces showing no emotionNote that etymologically, the word impassive is related to “passion” rather than “passive”.13. There are no set-asides for the underprivileged or, conversely, for alumni or otherprivileged groups. There is no formula to encourage “diversity” or any nebulous concept of “well-roundedness” or “character.” Here we have something like pure meritocracy. (Para. 12)set-asides: slots set aside for people in special categories 招生的保留名额for the underprivileged: 专为弱势群体（保留的名额）F or alumni or other privileged groups: 为校友及其他享有特权的团体（保留的名额）T here is no formula to encourage “diversity” or any nebulous concept of “well-roundedness” or “character.”：There are no special provisions to encourage diversity” (referring mainly to ethnic diversity, guaranteed by what was known as ‘affirmative action’) or any vague idea of “well-roundedness” (referring to set-asides for students with special athletic or other talents) or “character” (referring to set-asides for students of especially fine character, demonstrated, or example by community service.)Note that, according to the author, this school is different. It operates on the basis of something like pure meritocracy.meritocracy: a system in which advancement is determined only by ability and achievement.Here it refers particularly to a system of education in which admission to an educational institution, evaluation and promotion are all determined by ability and achievement (merit).14. This year, 569 Asian Americans scored high enough to earn a slot at Stuyvesant,a long with 179 whites, 13 Hispanics, and 12 blacks. Such dramatic overrepresentation,and what it may be read to imply about the intelligence of different groups of NewYorkers, has a way of making people uneasy. (Para. 13)to earn a slot: to get admitted into the school; to be allowed to enter the schoolslot: available position; opening; placedramatic over-representation: a disproportionately large percentage of those admitted15.But intrinsic intelligence, of course, is precisely what Asians don't believe in. (Para. 13)But Asians, of course, believe only in hard work. They don’t believe in natural intelligence.16.“Learning math is not about learning math,” an instructor at one called Ivy Prep wasquoted in The New York Times as saying. “It's about weightlifting. You are pumping the iron of math.” Mao puts it more specifically: “You learn quite simply to nail any standardized test you take.” (Para. 13)an instructor at one called Ivy Prep: a teacher at a school called Ivy Prep, meaning a school for preparing students to get into Ivy League universities.pumping the iron of math: lifting the iron of math, rather than an iron weight.N ote that the author is playing on the slang expression “pumping iron”: to lift weights.to nail: to fix, secure, or make sure of, especially by quick action or concentrated effort.17. And so there is an additional concern accompanying the rise of the Tiger Children, onefocused more on the narrowness of the educational experience a non-Asian child might receive in the company of fanatically pre-professional Asian students. (Para. 14)an additional concern accompanying the rise of the Tiger Children: an additional worry related to the rise of high-achieving Asian American children.the narrowness of the educational experience: Non-Asian American parents are worried that their children’s education experience will be very narrow because they are surround ed by Asian students who are all obsessively pre-professional.pre-professional: Preparatory to the practice of a profession or a specialized field of study related to it.18. A couple of years ago, she revisited this issue in her senior thesis at Harvard, where sheinterviewed graduates of elite public schools and found that the white students regarded the Asian students with wariness. In 2005, The Wall Street Journal reported on “white flight” from a high school in Cupertino, California, that began soo n after the children of Asian software engineers had made the place so brutally competitive that a B average could place you in the bottom third of the class. (Para. 14)to revisit the issue：to look at the issue again“w hite flight”: the fleeing (running away) of white studentsa B average could place you in the bottom third of the class: If your grade were no morethan B on average, then you would be quite likely to find yourself in the lowest third of the class.19.You could frame it as a simple issue of equality and press for race-blind quantitativeadmissions standards. In 2006, a decade after California passed a voter initiative outlawing any racial engineering at the public universities, Asians composed 46 percent of UC Berkeley's entering class; one could imagine a similar demographic reshuffling in the Ivy League, where Asian Americans currently make up about 17 percent of undergraduates. (Para. 16)to frame: to express in wordsto press for: to make a strong demand forrace-blind: treating different races equallyCompare: color-blindrace-blind quantitative admissions standards:没有种族歧视的招生名额原则racial engineering:designing a student body to reflect a pre-determined racial mix (the opposite of race-blind quantitative admissions standards)C ompare: social engineering; genetic engineeringto compose 46 percent: to make up/to represent 46 percentUC Berkeley's entering class：加州大学伯克利分校的新生班demographic reshuffling：changing the representation of component groups making up a larger group of people: in this case, changing the ethnic mix within the population of Ivy League undergraduates20.But the Ivies, as we all know, have their own private institutional interests a t stake intheir admissions choices, including some that are arguably defensible. Who can seriously claim that a Harvard University that was 72 percent Asian would deliver the same grooming for elite status its students had gone there to receive? (Para. 16)to have their… interests at stake: to have their… interests in danger/a t risk/in jeopardy arguably defensible：It can be argued that some of those private interests are defensible.to deliver the same grooming: to give the same preparation for future elite employment and social position. grooming:梳理打扮21. He had always f elt himself a part of a mob of “nameless, faceless Asian kids,” who were“like a part of the décor of the place.” (Para. 17)the décor of a place: the way the place is decorated22.“It's like, we're being pitted against each other while there are kids o ut there in theMidwest who can do way less work and be in a garage band or something—” (Para. 18) to pit us against each other: to force us to compete with each otherout there: used to say in a general way that someone or something existsway less: a lot less.Note that the word ‘way’ is an adverb here.or something: used to suggest another choice, etc., that is not specified.23.“The general gist of most high school movies is that the pretty cheerleader gets with thebig dumb jock, and the nerd is left to bide his time in loneliness. But at some point in the future,” he says, “the nerd is going to rule the world, and the dumb jock is going to work in a carwash”. (Para. 19)gist: the general or basic meaning of something said or written。