Unit 8: Section A

Birth of Bright Ideas

New Horizon College English

Part Pre-reading ⅠActivities

Background Information

Part ExercisesⅢ

Vocabulary

Structure

Translation

Part IV: Topic-related Further Learning

Part II: Text Learning

Text Analysis:A: Main Ideas&

Language Points

Some Recommended Books, Passages and Websites.

B: Devices of Developing the Text

Story Summary

Text Structure Analysis

Structured Writing

Part Pre-reading ⅠActivities

Warm up Exercises

• Richard Wagner (1813-1883 ) : the greatest

composer of German opera, made a major

addition to the nature of opera through his

writings about and the creation of music

drama. Music drama combines singing,

orchestra, verse, story, drama and spectacle.

Wagner’s works include “The Ring of the

Nibelung”(1853-1874), a set of four operas

based on historical German stories. For an

introduction to Wagner as well as other

resources on the Internet.

Part Background Information & Pre-activitiesⅠ

Background Information

The Rhinegold

The first of the four operas in the “Ring” cycle, exemplifies Wagner’s theory of music drama in its purest form.

Henri Poincare (1854-1912)

A great French mathematics and theoretical science professor at the Sorbonne (University of Paris), had a highly original influence on the development of pure and applied mathematics. He also worked on functions that changed celestial mechanics, helped pioneer algebraic topology and co-discovered the special theory of relativity.

Descartes, Rene (1596-1650)

A famous French philosopher, mathem

atician and scientist, was one of the most i

nfluential thinkers in history. He is conside

red the founder of both modern philosoph

y and analytic geometry. During his life, es

tablished ideas were being challenged,so h

e tried to develop a way to reach the truth.

He based his theory that the world is made

up of mind and matter on a concept that c

ame to him ina dream.

Cogito ergo sum

It is Latin for “I think; therefore, I exist”, a key point in Descartes’ philosophy. He claimed that the only thing anyone can be certain of is that s/he thinks and, therefore, s/he exists. The “I” is the mind which can exist without being extended so that it can in principle survive the death of the body.

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Pre-reading ActivitiesFirst Listening Having idea about a story before you read it is an important

reading skill. Please listen to a very short piece of recording.

Second Listening

Now listen to the recording again and try to answer the following

questions.

1. Where do good ideas come from ?

2. How many examples or ways of getting good ideas are discussed?

3. How did Wagner get the idea for the beginning of his music?

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Part Text Learning & Language pointsⅡ

Para. 1 No satisfactory way exists to explain

how to form a good idea. You think about a

problem until you’re tired, forget it, maybe

sleep on it, and then flash! When you aren’t

thinking about it, suddenly the answer arrives as

a gift from the gods.

Chinese

闪光的思想是如何形成的，现在还没有令人满意的解释。你对某一个问题思考了很久，直至感到疲劳 , 把它忘掉了，也许暂时不去想它了，可后来却忽然来了灵感！当你不去想它的时候，答案却突然从天而降，仿如上苍赐予你的一份礼物。

Back

句型提炼： No satisfactory way exists to expla

in … (…… 现在还没有令人满意的解释 )

No satisfactory way exists to explain why there are so frequent accidents in this areas.

翻译： 对这个地区为什么频繁发生交通事故的原因还没有令人满意的解释。

Key:

Back

Sleep on sth.: leave sth. Undecided or unattended

until later time

He will sleep on the matter and tell

us the decision later.

翻译：他对此事要考虑一下，在把决定告诉我们。

Key:

Back

Para. 2 Of course, all ideas don’t occur like that but so many do, particularly the most important ones. They burst into the mind, glowing with the heat of creation. How they do it is a mystery but they must come from somewhere. Let’s assume they come from the “unconscious”. This is reasonable, for psychologists use this term to describe mental processes which are unknown to the individual. Creative thought depends on what was unknown becoming known. Chinese

至于那些影片，不是所有人都会去模仿，

但是有些人会，特别是一些年轻人。

句型提炼： … don’t occur like that but so many do, particularly …

（不是所有……都会像那样，但是许多会，特别是一些……）

As for those films, all people will not imitate but some will, particularly some young men.

翻译： 对于那些电影，不是所有人都回去模仿，但是一些人会，特别是一些年轻人。

Key:

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当然，并非所有的思想都是这样产生的，但许多思想的产生的确如此，尤其是那些最为重要的思想。他们猛然间跃入人的脑海，闪烁着创造的光芒。它们是如何出现在人的脑海中的呢？这还是个迷。但这些思想一定来自某个地方。我们姑且假定它们来自“潜意识”吧。这是有道理的，心理学家就是用这一术语来描述不为人知的思维过程。创造性思维有赖于未知的东西变成已知的东西。

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Glow with ： show redness or heat with

feelings, etc.

翻译： 父亲看到我的学习成绩时，脸上露出满意的神情。

My father’s face glowed with satisfaction

when he saw my college grades.

Key:

Back

Para. 3 All of us have experienced this sudden arrival of a new idea, but it is easiest to examine it in the great creative personalities, many of whom experienced it in an intensified form and have written it down in their life stories and letters. One can draw examples from genius in any field, from religion, philosophy, and literature to art and music, even in mathematics, science, and technical invention, although these are often thought to depend only on logic and experiment. All truly creative activities depend in some degree on these signals from the unconscious, and the more highly insightful the person, the sharper and more dramatic the signals become.

Chinese

Personality:

1) . A person who is well- know to the public.

翻译： 他是一个有权势的人物。

He is a powerful personality.Key

：2) . The quality or condition of being a person

翻译：我喜欢杰克是因为他性情随和。

I like Jack because he has a friendly personality. Key ：

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Intensify ： make or become stronger （使……加强，增强）

翻译： 由于天气突然变得更加恶劣，援救伤员的工作加紧了步伐。

Efforts to reach the injured man have been intensified because of a sudden turning for the worse in the weather.

Key ：

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我们都有过灵机一动突然有了一个新想法的经历，而这在那些富有创造性的天才人物身上最显而易见。他们中的许多人对这种经历有着强烈的感受，并在回忆录和信函中将其记录了下来。无论是宗教、哲学、文学，还是艺术、音乐，甚至数学、科学、技术发明，在任何领域的天才人物身上，我们都能找到这样的例子，虽然人们常常认为数学、科学以及技术发明所依赖的仅仅是逻辑和实验。一切真正创造性的活动似乎都在某种程度上依赖于潜意识中的这些信号；一个人洞察力越强，这些信号就越鲜明、越显著。

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Para. 4 Take the example of Richard Wagner composing the opening to "Rhinegold". Wagner had been occupied with the idea of the "Ring" for several years, and for many months had been struggling to begin composing. On September 4, 1853, he reached Spezia sick, went to a hotel, could not sleep for noise without and fever within, took a long walk the next day, and in the afternoon flung himself on a couch intending to sleep. Chinese

To Structure Analysis

句型提炼： Wagner had been occupied with the idea of the “Ring” for several years

（忙于……）

翻译：她正在忙于打扫那懂大房子。

She was occupied with the cleaning of the big house.

Key:

Back

以理查德•瓦格纳创作《莱茵河的黄金》的前奏曲为例，有关“钟声”的创意瓦格纳已经构思了几年时间，而他竭尽全力着手进行作曲也已经数月。 1853年 9 月4日他抵达斯佩齐亚，当时他正在生病。他去了一家旅馆。由于旅馆外面噪音太大，而他仍在发烧，所以他无法入睡。第二天，他出去散步，走了很长的路，下午，他一头扎进沙发想睡一觉。

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Then at last the miracle happened for which his unconscious mind had been seeking for so long. Falling into a sleeplike condition, he suddenly felt as though he were sinking in a mighty flood of water, and the rush and roar soon took musical shape within his brain. He recognized that the orchestral opening to the "Rhinegold", which he must have carried about within him yet had never been able to put it into form, had at last taken its shape within him. In this example, the conscious mind at the moment of creation knew nothing of the actual processes by which the solution was found.

Chinese

这时候，他的潜意识长期以来一直在寻找的奇迹发生了。他进入了似睡非睡的朦胧状态，猛然间感觉到自己仿佛掉进了滔滔洪水之中，不断在下沉，很快，洪水的冲击声和咆哮声以音乐的形式呈现在他的脑海里。他意识到，久存于头脑中、却始终未能谱写成的《莱茵河的黄金》管弦乐前奏曲终于在他脑海里形成了。在这个事例中，在创造的时候意识对发现答案的实际过程一无所知。

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Para. 5 As a contrast, we may consider a famous story: the discovery by Henri Poincare, the great French mathematician, of a new mathematical method called the Fuchsian functions. Here we see the conscious mind, in a person of highest ability, actually watching the unconscious at work. For weeks, he sat at his table every day and spent an hour or two trying a great number of combinations but he arrived at no result. One night he drank some black coffee, contrary to his usual habit, and was unable to sleep.

ChineseTo Structure Analysis

Combination: something that results from two or more things being combined.

翻译：这个项目是科学与艺术的完美结合。

This project is a good combination of science and art.

Key:

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与之相对的是另一件众人皆知的事情：那就是法国伟大的数学家亨利•庞加莱的故事 :他发现被称为富克斯函数的数学新方法。我们看到，在这位天才人物身上，意识活动事实上一直注视着潜意识所起的作用。一连几个星期，他每天伏案工作，花上一两个小时尝试着大量的组合，但毫无结果。一天夜里，他一反常规，喝了些浓咖啡，于是无法入睡。

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Many ideas kept surging in his head; he could almost feel them pushing against one another, until two of them combined to form a stable combination. When morning came, he had established the existence of one class of Fuchsian functions. He had only to prove the results, which took only a few hours. Here, we see the conscious mind observing the new combinations being formed in the unconscious, while the Wagner story shows the sudden explosion of a new concept into consciousness.

Chinese

句型提炼： When morning came, he had establishe

d the existence of one class of Fuchsian functions.

到了早晨，他已经确证了一类富克斯函数的存在。

The world “come” is not only used to talk about a

person’s or an animal’s action but also an event or time.

翻译 : 经过多次失败后才获得成功是常有的事。

It often happens

that success comes

after many failures.

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多想法在他脑子里不断涌现；他几乎能感觉到这些想法在相互碰撞着，直到其中的两个结合在一起，形成了一个稳定的组合。到了早晨，他已经确证了一类富克斯函数的存在。他只需去证明其结果，而这只需要几个小时即可以解决。在这件事中，我们看到意识一直注视着在无意识中形成的新组合，而瓦格纳的例子则显示了一个新想法在意识中的突然迸发。

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Para. 6 A third type of creative experience is exemplified by the dreams which came to Descartes at the age of twenty-three and determined his life path. Descartes had unsuccessfully searched for certainty, first in the world of books, and then in the world of men. Then in a dream on November 10, 1619, he made the significant discovery that he could only find certainty in his own thoughts, cogito ergo sum ("I think; therefore, I exist"). This dream filled him with intense religious enthusiasm.

Chinese

Exemplify : show by example

翻译： 这间房子的风格表明了他对美与质朴的憧憬。

The room’s style exemplifies his

ideal of beauty and plainness.

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翻译：我敬慕我的父亲，我对他的工作充满了好奇。

filled sb. With ： make sb. Or experience (that feeling)

I admire my father and his work filled me with curiosity.

Key：

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笛卡尔 23岁时所作过的、决定了他的人生道路的一些梦，可以作为第三种创造性经历的例证。在这之前，笛卡尔一直在寻找确定性，先是在书本里，然后是在人群中，但均未成功。之后，在 1619年间月 10日的一次睡梦中，他有了一个意义重大的发现，即确定性只存在干自己的思想中，“我思，故我在”。这场梦使他充满了强烈的宗教热情。

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Para. 7 Wagner's, Poincare's, and Descartes' experiences are representative of countless others in every field of culture. The unconscious is certainly the source of instinctive activity. But in creative thought the unconscious is responsible for the production of new organized forms from relatively disorganized elements.

Chinese

Be representative of ： be like or common to others of the same class

翻译：他根本不能代表那起意外事故的受害者。

He was in no way representative of those who suffered from the accident.

Key:

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Responsible for : being the cause of st

h. （对……负有责任）

翻译： 他仍然感到她的突然死亡是他造成。

He still felt

responsible for

her sudden

death.

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瓦格纳、庞加莱和笛卡尔的经历代表了各个文化领域中无数其他的经历。潜意识肯定是本能活动产生的源泉。然而，在创造性思维过程中，正是潜意识使得相对无序的成分变成新的有序形式。

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Main Idea and Devices for Developing the Text

Main idea of the

text ?

Good ideas come from the unconscious mind or brain

activity usually not controlled by us. It is easiest to

examine it in the great creative personalities.

Devices for developing it?

举例法 时空法 对比法

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Exemplification 举例法 Back

1） Take the example of Richard Wagner composing the opening to “Rhinegold”. (Para. 4)

2) As a contrast, we may consider a famous story: the discovery by Henri Poincare, …, of a new mathematical method called the Fuchsian functions. (Para. 5)

3) A third type of creative experience is exemplified by the dreams which came to Descartes at the age of twenty-three and determined his life path.(Para. 6)

Sequence of Time and Space 时空顺序法 Back

1) You think about a problem until you’re tired, forget it, maybe sleep on it, and then flash! When you aren't thinking about it, suddenly the answer arrives as a gift from the gods. (Para.1)

2) For weeks, he sat at his table every day and spent an hour or t

wo trying a great number of …. One night he drank …Many i

deas kept surging in his head; he could almost feel them pushi

ng against one another, until two of them combined to form a

stable combination. When morning came, he had established t

he existence of one class of Fuchsian functions. (Para. 5)

Comparison and Contrast 对比法

Take the example of Richard Wagner composing the opening to "Rhinegold". Wagner had been occupied with the idea of the "Ring" for several years, and for many months had been struggling to begin composing.

Step 1

On September 4, 1853, he reached Spezia sick, went to a hotel, could not sleep for noise without and fever within, took a long walk the next day, and in the afternoon flung himself on a couch intending to sleep. Then at last the miracle happened for which his unconscious mind had been seeking for so long. Falling into a sleeplike condition, he suddenly felt as though he were sinking in a mighty flood of water, and the rush and roar soon took musical shape within his brain. He recognized the orchestral opening to the "Rhinegold," that he must have carried about within him yet had never put into form, had at last taken its shape within him.

Comparison and Contrast 对比法

Step 2

Comparison and Contrast 对比法

Step 3

Back

In this example, the conscious mind at the moment of creation knew nothing of the actual processes by which the solution was found.

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1. Scientists have recently turned their attention to natural __________

of energy: the sun, the sea, the wind and hot springs. 2. If present directions continue, the world in the years ahead

will be more crowded, more polluted and less ______ ecologically than the world we live in now.

exemplify reasonable intense enthusiasm

fling push explosion certainty

insightful surge source stable

Exercises ----- Vocabulary

Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Change the form where necessary.

sources

stable

3. The crowd _________ out from the gate.

4. It’s not __________ to expect a small child to understand such a difficult question.

5. The novel Tom Sawyer __________ 19th-century life in the United States.

exemplify reasonable intense enthusiasm

fling push explosion certainty

insightful surge source stable

surged

reasonable

exemplifies

6. She was unable to express her _________ fear of the witch toy in the box.

7. When he got upstairs very tired, John __________ himself on a couch.

8. I can’t say I share your ____________ for the idea.

exemplify reasonable intense enthusiasm

fling push explosion certainty

insightful surge source stable

intense

flung

enthusiasm

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1. It is easiest to examine the sudden arrival of a new idea in the great creative personalities. Many of the great creative personalities experienced it in an intensified form.

Structure

In each of the following items, you are given two simple sentences. Combine the two

simple sentences to make on complex sentence that contains an attributive clause.

Model: The headmaster advised the boy to study law. The parents had discussed their son’s future with the headmaster.

The headmaster, with whom the parents had discussed their son’s future, advised the boy to study law.

Key: It is easiest to examine the sudden arrival of a new idea in the great creative personalities, many of who experienced it in an intensified form.

2. The Gael’s offspring are the modern Scots and Irish. Some of the modern Scots and Irish still speak the Gaelic language.

Key: The Gael’s offspring are the modern Scots and Irish, some of whom still speak the Gaelic language.

3. George explained that this was the official dress for taking examinations. Many of the examinations were held in June.

Key: George explained that this was the official dress for taking examinations, many of which were held in June.

4. At last the miracle happened. His unconscious mind had been seeking for the miracle for so long.

Key: At last the miracle happened, for which his unconscious mind had been seeking for so long.

5. The conscious mind at the moment of creation knew nothing of the actual processes. The solution was found by the actual processes.

Key: The conscious mind at the moment of creation knew nothing of the actual processes, by which the solution was found.

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Translation

Translate the following sentences into English.

1. 她对那可怜的病孩充满了同情。She was filled with pity for

the poor diseased baby.

2. （谚）欲寻珍珠就要潜入水中。He who would search for jewels must dive

below.

3. 我原本打算昨天晚上去看电影，但却下雨了。

I intended to go to see a film last night, but it

rained.

Translate the following into Chinese.

1. All of us have experienced this sudden arrival of a

new idea, but it is easiest to examine it in the great

creative personalities, many of whom experienced it in

an intensified form and have written it down in their

life stories and letter.

我们都有过灵机一动突然有了一个新想法的经历，而这在那些富有创造性的天才人物身上最显而易见。他们中的许多人对这种经历有着强烈的感受，并在回忆录和信函中将其记录了下来。

2. All truly creative activities depend in some degree on these signals from the unconscious, and the more highly insightful the person, the sharper and more dramatic the signals become.

一切真正创造性的活动似乎都在某种程度上依赖与潜意识的这些信号；一个人的洞察力越强，这个信号就越鲜明、越富有戏剧性。

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Essay Summary

Creative thinking depends on what was unknown becoming______. Unconscious _________unknown to us are the source of the instinctive thinking that is responsible for new __________concepts. All of us have experienced the sudden _________into consciousness of a new concept when we _______ thinking about it. __________we can find examples of _______ among famous personalities in every field. For the ___________ Descartes, for example, a dream determined his _________life path and provided a central concept about existence. The conscious mind of the mathematical genius Poincare actually _______ his unconscious ____ work. For Wagner, by_______ , his conscious mind at eth moment of _______ knew nothing of the actual processes ____ which the sound of water became an ________ score. All of these examples of creative thinking depend ____ some degree on signals from the unconscious. The more______ insightful the person, ___________ and ______ dramatic the signals become.

clear processes

organizedexplosion weren’t

Elsewhere invention

Philosopherpotential

watched

at contrastcreation

by orchestral in

highlythe sharper more

Text Structure Analysis

Paragraphs of Contrast

In the reading passage, the writer presents where bright ideas come from through a contrast. In Paragraph 4 the writher describes how ideas came to Wagner unconsciously while in Paragraph 5 the writer describes how bright ideas came as a result of conscious thinking. Now look at the two paragraphs.

Para. 4 Para. 5

The subject: Take the example of Richard Wagner composing the opening to “Rhinegold”. Wagner was occupied with the idea of the “Ring” for several years, and for many months had been struggling to begin composing.

The result: In this example, the conscious mind at the moment of creation knew nothing of the actual processes by which the solution was found.

The process of forming big ideas: On September 4, 1853, he reached Spezia sick, went to a hotel, could not sleep for noise without and fever within, took a long walk the next day, and in the afternoon flung himself on a couch intending to sleep. Then at last the miracle happened for which his unconscious mind had been seeking for so long. Falling into a sleeplike condition, he suddenly felt as though he were sinking in a mighty flood of water, and the rush and roar soon took musical shape within his brain. He recognized that the orchestral opening to the "Rhinegold", which he must have carried about within him yet had never been able to put it into form, had at last taken its

shape within him.

Paragraph 5

The subject: As a contrast, we may consider a famous story: the discovery by Henri Poincare, the great French mathematician, of a

new mathematical method called the Fuchsian functions.

The process of forming big ideas:

The result:

Here we see the conscious mind, in a person of highest ability, actually watching the unconscious at work. For weeks, he sat at his table every day and spent an hour or two trying a great number of combinations but he arrived at no result. One night he drank some black coffee, contrary to his usual habit, and was unable to sleep. Many ideas kept surging in his head; he could almost feel them pushing against one another, until two of them combined to form a stable combination. When morning came, he had established the existence of one class of Fuchsian functions. He had only to prove the results, which took only a few hours.

Here, we see the conscious mind observing the new combinations being formed in the unconscious, while the Wagner story shows the sudden explosion of a new concept into consciousness.

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Structure Writing

Please look at the outline and the sample paragraph of contrast for you to follow.

Outline ： English learning / college / students speak better / answer the teacher’s question without much thinking / fee intimidated / not make progress

English language learning online / different / enough time / to think out a reply / create good sentences / not feel intimidated / make progress

During the time when I studied English at my college. My experience was a frustrating one. There were many students who spoke much better than I did. Before I hardly had the time to create a complete sentence, they would just answer the teacher’s question in a natural way as if without much thinking. I began to feel ashamed and intimated. So I was afraid to speak, and I did not make much progress at all. As a contrast, things were different when I started my English learning online. I always had enough time to think out my idea and develop some beautiful sentences before I created a reply and posted it on the screen. I didn’t feel intimated by students who can speak faster or better than me. As a result I was making progress with my English.

click

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Part IV: Topic-related Further Learning

Section B ： Ways of Increasing Creativity

Reading Skills ： Scanning and

Predicting （ P 184 ）

Section C: Great Ideas

Exercises （ P192 ）