Unit Thirteen

Our Schedules, Our Selves

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Contents A. Text one I. Pre-reading: (I). Warm-up questions (II). Background information II. While-reading: Text Analysis (I) Structure analysis (II) Comprehension questions (III) Language points (IV) Difficult sentences III. Post-Reading: (I) Grammatical items (II) Translation Exercises (III) Oral activities (IV) Writing practice B. Text two （I）Questions for text comprehension （II）Language points

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I. Pre-reading: Information Walden PondWalden Pond is a lake located in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United States. The writer, transcendentalist, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau lived on the shores of the pond for two years starting in the summer of 1845. His account of the experience was recorded in Walden; or, Life in the Woods, and made the spot famous.

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(II). Background information

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was

quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” ( from Henry David Thoreau, Walden,

“Where I Lived, and What I Lived For”) Now the Walden Pond has the cultural embodiment of leaving

the busy city life and immersion into the nature so as to pursue one’s own self.

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II. While-reading: Text Analysis (I) Structure analysis All the efforts we make in our social life may lead to the

ultimate purpose of seeking happiness. Yet in modern world people are so drifted by their busy schedules that we may one day find out that we have been far away from our original target. This text is written from those who might get lost during our long journey of struggle. We learn from the text that the problem of overscheduling has three main causes, which are economic cause, technological cause and, the most important, psychological cause.

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All these causes, when working together, make us the slaves of our own schedules and lose our fun in doing things. Besides this macroscopic change in our value judgment, it is also necessary to seek help from outside efforts such as expanding vacation time and shortening the work week. Another, which is more important and more difficult to achieve, is to adopt a new perspective of time. Only through this can we be back to our original journey to pursue happiness.

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Structural AnalysisIn terms of organization, the article clearly falls into four main parts:The first part (Paragraphs 1-3) introduces the fact that most Americans have become the slaves of their schedules.The second part (Paragraphs 4-6) lists the three major causes of overscheduling, namely, economic cause, technological cause and psychological causes.

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The third part (Paragraphs 7-10) tells us the bad effect of overscheduling: it deprives us of the fun of life and it also reveals the author’s opinion on this problem — “We are bigger than our schedules”. This part also brings us to his suggested solution to this problem in the last part of the essay.The fourth part (Paragraphs 11-14) suggests the political solution which consists of mainly the outside efforts as well as our own psychological adjustment.

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The transitional paragraphs of this text is Paragraph 9 and 10 where the author not only reveals his opinion on this problem — “We are bigger than our schedules” — but also brings us to his suggested solution to this problem, which is presented in the last part of the essay.

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Rhetorical Features1) Extensive employment of short sentences, ellipsis and even one-word sentences:e.g. “DAMN!” ,“That would do it.”, “Whew!”, “Yes!”, “No!” (Paragraph 1)2) Syntactical features: in a single sentence, a succession of verbs are usede.g. “You’ll skip yoga class, blow off the neighborhood meeting, ignore the piles of laundry and just relax.” (paragraph 1)

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3) Semantic features: to bring into prominence the idea that one is constantly driven by endless apparently urgent trifles in life

e.g. “ Determined and sternly focused, we march through each day obeying the orders of our calendars.” (Paragraph 2)

“… virtual slaves to their schedules” (Paragraph 3) “onerous obligations” (Paragraph 3) “… but merely following a dizzying timetable of

duties” (Paragraph 3) “feel the pinch” (Paragraph 4)

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Detailed ReadingQuestions What is the author's categorization of all the things in North Americans' schedules? What is the use of such a categorization? (Paragraph 3)Some of them are obligations that people have to do, some are wonderful opportunities, and most fall in between. Such a categorization may help people to have a more general and macroscopical view of their life and makes the readers ready to accept the following parts of the article which is a deep reflection of the purpose of life.

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2) What is the economic reason for North Americans' tight schedules? (Paragraph 4)

The acceleration of the globalized economy, and the accompanying decline of people having any kind of a say over wages and working conditions. Even successful professionals cannot control their schedules.

3) In what way does new technology make people’s schedules tighter? (Paragraph 5)

New technology is supposed to set people free, yet by offering direct ways of communication, it has in fact accelerated the rhythms of everyday life.

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Language work

4) What is the psychological reason for the quickened pace of life of North Americans? (Paragraph 6)

People cannot resist their desire for more choices and new experiences. They want to use the saved time for something they haven't tried before.

5) What do people lose from overscheduling? (Paragraphs 8)

People may lose from overscheduling the fun in doing things and the magic, spontaneous moments that make people feel alive.

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6) What does the author think is more important than the political solution? (Paragraphs 13)

People should make their own psychological adjustment and set aside some of their time on calendar for life.

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Class Activity Group discussion: Do you make specific daily schedules and follow them? Think about the advantages and disadvantages of a life with schedules. Are people in China facing the same problem with the Americans as the author mentions in the essay?Dialogue making: A is occupied with his daily schedules and leaves very little time for himself. B, as his friend, is trying to persuade A to take a vacation in the suburb with all its advantages. We’ll see how effective B’s persuasion will be.

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Words and ExpressionsParagraphs 1-3 scoot v.run or move very quickly or hastilye.g. Scoot, or you will be late.Collocations:scoot offe.g. She scooted off on her bike.scoot overe.g. He scooted over so I could sit down.

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blow off v.permit to be released; here, cancel an appointment or anything one does not wish to doe.g. Bob and I did make plans to go out last night. But he blew me off.Practice: （先出现中文，下面设置按钮，点击以后出现英文翻译）凯莉刚放了我鸽子——她说她再也不想见我了。Kelly just blew me off — she said she didn't want to see me any more.

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Paragraphs 4-6recourse n.sth. or sb. turned to for assistance or securitye.g. I couldn’t tell which direction to take without recourse to a map.Synonym: resort

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ratchet up v.cause sth. to rise as a step in what is perceived as a steady and irreversible processe.g. The Bank of Japan ratcheted up interest rates again.account for v.give reason fore.g. Can you account for all these absences?Practice: （先出现中文，下面设置按钮，点击以后出现英文翻译）他被要求解释他的行为。He has been asked to account for his conduct.

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Paragraphs 7-10 overpower v.

overcome by superior force e.g. Police overpowered the criminal and took him away.

Derivation: overpowering (a.)

e.g. He finds the smell overpowering Synonyms:  

conquer, crush, defeat, master, overwhelm  

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Paragraphs 11-14 hem in engulf or surround e.g. The soldiers were hemmed in on all sides. Practice: （先出现中文，下面设置按钮，点击以后出现英文翻译）

敌军把我们包围了。 e.g. The enemy troops were hemming us in.

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preordain v.determine beforehande.g. You might think the company's success is preordained.Derivation:preordained (a.)e.g. Is everything we do preordained?

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scrap v. abolish or cancel (a plan, policy, etc.) e.g. A bold decision was taken to scrap the existing law. Practice: （先出现中文，下面设置按钮，点击以后出现英文翻译）

我们不得不放弃我们的计划。 We had to scrap our plans.

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shuck v.abandon, get rid ofe.g. the regime's ability to shuck off its

totalitarian characteristicsCollocation:shuck offe.g. She shucked off her jacket and ran

upstairs.

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corral v.keep sb. or sth. in a particular area, esp. in order to take control or possession of them e.g. The slaves were corralled into a small room.

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Sentences 1) You’re 20 minutes — no, more like half an hour —

late for your breakfast meeting, which you were hoping to scoot out of early to make an 8:30 seminar across town.(Paragraph 1)

Explanation: A breakfast meeting is typically a business occasion where

people discuss business or political issues while they are having breakfast. The author means that, despite the importance of the occasion, one may want to finish it as soon as

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2) And, somewhere in there, there’s that conference call. (Paragraph 1)

Explanation: A conference call is a telephone call in which the calling party

wishes to have more than one called party listening in to the audio portion of the call. The author mentions several versions of meetings which are designed for saving time (breakfast meeting and conference call), intending to convey that even with such time-saving means of having meetings, people still feel overscheduled. The irony here is obvious.

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3) Shortening the work week, something the labor movement and progressive politicians successfully accomplished in the early decades of the 20th century, is another logical objective. (Paragraph 11)

Explanation: The term “the labor movement” is a broad term for the

development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and political governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour relations.

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Thank You

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谢谢观赏

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