What Are Our Real Values?

Nicols Fox

Unit 5

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About the Author

Nicols Fox: An independent journalist and a television commentator. A graduate of Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, Fox received an MFA in creative writing and literature from Bennington College in 1999. Born in Virginia, she now lives on the coast of Maine.

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Structure—expository essay

Part I (Para. 1-4) : the author points out that the popularly assumed American values are “fantasies” and presents a perfect picture of idealized American values.

Part II (Paras 5-7 ) : the true picture of American value and “what we really do”.

Part III (Paras 8–10): looks into the “real root job” — who makes the code of ethics?

Part Ⅳ Para11urges people to take actions to “create a real American Dream.

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Main Idea

The author firstly points out that the popularly assumed American values are “fantasies” & presents a perfect picture of idealized American values

pointing out that American values are not what we wish for but what we really do.

And then she elaborates on the discrepancies between “what we say we wish for” and “what we really do”,

looks into the root of the problem

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Intensive Study

Part 1(1-4) challenges the popularly assumed American values, presents a perfect picture of idealized American values and probes its nature

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Gist Questions:

• How do American people choose their presidents?On the basis of how clearly and convincingly these candidates represent and can protect this vision of American values.

• How does the author comment on people’s love for American values?The nice vision of American values does not exist. What people come to love is the image of themselves created by artists and advocated by the advertising world.

Para 3

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Part I Sentences

NO.1 The recent presidential election, according to the chorus of political pundits on both sides, was a referendum on American values.

—During the recent presidential election, people were actually voting on American values rather than on the president.

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NO.2They would appear to be the same fantasies we use to sell soft drinks, phone services and color film— and they have proved equally adaptable to selling presidents.—American values seem to be the fantasies which we use when we are selling soft drinks, phone services and color film, where exaggerated/fantastic but false pictures are offered to consumers, and they can also be used when we are selling certain presidential candidates. In other words, those candidates who r said to represent American values tend to be elected.

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Paragraph 2

presents a perfect picture of idealized American values

We value… We value… We value…

the author resort to repetition to sketch out a happy and healthy vision

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Sentences

“…old folks live at home and young folks don’t talk back”— “…old folks live with their family members, instead of in senior citizen homes and children would not answer their parents in a rude manner.

“…continuity” —the connection between the past and the present, the present and the future. The word suggested that some conventions and customs are held and cherished consistently.

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Para 3

Probes the nature of the idealized American Values

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Sentences

But like most of the fantasies conjured up by the advertising world, it doesn‘t really exist.

--- The healthy and happy vision mentioned above doesn't really exist. It is just one of the many beautiful dreams made by the advertising world.

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Winslow Homer

• American naturalist painter who is often considered as one of the greatest American 19th century artists.Largely self-taught, Homer began his career working as a commercial illustrator. He subsequently took up oil painting and produced major studio works characterized by the weight and density he exploited from the medium.

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Norman Rockwell

• American painter whose pictures were recognized and loved by almost everybody in America. Over the years he depicted a unique collection of Americana, a series of vignettes of remarkable warmth and humor. He also painted a great number of pictures for story illustration, advertising campaigns, posters, calendars, and books.

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Pre-reading question:

What is the key sentence?

What rhetorical device is applied to this paragraph?

parallelism ['pærəlelizəm]

Which word introduces the contrast?

but

Para 4

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…we can't count many friends with intact ones anymore (see note 9)

--- the author refers to the fact that many families are no longer intact.

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Intact [ɪn'tækt]

not impaired or diminished in any way; undamaged in any way; whole

完整无缺的 ; 未经触动的 ; 未受损伤的He can scarcely survive this scandal with his reputation intact.

他经此丑闻名誉很难不受损。眼镜坠地后依然完好无损。The glasses remained intact after being dropped.

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We are a people full of compassion We are a people full of compassion ……

---We are a people full of ---We are a people full of sympathysympathy ，， but we are more likely to but we are more likely to offer our sympathy to offer our sympathy to endangered endangered whaleswhales than to the homeless people than to the homeless people who gather together over heat grates who gather together over heat grates on the streets of our richest cities.on the streets of our richest cities.

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huddle

v. To crowd together, as from cold or fear.

挤作一团egs. huddle oneself up

Everyone huddled round the fire to keep warm.

It was so cold that we huddled together for warmth.

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Extend to 提供，给予The government is extending aid to

people who have been affected by the earth-quake.

The bank has agreed to extend money to us to buy our house.

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What is the function of this paragraph?

---This question is the transition between fantasy and reality, i.e. between people’s false assumptions about American values and real Americans or, so to speak, between “what we say we wish for” and “what we really do.”

Does the sentence still convey exactly the

same meaning without the word “real”?

Para 5

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Remember that in the first paragraph the author asks the question “But what are American values?" Then in Paragraphs 2-4 she discusses what are commonly considered American values, which are actually "fantasies.” Thus in this paragraph she adds the adjective "real" before "American values ， which indicates that she is going to present the true picture of American values.

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• Soup kitchen: a place where food is offered free or at very low- cost to people with no money or no homes

• Baron  ['bærən] : an extremely powerful person in a particular area of business

• Articulate| ɑː'tɪkjʊleɪt] : (a.) able to express, or expressing, thoughts and feelings easily and clearly

• Do time: to spend a period of time in prison

Para 6

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Pre-reading question

According to the author, how should we

understand real American values'?

---Real American values can be best understood by looking at who our heroes are and at what we read and what we choose to do with our spare time.

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struggling writers and artists---extremely poor and desperate writers and artists.

social workers---persons whose work involves giving help and advice to people having various serious problems (e.g. to people in poverty, or to people suffering cold in winter.)

…even the articulate convicts who…

---even the eloquent prisoners who win us over on talk shows after they’ve complete their prison sentences.

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Charm ： If you charm someone, you please them, especially by using your charm 迷住，行魔法

turn on the charm施展魅力 /显露出魅力

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Convict of

Charge with

Accuse of

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Para 7

What is the main idea of para. 7?

---The author further elaborates on the discrepancies between “what we say we wish for" and “what we really do” with some particular issues, thus concluding that our self-contradictory attitudes towards these issues made our protests "pretty empty.”

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Decadence | 'dekədəns] : a state of low standards in social and moral behavior

Incidence ['insidəns] : the rate at which sth.happens

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Difficult Points

• …our culture tells us that …---Our culture tells us that we should not feel

uneasy about taking drugs for every discomfort and that every desire, good or bad, is entitled to be fulfilled.

• we buy it and we tolerate it---Note that these are two separate sentences.

The first refers to the preceding “pornography"' and the second one refers to "violence"·

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derivation of tolerate

• tolerant: (adj.)showing respect for the rights or opinions or practices of others; showing the capacity for endurance

• tolerance: (n.) the power or capacity of an organism to tolerate unfavorable environmental conditions

• tolerantly (adv.) in a tolerant manner• toleration: (n.) a disposition to tolerate or accept peopl

e or situations; official recognition of the right of individuals to hold dissenting opinions (especially in religion)

• tolerable (adj.) capable of being borne or endured; acceptable

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Para 8 & 9

• In paragraphs 8-9 the author looks into the “real root job”----who make the code of ethics?

• Para 8

S2 &S3

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Para 9

• Judgement Day: (ALSO the Day of judgment) the time when some people believe the world will end and all the dead people will come back to life so that God can judge how everyone behaved when they were alive

审判日又称“末日” ,这一天一个天使将吹响喇叭 ,地球将被炸开 ,一个个灵魂将与身体重新结合。

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• Abdicate ['æbdikeit] : to give up (sth. ， esp.a position of power ， a responsibility or a right) formally

• Exude [ig'zju:d] : to produce from inside yourself

• Relativism  ['relətivizəm] : a theory that conceptions of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons or groups holding them

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Collectively they seem to exude the same …

---Here “the same relativism and insecurity” refers to the ambiguous and self-contradictory attitude on the matters mentioned in Paragraph 7.

---As a group they seem to be as ambivalent and uncertain about right and wrong as the rest of us.

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What does the author imply when she talks about churches' moral leadership?

---She implies that churches are no longer capable of providing such leadership in the 20th century ， because they do not seem to be sure about what is right and wrong anymore. They probably say “Because God says so” too often about both right and wrong things.

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abdicate

give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligationsHe was forced to abdicate his claim on the property.他被迫放弃要求财产的权利 .King Edward abdicated in 1936 to marry a Ⅷcommoner.国王爱德华八世于 1936 年退位与一个平民结婚 .他放弃了抚养孩子的全部责任。 He abdicated all responsibility for the care of the child.

abdication (n.) a formal resignation and renunciation of powers

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exude

release (a liquid) in drops or small quantities; to produce from inside oneself 流露出

They seemed to exude confidence and the smell of money.

他们似乎浑身充满了自信和钱的味道。You have to exude confidence and you have

to transfer that confidence to the players.所以你在比赛场上时刻都要展现出自信，并

且要将自信专递给每名队友。

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Conclusion for para.8 & 9

The author suggests that it is not the churches but "we" ourselves that make the rules ， because we all have a good sense of what is right and wrong. The problem is that we cannot explain why we should do one thing instead of another since the “threat of Judgement Day" is no longer here in the 20th century.

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Para 10

In this paragraph the author pokes fun at the hypocrisy of “American values.”

“We” know sth should be done about “the homeless and the violence…”, but “we” don’t want to do it ourselves, and “we don’t want to pay for it” even if it was done by other people.

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• Campaign  [kæm'pein] : the period of weeks immediately before an election when politicians try to persuade people to vote for them

• Hazy ['heizi] : unclear or vague

• Read-my-lips: telling someone to listen carefully to what you are saying

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I share your values…---“I share your values,” the new president

said again and again during the presidential elections ， but I believe what he was really saying was “I share your dreams…”

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read-my-lips service---This expression is the author's coinage from

the phrase “lip service" which means insincere and empty verbal agreement or support.

By this coined expression the author suggests that real American values should not be based on “what we say we wish for.”

She correctly interprets President Bush’s promises as “fantasies, dreams, nostalgia and wishful thinking.”

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In this concluding paragraph, the author emphasizes the importance of getting a clear vision of ourselves, because it is the basis for a healthy future.

a healthy future will….

---A healthy future will be built on reality, not on fantasies created by the advertising world.

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Why does the author mention ad again?

---Because she wants to highlight the theme of the essay that American values “are expressed by what we do”, not conjured up by the advertising world to mislead people.

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1. what those political critics are saying with one voice

2. respond rudely to their parents

3. with nothing to worry about

4. made up

5. Attract to

6. finished serving a prison sentence

7. ought to/ has the right to

8. meaningless and pointless

9. Job to totally get rid of the source of something

10.which we idealize blindly P.79 Ex.

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1. fantasized

2. Nostalgic

3 .exotica

4.compassionate

5 .articulation

6. decadent

7. Pornographic

8 .ethical

9.abdicated

10 .haze

P.80 Ex II

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1 participates in

2 fall into the trap of

3 turn on the charm

4 .demonstrate

5 insecurities

6 are…tolerant of

7 read his lips

8 a chorus of

9 hold a referendum

10 to nurture

P. 80 Ex. III

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1 .perfect in appearance or quality as a picture

2 .long period free of change

3 .time period

4 .left his job early

5 .reach

6 .do not have sufficient

7 .remembered

8 .occurrences

9 .held her arms and legs close to her body because of fear

10.Unharmed

P. 81 Ex. IV

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1. End of

2. Obsessed

3. 去掉 up

4. 去掉 like

5. Will not

6. Neglected

7. Related

8. 去掉 to

9. Alone

10. therapy

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1. Held

2. Passed

3. Discussion

4. Number

5. Creative

6. Comprise

7. Outnumber

8. Accounts

9. Rise

10.changed

11. Longer

12.Standard

13.Living

14.Trade

15.For

16. lower

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1. Few people exude such confidence as Sam.

2. He has twice been convicted of arson.

3. After tracking down the drug baron for more than three years ， they finally arrested him last week.

4. Then were deprived of a normal childhood by the war.

5. The bank is planning to give its 1930s' building a complete face-lift.

6. The concept of thrift is foreign to me.

7. Children who talk back are regarded as cheeky and disrespectful.

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8. It’s not always easy to find a job after you've done time.

9. She has abdicated all responsibility for the project.

10.How am I expected to conjure up a meal for six of his friends with almost nothing in the fridge?

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20 世纪，美国梦遇到了挑战。大萧条使得二、三十年代的生活到处都很艰难，对那些直接受到影响的人们来说，现实与美国梦几乎正好相反。种族间的不安定依然存在，在国内的一些地方，种族暴力时有发生。自从二战结束后，年轻的美国家庭开始追求相对舒适和稳定的生活，他们选择居住在大城巾周边的市郊住宅区。因此 50 年代是一个相对保守的年代，当时，“完美家庭”是很多人心目中的美国梦的一部分，或者就是美国梦的结果本身，但这种保守的生活方式很快就被新一代人所鄙弃。 60 年代的年轻人用嬉皮士的价值观取代了包括美国梦在内的传统价值观。虽说对于美国梦的追求在那些年中有所减弱，但美国梦从来就没有彻底地消亡过。

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1. Misleading2. Determination and hard work alone3. It is their fault that they are not successful 4. “proof” of their laziness5. Less effort6. Factors of success7. Family and wealth8. Inheritable traits9. Superficial10.Meaningless11. Buy happiness12.To achieve great monetary again