Unit 6 Matriculation FixationU6Additional lnformation for the Teachers ReferenceText Matriculation FixationWarm-up ActivitiesFurther ReadingWriting SkillsAdditional WorkUnit 6 Matriculation FixationWarm-up ActivitiesWarm-up 1In higher education, college and university rankings are listings of universities and liberal arts colleges in an order determined by any combination of factors. Rankings can be based on subjectively perceived “quality”, on some combination of empirical statistics, or on surveys of educators, scholars, students, prospective students, or others. University and college rankings can be based upon the following criteria： a.“how well it performs as an engine of social mobility (ideally b. helping the poor to get rich rather than the very rich to get c. very, very rich)”Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWarm-up ActivitiesWarm-up 2b. “how well it does in fostering scientific and humanistic research”c. “how well it promotes an ethic of service to country”Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation1. Joe Queenan Joe Queenan (born November 3, 1950) is a contemporary humorist, critic and author from Philadelphia who graduated from Saint Josephs University. He has written for numerous publications such as Spy Magazine, Movieline, The Guardian and the New York Times book review. Queenan describes himself as a “Hatchet Man”. He has written several books including Balsamic Dreams, a scathing critique of the Baby Boomers, and Red Lobster, White Trash, and the Blue Lagoon, a tour of low-brow American Pop Culture.AIFTTR1.1Additional lnformation for the Teachers ReferenceUnit 6 Matriculation FixationAIFTTR1.22. prep school In North America, prep school is a private secondary school, typically charging high fees, designed to prepare students aged 14-18 for higher education at a university or college. In the UK, prep school is a private school designed to prepare pupils under 13 for entry into the fee-required public schools that are the equivalent of the college/university prep schools in North America.3. Princeton (University) Princeton University is a private coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. It is one of the eight universities that comprise the Ivy League. Originally founded inUnit 6 Matriculation FixationAIFTTR1.31746 at Elizabeth, New Jersey as the College of New Jersey, it moved to Princeton in 1756 and was renamed “Princeton University” in 1896. Princeton was the fourth institution of higher education in the U.S. to conduct classes. The university, unlike most American universities that were founded at the same time, did not have an official religious affiliation. At one time, it had close ties to the Presbyterian Church, but today it is nonsectarian and makes no religious demands of its students. The university has ties with the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton Theological Seminary, and the Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAIFTTR1.44. matriculation Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matrix. The most common meaning, however, refers to the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by acquiring the meeting prerequisites.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText Matriculation FixationNotesIntroduction to the Author and the ArticlePhrases and ExpressionsExercisesMain Idea of the TextUnit 6 Matriculation FixationMain Idea of the TextMain Idea of the Text Joe Queenans brief “Matriculation Fixation” is chiefly about parental obsessions with childrens educational paths. He claims that not every child needs to attend the most top level college and many people who have graduated from lesser known colleges, dropped out of college or not even attended college went on to live successful and fulfilling lives. In other words, there are numerous examples that prove that there is not a strong link between personal success and the level of universities they choose to attend. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationIntroduction to the Author and the articleIntroduction to the Author and the Article Joe Queenan (1950) is an American critic and writer. Formerly an editor at “Forbes” and “Spy”, Queenan has published many articles and stories in numerous publications such as “The New Republic,” “Time,” “Newsweek,” “Rolling Stone,” “People,” “Mens Health,” “Us,” “Cosmopolitan,” “Esquire,” “Vogue,” “Allure,” “New York Magazine,” and “George.” His major works include The Unkindest Cut, If Youre Talking to Me, Your Career Must Be in Trouble and Imperial Caddy. This essay Matriculation Fixation is chosen from Best American Essays 2002. In this essay, Queenan fixes a cynicalUnit 6 Matriculation FixationIntroduction to the Author and the article2eye on American boomers obsession, who believe securing admission to a top-flight university will provide their children an irrevocable passport to success, guaranteeing a life of uninterrupted economic mirth. He claims that not every child needs to attend the most top level college in the world and many people who have attended lesser known colleges, dropped out of college or did not even attend college went on to live very successful and inspiring lives.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_T1 Two years ago, I was languishing in the waiting room of a Philadelphia hospital when a complete stranger unexpectedly began telling me about his daughters college plans. As my 79-year-old mother was recovering from major surgery that afternoon, I could not give him my complete and undivided attention. But as the briefing session wore on, I did manage to garner most of the relevant details.Joe QueenanMatriculation FixationTextUnit 6 Matriculation Fixation The girl, bright but not brilliant, had been accepted to a first-tier university without financial aid but had also been accepted to a local, second-echelon university where she was promised a free ride. Money being tight, with other college-bound children in the family queue, the man had persuaded his daughter to accept the second universitys offer. Now he was worried that she would one day rue this decision. Because she would be graduating from a less prestigious institution, fewer contacts would be made and fewer doors would be opened. Her degree would put her within striking distance of the yellow brick road, but not physically on the road itself. Did this make her father the spawn of Satan? Part2_T2Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation I told him that I myself had graduated from a second-echelon Philadelphia university not unlike the one his daughter was entering, and had managed to carve out a nice little niche for myself. I told him that my college days had been among the happiest of my life, that the sun never set without my thanking God for the illumination and inspiration provided by my talented, Part2_T3 As a man of the world accustomed to being told the most intimate details about complete stangers marriages, careers and hobbies, I had long ago acquired the requisite skills to mediate this crisis. I told the man that many of my high school chums had graduated from the second-tier university in question and had gone on to live rich, full lives. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_T4dedicated professors. Pressed for biographical data, I explained that I was a freelance writer, ticked off a list of my credentials and said I was pretty happy with the way my career had turned out. The man had never heard of me, had never read anything Id written. Though he tried to feign interest in my pathetic curriculum vitae, I could see that he was devastated. By following an academic path similar to mine, his daughter, who was also planning a career in journalism, was going to end up as big a failure as I. I never did find out why he was visiting the hospital. I mention this incident because it illustrates the neurotic gabbiness that afflicts parents when it comes time to send their children to college. I know whereof I speak. Next fall, myUnit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_T5daughter goes to college. Three years later my son will follow suit. I will be sorry to see them go; over the years they have proved to be remarkably amusing. But every dark cloud has a silver lining. Once my children have left the house, I will never again have to participate in a mind numbing discussion about where my children or my friends children or my neighbours children are going to college, and why. On this subject, I am completely tapped out. This lack of interest does not stem from pure selfishness or unalloyed contempt for other peoples offspring. Rather, I feel this way because I find almost all conversations about the college selection process to be banal, self-aggrandizing, self-flagellatory or punitive. Id rather talk about cribbage.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_T6 The most infuriating conversation is the one where the parent clearly seeks a decisive, career-validating moment of emotional closure. Such individuals believe that securing admission to a top-flight university provides a child with an irrevocable passport to success, guaranteeing a life of uninterrupted economic mirth. Parents such as these upwardly mobile chuckleheads exude an almost Prussian belligerence when announcing their childrens destinations, congratulating themselves on a job well done, while issuing a sotto voce taunt to parents of the less gifted. For them, the hard part of child rearing is now over. Junior went to the right prep school, made the right friends, signed up for the right activities and is now headed for the right school. Now we can get the heck out of here and move to Tuscany.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_T7 But in reality, life doesnt end at age 17. Or 21. In real life, some children get the finest educations but still become first-class screw-ups. My own profession is filled with people who went to the right school but ended up in the wrong career. (They should have been flacks; the phone ringing in the next room is not and never will be the Pulitzer committee.) Some of those boys and girls most likely to succeed are going to end up on80 welfare or skid row. At which point theyll need parental input. Or cash. A parents responsibility doesnt end once the kids leave. A parents responsibility never ends. Thats why Nature gives you the job.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_T8 A second, far more numerous class of obsessives consists of people who suddenly realize that their Brand X children arent going to make the cut. Seventeen years of unread textbooks, unvisited museums and untaken A.P. Courses are now finally taking their toll, and those grandiose delivery-room dreams of Amherst, Bard and Duke are suddenly going up in smoke. Bashfully, shamefacedly, miserably, these parents now mumble the names of the glamourless institutions their progeny are skulking off to. Invariably, they are colleges you never heard of in towns no one wants to visit in states whose capitals only repeat winners on “Jeopardy” can name. The market has spoken, the glum parental expressions seem to say. My child is an idiot.Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation But once again, reality has a way of upsetting the worst laid plans of mice and Mensa. Some kids are late bloomers. Some kids are better off in a less competitive environment. Lots of people achieve huge success in this society without a degree from a prestigious university. Just because your child has failed to clear the first, or even the 20th, hurdle doesnt mean you should disown him. Matisse didnt get rolling until he was in his 40s. Bill Gates, David Geffen, Michael Dell, Graydon Carter and Madonna are all college dropouts. Ronald Reagan attended tiny Eureka College, while Warren Buffet went to Football U in Lincoln, Neb. Despite what you may have read in F. Scott Fitzgerald (who dropped out of Princeton in 1917), life doesnt have just one act. There is often Act II. And Act V. Not to mention the sequels.Part2_T9Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation Matriculation fixation reaches its dottiest form during the obligatory campus visit. Here it is never entirely clear what parents are looking for, particularly in high-profile institutions whose renown has in some way preceded them. During a recent visit to M.I.T., I watched the first seconds of an admissions office video poking fun at the universitys reputation as a nerd factory. While my wife and daughter watched the rest of the video, which assured applicants that M.I.T. nerds were hard to find, I took a stroll around the campus. I saw a lot of nerds. And I do not mean this as a criticism.Part2_T10Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_T11 Later that morning, a guide showed a bunch of us around campus. At one juncture, she pointed out a restaurant where students could grab a fast, inexpensive meal. “How much?” asked one high-strung mother. “About eight bucks,” she was told. The woman shuddered, noting that forking over for dinner every night could get pretty darned expensive. “Its going to cost you grand to send your kid to school here,” I interjected. “Dont start worrying about dinner prices.” Since that visit this fall, this incident has become an invaluable part of my repertory. Now, whenever I am dragooned into the 30,000th interminable conversation about the collegeUnit 6 Matriculation Fixationselection process I indicate that sedulous monitoring ofon-campus restaurant prices should be a vital component of the winnowing procedure. People who hear me say things like this cant decide whether I am insensitive or ornery or flat-out dumb. Well, lets just put in this way: I was never M.I.T. material.Part2_T12Unit 6 Matriculation FixationHer degree would put her within striking distance of the yellow brick road but not physically on the road itself. Did this make her father the spawn of Satan?: Her college degree, because it was from a less well-known university, would give her the possibility of success, but not guarantee her success. Because her father persuaded her to accept the offer from the lower level college, does this mean that he is a bad man?On this subject, I am completely tapped out: I have talked about this subject so much that I am completely exhausted and have said all that can be said about it. NotesPart2_TA_Notes1Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_Notes2Id rather talk about cribbage: I would rather talk about any other subject than the selection of schools. . while issuing a sotto voce taunt to parents of the less gifted: When speaking about their childrens schooling, parents whose children have made it into world-class universities, oftentimes make a kind of challenge toward parents whose children are attending lesser known universities. Now we can get the heck out of here and move to Tuscany: Now that our child has gone off to school and made all the right decisions in life, we can retire and move to Tuscany (a beautiful place to retire and live out your life).NotesUnit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_Notes3In real life, some children get the finest education but still become first-class screw-ups: While some children may get a very high level education, they may still become terrible people or make many mistakes in life.their Brand X children arent going to make the cut: their children are not going to make it into the university of their choiceA.P. courses: Advanced Placement Courses. Usually they are offered in high school to give high school students a chance to earn college credit for advanced work they do while in high school.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_Notes4Notes . those grandiose delivery-room dreams of Amherst, Bard and Duke are suddenly going up in smoke: those dreams that parents had for their children of attending high level universities are not coming true. whose capitals only repeat winners on “Jeopardy” can name: The sentence means that the children who could not make it into the most famous universities are now attending schools in very remote, unknown places.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_Notes5Notes. the worst-laid plans of mice and Mensa: even the most careful plans made by the smartest people： This comes from the saying: “The worst-laid plans of mice and men often go awry”, meaning that even the most careful plan can go wrong. Here the author makes a play on words and uses the word “Mensa” instead of men. Mensa is a society for intellectuals, scientists and other smart people.Matisse (1869-1954): famous French artistBill Gates: founder of MicrosoftDavid Geffen: American record company owner and film producerMichael Dell: founder of Dell computer companyUnit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_Notes6NotesGraydon Carter: Canadian writerMadonna: American popular singerRonald Regan (1911-2004): American 40th President (1981-1988)Warren Buffett: a stock broker and United States RepresentativeF. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) American novelist and short story writerM.I.T: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_Notes7Notes. sedulous monitoring of on-campus restaurant prices should be a vital component of the winnowing procedure: a careful consideration of the prices of food in restaurants around the college should be an important part of the decision of whether or not to attend the school. Here the author is teasing the parents who are getting ready to send their children off to expensive schools.Unit 6 Matriculation Fixationwear on pass slowly (of time)carve out establish or create through painstaking efforttick off put a check mark on or near or next tofollow suit do as another has done; follow an examplelate bloomer a person who does not discover his or her talents and abilities until later than normally expectedpoke fun at ridicule in a mischievous manner; tease fork overpayPhrases and ExpressionsPart2_TA_ Phrases and Expressions1Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation选择大学的焦虑：选择大学的焦虑： 可怜天下父母心可怜天下父母心Part2_TA_t1 两年前，我独自坐在费城一家医院的候诊室里憔悴伤神，不想一两年前，我独自坐在费城一家医院的候诊室里憔悴伤神，不想一位陌生人过来跟我讲起他女儿念大学的计划。我那位陌生人过来跟我讲起他女儿念大学的计划。我那79岁高龄的母亲当天岁高龄的母亲当天下午刚做完大手术，正在恢复之中，我无法全神贯注于陌生人的谈话。下午刚做完大手术，正在恢复之中，我无法全神贯注于陌生人的谈话。不过，他说着说着，我还是尽量记住了大部分细节。不过，他说着说着，我还是尽量记住了大部分细节。他女儿聪明但成绩并不出色，已经被一所一流大学录取，只是没有他女儿聪明但成绩并不出色，已经被一所一流大学录取，只是没有奖学金，同时录取她的还有一家本地的二流大学，承诺学费全免。由于奖学金，同时录取她的还有一家本地的二流大学，承诺学费全免。由于家里经济并不宽裕，还有几个弟弟妹妹要上大学，这位陌生人说服了他家里经济并不宽裕，还有几个弟弟妹妹要上大学，这位陌生人说服了他的大女儿选择后者。不过他现在担心的是女儿将来恐怕会为这个选择懊的大女儿选择后者。不过他现在担心的是女儿将来恐怕会为这个选择懊悔不已，因为从二流大学毕业，所接触的视野和关系会狭窄很多，机会悔不已，因为从二流大学毕业，所接触的视野和关系会狭窄很多，机会也就会少很多。她所拿的文凭也会是一块敲门砖，可终究不是开门的那也就会少很多。她所拿的文凭也会是一块敲门砖，可终究不是开门的那把金钥匙。如今父亲让女儿做出这样的选择，是不是害了她呢？把金钥匙。如今父亲让女儿做出这样的选择，是不是害了她呢？Translation of the Text乔乔昆南昆南Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_t2我我这这个个人人向向来来通通达达世世故故，也也习习惯惯了了听听陌陌生生人人主主动动道道出出他他们们婚婚姻姻、事事业业、癖癖好好上上最最隐隐私私的的秘秘密密。很很早早以以前前我我就就掌掌握握了了化化解解危危机机的的必必要要技技巧巧。于于是是我我告告诉诉那那位位父父亲亲，我我有有很很多多高高中中好好友友，念念的的大大学学恐恐怕怕连连二二流流都都算算不不上，如今却过着相当富足的生活。上，如今却过着相当富足的生活。我我告告诉诉他他我我本本人人就就是是从从二二流流的的费费城城大大学学毕毕业业的的，和和他他女女儿儿要要就就读读的的那那所所差差不不多多，凭凭借借自自己己的的努努力力我我如如今今也也算算事事业业有有成成。我我的的大大学学生生活活是是这这辈辈子子最最开开心心的的一一段段日日子子之之一一，那那些些才才华华横横溢溢、专专注注学学问问的的教教授授们们给给了了我我无无穷穷的的启启发发和和灵灵感感，为为此此，我我每每时时每每刻刻都都在在感感谢谢上上帝帝。他他急急于于知知道道我我的的详详细细经经历历，我我解解释释说说自自己己是是作作家家，向向他他列列举举了了我我的的教教育育和和工工作作背背景景，告告诉他我对于自己在事业上的发展感到非常高兴。诉他我对于自己在事业上的发展感到非常高兴。这这人人从从来来没没听听说说过过我我的的名名字字，也也没没读读过过我我写写的的东东西西。尽尽管管他他想想方方设设法法假假装装对对我我那那惨惨淡淡的的人人生生经经历历颇颇有有兴兴趣趣，我我还还是是能能看看得得出出来来他他已已经经完完全全丧丧失失了了信信心心。想想想想他他女女儿儿和和我我拥拥有有相相似似的的大大学学教教育育经经历历，也也想想从从事事新新闻闻这一行，大概最终会沦为和我一样的失败者。这一行，大概最终会沦为和我一样的失败者。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_t3我完全不知道他为什么到医院里来。我完全不知道他为什么到医院里来。我我之之所所以以提提到到这这件件事事，是是因因为为它它说说明明谈谈到到送送孩孩子子上上大大学学这这件件事事，父父母母们们就就不不由由自自主主地地神神经经兮兮兮兮起起来来。我我知知道道自自己己在在说说什什么么，因因为为明明年年秋秋天天我我女女儿儿也也要要上上大大学学，三三年年后后就就是是我我儿儿子子了了。他他们们离离开开我我身身边边我我会会感感到到遗遗憾憾，因因为为这这么么多多年年来来他他们们始始终终那那么么有有趣趣。不不过过凡凡事事都都有有好好的的一一面面，一一旦旦孩孩子子们们离离开开了了家家，我我就就再再也也不不用用去去讨讨论论到到底底我我的的孩孩子子，我我朋朋友友的的孩孩子子，我我邻邻居居的的孩孩子子到到哪哪里里去去上上大大学学及及其其原原因因，这这些些让让人人头头皮皮发发麻麻的的问问题题了了。这个话题我是完全不想谈了。这个话题我是完全不想谈了。我我对对此此缺缺乏乏兴兴趣趣，并并非非因因为为我我自自私私自自利利，也也不不是是看看不不起起别别人人的的孩孩子子，而而是是因因为为我我觉觉得得几几乎乎所所有有有有关关选选大大学学这这个个过过程程的的谈谈话话都都是是老老生生常常谈谈，自自吹自擂要么就是痛批自己，苦不堪言。我宁可谈谈纸牌游戏。吹自擂要么就是痛批自己，苦不堪言。我宁可谈谈纸牌游戏。最最令令人人怒怒不不可可遏遏的的谈谈话话就就是是参参与与探探讨讨的的父父母母明明显显是是在在为为炫炫耀耀自自己己感感情情找找个个场场合合。这这些些父父母母认认为为孩孩子子如如果果能能够够被被一一流流大大学学录录取取，就就相相当当于于拿拿到到了了开开启启成成功功人人生生的的金金钥钥匙匙，今今后后一一辈辈子子的的富富足足生生活活就就完完全全不不用用愁愁了了。这这些些只只知知道道往往上上爬爬的的愚愚蠢蠢父父母母得得意意地地宣宣称称自自己己的的子子女女要要去去哪哪里里Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_t4念念书书，陶陶醉醉在在自自己己的的成成功功之之中中，殊殊不不知知这这种种近近乎乎普普鲁鲁士士式式的的挑挑衅衅做做法法，却却是是对对那那些些儿儿女女并并不不出出色色的的父父母母们们的的侮侮辱辱和和嘲嘲讽讽。对对于于那那种种父父母母来来说说，抚抚育育孩孩子子最最艰艰难难的的部部分分到到此此结结束束。孩孩子子上上的的好好学学校校，交交的的好好朋朋友友，参参加加的的好好活活动动，现现在在马马上上就就要要去去好好大大学学了了；我我们们就就可可以以拍拍拍拍屁屁股股走走人人，搬搬到到意大利托斯卡纳去享受人生了。意大利托斯卡纳去享受人生了。 可可是是，实实际际上上子子女女的的生生活活并并非非在在17岁岁或或者者21岁岁就就告告以以终终结结。在在现现实实生生活活中中，有有些些孩孩子子接接受受的的是是最最好好的的教教育育，可可还还是是成成了了一一流流垃垃圾圾。从从事事我我这这个个职职业业的的很很多多人人都都是是上上的的好好学学校校却却入入错错了了行行当当。(他他们们应应该该去去做做新新闻闻宣宣传传员员；隔隔壁壁房房间间电电话话响响了了但但绝绝对对不不会会是是普普利利策策评评奖奖委委员员会会的的获获奖奖通通知知。)有有些些男男孩孩女女孩孩们们本本来来很很有有希希望望成成功功，现现在在看看上上去去会会是是在在贫贫民民窟窟里里靠靠救救济济金金终终老老。孩孩子子们们总总有有时时候候需需要要父父母母的的帮帮助助，有有时时候候是是经经济济上上的的支支持持。父父母母的的职职责责绝绝不不是是在在孩孩子子离离开开家家以以后后就就终终止止了了。父父母母的的责责任任永永远远没没有有终终结的时候，这就是为什么大自然让你为人父母。结的时候，这就是为什么大自然让你为人父母。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_t5 另一种偏执狂父母数量更多，他们突然意识到孩子们不可能走那条另一种偏执狂父母数量更多，他们突然意识到孩子们不可能走那条他们规定好的路。他们规定好的路。1717年来没有好好念课本，没有参观过博物馆，没有选年来没有好好念课本，没有参观过博物馆，没有选修过跳级班的课程，现在报应来了。想当年孩子出生的时候，梦想着他修过跳级班的课程，现在报应来了。想当年孩子出生的时候，梦想着他们有朝一日进入名牌大学们有朝一日进入名牌大学( (阿姆赫斯特、巴德、杜克阿姆赫斯特、巴德、杜克) )的希望如今已灰飞的希望如今已灰飞烟灭。这些父母们只有羞愧、丢脸而且痛苦地念叨着他们的孩子即将偷烟灭。这些父母们只有羞愧、丢脸而且痛苦地念叨着他们的孩子即将偷偷摸摸去念书的学校名字。这些名字总是你闻所未闻的，所在的小镇也偷摸摸去念书的学校名字。这些名字总是你闻所未闻的，所在的小镇也是谁都不想去的，所处的州首府只有记忆力大赛的优胜者才说得出。事是谁都不想去的，所处的州首府只有记忆力大赛的优胜者才说得出。事实摆在这里，这些父母脸上阴郁的表情似乎在说：实摆在这里，这些父母脸上阴郁的表情似乎在说： 我的孩子是个白痴。我的孩子是个白痴。 可是，现实总是一次又一次地证明了可是，现实总是一次又一次地证明了“人算不如天算人算不如天算”。有些孩子。有些孩子是大器晚成，有些孩子在竞争不那么激烈的环境下更能够脱颖而出。很是大器晚成，有些孩子在竞争不那么激烈的环境下更能够脱颖而出。很多在这个社会取得巨大成功的人并没有名牌大学的文凭。你的孩子这次多在这个社会取得巨大成功的人并没有名牌大学的文凭。你的孩子这次没有越过第一个障碍，或者是第二十个障碍，并不意味着你可以完全否没有越过第一个障碍，或者是第二十个障碍，并不意味着你可以完全否定他这个人。马蒂斯到定他这个人。马蒂斯到4040多岁才开始声名鹊起。比尔多岁才开始声名鹊起。比尔盖茨、戴维盖茨、戴维格格Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_t6芬芬、麦麦克克尔尔戴戴尔尔、格格雷雷顿顿卡卡特特还还有有麦麦当当娜娜全全是是大大学学都都没没念念完完的的。罗罗纳纳德德里里根根读读的的是是不不起起眼眼的的尤尤里里卡卡大大学学，沃沃伦伦巴巴菲菲特特上上的的是是内内布布拉拉斯斯加加州州林林肯肯镇镇上上的的橄橄榄榄球球大大学学。别别去去管管斯斯各各特特菲菲茨茨杰杰拉拉德德的的小小说说里里写写了了什什么么(这这位位作作家家1917年年从从普普林林斯斯顿顿大大学学退退学学)，生生活活这这出出戏戏并并非非独独幕幕剧剧，常常会有第二幕，甚至第五幕，更别提续集了。常常会有第二幕，甚至第五幕，更别提续集了。 父父母母对对子子女女大大学学录录取取的的偏偏执执态态度度在在参参观观校校园园的的时时候候会会达达到到荒荒谬谬可可笑笑的的顶顶峰峰。我我们们从从来来都都不不知知道道父父母母们们究究竟竟在在校校园园里里寻寻找找什什么么，尤尤其其是是那那些些一一流流的的大大学学，这这些些学学校校的的卓卓著著声声誉誉在在诱诱惑惑他他们们。最最近近我我去去了了一一趟趟麻麻省省理理工工学学院院，看看了了学学校校招招生生办办公公室室制制作作的的一一份份音音像像资资料料的的前前30秒秒，里里面面开开玩玩笑笑地地称称这这所所名名校校为为“书书呆呆子子工工厂厂”。而而我我太太太太和和女女儿儿把把片片子子看看完完了了，得得到到的的是是校校方方保保证证在在麻麻省省理理工工很很难难找找到到书书呆呆子子。我我在在校校园园里里转转了了转转，看看到到了不少书呆子，在我看来这并非是一种批评。了不少书呆子，在我看来这并非是一种批评。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_t7接下来那天上午，一名导游带着我们一堆人参观了校园。她指着两接下来那天上午，一名导游带着我们一堆人参观了校园。她指着两条道路交汇处的一座餐厅告诉我们学生们可以在这里方便地就餐，价格条道路交汇处的一座餐厅告诉我们学生们可以在这里方便地就餐，价格也不贵。某个紧张兮兮的母亲马上问道：也不贵。某个紧张兮兮的母亲马上问道：“多少钱？多少钱？”“大概八块钱吧，大概八块钱吧，”导游回答。那位母亲吓得发抖，每天的晚餐就要花掉八块钱简直是天导游回答。那位母亲吓得发抖，每天的晚餐就要花掉八块钱简直是天价了。价了。我忍不住插了一句：我忍不住插了一句：“你把孩子送到这里来可是要花掉四万块哦。你把孩子送到这里来可是要花掉四万块哦。别担心晚饭的价格。别担心晚饭的价格。”自从今年秋天这次参观以后，这件小事就成了我的素材库里一件无自从今年秋天这次参观以后，这件小事就成了我的素材库里一件无价之宝。如今不论何时有人第三万次强拉我没完没了地讨论给孩子选哪价之宝。如今不论何时有人第三万次强拉我没完没了地讨论给孩子选哪所大学，我都会告诉他们一定要不辞辛劳地查清学校餐厅的价格，这个所大学，我都会告诉他们一定要不辞辛劳地查清学校餐厅的价格，这个应该是遴选学校的决定性因素。那些听我这么说的人都搞不清楚我是麻应该是遴选学校的决定性因素。那些听我这么说的人都搞不清楚我是麻木冷漠还是心胸狭窄还是傻瓜一个。好吧，我们可以这么说：木冷漠还是心胸狭窄还是傻瓜一个。好吧，我们可以这么说： 我从来都我从来都不是念麻省理工的料。不是念麻省理工的料。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA2_ Her degree would Her degree would put her within striking distance of the yellow brick road, but not physically on the road itself. Her degree is probably not the surest way to get her on the road to success.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA3_ . and had managed . and had managed to carve out a nice little niche for myself. and had got a quite successful career for myself. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA9_ Some kids are late bloomers. Some kids are late bloomers. Some kids dont discover their talents and abilities until later than normally expected.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA9_ I was never M.I.T. material.I was never M.I.T. material.I was never fit for M.I.T. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA13_ I very much I very much doubt if this would have brought her theory of a right to happiness into play.I just wondered if this would have made her theory of a right to happiness make any sense in practice. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA1 _ garnerExamples:garner vt. acquire by ones efforts or actionsHes garnered support for the candidate.By the end of 2003, the database had garnered information on 210 million people across 42 cities.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA1_ rueExamples:rue vt. feel remorse for; feel sorry for Rozelle rued his decision to have the NFL play, and frequently stated publicly that it had been his worst mistake.A lot of people I know have rued their decision to get involved. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA7_ curriculum vitae Examples:curriculum vitae n. also known as resume, and it is a document that contains a summary or listing of relevant job experience and educationReal Madrid has had a barren two seasons.The highlands here in the state of Oaxaca are burdened with some of the most barren earth in Mexico.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA5_ silver liningExamples:silver lining an element of hope or a redeeming quality in an otherwise bad situation; a hopeful or comforting prospect in the midst of difficultyMary is a positive girl because she always sees a silver lining in the clouds.When it seems like there is no silver lining, he can eventually work things out. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises1.1ExercisesI. Comprehension questions1. 2. 3. 4.5.6.What is the strangers problem? What is the dilemma he faces?What is the authors attitude toward the problem? Does he offer a satisfactory solution?How does the stranger respond to what the author says?Why does the author tell such an anecdote?Why does the author find the conversations about college selection process to be banal?Why do parents believe in the prestigious universities?Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises1.27. 8. What realities of human nature does the “matriculation fixation” ignore?Why does the author mention his visit to MIT?Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises2.1II. Topics for Discussion1. 2.Do you agree that the college a person attends is a significant factor in that persons future success? Why or why not?Many parents encourage grueling study habits and lots of extracurricular activities during high school, often in the guise of offering children “opportunities” but nonetheless nudging them toward getting into the prestigious colleges. Is it healthy for parents to pressure their children to succeed on the parents terms?Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises2.1II. Topics for Discussion3.4.Some believe that in pressurizing their children into getting into the leading universities parents are simply trying to shift their own load of responsibilities to their children and are making self-centered decisions. Do you share this view?Did your parents spend a lot of time worrying about which university you would attend? Why or why not?Unit 6 Matriculation Fixationruedhigh-strung1. ( ) Part2_TA_exercises3.1.1I really dont understand why he regretted the deletion of a long paragraph in the statement that denounced the slaved trade and the whole institution of slavery as “a cruel war against human nature itself.”III. VocabularyA. Replace the italicized parts in the following sentences with words or phrases from the text that best keep the original meanings. 2. ( ) Jane has been very edgy recently, waiting for the results of the entrance examinations, which were held last month.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationbanalfeignirrevocablePart2_TA_exercises3.1.23. ( ) Some well-known artists had been repelled by the pop artists concentration on the most boring aspects of a thoroughly commercial society.4. ( ) One morning Jack wanted to watch a basketball game and didnt want to go to school, so he decided to affect a headache. 5. ( ) The conflicts highlight the value of land as a resource and the need for long-term planning to protect it from irreversible degradation.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationmirthexudedbelligerencePart2_TA_exercises3.1.36. ( ) Mr. Hutchinson came to the party dressed in a yellow suit and pink bow tie, which caused great hilarity among the other guests.7. ( ) Together with her captivating smile, the famous American actress oozed out the star power of a polished entertainer.8. ( ) He earned a reputation for diplomacy and a level head at a time when most umpires relied on pugnacity to make their point.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationdisownedmumbledPart2_TA_exercises3.1.49. ( ) The book deals with a story set in the last century about a girl whose parents refused to have any connection with her when she married a foreigner.10. ( ) She recounted that at the dinner table, he had turned to her and muttered something, then slowly leaned forward until his face fell into the pasta on his plate.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationlanguishedgarneredB. Find the words from the text that are most nearly opposite in meaning to the words in bold type in the following sentences. Part2_TA_exercises3.2.11. ( ) Early in the year, the stock market flourished, but then it was hurt by punishingly high short-term interest rates.2. ( ) Richards article dissipated respectable reviews but generated little real enthusiasm among readers.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.2.2Many white people of even reasonably good will simply know too little of the agony of ghetto existence to make slums as dispensable as segregated lunch counters.Some property developers have earned their infamy in recent years when the country feels like a huge building site.It was extremely difficult to soothe her because she was very frightened after the terrorist attack.requisiterenowninfuriate3. ( ) 4. ( ) 5. ( ) Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.2.3He is silly not coming to our meetings he has nothing to be proud about we are all the same.The formation in 1967 of ASEAN was hailed by the participating governments as a prelude to joint permanent organizations to foster cooperative development in fields such as food production, communications, shipping, and aviation. shamefacedsequel6. ( ) 7. ( ) Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.2.4As electrical uses and power needs are rising and fossil fuels are in finite supply, public concern is mounting over the greenhouse effect: Is nuclear the answer? My sons teacher says that his homework is often careless, which makes her very concerned about his future studies.interminablesedulous9. ( ) 10. ( ) Rational discussion and persuasion were the best way to resolve conflicts since this was peaceful, non-coercive, and respectful of the moral integrity and autonomy of each party. dotty8. ( ) Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.3.1C. Choose the word or phrase that best completes each of the following sentences.1. Ohlin was a prodigy who passed his university examinations at the age of 15 and earned his first advanced degree at the age of 18. A. makeupB. matriculationC. civil serviceD. graduationB_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.3.22. I was told that some of the tunnels in the cliff are natural, some were by soldiers for defense purposes.A_A. carved outB. taken upC. sliced offD. opted forUnit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.3.33. Although department store business was relatively stable, most companies in this field were struggling harder than ever to target their merchandise and find a in the marketplace. A. itchB. nicheC. rubD. scratchB_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.3.44. Leave him to me. I will get him to 100 for private school fees for Nina. A. fork overB. tap outC. tick offD. screw upA_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.3.55. This drug can be used only to induce sleep but not for the elimination of pain, of sensation, or sedation of the nervous patient.A. silencingB. mutingC. exudeD. numbingD_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.3.66. The Prime Minister threatened action against three newsmen who had entered that country two weeks before in defiance of the governments policy.A.evasiveB. immuneC. punitiveD. affirmativeC_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.3.77. Miss Tennant was into revealing the names of the people who got involved in organizing and carrying out the murders. A. infuriatedB. pokedC. dragoonedD. aggrandizedC_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.3.88. Ruggero felt rather about his taking his clothes off in front of the doctor and the two nurses. A. bashfulB. arrogantC. egoisticD. conceitedA_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.3.99. Simon has strayed from his usual comedy format to present a and serious story dealing with many of lifes difficult issues. A. glumB. imminentC. illusiveD. jestingA_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.3.1010. Suddenly there was a screech of brakes and we were all thrown forward as the bus to a halt.A. stumbledB. shriveledC. shudderedD. squeezedC_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.4.1IV. ClozeThere are 20 blanks in the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper word. Make sure that each word is used in the right form. Theres been a good deal of research and speculation suggesting that the acknowledgment of school performance with extrinsic rewards, smiling faces, stars, numbers, grades diminishes the intrinsic satisfaction children (1) by engaging (2) reading or writing or problem solving. While its certainly true (3) weve created an educational system that encourages our best and brightest to become cynical grade collectors and, in (4) , have developed an obsessionexperience_in_that_general_Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation One day in the December of my senior year, Mr. MacFarland asked me (8) I was going to go to college. I hadnt (9) much about it. I wasnt even (10) of what “entrance requirements” were. My folks would say that they wanted me to go to college and be a doctor, but I dont know (11) seriously I ever took that. It seemed a sweet thing to say, a bit of supportive family chatter, like telling a gangly daughter shes graceful. The reality of higher education wasnt in my (12) of things: no one in the family had gone to college; Part2_TA_exercises3.4.1(5) evaluation and assessment, I must tell you that venal (6) it may have been, I loved getting good grades (7) MacFarland. from_though(as)_with_where_thought_aware_how_scheme_Unit 6 Matriculation Fixationcollege; (13) two of my uncles had completed high school. I figured Id get a night job and go to the local junior college. But I hadnt even (14) for that. My grades were terrible. I had As in biology and a (15) of Bs in a few English and social science classes. All the rest were Cs or (16) . MacFarland said I would do well in his class and laid (17) the law about doing well in the (18) . Still, the record for my first three years wouldnt have been acceptable to any four-year school. To (19) surprise, I was turned (20) flat by USC and UCLA. Part2_TA_exercises3.4.2only_prepared_turn_few_worse_nobodys_others_down_Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation The college you select will play a large role in your future. It will help or hinder your career development. It will be the place where many of your life-long friendships are established. How do you choose the right college? Do you agree that the college a person attends is a significant factor in that persons future success? Write an essay to illustrate your opinions with the examples of your personal experience. The suggested title is Going to a Top-flight University is a Passport to Success?Part2_TA_exercises3.5.1V. TranslationA. Translate the following paragraphs from the text into Chinese.Unit 6 Matriculation Fixationthe hard part of child rearing is now over. Junior went to the right prep school, made the right friends, signed up for the right activities and is now headed for the right school. Now we can get the heck out of here and move to Tuscany. But in reality, life doesnt end at age 17. Or 21. In real life, some children get the finest educations but still become first-class screw-ups. My own profession is filled with people who went to the right school but ended up in the wrong career. (They should have been flacks; the phone ringing in the next room is not and never will be the Pulitzer committee.) Some of those boys and girls most likely to succeed are going to end up on welfare or skid row. Part2_TA_exercises3.5.2Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.5.4B. Translate the following paragraphs into English. 在中国，很多父母都会为孩子能够进入好学校而不遗余力地奔波，在中国，很多父母都会为孩子能够进入好学校而不遗余力地奔波，甚至花上大笔甚至花上大笔“择校费择校费”为孩子进入重点学校铺路。英国虽然国立中小学为孩子进入重点学校铺路。英国虽然国立中小学没有重点与非重点之分，但各校教育质量差异很大，英国父母为了让子女没有重点与非重点之分，但各校教育质量差异很大，英国父母为了让子女进入教育质量好的学校，也在绞尽脑汁想办法，其操心劳力、焦虑的程度进入教育质量好的学校，也在绞尽脑汁想办法，其操心劳力、焦虑的程度绝不亚于中国的父母。绝不亚于中国的父母。 入学申请表是家长向学校提交的重要材料。在填写入学申请表时，入学申请表是家长向学校提交的重要材料。在填写入学申请表时，某些家长为了让孩子能够在好学校就读，没有如实交代家庭住址。英国某些家长为了让孩子能够在好学校就读，没有如实交代家庭住址。英国每年都有数百起、甚至数千起这样的入学申请舞弊事件，且家长们的手段每年都有数百起、甚至数千起这样的入学申请舞弊事件，且家长们的手段越来越越来越“高明高明”。一些人用亲戚的地址，一些人用办公室的地址，有人正。一些人用亲戚的地址，一些人用办公室的地址，有人正确填写了家庭地址，但故意填错了邮政编码，因为他们知道这所学校是通确填写了家庭地址，但故意填错了邮政编码，因为他们知道这所学校是通过邮政编码来计算家庭住址与学校之间的距离的。有些家长为了向学校出过邮政编码来计算家庭住址与学校之间的距离的。有些家长为了向学校出示家庭税收凭证以证明其家庭地址，甚至真的到税务所去为一个并非他们示家庭税收凭证以证明其家庭地址，甚至真的到税务所去为一个并非他们居住地的地址缴税。居住地的地址缴税。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationPart2_TA_exercises3.6.1VI. Writing All civilized men believe that one of the rights of man is to pursue happiness. Lewis, however, argues that we have “no right to pursue happiness at the expense of honesty, loyalty or common humanity. Whats your opinion about the pursuit of happiness. Write an essay based on the following suggested title: My Understanding of the Pursuit of Happiness.Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation 最让人愤怒的谈话就是做父母的明显要从感情上全部包揽，寻找一最让人愤怒的谈话就是做父母的明显要从感情上全部包揽，寻找一个决定性的、确定未来职业的时刻。这些人都认为让孩子获准进入一流个决定性的、确定未来职业的时刻。这些人都认为让孩子获准进入一流的大学，就安全了，给孩子提供了一张通往成功的不可撤销的护照，保的大学，就安全了，给孩子提供了一张通往成功的不可撤销的护照，保证一辈子财运亨通，不会中断。像这些社会地位上流的傻瓜家长们在宣证一辈子财运亨通，不会中断。像这些社会地位上流的傻瓜家长们在宣告自己孩子的目标、庆贺自己干了件好事的同时，也在不知不觉地流露告自己孩子的目标、庆贺自己干了件好事的同时，也在不知不觉地流露出一副普鲁士似的好战，无声地奚落了那些不是很有天赋孩子们的家长。出一副普鲁士似的好战，无声地奚落了那些不是很有天赋孩子们的家长。对他们来说，抚养孩子最艰难的部分完成了。中学上完后，上了合适的对他们来说，抚养孩子最艰难的部分完成了。中学上完后，上了合适的预备学校，交上正当的朋友，签名参加合适的活动，现在又上了合适的预备学校，交上正当的朋友，签名参加合适的活动，现在又上了合适的学校。嗨，现在我们可以离开这儿了，搬到托斯卡纳区享受去。学校。嗨，现在我们可以离开这儿了，搬到托斯卡纳区享受去。Part2_TA_exercises3.5.7A.Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation 但是，现实生活并不是停止在但是，现实生活并不是停止在1717岁或岁或2121岁。实际生活中，有些孩岁。实际生活中，有些孩子受到了最好的教育，但是仍然把事情弄得很糟糕。我自己的这行职业子受到了最好的教育，但是仍然把事情弄得很糟糕。我自己的这行职业中，就有许多人上了很好的学校，但结果职业却很不理想中，就有许多人上了很好的学校，但结果职业却很不理想( (他们本应该他们本应该就是宣传品；可是隔壁房间里响起的电话不是，而且永远都不会是普利就是宣传品；可是隔壁房间里响起的电话不是，而且永远都不会是普利策委员会打来的策委员会打来的) )。那些最有可能成功的男孩女孩中，有些结果不是靠。那些最有可能成功的男孩女孩中，有些结果不是靠政府福利生活，就是沦落在贫民区。这时，他们需要父母的投入或者现政府福利生活，就是沦落在贫民区。这时，他们需要父母的投入或者现金。父母的责任并不因为孩子离开了，就可以了结了，父母的责任永远金。父母的责任并不因为孩子离开了，就可以了结了，父母的责任永远不会终止。这就是为什么大自然赋予你这种工作。不会终止。这就是为什么大自然赋予你这种工作。Part2_TA_exercises3.5.7A.Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation In China, a large number of parents spare no efforts to work for selecting a better school for their children, and even spend a large sum of money as long as their children can go to the key schools. The same case also occurs in Britain. Although there is no distinction between key public schools and non-key public schools, yet the quality of education in each school is of great difference. Therefore, the parents also leave no stones unturned in order to find a better school for their children. The degree of their anxieties is no less than that of Chinese parents. The first step to get in a school is to fill in the application forms. Since these application forms are considered as very important materials to get access to a better school, some parentsPart2_TA_exercises3.5.9B.Unit 6 Matriculation Fixationcheat by writing down wrong home addresses. Hence, every year in Britain finds hundreds of or thousands of such cheating events and the ways of cheating are increasingly “wiser”. For example, some fill in the relatives address or the offices address instead, others write down the correct home address but with a wrong post code, because they know the school will calculate the distance between the school and home according to the post code. Moreover, some parents even go to Tax Bureau to pay tax for a place where they dont stay at all, so that they could get the tax payment receipt and present it to the school as a proof of valid home address.Part2_TA_exercises3.5.10Unit 6 Matriculation FixationFurther ReadingFurther Reading Growing Pains Beyond “One Big Happy Family”Idiom StudiesMain Idea of Further ReadingExercisesUnit 6 Matriculation Fixation I remember waking up to the smell of salt. Each August when I was little, my parents loaded the car with Bermuda shorts and groceries, beach towels and Scrabble board, and drove to the New Jersey shore. My great-uncle Bernie Ochman had bought a $16,000 bay-front house there in the mid 1950s; he imagined it as a sort of free-wheeling compound, where all the aunts, grandparents, and cousins of my mothers large extended family could gather each summer.Text b1Further ReadingGrowing Pains Beyond “One Big Happy Family”Anndee HochmanUnit 6 Matriculation FixationText b2 Bernie died before my parents were married, but my mother carried out his vision with her usual zest. She made sure the taxes on the house were paid quarterly, the water valve was turned on each May, and there were enough hamburgers for everyone on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. In August, my parents worked feverishly for two weeks, then packed up and headed to the shore for what my father used to call, with some sarcasm, “a little peace and quiet.” We left at night to avoid traffic on the Atlantic City Expressway. I always fell asleep in the car and always woke up as we came over the bay bridge, where the smell of salt, moist and thick, would touch me like a mitten dipped in the ocean. “Are we there yet?” Id mumble from the back seat. Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation “Almost,” my mom would say, and my dad would turn left, then left again, and park the car as close as he could to the big white house. I loved the shore house because it was so different from home. The front steps tilted a little. Gray paint flaked off the window frames. Two daybeds in the living room were draped with pea green spreads, and the loveseats wore crunchy plastic slipcovers. The picket fence was red. Even the architecture broke rules. The front room has been added as an afterthought, a low-budget job. The carpenters never removed what had once been the houses front window, now ridiculous in the wall between the front room and the kitchen. IText b3Unit 6 Matriculation Fixationused to sit on the stairs, tapping on the kitchen window and making faces until my mother or my grandmother or Aunt Sadie looked up from the dishes and waved at me. Then I would collapse in giggles. Upstairs, there was no hall, no doors on the bedrooms. In fact, the bedrooms were not really separate rooms at all, just thin-walled divisions of the upper floor. The front stairs climbed right into the middle of Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Freddies room; you could stand on the top step and almost tickle Uncle Freddies feet. Walk through that bedroom, and the next one, and the next, and you arrived at the bathroom, which had its own quirks a white claw-foot tub, a hasty shower rigged up with red rubber tubing, and two doors. When I was older, I would check theText b4Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText b5sliding locks on both doors several times before I dared to unpeel my damp, sandy bathing suit. Aunt Sadie and Uncle Izzy slept in the larger of the two rear rooms, in twin beds pushed together to make one. The very back room was long and narrow, like a single-lane swimming pool, with windows that let in wet salty air off the bay. My grandparents Bubie and Pop-pop slept here. My mother loves to tell the story of my fathers first visit to this family compound, during their courtship. He recoiled at the upstairs setup; a private motel room, with a door that locked, was more what he had in mind. My mother informed him firmly that she was a package deal; if he loved her, he would learn to love her family the father who smoked terrible cigars, the sister whoUnit 6 Matriculation FixationText b6rolled her hair in Kotex sanitary pads, the mother who stewed bruised peaches in the hot, tiny kitchen. And he could start loving them here, in their peculiar summer habitat. I thought the house was wonderful. The connecting rooms reminded me of a maze, the sort of place where surprises could hunch in old dressers, under beds. Later I realized how the physical space shaped out time there, dissolving the barriers that, in most houses, separate adults from children, private from communal space, eating from work. At the shore, my friends and I played jacks in the middle of the living room, hide and seek in the freestanding metal closets. When people got hungry, they helped themselves from one of the three refrigerators. If I wanted to be alone, I opened a book.Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation There was one last room upstairs, an odd sixth bedroom lodged in the center of the house. It was the only bedroom with a door, and it belonged to my parents. When I was younger, I assumed they took that room out of generosity. It was small and dark and hot, and you had to grope for the light switch behind a high wooden headboard. It was also the only room in the house in which two people could have a private talk, or take a nap, without somebody else clomping through on her way to the bathroom. Much later, the summer I was twenty-two, I finally grasped the full significance of that room and made love with Jon Feldstein in it one June weekend when the family wasnt there. Text b7Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText b8“Do you want to have sex?” he had asked, without expectation in his voice, as if it were a foregone conclusion. Later he said, “Well, you know, it gets better with practice.” I did not practice with Jon Feldstein again. In fact, I didnt practice with anyone until more than two years later. By then, I had fallen into a deep and surprising infatuation with one of my closest friends, driven my Datsun crosscountry alone, and settled in Portland. Early in the summer of 1987, I flew back east to tell my parents I was in love with a woman and believed I was destined to be in love with women throughout the foreseeable future. It was Memorial Day weekend, the time we traditionally turned on the water valve and began to inhabit the house at the shore. My mother and I drove there in her blue Honda. Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation “I think thats how its going to be for me. With women, I mean,” I told her. “Well, your father thought so,” she said finally. “He thought so back in November. I told him that was ridiculous, that youd always had boyfriends.” She said a lot of other things after that, about not having grandchildren and what a hard path Id chosen and how she and my father werent going to be around forever and had hoped to see me taken care of. I concentrated on driving and on the way blood was beating in my ankles, my thumbs, my neck, my ears. I wanted to go to sleep and not wake up until I smelled salt. When we came close to the bay, my mother asked me to pull into a parking lot so she could cry for a while. “Im sorry,” I said, but it didnt seem to help.Text b9Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText b10 At the house, I walked around, touching things, while my mother told my father that he was right, I having an affair with a woman. I wanted to eat something, anything, off the familiar mismatched dishes, play Scrabble until the stars came out, stand on the back porch and watch boats slip under the bridge, tap on the kitchen window until someone waved at me. Instead, I went into the bathroom and locked both doors. About midnight, while I lay sleepless in Aunt Sadie and Uncle Izzys room, my mother came in and crawled into the other twin bed. “I feel so empty,” she said. “I feel empty inside. . I dont feel any joy anymore. I feel like the family is breaking apart. I remember how the family was when UncleUnit 6 Matriculation FixationText b11Bernie was alive, how this house was .” And her voice, already thin, cracked like a bowl dropped on a tile floor a splintering and then silence where something used to be. 2 A.M. 3 A.M. Everyone had trooped off to bed in pairs cousins Joni and Gerry, cousins Debbie and Ralph. Except for my grandfather, who had always stayed up late to watch television and stayed up even later since my grandmother died three years before. Finally he switched off the set, and the house went dark and quiet. “Dont you feel its unnatural?” my mother asked. “Dont you feel its just wrong, that its weird?” How can you ask me about being weird in this house, I wanted to shout. This house, with its bedrooms barging into eachUnit 6 Matriculation FixationText b12other and its mismatched dishes, its double-doored bathroom and its red picket fence. When I used to complain that our family wasnt like other families, you laughed and said, “Well, we may not be normal, but we have a lot of fun.” I didnt say these things. I only thought them. And it wasnt until much later, until very recently, that I began to understand why my mother could tolerate the quirks in that house. The madcap shell at the shore housed a solid, predictable center. Relatives came and went in pairs. Someday, presumably, I would join the procession; one of my children would tap on the kitchen window and giggle when I waved. The house might be a little cracked, but the family was predictable, enduring.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText b13 I understand why you are so upset, I could tell my mother now. The world has gone crazy and all the walls are too thin and your mother is dead and your sister divorced and your daughter loves women and everything is coming unglued and nothing turns out the way we plan. 4 A.M. 5 A.M. My mother stayed in my room all night, talking and weeping. Toward morning, as boats began to slosh in the bay, I fell into an exhausted, tear-stained sleep. When I woke up at noon, we ate tuna subs and drove back to Philadelphia. The New Jersey beach house was never just a summertime shelter. It housed my familys favorite image of itself at our expansive best gathered around the huge dining room table, traipsing through the bedrooms, one big happy family. Just like all the television shows I watched and worshipped.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText b14 It is no accident that this particular image clung. The picture of such charmed and cheerful families took hold in the decade proceeding my birth, a bit of postwar propaganda that paid homage to the supposedly idyllic families of Victorian times. Mass-marketed by television, the Cleaver clan and others were burned into our minds by millions of cathode-ray tubes. The feminist movement challenged that postwar myth as women began to examine the contents inside the “happy family” clich. Feminists of the late 1960s and 1970s urged their sisters to live authentic lives and to begin them at home. They insisted that personal choices had political import that is, the daily, minute interactions of our lives mattered, not just for each of us alone, but potentially for everyone, for the world. “When a woman tellsUnit 6 Matriculation FixationText b15kitchens and living rooms, they began to apply these feministthe truth,” Adrienne Rich wrote, “she is creating the possibility for more truth around her.” Women pointed out that families maintained the illusion of happiness only by denying important facts about adoptions, abortions, illness and illegitimate births, divorces and deaths. Some families devoted their lives to maintaining the secret of a sons homosexuality, a grandmothers alcoholism, a fathers violent rage. Melancholy and despair split family members not only from outsiders but from each other; certain topics, one understood, were simply not discussed.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText b16 In consciousness-raising groups, women discovered the exhilaration of telling each other unvarnished stories of their bodies, relationships, and families. Back at home, in their kitchens and living rooms, they began to apply these feminist ideals; that how people talked meant as much as the conclusions they reached; that the only way to solve problems was to actively engage them; that keeping secrets cost too much. It was feminism, in part, that prompted me to tell my own family a difficult truth, one I was sure would cause misunderstanding and pain. I was frightened to disturb the jovial peace that was a source of such family pride; at the same time, I could not visit that unpretentious house and pretend I was someone else. I wanted to be known, and seen, in the ways I had come to know and see myself.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText b17 I did it because I chose truth over tranquility. Because I had come to believe that real families fight and resist, sob and explode, apologize and forgive. Beneath the fiction of happiness lies the raw, important tissue of human relationships. And I did it because I had watched other women live without lying. For some, that meant no longer passing as heterosexual. For others, it meant acknowledging they did not want partners or children. Some urge their biological relatives and chosen kin to talk about subjects long considered taboo. Their example made my own convictions more fierce. Their bravery buoyed me. “Its hard. We argue and struggle,” Selma Miriam of the Bloodroot restaurant collective told me, with a glance around the room at her “cronies.”Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText b18 “You know each others weaknesses,” said Betsey Beaven, another Bloodroot member. “Love requires a lot of cultivation. It can be tenuous. You have to work on it all the time. Its very difficult at times, but so rewarding when you get through to the other side.” I remember my friend Susans assessment, at the end of a long discussion about what separates family from friends. “Family,” she said, “are the people Ive struggled through things with.” Again, always, the personal becomes political. Women striving daily to make plain the good and the bad of their lives also contribute to a larger change, the breakdown of fictions that divide us from each other white from black, lesbian fromUnit 6 Matriculation FixationText b19straight, old from young. Women who refuse to act out lies at home can turn the same honest scrutiny outside, demanding truth in their work, their education, their politics. Maybe happiness, I have come to think, is a limiting proposition, a flat summary of human emotion in the same way a sitcom is a flat summary of real life. “Happy families” dont account for the ways people are knit by sorrow, the way bonds grow stronger through anger and grief. This is it, I tell myself now; this mess is as real as it gets. I try to cherish flux the mercurial moods, the feelings that flood and recede, the infinite chaos in which families become families. Two days after I came out to my parents at the beach house, I returned to Portland, with my bicycle packed in a United AirlinesUnit 6 Matriculation FixationText b20baggage carrier and my grandmothers cameo ring on the pinky finger of my left hand. Id found the ring in a jewelry box in my bedroom. It was delicate, a filigree setting with a small oblong cameo, the ivory-faced women profiled on a peach background. The thin silver band barely eased over the knuckle on my pinky lesbians traditional ring-bearing finger. Wearing it, I felt marked, as though I were bringing contraband across the border in broad daylight, all my conflicting allegiances exposed. My head ached. Would my relatives still love me if I failed to do my part by marrying and enlarging the family with children? Could I ever bring a woman lover to the shore? Where would we sleep?Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText b21 How would I reconcile my relatives with the various families I developed as a writer, a Jew, a lesbian, a social worker, an East Coast expatriate in the Northwest? How far could everyone stretch without snapping, refusing wholeness, flying apart like shrapnel? I stumbled off the plane at midnight into a solid hug from Marian, a coworker at the social service agency where I counseled street youth. At work that week, I walked numbly through my routine. On Friday, while cleaning up the drop-in center after the last round of kids, I looked at my left hand. Where the cameo of my grandmothers ring had been, a little rectangle of skin showed through the filigree window. In the agencys dim basement, I leaned against a paneled wall and sobbed.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText b22 All the rest of that summer my parents and I exchanged letters, envelopes full of anger and accusation, concern and caution, guilt and grief. I had been such a good child, cheerful, diligent, and brainy good citizen awards in ninth grade, acceptance to Yale, an internship, then a job, at The Washington Post. It was bad enough that I had left the Post after two years, moved 3,000 miles away and begun to work with homeless teenagers. Now this! Where had I gotten such subversive ideas? Perhaps in a certain south Jersey beach house, in a maze of doorless rooms. From the West Coast, I glanced anxiously over my shoulder: Were my relatives still there, with their shopping and their sweaters, their softening faces and their stiff resistance to change? Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText b23If I returned, would I be swallowed up? If I stayed, would I be left adrift? Is that the brittle choice that, ultimately, forms the boundary line of every family: Be like us, or be alone? I took off the empty ring and put it in a drawer. I spent that summer prowling my past, looking for signposts to help navigate the present. I heard voices, comforting and cautionary, joyous and pained, voices that chased in endless loops through my head. “You can do anything you set your mind to.” “Dont leave.” “The world is full of interesting people and places.” “This family is the only safe spot on earth.”Unit 6 Matriculation FixationText b24 “Follow your dreams.” “Stay up.” I listened, and remembered, and wrote things down.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationBermuda shortsNotes to Further ReadingBermuda shorts: a type of short pants associated with casualness, vacation, leisureUnit 6 Matriculation FixationScrabble boardScrabble board: a word game for 2 - 4 players where players have small tiles with letters on them which they try to form into words. The board is where the game is played. Notes to Further ReadingUnit 6 Matriculation FixationMemorial DayMemorial Day: May 30, a legal holiday in the United States in order to remember those who died in warNotes to Further ReadingUnit 6 Matriculation FixationFourth of JulyFourth of July: American independence holidayNotes to Further ReadingUnit 6 Matriculation FixationAtlantic City ExpresswayAtlantic City Expressway: a highway Notes to Further ReadingUnit 6 Matriculation Fixationrolled her hair in Kotex sanitary padsrolled her hair in Kotex sanitary pads: used Kotex pads to roll her hair so that her hair would be curly. Here the author is trying to describe how strange the family was.Notes to Further ReadingUnit 6 Matriculation FixationDatsunDatsun: a type of Japanese carNotes to Further ReadingUnit 6 Matriculation FixationHondaHonda: a type of Japanese carNotes to Further ReadingUnit 6 Matriculation FixationThe Washington Post: a Washington D.C. Newspaper Paraphrase of Difficult SentencesThe Washington PostNotes to Further ReadingUnit 6 Matriculation Fixationbut my mother carried out his vision with her usual zest., but my mother carried out his vision with her usual zest., but my mother still repeatedly did what Bernie had done before with passionParaphrase of Difficult SentencesUnit 6 Matriculation FixationEven the architecture broke rules.Even the architecture broke rules.Even the architecture appeared unique.Paraphrase of Difficult SentencesUnit 6 Matriculation FixationMy mother informed him firmlyMy mother informed him firmly that she was a package deal. My mother made it clear to him that the relationship would be possile conditionally. Paraphrase of Difficult SentencesUnit 6 Matriculation Fixation“幸福大家庭幸福大家庭”之外成长的烦恼之外成长的烦恼T1Translation of Further Reading安迪安迪霍奇曼霍奇曼 记得我一觉醒过来时闻到了海水的咸味。记得我一觉醒过来时闻到了海水的咸味。 小小时时候候，每每年年八八月月，父父母母都都会会用用汽汽车车满满载载休休闲闲短短裤裤和和食食品品、海海滩滩巾巾以以及及拼拼词词游游戏戏板板，开开车车到到新新泽泽西西州州的的海海岸岸。我我的的叔叔祖祖父父伯伯尼尼奥奥克克曼曼在在50年年代代中中期期花花了了1万万6千千美美元元在在那那里里买买了了一一套套面面向向海海湾湾的的房房子子。他他把把这这房房子子看看作作逍逍遥遥自自在在的的住住所所，姑姑姑姑们们、爷爷爷爷们们以以及及妈妈妈妈的的堂堂兄兄弟弟姐姐妹妹们们每每年年夏夏天天都都可可以在这里聚会。以在这里聚会。 妈妈妈妈结结婚婚的的时时候候，伯伯尼尼已已经经不不在在人人世世。但但是是，她她仍仍然然一一如如既既往往地地守守着着他他的的愿愿景景。她她每每季季度度都都按按时时交交房房税税，每每年年五五月月都都打打开开自自来来水水阀阀门门，并并在在阵阵亡将士纪念日和美国独立日为每个人准备足够的面包。亡将士纪念日和美国独立日为每个人准备足够的面包。 八八月月，爸爸爸爸妈妈妈妈紧紧张张地地忙忙碌碌了了两两个个星星期期，然然后后打打点点行行装装向向海海边边出出发发了了。爸爸过去总带着些讥讽的口吻称之为爸爸过去总带着些讥讽的口吻称之为“清静之所清静之所”。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT2爸爸过去总带着些讥讽的口吻称之为爸爸过去总带着些讥讽的口吻称之为“清静之所清静之所”。为了避开亚特兰大高。为了避开亚特兰大高速的车流，我们晚上就动身了。我总是在车上睡着并在过海湾大桥的时候速的车流，我们晚上就动身了。我总是在车上睡着并在过海湾大桥的时候醒过来。潮湿而浓烈的海水的咸味浸淫着我，而我就像一只手套浸入了大醒过来。潮湿而浓烈的海水的咸味浸淫着我，而我就像一只手套浸入了大海。海。 “到了吗？到了吗？”我从后排座位上喃喃道。我从后排座位上喃喃道。 “快了，快了，”妈妈常常会说，爸爸左一拐，右一拐，然后把车停到离白妈妈常常会说，爸爸左一拐，右一拐，然后把车停到离白色大房子尽可能近的地方。色大房子尽可能近的地方。 我喜欢这座海边的房子，因为它跟我的家有很大不同。门前的台阶稍我喜欢这座海边的房子，因为它跟我的家有很大不同。门前的台阶稍微有些倾斜。窗框上的灰色油漆有些剥落。客厅里摆放着两张两用长椅，微有些倾斜。窗框上的灰色油漆有些剥落。客厅里摆放着两张两用长椅，上面覆盖着淡绿色的床单，双人沙发外面包着一层硬塑料套。尖桩篱栅漆上面覆盖着淡绿色的床单，双人沙发外面包着一层硬塑料套。尖桩篱栅漆成了红色。成了红色。 这里的建筑设计也不拘一格。房子的前室是后来加上的，没花多少钱。这里的建筑设计也不拘一格。房子的前室是后来加上的，没花多少钱。工匠当时没有把前窗封掉，所以在前室和厨房之间的墙上多出了一个窗户，工匠当时没有把前窗封掉，所以在前室和厨房之间的墙上多出了一个窗户，显得有点怪异。我常常坐在楼梯上，轻拍着厨房的窗子，做着鬼脸，等待显得有点怪异。我常常坐在楼梯上，轻拍着厨房的窗子，做着鬼脸，等待妈妈或者姐姐或者萨迪姑妈抬头看我并向我招手。然后我会格格地笑个不妈妈或者姐姐或者萨迪姑妈抬头看我并向我招手。然后我会格格地笑个不停。停。Unit 6 Matriculation Fixation 楼上没有厅，卧室也没有门。事实上，卧室根本就是独立房间，只楼上没有厅，卧室也没有门。事实上，卧室根本就是独立房间，只是把二楼用薄墙做了简单的分隔。楼梯直接通向夏洛特姑妈和弗雷迪姑是把二楼用薄墙做了简单的分隔。楼梯直接通向夏洛特姑妈和弗雷迪姑父住的房间的中部；站在最上一级台阶，伸手就几乎也可以呵痒弗雷迪父住的房间的中部；站在最上一级台阶，伸手就几乎也可以呵痒弗雷迪姑父的脚。姑父的脚。 穿过那间卧室，再过一间卧室，然后再过一间卧室，就到了卫生间。穿过那间卧室，再过一间卧室，然后再过一间卧室，就到了卫生间。卫生间非常独特：卫生间非常独特： 一只爪形浴盆，一个用红色橡皮管连接的简便沐浴一只爪形浴盆，一个用红色橡皮管连接的简便沐浴器以及两个门。年龄稍大一点儿后，我把两个门上的滑锁检查几遍后才器以及两个门。年龄稍大一点儿后，我把两个门上的滑锁检查几遍后才敢脱去身上湿漉漉的沾满沙子的游泳衣。敢脱去身上湿漉漉的沾满沙子的游泳衣。 萨迪姑姑和依奇姑父住在后面两间卧室中较大的那间卧室里，两张萨迪姑姑和依奇姑父住在后面两间卧室中较大的那间卧室里，两张床合在一起当双人床用。最后面的卧室又长又窄，就像一个单泳道的游床合在一起当双人床用。最后面的卧室又长又窄，就像一个单泳道的游泳池一样。海湾潮湿而带着咸味的海风透过窗子可以吹进来。我的爷爷泳池一样。海湾潮湿而带着咸味的海风透过窗子可以吹进来。我的爷爷布比和奶奶珀匹就在这间房里住。布比和奶奶珀匹就在这间房里住。T3Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT4 爸爸在向妈妈求爱期间来过这里。妈妈喜欢讲爸爸第一次来访。爸爸在向妈妈求爱期间来过这里。妈妈喜欢讲爸爸第一次来访。他对楼上的布局感到很别扭；在他的脑海里，这里更像是一家大门紧他对楼上的布局感到很别扭；在他的脑海里，这里更像是一家大门紧闭的私人汽车旅馆。妈妈坚定地告诉他，她这里是一揽子交易；如果闭的私人汽车旅馆。妈妈坚定地告诉他，她这里是一揽子交易；如果他爱她，就要学会爱她的家庭他爱她，就要学会爱她的家庭爸爸是杆抽雪茄的老烟枪，姐姐喜爸爸是杆抽雪茄的老烟枪，姐姐喜欢将头发挽在高丝洁月经带里，妈妈喜欢在闷热狭小的厨房里炖烂桃欢将头发挽在高丝洁月经带里，妈妈喜欢在闷热狭小的厨房里炖烂桃子。他可能会在这个独特的夏季寓所喜欢上他们。子。他可能会在这个独特的夏季寓所喜欢上他们。 在我看来，这房子非常好。这些相互连通的房间就像迷宫一样。在我看来，这房子非常好。这些相互连通的房间就像迷宫一样。在这样的地方，旧梳妆台里，床下，都能翻出来你意想不到的东西。在这样的地方，旧梳妆台里，床下，都能翻出来你意想不到的东西。后来，我意识到在那里物理空间是如何影响人们的时间的。在大多数后来，我意识到在那里物理空间是如何影响人们的时间的。在大多数房子里，成人与孩子，个人与公共区域，吃饭与工作区域之间都设有房子里，成人与孩子，个人与公共区域，吃饭与工作区域之间都设有屏障。而在这里，这些都不存在了。在海滨的时候，我跟朋友一起在屏障。而在这里，这些都不存在了。在海滨的时候，我跟朋友一起在客厅玩抛接子游戏，在独立的金属柜子里玩捉迷藏。大家饿的时候就客厅玩抛接子游戏，在独立的金属柜子里玩捉迷藏。大家饿的时候就从三个冰箱里拿些东西吃。如果我想独处，我就看书。从三个冰箱里拿些东西吃。如果我想独处，我就看书。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT5 楼上还有一个房间，是位于房子中央的奇特的卧室。它是唯一一间楼上还有一个房间，是位于房子中央的奇特的卧室。它是唯一一间有门的卧室，属于我的父母。小的时候，我想他们是因为大度才选了这有门的卧室，属于我的父母。小的时候，我想他们是因为大度才选了这间卧室。里面又小，又黑，又热。你需要把手伸到床头板后面才能摸开间卧室。里面又小，又黑，又热。你需要把手伸到床头板后面才能摸开关。这也是这座房子里唯一能供两个人说悄悄话或者睡午觉的房间，没关。这也是这座房子里唯一能供两个人说悄悄话或者睡午觉的房间，没有人会在上卫生间去时发出响声从这里穿堂而过。有人会在上卫生间去时发出响声从这里穿堂而过。 后来，在我后来，在我2222岁那年的夏天，我终于知道这间房的全部意义。那是岁那年的夏天，我终于知道这间房的全部意义。那是一个六月的周末，家人都不在那里，我和乔恩一个六月的周末，家人都不在那里，我和乔恩菲尔德斯坦在那里做了菲尔德斯坦在那里做了爱。爱。“想做爱吗？想做爱吗？”他问道，声音中不带任何期待，好像已经预告结局。他问道，声音中不带任何期待，好像已经预告结局。后来，他说：后来，他说：“哦，你知道，有实践才会更好。哦，你知道，有实践才会更好。”我没再跟乔恩我没再跟乔恩菲尔德斯坦实践。事实上，直到两年后，我才再次跟人菲尔德斯坦实践。事实上，直到两年后，我才再次跟人实践。在此之前，我深深地、不可思议地爱上了我最亲密的朋友，独自实践。在此之前，我深深地、不可思议地爱上了我最亲密的朋友，独自开上达特桑，然后在波特兰安顿下来。开上达特桑，然后在波特兰安顿下来。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT6 19871987年初夏，我乘飞机回来。我告诉父母我爱上了一个女人并认为年初夏，我乘飞机回来。我告诉父母我爱上了一个女人并认为在可以预见的未来我注定会爱上女人。那是一个阵亡将士纪念日的周末。在可以预见的未来我注定会爱上女人。那是一个阵亡将士纪念日的周末。这个时候我们一般都打开水阀，开始在这套海滨的房子里居住。我和妈这个时候我们一般都打开水阀，开始在这套海滨的房子里居住。我和妈妈开着她蓝色本田到那里。妈开着她蓝色本田到那里。 “我认为我的将来就是这样。我指的是，和女人生活在一起，我认为我的将来就是这样。我指的是，和女人生活在一起，”我告我告诉她。诉她。 “哦，你爸爸也这样认为，哦，你爸爸也这样认为，”她最后说。她最后说。“去年十一月他就这样认为。去年十一月他就这样认为。我告诉他，这很荒唐，你过去一直都交男朋友的。我告诉他，这很荒唐，你过去一直都交男朋友的。” 之后，她说了很多其他方面的问题：之后，她说了很多其他方面的问题： 不生孩子，我选择的道路如何不生孩子，我选择的道路如何艰难，她和爸爸不会永远陪伴我，希望我有人照料。我聚精会神地开着艰难，她和爸爸不会永远陪伴我，希望我有人照料。我聚精会神地开着车，聚精会神地感受着热血涌上我的脚踝、拇指、颈项和耳朵。我想睡车，聚精会神地感受着热血涌上我的脚踝、拇指、颈项和耳朵。我想睡上一觉，一直睡到我闻见海水的咸味。当我们靠近海湾的时候，妈妈要上一觉，一直睡到我闻见海水的咸味。当我们靠近海湾的时候，妈妈要我开进停车场，好让她哭上一会儿。我开进停车场，好让她哭上一会儿。“对不起，对不起，”我说，但是好像没有我说，但是好像没有用。用。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT7 到了那座房子后，我四处走动，触摸着里面的物品，而妈妈跟爸爸到了那座房子后，我四处走动，触摸着里面的物品，而妈妈跟爸爸说，他说得对，我是在跟一个女人生活在一起。我很想吃些东西，随便说，他说得对，我是在跟一个女人生活在一起。我很想吃些东西，随便吃一些熟悉而搭配不十分合理的菜，然后玩拼词游戏，直到星星出来，吃一些熟悉而搭配不十分合理的菜，然后玩拼词游戏，直到星星出来，然后站在后面的门廊里看船在桥下穿梭而过，轻拍厨房的窗子直到有人然后站在后面的门廊里看船在桥下穿梭而过，轻拍厨房的窗子直到有人向我挥手。我没有这样做，而是进了卫生间，把两个门锁上。向我挥手。我没有这样做，而是进了卫生间，把两个门锁上。 大约半夜时分，我在萨迪姑姑和伊奇姑父的房间里无眠地躺着，妈大约半夜时分，我在萨迪姑姑和伊奇姑父的房间里无眠地躺着，妈妈走进来，爬上了另一半床。妈走进来，爬上了另一半床。“我感到非常空虚，我感到非常空虚，”她说。她说。“我心里感我心里感到很空虚。到很空虚。我不再有任何快乐。我感觉这个家就要散了。我记得伯我不再有任何快乐。我感觉这个家就要散了。我记得伯尼叔叔在世的时候这个家是什么样子，这座房子是什么样子尼叔叔在世的时候这个家是什么样子，这座房子是什么样子”她声她声音已经很微弱，像一只碗坠落在地板砖上时发出的声响音已经很微弱，像一只碗坠落在地板砖上时发出的声响一阵破碎声一阵破碎声后，一切又恢复了平时的沉静。后，一切又恢复了平时的沉静。 2 2点钟。点钟。3 3点钟。所有人都成双结对地上床睡觉去了点钟。所有人都成双结对地上床睡觉去了堂妹琼妮和堂妹琼妮和杰里，堂弟黛比和拉尔夫。只有爷爷还没睡。他总是睡得很晚，一个人杰里，堂弟黛比和拉尔夫。只有爷爷还没睡。他总是睡得很晚，一个人看电视。自从三年前奶奶去世后，他睡得更晚了。最后，他关了电视机，看电视。自从三年前奶奶去世后，他睡得更晚了。最后，他关了电视机，房子一片黑暗寂静。房子一片黑暗寂静。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT8 “你不觉得这不正常吗？你不觉得这不正常吗？”妈妈问道。妈妈问道。“你不觉得这是错的吗？这你不觉得这是错的吗？这种古怪的事情？种古怪的事情？” 你怎么能在这座房子质问我古怪？我真想大喊一声。这样一座房子，你怎么能在这座房子质问我古怪？我真想大喊一声。这样一座房子，卧室紧咬着卧室，菜不像菜，卫生间两个门，还有红色的尖桩篱栅。当卧室紧咬着卧室，菜不像菜，卫生间两个门，还有红色的尖桩篱栅。当我抱怨我们家跟其他人家不一样时，你会笑着说：我抱怨我们家跟其他人家不一样时，你会笑着说：“哦，我们可能不一哦，我们可能不一样，但是我们很愉快。样，但是我们很愉快。” 我没有这样说。我只是心里想。直到后来，直到近来，我才开始理我没有这样说。我只是心里想。直到后来，直到近来，我才开始理解妈妈为什么能够忍受那座房子的怪异特点。海边这个怪异的窝是一个解妈妈为什么能够忍受那座房子的怪异特点。海边这个怪异的窝是一个牢固的稳定的中心。亲戚们出双入对。也许，某一天我也会加入他们的牢固的稳定的中心。亲戚们出双入对。也许，某一天我也会加入他们的行列；我的孩子会轻拍厨房的窗户，在我向他招手时会格格地笑。房子行列；我的孩子会轻拍厨房的窗户，在我向他招手时会格格地笑。房子可能有些破了，但是这个家庭却稳定而持久。可能有些破了，但是这个家庭却稳定而持久。 我现在可以告诉妈妈，我知道你为什么会如此心烦意乱。世界变得我现在可以告诉妈妈，我知道你为什么会如此心烦意乱。世界变得狂乱，所有的墙壁都显得太薄了，你的妈妈去世了，你的姐姐离婚了，狂乱，所有的墙壁都显得太薄了，你的妈妈去世了，你的姐姐离婚了，你的女儿搞同性恋，一切都散架了，一切都失控了。你的女儿搞同性恋，一切都散架了，一切都失控了。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT9 4 4点。点。5 5点。妈妈在我房间里待了一整夜，说说哭哭。天快亮的时候，点。妈妈在我房间里待了一整夜，说说哭哭。天快亮的时候，当船儿开始晃过海湾的时候，我带着倦意和眼泪睡着了。我一觉睡到中当船儿开始晃过海湾的时候，我带着倦意和眼泪睡着了。我一觉睡到中午，我吃了些金枪鱼三明治后就开车回到了费城。午，我吃了些金枪鱼三明治后就开车回到了费城。 新泽西海滩的房子从来都不只是避暑之所。它代表我们这个大家族新泽西海滩的房子从来都不只是避暑之所。它代表我们这个大家族的扩大的形象的扩大的形象围着一张巨大的餐桌聚在一起，拖着步子穿堂入室，围着一张巨大的餐桌聚在一起，拖着步子穿堂入室，俨然一个幸福的大家庭。就像我看过的为之敬慕的电视节目一样。俨然一个幸福的大家庭。就像我看过的为之敬慕的电视节目一样。 这种意象延续下来决非偶然。在我出生前的十年里，这种喜悦的家这种意象延续下来决非偶然。在我出生前的十年里，这种喜悦的家庭的意象已经在人们心中扎根，颇有点战后宣传的意味。这种宣传致力庭的意象已经在人们心中扎根，颇有点战后宣传的意味。这种宣传致力于描述维多利亚时代田园式的家庭。经过电视的大力推广，克里佛家族于描述维多利亚时代田园式的家庭。经过电视的大力推广，克里佛家族和其他家庭就像经过几百万条阴极射线熔在我们大脑中一样。和其他家庭就像经过几百万条阴极射线熔在我们大脑中一样。 当妇女开始对关于当妇女开始对关于“幸福家庭幸福家庭”的陈词滥调进行审视时，女权运动的陈词滥调进行审视时，女权运动对这种战后神话提出了挑战。对这种战后神话提出了挑战。19601960年代后期和年代后期和19701970年代的女权运动促使年代的女权运动促使他们的姐妹们去过真实的生活，并从家里做起。她们主张，个人选择有他们的姐妹们去过真实的生活，并从家里做起。她们主张，个人选择有政治意义政治意义也就是说，日常的、微小的家庭生活中的交往很重要，不也就是说，日常的、微小的家庭生活中的交往很重要，不Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT10仅是对我们个人，也可能对所有人，对整个世界都非常重要。仅是对我们个人，也可能对所有人，对整个世界都非常重要。“当一个当一个女人说实话时，女人说实话时，”阿德丽安阿德丽安里奇写道，里奇写道，“她就是在自己周围创造更多她就是在自己周围创造更多的说实话的环境。的说实话的环境。” 妇女们指出，家庭仅仅是通过否认重要的事实来维持幸福的错觉的妇女们指出，家庭仅仅是通过否认重要的事实来维持幸福的错觉的收养，堕胎，病中生育和非婚生育，离婚和死亡。有些家庭一生都收养，堕胎，病中生育和非婚生育，离婚和死亡。有些家庭一生都在为儿子的同性恋、奶奶的酗酒以及爸爸的暴怒保密。忧郁和绝望不仅在为儿子的同性恋、奶奶的酗酒以及爸爸的暴怒保密。忧郁和绝望不仅使家人与外人分享而且也使家庭成员内部彼此孤立；有些话题没有讨论使家人与外人分享而且也使家庭成员内部彼此孤立；有些话题没有讨论过。过。 在意识增强的群体中，妇女发现了彼此倾诉衷肠的快乐在意识增强的群体中，妇女发现了彼此倾诉衷肠的快乐关于自关于自己身体、关系以及家庭。回到家里，在厨房里，在客厅里，她们开始实己身体、关系以及家庭。回到家里，在厨房里，在客厅里，她们开始实施这些女权主义的理想；人们如何说等同于他们得出的结论；解决问题施这些女权主义的理想；人们如何说等同于他们得出的结论；解决问题的唯一出路是积极地参与；保密的成本太高。的唯一出路是积极地参与；保密的成本太高。 在某种程度上，正是女权主义促使我对我自己的家庭讲出了一个艰在某种程度上，正是女权主义促使我对我自己的家庭讲出了一个艰难的事实，一个肯定会引起误解和痛苦的事实。我害怕扰乱这份充满欢难的事实，一个肯定会引起误解和痛苦的事实。我害怕扰乱这份充满欢Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT11乐的宁静，它为这个家庭带来了不尽的自豪；与此同时，我可以来到这乐的宁静，它为这个家庭带来了不尽的自豪；与此同时，我可以来到这座朴素的房子里，假装是另外一个人。我希望人们能够像我认识我自己，座朴素的房子里，假装是另外一个人。我希望人们能够像我认识我自己，看我自己一样认识我，看待我。看我自己一样认识我，看待我。 我这样做是因为我在真实和宁死之间选择了真实。因为我开始认识我这样做是因为我在真实和宁死之间选择了真实。因为我开始认识到，真实的家庭里有争执和抵制，有哭泣和爆发，有道歉和原谅。在幸到，真实的家庭里有争执和抵制，有哭泣和爆发，有道歉和原谅。在幸福的表象之下存在着人际关系的原始的重要的细胞。福的表象之下存在着人际关系的原始的重要的细胞。 我这样做是因为我看到其他女人不是生活在谎言之中。对于有些女我这样做是因为我看到其他女人不是生活在谎言之中。对于有些女人来说，这意味着不再被视为异性恋者。对于有此女人来说，它意味着人来说，这意味着不再被视为异性恋者。对于有此女人来说，它意味着承认自己不要伴侣和孩子。有此女人促使自己的血亲和姻亲谈论由来已承认自己不要伴侣和孩子。有此女人促使自己的血亲和姻亲谈论由来已久的禁忌。她们的示范使我的信念更加坚定。她们的勇敢使我感到鼓舞。久的禁忌。她们的示范使我的信念更加坚定。她们的勇敢使我感到鼓舞。 “这很困难。我们既争吵又斗争，这很困难。我们既争吵又斗争，”BloodrootBloodroot饭店联谊会的塞尔玛饭店联谊会的塞尔玛米里亚姆告诉我，眼睛扫视了一下她米里亚姆告诉我，眼睛扫视了一下她“密友密友”。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT12 “你知道彼此的弱点，你知道彼此的弱点，”另一位另一位BloodrootBloodroot会员贝特西会员贝特西贝文说。贝文说。“爱需要精力培养。它可能很纤弱。你必须始终呵护。有时候很困难，但爱需要精力培养。它可能很纤弱。你必须始终呵护。有时候很困难，但是当你到达了彼岸你就很有收获。是当你到达了彼岸你就很有收获。” 我记得朋友苏珊的评价。当时，我们花了很长时间讨论家人与朋友我记得朋友苏珊的评价。当时，我们花了很长时间讨论家人与朋友之间的区别。之间的区别。“家人，家人，”她说，她说，“是与我一起度过困难的人。是与我一起度过困难的人。” 个人的问题又一次，而且总是成为政治性问题。女人每天努力把她个人的问题又一次，而且总是成为政治性问题。女人每天努力把她们生活中的好坏说明白也促进了更大的变化，消除了造成我们彼此隔离们生活中的好坏说明白也促进了更大的变化，消除了造成我们彼此隔离的假象的假象黑人与白人，同性恋者与常人，老人与年轻人。在家里拒绝黑人与白人，同性恋者与常人，老人与年轻人。在家里拒绝说谎的女人在外面也会进行同样诚实的审视，要求在工作中、教育中以说谎的女人在外面也会进行同样诚实的审视，要求在工作中、教育中以及政治中开诚布公。及政治中开诚布公。 我渐渐认为，也许幸福是一个限制性命题，正如情景剧是对现实生我渐渐认为，也许幸福是一个限制性命题，正如情景剧是对现实生活的平实的总结一样，幸福是对人类情感的平实的总结。活的平实的总结一样，幸福是对人类情感的平实的总结。 我现在告诉自己，正是这样；混乱就是现实。我试图珍视不断流动我现在告诉自己，正是这样；混乱就是现实。我试图珍视不断流动的的易变的情绪，潮涨潮落的感情，家庭轮回的无限的混乱。易变的情绪，潮涨潮落的感情，家庭轮回的无限的混乱。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT13 在到海滨的房子里看望父母的两天后，我回到了波特兰，自行车装在到海滨的房子里看望父母的两天后，我回到了波特兰，自行车装在联合航空公司的行李车里，奶奶送的宝石戒指戴在我左手的小拇指上。在联合航空公司的行李车里，奶奶送的宝石戒指戴在我左手的小拇指上。这是一颗精巧的金银丝镶座的椭圆形宝石，乳白色的女人镶嵌在桃红色这是一颗精巧的金银丝镶座的椭圆形宝石，乳白色的女人镶嵌在桃红色背景上。背景上。 细细的银圈几乎不能滑过小拇指的指节细细的银圈几乎不能滑过小拇指的指节这女同性恋者传统上戴这女同性恋者传统上戴戒指的手指。戴着它，我感觉与众不同，好像在光天化日之下带着走私戒指的手指。戴着它，我感觉与众不同，好像在光天化日之下带着走私品越境似的，我身上体现的所有的相互矛盾的信仰暴露无遗。品越境似的，我身上体现的所有的相互矛盾的信仰暴露无遗。 我感到一阵头痛。如果我不尽职尽责，不结婚，不通过生儿育女保我感到一阵头痛。如果我不尽职尽责，不结婚，不通过生儿育女保持这个家庭人丁兴旺，我的亲戚还会爱我吗？我还能把我的女性爱侣带持这个家庭人丁兴旺，我的亲戚还会爱我吗？我还能把我的女性爱侣带到海滨吗？我们又睡在哪里？到海滨吗？我们又睡在哪里？ 我如何才能把我的亲戚同我作为作家，作为一个犹太人，作为一个我如何才能把我的亲戚同我作为作家，作为一个犹太人，作为一个女同性恋者，一个社会工作者，作为一个在西北的东部侨民所建立起来女同性恋者，一个社会工作者，作为一个在西北的东部侨民所建立起来的不同的家庭协调起来呢？每个人能在多大程度轻松自如，而不会怒气的不同的家庭协调起来呢？每个人能在多大程度轻松自如，而不会怒气冲天，不顾整体，像手榴弹一样开花爆炸呢？冲天，不顾整体，像手榴弹一样开花爆炸呢？Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT14 我半夜里跌跌撞撞地走下了飞机，投进了玛丽安坚实的怀抱里。她我半夜里跌跌撞撞地走下了飞机，投进了玛丽安坚实的怀抱里。她是我在为街头青年做咨询的社会工作站里的同事。在那一周的工作中，是我在为街头青年做咨询的社会工作站里的同事。在那一周的工作中，我麻木地做着例行的工作。星期五，在第一轮孩子走后清理顺访中心的我麻木地做着例行的工作。星期五，在第一轮孩子走后清理顺访中心的时候，我看了看自己的左手。在奶奶送的宝石上，一小块方形的皮肤透时候，我看了看自己的左手。在奶奶送的宝石上，一小块方形的皮肤透过了金银丝镶座的小孔。在工作站昏暗的地下室里，我靠着镶着木板的过了金银丝镶座的小孔。在工作站昏暗的地下室里，我靠着镶着木板的墙壁开始啜泣。墙壁开始啜泣。 那年夏天余下的时间里，我和父母通了书信。信封里夹杂着愤怒与那年夏天余下的时间里，我和父母通了书信。信封里夹杂着愤怒与指责，忧虑与警惕，内疚与忧伤。我曾经是一个好孩子，愉快，勤奋，指责，忧虑与警惕，内疚与忧伤。我曾经是一个好孩子，愉快，勤奋，聪明聪明九年级获得了优秀公民奖，被耶鲁大学录取，在九年级获得了优秀公民奖，被耶鲁大学录取，在华盛顿邮报华盛顿邮报实习，然后工作。最糟糕的是我两年后就辞别了实习，然后工作。最糟糕的是我两年后就辞别了邮报邮报，到了，到了30003000英里之外，开始为无家可归的青少年工作。现在成了这样！我在哪里学英里之外，开始为无家可归的青少年工作。现在成了这样！我在哪里学到这些叛逆性的思想？到这些叛逆性的思想？ 也许是在新泽西南部海滨的房子里，在迷宫般的无门的房间里。也许是在新泽西南部海滨的房子里，在迷宫般的无门的房间里。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationT15 我从西岸焦虑地回头望去：我的亲戚们还在那里吗？他们依旧带着我从西岸焦虑地回头望去：我的亲戚们还在那里吗？他们依旧带着购买的物品和毛衣，表情依旧轻松，依然不为所动吗？如果我回去了，购买的物品和毛衣，表情依旧轻松，依然不为所动吗？如果我回去了，我会被他们吞没吗？如果我留下来，我会漂泊不定吗？那个易变的选择我会被他们吞没吗？如果我留下来，我会漂泊不定吗？那个易变的选择是不是最终形成了每个家庭的边界：是不是最终形成了每个家庭的边界： 要么跟我们一样，要么就孤苦伶仃要么跟我们一样，要么就孤苦伶仃？ 我脱下了毫无意义的戒指，把它放进了抽屉。那年夏天我在逡巡于我脱下了毫无意义的戒指，把它放进了抽屉。那年夏天我在逡巡于过去的回忆中，不断寻找能够助我驾驭现在的路标。我听到了声音，安过去的回忆中，不断寻找能够助我驾驭现在的路标。我听到了声音，安慰的和劝诫的，欢快的和痛苦的，听到了像线圈一样在我的脑海中连绵慰的和劝诫的，欢快的和痛苦的，听到了像线圈一样在我的脑海中连绵不断地缠绕着的声音。不断地缠绕着的声音。 “下定了决心什么你都可以做。下定了决心什么你都可以做。” “不要走。不要走。” “这世界上到处都是有趣的人，有趣的地方。这世界上到处都是有趣的人，有趣的地方。” “这个家是世上唯一的安全地带。这个家是世上唯一的安全地带。” “跟着梦走。跟着梦走。” “不要去睡。不要去睡。” 我听着，记着，写着。我听着，记着，写着。Unit 6 Matriculation FixationMIOFRMain idea of Further Reading In Anndee Hochmans “Growing Pains： Beyond One Big Happy Family”, Hochman is a woman who is coming out to her family about her lesbianism, in the home that she spent many memorable summers. The distinctive architecture of the house symbolizes her strange family. The house has great importance to her, and she feels that it has shaped her into the woman she has become.Unit 6 Matriculation Fixationldiom Studies 1Idiom Studies1. meet its Waterloo It is defeated by someone who is too strong or by a problem which is too difficult.遭遇失败遭遇失败2. Johnny-come-lately someone who has only recently started a job or activity and has suddenly become very successful 迅速取得成功的人迅速取得成功的人3. a kings ransom a very large treasure很多钱很多钱Unit 6 Matriculation Fixationldiom Studies 24. take French leave be absent from work without asking for permission 不辞而别不辞而别5. go Dutch share the cost of something, especially a meal AA制制6. nosey Parker someone who is too interested in finding out information about other people 爱管闲事的人爱管闲事的人Unit 6 Matriculation Fixationldiom Studies 37. all Greek to me very hard for me to understand 对我来说很难对我来说很难8. Jekyll and Hyde someone whose personality has two different parts, one very nice and the other very unpleasant 具有双重性格的人具有双重性格的人9. Jack-of-all-trades a person with multiple skills, but no expert proficiency 多面手；万事通多面手；万事通Unit 6 Matriculation Fixationldiom Studies 410. Hobsons choice an apparently free choice which is really no choice at all 别无选择别无选择Unit 6 Matriculation FixationEX1ExercisesI. Comprehension questions1.2.3.4.5.In what way is the shore house special in architecture? How is the style of the shore house related to the familys idea of a happy family?How did the feminist movement affect the authors decision to choose “truth over tranquility”?How does the authors family react to her “coming out” to them? How do they resolve the conflict?Why does the author make three references to her grandmothers ring in the last section?Unit 6 Matriculation FixationEX2II. Topics for Discussion1.2.3.What is your idea of “a happy family”?Do you share the authors view that happiness is a limiting proposition?What separates family from friends? How do you reconcile the needs of your family with attention due to your friends?Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills1Practical Writing: Summaries A summary is a shortened or condensed version of a longer piece of writing that you have read, using your own words. It reduces a large amount of information to its most fundamental points. A summary is always shorter than the source and it repeats the gist ideas of the source in different, more concentrated phrases and sentences. It is usually about one-third to one-fourth as long as the original passage and a summary of news magazine article should be no longer than two paragraphs. An important rule to follow is that in a summary, the writer should always maintain the integrity of the original document, not distorting the original views, ideas, attitudes, or their importance in the original. You areUnit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills2to demonstrate your understanding of others writings instead of responding to their ideas. To command the skill of summary writing, its important for learners to understand first why we need to summarize articles and what the characteristics of summary writing are.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills3Why Summarize? For college students, summary writing is an essential study skill. It is one of the best tests of your comprehension and an efficient way to process information for studying. Since the most common kind of college work requires you to read texts written by others to be able to pick out the most essential ideas and put these ideas into your own words, the summary, therefore, is a crucial tool for understanding what youve read. It forces you to read critically, differentiating between main ideas and minor points. It also exercises your writing skills because you need to write clearly and briefly. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills4Characteristics A good summary usually shares the following characteristics: brevity, objectivity and completeness. First, since your job as a summary writer is to convey in as few words as possible the information contained in the longer piece of writing, you have to be brief in your writing. And what you need to accomplish is to communicate the essential message of the original document accurately and in fewer words. Second, as a summarizer, you are just a reporter and your aim is to write an objective restatement which represents the authors ideas, arguments, and conclusions. The summary should not contain any of your opinions and thoughts. Third, completeness is the most crucial element in summary writing. It means that you should not miss any key points in the original texts. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills5 Summary writing is a challenging task for learners at the beginning stage because it requires careful reading and reflective thinking about the article. Following the steps listed below will help you construct an effective summary.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills6Steps in Writing a SummaryI. Read before you write Before you write a summary, you have to read the original article many times in order to understand it. Then divide the article into segments or sections of ideas. Each segment deals with one aspect of the central theme. A segment can comprise one or more paragraphs. Then label each segment by using a general phrase that captures the subject matter of the segment. Write the label in the margin next to the segment. The next step is to highlight or underline the main points and key phrases.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills7II. Write One-Sentence Summaries Write a one-sentence summary for each segment of thought on a separate sheet of paper and make these the supporting ideas of the thesis statement. When summarizing supporting ideas, you have to follow the following basic guidelines: Cover all the authors major supporting ideas; Show the relationships among these ideas; Omit specifics such as illustrations, descriptions, detailed explanations; Indicate the authors purpose in writing: to inform, persuade, or entertain. If the passage is a persuasive piece, report the authors bias or position on the issue; Omit all personal opinions, ideas, and inferences. Let the reader know you are reporting the authors ideas.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills8III. Formulate the Thesis Statement Formulate a central concept that weaves the one-sentence segment-summaries together. This is your thesis statement. In many articles, the author will state this directly. So you may take his/her direct statement of the thesis and restate it in your own words. In news magazine articles, the thesis is often suggested through the articles title and sub-title. And in other articles, you may have to write your own one-sentence thesis statement that summarizes this central theme and its perspective. There are several aspects to an effective thesis statement:Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills9 A thesis statement comprises two parts: the topic or general subject matter of the text and the authors major assertion, comment, or position on the topic. This central theme, and the authors position on it, is summarized clearly and accurately in a one-sentence statement. The thesis statement does not contain specific details discussed in the text. The thesis is stated at the beginning of the summary. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills10VI. Write the Final Draft An effective summary begins with a clear and accurate statement of the authors thesis. The thesis statement informs the reader of the articles focus and central theme. It is a comprehensive statement and does not contain specific facts, views, or illustrations cited in the article. And you should state the title, author, source, and, in the case of magazine or journal articles, the date of publication of the text. The topic of the text selection is the authors central theme. At the end of the summary, state what can be learned from reading the article. Here is one sample that shows how the first draft is planned and the final version done. Look at the sample and practice writing summaries of your favorite books or articles. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills11First Draft In the first draft, the essential information that must be included in the summary is listed as below: CITATION Author: Dan McGraw Title: Easing the Transition to a Four-Year University Magazine: U.S. News & World Report Date of publication: August 30, 1999 Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills12THESIS Topic: Transferring to a four-year university from a two-year community college Authors Assertion about the Topic: Planning ahead is essential for a smooth transition because of possible credit transfer problems. Thesis: A smooth transfer from a two-year college to a four-year university requires early planning because many schools restrict the credits they will accept from two-year schools. Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills13OUTLINE OF KEY SUPPORTING DETAILS Two reasons why four-year universities restrict credit from two-year schools.(1) Skepticism about quality of education at community colleges because two-year schools mix the mission of academic preparation for four-year schools with the mission of vocational training.(2) Credits for advanced classes rejected because coursework requirements for advanced courses vary from school to school.But transfer problems are easing due to two factors.(1) Studies show that students who do well at community colleges tend to also do well at more demanding four-year schools.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills14(2) Universities are also looking to community college transfer students to make up for falling student enrollment.To increase recruitment from community colleges, some universities are working with two kinds of accommodations:(1) Articulation agreements: contracts between universities and community colleges defining which credits will automatically transfer.(2) Dual admissions: Students are simultaneously admitted to two-year and four-year schools, and completion of an associate degree guarantees transfer to the four-year institution.McGraw offers three pieces of advice to students who hope to transfer:Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills15(1) Select a four-year school early and find out about which courses transfer.(2) Do not take an overload of classes in ones intended major.(3) Be aware that adverse admissions decisions on transfer credits can be appealed.CONCLUDING SENTENCE This article highlights aspects of the transfer process for community college students planning to continue their education at a four-year university.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills16Second (& Final) Draft The second draft weaves the information outlined in the first draft into a one-to two-paragraph summary. In the article “Easing the Transition to a Four-Year University” (U.S. News and World Report, August 30, 1999), Dan McGraw states that a smooth transfer from a two-year college to a four-year university requires early planning because many schools restrict the credits they will accept from two-year schools. He cites two major reasons for credit restriction. First, some university officials question the quality of community college education because colleges mix the mission of academic preparation for a four-year degree with that of vocationalUnit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills17training. Second, credits for advanced classes are not always accepted because the curricula for advanced courses vary from school to school. But there is room for optimism. One, studies show that students who succeed at community colleges can maintain their academic performance at the more rigorous four-year institutions. Also, universities, concerned about falling student enrollment, are now recruiting from community colleges. This latter concern has led to two kinds of accommodations with community colleges: articulation agreements, which are contractual definitions about transferable classes; and dual admissions programs, which allow for concurrent enrollment inUnit 6 Matriculation FixationWriting Skills18and automatic transfer into a four-year school. In planning ahead for transfer, McGraw advises that students find out early about transferable credits at their target school. Students should also avoid taking too many classes in their intended major. Students should know that adverse admissions decisions can be appealed. This article highlights aspects of the transfer process for community college students planning to continue their education at a four-year university.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAdditional WorkAdditional WorkI. Idiom StudiesIII. Reading AppreciationII. Vocabulary ExpansionIV. Translation of ProverbsUnit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_1.1Choose a suitable idiom from the list given below to fill in each blank in the following sentences. Make changes when necessary.I. Idiom StudiesHobsons choice meet ones Waterlootake French leave a nosey Parker be all Greek to sb. go Dutcha Johnny-come-latelya Jack-of-all-tradesa Jekyll and Hydea kings ransomUnit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_1.21. The government has found it easy to persuade the employers to accept its plans, but it is expected that during discussions with the trade unions it may .2. Everybody was amazed when a beat the favorite in the race for class president.meet its Waterloo_3. Your diamond necklace is the most beautiful I have ever seen. It must have cost .Johnny-come-lately_a kings ransom_4. The teacher was angry because many of the boys from his class to attend the football match.took French leave_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_1.35. The girl knew her boyfriend had little money, so she offered to when they went out eating together.go Dutch_6. As soon as the policeman had left our house, that old from across the street came round to ask what had happened.7. The man tried to explain to me how a calculating machine worked, but it was ; Im a painter what do you expect?!Nosey Parker_all Greek to me_8. Alec is really a : at home hes kind and talkative, but in the office hes remote and reserved.Jekyll and Hyde_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_1.49. He is a who will take on almost any job he is offered, from repairing garments to mending cars.Jack-of-all-trades_10.When he went to buy a new car yesterday, he met as there was only one car left.Hobsons choice_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_2.1II. Vocabulary ExpansionThere are four choices marked A, B, C and D under each of the following sentences. Choose the one that best completes the meaning of the sentence. A. climaticallyB. legitimatelyC. obstinatelyD. preciously1. Most of the worlds fridges are to be found, not in the tropics where they might prove most useful, but in the wealthy countries with cooler temperatures where they are less necessary.A_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_2.2A. enhanceB. traceC. fortifyD. orientate2. Any attempt to how the noises babies make develop into their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties.B_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_2.3A. opulentlyB. insolentlyC. consistentlyD. exceedingly3. Should you break the rule against staring at a stranger on an elevator, you will make the other person uncomfortable, and will likely to feel a bit strange yourself.D_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_2.4A. vendorsB. suppliers C. recruitersD. donors4. Australias success in foreign education stems from smart marketing. Australians are the number one of students in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.C_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_2.5A.presumedB.assumed C.resumedD. consumed5. The quarterback of our football team was never elected captain or coach, but simply these offices.B_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_2.6A. substantialB. experimental C. intellectualD. detrimental6. She is extremely worried that the directors decision might prove to the future of the company. D_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_2.7A. deciphered B. eradicatedC. imperiledD. captivated7. Scientists have Mayan inscriptions, revealing records of many royal dynasties and the wars they fought with one another.A_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_2.8A. accessibleB. aggressive C. assertiveD. assuring8. With telephones and beepers, people can make themselves instantly to everyone at all times. A_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_2.9A. impartialB. implacableC. imploringD. immune9. What is so depressing about this war is the hatred that both sides feel for each other.B_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_2.10A. scourgeB. excursionC. sirenD. entrance10. From the discovery that the harmless cowpox gave protection against the deadly smallpox came vaccination and the end of small-pox as a(n) in the western world.A_Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_3.1III. Reading AppreciationRead and appreciate the following article.Father ForgetsWilliam Larned Listen, son, I am saying this to you as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room alone. Just a few moments ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a hot, stifling wave of remorse swept over me. I could not resist it. Guiltily I came to your bedside.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_3.1 These were the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when I found you had thrown some of your things on the floor. At breakfast, I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a little hand and called, “Good-by, Papa!” and I frowned and said in reply, “Hold your shoulders back!”Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_3.2 Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the hill road, I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stocking. I humiliated you before your boy friends, by making you march on a head of me, back to the house. Stockings were expensive and if you had to buy them you would be more careful. Imagine that, son, from a father! It was such a stupid, silly logic. But do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in softly, timidly, with a sort of hurt, hunted look in your eyes? When I glanced up, over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. “What is it you want?” I snapped.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_3.3 You said nothing, but you ran across, gathering all your childish courage, in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck, and kissed me, again and again, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs. Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible, sickening fear came over me. Suddenly I saw myself as I really was, in all my horrid selfishness, and I felt sick at heart. What had habit been doing to me? The habit of complaining, of finding fault, of reprimanding all these were my rewardsUnit 6 Matriculation Fixationto you for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected so terribly much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years. And there is so much that is good, and fine, and true in your character. You did not deserve my treatment of you, son. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself, over wide hills. All this was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me goodnight. Nothing else matters, tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt here, choking with emotion and so ashamed! It is a feeble atonement. I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. Yet I must say what I am saying. I must burn sacrificial fires, alone, here in your own bedroom, and make free confession.AW_3.4Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_3.5 And I have prayed God to strengthen me in my new resolve. Tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you and suffer when you suffer and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying, as if it were a ritual: “He is nothing but a boy a little boy!” I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mothers arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much! Dear boy! Dear little son! A penitent kneels at your infant shrine, here in the moonlight. I kiss the little fingers, and the damp forehead, and the yellow curls, and, if it were not for waking you, I would snatch you up and crush you to my breast.Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_3.6 Tears came and heartache and remorse and, I think, a greater, deeper love, when you ran through the library door and wanted to kiss me!Unit 6 Matriculation FixationAW_4.1IV. Translation of Proverbs不劳无获。不劳无获。1. No mill, no meal. 不劳动的人无权祈祷。不劳动的人无权祈祷。2. They that work not, cannot pray. 劳动必然是生活的一部分。劳动必然是生活的一部分。3. No man is born into the world whose work is not born with him. 劳动聚财如聚金。劳动聚财如聚金。4. He that labors and thrives spins gold.