B2_U04_A

nullnullUnit 4: Part A21st Century College English: Book 2Turning Failure into SuccessnullUnit Four: Part A Pre-reading Activities Intensive Study Exercises AssignmentnullWhat is success? Some people seem to sail easily through life, overcoming every obstacle they encounter with ease. Then there are those who manage to avoid most difficulties, by limiting their experience to what’s familiar and easy, and never trying anything new. Are these people successful? The text you’re going to read takes a different approach to success and failure.Pre-reading ActivitiesnullFirst Listening: As you listen to the tape, tick the question that are answered in the listening passage. Don’t worry about answering the questions yet — just identify which questions are answered.Pre-reading Activities1) What problem is Eddie having in school? 2) How many examples does the teacher give? 3) Does Eddie’s mother understand the teacher’s viewpoint? 4) Does Eddie agree with his teacher? 5) What does the teacher think Eddie’s parents should do?Check-upnullFirst Listening: As you listen to the tape, tick the question that are answered in the listening passage. Don’t worry about answering the questions yet — just identify which questions are answered.Pre-reading Activities1) What problem is Eddie having in school? 2) How many examples does the teacher give? 3) Does Eddie mother understand the teacher’s viewpoint? 4) Does Eddie agree with his teacher? 5) What does the teacher think Eddie’s parents should do?√√√√nullSecond Listening: Now provide brief answers to the questions you’ve ticked. Pre-reading Activities1) What problem is Eddie having in school?Eddie’s fear of failure is keeping him from doing his very best.2) How many examples does the teacher give?Two.nullSecond Listening: Now provide brief answers to the questions you’ve ticked. Pre-reading Activities3) Does Eddie’s mother understand the teacher’s viewpoint?Yes. Not at first, but then she does.4) What does the teacher think Eddie’s parents should do?They should teach him how to fail. ScriptnullTeacher: Eddie’s a very bright little boy, of course, and we all want him to make the most of his abilities. Mother: Naturally! Teacher: And I’m afraid that will never happen unless he overcomes his fear of failure. Mother: What?! What do you mean? Teacher: Eddie’s fear of failure is keeping him from doing his very best. Mother: Why, I … I … I don’t know what to say! I don’t understand. Can you give me an example? Teacher: Well, first of all, he often avoids trying new things — he prefers to stick with what’s familiar, because he feels safer. Second, he doesn’t always make his best effort. That way, if he fails, he can always say it was because he didn’t really try.Pre-reading ActivitiesMother: I see. Yes, I think I see what you mean. Well, what do you plan to do to help Eddie with this problem? Teacher: Actually, I think it’s more a question of what you can do. You and Eddie’s father should teach him how to fail.nullIntensive Study Difficult sentences Key words, phrases & usages Comprehension exercisesIntensive StudynullTurning Failure into Success Fredelle Maynard 1 Vicky — beautiful, talented, very bright, voted “Most Likely to Succeed” in college — got a promising job with a large company after graduation. Then, after two years without promotions, she was fired. She suffered a complete nervous breakdown. “It was panic,” she told me later. “Everything had always gone so well for me that I had no experience in coping with rejection. I felt I was a failure.” Vicky’s reaction is an extreme example of a common phenomenon.Intensive Studynull2 Our society places so much emphasis on “making it” that we assume that any failure is bad. What we don’t always recognize is that what looks like failure may, in the long run, prove beneficial. When Vicky was able to think coolly about why she was fired, for example, she realized that she was simply not suited for a job dealing with people all the time. In her new position as a copy editor, she works independently, is happy and once again “successful.”Intensive StudynullIntensive Study3 People are generally prone to what language expert S. I. Hayakawa calls “the two-valued orientation”. We talk about seeing both sides of a question as if every question had only two sides. We assume that everyone is either a success or a failure when, in fact, infinite degrees of both are possible. As Hayakawa points out, there’s a world of difference between “I have failed three times” and “I am a failure.” Indeed, the words failure and success cannot be reasonably applied to a complex, living, changing human being. They can only describe the situation at a particular time and place.null4 Obviously no one can be brilliant at everything. In fact, success in one area often precludes success in another. A famous politician once told me that his career had practically destroyed his marriage. “I have no time for my family,” he explained. “I travel a lot. And even when I’m home, I hardly see my wife and kids. I’ve got power, money, prestige — but as a husband and father, I’m a flop.”Intensive Studynull5 Certain kinds of success can indeed be destructive. The danger of too early success is particularly acute. I recall from my childhood a girl whose skill on ice skates marked her as “Olympic material”. While the rest of us were playing, bicycling, reading and just loafing, this girl skated — every day after school and all weekend. Her picture often appeared in the papers, and the rest of us envied her glamorous life. Years later, however, she spoke bitterly of those early triumphs. “I never prepared myself for anything but the ice,” she said. “I peaked at 17 — and it’s been downhill ever since.”Intensive Studynull6 Success that comes too easily is also damaging. The child who wins a prize for a carelessly-written essay, the adult who distinguishes himself at a first job by lucky accident faces probable disappointment when real challenges arise. 7 Success is also bad when it’s achieved at the cost of the total quality of an experience. Successful students sometimes become so obsessed with grades that they never enjoy their school years. They never branch out into tempting new areas, because they don’t want to risk their grade-point average.Intensive Studynull8 Why are so many people so afraid of failure? Simply because no one tells us how to fail so that failure becomes a growing experience. We forget that failure is part of the human condition and that “every person has the right to fail.” 9 Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or shielding their children from the knowledge that they have failed. One way is to lower standards. A mother describes her child’s hastily made table as “perfect!” even though it’s clumsy and unsteady. Another way is to shift blame. If John fails math, his teacher is unfair or stupid. Intensive Studynull10 The trouble with failure-prevention devices is that they leave a child unequipped for life in the real world. The young need to learn that no one can be best at everything, no one can win all the time — and that it’s possible to enjoy a game even when you don’t win. A child who’s not invited to a birthday party, who doesn’t make the honor roll or the baseball team feels terrible, of course. But parents should not offer a quick consolation prize or say, “It doesn’t matter,” because it does. The youngster should be allowed to experience disappointment — and then be helped to master it.Intensive Studynull11 Failure is never pleasant. It hurts adults and children alike. But it can make a positive contribution to your life once you learn to use it. Step one is to ask, “Why did I fail?” Resist the natural impulse to blame someone else. Ask yourself what you did wrong, how you can improve. If someone else can help, don’t be shy about inquiring. 12 When I was a teenager and failed to get a job I’d counted on, I telephoned the interviewer to ask why. “Because you came ten minutes late,” I was told. “We can’t afford employees who waste other people’s time.” The explanation was reassuring (I hadn’t been rejected as a person) and helpful, too. I don’t think I’ve been late for anything since.Intensive Studynull13 Success, which encourages repetition of old behavior, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure. You can learn from a disastrous party how to give a good one, from an ill-chosen first house what to look for in a second. Even a failure that seems total can prompt fresh thinking, a change of direction. Intensive Studynull14 A friend of mine, after 12 years of studying ballet, did not succeed in becoming a dancer. She was turned down by the ballet master, who said, “You will never be a dancer. You haven’t the body for it.” In such cases, the way to use failure is to take stock courageously, asking, “What have I left? What else can I do?” My friend put away her toe shoes and moved into dance therapy, a field where she’s both competent and useful.Intensive Studynull15 Though we may envy the assurance that comes with success, most of us are attracted by courage in defeat. There is what might be called the noble failure — the special heroism of aiming high, doing your best and then, when that proves not enough, moving bravely on. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “A man’s success is made up of failures, because he experiments and ventures every day, and the more falls he gets, moves faster on ... I have heard that in horsemanship — a man will never be a good rider until he is thrown; then he will not be haunted any longer by the terror that he shall tumble, and will ride whither he is bound.” Intensive Studynullvote v. — (esp. passive) declare sb./sth. to be good, bad, etc. by general consent.e.g. The show was voted a great success. The children all voted the trip the best they had ever had. Translate 他被公认为是全家最聪明的一个。Key He is voted the smartest in the family.nullpanic n. — a feeling or state of sudden uncontrollable and quickly spreading feare.g. He got into a panic about examinations. The thought of flying alone filled me with panic.Translate When a fire started in the theater, there was a panic.Key 剧院失火时，引起一阵恐慌。nullrejection n. — the act of refusing to grant or the state of being denied of (a request, demand, etc.)e.g I’ve applied for ten jobs, but all I’ve got is rejections. He did not ask her to marry him out of fear of rejection.Drill Make a sentence with “rejection”.nulla failure — a person, an attempt or a thing that failse.g. The project was a complete failure. I’m a bit of a failure at painting.Fill in the blank He is _____ （不是个成功的艺术家）, but a success as an art teacher.a failure as an artistnullVicky’s reaction is an extreme example of a common phenomenon.Paraphrase ? — Such feelings people have (when rejected) are very common, but in Vicky’s case they are especially serious and unusual.nullWhat we don’t always recognize is that what looks like failure may, in the long run, prove beneficial. in the long run — eventually; in the ende.g. It pays to buy goods of high quality in the long run. Studying may be difficult just now, but you will benefit in the long run.Translate Physical exercises will be for your health in the long run.Key 体育锻炼终究是对你的健康有益的。More to learnnullWhat we don’t always recognize is that what looks like failure may, in the long run, prove beneficial.In the statement, the scope of negation extends from the negative word “not” itself only to the adverbial “always” rather than to the verb “recognize”, i.e. only the adverbial is within the stretch of language over which the negative meaning operates.More to learnnullWhat we don’t always recognize is that what looks like failure may, in the long run, prove beneficial. e.g. He is not always at home in the evening. (=He’s often at home in the evening, but not always.) Things do not always go right. (=Things normally go right, but not always.) nulldeal with sth. — handle or attend to sth. (usu. sth. that needs attention or concern)e.g. Haven’t you dealt with that letter yet? The Finance Officer deals with all the finances of the university.Cf. cope with sth. — deal with sth. successfully (usu. sth. difficult or unpleasant that one must accept or endure) e.g. I had no experience in coping with rejection (Line 6, Para 1). Poor families have to cope with a lot of problems.nullParaphrase ? — People generally tend to look at things as having only two values, or two sides: anything that is not good must be bad, and that is not true must be false — this two valued logic is called “the two-valued orientation” by Hayakawa.People are generally prone to what language expert S. I. Hayakawa calls “the two-valued orientation”.More to learnnulle.g. He is prone to lose temper when others disagree with him. Kids are all prone to eat junk food.Translate 我妹妹易患感冒。Key My sister is prone to flu.be prone to — be likely to (sth. or do or suffer from sth., esp. sth. bad or harmful)More to learnPeople are generally prone to what language expert S. I. Hayakawa calls “the two-valued orientation”.nullText-related informationnullWe talk about seeing both sides of a question as if every question had only two sides.“As if” can introduce either a likely or an unlikely guess. When “as if” is used to introduce something that is unreal or unlikely to happen, we normally use the subjunctive mood. This structure is often used to make comparative description.More to learnnulle.g. It looks as if a bad storm is coming. (= A bad storm seems likely.) The horses are acting as if a bad storm were coming. (= A bad storm seems unlikely, but the horses’ behavior reminds me of their behavior before a storm.)We talk about seeing both sides of a question as if every question had only two sides.More to donullDrill Complete each of the following sentences in two ways: a) with a likely guess or prediction, and b) with an unlikely or untrue comparative description. 1. Their laughter and conversation sound as if a) enjoying each others’ company b) in the same room with us 2. You’re so pale! You look as if a) getting sick b) seen a ghostWe talk about seeing both sides of a question as if every question had only two sides.they’re enjoying each other’s companythey were in the same room with usyou’re getting sickyou had seen a ghostnulla world of — a large amount of; lots ofe.g. There’s a world of difference in the performance of the two cars. That experience gave him a world of good.Fill in the blank There’s truly _____ (天壤之别) between the old Chinese society and the new.a world of differencenullIndeed, the words failure and success cannot be reasonably applied to a complex, living, changing human being.Paraphrase ? — It is certainly unfair just to call someone a failure or a success, for a human being is a complex, living thing that keeps changing.More to learnnull.apply to — use (a particular word or name) to describe (sth. or sb.)Drill Make a sentence with “apply to”. e.g. I’d never apply the word “readable” to any of his books. The term “mat” can be applied to any small rug.Indeed, the words failure and success cannot be reasonably applied to a complex, living, changing human being.nulle.g These conditions prelude us from joining in this event. Age alone will not prelude him from standing as a candidate.Key 这项并未排除我为你工作的同时受雇于其他人。Translate This contract does not prelude my being employed by others at the same time I am working for you.prelude vt. — make sth. impossiblenullI recall from my childhood a girl whose skill on ice skate marked her as “Olympic material”.Paraphrase ?— distinguished her as a potential Olympic athleteMore to learnnulle.g These qualities mark the film as exceptionally good. Hard work has marked Asian Americans as a model minority.Drill Make a sentence with “mark as”.mark…as — be a distinguishing feature of … asI recall from my childhood a girl whose skill on ice skate marked her as “Olympic material”.nulldistinguish oneself — deserve to be noticed by doing sth very welle.g. He distinguished himself in the debate. McEnroe first distinguished himself by winning a junior tournament at Wimbledon.Fill in the blank The young officer _____ (屡建战功).distinguished himself many times in battlenulle.g He saved the children from the fire at the cost of his own life. The poor fox escaped from the trap at the cost of a leg.at the cost of — involving the loss ofParaphrase the underlined part The businessman enjoyed a successful career but his relationship with his wife suffered.Key at the cost of his relationship with his wifenullThey never branch out into tempting new areas, because they don’t want to risk their grade-point average.Paraphrase ?— They always stick to what they are learning and never try anything new and interesting because they don’t want to do anything that may result in a lower GPA.More to learnnulle.g The bookstore has decided to branch out into selling records and tapes. She’s leaving the company to branch out on her own.branch out — extend or expand one’s activities or interests into another direction; begin doing other things alsoThey never branch out into tempting new areas, because they don’t want to risk their grade-point average.More to donullTranslate First Jim collected stamps; then he branched out and collected coins, too.Key 吉姆起初收集邮票，随后又把收集范围扩大到了硬币。They never branch out into tempting new areas, because they don’t want to risk their grade-point average.nullfailure is part of the human condition— failure is one of the things that human existence depends onnullshielding their children from the knowledge that they have failed— protecting their children from knowing that they have failednullmake the honor roll or the baseball team— earn a place in the honor roll or become a member of the baseball teamnullSuccess, …, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure.Paraphrase ?— Success … teaches you to perform better far less than failure does.More to learnnulle.g. There is not nearly enough for all those people! (= There is much too little for all those people.) They don’t have nearly so many foods to choose from as we do.not nearly — far from; much less thanSuccess, …, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure.nulle.g Her remarks were prompted by her worries about the future. What prompted you to do such a silly thing?prompt vt. — inspire or cause (a feeling or reaction)Translate 这封信唤起了他对遥远的家的思念。Key The letter prompted thoughts of his distant home.nullturn down — refuse to accept (sb. or sth. usu. an offer, request or invitation); rejecte.g. She turned him down; she wouldn’t marry him. Pauline has turned down offers from several different law firms.Paraphrase the following sentence We politely turned down the invitation.nulle.g. It’s time to take stock of your life and decide where you want to go. It the age of 25, I began to take stock of my career so far.take stock (of) — 1) examine or evaluate what one possesses, what one needs, etc.More to learnnulle.g. The grocery store took stock every week on Monday morning. The stores are closed so they can take stock of their inventory.take stock (of) — 2) count exactly the items of merchandise or supplies in stocknullExercisesComprehension Vocabulary Listening & DiscussionnullAnswer the following questions:1. How does Vicky explain her nervous breakdown?Key: Vicky didn’t know how to cope with rejection or failure because everything had always gone so well for her. Comprehension《读写教程 II》: Ex. II, p. 107null2. What positive aspects does Vicky now see in that experience?Answer the following questions:Key: She now realizes she was simply not suited for that job, and has another in which she is happy and successful.Comprehensionnull3. What does “two-valued orientation” have to do with success and failure?Answer the following questions:Key: Two-valued orientation