1、Unit two制作：汪晓辉制作：汪晓辉Text IText IIThe fine art of putting things offMichael DemarestText IPre-class work“procrastination is the thief of time”“Never put off till tomorrow what may be done today”Do you personally believe in?How will the writer explore on the topic of putting things off?？Lets get on th
2、e journeydetailed study of the text Listen 1.“Never put off till tomorrow,”exhorted Lord Chesterfield in 1794,”what you can do today.That the elegant earl never got around to marrying his sons mother and had a bad habit of keeping worthies like Dr.Johnson cooling their heels for hours in an anteroom
3、 attests to the fact that even the most well-intentioned men have been postponers ever.Quintus Fabius Maximus,one of the great Rome generals,was dubbec“Cunctator”(delayer)for putting off battle until the last possible vinum break.Moses pleaded a Detailed study Speech defect to rationalize his reluct
4、ance to deliver Jehovahs edict to Pharaoh.Hamlet,of course,raised procrastination to an art form.2.The world is probably about evenly divided between delayers and do-it-nowers.There are those who prepare their income taxes in February,prepay mortgages and serve precisely planned dinners at an ungodl
5、y 6:30 p.m.The other half dine happily on leftovers at 9 or 10,misplace bills until the apocalyptic voice of Diners threatens doom from Denver.They postpone,as Faustian encounters,visits to barbershop,dentist or doctor Detailed study 3Yet for all the trouble procrastination may incur,delay can often
6、 inspire and revive a creative soul.Jean Kerr,author of many successful novels and plays,says that she reads every soup-can and jam-jar label in her kitchen before settling down to her typewriter.Many a writer focuses on almost anything but his task for example,on the Coast and Geodetic Survey of Ma
7、ins Frenchman Bay and Bar Harbor,stimulating his imagination with names like Googins Ledge,Blunts Pond,Hio Hill an Burnt Porcupine,Long Porcupine,Sheep Porcupine and Bald Porcupine islands.Detailed study 4.From Cunctators day until this century,the art of postponement had been virtually a monopoly o
8、f the military(“hurry up and wait“),diplomacy and the law.In former times,a British proconsul faced with a native uprising could comfortably ruminate about the situation with Singapore Sling in hand.Blessedly,he had no nattering Telex to order in machine guns and fresh troops.”A U.S.general as late
9、as World War II could agree with his enemy counterpart to take a sporting day off,loot the villagers chickens and wine and go back to battle a day later.Lawyers are among the worlds most addicted postponers.According t o Frank Nathan,a nonpostponing Beverly Hills insurance salesman,“The number of at
10、torneys who die without a will is amazing.”Detailed study 5.Even where there is no will,there is away.There is a difference,of course,between chronic procrastination and purposeful postponement,particularly in the higher echelons of business.Corporate dynamics encourage the caution that breeds delay
11、,says Richard Manderbach,Bank of America group vice president.He notes that speedy action can be embarrassing or extremely costly.The data explosion fortifies those seeking excuses for inaction another report to be read,another authority to be consulted.“There is always,”says Manderbach,“a delicate
12、edge between having enough information and too much.”Detailed study 6.His point is well taken.Bureaucratization,which flourished amid the growing burdens of government and the greater complexity of society,was designed to smother policymakers in blankets of legalism,compromise and reappraisal and th
13、ereby prevent hasty decisions from being made.The centralization of government that led to Watergate has spread to economic institutions and beyond,making procrastination a worldwide way of life.Many languages are studded with phrases that refer to putting things off from the Spanish manana to the A
14、rabic bukrafil mishmish(literally“tomorrow in apricots,”more loosely“leave it for the soft spring weather when the apricots are blooming“)Detailed study 7.Academe also takes high honors in procrastination.Bernard Sklar,a University Southern sociologist who churns out three to five pages of writing a
15、 day admits that“many of my friends go through agonies when they face a blank page.There all sorts of rationalizations:the pressure of teaching,responsibilities at home checking out the latest book,looking up another footnote.“Detailed study 8.Psychologists maintain that the most assiduous procrasti
16、nators are women,through Many psychologists are(at$50 plus an hour)pretty good delayers themselves.Dr.Ralph Greenson,a U.C.L.A.professor of clinical psychiatry(and Marilyn Monroes one-time shrink),takes a fairly gentle view of procrastination.“To many people,”he says“doing something,confronting,is t
17、he moment of truth.Al frightened people will then avoid the moment of truth entirely,or evade or postpone it until the last possible moment.”To Georgis State Psychologist Joen Fagan,however,procrastination may be a kind of subliminal way of sorting the important from the trivial.“when I drag my feet
18、,theres usually some reason.“says Fagan.“I feel it,but I dont yet know the real reason.”Detailed study 9.In fact,there is a long and honorable history of procrastination to suggest that many Ideas and decisions may well improve if postponed.It is something of a truism that to put off making a decisi
19、on is itself a decision.The parliamentary process is essentially a system of delay and deliberation.So,for that matter,is the creation of a great painting,or an entre,or a book,or a building like Blenheim Palace,which took the Duke of Marlboroughs architects and laborers 15 years to construct.In the
20、 process,the design can mellow and marinate.Indeed,hurry can be the assassin of elegance.As T.H.White,author of Sword in the stone,once wrote,time“is not meant to be devoured in an hour or a day,but to be consumed delicately and gradually and without haste.”In other words,Pace Lord Chesterfield,what
21、 you dont necessarily have to do today,by all means put off until tomorrow Detailed study Main idea Introduction:(P1-2)The world is probably divided between delayers and do-it-nowers;Body:(P3-7)Delay is not without its advantages:it can often inspire and revive a creative soul;Conclusion:(P8-9)Expla
22、nation and conclusion of procrastination;Organization and Development:Rhetorical device Parody(where there is a will,there is a way）Pun（will)Example(para.1)Exaggeration (para.4 the number of attorneys who )Irony(para.1 that elegant earl never got around to )Metaphor(para.6 blankets of legalism )Writ
23、ing skill coherence Language pointparaphraseDr.Ralph Greenson takes a fairly gentle view of procrastination Dr.Ralph Greenson is not very critical of postponement Take a view of sth.-have ideas(attitude of)about sth.For example:She takes a pretty poor vies of her sons recent behavior Language point
24、Language pointLanguage pointLanguage pointParaphrase Language pointLanguage pointLanguage pointLanguage pointLanguage pointLanguage pointLanguage pointLanguage pointLanguage pointLanguage pointLanguage pointLanguage pointLanguage pointRhetorical device Comprehension Analysis paraphraseParaphrase par
25、aphraseparaphrase many of my friends go through agonies when they face a blank page.many of my friends have a hard time the moment they attempt to put pen to paper.paraphraseLanguage pointGet around to-find the time to do,or to finally do sth that you have been intending to do for some tine.For exam
26、ple:We finally got around to answering her letter Keep sb cooling his/her heels keep sb waiting For example:the receptionist kept me cooling my heals for at least an hour Language point Language pointYou plead something(such as illness,ignorance etc)you use something as an excuse for your action For
27、 example:He left early,pleading a stomachache.paraphraseThere is difference of business There is a difference,of course,between habitual and purposeful postponements,especially in the higher level of businessparaphraseTo many people is the moment of truth To many people,doing something,dealing with
28、something,or a moment of extreme importance,it is a moment when decision is to be made,result to be known,or something bad to be faced Paraphrase In the process the assassin of elegance In the process,the design has the time to ripen and mature,indeed hasty decision make the elegance of designs impo
29、ssible Language point Take high honors-do excellently well in,especially refer to students in school achieve high marks in study For example:He graduated from the university with great honors Richard Nixon 3.Quintus Fabius 在军事指挥者中很难找到一个以防守著称的人。古罗马的费边就是一个能守之人，而且对于后世有很深的影响。前217年罗马军在特拉西梅诺湖之战中惨败后,被选为独裁官,全权指挥作战。他针对迦太基军队远离本土、孤军深入、后援困难、不能持久作战的特点，采用迁延战术,避免正面决战,而在山区与敌周旋，消耗和疲惫迦太基军，使其无所施展，史称“费边战术”。但遭速胜派反对，被讥讽为“迁延者”，任满去职。前216年罗马军在坎尼之战中遭重创后，费边战术为人们所理解。前215前214年率军攻击被汉尼拔占领和叛离罗马的城市，并实行坚壁清野，断绝迦太基军队的补给。同时派兵赴西班牙、西西里等地作战，以断汉尼拔的后援。前209年率军攻克塔林敦(塔兰托)，致使汉尼拔军在意大利半岛的处境更加困难。从此费边主义成为缓步前进、谋而后动的代名词。
