1、Out of StepUnit 3Unit 3Out of StepUnit 3Watch the movie clip and answer the following questions.1.Where is the engine of the 911?Audiovisual SupplementCultural InformationIn the back of the car.The product and their manufacturing process are one unit.Automation,technology and skilled human labor com
2、bine to build the Porsche 911.And the factory runs like a precision machine.2.Whats the secret of success of that factory?Audiovisual SupplementCultural InformationNarrator:A German factory builds one of the worlds most famous cars.The 911 is the icon of the sports car industry.Its the shape,its the
3、 engine in the back,its the feel it gives you,its the emotion.The factory runs like a precision machine,building hundreds of engines a day.The product and our manufacturing process are one unit,and thats our secret of success.Automation,technology and skilled human labor combine to build 16 versions
4、 of the Porsche 911,including the 911 GT3.Audiovisual SupplementCultural InformationCar culture has been a major niche lifestyle in America.In the 1950s,the post-war boom produced a generation of teenagers with enough income to buy their own cars.These cars became so much more than just modes of tra
5、nsportation.They were reflections of a lifestyle.The ability to tune and soup-up muscle cars gave average Joes the opportunity to show off their power,their speed and their style in a way that personified the car as character.1.2.Audiovisual SupplementCultural InformationWe dream of cars as we dream
6、 of lovers.Americans have always cherished personal freedom and mobility,rugged individualism and masculine force.3.Audiovisual SupplementCultural Information4.5.6.Like Granny in Jan and Deans 1964 song“The Little Old Lady from Pasadena,”we cant keep our foot off the accelerator.We are crazy about o
7、ur cars and always have been.“The American,”William Faulkner lamented in 1948,“really loves nothing but his automobile.”Text AnalysisStructural Analysis “Out of Step”is an exposition that presents the absurdity of the Americans dependence on cars.The Americans,being so accustomed to using cars,have
8、almost forgotten the existence of their legs.Wherever they go,they go in their cars.As a result,pedestrian facilities are neglected in city planning or rejected by the inhabitants.Text AnalysisStructural AnalysisParagraphsMain idea1-67-13 14-20 The writer introduces his idea with an anecdote.In this
9、 part,the author presents the fact that the Americans are habituated to using cars for everything.In this part,the author shows that pedestrian facilities are neglected or discarded.After living in England for 20 years,my wife and I decided to move back to the United States.We wanted to live in a to
10、wn small enough that we could walk to the business district,and settled on Hanover,N.H.,a typical New England town pleasant,sedate and compact.It has a broad central green surrounded by the venerable buildings of Dartmouth College,an old-fashioned Main Street and leafy residential neighborhoods.It i
11、s,in short,an agreeable,easy place to go about ones business on foot,and yet as far as I can tell,virtually no one does.Bill BrysonOut of StepDetailed Reading12 Nearly every day,I walk to the post office or library or bookstore,and sometimes,if I am feeling particularly debonair,I stop at Rosey Jeke
12、s Caf for a cappuccino.Occasionally,in the evenings,my wife and I stroll up to the Nugget Theatre for a movie or to Murphys on the Green for a beer,I wouldnt dream of going to any of these places by car.People have gotten used to my eccentric behavior,but in the early days acquaintances would often
13、pull up to the curb and ask if I wanted a ride.“Im going your way,”they would insist when I politely declined.“Really,its no bother.”Detailed Reading34 “Honestly,I enjoy walking.”“Well,if youre sure,”they would say and depart reluctantly,even guiltily,as if leaving the scene of an accident without g
14、iving their name.In the United States we have become so habituated to using the car for everything that it doesnt occur to us to unfurl our legs and see what those lower limbs can do.We have reached an age where college students expect to drive between classes,where parents will drive three blocks t
15、o pick up their children from a friends house,where the letter carrier takes his van up and down every driveway on a street.Detailed Reading567 We will go through the most extraordinary contortions to save ourselves from walking.Sometimes its almost ludicrous.The other day I was waiting to bring hom
16、e one of my children from a piano lesson when a car stopped outside a post office,and a man about my age popped out and dashed inside.He was in the post office for about three or four minutes,and then came out,got in the car and drove exactly 16 feet(I had nothing better to do,so I paced it off)to t
17、he general store next door.Detailed Reading8Detailed Reading And the thing is,this man looked really fit.Im sure he jogs extravagant distances and plays squash and does all kinds of healthful things,but I am just as sure that he drives to each of these undertakings.An acquaintance of ours was compla
18、ining the other day about the difficulty of finding a place to park outside the local gymnasium.She goes there several times a week to walk on a treadmill.The gymnasium is,at most,a six-minute walk from her front door.910Detailed Reading I asked her why she didnt walk to the gym and do six minutes l
19、ess on the treadmill.She looked at me as if I were tragically simple-minded and said,“But I have a program for the treadmill.It records my distance and speed and calorie burn rate,and I can adjust it for degree of difficulty.”I confess it had not occurred to me how thoughtlessly deficient nature is
20、in this regard.111213Detailed Reading According to a concerned and faintly horrified 1997 editorial in the Boston Globe,the United States spent less than one percent of its transportation budget on facilities for pedestrians.Actually,Im surprised it was that much.Go to almost any suburb developed in
21、 the last 30 years,and you will not find a sidewalk anywhere.Often you wont find a single pedestrian crossing.I had this brought home to me one summer when we were driving across Maine and stopped for coffee in one of those endless zones of shopping malls,motels,gas stations and fast-food places.I n
22、oticed there was a bookstore across the street,so I decided to skip coffee and head over.1415Detailed Reading Although the bookshop was no more than 70 or 80 feet away,I discovered that there was no way to cross on foot without dodging over six lanes of swiftly moving traffic.In the end,I had to get
23、 in our car and drive across.At the time,it seemed ridiculous and exasperating,but afterward I realized that I was possibly the only person ever to have entertained the notion of negotiating that intersection on foot.1617Detailed Reading The fact is,we not only dont walk anywhere anymore in this cou
24、ntry,we wont walk anywhere,and woe to anyone who tries to make us,as the city of Laconia,N.H.,discovered.In the early 1970s,Laconia spent millions on a comprehensive urban renewal project,which included building a pedestrian mall to make shopping more pleasant.Esthetically it was a triumph urban pla
25、nners came from all over to coo and take photos but commercially it was a disaster.Forced to walk one whole block from a parking garage,shoppers abandoned downtown Laconia for suburban malls.18Detailed Reading In 1994 Laconia dug up its pretty paving blocks,took away the tubs of geraniums and decora
26、tive trees,and brought back the cars.Now people can park right in front of the stores again,and downtown Laconia thrives anew.And if that isnt sad.I dont know what is.1920What kind of town is it?It is a small,pleasant and agreeable town.The inhabitants are friendly and willing to help.But although t
27、he town is compact,few people go about on foot.Detailed ReadingWhat is considered the authors“eccentric behavior”?Instead of riding a car,the author walks around the city,doing his shopping,going to the movies or visiting the caf or bar.To people who are used to going everywhere in a car,he is an ec
28、centric.Detailed ReadingWhy would drivers“depart reluctantly,even guiltily”when their offer was declined?With cars becoming the basic essentials of their life,people are so habituated to using the car for everything.The scene of somebody walking around seemed so unusual to them that they would natur
29、ally show their concern to him.When their offer to give him a ride was declined,they were sorry for not being able to help him out.Detailed ReadingWhy did the author say“Actually,Im surprised it was that much”?When the author found that the newly planned suburbs totally overlooked pedestrian needs,h
30、e assumed there was no budget for pedestrian facilities at all.So he says he was surprised to learn that there actually was less than one percent of budget on it.Here the author writes with a touch of irony.Detailed ReadingWhy did Laconia change its downtown pedestrian mall to one with parking lots?
31、Although the pedestrian mall was well decorated,shoppers were unwilling to walk to the stores from a parking garage.As a result,it was a commercial failure.The government had to compromise with the public preference.Detailed ReadingClass ActivityGroup discussion:What does the title mean?With the use
32、 of this title,the writer seems to suggest Detailed Readingpeople no longer walk in America;the few people who do walk seem to be old-fashioned and“eccentric”.sedate a.calm,serious and formale.g.She is a sedate old lady;she is caring but never talks much.The fight against a nuclear power station sit
33、e has transformed a normally sedate town into a battlefield.Derivation:sedately(ad.),sedation(n.),sedative(a.,n.)v.make calm or sleepy,esp.with a druge.g.The patient was heavily sedated and resting quietly in bed.Detailed Readingeccentric a.(of people or behavior)unconventional and slightly strangee
34、.g.The old gentleman,who lived alone all his life,was said to have some eccentric habits.n.a person of unconventional and slightly strange views or behaviore.g.The old gentleman enjoyed a colorful reputation as an engaging eccentric.Detailed Readingcurb n.(British English:kerb)a line of raised stone
35、s separating the footpath from the roadv./n.(place)a control or limit on sth.undesirable e.g.Poor nutrition can curb a childs development both physically and mentally.There will be curbs on drunk-driving from next month.Detailed Readinghabituate v.accustom by frequent repetition or prolonged exposur
36、ee.g.You must habituate yourself to reading aloud.By the end of the school term,the students had been habituated/accustomed/used to rising at five oclock.Detailed Readingcontortion n.a twisted position or movement that looks surprising or strangee.g.The spectators cannot but admire the contortions o
37、f the gymnasts.Derivation:contort(v.)cause sth.to twist out of its natural shape and looks strange or unttractiveDetailed ReadingThe human understanding is like a false mirror,which,receiving rays irregularly distorts and discolors the nature of things by mingling its own nature with it.(Francis Bac
38、on).e.g.Comparison:distort,twist,deform,contort,warpThese verbs mean to change and spoil the form or character of sth.To distort is to alter in shape,as by torsion or wrenching;the term also applies to verbal or pictorial misrepresentation and to alteration or perversion of the meaning of sth.distor
39、t:Detailed ReadingGreat erosion deformed the landscape.The earlier part of his discourse was deformed by pedantic divisions and subdivisions.a mouth twisted with pain He accused me of twisting his words to mean what I wanted them to.e.g.Comparison:twist:Twist applies to distortion of form or meaning
40、.e.g.deform:If you deform sth.,or if it deforms,its usual shape changes so that its usefulness or appearance is spoiled.Detailed ReadingThe floorboards had warped over the years.e.g.a face contorted with ragea contorted line of reasoninge.g.Comparison:contort:If you contort sth.,or if it contorts,it
41、 twists out of its normal shape and looks strange or unattractive.warp:Warp can refer to a turning or twisting from a flat or straight form.Detailed ReadingIt also can imply influencing sb.in a way that has a harmful effect on how they think or behave.Prejudice warps the judgment.e.g.bring sth.home
42、to sb.make sb.realize sth.e.g.The professor drove home to them that they must finish the writing assignment by Friday.Comparison:drive sth.home to sb.,hit/strike homedrive sth.home to sb.:make sb.realize sth.,esp.by saying it often,loudly,angrily,etc.e.g.The news report has brought home to us all th
43、e plight of the prisoners of war.Detailed Readinge.g.You could see from his expression that her sarcastic comments had hit/stricken home.Comparison:hit/strike home:(of remarks,etc.)have the intended(often painful)effectDetailed Readingentertain v.consider an idea,etc.or allow yourself to think that
44、sth.might happen or be truee.g.He refused to entertain our proposal.entertain ideas,doubts,etc.Detailed Readingnegotiate v.get over or past(an obstacle,etc.)successfully;manage to travel along a difficult routee.g.The only way to negotiate the path is on foot.Frank Mariano negotiates the dessert ter
45、rain in his battered pickup.Detailed Reading那攀登者得攀越一陡峭岩石那攀登者得攀越一陡峭岩石。那马轻易跳过了栅栏那马轻易跳过了栅栏。Practice:The climber had to negotiate a steep rock face.The horse negotiated the fence with ease.Detailed Readingcoo v.speak in a soft,gentle,and loving way,esp.when expressing surprisee.g.“How wonderful to see y
46、ou again,darling,”she cooed.The little girl is always cooing over those parrots of hers.Detailed Readinganew adv.(fml.)again or one more time,esp.in a different waye.g.The scientists started the experiment anew.The film tells anew the story of her rise to stardom.Detailed ReadingIn the United States
47、 we have become so habituated to using the car for everything that it doesnt occur to us to unfurl our legs and see what those lower limbs can do.Paraphrase:People in the United States tend to drive for basically every purpose,so much so that they have forgotten that they still have legs and about w
48、hat their legs can do.Detailed ReadingI confess it had not occurred to me how thoughtlessly deficient nature is in this regard.Paraphrase:I admit that I have never realized I had been so stupid.Detailed Reading I was possibly the only person ever to have entertained the notion of negotiating that in
49、tersection on foot.Paraphrase:I was likely to be the only person who had ever attempted to cross that intersection on foot.Detailed ReadingWord DerivationPhrase PracticeSynonym/AntonymVocabularyTranslation Integrated SkillsOral ActivitiesWritingGrammar1)agree v.agreeable a.agreement n.VocabularyTran
50、slation Integrated SkillsOral ActivitiesWritingGrammarI agree with his analysis of the situation.我同意他对情况的分析。我同意他对情况的分析。I found him most agreeable.我觉得他极易相处我觉得他极易相处。An agreement with the employers was finally worked out.与雇主们的协议终于达成了与雇主们的协议终于达成了。e.g.VocabularyTranslation Integrated SkillsOral Activitie
