huge fires glowed orange, and pointed down at the tiles, which showed windmills and castles and men in armour, and said they were made by the clever Mr William de Morgan, who made tiles better than anybody had made them for hundreds of years There was much furniture, so highly polished that its very solidity made it the more airy, there were such broad surfaces reflecting the warmed and ruddy light The winter day, which was blanched and cold, was annulled; and we were happy, particularly when Miss Furness took us to see her mother, who now never left her room She wore a huge silver chignon, through which ran some streaks as sandy as her daughter’s hair We had always known that the other girls were talking nonsense when they said that the curious hollow crescent across Miss Furness’s head was a transformation Mrs Furness had had a relative who was one of the first English amateur photographers, and she showed us some portraits, very sharp and linear and refined, almost like drawings, except for the pale, milky blacks, of Lewis Carroll and some little girls at a tea-party he gave to celebrate the publication of Alice in Wonderland What amused us so much that we could hardly keep our minds on the photographs was that Mrs Furness had an asthmatic pug lying beside her which was exactly like the pug we had made up when we were younger and had first come to Lovegrove Place Finally we had to tell her, in case she thought we were rude, and she and her daughter quite understood
Trang 2most interesting are laws But such dull laws.” Then she relapsed into silence again We did not mind, this was a very safe, well-cared- for house, we liked being there
Having Fun in Our Town
It’s 5 p.m on a sultry July day in our town The heat is still steaming up from the pavement The doors of the casino open wide and out comes a steady stream of people, shuffling and blinking, into the sunlight Each man and woman is clutching a dice-spotted box of pastel salt-water taffy, compliments of the management, a little going-away gift to help them forget about the dreams that didn’t come true Obediently crossing at the corner, the caravans of ants head toward the buses for the long journey back to civilization
As early as 7 o’clock that morning they had lined up to board the huge buses (air-conditioned with rest rooms in the rear) which would carry them to our town, the place where the action is Nervously they had joked about hitting the slot machine jackpots or breaking the bank at the roulette tables Although the bus driver had heard it all before, he still managed a polite smile Every morning he sees the play acted out—a different cast of characters but the same dialogue
“My sister and I have a system We wait for the slot machine someone has just quit because it didn’t pay off, and we stick at it until we hit the big one.”
“IT don’t expect to gamble PIl just walk around and soak up the atmosphere.”
“T’m going to drop my $40 and consider it my investment for a full day of entertainment.”
“Blackjack is my game I can remember the cards that just came out, and that gives me the edge over the house’s dealer.”
Trang 3different kinds of colorful pies and gooey cakes at the end of the lunch line, all tasting exactly the same Nobody seems to mind, or even to notice Within a few minutes, they are all hypnotized in the darkness, pulling the levers without emotion, sprinkling their betting chips on the dice tables, moving restlessly around the football fields in search of the machine which is ready to pay off big, the lucky table, the pot of gold
“You should have been here last week,” the bus driver confides “One of our regular passengers won $6500.”
Trang 4Exposition
The Psychologist, the Psychiatrist, and the Psychoanalyst: Three Definitions
By Ernest Havemann
The psychologist, the psychiatrist, and the psychoanalyst all operate within the general area delineated by the old saws about the nature of man, with these differences:
The psychologist searches for a scientific understanding of how people see and hear, his interests thereby overlapping those of the physiologist He also tries to find out how they learn, how they feel and express their emotions and how they get along (or do not) with their fellow men, at which point he and the sociologist are on somewhat similar ground The psychologist once was chiefly a research specialist and teacher; he began by applying scientific methods of observation and measurement to human behavior, and instructing others in what he found Many psychologists are still interested only in “pure science’—that is, in fact and theory A majority of them, however, have branched out into applied psychology, attempting to use their knowledge to help people live happier and more efficient lives Some of them, for example, counsel young people on what vocations to choose or advise businessmen on how to provide better working conditions for their employees Quite a number of them work at what is called clinical psychology, which is an attempt to help individuals who have emotional problems and personality maladjustments
Trang 5The psychoanalyst is a special kind of psychiatrist He too is a physician who treats the mentally ill (At least he usually is a physician, though there are some excellent “lay analysts” who have never taken an M.D.) But he uses a special type of treatment originally developed by Dr Sigmund Freud: the analyst spends hundreds of hours listening to the patient discuss his past and present life, his dreams and his daydreams—until finally the patient’s pattern of hidden or “unconscious” problems emerges to the point where it can be straightened out
A to Z in Foods as Metaphors: Or, a Stew Is a Stew Is a Stew
by Mimi Sheraton
As a food critic for The New York Times, Mimi Sheraton traveled all over the world to do research on food and how it is prepared
Cooking styles may vary from one country to another, but certain foods inspire the same symbolism and human characteristics with remarkable consistency The perception of food as metaphor is apparently more consistent than the perception of food as ingredient
The inspiration for some of this imagery is easier to find than others It is not too hard to understand, for example, why the big, compact, plebeian-tasting cabbage is widely regarded as being stupid, a role it shares with the starchy, inexpensive staple the potato A cabbage head in this country 1s considered to be as dull-witted as a krautkopf in Germany, and a potato head indicates a similar, stodgy- brained individual, never mind that both are delicious and can be prepared in elegant ways
Trang 6It is difficult to understand why ham is the word for a bad actor who overacts But no one has to explain why a pretty and delightful young woman is considered to be a peach, or why her adorable, accommodating brother is a lamb With luck, he will not grow up to be a muttonhead, to be classified with the cabbage and potatoes If he remains a lamb, he can be counted on to bring home the bacon that is the bread and dough
All things sweet, especially sugar and honey, inspire dozens of terms of endearment in every language; but the lemon, despite its sunny and piquant flavor, is best known for its sourness and so describes such things as an automobile always in need of repairs In many countries the nut is, inexplicably, the metaphor for craziness, though it is easier to explain why someone who is sprightly and hot- tempered is said to be peppery
Cooked foods or dishes also inspire such comparisons To be in the soup (it’s hot) is to be in trouble and to be in a stew indicates one is troubled Stews and soups with many ingredients are the consistent metaphors in many languages for big, complicated events and procedures
In New York the most commonly heard of such expressions is tsimmes, referring to the Eastern European Jewish stew of carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, onions and, often, beef To make a whole tsimmes out of something is to create an event of endlessly involved complications In English, a tsimmes is a hodgepodge, which in turn is named for the stew derived from the French hochepot, which became hotchpotch or hotpot
But a tsimmes is no more complicated than the New Orleans gumbo, also an event of dazzling complexities derived from the soup that may include okra, onions, peppers, shrimp, oysters, ham, sausage, chicken and at least a dozen other possibilities Similarly used in their own countries are bouillabaisse, the French soup of many fishes, and the Rumanian ghivetch, a baked or simmered stew that can be made with more than a dozen vegetables plus meat
Trang 7Denmark it is the sailor’s hash or stew known as labskaus that signifies complications, and no wonder when you consider that such a dish contains meat and herring in the same pot
Trang 8Argument
Should old buildings of no real artistic or historic value be
demolished to make room for modern constructions?
From time to time, a proposal to pull down a much-loved old building to make room for a factory or a new block of flats, raises a storm of angry protest Buildings of national importance are relatively safe Though even these are occasionally threatened, their reputation does protect them to some extent It is the border-line cases that are always in danger: the dignified buildings of the past which may possess no real or historic value, but which people have become sentimentally attached to and have grown to love There is no point in calling such buildings ‘ugly’ The words ‘beautiful’ and ‘ugly’ are relative terms A building with high ceilings and huge rooms may be less practical than the colorless block of offices that takes its place, but it often fits in well with its surroundings
Those out to demolish old buildings often argue that a factory will bring prosperity to a town to provide employment for its people; a block of flats will improve living condition; a new road will create better transport facilities These arguments are true, but somehow are unconvincing Countless country villages have been spoilt by the addition of modern ‘improvements’ like huge traffic-signs or tall concrete lamps which shed a sickly yellow light In the same way, buildings which are erected without any thought being given to their surroundings, become prominent landmarks which may change the character of a whole town They are ugly because they are so out of place
Trang 9may now be so sadly diminished as to seem slightly ridiculous beside the monster It rises up above them like a huge, white, slotted packing-case resting on its side, demanding attention merely because of its size and not because of any intrinsic worth
It is seldom realized that very often the biggest enemies of old buildings are not town-planners but ruthless individuals speculating in land Their sole aim is the quick return of profit and they are not particular about how they will obtain it They are among the first to point out the necessity for ‘re-development’ and ‘modernization’ by which they mean replacing old buildings by huge blocks with high rent yields Unfortunately, people are easily persuaded by fine- sounding arguments for the simple reason that in almost any town, many of the most valuable sites are occupied by the beautiful buildings of the past Each time a cry is raised, yet another old building 1s sacrificed in the name of ‘progress’
Part of a charm of a big city lies in the variety of styles that can be seen in the architecture of its buildings One feels that the city has grown slowly and each age has left its mark By demolishing buildings of bygone times, we wipe out every vestige of the past forever In place of infinite variety, we have monotonous uniformity Rows of houses, each of them different and pleasing with their Spacious gardens, are replaced by purely functional blocks of flats which have nothing more to commend them than their over-praised ‘modern conveniences’ No one would deny that there are superb modern buildings which are truly representative of the very best architecture of our age But these are rarely the utilitarian blocks which are to be found in many cities The trouble is that every time a fine old building is destroyed, it is not necessarily replaced by an equally fine modern one If the demolition of buildings is uncontrolled, a fine city is in danger of becoming nothing more than a concrete jungle
Trang 10To Evaluate or Not to Evaluate?
By Sharon Weston
For the past thirteen years, counting kindergarten, I have been subjected to teachers of all sizes and ages Some of them have been men, some women; some have been black, some white; some have been Asian, some Spanish Some have been intelligent, some have been just plain dumb And it goes without saying that some could teach and some could not After dealing with all these teachers, I’ve come to the conclusion that students should be allowed to evaluate their teachers so that those who cannot teach can be removed
Admittedly, an evaluation by itself may not be grounds to remove a teacher, but it can show that there is a problem It’s also true that an evaluation may be flawed to a degree because it involves one person’s evaluation of another, which makes it subjective But if enough students gave a negative evaluation of the same teacher, maybe the administration would look at the results and consider replacing the teacher who cannot teach It’s also possible that students, knowing about the evaluation, could gang up on a hard teacher; however, this wouldn’t always be the case Even then, the administration or faculty senate would be aware that there is a problem
While it is possible to have a flawed evaluation, students should be able to evaluate their teachers to bring to the attention of the administration the ways in which some teachers belittle students Pll never forget Miss Wood, one of my math teachers in middle school If one of us couldn’t get the right answer to a problem after she explained it, she would give us a pacifier and make us suck on it the rest of the hour Another teacher made us stand at the front of the room with our noses touching the blackboard if we talked out of turn Needless to say, we students had little respect for these teachers and learned little in their classes
Trang 11end, and then the test He never tried to find out if we understood the material He prided himself on how many students failed his class because he was such a hard teacher The truth was he couldn’t teach A good teacher makes the material clear enough so that students can understand it and can pass
Students also need to evaluate their teachers because some are so weak in their subject matters that they can’t transmit the material to students It seems as if they read the material the night before and then try to present it the next day I had one teacher who was teaching Canterbury Tales who never could understand Chaucer’s presentation of the pilgrims We had to explain to her what the story was about because we knew more than she did When she graded our weekly tests, she didn’t catch half the errors; we laughed about it behind her back I realize teachers can’t know everything, but they are supposed to know more than the students they teach How else can they get the information across so we can learn it?
The biggest reason students need to evaluate their teachers, though, is to weed out the ones who can’t teach so that those who can teach can do their jobs In this way not only will the school system be improved, but students will also be better prepared for college or for the work world It makes no difference whatsoever what the teacher looks like or how old he or she is; what matters is whether he can transmit the material so students can learn
Trang 12Sources
Otto Reinert (University of Washington): Working with Prose,
Harcourt, Brace and Company, N.Y., 1959 Miller, Robert, Keith
Motives for Writing, fourth edition
McGraw-Hill, Inc, NY, 2003
Santi V Buscemi
A reader for Developing Writers, fifth edition
McGraw-Hill, Inc, NY, 2002
Nell W Meriwether
Writing Essays Strategies for Success
National Textbook Company, Illinois, USA, 2000
Betty Mattix Dietsch
Reasoning and Writing Well: a rhetoric, research
guide, and handbook, second edition
Mayfield publishing Company, USA, 2000 L.G Alexander
Essay and Letter Writing
Longmans and Company Limited, London, 1965
Robert Freier; Elizabeth Hardwick; Arnold Lazarus; Robert Lowell
Adventures in Modern Literature Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1970
Roger Babusci; Loutish Burns; Guy Doud and others
Prentice Hall Literature
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