Week 69

NCE4 Lesson 6 The sporting spirit

I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport creates goodwill between the nations, and that if only the common peoples of the would could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the hattlefield. Even if one didn't know from concrete examples (the 1936 Olympic Games, for instance) that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred, one could deduce if from general principles.

Nearly all the sports practised nowadays are competitive. You play to win, and the game has little meaning unless you do your utmost to win. On the village green, where you pick up sides and no feeling of local patriotism is involved, it is possible to play simply for the fun and exercise: but as soon as a the question of prestige arises, as soon as you feel that you and some larger unit will be disgraced if you lose, the most savage combative instincts are aroused. Anyone who has played even in a school football match knows this. At the international level, sport is frankly mimic warfare. But the significant thing is not the behaviour of the players but the attitude of the spectators: and, behind the spectators, of the nations who work themselves into furies over these absurd contests, and seriously believe -- at any rate for short periods -- that running, jumping and kicking a ball are tests of national virtue.

GEORGE ORWELL The sporting spirit

文章背景

GEORGE ORWELL：pen name

Eric Arthur Blair(25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950)，better known by hispen nameGeorge Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic whose work is marked by lucid明晰的 prose散文, awareness ofsocial injustice, opposition tototalitarianism极权主义and outspoken support ofdemocratic socialism民主社会主义.

Orwell wroteliterary criticism, poetry, fiction andpolemical journalism. He is best known for the allegoricalnovellaAnimal Farm(1945) and thedystopiannovelNineteen Eighty-Four(1949).

表达积累

goodwill /gʊd'wɪl/

[U]n. 善意，友好，友好关系

eg. goodwill games

eg. official goodwill visit

inclination /ɪnklɪ'neɪʃn/ n. 意愿

have an inclination to do sth.有意做……

follow one's own inclinations随心所欲

eg.I haven't the slightest inclination tobecome a journalist. 先降到最轻微再否定

→inclinev倾向于

be inclined to do sth.倾向于，常常……

eg. Be careful not to annoy the boss, because he is inclined to lose his temper. 常发火

contest /'kɒntest/

n. 比赛 （泛指/评委打分的比赛）

eg. a speech / beauty / dance contest

use the right word: 比赛 game，match，race，games，open，tournament，championship

正面对抗的比赛：game 美 / match 英

eg. a boxing / basketball / football / volleyball match / game

gamespl形式表示“运动会”

eg. the Olympic Games

race 竞速赛

eg. a car / boat / horse / swimming race

open 公开赛，尤指网球

tournament /ˈtuənəmənt; ˈtɔːn-; ˈtəːn-/ 淘汰性质的锦标赛

championship 冠军赛

deduce /dɪ'dju:s/ v. 推断

deduce A （结论）from B （线索）

eg. deduce effect from cause 由因推果

→deduction n. 结论/推断行为

judge 决断，评判，仔细鉴定过之后的判断

conclude A from B

→conclusion 结论/事情的结束

bring sth to a conclusion 结束

come to/ draw/ reach a conclusion 得到结论

infer A from B 由B推理出A

What can we infer from the passage?

→inference

patriotism/'pætriətɪzəm/ /'peɪtriətɪzəm/

n. 爱国主义

“patr” = “pater”: father

patriot 爱国者

patriotic 爱国主义的

patriotism 爱国主义

compatriot 同胞

patriarchy 父权制

patricide 弑父罪

paternal 爸的

eg. paternal affection 父爱

paternity=fatherhood爸爸的身份

He is on paternity leave. 产假

disgrace /dɪs'greɪs/

v. 使出丑，使丢脸

eg. The dishonest minister was publicly disgraced.

shame …

humiliate …

bring shame on … on+抽象+to sb 拿来的东西

bring disgrace on …

show sb. up 出丑（让同行的人出丑）

Mary’s boyfriend showed her up by falling asleep at the concert.

mimic warfare /'mɪmɪk 'wɔ:feə(r)/ n. 模拟战争

eg.

chemical warfare

nuclear warfare

mimic warfare

mimic coloring 模拟色，保护色

mime 哑剧→词义引申→模拟

I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport creates goodwill between the nations, and that if only the common peoples of the world could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the battlefield.

eg. The police were astounded when Mrs. Ramsay told them what she had done.

orgies of … / an orgy of …

疯狂的……；过度的……

orgies of hatred

an orgy of killing

an orgy of spending before Christmas

binge / spree 狂热的

eg. He went on a drinking binge over the weekend. 纵情饮酒

eg. The girls went on a shopping spree on Saturday. 疯狂购物

practise / practice v. 经常做，从事

practice n. 习俗，惯例

On the other hand, your stomach would turn at the idea of frying potatoes in animal fat—the normally accepted practice in many northern countries.

• 竭尽全力的表达：

do / try one’s utmost to do

do / try one’s best to do

Though the doctor did his best, the patient's recovery was slow.

go to great lengths to do

The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamonds were real.

endeavor / endeavour to do

We endeavour to avoid the old, romantic idea of a gusher, which wastesoil and gas.

spare no effort to do不遗余力

China will spare no effort to realize peaceful reunification.

give one’s all to do

go all out to do

question of prestige

question of pride

eg. It is a question of pride as much as anything else.

matter of …

eg. Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.

arise 产生，出现

raise vt 从低处扶到高处；提升，增加（工资、奖金相关）

lift 抬起，比raise强一点

arisen

arise from …

The conflict arose from tensions between different ethnic groups.

unit n. group; organization

arouse interest / hostility / resentment

arose 唤起，引起（反应、态度）；激起（感情，直觉，性欲）+instincts

germ / jungle / nuclear / chemical / guerrilla / psychological warfare

use the right word：各种观众spectator，audience，viewer，onlooker

spectator 从上向下，一般看体育比赛的观众的如此看法

audience 从下向上，集体性n. 单复数都可以用，都指集体

viewer 收视的观众，电视机的观众，有时偶用audience

onlooker / looker-on 看热闹的人，不花钱

work sb. into …

eg. He worked himself into a rage. （或a fury）

eg. He worked his audience into enthusiasm. 充满激情

at any rate

1.无论如何

= in any case / event

= come what may

2.至少

= at least

重难点

But the significant thing is not the behaviour of the players but the attitude of the spectators: and, behind the spectators, (?) of the nations who work themselves into furies over these absurd contests, and seriously believe—at any rate for short periods—that running, jumping and kicking a ball are tests of national virtue.

not … but … 不是……而是……

not that … but that …不是因为……，而是因为……

eg. Not that I love Caesar less, but that I love Rome more.

— Shakespeare ‘Julius Caesar’

eg. Not that I love you less, but that I love liberty more.

eg. Not that I love my teacher less, but that I love truth more.

It is not that … but (that) …

不是因为……，而是因为……

eg. It was not that I actually remembered anything at all. But my father had described over and over again what we should see at every milestone, after leaving the nearest town …

文章写作手法：

参见Lesson 5