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2. The Big Bull Market 大牛市 By Frederick Lewis Allen

4. Background Knowledge 1. Allen, Frederick Lewis — the author Allen, Frederick Lewis, 1890–1954, American social historian and editor, b. Boston, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1912; M.A., 1913). He is best remembered for his journalistic but nonetheless penetrating works of social history, including Only Yesterday (1932), Since Yesterday (1940), and The Big Change (1952). After teaching English at Harvard, he was an assistant editor of the Atlantic Monthly (1914–16), then managing editor of The Century (1916–17). In 1923 he began working for Harper's Magazine, where he remained until 1953, becoming chief editor in 1941.

5. Background Knowledge 2.Big Bull Market It refers to the condition of the stock exchange marked by the New York Stock market crash particularly by the forcible raising of the price of stocks by the “bulls”. It refers to the rising stock market during the period from March 3, 1928 -- Oct 24, 1929.

6. Background Knowledge 3.Bull It is a stock exchange language. A man who buys business shares in the hope of reselling them at a higher price. Then, a bull market indicates a period of time when stock prices are rising and many people are buying shares. It is a rising market and those who own stocks are happy. 买低卖高的投机者；多头业者

7. Background Knowledge 4. Bear A person who keeps selling the shares so as to lower the price and at last buy back at a lowest price a larger amount than that sold. Then, a bear market refers to a period of time when stock prices (values) are falling , and many people are trying to sell out their stocks. It is a falling market and those who own stocks shares are unhappy and sad.空头业者；股票看跌者；跌势策动者；

8. Background Knowledge 5. This extract considers N.Y. stock market crash occurred in October 1929. In its wake (closely behind the crash) follow innumerable bankruptcies of banks ，factories and mines, and the economic distress. Very soon attended to other areas including Europe, Africa, Australia and South America resulting in a worldwide depression. Most people were greatly influenced by this depression, they had a very hard time. *in the wake of

9. The stock market crash of 1929 in the U.S. http://www.unsv.com/voanews/specialenglish/scripts/2002/01/17/0045/

10. Background Knowledge 6. the Great Depression:大萧条（指1929年到20世纪30年代早期是世界性严重经济萧条 ）economic problems that followed the severe Wall Street Crash of 1929. In the early 1930s, many banks and businesses failed, and millions of people lost their jobs in the US and in the UK and the rest of Europe. A depression is a time when there is very little economic activity, which results in a lot of unemployment. A period of drastic decline in a national or international economy, characterized by decreasing business activity, falling prices, and unemployment. 萧条，不景气

11. Paragraph I Questions: 1. Why are the grocer, the window-cleaner, and the seamstress mentioned here? Were they among the worst hit? 2. What account for the fact that Investor who had dreamed of retiring to live on their fortunes now found themselves back once more at the very beginning of the long road to riches. (line 4-5 in paragraph I) 3. In what way are suicides related to the crash?

12. Paragraph I Questions and answers: 1.Why are the grocer, the window-cleaner, and the seamstress mentioned here? Were they among the worst hit? They are mentioned to show the magnitude（巨大） of the crash, which involved even those of the lowest level. It doesn't mean that they are well-off. It shows that the distress of the stock market has struck them a blow in the face.

13. Paragraph I 2. What account for the fact that Investor who had dreamed of retiring to live on their fortunes now found themselves back once more at the very beginning of the long road to riches. (line 4-5 in paragraph I) The capital (money) they have been accumulating over the years have gone all of a sudden. This sudden ruin has vanished the dream of retiring to live in comfort and at ease, and even worse than that, sent them back where they started. All their past efforts have proved to be in vain. The strenuous struggle has to be started all over again.

14. Paragraph I 3. In what way are suicides related to the crash? The appearance (emergence) of the wave of suicides testified to the extreme gravity of the stock market crash.

15. Paragraph II Questions: 1. Why was Coolidge-Hoover Prosperity not yet dead? 2. Why Does the writer say “ills had passed unnoticed”? 3. What caused the ills to beset the body economy? 4. How did the expert of finance and president respond to the menace of a major depression?

16. Paragraph II Questions and answers: 1. Why was Coolidge-Hoover Prosperity not yet dead? Because the effect of the crash on society as a whole would take sometime before they could be felt to the full. “Coolidge-Hoover Prosperity was not yet dead” functions as an alteration of the sweeping statement “The Gig Bull Market was dead.”

17. Paragraph II 2. Why Does the writer say “ills had passed unnoticed”? --Because they were overshadowed（concealed） by (stock market optimism) the illusion of permanent prosperity.

18. Paragraph II 3. What caused the ills to beset the body economy? -- the impelling effect of the wave of panic selling the stocks and shares. Comments: The author compares these ills to poisons. The author mentions three encouraging signs. These encouraging signs are not strong enough to guard against the poisons.

19. Paragraph II 4. How did the expert of finance and president respond to the menace of a major depression? --- They simply turn for aid to empty promises and reassuring.

20. Key Pointsin Paragraph II 1. Coolidge-Hoover: (John) • Calvin Coolidge 柯立芝（1872-1933），美国第35任总统（1923-1929），共和党人，对内实行不干涉公商业政策，一面减税，一面坚持高额保护关税，对外推行孤立主义，任内经济繁荣。

21. Key Pointsin Paragraph II Calvin Coolidge: As President, Coolidge demonstrated his determination to preserve the old moral and economic `precepts (rules) amid the material prosperity which many Americans were enjoying. He refused to use Federal economic power to check the growing boom or to ameliorate (improve) the depressed condition of agriculture and certain industries. His first message to Congress in December 1923 called for isolation in foreign policy, and for tax cuts, and limited aid to farmers. He rapidly became popular. In 1924, as the beneficiary of what was becoming known as "Coolidge prosperity," he polled more than 54 percent of the popular vote.

22. Key Pointsin Paragraph II Calvin Coolidge: Coolidge was both the most negative and remote of Presidents, and the most accessible. He once explained to Bernard Baruch why he often sat silently through interviews: "Well, Baruch, many times I say only 'yes' or 'no' to people. Even that is too much. It winds them up for twenty minutes more." But no President was kinder in permitting himself to be photographed in Indian war bonnets（烟囱帽，无边女帽） or cowboy dress, and in greeting a variety of delegations to the White House. （wind up: make…excited是振奋，使紧张）

23. Key Pointsin Paragraph II Herbert Clark Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) is best known as being the 31st President of the United States (1929-1933). However, prior to that, he was a successful mining engineer, humanitarian, and administrator. He had the longest retirement of any U.S. President and died 31 years after leaving office, during the administration of Lyndon Johnson — his fifth successor.

24. Key Pointsin Paragraph II Herbert Clark Hoover 胡佛（1874-1964）美国第31任总统（1929-1933），共和党人，第一次世界大战时及战后均负责对协约国及欧洲饥谨地区经济救援工作，美国经济大萧条（1929-1939）时否决失业救济法案。

25. Key Pointsin Paragraph II 2. liquidation: settlement by payment of debts, damages or accounts *liquidate: To settle the affairs of a business or an estate by disposing of its assets and liabilities（债务，负债）. 清算，清理，了结，清偿 3. loan: A sum of money lent at interest. 贷款(附利息借出的一笔钱) 4. broker’s loan: the loans extended to；broker：经纪人 5. liquidation of nearly three Billion dollars of brokers’ loan: the paying of nearly 3 billion dollars for the brokers’ stock (possibly from the government)

26. Key Pointsin Paragraph II 6.discount rate: 贴现率，折扣率 the rate of reduction made for interest in advancing money. It refers to the rate of interest charged by central bank. rediscount rate: n. The interest rate charged by the Federal Reserve Bank on loans to its member banks. A change in the discount rate is usually followed by similar changes in the interest rates charged by banks and money markets. 储备贴现率(联邦储备银行向其下属银行的贷款所取的利息率贴现率改变后，银行和金融市场的利息率通常紧跟着发生相似的变化) * Rediscount:重新贴现，再折扣；rediscount rate: 再贴现率 7. over-ambitious expansion of business concerns: over-enlargement of business firms

27. 贴现就是指未来的钱现在的价格。你有100万一年之后才收到，那么今天你将这100万让给银行，银行不会给你100万，先要去掉利息，如果年息10%，那么你只能拿到100/（1+10%）的钱。另外银行还要承担收不回钱的风险，银行给你的钱就再少一点。结果可能是100/(1+15%)，那么这里的15%就是贴现利率。 再贴现率就是中央银行对商业银行的贴现率。

28. 贴现率，简单地说，就是将来的钱，折算到现值，少掉或多出的那部分的钱与将来的钱的比值 比如，现在你有95万，1年后这些钱会因为银行利息，或者是人民币升值而变为100万，多出的5万比上1年后的100万得到5%，所以贴现率就是5% 或者是可以这样理解，1年后你可以得到100万，贴现率为5%，所以相当于这笔钱现在的价值为95万。 其实，贴现率的计算是为了服务计算现值来计算的。 比如，现在有人欠你10万元，但是要一年后才给你，根据当今市场的贴现率假设是5%，那相当于是现值的9万5千元，你可以考虑是不是要提高他欠钱的利息来弥补这部分损失 。再比如，你用50万投资一个项目，20年后有100万的收入，但是这100万贴现到今天的价值只有10多万，也就是说……你50万的钱存入银行，20年后产生的利息本金加起来都比100万要多，这样一来，这个投资就不划算，你就可以考虑不投资这个项目了 。

29. or • 贴现率是中央银行贷款给商业银行或金融机关时所收取的利率。贴现率的调高或降低往往间接影响银行对客户所收取的利率，同时也常引起债券及股票市场强烈的反应。美国的中央银行是联邦储备局，在香港则是金融管理局。 贴现率 又称“折现率”，指今后收到或支付的款项折算为现值的利率。常用于票据贴现。企业所有的应收票据，在到期前需要资金周转时，可用票据向银行申请贴现或借款。银行同意时，按一定的利率从票据面值中扣除贴现或借款日到票据到期日止的利息，而付给余额。贴现率的高低，主要根据金融市场利率来决定。 贴现率又称官定利率，它指的是国家中央银行向民间银行贷款的利率。它是国家经济、金融政策的一个重要手段，特别是在经济不景气情况下，降低贴现率可以引导银行降低贷款利率，为企业筹措资金提供便利条件，最终促进企业投资，刺激经济复苏。

30. 贴现率和再贴现率的关系 • 计算商业票据的现值时使用的是贴现率。将未来支付改变为现值所使用的利率，或指持票人以没有到期的票据向银行要求兑现，银行将利息先行扣除所使用的利率。 而再贴现率是指商业银行向中央银行再融资的时候，用获得的资产（商业票据），进行再融资时的贴现率。各成员银行将已贴现过的票据作担保，作为向中央银行借款时所支付的利息。目的是为了保证银行储备金的头寸(可以支配的资金计划)平衡，有应急的成分。也就是所谓的基准利率。 前者是市场调节，后者是央行制定。

31. Paragraph IIIQuestion and Answer • Explain the reason why “There was hardly a man or woman in the country whose attitude toward life had not been affected by it in some degree and was not now affected by the sudden and brutal shattering of hope.” Nearly all the Americans enjoyed prosperity before the crash and built their hope or faith upon it, but their hope was shattered into pieces by the sudden falling of the market.

32. ParagraphIIIQuestion and Answer 2. Explain what does the author imply by “new ideas, new habits of thought, and a new order of values.” • According to the writer, rarely anybody in U.S. now was not affected by the sudden and brutal shattering of hope. Now with the big bull market gone and prosperity going, American people have to adjust themselves to a new situation. According to the writer’s point of view, American people are now confronted with the necessity to conform to an altered world. This altered world calls for new adjustment of new ideas, new order of values, above all, it calls for sacrifice and deprivation. [ֽdepri'veiʃən]

33. Key pointsin Paragraph III 1. a state of mind: the mental/psychological condition, a sort of mentality. in contrast to the economic/material/physical condition. Why does the writer say that “ Prosperity is more than an economic condition; it is a state of mind.”? Comment: A superior economic condition not only provides material gratification, but also brought about a sense of security. It inspires confidence in the future and an optimistic outlook on life.

34. Key pointsin Paragraph III • the climaxof a business cycle: the period of prosperity. The ‘climax’ of a business cycle: The “climax” here refers to the highest state of economic activity marked by prosperity of the different stages of recurrent succession. “the climax in mass thinking and emotion”: an indication of the high spirits of the American people who were confident of success.

35. Key pointsin Paragraph III Comment: The term climax is applied to mass thinking and mass emotion. It’s an indication of the high spirits of the confident American people or who were confident of success and even a brighter future. climax：the highest point in the development of a series of events; the most powerful and effective part

36. Key pointsin Paragraph III 3.the ever-shifting currents of American life were tuning into new channels. It implies the economic situation has experienced a drastic change. To comply with such a situation, the American way of life has to remold itself and to look for a new orientation.

37. Levels of… • Phonology—sound, rhythm, stress • Diction— choice of words • Syntactic — sentences • Discourse/text — organization, development, coherence • Figures of speech

38. Look at the following translation of the text and makeimprovement where necessary:http://hi.baidu.com/avrildmd/blog/item/63f695163bbe0502c93d6d99.htmlhttp://sfs.scnu.edu.cn/tblogs/songxk/article.asp?id=372

39. Answers to Questions 1-2 in the book (P.27) Although it is sketchy in appearance, this extract is a fruit of deep-going research into the 1929 New York Stock Market Crash and its tremendous impact on the American economy as well as on the American mentality. The author has chosen the New York Market Crash as his starting point and his study let him view the crash as a signal marking the end of an era of prosperity in United States. The writing differs from news coverage in that (simply because) the author has purposed to work out a logical conclusion from the early symptoms of the economic decline in the United States rather than the merely report on that has happened to American economy.

40. Answers to Questions in the book (p.27) As we are not sufficiently acquainted with the academic backgrounds of the average American high school students of the early 30s or the vocabulary at their command. It would be presumptuous (inappropriate) to say where the author might have changed his diction or what he might have added or omitted if he had intended his work for the high school students.

41. Answers to Questions (p.27) The whole selection, in view of its academic quality, should be intended for the students of political economy or for the economist or for educated people as a whole. It would be safe not to assume that it was intended for the general public (general consumption). That is, the man of the street. This extract is characterized by a tight organization, economy in the treatment of the material and it is characterized by overwhelming diction. All these combined make it a model for expository writing.

42. More questions(3-7) about organization of the text (pp.27-28) • 3.The echoing words are: dead, disappeared, lost, dropped, debt, suicides • 4. 1) In paragraph 2, the author carries on the restatement by using the words “dead” and “dying” in the first sentence. • 2) The simile used in the second sentence is “as poisons”. This simile appears again in the third sentence: “…,nevertheless the poisons were there”.

43. 5. 1) The writer carefully qualifies his topic idea in the third sentence: “Although the liquidation of nearly three billion dollars of broker’s loans contracted credit…offered real encouragement, …” 2) In the final sentence of paragraph 2, the words “No matter how many soothsayers of finance proclaimed that all was well, no matter how earnestly the President set to work to repair the damage with soft words and White House conferences…” repeat his qualification(限定，条件).

44. 3）damage，depression 4）nevertheless 6. 1）The second sentence in paragraph 3 is the topic sentence, and the key words are “a state of mind”. 2）massing thinking, mass emotion 7. The last word of the opening sentence of this article is “dead”. In this last paragraph, the author uses the words “close” and “end” to echo with the word “dead” in both sense and rhythm. So the author’s idea has come full circle.