Contemporary College English Book One

1. Contemporary College EnglishBook One Unit 11 The Midnight Visitor

2. Unit 11 The Midnight Visitor Robert Arthur

3. Robert Arthur was born on November 10, 1909, at Fort Mills, Corregidor Island, the Philippines.Arthur graduated from the University of Michigan in 1930 with a B.A. in English. After working as an editor at one of the Publications, he returned to the University of Michigan where he received his M.A. in Journalism in 1932. He then moved to New York City, where he lived in Greenwich Village. During this time, he began writing stories for publication in magazines. Between his graduation from Michigan in 1930 and 1940, his stories were published in Wonder Stories, Detective Fiction Weekly, Mystery, The Illustrated Detective Magazine, Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine, Amazing Stories, The Shadow, Street & Smith Mystery Reader, Detective Tales,Thrilling Detective, Double Detective, Startling Stories, Collier's, The Phantom Detective, Argosy Weekly, Unknown Worlds, andBlack Mask.

4.  In addition, during this time, Arthur worked as a writer and editor for western, fact detective, and screen magazines for Dell Publishing, and was associate editor(副编辑)of Photo-Story, a picture magazine published by Fawcett Publications. More significantly, he conceived and edited Pocket Detective Magazine for Street and Smith, the first pocket-sized, all-fiction magazine, in which several of his stories were published. In February 1938, he was married for the first time to Susan Smith Cleveland, a radio soap opera actress, from whom he was divorced in 1940. In 1940 he met the woman, Joan Vaczek, who became his second wife, in a class on the short story he took at Columbia University.

5. That same year Arthur also took a class at Columbia University in radio writing, in which class he met his future writing partner, David Kogan, with whom he eventually wrote and produced his own radio show, The Mysterious Traveler, which aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System from 1944 until 1953, and which won the Edgar Allen Poe award for Best Mystery Radio Show of the Year in 1952 by the Mystery Writers of America. The Mysterious Traveler also aired as the retitled Adventure into Fear, and from 1948 to 1951 Arthur and Kogan also produced Dark Destiny, a dramatic TV series.

6. In December of 1946 Arthur and Vaczek were married, and moved to Connecticut[美]康涅狄格（州） and later New York, where they had two children Robert Andrew Arthur and Elizabeth Ann Arthur. After 1952, Arthur worked as a co-producer for the radio show Mystery Time. In 1959, after his divorce from Joan Vaczek, Arthur moved to Hollywood where he worked in television. He wrote scripts for The Twilight Zone, and he worked as a story editor and script writer for Alfred Hitchcock's TV show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1962 he moved back from Hollywood to Cape May, New Jersey where he lived with his father's aunt Margaret Fisher Arthur until his death in 1969.

7. Warming-up Questions Have you ever read any stories or seen any movies of secret agents ? What is your impression of a secret agent ? Who is the best-known image of a secret agent ever invented ?

8. Warming-up Questions Please enjoy the following pictures in Hollywood movies and give your description of 007—James Bond , the best-known secret agent ever invented across the world, and make a comparison between Ausable and 007.

9. 《诺博士》Dr. No 《女王密使》 On Her Majesty's Secret Service 《杀人执照》Licence to Kill 《黄金眼》Goldeneye 《择日再死》 Die Another Day 《明日帝国》 Tomorrow Never Dies

10. Possible words used to describe 007: young strong handsome attractive intelligent having infinite powers

11. In contrast to 007, what is the image of the secret agent called Ausable in the Midnight Visitor ? Try to describe him, please. sloppy fat unhealthy no guns no linguistic genius nothing mysterious nothing romantic nothing exciting

12. Think about it Being a secret agent so far away from the commonly accepted image, what is it that makes Ausable so uncommon?

13. In the case of Ausable, the most outstanding feature must be his wisdom, his presence of mind and his quick wit. He is not strong physically, but he can beat his enemy. He is fat and slow, but he reacts very quickly. He carries no weapon, but he has an excellent brain which is more powerful than any magic weapon. He appears helpless, but he gets rid of his deadly enemy without lifting a finger. There is no shooting or fighting, but the battle of wits is even more exiting and gripping.

14. It is precisely this commonness that makes him so uncommon. The author is very clever in portraying him in this way in contrast to the general image because it makes the story fresh, unexpected and dramatic.

15. Text Appreciation • Structure of the text Part 1 (para. 1- ) about: Part 2 (para. ) about: Part 3 (para. ) about: who Ausable is &why Fowler wants to see him 5 the unexpected visit of Ausable’s adversary Max 6-16 how Ausable outwits Max and makes him jump onto the “balcony” 17-26

16. In-class Discussion What was Fowler’s first impression of Ausable? How did Fowler get his first thrilling experience of the day? How did Ausable deal with the situation? How did Ausable finally outwit Max?

17. Paraphrase the following sentences: • Ausable was not at all what a secret agent should look like. • . …it was not the kind of place suitable for a romantic person like a secret agent. • . …his French and German were not very good, but acceptable. • . … the sound of pistol fire and the use of drugs in somebody’s wine to make him fall asleep. • . …Soon you will see a document/a report come to me and when I receive that paper, I’ll place it in the hands of the proper authorities. By that time I will have fulfilled my task/mission.

18. Paraphrase the following sentences: • You frightened/surprised me. • We can assume that Max is an Eastern German defending the secret document of new Russian missiles. The question is not in whose hands it will be safer. It is a life-and-death struggle. • He was making up a story, which turned out to be a trap for Max. to make Max swallow his bait, Ausable pretended to be angry with the management explained to Fowler why he was going to complain to the management about the balcony.

19. Paraphrase the following sentences: • The night was pressing against the window blackly or threateningly. This was an important detail. Max could have seen that there was no balcony if it had not been so dark outside. • It could have been a sigh of relief, a sigh of satisfaction because everything had worked out exactly as he had planed. But notice that Ausable remained completely calm throughout. For him this was not unusual experience. It had been obviously a frequent occurrence. Nothing terrible exciting, his attitude was a sharp contrast to the young writer Fowler.

20. Focus Examine the following sentences in Text A 1. …instead of having messages slipped into his hand by dark-eyed beauties…(para. 4) 2. Keeping his body twisted so that his gun covered the fat man and his guest…(para. 22) 3. For halfway across the room, … stood a man.(para. 6) 4. This is the second time in a month that somebody has gotten into my room …(para. 11) 5. It might have saved me some trouble had I known about it. (para12) 6. I wish I knew how you learned about the report. (para. 15) 7. Except for the gun, he did not look very dangerous. (para. 9)

21. Grammar Exercises 1. In Australia, the Asians make their influence ___ in business large and small. A. feeling B. feel C. felt D. to be felt 2. His remarks left me ___ about his real purpose. A. wondered B. wonder C. to wonder D. wondering C D

22. Grammar Exercises B 3. You will see this product ___ wherever you go. A. to be advertised B. advertised C. advertise D. advertising 4.The manager promised to keep me ___ of how business was going on. A. to be informed B. on informing C. informed D. informing C

23. Grammar Exercises B 5. To the north of the village ____ a small island. A. lain B. lies C. was there D. there lays 6. ____ at full speed. A. Away the car went B. Away did the car go C. Away was the car going D. Away went the car D

24. Grammar Exercises D 7. You ___ him so closely; you should have kept your distance. A. shouldn’t follow B. mustn’t follow C. couldn’t have been following D. shouldn’t have been following 8.When we reached the pier, the ferry had not arrived, so we ___. A. needn’t have hurried B. needed not worry C. didn’t need to hurry D. need not to have worried A

25. Grammar Exercises C 9. The millions of calculations involved, had they been done by hand, ___ all practical value by the time they were finished. A. had lost B. would lose C. would have lost D. should have lost 10. I wish I ___ longer this morning, but I had to get up and come to class. A. could have slept B. slept C. might have slept D. have slept A

26. Word Study figure: 1. symbol for a number He has an annual income of six figures. 2. diagram The blackboard is covered with geometrical figures like squares and triangles. 3. human form I saw a figure approaching in the darkness. She is now on a diet to keep her figure.

27. Word Study 4. person , esp. person of influence a great historical figure figure… out:calculate; think about until one understands 我们必须想出解决这个问题的办法。 We must figure out how to solve the problem. 我想不出那位戴墨镜的夫人是谁。 I couldn't figure out who the lady with the sunglasses was.

28. Word Study risk She is too sensible to take/run a risk when driving. We’ll take /run the risk of being late. He was determined to get there even at the risk of his life. v. risk+ n. -ing To save that traveler, they had to risk getting caught in the storm.

29. Word Study start n. [c] sudden movement of surprise, fear etc. He sat up with a start. The news gave him a start. startle vt. give a shock or surprise to She was startled to see that man so pale. What startling news it was that the building caught fire!

30. Word Study concerning prep. This book deals with questions concerning China’s diplomatic policies. synonyms: regarding with reference to with respect to

31. Word Study command: 1. order The officer commanded his men to fire. The officer commanded that his men (should) fire. 2. control; hold back command oneself / one’s temper commanding adj. He said in a commanding tone. He is now in a commanding position.

32. Word Study blink: vt & vi. shut and open the eyes quickly blink one’s eyes blink away one’s tears (fig) refuse to consider; ignore blink at the law 无视法律 你不能忽视那个事实。 You can't blink that fact.

33. Word Study gaze stare glance glimpse examples: We stood there, gazing at the beautiful scenery. They stared at her clothes in amazement. He stared at her straight in the eye. She glanced at her watch. He glanced through the report. He caught a glimpse of the Town Hall clock as he drove past.

34. Word Study Ex. 6. 2) on P. 275 to glance at to stare at to gaze at 1. Miss Zhou __________ the memo and said my appointment with the president was at 4:00 p.m. 2. He just __________ her. He simply could not recall where he had met her. 3. I __________ the envelope and immediately recognized my mother’s handwriting. glanced at gazed at glanced at

35. Word Study Ex. 6. 2) on P. 275 to glance at to stare at to gaze at 4. My father would sometimes sit at his desk, __________ the photo of my grandparents with tears in his eyes. 5. Why are you __________ me like this? What have I done wrong? 6. We call it the Moon Festival because on the night of that day, people will go outside and __________ the moon. gazing at staring at gaze at

36. Word Formation Word formation: compound nouns • n.+ n.doorbell seaside • n.+v. heartbeat headache • adj. + n.greenhouse shorthand • n.+ gerunddaydreaming sun-bathing • gerund + n.frying-pan sleeping-bag • v. +adv. breakthrough dropout • adv.+ v.income outbreak • n.+prep.+n.sister-in-law mother-in-law • v.+pron.+adv.forget-me-not touch-me-not

37. Word Formation Word formation: compound adjectives • n..+ -ed thunder-strucksun-tanned 2. n.+ -ing peace-loving fault-finding meat-eating English-speaking 3. n.+ adj.seasick taxfree knee-deep nation-wide 4. adj.+ -edopen-minded hot-tempered quick-wittedcool-headed 5. adv.+-inghardworking everlasting well-behaved new-built

38. Word Formation Word formation: compound adjectives 6. compound adjectives formed from phrases : • They kept a round-the-clock watch on the house. • The police made an on-the-spot inspection. • Jack is of the look-before-you-leap sort. • He told the whole story in a matter-of-fact tone. • I’ll cherish those never-to-be-forgotten days. • …you will see a paper…come to me in the next-last-step of its journey into official hands.

39. After-class Assignment Try to act out the movie.