A New English Course

1. A New English Course Student’s Book 5 Produced by Du Juan

2. Unit OneHit the Nail on the HeadAlan Warner

3. Hit the Nail on the Head • Meaning: say or do exactly the right thing • Example: • You really hit the nail on the head when you said that there needs to more direct communication between the office staff and the executive management.

4. Reading exercise • In the body of Warner’s article, various aspects concerning the issues of word choice and the mastery of vocabulary have been addressed. Now try to identify the paragraph(s) that is (are) devoted each of the following points: • 1. stylistic differences between synonyms • 2. semantic differences between words having the same root. • 3. the significance of finding the right words. • 4. wrong choice of words caused by failure to recognize their connotations • 5. the abundance of specific words in English for general notions.

5. Structure of the Text Significance of finding the right words Part 1 Para. 1,2,3 Para. 4 - 7 Para. 8 Various aspects concerning word choice Part 2 Para. 4 - 10 Para. 9 Para. 10 Advice for EFL students Part 3 Para. 11

6. Words and phrases in Paragraph 1 • knock over: hit … to fall 打翻，撞倒，捶翻 • Their resemblance completely knocked me over. (Astonish, overcome ) • They knocked over one bank and headed for another. (Steal or rob)

7. Words and phrases in Paragraph 1 • drive something home: force (sth.) into the right place把……钉/敲/推进去; • He slammed the door and drove the bolt home. 他砰地关上门，把门闩插好。 • drive homeone’s point / argument / idea …: • to say something very clearly and with a lot of force, so that you are sure that people understand it • 讲清楚自己的观点 • To drive home his policy, the president wrote his second letter. 为了阐明他的政策，总统又写了第二封信。

8. Words and phrases in Paragraph 1 • hit it squarely on the head: hitting it directly on the head. Also hit the (right) nail on the head: (informal) be exactly right in words or action 正中要害；猜中；说得好，做得好 • E.g. : (1). Your criticism really hit the nail squarely on the head. 你的批评确是一针见血。 • (2). In so saying, you hit the right nail on the head. 你这样说真是太对了。

9. Words and phrases in Paragraph 1 • squarely: meaning “directly”, may be used both literally and figuratively. E.g. : • (1) The boxer hit his opponent squarely on the jaw. • (2) We must face the difficulty squarely. • a word that is more or less right: a word that is almost right, but not completely right 差不多恰当的词语 • clean English: English that is exact (precise) and clear精简的英语

10. Para. One Question: • How does the author introduce the topic?

11. Para. One • Analogy • an analogy between the hammering of nails & the use of language to express oneself. A man poor at language A man clumsy with a hammer A man good at language A skilful carpenter

12. Analogy Read Page 7 with the following questions in mind: • WHAT is the purpose of drawing an analogy? • WHEN is it often used? • HOW is it different from “comparison”? • How to draw an effective analogy?

13. Examples of Analogy • "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. THAT's relativity." -- Albert Einstein explains the Theory of Relativity • systems engineer is like the conductor of an orchestra who gets everybody to play at the right intensity at the right time.

14. Paras. 2 & 3 Questions: • How is paragraph 2 linked to the previous one? What does the word “this” refer to? • Is it easy to find the word that expresses precisely what a writer wants to express? Why? • Does a big vocabulary guarantee the ability of using the right word? Why? • Do you agree with the author that there is a great deal of truth in the seemingly stupid question “How can I know what I think till I see what I say?”

15. Para. 2 & 3Significance of right words • Para. 2: choosing right words Good command of language A fairly wide vocabulary Think hard & observe accurately • Para. 3: reward for right words Mastery over the material we are dealing with

16. Para.2 • le mot juste = the exact word a French expression; a prevailing English proverb

17. Le mot juste • Almost everyone would attribute this phrase “le mot juste” to Gustava Flaubert.

18. Le Mot Juste • He weighed every word, examining not only the sense, but the structure. Avoiding repetitions, rhymes, roughness – that was just the coarse part of the job. • - -- Emile Zola “ Les Romanciers naturalistes” • “Like many would-be writers, I had been deeply influenced by stories of Flauberts grail-quest for le mot juste, the exact word, which of course translated into the idea of the perfect sentence, paragraph, chapter…book.” • -- Sven Birkerts in American Scholar

19. homework Find out what’s about Gustave Flaubert and his masterpiece Madame Bovery? • Wikipedia Gustave Flaubert • Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview Criticism Sources. • Download and watch the movie

20. 炼字 ── • 为人性僻耽佳句，语不惊人死不休（杜甫 ） • 为求一字安，捻断数茎须（卢延让） • 吟成五字句，用破一生心（方干） • 两句三年得，一吟双泪流（贾岛） • 诗赋以一字见工拙（苏东坡）

21. Para. 4 – 7: • Illustrating how words with common roots have different meanings (Semantic aspect) • Examples: • Para. 4: human  humane • Para. 5: anxiety  eagerness • Para. 6 - 7: singularity  singleness Malapropism!

22. Malapropism • In his 1775 Restoration comedy, The Rivals, Richard Sheridan introduced a humorous character by the name of Mrs. Malaprop. The name is derived from the French mal à propos, which means inappropriate (we also have the word malapropos in English), and describes the manner in which she used many words in her speech.

23. Malapropism • The self-educated Mrs. Malaprop was always substituting a similar-sounding word for the word that she actually intended, often with the consequence of a hilariously nonsensical sentence. • "I am sure I have done everything in my power since I exploded the affair;"   [exposed]"I am sorry to say, she seems resolved to decline every particle that I enjoin her."   [article]

24. Malapropism • The name Malaprop has been immortalised in the form of the malapropism, the unintentional misuse of a word by confusing it with one that resembles it.

25. Malapropism • Famous people are far from immune to making mistakes. Unfortunately for them, unlike us "nobodies", when they come out with a hilarious slip of the tongue it is often recorded for posterity on pages like this! Below is a selection of celebrity malapropisms. Can you spot the inappropriately used word in each quotation? • "The police are not here to create disorder, they're here to preserve disorder." • Richard Daley, former Chicago mayor"He was a man of great statue." • Thomas Menino, Boston mayor"We cannot let terrorists and rogue nations hold this nation hostile or hold our allies hostile." • George W. Bush

26. Para. 8 (Connotational aspect) • Illustrating how words with similar meanings may have different connotations. • Denotation is the specific, direct, and literal meaning of a word. • Connotation is the associative or suggestive meaning of a word. • Denotation is the strict dictionary meaning of a word. • Connotation is the emotional and imaginative association surrounding a word.

27. Para. 8 (Connotational aspect) • For example: Hollywood • The name ‘Hollywood’ denotesan area of Los Angeles, worldwide known as the center of the American movie industry. • In the same time, the name ‘Hollywood’ connotessuch things as glitz, glamour, tinsel, celebrity, and dreams of stardom.

28. Para. 8 (Connotational aspect) • Illustrating how words with similar meanings may have different connotations. • Example in para. 8: • imprison (×) • contain or sum up(?)  • epitomize (?)  • distill (√)

29. Para. 9 (Grammatical &Stylistic/situational aspect) • Illustrating how words / phrases with similar meanings may have different grammatical forms / wording. • In my childhood I loved to watch trains go by. • When I was a childI loved watching trains go by. • More example: • The passive voice VS. the active voice

30. Para. 9(Grammatical & Stylistic/situational aspect) • Illustrating how words with similar meanings may have stylistic differences. • He diedpoor. • He expiredin indigent circumstances • More examples: which one is more formal? • participate in tale part in • offspring children • encounter come across

31. Para. 9 • About Style语体（文体；风格） • 1. variation in a person’s speech or writing. Style usually varies from casual to formal according to the type of situation, the person or persons addressed, the location, the topic discussed, etc. a particular style, e.g. a formal style or a colloquial style, is sometimes referred to as a stylistic variety (语体类型)。Some linguists use the term “register” for a stylistic variety whilst others differentiate between the two. • 2. Style can also refer to a particular person’s use of speech or writing at all times or to a way of speaking or writing at a particular period of time, e.g. Dickens’s style, the style of Shakespeare, an 18th –century style of writing.

32. Degree of formality • Martin Joos, an American linguist, distinguishes five stages of formality, namely: • frozen>formal>consultative>casual>intimate. • Different styles of the same language at the syntactic level. Example: • Frozen: Visitors would make their way at once to the upper floor by way of the staircase. • Formal: Visitors should go up the stairs at once. • Consultative: Would you mind going upstairs right away, please? • Casual: Time you all went upstairs now. • Intimate: Up you go, chaps!

33. Degree of formality • Different styles of the same language at lexical level. • Example: • male parent – father – Dad – Daddy – old man • Decease – pass away – die – pop off – kick the bucket • According to Joos, it is routine to alternate, within a single discourse, between two styles which neighbour on this scale.

34. Synonyms – words that are very similar in meaning have fine shades of difference (l.57) emotive or evaluative Dialectal synonyms Collocational Stylistic semantic

35. Para. 10 (Variation in expression：generic vs. specific) • Pointing out that a general notion may be expressed by a variety of specific words • various words describing walking • (Refer to the exercise on Workbook P8-9)

36. Summary: about choosing the right word Semantic Grammatical WORD Situational (Stylistic) Connotational Variation

37. Para. 11: Conclusion • Author’s encouragement: • A vocabulary of about 10,000 words is enough. • To have a good control and command over the words you do know.

38. Para. 11: Conclusion • Question 1: What conclusion is drawn by the author in this paragraph? • A good writer is not measured by the extent of his vocabulary, but by his skill in finding the “mot juste”, the word that will hit the nail cleanly on the head.

39. Para. 11: Conclusion • Question 2: • The writer begins his article with an analogy between the unskilled use of the hammer and the improper choice of words. Identify the places where the analogy is referred to in the rest of the article.

41. Vocabulary exercise • 1. very far away • far afield 2. pressure, compulsion coercion 3. die, pass away; come to an end expire 4. Poverty-stricken, penniless indigent

42. 5. force into the right place; make something unmistakably clear • drive something home • 6.widespread, common • rife • 7. be typical of; serve as the typical example of • epitomize • 8. painstaking, meticulous • scrupulous

43. 9. British English for newspaper editorial • leader • 10. prove to be contrary; refute • disprove

44. Exercise • strut: walk proudly or stiffly, especially with the chest pushed forward and trying to look important 趾高气扬地走，大摇大摆地走 • stalk: • 1. walk with slow, stiff strides, esp. in a proud, self-important way高视阔步地走 • 2. move quietly and cautiously towards (wild animals, etc.)偷偷接近

45. ramble:walk for pleasure especially in the countryside, with no particular plan 漫游；散步 • saunter: walk in an unhurried way, and especially in a confident manner闲逛；漫步 • roam: walk without any definite aim or destination 闲逛 • lounge: move in a lazy, relaxed way, move in leisurely, indolent manner 懒洋洋地闲逛 • Stroll: walk a short distance, in a slow or relaxed manner, especially for pleasure漫步；闲荡 • Meander: (of people) wander in a slow, easy way • (of river) flow slowly, turning here and there

46. creep: move slowly and quietly with the body close to the ground • 匍匐前进，爬行； 蹑手蹑脚地走 • sidle: move uncertainly or secretively, as if really to turn and go the other way • 偷偷地侧身而行

47. Paragraph 10 • trudge: to walk slowly with a lot of effort, especially over a difficult surface or while carrying something heavy步履艰难地走, 跋涉 • shuffle: walk by dragging one’s feet slowly along 曳足而行，拖着步子走 • plod: continue walking slowly, heavily and wearily but without resting 沉重缓慢疲倦地继续步行 • tramp:to walk with heavy steps, 脚步沉重地走 • walk through or over, especially long distances 徒步穿越

48. pace: walk with slow, steady steps, especially backwards and forwards 踱方步 • patrol: go at regular times round (an area, building, etc.) to see that there is no trouble, that no one is trying to get in or out illegally, etc. 巡逻，巡查 • stride: walk with long steps or cross with one long step 大踏步地走，跨

49. tread （on）:walk; put the foot or feet down on, step on 踩, 践踏 • E.g. She trod lightly so as not to wake the baby. （from Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary） • 她轻轻地走，以免惊醒孩子。

50. step out: (AmE) go outside or go somewhere (美口) 暂时走开 • prance: move quickly, happily or proudly with a springing or dancing step 欢跃地走 • march: walk with firm regular steps like a soldier 齐步前进, 行军