高级英语第八课The Merely Very Good

LessonEightTheMerelyVeryGood——JeremyBernsteinBackgroundInformationTextAnalysisSomeThoughtsontheTextRhetoricsContentsBackgroundInformationJeremyBernstein(theauthor)RobertOppenheimerStephenSpenderPaulA.M.DiracW.H.AudenWhoisJeremyBernstein?Americanphysicist,educator,andwriterwidelyknownfortheclarityofhiswritingforthelayreaderonthemajorissuesofmodernphysics.JeremyBernstein(1929-)1955–obtainedPh.D.fromHarvardUniversity.1957-1961(?)–workedattheInstituteofAdvancedStudyatPrinceton,N.J.1962–becameanassociateprofessorofphysicsatNewYorkUniversity.1967–becameaprofessorofphysicsatStevensInstituteofTechnology&heldthepositionuntil1993–onthestaffofTheNewYorkermagazineforover30yearsMajorWorksofJeremyBernsteinComputers—Past,PresentandFuture(1964,revised1981)AlbertEinstein(1973)ExperiencingScience(1978)ScienceObserved:EssaysOutofMyMind(1982)ObservationsonScienceandScientists(2001)worksTheFourProtagonists(I)RobertOppenheimerAmericanphysicistwhoiscalled“fatheroftheAtomicBomb”,hasbeeninchargeoftheLosAlamasnuclearlaboratoryformanyyears.TheFourProtagonists(II)StephenSpenderEnglishpoetandcritic,concentratesonthemesofsocialinjusticeandclassstruggleinhiswork.PerhapshisclosestfriendandthemanwhohadthebiggestinfluenceonhimwasW.H.Auden.TheFourProtagonists(III)PaulA.M.DiracEnglishphysicist,wonNobelPrizein1933attheageof31forhispioneerworkinthequantummechanics,andmademajorcontributionsinmanyareasofmoderntheoreticalphysics.TheFourProtagonists(IV)W.H.AudenEnglishpoet,wasregardedbymanyasoneofthegreatestwritersofthe20thcentury.Hisworkisnotedforitsstylisticandtechnicalachievements,itsengagementwithmoralandpoliticalissues,anditsvarietyoftone,formandcontent.OrganizationofthisarticleTheauthorusesthe1981conferenceasthebenchmarkandgoesbacktoearliertimesandinthelasttwoparagraphsreturnsthescenetothetimeofwriting.Thistechniqueofmontage(蒙太奇)isusedlargelyincinema.montage(蒙太奇)Thereisakindoftechniqueofexpressioncalledmontage”inthefilm.Itbreaksthelimitsoftimeandspace,organizemanySplicinglens(剪接镜头),andmakethemcoherent.Inwriting,authorusemontagetechnique,andarrangesomediscontinuouspicturestogetheraccordingtoorganization.Itcancharacterizepersontraitsandthedevelopplotsofstory,andexpressacompletetheme.Howaredifferentpeopleintroducedintothearticle?HisdecisiontogototheconferenceOppenheimer’sanecdote:OppenheimerandDiracmeetatGottinggen,talkaboutpoetryandphysics.Spender’sbeingattheconferenceSpender’sobsessionwithAudengreatversusmerelyverygood.Howdoestheauthordevelopthearticle?The1981conferenceandtheauthor'sindecision.→(flashbackto1925-1927)theauthortalkedaboutearlierlifeofOppenheimerandhisrelationswithDirac.→(backto1981)theauthor'sdecisiontoattendconference.→(flashbackto1956)theauthortalkedaboutSpenderandOppenheimer.→(backto1981)theauthormetSpender.→(bringingthesceneto1996)concludingremarks.thentheauthorwrote“Themerelyverygood”.Relationshipofthefourcharactersinthearticle:physicistsOppenheimer----Spender(merelygood)poetsDirac------Auden(excellent)Oppenheimervs.Dirac(similarity&difference)OppenheimerDiracsimilaritiesyoungtalentedphysicistdifferencesusingquantummechanicstodobettercalculationtalkative,self-assertinginventedthetheoryofquantummechanicsmanoffewwords,eccentricWhatarethethingstheauthorwantstotellthereaders?(1)Greatpoetryandgreatphysicscannotbeimitated.AsDiracputit,thereallygreatideasinphysicsarehadbyonlyoneperson.(2)Greatpoetryandphysicsarepushed(driven)aheadbyunanticipatedgenius.Themerelyverygoodcannotcontributetothedevelopmentofeitherpoetryorphysics.Whatarethethingstheauthorwantstotellthereaders?(3)Tobeoriginalandprofound,onehastobefocused.Astheauthorsays,AudenandDiracfocusedlikelaserbeams.This,accordingtotheauthor,isthecauseofthedifferenceofbeinggreatandbeingmerelyverygood.Jackofalltrades,butmasterofnone(博而不专)Fromthetext,weknowthatnomatterhowtalentedonemaybe,ifonedoesn’tconcentrateonaspecificaspect,hewillnotmakeanyachievementsassupposedtobe.Somethoughtsonthetext：Evenageniuscannotbeskilledinallsubjectsthathetookinterestin.Merelypassionandtalentcannotcontributetomastereverythingonewantstograsp.WhenwecometothestudyofEnglishasamajor,weshouldalsobeawareoftheissue.AnEnglishstudentwilltakeanumberofcoursewithinfouryearsandtheknowledgelearnedvaryfromphoneticstowriting,fromspecificgeneralknowledgesuchasthegeneralsurveyoftheEnglish-speakingcountriestotheoreticallycenteredlinguistics,fromthehighlyculturallyBritishandAmericanliteraturetomostpracticalonesliketheEnglishteachingmethodsetc.Onemaybeabletogetahighscoreinalltheabovebutitdosen’tmeanthatonecanbeaqualifiedEnglishprofessinonaltalentonthepremisethatheorshecouldn’tfindamostsuitablesubjectwhichcanbethoroughlylearnedandfreelymadeuseof.AnEnglishmajorshouldhaveacertainfieldofknowledgewhichcanberegardedasthebasisaswellasthehighlightofone’sEnglishability.Therefore,whatattitudeshouldwetaketowardstheparadoxthatwhetherweshouldbeconcentratedonasimplesubjectorbefamiliarwithalarge-scaleofknowledge?Well,formypart,IamfortheformeroneandI’dliketoshowyouafewexamplestoexplainitfurther.Dr.Hushiwasgre