The-Plot-Against-People

ThePlotAgainstPeopleRussellBakerRussellBakergraduatedfromtheBaltimoreCityCollegehighschoolin1943andreceivedhisB.A.fromtheSchoolofArt&ScienceatJohnsHopkinsUniversityin1947.Hewasanessayist,journalistandbiographer,aswellasthehostofthePBSshowfrom1992to2004.Hehaswrittenoreditedseventeenbooksduringhislife.BakerwonPulitzerPrizefortwice.HisfirstPulitzerwasfordistinguishedcommentaryforhis“Observer”columns(1979)andthesecondonewasforhisautobiography,GrowingUp(1982).TheAuthor’sBackgroundDuringhislongcareer,BakerwasaregularcontributortonationalperiodicalssuchasTheNewYorkTimesMagazine,SportsIllustrated,SaturdayEveningPost,andMcCalls.WhilestillhostingMasterpieceTheatre,hemovedtoLeesburg,Virginia(notfarfromhisbirthplace)whereheremains.OrganizationOfTheText1.Classificationofinanimateobjectsintothreemajorcategoriesandthebasisoftheclassification(Paragraphs1–2)2.Detaileddiscussionofthethreemajorcategories(Paragraphs3–14)A.Thosethatbreakdown(3–4)B.Thosethatgetlost(5–10)C.Thosethatdonotwork(11–14)LanguagePoints(Paragraph1~7)Paragraph2asageneralrule:alsoingeneral,usually;inmostcases一般(或总的)说来;大体上;从总体上看Paragraph3cunningn.:cleverness,especiallyindeceiving狡猾,狡诈,诡诈E.g.:Hehasthecunningofthesecretdrinkerwhohidesbottles.他是个诡诈的酒徒,偷偷喝酒然后有把酒瓶藏掉的本领.intersection:crossroads交叉点，十字路口irritability:angerParagraph4inleague(with):workingtogether(with),oftensecretlyorforabadpurpose(与…)联合;(与…)结盟;(与…)勾结E.g.:Theywereallinleagueagainsthim.他们都联合起来反对他.Thepoliceofficerisprivatelyinleaguewithsomecrooks.那警官暗中和一些无赖勾结.Paragraph6intheact(ofdoing):whiledoing;atthemomentofdoingE.g.:IwasintheactofshootinghimwhenIsuddenlyrecognizedhim.Shehadababyanddiedintheact.她在生孩子过程中死去。becaughtintheact被当场捉住（或发觉）intheveryactofdoingsomething正在做事的过程中plausible:(ofastatement,argument,etc.)seemingtobetrueorreasonable貌似有理的；貌似真实的；花言巧语的E.g.:aplausibleexcuse貌似有理的借口aplausibleplot貌似真实的情节aplausiblecommentator(liar)花言巧语的评论员（说谎大王）locomotion:movement;abilitytomoveParagraph7burrow:moveaheadbyorasifbydigging钻进（或钻入）某处；偷偷打入某组织；如掘进般前进E.g.:Thetrainwasburrowingthroughvalleys.火车在群谷中穿行。Weburrowedapaththroughthecrowd.我们从人群中拱出一条路来。Paragraph9Infuriatevt.激怒，使气恼synonym:anger,enrageupset:causetoworry使心烦意乱，使苦恼e.g.Thenewsquiteupsethim.Hostile:adj.敌对的，敌方的；怀敌意的e.g.Manypeoplefelthewouldbehostiletotheideaofforeignintervention.hostilityn.敌意Paragraph8•furnacen.火炉，熔炉•Invariablyadv.总是，不变地e.g.Theyalmostinvariablygetitwrong.Paragraph10conciliatory:tendingorintendingtoconciliate安抚的；调和的，调解的；谋求好感的aconciliatoryattitude:afriendlyattitudeHehasbeenconciliatoryaboutthatsmallandbackwardcity.他对那座又小又落后的城市没有怨言。aconciliatorypolicy和解政策Conciliatorn.抚慰者；调解人Conciliatevt.安抚，安慰；调和；赢得Paragraph11quit:stopfunctioning停止工作，停止活动e.g.Theenginehasquit.引擎不转了。Barometern.气压计，晴雨表Locomotiven.机车，火车头workingorder:thestateofworkingwell,withnotrouble（机器等的）工作状态，运转情况E.g.:Everythingisinworkingorder.一切正常。Paragraph13baffle:makeeffectiveactionimpossiblebyconfusing使困惑，难住E.g.:Thatquestionbaffledmecompletely.Thepolicewerebaffledbythetotallackofcluestothemurder.那件谋杀案由于没有一点线索把警方难住了。Paragraph12Paragraph13aspire:directone’shopesandeffortstosomegreatorimportantaim渴望；追求；有志于e.g.:aspiretosucceed渴望成功aspireafterknowledge追求知识Paragraph14condition:(especiallytechnicalorderogatory)train训练，使适应；使有准备e.g.:conditionahorseforarace把马训练得能参加比赛Ourearshavebecomeconditionedtonoise.Paragraph14illuminatev.照亮，阐释，说明e.g.Thetwoinstructorsusegamesanddrawingstoilluminatetheirsubject.illuminatingadj.富有启发性的Itwouldbeilluminatingtoheartheviewsoftheclubchairman.听听俱乐部副主席的观点或许会有启发。Allareinleaguewiththeautomobiletotaketheirturnsatbreakingdownwheneverlifethreatenstoflowsmoothlyfortheirenemies.(para.4)所有这些都与骑车为伍，轮流在其敌人一帆风顺时不失时机的坏掉。SentenceThegoalofallinanimateobjectsistoresistmanandultimatelytodefeathim,andthethreemajorclassificationsarebasedonthemethodeachobjectusestoachieveitspurpose.（para.2）所有这些无生命物体的目的就是抵抗人类，最终打败人类。Theyhavetrulydefeatedmanbyconditioninghimnevertoexpectanythingofthem.(para.14)这类事物已经使人类对它们不抱任何希望，真正地打败了人类。Themostinterestingholdsthatthethingsthatdon’tworkhaveattainedthehigheststatepossibleforaninanimateobject,thestatetowhichthingsthatbreakdownandthingsthatgetlostcanstillonlyaspire.(para.13)最有意思的猜测是这类不工作的物品已经达到了无生命物体的最高境界，这种境界是前两者望尘莫及的。WritingSkills:essaydevelopedbyclassificationThosethatbreakdown,thosethatgetlost,andthosethatdon'twork.personifiessomeinanimateobjectse.g.,themethodeachobjectusestoachieveitspurpose(para.1)climb,burrow,andtravel(para.7).personificationofinanimateobjects&Exaggerations,tocontributetothehumoroustone...initssingle-mindeddetermination(para.7).Scientistshavebeenstruckbythefact.(para.8)Somepeoplehavereachedadvancedageswithouteverseeingsomeoftheseobjects---barometers,forexample---inworkingorder.(para.12)