1、,QUICK FIX SOCIETY,Janet Mendell Goldstein,Janet Mendell Goldstein,Born in 1940, Janet Mendell Goldstein received her degrees at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. An educator for 30 years, she now works as an editorial consultant, freelance writer, and textbook author.,Janet Men
2、dell Goldstein,Her work has appeared in a variety of newspapers and magazines, including the English Journalthe Philadelphia Inquirer,Quick Fix,“Quick fix” refers to a hastily-made solution that alleviates a problem only for the time being (getting things done quickly without taking into considerati
3、on the long time benefit).,American Peoples View of time,Time is one of the two elements that Americans save carefully, the other being labor. People plan it, save it, waste it, kill it, they are also charging for it. It is a precious commodity. Many people have a rather acute sense of the shortness
4、 of each lifetime. They want every minute to account.,American View of time,“We are slaves to nothing but the clock.” “Do you love life? Then do not waste time, for that is the stuff life is made of.” (Benjamin Franklin) “Time is money.”,Thesis,The Americans go to one extreme of their time-saving va
5、lue: they are in such a hurry to save time that they even ignore the real sense of spending time. The author calls upon all of us to slow down and enjoy what nature offers us, what mankind has left us and rediscover life.,Text Structure,1,Para. 1-3 compare her ride on fast roads to West Virginia and
6、 her return trip of a different route,2,Para. 4-6 list three ways Americans seek a quick fix,3,Para. 7-8 summarize the defects of the quick fix society and calls for people to slow down and rediscover life,Close Reading,Part I (Para. 1-3),compare her ride on fast roads to West Virginia and her retur
7、n trip of a different route,Comparison-Contrast,American Fast Roads,expressway: fast road in or near cities freeway: road within a city on which you can drive very fast without stopping highways: usually connect cities superhighway: a broad highway, often with six or more lanes,American Fast Roads,i
8、nterstate highways: connect cities in different states, and sometimes go through several states. turnpike / toll way: limited access highways; the majority of the Pennsylvania Turnpike is operated as a ticket system toll road,American Civil War,CombatantsStrengthCasualties,Pennsylvania Dutch Towns,P
9、ennsylvania Dutch towns: refer to the German-speaking communities who immigrated to Pennsylvania during the 17th and 18th centuries. Among the Pennsylvania Dutch, one conservative Christian group is worth mentioning: the Amish. Known widely for their distinctive dress and principled rejection of mod
10、ernity, the Amish provide unending fascination to outsiders.,Pennsylvania Dutch Towns （ The Buggy Ride ）,Pennsylvania Dutch Towns （Traditional Dressing of the Amish）,Pennsylvania Dutch Towns (Rejection of Modernity),Pennsylvania Dutch Towns (Reputation for Food),Pennsylvania Dutch Towns,Here youll d
11、iscover Amish communities where life moves at a slower pace. Youll see beautiful scenery dotted with wooden covered bridges. Youll find homemade clothing and quilts gently blowing in the breeze. And youll hear the clip-clop of horses hooves echoing down country roads.,Close Reading,Part 2 (Para. 4-6
12、),Lakeside cabin,Convenience Store,Small centrally located store featuring ease of access, late-night hours, and a limited line of merchandise designed for the convenience shopper.,Polaroid Camera,An instant camera is a type of camera with self-developing film to produce a finished photograph almost
13、 immediately after the picture is taken. The most famous are those made by the Polaroid Corporation.,Eyewitness News,Eyewitness News is a local television newscast format, widely used in the United States. The earliest Eyewitness News in American television was in 1959, when the nations first half-h
14、our newscast was launched.,Bicentennial Minutes,Bicentennial Minutes was the name of a series of short educational American television segments commemorating the bicentennial of the American Revolution. The videotaped segments were one minute long and were broadcast each night during prime time hour
15、s, generally at approximately 8:57 p.m.,American Eagle,The eagle, full of the boundless spirit of freedom, living above the valleys, strong and powerful in his might, has become the national emblem of a country that strives for freedom of its people.,The Cliffs Notes,CliffsNotes are a series of stud
16、ent study guides available primarily in the United States. The guides present and explain literary and other works in pamphlet form or online.,Ludwig van Beethoven,Mozart aside, Ludwig van Beethoven is the most famous classical composer of the western world. Beethoven is remembered for his powerful
17、and stormy compositions, and for continuing to compose and conduct even after he began to go deaf at age 28.His Fifth Symphony - bom bom bom bommmmm - is one of the most famous moments in all of music.,Readers Digest was founded in 1922 with the mission of providing selections of published articles
18、and books to help readers cope with the flood of news and information. One popular though widely criticized innovation was its publication of condensed fiction.,USA Today,It is one of the most popular daily national newspapers serving the interest of a general public in the United States. The featur
19、es that originally set it apart abundant colourful graphics, very brief stories, and a concentration on sports and celebrity have influenced other newspapers.,Quality Time,Quality time is an informal reference to time spent with loved ones (eg. children, partners or friends) when one is relaxed and
20、has got nothing to do. It is said that quality time is one of the predominant ways in which people can feel or express love. However, the opportunity to experience quality time, or the actual time available to enjoy quality time is often limited.,Iceberg Principle,“If a writer of prose knows enough
21、about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows, and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The
22、writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.”,Paraphrase the text,Quick fix society Antonym: quick-slow Comparison and contrast Tom and Johnson are handsome. Tom is more handsome than Johnson,1. Of course, we couldnt wait to get there, so we took the
23、 Pennsylvania Turnpike and a couple of interstates. Cants wait/can hardly wait: used when you are emphasizing that sb. is very excited about sth. Or keen to do it, e. g. When she received the letter of admission from Tsinghua University, she couldnt wait to tell her parents the good news.,Because we
24、 wanted/were eager to get there as soon as we could, we took roads for the use of fast-traveling traffic.,2. as pastoral scenery slid by us at 55 mph. as we drove at 55 miles per hour past beautiful country scenes. slid by us: moved quickly past us. mph: miles per hour,3. and the herd of cows is red
25、uced to a few dots in the rear-view mirror. (when our car was driving so fast,) the cows looked like a few dots in the rear-view mirror. Rear-view mirror: a mirror in a vehicle, such as a car or a bus, which lets the driver see the area behind the vehicle.,4. For four hours, our only real amusement
26、consisted of counting exit signs and wondering what it would feel like to hold still again. The 4-hour drive on fast rods was tedious; the only fun we had was to count the exit signs we were passing and to figure out how wed feel if we stopped again.,Exit sign: a sign along fast roads that shows wer
27、e vehicles can get out of them It would feel like to hold still again: Here, “it” is an anticipatory/introductory “it”; it stands for the subject of the clause “to hold still again”.,5. Getting there certainly didnt seem like half the fun; in fact, getting there wasnt any fun at all. We had expected
28、 that our ride to West Virginia would be fun, and that half of the fun wed get from the trip would come from it. But we were wrong. It wasnt fun at all.,6. So, when it was time to return to our home outside of Philadelphia, I insisted that we take a different route. Outside of: outside Route: a chos
29、en direction or line of travel between one place and another, e. g. Whats the shortest route from our university to Tiananmen Square.,7. The two days it took us to make the return trip were filled with new experiences. Our return trip took 2 days; the route was longer, and we drove much more slowly.
30、 But we had many discoveries.,8. We toured a Civil War battlefield and stood get killed in the vain attempt. We visited a Civil War battlefield and stood on the little hill. One hundred and twenty-five years ago, on a hot July afternoon, 15,000 soldiers fighting for slavery, while trying to occupy t
31、he hill, had no idea that they would fail and that half of them would be killed in the battle.,On another hot July afternoon: This indicates that the writer and her husband visited battlefield on a hot July afternoon.,9. We drove slowly through main streets on their way to market. This time instead
32、of driving past towns at 55 mph, we would enter quiet Pennsylvania Dutch towns and drive slowly through the main streets, at 20 mph, in order not to disturb the horses and horse carriages on their way to market.,slow (v.): to go at a slower speed sleepy: (of places) quiet and where nothing much happ
33、ens; inactive or slow-moving crowd (v.) (here) to cause the horses and horse carriages to move close together to make way for us,10. We admired toy trains and antique cars in county museums and saved 70 percent in factory outlets. We looked at with pleasure toy trains and antique cars and saved 70 p
34、ercent shopping at factory stores.,Antique cars: cars made in an earlier period and usually valuable Outlet: a shop/store that sells goods of particular make at reduced prices.,11. We stuffed lying in it. We had a meal in a farmhouse restaurant where for a certain amount of money you could eat as mu
35、ch as you wanted, and we fed ourselves with lots of spicy salads and homemade bread. After the meal, we walked leisurely outdoors to admire the sunshine and watch the herds of cows-this time they did not seem like little dots-lying in the sunshine.,Stuff (a space) with sth.: to fill it with sth. or
36、with a quantity of things until it is full, e.g. His wallet is always stuffed with coins. Each time the boy went to see his grandma, she would stuff his pockets with candy.,12. And we returned home refreshed, revitalized, and reeducated. When we got home, we not only felt fresh and energetic, but al
37、so felt that we had experienced a new way of life.,Refreshed, revitalized, and reeducated: three past participles used as subject compliment, denoting the state the subject “we” were in when home again. Refresh: to bring back strength and freshness,13. This time, getting there had been the fun. This
38、 time, the trip back home itself was not just half the fun, but the fun-the real pleasure we got out of our week of holidays.,14. Why is it that and exploring the countryside? Why do so many of us choose the uninteresting fast roads when we travel? Why dont we try driving a bit slowly and travel int
39、o the countryside to discover and experience life there?,15. But more and more, the fast lane seems to be the only way for us to go. More and more: increasingly, to a steadily increasing extent or degree, e. g. When he first arrived, he rejected cheese. But more and more, he comes to like it.,As the
40、 day of the exam was approaching, we became more and more nervous. Fast lane: the lane of a motorway used by vehicles traveling fast and going past other vehicles.,16. In fact, most Americans are constantly in a hurry-and not just to get from Point A to Point B. In fact, most Americans are always in
41、 a rush-not just to get around from place to place, but also in many other aspects of life.,17. Our country has become a nation in search of the quick fix-in more ways than one. In our country, people are looking for ways of getting things done quickly-in various aspects of life. In search of: to tr
42、y to find,Fix: solution to a problem, especially an easy and temporary one, e.g . Dont expect a quick fix for the financial crisis. This sentence, along with the previous one, serves as a transition from the introduction to the body of the essay that analyzes the three ways Americans seek a quick fi
43、x.,18. Once upon a time, Americans understood the principle of deferred gratification. In the past, Americans were patient to have their desires satisfied. We knew it took time for our dreams to come true.,Once upon a time: used, esp. at the beginning of stories, to mean “ a long time in the past” H
44、ere, the writer uses the expression humorously and ironically, meaning “ actually not long ago Americans were not so anxious that everything should get done quickly”.,19. We put a little of each paycheck away “ for a rainy day”. We saved a little money each time we got paid in case we might need it
45、in the future.,For a rainy day: for a time when money may be needed Put (money) away: to save money to use later Paycheck/pay cheque: the amount of wages, salary, etc. a person earns,20. If we wanted a new sofa and Vacation Club accounts. If we wanted to buy some new furniture or spend a week at a l
46、akeside cabin, we could open special accounts at the banks to save money for it. Lakeside cabin: a small house of simple design and construction at the lakeside where people, esp. a family, go during holidays or at weekends,Save (up) (for): to keep and add to an amount of money for a particular purp
47、ose/later use, e. g. Im saving (up) fro my retirement. Theyre saving up for a trip to Europe/to go to Europe. help sb. out: to help sb., esp. in a difficult situation/ to give sb. help at a time of need, e.g. My parents helped us out when I lost my job. His relatives always help out on his farm duri
48、ng harvest time.,21. If we lived in the right part of the country, we planted corn and beans and waited patiently for the harvest. In the past we used to raise some crops if the climate, soil, etc. of where we lived were fit. We had the patience to watch them grow until harvest time.,22. If we wante
49、d to be thinner, , a pound at a time. If we wanted to be slimmer, we just cut down on our favorite foods, and waited patiently for our weight to be reduced bit by bit. For the scale to drop: to find the marks on the weighing instrument had moved towards the zero side.,At a time: separately or in gro
50、ups of two, three, etc. on each occasion, e. g. They were interviewed one at a time. The boy ran up the stairs two at a time.,23. We take out loans relax now, pay later. Today, instead of saving up, we borrow from the banks or use our credit card to buy the furniture or make that trip; our motto has become “relax now, pay later”.,
