新编英语教程 6 Unit 9 教案

Unit Nine TEXT I

A RED LIGHT FOR SCOFFLAWS Frank Trippett

Objectives: to catch the main idea of each paragraph by identifying its topic sentence or supplying one if the paragraph doesn’t have it;

to analyze the evidence in each paragraph so as to have a further comprehension of the text;

to talk about or write on the scofflawry on the campus, basing the information on your personal experience or observation, or whatever.

Pre-reading questions

1. What is the meaning of the compound word ‘scofflaw’? What is meant by ‘A Red Light for Scofflaws’?

scofflaw (chiefly US) - one who treats the law with contempt, esp. a person who avoids various kinds of not easily enforceable laws.

Word formation: scoff (v., deride, ridicule irreverently) + law (n.) a red light for scofflaws - a warning to scofflaws

In-reading discussion Para. 1

Sentence-by-sentence explanation:

1. Law-and-order is the longest-running and probably the best-loved political issue in US history.

Law-and-order becomes a political issue that is approved and executed for a long time in the US.

2. Yet it is painfully apparent that millions of Americans who would never think of themselves as law-breakers, let alone criminals, are taking increasing liberties with the legal codes that are designed to protect and nourish that society. taking increasing liberties with: misinterpret, distort, violate

Although most Americans have never broken laws or committed crimes, they do violate the rules or principles that designed to protect and nourish that society. In other words, there are many scofflaws in America.

3. Indeed, there are moments today - amid outlaw litter, tax cheating, illicit noise and motorized anarchy - when it seems as though the scofflaw represents the wave of the future.

Outlaw litter, tax cheating, illicit noise and motorized anarchy are scofflawries.

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Such behaviors are those that violate the laws, but they are against the rules and regulations. It seems that such scofflawries today will become more serious, more popular tomorrow.

4. ...a majority of Americans have blithely taken to committing supposedly minor dereliction ...

A majority of Americans like to deliberately commit scofflawries, doing something that is not against the law but violates some seemingly minor / insignificant rules. They don’t take this kind of behaviors as serious.

5. Already, the ethic of US society is in danger of becoming this: ‘You’re a fool if you obey the rules.’

In America, those who follow rules, orders, or regulations, those who conform to social conventions are considered as fools. It becomes the social convention that those obeying the rules are fools.

Topic sentence: No thesis statement. It introduces the topic - millions of Americans are taking increasing liberties with the legal codes.

Para. 2

1. Topic sentence: Scofflaws abound in amazing variety.

Or, main idea: evidence to support that there are lot of scofflaws in US.

2. Properly coined compound words can be an economical way of expression. Some instances are found in para. 2. Pick them out and explain their meanings. (comp. 3-1)

the graffiti-prone - those who are prone to graffiti

litter-bugs - those who are in the bad habit of littering public places high-decibel radios - radios whose volume has been turned high

beer-soaked hooliganism - hooliganism committed by people who are drunk from drinking beer

3. What are the evidence?

The graffiti-prone those who are inclined to / like to / have the habit of scribbling in public places make visual pollution everywhere.

Bicyclists ride as fast as they like to, and ride to run the red light, to chase with the cars, etc. neglecting the traffic laws.

Litter-bugs who throw their rubbish everywhere make their neighborhood or the public places as dirty as a trash /refuse dump.

There is noise pollution of high-decibel portable radios in public places though a lot of rules and regulations have been made to forbid it.

There are also rules to prohibit getting drunk and making disturbance in public places, hooligans still have a lot of drinking of beers and cause trouble in the parks.

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Tobacco addicts / heavy smokers turn a blind eye to / take no notice of the ‘NO SMOKING’ sign. They burn their cigarette even in the place where smoking is not allowed.

Pot smokers / marijuana addicts never feel ashamed when they pass around a joint (cigarette containing marijuana).

Everyone does violate the traffic regulations by crossing the streets at the wrong places, or without looking at the traffic lights. Drivers run the light, drive beyond the speed limit, with more passengers than permitted, etc.

4. Why does Y keep ‘jaywalkers’ as the last category of scofflaws? What other means does he use to strengthen the effect intended by this arrangement? (comp. 3-2)

It is not limited to some people, but is widely committed by large numbers. The greeting: (hello, Everybody!)

The conjunction ‘And then’ used to highlight the last, but by no means the least form of scofflawry enumerated here.

Para. 3

1. Topic sentence: The dangers of scofflawry vary wide.

2. The person who illegally spits on the sidewalk remains disgusting, but clearly poses less risk to others than the company that illegally buries hazardous chemical waste in an unauthorized location.

Spitting on the sidewalk is against the law and is always despicable. But the harm it does to others seems insignificant when compared with the danger a company causes by disposing of poisonous chemical waste in a place where it is not permitted. 3. What are the dangers of scofflawry?

Spitting on the sidewalk is disgusting and a kind of pollution.

Disposing of poisonous chemical waste in a place where it is not permitted will cause great harm to people’s health if it releases from underground.

The fare beater who evades paying the fare on a public vehicle, a kind of moral danger

Neglecting taking the measure of fire prevention will lead to fire which burns all including people’s lives. e.g., in Guangdong some privately-run enterprises

Drivers’ double parking (parking side by side with another car along the road) makes the streets more crowded; drunken drivers bring a lot of casualties every year; driving beyond the speed limit will kill the drivers themselves and other innocent people.

4. Explain the use of the conjunctive adverb ‘however’? (comp 3-3)

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It indicates a contrast in meaning between the sentence it is in and the previous two, in which it is said that the more visible forms of scofflawry, i.e., spitting and fare-beating are less dangerous than the less visible ones, i.e., burying chemical waste in unauthorized location, and ignoring fire statutes. But lawless grieving, the most visible scofflawry is also the most dangerous.

Para. 4

1. Topic sentence: The most flagrant scofflaw is the red-light runner. 2. Why is the red-light runner the most flagrant scofflaw?

Many drivers neglect the stop signals / the red lights. Some even take them as a kind of decoration. Red-light running is the most common traffic violation in Los Angeles. In New York city, drivers cross the intersections or junctions.

It is estimated that 50% of the drivers will stop for the light while another 50% will not. And what is absurd is that police tend to ignore the cases of traffic violation. This is probably because that there are so many such cases happening every day.

Para. 5

1. Red-light running has always been ranked as a minor wrong, and so it may be in individual instances. When the violation becomes habitual, widespread and incessant, however, a great deal more than a traffic management problem is involved. Driving through the intersection of a street with no regard to the red traffic light is generally considered as misbehaves of little importance. But when it develops into a social habit, it becomes a problem a great deal more serious than a mere traffic problem.

2. What does T mean by the metaphor ‘leave deep dents’? Is it an appropriate metaphor in the context? (comp 3-4)

It means ‘mar, damage, make imperfect’. It is very appropriate in the context because what is under discussion happens to be the violation of traffic rules.

3. Innocent drivers and pedestrians pay a repetitious price in frustration, inconvenience and outrage, not to mention a justified sense of mortal peril. The significance of red-light running is magnified by its high visibility.

Well-behaved drivers and pedestrians are constantly upset and threatened by peril from violations. The great impact of red-light running is due to its being so noticeable.

4. If hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue, then furtiveness is the true outlaw’s salute to the force of law-and-order. (note 5)

The 1st half of the sentence is a proverb meaning that wrongdoers, in their dealings with the virtuous, act as though they are persons of good repute. The 2nd

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half is a development of the author’s, meaning that a true lawbreaker in confronting the police force acts furtively.

5. The red-light runner, however, shows no respect whatever for the social rules, and society cannot help being harmed by any repetitions and brazen display of contempt for the fundamentals of order.

The red-lights runner take no notice of the social rules. They show contempt of orders and regulations and rarely obey them. If people do the same, our society will definitely be harmed in social morals, conventions, etc.

6. In what sense. according to T, is red-light running a more serious breach of social order than other lawbreaking actions? (comp 3-5)

Rules are violated in open defiance of social authority. While culprits of social vices or crimes make attempts to conceal their lawbreaking acts out of fear of and / or respect for the authority of the law, red-light runners do not care a damn whether they are seen or not.

7. In his analysis of scofflawry, T does not confine himself to a mere enumeration of the visible forms of scofflawry and the dangers they cause. Somewhere in the essay he turns into depth. Where? And how? (comp 3-6)

Beginning from para. 5, ‘however’ indicates a transition. He turns from the physical dangers to the detriment to social morality.

8. Find in the rest of the text the word ‘however’ used in a similar way. How does it contribute to the coherence of the text? (comp 3-3)

Line 43: contrasts ‘a minor wrong’ and ‘a great deal more than a traffic management problem’

Line 49: contrasts the visible flagrancy of red-light running, and the attempts to disguise or conceal felony by real criminals or outlaws

9. Topic sentence: The flouting of basic rules of the road leaves deep dents in the social mood.

The 1st sentence is coherent with the last para.. The 2nd is a transition by using ‘however’, which tells the central idea of this para..

Para. 6

1. For all their differences, today’s scofflaws are of a piece as a symptom of elementary social demoralization - the loss by individuals of the capacity to govern their own behavior in the interest of others.

However different in forms, today’s scofflaws are an indication that the society has basically been degraded morally. Its members seem to have lost their ability to discipline themselves in such a way that the interests of others has been duly taken care of.

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