新世纪英语专业本科生（修订版）综合教程4（第2版）电子教案 Unit 6
my breast, “and what was that man’s name?” “Gulliver?” Louise replied. Henry, for his part, knew that the Revolution was between the British and the Americans, and thought that it was probably about slavery.
8 As we pursued this conversation, though, we learned what the children knew instead.
Louise told us that the French Revolution came at the end of the Enlightenment, when people learned a lot of ideas, and one was that they didn’t need kings to tell them what to think or do. On another occasion, when Henry asked what makes a person a “junior” or a “II” or a “III”, Louise helped me answer by bringing up kings like Louis Quatorze and Quinze and Seize; Henry riposted with Henry VIII.
9 I can’t say I worry much about our children’s European frame of reference. There will
be plenty of time for them to learn America’s pitifully brief history and to find out who Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Roosevelt were. Already they know a great deal more than I would have wished about Bill Clinton.
10 If all of this resonates with me, it may be because my family moved to Paris in 1954,
when I was three, and I was enrolled in French schools for most of my grade-school years. I don’t remember much instruction in American studies at school or at home. I do remember that my mother took me out of school one afternoon to see the movie Oklahoma! I can recall what a faraway place it seemed: all that sunshine and square dancing and surreys with fringe on top. The sinister Jud Fry personified evil for quite some time afterward. Cowboys and Indians were an American cliché that had already reached Paris through the movies, and I asked a grandparent to send me a Davy Crockett hat so that I could live out that fairy tale against the backdrop of gray postwar Montparnasse.
11 Although my children are living in the same place at roughly the same time in their lives,
their experience as expatriates is very different from mine. The particular narratives of American history aside, American culture is not theirs alone but that of their French classmates, too. The music they listen to is either “American” or “European,” but it is often hard to tell the difference. In my day little French kids looked like nothing other than little French kids; but Louise and Henry and their classmates dress much as their peers in the United States do, though with perhaps less Lands’ End fleeciness. When I returned to visit the United States in the 1950s, it was a five-day ocean crossing for a month’s home leave every two years; now we fly over for a week or two, although not very often. Virtually every imaginable product available to my children’s American cousins is now obtainable here.
12 If time and globalization have made France much more like the United States than it
was in my youth, then I can conclude a couple of things. On the one hand, our children are confronting a much less jarring cultural divide than I did, and they have more access to their native culture. Re-entry, when it comes, is likely to be smoother. On the other hand, they are less than fully immersed in a truly foreign world. That experience no longer seems possible in Western countries － a sad development, in my view.
I. Questions
1. Why does the author hang the American flag from his fourth-floor balcony in Paris? (Paragraph 1)
Answer: He does it for two reasons. First, as an American living in Paris, he does not want to
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新世纪英语专业本科生（修订版）综合教程4（第2版）电子教案 Unit 6
forget his native heritage and flag-hanging is the only thing he can do to celebrate Independence Day. Second, he wants to use the flag-hanging as a special means to teach his children about American history and as a reminder of their American identity.
2. The author has kept the old flag for a long time. Why didn’t he get a new one? (Paragraph 1) Answer: The text does not tell us explicitly, but it is very likely that this flag was brought to Paris from the U.S. a long time ago. To the author, the old flag is a better reminder of his home country than a new one.
3. What are the costs and benefits of raising children in a foreign culture? (Paragraph 4)
Answer: According to the author, it is difficult for children to understand and identify the virtues of their native country without living in it, so they need to go back to their native country to make up for the ineffective family education. But the practice of raising children in a foreign culture has its merits. For example, it helps the children to acquire the new culture without being exposed to the disadvantages of their native culture.
4. Why do the author and his family go back home for the summer? (Paragraph 5)
Answer: As expatriates, they have little access to the traditional culture of their motherland. So they go back home to trace the heritage of Americans. In addition, because their children are reared up in a completely foreign culture, they have the obligation to teach their children the culture and history of their motherland.
5. What are the differences between the author and his children as expatriates at about the same age? What causes the differences? (Paragraph 9-10)
Answer: They are different in both behavior and mentality. His children are quite like their French peers in behavior and dress style, while when the author was a child he was quite different from his French peers. These differences are due to the rapid social changes and cultural merging that have been happening all over the world. The world is becoming a huge melting pot in which different cultures are mixing up.
6. Why does the author say the development is sad? (Paragraph 12)
Answer: Because globalization becomes the keynote of life in the world today. Cultures are merging with each other; distinctions between different cultures are becoming blurred. Children cannot tell the exact differences between their own culture and other cultures and it is impossible for them to relive the author’s experience of living in a foreign culture. This kind of development of cultural globalization is a sad thing in the author’s view.
II. Words and Expressions
Paragraph 1-3
1) fold away: fold into a smaller, neater shape for easy storage
e.g. These camping chairs can be folded away and put in the trunk.
The piece of paper was folded away carefully and tucked into her purse. foldaway (i.e., collapsible) bed/iron board
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新世纪英语专业本科生（修订版）综合教程4（第2版）电子教案 Unit 6
2) regulation: a. in accordance with the regulations; of the correct or designated type
e.g. As we walked along the street, we could see the noisy cheerful group of people in
regulation black parade tunics.
He had the short regulation haircut of a policeman.
3) prompt: v. cause or bring about an action or feeling Derivation: prompt n. → prompt a. →promptly ad.
e.g. The Times article prompted him to call a meeting of the staff. My choice was prompted by a number of considerations.
4) refuel: v.
(1) supply a vehicle with more fuel
e.g. The authorities agreed to refuel the plane.
(2) take on a fresh supply of knowledge, information, etc.
e.g. In a society of intense competition, people have to refuel every year .
5) twinge: n.
(1) If you feel a twinge of an unpleasant emotion, you suddenly feel it. e.g. John felt a twinge of fear when he saw the officer approaching. (2) A twinge is a sudden, sharp pain.
e.g. I feel a twinge in my back now and again.
Paragraph 4-9 6) exposed to:
If you are exposed to something dangerous or unpleasant, you are put in a situation in which it might harm you.
Derivation: expose v. →exposure n.
e.g. Poor John was exposed to the wind and rain. Translation:
吸二手烟的青少年长大以后患心脏疾病的机率比较高。
Answer: Teens exposed to second-hand smoke have a higher risk of developing heart disease later in life.
7) object lesson: a striking practical example of some principle or ideal
e.g. They responded to daily emergencies in a way that was an object lesson to us all. That was an object lesson in how to handle a difficult customer.
8) take pride in = pride oneself on: be proud of e.g. She took pride in her flower garden.
The team has achieved unprecedented success in this season. All the players take pride in
being a member of this team.
We pride ourselves on always being punctual.
9) confirm: vt. prove that sth. is true
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新世纪英语专业本科生（修订版）综合教程4（第2版）电子教案 Unit 6
e.g. These statistics confirm our worst fears about the depth of the recession. The spokesman confirmed that the area was now in the rebels’ hands.
10) swell: v. gradually increase
e.g. The group of onlookers soon swelled into a crowd. The murmur swelled, but then died away.
11) frame of reference: a particular set of beliefs, ideas, or observations on which one bases his judgement
e.g. Please see to it that you are dealing with someone with a different frame of reference. The observer interprets what he sees in terms of his own cultural frame of reference.
Paragraph 10-12
12) resonate: vi. evoke or suggest images, memories, and emotions e.g. May this song resonate in your heart throughout the holidays.
I would like these thoughts to resonate widely, especially with the citizens of China.
This inspiring tale based on a bestselling nonfiction novel will resonate with audiences
around the world.
13) live out sth.: do sth. that you have thought or dreamed of doing e.g. The inheritance would allow her to live out her fantasies.
14) nothing other than: only
e.g. They were given nothing other than dry bread and water for their evening meal.
Therefore, nothing other than a hurt received in love affairs affects one more severely. I am very tired and want nothing in the world other than to be at home. 15) immerse: v. engage wholly or deeply; absorb Collocation: immerse sb./sth. in immerse oneself in / be immersed in
e.g. First of all, you should immerse your clothes in the water. He immersed himself in the history of Rome. Translation:
克莱尔和菲尔在角落里深谈。
Answer: Clare and Phil were immersed in conversation in the corner.
III. Sentences
Paraphrase/ explanation
1. … but in my mind’s eye an American tourist may notice it and smile ... (Paragraph 1) Paraphrase:
… but I imagine that an American tourist may notice it and show his appreciation of my action with a smile ...
2. suppress such outward signs of their heritage … (Paragraph 2) Paraphrase:
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新世纪英语专业本科生（修订版）综合教程4（第2版）电子教案 Unit 6
do not give manifestations of their traditional culture handed down from their ancestors …
3. July 4 is one of the times when the American in me feels a twinge of unease about the great lacunae in our children’s understanding of who they are and is prompted to try to fill the gaps. (Paragraph 3) Paraphrase:
July 4 is one of the times I, as a native American, feel indistinctively uneasy about the great gaps in our children’s understanding of their American identity, and thus I am motivated to do something to fill the gaps.
4. And our physical separation from our native land is not much of an issue. (Paragraph 4) Paraphrase:
And living away from our native country does not matter much (in our children’s acquisition of our native language).
5. In my day little French kids looked like nothing other than little French kids. (Paragraph 11) Paraphrase:
In the days when I lived in France as an expatriated child, French children were dressed in the unique French style, thus looking quite different from their counterparts in other countries.
6. … our children are confronting a much less jarring cultural divide than I did … (Paragraph 12) Paraphrase:
… our children are faced with a much less shocking cultural difference …
7. Re-entry, when it comes, is likely to be smoother. (Paragraph 12) Explanation:
It seems to be easier for the children to restart the acquisition of their native culture.
Class Activity:
Discussion: Globalization is a very controversial issue today. Opinions vary considerably over its pros and cons. Please discuss with your classmates about the positive and negative effects of globalization. For your reference Positive:
Developing countries get access to the latest technology.
The quality of products is improved due to global competition.
Increased media coverage draws the attention of the world to human living conditions. …
Negative:
Globalization has led to exploitation of labor and job insecurity. Local industries are being taken over by foreign multinationals.
Bad aspects of foreign cultures are affecting the local cultures through TV and the Internet.
Deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS are being spread by travellers to the remotest corners of the globe. …
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