辽东学院外国语学院大学英语系列教案 新视野大学英语第三版读写教程 第2册
Unit 6 Section A Door closer, are you?
关门者”，你是吗？
1 The next time you're deciding between rival options, one which is primary and the other which is secondary, ask yourself this question: What would Xiang Yu do?
1 下次你要在两个难于取舍的、主要的和次要的选择之间做决定时，不妨问自己这样一个问题：项羽会怎么做？
1 The next time you’re deciding between rival options, one which is primary and the other which is secondary, ask yourself this question: What would Xiang Yu do? (Para. 1)
Meaning: The next time when you are to make a choice between two competing options, you have to distinguish which is the primary one and which is the minor one. To be enlightened, you can ask yourself what option Xiang Yu would choose. Meaning beyond words: It suggests that Xiang Yu was a wonderful decision-maker. Note: The phrase rival options means that both options seem like good choices, but one choice is somewhat better than the other. In this case, it is the one that Xiang Yu chose to implement.
2 Xiang Yu was a Chinese imperial general in the third century BC who took his troops across the Zhang River on a raid into enemy territory. To his troops' astonishment, he ordered their cooking pots crushed and their sailing ships burned.
2 项羽是公元前三世纪中国古代王朝的一位将军。他带领他的部队横渡漳河，突袭进入了敌方的领地。 他下令砸锅烧船，令他的部队大为震惊。
2 Xiang Yu was a Chinese imperial general in the third century BC who took his troops across the Zhang River on a raid into enemy territory. (Para. 2)
Meaning: Xiang Yu was an ancient Chinese general in the third century BC. He led his troops across the Zhang River to attack the enemy in its territory.
3 To his troops’ astonishment, he ordered their cooking pots crushed and their sailing ships burned. (Para. 2)
Meaning beyond words: To make sure his troops would win the battle quickly, Xiang Yu ordered the soldiers to crush their cooking pots and burn their sailing boats after he led his troops across the Zhang River to attack the enemy. This way, he closed the door for retreating from the enemy’s territory and sent out a clear message to his men that they
辽东学院外国语学院公共英语本科教学部 Copyright 2007-2016
辽东学院外国语学院大学英语系列教案 新视野大学英语第三版读写教程 第2册
only had two choices: to win the battle or die in the battle. However, his decision was obviously against normal practice, which greatly shocked his troops.
3 He explained that he was imposing on them a necessity for attaining victory over their opponents. What he said was surely motivating, but it wasn't really appreciated by many of his loyal soldiers as they watched their vessels go up in flames. But the genius of General Xiang Yu's conviction would be validated both on the battlefield and in modern social science research. General Xiang Yu was a rare exception to the norm, a veteran leader who was highly respected for his many conquests and who achieved the summit of success.
3 他解释道，他强加给他们的是战胜对手的必要举措。他所说的无疑十分鼓舞士气，但当他那许多忠诚的士兵眼睁睁地看着他们的船只在火焰中被焚毁时，他们并不赞成他的做法。 不过项羽将军的这种砸锅焚船的做法所显示出的天赋，在战场上和现代社会科学研究中都将得到肯定。 项羽将军是一个罕见的不墨守成规的人，他是一位经验丰富的领袖，由于他征战无数并达到了成功的顶峰，他深受尊敬。
4 He explained that he was imposing on them a necessity for attaining victory over their opponents. (Para. 3)
Meaning beyond words: By having their cooking pots crushed and their sailing ships burned, Xiang Yu put his troops in such a desperate condition that they wouldn’t have any hope to escape but fight to survive and eventually win the battle. In other words, Xiang Yu gave his troops only one option. Usage note: rival, opponent rival和opponent都可以用作名词， 都可以表示“ 对手”，但两者有区别。 1 rival指在同一领域中为相同目标相竞争或相匹敌的对手。例如：
The United States’ biggest rival in technological advancement is Japan. 在技术进步方面，美国最大的对手是日本。
2 opponent指在某次竞赛或某个场合直接面对的对手。例如：
He’s the best opponent I’ve come across this season, a great player. 他是我本赛季遇到的最出色的对手，一位了不起的运动员。 比较：
The Los Angeles Lakers’ biggest rival is the Boston Celtics. 洛杉矶湖人队最大的对手是波士顿凯尔特人队。（指湖人队一直与凯尔特人队在争高低，其竞争对手多年来一直是凯尔特人队。）
The Los Angeles Lakers’ opponent in the 2010 NBA Finals is the Boston Celtics. 洛杉矶湖人队在2010年NBA总决赛中的对手是波士顿凯尔特人队。（指在2010年NBA决赛中湖人队的竞争对手是凯尔特人队。）
辽东学院外国语学院公共英语本科教学部 Copyright 2007-2016
辽东学院外国语学院大学英语系列教案 新视野大学英语第三版读写教程 第2册
3 opponent不能用作动词，rival可用作动词，表示“竞争；与…相匹敌”。例如： Ships can’t rival aircraft for speed. 轮船在速度方面无法与飞机匹敌。
5 What he said was surely motivating, but it wasn’t really appreciated by many of his loyal soldiers as they watched their vessels go up in flames. (Para. 3)
Meaning: Xiang Yu’s order of crushing the cooking pots and burning the sailing ships was definitely inspiring to his troops, but it was hardly valued by his faithful soldiers, who watched their boats burning.
go up in flames: suddenly begin burning in a way that is difficult to control 突然着火 The factory went up in flames last night. 昨晚工厂突然着火了。
6 But the genius of General Xiang Yu’s conviction would be validated both on the battlefield and in modern social science research. (Para. 3)
Meaning: However, the high level of intelligence expressed in his strong belief would prove to be correct on the battlefield as well as in modern social science research. Note: The word battlefield is a compound word, which is the combination of two nouns: battle and field. There are more examples of this kind of compound words: armchair, bedtime, birdhouse, birthplace, bookstore, etc. The meaning of many words from such a combination is easy to guess: battlefield — a place where a battle is being fought or has been fought. For example:
They carried the wounded soldiers from the battlefield. 他们把伤员从战场上抬了下来。 7 General Xiang Yu was a rare exception to the norm, a veteran leader who was highly respected for his many conquests and who achieved the summit of success. (Para. 3)
Meaning: What Xiang Yu did was quite different from what was usually practiced. As an experienced leader, he was very much respected by his soldiers for his many amazing accomplishments, and his highest level of success. Note: The word norm means “the usual or normal situation, way of doing sth., etc.”. Here it refers to a situation in which other commanders would surely do: Keep more options. an exception to: sth. or sb. that is not included in a general statement, or does not follow a rule or pattern 对…例外
Most basketball players are very tall, but he’s an exception to that rule; he’s relatively short. 大多数篮球运动员都非常高大，但他是一个例外，他比较矮。
4 He is featured in Dan Ariely's enlightening new publication, Predictably Irrational, a fascinating investigation of seemingly irrational human behavior, such as the tendency for keeping multiple options open. Most people can't marshal the will for painful choices, not even students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where Dr. Ariely teaches behavioral economics.
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辽东学院外国语学院大学英语系列教案 新视野大学英语第三版读写教程 第2册
In an experiment that investigated decision-making, hundreds of students couldn't bear to let their options vanish, even though it was clear they wouldprofit from doing so.
4 丹· 阿雷利极富启迪性的新书 《可预见的非理性》对项羽作了专题介绍。这本书对看似非理性的人类行为，譬如人类总想留住多项选择机会的倾向，进行了引人入胜的调查。 大多数人都不能整理自己的思路来做痛苦的选择，麻省理工学院上阿雷利博士行为经济学这门课的学生也不例外。 在调查作决策的一项实验中，几百名学生都不能忍受眼睁睁看着他们的选择机会消失，即使他们很清楚这样做对他们有利。
8 He is featured in Dan Ariely’s enlightening new publication, Predictably Irrational, a fascinating investigation of seemingly irrational human behavior, such as the tendency for keeping multiple options open. (Para. 4)
Meaning: General Xiang Yu, together with his boat burning strategy, was introduced in Dan Ariely’s inspirational new publication, which examines unreasonable human behavior such as the unintentional desire to keep many options open. Note: The title of the book Predictably Irrational describes an unreasonable or illogical behavior which is predictable because of the nature of human beings. It has to do with the hidden forces that shape people’s decisions. People sometimes make decisions based on irrational thought, and that’s why we see how certain mistakes are made again and again. 9 Most people can’t marshal the will for painful choices, not even students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where Dr. Ariely teaches behavioral economics. (Para. 4) Meaning: Most people, including the students learning behavioral economics with Dr. Ariely at MIT, can’t think logically and make rational decisions when facing painful choices.
10 In an experiment that investigated decision-making, hundreds of students couldn’t bear to let their options vanish, even though it was clear they would profit from doing so. (Para. 4)
Meaning: In an experiment about decision-making, hundreds of students couldn’t tolerate the pain of seeing their options disappear, even though they knew that they would benefit in the long run if they let them go.
Meaning beyond words: This is a specific example of “predictably irrational” behavior of human beings mentioned earlier.
5 The experiment revolved around a game that eliminated the excuses we usually have for refusing to let go. In the real world, we can always say, \good to preserve our options.\
辽东学院外国语学院公共英语本科教学部 Copyright 2007-2016
辽东学院外国语学院大学英语系列教案 新视野大学英语第三版读写教程 第2册
exhausted from soccer, ballet, piano, and Chinese lessons, but her parents won't stop any one of them because they might come in handy some day!
5 实验是围绕着一个游戏展开的，这个游戏排除了我们通常不肯放手的借口。 在现实世界里，我们总会说：“保留我们的选择机会是对的。” 想要一个好的例子吗？ 一个十多岁的女孩被足球、芭蕾舞、钢琴、中文课给累得筋疲力尽，但她的父母不会让她停止任何一项活动，理由是它们有一天可能会派上用场！
11 The experiment revolved around a game that eliminated the excuses we usually have for refusing to let go. (Para. 5)
Meaning: The experiment was focused on a game that rejected the excuses we normally have for not letting options go.
12 In the real world, we can always say, “It’s good to preserve our options.” (Para. 5) Meaning beyond words: In the real world, it is always reasonable for people to keep options for the future, so it seemed it’s not a mistake to keep doors open in the experiment.
13 A teenager is exhausted from soccer, ballet, piano, and Chinese lessons, but her parents won’t stop any one of them because they might come in handy some day! (Para. 5)
Meaning: A teenage girl is worn out from attending classes of soccer, ballet, piano, and Chinese, but her parents won’t allow her to stop any one of them because they might be useful one day.
Meaning beyond words: It reflects human beings’ nature: The more, the better, though it’s not necessarily true in real life. 6 In the experiment sessions, students played a computer game that provided cash behind three doors appearing on the screen. The rule was the more money you earned, the better player you were, given a total of 100 clicks. Every time the students opened a door by clicking on it, they would use up one click but wouldn't get any money. However, each subsequent click on that door would earn a fluctuating sum of money, with one door always revealing more money than the others. The important part of the rule was each door switch, though having no cash value, would also use up one of the 100 clicks. Therefore, the winning strategy was to quickly check all the doors and keep clicking on the one with the seemingly highest rewards.
6 在这个实验里，学生要玩一个电脑游戏: 在电脑屏幕上会显示三扇门，每扇门后都会提供一些现金。 该游戏的规则是每个人都只能点击100次，你点击获取的钱越多，你就玩得越好。 学生每点击一次打开一扇门，他们会用掉一个点击数，但却不会得到任何钱。 然而，
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