●● 2 How to Grow Old
[A]1. Did all Russell's ancestors live to a ripe old age?
No, they didn't. His maternal grandfather died at 67 and one of his remoter ancestors did not die a natural death. 2. How did his maternal grandmother keep herself occupied after she became a widow? What was her attitude towards her grandchildren?
She did that by devoting herself to women's higher education, specifically to opening the medical profession to women. Her attitude towards her grandchildren was impersonal. 3. According to the author, what is the proper recipe for remaining young? To have wide and keen interests and to be engaged in some related activities. 4. What dangers does the author think one should guard against in old age?
One is excessive absorption in the past, and the other is undue dependence on the young for getting vigour from its vitality.
5. What attitude should be adopted towards one's grown-up children?
Accepting the fact that they are grown-ups now and leave them to live their own lives. 6. Why is it no use telling grown-up children not to make mistakes?
One reason is that grown-up children do not accept what their parents tell them.
The other reason is that no one can avoid making mistakes. So we may say that everyone learns from his own mistakes.
7. What, in the opinion of the author, is the best way for an old person to overcome the fear of death? The best way is to make one's interests gradually wider and more impersonal, or to make one's life increasingly merged in the universal life. [B]
1. Do you agree with the author's views on old age and death? State your reasons. Yes. An active and independent old age is good way to keep young.. 2. What does the author compare the life of an individual to? A river.
3. Are the author's views in this essay to be taken seriously through out?
Not through out. The author was joking when he said that one should choose one's ancestors carefully.
4. Comment on the sentence 'Young men who have reason to fear that they will be killed in battle may justifiably feel bitter in the thought that they have been cheated of the best things that life has to offer.' The author means that the fear of death in young people may be justified because they have not tasted the best things of life.
On the other hand, the author is suggesting that the fear of death in the old is not as acceptable - because he has known human joys and sorrows.
We may further say that the author is urging the old to accept the fact of human life, that man has a limited lifetime. So if one has had his share of human joys and sorrows, one should be ready to accept that fact he is near the end of his life. II Paraphrasing
1. If this is true it should be forgotten, and if it is forgotten it will probably not be true.
If it is true that one's emotions used to be more vivid and one's mind used to be more keen, one should try to forget that. And if one can really forget that, who can say for certain that one is older or lower than one used to be. 2. One's interest should be contemplative and, if possible, philanthropic, but not unduly emotional.
One should have impersonal interests and one should not concern oneself too much with one's children and grandchildren.
3. It is in this sphere that long experience is really fruitful, and it is in this sphere that the wisdom born of experience can be exercised without being oppressive. \
Only in appropriate activities is long experience helpful and is the wisdom brought by experience useful - otherwise it is unbearable. ●●5 As I see it
[A]1. What do you think made Shaw give this radio talk in 1937?
To urge the British people to be conscientious objectors of war and to make them realize that to be a pacifist in the present war is not the right attitude and that the British should change the distribution system in order to avoid the most dangerous war between Capitalism and Communism. 2. What was happening in Spain and China?
Spain and China were both at war at that time. Japan invaded China and Spain was in a civil war. 3. Are the horrors of war as described by Shaw real or imaginary?
Some are real and some are imaginary. The description of the street scenes was real in Spain and China, but in 1937 London or Paris were not yet in the danger of being bombed by any enemy country. 4. Why did Shaw hate war?
Because of the loss of human lives on both side at war - besides the dangers of war. 5. Did Shaw give his whole-hearted support to the pacifist movement against war?
No, he thought at that moment the pacifist movement was a wrong movement. Because Mussolini and Hitler did not let others live, so people should not tolerate them and must fight against them. 6. What kind of war did Shaw think would put an end to civilization? The war between Capitalism and Communism, or between landowning and labour. 7. What was wrong with Britain according to Shaw?
Its distribution system is unfair and unjust and its people are not any taking actions to change the situation - they only keep talking about it.
8. Was Shaw optimistic? Or did he end his speech on a note of despair?
No, he was not optimistic and there is a note of despair when he came to the end of his speech. As he said, \[B] 1. What are conscientious objectors?
（出于道德或宗教上的原因而）拒绝服兵役的人，不积极参与任何有关战争行动的人。
2. Do you agree with Shaw that we must all become conscientious objectors if we want wars to stop? Yes, I do. If we do not become conscientious objectors, some people and countries may go on staging wars against others to make profits for themselves.
3. What do you think are the causes of war? Is war avoidable? The causes of war are powers, natural resources, wealth - profits of all kind.
It is difficult to answer the second question. It is difficult to avoid wars. On the one hand, the lures are too many; on the other, human beings are emotional as well as intelligent.
4. Comment on the following: \in no man's land as for the British lads who lay beside them.\
Shaw meant to say that he regretted the deaths of German soldiers as much as those of British soldiers. He wanted to point out that the soldiers of both sides had the same fate.
5. Shaw described World War I as a waste of life. Do you agree with him? Yes. 6. Do you agree with Shaw that \ Yes, the rule is accepted by most people.
7. Shaw says: \the fighting and killing and waste and damage that the Russians went through …\this way of thinking?
The essence of this way of thinking is socialism. \system to give the poor people more wealth and leisure. The Russians had staged the October Revolution in 1917, the purpose of which was to change the capitalist system. Shaw thought that Britain needed some changes but not a revolution. II Paraphrasing
1. Nature can produce children enough to make good (偿付，赔偿，支付) any extremity of slaughter of which we are capable.
Even if we may slaughter each other ruthlessly, the human race can produce enough children to make up for the loss of lives.
2. I, who am a much-hated man, have been doing that all my life; and I can assure you there is no better fun (than doing that), whereas revenge and resentment make life miserable and (make) the avenger hateful. As a much-hated man, I have been \And I really think that those who do good to people who hate them can enjoy their lives a lot, while those who revenge themselves on others can not be happy themselves and make others hate them.
3. But such a command as \nature.
But I think the command \ 4. We are still savages at heart, and wear our thin uniform of civilization very awkwardly.
Although we are supposed to be civilized now, we are still primitive in nature and we don't know how to behave ourselves as civilized people. ●●8 Nine years for A and B
[A]1. How did Dr. Johnson define the word lexicographer? What did he mean?
Dr. Johnson defined the lexicographer as \harmless drudge\By doing that, he meant something more the literal meaning of the three words. He wanted to point out that a lexicographer does a lot of hard work and that his work is meaningful. Being a lexicographer himself, he did not like to praise the occupation openly, so he put his ideas lightly in an understatement.
2. What makes the lexicographer think that the letter A is typical? Is it really typical? Is there a typical letter?
It is the ignorance of the amount of drudgery involved in making a dictionary that makes the lexicographer think the letter A is typical. In fact, A is not really typical, and what's more, there is no typical letter among all the 26 letters. So the lexicographer can never know the exact amount of his work until he finishes the dictionary he is editing.
3. Why does the lexicographer have to run against time?
The lexicographer has to run against time for at least two reasons. First, the language is changing all the time and new words keep appearing. If the lexicographer cannot work fast enough to catch up with the appearing new words, he can never hope to finish the dictionary he is making. Second, the publishers of the dictionary expect some return on their money, so they want to sell the dictionary at the earliest time possible.
4. Explain the title of Elisabeth Murray's biography of her grandfather. What does the reviewer think of the book?
The title is caught in the Web of Words. From what we learn from the essay, we can reasonably guess that James
A. H. Murray's life, which was mostly spent on the O. E. D. after he was forty, was a hard one. The title seems to suggest that the dictionary were a trap and Murray could not have got out of it.
The reviewer thinks that the biography is a touching and honest book and that Murray was a great man who had persevered in a very difficult task for so many years. Also he thinks it a good thing that Murray's granddaughter should have written the book, for he knows that Murray had worked for the future generation. 5. What qualities did James Murray have that made him an outstanding lexicographer?
The qualities are his religious faith, his patriotism, his will power, his exceptionally wide range of scholarly gifts and his coordinating powers.
6. What do you know about his early life?
From the essay, we know something about the early life of James A. H. Murray. He was born in Scotland in 1837, the son of a village tailor. He had limited formal schooling but he continued to educate himself with pertinacity. He had been a schoolmaster in Scotland and a bank clerk in London. As a man who love knowledge and had many interests, he was finally a scholar learned in many fields, especially in philology.
7. How long did he work on the O. E. D.? Did he realize that he was never to finish it? Would he have given up his work half-way if he had been told that he would never see its completion?
He worked 38 years on the O. E. D. When he first began the work, he did not realize that he was never to finish it. But, by the time he was old, he must have realized that he might not finish the dictionary himself. So we can say that, even if he had been told that he would never see the completion of the dictionary, he would not have given up his work.
[B]1. The hardest words are the ones that might seem easiest from the lexicographical point of view. Does this apply to the study of English as a second language?
Yes, this applies to the study of English as a second language. For students of English as a second language, the most difficult words are not the big learned words, but those seemingly easy small ones.
2. Why does the writer say that the O. E. D. was of unique importance? Do you agree with him?
Yes, we agree with the writer. Because the O. E. D. was the first English dictionary to adopt the historical method, or to record the history of every word. And with such a dictionary, it is convenient to study the language. 3. Why do you think that James Murray was great not only as a lexicographer but also as a man? Because he overcame the triple nightmare of space, time and money. We could see that he worked under great pressures and with uncertain prospect of the completion of the work and that he even considered resignation at one time. So the responsibility entrusted to him was demanding not only to a lexicographer but to a man as well. 4. Discuss the significance of lexicographical work in terms of cultural continuity.
Cultural continuity of any nation is impossible if the language of that nation is lost. And lexicographical work is the most direct effort to keep the most important cultural heritage. The significance of such work is obvious, for language contains the essential information of a culture and a dictionary helps keep the information alive. II Paraphrasing
1. The whole idea of a typical letter is a will-o'-the -wisp. It is unrealistic to expect to find such a thing as a typical letter. 参考译文：关于典型字母的整个想法只是一种虚构的东西。
2. So there have to be schedules and anxiety and resentment and nagging, in the race against time, time whose pace never falters.
Because time never waits for anyone, the dictionary maker, in his race against time, must fulfill the work schedule on time. So he is not to be happy all the time. For, when he is behind the schedule, he will feel strong anxiety and the publishers will be angry and make complaints.
3. Would he have acknowledged that one of the things providence did for him was mercifully to withhold
a full sense of the task that was never to end for him?
Would he have admitted that it was fortunate for him that he had never known in advance how much work he had to do to make the dictionary that was never to be finished in his life?
4. The uneventful dignity of his life makes for a biography which it would be odd to be thrilled by and which it would be insensitive not to be stirred by.
His uneventful but dignified life is the right material for a biography that will move the readers instead of exciting them.