Unit four
Comprehension of the Text
1. Because they suffered from low wages and oppressive working conditions. 2. To the first generation of immigrants, work had great virtues. First of all, it ensured their own survival.
Secondly, it made it possible for them to provide a better life and education for their children, which meant
an improvement in their social status. Last but not least, it was the very hard work that gave their labors a
fierce dignity, which served as a driving force in their own life.
3. Generally speaking, it's because the way people view work is much changed. Specifically, there are four
causes. The first is that today's younger workers have little idea about the poverty and suffering of the
Depression and, therefore, don't know what work meant to those who survived the Depression. The second
cause is that unemployment no longer means personal ruin and shame thanks to elaborate financial cushions.
Thirdly, the loss of a job now carries less personal shame, as it can be blamed on the wild and notorious
behavior of the economy. And finally, work no longer just serves as a means of existence in a society where
expectations are getting higher with rising educational levels.
4. To explain the attitude to work of those who suffered the extreme poverty during the Depression, and to
contrast this with the attitudes of today's younger workers.
5. According to Maslow, work meets human needs in the following hierarchy: first, it provides such basic
means as food and shelter; second, it can provide security; third, it satisfies the need for friendship and
connection with others; fourth, it can help gain respect; and finally, it can satisfy the desire for self-fulfillment.
6. Maslow's scheme is quoted to explain workers' expectations change with social and economic development. Because of these changes, work has different meanings to different groups in
society as they are positioned at different stages in the work hierarchy.
7. The women's rights movement has made it possible for women to pursue careers, not just work for mere
survival. That is to say, they are working at the level of \"fulfilling themselves\is the highest in
Maslow's work hierarchy.
8. Conditions for some US workers, such as those on assembly lines, may be considered terrible. However, the
medi workers suffered much more misery than those working on the modern assembly line. A poor
Indian rubbish collector lives a more miserable life than a \"poor\" American car worker. The average peasant
in South America works harder than most ofAmericans.
9. The author is cautioning that it is important to have a proper sense of perspective about work, before making judgments on particular situations.
10. Work is the most thorough and profound organizing principle in American life in that it helps people
connect with others in a work community and, therefore, satisfy their need for friendship and social relations. Vocabulary
1. esteemed 2. stunned 3. notorious 4. conferred 5. aspiration 6. diluted 7. hierarchy 8. foremost 9. asserted 10. arrogant 11. dreadful 12. recycling
Exercises on CD and web course only: 13. intrinsic 14. destructive 15. gossiping 1. wind up 2. merge with 3. dying off 4. laid off
5. closed down 6. degenerated into 7. in effect 8. apart from
9. irrespective of 10. prone to11. takes a certain amount of people's interest out of 12. kicked around
Exercises on CD and web course only: 13. conferred upon 14. in much the same way that 15.
concentrated upon Colocation
I. stories 2. messages 3, weight 4. meanings 5. honor 6. disease 7. electricity 8, tradition
Exercises on CD and web course only: 9. interest 10. oxygen Translation
I. Those who lead a miserable life often fail to recognize the inherent virtue of work in earning and sustaining their dignity.
2. With the life bettered and levels of education higher, the work ethic is diluted now. 3. The young generation has much difficulty understanding why their ancestors had to focus their minds upon
work as the central concern of existence.
4. According to Maslow, different classes and ethnic groups are positioned at different stages in the work hierarchy.
5. In developing countries, many talented young intellectuals flock in droves to America, which forms the so-called \"brain drain\".
6. If a country is prone to high inflation, then its currency will have to be dued to
maintain the price
competitiveness of its exports.
7. One expert in sociology believes that work is a means for people to build relationships. In that sense, the
workplace performs the function of a community.
8. The desire to \"fulfill themselves\sometimes degenerate into a selfish discontent.
9. To most Americans today, the blow of being laid off seldom carries the life-and-death implications it once had.
10. Modem workers may have a lot of complaints. But they will feel better when they know that their
predecessors did work under a far more brutal condition during the early stage of the Industrial Revolution.
Work is not only a means of sustaining life. More importantly, it is the way through which people display
their talent, realize their ambitions, build relationships and establish social status. If you understand this
intrinsic value of work, then however dull or hard work may be, it becomes bearable if it helps build up a
reputation, whether in the world at large or only in one's own circle. Updating one's aim is one of the most
essential elements of self-fulfillment in the long run, and for most people this comes chiefly through their work.
In that sense, work is the most vigorous, vivid sign of life --in individuals and in civilizations.
1．对于那些勉强维持生活的人来说，劳动有其固有价值这一观点显得荒唐可笑。 2．首批移居美国的人，其劳动的主要动力是为儿孙们创造更好的生活，这样的
动机使他们从劳动中 获得了一种强烈的自尊。
3．如果某大公司关闭了一家工厂，将该厂大量工人抛向失业者的行列中，那么人们更多地将其归罪于 疲软的经济而不是个人。
4．同过去相比，今天的劳动者受教育的水平提高了，因而，他们期待更高，兴趣各异。
5．那些雄心勃勃的移民至今依然拥向美国，为安全感而奋斗，而那些试图“实现自我’的自私的当地
部落在三代人以前就得到了这种安全感。
6．那些因工作造成精神缺陷而情绪消沉的美国工人，往往意识不到工作带来的个人尊严有多么重要。
7．弗洛伊德认为，成功人士是那些能够付出爱心和劳动的人，原因是有了这种能力，任何人都能做一 些有益于社会的事情。
8．从历史上看，劳动总是同奴役、罪行以及惩处相联系，但所有劳动都有其固有的价值，除非是不诚 实的和破坏性劳动。
9．为了生计而劳动，为了创造未来而劳动，使人们的努力具有坚强的和道德上的纯朴性。10．工人之
间需要聊天、需要往来、需要建立关系，这些需要使劳动场所成了一个社区。 1.C 2. B 3. D 4. C 5. A 6. B 7. D 8. C 9. A
10. D 11. C 12. B 13. B 14, C 15. A 16. D 17. C l8.A 19. B 20, A StructuredWriting
With the development of a market economy in China, some traditional values are being changed or lost, to
be replaced quickly by new ones. First, the value of \"modesty\" has been replaced by \"self-display\". The
traditional Chinese economic system made it necessary for people to remain modest
in social life, because they
did not have to show off their personal ambitions to earn a living. But, in today's job market, if you remain
modest as tradition has required, you may give the prospective boss an impression of being \"timid\" and \"incapable\".
Modesty could well lead to failure in the job interview. The full display of personal ambition, lit 4
therefore, becomes a necessity. Secondly, in the past, poverty was regarded as an advantage because wealth
was associated with the capitalist class. But now, we often hear the saying to be born poor is no choice, but to
die poor is something to be condemned\". ~Wealth\" has become the synonym of \"success\" and of \"hard work\".
That is to say, the pursuit of material wealth has become a goal in a person's life. Comprehension of the Text
1.C 2. D 3. B 4. A 5. D 6. A 7. B 8. A 9. C 10. D Vocabulary
1. dwelffdwelled 2. reassuring 3. discriminate 4. endeavoring 5. endows 6. disturbance 7. harassment 8. disregard 9. inspiration 10. inflict l I. overwhelmed 12. courtesy
Exercises on CD and web course only: 13. underlying 14. uphold 15. assault 1. live with 2. in the midst of 3. figure out 4. As regards
5. attaches itself to 6. The last thing we need 7. gave it a bad name 8. at regular intervals 9. In the aftermath of 10. discriminate between 11. inflicted upon 12. In that sense
CD 13. give up on 14. have chosen their lot 15. in turn
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