Lesson 5 The Facts

Editors of newspapers and magazines often go to extremes to provide their reader ?with unimportant facts and statistics. Last year a journalist had been instructed by a well-known magazine to write an article on the president's palace in a new African republic. When the article arrived, the editor read the first sentence and then refused to publish it. The article began: 'Hundreds of steps lead tothe high wall which surrounds the president's palace'. The editor at once sent the journalist a fax instructing him find out the exact number of steps and the height of the wall.

The journalist immediately set out to obtain these important facts, but he took along time to send them. Meanwhile, the editor was getting impatient, for the magazine would soon go to press. He sent the journalist two more faxes, but received no reply. He sent yet another fax informing the journalist that if he did not reply soon he would be fired. When the journalist again failed to reply, the editor reluctantly published the article as it had originally beenwritten. A week later, the editor at last received a fax from the journalist. Not only had the poor man been arrested, but he had been sent to prison as well. However, he had at last been allowed to send a fax in which he informed the editor that the he had been arrested while counting the 1,084 steps leading to the fifteen-foot wall which surrounded the president's palace.

Part 1: Lead-in question:

1: What was the consequence of the editor's insistence on facts and statistics?

He was arrested and sent to prison.

Part 2: Words and Expressions

1. go to extreme 走極端

go from one extreme to the other. 從一個極端走向另一個極端

go to the opposite extreme. 走向相反的極端

2. journalist: 新聞記者

journalism: 新聞業(yè)

3.president: 總統(tǒng).如：the president of the United States, President Trump.

校長，院長.如: the president of Harvard University.

總裁: the president of the company.

4. republic:共和國

the People’s Republic of China（中華人民共和國）

5. lead to：引向，導致。

粗心會導致嚴重的問題。

Carelessness can lead to serious problems.

6.set out to do sth.開始著手做某事

They set out to find the truth.

7.Obtain:得到VS. get 得到

Obtain（用很多努力，花費很長時間才能夠得到的）

The perfect body has always been difficult to obtain.

完美的身材總是很難擁有。

Get (不需要花費太多努力就可以獲得的)

I got a book from the store.

8.Impatient:不耐煩. Im為否定前綴，如：impossible（不可能。impossible這個詞很有意思,在I和m之間加一個逗號，就變成了I’m possible可能了，所以凡事沒有絕對，沒有什么是不可能的。）

其他表示否定的前綴還有：un(unimportant, unfinished); in (incomplete); il (illegal); ir (irregular)

9.Inform vt.通知，告知

用法：inform sb. that

Inform sb of sth

They would inform him of any progress they had made

他們會把他們取得的任何進步都告訴他。

10.Fail to do sth沒能做某事

He failed to pass the exam.

Part 3 Sentence Structure

原文：Not only had the poor man been arrested, but he had been sent to prison as well.

解析：Not only …, but….as well或者Not

only….but also…表示不但…而且…

Not only放在句首的時候要倒裝。

試比較：

她不但是個女神，還是個女神經

Not only is the girl a goddess, she is also a crazy woman.

The girl is not only a goddess, but also a crazy woman.

Part 4:Culture

今天聊聊數(shù)字13和星期五

在西方，數(shù)字13和星期五是非常不吉利的，就像中國人不喜歡數(shù)字4一樣。那么是什么原因呢？

From a religious standpoint, legend has itthat Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, the apple, on a Friday, and laterdied on a Friday, and Christians consider Friday as the day on which Christ wascrucified by Romans.

從宗教角度看，傳說亞當和夏娃在星期五這一天偷吃禁果，后來又在星期五這一天去世。基督教徒們認為星期五是耶穌被羅馬人釘在十字架上的日子。

The number 13, in the Christian faith, is thenumber of parties at the Last Supper, with the 13thguest at thetable being the traitor, Judas. When Christians combine this day and number,the combination can only hold special significance.

根據(jù)基督教徒的信仰，數(shù)字13是最后的晚餐中聚會的人數(shù)，餐桌上第13位客人是叛徒猶大。當基督教徒們把數(shù)字13與日期聯(lián)系起來的時候，這種結合就有了特殊的意義。

數(shù)字13被西方人嫌棄到什么程度？

在荷蘭，你幾乎找不到13號樓和13號的門牌。因為他們用12A取代了13號。在英國的劇場或影院，也找不到13排或13座，因為被設置成了人行道。此外西方人也不喜歡13號這一天出游，更不愿意有13人一起用餐，更別提吃飯時上13道菜了。