Unit 7 Things The Throw-away Society
Unit 7 Things: The Throw-away Society
I. Teaching objectives
1.Get the students acquainted with Alvin Toffler and his studies.
2.Learn something about “future shock” and “futurology”.
3.Learn more about the method of exposition by illustration and exemplification;
4.Learn more about the method of comparison and contrast;
5.Learn to make a clear thesis statement which states both your focus of attention
and your stand on the issue under discussion;
6.Know the different positions of the thesis, i.e., pre-position, mid-position, and
end-position.
7.Understand the need to restate the thesis/idea (e.g., to keep the discussion coherent,
to make the idea emphatic).
II Teaching time: six class periods
III Teaching Procedure:
Step 1 Warm-up Questions
1.In a piece of expositions / argumentation, there is always a clear controlling idea /
the main idea of the writer. This is the message that the author intends to explain /illustrate. We refer to such main idea as the “thesis”. Where can we find the thesis of the present article?
2.What is the most common position of the thesis statement? Can you find
examples from texts we learn?
3.Is there any advantage for the author to put his thesis statement until he has made
some introductions?
4.Examine the present text and see how Toffler presents his thesis (i.e., the affluent
modern society is becoming more and more a throw-away society, the underling cause of which is that “man’s relationship with things are increasingly temporary”.).
Step 2 Relevant information
1. Barbie Doll
the best-known / best-selling doll, about 12,000,000; introduced in 1959 by Mattel Inc.; made of plastic; looks like a female teenager (takes the shape of human), about 12inches tall.
2. Alvin Toffler
Alvin Toffler is best known for his first international best seller, Future Shock, but has written many books since, including The Third Wave, about the massive wave of change we're going through at the moment; unparalleled in human history, according to Toffler. It's a theme which has dominated his thinking for the past 10 or 15 years.
Alvin Toffler has influenced and advised world leaders. He wrote about the prospects of outsourcing, the communications revolution and corporate restructuring years before anyone else cottoned on. Toffler worked in factories after he went to university, then went into journalism in Washington. But he's really made his mark as a writer and thinker, always in collaboration with his wife.
The term “future shock” was first used by Alvin Toffler in 1965 in an article published in Horizon. Toffler coined this term to describe a state of stress and disorientation (the loss of sense of direction) caused by too quick a succession of changes in society. After that, he spent 5 years visiting scores of universities, research centers, laboratories, and government agencies, reading countless articles and scientific papers and interviewing hundreds of experts on different aspects of change, coping behavior, and the future. Then he came to the following two conclusions: First, “future shock is no lon ger a distantly potential danger, but a real sickness from which increasingly large numbers already suffer.” Second, people know very little about adaptivity. That is to say, “in the most rapidly changing environment to which man has ever been exposed, we remain pitifully ignorant of how the human animal copes.”
In 1970, Alvin Toffler published the book Future Shock. “This is a book about what happens to people when they are overwhelmed (overcome completely) by change. It is about the ways in which we adapt—or fail to adapt—to the future.” “The purpose of this book is to help us come to
terms with the future—to help us cope more effectively with both personal and social change by deepening our understanding of how men respond to it.”
Step 3 Organization of the text
Section 1 (para. 1-3): introductory section: exemplification (of Barbie Doll in para. 1 & para. 2) to introduce the thesis statement (para.3) Para. 1: an illustration to point out a phenomenon that exists today in the USA –the widespread popularity of Barbie Doll
Para. 2: more recent news about Barbie Doll – trade-in allowance
Para. 3: clearly states Toffler’s idea: “…that man’s relationships with things are increasingly temporary” (which is the underlying cause for a
throw-away society, as will be illustrated below)
Section 2 (para. 4—6): generalization / elaboration on the thesis statement: the profusion of man-made objects, their importance to the individual
(i.e., functional utility and psychological impact), and the attitudes
induced.
Para. 4: technologically produced environment vs. natural environment (popular materialism)
Para. 5: functional utility vs. psychological impact on pace of life
Para. 6: contrast in basic value judgments between the new breed of little girls and their mothers and grandmothers (comparison and contrast between past and future, between societies based on permanence and the new society based on transience –echoing the idea in para. 3: temporary relationships between man and things)
Section 3 (7-12): more examples and illustration to support the argument Para. 7: a long list of throw-away objects for daily use, to illustrate the
throw-away culture in which the younger generation are
embedded
(Para. 8—12: Factors contributing to the throw-away mentality) Para. 8: the resistance of the French housewife to use disposable products (as the idea of using disposable products runs counter to the belief
and practice of people who have long suffered from poverty), to
show that the throw-away mentality is related to the affluence of a
society
Para. 9: the rapid shift to a throw-away society in Sweden, Japan, England, and France, to show (a) The richer you are, the more likely you
are to throw away things; and (b) The more advanced the society
is, the more popular is the practice.
Para. 10-12: the popularity of paper clothes (convenient, economic), to show people’s psychological need for throw-away things and the
trend to maintain a transient relationship between man and
man-made objects
Section 4 (para. 13): conclusion: the causal chain
throw away products → throw away mentality→ a set of radically
altered values with respect to property → decreased durations in
man-thing relationships → a throw-away society
Step 4 Language points
Words and expressions
1. adore: feel great admiration and love for (=IDOLIZE); like very much
E.g. She adored her sister.
People will adore this film.
2. eminent: (a) distinguished / notable;
(b) (of qualities) remarkable in degree
E.g. The bishop is eminent for his piety and good works.
The general is eminent for valor.
Those who attended the seminar are mostly men eminent in science, learning
c.f. eminence
E.g. to rise to eminence in one’s profession
to achieve eminence
to attain eminence in mathematics
to reach eminence as a doctor (statesman, writer)
a man of great scientific eminence
a poet of eminence
a man of international musical eminence
3. wear:n. clothing, especially of a particular kind or for a particular use. Often used in combination.
E.g. foot wear/sports wear/swim wear
4. version:n. (a) a particular form or variation of an earlier or original type ( in the text, it means a new model of Barbie Doll); (b) a description or an account from one point of view, especially as opposed to another. (c) an adaptation of a work of art or literature into another medium or style.
E.g. Let me have your own version of the affair / story / event.
There have been different versions of the tale.
a stage / movie / screen version of the novel
5. humanoid: adj. having human forms or characteristics; humanlike;
“-noid”: “-like”
6. trade-in allowance: the amount of money a shop deducts from the price of a new thing which a customer buys when he turns in to the shop an old thing
7. turn in vs. trade in
turn sth in:(a) to give back (something no longer needed, such as unwanted tickets, goods, official clothing); (b) stop doing sth; abandon sth
turn sb in: hand sb over to the police to be arrested
E.g. Tickets may be turned in at the box office, or exchanged for ones for the new
Don’t forget to turn in your gun when you leave the police force.
The escaped criminal decided to turn himself in.
trade in: (AmE) to exchange (goods) for part of the value (of a newer object)
E.g. Will the dealer allow us to trade in the car for the latest model?
Some manufacturers of washing machines allow their customers to trade in old ones for technological improved ones.
8. matter to / for: to be important to
E.g. Does it matter to you what people say?
My health matters more to my doctor than to my family.
9. texture: degree of roughness or smoothness, coarseness or fineness of a material
E.g. to feel the texture of one’s garments
coarse / fine / light texture
clothes of loose / close texture
be of fine texture
10. iridescent:adj. showing colors like those of the rainbow; changing color as light falls from different directions;
c.f. glister: reflected light
luminous: reflected stars
gleaming: reflected sunlight. e.g., the skyscraper’s gleaming wall of glass
glisten(v.): (a) shine or sparkle, usually because it is smooth, wet, or oily.
E.g. His face glistened with sweat.
…gold sovereigns glistening in the sunlight
glistening lips
(b) (of eyes) be bright and express a particular emotion
E.g. His eyes glisten with contempt.
11. staggering: stunning, wondrous, breathtaking
12. cityscape: a view of a city; city scenery;
13. materialist: A materialist is someone who wants a lot of money and possessions
and believes that these are the only important things in life.
E.g. A lot of people are prepared to turn their back on the materialist way of life.
14. deride: v. to laugh at contemptuously; to show scorn
n. derision
c.f.: ridicule/mock: all mean to make a person or thing the object of laughter
ridicule: implies deliberate and often malicious belittling of the person or thing ridiculed
E.g. The man who wants to preserve his personal identity is ridiculed as an
eccentric.
deride: implies a bitter or contemptuous spirit
E.g. He took his revenge on the fate that had made him sad by fiercely
deriding everything.
mock: stresses scornful derision and usually implies words or gestures or sometimes acts expressive of one’s defiance or contempt
E.g. Nowhere can men be entirely happy while human nature is still being
mocked and tortured on other parts of the globe.
15. functional utility: useful in practice; quality of being useful; (utility=usefulness)
c.f. utilize v. / utilitarian n.
utility(countable noun): an important service such as water, electricity, or gas that is provided for everyone, and that everyone pays for
E.g. the development of roads and utilities
16: foreshorten:to show / portray (an object) with the apparent shortening due to visual perspective
17. disintegrate: break apart
18. transience:(fml.) When there is transience in a society, situation, etc, people’s
arrangements tend to last only a short time, because the society is changing
rapidly
transient: = fleeting e.g. a transient phase
19. at a rapid clip: at a fast speed
20. inextricably: inescapably; unavoidably
21.be embedded in:(a) to be fixed firmly in; (b) so deeply involved that it is
impossible to get free
E.g. The magic sword was embedded in the stone.
A piece of broken metal had embedded itself in his leg when he was wounded
in the war.
I had such strange ideas about you embedded in my mind.
The study of culture is embedded in a language class.
22.run counter to: to conflict with; to be opposite to
E.g. The government’s action run s counter to their election promises.
grain: the natural arrangement of the lines of fibre in wood, etc., as seen on the surface what has been sawn 木材等的纹理
run counter to the grain or go against the grain: be contrary to one’s inclination or disposition
23.be steeped in: (a) to soak in liquid in order to cleanse, soften, or extract a given
property from; (b) to give one’s whole attention; fill something with a quality.
E.g. If the clothes are very dirty, steep them in soapy water over night.
I have to write a paper on Eugene O’Neill, so first I must steep myself in his
book.
Xi’an is a place that is steeped in history.
24.be astounded by vs. be awed by
be astounded by: to be shocked with surprises
E.g. Although small, he showed astounding strengths.
He was astounded when he heard he had won.
be awed by: be filled with a feeling of respect mixed with fear and wonder
E.g. They were awed into silence by the sternness of her voice.
25.lo and behold: an expression of surprise at something unexpected
26.say nothing of: (=let alone) used when adding something which gives even more
strength to the point being made
E.g. Three people hurt, to say nothing of the damage to the building.
There is no time to do all the work, to say nothing of the cost.
27.quasi-paper: imitation paper; synthetic paper
quasi: adj. half; seemingly
E.g. a quasi-official visit
a quasi sovereign state
quasi contract
quasi justice
28.boutique:small shops selling articles ( such as hats, women’s clothes, cosmetics)
of the latest fashion
29.sprout vs. bloom
sprout:v.to begin to grow; give off shoots or buds; cause to grow /develop;
produce
E.g. John has sprouted a moustache.
We expect rain to sprout seed well.
Potatoes sprout twice a year.
In the text the word “sprout” indicates the sudden increase of bottles and department (figurative).
bloom: v. (a) to bear a flower or flowers; (b) to support plant life in abundance
E.g. These flowers bloom all the year round.
The rose bloomed beautifully.
30.apparel:n. clothing, especially outer garments; attire
E.g. priestly apparel
ladies / ready-to-wear apparel
31.sumptuous: expensive and grand; fashionable; lavish
c.f. elegant, grandiose, luxurious
The word “sumptuous” is more likely to be restricted to man-made things. Its root refers to expenditure so it emphasizes on costliness of something.
E.g. Critics judged the sumptuous new opera house to be an aesthetic disaster.
A delightful cognac rounded off this most sumptuous meal.
32.feature:n. a prominent or special article, story in a newspaper or periodical
E.g. a front page feature on clone
v. to have or include as a prominent part or characteristic;
E.g. a new movie featuring Julia Roberts
33.caption: words written above or below a picture, newspaper article, etc, to explain
what it is, or give further information
E.g. I didn’t understand the drawing until I read the caption.
34.cellulose:n. a complex carbohydrate (CHO) that forms the main constituent of the
cell wall in most plants, and is important in the manufacture of numerous products, such as paper, textiles
35.supplant:vt. (fml) to take the place of; supercede
E.g. The President was supplanted by a political rival.
Trains in Shanghai have been supplanted by buses.
36.A dress: with a flared bottom, close-fitting top, resembling an “A” shape
37.temporary, momentary, passing, fleeting, transient, transitory, ephemeral
temporary: the most general, implying a measurable but limited duration, something lasting for a limited time, suggesting a shift or arrangement made for the time being
E.g. a temporary job
a temporary shelter from the storm
a temporary setback
momentary: (lit.) coming /going away suddenly, in a moment, indicating relative brevity of duration
E.g. a momentary misgiving
a momentary delay
passing: emphasize the fact that a thing does not continue to occupy the interest for very long, but runs its course fairly quick
E.g. a passing fad / fanciful fashion
fleeting: intensification of passing in a literal sense
E.g. catch a fleeting glimpse of my new neighbour
transient:stresses the temporary nature of a stay or the brevity of a thing’s duration (When it is used as an adjective, it carries a formal tone.)
E.g. a transient joy
transitory: like temporary, points to impermanence of something that is destined to pass away, either very soon or at last / eventually;
E.g. a transitory pleasure as opposed to sources of enduring satisfaction
a transitory stage of development
ephemeral: (lit.)lasting for a very short time
E.g. ephemeral popularity
ephemeral inspiration
38.evidence, testimony, data
evidence: most general, including the testimony of witness and all the facts and physical objects connected with a legal proceeding, in everyday use, evidence is anything that tends to prove a thing true
E.g. Scholars have been able to unearth some evidence as to true authorship of the
book.
Her red eyes and sad expression were evidence that she had been crying. testimony:denotes statements made to a court of law, any declaration made by a witness who is considered to know the fact of a case
E.g. Giving testimony involves the making of statements in open court in answer
to questions put by a lawyer or qualified public official.
Testimony, in its wider meaning, is affirmation or proof of something.
E.g. The ruined buildings of the city bear grim testimony to the heavy
bombardment by the enemy.
c.f. testimonial n. formal, written statement of a person, character, ability, etc. data: (pl. of “datum”) formal w ord for a large body of facts and figures, which have gathered systematically and from which conclusions may be drawn
39. squeeze (n.): a situation in which it is difficult to borrow money because of strict
controls, usually imposed by the government
E.g. a credit squeeze
another squeeze on borrowing
40. embargo (n.): an order that is made by a government to stop trade with another
country
E.g. The states imposed an embargo on oil shipments.
…his decision to lift the grain embargo
they would not enforce a trade embargo with any member nations.
e mbargo (v.): officially prohibit goods or transport means going to another
country
41. squeeze (n.): a situation in which it is difficult to borrow money because of strict
controls,usually imposed by the government
E.g. a credit squeeze
another squeeze on borrowing
42. embargo (n.): an order that is made by a government to stop trade with another
country
E.g. The states imposed an embargo on oil shipments.
his decision to lift the grain embargo
they would not enforce a trade embargo with any member nations.
e mbargo (v.): officially prohibit goods or transport means going to another
country
E.g. embargo arms sales to South Asia
They embargoed five more Sicilian ships carrying 6.6 million gallons of
wine.
43. bonanza: a lucky or successful situation where people can make a lot of money
E.g. Spielberg’s movie ET was a box office bonanza.
44. oddity: (a) a very unusual person or thing
E.g. a shop devoted to oddities: rubber fruit, explosive cigars…
A career woman is still regarded as something of an oddity.
(b) a very unusual characteristic that someone or something has
E.g. those personal oddities in his drawing
the oddities and absurdities of the language
45. lament: express sadness, regret, or disappointment about
E.g. He laments the changing pattern of life in the countryside.
“All the flour is wet!” lamented Miss Musson.
46. the good old days: a time in the past when people think that life was better than it
is now
E.g. Things would soon get back to normal like in the good old days.
47. few and far between: rare, not happening or available often
E.g. Jobs are few and far between at the moment.
48. perceptive: (a) good at noticing or realizing things quickly, especially things that
other people might not notice or realize
E.g. I’m not really perceptive as far as literature goes.
a perceptive critic
(b) also used of someone’s remarks or thoughts
E.g. a very perceptive comment
49. emanate:(fml.) If a quality, idea, feeling, etc, emanates from you, or if your
emanate such a quality, feeling, or idea, it comes from you or was originally started by you (=RADIATE)
E.g. These ideas are said to emanate from Henry Kissinger.
He emanates concern.
A dim glow of light still emanated from the room
50. cut across: If a problem or feeling cuts across different groups of people, they are
all affected by it
E.g. The drug problem cuts across all social classes.
51. bonanza: a lucky or successful situation where people can make a lot of money
E.g. Spiel berg’s movie ET was a box office bonanza.
52. oddity: (a) a very unusual person or thing
E.g. a shop devoted to oddities: rubber fruit, explosive cigars…
A career woman is still regarded as something of an oddity.
(b) a very unusual characteristic that someone or something has
E.g. those personal oddities in his drawing
the oddities and absurdities of the language
53. lament: express sadness, regret, or disappointment about
E.g. He laments the changing pattern of life in the countryside.
“All the flour is wet!” lamented Miss Musson.
54. the good old days: a time in the past when people think that life was better than it is now
E.g. Things would soon get back to normal like in the good old days.
55. few and far between: rare, not happening or available often
E.g. Jobs are few and far between at the moment.
56. perceptive: (a) good at noticing or realizing things quickly, especially things that
other people might not notice or realize
E.g. I’m not really perceptive as far as literature goes.
a perceptive critic
(b) also used of someone’s remarks or thoughts
E.g. a very perceptive comment
57. emanate:(fml.) If a quality, idea, feeling, etc, emanates from you, or if your
emanate such a quality, feeling, or idea, it comes from you or was originally started by you (=RADIATE)
E.g. These ideas are said to emanate from Henry Kissinger.
He emanates concern.
A dim glow of light still emanated from the room
58. cut across: If a problem or feeling cuts across different groups of people, they are
all affected by it
E.g. The drug problem cuts across all social classes.
Difficult sentences (paraphrase)
1.“sells a complete wardrobe”
design various styles of clothes for Barbie Doll
2.“any young lady wishing to purchase a new Barbie would receive a trade-in
allowance for her old one”
all ladies who want to buy a new model of Barbie can have it at a reduced price,
i .e. the ship will deduct from the price a certain amount of money.
3.“ocean of man-made physical objects”
large amount of artificial things.
4.“larger ocean of natural objects”
There are more natural objects than man-made physical objects. Natural objects around us outnumber man-made objects.
5.“But increasingly, it’s the technologically produced environment that
matters for the individual”
Man-made t hings are getting more and more important in people’s lives.
6.“the iridescent glisten of an automobile under a street light”
the colorful, shining appearance of a car reflected under a street light.
7.“These are the intimate realities of his existence”
These are the closest and most immediate to his life.
8.“Man-made things enter into and colour his consciousness.”Technologically produced things become part of people’s life and influence their mentality.
9.“Their number is expanding…both absolutely and relative to…”
There has been a tremendous increase in machine-produced things in terms of their actual number as well as in proportion to our natural environment.
Step 5 Practice
Translate the following sentences into English
1 他怪异的行为有悖于一般的良好行为规范。
2 可以肯定的是，历史上鲜有人能同时在科学和数学领域的成就比牛顿更突出。
3 你不应该嘲笑孩子的失败，应该鼓励他们再去尝试。
4 在她毕业典礼那天，她的叔叔婶婶以丰盛的晚餐来款待她。
5 对于在公司的过往表现，没有人有什么不满。
6 他们的自由与我们的自由息息相关，我们不能单独行动。
7 我年迈的叔祖母不习惯使用那些市场上盛行的一次性物品。
8 他在考试中作弊被抓后，名字马上被从应考者名单上删去。
Step 6 Homework
Classroom discussion
Form discussing groups and choose one of the following topics to discuss
1.What were the improvements made recently by the manufacturer of Barbie Doll?
2.Why is the Barbie Doll so appealing to girls?
3.According to the author, the fact that girls can trade in the old Barbie Doll for a
new model reveals something. What is it?
4.In paragraph 4, the author elaborates on the relationship between technologically
produced things and things in the natural world. What is the tendency today? Are man-made things getting more important? Why?
5.The author says, “We develop relationships with things”. How do things affect
our psychology?
6.How does the author analyze the different attitudes between girls of the present
generation and their mother or grandmother’s generation?
7.In paragraph 7, the author makes a list of things thrown away after only one use.
Name some of the examples given. Examine the list of things and comment how they can serve as the “culture” surrounding little girls?
8.Would you characterize Toffler’s essay subjective and interpretive or objective
and factual? Why do you think so?
9.Do your think the attitude toward marriage (increasing rate of divorce) can also
be considered in the light of “throw-away mentality”?