On Not Answering the Telephone Handout

On Not Answering the Telephone

By William Plomer (abridged)

Pre-Reading Questions:

1. Does the title of the text strike you as unusual? Would you be inclined not to answer a telephone call at any time?

2. Does the title tell you what kind of writing the passage is, a narrative or an argument?

3. What do you think is the writer’s intention in writing this article?

4. Can you imagine some of the things the writer might mention in his article?

1If, at the end of a conversation somebody says to me, “As soon as I know, I’ll ring you up”, he is taking too much for granted. He is proposing to attempt the impossible. So I have to say, “I’m afraid you can’t. You see, I’m not on the telephone. I just haven’t got a telephone.”

2Why don’t I have a telephone? Not because I pretend to be wise or pose as unusual. There are two chief reasons: because I don’t really like the telephone and because I find I can still work and play, eat, breathe and sleep wi thout it. Why don’t I like the telephone? Because I think it is a pest and a time-waster. It may create unnecessary suspense and anxiety, as when you wait for an expected call that doesn’t come; or irritating delay, as when you keep ringing a number that is always engaged. As for speaking in a public telephone box, that seems to me really horrible. You would not use it unless you were in a hurry, and because you are in a hurry you will find other people waiting before you. When you do get into the box, you are half asphyxiated by stale, unventilated air, flavoured with cheap face-powder and chain-smoking; and by the time you have begun your conversation your back is chilled by the cold looks of somebody who is fidgeting to take your place.

3If you have a telephone in your own house, you will admit that it tends to ring when you least want it to ring;

when you are asleep, or in the middle of a meal or a conversation, or when you are just going out, or when you are in your bath. Are you strong-minded enough to i gnore it, to say to yourself, “Ah, well, it will all be the same in a hundred years’ time”? You are not. You think there may be some important news or message for you. Have you never rushed dripping from the bath, or chewing from the table, or dazed from the bed, only to be told that you are a wrong number?

4Suppose you ignore the telephone when it rings, and suppose that, for once, somebody has an important

message for you. I can assure you that if a message is really important it will reach you sooner or later. Think of the proverb: “Ill news travels apace.” I must say good news seems to travel just as fast. And think of the saying: “The truth will out.” It will.

5Perhaps, when you take off the receiver, you give your number or your name. But you don’t even know whom you are giving it to! Perhaps you have been indiscreet enough to have your name and number printed in the telephone directory, a book with a large circulation, a successful book so often reprinted as to make any author envious, a book more in evidence than Shakespeare or the Bible, and found in all sorts of private and public places. It serves you right if you find it impossible to escape from some idle or inquisitive chatterbox, or from somebody who wants something for nothing, or from some reporter bent on questioning you about your own affairs or about the private life of some friend who has just eloped or met with a fatal accident.

6But, you will say, you need not have your name printed in the telephone directory, and you can have a telephone wh ich is only usable for outgoing calls. Besides, you will say, isn’t it important to have a telephone in case of sudden emergency —illness, accident or fire? Of course, you are right, but here in a thickly populated country like England one is seldom far from a telephone in case of dreadful necessity.

7Is there any conclusion to be drawn from my obstinacy and wilfulness, my escapism, if you like to call it that?

I think perhaps I had better try to justify myself by trying to prove that what I like is good. At least I have

proved to myself that what many people think necessary is not necessary at all. I admit that in different circumstances — if I were a tycoon, for instance, or bed-ridden, I might find a telephone essential. But then if I were a secretary or taxi-driver I should find a typewriter or a car essential. Let me put it another way: there are two things for which the English seem to show particular aptitude: one is mechanical invention, the other is literature. My own business happens to be with the use of words but I see I must now stop using them. I have just been handed a slip of paper to say that somebody is waiting to speak to me on the telephone.

I think I had better answer it. After all, one never knows, it may be something important.

Preview: Give an exact reference as evidence that each of the following statements is wrong.

1. The 2nd paragraph is totally devoted to explaining why the author has not got a home phone.

2. When the writer writes that he does not like the telephone, he means only home and office phones.

3. In the 3rd paragraph the writer seems to indicate that usually people don’t answer the telephone when they are busy with something else.

4. In the 5th paragraph the writer claims that it is convenient to have one’s number listed in the telephone

directory.

5. In the 5th paragraph the writer implies that Shakespeare, the Bible and the telephone directory can be found anywhere.

6. In the 6th paragraph the writer suggests that one needs a telephone in case of emergency.

1 propose /pr??p??z/ v.打算；计划；向... 提议；求婚；提名

2 attempt /??tempt/ v./n. 企图；尝试

3 pretend /pr??tend/ v.假装；装作；自以为

4 pose /p??z/ v.摆姿势；摆位置；造成；提出；假装n.姿态；姿势

5 chief /t?i?f/ adj.主要的；首要的n.首领

6 pest /pest/ n.害虫；讨厌的人或物

7 suspense /s??spens/ n.悬疑；焦虑；悬念

8 anxiety /???za??ti/ n.焦虑；担心；渴望

9 irritating /??r?te?t??/ adj.使愤怒的；气人的；令人不愉快的

10 delay /d??le?/ v./n. 耽搁；推迟；延误

11 engage /?n?ɡe?d?/ v.雇佣；啮合；与……交战；答应；订婚；预定；参加；从事；占用

12 asphyxiate /?s?f?ksie?t/ v.(使)窒息

13 stale /ste?l/ adj.不新鲜的；陈腐的；厌倦的v.变得不新鲜；腐坏；(动物)撒尿

14 ventilate /?vent?le?t/ vt.使... 空气流通；通风

15 flavor /'fle?v?/ vt.加调料于...；给...添加情趣n.风味；特殊的滋味；风格；调味品

16 chill /t??l/ v.(使)变冷；(使)扫兴；使恐惧；放松n.寒冷；扫兴；寒心；着凉

17 fidget /?f?d??t/ v. (使)坐立不安n.烦躁；烦躁之人

18 strong-minded /str???ma?nd?d/ adj.意志坚强的

19 rush /r??/ v.冲；仓促行事；突袭；奔；急速流动n.抢购；匆忙；冲进；急速行进；蜂拥

20 drip /dr?p/ n.滴；点滴；乏味的人v.滴下；漏出

21 chew /t?u?/ v.咀嚼；嚼碎；深思n.咀嚼；咀嚼物

22 daze /de?z/ vt.使... 茫然；使... 眩目n. 恍惚；晕眩

23 apace /??pe?s/ adv.快速地；急速地；齐头并进地

24 receiver /r??si?v?(r)/ n.听筒；接收器；收款员；接受者；破产管理官

25 indiscreet /??nd??skri?t/ adj.不谨慎的；无礼的

26 directory /d??rekt?ri/ n.目录；工商名录；指南adj.给予指导的

27 circulation /?s??kj??le??n/ n.流通；循环；发行量；消息传播

28 envious /?envi?s/ adj.嫉妒的

29 idle /?a?dl/ adj.无聊的; 懒惰的; 闲散的; 无根据的v.虚度; 使空闲；(机器)空转

30 inquisitive /?n?kw?z?t?v/ adj.好奇的；爱打听的；求知欲强的

31 bend /bend/ v.弯曲；使弯曲；屈服；屈从；集中于n.弯曲；弯道

32 elope /??l??p/ v.私奔；潜逃

33 fatal /?fe?tl/ adj.致命的；毁灭性的；决定性的

34 populate /?p?pjule?t/ v.构成人口；居住于

35 dreadful /?dredfl/ adj.可怕的；糟糕的

36 necessity /n??ses?ti/ n.需要；必需品；必然

37 obstinacy ['?bst?n?si] n. 顽固；(病痛等)难治

38 willfulness /'w?lf?ln?s/ n.任性；存心

39 escapism /??ske?p?z?m/ n.逃避现实；逃避主义

40 justify /?d??st?fa?/ vt.替...辩护；证明... 正当；调整版面

41 tycoon /ta??ku?n/ n.企业界的大亨；（日本幕府的）将军

42 bed-ridden /'bedr'?dn/ 卧床不起的ride-rode-ridden

43 aptitude /??pt?tju?d/ n.天资；资质；才能；倾向

44 mechanical /m??k?n?kl/ adj.机械的；力学的；呆板的

45 slip /sl?p/ v.滑倒；滑脱；疏忽；溜走n.疏忽；滑倒；溜走；失误；纸条

1 ring up

2 take something for granted

3 wait for

4 as for

5 by the time…

6 take one's place

7 tend to

8 in the middle of

9 only to do

10 so… as to…

11 in evidence

12 all sorts of

13 It serves you right.

14 find it (im)possible to do

15 escape from

16 want something for nothing

17 be bent on

18 meet with

19 in case of

20 thickly populated

21 draw a conclusion from

22 in/ under the circumstances

23 let me put it another way

Notes

ExerciseI. Preposition/ Adverb

after/ for/ out/ to / back/ in/ over/ up/ down/ off/ on

1.You can see from her eyes that she takes _____ her father.

2.At first sight, people usually take him _____a basketball player, not a pianist.

3.I am afraid you’ve been taken _____This pound note is a counterfeit.

4. A helicopter is a very convenient means of transportation. It is able to take _____ and land vertically.

5.After the pupils had put up different kinds of decorations, the classroom took _____ a holiday appearance.

6.Yesterday John had two of his teeth taken _____.

7.The company has become a thriving business since this young man took _____.

8.If you speak slowly and clearly the students will take _____ the meaning.

9.I’ll take _____ your n ame and address and you can pay the railway company later.

10.We ought not to take _____ the poor man’s time. He is fully occupied.

11.When I visited Suzhou again, it took me _____ to my childhood.

12.The BellcrestCompany is on its feet again and is going to take _____ many new workers.

13.My grandfather has taken _____ gardening in his spare time.

14.I don’ t take _____ the new rule that my doctor has made of going to bed before ten at night.

15.Cathy is far too busy to take _____ any more work.

Exercise II. Translation

1.史密斯太太认为妇女理应下厨房做饭，所以从不允许家里任何人来取而代之。

took it for granted was supposed to

allow anyone in the family to take her place.

2.万一出现紧急情况，将用直升飞机把抢救队送至事故现场。

The helicopters will be used to send the rescue party to the scene of disaster in case of an emergency.

3.这些测试的结果表明，你很有音乐天赋。

The results of these tests clearly show that you have an aptitude for music.

4.他们夜以继日地在实验室工作了整整一个月，不料却发现他们在做根本无法做成的事。

They worked day and night in the laboratory for a whole month only to find that they were attempting the

5.一项重要实验做到一半时电话铃响了。他对持续不停的铃声置之不理，心想要是有重要的事他迟早总

会知道的。

6.要是你数学考试再不及格，真是活该。这学期的数学课你缺课次数太多了。

It serves you right

如今，手机不再是有钱人才能买得起的奢侈品，它已成为我们生活中的必需品，是必备的几样东西之一。无论是工作还是娱乐方面，手机都改变了我们交流的方式。我们现在也很少受时间和地理位置的限制，一名经理遇上堵车也可以用手机拨打电话会议。但是，这个“设备”让我们的个人生活和工作时间混淆不清，产生了很多问题。在全球许多城市和地方，随处可见低着头紧盯手机屏幕忙着按键的人。人们乘火车、坐出租车或排队时，只要有空就忙着摆弄手机。有的人出去约会也用手机通知对方到达的时间。这种痴迷于移动设备的心态正在妨碍我们享受生活中的小事。事实上，技术应该是促进我们生活方式的工具，而不是我们人类生来享受的那些美好事物的替代品。手机当然对我们的生活产生了重要影响，但这种影响应该向好的方向发展。

Nowadays mobile phones are no longer treated as luxuries that only the rich can afford. Rather, they have turned out to be a necessity in our lives, placed in the list of must-have items. Mobile phones have changed the way we communicate, whether for work or play. We are now less constrained by time and geographical location. With his mobile device, a manager can dial into conference calls while stuck in a traffic jam.

But the blurring of personal and work lives brought about by the device are posing many problems. The common sight of heads bent, eyes staring intently at mobile screens and fingers busy tapping away repeats itself across many cities and places around the world. Whenever there is a moment to spare while on the train, taxi or waiting in a queue, people busy themselves with their mobile devices. Some people check in with their phones while out on a date.Such obsession with mobile devices is disrupting how we appreciate the little things in life. The truth is that technology should be seen as a tool to enhance our way of living and not a substitute for the good things that we as humans naturally enjoy. Mobile phones have certainly made a significant impact on our lives, but it should be for the better.