Unit 8
郧阳师专英语系综合英语教研室
TextⅠ On Buying Books
The old saying,“To open a book is always
helpful.”clearly shows us how good it is to
read a book,Reading is a good thing,but we
must pay great attention t the choice of
books,It’s true that we can derive benefits
from good books,As a matter of fact,books
are always enclosed with profits,showing
you the great wisdom of human,L.M Alcott --
-That is a good book which is opened with
expectatio n a nd close d wit h profits.
Useful Information
Advantage of reading books.
The future is a mystery and books help us build
our own future,Your fate may be changed by
books.“Knowledge changes fate.”Books teach
us to learn life,truth,science and many other
useful things,They increase our knowledge,
broaden our minds and strengthen our character,
enlarge our experience and do many other
things that we can’t do without them,In other
words,books are our good teachers and wise
friends,This is the reason why our parents
always encourage us to read more books.
Proverbs about books
★ A book that remains shut is but a block.
藏书不读如藏木。
★ Books,like friends,should be few and well chosen.
读书如择友，宜少而精。
★ Books are the ever-burning lamps of accumulated wisdom.
(--- G.W,Gurtis)
书籍乃储积智慧之不灭明灯。 (---葛迪斯 )
★ A good book is a best friend who never turns his back upon
us.
好书如挚友，永远不相负。
★ Only two classes of books are of universal appeal,The very
best and the very worst.(----F.M.Ford)
只有两类书有广泛的吸引力：真正的最好的和最坏的。
★ Some books are to be tasted,others to be swallowed and
some few to be chewed and digested.(---F.Bacon)
书有可浅尝者，有可吞食者，少数则须咀嚼消化。
★ Life being very short,and the quiet hours of it few; we ought
to waste none of them in reading valueless books.(---John
Ruskin)
生命是短暂的，而其中寂静的时光更少，我们不应花其中的
宝贵时间去读无价值的书。
Type of the Text
Argumentation essay tries to make the reader
agree with its point of view and support it,to persuade
him to change his mind or behaviors,and to approve
a policy or a course of action that it proposes,The
purpose of argumentation is to convince and
persuade,
Argumentation frequently makes use of the other
three types of writing—description,narration,and
above all exposition.
Key features of argumentative writings,A good and
effective argument has the following basic features:
1) It clearly defines the issue and has a clear
position.
2) The argument is well reasoned and well
developed.
3) It has an appropriate tone and credible persona.
On Buying Books is a short,simple and
straightforward piece of persuasive writing,
Writing Style
On Buying Books is a piece of argumentation,
The style is informal and it suggests everyday
talk.
Generic you is used a great deal to show the
informal tone,The writer addresses the
reader directly and does not miss the
opportunity to give the reader his personal
advice.
The first person pronoun is used to express
the writer’s personal opinion and to make
his subjective assertions.
A subjective point of view is adopted,The
passage is written from the point of view of
the book-lover who has a limited purse with
unlimited interests rather than the
bookseller who,of course,wishes to sell as
many books in as short a time as possible.
Questions
1.Do you visit
bookshop often?
What kinds of
books attract you
most?
2.What is usually
your purpose of
visiting a bookshop,
to buy books or just
to browse among
books?
3.Which do you
prefer to visit,a
bookshop with open
shelves or one with
closed shelves?
4.How much help do
you want to get from
a bookshop assistant?
Structure of the Text
The theme or the subject
(Namely,it is how time spent in a
bookshop can be most enjoyable.)
is directly established at the
beginning of the passage to draw
the reader into the essay, The
whole passage can be divided into
four parts,Topic sentence in each
paragraph is the first sentence,
The main idea of each paragraph is
the following.
Para.1—describing how easy it is to
become absorbed in even an unplanned
visit to a bookshop.
Para.2---giving reasons for such absorption
and suggesting how the assistants should
behave.
Para.3---warning against the dangers of
buying on impulse---that is,an unplanned
purchase of something that has just
happened to catch your eye.
Para.4---telling an anecdote that illustrates
how a perfect bookseller should behave.
Language Points
● …just to find shelter from a sudden shower.
shelter,1)[u]n,cover and protection 掩蔽
find /take shelter from 避难，躲避
give shelter to 庇护
be a shelter from 成为躲避 … 的处所
lend the shelter of one’s name and position to sb.
利用自己的名誉地位庇护某人
under the shelter of 在 … 的庇护下
[c]n.掩蔽，蔽身避处
an air-raid shelter a bus shelter
● Whatever the reason,you can soon become totally unaware of your…
Whatever:1) to introduce an adverbial clause of concession,followed by a
verb which omitted,be”.
e.g,The debt should be paid,whatever the cost.
2) pron,to introduce a nominal clause which is equal to,anything that…”
e.g,The cat eats whatever people give or offer.
3) adj,any,all of
e.g,I make use of whatever ways my friends thought about to the problem.
4) Used in negative sentences or in interrogative sentences.
n.+whatever, 丝毫的，根本的
● You soon become engrossed in some book or other,…
Be (completely/thoroughly/totally) engrossed in,be absorbed in,be taken
up (全神贯注于，热心于 )
● …and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointment
1)appointment,keep an appointment 守约
break/lose an appointment 失约
make an appointment with 与人约会 /定
cancel an appointment 取消约会
have an appointment 有约会
by appointment 依照约会
fix/fulfill an appointment 践约 /守约
2) the past participle,used as fronting attributive of the nouns
A..表示已完成的被动动作或已完成的主动动作。
e.g,cheated kid 受骗的小孩 escaped workers逃工
B.不表示动作完成与否，而只是表示被动。
e.g,guided missile导弹 so-called achievements所谓的成就
● You can wander round such places to your heart’s content.
To one’s heart’s content,as much as one likes 尽情地
e.g,He dare not play to his heart’s content for fear that he would fail his
final exam.
● —ing participle:往往表被修饰词所发出的动作，即分词动作的逻辑主语是它 所修
饰的词。
Verbal noun:所修饰词不能充当其逻辑主语，只说明名词的特性、功能。
e.g,a sleeping (-ing participle) girl,a girl who is sleeping
a sleeping (verbal noun) bag,a bag for sleeping.
● …, the assistant should retire discreetly and look as if …
retire,vi,move back; move away; seek shelter
retire to private life隐居
retire to one’s own room退到自己的房间
retire before enemy 由敌前撤退
● …,however,happened to be so well illustrated …
illustrate,v,to add picture to sth,written 加上插图 /图解
In the text,it means" make the meaning of sth,clearer by giving related
examples.(举例说明；例证 )”
illustration,n.插图，例证
● run up (bills/debts/account/overdraft)等连用,to make /become greater or larger
(使变大，使增大 )
● indulge,yield to,gratify (满足，迁就 )
be indulged in, 沉溺于（不好 /有害的事情）
indulgent,a.
● beckon,signal or summon as by nodding or waving 向 … 示意
beckon to sb,// Beckon sb,to do sth.
● tell sb,off,rebuke severely; reprimand (严厉指责，谴责 )
Telling-off,n.
● Apart from running up a huge account,…
apart from,except for; as well as; in addition to; besides
e.g,This is a good composition,apart from a few misspelling.
Note:
except for:若介宾与其前面所提到的总体不属于同类事物，表“不包括，除 … 之外，”
反之，我们用,except”表“除 … 外还有”
run up,increase,add to the amount of,grow quickly in amount
e.g,She is a well-dressed woman and used to run up a big bill at store department.
At the end of each month,my brother always finds that he has
run up a huge account at college.
●,I put it there in case anyone was tempted to buy it,” he said.
In case—If it should happen that (someone might be…)
e.g,I left a message to my husband in case he would worry about me.
He closed the windows in case his younger sister caught a bad cold.
Discussion
1,Are Second-hand Bookshops Worth
Visiting?
2,Are you satisfied with the service in
local bookshops?
W r i t e an
argument entitled
by On Borrowing
B o o k s, Yo u’ d
better imitate Text I
On Buying Books.
You are asked to
write at least 150-
500 words within
one hour,Logic
thought and fluent
expression should
be c ons i d er e d.
Homework
郧阳师专英语系综合英语教研室
TextⅠ On Buying Books
The old saying,“To open a book is always
helpful.”clearly shows us how good it is to
read a book,Reading is a good thing,but we
must pay great attention t the choice of
books,It’s true that we can derive benefits
from good books,As a matter of fact,books
are always enclosed with profits,showing
you the great wisdom of human,L.M Alcott --
-That is a good book which is opened with
expectatio n a nd close d wit h profits.
Useful Information
Advantage of reading books.
The future is a mystery and books help us build
our own future,Your fate may be changed by
books.“Knowledge changes fate.”Books teach
us to learn life,truth,science and many other
useful things,They increase our knowledge,
broaden our minds and strengthen our character,
enlarge our experience and do many other
things that we can’t do without them,In other
words,books are our good teachers and wise
friends,This is the reason why our parents
always encourage us to read more books.
Proverbs about books
★ A book that remains shut is but a block.
藏书不读如藏木。
★ Books,like friends,should be few and well chosen.
读书如择友，宜少而精。
★ Books are the ever-burning lamps of accumulated wisdom.
(--- G.W,Gurtis)
书籍乃储积智慧之不灭明灯。 (---葛迪斯 )
★ A good book is a best friend who never turns his back upon
us.
好书如挚友，永远不相负。
★ Only two classes of books are of universal appeal,The very
best and the very worst.(----F.M.Ford)
只有两类书有广泛的吸引力：真正的最好的和最坏的。
★ Some books are to be tasted,others to be swallowed and
some few to be chewed and digested.(---F.Bacon)
书有可浅尝者，有可吞食者，少数则须咀嚼消化。
★ Life being very short,and the quiet hours of it few; we ought
to waste none of them in reading valueless books.(---John
Ruskin)
生命是短暂的，而其中寂静的时光更少，我们不应花其中的
宝贵时间去读无价值的书。
Type of the Text
Argumentation essay tries to make the reader
agree with its point of view and support it,to persuade
him to change his mind or behaviors,and to approve
a policy or a course of action that it proposes,The
purpose of argumentation is to convince and
persuade,
Argumentation frequently makes use of the other
three types of writing—description,narration,and
above all exposition.
Key features of argumentative writings,A good and
effective argument has the following basic features:
1) It clearly defines the issue and has a clear
position.
2) The argument is well reasoned and well
developed.
3) It has an appropriate tone and credible persona.
On Buying Books is a short,simple and
straightforward piece of persuasive writing,
Writing Style
On Buying Books is a piece of argumentation,
The style is informal and it suggests everyday
talk.
Generic you is used a great deal to show the
informal tone,The writer addresses the
reader directly and does not miss the
opportunity to give the reader his personal
advice.
The first person pronoun is used to express
the writer’s personal opinion and to make
his subjective assertions.
A subjective point of view is adopted,The
passage is written from the point of view of
the book-lover who has a limited purse with
unlimited interests rather than the
bookseller who,of course,wishes to sell as
many books in as short a time as possible.
Questions
1.Do you visit
bookshop often?
What kinds of
books attract you
most?
2.What is usually
your purpose of
visiting a bookshop,
to buy books or just
to browse among
books?
3.Which do you
prefer to visit,a
bookshop with open
shelves or one with
closed shelves?
4.How much help do
you want to get from
a bookshop assistant?
Structure of the Text
The theme or the subject
(Namely,it is how time spent in a
bookshop can be most enjoyable.)
is directly established at the
beginning of the passage to draw
the reader into the essay, The
whole passage can be divided into
four parts,Topic sentence in each
paragraph is the first sentence,
The main idea of each paragraph is
the following.
Para.1—describing how easy it is to
become absorbed in even an unplanned
visit to a bookshop.
Para.2---giving reasons for such absorption
and suggesting how the assistants should
behave.
Para.3---warning against the dangers of
buying on impulse---that is,an unplanned
purchase of something that has just
happened to catch your eye.
Para.4---telling an anecdote that illustrates
how a perfect bookseller should behave.
Language Points
● …just to find shelter from a sudden shower.
shelter,1)[u]n,cover and protection 掩蔽
find /take shelter from 避难，躲避
give shelter to 庇护
be a shelter from 成为躲避 … 的处所
lend the shelter of one’s name and position to sb.
利用自己的名誉地位庇护某人
under the shelter of 在 … 的庇护下
[c]n.掩蔽，蔽身避处
an air-raid shelter a bus shelter
● Whatever the reason,you can soon become totally unaware of your…
Whatever:1) to introduce an adverbial clause of concession,followed by a
verb which omitted,be”.
e.g,The debt should be paid,whatever the cost.
2) pron,to introduce a nominal clause which is equal to,anything that…”
e.g,The cat eats whatever people give or offer.
3) adj,any,all of
e.g,I make use of whatever ways my friends thought about to the problem.
4) Used in negative sentences or in interrogative sentences.
n.+whatever, 丝毫的，根本的
● You soon become engrossed in some book or other,…
Be (completely/thoroughly/totally) engrossed in,be absorbed in,be taken
up (全神贯注于，热心于 )
● …and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointment
1)appointment,keep an appointment 守约
break/lose an appointment 失约
make an appointment with 与人约会 /定
cancel an appointment 取消约会
have an appointment 有约会
by appointment 依照约会
fix/fulfill an appointment 践约 /守约
2) the past participle,used as fronting attributive of the nouns
A..表示已完成的被动动作或已完成的主动动作。
e.g,cheated kid 受骗的小孩 escaped workers逃工
B.不表示动作完成与否，而只是表示被动。
e.g,guided missile导弹 so-called achievements所谓的成就
● You can wander round such places to your heart’s content.
To one’s heart’s content,as much as one likes 尽情地
e.g,He dare not play to his heart’s content for fear that he would fail his
final exam.
● —ing participle:往往表被修饰词所发出的动作，即分词动作的逻辑主语是它 所修
饰的词。
Verbal noun:所修饰词不能充当其逻辑主语，只说明名词的特性、功能。
e.g,a sleeping (-ing participle) girl,a girl who is sleeping
a sleeping (verbal noun) bag,a bag for sleeping.
● …, the assistant should retire discreetly and look as if …
retire,vi,move back; move away; seek shelter
retire to private life隐居
retire to one’s own room退到自己的房间
retire before enemy 由敌前撤退
● …,however,happened to be so well illustrated …
illustrate,v,to add picture to sth,written 加上插图 /图解
In the text,it means" make the meaning of sth,clearer by giving related
examples.(举例说明；例证 )”
illustration,n.插图，例证
● run up (bills/debts/account/overdraft)等连用,to make /become greater or larger
(使变大，使增大 )
● indulge,yield to,gratify (满足，迁就 )
be indulged in, 沉溺于（不好 /有害的事情）
indulgent,a.
● beckon,signal or summon as by nodding or waving 向 … 示意
beckon to sb,// Beckon sb,to do sth.
● tell sb,off,rebuke severely; reprimand (严厉指责，谴责 )
Telling-off,n.
● Apart from running up a huge account,…
apart from,except for; as well as; in addition to; besides
e.g,This is a good composition,apart from a few misspelling.
Note:
except for:若介宾与其前面所提到的总体不属于同类事物，表“不包括，除 … 之外，”
反之，我们用,except”表“除 … 外还有”
run up,increase,add to the amount of,grow quickly in amount
e.g,She is a well-dressed woman and used to run up a big bill at store department.
At the end of each month,my brother always finds that he has
run up a huge account at college.
●,I put it there in case anyone was tempted to buy it,” he said.
In case—If it should happen that (someone might be…)
e.g,I left a message to my husband in case he would worry about me.
He closed the windows in case his younger sister caught a bad cold.
Discussion
1,Are Second-hand Bookshops Worth
Visiting?
2,Are you satisfied with the service in
local bookshops?
W r i t e an
argument entitled
by On Borrowing
B o o k s, Yo u’ d
better imitate Text I
On Buying Books.
You are asked to
write at least 150-
500 words within
one hour,Logic
thought and fluent
expression should
be c ons i d er e d.
Homework
