Unit 4

A View of Mountains

Unit 4

Part Ⅰ Pre-reading activities

Part Ⅱ Text A

Part Ⅲ Text B

Part Ⅳ Post-reading activities

Pre-reading activities

The atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima City on August 6, 1945.

The city of Hiroshima was reduced to sheets. The then Hiroshima Prefectural Building for Promotion of Industry has been preserved as the "Atomic Bombed Dome".

About 70,000 people were killed by the intensive blast and radiation of the plutonium bomb which exploded over Nagasaki City, August 9, 1945.

A person who sat on the step evaporated, only leaving the shadow.

Japanese kid after the Bomb                                                   (Nagasaki  -Japan -1945)

The thermic rays. The imprint of clothes upon the skin.

Two brothers were looking about for their parents. The face of the younger boy was stained with shriveled blood

(Nagasaki - Japan - 1945)

A burnt Japanese woman. (Nagasaki - Japan - 1945)  

Statue at the Peace Park, Nagasaki-

City

Text Ⅰ A View of Mountains

Pre-reading questions: 1. What do you think is the greatest threat to

the existence of mankind? 2. Why are we so concerned about nuclear

weapons?

Structure

In the text author talks about two things: what we see in Yamahata’s pictures of the Nagasaki destroyed half a century ago, and what we should do about the nuclear peril existing today?

There are two sentences from the text which can make most clear the author’s opinion about the two things mentioned above:

1. at the end of the first paragraph 2.in the middle of the last paragraph “performing th

at… the generations now alive.”

Structure

The argumentative essay comprised three parts.

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ Part (Para 4)Ⅲ

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ The writer puts forward his thesis: a view of

mountains in the background suggests the real extent to which the city was destroyed by the atomic bombing.

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ The author argues that the bombing of Nagasaki is

more representative of the nuclear peril threatening the world than that of Hiroshima and that we need to take actions to dispel nuclear threat from the Earth.

Part (Para 4) He restates his main idea, we Ⅲshould not just worry about the nuclear peril but take actions to eliminate it to create a sager world.

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

In paragraph 1 the writer describes what Yamahata’s pictures display: the effects of a nuclear weapon on human beings. And then he presents the main point of his argument: the true measure lies not in the wreckage but in the gone city, and this is where the significance of a view of mountains in the background of one of the pictures lies.

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

dispatch: vt. send off to a destination 分派，派遣

e.g. Parcels of food were dispatched to him by American friends.

Chinese government was preparing to dispatch 4000 liberation army men to Hong Kong.

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

“ The hundred or so pictures he took the next day constitute the fullest photographic record of nuclear destruction in existence.”

or so: about constitute: vt. compose, form e.g. Nitrogen ( 氮 )constitutes 78% of the earth’s

atmosphere In existence 存在，现有 e.g. The elephant is the largest land animal in exi

stence.

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

Chinese version: 第二天他拍摄了上百张照片，这些现存的照片，最全面地记录了原子弹的摧毁力。

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

“it was therefore left to Yamahata to record, methodically--- and, as it happens, with a great and simple artistry– the effects…”

The responsibility was therefore placed on Yamaha’s shoulders to record the effects systematically and timely with a great and simple artistry.

methodically ： adv. systematically 有系统地，有方法地

artistry: the creative skill of an artist, writer, actor or musician 艺术之性质

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

Chinese version 因此，重任就落在雅玛哈塔身上，他要系统

地用艺术家杰出的简单的技法来记录和武器使用几小时后对人类的伤害。

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

char: v. make or become black by burning烧焦 e.g. Halve the peppers and char the skins under a hot grill.

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ They have been burned by light – technically speaking, by t

he “thermal pulse”- and their bodies are often branded with the patterns of their clothes, whose colors absorb light in different degrees.

Technically speaking: 从技术角度来说 thermal means relating to or caused by heat or by change

s in temperature. adj. 热的 , 热量的 thermal pulse ：热脉 brand: v. label or mark with or as if with a brandv. 打火印 烙印 e.g. they branded the cattle one by one. The US administration recently branded him as a war crimi

nal.

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

whole sentence: Technically speaking, they have been burned by t

hermal pulse. And because the different colors of the patterns of their clothes absorb light in different degrees, their bodies are marked with the patterns of their clothes.

从技术上来说 --- 热脉冲烧着的，因为衣服的颜色不同，吸收光的程度不同，致使身体上烙着不同的衣服的图案。

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

1. A heap of things is a pile of them, especially a pile arranged in a rather untidy way. 堆

...a heap of bricks... 2. Heaps of something or a heap of something is

a large quantity of it. (INFORMAL) 大量 You have heaps of time... I got in a heap of trouble.

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

hang over v. 挂在 ... 上 , ledge: a narrow horizontal surface projecting

from a wall etc. 壁架：一种水平的凸出物，在墙上形成一个狭窄的搁板

ditch n. 沟 , 沟渠 , 壕沟

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

“ A third shows a girl who has somehow survived unwounded standing in the open mouth of a bomb shelter and smiling an unearthly smile, shocking us with the sight of ordinary life, which otherwise seems to have been left behind for good in the scenes we are witnessing.”

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

somehow: adv. In a way not specified, understood, or known , 以某种方式；以某种不特定，不理解或不知道的方式

bomb shelter : 防空洞 unearthly: adj. frightening, ghostly, mysterious, su

pernatural, 非尘世的，神秘的 , 怪异的 e.g. The unearthly screams from the building wok

e up the people for good: permanently, finally 永久地 e.g. He says that he’s leaving the country for go

od. witness: see, hear, or know by personal presence

and perception

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

Whole sentence: The third photo is a girl who does not die and does not get hurt. How she survived we do not know. She stands in the open mouth of a bomb shelter and she smiles queerly. Her smile shocks us and reminds us of a peaceful and ordinary life in the place here she stands if without such an atomic bomb.

第三张照片是一个女孩，不知怎的幸存下来，没有受伤，站在防空洞入口，露出怪异的微笑，让人感到震惊，如果没有投放原子弹，在我们看到可怕场景的地方，人们能过着幸福的生活。

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

“stretching into the distance on all sides are fields of rubble dotted with fires , and, in the back ground , a view of mountains. ”

dot: cover or sprinkle with or as if with dots. 点缀用或似用点布满。

E.g. We have offices dotted all over the region. 这个地区到处都是办公室。

Part (Para 1)Ⅰ

“That absence , even more than wreckage, contains the heart of the matter.”that vanished city rather than its remains represents the true measure of the event.

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ

in this part, the writer first claims that the bombing of Nagasaki is the fitter symbol of the nuclear danger menacing the world; then he argues that we should not just apprehend the nuclear peril but try to dispel it from the earth. For this purpose, he maintains that picture taking is not enough and action is called for.

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ Why is the meaning of Yamahata’s pictures

universal? (from fifth line in Para 2 ) Because they express an apprehension of t

he nuclear peril that hangs over us. What happened to Nagasaki could happen to any other city in the world.

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ In a flash: instantly, at once e.g. Her hair turned into white in a flash bec

ause of worry. “in the photographs, Nagasaki comes into its

own” In the photographs, Nagasaki regains its ow

n status. 在照片中，长崎恢复了它本来的地位。

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ “Nagasaki has always been in the shadow of

Hiroshima, as if the human imagination had stumbled to exhaustion in the wreckage of the first ruined city without reaching even the outskirts of the second.”

Nagasaki is less known than Hiroshima, as if the human imagination had been exhausted and stopped at the wreckage of the first ruined city and failed to reach even the outskirts of Nagasaki.

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ in the shadow of : 在…… 阴影下 e.g. They have lived in the shadow of war f

or about 20 years. stumble: walk or go unsteadily exhaustion: n. the state of being exhausted;

extreme fatigue

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ “yet the bombing of Nagasaki is in certain respects

the fitter symbol of the nuclear danger that still hangs over us. ”

In certain respective, the bombing of Nagasaki properly represents the nuclear danger that threatens us.

In certain respects: with regard to some aspects. 在某些方面

hang over: threaten, menace e.g. An economic crisis was hanging over the capi

talist world. With the court case hanging over us, we could

n’t enjoy our vocation.

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ Do you agree with the author when he says

the bombing of Nagasaki is the fitter symbol of the nuclear peril? Why or why not?

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ “The predictable, open-ended character of the seri

es is suggested by the fact that the second bomb originally was to be dropped on the city of Kokura, which was spared Nagasaki’s fate only because bad weather protected it from view.”

The second bomb was originally planned to be dropped on Kokura instead of Ngasaki. But because of its bad weather which made the city out of sight from the sky, American authority changed their plan to drop the bomb on Nagasaki, which indicated the unpredictability and open-ended character of the nuclear war.

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ unpredictable: adj. difficult to foretell or fores

ee open-ended: adj. Not restrained by definite l

imits, restrictions, or structure; allowing for or adaptable to change 无限制的，没有明确限度、规或框架限制的，可以随意更改的。

e.g. Film-makers like open-ended scenario because they provide possibility to produce sequels .

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ spare: v. refrain from harming, punishing or

killing 饶恕，赦免，不伤害 e.g. It will spare him embarrassment if you

speak to him about it in private. Spare us the suspense and tell us who won

the first prize.

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ not so much A as B: 与其说 A 不如说 B e.g. He is not so much a film star as an artis

t. In tact: entire, unimpaired 完整无缺的，尚

未被人碰过的。 e.g. He lived on the interest and kept his ca

pital intact. Despite his misfortunes, his faith and optimi

sm remained intact.

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ “Yamahata’s picture afford a glimpse of the

end of the world” Yamahata’s pictures show us a part of the e

nd of the world. 雅玛哈塔的照片展示了世界末日的一隅。

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ “Yet in our day, when the challenge is not

just to apprehend the nuclear peril but to seize a God-given opportunity to dispel it once and for all, we seem to need, in addition, some other picture to counterpoise against ruined Nagasaki ”

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ apprehend: v. expect with anxiety, suspicion, or de

ar 忧虑，恐惧 e.g. Do you apprehend any difficulty? apprehend a hot summer peril: n. serious or immediate danger I never felt that my life was in peril. dispel: cause to vanish 驱散，驱逐，使消散。 e.g. I’d like to start the speech by dispelling a few

rumors that have been spreading recently.

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ once and for all: now and for the last or only

time 这是最后一次或唯一的一次，只此一次，绝不在重复，断然。

E.g. Stop calling me once and for all.

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ The whole sentence: But one day, when the challenge is not just to exp

ect that there is possible danger from nuclear but to seize a God-given opportunity to drive the danger away now and for the last time, we seem to need some other picture apart from the pictures of Nagasaki to inspire in us a hope of life to counterbalance the sense of doom suggested by the ruined Nagasaki.

但是今日，挑战不在于知道和武器的危险，而在于抓住上帝赋予的机会永远消除核武器的威胁，而且，我们需要更多的照片激起我们对生活的希望，来抗衡毁灭的长崎所带给我们世界末日的感觉。

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ Continuation: n. the act or an instance of co

ntinuing; the process of being continued. n.继续

Part (Para 2-3)Ⅱ What should we do in addition to

apprehending the nuclear peril? What do we need to meet the more

important challenge of eliminating nuclear weaponry?

Part Para 4 Ⅲ

In this part the writer calls on us to take the responsibility of creating a safer world for new generations.

Part Para 4Ⅲ “Now, they can come into existence only if, throug

h an act of faith and collective will, we ensure their right to exist.”

Now, they can exist only if, through an act of faith and collective will, we guarantee a safe living environment for them.

现在，只有通过信任和集体意志我们才能保证他们存在的权利，他们才可以存在。

ensure: make sth certain to happen E.g. The role of the police is to ensure that the la

w is obeyed.

Part Para 4Ⅲ What should we do to ensure a safer world

for the future generations?

Text B Questions for discussion ； 1. Why is the world situation uncertain and unpredi

ctable? 2. How many points does the speaker maintain for

nuclear disarmament? Repeat two or three of these points.

3. What does the speaker talk about in Paragraphs 22-25?

4. Why is the multilateral approach necessary to nuclear disarmament?

Text B

1. It is uncertain and unpredictable because military confrontation caused by disputes over territory, recourses, religion and interest continues and non-traditional security threats characterized by terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction have become more salient.

Text B

2. The speaker proposed nine measures for nuclear disarmament. Refer to Paragraphs 9-17.

3. In paragraphs 22-25, the speaker talks about the concrete and practical measures taken by China in recent years to build up confidence between China and its neighboring countries.

Text B

4. The multilateral approach is necessary because more than one country possess nuclear weapons and these weapons cannot be reduced and destroyed without willing cooperation between the nuclear sates, especially the nuclear powers like the United States.

Post-reading activities

Translation 1. 他们的牛都打上了字母 C 的烙印。 （ be brande

d with） Their cattle were branded with the letter C. 2. 本赛季 Brooks真正发挥了一个得分手（ goal sc

orer）的作用。 （ come into one’s own） In this season Brooks has really come into his own

as a goal scorer.

Post-reading activities

3. 一场经济危机正在威胁着那个国家。（ hang over）

An economic crisis is hanging over that country.

4. 他是真正发号施令的人物，但他总是躲在幕后。（ in the background）

He is the man who really gives the order, but he always remains in the background.

Post-reading activities

5. 派出信使后，我们所能做的就只有等待了。 （ dispatch）

After dispatching the messenger, what is left for us to do is nothing but to wait.

6. 你只要一叫，他马上就到。（ in a flash）

You just have to call and he’s here in a flash.

Post-reading activities

7. 他们在战争的阴霾下整整生活了 17年。 （ in the shadow of ）

They have lived in the shadow of war for totally seventeen years.

8. 这些是现存的最后 7头东北虎，如果人类不加以保护的话，这一种群的老虎将濒临灭亡。 （ in existence）

These are the last seven Northeast Tigers in existence. If human beings failed to protect them, the tigers of this species would face extinction.

Post-reading activities

Oral activities Suppose a certain country is believed to

posses weapons of mass destruction. Do you think another country can make a war on that country and overthrow its government without the authorization of the United Nations?

Post-reading activities

Writing Practice In the world today danger does not only come

from nuclear threat but also from chemical and biological weapons. Write a 250-word composition on what measures should be taken to dispel all these perils from the earth. In the first part, make a general statement about the danger in which the whole world lives. In the second part. Talk about what has been done to stop the danger from spreading. And in the last part, say something about what else we can do to remove the danger altogether.