复旦大学出版社生英语Unit详解.pptVIP

Background Knowledge William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was a famous English novelist, short-story writher, playwright and critic. He was born in Paris and educated at King’s School, Canterbury, and at Heidelberg. He qualified in 1897 as a doctor from St. Thomas’ medical school but abandoned medicine after the success of his first novels and plays. His players are no longer popular, and his fame rests on his many short stories and four of his novels: Of Human Bondage(1915),The Moon and Sixpence(1919), Cakes and Ale(1930) and The Razor’s Edge(1944). These reveal a cynical but sometimes compassionate view of humanity. Main Idea of the Text In this short story, Somerset Maugham, by describing two brothers attitudes toward life, examines the nature and inconsistent qualities of human beings. George was a hard-working and respectable man with a decent job as a lawyer. He was also a faithful husband and loving father to four daughters. He believed that the industry should be rewarded and giddiness punished. His brother Tom, however, was an unscrupulous and good-for-nothing scoundrel. He philandered with the prettiest girls, danced, ate in the most expensive restaurants, and dressed beautifully. He borrowed money from relatives and friends. At the beginning, he fooled George by making empty promises repeatedly. Later on he even went to such an extreme that he blackmailed his brother. Loading money to his brother, George appeared to be in Toms favor at the first sight. On a second thought, readers can find that George helped his brother only for his own sake. For instance, he gave Tom some money in order that Tom might quit his job as a bartender. By doing so, he saved his face and the good reputation of his family. But unfortunately Tom took advantage of his weakness of vanity over and over again. The story offers a new interpretation of the fable of La Fontaine The Ant and the Grasshopper whose class