大学综合英语教程第2册unit 4(何兆熊).doc

Unit 4 Cultural Encounters Section Two Global Reading I. Text analysis Which sentence is the thesis statement? The last sentence of the 3rd paragraph: “Most fundamental is the profound relationship between language and culture that lies at the heart of society and one that we overlook at our peril.” Compromising, in the author’s view, is a key notion in translation and thus also in intercultural communication. Numerous examples are used to explain this notion. Try to find these examples. Paragraph 4: The lack of an exact counterpart of the English word “homesickness” in other languages such as Italian, Portuguese, and German. Paragraph 5: The problem of untranslatability which the early Bible translators encountered. Paragraph 6: English and Welsh speakers make adjustments regarding the color spectrum in the grey / green / blue / brown range; the flat breads of Central Asia are a long way away from Mother’s Pride white sliced toasties, yet the word “bread” has to serve for both. II Structural analysis What type of writing is this essay? And what’s the main strategy the author adopt to develop the body of the essay? It is a piece of argumentation. Abundant examples are provided to support her argument in the body of the essay. Divide the text into parts by completing the table. Paragraphs Main ideas 1-3 It describes the communications revolution taking place worldwide and the widespread use of the English language, and then points out that there are indeed problems with the communications revolution. 4-7 It exemplifies that language and culture are so closely interrelated that often we find that what we can say in one language cannot be conveyed at all in another, and that confronted with insurmountable linguistic problems, translators negotiate the boundaries between languages and come up with a compromise. 8 It briefly points out the immense significance of intercultural understanding. Section Three Detailed Reading Text I Cultural Encounters Susan Bass