知识点1

---

教师讲解：

1. "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."

2. Two hundred and twenty-one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars, statesmen and patriots who had traveled across the ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.

Q1: What do paragraphs 1-6 tell?

A1: They are on the task Obama aims to fulfill once elected the president of America.

Q2: What do paragraphs 1-2 mainly talk about?

A2: They are on the the objective upon which the constitution was formulated.

Q3: How do you paraphrase the following knowledge points?

1. A More Perfect Union"(Title)

The title is taken from the preamble to the Constitution of the United States. The preamble runs like this: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

When the founding fathers wrote "to form a more perfect union” they meant the U.S. established on the Constitution would be a better state than those in the Old World (Europe). They were following the call of building "a City on the Hill “But when Barack Obama used the phrase, the implication was that the current union was far from being perfect and it was the task of the American people to make it more perfect, to realize the goal set out in the Constitution.

2."We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."(Para.1)

Obama began the speech with a quote from the Constitution for two purposes.

One is to show where the title came from. The other is to appeal to the audience because, according to American political scientists, the American people worship the Constitution, regarding it as a sacred document like the Bible.

3. Two hundred and twenty-one years ago.. improbable experiment in democracy.

(Para.2) In 1787, in a hall opposite this meeting place on the other side of the street,55 men gathered and worked out, after much debate and deliberation, the Constitution.

1) improbable: not likely to happen

2) This sentence is modeled on the beginning of the "Gettysburg address” by Abraham Lincoln. The address began with "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

3) In American history and American government, many scholars hold that the writing and implementation of the Constitution is an experiment because it was the first written document initiating the beginning of the end of the concept of the divine right of kings. At that time the U.S. was small and weak. No one could be sure if it would survive or the experiment could succeed.

4. Farmers and scholars... that lasted through the spring of 1787. (Para.2)

1) traveled across the ocean: referring to the early settlers, the Puritans who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean

2) made real their declaration of independence: turned the concepts embodied in the Declaration of Independence into articles in the Constitution

3) that lasted through the spring of 1787: The Constitutional Convention met in the Philadelphia State House from May 25 to September 17,1787; the Convention was attended by 55 delegates from 12 states. (Rhode Island declined to send delegates to the convention.)

Para. 3

3 The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.

Q1: What does this paragraph tell?

A1: It is on the imperfection of the constitution.

Q2: How do you paraphrase the following knowledge points?

1. The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished.

(Para.3)

1) After much, sometimes heated, debate, the Constitution was finally adopted by the convention. Of the 55 delegates, only 39 signed. The convention provided that the new Constitution would go into effect when ratifying conventions nine of the thirteen states had approved it. In discussion, one issue that arose was the apportioning of seats in the House of Representatives according to population.

The Southern States wanted slaves to be included in the population total when allotting Congressional seats but left out in determining liability for direct taxation. The Northern States wanted slaves excluded from representation, since they were neither citizens nor voters, but included for tax purposes since they were a species of property. The result was a compromise, the "three-fifths" clause, whereby a slave was counted as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of both representation and direct taxation.

2) eventual: happening at the end of, or as a result of a series of events

3) ultimate: by which a process or series comes to an end

4) When Obama said the document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished he meant the Constitution was finally adopted by the convention and in June 1788 New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution and later that year Virginia and New York also ratified the Constitution and it went into effect. But since the problem of slavery was not solved, the process did not end until the Civil War and the enactment of Constitutional Amendments 14 (1868) and 15 (1870).

2. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery… to future generations.

(Para.3)

1) stain: to spoil the appearance by patches or streaks of color or dirt; to bring shame upon (someone's character, reputation, etc.); to disgrace; to dishonor

2) original sin: According to the Bible, the sin of having eaten the forbidden fruit committed by Adam and Eve is traditionally viewed as transmitted in its essential guilt and consequent penalties from Adam as head of the human race to all unredeemed humanity，原罪.

3）During the War of Independence，the British announced that freedom would be given to those slaves who fought for the Crown，and during the war about

100，000 slaves left their masters and went over to the British side. Seventeen of the slaves owned by George Washington also deserted him and fled to the British side.

So the slave issue was a serious issue at the Constitutional Convention.

Paras. 4－6

4 Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution-a Constitution that had at its very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

5 And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage，or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part-through protests and struggles，on the streets and in the courts，through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk-to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

6 This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this presidential campaign-to continue the long march of those who came before us，a march for a more just，more equal，more free，more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the President at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together-unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories，but we hold common hopes；that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place，but we all want to move in the same direction-towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren.

Q1: What can be known from these paragraphs?

A1: They are on the goal Obama aims to pursue once elected

Q2: What do you understand the following knowledge points?

1. Of course，the answer to the slavery question...that could be and should be perfected over time.（Para.4）

1）embed: Originally it means to set（flowers，etc.）in earth；here it means to fix firmly in the mind，memory，etc. To be embedded within our Constitution means to be set or included in the Constitution.

2）It may be correct to say the ideal of liberty and justice in the Constitution makes it possible for the resolution of the slave issue，but the Constitution itself does not provide any solution. Otherwise it would not take a Civil War，a very destructive war，to put an end to a slavery system. And there would be no necessity for Constitutional Amendments 14 and 15 and Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

3）Note the parallel structure of “a Constitution that….""a Constitution that..."“a union that…" for emphasis.

Also note the use of modal auxiliaries: "could" and" should." "Could” indicates possibility and "should” denotes obligation or desirability.

2. And yet words on a parchment.as citizens of the United States. （Para.5）

And yet the Constitution or any law is not enough to set the slaves free or to give people of different origins or beliefs in the United States equal rights. Obama is referring to the fact that the black slaves were not legally freed until after the Civil War and women did not have voting rights until 1921.

1) words on a parchment: referring to the Constitution which is the first written constitution in the world; the idea may come from the Dead Sea Scroll discovered between 1947 and 1956 which were considered to be written between 3rd century B.C. and 1st century A.D. Obama meant that any law or agreement or treaty, if it is not enforced, is of no value.

2) creed: any set of beliefs or principles

3) every color and creed: people of different ethnicities and beliefs, especially religious beliefs; color and creed: alliteration

3. What would be needed... and the reality of their time. (Para.5)

Only through struggles in different forms did generation after generation of Americans succeed in bringing the rights promised in the Constitution to people of different sex, color or belief.

1) who were willing to do their part: Not all Americans in different periods of American history would struggle for this goal, only some who had the awareness and determination would take part in the struggle. This is exemplified by the Civil Rights Movement and the feminist movement.

2) on the streets, in the courts, through a civil war: Note the use of different prepositions.

3) to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time: This is an important concept. Many Americans believe the founding fathers had worked out an ideal model and the current problems and drawbacks exist because Americans have not followed the guidance of the founding fathers.

All they need to do is to go back to the founding principles.

In” I Have a Dream” Martín Luther King, Ir. said,” In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men-yes, black men as well as white men-should be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

4. The function of the first five paragraphs of the speech They serve as a background leading to Obama's campaign in 2008. Obama starts with a quotation from the Constitution, bringing out the idea of "a more perfect union.” Then he moves on to describe the birth of the Constitution and points out that because of the compromise on the slavery issue, the process of perfecting the union did not stop there. In the course of history, generations of Americans have struggled hard to narrow the gap between promise and reality and to perfect the union. Then in Paragraph 6 he points out this is one of the tasks he set forth at the beginning of this campaign. A smooth transition is thus achieved.

5. This was one of the tasks… and more prosperous American. (Para.)

Obama, through such description of his intention to run for presidency, put himself on the moral high ground. His running was not out of personal interests, not out of desire for power but out of a wish to make America better and this is a continuation of a long march for a noble goal.

Note that the concepts of "a long march” and to “make America better" are often found in presidential rhetoric. In 1910, Theodore Roosevelt, in the presidential campaign, had this to say, "We came here today to commemorate one of the epoch-making events of the long struggle for the rights of man-the long struggle for the uplift of humanity."

6. I chose to run for the President... towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren. (Para.6)

1) at this moment in history: Obama meant that this was a critical moment in history because America was experiencing two wars (the Iraq War and the Afghan War) and an economic recession.

2) The parallel structure of "unless… unless” and the antithesis of "we may... but" and "we may not... but" are effective in bringing out the idea of unity.

3) Note the choice of words: Not "come from the same place" but "move in the same direction."

7. This was one of the tasks.… and more prosperous America. (Para.6)

This is the topic sentence of Paragraph 6. The theme of his whole speech is also embodied in Paragraph 6.