Group Discussion

1) What was the husband’s view on intermarriage between people of different races?

2) What reason did he give to support his point of view?

3) Do you think some cultures are superior to other cultures?

4) Do you agree that some languages are inferior to others?

5) If you fall in love with a foreigner, will you choose to marry him or her?

6) What problems might there be in mixed marriages?

7) Is it a personal preference or a racial bias when you refuse to marry a foreigner?

8) If you were the husband in the story, how would you handle the situation?

2. Debating

1) Racism is a very touchy subject. And while the World Wide Web is a great proponent for the ideals of free speech, it can also be a breeding ground harboring hatred. This is very serious as the number of hate sites that have sprung up in the recent years is shocking and also increasing at an alarming rate.

2) Tackling the problem of cultural inequality, however, does not by itself redress the problem of economic inequality. Racism is conditioned by economic imperatives, but negotiated through culture: religion, literature, art, science and the media.

Quiz

1. Quiz 1

Put the phrases into English.

1. 感觉被逼上绝路

2. 精力充沛地投入工作

3. 应该相信

4. 讨好， 奉承

5. 帮助

6. 匆忙得出结论

7. 最好做••••••

8. 正处于••••••

9. 快速（翻阅）

10.诉诸••••••

2. Quiz 2

1) The company has now introduced a policy ____ pay rises are related to performance at work. (96)

A. which B. where

C. whether D. what

2) The physicist has made a discovery, ____ of great importance to the progress of science and technology. (97)

A. I think which is B. that I think is

C. which I think is D. which I think it is

3) ____, he is ready to accept suggestions from different sources. (97)

A. Instead of his contributions

B. For all his notable contributions

C. His making notable contributions

D. However his notable contributions

4) The team can handle whatever ____. (97)

A. that needs handling

B. which needs handling

C. it needs handling

D. needs to be handled

5) Come and see me whenever ____. (97)

A. you are convenient

B. you will be convenient

C. it is convenient to you

D. it will be convenient to you

6) I was to have made a speech if ____.(97)

A. I was not called away

B. nobody would have called me away

C. I had not been called away

D. nobody called me away

7) She remembered several occasions in the past __ she had experienced a similar feeling. (98)

A. which B. before

C. that D. when

8) Language belongs to each member of the society, to the cleaner ____ to the professor. (98)

A. as far as

B. the same as

C. as much as

D. as long as

9) The Clarks haven’t decided yet which hotel ___. (98)

A. to stay

B. is to stay

C. to stay at

D. is for staying

10) After ____ seemed an endless wait, it was her turn toenter the personnel manager’s office. (99)

A. that B. there C. what D. it

11) Fat can’t change into muscle ____muscle changes into fat. (99)

A. any more than

B. no more than

C. no less than

D. much more than

12) It is not so much the language ____the cultural background that makes the book difficult to understand. (99)

A. but B. nor C. as D. like

3. Quiz 3

1) I find this type of work boringly ________. (repeat)

2) The findings of the survey are ____________ of the need for further research. (demonstrate)

3) You managed the project well, __________ your inexperience. (consider)

4) The economy was a __________ issue in the campaign. (consider)

5) It was very __________ of you to drink all the milk when you know I need some for the baby. (consider)

6) This sort of hot and spicy food is very _____ of the food in the south of the country. (type)

7) He had all the _____ symptoms of the disease, including loss of appetite and a high temperature. (class)

8) “_____ changes in public opinion often occur because of shifts in concerns and priorities.” (basis)

9) My parents are fairly ______ about me staying out late. (relax)

10) She is unlikely to give up her life-long _________ to feminist ideas. (attach)

Writing

1. Write a counter-argument to the husband’s statement that African Americans don’t come from the same culture as whites.

2. Write a scene that takes place the following day.

3. Analyze the husband in terms of whether or not he is a racist character.

Listening Lab

Tobias Wolff is perhaps best known by the American reading public for his memoir This Boy’s Life, which was later made into an ________ movie, but his literary reputation was first _________ on the merit of his short stories. He is still _______ known for these short stories, in which he ______ many characters’ voices and a wide range of emotions.

Since the early 1980s, Wolff has produced several _________ of short stories. These fictions focus on the important relationships and the moral choices in everyday people’s lives: men and women, husbands and wives, parents and children. As scholar Marilyn C. Wesley writes in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, Wolff writes about the basic needs of Everyman, written with a respect that Everyman _______.