Unit 7 Making a Living Unit 7 Text

Unit 7 Making a Living Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 1

The Author Tom Hallman, Jr. , 45, has worked at The Oregonian for 19 years. He was born and raised in Portland. He graduated with a degree in journalism from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in beat reporting in 1995 and feature writing in 1999. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 2

He won the 1996 ASNE Distinguished Writing Award for non-deadline writing, and the 1996 feature writing award from the National Society of Professional Journalists, and the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 3

He won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for his series of articles in The Oregonian on Sam Lightner. A reporter for more than twenty-five years, Hallman has been at The Oregonian since 1980, and is currently a senior reporter specializing in features and narratives. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 4

n Tom Hallman's Pulitzer prize-winning series Sam: The Boy Behind the Mask The Boy behind the Mask tells the true, heartwrenching story of Sam Lightner. Born with a rare disfiguring growth that covers and distorts the left side of his face, skull, and neck--Sam is determined to live a normal life. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 5

For fourteen years, doctors refuse to operate on Sam, until an elite team of surgeons at Boston Children's Hospital undertake a risky thirteen-hour operation to remove the malformation. Sam nearly dies on the operating table, but survives, and returns home to begin his freshman year of high school. However, when doctors discover excess fluid around his brain, Sam slips into a coma, and is not Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 6

expected to live. As the family and doctors begin to give up, one doctor--pediatric neurosurgeon Monica Wehby--keeps believing, even as all hope seems lost. The only female in the boy's club of neurosurgery, Dr. Wehby is scorned for refusing to accept facts and for allowing her emotions--as a woman--to cloud her medical judgment. But she perseveres, staying by Sam's side, until he moves first a finger, then a foot, and finally, begins to interact with those around him. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 7

Thinking about n n Do you have any experiences of being a salesperson? Have you ever sold things to others or been persuaded to buy something? What are the qualities of being a good salesman? Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 8

What is the text about? Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 9

Text Structure n n Please scan the text to see if there is any natural division of parts in the text. Asterisks divide the text into 4 parts. Please read the first paragraph of each part, locate the time words or references to time. They are 5: 45, 7: 45, “This is the moment he’s been preparing for since 5: 45 a. m. ”, after 7 p. m. . Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 10

n Part 1 n n n Paras 1 -7 early morning Preparation for the day’s work Part 2 n n Paras 8 -25 mid-morning On his way to work Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 11

n Part 3 n n n Paras 26 -62 day Door-to-door selling Part 4 n n Paras 63 -84 Paper work evening Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 12

Language Study n n n n Linger (L 1): spend a long time doing sth. , esp. because one done not want to leave 磨蹭；留恋；徘徊 She had a sandwich before heading off to work and had no time to linger for a glimpse of the city’s scenery. 没有时间让你磨磨蹭蹭吃饭了，校车快来了。 There is no time for you to linger over your meal the school bus is coming. 这美好的印象将永远留在我的记忆中。 The fond impression will linger in my memory forever. [syn: tarry, dally] Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 13

Language Study n tarry: to delay or be late in going, coming, or doing; to wait; to remain or stay temporarily, as in a place n n tarry on the way tarry (for) sb’s reply tarry at an inn dally: to waste time n dally over one’s work Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 14

Language Study n twist (L 5): 扭曲；歪曲 n n n twist and turn 蜿蜒 n n 疼痛使他的脸都变了形。 His face was twisted with pain. 一些日本人极力歪曲他们肮脏的历史。 Some Japanese try to twist their dirty history. The road twisted and turned across the hills. twists and turns 弯弯曲曲处；曲折变化 n The twists and turns of his arguments made his speech very difficult to understand. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 15

Language Study n gain on sb/sth (L 14): chase to get in front of or near to sb/sth, esp. a rival or sth. unpursued 逼近，接近 n n The police are gaining on us! The Democratic candidate was gaining on his Republican rival in the election, but only defeated him at the last moment. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 16

Language Study n kick up (L 19): cause to rise扬起；激起 n n n The wind kicked up a cloud of dust. Stop kicking up a fuss. he is miserable enough. tilt (L 21): move into a sloping position n She sat listening, with her head tilted slightly to one side. 舆论已经偏向社会主义党。 Popular opinion has tilted in favor of the Socialist. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 17

Language Study n n lean(L 24): (1) v. bend; be in a sloping position n n Galileo dropped a small stone and a big stone from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to falsify Aristotle’s theory. (2) a. thin and healthy; small in amount or quality n n He has a lean athletic body. The shop is just making lean profits. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 18

Language Study n n n guarantee (L 58): (1) promise sth. with certainty 担保 雾天我们不能保证火车会准点到达。 We cannot guarantee the punctual arrival of the train in foggy weather. 大学生现在毕业不包分配。 College students are no longer guaranteed jobs upon graduation. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 19

Language Study n n n (2) undertake to pay the cost of repairs resulting from a fault 保修 The company guaranteed its clocks for six months. Compare: warrant 保证是真的；证明是正当的 This material is warranted to be pure silk. 美国干涉我国内政当然是没有道理的。 America’s interference with our internal affairs is certainly not warranted. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 20

Language Study n n n sell (on) sth (L 58): persuade eg. * Will they be able to sell their ideas to voters? * I’m completely sold on the idea; I think it’s a brilliant plan. * In the end she’s really sold on the idea of buying some soap. * Can you sell your boss your scheme? Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 21

Language Study n n n tail (L 106): 1) vt. follow secretly eg. * The car has been tailing me for the whole morning. 2) n. the person who follows eg. * They put a tail on the spy as he left the airport. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 22

Language Study solitary(L 131): done or existing alone; without companion n He felt himself more solitary than he had ever done in his life. Compare: alone, lonesome, lonely, desolate She lives on tea and cake when she is ______. alone Come over and see me, I’m feeling a bit lonesome/lonely/solitary ____________. The death of his wife left him completely desolate _____. n Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 23

Language Study n n straight (L 136): 1) consecutive: a straight-A student; a two- hour straight live concert n n 2) simple, with nothing-added eg. * The workers were given a straight choice between a pay cut and losing their jobs. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 24

Language Study n n n be laid up (with) (L 139): confined (as by illness) to bed; be bedridden eg. * The football player was laid up in bed with a twisted knee. * He was laid up with acute flu for weeks. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 25

Language Study n n n in time (L 157): Within an indefinite time; eventually eg. * In time they came to accept the harsh facts. * You will in time recover your health and strength. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 26

Language Study n unreadable (L 150): 1) (of handwriting) not easily deciphered; indecipherable [syn: indecipherable, illegible, unclear, undecipherable] 2) unsuitable for or not worth reading; dull: n unreadable prose; wholly unreadable statistics. n n n Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 27

n The text is a description of a typical day in the life of Bill Porter and also a portrayal of his whole life. To do so, the author skillfully inserts flashbacks of past events and experiences in at least two places. Could you find them? Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 28

n n Flashback 1 Paras 11 -20 n n n his disability, his schooling, and his hard struggle to make a living for himself Flashback 2 Paras 71 n his back surgery and the selling of his house Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 29

Text Analysis This article first appeared in a newspaper; therefore it carries many characteristics of journalistic writing. First of all, a journalist tries to be objective in reporting. As a result, third-person narrative is usually preferred over first-person narrative. Moreover, the journalist would not make any comments to reveal his/her feelings, but simply give the facts. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 30

Text Analysis-2 Secondly, an eye-catching beginning helps lure readers to linger more on the story out of an overwhelming number of stories offered by the day’s newspaper. For example, at the beginning of this story, we learn that it takes our physically deformed hero great efforts to get up so as to do something important, yet what is this something? We are kept in suspense until the fourth paragraph. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 31

Text Analysis-3 Thirdly, the vocabulary is simple, the sentences and paragraphs short, sometimes elliptical. When needs arise, a paragraph is as short as one sentence. Lastly, conversations can be transcribed word for word if they illustrate theme, like the one in the text between Bill Porter and his indecisive female customer. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 32

Assignment The text depicts a physically deformed salesperson who sustained himself on mere tough work. What are your reflections on this feature story? Write a journal entitled Purpose in Life. Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman 33