【Native Speaker每日综合训练—37系列】【37-08】文史哲

枣糕兔

内容：枣糕兔  编辑：枣糕兔

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Part I: Speaker

Describing Duration

Kathryn: Are you still watching that movie? It’s been over three hours!

Martin: Yeah, it’s a little long for a feature film.

Kathryn: A little long?! It’s interminable. How can you continue to watch it?

Martin: Well, the first half was interesting and moved at a clip. The middle section did drag a little, but it’s picked up again. It’s nearly over.

Kathryn: I would’ve turned it off long before this. I like movies that are short and sweet. After about 90 minutes, my mind starts to wander, and after two hours, I check out.

Martin: It depends on the movie. Sometimes I watch a movie and it’s so engrossing that time zips by. With other movies, though, time moves at a snail’s pace. This movie is somewhere in between.

Kathryn: Hey, the credits are rolling. You missed the ending.

Martin: No big loss. I knew how it was going to end after the first hour.

Kathryn: Then why did you stick it out and watch the rest of the movie?

Martin: One word: procrastination.

Kathryn: Ah, enough said.

Source: ESL Podcast
http://www.eslpod.com/website/show_podcast.php?issue_id=15203049#


[Rephrase 1, 16’04]

枣糕兔

Part II: Speed

The cast of "Star Wars: Episode VII" unites well-known "Star Wars" names with some up-and-coming actors. At least one cast member, Daisy Ridley, is so new she has just a few acting credits to her name. You can see her in the back right of this cast photo, wearing a necklace and talking to "Star Wars" veteran Carrie Fisher.

How 'Star Wars' ruined sci-fi

Lewis Beale  |  May 5, 2014

[Time 2]
(CNN) -- Now that the cast of the seventh "Star Wars" movie has been announced, you can imagine the anticipation among the millions of fans of the film franchise. And why not? The six "Star Wars" films have been enormous successes: they have grossed over $2 billion domestically at the box office, spawned scores of books, comic books and merchandise (how many kids have their own light saber?) and made household names of characters like Darth Vader, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker.

They've also been the worst thing ever for the science fiction genre.

I say this as someone who has been a devoted sci-fi reader since childhood. I was so blown away by the first "Star Wars" film when I saw it in 1977, I went back two more times the same week to wallow in its space age fantasy. But here's the thing: George Lucas' creation, basically a blown-up Flash Gordon adventure with better special effects, has left all too many people thinking science fiction is some computer graphics-laden space opera/western filled with shootouts, territorial disputes, evil patriarchs and trusty mounts (like the Millennium Falcon).

"Star Wars" has corrupted people's notion of a literary genre full of ideas, turning it into a Saturday afternoon serial. And that's more than a shame -- it's an obscenity.

Science fiction is in fact one of the most creative literary genres around. The best of sci-fi is filled with meditations on what's "out there," what makes us human, how technology is used and how it is changing us. It takes up issues of race, sexuality and quite literally everything else under the sun. It is essentially about ideas, not action, and that's the problem, as far as Hollywood is concerned.

There are, for example, no light sabers, spaceships or Death Stars in the 1979 novel "Kindred," by Octavia Butler, who won the Hugo and Nebula, sci-fi's top awards, and was also awarded a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant.

Butler's main themes are race and sex, and in "Kindred" she wrote about a modern black woman who travels back in time to the antebellum South, where she is enslaved. The novel is regularly taught in classrooms and has made at least one list of "Great Books By Women."

But Hollywood has yet to adapt it for the screen. Maybe if the lead character had a Wookiee by her side...
[395 words]

[Time 3]
Many of the great works of sci-fi have not been made into films -- The Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov, Joe Haldeman's "The Forever War," William Gibson's "Neuromancer," among others -- partially because they are too smart, too dense and too thoughtful.

Sure, some classics have made the transition, but the track record is spotty: David Lynch's "Dune" was a disaster, for example, and the recent "Ender's Game" was a mixed bag that was not successful at the box office. Francois Truffaut's "Fahrenheit 451," although stylish and intellectual, was a bit too frigid for a mass audience.

Which means that Hollywood studios, not known for thinking outside the box, opt for the "Star Wars" template -- lots of whiz bang, plenty of quirky alien characters, CGI to the max, plenty of explosions and little thought of any kind.

To be sure, the first "Star Wars" was a breath of fresh air, a fun flick for sci-fi geeks. But the series quickly ossified, a victim of its own success. Only two of the films -- "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back" -- show any originality. The rest tread water, give the hardcore fans the same old, same old. I mean, how many light sabre duels can you sit through before you're bored out of your skull? How many outer space dogfights? How many seemingly profound Yoda-esque thoughts?

Me, I'm giving up on the whole thing. I don't care that J.J. Abrams, a director with talent, is helming the new flick. He's hemmed in by audience expectations -- like casting the stars of the original in this film -- and recycling stale material. I'll pass.

Instead, I'll queue up "The Matrix," and enjoy the most original sci-fi movie of the past 25 years. I recommend "Star Wars" fans do the same. They need to be reminded what real creativity is all about.
[311 words]

Source: CNN Opinion
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/02/opinion/beale-star-wars/index.html?hpt=op_bn7

Glenn McConnell, lieutenant governor of South Carolina.

Photo courtesy sc.gov

Is a Man Who Dresses Like a Confederate General Unfit to Be a College President?

Ry Rivard

This article originally appeared in Inside Higher Ed.

[Time 4]
Trustees at the College of Charleston are facing heat from faculty and students for picking South Carolina’s lieutenant governor as the college’s next president. In the process, critics say, the trustees brushed aside warnings that Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell’s promotion of Confederate history could damage Charleston’s reputation and turn away prospective students and donors.

In picking McConnell, the public liberal arts college’s trustees reportedly ignored the school’s own search committee, which did not recommend the politician—who has never worked in higher education—for president.

Backlash has been swift. Students rallied against McConnell’s selection Monday in the largest campus protest in recent memory. “This is 2014 NOT 1814,” one sign read. On Tuesday the student government voted no confidence in the college’s trustees.

McConnell’s critics paint him as a Confederate sympathizer. He used to own a shop that sold memorabilia of the South’s rebellion.

The Faculty Senate, which has been at odds with the trustees over more than just McConnell, is expected to take a no-confidence vote in April. The resolution the faculty will consider alleges trustees have “undermined confidence in the integrity of the search and its outcome, creating the impression among faculty that the search was predetermined.”

Faculty Senate Speaker Lynn Cherry said she imagines the resolution will pass. Faculty have been very vocal about the search process going awry.

“I know that concern still exists,” she said. “In some ways, it has been even more solidified among faculty.”

McConnell, who spent more than 30 years in the state Senate (including 11 as its leader before becoming lieutenant governor) is being eyed suspiciously for two reasons: his political connections and his association with Confederate history.

Faculty said the search process was a sham, given that McConnell emerged at the top of the heap despite reports the search committee didn’t choose him as a finalist.

His critics also paint him as a Confederate sympathizer. He used to own a shop that sold memorabilia of the South’s rebellion; he appears in a widely circulated picture dressed as a Confederate general; and he is a longtime supporter of flying the Confederate flag on the statehouse grounds. McConnell, whose office did not respond to a request for comment, has previously said his affiliation with Confederate regalia has to do with history and states’ rights. During re-enactments, for instance, he also plays Union soldiers.
[426 words]

[Time 5]
In a radio interview, McConnell responded to the controversy by saying, “In government, so many times people take advantage of disagreements to try pull people apart and get headlines.” McConnell's term would begin this summer.

But the NAACP and others are deeply critical. The NAACP said that McConnell’s hiring would discourage black students from attending the College of Charleston. The college has an excellent reputation as a public liberal arts college and has promoted diversity in recent years. But like many South Carolina institutions, it has a past that includes support for segregation. In the mid-20th century, the college bought up land in its neighborhood to keep blacks from living nearby.

Joe Kelly, an English professor who is co-director of the current college president’s diversity commission, said he wonders what signal McConnell’s affiliations send to prospective students.

“I’m worried about what is going on in the mind of that student when we see someone of the Confederate battle flag is now president,” Kelly said. “There are a lot of subtleties to how you commemorate the Old South, and a lot of those subtleties can be lost when you’re deciding what college you’re going to.”

If students are turned away, that could hamper both diversity efforts and mess with the college’s business model, which depends on money from out-of-state students who pay significantly higher tuition.

Faculty also find McConnell’s lack of higher education experience to be “major concern,” according to a research report the college released to press on its three presidential finalists. The same report said one student who turned in a survey about McConnell’s visit said the lieutenant governor “couldn’t cite one stat.” AGB Search helped the College of Charleston conduct the search. A spokesman for the firm did not respond to an email seeking comment. Faculty are criticizing the trustees for ignoring the firm’s best practices and have not pointed fingers at the firm.

Greg Padgett, the chairman of the Board of Trustees, said in a statement he’s confident the trustees chose the right person for the job.

“With three excellent finalists, it would be surprising if all of our campus and community constituencies could agree on who should be the top choice for the presidency,” he said. “Our job as the board was to make a choice between outstanding candidates, and I’m confident the board made a careful and thoughtful choice.”
[434 words]

[Time 6]
University of West Florida Provost Martha Saunders, one of the finalists for the job, told a local ABC News affiliate that she did not feel the board was partial to one candidate over another. Another finalist, Dennis Encarnation, a consultant and fellow at Harvard University, did not respond to a call and text message seeking comment.

Faculty discontent with the trustees is already running high. Some said the board did not do enough to stick up for academic freedom after the state’s House moved to dock the college’s allowance over freshman reading material that lawmakers found to be gay-themed and therefore offensive. The book, Fun Home, is a memoir by a lesbian; it has been widely acclaimed and was recently turned into a musical.

Faculty also worry the trustees are looking to merge the college with the Medical University of South Carolina, a public medical school just a few blocks away from the college in Charleston.

“This shotgun marriage to MUSC is a terrible idea,” said Jennifer Wright, a psychology professor and member of the Faculty Senate.

McConnell has said the college and medical school should work together in some way but has stopped short of backing a bill introduced by state lawmakers that would merge the two. He said he favored some sort of cooperation and cited the Claremont Colleges model.

The trustees weighed in Tuesday night, saying the board is “committed to forever preserving and protecting ‘College of Charleston’ as the undergraduate name of this institution,” but leaving open the possibility of collaboration.

There is concern that McConnell wants to shift the model in some way. In the radio interview, for instance, he said he wants to “make the liberal arts core relevant to the business needs and the community needs in this community.”

Cherry, the head of the Faculty Senate, said there is concern that a shift in the college’s focus and McConnell’s Confederate hobbies and affiliations could turn away out-of-state students and hurt the business model.

“Out-of-state students of course pay higher tuition, so if we lose a significant number of out-of-state students, that will affect the financial model,” she said.

In a letter McConnell wrote when he applied for the job, he said his connections could be a good thing for the college, where he was once student government president.

“I respectfully submit that the ability to build on that history and to ‘network’ those relationships would be an important asset to the future of the College of Charleston,” he wrote.
[438 words]

Source: Slate
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/inside_higher_ed/2014/03/lt_gov_glenn_mcconnell_is_the_confederate_hobbyist_the_right_person_to_be.html

枣糕兔

Part III: Obstacle

Chinese paramilitary police keep watch near the site of last week’s bombing in Urumqi. Photograph by Mitsuru Tamura/Yomiuri Shimbun/AP.

Those Who Frighten China

Jiayang Fan

[Paraphrase 7]
Almost a year after September 11th, I returned from high school in Massachusetts to spend two months in Beijing, as the guest of family friends. My hosts, retired office workers, were genial people, and generally incurious about my life in America; the only acknowledgement that I had spent many years abroad was an oblique apology for the absence of hamburgers on the dinner table. But they had less oblique questions about my brush with terrorism in America. Had I had seen the planes? I hadn’t. Did I still feel unsafe in public places? Did I now suspect that certain people I saw walking down the street might be terrorists? And wasn’t that the trouble with the U.S. these days—that it had become a country overrun with terrorists?

After the attack that took place last week in Urumqi, in the Chinese state of Xinjiang, it has become clear that terrorism is no longer a foreign phenomenon. At an outdoor vegetable market on Wednesday morning, two sport-utility vehicles loaded with explosives plowed through a crowd of shoppers, killing forty-three people and wounding more than ninety. Although no public claim of responsibility has been made, the five suspected assailants—four of whom were killed during the attack—have been named as members of a “Uighur terrorist gang,” according to police reports.

It was the deadliest massacre in recent memory, and the fourth in the past month—another sign of the increasingly volatile relations between Uighurs, the culturally distinct minority native to northwest China, and the Han majority, who constitute ninety-five per cent of the country’s population. Unlike many of the previous attacks, which took aim at state entities like police stations or security offices, the Urumqi bombing deliberately targeted civilians. If the assailants intended to maximize casualties, generate publicity, and radicalize Uighurs and Hans who had previously been ambivalent about this conflict, they succeeded spectacularly.

China’s state-run media has long condemned these killings as acts of terrorism—against the “country, society and humanity.” Foreign media outlets have been more wary of the word “terrorism,” sidestepping a term unavoidably freighted with political significance. In March, when the U.S. Embassy referred to a coördinated slaughter in a Kunming train station that left dozens dead as a “senseless act of violence,” thousands of indignant Chinese micro-bloggers accused Americans of applying a double standard. Some asked if we would ever refer to the fall of the Twin Towers as a “regrettable traffic incident,” or to the Boston Marathon bombing as a “fireworks and burning problem.”

Thirteen years ago, terrorism seemed almost exotic to the Chinese, entirely confined to a world outside their borders. Today, citizens are clamoring for recognition of its grave implications in their own nation. Yet the inherently political nature of the crime—particularly when it is framed as a violent protest against state injustice—makes its handling problematic. Especially in a country known for its imperious style of one-party rule, and censorship of opinions that run contrary to the official script.

If the U.S. government seemed reticent to describe earlier attacks as acts of terrorism—a description it did eventually apply to the Urumqi market bombing—it had much to do with the international discomfort over the Chinese government’s treatment of minorities. The most prominent such case, of course, involves Tibetans, and China’s aggressive methods of economic and social integration in their region, which have verged at times into authoritarian repression.

As individuals, however, neither Hans nor Uighurs nor Tibetans have much say in these policies, which are largely determined by the state. Although longtime Han residents in Xinjiang generally have amicable relationships with their nine million Uighur neighbors, the continued mass migration of Hans into Uighur cities like Urumqi has intensified tensions. The central government claims that its policies of assimilation—which include the razing of traditional homes and the prohibition of certain religious rituals—are only intended to create a “unitary and multi-ethnic” Chinese state. Many Uighurs see them as a flagrant infringement upon their rights, tantamount to a sort of cultural genocide.

And to those same Uighurs who have long felt like second-class citizens, the only way to truly wage war on the state is to alarm the majority—to shake their faith in the state and its ability to protect any of its citizens adequately, thereby undermining the legitimacy of a regime that has left its minorities so little recourse.

“Kong bu fen zi,” the Chinese word for “terrorist,” literally means “those who frighten.” In China, these days, the frightened and those who frighten, the minority and the majority, have more in common than they think. And their common enemy might not, after all, be each other.
[822 words]

Source: The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/05/china-urumqi-uighur-attacks-terrorism.html

南薰阁主

沙发占座！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！！

Speaker
A wired sound of dialogue that two people talk about why still watching the movie.

Time 2    2.11
Star Wars influences many people and the sci-fi creation.

Time 3    1.45
There are many good works have not been made into film, the first star war was a breath of fresh air.

Time 4    3.02

Time 5   2.29

Time 6   2.34

Obstacle
This is an article that discusses about the terrorism which happened in Urumuqi, Xinjiang of China.

小蘑菇开始打怪

真的好晚啊。。。
--------------
谢谢枣糕兔！~~

speaker:

feature movie: common movie

interminable: never going to end

drag: go slowly and a little boring

mind wander: your mind can not concentrate

engrossing: being so interesting, to be in a situation of flow when you can not feel the time flies

snail’s pace

procrastination拖延症！！！ enough said!!

time2:

audience will be excited about the publication of seventh star wars movie

however, star war movies has changed the meaning of science fiction

time3:

some great works of sci-fi have not been made into films, even some of them are, but there are still some disappointment

the author will not support the new movie if it just follow the other pieces of the serious

time4:

some students and university faculties opposed to select GM who was a member of the government to be the college president

the things GM has done before

time5:

if GM become the president of the college, his idea may have influence on the college’s diversity

faculty also find GM’s lack of higher education experience to be major concern

time6:

faculty is suspicious of whether GM can be a suitable president

if the college shifts its focus, it will lose a lot of money and hurts the business model

time7:

the terrorism affair in China

international discomfort over the Chinese government’s treatment of minorities

the continued mass migration of Hans into Uighur cities has intensified tensions

wnj2611339

感谢兔兔熬夜发帖！尽职尽业！

---

----Speaker
Martin was watching a very long movie, and Kathryn complained that she would never watch such a long movie, because she couldn't focus that long, but Martin said if the movie was fantastic, he would feel the time passing by quickly, and this movie was okay.

----Speed
[Time2] 2'36''
"Star Wars" movies have achieved great commercial success, but they ruined the essence of sci-fi, which should be creative ideas, rather than action as Hollywood make those movies to be.
[Time3] 1'35''
Many of the great sci-fi stories have not been made into movies, although some classic ones have, but not so successfully. Hollywood film makers make sci-fi movies based on audience's tastes rather than on the essence of original stories. Thus the author called for real sci-fi lovers to go for only original sci-fic movies.
[Time4] 2'37''
Trustees at the College of Charleston promoted McConnell for the college’s next president for his political connections and his association with Confederate history, although such promotion was against by faculty and students, and McConnell’s critics paint him as a Confederate sympathizer.
[Time5] 2'00''
McConnell thought those controversy was to agitate popular minds, but the NAACP and others really concerned that this promotion may stop black students from attending the college, hampering the college's diversity efforts and messing with the college’s business model. College's faculty also regarded McConnell’s lack of higher education experience as a "major concern", while the chairman of the Board of Trustees supported the trustees' decision.
[Time6] 2'20''
Trustees’ support for McConnell, who supported the connection between the college and medical school，to become the next president may be for the purpose of merging the college with MUSC. Such merge was regarded as a horrible idea by the faculty, because it could chase away the out-of-state students and hurt the college's business model.

----Obstacles 4'35''
Nowadays, terrorism is no longer limited to U.S., acts of terrorism have been seen in China. The increasingly intense relation between the Uighurs minority and the Han majority led to the terrible Urumqi market bombing, which is caused by the minorities' discomfort towards Chinese government's treatment of minorities.
Such tragic has little to blame on individuals, but on the policies of the state; central government's policies of assimilation enabled a mass migration of Hans into Uighur cities, intensifying the two nation's relation. Besides, Uighurs have long been feeling like the second-class citizens.

铁板神猴

心爱的ESL~ 总算来了~~ 8AM抢座位不含糊 ==+
ESL必须下载！

--------------作业分割线---------------------------------------------

Speaker

Describing Duration

Watching the movie? 4hours, a little long? How endure.
Nearly over,
Would’ve turned it off, like short and sweet,
Depends on the movie, this one is somewhere in between.
Hey miss the ending, no loss, I knew the ending at the beginning,
Why still watch? Procrastination

Speed

How 'Star Wars' ruined sci-fi
Time 2
Great successes, disaster to science fictions, obscenity, Kindred is good

Time 3
Many of the great sci-fi works have not been made into films, too short too thoughtful
The original star wars is good but it continues to repeat its mode so that it ruins itself.

Is a Man Who Dresses Like a Confederate General Unfit to Be a College President?

Time 4
Students faculty voted against a general as college president, but trustees brushed aside those voices. / against the general, ignore
Strong faculty opposition
Political background on confederate

Time 5
McConnell said people took advantage of disagreements.
NAACP are deeply critical, discourage black students to attend
Bad signal to students, hamper both diversity efforts and the college’s business model
Lack of higher education experience
However, the board of trustees believed they made a correct choice.

Time 6
One of other finalists don’t think the decision is partial, the other have not replied.
The faculty discontent is already high
Worry the possible merging, might shift the model, hurt
McConnell said his connections could be good to college.

Obstacle

Those Who Frighten China

The author had a good experience inBeijing.

After a terroristic attack in Urumqi, it’sno more foreign affairs

Foreign media is very careful at using theterm terrorism, indignant Chinese bloggers accused Americans of applying doublestandards

Though amicable relationship, massiveimmigration of Hans raised disputes

To those Uighurs who felt like second classcitizens, it’s a way to alarm

These days things changed better.

疏离无罪

还有首页~~~~~~~~

Speaker: The man is watching a extremely long movie.And the women said that she won't watch such a long movie.The man describing the movie and said that he watched this just for procrastination.

02:07
Star Wars is a successful science-fiction movie series.But it almost ruined the science fiction.The movie let people have a fixed picture of sci-fi.Actually sci-fi has more things than what star wars show.

01:42
Most famous sci-fi novels have not been made into films because they are too thoughtful to audience.And also some classics failed in movie.So most sci-fi becomes similar.We should look back now.

02:57
Trustees picked McConnell as the next president of the College of Charleston.This decision was protested by most faculty and students in the school.They have many reasons to object this man.

02:08
Critism said that Mr Mcconnell will discourage black student to come to this college,which will affect school's diversity and business model.And He also lacks higher education experience,which is thought to be a potential problem.But the chairman of the Board of Trustees thought that he will be a right choice.

02:27
Faculty discontent with the trustees for the academic freedom and the possible connections of MUSC.They think this will lead to many problems.Some people think this connecetion may be a good idea.

06:28
Main Idea: thinking after terrorist affacfk in china
Almost ten years ago,terrorism seems to be a foreign phenomenon and exotic to Chinese people.But now several terririst attacks have happened in China.And different to past attacks which aimed at state entities,target of recent attacks are civilians,which frightened Chinese people.
In this attack happened in Urumqi,the terrorists are those people who are not satisfied Chinese government and the treattment on minorities.The intense relation between Han and Uighur resident is the main reason.But individuals should not be blamed for this intensified tensions,government's policies should.Uighur feels second citizens and cultural genocide.
After this attack,more things should be thought about the relations between majorities and monorities.

hhd0530

掌管 5        00:02:47.52        00:12:38.65
掌管 4        00:02:43.45        00:09:51.12
掌管 3        00:02:48.37        00:07:07.66
掌管 2        00:01:54.03        00:04:19.29
掌管 1        00:02:25.25        00:02:25.25
time 2
previous 6 Star War succeeded, and the anticipation of the 7th one
achivement of SW

time 3
application of sci-f in Star War

time 4
Mcn become the college prisident
some crtics about him

time 5
crtics:bad influence for black
       low education experience
       high tutition
       lost
approve:belif in board to choose the right man

time 6
some doubt that the board do not enough
Mcn is believed to shift the college and hurt it business model
Mcn said he would do good for the college

vivianpdn

首页末班车~~~占完座  赶作业！