AFewKindWordsforSuperstitionConsolidationActivities
I.TextComprehension
1.Decidewhichofthefollowingbeststatestheauthor'spurpose.
A.Totellreaderstheoriginandhistoryofsuperstitioninhumansociety.
B.Todescribefourtypesofsuperstitionandtheireffectsonhumannature.
C.Todescribefourtypesofsuperstitionandtheirrelevancetoscienceandreason.
Key:[B]
2.Judge,accordingtothetext,whetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueorfalse.
1).Sincesuperstitionisasignofnavetéorignorance,itisonlypracticedbyill-educatedpeople.[F]
2).Idolatryismanifestedbypeople’sprofoundbutungroundedconvictioninsomethingthatcouldbringgoodluck.[T]
3).Manypeoplehavepracticedsuperstitionevenwithouttheirownawareness.[T]
4).Religionandsuperstitionhavethesamepersistentandminatorypoweronallpeople.[F]
5).Superstitionisprevalentbecauseitcanmeetpeople’scuriosityabouttheirfuture.[T]
II.WritingStrategies
Inthisexpositoryessay,theauthorfirstpresentsfourtypesofsuperstitionbymeansofclassificationanddivision.Eachtypeisclarifiedwithsomeanecdotesandexamples.Then,heoffershisexplanationastowhysomepeoplearefascinatedwiththeseirrationalpracticesbytakingacloselookathumannature.Duringtheprocess,theauthornowandtheninsertssomerhetoricalquestionstoachieveavarietyoffunctions.Readthefollowingquestionstakenfromthetextandexplaintheirrespectivemeanings:
1.Isitbecauseithasanunacknowledgedholdonsomanyofus(Paragraph1)
Toexpressdoubt.
2.Youdidnotknowthatsuperstitiontakesfourforms(Paragraph3)
Tointroducethesubsequentclassification.
3.Andwhynot(Paragraph4)
Toexpresscertainty.
4.Modestidolatry,butwhatelsecanyoucallit(Paragraph5)
Toexpresssubmissionoracceptance.
5.HowdidtheMelanesianscomebythesameidea(Paragraph9)
Toexpresswonderorsurprise.
6.Butwhenhasastrologynotbeenpopular(Paragraph10)
Toexpresscertainty.(Ofcourse,astrologyhasalwaysbeenpopular.)
7.Whenhastheheartofmangivenadamnforscience(Paragraph10)
Toemphasizetheauthor’sconviction.(Idon’treallybelievethatsciencecouldworkinthismanner.)
III.LanguageWork
1.Explaintheunderlinedpart(s)ineachsentenceinyourownwords.
1).Isitbecauseithasanunacknowledgedholdonsomanyofus
→hasanunrecognizedcontrolover
2).Iliveinthemiddleofalargeuniversity,andIseesuperstitioninitsfourmanifestations,aliveandflourishingamongpeoplewhoareindisputablyrationalandlearned.
→unquestionably
3).Ifyouhaveeversupervisedalargeexaminationroom,youknowhowmanyjujus,luckycoins,andotherbringersofluckareplacedonthedesksofthecandidates.
→thingsthataresupposedtocontainsomepowertobringgoodluck
4).WhenItalkedwithhim,hedidnotthinkhewaspricingGodcheapbecausehecouldaffordnomore.
→wasofferingGodtoolittlemoney
5).Mostpeoplekeeptheirterrorwithinbounds,buttheycannotrootitout,nordotheyseemtowanttodoso.
→getridofitcompletely
6).Superstitionmakesitsappearance,apparentlyunbidden,veryearlyinlife...