Unit 2 Human Behavior

In-class Reading

What, Me? Showing Off?

Outline:

• 1) Introduction (Para. 1-6)

• Showing off is quite common:

• A young woman criticizing poverty, war, injustice and human suffering;

• A scholarly fellow using “angst”, Kierkegaard” and “epistemology” in the same sentence.

• Our resident expert in wine pushing away a glass of perfectly good French wine;

• We complain about how tired we are today.

Outline:

• 2) Showing off can be nasty, trashy and offensive, but there are times when showing off may be forgivable and acceptable.( Para.7-23)

• Competitive showoffs who want to be the best of every bunch;

• Narcissistic showoffs who want to be the star while everyone else is the audience;

• Insecure showoffs whose behavior is understandable.

• Acceptable showoffs who have the overwhelming need to exult.

Outline:

• 3) Conclusion (Para. 24-25)

• Showing off can range from very gross to very subtle, and the purpose of showing off can be nasty, needy or nice.

• A. Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise.

• B. Let’s try to forgive each other for showing off.

Words and Expressions

• show off: to behave so as to try to get admiration for oneself, one’s abilities, etc : 炫耀 , 卖弄

• a) She always shows off her knowledge of literature in front of others.

• b) Do stop showing off- it’s embarrassing.

• Show up:

• to cause to be easily seen

• to uncover, ;make clear the truth about:

• I intend to show up the liar

• (infml) to arrive; be present:

• Did everyone you invited show up?

• count as: be regarded as:

eg. The Grand Canyon is generally counted as one of the most spectacular sights in the US.

• count: to say or name the numbers in order, one by one or by groups:

eg. He closed his eyes, counted to 100 and then came to look for us.

• count down: to count backwards in seconds to zero, esp. Before sending a space vehicle into space

• count on: 1)depend on something, someone:

eg. You can’t count on the weather being fine.

2) expect

eg. I didn’t count on John arriving so early; we’ve not even started preparing dinner yet.

entitle to:

• a. The ticket entitles you to a free seat at the concert.

rival

• a person with whom one competes:

• a. Bob and I were rivals in the painting competition.

claim

to ask for or demand ( a title, property, money, etc) as the rightful own

er or as one’s rights:

a. Did you claim on the insurance after your car accident?

b. Proclaim: to make known publicly, to declare officially:

c. The boy was proclaimed king.

d. Reclaim: recover possession of something:

e. A wallet has been found and can be reclaimed at the manager’s

office.

exclaim: to say suddenly, because of strong feeling

a. “Good heavens”, he exclaimed, “It’s six o’clock”.

Difficult sentences

• Down at the other end of the room a scholarly fel

low has just used “angst”, “Kierkegaard” and “epi

stemology” in the same sentence.

• The average person would not hear of Kierkega

ard and would not know either of these terms, so

the speaker is using them to show off his knowle

dge in philosophy.

• Narcissistic showoffs who are willing to do anything to b

e and to stay the center of attention.

• Here the word “narcissistic” comes from “Narcissus”. In

Greek Mythology, Narcissus was a very attractive young

man who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool and

died as a result. He turned into a flower that bears his na

me ( narcissus 水仙花 )

• and they’ll even go stand on their head if a

ttention flag.

• “flag”: decline

• Now that’s impressive:

• “that” refers to the previous sentence “

Sometimes folks achieve great things a

nd nonetheless do not show off about i

t.”

• I’m taking a bow and I’d like to hear clap

ping.

• take a bow: 谢幕• “bow” has different pronunciations, mea

ning differently.

• Though showing off can range from very gross to very subtle, and th

ough the point of showing off is sometimes nasty, sometimes needy,

sometimes nice, showoffs always run the risk of being thought immo

dest, of being harshly viewed as …well… showoffs.

• range…from…to…

• gross 粗野的，粗俗的，不雅的（语言、举止）• gross language 粗俗的话• the point: the purpose or the main idea

• run the risk of …