Unit 3 Goods Move. People Move. Ideas Move

Unit 3

Goods Move. People Move. Ideas Move. And Cultures Change.

Erla Zwingle

Structure of the Text

Part I (Paras. 1-3)

Globalization is a reality but it is not something completely new. What is new is the speed and scope of change.

Part II (Paras. 4-6)

This part deals with different views on globalization.

Part III (Paras. 7-9)

Three points are made in this part:

(1)Westernization is not a straight road to hell, or to paradise either.

(2)Cultures are as resourceful, resilient, and unpredictable as the people who

compose them.

(3)Teenagers are one of the powerful engines of merging global cultures.

Part IV (Paras. 10-13)

This part describes the author’s experience with Amanda Freeman, a “cool hunter.”

Part V (Paras. 14-19)

In order to prove that the trend is toward fusion, the author uses Tom Sloper and mah-jong as an example.

Part VI (Para. 20)

This is a transition, using China’s change in the past 20 years as an example.

Part VII (Paras. 21-24)

This part deals with cultural trends in Shanghai.

Part VIII (Paras. 25-28)

The author uses her experience at the Shanghai Theatre Academy to illustrate her point that the change is at the level of ideas.

Part IX (Paras. 29-34)

In this part, the author introduces Alvin Toffler’s view on conflict, change and the world order.

Part X (Para. 35)

A summing-up of linking---goods move, people move and ideas move.

Part XI (Para. 36)

Conclusion: The result of linking is change which means transformation of each other.

Part XII (Paras. 37-39)

The author again uses an example from Shanghai to illustrate the transformation of cultures.

Part VIII (Para. 40)

Linking in the end means the linking of heart.

II. Detailed Analysis of the Text

1. Questions on Paragraph 1:

 How does the author begin this article? Why does she quote Marx and Engels?

The author begins the article with the statement “Today we are in the throes of a worldwide reformation of cultures” which is called globalization. Here the author points out that globalization is a worldwide movement and a movement of reformation of cultures. She does not say, “merging of cultures” but “reformation of cultures,” indicating that the cultures in the world will continue to exist but they will not exist unchanged.

 The author then says that globalization is not an exact word to describe the changes. Why?

The author quotes Marx and Engels to prove her point. According to polls, Marx and Engels are rated among the most influential figures of the past one thousand years. The author’s intention is two-fold: on the one hand she wants to show that globalization has resulted from the rise of modern industry and world markets; on the other she wants to stress that it is a process and a historical process at that.

Editor’s note: The favorable reception in the West of Chinese Kun Qu (昆曲)

“Peony Pavilion” (牡丹亭), the popularity of Korean films in China, the uproar over tainted milk powder involving a Chinese-New Zealand joint venture company, the alarm caused internationally by bird flu are all examples of the development of globalization.

2. Today we are in the throes of a worldwide reformation of cultures, a tectonic shift of habits and dreams called, in the curious vocabulary of social scientists, “globalization.” (Para. 1)

in the throes of: in the act of struggling with (a problem, decision, task, etc.)

Translation: 今天我们正经历着一种世界范围文化剧变的阵痛,一种习俗与追求的结构性变化,用社会科学家奇特的词汇来称呼这种变化，就叫“全球化”。

3. In place of the old wants, requiring for their satisfaction the products of distant lands and climes, ... (Para. 1)

Paraphrase: Instead of people’s traditional needs, we find new “felt” needs, demanding goods from distant and far-off places to meet them.

Note: The object of “requiring” is “the products; “for their satisfaction” is an adverbial phrase, showing purpose.

4. Their statement now describes an ordinary fact of life. (Para. 1)

Paraphrase: Marx and Engels made the prediction 150 years ago. But today it is not a prediction but something that happens every day.

5. How people feel about this depends a great deal on where they live and

how much money they have. (Para. 2)

Paraphrase:

People’s attitude toward globalization is to a great extent determined by whether they are in developed or less developed countries and whether they are among the haves or the have-nots.

Note: The author is to a large extent correct in making this statement. According to polls in the U.S., the attitude towards globalization has a lot to do with a person’s level of income and education. An analysis of the economic situation in the world in recent years shows that most of the benefits of globalization have gone to the developed world, hence the dissatisfaction and resentment of many in the Third World.

6. Yet globalization, as one report stated, “is a reality, not a choice.” (Para. 2)

Paraphrase: Globalization is not something that you can accept or reject; it is already a fact of life, which you will encounter and have to respond to every day.

7. Humans have been weaving commercial and cultural connections since before the first camel caravan ventured afield. (Para. 2)

caravan: a company of travelers, esp. of merchants or pilgrims traveling together for safety, as through a desert

venture: to undertake the risk of, to brave

afield: away (from home)

Paraphrase: People in the world made commercial and cultural contacts long before merchants on camels risked traveling to places far away from home.

8. wrought (Para. 2): (past participle of work) to produce results or exert an influence

9. Telegraph... between individuals and the wider world. (Para. 2)

Paraphrase:

The invention of the telegraph brought individuals and the outside world closer but at the same time the connection was more complex, less direct, not so easy to see or detect.

Translation:

电报、电话、收音机和电视把个人和外部世界更紧密地连在一起,这种联系更为复杂、不那么直接也不易察觉。

Note: The author uses “intricate” and “complicated” to describe the connection because with the emergence of advanced technology, the connection is not only faster but also more difficult to see, to explain. For example, connection with the outside world through watching cable TV or listening to radio is less tangible and much less direct than camel caravans. But a connection is established. Telegraph and Internet connections are examples. You can connect through the Internet to a person you may never have actually met in person.

10. Still, the basic dynamic remains the same: Goods move. People move. Ideas move. (Para. 3)

dynamic: a force producing motion or change

Note: “Still” here introduces a contrast. Paragraph 2 tells the readers that modern technology makes the connections and changes faster and more complicated. Paragraph 3 stresses that the basic pattern is the same. The difference lies in the speed and scope of change.

11. Questions on Paragraph 4：

How do Western social scientists, anthropologists and politicians view the

trend toward globalization? Does the author agree? What is your view?

Many members of these groups believe that globalization will result in the spread of American goods as well as American values and culture, and that the consequence will inevitably be the Americanization of the world.

The author is not so pessimistic. She does not think that globalization means Americanization; she believes a variety of cultures will continue to exist, but that they will all be changed. This can be seen in her opening statement, in Para.3-4, and in her concluding paragraph.

The factors mentioned by the critics of globalization do exist. The United States, as the world’s only superpower, has taken advantage of globalization to greatly expand its exports of goods as well as ideas and values. If you go on the Internet, the overwhelming amount of information is in English. In international business, the prevalent means of communication is English. That is why critics include the English language as part of the “cultural assault”. This concern is shared by some Chinese citizens/intellectuals. But globalization is a double-edged sword, which means it can cut either way. Advantages and disadvantages coexist. The determining factor is government policy. Closed-door policies have proved to be disastrous.

So the only feasible approach is to make full use of the advantages and to minimize the negative effects.

12. Whatever their backgrounds or agendas, these critics are convinced that Western—often equated with American—influences will flatten every cultural crease, producing, as one observer terms it, one big “McWorld.” (Para. 4)

agenda: program of things to be done

crease: a fold or wrinkle

McWorld: a world modeled on McDonald’s, meaning a world filled with American goods and culture

Paraphrase: Western... influences will overwhelm all non-western cultures, making them lose their own unique characteristics, so that in the end there will exist only one westernized or Americanized world or culture.

Translation: 不管他们的背景和纲领如何,这些对全球化持反对态度的人深信西方的影响——往往等同于美国的影响——会把所有文化上的差异一一压平,就像一位观察家所说的,最终产生一个麦当劳世界,一个充满美国货和体现美国价值观的世界。

13. Popular factions sprout to exploit nationalist anxieties. … suggesting that Hollywood be burned. (Para. 5)

Question on Paragraph 5: Is the author’s description of the book China Can Say No accurate?

No. ‘The burning of Hollywood’ is the subtitle for a section in the book in which the authors discuss the burning of Hollywood films by the French – it is not advice to the Chinese. The author said he would not fly on a Boeing 777, not because of anti-Americanism, but because of technical flaws in the design. Since it is based on inaccurate information, her analysis cannot be correct.

Note: The author makes three more crucial points: that the book is an example of “exploiting nationalist anxieties”, that China struggles between xenophobia and ambition, that the book’s central theme is that Chinese people should not believe blindly in foreign things.

popular factions:反映公众情绪 (或得到公众支持) 的派别

Paraphrase: Political groups with broad popular support have come into being to take advantage of people’s worries and uneasiness over foreign “cultural assault.”

Why does the author view “xenophobia” and “economic ambition” as opposing tendencies?

‘Xenophobia’ means hatred or fear of foreigners or foreign things. If xenophobia became predominant, it could lead to movements to drive out foreigners and foreign goods as, for example, occurred during the Boxers’

Movement. ‘Economic ambition’ refers to the desire to build China into a strong, industrialized country to improve the livelihood of the Chinese people.

This would mean being open and welcoming to the outside world, and introducing foreign capital, technology, and goods.

Note: In China, trends toward closed-door and open-door policies have struggled for dominance for a long time.

suggesting that Hollywood be burned: Hollywood stands for American films. This is a rhetorical device called synecdoche. 建议把进口的好莱坞大片烧掉。

14. Those people out there should continue to live in a museum while we will have showers that work. (Para. 6)

museum: “Museum” here stands for ancient life or backwardness, the kind of life you can only find in museums now.

showers that work: It stands for modern life with high-tech gadgets.

Paraphrase:

The Chinese people should continue to live a backward life while we live comfortably with all modern conveniences.

15. Question on Paragraph 7: How does the author bring out the inconsistencies in the concept of Westernization?

First, she compares the critics and the boosters. Then she compares the inconsistencies within each group. The critics blast Coke and Hollywood but not organ transplants and computers, indicating that their critique is selective. The boosters emphasize environmental protection but make no mention of cigarettes and automobiles, indicating that they deliberately overlook those things that bring damage to health and the environment. Her conclusion is: Westernization is neither a direct, uninterrupted road to hell nor to paradise. In other words, it is neither terribly bad nor extremely good.

16. Westernization, I discovered over months of study and travel, is a phenomenon shot through with inconsistencies and populated by very strange bedfellows. (Para. 7)

(be) shot through with: to have a lot of, as if full of holes after a shotgun blast

inconsistencies: not uniform, including inharmonious or self-contradictory factors

bedfellow: an associate, ally, confederate, etc.

Paraphrase: After months of research and travel, I found that westernization is a concept full of self- contradiction and held by people of very different

background or views.

17. Yet they make no mention... disastrous effects. (Para. 7)

Translation: 然而他们不提西方文化中不那么健康的一面,譬如香烟和汽车,就在发展中世界急切地接纳这些东西时,它们已带来很坏的后果。

18. Apparently westernization is not a straight road to hell, or to paradise either.

Translation: 很显然,西方化既不会直达地狱,也不是直通天堂。

19. But I also discovered that cultures are as resourceful, resilient, and unpredictable as the people who compose them.（Para.8）

resourceful: able to deal promptly and effectively with problems, difficulties, etc.

resilient: recovering strength, spirits, good humor, quickly; buoyant

Translation: 不过我也发现文化就如构成文化的民族一样,善于随机应变,富有弹性而且不可预测。

Question: In what way are cultures resourceful, resilient, and unpredictable? How does the author prove this?

The author attempts to prove this by giving three examples.

The first is Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, a city that many people consider a source of cultural degeneration. Even in this city where Hollywood is located, you can still find a school in which thirty-two languages are spoken. This is a sign of cultural diversity. The second is how Sesame Street has been adapted in Shanghai. Sesame Street is a popular American television show, yet the Chinese have been able to borrow the form and use it to teach Chinese values and traditions. This again shows how resourceful and resilient cultures can be. The third is McDonald’s in India. This example shows on the one hand that McDonald’s is clever in catering to Indian demand, on the other, the resourcefulness and resilience of American and Indian cultures. When such unexpected developments take place, the author is justified in calling cultures unpredictable.

20. In Los Angeles, the ostensible fountainhead of world cultural degradation...（Para. 8）

Translation: 在洛杉矶,世界文化堕落的明显的源头……

21. McDonald’s serves mutton instead of beef and offers a vegetarian menu acceptable to even the most orthodox Hindu.（Para. 8）

Translation:

麦当劳供应的是羊肉而不是牛肉,而且提供一份素食的菜单,连最正统的印度教徒也能

接受。

Question:

Why does McDonald’s serve mutton instead of beef in India?

Because the Hindu religion regards the cow as sacred, so beef can’t be eaten.

22. Questions on paragraph 9:

(1) Why are teenagers so important?

Their number is huge and they have time and money to spend. So entertainment and goods are designed to cater to their taste.

(2) Why does the author consider teenagers one of the powerful engines of merging global cultures?

Young people are the source of fashion and fashion knows no national boundaries. A fashion in one culture can easily be picked up by teenagers in other cultures. The spread of rap music is a case in point.

23. The critical mass of teenagers… （Para. 9）

mass: a large number

teenager: a person between the ages of 13 and 19

The fact that there is a large number of young people between the ages of 13 and 19 is decisive.

24. hang out: (slang) to spend much of one’s time; frequent

25. ... who was the first teenager to put his baseball cap on backward.（Para. 9）

Translation:是那个青少年带头把棒球帽帽檐朝后戴。

26. ... rap music, which sprang from the inner-city ghettos, began making big money only when rebellious white teenagers started buying it. （Para. 9）

rap music: a style of black popular music with a pronounced beat to which words are recited rather than sung说唱乐

White teenagers taking over black popular music is a phenomenon which began in the 1960s in the U.S. A number of white teenagers of well-to-do family backgrounds became alienated from middle-class values and conventions. They attempted to break away from such shackles in a counter-culture movement. Rock music became a major vehicle for the counter-culture attack on the status quo.

27. They are called “cool hunter”, ... how it works.（Para. 9）

cool hunter:猎酷者

take (sb.) in hand: to control someone, as to show him how to behave or act

28. Questions on Paragraph 10:

What sort of person is Amanda Freeman? Why does she go to Los Angeles?

Amanda is 22 and she works for a consultant company, Youth Intelligence, which is located in New York. She goes to Los Angeles to conduct surveys in order to predict trends.

Because of Hollywood, Los Angeles is supposed to be a center of youth fashion .

29. She has shoulder-length brown hair and is wearing a knee-length brocade skirt. (Para.10)

Translation: 她留着披肩的棕发,穿着一条长及膝盖的织锦短裙。

30. You don’t have to be cool to do it; you just have to have the eye. (Para.10)

cool:(slang) fashionable in the eyes of the young

Paraphrase: In trying to predict future trends, you do not need to be

fashionable yourself. Note:

“To have the eye” is an idiom meaning to have a special intuitive knack or ability, actually quite rare.

31. We go to a smallish ’50s-style diner in a slightly seedy pocket east of Hollywood that has just become trendy. (Para. 11)

diner: a small restaurant built to look like an old-fashioned train dining car.

seedy: shabby, rundown

trendy: of or in the latest fashion or trend; ultrafashionable

pocket: an isolated area of a specified type

Paraphrase: We go to a small restaurant built in the style of the 1950s in a somewhat run-down area east of Hollywood which has just become fashionable.

Translation: 我们去了一家小一点的，50年代式样的餐馆。这家餐馆位于好莱坞东面一个比较破落的区域，这个区域刚刚时髦起来。

32. Then we wander through a few of the thrift shops. (Para. 11)

thrift shops: esp. in the U.S., a shop selling second-hand items, usually for charity.

33. If it’s not going. . . it’s never going to catch on. (Para. 11)

catch on: to become popular

Paraphrase: if the trend is too expensive for people to follow, it will not become popular.

34. Questions on paragraph 13:

How does Amanda go about her work?

She goes to small，cheap shops in trendy areas to conduct surveys because a fashion which is not affordable will not become popular. She also has her eye on fusion, because nowadays blending has become a trend.

35. It’s really hard to be original these days, so the easiest way to come up with new stuff is to mix things that already exist. (Para. 13)

mix: combining ingredients so that the resulting substance is uniform in composition, whether or not the separate elements can be distinguished.

Translation: 现今, 原创极为困难。因此，最容易的办法就是把现存的东西组合在一起, 拿出一个新玩意儿来。

36. There’s going to be more blending, like Spanish music and punk-things that are so unrelated. (Para. 13)

blend: a mixing of different varieties to produce a desired quality.

punk: 朋克摇滚乐a type of loud violent music popular in the late 1970s and the 1980s.

38. Questions on paragraph 14:

(1) Why does the author introduce Tom Sloper and mah-jongg?

The author uses Tom Sloper and mah-jongg as an example to illustrate fusion. This is a good example because it combines computers, a product of Western high technology, and mah-jongg, a traditional Chinese game—a fusion of East and West, of technology and entertainment. In short, a fusion of things previously unrelated.

(2) Why does the author mention small rooms in Asia and country clubs in Beverly Hills?

The author here uses two rhetorical devices: contrast and antonomasia. The small rooms in Asia stand for lower-middle-class people in Asia while the country clubs in Beverly Hills stand for rich people in the United States. A country club admits only members of the club. It is expensive and exclusive. The author here contrasts a number of things: Asia vs. the U.S., lower-middle-class people vs. rich-upper-class people, men vs. society women.

(3) How does Tom Sloper play mah-jongg?

He plays it in his Los Angeles office in the evening on the Internet.

39. This being America, he has found a way to marry these two passions and sell the result. (Para. 14)

passion: a strong emotion that has an overpowering or compelling effect.

Questions:

(1) What is the grammatical function of “this being America”?

It is an independent element playing the role of an adverbial causal clause. It can be changed into “Since this is America.”

(2)What is the implication of this statement?

The implication is that America is an open, technologically advanced and creative country, which allows people to work on the most unimaginable kinds of things. At the same time, America is a huge market, which can accommodate and consume the products of this imagination.

Paraphrase: As an open and technologically advanced country with a large market for unusual things, America provided Tom Sloper with the necessary conditions to design a software program combining a new Western technology

with the ancient Eastern rules of mah-jongg. And he was able to sell his product.

40. … in small rooms that are full of smoke. (Para. 14)

Question: What does “full of smoke” indicate?

It indicates two things: (a) most probably, the players are men; (b) they smoke while playing, so the room is stuffy and the air is bad. Such scenes are to be found in films produced in Hong Kong, Taiwan or the mainland of China. It may also imply that the players are not well educated.

41. … that are full of smoke and the ceaseless click of the chunky plastic tiles and fierce concentration of the players. (Para. 14)

click: a slight, sharp sound, like that of a door latch snapping into place. In rhetoric, this is called onomatopoeia: the formation of a word by imitating the sound associated with an object or action such as “tinkle,” “buzz.”

42. It is also played by rich society women at country clubs in Beverly Hills and in apartments on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. (Para. 14)

Questions:

(1) What do the place names stand for?

They stand for social and economic status. These are upper-class residential

areas in Los Angeles and New York respectively.

(2)Why does the author mention “country club” and “apartments”?

The author wants to show that mah-jongg is played by rich ladies at social gatherings as well as at home.

43. But Tom, 50, was playing it at his desk in Los Angeles one evening in the silence of a nearly empty office building. (Para. 14)

silence: absence of any sound or noise

Questions:

(1) Why does the author speak of a nearly empty office building?

Because it is evening, and almost all of the office workers have gone home.

(2) Why does the author begin the sentence with “But”?

To emphasize the contrast between Tom playing alone and people playing in groups, in Asia and in the U.S.

44. Actually, he only appeared to be alone. (Para. 15)

Question:

Why does the author say he only \"appeared\" to be alone?

Tom was alone in the office building but he was playing a game with three other people in three different places. In that sense, he was not alone.

45. His glowing computer screen showed a game already in progress with several habitual partners. . . (Para. 15)

Translation: 他那亮着的计算机屏幕表明麻将已经搓起来了，其他几个参加者都是老牌友……

46. ... with that detached... machines. (Para. 16)

detached: not involved through emotion, interest, etc.

Paraphrase: ...in a friendly way, but this friendliness lacks emotion because his attention is fixed on his computer screen and the people who are connected with him through the Internet.

47. Question on paragraph 19:

How does Tom play mah-jongg on the screen?

He uses a computer and the tiles bounce around the screen. His partners are people in Germany and Wales as well as in Ohio and Minnesota.

He also carries on conversations with the players by typing short comments to them. He knows his partners well although he has never met them personally.

48. Tom played on into the night. At least it was night where I was. (Para. 19)

At least it was night where I was. 至少我所在的地方是晚上。

Paraphrase: At least it was night where I was watching him play. The time in Germany was nine hours later, in Wales, eight hours later. In Minnesota it was two hours later and in Ohio three hours later.

49. ... was up in the cyber sphere far above the level of time zones. (Para. 19)

Translation: 他在网络世界活动，这种活动超越时区。

Paraphrase: He was moving around, playing a game via the Internet, with people living in different time zones, hence their computer activity broke down the limits of time zones.

50. If it seems that life in the West has become a fast-forward blur, consider China.

(Para. 20)

fast-forward blur: moving so fast into the future that outlines are blurred, as if images on a video tape were being played on fast forward.

Translation: 如果说西方的生活太超前了,已经看不清轮廓了,那么就看。

Question: What role does this sentence play?

It serves as a transition.

51. In just 20 years, since market forces were unleashed by economic reforms begun in 1978, life for many urban Chinese has changed drastically. (Para. 20)

unleash: to free from restraint

52. Cosmopolitan, plunging necklines and all, is read by 260,000 Chinese women every month. (Para. 20）

Cosmopolitan:《时尚》杂志

plunge: to extend far down in a revealing way

neckline: the line formed by the edge of a garment around or nearest the neck

plunging neckline:开领袒胸

Translation: 26万中国妇女每个月都在阅读《时尚》杂志，那些开领袒胸的画页及其他内容。

53. Question on paragraph 21: Why does the author go to Shanghai to investigate cultural trends?

Because on the one hand Shanghai is the largest city in China, on the other, it has long been open to the West.

54. General Motors, for example, set up its first Buick sales outlet in Shanghai in 1929; (Para. 21)

Buick sales outlet:别克轿车的销售网点

55. Once a city of elegant…multilane overpasses. (Para. 22)

Questions:

(1)What kind of contrast is made here?

A contrast is made between old Shanghai and Shanghai in the 1990s.

(2)Which version of Shanghai does the author prefer? How do you know?

The author liked old Shanghai better. This can be seen in her choice of words. In describing old Shanghai, she uses “elegant” villas and “imposing” office

buildings, words carrying a positive connotation. In describing current Shanghai she uses infinitives such as to “crowd and jostle” the skyline, “cramp” the…streets, “choke” the parks and open spaces. These phrases all carry a negative connotation.

(3)What is the new Shanghai like according to the author?

(a)Shanghai has “ripped itself to ribbons”. This is the author’s general description of Shanghai in the 1990s. While Shanghai’s buildings in the past were elegant and imposing, Shanghai has become a scene of great upheaval the result of which cannot be satisfactory or good.

(b) Everywhere there are soaring skyscrapers. “Skyscraper” is a word used to refer to a building that is very high, made of steel and glass, sometimes lacking style or taste. As a result, when you look out, you can only see tall buildings one after another, obscuring the view— “to crowd and jostle the skyline”.

(c) Shanghai’s streets are narrow. With tall buildings on both sides of narrow, winding streets, you can imagine how crowded you will feel.

to cramp: to confine; restrain

(d) The few parks and open spaces are surrounded by tall buildings, so the word “choke” is used to accentuate the feeling of a cramped space.

(e) The traffic is also crowded so the word “crawl\" is used together with “multilane overpasses” to show that even on the most modern roads, traffic is still very slow.

(f) So the conclusion is: Modernization has not brought beauty and convenience to the people of Shanghai. High-rises have spoiled Shanghai’s original beauty. This paragraph suggests a kind of nostalgic feeling on the part of the author and notes her reservations about the way Shanghai is being modernized.

Translation: In a decade... presence. Traffic crawls... overpasses.

十年中, 几十座闪闪发亮的新的高层建筑拔地而起, 挤压空间, 使人张目不能远眺, 使原本狭窄弯曲的街道更显压抑, 而这些高耸大楼的存在也使公园和空地感到憋气。即使是在多车道的高架桥上, 车辆也在爬行。

56. But on the streets...a surprising $100,000. (Para. 22)

boutique:时装用品小商店;百货公司的时装部a small shop, or a small department in a store, where fashionable, usually expensive, clothing and other articles are sold.

mall: a completely enclosed, air-conditioned shopping center

Gucci store:古奇专卖店

Question: What is implied in the statement, “Many carry several shopping bags”?

It implies that the purchasing power of people in Shanghai is high.

Women dressed in bright colors, carrying several shopping bags on the Nanjing Road, a shopping center in downtown Shanghai, is a sign of economic prosperity.

Note: (1) The connective “but” introduces another contrast, a contrast between the skyscrapers and the people of Shanghai.

(2) The word “surprising” shows that the shop did not expect business to be so good in the first two weeks after its opening. It also shows that despite the fact that Gucci is a Western brand, the name is not unfamiliar to many Shanghai people.

57. Question on paragraph 23:

What is the main idea of Paragraph 23?

This paragraph tells of changes in the lives of ordinary people — changes in the amount of money spent on food, on clothing and on new items, such as travel.

A recent poll (2001) in Beijing showed that the amount of money spent on food made up only 39.18% of total family expenditure, as compared with 49.92% five years earlier. Clothing made up 10.01% as compared with 13.55% five years before. A rising percentage went to education and health care, a total of 13.% as compared with 7.79% five years previously.

58. Questions on paragraph 24:

(1)Why do you think the author raises the issue of cultural dislocation here?

This has something to do with the title: goods move, ideas move and cultures change. As a result of economic development, more foreign goods and enterprises have come into China - or Shanghai, to be more exact. With economic development, people’s lives have been improved and their attitude towards life has also changed. This might cause cultural dislocation.

(2)What is people’s attitude towards possible cultural dislocation?

People do not consider the new prevalence of foreign goods and the changes in life that goes with it to be a problem. They accept such change and do not feel alarmed.

59. The Chinese are very good at dealing with ambiguity. (Para. 24)

ambiguity: the quality of permitting more than one interpretation

Translation: 中国人是很善于应对多种可能性的。

60. Potential: this is largely a Western concept. (Para.25)

potential: the capacity to develop or become useful in the future

Question: Why is it a Western concept?

Potential is a concept used in physics or electricity, subjects first studied in the West.

61. ...it’s clear that the truly great leap forward here is at the level of ideas. (Para.25)

It is clear that real progress, progress that matters most, takes place at the level of changing ideas.

62. To really grasp this, I had only to… Shakespeare’s Macbeth… (Para. 25)

Macbeth:《麦克白》, 莎士比亚四大悲剧之一。整个剧情笼罩在阴森恐怖的气氛中。

苏格兰将军麦克白平定叛乱, 立功凯旋归来。由于听信女巫的预言,在自己野心的驱使和妻子的怂勇下,利用国王邓肯到自己家中作客的机会,弑君自立。此后,麦克白肆无忌惮地杀害异己,践踏无辜,终使所有重要贵族与他离心离德。最后被邓肯的儿子马尔康和贵族麦克德夫战败而死。麦克白夫人也因感到众人的仇恨和受到自己良心的折磨,最后发疯自尽。全剧主题写人性中善与恶的斗争和不良野心的危害,体现了野心残暴必败,光明正义必胜的信念。

63. There we were at the Shanghai Theatre Academy… (Para. 26)

Shanghai Theatre Academy:上海戏剧学院

. The lighting was heavy on shadows, with frequent flashes. (Para. 27)

lighting: the art, practice, or manner of using and arranging lights on a stage

Translation: 灯光集中在鬼影上,常常夹有闪电。

66. The light went out … auto-rewind. (Para. 27)

Translation: 灯光熄灭,有一阵子,黑暗中惟一的声音就是一部价格昂贵的照相机自动倒卷时发出的声音。

67. It strained imagination … sewing machine. (Para. 28)

Translation: 难以想象就是在这个国家,二十年前人们最想要的三样贵重物品是手表、自行车和缝纫机。

68. Early on I realized that I was going to need some type of compass to guide me through the wilds of global culture. (Para. 29)

compass: 指南针

wilds: a wilderness or wasteland

Paraphrase: From the very beginning, I knew I would need a theory to help me study globalization, to guide me through such a great variety of cultural phenomena.

69. Questions on paragraphs from 30 to 34:

(1) What did Toffler mean when he said “order grows out of chaos”?

He meant that significant change happens as a result of conflict. By conflict, he means “wave” conflicts, that is, conflicts between modes of production.

(2) How does Toffler define “wave”?

Toffler defines waves as major changes in civilization. The first wave came with the development of agriculture (according to historical materialism, the use of iron tools); the second with industry. The third is based on information.

(3) How does Toffler define the “current conflict”, where by “current” he means 1999, the time of the author’s interview with him?

He holds that the current conflicts are not conflicts between East and West, nor between North and South but between dominantly industrial countries and dominantly agrarian countries plus internal conflicts within countries that are partly one and partly the other.

(4) What is Toffler’s analysis of the current international order?

He holds that the present order is an order that trisects world power. According to him, agrarian nations are at the bottom, knowledge-based economies on the top, with industrialized countries in between.

(5) What do you think of Toffler’s analysis of conflict and the world order?

Toffler holds that conflict takes place between agrarian countries and industrialized countries. But the industrialized countries are also the developed countries, so his analysis is very similar to the conception of a North-South conflict between the developing countries and the industrialized countries. However, to eliminate the political element from the conflict is not in accordance with the real situation and therefore is incorrect. And it is an over-simplification to say that world civilizations today can be divided into three types: agrarian, industrial and knowledge-based. But it may be valid to say that the problems of various civilizations are rooted in their modes of production.

The trisection-of-power concept fails to take into consideration the distribution of political, economic, and military power in the world, hence, it is not a true reflection of the world situation.

(6) Is it possible that, in the future, small groups might be able to use television to preserve their separate, distinctive cultures and languages?

Perhaps. With many more channels available, costs will be greatly reduced. In the U.S., government licensing insistence on some television access being reserved

for broadcasts in the public interest could help a small group, say the Navaho Indians with about 40,000 speakers of their tribal language, to transmit programs in that language. But there are also political and cultural constraints. Some linguists predict that many of the languages used today will become extinct in the not too distant future.

70. “Yes,” Toffler says. “... not of the past.” (Para. 34)

Questions:

(1)What is Toffler’s view on likely cultural changes as a result of the third wave?

Toffler holds that, in the future, there will not be a single homogenized culture but that the cultures that remain will not be the same as they were before. They will have been transformed.

(2)What does Toffler mean when he says that we will be the Chinese of the future, not of the past?

When he says “Chinese”, he is talking not about the Chinese people but about Chinese culture. Of course Chinese culture in the Information Age cannot be the same as the culture of Confucian times.

71. It is cheaper for businesses... at home. (Para.35)

Question: Is this statement true? Comment on this statement.

It is true. This is called “the brain drain”. Many third world countries are experiencing such a brain drain. When we say that in the U.S., many “Silicon Valley” scientists and engineers are of Chinese or Indian origin, we are talking about the brain drain. Every year, about one-third of the university graduates from China’s top-notch universities apply for visas to the United States. This is proof that China’s universities are, in fact, training some of China’s most talented people to work in U.S. high-tech industries.

72. For the Japanese, this is an entirely new way of thinking. (Para. 35)

Question: What can we deduce from this statement? What is the old Japanese way of thinking?

Older Japanese are very traditional in their thinking. That is why you still find Japanese employees who are proud of life-long service in a single Japanese firm. Loyalty to the firm is constantly stressed. The idea that one’s fate is in one’s own hands has been alien to Japanese corporate culture, but is appropriate to American culture with its emphasis on individualism.

73. Question on paragraph 36:

What is the main idea of this paragraph?

The main idea is that there will not be a uniform world culture in the future; cultures will coexist and transform each other.

74. It’s a reality, not a choice. (Para. 36)

Question: What is the function of the statement?

It serves as a recapitulation of the idea stated in Paragraph 2 and a re-emphasis of the point that globalization is already a matter of fact, not speculation. It also serves as a bridge to a discussion of globalization’s driving force.

75. The late philosopher Isaiah Berlin... something else... (Para. 36)

aspire (to): to strongly hope or desire to get or do something, esp. something lofty or grand; to yearn

utopian: belonging to or typical of an ideally perfect state or place; admirable but impracticable in real life乌托邦式的

Paraphrase: The late philosopher Isaiah Berlin thought that a society should not pursue unrealistic goals but should aim at achieving something more practical, more down-to-earth.

Questions:

(1)What does “utopian ideal” refer to?

It is not clear, but it may refer to a uniform world culture.

(2)What was this “something else” Berlin had in mind?

Perhaps he was pointing out that we should not pursue uniformity but should, instead, cultivate tolerance towards diversity.

76. Questions on paragraphs from 37 to 39:

Why does the author describe her experience at a Jewish gathering in Shanghai? What does she want to show?

She wants to use the incident to demonstrate that different cultures can co-exist and learn from each other while maintaining their own identity.

A Jewish gathering on the eve of Yon Kippur, a Jewish Holy Day, in Shanghai, a Chinese city, is evidence of cultural co-existence.

That the author, neither Chinese nor Jewish, felt at home at the Jewish gathering is another example. The author’s conclusion is: there are things in one culture which are shared by other cultures. In other words, there are things in common in all cultures. This is the basis for mutual understanding and co-existence.

77. In Shanghai one October evening I joined a group gathered in a small, sterile hotel meeting room. (Para. 37)

sterile: not stimulating

78. … a young Jew from Israel… as rabbi of the infant congregation. (Para. 37)

infant: in a very early stage

congregation: an assembly of people for religious worship or teaching

79. They received a lot from local cultures, but they also kept their own identify. (Para. 38)

identity: the condition or fact of being a specific person or thing; individuality

Translation: 他们从当地文化吸收了不少东西,但仍然保持了自己的本色。

80. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me,” he intoned. (Para. 39)

intone: to utter or recite in a singing tone or in a prolonged monotone

81. The penitence may have been Jewish, but the aspiration was universal. (Para. 39)

penitence: sorrow over having sinned or done wrong

Paraphrase: The means of showing repentance might have been particular to the Jews, but the strong desire to receive forgiveness from God is common, shared by all.

82 . Questions on paragraph 40:

How does the author conclude the article? What do you think of her conclusion?

In her concluding remarks, the author makes clear her views on globalization. She points out why globalization is inevitable—“linking” is humanity’s natural impulse. Here two words are worthy of our attention/Here, we should pay attention to the author’s use of words. The author/She is not talking about “merging” or “fusion” but “linking”, emphasizing that linking is a natural human desire. In other words, it is not something imposed on humanity. From this careful choice of words we understand that there will not be a McWorld, but rather the coexistence of transformed cultures, and that these cultures are brought together not just by technology or business but more importantly by common aspirations and shared values. The concluding paragraph is short, consisting of four sentences. But these sentences bring out important ideas, which, in turn, relate to the author’s Shanghai experience. Therefore, the conclusion emerges naturally and logically from the author’s development of her ideas.

83. Linking is humanity’s natural impulse, its common destiny. (Para. 40)

Translation: 相互联系是人类自有的欲望,是其共同的命运。

84. They are the powerful cords of the heart. (Para. 40)

Translation: 这种连接靠的是强有力的心灵纽带。

Key to Exercises

I．

1. in the act of struggling with ( a problem, decision, task, etc.)

2. a force producing motion or change

3. program of things to be done

4. to have a lot of, as if full of holes after a shotgun blast

5. decisively large number of people

6. (slang) to spend much of one's time; to frequent

7. to control someone, as to show him or her how to behave or act

8. an isolated area of a specified type

9. to become popular

10. extending far down in a revealing way

V．

1. Yet Globalization is not something you can accept or reject; it is already a fact of life, which you will encounter and have to respond to every day.

2. Political groups with broad popular support have emerged to take advantage of people’s existing worries and uneasiness regarding foreign “cultural assault.”

3. ... in China, closed-door and open-door policy trends have long struggled for dominance.

4. The Chinese people should continue to live a backward life while we live comfortably with all modern conveniences.

5. Westernization... is a concept full of self-contradictions and held by people of very different backgrounds and views.

6. In trying to find out what future trends will be, you do not need to be fashionable yourself.

7. As an open and technologically advanced country with a large market for unusual things, America provided Tom Sloper with the necessary conditions to design a software program combining a new Western technology with the ancient Eastern rules of mah-jongg. And he was able to sell his product.

8. He was moving around, playing a game via the Internet, with people living in different time zones, hence their computer activity broke down the limits of time zones.

9. The Gucci store had not expected that in the first two weeks of its opening in Shanghai, business would be so good.

10. The means of showing repentance might be particular to the Jews, but the strong desire to receive forgiveness from God is common.

VI.

1. 今天我们正经历着一种世界范围文化剧变的阵痛，一种习俗与追求的结构性变化。用社会学家奇特的词汇来称呼这种变化，就叫“全球化”。

2. 不管他们的背景和纲领如何，这些对全球化持反对态度的人深信西方的影响——往往等同于美国的影响——会把所有文化上的差异一一压平，就像一位观察家所说的，最终产生一个麦当劳世界，一个充斥美国货和体现美国价值观的世界。

3. 不过我也发现文化就如同构成文化的民族一样，善于随机应变，富有弹性而且不可

预测。

4. 现今原创极为困难。因此，最容易的办法就是把现存的东西组合在一起，拿出一个新玩意儿来。

5. 二十六万中国妇女每月都在阅读《时尚》杂志，那些开领袒胸的画页及其他内容。

6. 灯光熄灭，有一阵子，黑暗中惟一的声音就是一部价格昂贵的照相机自动倒卷时发出的声音。

7. 他们从当地文化中吸收了不少东西，但仍然保持了自己的本色。

8. 相互联系是人类天生的欲望，是其共同的命运。

9. 这种连接靠的是强有力的心灵纽带。