The Light at the End of the Chunnel

A New English CourseUnit Five Reading One

CONTENTS

Background Information Listening, Organization & Main Ideas Analysis of the Text Discussing the following questions Oral Work Assignments

The English Channel

It is commonly called the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean separating the southern coast of England from the northern coast of France, and connecting the Atlantic in the west with the North Sea on the east via the Strait of Dover. It is 34 to 240 km. (21-150 miles) wide and 560km. (350 miles) long. The Channel is at its narrowest between Dover in England and Cape Gris-Nez, near Calais, in France, it being 34 km. (21 miles) wide. Its average depth decreases from 120 to 45 meters (400-150 feet).

The Chunnel

The word Chunnel is a blend of the two words Channel and Tunnel. The Channel Tunnel (French: le tunnel sous la Manche), or Chunnel, is a 50.450km (31.35mi) long rail tunnel beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover, connecting Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom to Coquelles near Calais in northern France. It was a megaproject with several false starts, but it was finally completed in 1994. It is the second-longest rail tunnel in the world, with the Seikan Tunnel in Japan being longer, but the undersea section of 37.9km (23.55 miles) is the longest undersea tunnel in the world. It is operated by Eurotunnel. The American Society of Civil Engineers has declared the tunnel to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World

The Channel Tunnel exhibit at the National Railway Museum in York, England. The exhibit shows a cross section of the Channel Tunnel and a Eurostar train. Opening of the Channel Tunnel by Queen Elizabeth

II and French President François Mitterrand

世界长大隧道表

隧道名称 国家 长度 ( 公里 ) 开通时间

西姆普龙隧道 意大利、瑞士 20 1906 年

阿尔卑斯隧道 意大利 18 ． 5 1934 年

什卡姆门水下隧道 日本 18 ． 7 1975 年

达水米促隧道 日本 22 ． 2 1983 年

谢坎水下隧道 日本 53 ． 9 1988 年

英吉利海峡隧道 英国、法国 49 ． 4 1994 年

中国也计划在本世纪修建大连一烟台、台湾海峡、琼州海峡等五个跨海长大隧道。

In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, France, conquered England and became King William I of England

In 1154 King Henry II recovered the English throne

In 1337, Edward III of England (1327-1377) took the title of King of France.

During King Henry VIII’s reign (1509-1547), England again invaded France and expanded it holdings around Calais.

From 1689 to 1815 there was a series of conflicts between Britain and France for domination of the North American continent.

The long-lasting Anglo-French conflict

II.Listening, Organization & Main Ideas

The whole text consists of two parts:

Part I (Para. 1-9): describes the attitudes of the English and the French people towards the Chunnel, and the changes that it brings to the world.

Part II (Para. 10-23): describes the liveliness of the work spot in the tunnel project.

Attitudes towards the Chunnel :

The English: “I’d rather England become the 51st state of the U.S.A. than get tied up to there.” “Awful place, we don’t care much for the French, but the French don’t care for anybody.”

The French: “I went to England once. Never again! All they eat is ketchup, you can’t even get a decent glass of red wine!”

Changes:

1.It swept aside 200 years of failed cross-Channel-link schemes, 1000 years of historical rift, and 8000 years of geographic divide.

2.Eurostar passenger trains will provide through service: London to Paris in 3 hours; London to Brussels in 3 hours, ten minutes.

Main idea: In spite of the adverse sentiments expressed by the English and the French people, the Chunnel that joins Britain and France was finally completed and, looking back, the breakthrough that took place several years ago was a moving scene.

III. Analysis of the Text

1.   …not two miles from the soon-to-be-opened English Channel Tunnel, stiff upper lips trembled.

stiff upper lip: the ability to accept bad luck or unpleasant events without appearing upset. This is thought to be typical of British people, especially UPPER-CLASS British people. (keep) a stiff upper lip: (show) an ability to appear calm and unworried when in pain or trouble

e.g. British men are taught to keep a stiff upper lip and show no emotion. 英国男士所受的教育是要保持坚强，不要流露感情。

Stiff upper lip refers to the Englishmen, so the figure of speech metonymy is used here. With metonymy we substitute the name of one thing for that of another with which it is closely associated. For example, the crown stands for a king, the White House for the American government and the bottle for wine or alcohol.

2. For the first time since the last ice age, England was…:

For the first time since the world began to exist, …

I’d rather England become the 51st state of the U.S.A. than get tied up to there. :

For me it is worse for England to be linked to France than to become the 51st state of the U.S.A..

Both the above two sentences employ the figure of speech hyperbole or exaggeration.

e.g. She is dying to know what job has been assigned to her.

On hearing that he had been admitted to that famous university, he whispered to himself, “I’m the luckiest man in the world.”

3. He nodded toward the steel gray channel out the window, his pale blue eyes filled with foreboding.

——The italicized part of the sentence is a non-finite clause, or, in traditional grammatical terms, a nominative absolute construction. The –ed participle denotes a passive action.

e.g. The work done, we left the office with a light heart.

If the action is active, then an –ing participle is asked,

e.g. The last bus having gone, we had to walk home.

It being a holiday, the park was crowded with people.

4. the entente was scarcely more cordiale:

the attitude of the other party was not friendly than this.

entente: agreement, understanding;

cordiale : friendly

Cordiale Entente: a political agreement and feeling of friendship between two or more countries. It was originally used for an agreement between Britain and France in 1904.

5. for richer or poorer, better or worse, England and France are getting hitched:

no matter whether the situation will get better or worse and whether people like it or not, England and France are being linked together.

6. Music blare, and lights glare.: Music is blared out and light are dazzling.

Here the figure of speech “ end rhyme” （尾韵） is adopted, for the diphthong / / in blare and glare .

e.g. faire and square 堂堂正正 near and dear 及其亲密

Another similar device is alliteration ( 头韵 ).

e.g., Many men, many minds. 十个人，十条心。

safe and sound 平平安安

Live and learn. 活到老，学到老

Money makes the mare go. 有钱能使鬼推磨。

7. Usage of the dash (—) in the text:

⑴ We’re headed out from the English side to the breakthrough ceremony for the south running tunnel— the last to be completed. Here the dash marks a further explanation.

e.g. We’ll be arriving on Monday morning—at least, I think so.

⑵ On the British side, it’s by the numbers—like TBM No.6. Looking up, I imagine 180 feet of Channel above my head—ferries, tankers, a Dover sole or two….

Dash in the above two sentences is put in front of a list or explanation to provide examples.

e.g. The poor need simple things—building materials, clothing, household goods and agricultural implements.

⑶ Its cutterhead—a huge wheel with tungsten-tipped teeth—chews into the last trace of rock separating England from France.

Here the dash sets off a parenthetical element.

e.g. Three countries—Spain, Italy and Hungary—abstained.

⑷ The dash marks a break in thought or a change in tone:

He might do many good things for the people of the city—if he was elected.

⑸ The dash is sometimes used to introduce a final summarizing clause after a series of nouns that refer to the subject of the clause:

Father, mother, John and Susan—all were surprised by my announcement.

Country

Item

The English The French

Clothes

The way of naming machines

Conclusion (characteristic difference)

pure grunge (bagged, bright orange)

well-cut, taupe jumpsuits with red and blue racing stripes down the sleeves

by the numbers—like TBM No. 6

by women’s names —like Catherine

conservative, rational

romantic, imaginative

8. Comparison between the English and French people

9. word formation

词缀法 (affixation) 转类法 (conversation) 合成法 (composition) 拼缀法 (blending) 逆成法 (backformation) 缩略法 (shortening)

⑴ 取第一个词的首部接第二个词的尾部：

chunnel (channel + tunnel) 海底隧道

botel (boat + hotel) 汽艇游客旅馆 citrange (citron + orange) 柑橘 autocide (automobile+suicide) 撞车自杀

⑵ 保持第一个词的原形删去第二个词的首部：

Nixonomics (Nixon +economics) 尼克松的经济政策 workfare (work + welfare) 工作福利

⑶ 保持第二个词第原形删去第一个词第尾部：

helipad (helicopter + pad) 直升飞机升降场

medicaid (medical + aid) 医疗补助方案

⑷ 删去第一个词和第二个词的尾部：

psywar (psychological + warfare) 心理战

Amerind (American + Indian) 美洲印第安人sitcom (situation + comedy) 情景喜剧

IV ． Discussing the following questions

1. What did an English couple say about the French people, and what did a Frenchman say about the English people? Why do you think they showed a mutual feeling of dislike?

2. With the help of the information given in the Notes, explain the following

1) 200 years of failed cross-Channel-link schemes 2) 1,000 years of historical rift

3. How do you understand the sentence “The Chunnel rewrites geography, at least in the English psyche”?

REFERENCE ANSWERS:

1. An English retired civil servant said that he'd rather have England become the 51st state of the U.S. A. than have his country linked to France. He added that the French didn't care for anybody. His wife said that France was an awful place and that the French people drank wine all the time. She disliked French food and preferred to have English sauce with her food. In the meantime, a French farmer complained about English ketchup and about their not having any good wine. The British and the French people disliked each other because there had been long years of conflict between the two countries.

2. 1) 200 years of failed cross-Channel-link schemesThe Channel Tunnel Project had been discussed between B

ritain and France on govern mental levels for almost two hundred years. It was in 1802 that the first proposal for a Channel Tunnel was put forward by a French engineer. Since then the question was taken up again and again throughout the nineteenth century and for the most part of the twentieth century. It did not come to fruition until the last decade of the twentieth century.

2)   1,000 years of historical rift Beginning with the Norman Conquest in 1066 until the early nineteenth century, there had been incessant conflicts between Great Britain and France. All in all there was a rift between the two countries for about one thousand years.

3. The English Channel had served as a barrier to invasion of Britain for centuries, and invasion by tunnel was at one time "the ultimate British nightmare" (National Geographic, May 1994, p.39). As a matter of fact, whenever the idea of a link between the two countries emerged, there also appeared visions of invasion, and proposals for a link simply foundered. But the completion of the Chunnel has now joined Britain to the European continent. In other words, Britain is no longer an island. Thus the geographical condition is completely changed, especially to the British people.

V.Oral Work

Describe the construction site in your own words according to Part II.

VI. Assignments

1. Do exercises both in SB and WB

2. Preview Reading II