Unit 6 The Greatest Invention

Warming-up: Discussion;

Introduction to the background knowledge

Theme of the Text

Detailed discussion of the text

Teaching Procedures

Warming-up: Discussion What is the purpose of scientific research ?

Should it be “the idle curiosity” or “purposeful effort”?

Background Information  Lord Dunsany (July 24, 1878 -

October 25, 1957) was a well-established English writer and dramatist, who was best-known for his creative works in science and fantasies. Known as a master of the language, Dunsany wrote numerous short stories and 5 novels in his life time dealing with various issues in life.

Theme of the Text

On the surface, this text is just a funny little story, not to be taken seriously. But if we read more carefully, we find that the article does contain quite a few important things for us to think about. In other words, it should be read as a modern fable. The first thing that occurs to our minds is the realistic description of the world situation today. The next question naturally will be the purpose of science. This will lead to the next question, that is, what should scientists do in the circumstances? Should they just concentrate on their research without bothering about the social consequences of their discoveries or should they give their attention to their moral responsibility for what they bring to humanity?

Detailed discussion of the text 1.   “What do you think is going to happen, Jor

kens?” one of us asked one day at the club. Notice that the story about the scientist was first to

ld in the first person by the man with a big mustache Jorkens met in a Caribean country. It was then retold by Jorkens to us one day at the club. Jokens was obviously a member of our club who was probably generally acknowledged as the most well-informed and knowledgeable. Therefore we asked him that day what he thought was going to happen in the world.

2.              “There are so many inventions… of which we know nothing.”

Refer the students to the grammar exercises on “of which”, “about which”, “on which”, “for which”, “against which”,…etc

3.              “Now that a man can carry in a bag a bomb that is more powerful than several battleships, it is hard to find out what any country can do or will do next.”

This is no longer science fiction. When the technology for producing these terrible weapons is so easily available, the threat to the safety of the people in the world is only too real. Now the question is what we should do about this

4.              I was on a ship in the tropics, and we put into a port.

in the tropics: in the tropical area. Judging by the context, the story must have been set in the tropical areas near the Caribbean Sea.

put into a port(or to put in): to enter a port (said of a ship)

5.              I was tired of looking at the tropical sea, so I went ashore and walked into a tavern to see if they had any decent wines in that country.

go ashore: to go to the shore. “Ashore” here is an adverb. Observe the following adverbs containing the prefix “a-”: They were walking abreast. He was standing a few steps apart from them. She left the door ajar. Many of those visitors came from afar. decent wine: acceptable, good enough, e.g.    a decent meal, decent clothes, a decent job, a decent house, decent

wages, a decent hotel, etc.. .

6.              … with… a certain look in his eyes that made me wonder if he might not have something interesting to tell.

Somehow the way the man looked made Jorkens feel that this man probably had something interesting to tell. But the story did not say why.

7.              … I called for a bottle of the strange local wine.

I ordered a bottle of the strange local wine. ；

8.              When the bottle had been uncorked and the wine poured out, like liquid tropical sunlight, I watched it go down under that black mustache.

and the wine poured out: and the wine had been poured out (“Had been” had been omitted.)

Refresh the students’ memory of the use of the prefix “un-” in verbs, e.g.

   Unlock, unzip, undress, unwrap, unfold, uncap, uncover, unload

like liquid tropical sunlight: It suggests that the wine was pretty strong, like hot liquid sunlight..

9.              And when a certain amount had gone down, he began to talk.

And when the man had downed a few glasses, when he was half drunk, and his tongue was considerably loosened, he began to talk.

Notice the way Jorkens described this man. He appeared quite ridiculous, quite a drunkard really, but later on we learned that he had been a government official. The author probably just wanted to add a few humorous touches, but they also showed a racist attitude to Latin American people.

10.           “We aimed at the mastery of the whole Caribbean.”

“It was our aim or purpose to have complete control of the whole Caribbean.”

Notice the different meaning of the word “mastery” in this sentence:

  Everybody was impressed by her quick mastery of those complicated theories.

11.           “War is no longer a matter of armies; it depends on the intelligence of scientists.”

Modern wars do not depend on how big an army you have. The number of troops are no longer decisive. You depend more and more on high-tech, which means you depend more and more on the intelligence of scientists. We should not doubt notice this new trend. But this does not mean that we can now come to the conclusion that whoever has the most advanced science and technology is invincible and therefore can dictate to the whole world what they should or should not do.

12.           “And we had a scientist who, as I have since seen proved, had no rival west of the Atlantic.”

as I have since seen proved: as I have seen him proved without rival

have no rival: to be the very best west of the Atlantic: referring to Latin

American countries

13.           “You shall hear.” “Shall” here is used to show promise,

meaning that something is definite, certain to happen. This use is formal and old-fashioned.

14.           “…but I was in our Ministry of Warfare.”

See Note 3.

15.           …he was not at all what one would regard as the figure of a soldier.

Notice that the word “figure” is usually used to refer to the shape of a woman’s body, e.g.

She has a wonderful figure. You have to watch your diet if you want to keep

your figure. The word “figure” has many other meanings as in:

the exact figure (number); an important figure (person); a five-digit figure (money); to play the figure of a judge (character)

16.           “Our Minister… was a cavalry officer and could not adapt his ideas to modern science. He thought of war simply as an opportunity for cavalry charge and fine uniforms and glory.”

thought of war as: regard war as calvary charges: charges on horse back; charge: a

rush to the enemy to attack fine uniforms and glory: beautiful uniform and impr

essive appearance adapt to: This is not a new word. Just give the stud

ents a few more sentences to translate to enhance their memory:

  You have to adapt your teaching method to the kind of students you are dealing with now.

  He found it difficult to adapt to the new conditions.

17.           “ We had to get rid or him in order to fulfill our just aspirations.”

get rid of him: to get him out of the way or to remove him from office. Under a dictatorship it often means physical liquidation, involving a coup d’etat.

fulfill our just aspirations: to achieve our just goals aspiration: a strong desire to have or achieve sth. Observe the following common collocations of the

verb “fulfill”, to fulfill a hope; to fulfill a promise; to fulfill a wish; to fulfill a dream; to fulfill a pledge; to fulfill one’s duty; to fulfill one’s potential

18.           “And it is just that we should have it.”

Make sure that the students do not mix up this “just” with the adverb “just”..

19.           "Once, if a nation had twelve battleships it was a Great power…"

It refers to the 19th century when colonialists and imperialists pursued gunboat diplomacy. "Once" here means "at one time" or "there used to be a time" or "in the past". It should not be mixed up with the conjunction "once", e.g.

Once you leave the country, you'll miss a lot of things.

"Once" in this sentence means "the moment (something happens)".

20.           “But what if we know how to let loose a plague capable of destroying whole nations?”

For the use of “what if”, see Note 4. Simple as it may seem, this sentence actually is q

uite complicated grammatically. Ask the students to analyze the structure.

let loose: to let sb. or sth. go free plague: any disease causing death and spreading

quickly to a large number of people. Here, it specifically refers to the germ warfare, a deliberate war act of spreading germs in order to kill as many people as possible, combatants and civilians alike.

21.           “We looked for a new and deadlier germ.”

deadly (adj.): very dangerous, likely to cause death

Cf. deadly poison; deadly enemy (bitter enemy); deadly silence (complete silence)

deadly (adv.): deadly serious (very serious); deadly boring (very boring)

22.           “We knew that we had marvelous powers within our grasp, if only Carasierra could be kept at his work.”

have sth. within one’s grasp: to be able to achieve or attain sth, e.g.

 The were quite sure that they had the championship within their grasp.

For the use of “if only”, see Note 5. Could be kept at his work: the passive form of “cou

ld keep sb. at his work” Keep sb. at sh.: to force sb. to continue to do sth.

23.           “Idle, was he?” I said, for I thought it likely in a hot country like that.”

See Note 6. idle: inactive; lazy

24.           “Always spurred on by a fierce ambition. His very life was devoted to making inventions.”

Always spurred on by a fierce ambition: Always driven by a fierce ambition

fierce: very strong, done with very strong feelings and energy

Also: fierce emotions; fierce attack; fierce competition

very (adj.): used to emphasize a noun, e.g.    He died that very day.    This was the very place I found it. devote one’s life to (doing) sth.: Other nouns that c

an be used here are: time, energy, money, effort.

25.           “…but we forgot his folly.” folly: a very stupid thing to do, esp. sth. that will ha

ve serous consequences to the person who does it.

26.           “… he was more than content.”

content (adj.): happy and satisfied This word is not used before nouns. We can say,

“He was quite content.” But we have to say, “He died with a contented look.”

27.           “I tried everything: threats, appeals to him to think of our ancient glory, even bribes.”

think of our ancient glory: to think of his patriotic duty to help to recover our past glory

bribe (n.): sth., esp. money, offered or given in bribing

bribe (v.): to pay sb. as a bribe The word “bribe” is used in the following patterns:   He tried to bribe the custom officers to let them s

muggle in cars.   He was able to bribe the head of the personnel d

epartment for his promotion.

28.           “But nothing would turn him from his project. The splendor of his new inspiration gripped him, and he was like a man drugged.”

turn him from his project: to divert his attention from his project, to make him give up the project

project: an important and carefully-planned piece of work such as education projects, construction projects, research projects,etc.

splendor: impressive beauty gripped him: held his attention and interest very po

werfully

29.            “And the splendor of our position faded like dreams.”

position: Here, it refers to the places the man’s country was in relation to other countries.

fade (away) : to generally disappear (color, hopes, memory, dream, beauty, etc.).

30.           “We were so nearly one of the Great Powers but for a fancy that came to this man’s mind.”

but for a fancy: if not for a fancy; if a fancy had not gripped this man

31.           “But there was a queer light in his eyes that day, and really I think he hardly heard me. He would only say, ‘I have done it, have done it.’”

The way the man described the scientist was amusing. He obviously could not understand why the scientist behaved the way he did. He thought that he was stupid and queer, like a man drugged, because he could not make him afraid, and could not lure him with money.

32.           “I saw only a square yard of grass, marked off with a strip of white tape.”

this scientist obviously was more interested in creating rather than destroying life.

Mark an area off: to make an area separate by drawing a line around it or putting a rope around it.

a strip of: a thin narrow piece of (paper, cloth, tape, sand)

33.           “ ‘You see no blade different from the rest?’”

This is what some grammarians call “ an intonation question”—a statement in terms of word order, but a question in meaning. It is used when the expected response is yes. Notice this kind of questions always requires the used of the rising tune.

34.           “ ‘Then you have seen the most wonderful invention of all that man has made,’ he replied with a wild look in his eyes.”

A wild look: a crazy look, the way a person might look when he feels a strong and uncontrolled.

35.           “ ‘I do not work for use, but for wonder.’”

Should we work for use or wonder? Is it possible for people to do scientific research for truth? Isn’t the desire for money, position, recognition and other rewards absolutely necessary for successful work in the scientific field?

36.           “…and he gave me every facility, showing me the entire process in his laboratory.”

gave me every facility: gave me everything I needed to learn about the whole process

37.           “Whether it was that the stranger’s tale was told,” Jorkens concluded, putting down his glass, “ or that the influence of the strange wine was over, he fell then to silent brooding, gazing, as it seemed, into the past at the grip that his country had lost on the Caribbean, perhaps on the world.”

Jorkens implied that the man told the story under the influence of the wine, that is, when he was drunk.

Concluded: ended his narration Brood: to keep thinking for a long time about sth. t

hat makes you very angry or worried Loose grip on: to lose the power and control over