新视野大学英语第四册 Unit 5 (Book 4)

Unit 4 Fame and Success

I. Listen and Respond

1. Focusing on the Main Ideas

1) It’s mainly about how to set goals in one’s life.

2) This is because they all have clear goals. They know what they want in life and they go after

it.

3) They are: a) decide what you want; b) make clear your values; c) write them down; and d)

take action.

4) According to the passage, one should have written goals, careful choices, clear commitments

and daily persistence if he or she wants to be successful.

2. Zooming In on the Details

1) athletes

2) inspiring

3) accident

4) priorities

5) independence

6) intentions

7) specific

8) marriage

9) extraordinary

10) persistent

11) sketches

12) commitments

II. Text A---Discovering the Main Ieas

1.

1) In this essay, the author talks about the issue of fame. The main idea is that most people want

fame because fame can bring them celebrity, high regard, admiration, etc. However, the author

emphasizes that there are few people who can really capture fame and that fame is usually

short-lived. Fame can affect and sometimes even destroy one’s life.

2) The author takes an objective attitude towards fame with an emphasis on its negative side. He

believes that fame rewards one with money, power and popularity, but it may also enslave him and

destroy his life.

3) According to the author, to stay famous, an artist has to perform in the style that the public

wants and enjoys, no matter how bored he is of performing in the same style year after year. Any

attempt to change the style may result in the loss of his popularity among his fans.

4) To find excuses for the failures, people tend to claim that they are too sensitive, they are not

interested in money, they are not interested in the power that fame brings and they are not

interested in the loss of privacey it demands, etc.

5) According to the author, people chase fame because they want to demonstrate excellence in

some field; to gain the admiration and love of many others; to be the one everyone talks about; to

show family and friends that they are more than their family and friends thought they were.

6) Probably not. According to the author, fame takes “the you out of you”, which means that once

a person becomes famous, he must be what the public thinks he is, not what he really is or could be. Fame enslaves him with what the public wants, instead of helping him maintain and develop

his own identity or his true self.

2.

Part Paragraph(s) Main Idea

One 1-2 Fame enslaves the person who pursues it because once he becomes

famous, he will not only attract the public’s attention, but also has to work

and live in line with the public’s expectations. He then becomes the slave

of his own success.

Two 3-4 For those who look for fame, failure is not necessarily a bad thing,

especially for those who fail to perform well enough, because people tend

to be more tolerant towards and sympathetic with them.

Three 5 Though fame brings disadvantages to those who achieve it, people still

seek fame for various reasons.

Four 6 It is better to take a critical attitude towards fame.

III. Text A---Reading Between the Lines

1. According to the author, fame and the public attention that comes with it can destroy one’s

talent. Once you become famous, it is not you but the public that controls your fate. You have

to work and live in line with the public expectations.

2. Artists are no longer the master of themselves. In order to meet the public demands, they have

to perform in the same style year after year, no matter how bored they become.

3. Fame often affects how performers see their own talent and skills. It is easy for them to

believe that they are as perfect as what the media describe. They may indulge themselves in

that illusion and lose their own judgment about themselves.

4. Once you become famous, your opponents will pay more attention to you and they will seek

every opportunity to challenge or even attack you. You will also be exposed to the limelight

and the media may keep an eye on whatever you are doing.

IV. Text B---Checking Your Vocabulary

1.

2) d 3) g 4) a 5) c 6) h 7) b 8) f

2.

1) (n.) a first university degree in any of several subjects

(n.) an unmarried man

2) (n.) the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on

one’s way of life or behaviour

(n.) too much freedom in behaviour, taken without permission and sometimes regarded as rude

3) (n.) the point of highest activity, quality or achievement

(vi.) reach a highest point

4) (n.) a very strong feeling of excitement or joy

(vt.) cause to fell a sudden strong feeling of excitement or joy