love_is_a_fallacy(英语修辞与写作_lecture_6-1)

love-is-a-fallacy课后习题答案Ⅰ．Ruskin：John Ruskin(1819—1900)，English critic and social theorist，was the virtual dictator of artistic opinion in England during the mid-19th century. Ruskin attended Oxford from 1836 to 1840 and won the Newdigate Prize for poetry. In 1843 appeared the first volume of Modern Painters. This work elaborates the principles that art is based on national and individual integrity and morality and also that art is a "universal language". The Seven Lamps of Architecture applied these same theories to architecture. About 1857, Ruskin’s art criticism became more broadly social and political. In his works he attacked bourgeois England and charged that modern art reflected the ugliness and waste of modern industry. Ruskin r s positive program for social reform appeared in Sesame and Lilies (1865), The Crown of Wild Olive (1866), Time and Tide (1867), and Fors Clavigera (8 vols. , 1871-- 1884). Many of his suggested programs--old age pensions, nationalization of education, organization of labor--have become accepted doctrine.Ⅱ . 1. The writer humorously uses words like "limp", "flaccid" and " spongy " to describe his essay . Nationally he doesn't believe his essay to be bad, or else he would not have written nor would it have been published. Max Shulman is well-knownfor his humor.2. The purpose of this essay, according to the writer, is to demonstrate that logic, far from being a dry, pedantic subject, is a living, breathing :thing, full of beauty, passion, and trauma. Logic may be an interesting subject, but it is definitely not a living, breathing, full of beauty, passion and trauma. The writer is exaggerating for the sake of humor.3. The narrator considers Petey Burch dumb as an ox because he thinks Petey to be unintelligent, an emotional and impressionable type of person. However, Peteyr s worst fault is that he is a faddist, he is swept up in every new craze that comes along.4. He decided to teach Polly Espy logic because he wanted not only a beautiful wife but also an intelligent one. The narrator wanted a wife who would help to further his career as a lawyer. He found Polly had all the necessary qualities except intelligence. This he decided to remedy by teaching her logic. He succeeded only too well for in the end Polly refused to go steady with him and employed all the "logical fallacies" she had been taught to reject his offer.5. (1) The fallacy of accident is committed by an argument that applies a general rule to a particular case in which somespecial circumstances ("accident") makes the rule inapplicable. This is the "Dicto Simpliciter" fallacy in the text.(2) The converse fallacy of accident argues improperly froma special case to a general rule. The fact that a certain drug is beneficial to some sick persons does not imply that it is beneficial to all men. This is the fallacy of "Hasty Generalization" in the text.(3) The fallacy of irrelevant conclusion is committed when the conclusion changes the point that is at issue in the premises. Special cases of irrelevant conclusion are presented by the so- called fallacies of relevance. These include: (a) the argu- ment "Ad Hominem " (speaking "against the man" rather than to the issue, or the fallacy of *'Poisoning the Well" mentioned in the text) in which the premises may only make a personal attack on a person who holds some thesis, instead of offering grounds showing why what he says is false; (b) the argument "Ad Miserieordiam" (an appeal to "pity"), as when a trial lawyer, rather than arguing for his client's innocence, tries to move the jury to sympathy for him. (4)The fallacy of circular argument or "begging the question" occurs when the premises presume, openly or covertly, the very conclusion that is tobe demonstrated (example :"Gregory always votes wisely. ""But how do you know? Because he always votes Libertarian. ").(5)The fallacy of false cause mislocates the cause of one phenomenon in another that is only seemingly related. The most common version of this fallacy, called "post hoc, ergo propter hoc", mistakes temporal sequence for causal connection--as when a misfortune is attributed to a "malign event", like the dropping of a mirror. (6)The fallacy of many questions consists in demanding or giving a single answer to a question when this answer could either be divided (example: "Do you like the twins?""Neither yes nor no; but Ann yes and Mary no. ")or refused altogether, because a mistaken presupposition is involved (example-"Have you stopped beating your wife?").(7)The fallacy of "non Sequitur" ("it does not follow"), still more drastic than the preceding, occurs when there is not even a deceptively plau- sible appearance of valid reasoning, because there is a virtually complete lack of connection between the given premises and the conclusion drawn from them. Ⅲ.1. The title of the story is humorous and well chosen. It has two meanings. When "fallacy" is taken in its ordinary sense, the title means: "There is a deceptive or delusive quality about love. " When it is taken as a specific term in logic,the title means. "Love cannot be deduced from a set of given premises. "2. Yes, I can. The whole story is satirizing a smug, self-conceited freshman in a law school. The freshman is made the narrator of the story who goes on smugly boasting and singing praises of himself at every chance he could get. From the very beginning in paragraph 4, he begins to help on himself all the beautiful words of praise he can think: cool, powerful, precise and penetrating. At the same time the narrator takes every opportunity to downgrade Petey Bureh. For example, he calls him "dumb", "nothing upstairs ", "'unstable ", "impressionable" and "'a faddist ".And as for Polly Espy, she is "a beautiful dumb girl", who would smarten up under his guidance.3. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that logic, far from being a dry, pedantic subject, is a living, breathing thing, full of beauty, passion, and trauma. Logic may be an interesting subject. The writer is exaggerating for the sake of humor. The writer employs a whole variety of writing techniques to make his story vivid, dramatic and colorful. The lexical spectrum is colorful from the ultra learned terms used by the conceited narrator to the infra clipped vulgar formsof Polly Espy. He uses figurative language profusely and also grammatic inversion for special emphasis. The speed of the narration is maintained by the use of short sentences, ellip- tical sentences and dashes throughout the story. This mix adds to the realism of the story,4. The writer deliberately makes Polly Espy use a lot of exclamatory words like "Gee," "Oo", "' wow-dow " and clipped vulgar forms like "delish", "marvy", "sesaysh", etc. to create the impression of a simple and rather stupid girl. This contrasts strongly with the boasting of the narrator and thus helps to increase the force of satire and irony.5. The narrator does such a final attempt to make Polly forget the fallacies he has taught her. He may yet be able to convince Polly that he loves her and that she should go steady118 with him.6. The topic sentence of paragraph 50 is the second sentence--"He was a torn man. " The writer develops the paragraph by describing the behavior of the torn man. In other words, he uses illustrative examples to develop the theme stated in his topic sentence.7. Because he begged Polly's love, which was refused. He might get the same result as Frankenstein, who created a monster thatdestroyed him, not as Pygmalion, who was loved by his own statue of Galatea.8. The conclusion is ironic because the whole thing backfires on the narrator when Polly refutes all his arguments as logical fallacies before finally rejecting him. The end of the story finds that the narrator has got what he deserves. He has been too clever for his own good.IV. 1. The fallacy of unqualified generalization or "a dicto simpliciter ad dictum secundum quid".2. The fallacy of Hasty Generalization.3. The fallacy of "post hoe, ergo propter hoc".4. The fallacy of Hypothesis Contrary to Fact.5. The fallacy of "post hoc, ergo propter hoe".6. The fallacy of Ad Misericordiam.7. The fallacy of unqualified generalization.8. The fallacy of HaMy Generalization.V. See the translation of the text.Vl. 1. discipline :a branch of knowledge or learning2. dynamo: an earlier form for generator, a machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy3. flight :fleeing or running away from4. Charleston: a lively dance in 4/4 time, characterized bya twisting step and popular during the 1920's5. shed: cast off or lose hair6．in the swim：conforming to the current fashions。

The story was set in one of the Universities in the United States of America。

Dobie, according to his own assessment, is a cool，logical，keen, calculating，perspicacious，acute and astute guy who wanted to have a girl named Polly. Polly was a beautiful, gracious，intelligent girl。

Polly by then was dating the main character's roommate Petey。

Petey was eager to have a raccoon coat so that he can be in the swim as the Big Men in campus。

Dobie wanted to exchange the girl by giving him a raccoon coat. The narrator’s tone was humorous in the later story when he was hanging out with Polly and he thought he was excellent enough to date with Polly。

Rather than being nothing upstairs and emotional type just like Petey, he taught Polly 8 logic fallacies in order to make her smart. However, it is a satire that the girl turn down Dobie’s request of being his girlfriend with the logical statement Dobie taught her。

love is a fallacy一文中修辞手段的应用美国著名的幽默作家Max Shu man的精彩之作Love is aFallcy;语句幽默,运用了多种修辞方法,充满讽刺意味,达到了很好的语言表现效果。

明喻：一种最常见的修辞方法,就是将具有某种共同特征的两种不同事物加以对比,用另一种事物比方所要说明的事物，使语言形象生动0Charles Lamb, as merry and enterprising a fellowv as you wa month of Sundaysmcet h ypineo sous ie poerhlas a dgnmo as prcie as a chenefs scales as penetrating as a scalpel 暗喻：隐喻要靠读者自己去意会的比喻。

隐喻没有指明两个不同事物共同点而是用一个具有形象意义的词来直接称谓代替)某个事物。

这情,更具表that logic, far fion being a dry pedantic discipline, is a living breath inth ing fill of beauty passion, and traumaMaybe somewhere in the extinct crater of her m ind a fwembers still smolded Maybe samehow I cou ld fan them into flamt借代：文章时不直接说出所要表达的人或事物,而是借用与它有密切相关的人或事物来代替,这种修辞方法叫借代。

恰当地运用代可以突出事物的本质特征,增强语言的形象性,而且可以使文笔简洁精炼,语言富于变化和幽默感移就：又称词语移用,就是有意识的把描写甲事物的词语移用来描写乙事物，是在特殊语言环境中改变词语搭配关系的一种临时迁用。

从语言逻辑上看,好像不合规范,也不合情理,但在具体的语言环境中,它却能赋予个词语以新的意义,增强语言的表达效0I said with mysterious wink and closed my bag and left” pa40Amyseriouswink 就是一个典型的移就的例子。

Cool was I and logical. Keen, calculating, perspicacious, acute and astute—I was all of these. My brain was as powerful as a dynamo, precise as a chemist’s scales, as penetrating as a scalpel. And—think of it!—I only eighteen.我这个人头脑冷静，逻辑思维实力强。

敏锐、慎重、聪慧、深刻、机灵一一这些就是我的特点。

我的大脑像发电机一样发达，像化学家的天平一样精确，像手术刀一样锐利。

一一你知道吗?我才十八岁呀。

It is not often that one so young has such a giant intellect. Take, for example, Pete y Bellows, my roommate at the university. Same age, same background, but dumb a s an ox. A nice enough fellow, you understand, but nothing upstairs. Emotional type. Unstable. Impressionable. Worst of all, a faddist. Fads, I submit, are the very negat ion of reason. To be swept up in every new craze that comes along, to surrender o neself to idiocy just because everybody else is doing it—this, to me, is the acme of mindlessness. Not, however, to Petey.年纪这么轻而智力又如此非凡的人并不常有。

在进入今天主题,讲述我和小美的故事之前我想先给大家推荐这样的一片文章，其实正是因为我自己的经历我才深深的懂得了这篇文章的内在,而我希望将它跟大家分享，如果你在爱情里面遇到类似的问题，那么我相信这篇文章会给你一点启示的,当然同时,你也可以提升自己的英文。

Love Is a Fallacy《爱情是个谬误》这是一篇我非常喜欢的文章，这也是在大学里我教授的三年级外语专业学生高级英语课本里面的一篇经典文章,国外的大学生也会同步在写作课学习这篇文章。

以前我喜欢它只是单纯把它当做一篇幽默的文章来对待，其实也没有深深的去体会过其中滋味，但是现在我才真正体会到为什么爱情是一个谬误。

主人公是一个非常自信甚至很自负的法学院大一男生Dobbie，他自认为又帅，又有才，他看上了自己室友的女友，很想得到那个女生，但是这个女生Polly 只是一个表面很漂亮但却很没有脑子的女生，所以Dobbie决定要先改变这个女孩，把她变聪明之后再得到她。

当然第一步是得先得到室友的同意。

室友是一个拜金狂，依然没有脑子，于是Dobbie用一件浣熊大衣作为交换条件就轻松得到了室友的许可，于是就和Polly开始约会了。

约会的内容就是教不同的逻辑谬误给Polly，为的就是让她变聪明，因为主人公认为逻辑是让人变聪明的法宝，于是约会就这么开始了，他教授的逻辑问题如下：1. 绝对判断（Dicto Simpliciter）的谬误.例子如下：“运动是非常有益的，它能增强体质，所以每个人都应该做运动!”，这个论断是明显错误的，因为运动有益是一种无条件的前提。

比方说，假设你得了心脏病，运动不但无益，反而有害，有不少人医生就不准他们运动。

你必须给这种前提加以限制。

你应该说，一般来说运动是有益的。

或者说,对大多数人是有益的。

否则就是犯了绝对判断的错误2. 草率结论（Hasty Generalization）的谬误。

例子如下：“你不会讲法语，我不会讲法语，皮蒂也不会讲法语.因此我就会断定在明尼苏达大学谁也不会讲法语.”。

在进入今天主题，讲述我和小美的故事之前我想先给大家推荐这样的一片文章，其实正是因为我自己的经历我才深深的懂得了这篇文章的内在，而我希望将它跟大家分享，如果你在爱情里面遇到类似的问题，那么我相信这篇文章会给你一点启示的，当然同时，你也可以提升自己的英文。

Love Is a Fallacy《爱情是个谬误》这是一篇我非常喜欢的文章，这也是在大学里我教授的三年级外语专业学生高级英语课本里面的一篇经典文章，国外的大学生也会同步在写作课学习这篇文章。

以前我喜欢它只是单纯把它当做一篇幽默的文章来对待，其实也没有深深的去体会过其中滋味，但是现在我才真正体会到为什么爱情是一个谬误。

主人公是一个非常自信甚至很自负的法学院大一男生Dobbie,他自认为又帅，又有才，他看上了自己室友的女友，很想得到那个女生，但是这个女生Polly只是一个表面很漂亮但却很没有脑子的女生，所以Dobbie决定要先改变这个女孩，把她变聪明之后再得到她。

当然第一步是得先得到室友的同意。

室友是一个拜金狂，依然没有脑子，于是Dobbie用一件浣熊大衣作为交换条件就轻松得到了室友的许可，于是就和Polly开始约会了。

约会的内容就是教不同的逻辑谬误给Polly，为的就是让她变聪明，因为主人公认为逻辑是让人变聪明的法宝，于是约会就这么开始了，他教授的逻辑问题如下：1. 绝对判断（Dicto Simpliciter）的谬误。

例子如下：“运动是非常有益的，它能增强体质，所以每个人都应该做运动!”，这个论断是明显错误的，因为运动有益是一种无条件的前提。

比方说，假设你得了心脏病，运动不但无益，反而有害，有不少人医生就不准他们运动。

你必须给这种前提加以限制。

你应该说，一般来说运动是有益的。

或者说，对大多数人是有益的。

否则就是犯了绝对判断的错误2. 草率结论（Hasty Generalization）的谬误。

例子如下：“你不会讲法语，我不会讲法语，皮蒂也不会讲法语。

《爱情是谬误》中的修辞手法与幽默效果探微【摘要】美国幽默大师马克斯·舒尔曼的幽默叙事作品《爱情是谬误》讲述了三个普通美国大学生的校园爱情故事,充满了趣味和幽默。

本文通过具体例证,分析《爱情是谬误》中幽默的具体表现形式,指出修辞手法是实现幽默效果的有效手段。

【关键词】《爱情就是谬误》；幽默；修辞Rhetorical Devices to Achieve Humorous Effects in Love is a FallacyZeng Wei-kunAbstract: Love is a Fallacy , by American humorist Max Shulman , narrates a satirical love story between three college students .Various rhetorical devices are applied to achieve humorous effects in the text , which is chiefly illustrated in this essay.Key words: Love is a Fallacy; humor ; rhetorical devices《爱情是谬误》（Love is a Fallacy）是美国作家马克思·舒尔曼（Max Shulman）的一篇幽默小品文。

作者通过一个看似矛盾的标题，以谬误为线索，围绕着一件浣熊皮大衣，引出了一个发生在三个大学生之间的生动而幽默的故事，从而似乎圆满地论证了“爱情是谬误”这一命题的正确性。

修辞是一门言语表达的艺术。

《爱情是谬误》除了采用丰富的俚语和俗语以外，还使用了大量的修辞手法，语言生动、富有戏剧性,具有极大的感染性和艺术性。

本文以该篇文章为例，分析其中各种修辞技巧，指出修辞所具有的语言艺术魅力。

一、明喻(simile)明喻是最常见的修辞方法之一，就是将具有某种共同特征的两种不同事物加以对比，用另一种事物比方所要说明的事物，使语言形象生动。

ove is a fallacy的修辞艺术1. 爱情的虚幻性爱情被认为是一种神圣的情感，但实际上它也有虚幻的一面。

爱情有时会让人感到欢乐，但也可能会让人失望。

爱情可以让人拥有无限的希望，但也可能会让人绝望。

爱情可以让人感受到美好的幸福，但也可能会让人感到无助。

爱情可以让人拥有无尽的力量，但也可能会让人感到无助。

爱情可以让人拥有真实的快乐，但也可能会让人感到空虚。

爱情有时会让人感到安全，但也可能会让人感到不安。

爱情可以让人拥有无尽的美好，但也可能会让人感到痛苦。

爱情可以让人拥有无限的梦想，但也可能会让人感到失望。

爱情可以让人拥有无尽的持久力，但也可能会让人感到空虚。

爱情可以让人拥有无尽的勇气，但也可能会让人感到恐惧。

总而言之，爱情是一种虚幻的情感，它既可以给人带来幸福，也可以给人带来痛苦。

2. 爱情的谬误爱情有时会让人们盲目地追求，以至于忽略了最重要的事情：爱情本身。

人们会把爱情当做一种财富，而不是一种情感，这就是爱情的谬误。

人们会把爱情当做一种工具，用来获得财富和地位，而不是一种温暖的感情。

人们会把爱情当做一种游戏，用来获得胜利，而不是一种真正的情感。

这些谬误使得人们忽略了爱情的真正含义，也使得爱情变得更加脆弱。

3. 爱情的虚假性爱情是一种虚假的情感，它可以让人们感到有安全感，但它也可以让人们陷入痛苦的困境。

爱情可以让人们变得更加自私，甚至可以让人们失去理智。

爱情可以让人们变得更加自私，甚至可以让人们失去理智。

爱情可以让人们变得更加自私，甚至可以让人们失去理智。

爱情可以让人们变得更加自私，甚至可以让人们失去理智。

爱情可以让人们变得更加自私，甚至可以让人们失去理智。

爱情可以让人们变得更加自私，甚至可以让人们失去理智。

爱情可以让人们变得更加自私，甚至可以让人们失去理智。

爱情可以让人们失去理智，从而让人们做出一些他们后悔的事情。

爱情可以让人们放弃自己的价值观，甚至可以让人们变得更加自私。

爱情可以让人们做出一些可能会损害他人的事情，而不去考虑后果。

LoveisaFallacy原文Love is a FallacyMax Shulman1 Charles Lamb, as merry and enterprising a month of Sundaysa fellow as you will meet in a month of Sundays, unfettered the informal essay with his memorable Old China and Dream's Children. There follows an informal essay that ventures even beyond Lamb's frontier, indeed, "informal" may not be quite the right word to describe this essay; "limp" or "flaccid" or possibly "spongy" are perhaps more appropriate.2 Vague though its category, it is without doubt an essay. It develops an argument; it cites instances; it reaches a conclusion. Could Carlyle do more? Could Ruskin?3 Read, then, the following essay which undertakes to demonstrate that logic, far from being a dry,pedantic discipline, is a living, breathing thing, full of beauty, passion, and trauma--Author's Note4 Cool was I and logical. Keen, calculating,perspicacious, acute and astute--I was all of these. My brain was as powerful as a dynamo, as precise as a chemist's scales, as penetrating as a scalpel. And--think of it! --I was only eighteen.5 It is not often that one so young has such a giant intellect. Take, for example, Petey Butch, my roommate at the University of Minnesota. Same age, same background, but dumb as an ox. A nice enough youngfellow, you understand, but nothing upstairs. Emotional type. Unstable. Impressionable. Worst of all, a faddist. Fads, I submit, are the very negation of reason. To be swept up in every newcraze that comes along, to surrender yourself to idiocy just because everybody else is doing it--this, to me, is the acme of mindlessness. Not, however, to Petey.6 One afternoon I found Petey lying on his bed with an expression of such distress on his face that I immediately diagnosed appendicitis. "Don't move," I said. "Don't take a laxative. I'll get a doctor."7 "Raccoon," he mumbled thickly.8 "Raccoon?" I said, pausing in my flight.9 "1 want a raccoon coat," he wailed.10 I perceived that his trouble was not physical, but mental. "Why do you want a raccoon coat?"11 "1 should have known it," he cried, pounding his temples. "1 should have known they'd come back when the Charleston came back. Like a fool I spent all my money for textbooks, and now I can't get a raccoon coat."12 "Can you mean." I said incredulously, "that people are actually wearing raccoon coats again?"13 "All the Big Men on Campus are wearing them. Where've you been?"14 "In the library," I said, naming a place not frequented by Big Menon Campus15 He leaped from the bed and paced the room, "I've got to have a raccoon coat," he said passionately. "I've got to!"16 "Petey, why? Look at it rationally. Raccoon coats are unsanitary. They shed. They smell bad. They weight too much. They're unsightly. They--"17 " You don't understand," he interrupted impatiently. "It's the thing to do. Don't you want to be in the swim?"18 "No," I said truthfully.19 "Well, I do," he declared. "I'd give anything for a raccoon coat. Anything!"20 My brain, that precision instrument, slipped into high gear. "Anything?" I asked, looking at him narrowly.21 "Anything," he affirmed in ringing tones.22 I stroked my chin thoughtfully. It so happened that I knew where to set my hands on a raccoon coat. My father had had one in his undergraduate days; it lay now in a trunk in the attic back home. It also happened that Petey had something I wanted. He didn't have it exactly, but at least he had first rights on it. I refer to his girl, Polly Espy.23 I had long coveted Polly Espy. Let me emphasize that my desire for this young woman was not emotional in nature. She was, to be sure, a girl who excited the emotions but I was not one to let my heart rule myhead. I wanted Polly for a shrewdly calculated, entirely cerebral reason.24 I was a freshman in law school. In a few years I would be out in practice. I was well aware of the importance of the right kind of wife in furthering a lawyer's career. The successful lawyers I had observed were, almost without exception, married to beautiful, gracious, intelligent women. With one omission, Polly fitted these specifications perfectly.25 Beautiful she was. She was not yet of pin-up proportions but I felt sure that time would supply the lack She already had the makings.26 Gracious she was. By gracious I mean full of graces. She had an erectness of carriage, an ease of bearing, a poise that clearly indicated the best of breeding, At table her manners wereexquisite. I had seen her at the Kozy Kampus Korner eating the specialty of the house--a sandwich that contained scraps of pot roast, gravy, chopped nuts, and a dipper of sauerkraut--without even getting her fingers moist.27 Intelligent she was not. in fact, she veered in the opposite direction. But I believed that under my guidance she would smarten up. At any rate, it was worth a try. It is, after all, easier to make a beautiful dumb girl smart than to make an ugly smart girl beautiful.28 "Petey," I said, "are you in love with Polly Espy?"29 "1 think she's a keen kid," he replied, "but I don't know if you'd call it love. Why?"30 "Do you," I asked, "have any kind of formal arrangement withher? I mean are you going steady or anything like that?"31 "No. We see each other quite a bit, but we both have other dates. Why?"32 "Is there," I asked, "any other man for whom she has a particular fondness?"33 "Not that I know of. Why?"34 I nodded with satisfaction. "In other words, if you were out of the picture, the field would be open. Is that right?"35 "1 guess so. What are you getting at?"36 "Nothing, nothing," I said innocently, and took my suitcase out of the closet.37 "Where are you going?" asked Petey.38 "Home for the weekend." I threw a few things into the bag.39 "Listen," he said, clutching my arm eagerly, "while you're home, you couldn't get some money from your old man, could you, and lend it to me so I can buy a raccoon coat?"40 "1 may do better than that," I said with a mysterious wink and closed my bag and left.41 "Look," I said to Petey when I got back Monday morning.I threw open the suitcase and revealed the huge, hairy, gamy object that my father had worn in his Stutz Bearcat in 1925.42 "Holy Toledo!" said Petey reverently. He plunged his hands intothe raccoon coat and then his face. "Holy T oledo!" he repeated fifteen or twenty times.43 "Would you like it?" I asked.44 "Oh yes!" he cried, clutching the greasy pelt to him. Thena canny look came into his eyes. "What do you want for it?"45 "Your girl," I said,mincing no words.46 "Polly?" he said in a horrified whisper. "You want Polly?"47 "That's right."48 He flung the coat from him. "Never," he said stoutly.49 I shrugged. "Okay. If you don't want to be in the swim, I guess it's your business."50 I sat down in a chair and pretended to read a book, but out of the corner of my eye I kept watching Petey. He was a torn man. First he looked at the coat with the expression of a waif at a bakery window. Then he turned away and set his jaw resolutely. Then he looked back at the coat, with even more longing in his face. Then he turned away, but with not so much resolution this time. Back and forth his head swiveled, desire waxing, resolution waning. Finally he didn't turn away at all; he just stood and stared with mad lust at the coat.51 "It isn't as though I was in love with Polly," he said thickly. "Or going steady or anything like that."52 "That's right," I murmured.53 "What's Polly to me, or me to Polly?"54 "Not a thing," said I.55 "It's just been a casual kick--just a few laughs, that's all."56 "Try on the coat," said I.57 He complied. The coat bunched high over his ears and dropped all the way down to his shoe tops. He looked like a mound of dead raccoons. "Fits fine," he said happily.58 I rose from my chair. "Is it a deal?" I asked, extending my hand.59 He swallowed. "It's a deal," he said and shook my hand.60 I had my first date with Polly the following evening. This was in the nature of a survey; I wanted to find out just how much work I had to do to get her mind up to the standard I required. I took her first to dinner. "Gee, that was a delish （=delicious）dinner," she said as we left the restaurant. Then I took her to a movie. "Gee, that was a marvy (=marvelous) movie," she said as we left the theater. And then I took her home. "Gee, I had a sensaysh (=sensational) time," she said as she bade me good night.61 I went back to my room with a heavy heart. I had gravely underestimated the size of my task. This girl's lack of information was terrifying. Nor would it be enough merely to supply her with information First she had to be taught to think. This loomed as a project of no small dimensions, and at first I was tempted to give her back to Petey. But thenI got to thinking about her abundant physical charms and about the way she entered a room and the way she handled a knife and fork, and I decided to make an effort.62 I went about it, as in all things, systematically. I gave her a course in logic. It happened that I, as a law student, was taking acourse in logic myself, so I had all the facts at my finger tips. "Polly," I said to her when I picked her up on our next date, "tonight we are going over to the Knoll and talk."63 "0o, terrif (=terrific)," she replied. One thing I will say for this girl: you would go far to find another so agreeable.64 We went to the Knoll, the campus trysting place, and we sat down under an old oak, and she looked at me expectantly. "What are we going to talk about?" she asked.65 "Logic."66 She thought this over for a minute and decided she liked it. "Magnif (=magnificent)," she said.67 "Logic," I said, clearing my throat, "is the science of thinking. Before we can think correctly, we must first learn to recognize the common fallacies of logic. These we will take up tonight."68 "Wow-dow!" she cried, clapping her hands delightedly.69 I winced, but went bravely on. "First let us examine the fallacy called Dicto Slmpliciter."70 "By all means," she urged, batting her lashes eagerly.71, "Dicto Simpliciter means an argument based on an unqualified generalization. For example: Exercise is good. Therefore everybody should exercise."72 "1 agree," said Polly earnestly. "1 mean exercise is wonderful. I mean it builds the body and everything."73 "Polly," I said gently, "the argument is a fallacy. Exercise is good is an unqualified generalization. For instance, if you have heart disease, exercise is bad, not good. Many people are ordered by their doctors not to exercise. You must qualify the generalization. You must say exercise is usually good, or exercise is good for most people. Otherwise you have committed a DictoSimplioiter. Do you see?"74 "No, " she confessed. "But this is marvy. Do more! Do morel"75 "It will be better if you stop tugging at my sleeve," I told her, and when she desisted, I continued: "Next we take up a fallacy called Hasty Generalization. Listen carefully: You can't speak French. I can't speak French. Petey Burch can't speak French.I must therefore conclude that nobody at the University of Minnesota can speak French."76 "Really?" said Polly, amazed. "Nobody?"77 I hid my exasperation. "Polly, it's a fallacy. The generalization is reached too hastily. There are too few instances to support such a conclusion."78 " Know any more fallacies?" she asked breathlessly. "This is more fun than dancing even."79 I fought off a wave of despair. I was getting nowhere with this girl absolutely nowhere. Still, I am nothing if not persistent. I continued.80 "Next comes Post Hoc. Listen to this: Let's not take Bill on our picnic. Every time we take him out with us, it rains."81 "1 know somebody like that," she exclaimed. "A girl back home--Eula Becker, her name is, it never falls. Every single time we take her on a picnic--"82 "Polly," I said sharply, "it's a fallacy. Eula Becker doesn't cause the rain. She has no connection with the rain. You are guilty of Post Hoc if you blame Eula Becker."83 "I'11 never do that again," she promised contritely."Are you mad at me?"84 I sighed deeply. "No, Polly, I'm not mad."85 "Then tell me some more fallacies."86 "All right. Let's try Contradictory Premises."87 "Yes, let's," she chirped, blinking" her eyes happily.88 I frowned, but plunged ahead. "Here's an example of Contradictory Premises: If God can do anything, can He make a stone so heavy that He won't be able to lift it?"89 "Of course," she replied promptly.90 "But if He can do anything, He can lift the stone," I pointed out.91 "Yeah," she said thoughtfully. "Well, then I guess He can't make the stone."92 "But He can do anything," I reminded her.93 She scratched her pretty, empty head. "I'm all cofused," she admitted.94 "Of course you are. Because when the premises of an argument contradict each other, there can be no argument. If there is an irresistible force, there can be no immovable object. If there is an immovable object, there can be no irresistible force. Get it?"95 "Tell me some more of this keen stuff," she said eagerly.96 I cousulted my watch. "1 think we'd better call it a night. I'll take you home now, and you go over all the things you've learned. We'll have another session tomorrow night."97 I deposited her at the girls' dormitory, where she assured me that she had had a perfectly terrif evening, and I went glumly to my room. Petey lay snoring in his bed, the raccoon coat huddled like a great hairy beast at his feet. For a moment I considered waking him and telling him that he could have his girl back. It seemed clear that my project was doomed to failure. The girl simply had a logic-proof head.98 But then I reconsidered. I had wasted one evening: I mightas well waste another. Who knew? Maybe somewhere in the extinct craterof her mind, a few embers still smoldered. Maybe somehow I could fan them into flame. Admittedly it was not a prospect fraught with hope, butI decided to give it one more try.99 Seated under the oak the next evening I said, "Our first fallacy tonight is called Ad Misericordiam."100 She quivered with delight.101 "Listen closely," I said. "A man applies for a job. When the boss asks him what his qualifications are, he replies that he has a wife and six children at home, the wife is a helpless cripple, the children have nothing to eat, no clothes to wear, no shoes on their feet, there are no beds in the house, no coal in the cellar, and winter is coming."102 A tear rolled down each of Polly's pink cheeks. "Oh, this is awful, awful," she sobbed.103 "Yes, it's awful," I agreed, "but it's no argument. The man never answered the boss's questions about his qualifications. Instead he appealed to the boss's sympathy. He committed the fallacy of Ad Misericordiam. Do you understand?"104 "Have you got a handkerchief?" she blubbered.105 I handed her a handkerchief and tried to keep from screaming while she wiped her eyes. "Next," I said in a carefully controlled tone, "we will discuss False Analogy. Here is an example: Students should be allowed to look at their textbooks during examinations. After all,surgeons have X-rays to guide them during an operation, lawyers have briefs to guide them during a trial, carpenters have blueprints to guide them when they are building a house. Why,then, shouldn't students be allowed to look at their textbooks during an examination?"106 "There now," she said enthusiastically, "is the most marvy idea I've heard in years."107 "Polly," I said testily, "the argument is all wrong. Doctors, lawyers, and carpenters aren't taking a test to see how much they have learned, but students are. The situations are altogether different, and you can't make an analogy between them."108 "1 still think it's a good idea," said Polly.109 "Nuts," I muttered.Doggedly I pressed on. "Next we'll try Hypothesis Contrary to Fact."110 "Sounds yummy," was Polly's reaction.111 "Listen: If Madame Curie had not happened to leave a photographic plate in a drawer with a chunk of pitchblende (n.沥青油矿), the world today would not know about radium ."112 "True, true," said Polly, nodding her head. "Did you see the movie? Oh, it just knocked me out. That Walter Pidgeon is so dreamy. I mean he fractures me."113 "If you can forget Mr. Pidgeon for a moment," I said coldly, "I would like to point out that the statement is a fallacy. Maybe MadameCurie would have discovered radium at some later date. Maybe somebody else would have discovered it. Maybe any number of things would have happened. You can't start with a hypothesis that is not true and then draw any supportable conclusions from it."114 "They ought to put Walter Pidgeon in more pictures," said Polly. "I hardly ever see him any more.115 One more chance, I decided. But just one more. There is a limit to what flesh and blood can bear. "The next fallacy is calledPoisoning the Well."116 "How cute!" she gurgled.117 "Two men are having a debate. The first one gets up and says, …My oppo nent is a notorious liar. You can't believe a word that he is going to say. '... Now, Polly, think. Think hard. What's wrong?"118 I watched her closely as she knit her creamy brow in concentration. Suddenly, a g1immer of intelligence—the first I had seen--came into her eyes. "It's not fair," she said with indignation. "It's not a bit fair. What chance has the second man got if the first man calls him a liar before he even begins talking?"119 "Right!" I cried exultantly. "One hundred percent right. It's not fair. The first man has poisoned the well before anybody could drink from it. He has hamstrung his opponent before he could even start. … Polly, I?m proud of you."120 "Pshaw" she murmured, blushing with pleasure.121 "You see, my dear, these things aren't so hard All you have to do is concentrate. Think--examine—uate. Come now, let's review everything we have learned.”122 "Fire away," she said with an airy wave of her hand.123 Heartened by the knowledge that Polly was not altogether a cretin, I began a long, patient review of all I had told her. Over and over and over again I cited instances pointed out flaws, kept hammering away without let-up. It was like digging a tunnel. At first everything was work, sweat, and darkness. I had no idea when I would reach the light, or even if I would. But I persisted. I pounded and clawed and scraped, and finally I was rewarded. I saw a chink of light. And then the chink got bigger and the sun came pouring in and all was bright.124 Five grueling nights this took, but it was worth it. I hadmade a logician out of Polly; I had taught her to think. My job was done. She was worthy of me at last. She was a fit wife for me, a proper hostess for my many mansions, a suitable mother for my well-heeled children.125 It must not be thought that I was without love for this girl. Quite the contrary, Just as Pygmalion loved the perfect woman he had fashioned, so I loved mine. I determined to acquaint her with my feeling at our very next meeting. The time had come to change our relationship from academic to romantic.126 "Polly," I said when next we sat beneath our oak, "tonight we will not discuss fallacies."127 "Aw, gee," she said, disappointed.128 "My dear," I said, favoring her with a smile, “we have now spent five evenings together. We have gotten along splendidly. It is clear that we are well matched.”129 “Hasty Generalization,” said Polly brightly.130 “I beg your pardon,” said I.131 “Hasty Generalization,” she repeated. “How can you say that we are well matched o n the basis of only five dates?”132 I chuckled with amusement. The dear child had learned her lessons well. "My dear," I Said, Patting her hand in a tolerant manner, "five dates is plenty. After all, you don't have to eat a whole cake to know it's good."133 "False Analogy”, said Polly promptly. "I'm not a cake. I'm a girl.”134 I chuckled with somewhat less amusement. The dear child had learned her lessons perhaps too well. I decided to change tactics. Obviously the best approach was a simple, strong, direct declaration of love. I paused for a moment while my massive brain chose the proper words. Then I began:135 "Polly, I love you. You are the whole world to me, and the moonand the stars and the constellations of outer space. Please, my darling, say that you will go steady with me, for if you will not, life will be meaningless. I will languish (vi.憔悴). I will refuse my meals. I will wander the face of the earth, a shambling (摇摇晃晃地走), hollow-eyed hulk." shambling136 There, I thought, folding my arms, that ought to do it.137 "Ad Misericordiam,” Said Polly.138 I ground my teeth. I was not Pygmalion; I was Frankenstein, and my monster had me by the throat. Frantically I fought back the tide of panic surging through me. At all costs I had to keep cool.139 "Well, Polly," I said, forcing a smile, "you certainly have learned your fallacies."140 "You?re darn right," she said with a vigorous nod.141 "And who taught them to you, Polly?"142 "You did."143 "That's right. So you do owe me something, don't you, my dear? If I hadn't come along you never would have learned about fallacies."144 "Hypothesis Contrary to Fact," she said instantly.145 I dashed perspiration from my brow. "Polly," I croaked, "you mustn't take all these things so literally. I mean this is just classroom stuff. You know that the things you learn in school don't have anything to do with life."146 "Dicto Simpliciter," she said, wagging her finger at me playfully.147 That did it. I leaped to my feet, bellowing like a bull. "Will you or will you not go steady with me?"148 "I will not," she replied.149 "Why not?" I demanded.150 "Because this afternoon I promised Petey Burch that I would go steady with him."151 I reeled back, overcome with the infamy of it. After he promised, after he made a deal, after he shook my hand! "The rat!I shrieked, kicking up great chunks of turf. "You can't go with him, Polly. He's a liar. He's a cheat. He's a rat."152 "Poisoning the Well," said Polly, "and stop shouting. I think shouting must be a fallacy too."153 With an immense effort of will, I modulated my voice. "All right," I said. "You're a logician. Let's look at this thing logically. How could you choose Petey Burch over me? Look at me--a brilliant student, a tremendous intellectual, a man with an assured future. Look at Petey--a knothead, a jitterbug, a guy who'll never know where his next meal is coming from. Can you give me one logical reason why you should go stead with Petey Burch?"154 "I certainly can," declared Polly. "He's got a raccoon coat."。

love-is-a-fallacy-详细讲解-复习Introduction to the text:1. This text is a piece of narrative writing, a story.2. The narrator of the story, Dobie Gillis, a freshman in a law school, is the hero or protagonist(主角，正派角色）. He struggles against two antagonists（反派角色）: Petey Burch, his roommate whose girlfriend he plans to steal; and Polly Espy, the girl he intends to marry after suitable re-education.3. The climax（高潮）of the story is reached in paragraphs147 to150 when Polly refuses to go steady with the narrator because she had already promised to go steady with Petey Burch.4. The denouement（结局）follows rapidly and ends on a very ironic tone.About the Title---The title of the story is humorous and well-chosen. It has two meanings:1. When “fallacy”is taken in its ordinary sense, the title means:There is a deceptive（虚伪的，欺诈的）or delusive（欺瞒的，迷惑的）quality about love.2. When “fallacy”is taken as a specific term in logic, the title means:Love cannot be deduced（推理）from a set of given premises.Perhaps Max Shulman wants the reader, after reading the story, to conclude that “love”is an error, a deception and an emotion that does not follow the principles of logic. But the writer, through this story has succeeded perhaps unwittingly(无意地) in revealing what love may sometimes mean in the affluent society（物质社会）. Girls do not want brilliant, gifted or educated husbands, but want husbands who are rich and wealthy enough to provide all the things necessary in life—home, clothes, cars, etc..Pay attention to his change of emotions:1. favoring her with a smile2. chuckled with amusement3. chuckled with somewhat less amusement4. forcing a smile/ ground my teeth5. croaked, dashed perspireDetailed study of the textenterprising: ad. having or showing enterprise 有事业心的；有胆量的；富于创业精神的It’s very enterprising of them to try and start up a business like that.as…as: a correlative construction used to indicate the equality or sameness of two things.He is as strong as an ox.month of Sundays: (colloquial口语体的) long timeunfettered: ad. (fml. or lit.) free from control; not tied by several rulesThe new city developed quickly, unfettered by the usual planning regulations.limp: ad. drooping; lacking firmness 无力的；易弯的I like lettuce to be crisp, not limp and soggy.我喜欢莴苣是脆的，不喜欢软而湿乎乎的。

在进入今天主题，讲述我和小美的故事之前我想先给大家推荐这样的一片文章，其实正是因为我自己的经历我才深深的懂得了这篇文章的内在，而我希望将它跟大家分享，如果你在爱情里面遇到类似的问题，那么我相信这篇文章会给你一点启示的，当然同时，你也可以提升自己的英文。

Love Is a Fallacy《爱情是个谬误》这是一篇我非常喜欢的文章，这也是在大学里我教授的三年级外语专业学生高级英语课本里面的一篇经典文章，国外的大学生也会同步在写作课学习这篇文章。

以前我喜欢它只是单纯把它当做一篇幽默的文章来对待，其实也没有深深的去体会过其中滋味，但是现在我才真正体会到为什么爱情是一个谬误。

主人公是一个非常自信甚至很自负的法学院大一男生Dobbie,他自认为又帅，又有才，他看上了自己室友的女友，很想得到那个女生，但是这个女生Polly 只是一个表面很漂亮但却很没有脑子的女生，所以Dobbie决定要先改变这个女孩，把她变聪明之后再得到她。

当然第一步是得先得到室友的同意。

室友是一个拜金狂，依然没有脑子，于是Dobbie用一件浣熊大衣作为交换条件就轻松得到了室友的许可，于是就和Polly开始约会了。

约会的内容就是教不同的逻辑谬误给Polly，为的就是让她变聪明，因为主人公认为逻辑是让人变聪明的法宝，于是约会就这么开始了，他教授的逻辑问题如下：1. 绝对判断（Dicto Simpliciter）的谬误。

例子如下：“运动是非常有益的，它能增强体质，所以每个人都应该做运动!”，这个论断是明显错误的，因为运动有益是一种无条件的前提。

比方说，假设你得了心脏病，运动不但无益，反而有害，有不少人医生就不准他们运动。

你必须给这种前提加以限制。

你应该说，一般来说运动是有益的。

或者说，对大多数人是有益的。

否则就是犯了绝对判断的错误2. 草率结论（Hasty Generalization）的谬误。

例子如下：“你不会讲法语，我不会讲法语，皮蒂也不会讲法语。

The story was set in one of the Universities in the United States of America。

Dobie, according to his own assessment, is a cool，logical，keen, calculating，perspicacious，acute and astute guy who wanted to have a girl named Polly. Polly was a beautiful, gracious，intelligent girl。

Polly by then was dating the main character's roommate Petey。

Petey was eager to have a raccoon coat so that he can be in the swim as the Big Men in campus。

Dobie wanted to exchange the girl by giving him a raccoon coat. The narrator’s tone was humorous in the later story when he was hanging out with Polly and he thought he was excellent enough to date with Polly。

Rather than being nothing upstairs and emotional type just like Petey, he taught Polly 8 logic fallacies in order to make her smart. However, it is a satire that the girl turn down Dobie’s request of being his girlfriend with the logical statement Dobie taught her。