Unit 1 Summary

Have you ever known anyone famous? If so, you may have

found that they are remarkably similar to the rest of us. You

may have even heard them __object __to people saying there is

anything different about them. “I’m really just a normal guy,”

__protests__ an actor who has recently rocketed into the spotlight.

There is, of course, usually a brief period when they actually

start to believe they are as great as their __worshipping__ fans

suggest. They start to wear __fancy__ clothes and talk as if

everyone should hear what they have to say. This period,

however, does not often last long. They fall back to reality as

fast as they had __originally__ risen above it all.

 

 

What will it feel like to soar to such __ altitude _ and look down

like an eagle from up high on everyone else? And what will it

feel like to have flown so high only to __ wake __ from your dream

and realize you are only human? Some only see the __ cruelty___

in losing something they had gained. They often make

__ desperate__ attempts to regain what they lost. Often these

efforts result in even greater pain. Some become __ bankrupt ___

financially and emotionally. The only real winners are those

who are happy to be back on the ground with the rest of us.

 

Unit 2 Summary 

Chaplin is a great comic not only for his own mother country

but more for the world. Chaplin’s Tramp was considered a

little _ crude_ and thought that he had too much of an eye for

the ladies and that his clothes gave him an _ appearance__

more like an Italian waiter than anything else. He resisted

making a _ talking __ movie until 1936 when he made up a

__ nonsense__ language which sounded like no known

nationality. Chaplin achieved great success because he

was an immensely _ talented_ man and the kind of comic who

used his _ physical__ senses to invent his art as he went along.

However, the __collision__ between the need to be loved

and the fear of being __betrayed__ resulted in disaster in

his emotional life which was shown in his movies.

Eventually, life gave Chaplin the stable __happiness__,

that is, his marriage with Oona O’Neil. Chaplin died on

__Christmas__ Day 1977.

 

 

 

Unit 3  Summary

Life in a wheelchair is tough. Living on welfare is just like

sharing a dinner of raw pet food __with__ the cat. Many welfare

__clients__ do not have money to __live__ a decent life. As a result,

lying and cheating the __welfare__ system for __extra__ money

becomes normal. However, some unusual individuals, who

have made a choice to live a life of complete __honesty__, do tell

the truth to caseworkers and __declare__ any extra income they

make. Being honest, however, is not without its problems.

 

Caseworkers will greatly __increase__ the frequency of their

visits and leave behind a small mountain of paper work for

the client to __fill__ out. The rules say that not a penny is to

be __unaccounted__ for. Not a single gift, no matter how small,

is to be unreported. These rules and the natural consequent

lying unfortunately tend to transform caseworkers from

being helpers of the poor to being __detectives constantly

searching for any forms of cheating.

 

Unit 4  Summary

Telecommunications is widely conceived as a key

to _ developing_____ countries’ dream of jumping into the

modern world. Although there is some dispute as

to how _ fast___ they can push ahead with their plans,

different developing countries are still seeking their

own ways of leaping over their __ backwardness__ with

one jump in this direction. Surely, they will catch up

with __ developed__ countries on the information super-

highway as long as they __ persist_ in their efforts.

 

Unit 5  Summary

While loneliness is very common in the U.S., few

people care to admit to it because it is perceived

as (1) __some sort of social disease__. It is seen as

admirable for American heroes to bravely go

alone into the wilderness and for poets and

phi losophers (2) __to seek out solitude__. Some

poets and philosophers, like William Wordsworth

and John Milton and Henry David Thoreau, enjoy

(3) __inspiration from solitude__. When an individual

is not solitary out of choice, the experience is

(4)__ both less enjoyable and productive___. It is

(5)__ our basic need____ to talk to someone not only

about the big things but also about the little

daily things. As a consequence, lonely people

will talk about the little things to themselves, the

cat, the dog and, (6)__ most embarrassingly____, to

total strangers. Therefore, it’s important for

ordinary people to (7)__ stay rational__, make

themselves comfortable at least temporarily,

and find some grace and pleasure in their home.

 

Unit 6  Summary

The book The History and Geography of Human

Genes was written after the __researchers__ have spent

16 years examining the _ genetic similarities _ between

the populations of the world. This was achieved

largely by taking the blood of hundreds of thousands

of _ individuals_______ from all around the world, and then

analyzing their __ blood proteins ____ .

 

Scientifically this has allowed the writers to discover the

__ routes__ taken by early people migrating around the

world and also to show that __ under the skin ___we are all

very similar on a genetic level. The ultimate goal of the

study, however, is not just _ scientific ___: it hopes to

have a __ social__ effect by proving that there is

no biological basic for __ racial prejudice _____.

 

Unit 8  Summary

As a young girl in a Negro town, Zora had no white neighbors,

and to her, white people were only __ different __ in that they

traveled __ through__ her hometown but didn’t live there.

However, when she arrived at Jacksonville, she suffered a

_ change__. She was no longer Zora of Eatonville, but became

the granddaughter of _ slaves___. When she looked in a mirror,

she was now looking at a little _ black__ girl. This, however,

had no _ ill_ effect on her. To her, _ slavery_ was something in

the _ past_. The Civil War had made her a _ full__ American

citizen and had given her the opportunity to push ahead and

_ succeed__ in life. She felt she had nothing to _ lose_ but

everything to _ gain__.

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