参考答案 - 选修第三册第四单元
UNIT 4 ADVERSITY AND COURAGE
Reading and Writing
① Read the passage about a famous person in ancient China and find out what adversity he faced.
FAN ZHONGYAN
Perhaps one of the most famous sayings in China is, "To be the first to feel concern for the troubles of the world, and the last to enjoy its pleasures." Written by Fan Zhongyan, this 11th century proverb provides a goal for all Chinese government officials to aspire to.
Fan Zhongyan (989—1052) himself was a good example of someone who lived by these words. Fan was born in Suzhou in 989 CE. When he was just one or two years old, his father died and his mother married another man. From a very young age, he was very diligent in his schoolwork. Later, he left his stepfather's family and had to stay in a temple, where he was only able to eat poridge each day. In the winter, he had to cut frozen poridge into pieces for his meals. It is said that one day one of his friends noticed that he was not eating well, so he sent over some tasty food. Fan refused to touch it, saying that he wanted to be content with what he had.
In 1015, Fan passed the imperial examination and became a goverment official. While he served in Taizhou, he always had the people's best interest at heart, and so he proposed building a sea wall to protect homes from flooding. This sea wall was later called "Lord Fan's Embankment". Serving with distinction, he helped build up defenses when the country was threatened by war. Then, once the country was at peace again, he was promoted to a high-level position in the capital, where he was able to advise the emperor on government policy.
As an advisor to the emperor, Fan then tried to institute government reforms, known as the Qingli reforms. However, many conservative bureaucrats opposed him, and so the reforms were stopped and Fan was forced to leave the capital and go into exile.
While in exile in 1045, Fan wrote an essay entitled Memorial to Yueyang Tower. In the essay, he wondered if it was possible to find government officials who would be firm in their desire to look after the needs of the common people, and not worry about their own personal welfare. Of such a man, Fan said, "When serving in a high office at court, he will be concered for the people; if living on distant rivers and lakes, he will be concerned for his sovereign. When serving, he worries; while in retirement, he worries. And when does he enjoy himself? One must say: To be the first to feel concern for the troubles of the world, and the last to enjoy its pleasures."
After Fan retired, he bought a farm and used it to provide jobs for local people. The profits from the farm were then used to pay for the education of poor children. Though by this time he was a wealthy man, he spent all of his money helping others and lived a very simple life.
It is refreshing to think that there was once such a person who did not just speak wise words to live by, but who also put those words into practice during his own life. Fan Zhongyan was just such a man.
② Put the events in the correct order.
_____Fan retired and bought a farm.
_____Fan wrote the essay Memorial to Yueyang Tower.
_____Fan was demoted.
_____Fan passed the imperial examination.
__1__Fan's father died.
_____Fan built a sea wall in Taizhou.
_____Fan helped build up the country's defenses.
_____Fan was only able to eat one serving of porridge a day.
_____Fan tried to institute government reforms.
_____Fan became a government official.
③ Read the passage again and answer the questions below.
1 What do people expect an honest government official to live by?
2 Why did many bureaucrats oppose Fan's reforms?
3 What did he express in his famous essay?
4 How did Fan use his farm to help others?
5 In the opinion of the author, what was refreshing about Fan's life?
④ In groups, discuss the following questions.
1 How was Fan a good example of the saying?
2 In what ways can you put Fan's saying into practice?
⑤ Have you ever met or heard of someone who persevered and overcame adversity in his/her life? Write a story about this person. Your story should include the following:
● An introduction which tells us the name of the person, what work he/she does, and how
you got to know him/her
● Some details about the problem he/she faced
● The different ways he/she tried to overcome the problem
● How he/she felt after overcoming the difficulties
● Any lessons that you learnt from this person's story
——☆★☆★☆★以下为答案☆★☆★☆★——
第四单元 逆境与勇气
Suggested Answers
Activity 1
Fan Zhongyan faced a lot of adversity in his life. His father died when he was very young. He lived in a temple when he was young and only had porridge to eat.
After he became an advisor to the emperor, he tried to institute some reforms but the reforms were stopped because of the opposition from the conservative bureaucrats and he was forced to go into exile.
Activity 2
10, 9, 8, 3, 1, 5, 6, 2, 7, 4,
Activity 3
1 To be the first to feel concern for the troubles of the world, and the last to enjoy its pleasures.
2 They opposed Fan's reforms because they wanted to preserve their own power.
3 In his famous essay he expressed the possibility of finding government officials who would put meeting the needs of the people above their own welfare.
4 Fan helped local people by letting them work on his farm. The farm's profits were also used to pay for the education of poor people.
5 The author thinks Fan's life was refreshing because he didn't just speak wise words but lived them also.
Activity 4
1 Fan was a good example of the saying because, even when he was young, he put seeking his own pleasure behind his duties.
2 We can put Fan's saying into practice by not being selfish and by not putting our own desires first. We should understand what our duties are, whether in our family or in our school, work, or society, and make these the priority in any decision we make.
Activity 5
Sample Writing
Joanne Rowling is an author who I came to know after reading her famous Harry Potter books. She always loved reading and wrote her first book when she was just six. She later got married and had a baby, but her marriage broke up and she was left to look after her daughter with no money. She felt like a failure, but this gave her the chance to keep writing. She received many rejections for her work, and it was also hard to be accepted as a woman. She changed her name to J.K. Rowling, to make her gender ambiguous, and although she often felt too depressed to continue, she kept going. One publisher eventually gave her a book deal, after giving the first chapter to his daughter to read. She immediately asked for the next one, and the rest is history.
She went on to become the world's first billionaire author. Her books have now sold more than 500 million copies worldwide and have been made into successful films. She has given a lot of her wealth away and supports many charities. I have learnt a lot from her "rags to riches" story; if you believe in yourself and keep trying, one day you will succeed against all odds.
