Unit 4Text A

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Unit 4 Text A
What Is Culture?
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(No Transcript)
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Related Information

• Mona Lisa
• oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci

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Culture covers a great range of meanings
Discobolos Roman marble copy of Greek bronze by
Myron
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Culture covers a great range of meanings

• The Last Supper
• oil painting by
• Tintoretto

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Bride and Bridesmaids

Most Northern Ireland couples marry in their
mid-20s, the women typically a couple of years
earlier than the men. Marriage, like many social
institutions in Northern Ireland, tends to follow
a more traditional model than in the rest of the
United Kingdom.
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Womens Traditional Roles Within Indias many
different culture groups, women share important
roles. They are responsible for preserving and
maintaining a familys rituals and traditions.
They prepare food and serve meals, always working
to ensure the purity of the food, which plays a
significant role in the nations culture.
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Outline
The Concept of Culture
Para.1-4
The diversity of Culture
Para.5-7

Para.8
The Authors Conclusion
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Text Study

1 The word culture has many different
meanings. For example, we sometimes say that
people who know about art, music, and literature
are cultured. However, the word culture has a
different meaning for anthropologists (people who
study humankind). To an anthropologist the word
culture means all the ways in which a group of
people act, dress, think, and feel. People have
to learn the cultural ways of their community
they are not something that the people in the
group are born with.

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2 Instinctive behaviour, on the other hand, is
a pattern of behaviour that an animal is born
with. Spiders spinning their webs is an example
of instinctive behaviour. The mother spider does
not teach her babies how to spin webs. (In fact,
she is not even there when they are born.) They
know how to do it when they are born. This is
what we mean by instinctive behaviour.
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3 As humans, we learn some of the ways of our
culture by being taught by our teachers or
parents. We learn more of the ways of our culture
by growing up in it. We see how other people in
our culture do things, and we do them the same
way. We even learn how to think and feel in this
way.
N
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4 All human beings have certain basic needs,
such as eating, drinking, keeping warm and dry,
and so on. However, the way in which they take
care of these needs depends on the culture in
which they grow up. All cultures have ways of
eating, drinking, dressing, finding shelter,
marrying, and dealing with death. The foods that
we think are good to eat, the kinds of clothes we
wear, and how many people we can marry at one
time are all parts of our culture.
N
N
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5 Our own culture seems very natural to us. We
feel in our hearts that the way that we do things
is the only right way to do them. Other peoples
cultures often make us laugh or feel disgusted or
shocked. We may laugh at clothing that seems
ridiculous to us. Many people think that eating
octopus or a juicy red piece of roast beef is
disgusting. The idea that a man can have more
than one wife or that brothers and sisters can
marry each other may shock other cultures.
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6 Ideas of what is beautiful differ from one
culture to another. The Flathead Indians of North
America used to bind the heads of babies between
boards so they would have long sloping foreheads.
In the Flathead culture, long sloping foreheads
were beautiful. Other cultures might think that
they are strange-looking and unattractive. Many
people cut scars into their bodies or tattoo
themselves so that others in their culture will
think they are beautiful. Objects are inserted in
holes in the nose, lips, and ears in a number of
different cultures. In many twentieth-century
societies, rouge, lipstick, eye shadow, perfume,
and hair spray are all used to increase
attractiveness.
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7 When people die, different cultures dispose
of their bodies in different ways. Sometimes
bodies are burned. Sometimes bodies are buried in
the ground. In many cultures in the past, people
were buried with food, weapons, jewellery, and
other things that might be useful in the next
life. For example, the ancient Egyptians buried
people with little human figures made form clay.
These clay figures were supposed to work for the
dead person in the other world. A religious group
called the Parses exposed their dead on platforms
for birds to eat. Some people practice a second
burial. After the bodies have been in the earth
for several years, the bones are dug up and
reburied, sometimes in a small container.
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8 These are just a few of the many different
customs that are found in different cultures.
Most of the time, the different ways that are the
customs of different cultures are neither right
nor wrong. It is simply that different people do
the same things in different ways.
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Language Points
Culture as a v.
Cultured as an adj.
to educate or train (sb) so that he or she is
interested in art, music, literature, etc.
e.g. He is a cultured man who knows a lot about
music and dance. ?????,???????????
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community a group of people living together and
/ or united by shared interests, religion,
nationality, etc.
e.g.
a civilized community
????
????
a religious community
????(?)
the Chinese community in New York
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be born with to have (sth) from birth
e.g.

• One of the factors that determine an individuals
  intelligence is the sort of brain he is born
  with.

??????????????????????????
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instinctive behaviour
Instinct n.
e.g.
Some animals hunt by instinct.
???????????
Most animals have an instinct to protect
their young.
??????????????
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Language Points
resulting from instinct performed before
thinking
instinctive
instinctive fear of snakes
????
instinctive behaviour
????

• His instinctive action to the falling rock was
  to run from it.

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a pattern of
FOR EXAMPLE

The cloth has a pattern of red and white square.
???????????????
This company is a pattern of what a good company
should be.
???????????????
The illness is not following its usual pattern.
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Spiders spinning their webs
Nominal ing Clause
spiders spinning their webs
subj.
pred.
obj.
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Spiders spinning their webs
e.g.
Wang(s) going there wont help much.
It is no use your telling me not to worry.
Would you mind my / me asking you a question?
Im relying on Li (s) coming in time.
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take care of to deal with to do what is needed
with
FOR EXAMPLE

• The way in which they take care of these needs
  depends on the culture in which they grow up.

?????????????????????????

• If you take good care of your car, youll
  increase its life.

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shelter 1. C a building or enclosure offering
protection

• a wooden shelter in a public garden

• a bus shelter

shelter 2. U protection or the state of being
protected

• In the storm I looked for the shelter of a tree
  / took shelter under a tree.

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at one time at a certain time in the past
formerly

• At one time people thought that the place beyond
  the river is not good to live in.

• At one time I used to go mountain-climbing every
  summer.

and how many people we can marry at one time
at the same time together
e.g.
Mr. Reeds bills came all at one time, and he
could not pay them.
Lets start the dance again, all at one time.
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disgust n.
strong feeling of dislike caused by an unpleasant
sight, sound, or smell, or by bad behaviour

• The food at the hotel filled him with disgust.

disgust v.
to cause a feeling of disgust in

• Your rude behaviour disgusts me.

Im completely disgusted at / with you.
What a disgusting smell!
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dispose of to get rid of to throw away to
finish with
FOR EXAMPLE

• Dispose of these old newspapers.

• At the meeting, the committee quickly disposed of
  the first matter on the agenda.

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burial the act or ceremony of putting a dead
body into a grave
OTHER EXAMPLES
arrive
arrival
propose
proposal
refuse
refusal
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Summary

• Culture is not anything that people in a
  group are born with, but something they learn
  either by being taught or by growing up in it.
  Different cultures have different ways of eating,
  drinking, dressing, finding shelter, marrying and
  dealing with death. Our own culture seems natural
  to us while other cultures may think it funny,
  strange or even disgusting. However, this has
  nothing to do with right or wrong.

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Exercises
Translate the expressions into Chinese or
English.

• behaviour pattern
• ______________
  ????
• the pattern of cloth
• ______________________ ?????

????
family pattern
?????
the pattern of wallpaper
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2. differ in quality
_________________
(?)??(?)?? differ from
the rest
____________________ ????
????
differ in character
??????
differ from each other
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3. be exposed to wind and rain
expose soldiers to danger
expose sbs crimes
____________________ ???????
??????
???????
???????
expose sb to the police
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4. behave wonderfully
_________________ ????
behave with great courage
behave like a grown-up
????
behave ridiculously
??????
???????
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Today's Assignment
1.Ex. 7, P. 73 2.Ex. 8, P. 73 3.Ex. 9, P. 74.