Unit Eight

Economic Growth is a Path toPerdition, Not Prosperity

Period 5-6: Detailed Study of theText

1. EconomicGrowth Is a Path to Perdition, Not Prosperity.

Alliteration: the repetition of an initial consonant sound

More examples：

safe and sound   平平安安                          part and parcel   主要部分

hide and hair     连皮带毛                           scrape and screw 省吃俭用

clear and clean   干净澄澈                          busyas a bee    忙得不可开交

cool as a cucumber冷静镇定                      green as grass    幼稚无知

clear ascrystal    水晶般清澈                       rightas rain      丝毫不错

Spare the rod, spoil the child.孩子不打不成器。

No cross, no crown.不劳动，不得食。

Time and tide wait for no man. 岁月不待人。

 

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by S.T. Colerigy:

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew; 和风吹荡，水花四溅，

The furrow followed free, 船儿破浪前进，

We were the first that ever burst 闯入那沉寂的海洋领域，

into that silent sea. 我们是第一群人。

 

Today alliteration is used widely, not only in poetry and prose and proverbs and idioms, but also in journalism, especially in the title of a book and headline of news and advertising. As a figure of speech, it is good for sound rhyme, musical effect and significant emphasis.

   Pride and prejudice 《傲慢与偏见》

   Sense and Sensibility 《理智与情感》

   Coco-cola; Clean-clear; Rolls Royce

   Sea, sun, sand, seclusion and Spain. 旅馆广告：“海滨，阳光，沙滩，幽静——更具西班牙风情。”

   Starlight on Skyline, Galaxy of Glamour 高楼摩天，星光灿烂；火树银花，瑰丽绝伦（一则新闻报导的标题）

   Pei'sPyramids Puzzle Paris 贝氏的金字塔使巴黎困惑

这是《时代》周刊报道巴黎的著名艺术宫殿——罗浮宫的扩建和改建的一篇文章的标题。此项工程选择了著名建筑师、美籍华人贝聿铭的设计方案，其中有一组构思奇特、匠心独运的金字塔。

 

   We will discuss it further tomorrow.

   Further development of our economy will strain our resources too.

2. We, too, are trapped in the same sort of false illusion that stymied critical thought... (para. 4)

—We are also fooled by the same kind of myth that made us unable to think critically.

3. ...Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is what drives government policy worldwide. (para.5)

gross: used here as anadjective before a noun, meaning including everything, used esp. to describe atotal amount of money that exists before taxes or other expenses as opposed tonet, e.g.

gross income 毛收入; gross profits 毛利; grossweight 毛重

Note:

1) The word"gross" can be used as a verb or noun or adverb:

   Our company grossed nearly 15 million dollars last year. (as a verb)

   Our company earned nearly 15 million dollars gross last year. (as an adverb)

   Our company pays 15 percent of our gross as tax annually. (as a noun)

2) The word "gross" can be used to mean the following when used as adjectives:

a) very obvious or noticeable, e.g.

a gross error (a glaring mistake); a grossexaggeration

b) rude, offensive (= vulgar, coarse), very disgusting, e.g

a gross habit; using gross language; (sth) looking gross

4. The equation has been drummed into us for so long that it's received wisdom. Growth equals prosperity and jobs. Growth equals progress. (para. 6)

5. We're chewing through massive quantities of both renewable and non-renewable resources at a breakneck speed.(para. 14 )

chewing through: Normally we may say "a mouse chewed through a cord." Here,"chewing through" implies that we human beings are consuming—actually wasting and destroying large quantities of resources.

6. In 2005, the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a collaborative work of more than 10, 000 scientists, found that 60% of “ecosystem services" 一 things like climate regulation, the water cycle, pollination, global fisheries, natural waste treatment一were being degraded or used unsustainably. (para. 15)

the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: It refers to the report made by the United Nationsto assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. From 2001 to 2005, the assessment involved the work of more than 1, 360 experts worldwide. Their findings provide a state-of-the-art appraisal of the conditionand trends in the world's ecosystem and the services they provide, as well as the scientific basis for action to conserve and use them sustainably.

ecosystem services: Human kind benefits from a multitude of resources and processes supplied by natural ecosystems. Collectively, these benefits are known as ecosystem services and include products like clean drinking water and processes such as the decomposition of wastes. These services were popularized and their definitions were formalized by UN in 2004 in its Millenniurn Ecosystem Assessment.

the water cycle: It describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of Earth. Water can change states among liquid, vapor, and solid at various places in the water cycle. Although the balance of water on Earth remains fairly constant over time, individual water molecules can come and go, in and out of the atmosphere.

were being degraded: were being made worse

7. Human activity is putting such aheavy strain on earth's natural functions that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain human endeavor can no longer be taken for granted. (para. 15)

8. Ecological Footprint model

 

9. It deals in averages so the rich/ poor divide is blurred. (para. 16)

—It uses averages in its discussion. Therefore the gap between the rich and the poor isnot very clear.

10. we've been drawing down the biosphere's principal rather than living off its annual interest . (para. 18)

—We no longer just live on our products, we are destroying nature itself, which is beginning to use up our principal.

 

Notice the metaphorical use of "principal" and "interest" which refer to natural resources such as land, water, air, etc. and what human beings produce by using those natural resources. The former are usually renewable whereas the latter are for human beings' consumption. But now we no longer just live on our products, we are destroying nature itself, which is beginning to use up our principal.

draw down: We say "draw money" meaning "taking out money." "Draw down" is not a common verb phrase. lt is coined by the author to make an antithesis with "live o ff" which means "depend on sth for the money you need."

biosphere: the parts of the world where animals, plants, etc. can live 生物圈

Compare:

sphere 球体，领域，范围            private sphere 私人领域

sphere of influence势力范围       atmosphere 气层

hemisphere 半球                          stratosphere 同温层

11. Napoleon said that an army marches on its stomach; our modern globalized economy marches on oil. But it's a Faustian bargain. (para . 20)

Faust or Faustus (Latin for“auspicious” or“lucky”) is the protagonist of a classic German legend. Though a highly successful scholar, he is dissatisfied, and makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical works.

An important version of the legend is the play Faust by the German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Goethe's Faust complicates the simple Christian moral of the original legend. A hybrid between a play and an extended poem, Goethe's two-part “closet drama“is epic in scope. It gathers together references from Christian, medieval, Roman, eastern and Hellenicpoetry, philosophy and literature.

The composition and refinement of Goethe's own version of the legend occupied him for over 60 years (though not continuously).The final version, published after his death, is recognized as a great work of German literature.

The story concerns the fate of Faust in his quest for the true essence of life (“was die Welt im Innersten zusammenhält”). Frustrated with learning and the limits to his knowledge, power, and enjoyment of life, he attracts the attention of the devil (represented by Mephistopheles), who agrees to serve Faust until the moment he attains the zenith of human happiness -- at which point Mephistopheles may take his soul. Faust is pleased with the deal, as he believes this happy zenith will never come.

In the first part, Mephistopheles leads Faust through experiences that culminate in a lustful relationship with Gretchen, aninnocent young woman. Gretchen and her family are destroyed by Mephistopheles' deceptions and Faust's desires. Part one of the story ends in tragedy for Faust, as Gretchen is saved but Faust is left to grieve in shame.

The second part begins with the spirits of the earth forgiving Faust (and the rest of mankind) and progresses into allegorical poetry. Faust and his devil pass through and manipulate the world of politics and the world of the classical gods, and meet with Helen of Troy(the personification of beauty). Finally, having succeeded in taming the very forces of war and nature, Faust experiences a singular moment of happiness.

Mephistopheles tries to seize Faust's soul when he dies after this moment of happiness, but is frustrated and enraged when angels intervene due to God's grace. Though this grace is truly‘gratuitous’and does not condone Faust's frequent errors perpetrated with Mephistopheles, the angels state that this grace can only occur because of Faust's unending striving and due to the intercession of the forgiving Gretchen. The final scene has Faust's soul carried to heaven in the presence of God as the“Holy Virgin, Mother, Queen, Goddess...The Eternal Feminine”. The Goddess is thus victorious over Mephistopheles, who had insisted at Faust's death that he would be consigned to“The Eternal Empty”.

 

sell one's soul/ sell-out: betrayal (who is said to sell his soul in exchange for wealth and position). This is etymologically related to Faust, a character in a German legend who enters into a compact with a devil in exchange for knowledge and skills.

12. This translates into an average increase in global temperature of about 4°C. If this projection plays out, we're in big trouble. (para. 21)

—这意味着全球气温将平均上升4°C。如果这种预计的情况真的发生了，那我们就有大麻烦了。

translate into: to change sthinto a different form or to express sth in a different way, e.g.

   The total cost would translate into US dollars in the amount of 10 million.

   Scientific and technological development will eventually translate into economic growth.

play out: to develop or endin a particular way; to happen or occur usu. in a gradual way, e.g.

   Be patient. Let's see how things play out.

13. Evenon its own terms, growth isn't working. We avoid talking about the skewed distribution of the planet's wealth and income, dreaming instead that we can grow our way out of the problem. (para. 22)

—We dare not face the fact that around the world a particular group of people is enjoying the wealth and income in an unfair way. Still, we are hoping that we can solve the problem through economic growth. It is totally unrealistic. 增长本身也已陷入困境。我们总是避而不谈财富和收入分配的不平均、不合理，一味梦想着能够通过经济增长来解决问题。

on one's own terms: inone's own way; according to one's own conditions; by one's own definition ,e.g.

   She considered herself quite successful on her own terms.

skewed distribution: distributionthat favors a particular group of people in a way that is unfair

grow our way out of the problem: solve the problem through economic growth

Compare:

   Some economists believe that we can invest our way out of a slump.

   At first they succeeded in exporting their way out of economic stagnation, but this policy aroused a strong upsurge of protectionism in many countries.

   This brave army finally fought its way out of the enemy encirclement.

14. We place growth above equality and pay a price in what's called "the hidden injuriesof class." Shorter, unhealthier, and unhappier lives addicted to a mindless consumerism that is depleting the planet resources. (para. 23)

the hidden injuries of class: the more subtle harm done to people by a class society

addicted to a mindless consumerism: hooked to a stupid belief that it is good for a country if people buy and use a lot of goods and services

Mindless people are people who do not think about what they are doing. Here it refers to those people's behavior.

—我们置增长于平等之上，结果付出了所谓的“隐性等级伤害”。人们的生命更短，生活更不健康，更不幸福。盲目消费正耗尽地球的资源而不能自拔。

15. This is whistlingin the dark. ( para. 24)

whistle in the dark: to actor talk as if you are relaxed and unafraid when you are actually very nervous and in terrible fear; to pretend to have great confidence that you do not fear 给自己壮胆

16. In the North wehave been living beyond our ecological means for decades, … (para. 26)

  live beyond/ within one's means: to have a way of life in which you spend more/ lessmoney than you earn

means: here, the amount of money, property, income,etc. that sb has , e.g.

   He looks like a man of means.

   Education should be within everyone's means.

   Credit cards might encourage some people to live beyond tbeir means.

   I don't think it is a good idea to launch this project even if we have the means to do it.

17. Justice demands that we in the rich countries ratchet back our growth and clear some space for those who need it.

—公平的原则要求我们这些生活在富裕国家的人反哺我们的增长，留出一点空间给那些需要的人。