Arendt s next three books - The Human Condition (1958) , Between Past and Future (1961) , and On Revolution (1968) - could be characterized by a yearning to reconstruct political philosophy rather than to explore the devolution of political history.Remarkably enough, in 1963 she also published what proved to be the most controversial work of her career: Eichmann in Jerusalem.In 1960, Israeli security forces had captured the S .S.lieutenant colonel who had been responsible for transporting Jews to the death camps.The following year, he was tried in Israel, where Arendt covered the trial as a correspondent for The New Yorker.Her articles were then revised and expanded for Eichmann in Jerusalem .
Ⅱ.Words and Expressions
antithesis n.opposition ( of one thing to another, between two things).
coincide v.to (of ideas, etc .) be in harmony or agreement 一致,相符。
cobbler n.mender of shoes.
coronary n.冠状动脉。
aristocracy n.ruling body of nobles; the social class from which these nobles come.
ritualize v.(行为模式)仪式化。
grouse n.( pl.unchanged) (sort of) bird with feathered feet ,shot for sport and food 松鸡。
duel n .& v.决斗。
aptly ad.suitably, justly 恰当地,贴切地; 灵巧地。
in the strict sense 严格意义上。
at a guess indicating that what you are saying is only an estimate or what you believe to be true rather than being based on fact.
to get (or sink) one s teeth into If you sink something sharp into something solid, you make it go deeply into it ; sometimes it means make up one s mind to solve something .
Ⅲ.Notes to the Text
1.This sentence seems to be negative, but it is, actually, a straightforward statement , meaning“society doesn t care much whether we play the game or not”.
2.The reverse order in this sentence is very effective in switching to a new topic .
3.The structure of this sentence is“ What...is necessary labor is.. .
voluntary play” , which means the job is regarded as necessary labor by society but it is taken as a voluntary play by the person who likes it .
4.The second“may be”in the parallel structure is omitted to make the sentence more concise .
5.“Which a man is”means what kind of attitude a man takes towards his job .
The author uses“which”to refer back to the cases discussed in the previous sentences for coherence .
6.The sentence“and the more hours he is free to play”is inserted here to form a contrast with the previous statement for emphasis .
7.This sentence means that the public are apt to change the stereotyped pattern by using fashion , and those who always transform their characters are in line with the economic profit for certain people .
8.Similarly, the masses can t be addicted to hunting because if they do so,animals would be on the verge or brink of extinction .
9.“Be it physical like the work of a smith, or mental like the work of a scientist or an artist”is the more formal written way of saying“no matter it is physical like the work of a smith, or mental like the work of a scientist or an artist”.
10.“To get or sink one s teeth into something”refers to the way to decide or to make up one s mind to solve some problems.This phrase vividly expresses that initiative plays an important role in intelligence work .
Ⅳ.Text-Related Practice
Reading comprehension:
Directions: The following are some questions and unfinished statements .
For each of them there are four choices marked a, b, c and d.You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter .
1.A man is happy when .
a.he has to do what he does not enjoy doing.
b.what he enjoys doing is ignored by society.
c.he is compelled to take a job by the necessity of earning a living.
d.he feels free and important2.Why can a laborer be called a wage slave ?
a.Because he is still working like a slave .
b.Because his wages are as low as what a slave used to make .
c.Because he is doing the job only for money, not for interest .
d.Because he is working in a very poor condition .
3.What does the sentence“Society could not care less whether we play it ornot .”mean ?
a.Society cares as much as possible whether we play it or not .
b.Society cares as little as possible whether we play it or not .
c.Society is very careful about whether we play it or not .
d.Society isn t careful enough about whether we play it or not .
4.Whether a job can be classified as labor or work depends on .
a.whether it is manual or mentalb.the tastes of the person who undertakes itc.the job itselfd.the attitude of the society toward it5.What may cause the percentage of workers to decline ?
a.Ritualized time .
b.Technology and the division of labor .
c.The appearance of new aristocracies .
d.The new fashion .
Text B
The Workman s Compensation
How can someone, hour after hour, day after day, year in and year out ,tighten approximately the same nut to the same bolt and not go mad ?That most working people do not, in fact , go mad is due in large measure to a phenomenon so common that it is found wherever people labor in industry:
taking it easy.It would take some kind of real mental case to do all the work one could all day long .
No one expects it.Taking it easy on the job while someone else covers your work, or“working on and off,”as it is usually called in America , is an established part of the working life .
Working on and off, however, has its limits.The rules are infinitely varied , subtle, and flexible, and, of course, they are always changing .
Management , up to a certain level at least , is aware of the practice, and in some industries employs entire cadres of people to curtail or put an end to it .
Simultaneously, the workers are subtly doing their best to keep it going and to extend it wherever possible .
Every worker has a highly developed sense of how much work is expected of him.When he feels that the expectation is excessive, he tries to do something about it.This instinct has to do with the political nature of work itself , something every modern worker understands.The bosses want more from the worker than they are willing to give in return .The workers give work ,and the bosses give money.The exchange is never quite equal, and the discrepancy is called profit.Since the bosses cannot do without profit , workers have an edge .
A good worker in a key spot could, so long as he kept up production , take all the coffee breaks he wanted, and the bosses would very likely look the other way .
