Unit 14 Under the Sign of Mickey Mouse & Co.
Key to the Exercises
I. Decide which of the following best states the author's purpose of writing.
A
II. Judge, according to the text, whether the following statements are true or false.
1. F (This statement is not entirely true. While the media do have a great role to play in making American pop culture dominant in the world, it is only part of the reason, as we can gather from the whole text.)
2. T (Refer to Paragraph 1.)
3. F (Refer to Paragraph 3. The example of Jack Lang is not to show that the French are typically hypocritical but to introduce something deeper that underlies the phenomenon.)网友世界
4. F (Refer to Paragraph 5. The fact that there are American tags on their experience does not mean that the young are simply "Americanized.")
5. F (Hollywood is the global cultural capital in both senses. The statement only says one of them.)
III. Answer the following questions.
1. Refer to Paragraph 1. No, not fully. By the metaphor of global village, McLuhan meant that the modern electronic media would unite the world into a single global culture or community. In this village, people live and communicate on an equal footing. And the village is probably characterized by homogeneity. But the author believes that if the world is a global village, there are some who dominate the others, and that Americans belong to the former.
2. Refer to Paragraph 2. Because they are considered the most influential people of the present era, enjoying greater fame and popularity than royal family members in history.
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3. Refer to Paragraph 3. It is the global cultural capital in two senses. In the literal sense, Hollywood is the cultural capital because it creates billions of dollars' worth of cultural products every year. In the metaphorical sense, it is an International Cultural Fund of images, sounds and celebrities; it sets the styles for the world's popular culture.
4. Refer to Paragraph 3. What the French culture minister did is typical of the ambivalent attitude toward American pop culture worldwide. On the one hand there is antagonism. People are resistant to American cultural imperialism when they recognize it, as cultural invasion necessarily occupies living space of the native cultures. On the other hand, there is dependence. People, especially the urban and young, welcome and enjoy American pop culture when it comes to them because it satisfies their psychological needs.
5. Refer to Paragraph 5. American pop culture is popular worldwide, especially with the urban and young and it is often enjoyed because it meets their psychological needs in their physical and mental development. It allows the young to share some dreams of free
dom, wealth, comfort, innocence, power, and most of all, youth as a state of mind. It represents a common imagination.
IV. Explain in your own words the following sentences.
1. Throughout the world, the modern electronic media flow across national boundaries.
2. For young people, cultures are not innate or unvarying. They don't simply become Americanized although they may have contact with American fun culture at little cost.
3. American pop culture not just impacts on the more material side of young people's lives but also touches their hearts with great force.
装煤机Structural analysis of the text
The text falls into three parts. Part 1, the Introduction, consists of Paragraph 1, where the author advances his idea that American culture is dominant over the "global village." Part 2, Paragraphs 2?, presents evidence of the universal popularity of American culture, and
explores what underlies the cultural phenomenon. This part can be further divided into two sub-sections. Paragraphs 2? as a sub-section give testimony to the idea that American pop culture is recognized worldwide, while Paragraph 5 explains why it is so. Paragraph 6 makes up Part 3, where the author concludes his argument with a thought-provoking restatement of his point.
Rhetorical features of the text
Contrast is shown lexically in the following examples: well known -- rarely acknowledged, love -- hate, Americaphiles -- Americaphobes.
岁月的风铃The following structures also indicate contrast: "The empire strikes from inside the spectator as well as from outside," "Grandfather is dressed in traditional Tungusian clothing. Grandson has on his head a reversed baseball cap."
Vocabulary exercises
I. Explain the underlined part in each sentence in your own words.
1. French people's strong dislike
2. acquired a bad reputation for a while, as could be predicted
三
3. without intending to upset or harm someone
4. although the apparently impressive term "identity" is often used in everyday talk
5. the scope of its influence
II. Fill in the blank in each sentence with a word from the box in its appropriate form.
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