Unit 7 The Monster
Key to the Exercis
Text comprehension
I. Decide which of the following best states the author's purpo 我们的立国之本
of writing.
C
II. Judge, according to the text, whether the following statements are true or fal.
1. T (Refer to Paragraphs 2?.)
2. F (Refer to Paragraph 5, which suggests he was emotionally unstable.)
3. F (Refer to Paragraph 7, which states he was responsible for large sums of debt.)
4. T (Refer to Paragraph 8. A lot of women came into his life as a result of his pursuit, and were abandoned by him in the end.)
5. T (Refer to Paragraph 12.)
III. Answer the following questions.
1. Refer to Paragraph 1. He had a short stature with a disproportionately large head. And he had skin dias.
2. Refer to Paragraph 2. He believed he was one of the greatest men in the world, a great compor, a great thinker and a great dramatist combined into one. A man of such arrogance cannot help but take himlf to be the center of conversations.
3. Refer to Paragraph 3. If anyone showed slight disagreement w男性延时药哪个好
ith him, he would make a lengthy and aggressive speech for hours to prove himlf to be in the right. This would force his dazed and deafened hearer to surrender.
4. Refer to Paragraph 5. He was emotionally capricious like a child. Rapture in him could easily turn into extreme melancholy. He was heartless and callous to a frightening degree on some occasions. Moreover, his emotional states always found outward expres
sion.
5. Refer to Paragraphs 11 and 12. The author says that Wagner was among the greatest dramatists, the greatest thinkers and the most tremendous musical genius in our world. His immortal works far exceeded in value the tortures his arrogance inflicted upon others and the debts he owed.
6. Refer to Paragraph 13. The tremendous creative power, which propelled him to produce so many memorable works in his lifetime, could have crushed his poor brain and body. However, he miraculously survived and made all the immortal accomplishments. In this n he was a monster rather than a human being.
IV. Explain in your own words the following ntences.
1. He almost had no n of responsibility.
2. He wrote large numbers of letters begging for money. In some letters he was rvile without shame, and in other letters he loftily offered his targeted benefactor the privilege
of contributing to his support. If the recipient refud to accept his offer, i.e. refud to lend him money, he would fly into a rage.
3. He would u his influence on as many people as possible in order to meet some admirer of his who was only too glad to offer him his help.
4. Since Wagner was driven by such tremendous forces, it is no surpri that he didn't behave like a normal human being.
Structural analysis of the text
In the first 10 paragraphs, we can find the following words and expressions ud to describe Richard Wagner as a monster of conceit: delusions of grandeur / a monster of conceit / believed himlf to be one of the greatest dramatists in the world, one of the greatest thinkers, and one of the greatest compors / the most exhausting conversationalist / proved himlf right in so many ways / had theories about almost any subject under the sun / almost innocent of any n of responsibility / an endless procession of women.
In the remaining paragraphs, we can find the following words and expressions ud to describe him as a great genius: right all the time / one of the world's greatest dramatists / a great thinker / one of the most stupendo长颈龙
us musical genius / owe him a living.
Rhetorical features of the text
The repetitive u of the third person pronoun he creates suspen in the reader's mind. This is one of the effective ways to hold the reader's attention and make him read on.
Vocabulary exercis
I. Explain the underlined part in each ntence in your own words.
1. person with extremely excessive lf-pride
2. with all their talents combined in him
3. in a bad temper; unwell or annoyed
4. without
5. u as much influence of his as possible (from behind the scenes)
6. make concession
II. Fill in the blank in each ntence with a phra from the box in its appropriate form.
1. pulled wires
2. be content with
3. rolled into one
4. between the lines of
5. sink into
6. innocent of
7. out of sorts
8. lay my hands on
III. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate forms of the given words.
1. callousness 2. tormentor
3. inconceivable 4. arrogantly
5. gloomy 6. tragedy
7. delusion 8. lofty
IV. Choo the word that can replace the underlined part in each ntence without changing its original meaning.
1. A 2. B 3. C 4. A
5. C 6. B 7. A 8. D
V. Give a synonym or an antonym of the word underlined in each ntence in the n it is ud.
1. Antonym: humbleness (modesty)
2. Synonym: amazing (stunning, miraculous)
3. Synonym: cold-blooded (inhumane, merciless)
4. Synonym: void
5. Antonym: ethical (moral, principled, scrupulous)
6. Synonym: parody (caricature)
7. Antonym: exhilaration (bliss, ecstasy)
