2021年1月23日发(作者：diga)



Unit Three

Show Business
Background Information
1. Neil Postman
(March 8, 1931
- October 5, 2003) an
American author, media theorist and
cultural
critic,
who
is
best
known
by
the
general
public
for
his
1985
book
about
television,
Amusing
Ourselves
to
Death
.
For
more
than
forty
years,
he
was
associated
with
New
Y
ork
University. Postman was a humanist, who believed that new technology could never substitute for
human values.
2.

Amusing Ourselves to Death
Postman's best known book, published in 1985, a
historical narrative which deplores the decline of the communication medium as television images
have replaced the written word. Postman argues that television confounds serious issues with
entertainment, demeaning and undermining political discourse by making it less about ideas and
more about image. He also argues that television is not an effective way of providing education, as
it provides only top-down information transfer, rather than the interaction that he believes is
necessary to maximize learning. He refers to the relationship between information and human
response as the Information-action ratio.
He draws on the ideas of media theorist Marshall McLuhan to argue that different media are
appropriate for different kinds of knowledge, and describes how oral, literate, and televisual
cultures value and transfer information in different ways. He states that 19th century America was
the pinnacle of rational argument, an Age of Reason, in which the dominant communication
medium was the printed word. During this period, complicated arguments could be transmitted
without oversimplification.
Amusing Ourselves to Death
was translated into eight languages and
sold 200,000 copies worldwide. This passage is an excerpt from the book.
3. Show Business
sometimes shortened to
show biz
,
is a vernacular term for all aspects of
entertainment from the business side (including managers, agents, producers and distributors) to
the creative element (including artists, performers, writers and musicians). The term was in
common usage throughout the 20th century. By the latter part of the century it had acquired a
slightly arcane quality associated with the era of variety, but the term is still in active use.

4.
“talking heads”

an interview format where the picture on the screen shows the
interviewer and the interviewee but no additional shots. This is considered very boring television
and most producers try to avoid it.


Language Points
1. Para. [2]:
T
elevision does not extend or amplify literate culture.
Television does not help people to be better educated.

2. Para. [9]:
…
it has made entertainment itself the natural format for the representation of
all experience.
…
it has made entertainment the natural way to represent all experience.

OR
…
it has made all experience entertaining.

3. Para. [11]:
It is that off the screen the same metaphor prevails.
Entertainment is still the metaphor for all discourse off the television screen.
4.
Para.
[12]:
Our
priests
and
presidents,
our
surgeons
and
lawyers,
our
educators
and
newscasters
need
worry
less
about
satisfying
the
demands
of
their
discipline
than
the
demands of good showmanship.
Our priests and presidents, our surgeons and lawyers, our educators and newscasters need to worry
about
whether
they
are
good
at
entertaining
the
audience/good
performers rather
than whether
they are capable of getting their work done.
Word Study
1. restore v
.

(1) give back
归还

①

He hurried to restore the borrowed books before the library was closed.
②

The stolen bike was restored to its owner.
(2) make well or normal again; bring back (to a former condition)
使恢复健康或正常；
使恢复
（以
前的情况）

①

With the good care of her mom, she was restored to health.
②

The army was called in to restore law and order to the place.
(3) repair; rebuild as before; reconstruct (sth.) so that it is like the original
修复；重建；重制（某
物）使像原形

①

Large
amount
of
money was
donated
to
restore
the
ruined
abbey
local
people
pay
frequent
visit to.
②

I wonder if this picture can be restored.
2. amplify v.
(1) make larger or fuller, esp give fuller information, more details, etc, about
扩大；放大；扩充；
详述

①

John’s
major
concern
was
to
reconsider
and
amplify
the
theme
already
trea
ted
somewhat
sketchily by Peter.
②

Let me amplify my earlier remarks.
(2) increase the strength of (voltage or current, etc)
增强（电压或电流等）

①

An electronic device amplified the speaker’s voice.


3. available adj.
(1) (of objects) able to be used; that may be obtained
（指物）可用的；有效的；可获得的

①

These tickets are available for one month only.
②

The book you ordered is not available.

(2) (of persons) able to be present
（指人）能出席的

①

Are you available for a meeting tomorrow morning?

4. furtherance n. furthering; advancement
增进；促进


①

He’s gone to the university for the furtherance of his studies.

②

This
admirable
principle
for
the
furtherance
of
human
happiness
is
perfectly
familiar
to
businessmen and advertisers.

5. the case adj. true
真的

①

Is it the case that you have lost all your money?
②

He thought he had already solved the problem, but that was not the case.

Key to text A
Text Comprehension:
1. He thinks that television does not extend or amplify literate culture. It attacks it.

2.
A
technology
is
merely
a
machine
while
a
medium
is
the
social
and
intellectual
environment a machine creates. In America, television has found in liberal democracy
and
a
relatively
free
market
economy
a
nurturing
climate
in
which
its
full
potentialities as a technology of images have been exploited.

3.
Television
suppresses
the
content
of
ideas
in
order
to
accommodate
the
requirements
of
visual
interest;
that
is
to
say
,
to
accommodate
the
values
of
show
business.
4.

His
song
“
There
’
s
NO
Business
Like
Show
Business
”

is
changed
by
the
author
into
“
There
’
s NO Business
But
Show Business
”
for humor and sarcasm.
5. In other parts of the world television
is
used as a technology
,
with all
its potentials
prevented from developing and its social consequences kept to a minimum.
6.
The
glittering
neon
signs
of
Broadway
and
42
nd

Street
at
night
were
beautiful
without any textual explanation.
Structural Analysis of the T
ext:
Part 1: (
para.1


to
para
. 2 ): introduction to introduce the topic and the author
’
s idea about it.
Part 2: (
para.3


to
para
. 9 ): illustration of the topic
Part 3: (
para.10
): conclusion: America is becoming a culture of show business.

Summary Writing:




In “The Age of Show Business”, professor Neil Postman argues about television’s
impact
on
American
Culture.
presents
his
idea
—
TV
attacks
rather
than
supports
the
literate
culture.
To
illustrate
his
idea,
Postman
first
clarifies
the
concept
of
“television” not as a machine but as a media (the social and intellectual environment a
machine creates).
Then,
he points out
Americans are
now part of
a culture
in which
information and ideas are disseminated predominantly by television, not by print. This
shift
from
print
to
electronic
media
has
dramatically
and
irreversibly
altered
the
content
and
meaning
of
public
discourse.
Television
offers
viewers
a

variety
of
subject
matter by speaking
in only one
voice
——

the
voice of entertainment.
Thus,
he
maintains
television
is
transforming
American
culture
into
show
business,
to
the