Listen to the recording, transcribe the poem, mark intonation, read, learn the poem by heart and recite it in class.
The Naming of Cats
by T. S. Eliot
The naming of cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey –
All of them sensible, everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter –
But all of them sensible, everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum –
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover –
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never
confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable, effable,
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.
You, wife - me, pop star
I’ve lately been contemplating
the up and down life of a 'just pop'
man. Ido not mean Elvis, Tom or
Englebert, who don't sing opera, just
pop. 1 mean me and all the other
victims of 'just pop the kettle on...'
'Just pop upstairs...' 'Just pop down to
the bread shop...' and all the other 'just
pop' tricks.
'Just pop' is closely related to
the 'While you're on your feet...' trap
and 'Before you sit down...' and should
always be viewed with extreme
caution. Wives, mothers - indeed the
whole of the female species - are great
users of it.
I've been 'just popping' ever
since I was a lad, and my marriage has
been popping along for years, with me
the pop star. Here a pop, there a pop,
everywhere a pop-pop.
The very words 'just pop...' are
designed, of course, to diminish any
task in the eyes, or rather ears of all
right-thinking people, thus making
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protest impossible, or at the least
churlish. This is the first law of ‘just
pop’.
The second law is that the tone
of voice accompanying the request is
also pitched a semi-octave lower, a low
murmur in fact, and delivered in a
throw-away, deprecating manner to
fool the 'poppee' into further
complacency about the task before him.
In this way he can finish up doing no
end of dreary jobs.
(Errands and tasks that started
out with a smile and a casual 'Just
pop...' have involved me in miles of
walking, hours of toil and untold
expense, of which I, the naive
'poppee', had no hint.)
Only the other day I was jolted
to hear the words slipping easily
off the lips of one small daughter. 'If you're
going out, daddy, would you just pop
into the library and get me a couple of
books on Paris? We're doing a project.'
The library was a mile out of my way
and books on Paris in the geographical
section were like needles in a haystack.
Learning to be sociable: ROUND-TABLE-TALK
While participating in a round-table-talk every speaker must learn to act four different roles:
• Initiator
• Opponent
• Opinion supporter
• Moderator
Initiator should demonstrate the following skills:
• start a talk
• attract attention
• bring forward an argument
• express opinion
• involve others into a talk
Opponent should demonstrate the following skills:
• express polite disagreement (Don’t be aggressive!)
• bring forward a counter argument
• express opinion
• involve others into a talk
Opinion supporter should demonstrate the following skills:
• express polite disagreement (Don’t be aggressive!)
• bring forward a counter argument
• express opinion
• draw attention to the strongest point in A or B’s opinion
• involve others into a talk
Moderator should demonstrate the following skills:
• evaluate opinions
• do the summing up
During the course of the round-table-talk all the participants should express interest in the subject of discussion, personal involvement and encourage others to participate.
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Building up Arguments
Topic: Eating Out is Fun
A | B |
• Eating out breaks the routine of daily life | • Eating out is time-consuming |
• It gives you a chance to dress up and look smart | • Lots of people prefer wearing casual clothes |
• It gives you a chance to try different cuisine | • Some exotic cuisine may disagree with your stomach |
• Eating out is a sociable event. You meet friends, partners, etc. | • Not all the people you meet when eating out are pleasant. You may bump into enemies as well |
• The atmosphere in most restaurants is pleasant | • Most restaurants are expensive |
• ? | • ? |
Giving Opinions
In my opinion
I believe that
I feel that
I must say that
It seems to me that
I don’t really think that
I think it’s true to say that
I mean, don’t you agree that
I don’t really believe that
You know what I think? I think that
The point is that
Exercises
• Read the text.
Hold the Meat
MK: More and more people - especially young people - are deciding to cut meat out of their diets for a variety of reasons. Some people are concerned about their health and diet. Others feel a moral responsibility to animals. 1 asked three people, one a complete vegetarian, one a non-meat eater, and one a meat-eater, to discuss with me the reasons for their differing diets.
MK: Dave, can you tell us what are the reasons you became a vegetarian?
Dave: Well, um, there are two main reasons. One is health because the ways that most animals are reared and treated on farms is very unhealthy, um, not only for them of course but for us.
MK: You mean additives and steroids?
Dave: The additives, yeah. Yes 1 also disagree with the way they're kept, sort of
battery farming and this kind of thing. That's on one side. On the other side of it, 1 think that it is actually morally wrong to eat another living thing.
Justine: But wouldn't you say that plants were living things as well? Where do you draw the line?
Dave: Ah, well, okay, perhaps 1 should qualify that by saying a sentient living thing. MK: Sentient-Dave: Something that can think and feel, because it has a life and if there's no need to end its life then I don't think we should.
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MK: Does that include all living things, say insects, fish, mammals equally or are some animals more sentient than others?
Dave: Well, no. I think you've got to include all sentient creatures which for me just includes all animals.
MK: What about you, Jane? You eat meat, right? Do you think it's wrong to kill an animal for its meat?
Jane: In my head I know it's wrong to kill an animal to eat meat but, um, when I'm sitting down in front of a piece of steak I don't actually think about that too much because I've been brought up all my life eating meat. I mean I don't go out desperate to eat meat three times a day but certainly I don't feel sort of moral pangs when I'm sitting in front of a plate of food that's got meat on it.
Justine: Well actually I must... I eat fish. I don't eat meat but I do eat fish. But, um, I do feel hypocritical about it. I'm not sure that I should eat fish, but somehow I feel that there is a difference between sea creatures like that... The reason that I eat fish really is a health thing because of my lifestyle and my laziness. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about diet and I know that if I didn't eat fish then I'd get really run down.
But can I just ask, do you think it's, David, do you think it's wrong to eat animals which run freely? You just think it's morally wrong?
Dave: I think it's morally wrong to eat any animal, because well, I don't think we have to.
MK: I mean, I kind of think law of the jungle states that you know, plenty of other animals eat each other so why shouldn't we?
Dave: Ah, yeah, but this is it. I mean, but um because, I mean, we are the only creatures supposedly that are above the law of the jungle, I mean, we have morals. We can decide what we want to do and what we don't want to do and what's right and wrong. An animal has to live by its nature. I don't think we do have to live by our natures. I mean, yeah, in certain respects...
MK: A lot of people argue that it is our nature to eat meat, to eat other animals, that that is our nature.
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Dave: But we can control our nature... There's no, there's no pressing instinct that makes you have to eat it. I mean, I could walk past a plate...
Justine: Oh come on David, come on David. Don't tell me you haven't... don't you ever get pangs for meat.
Dave: Yeah, okay, I do, but...
Justine: 'Cause I do, 1 get dreadful, dreadful pangs.
Dave: I suppose, yes, you're right, you do have pangs for meat and you, you know, you'd really like a nice bacon sandwich or something but there's no kind of over-riding instinct that makes you have to do that. I think you can say I don't want to.
Jane: I would be a little bit concerned I suppose about my diet if I became a vegetarian or especially if I had perhaps an old person or a child to feed. Um, I would get a little bit concerned maybe about the sort of balance, the dietary balance. I can see that one can exist quite happily not eating meat but existing is different from getting all the necessary bits and pieces and vitamins, that your body needs. And I don't think, you know, just bottles of pills to supplement is the answer. But 1 certainly don't really know enough about sort of balancing up a diet, a vegetarian diet.
Justine: I do think that since I've been a vegetarian I've got run down much more easily and more often. I think I'm more tired and less fit, less healthy probably.
MK: What do you think, Dave?
Dave: I don't, I mean, um, I don't know, I think that this, in a way is more a psychological dependence on meat than anything else. You just think I must have meat. It's a kind of a part of our, it's been a part of our culture to have meat on the plate for so long ... I mean, I know plenty of people who've been vegetarians nearly all their lives and they're as healthy as anyone.
• Prepare Round-Table-Talk. Chose a role, build up arguments, participate in the discussion.
Self-study texts
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