linhuadance

I have been reading Robert Dallek's "Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power" over breakfasts the last little while. (Thank you, my daughter, for the most thoughtful Christmas gift!)

Nixon and Kissinger have always had a special place in my respect for politicians. As with most books and articles on Nixon and/or Kissinger, this book is not a very flattery account of them. In spite of that and in spite of Watergate, which I learned in finer detail mostly from Katherine Graham's (the late Washington Post’s president and owner) autobiography "Personal History", it was Nixon and Kissinger who came to China extending a peaceful olive branch in the early 1970s, and it was them who ended 25 years' post-WWII hostility between China and the US. To accomplish these at a time when the anti-communism/China political sentiment was rampant, it not only took piercing vision, but it also took guts, courage, and intelligence.

To me, the end to the Sino-American hostility was one of the most, if not the most, significant event in post-war history; it has had a far-reaching positive impact on world peace, and its grand positive significance for world peace is still unfolding. For China, it paved the way for the “open-door” foreign policy that Deng Xiaoping implemented in the 1980s and early 1990s. And to me personally, that event is responsible, albeit indirectly, for me and my family to be here in Canada, to live a comfortable and peaceful life today.

by Lin Hua 林华 originally posted on Lin Hua Dance Facebook on April 23, 2014
linhuadance@hotmail.com

linhuadance

nixson and kissinger.jpg (144.37 KB)

2014-6-27 11:12

MrGrant

linhuadance

引用:

原帖由 aman 于 2014-6-27 22:51 发表
和林老师学硬文 ...

谢谢您的指正，看得出您的英文功底很深，同时请允许我保留我原作的风格。多谢关注。

一笑

Just for fun:
-------------------------------------

linhuadance

本来只是想表达一下我对尼克松和基辛格看法，看来 aman 和一笑都想借此机会大家一起来提高一下英文。也好。只是事先先说明，我的时间极其有限，不可能参加太多的讨论，在这里先说声抱歉。

有一点我想先澄清的是，我写的不是 formal 的学术论文，是自己的感受，是带有自己的感情色彩的 casual 写作，所以个别地方会与无痛无痒的 formal 写法有出入。比如，“In spite of that and in spite of Watergate” 在简约严谨的 formal 写作中一般应该用 "In spite of that and Watergate" (注：在这个短语里我是不会用 "even" 的)，但是这个 formal 格式不符合我想“发泄”的*无论如何*的感受，所以我要重复 “in spite of" 。

假如各位对尼克松和基辛格的历史功过有什么想法，我也希望能在这里听到您的声音。我个人认为西方媒体著作等（如我看的这本书）对他们两位的一味攻击很片面，故有感而发。

一笑

跟aman先生开个玩笑，并无挑刺的意思。大家都非“native speakers", 不必认真。鄙人现在就把那帖子删了。

毛主席说，不是尼克松和基辛格改变了世界，而是世界改变了他们。没有中国领导人的开明和主动邀请，他中国也去不了，从越南也走不了。

linhuadance

对不起，一笑，我没有觉得您在挑刺啊！我只是想说明一下目标读者的不同会对写作风格有影响。而且大家一起，拿我的文章开刀，商讨一下英文，虽然不是我写作的初衷，但是也没有什么不好的啊！

假如继续商讨，建议一次就讨论一个句子，否则容易事倍功半，什么也搞不清。aman 您是不是起个头，找个句子来敲打敲打？

最后还想说一下，时间所限，我不一定能参加所有的讨论，请原谅。




。

一笑

Nixon gave a famous remark when he was mounting the Great Wall during his visit to Beijing, China, 1972, which is, “The Great Wall IS the great wall!” This was really a one hundred percent correct baloney, teased a western journalist.

linhuadance

假如是正式的“八股”文，我马上想到的有三点：

1、make a remark 应该比 give a remark 好。(One makes a remark, gives a talk, and makes/gives a speech.)

2、修饰 remark 的 which is ... 从句应该紧跟 remark.

3、This was really a one hundred percent correct baloney 应该裹在“”括号里。

（另外，用我的文章中的句子作靶子没有关系，那样也给我一个跟大家学习或者解释的机会。）

新路上手

掐得好好的，又被你的乾隆金戒指给毁了。。What is your memo?

引用:

原帖由 aman 于 2014-6-29 09:56 发表
林老师不要生气， 我们都是来玩的，认真地说我们的英语都是从书上学的，最多是
Academic English Style , 您的是 English literature Style , close to real and daily life.

跟贴回贴说明大家能玩到一起，那是缘 ...

freedom_2008

If it was about your boss, then it was probably more to do with what you wrote than how you wrote it that failed you.  

Note: I disliked my last boss so much that I refused to talk or report to him (i.e. I "fired" him) before I left for LOA.

freedom_2008

林老师，我叫是native又爱读书的另一半看了，说你写的英文很好，非常接近native speaker了。 别人（包括做梦时说英文的freedom_2008）写的，删了的看不见，看得见的 no comment。

我也看过一些有关尼克松和基辛格的文章和影视，个人感觉还是比较求实的。 政客都是政客，只不过谁更肮脏而已。

同意你说的，我们这些普通学生在八十年代中期能被放出天朝来是当时改革开放的结果。但是当时很多人能在加拿大留下来，虽然有个人奋斗的成分，我觉得还是更要感谢（大概已经不在了的）Tank Man Wang Weilin。 所以我在今年的那一天选择了沉默。 你懂的。

freedom_2008

引用:

原帖由 aman 于 2014-6-29 13:59 发表
just a writing test as a part of the interview. I didn't know who would be my boss.

I knew.  I was just kidding.   

一笑

引用:

原帖由 linhuadance 于 2014-6-29 09:24 发表
假如是正式的“八股”文，我马上想到的有三点：

1、make a remark 应该比 give a remark 好。(One makes a remark, gives a talk, and makes/gives a speech.)

2、修饰 remark 的 which is ... 从句应该紧跟 r ...

您的第三点，我那句话不是直接引用，而是间接引用，请教如何写才正确？

新路上手

hao.png (38.62 KB)

2014-6-29 22:03

跟林老师学硬文，眼光超一流

一笑

Pearl Buck had hoped, as a journalist to accompany Nixon on his trip to Beijing meeting Mao in one of the century’s most famous handshakes. This was a desperate idea at her seventy-nine years old. She was not equipped to spend a week fighting for space in a press plane and scrambling from one interview to another. Nonetheless, the scheme demonstrated how badly she wanted to visit China. She appealed personally to President Nixon and wrote to several members of the Nixon White House. She wrote to Zhou Enlai, who sent her a terse and brutal message – she was refused to visit China.

linhuadance

引用:

原帖由 一笑 于 2014-6-29 22:21 发表
Pearl Buck had hoped, as a journalist to accompany Nixon on his trip to Beijing meeting Mao in one of the century’s most famous handshakes.  

先很快看一下这第一句：

1、meeting 我会用 to meet。Pearl Buck had hoped to meet Mao.... 感觉比 Pearl Buck had hoped meeting Mao 要地道。

2、Beijng 后加一个逗号能更清楚标明 as a journalist to accompany Nixon on his trip to Beijing 是一个插入成分

3、不太清楚介词 in 是否可以跟 handshakes 搭配构成这个介词短语 in handshakes；感觉这个搭配比较怪。

4、根据您后面的意思，好像 as a journalist 这个介词短语位置不对，因为那好像是说 Pearl Buck 已经是随团记者了。假如她还不是，as a journalist 应该放在 accompany 后面 (Pearl Buck had hoped to accompany Nixon as a journalist on his trip to Beijing to meet...). 两者区别在于： 在前面的位置它修饰动词 hope, 在后面的位置它修饰动词 accompany.

linhuadance

引用:

原帖由 aman 于 2014-6-29 09:56 发表
跟贴回贴说明大家能玩到一起，那是缘 ...

多谢您的回帖。

linhuadance

引用:

原帖由 freedom_2008 于 2014-6-29 13:36 发表
同意你说的，我们这些普通学生在八十年代中期能被放出天朝来是当时改革开放的结果。但是当时很多人能在加拿大留下来，虽然有个人奋斗的成分，我觉得还是更要感谢（大概已经不在了的）Tank Man Wang Weilin。 所以我在今年的那一天选择了沉默。 你懂的。

完全明白您的意思。尼克松之举只是渐接的影响到了我们，他的之举创造了一个大的宏观的环境，在这个前提下，让我们赶上了一系列的机会。