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Section Three Detailed Reading

NEVER GIVE IN, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER

Winston Churchill

Almost a year has passed since I came down here at your Head Master’s kind invitation in order to cheer myself and cheer the hearts of a few of my friends by singing some of our own songs. The ten months that have passed have seen very terrible catastrophic events in the world — ups and downs, misfortunes — but can anyone sitting here this afternoon, this October afternoon, not feel deeply thankful for what has happened in the time that has passed and for the very great improvement in the position of our country and of our home? Why, when I was here last time we were quite alone, desperately alone, and we had been so for five or six months. We were poorly armed. We are not so poorly armed today; but then we were very poorly armed. We had the unmeasured menace of the enemy and their air attack still beating upon us, and you yourselves had had experience of this attack; and I expect you are beginning to feel impatient that there has been this long lull with nothing particular turning up! But we must learn to be equally good at what is short and sharp and what is long and tough. It is generally said that the British are often better at the last. They do not expect to move from crisis to crisis; they do not always expect that each day will bring up some noble chance of war; but when they very slowly make up their minds that the thing has to be done and the job put through and finished, then, even if it takes months — if it takes years — they do it.

Another lesson I think we may take, just throwing our minds back to our meeting here ten months ago and now, is that appearances are often very deceptive, and as Kipling well says, we must “…meet with Triumph and Disaster. And treat those two impostors just the same.”

You cannot tell from appearances how things will go. Sometimes imagination makes things out far worse than they are; yet without imagination not much can be done. Those people who are imaginative see many more dangers than perhaps exist; certainly many more will happen; but then they must also pray to be given that extra courage to carry this far-reaching imagination. But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period — I am addressing myself to the school — surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. All this tradition of ours, our songs, our school history, this part of the history of this country, were gone and finished and liquidated.

Very different is the mood today. Britain, other nations thought, had drawn a sponge across her slate. But instead our country stood in the gap. There was no flinching and no 5

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thought of giving in; and by what seemed almost a miracle to those outside these islands, though we ourselves never doubted it, we now find ourselves in a position where I say that we can be sure that we have only to persevere to conquer. You sang here a verse of a school song: you sang that extra verse written in my honour, which I was very greatly complimented by and which you have repeated today. But there is one word in it I want to alter — I wanted to do so last year, but I did not venture to. It is the line: “Not less we praise in darker days.”

I have obtained the Head Master’s permission to alter darker to sterner. “Not less we praise in sterner days.”

Do not let us speak of darker days: let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days — the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.

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I. Questions

1. What was the difference between the present situation and the situation when Churchill

came to Harrow School ten months ago? (Paragraph 1)

Answer: Ten months ago, Britain was poorly armed, fighting alone, and faced with unmeasured menace of the enemy. Now, Britain was not that poorly armed, and the situation was improving.

2. What did Churchill mean by saying “we must learn to be equally good at what is short and

sharp and what is long and tough”? (Paragraph 2)

Answer: By saying this he meant to make his audience fully aware that they should not only be able to fight and win short and quick battles but also be ready to fight and win hard and enduring wars.

3. What lesson had they learnt? (Paragraphs 3 – 4)

Answer: The lesson learnt throughout the past ten months was that one should not be deceived by appearances and should never give in to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. With a combination of imagination and courage, the British people could overcome any kind of difficulties and smash any attack of the enemy.

4. Why did Churchill replace the word darker with sterner? (Paragraphs 7 – 8)

Answer: Because he had a strong conviction of victory. The word darker carries a pessimistic tone, for it usually indicates “a period of unpleasant and frightening time” and implies hopelessness in a difficult period. But the word sterner, although it has the identical referent, suggests a time that is testing, but testing in a way that offers the British the opportunity to display their courage to the full.

Class Activity

Group discussions:

Topic A: How does the speaker Churchill impress you in the speech? Does it contribute to your understanding of the WWII?

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Topic B: Have you learned anything from Churchill’s oration about making a powerful speech?

II. Words and expressions

Part 1: Paragraph 1

at your Head Master’s kind invitation at: in response to

Collocation: at one’s invitation/request/suggestion, etc. e.g. A meeting was arranged at the ambassador’s request. At my suggestion, Mrs. Carey wrote to her former employer. Translation:

应胡锦涛主席之邀，美国总统将对中国进行国事访问。

Answer: At the invitation of President Hu Jintao, President of the United States will pay a state visit to China.

catastrophic: a. involving or causing sudden great damage or suffering Synonym: disastrous

Collocation: catastrophic floods/losses/effects/results Derivation: catastrophe n.

ups and downs: a mixture of good things and bad things

e.g. Sitting beside the window, he recalled the ups and downs of his parenthood. Translation:

从1999年建立以来，公司历经盛衰浮沉。

Answer: The organization has experienced its ups and downs since it was founded in 1999.

position: situation at a particular time Synonym: situation

e.g. It is time those companies revealed more about their financial position.

Their soccer team is going to be in a very difficult position if nothing particular shows up.

Part 2: Paragraphs 2-5

throwing our minds back to our meeting here ten months ago: recollecting our meeting at Harrow School ten months ago

e.g. Please throw your mind back to 1945, when people all over the world were engaged in a great war against the Fascists.

meet with: experience; undergo

e.g. Attempts to find civilian volunteers have met with embarrassing failure.

Efforts to put the Russian space programme into market have met with little success. She was worried that he might have met with an accident.

... imagination makes things out far worse ...: ... what one imagines tends to be worse than reality ...

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make out: see or understand

e.g. How do you make that out (= what are your reasons for thinking that)? [+ wh-] I can’t make out what she wants. Paraphrase:

I can’t make out how to put it back.

Answer: I don’t know/understand how to put it back.

far-reaching: a. having important and widely applicable effects or implications Collocation: far-reaching consequences/implications/changes/reforms e.g. The consequences of the decision will be far-reaching. They decided to carry on far-reaching constitutional reforms.

conviction: n.

a strong opinion or belief

Collocation: political/moral convictions

e.g. She was motivated by deep religious convictions. In face of difficulty, he held a conviction that all would be well in the end. [U] the feeling or appearance of believing sth. strongly or of being sure about it e.g. He said he agreed but his voice lacked conviction.

The leader’s speech in defense of the policy didn’t carry much conviction.

yield: v.

yield (to sth./sb.): (formal or literary) give up control (of) Synonym: surrender

e.g. After a long siege, the town was forced to yield. He reluctantly yielded to their demands.

If the newly founded regime does not yield, it should face sufficient military force to ensure its certain defeat.

I yielded to temptation and had a chocolate bar. Paraphrase:

Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Answer: Never give in or surrender to the seemingly strong enemy.

overwhelming: a. very great in amount

e.g. The evidence against him was overwhelming.

She had the almost overwhelming desire to tell him the truth. Translation:

压倒性的大多数表决反对这个提议。

Answer: An overwhelming majority voted against the proposal. Derivation:

overwhelm: v. defeat or make powerless (usu. a group of people) by much greater force of numbers; e.g. to overwhelm the opposing army

persevere: v. continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no

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