1. Unit 7 Making a Living
Text A Life of a Salesman

2. Warm-up Questions:
1.Have you ever experienced being a salesperson at spare time?
2.Do you think door-to-door sale is a good way to sell products?
3. What are the qualities required of a salesperson?
4.Do you think it is easy for a disabled person to be a salesperson? Why or why not?

3. the qualities required of a salesperson
courage/strong will/ perseverance/ hard work,
physical fitness/energetic/strong in body,
pleasing tone of voice,
thick-skinned
(to protect against the weather and against constantly having the door shut in your face

4. Proverbs and Quotations
1. Nothing is impossible to a willing mind.
世上无难事，只怕有心人。
2. Something attempted, something done.
有所为，必有所成。
3. Every tragedy makes heroes of common people.
-- Norman Stephens, American writer
每场悲剧都会在平凡的人中造就出英雄来。
— 美国作家 N. 斯蒂芬斯

5. Today, we are going to learn a true story about a willing mind, a hero of common people – Bill Porter.
Life of a Salesman
The portrait of Bill Porter

6. About the Author
Tom Hallman Jr. is a senior reporter specializing in features at The Oregonian 俄勒岗人报. He joined the paper in 1980 and covered the police beat（巡逻路线）for a decade, longer than any reporter since the 1950s.
While covering cops, Hallman began writing feature stories -- at first off the beat, then the stories of everyday people. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in beat reporting in 1995 and in feature writing in He has won the Ernie Pyle Award 艾琳新闻奖 for human-interest writing, the ASNE 美国报纸编辑协会 Distinguished Writing Award for nondeadline writing (twice), the feature-writing award from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Livingston Award 利文斯顿奖 for Young Journalists.

7. Life of a Salesman
Betrayed by a crippled body that leaves him in continual pain, betrayed by a changing world that no longer needs him, Bill Porter each day trudges（跋涉，步履艰难地走） his door-to-door sales territory, set on making his way in the world. --Tom Hallman
The Oregonian 俄勒岗人报
Sunday, November 19, 1995

8. Bill Porter cerebral palsy. Once told by the State of Oregon he
Bill Porter was born with
cerebral palsy. Once told
by the State of Oregon he
was “unemployable”, he
overcame the odds against him and got a job as a door to door salesman for Watkins Products. He went on to become the company’s top salesman -- one door at a time, succeeding by staying focused on what he was passionate about -- sales.

10. Bill Porter
Bill Porter is a man of extraordinary optimism, persistence and wisdom. Despite what most of us would consider huge obstacles, he has accomplished success. Remarkably, Bill does not think there is any obstacle in his life.

11. Shelly Brady
Shelly Brady, the author of the book, Ten Things I Learned from Bill Porter, was a teenager when she first met and worked with Bill Porter. Later, after studying theater arts in college and marrying John Brady, she again worked part-time for Bill, delivering orders and helping him with household duties. Now, Shelly spends much of her time sharing Bill’s story with various organizations and corporations.

12. Comments on Bill Porter:
Sometimes the true heroes in our lives are those people who inspire us not with their superhuman accomplishments but simply by their refusal to give up in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds and the dignity in which they conduct their lives. Bill Porter is one of those heroes.

13. Text Structure I 1-7 II 8-25 III 26-62 IV 63-84 Bill’s Activities
Parts
Paragraphs
Time of the Day
Bill’s Activities I
1-7 II
8-25
III
26-62 IV
63-84
Preparation for the day’s work
Early morning
(5:45 am)
Mid-morning
(7:45am)
On his way to work
Door-to-door selling
Day
(since 5:45)
Evening
(after 7 pm)
Paper work

14. Scanning Scan Text A and put the sentences in a logical order.
A. He has his laces tied and his top shirt button buttoned before taking another bus.
B. It’s after 7 p.m. that he arrives home after a day’s hard work.
C. It’s 5:45 a.m. Bill Porter lingers under the covers and listens to weather broadcasting.
D. He assembles his weapons before going out.
E. The teenagers on the bus remind him of his past.
F. He tries many times. At last, a lady buys a cake of laundry soap from him. C D E A F B

15. linger (L1):
1) If you linger somewhere, you stay there for a long time, because you don’t want to leave.
e.g. It is a dreary little town where few people would choose to linger.
He was still lingering around the stadium long after the game was over.
2) spend a long time doing or thinking about sth.
pattern : linger on sth., linger over sth.
e.g. He used to linger long over her meal .
linger over one's work 磨洋工
We lingered away the whole summer at the beach. 我们在海滩上消磨掉整个夏天。
3) remain or stay (longer than necessary)
Winter lingered. 冬天迟迟不去。
The scent of her perfume lingered in the room.
Rain will linger over much of Guanxi Province in the following days.

16. Rescuers and sniffer dogs search through the debris at the quake-hit site. Many sniffer dogs are working day and night, searching for signs of lingering life in the quake-hit areas.

17. cripple
1). If sth. cripples sb., it seriously injures them so that they can never move properly again.
e.g. The accident crippled him for life.
2). damage or harm sb./sth. seriously
e.g. The traffic was entirely crippled in the city.
The terrorists’ attack has not crippled the US economy.
3）跛子，残废的人
e.g. He was born a cripple.

18. Betray: 1. be disloyal to 2. show feelings you are trying to hide
betray one’s friend, country, principles, promise, ideals, etc.
His trembling voice betrayed his nervousness.
She said it didn’t matter but her facial expression betrayed her annoyance.

19. gain on sb/sth (L14): chase to get in front of or near to sb/sth
The patrol boat is gaining on the smuggling ship.
See to it that no bad habit gains on you.
He was __________________（紧跟着对手）throughout the race, but only overtook them at the very end.
gaining on his opponents

20. tilt: n. & v. 倾斜, 偏向,傾向 1. (cause to) move into a position where one side is higher than the other 2. move your head or chin up or to the side 3. if an opinion or situation tilts or sth. tilts it, it changes so that people prefer one person, belief, etc.
He tilted the chair back on two legs and stretched his long body.
She tilted her head back to see who’s behind.
The chairman tilts towards my opinion.
Minjin Party is criticized for its tilt towards independence of Taiwan.

21. Lean: v. (+adv. / prep. ) (L. 24) 1
Lean: v. (+adv. / prep.) (L.24) 1. to move or bend your body in a particular direction 2. support yourself or an object in a sloping position against a wall or other surface, or to put sth in a sloping position in which it is supported 3. slope or bend from an upright position
She’s leaning on a tree for rest.
The old man leant against his cane.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is renowned for its tilt.
I lean towards your viewpoint.
lean toward sth: (见解等）倾向于
lean on：depend on sb or sth for support or help

22. Lean: a. (L. 137) 1. thin in a healthy and attractive way
ant. profitable ( L. 124)
1. thin in a healthy and attractive way
a lean and athletic man
2. containing little or no fat
Lean meat is healthier for you than fatty meat.
3. used to describe periods of time when
people do not have much money; producing
little of value
The company has apparently recovered from several lean years.

23. a pack of (L23): a set of persons with a common interest, sometimes not legal or organized 一伙， 一帮，一群，一堆, 大量
a pack of thieves;
a pack of lies;
a pack of entertainment reporters
a pack of kids
a pack of hounds

24. transfer vt. transfer sth./sb. from…to…
→ move from one place to another
e.g. She’s been transferred to another department.
The company has transferred to the west coast.
Chairman Hu and Premier Wen called for all-out efforts to save and cure injured survivors, urging to transfer them to hospitals with better conditions.

25. False start:失败的开端，起步失误；抢跑，起跑犯规
1) A false start is an attempt to start sth. which fails because you are not properly prepared or ready to begin.
E.g. Any reform faces false starts and mistakes.
2) In a race, a false start means one of the competitors moves before the start signal.

26. Pledge: v. & n. 保证；抵押
1) The leaders pledged to step up cooperation between the two countries.
2) It’s time to fulfill your pledge.
3) He gave a pledge never to reveal the secret.
4) China and Japan pledged to strengthen cooperation in food security in a bid to safeguard the life and health of the two peoples.
The meeting ended with a pledge to step up cooperation between the six nations.
 make a solemn pledge to

27. strain e.g. That noise is really straining my patience. 那些噪音实在让我受不了。
1). vt. Weaken, damage
e.g. That noise is really straining my patience.
那些噪音实在让我受不了。
All exercises strain the heart.
2). If you strain to do sth., you make a great effort to do it. V+O + to, V+to
e.g. He strained to understand what the speaker was saying.
He strained his eyes to catch a glimpse of the president.

28. strain
3). n. 压力，负担
e.g. Some young white collar workers are complaining about their job strain.
The bridge collapsed under the strain of all the extra traffic.
所有这些增加的交通车辆使这座桥不堪重负坍塌了。
The additional work put a great strain on him.
The rope broke under the strain.

29. tail (L106):
1) vt. follow secretly
eg. The car has been tailing me for the whole morning.
2) n. <infml> the person who follows
eg. They put a tail on（尾随，盯梢） the spy as he left the airport.

30. register: 注册，登记；被注意
1). When you register, you put your name on an official list
e.g. Guangdong said people who wanted to adopt quake orphans could register at local offices.
The soaring number of donors forced blood collection centers in some cities to ask donors to register in advance.
2). be recognized or noted mentally
e.g. On occasions what I said didn’t register in my friend’s brain.
The professor’s name didn’t register with the students.

31. slip on
If you slip into clothes or slip them on, you put them on quickly or easily.
* slip out of clothes ; slip clothes off

32. straight (L136):
1) consecutive, one after the other:
a straight-A student;
a two-hour straight live concert
It has rained for five straight days.
2) simple, with nothing-added
eg. The workers were given a straight choice between a pay cut and losing their jobs.

33. be laid up (with) (L139): confined (as by illness) to bed; be bedridden
eg. The football player was laid up in bed with a twisted knee.
He was laid up with acute flu for weeks.

34. in time (L157): Within an indefinite time; eventually
eg. In time they came to accept the harsh facts.
You will in time recover your health and strength.

35. Text Analysis
This article first appeared in a newspaper; therefore it carries many characteristics of journalistic writing.
First of all, a journalist tries to be objective in reporting. As a result, third-person narrative is usually preferred over first-person narrative. Moreover, the journalist would not make any comments to reveal his/her feelings, but simply give the facts.

36. Text Analysis
Secondly, an eye-catching beginning helps lure readers to linger more on the story out of an overwhelming number of stories offered by the day’s newspaper. For example, at the beginning of this story, we learn that it takes our physically deformed hero great efforts to get up so as to do something important, yet what is this something? We are kept in suspense until the fourth paragraph.

37. Text Analysis
Thirdly, the vocabulary is simple, the sentences and paragraphs short, sometimes elliptical. When needs arise, a paragraph is as short as one sentence.
Lastly, conversations can be transcribed word for word if they illustrate the theme, like the one in the text between Bill Porter and his indecisive female customer.

38. Imitation of Sentences
Rewrite the following sentences after the model, making them as brief as possible.
Model: -- Do you want to buy any jams?
-- No. Maybe I’ll buy nothing today.
-- Jams?
-- No. Maybe nothing today.

39. 1. Is there anything you want?
2. Look out for cars when you are crossing the street.
Look out for cars when crossing the street.
3. If it is possible, I should like to have two copies of it.
If possible, I should like to have two copies of it.
4. The sooner we perform the operation, the greater is the hope of saving the hand.
The sooner the operation, the greater the hope of saving the hand.
5. It is too bad you can’t get here for the meeting this afternoon.
Too bad you can’t get here for the meeting this afternoon.

40. Useful Expressions put up with feel like doing be capable of
gain on/upon sb.
assemble: put together
kick up
lean against; lean on sb./sth.
only to
turn down
head into a wind
keep … off balance
be on the phone
off one’s feet
on straight commission
be laid up with (+disease)
go off

41. tie one's shoes
feel like doing sth
a pack of
rise above one's limitations
help wanted ads
household products
a retail salesman
1. 系鞋带
2. 想做某事
3. 一群
4. 超出自己的极限
5. 招聘广告
6. 家用物品
7. 零售推销员

42. work on straight commission paid holidays relieve pain be laid up with
8. 单凭佣金收入的工作
9. 带薪的假期
10.减轻疼痛
11.因…卧床休息
12.情绪低落, 垂头丧气
13.潦草的签名
14.安乐椅
15.熄灭
work on straight commission
paid holidays
relieve pain
be laid up with
feel sorry for oneself
scrawled signature
an easy chair
go off

43. off balance a shoeshine stand drop sb. off on the phone be out of soap
off one’s feet
lead a solitary life
nervous system
16. 失去平衡
17. 擦鞋摊
18. 让某人下车
19. 在打电话
20. 肥皂用完了
21. 躺(或坐)着
22. 过着离群索居的生活
23. 神经系统

44. Bill’s story was featured in an ABC 20/20 segment that received the largest viewer response in its history. Bill has received numerous awards including “The Salesman of the Century” from Home Base, the “Game On” from Nike, and the “Communication” award presented by astronaut and senator John Glenn.

45. Bill Porter’s story is so inspirational, William H
Bill Porter’s story is so inspirational, William H. Macy wrote and starred in the Emmy award winning movie “Door To Door”, presented on TNT, which chronicles 40 years of Porter’s remarkable life. Director and co-writer, Steven Schachter said, “Bill Porter’s story is so compelling because it’s about a simple man with cerebral palsy. He is unheroic in his deeds, but when you look at the totality of his life, he’s an amazing hero because of the daily obstacles he faces and the odds he’s overcome. He represents a kind of work ethic that’s long gone.”