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Unit5WhynothingworksI'vealwayswantedtoownandcontroltheprimarytechnologyineverythingwedo.——SteveJobs•Discussion•Supposeyouroldmobilephoneisbroken.Repairingitcosts100yuanwhilepurchasinganewonecosts1,000yuan.Whatwillyoudo?•1.Hasyourcellphone,yourcomputer,yourcamera,yourMP3orsomethingofthekindeverrefusedtowork?Whenthishappens,whatorwhomdoyouputtheblameon?Whatdoyounormallythinkisthecauseofthefailure?•2.Manythingsthatusedtobemadebyhandarenowmanufacturedbymachine.Whichdoyouhavegreaterfaithin:hand-madeproductsormachine-madeproducts?Why?EvidencefromTextPomoIndianbasketandEskimoskinboatQualityisnotdependentontechnologyalone.32Quality-controlinstrumentsneedmaintenance;gaugesgooutoforder;Xraysandlaserbeamsneedadjustment.Quality-controlgadgetsandsamplingaresubjecttoMurphy'sLaw.11IllustrationsorexamplesprovidedWhatisillustratedorexemplifiedPara.No.management,theworkeronthefactoryfloor,theofficehelp,thesalespeoplevariousstagesinvolvedinproductionanddistributioninamodernsociety55pottery-making,basket-weaving,canoe-buildingcraftspecialtiesadoptedbydifferentmembersofthebandorvillage34Menmadetheirownspears,bowsandarrows,andprojectilepoints;womenwovetheirownbasketsand…orfiber.AndthewholePara.4Producersandconsumerswereeitheroneandthesameindividualorclosekinthatguaranteedthehighestdegreeofreliabilityanddurability.33•EvidencefromText•Process:InPara.3Harrisemploysprocesstohelpexplaintheformationofsocialrelationshipbetweenproducerandconsumer.Thestep-by-stepexplanationmakesiteasyforthereadertofollowtheauthor'sflowofthoughts.•Contrast:Inthelasttwoparagraphs,Harrisemployscontrast.Thepurposeistorevealthewidedifferenceinthequalityofproductsmadebytheproducerforhimselforhiskin,andofthosemadeforunknownusers.Thiscontrastoccurringtowardstheendoftheessaynaturallyaddsemphasistothethesis.•Murphy'slawisanadage（格言）inWesternculturethatbroadlystates,Iftherearetwoormorewaystodosomething,andoneofthosewayscanresultinacatastrophe,thensomeonewilldoit.如果有两种选择，其中一种将导致灾难，则必定有人会作出这种选择.•Itisalsocitedas:Anythingthatcangowrongwillgowrong.;凡事只要有可能出错，那就一定会出错。•ThesimilarWhatevercangowrong,willgowrong,or,Whatevercangowrongwillgowrong,andattheworstpossibletime,intheworstpossibleway.•FOREXAMPLE.•THEOLDSAYING:Ineverhadasliceofbreadparticularlylargeandwidethatdidnotfalluponthefloorandalwaysonthebutteredside.•“面包落地的时候，永远是抹牛油的一面着地”•Whenyouwasstandinginline,andyouwaswaitingimpatiently.Andthenyouchangedateam,intheend，youhasfoundoutthattheoriginalteamwasfaster.•SummaryOfMURPHY'SLAWS•1.Nothingisaseasyasitlooks.任何事都没有表面看起来那么简单；•2.Everythingtakeslongerthanyouthink.所有的事都会比你预计的时间长；•3.Anythingthatcangowrongwillgowrong.会出错的事总会出错；•4.Everysolutionbreedsnewproblems.每一个解决方案都会带来新的问题。•Attribute:Ifyouattributesomethingtoaneventorsituation,youthinkthatitwascausedbythateventorsituation.把…归因于;把…归咎于;•Ifyouattributeaparticularqualityorfeaturetosomeoneorsomething,youthinkthattheyhavegotit.加于…;认为…为…所有•Ifapieceofwriting,aworkofart,oraremarkisattributedtosomeone,peoplesaythattheywroteit,createdit,orsaidit.出自•Womentendtoattributetheirsuccesstoexternalcausessuchasluck.•Peoplewerebeginningtoattributesuperhumanqualitiestohim.•This,andtheremainingpaintings,arenotattributedtoPicasso.•thesavantknownonlyasMurphy•SavantisaFrenchwordinorigin,meaningapersonofgreatknowledgeofsomesubjectoramanofprofoundlearning.•EdMurphy,anaircraftengineer(seethenextnote),isbynomeansasavantinthetruesenseoftheword.Butthelawheformulatesseemstobeuniversallytrue.SotheauthorusesthetermsavantwhichismodifiedbyknownonlyasMurphy,meaningthatthissavantisofahumbleorigin.•corollary•n.•anidea,anargument,orafactthatnaturallyfollowssomethingelse•CorollariestoMurphy'sLawsuggestthemselvesascluestotheshoddygoodsproblem.•—FromMurphy'sLawwemayfindanswerstotheproblemofbadlymadegoods.•Murphy'sLaw•Thisisahumorousmaximdeclaring,ingeneral,thatifanythingcangowrong,itwill.Thelaworiginatedin1949withCaptainEdMurphy,anaircraftengineer.Referringtoatechnician,hesaid,Ifthereisanywaytodoitwrong,hewill.Theprojectmanager,GeorgeE.Nichols,assignedthenameMurphy'sLawtothatandsimilarstatements.•AdditionalformsofMurphy'sLawincludenothingisaseasyasitlooksandeverythingtakeslongerthanyouthinkitwill.•untiladecentintervalhaselapsed•untilasufficientlylongperiodoftimehaspassed•Thebasicmeaningofdecentisproper;sociallyacceptable,e.g.decentbehaviour,decentclothing.Inthiscontext,adecentintervalsuggeststhattheamountoftimeshouldbelongenoughforpeopletoacceptasproper.•Elapsev.Thiswordisusedtoindicatethepassingoftime.•e.g.•Threeweeks/Fourmonths/Twoyearshaveelapsed.•forestall•v.preventordefeat(apersonorhisplans)byactingfirst•e.g.•Beforehehadtimetoexplainwhatheproposedtodo,hisplanwasforestalled.•Thepoliceforestalledtheburglar'sattempttobreakintothejeweller's.•commitment•n.theactofpledgingordevoting(oneself)toacourseofaction;(inthiscontext)obligationordeterminationtoforestallMurphy'sLaw•e.g.Theteacher'scommitment(responsibility)ismorethanimpartingknowledge.•Apersoniscommittedifhedevoteshimselftoacertaincause,e.g.acommittededucationist.Ifapersoncommitshimselftosomething,hepromisestogive