安徽工业大学工商学院
外语系
综合英语1课程教案
Lesson One Half aDay
l Teaching Aims:
After learningthis unit, students are supposed to:
1. get familiarwith the rules of word formation;
2. get familiarwith some grammatical points;
3. retell the textas a whole;
4. have a thoroughunderstanding of the whole text: Half aDay
5. get a list ofnew words and expressions and be able to use them freely in writing and dailyconversation.
l Teaching Emphasis and Difficulties:
1. Words:
clutch; intricate; resort; convince; irritated;perseverance; revolve, etc.
2. Phrases:
to make sb./sth. (out) of sb./sth., to tear sb. away from a place, burstinto, to be thrown into, etc.
3. Structures:
the use of the past perfect;
the use of “would”;
Part One Warm-up
1. How was your first day at college? What’s your deepest impression ofyour first day to the University?
2. Do you feel nostalgic for your dearest parents?
3. What’s the dream you want to realize during the fouracademic years in university?
4. What do you think of the relationship between the teachers and thestudents?
PartTwo Background Information
l NaguibMahfouz (1911-2006):
Born in 1911,educated at Cairo University
Wrote shortstories and historical novels before WWII
Turned to write novelsof social realism after WWII
Later works combinedrealism & symbolism
A prolificwriter: no fewer than 30novels, more than 100 short stories, and more than 200 articles.
PartThree Text Analysis
l LanguagePoints:
The author of the story usesa strategy commonly used in fiction writing--the protagonist returns afterbeing absent for a short time to find everything changed beyond recognition. The text can beconveniently divided into three parts. In the first part (para.1-7), we learnabout the boy’s misgivings about school. He found it hard to be away from homeand mom, and thought school was punishment. The second part (para.8-16)describes how the boy felt about school. He found that life at school was richand colorful in many ways, although it also required discipline and hard work.In the last part of the text, the boy walked out of the school to find that theoutside world had changed beyond measure and that he had grown into an old man.
1. Elliptical question& rhetorical question
“Why school?” I asked my father. “What have I done?”
e.g. A: Headmaster: We want you to go and tell the boy’sparents the news.
B: Teacher: Why me?
Father: We’ll go to Tianjin this weekend.
Daughter: What for?/ Why thisweekend?/Why Tianjin?
Don’t you want to be useful like your brothers?
Can’t you see I’m busy? (Don’t disturb me!)
What good is a promise for an unemployed worker?
Does nothing ever worry you?
2. Inverted sentences
… here and there stood conjurers showing off their tricks,or making snakes appear from baskets.
Conjurers stood everywhere. Theywere showing off their tricks or making snakes appear from baskets.
More examples:
Thereare some exceptions to this reaction.
Were there noair on the earth, there would be no life on it.
In no caseshould we waste our time.
There goes the bell.
Away hurried thecustomers.
3. Writing Techniques
“with”
Then there was a band ..., with clowns and weightlifters walking in front.
More examples:
He stood there with a stick in his hand. (with + n. + prep.)
Paul soon fell asleep withthe light still burning. (with + n. + participle)
She can’t go out with all thesedishes to wash. (with + n. + to do.)
He was lying on the bed with allhis clothes on. (with + n. + adv. )
4. Sentence Paraphrase
1). They did not makeme happy, however, as this was the day I was to be thrown into school for thefirst time.
Whatdoes “they” refer to?
Whatdoes the narrator imply by using “to be thrown into school”?
2). My mother stood atthe window watching our progress, and I turned towards her from time to time,hoping she would help.
What does “progress” mean here?
What kind of help could hismother offer?
What does the sentence tell usabout the boy’s relationships with his parents?
3). astreet lined with gardens …
a street where there are gardens … along both sides
lined with …: past participle phrase used here to modify“a street”. It can be regarded as a relative clause cut short, e.g.
a novel (that was) written by Charles Dickens
personal computers (that are) made in
4). I didnot believe there was really any good to be had in tearing me away from my homeand throwing me into the huge, high-walled building.
There is no good to be had in doing sth.
It is no good/use doing sth.
5). … from each floorwe were overlooked by a long balcony roofed in wood.
… on one side of the courtyard was a building with a longwood-roofed balcony on each floor where we could be seen. Or
… from the balcony on each floor of the building peoplecould see the pattern into which we formed.
6). Well,it seemed that my misgivings had had no basis.
Well, perhaps my doubt, worry and fear about what schoolwould be like were all groundless. Or
Well, it seemed that I was wrong to think that school wasa dreadful place.
7). Inaddition, the time for changing one’s mind was over and gone and there was noquestion of ever returning to the paradise of home.
There is no question (of doing): there is no possibility
Besides, it was impossible for us to quit school andreturn to the good old days when we stayed home playing and fooling around allday. Our childhood was gone, never to come back.
8). Nothing layahead of us but exertion, struggle, and perseverance.
nothing but: only
We would have to do our best and keep working very harduntil we finished school. This is what I imagined our school days would belike. Or
The kind of life that was waiting for us at school wouldbe full of exertion, struggle and perseverance.
9). Thosewho were able took advantage of the opportunities for success and happinessthat presented themselves.
to present itself/ themselves: (formal) to appear, happen
If there came opportunities, capable students would seizethem to achieve success and happiness.
5. Wordstudy
1). to make sb./sth. (out) of sb./sth.
It’s a place that makes useful men outof boys. (make boys become useful men)
e.g. The army made a man of him.
He said the Government were frightened ofnothing. The real trouble was we were makinga mountain out of a molehill.
2). There is no good to be had in doing sth.
It is no good/usedoing sth.
There is no good to behad in buying a boat when you don’t have enough spare time to use it.
It’s no good cryingover spilt milk.
It is worth doing wellwhat is worth doing.
it is no (not much)good
it is no (not any,hardly any, little) use
it is useless
it is not theslightest use
it isworth(worthwhile)
there is no (no good,no use)
There is no denyingthat women are playing an important role in the world today.
3). to tear sb. away from a place: to (make sb.) leave aplace or a person unwillingly because one has to
eg. Can’t you tear yourself away from the TV for dinner?
I found the program absolutely fascinating. I couldn’t tear myself away—evento finish an urgent e-mail.
4). to cling to sth.: to hold tightly; not releaseone’s grip on
eg. The little child clung to his mother for comfort.
Some of the victims of the fire climbed out of the building, clung to the window ledges for aminute or two and then dropped to their death a hundred feet below.
She still clings to the beliefthat her son is alive.
5). burst into (tears, sobs; laughter, a guffaw, song): begin, suddenly and/orviolently, to cry, laugh, sing etc.
eg. Aunt Annabel, who has been nervous and jumpylately, suddenly burst into tears.
As the comic got into his stride, the audience burst into hoots of laughter.
cf.
The aircraft turned on its back and burstinto flames.
The orchards seemed to have burst into blossom overnight.
I mentioned the incident later to a tailor friend and he burst out laughing/crying.
6). sort people into ranks: put ... in order; arrange
They sorted the applesaccording to size into largeones and small ones.
cf.
She spent a happy afternoon sortingout her coins and stamps.
It’s no good standing back and waiting for things to sort themselves out.
7)．to resort to: to make use of : to turn to sth. (esp.sth. bad) as a solution
eg. Terrorists resorted to bombing city centers as ameans of achieving their political aims.
These are means we have never resortedto to obtain information.
8)．to present oneself: to appear, happen
eg. When the chance tostudy at Harvard presented itself,I jumped at it.
He was ordered to present himselfat the chairman’s office at nine o’clock next morning.
Guess the word meaning
They unwrapped theirChristmas presents.
His wife presented him with a brand-new babygirl.
His sudden resignationpresents us with a trickysituation.
The National Theatreis presenting “King Lear” nextmonth.
It was unfair to discuss his case if he wasn’t present.
PartFour Assignment
Please retell the story ofthe little boy.
Quiz
1. Fillin the blanks with proper prepositions.
The change of air is particularlybeneficial _______ her health.
He is now convinced______ the truth of the report.
Please do not beirritated _______ his bad manners since he is merely trying to attractattention.
The old woman isunbearably curious _______ other people’s business.
2. Prefixes
Fill inthe blanks with proper words having the required prefix. After class, studysuch
words asmuch as possible. mis-= wrong(ly),bad(ly), ill
1. The irresponsible ofa drunken driver resulted in an accident.
2. ___________never come singly.
3. I like your plan inprinciple; my only isthat it may take too long to carry out.
4. How can we clear upthe betweenthe two families?
5. Fill in the blankswith proper words having the required prefix. After class, study such words asmuch as possible.
over- = above, across, beyond (overlook, …)
1. The fire was completely bydaybreak.
2. Water from the kitchen sink ontothe floor.
3. Our garden is fromthe neighbor’s windows.
4. Well, I’ll itthis time; but don’t do it again
5. Fill in theblanks with proper words having the required prefix. After class, study suchwords as much as possible.
var(i)=diverse, to change (vary, variation, various, variety, ...)
1. Features such as height, weight, and skin color ____ from individualto individual and from face to face.
2. The weatherman broadcasts the ________ in temperature twice a day.
3. The remarkable _______ of life on the Galopagos Islandsinspired Charles Darwin to establish his theory of evolution.
Lesson Two The Boy and the Bank Officer
l Teaching Aims
After learningthis lesson, students are supposed to:
1. retell the story or dramatize the storyand act it out:
2. get familiar with word formation;
3. distinguish clearly among the consonants;
4. have a thorough understanding of the wholetext: Message of the Land ;
5. get a list of the new words, expressions andgrammatical structures and be able to use them freely in writing and dailyconversation.
Part One Warm-up
l Listening and Speaking Activities
1.Have studentslisten to the recording of the text and choose the correct answers to eachquestion in pre-work II.
2.Have studentsread the text and ask each other questions on the text or answer the questionslisted in Oral Work.
l Pre-reading discussions
1) Do you sometimes have to abank?
2) What do banksdo?
3) Are you satisfied with theservice in the bank you do with?
Part Two Background Information
l Philip Ross (1939 -)An American writer based in New York.After workingas a newspaper reporter for four years, he turned to freelance writing.Many ofhis articles have appeared in the New Yorker, Reader’s Digest and New YorkTimes. This text is taken from Strategies for Successful Writing: A Rhetoricand Reader, 3rd edition published by Prentice Hall, Inc. in 1993 in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
l The Beginning of Banking
1. Banks firstemerged in the Middle Ages when people grew tired of carrying around all theirgold and began leaving their money with the goldsmith. 2. Until the founding ofthe Bank of England in 1694,
3. The goldsmithsnoticed that deposits remained at a fairly steady level over long periods oftime. Deposits and withdrawals tended to balance each other because customersonly wanted enough money on hand to meet everyday needs. This allowed thesmiths to loan out at interest cash that would otherwise be idle. From thispractice emerged the modern facets of banking: keeping deposits, making loans,and maintaining reserves.4. Another practice of the goldsmiths, by which acustomer could arrange to transfer part of his balance to another party by awritten order, was the start of the modern check-writing system.
l Related expression
Currency 货币
Paper currency 纸币
Interest 利息
Rate 利率
Exchange rate 汇率
Account 账户
Deposit 存钱
Withdraw 取钱
Cash 现金
Bank draft 汇票
Passbook 存折
Account book
Password 密码
Overdraft 透支
Stock 股票
Bond 债券
Treasury bonds 国库券
Securities 证券
Options andfutures 期权及期货
Bear market 熊市
Bull market 牛市
China’s SecuritiesRegulatory Commission （CSRC）中国证监会
HSBC 汇丰银行
Citibank 花旗银行
Standard CharteredBank 渣打银行
BC/ CCB/ ABC/ ICBC
l CF:
A checkingaccount (a currentaccount) allows people to withdraw any amount of their money at any time andmake payments by writing checks, but it will pay little or no interest.
A savingsaccount may have rules asto how much notice must be given for withdrawals and the amounts that can bewithdrawn or saved, but will offer higher interest rates.
Instant accesssavings accounts allowwithdrawals at any time but interest rates will be lower.
Part Three Text Analysis
l Text analysis
Part I (paragraph 1): This part shows the author’s disgust to the bank.
PartII (paragraphs 2-23): The author’s description of the bank officer arouses thereaders’ interest and indignation
PartIII (paragraphs 24-32) gives the readers a surprising end.
l A short story
Plot: a man embarrasses himself by blindly interfering with a bankofficer’s “unfair” rejection when a boy requests to withdraw moneySetting: in abank in New Yorkat noon one dayCharacters: the narrator, a boy, and a fortyish bankofficerTheme of the story: what do you think?
l LanguagePoints
1. happen to do:occur by chance, take place
She happened tobe out when he called yesterday.
happen: ---refer toaccidental or unplanned event
occur: ---refer to accidental orunplanned event; more formal than happen
take place: suggest that anevent is/was planned
2. in thefirst / second…place: ---firstly / secondly…
in my / your… place: ---in my situationor circumstances
3. overlighted: ---having too much light
over-: 1)above; outside;across
overcoat overhead overhang overall
2) to excess; too much
overtime overeat over-rich overburden
overcharge overweight overstaffed overwhelm
4. fortyish: atabout the age of forty
-ish: a).. reddish greenish bluish yellowish darkish brownish
b). foolish childish babyish boyish womanish snobbish
clownish
c). English Irish Polish Scottish Finnish Spanish
Swedish
d). selfish bookish
e). fiftyish fortyish
f). publish polish punish accomplish abolish astonish establish
5. mustache: hairon upper lip
beard: hair growing on man’schin
goatee: short pointed beard
6. authority: 1) powers to give orders and makeothers obey
e.g. The leader must be a person of authority.
2) person or group having the power to giveorders or take actions
e.g.: The health authority is investigating the matter.
3) person with special knowledge
e.g. She is anauthority on phonetics.
7. more than: (colloq.) very;extremely; beyond
They were more than willing to help.
Some of the stories were really more than could be believed.
more… than…:
Thechild was more frightened than hurt.
He always seemed old to me, more like a grandfather than a father.
no more than: 1)only;just
It cost me only $5 to buy the book.
Before long her white sails were no more than a speck upon the waters.
2) the same as
He’s no more able to read Spanish than I am.
8. think twiceabout / doing sth: ---think carefully before deciding to do sth
You should think twice about employing someone you’venever met.
Once bitten, twice shy.
---(saying)after an unpleasant experience one is careful to avoid sth similar
Lightning never strike in the same place twice.
---(saying)an unusual event, or one that happens by chance, is not likely to occuragain in the exactly the same circumstances or to the same people.
9. as to+ whether : concerning / about / regarding
who
when
I can’t decide as towhen we should start.
It’s stillunclear as to whom this car belong to.
10. no… but to…:
He had no choice butto sell the house.
(do / did/ does) + no… but do:
I did nothing but follow therules.
11. but:
one cannot / couldn’t but do sth:---(fml)have to
I couldn’t but admit that he wasright and I was wrong.
(negative word) + but + clause: ---without the resultthat
No man is so cruel but he mayfeel some pity.
but for sb / sth: --- without sb / sth
But for the rain, we would havehad a nice holiday.
12. move in sth: ---live, be active, pass one’s time, etc. in a particular social group
She always moves in the best circles.
move in for sth: --- become active indoing sth
I moved in for the kill.
move in on sb / sth: ---converge on sb /sth, esp. in a menacing way
The police moved in on the terrorists.
13. zero in on sb /sth:---aim guns, etc. at or find the range of ( a particular target)
--- fix attention on sb / sth; focus on sb / sth
We should zero in on the key issues for discussion
14. damn: adv.very
damn good / clever / well
l Language Skills Practice
Use “happen to do, in the firstplace, over-lighted, authority, more than, think twice about, as to whether,no…but to, one cannot but do, move in sth,. zero in on sth, damn” to make up astory.
l Sentences Understanding
1. Everything abouthim suggested a carefully dressed authority.
---His clothes, his manner, etc. indicated that he was a carefully dressedman who had an important position and power.
2. Now if you willexcuse me.
Thisexpression is used when one wants to go back to one’s work, or to attend toother customers, or just to end the conversation.
3. I didn’t think twice.
I didn’t think verycarefully.
4. I moved in for the kill.
I began to prepare tokill, destroy or defeat my enemy.
5. Look, we’re just wasting each other’s time.
You are just talkingnonsense. I don’t want to listen to you any more.
6. Anyway, the police are on thecase.
Anyway, the police areworking on the case.
l In-Class Discussion
1. How do youunderstand the author’s friend’s attitude toward banks?
2. What can banks dofor us? And what about churches?
3. Are there any differences and similarities between banksand churches?
4.What do you think of the ending of the story? What effect may it bring to thestory?
5. Discuss with your partner thephenomenon of “School Bully” in both Foreign countries and
Part Four Assignment
Finish the exercises after the text.
Lesson Three Message of the Land
l Teaching Aims:
After learningthis lesson, students are supposed to:
1. retell the story:
2. get familiar with word formation;
3. distinguish clearly among theconsonants;
4. have a thorough understanding of the wholetext: Message of the Land ;
5. get a list of the new words, expressions andgrammatical structures and be able to use them freely in writing and dailyconversation.
Part One Warm-up
l Listening and Speaking Activities
1. Have studentslisten to the recording of the text and choose the correct answers to eachquestion in pre-work II.
2. Have students readthe text and ask each other questions on the text or answer the questionslisted in Oral Work.
l Questions:
1. What does“land” mean to you? What are the differences among “land”, “soil” and “earth”?
2. What does theword “motherland” or “homeland” associate your mind with?
3. As atraditionally agriculture-centered country,
4. Do you think that more andmore young people are coming to big cities for better life? Why and why not?
5. But some peopleespecially old ones like staying in the country and working on their land, Isthe land so important to them？ Why and why not？
Part Two Background Information
l Pira Sudham spent hischildhood in the rice fields on the Korat Plateau, helping his parents andtending a herd of buffaloes until he went to Bangkok at the age of fourteen to be a servantto monks in a Buddhist temple where he was also admitted to a school.
To support himself through highschool and the first year at the Faculty of Arts, ChulalongkornUniversity, he sold souvenirs totourists until he won a
His writings began to appear inliterary publications in
He has lived for over ten yearsin
Pira Sudham’s literary works are concerned withsocial-economic-political changes occurring in
l Considered
The kingdom of Thailandis a constitutional monarchy in the heart of southeast Asia.
The kingdomtraditionally was an agricultural country, but in the early 1970s, industrybegan to develop fast and it soon became known as one of the four “AsianTigers”.
Bangkokis the capitaland largest city of
It is one of thefastest-growing, most economically dynamic and socially progressive cities in Southeast Asia.
It is also one ofthe world’s most popular tourist destinations.
Part Three Text Analysis
l TextStructure
Part 1(Paragraghs1-7): The wife tells about each member of her family and how all her childrenleft and describes the changes that she finds she can’t adjust to.
Part 2 (Paragraghs8-11): The farmer’s speech is short, but touches something deeper---what hethinks are the roots of all evils. He also tells us what joys he finds in lifeand in farming
l Language Points
1) marry: vt./vi.
They married young.
John is going to marry Jane.
marry sb off
married: a. married to sb.
He is married to a famous writer.
marriedto sth.: dedicated to sth
He is whole-heartedly married to his work.
marriage: n.
2) afford to: can/ could be able + afford sth /to do sth
They walked becausethey couldn’t afford (to take) taxi.
I mustn’t annoy myboss because I can’t afford to lose my job.
3）now and then: now and again; occasionally
here and there: everywhere
ups and downs: alternate good and bad luck
the ins and outs: the details and complexities(of sth)
4）in spite (n. ) of: (used asa prep.) not being preventedby; regardless of; despite
They went out in spite of the rain.
regardless (adv.)of: (used as a prep.)(infml) paying no attention to
She carried on regardless of the danger.
despite (prep.):without being affected by
They had a wonderful holiday, despite the bad weather.
5）mind one’s own…
mind one’s own business: not interfere in other people’saffair
mind one’s own p’s and q’s: be careful and polite aboutwhat one says or does
6）bleed: v. (bled; bled) loose oremit blood
bleed to death
bleed for sth: suffer wounds or die (for acause ,one’s country)
bleed for revolution
bleed sb for sth: (infml) extort (money) from sb
The blackmailer bled him for every penny he had.
7）barter: v./ n. exchange (goods,property, etc) for other goods, etc without using money
barter sth for sth: barter wheat for machinery
barter with sb for sth:
The prisoners tried to barter with the guards for theirfreedom.
replace: v. ---put back in its place
replace the book on the shelf
---take theplace of
Can anything replace a mother’s love?
---provide asubstitute for sb / sth
replace a broken window with a new one
8）litter: n. light rubbish(eg. bits of paper, wrappings,bottles)
Please do not leave litter.
v．make untidy with scattered rubbish
Newspapers littered the floor.
9）fashion: n.
in / after the fashion of sb: (fml) like sb
She paints in the fashion of Picasso.
come into / be in fashion: become or be popular
go / be out of fashion: become outdated
fashionable: a.
old-fashioned: a.
10）hairdresser: n.
beautician: n.
barber: n.
11）spring: v. jump p from the ground in a single movement
spring out of bed
A cat sprang out of the bushes.
spring to life: suddenly become active
On hearing his name called, the sleeping dog sprang tolife.
come / spring to mind: present itself to one’s thoughts
Nothing immediately springs to mind.
spring from sth: have sth as a source or origin
Hatred often springs from fear.
spring up: appear,develop, grow, etc. quickly or suddenly
New houses were springing up all over the town.
12）a bag of bones: a very thinperson or animal
The cat was just a bag of bones.
bag and baggage: with all one’s belongings, often suddenly or secretly
Her tenant left, bag and baggage, without paying the rent.be in the bag: (of an result, outcome) be as desired
Her re-election is in the bag.
pack one’s bags: (prepare to) leave
He was told to pack his bags.
13）occur: v. come into being as an event or a process;happen
Deathoccurred at midnight, the doctor says.
occur to sb: comeinto (a person’s mind)
An idea has occurred to me.
Did it ever occur to you to think of him?
It never occurred to her that she should be on time.
occurrence: n.event; incident, happening
incident: n.unimportant or minor things happened
event: n. a happeningof importance
14）rag: n. torn, frayed, odd cloth
Iuse an oily rag to clean my bike.
rags: (pl.) old, worn or torn clothes
He gave five dollars to a tramp dressed in rags and tatters.
15）tie sb down to sth: restrict sb tocertain conditions
Children do tie you down, don’t they?
tie sb up: ---bindsb with rope, etc so that he cannot move or escape
--- (use passive) occupy sb so that hehas no time for other things
I’m tied up in a meeting until 3 p.m..
16）pass sth on to sb: hand or givesth to sb else, esp after receiving or using it oneself
I passed her message on to her mother.
Pass the book on to me when you’ve finished with it.
pass sth down: (esp passive) pass sth from one generation to the next
We gained much knowledge which has been passed down overcenturies.
pass sth up: (infml)refuse to accept a chance, anopportunity, etc.
Imagine passing up an offer like that!
l Language Skills Practice
Use “afford, now andthen, mind, bleed, barter, replace, litter, fashion, spring(v.), occur, passsth. on to sb.,tie sb.down” to make up a story.
l Sentence Paraphrase
1.My husband moved into our house as is the waywith us in Esarn.
(When we got married) my husband came to live in ourhouse. It was the tradition here in Esarn that the bridegroom should come tolive with the bride’s family.
2.… and tell us that they are doing well. I know this is not always true.
… although they always tell us that everything isfine with them. I know they also have difficulties and problems. They just donot tell us because they don’t want us to worry.
3. It’s easier for my husband . He has ears which don’t hear, a mouthwhich doesn’t speak, and eyes that don’t see.
News about my children’s problems doesn’t make myhusband as sad. He doesn’t bother about what is happening around us and to ourchildren. He never says anything about them.
4. All of them remain my children in spite of their long absence.
Although they are often away for a long time, I loveand care about them as always because they are my children.
5. In my day, if I were to put on a pair of trouserslike they do now, lightning would strike me.
When I was young, I surely would be punished by Godif I ever wore the kind of trousers they wear today.
6. My eyes do see--- they see more than they should. My ears do hear---theyhear more than is good for me.
---I’m not what my wife says I am. I do see and hear--- I see and heartoo much evil, too many ugly and terrible things, things that I wish I did nothave to see and hear. And this is not good for me.
7.Still the land could not tie them down or call them back.
My children grew up and had happy days on this land.But this couldn’t prevent them from leaving or making them return.
l Figures of Speech
Simile: a simile is a briefcomparison , usually introduced by the preposition “like” or theconjunction “as”, and etc.
A simile consists oftwo parts: tenor and vehicle. The tenor is the primary subject;the vehicle is the thing to which the main subject is comparedto.
Examples:
subject / tenor
simile marker
reference/ vehicle
Records (fell)
like
ripe apples (on a windy day).
The data processing (is going on)
as (slow) as
a snail
Metaphor: A metaphor is also acomparison. The difference is that a simile compares things explicitly--- thatis , it states literally that X is like Y. A metaphor compares thingsimplicitly. Read literally, it does not state that things are alike; it saysthat they are the same thing, that they are identical.
subject / tenor
reference/ vehicle
Cape Cod (is the bared and bended)
arm of (Massachusetts)
He (is)
a wolf (in sheep’s clothing).
Can you find someexamples of the usage of simile in the text?
1) Sometimes,they get bullied and insulted, and it is like knife piercing my heart.
2）Itis no longer fertile, bleeding year after year, and like us getting old andexhausted.
3）Wheneach of them has a pair of jeans, they are off like birds on the wing.
l In--Class Discussion
Questions:
1）Whatis the wife’s philosophy of life?
2)What is thehusband’s philosophy of life?
3)What is the massageof the land?
4)List some facts thatattract the young man away from countryside to cities.
5)What are the typicalcharacters of young people? What about the old ones?
6）Whatis the message in the old couple’s mind? What do you think of the message?
7）Isthere the so-called generation gap between the old couple and their children?Why or why not?
8）Doyou find similar happening here in China today? Give examples.
Part Four Assignment
1. Go over the partswe learned in class.
2. Finish the exercises after the text.
LessonFour Midnight Visitor
l Teaching Aims:
By the end of the Unit, studentsare expected to
Ø be able to retell howAusable defeated his adversary (敌手, 对手)Max.
Ø be able to makecharacter analysis of Ausable, Max and Fowler.
Ø be able to use the keywords, phrases, expressions, and grammaritems correctly and appropriately.
Ø know more about theauthor, detective stories and related information about secret agents.
Part One Warm-up
1. Have you ever seen a spy movie, or read a spy story? What is it? Do youlike it? Why?
2. What is a spy like? What is your general impression of a spy? Look at theprompts (提示)and pictures on the next slide and try to think of as many words as possible todescribe people who work as a secret agent.
Part Two Background Information
l CIA中央情报局
² Central IntelligenceAgency
² Mainly for gatheringsecret information that may bear on national security
² Created in 1947
² The CIA alsocoordinates the activities of the
² In addition, the CIAtakes overall responsibility for gathering information from other
l FBI美国联邦调查局
² Federal Bureau ofInvestigation
² Chief investigativeagency of the
² The primaryresponsibility for counterespionage activities within the US., coordinating itswork with the CIA, which is responsible for such operations outside the
² It also providesservices to other law enforcement agencies, including fingerprintidentification, laboratory analysis of criminal evidence, police training, andaccess to a centralized crime information database.
² Because of its broadmandate (授权),the FBI is one of the most powerful and controversial agencies in thegovernment.
² The bureau traces itsorigins to 1908, when the attorney general appointed a small group ofinvestigators within the Department of Justice.
l The Author
² Born on Nov. 10, 1909 in the
² Got his B.A. in 1930 at the University of Michigan
² Got his M.A. in journalism in 1932
² 1930-1940, his stories was published in WonderStories, Detective Fiction Weekly, Mystery, The Illustrated Detective Magazine,Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine, Amazing Stories, The Shadow,Street & Smith Mystery Reader, Detective Tales, Thrilling Detective, DoubleDetective, Startling Stories, Collier’s, The Phantom Detective, Argosy Weekly,Unknown Worlds, and Black Mask.
² 1940s to 1960s:
² He also wrote radioscripts and TV series. His career as awriter for radio came to an end during the McCarthy era. In 1959, he worked intelevision and wrote scripts for The Twilight Zone.
² 1960s:
² He was involved inediting a series of anthologies for younger readers. He died on May 2, 1969 in Philadelphiaat the age of 59.
Part Three Text Analysis
l Text Structure
Part 1. (Paras. 1-5): Who Ausable was and why the young writer Fowler wasdisappointed with him
Part 2. (Paras. 6-23): How Ausable developed a plan to deal with hisadversary Max and what he did to throw Max off guard
Part 3. (Paras. 24-28): How Ausable finally outwitted Max and made himjump onto the so-called balcony and kill himself
l Theme:
• Wisdom is more powerful than any weapon.
• Never judge a person by his appearance.
• First impressions could be misleading.
• He who laughs last, laughs longest.
l Language Study:
1. Ausable did not fit the description of any secret agent Fowler had everread about. (para. 1)
Paraphrasing: Ausable was not at all what a secret agentshould look like.
2. Someday soon that paper may well affect the course of history. (para.5)
Paraphrasing: In the near future,this document might probably have an effect on the development of history.
3. to risk one’s life doing sth./to do sth.
• Don’t risk yourlife (in) trying to climb that mountain.
• He risked his lifeto save his friend.
• I don’t want to riskbeing late.
Ø risk n.
• There is a high risk of accidents happening on theicy road.
• Heart attack can be avoided if people at risk takemedical advice.
• The houses at the foot of the mountain were at therisk of mud-rock flow.
• She argued with him at the risk of being fired.
Ø risky adj.
• Verbs collocated with: be, look, prove, seem, sound,consider sth.
4. …you gave me quite a start.(para. 8)
Paraphrasing: You surprised me.
5. raise Cain
• alludes to the son of Adam and Eve who killed hisbrother, Abel
• “Why have we every reason to believe that Adam and Evewere both rowdies? Because … they both raised Cain.” (pun)
raise Cain/hell/thedevil:
• to behave in a rowdy or disruptive way 闹事; 大吵大闹; 提出强烈反抗
e.g.: He said he’d raise Cain if they wouldn’t give him a refund.
他说如果他们不给他退款，他就大吵大闹。
The gang was out toraise hell that night.
那天晚上，黑社会出来闹事。
The wind raised thedevil with our picnic.
风把我们的野餐搅乱了。
6. take chances: to behave riskily
e.g.: Don’ttake your chances when driving a car.
take a chance (on sth.): to take a risk
e.g.: Heleft home and decided to take a chance on pursuing a career in acting.
take one’s chance: to benefit as much as possible from one’sopportunities
e.g.: If you want to work in a creative field, you should learn to takeyour chance.
7. Sigh: to breathe out slowly and noisily, expressing tiredness, sadness,pleasure, etc.
e.g.: She sighed deeply and satdown.
"I wish he was here, " she sighed. (= she said with a sigh) .
8. Stare: to look for a long time with the eyes wide open, especially whensurprised, frightened or thinking
e.g.: Don't stare atpeople like that. It's rude.
Henry sat quietly forhours staring into the distance, thinking of what might have been.
9. Stammer: to speak or say something with unusual pauses or repeated sounds,either because of speech problems or because of fear and anxiety
e.g.: "Wh-whencan we g-go?" she stammered.
He dialled 999 and stammered (out) his nameand address.
l Exercise:
• True/False Statements.
Fowler was a young man learning spy skills from Ausable. ( )
Ausable was quite probably an American secret agent working in
Fowler was disillusioned because Asuable would not tell him anything. ( )
Both Asuable and Fowler were thrilled when they found someone standing in the room holding a pistol in one hand. ( )
Ausable started talking about the balcony because he wanted to gain some time to make a plan. ( )
It wasn’t the first time for somebody to get into Ausable’s room through the balcony. ( )
Somebody started knocking at the door at about twelve-thirty at night. ( )
When somebody knocked at the door, Ausable knew it was the waiter who had brought his wine. ( )
Max was probably killed at the end of the story. ( )
Part Four Assignment
l Retelling
• Dramatize the story
• Assume a role of Ausable, Fowler, or Max and retell the story
• Imagine yourself to be Fowler, the writer, and retellyour experience on the night you spent with Ausable.
LessonFive TheNightingale and the Rose
l Teaching Aims:
1. Grasp the main idea and the structure of the text.
2. Master key language points and grammatical structures in the text.
3. Finish all theexercises in the textbook and read Text B carefully.
Part One Warm-up
Can you name some of the fairy tales that you have read?Who are the mostfamous fairy tales collectors and writers? Can you tell which fairy tales thefollowing pictures illustrate?
Part Two Background Information
l About the author
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish authorfamous for his sophisticated and brilliantly witty plays. He studied at Trinity Collegeat Dublin where he was born, and then at Oxford, where hedistinguished himself for his scholarship and wit as well as his unusual tastein dress and manners. He wrote many poems, fairy tales and stories, but hiscreative genius was best displayed through his plays, of which the most famouswas The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). His career was shattered bytwo years of imprisonment for homosexual practices (1895-1897). After hisrelease from prison, he moved to Parisand lived there till he died at the age of 46.
l About fairy tale
Fairy tales are stories in which fairiesplay a part or which contain other supernatural or magical elements such asimaginary persons, animals, and inanimate objects. These stories are of courseprimarily meant for children, but the best fairy tales such as those by HansAndersen, are also eagerly read by older people who are interested in theirdeeper meaning.
Fairy tales have a few interestingfeatures:
1) The frequent use of personification
This is self-evident because it is the very definition of fairy tales.In this story, the rose-trees, the lizard, the daisy, the butterfly, the oak,the moon, and of course the Nightingale are all personified.
2) The symbolic meaning given to words
The rose of course is the symbol of love, but many things mentioned inthe text also stand for something, including the lizard, daisy, and butterfly,which the author used on more than one occasions to stand for certain charactertypes.
3) The vivid, simple narration, which istypical of the oral tradition of fairy tales
4) The repetitive pattern used
A typical fairy tale would often have asequence of three episodes or three steps or three people. It might gosomething like this: Once upon a time, there were three sisters. The first wasugly, and the second was stupid, but the third was both pretty and clever. Theywould then marry three men. The first two were invariably obscenely richwhereas the third was always poor. Then they were for some reason sent to lookfor some treasure. Thee first two failed and the third succeeded, but he onlysucceeded in his third attempt after overcoming many difficulties…
Part Three Text Analysis
l Languagepoints:
1. From her nest… the Nightingale… looked outthrough the leaves and wondered.
The Bird is herepersonified, hence the capitalization. The Red Rose, the Lizard, etc. arecapitalized fore the same reason.
leaves: Recap the pluralform of nouns that with the letter “f”. More examples:
life (lives),wife (wives), knife (knives), thief (thieves), roof (roofs or roves), proof(proofs), hoof (hoofs or hooves), loaf (loaves), cliff (cliffs).
2. “Ah, I have read all that the wise men havewritten… my life is made wretched.”
Notice thesarcastic tone of the author when he had the Student refer to the “wise men”.As a champion for “art for art’s sake”, the author argues that one should notpaint or write for financial, political or religious reason. He therefore keepspoking fun at the Student, the professor, the dusty heavy books, logic, philosophy,intellect, and metaphysics. Many people however reject this view. They do notbelieve it possible to have such a thing as art for art’s sake. “Art for art’ssake,” said Somerset Maugham, “makes no more sense than gin for gin’s sake.”The artist’s works, being part of his human activities, must be guided by hissense of moral responsibility, by what he conceives to be true, good andbeautiful
forwant of: for the lack of
Other examples:
For want of abetter word, let’s call it Me-firstism. (As I can’t think of a better word,let’s call it Me-firstism.)
For want ofsomething better to fo she decided to try gardening. (As she could not findanything more interesting to do, she decided to try gardening.)
3. “Here at last is true lover,” said the Nightingale.“Night after night have I sung of him, and now I see him.”
Notice theinverted order.
singof him: to sing about him
lover: a person wholoves. In modern English, it is often used t mean “mistress”.
4. “The Prince gives a ball tomorrow night, …and my love will be there.”
givea ball: to give a dancing party
Notice the use ofthe present indefinite tense for expressing the future. Notice also the use of“give” in the sense of “organize” in the following: to give a reception; togive a banquet; to give a cocktail party; to give a press conference; to give adance.
mylove: my sweetheart. The word “love” here is used as a term of endearment asin:
My love is like a red, red rose,
Newly sprung inspring.
-- Robert Burns (1795-1796)
5. “…So I shall sit lonely and my heart willbreak.”
“Lonely” here isan adjective, used as a subject complement, or as part of the complex subject.
6. emeralds and opals
different kindsof gems or precious stones including ruby, diamond, emerald, sapphire, opal,jade
7. “The musicians will play upon hteirstringed instruments, … and my love will dance to the sound of the harp andviolin.”
stringedinstruments: Musical instruments can be divided into stringed instruments, percussioninstruments and wind instruments.
danceto the sound of the harp: dance according to the sound of the harp, e.g.
The snake wouldthen dance to the music.
The soldiersmarched through the square to the drumbeat.
8. “But with me she will not dance, for I haveno red rose to give her,” and h flung himself down on the grass, …
for:Whenused as a conjunction, it means “because”, but it is now considered quiteformal, and it is not as strong as “because”, therefore in adverbial clauses ofreason, “because” is always used. Like “and” and “but”, “for” is used incoordinate clauses.
flunghimself down on the grass: threw himself down on the grass
9. … fluttering about
flying by aquick, light flapping of the wings
10. …and the little Lizard, who was something of a cynic, laughed outright.
somethingof a cynic: a cynic without fully deserving the name, e.g.
He is somethingof an economist among us because his grandfather used to own a little store.
She is somethingof a dentist in our village although the method she uses is quite crude.
cynic: a cynicalperson; a person who believes that everybody is motivated by selfishness
laughedoutright: laughed out loud; burst out laughing
11. Butthe Nightingale understood the Student’s sorrow and sat silent in the Oak-tree.
satsilent: “Silent” here is again part of the complex subject.
inthe Oak-tree: Notice the use of “in” instead of “on” here. The use of “in” suggeststhat it is a large tree for a little bird like the Nightingale.
12. Suddenlyshe spread her brown wings for flight, and soared into the air.
flight:nounof “to fly”. It can also be used as the noun of “flee.”
soar: to fly upwardquickly
13. grass-plot
The word “plot”can mean many things in different contexts. Make students check in thedictionary and decide which suits the context here. (Here it means a smallpiece of ground used for a special purpose.)
14. “Giveme a red rose, … and I will sing you my sweetest song.”
Refresh students’memory of the use of “and” here which means “as a result of this”.
More examples:
One step forward,and he would fall down the cliff.
Come late again,and you are fired.
Give it onelittle push, and it will collapse.
“Sweet” could refer to taste, smell, or sound. Ask students to translatethe following phrases into Chinese: sweet air; sweet song; sweet song; sweetmusic; sweet wing; sweet flowers; sweet cake; sweet smell; sweet temper; sweetlady; sweet water.
15. “Myroses are yellow, … as yellow as the hair of the mermaiden, and yellower thanthe daffodil that blooms in the meadow.”
mermaiden(also mermaid): a fabled creature of the sea with the head and upper body of a woman thetail of a fish
bloomsin the meadow: bears flowers in the meadow
Bloom, when usedas a noun, usually refers to the flowers of plants admired mainly for theirflowers. Examples:
The roses are infull bloom now.
The sun shonebright and the meadows were in bloom.
Compare with“blossom” which usually refers to the flower of fruit trees.
16. “…and redder than the great fans of coral.”
Notice themetaphorical use of the word “fan”, which refers to anything resembling a fan.
More examples:
the mouth of a river; the foot of the page; the northern face of themountain; the limbs of a tree; the eye of a needle; the nose of a plane; an armof the sea; the tail of a comet; the teeth of a saw
17. “Butthe winter has chilled my veins, and the frost has nipped my buds, and thestorm has broken my branches, and I shall have no roses at all this year.”
chill:tofreeze; to numb; to lower the temperature
chilly(adj.): cold
nipthe buds: to stop the growth of the buds
nipit in the bud: to prevent sth. from becoming a problem by stopping it as soon as itstarts, e.g.
Their policy wasto throw the first person who dared to protest openly into prison os as to nipit in the bud.
You must takeimmediate action and nip it in the bud. Otherwise this economic showdown couldeasily snowball into a serious recession.
Notice the use of “and” again in this sentence. The first two “and”s mean“also” or “in addition to” whereas the last “and” means “as a result”.
18. “Onered rose is all that I want, … only obne red rose! Is there no way by which Ican get it?”
When used as the objectof the verb or preposition of the relative clause, the relative pronoun “that”is usually left out, especially in informal English. Notice that when therelative pronoun is the object of a preposition and the preposition is placedbefore the relative pronoun as often the case in formal style, only “which” isused, and not “that”. More examples:
There near thebeautiful pond, he built himself a little cabin in which he lived for threeyears.
The importance ofagriculture is something on which we all seem to agree.
19. “Ifyou want a red rose, … you must build it out of music by moonlight, and stainit with your own heart’s blood.”
outof music: using music as the material, e.g.
This chair ismade out of hardwood.
You can’t build abig house out of sand.
We can’t produceanything out of nothing.
stain: to color; todye; to tarnish
20. “…what is the heart of a bird compared to the heart of man?”
Another exampleof rhetorical question – a question in form, but a statement in meaning. Thissentence means: The heart of a bird is nothing compared to the heart of a man.In other words, for the Nightingale, the Student’s love is much more importantthan her life.
21. …swept over the garden …
… moved quicklyover the garden…
Observe how theword “sweep” and its derivatives are used in the following:
A new broomalways sweeps the room clean. (proverb)
A terrible stormswept across the whole city.
The general’seyes swept over the soldiers and gave the order to attack.
You can’t saythey are all corrupt. That’s too sweeping. There might be a few exceptions.
22. “Behappy, … you shall have your red rose.”
The modal verb“shall” is used here to convey a solemn promise. It is used to say thatsomething will definitely happen.
Notice that thisusage is considered formal and old-fashioned.
23. TheStudent looked up form the grass, and listened, but he could not understandwhat the Nightingale was saying to him.
Why couldn’t theStudent understand what the Nightingale was saying to him? Obviously, it wasnot because he could not understand bird language, but rather because he couldnot understand true love.
24. …and her voice was like water bubbling from a silver jar.
“Water bubbling”is used here as the complex object of the preposition “like”.
25. “Shehas form … she is all style without any sincerity.”
“Form” is thedesign, pattern, or structure as opposed to the substance. In music, it refersto such things as melody, rhythm, and harmony. Notice the irony when theStudent says that the Nightingale has no feelings. His comments on theNightingale’s music remind us of what people said about Oscar Wilde’s views onart.
Notice the use of“all” in the sentence “It’s all style”. It means “apart from syyle, there isnothing else”. More examples:
He is as strongas a horse. He is all muscle.
Don’t listen tohim. It’s all stuff and nonsense.
He was all hotair. A lot of beautiful words, but completely meaningless.
The second timeshe saw him she was all smile because she knew the man had power.
26. …and after a time, he fell asleep.
In modern Englishwe would say “after some time” or “after a moment”.
Notice the ironyin how the Student could fall asleep so quickly.
27. Andon the topmost spray of the Rose-tree there blossomed a marvelous roes, …
“Spray” heremeans a small branch bearing buds, flowers or berries.
Notice that thesubject of this sentence is “rose” and the predicate is the intransitive verb“blossomed”.
28. adelicate flush of pink
When used torefer to color, “delicate” means “soft, subdued, or faint”.
29. …a fierce pang of pain shot through her.
apang: a sudden sharp pain
shootthrough: to pass through swiftly
30. …the Love that is perfected by Death, of the Love that dies not in the tomb.
… the love thatgrows and grows until they die, and of the love that will live in eternity.
“… the love thatdies not in the tomb” is old-fashioned. In modern English, it should be “… thelove that does not die in the tomb”.
31. thegirdle of petals
girdle:abelt or something like a belt worn at the waist. Her it means a band of redcolor round the middle of the petals.
32. …a film came over her eyes.
film:athin covering or coating
33. …lingered on in the sky.
… tried to delaythe departure; stayed in the sky, reluctant to leave to move on
34. …trembled all over with ecstasy, …
ecstasy:intensedelight
allover: everywhere or all parts of one’s body, e.g.
He was sweatingall over.
She wasshuddering all over.
I was aching allover.
35. …for she was lying dead in the long grass, …
Notice the use of“in” raher than “on” to emphasize the tallness and thickness fo the grass.
36. “…it will not go with my dress,” …
gowith my dress: to match my dress; to be harmonious with my dress
Another example:This furniture does not go with the color of these walls.
37. theChamberlain
The official whomanages the household of the king. Here, it refers to a high-ranking officialin general.
38. “Well,upon my word, you are very ungrateful,” …
Notice the irony.The Student accused the girl of being ungrateful without realizing that he wasno better.
39. “Infact it is quite unpractical, and as in this age … I shall go back toPhilosophy.”
Notice thedifferent uses of the word “as” in this paragraph. It means “because” here ,and in the previous sentence, it means “when” or “while”.
unpractical: also “impractical”
Part Four Assignment
Questions to think about and discuss:
1. The Lizard, the Butterfly, and the Daisy were all used as symbols.The Lizard was described as something of a cynic. What about the Butterfly andthe Daisy? Did they understand love? Did they understand the Student’s sorrow?Why or why not?
2. What was theStudent’s comment on the Nightingale’s music? Has the author given any clue tohow the story is going to end? What do you think the author was insinuatingconsidering the fact that he was criticized for advocating “art for art’ssake”?
Lesson Six The Green Banana
l Teaching Aims:
1. Understand the structure and the general idea of the story2. Think abouthow to interpret the story3. Know something about the author4. Solve your ownquestions about the story
Part One Warm-up
1. What are “learning moments”? Have you had learning moments? What haveyou learned?2. Have you ever heard of or encountered experiences of culturaldifferences? Please give some examples.
Part Two Background Information
l Author:
Source of the text: Beyond Experience: An Experiential Approach toCross-cultural Education Editor: Donald Bechelder and Elizabeth G. Warner(1974) Bechelder’s view on cross-cultural educationThe goals of education:a.“to open up possibilities for discovery”b. “to expand learning and the chancefor mutual acceptance and recognition” c. to offer students a cross-culturalperspective: from one’s own immediate center of the world to the center ofsomeone else’s world
l What is ethnocentrism?"Ethnic" refers to cultural heritage, and"centrism" refersto the central starting point or the tendency of people to put their own groupat the center. "ethnocentrism" basically refers to judging other groupsfrom one’s own cultural point of view, or misinterpreting other culturesbecause one uses the concepts of his own culture.
What may happen? Ethnocentrism can lead to making false assumptions aboutothers' ways based on one’s own limited experience. The key word isassumptions, because we are not even aware that we are being ethnocentric(People don't understand that they don't understand). Everybody can beethnocentric, as all of us around the world assume things about other people'sways.
A sociological theory:An attempt to understand the cultural development ofsocieties and social groups on their own terms;Do not try to impose absoluteideas of moral value or try to measure different cultural variations in termsof some form of absolute cultural standard. By cultural relativism, allcultures are equally worthy of respect and in studying another culture peopleneed to suspend judgment, empathize and try to understand the way that particularculture sees the world.
Part Three Text Analysis
l Text Structure:
Part 1 (Paras. 1-4): The story of “the green banana” as the object fixingthe radiator.
Part 2 (Paras. 5-8): What the author learned: Every culture has its hiddentreasure and should be respected.
l Theme:
We should respect all civilizations in the world. Wisdoms are to bediscovered with an open mind to other cultures.
l Language Study:
1. Although it might havehappened anywhere, my encounter with the green banana started on a steepmountain road in the central area of
2. He, in turn, inspected me carefully,as if to make sure I grasped the significance of his statement. (para. 3)Paraphrasing: Then heexamined me with great caution in the way of ensuring whether I understood theimportance of his words.
3. The occasion called for someshow of recognition on my part. (para. 3 )Paraphrasing: The situation then needed me to say somethingto show my approval for what he said. (I sensed the need to say something toshow my approval for what he said to be polite.)
4. As a product of Americaneducation, I had never paid the slightest attention to the green banana, exceptto regard it as a fruit whose time had not yet come. (para. 5)Paraphrasing: Assomeone educated in the
5. It was my own time that hadcome, all in relation to it. (para. 5)Paraphrasing: It was me who hadcome to know the green bananas, and everything connected with it.Question: what does the author imply?Heimplies that every civilization has its special geniuses (here symbolized bythe green banana), which have existed for many years. But they will not come toyour notice and benefit you until and unless you are ready to go out andmeet/experience them.6. I had at firstdoubted their claim, as I knew for a fact that the center was located somewhereelse in New England. (para. 6)Question:Why? The author obviously was born and brought up in New England. Therefore he had always regarded it as the center of theworld.
7. The cultures of the world arefull of unexpected green bananas with special value and meaning. (para. 8)Question: What can welearn from the sentence? The green bananas have become a symbol of hidden treasures from every culture. Forproper understanding of a piece of writing, it is often important to noticesuch symbolic language and to know what the symbols stand for.
Part Four Assignment
1. Retelling
1). Summarize theauthor’s learning process.2). Suppose you are the author and are now back athome. The people in your family are curious about your trip to
2. Discussion
1). Do you agreethat the 21st century will see the bitter conflicts between the western cultureand the eastern culture?2). What is the right attitude towards culturaldifference in your opinion?
Lesson Eight The Kindness of Strangers
l Teaching Aims:
1. Understand the structure and the general idea of the story2. Think abouthow to interpret the story3. Know something about the author4. Solve your ownquestions about the story
Part One Warm-up
l In pairs, tell yourpartner about any trip you’ve had somewhere at home(i.e. the trip from home toBFSU) or abroad, esp. the experience with the kindness of parents, friends andstrangers. What did you experience inand learn from the trip? While telling, be very careful with the followingthings: Order of events (i.e., What happened first? And then what elsehappened? Using transitional techniques we’ve observed in the previouslessons)Correct and complete sentencesTense…
Part Two Background Information
l Author:
The text is adapted from the original article by Mike Mclntyre whichappeared in Reader’s Digest, May 1997.
l Where is the Golden Gate Bridge?
It links the city of San Francisco with Marin Countyto the north. Since the suspension bridge opened in 1937, it has been one ofthe principal landmarks of both San Franciscoand California.l Where is Cape Fear?
A high long narrow piece of land which goes out into the sea in southern North Carolina; on the southern tip of Smith Island,jutting into the Atlantic Ocean, near the mouth of the Cape Fear River. It was so named because of the treacherous waterssurrounding it. A prominent landmark on Cape Fearis its lighthouse.
l Who is Blanche DuBois?
A southern woman character in the play called A Streetcar Named Desire (《欲望号街车》); At the end of theplay, she said this well-remembered line before she is taken to an asylum: “Whoever you are,---Ihave always depended on the kindness of the strangers.”
l A National Motto
In God We Trust, the national motto of the
Part Three Text Analysis
l Text Structure:
Part I (Paras. 1-5): Why the writer started his trip across the
Part 3 (Paras. 15): Revealing the theme of the article. In spite ofeverything, we can still depend on the kindness of strangers.
l Theme:
Based on his personal experience, he concludes one can still depend on thekindness of strangers in the
l Language Study:
1. He had his thumb out and helda gas can in his other hand. (para. 1)
Paraphrasing: He held his thumb out and the gas can to show that he wasout of gas and needed a lift to the nearest gas station. Generally speaking, atthe same time of holding his thumb out, a hitchhiker also has a board in hishand, on which the name of the place he wants to go is written. Here, the gascan shows that the young man has run out of gasoline for his car.
2. Leaving him stranded in thedesert did not bother me so much. (para. 2)Question: Why didn’t it botherhim so much? And what does the sentence imply?
Because the author thought it was sensible for him to do so and did soindeed as a matter of course as other people would do the same in thesituation. It shows that it was really something common. The real issue thenwas not that he didn’t help the young man but that he never thought about offeringhelp to strangers.
3. It would be cashless journeythrough the land of the almighty dollar. (para. 5)Paraphrasing: I would travelwithout a penny through the country where money was extremely important.Question: What does “the land of the almighty dollar” mean? Why did the journeyhave to be “cashless”?“The almighty dollar” shows how important money is in thecountry. It is somehow like God (i.e.; the Almighty God). “Cashless” is used toform the contrast with “almighty”, thus emphasizing how difficult the journeywould be if people didn’t offer any help.
4. I rose early…and a signdisplaying my destination to passing vehicles “
Question: Why did he take such a sign? (Was he not in
5. In Montanathey told me to watch out for the cowboys in Wyoming. In Nebraskathey said people would not be as nice in Iowa.(para.7)Question: What do the sentences suggest about the people there?Theysuggest that the people there (probably people everywhere), were more or lessprovincial (another sub-concept of ethnocentric?). They tended to make falseassumptions about people in other places, i.e. the people in their place werenicer/better than those in other places.
6. I didn’t know whether to kissthem or scold them for stopping. (para. 8)Why does the author say so? Becausethe situation when the two little ladies stopped for the author was, in hiseyes, potentially dangerous for them. He says so to emphasize both the kindnessand courage the ladies showed in that particular situation.
7. Once when I was hitchhikingunsuccessfully in the rain, a trucker pulled over, locking his brakes so hardhe skidded on the grass shoulder. (Para.9)Question:Why did the driver lock the brakes so hard? What does this show about thedriver?Because he had to. Otherwise he would not be able to stop right beforethe author. It shows the mental struggle that was probably going on in thedriver’s mind. He was once robbed at knifepoint by a hitchhiker, which made itmore difficult for him to make such a decision at the moment than others.However, he chose to stop finally and his kindness was thereby highlighted.
8. Those who had the least togive often gave the most. (para.10)
Paraphrasing: Poor people are often more generous. They are oftenready/willing to give comparatively more of what they have to those in needthan rich people. Question: Do you agree with the author on that? Why/why not?
9. Now we’re talking, I thought.(para.12)Paraphrasing: Now he knew what I wanted and the talk was going in theright direction. cf. “Now you’re talking”—used when you think someone’ssuggestion is a very good idea.e.g.A: I suggest we go downtown by train andthen take a taxi to the Sears Tower. B: Now you’retalking.
10. “When we do, ” he said,“it’s usually kin.” (Para. 13)Paraphrasing: (The local people do not usuallyentertain/receive guests at home.) They only do this for their kin relatives.Question: what does this show about the local people?It shows that they werewilling to offer help to those in need even when doing so went against theirusual way of living.
11.In spite of everything, you can still depend on thekindness of strangers. (para.15)Question: What does this “everything” mean?Itmeans the fact that there are people who are indifferent to other people’sneeds/ who refuse to help others/who may hesitate to help and people may sayabout lack of compassion in our society and a generally moral decay in oursociety. I find, however, on the whole you can still depend on the kindness ofstrangers.
Part Four Assignment
1. Retell the story by answering the following questions:1). How did the author reach the decisionto have the journey? What kind of journey was it?2). What experience did hehave? What answer did he get for the question he had in mind?
2. Discuss the following questions in groups:1). If you were driving through a desertand you saw a young man asking you for a ride, would you stop to pick him up?Why or why not?2). Is it true that people seemed more willing to help strangersin the past? Do you agree that the moral life of a country often seems to getworse as its economy gets better?
Lesson Nine After Twenty Years
l Teaching Aims:
1. Expand yourvocabulary
2. Expand yourknowledge of English grammar
3. Understand thestructure and the general idea of the story
4. Learn to analyzecharacters in the story
5. Learn about O.Henry and his writing
6. Learn to discussfriendship
7. Solve your ownquestions about the story
Part One Warm-up
l Read and comment onthe following proverbs and quotes.
"A hedge between keeps friendship green." ---Proverb
"The only unsinkable ship is FRIENDSHIP." ---Proverb
"The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one."---Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant.“ ---Socrates
"A friend to all is a friend to none;" "Misfortune shows those who are not really friends.“ ---Aristotle
"A true friend stabs you in the front.“ ---Oscar Wilde
"My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me."
---Henry Ford
Part Two Background Information
l Author: O. Henry (1862-1910)
• one of the greatest short story writers of
• little formaleducation
• various jobexperiences: pharmacist, ranch hand, land draftsman, bank teller, etc.
• allegedembezzlement
• panic flee to
• conviction &imprisonment (1898-1901)
• successful careeras a writer in NY
• the “O. Henryconclusion/ending”
• representativeworks: “The Gift of the Magi”, “The Cop and the Anthem”, “TheRansom of the Red Chief”
• O. Henry's most famous stories make simple yet effectiveuse of paradoxical coincidences to produce ironic endings. For example, in “TheGift of the Magi” a husband sells his watch to buy his wife a Christmaspresent of a pair of hair combs; unknown to him, she cuts and sells her longhair to buy him a Christmas present of a new chain for his watch. His style ofstorytelling became a model not only for short fiction, but also for Americanmotion pictures and television programs. This kind of ending to a story iscalled an ironic ending, a surprise ending, or an O. Henry ending.
• In our story, wedon’t know what happened twenty years ago that made them so special to eachother. But it was clear that Jim was a good honest man and always true to hisfriends and Bob admired and trusted him. Slipping along this way, we wouldexpect a very touching story. But the ending is very dramatic, surprising, andeven ironic.
Part Three Text Analysis
l Text Structure:
Part 1 (Paras. 1-2): A policeman on the beat a few minutes before 10 p.m.
Part 2 (Paras. 3-17): The policeman’s encounter with a man from the West
Part 3 (Paras. 18-31): The arrest of the man from the West by aplainclothes man
Part 4 (Paras. 32-33): A note from the best friend of the arrested man
l Language Study:
1. The policeman on the beatmoved up the avenue impressively. (para. 1)
beat: the area of the town or city that a police officer regularly walksaround; his route, which he patrols
on the beat: checking the area he is assigned to and responsible for
2. The impressiveness was normaland not for show, for spectators were few. (para. 1)
Paraphrasing: The police officer walked thatway habitually, not to attract attention or admiration because there were fewpeople in the streets to be impressed. The description shows that the policemanquite enjoyed his work.
3. The time was barely teno’clock at night, but chilly gusts of wind with a taste of rain in them hadalmost emptied the streets. (para. 1)
a taste of: a small amount;
Other examples:
There is a taste of irony in his words.
We could sense a taste of sea water in the wind.
emptied:to make empty, to cause people to leave;
More examples:
The TV series emptied the streets at 8 p.m. every Sunday.
The Yangtz River runs eastward and finally emptiesinto the Pacific.
4. Trying doors as he went,swinging his club with many clever movements, turning now and then to cast hiswatchful eye down the peaceful street, the officer, with his strongly builtform and slight air of superiority, made a fine picture of a guardian of thepeace. (para. 2)
Paraphrasing: From how he looked and what hedid on the beat, we can see that the policeman was competent at, confident of,proud of, and dutiful to his job. All these factors gave people the impressionthat he was a trustworthy protector of the peace. ( Notice how a string ofpresent participles are used as adverbials to vividly describe the policeman’sactions.)
5. The area was one that keptearly hours. (para. 2)
Paraphrasing: People in that area closedtheir stores pretty early.
6. Now and then you might see thelights of a cigar store or of an all-night lunch counter. (para. 2)
all-night: open all night, 24-hours a day
lunch counter:a counter, as in a store or restaurant, where light mealand snacks are served or are sold to be taken out.
Note that here lunch refers to light meal instead of the meal eaten atnoon.
7. As the policeman walked up tohim, the man spoke up quickly.（para. 3）
as: when or because
walked up to him: walked toward him and got closer
spoke up: spoke louder so that he could be heard and noticed by thepoliceman; why did he want to be heard?
8. The next morning I was tostart for the West to make my fortune. (para. 7)
was to: was going to do as planned or arranged
The West: In popular ideas about
Paraphrasing: The next morning I was going toleave (New York)for the West as planned to make a lot of money and get rich.
9. …no matter what our conditionsmight be... (para. 7)
no matter what: whatever
Adverbials of concession introduced by “no matter” are quite common inuse.
More examples:
I’ll follow no matter where you go.
You will not be forgiven no matter how you try to make up for my loss.
You are welcome no matter when you come.
10. We figured that in twentyyears each of us ought to have our fate worked out and our fortunes made,whatever they were going to be. (para. 7)
Paraphrasing: We thought by that time wewould have found out our fate and known how much we have achievedmaterially—whether our fortune huge or small.
11. But after a year or two welost track of each other. (para. 9)
Paraphrasing: We wrote letters and kept intouch with each other for a year or two, and then we stopped writing andhaven’t heard from or heard of each other. Now neither of us knows what hashappened or is happening to the other.
12. You see, the West is a prettybig place, and I kept running around over it pretty lively. (para. 9)
Paraphrasing: I kept moving around in theWest, never staying in the same place for long. (And that’s why it was hard forus to keep track of each other.)
13. …and it’s worth it if my oldpartner turns up. (para. 9)
it’s worth: (informal): used to say that you gain something from an action
to turn up: to arrive a the place, especially in a way that is unexpected.
Other “turn” expressions:
turn down, turn in, turn out, turn to, turn around, turn against, turnaway, turn on, turn off…
Paraphrasing: If my old friend comes to meetme as he promised, I would think my trouble of travelling so far is fairlyrewarded.
14. I’ve had to compete with someof the sharpest brains going to get my money. (para. 13 )
Paraphrasing: In order to make money, I hadto compete with the most shrewd and crafty people.
15. A man gets stuck in New York. It takes theWest to make a man really keen. (para. 13)
Paraphrasing: A man is unable to go very faror to be very successful in New Yorkwhere life is boring and opportunities for change are few. He has to go to theWest to become an eager and exciting person.
The man from the west means that New York City was “civilized”; it had too many laws, andthat getting rich quickly was less likely. In the West, however, one couldby-pass the rules, and though being tougher and smarter one could become richvery fast.
16. The few foot passengers inthat quarter hurried dismally and silently along with coat collars turned highand pocketed hands. (para. 18 )
Paraphrasing: There were few people in thestreet of this part of the city. They had turned their coat collars high andkept their hands in their pockets for warmth. They didn’t look happy and werewalking fast without saying anything.
17. …we’ll go around to a place Iknow of, and have a good long talk about old times. （para. 26）
Paraphrasing: I’ve heard of a place, so let’sgo there and we will have a long talk about those happy days we spent togetherin the past. Note that probably the plainclothes policeman was thinking: I’lltake you to the police station and you will tell me about the crimes youcommitted in the past.
18. At the corner stood adrugstore brilliant with electric lights. (para. 28)
Paraphrasing: There was a drugstore at thecorner. Its electric lights were on and it was very bright inside.
19. Chicago thinks you may come over our way andtelegraphs us she wants to have a chat with you. (para. 31)
Paraphrasing: The Chicago Police Departmentthinks you may come to New York,sent us a telegraph and asked us to help them track you down and arrest.
Euphemism: a word or phrase used to avoid saying an unpleasant oroffensive word, e.g. “pass away” for “die”, “restroom” for “toilet”,“physically challenged” for “crippled”, “senior citizens” for “old people”,etc.
20. Somehow I couldn’t do itmyself, so I went around and got a plain clothes man to do the job. (para. 33)
Paraphrasing: For some reason I couldn’tarrest you myself, so I had a policeman not wearing a uniform do it.
Jimmy had mixed feelings. He knew what his duty was. But the memories oftheir friendship, the expressions of Bob’s undying respect and admiration forhim and the fact that Bob had come all the way from a thousand miles away justto keep the appointment made 20 years before must have deeply touched him.Therefore, he could not bring himself to arrest Bob.
Part Four Assignment
Work out anoutline of the story.
One of you shallretell the story in Jimmy’s voice, and the other in Bob’s voice.
LessonTen Mandela’s Garden
l TeachingAims:
After learningthis unit, students are supposed to:
1. distinguish clearly among the consonantsgiven by the teacher;
2. get familiar with some grammatical points;
3. retell the text as a whole;
4. have a thorough understanding of the wholetext: Mandela’s Garden;
5. get a list of the new words, expressions andgrammatical structure and be able to use them freely in writing and dailyconversation.
Part One Warm-up
l Listeningand Speaking Activities
1. Listen to the recording of the text andfill in the blanks about the main ideas of the article.
2. Talk about Mandela and discuss the questionsin the text.
l Pre-reading discussions:
1) What kind ofperson is Nelson Mandela, as far as you know?
2) Is apartheidunfair to the black people, why or why not?
Part Two Background Information
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in
Part Three Text Analysis
l Text Structure
Part 1(Para.1-8):The author describes his own gardening experience.
Part 2(Para.9-11):To the author, gardening has become a metaphor and gives him inspiration on howto be a good revolutionary leader and how to nourish important humanrelationships.
l Language points
1. The end of manualwork is liberating.
Ifelt liberated from the manual work.
I foundDickens’s novel very interesting. I was interested.
The news was verydisappointing. I felt terribly disappointed.
The result is a bitsurprising. Everybody was surprised.
The whole experiencewas exciting. We all got extremely excited.
2. survive 比……活得长，幸存
1) vi. toremain alive or in existence:
----Few survived after the flood.
----Books have survived from the time of the Egyptians.
2) vt. to livelonger than; outlive:
----He survived his wife for many years.
to live or persist through
----The house survived the storm.
----He did not long survive his humiliation.
3) n. the survival ofthe fittest, hopes of survival
4)n. 幸存者the only survivor ofthe shipwreck
send help to the survivors of theearthquake
3. One must developways to take satisfaction in one’s daily life.
take satisfaction in (doing) sth : tolearn to enjoy sth.
more phrases:
find satisfaction in
feel satisfaction at
to sb.'s satisfaction (to the satisfaction of sb.)
satisfy, satisfied,satisfying, satisfactory satisfaction
I had a feeling of _____ when thework was finished.
Mr. Knight give a _____ smile.
All the information was notenough to ___ me.
I am not ____ with the presentsituation.
After a ____ meal, you no longerfeel hungry.
That certainly seems a ____explanation.
4. He is anenthusiastic reformer _at_ heart.
I must getthis poem _by_ heart.
The words were spoken_from_ the depths of her heart.
He has lost hisheart _to_ a very pretty young girl.
heart and soul
heart attack
break one’s heart
5.contact
Finally he managed to get intocontact with him.
The journalist has a contact in Paris.
v.
I shall contact you bytelephone on Friday.
be in [out of] contactwith
lose contact with
contact lenses
contact person
6. decline v. 1) to slope or movedownwards
About 2 miles east, the land begins to declinetowards the river.
2) to move from abetter to a worse position, or from higher to lower
His power/health/influence has begun to declinenow that he is old.
3) to refuse, usu.politely; be unwilling
We asked them to come to our party, but they declined (the invitation).
The minister declined to make a statement to thenewspapers.
4)decline n.
There is a sharp decline in interest in sports in ourtown.
She went into a decline and soon died.
5) decline: to refuse politely, formalword
refuse: to say or show oneis unwilling to give or accept sth. general word.
reject:to refuse to accept, submit to, believe, or make use of, strong word
refuse/decline an invitation;
refuse permissions;
decline, reject, or turn down a suggestion;
refuse, decline, reject, or turn down an offer;
reject or turn down a plan or proposal.
must decline in words:
The horse rejected/refused the apple.
7. He had set hisheart on pursuing his studies abroad.
We have always pursued a friendly policytowards the Japanese people.
He has been pursued by misfortune.
He pursued the river to its source.
closely pursue the enemy
resolutely pursue knowledge
pursue a 4-year course of study at a college
pursue the study of English for five years
prudently pursue the plan
After a pursuit lasting all day we finallycaught up with them.
8. The new cleansercompletely fulfilled itspurpose.
The doctor’s instructions must be fulfilled exactly.
She succeeded in fulfilling herself both as an actress and a mother.
fulfilla task ahead of schedule
fulfilla promise to the letter
After many years, his plans came to fulfillment.
The fulfillmentof my dream is apparently as far off as ever.
9.He drove at aconstant speed.
A thermostat keeps the temperature constant.
The machinery requires constant maintenance.
constant arguments
under constant attack in thenewspapers
a constant friend
constancy of temperature
10. Crops flourish inrich soil.
He is flourishing inhis new job.
The British Empireflourished in the 19th century.
The magazine was infull flourish then.
11.They vowed theirlove would endure for ever.
They had spent threedays in the desert without water, and could not endure much longer.
Few of the runnersendured to the finish.
She endures manydiscomforts without complaint.
Cheap cloth haslittle endurance.
His cruelty is beyondendurance.
12. She went throughthe typescript carefully to eliminate all errors from it.
We eliminate most ofthe runners in the heats; only the best run in the final.
The platform bridgeover the railroad tracks eliminated danger in crossing.
He was distressed atthe elimination from the contest.
13. nourish hope inone’s heart
nourish the baby onhealthy mother’s milk
nourish an infant withmilk
14. The flowers havewithered away/up.
Older people arecomplaining that the old ethical values are withering away.
15. The wound is stilltender.
tendermeat a tender heart
a child of tenderyears
She has a tenderness for cats.
16. Anyway he wasdead. I couldn’t bring him back to life.
His painting is astrange mixture of styles.
In poetry the roseis often a metaphor for love.
You can learntechnical skills through/by trial and error.
17. manual
manual skill (adj.)
a manual worker (adj.)
a manual for students (n.)
1) of or relating tothe hands
2) a small referencebook, especially one giving instructions.
3) employing humanrather than mechanical energy:
a pocket reference manual
the service manual
manualindustry
manual labor
manual training
18.bar
The bar of soapslipped from his grasp.
Poor health may be abar to success in life.
After finishing herelegal studies she was called to the bar.
He opened a snackbar.
He barred all thedoors and windows of his house.
My father barredsmoking at the dinner-table.
19. At length
1)After some time; eventually:
At length we arrived at our destination.
2)For a considerable time; fully:
spoke at length about the court ruling.
3) More phrases aboutlength
cannot see beyond the length ofone's nose
find [have, get, know, take] thelength of sb.'s foot
keep sb. at arm's length
Exercises
1. There’s littlechance that mankind would __ a nuclear war.
A.retain B. endure C.maintain D.survive
2. In the past, mostforesters have been men, but today, the number of women __ this field isclimbing.
A. engaging B.devoting C.registering D. pursuing
3. In previous times,when fresh meat was in short __, pigeons were kept by many households as asource of food.
A.store B. provision C.reserve D. supply
4. __ she wondered ifshe had made a mistake.
A. Not until long afterwards that B. Not long until afterwards
C. It was not until long afterwards that D. It was long afterwards until
5. Humidity is sointense in some parts of the tropics that Europeans find they are unable to __it.
A. maintain B. persist C.endure D. sustain
6. She once again went throughher composition carefully to __ all spelling mistakes from it.
A.withdraw B. diminish C.abandon D. eliminate
7. Those people __ ageneral understanding of the present situation.
A. lackof B.are lacking of C.lack D. are in lack
8. Last year, the crime rate in Chicago has sharply __.
A. declined B.lessened C.descended D. slipped
9.Crisis would be theright term to describe the __ in many animal species.
A. minimization B. restriction C. descent D. decline
Part Four Assignment
1. Finish the exercisesafter the text.
2. Write a brief introduction to Nelson Mandela.
Lesson Eleven Maheegun My Brother
l Teaching Aims:
1． Graspthe main idea and the structure of the text.
2． Masterkey language points and grammatical structures in the text.
3. Finish all the exercises in the textbook andread Text B carefully.
Part One Warm-up
l Game: Fill in thefollowing blanks with names of animals.
• as blind as a _______
• as brave as a _______
• as busy as a _______
• as cunning as a _______
• as fierce as a _______
• as gentle as a _______
• as proud as a _______
• as timid as a _______
Part Two Background Information
l Wolves: Facts
• Type: Mammal
• Diet: Carnivore
• Average life span in the wild: 6 to 8 years
• Size: Head and body, 36 to 63 in (91 to 160 cm); Tail, 13 to 20 in (33 to 51 cm)
• Weight: 40 to 175 lbs(18 to 79 kg)
• Group name: Pack
• Protection status: Endangered
Ø Cultural Stereotype ofWolves:
• Many of the prevailing stories depict wolves in anegative way—such as in Aesop’s Fables.
• In fiction, the wolf is sometimes represented as anevil creature which preys on small children and livestock.
• However, are wolves really cruel and aggressive? Pleaseexpress your ideas on the topic.
Ø Wolves in Legend:
• The she-wolf who raised the twin founders of Rome, Romulusand Remus.
• When the twins’ father was overthrown by his brotherAmulius, he ordered them to be cast into the river Tiber.They were rescued by a she-wolf who cared for them until a herdsman found andraised them.
Part Three Text Analysis
l Text Structure:
Part One (para. 1-3): the introduction.
Part Two (para. 4-17): the happy days the boy and Maheegun had togetherin the short period of less than a year, and how Maheegun returned to the wildwhere he belonged.
Part Three (para. 18-40): the reunion of the two when the boy’s lifewas endangered by two hungry wolves.
Part Four (para.41-44): the conclusion, the brothers returned to the place where they eachbelonged – the boy to his warm home and his loved ones, the wolf to his kind inthe wild.
l Theme:
As the titlesuggests, the story depicts the ideal relationship between humans and wildanimals – they are fellow creatures on earth, and therefore should treat eachother like brothers.
l Language and Style
The writer is successful in his descriptionof natural scenes, the snowstorm, for example, and the wolf – its appearance,action and mood. The text is rich in verbs, phrases and idioms denoting action.Here are some describing Maheegun’s actions: upset, scatter, poke his headaround the corner, lay his head between his front paws, turning his head thisway and that, lick at the dried blood.
Another feature is the frequent use of inversion. Study the followingexamples:
Gone was the puppy-wool coat. (para. 6)
In its place was a handsome black mantle. (para. 6)
In sailed Mrs. Yesno, wild anger, who demanded … (para. 8)
On the top was the clear outline of a great wolf sitting still … (para.11)
There, about 50 feet away, crouched my tow attackers … (para. 33)
There stood a giant black wolf. (para.33)
l Languagepoints:
1. The year I found Maheegun, spring waslate in coming.
theyear/day/first time/last time: noun phrases of this type, followed by arelative clause, is used as an adverbial of time, e.g.
The year I wasborn, my father was working towards a PhD degree.
The day HansChristian Andersen returned to his hometown, almost all the people turned outto greet him.
springwas late in coming: that spring it was unusually cold
2. Ipicked him up and put him inside my jacket.
Note the difference between “pick” and“pick up”:
pick (cotton, tomatoes, apples, strawberries, etc.): totake flowers, fruit, etc. from the plant or the tree where they are growing
pick up:
1) to lift, take up by hand, e.g.
Would you pick up the book from the floor?
He picked up the phone and dialed thenumber of the police.
2) to allow sb. to get into your car andtake them somewhere, e.g.
Many people no longer pick up hitchhikers.
3) to return to an earlier subject orsituation in order to continue it, e.g.
Let’s pick up the conversation after lunch.
3.Little Maheegun gained strength after I got the first few drops of warm milk inhim.
This means that the baby wolf was verysmall and could not eat or drink or suck from a dish, so the boy had to feedhim by getting the milk into his mouth (probably with a spoon or aneyedropper).
4. Hewiggled and soon he was full and warm
full: (informal) well fed, often to the point ofdiscomfort, e.g.
-- Would you like any more of the fish?
-- No, thanks. I’m full.
Never exercise on a full stomach.
5. Notthat we didn’t have our troubles.
When I say the year I got Maheegun was thehappiest (year) of my life, I don’t mean that Maheegun never caused troubles.
What does “our” refer to? The boy and hisfamily? Or the boy and the wolf cub?
not that: although it is not ture that, e.g.
She loved music but seldom went to concerts– not that she couldn’t afford to.
6.Maheegun was the most mischievous wolf cub ever.
Maheegun was the most mischievous wolf cubI had ever known of.
7. Hewas curious too. Like looking into Grandma’s sewing basket – which he upset,scattering thread and buttons all over the floor.
He was curious, too. For example, he waseager to know what was in Grandma’s sewing basket. He knocked it over, sendingeverything inside flying all over the floor.
8. …Maheegun would poke his head around the corner, waiting for things to quiet down.
(At such times) he would move to and staysomewhere out of Grandma’s sight, and wait until her anger died down.
wait for sth. to happen/sb. to do sth., e.g.
We were waiting anxiously for Mr. Miller toannounce the winners.
The film crew waited for three hours forthe sun to come up.
9. Wehunted the grasshoppers that leaped about like little rockets.
like little rockets: a simile in which the grasshoppers arecompared to little rockets because the way the former jump is just like littlerockets shooting upward
10. Andin the fall, after the first snow our games took us to the nearest meadows inearch of field mice.
When it was getting cold, and there were nomore grasshoppers (also because Maheegun needed something bigger to hunt as hegrew), we had to go to the nearest meadow to hunt field mice.
take sb./sth. to: to make sb./sth. go from one lever. Orsituation to another, e.g.
His job as a UN official took him to oversixty countries.
Her excellent performance soon took her tothe top management of the firm.
11. Bythen, Maheegun was half grown.
At that time, Maheegun had not yet growninto an adult wolf but he was on the way of becoming one. (In half a year,Maheegun reached the stage of development that is equivalent to adolescence forhumans.)
12. Gonewas the puppy-wool coat. In its place was a handsome black mantle.
His skin changed. It used ot be coveredwith soft thick hair, and now it had turned into a beautiful black and was nolonger wooly.
Note the metaphor the writer uses indescribing the change in Maheegun’s skin. When he was a cub his skin was justlike a puppy-wool coat; when he was half grown, his skin became so beautifulthat he looked as if he was wearing a black mantle.
13. Theybelonged only to Maheegun and myself.
Only the tow of us knew what we didtogether and how happy we were. No one else could share our happiness.
they: the winter months that came soon
14. Itall served to fog my mind with pleasure so that I forgot my Grandpa’s repeatedwarnings, and one night left Maheegun unchained.
Although my Grandpa had told me to chainMaheegun at night, I forgot to do so noe night – I was so happy with him that myalertness slackened.
Here “it” refers to what is said in theprevious paragraph.
serve (only) to do sth.: to have a particular effect or result,e.g.
His appearance on the scene served only toworsen the situation.
The blanket could serve to keep the rainout for a while.
fog: (figurative) to confuse or hide, e.g.
He said it all because the alcohol hadfogged his brain. (caused him not to think clearly)
The chairman’s speech served only to fogthe issue. (made it less clear)
leave + n. + v.-ed/adj./prep. Phrase, etc.: to cause tobe or to remain in a particular state or position, e.g.
He leaves the window open when the weatheis fine.
The flood left hundreds of people homeless.
She hates to leave the house in a mess.
They never leave the door unbolted atnight.
15. Thefollowing morning in sailed Mrs. Yesno, wild with anger, who demanded Maheegunbe shot because he had killed her rooster.
The next morning Mrs. Yesno came in. shewas very angry, and told us to shoot Maheegun dead because he had killed hercock.
sail: (of people) to move in a confident manner
wild with sth.: showing strong uncontrolled feelings because of
demand (that) sth. be done/sb. do sth.: to ask for firmly and not be willing toaccept a refusal, e.g.
The police demanded that the gangsters laydown their guns.
The demonstrators demanded that all factsbe made public.
16.Often he would sit with his nose to the sky, turning his head this way and thatas if to check the wind.
with his nose to the sky: he raised his head in such a way that hisnose pointed toward the sky
turning his head this way and that: moving his head in different directions
as if to check the wind: as if he was trying to find out whichdirection the wind was blowing
Why did Maheegun to do that? What was hetrying to dind out?
(Obviously, he hit the scent of a femalewas trying to find out where she was.)
17. Thewarmth of the stove soon brought sleep to me.
The warmth of the stove made me sleepy andsoon I fell asleep.
18. Butsomething caused me to wake up with a start. I sat up, and in the moonfloodedcabin was my grandfather standing beside me.
I don’t know why, but I woke upwith/because of a sudden uncontrolled movement of my body. I sat up and foundthe cabin bright with moonlight and my grandfather standing beside me.
start: an act of moving your body quickly and suddenlybecause you aare surprised, afraid, etc.
flood (v.): to fill or enter a place in large numbers oramounts, e.g.
Most of the morning his study is floodedwith sunlight.
The waiting shoppers flooded in as soon asthe store opened.
19. Onthe top was the clear outline of a great wolf sitting still, ears pointed,alert, listening.
The clear figure of a big wolf was sittingwithout moving on the top of the rock. His ears were raised and he seemed to belistening to something.
ears pointed, alert, listening: an absolute construction that describes thestate the wolf was in sitting on the rock
20. Thewhole white world thrilled to that wild cry.
Everything in te snow-covered wildnessseemed to be aroused/stirred by the passionate cry of Maheegun.
thrill to sth: (formal) to feel excited at sth.
The young audience thrilled to the song andstarted humming.
21. Thenafter a while, from the distance came a softer call n reply. Maheegun stirred,with the deep rumble of pleasure in his throat. He slipped down the rock andheaded out across the ice.
After a while, a less passionate cry cameform the distance answering Maheegun’s call. Maheegun moved, he seemed pleased,for I heard a deep rolling sound of pleasure in his throat. Then he got downfrom the rock and moved away across the ice.
22.“Yes, he’s gone to that young she-wolf.”
she-: a word beginning meaning female, e.g. a she-tiger, ashe-devil (= an evil woman)
23. “Hewill take her for life, hunt for her, protect her. This is the way the Creatorplanned life. No man can change it.”
for life: all one’s life
the Creator: God
Cultural Note: According to the first part of the Bible, known asGenesis, God created the world and everything in it in six days, and on theseventh day God rested. When God made human beings, he made a man called Adamout of the earth, and then made a woman called Eve out of one of Adam’s ribs(one of the curved bones that surround your chest). God assigned differentroles to Adam and Eve – the first man and woman, Adam’s role being to take careof Eve, provide for her and protect her, and also to guide her. God createdliving creatures in the same way.
24. Itried to tell myself it was all for the best, but it was hard to lose mybrother.
I tried to convince myself that it was thebest thing to do in the long run, but it was hard to be without Maheegun, whomI now looked upon as my brother.
(all) for the best: best for the long run although sth. appearsbad or unpleasant, e.g.
They had to sell their car, but since theyare both without a job, it’s probably for the best.
His parents didn’t want him ot work in London, but they knew itwas perhaps for the best.
25. Forthe next two years I was as busy as a squirrel storing nuts for the winter.
as busy as a squirrel storing nuts for thewinter: a metaphor meaningthat the boy was buy preparing himself for a future career
26. … Iwould still wonder if Maheegun, in his battle for life, found time to rememberme.
for life: for existence
27. Itwas not long after that I found the answer.
Soon I fond that Maheegun still rememberedme.
28. So Idecided to come back home on my own.
(all) on one’s own: without hele, by one’s own efforts orresources; alone, without anyone else, responsible for oneself, e.g.
That Christmas dawn he was fifteen, Robertgot all the milking done on his own.
Much of college success depends on whetheryou can study on your own.
29. Amile down the road I slipped into my snowshoes and turned into the bush.
After walking a mile along the road, Idecided to cut through/take a short cut through the bush. So I quickly put onmy snowshoes, left the road and moved into the bush.
slip (into/out of): to put on or take off (garment, etc.)quickly
30. Icircled to my right and stumbled into a snow-filled creek bed.
(Trying to locate the position of the tallpine tree on the north slope of Little Mountain,) I moved around to the rightonly to fall into a creek bed that was filled with snow.
31. Bythen the snow had made a blanket of white darkness, but I knew only too wellthere should have been no creek there.
By that time, it was snowing heavily, and thesky/air was so thick with big snowflakes that I couldn’t see through them, butI realized that I had taken the wrong direction, for there was no creek where Ishould have moved to.
a blanket of sth.: a thick layer or covering of sth., e.g.
a blanket of snow/fog/cloud/mist
only too: very, e.g.
We know only too well that it’s atouch-and-go business.
Turn to him whenever you need help. Hewould be only too pleased.
32. Itried to travel west byt only to hit the creek again.
I tried to move west but found myselfhaving come back to the creek again.
only to do sth.: (written) used to mention sth. thathappens immediately afterwards, esp. sth. that causes surprise, disappointment,etc., e.g.
Ausable returned home only to find Max, hisenemy, standing halfway across his room.
hit: (informal) arrive at, reach, e.g.
You’ll hit the main road in five minutes’ drive.
They decided to have a bread after hitting a difficult point.
The yen hit an all-time low (= reached its lowest point ever) onthe money market yesterday.
33. Iknew I had gone in a great circle and I was lost.
I realized that I had been moving this wayand that around the same area and that I had lost my way.
be (/get) lost: to be unable to find your way, not knowingwhere your are, e.g.
Don’t panic when you are lost in theforest.
It’s easy for a new arrival to get lost ina big city like Beijing.
34.There was only one thing to do. Camp for the night and hope that by morning thestorm would have blown itself out.
I knew that it was dangerous to move on inthe blinding snow, and that the only thing to do was to stay where I was andget some sleep furing the night and hope that I would find the snowstorm hadstopped the next morning.
blow itself out: (of a storm) to lose force ro ceaseentirely, e.g.
The weather forecast says that the stormwill soon blow itself out and move out to sea.
35. … Iwas in deep trouble.
… I was in a very dangerous situation. (Imight be frozen to death here if I couldn’t find my way.)
in trouble: in a situation that is difficult or dangerous; in asituation in which you can be criticized or punished
36.Everything had been smothered by the fierce whiteness.
Everything had been heavily covered bythick snow, and its whiteness was frightening.
37. Thelight of another day still saw no end to the storm. I began to get confused. Icouldn’t recall whether it had been storming for three or four days.
When the first gray light of another daycame, the storm was going on. I found myself unable to think clearly. Icouldn’t tell whether the snowstorm had continued into its third or fourth day.
see: (written) to be the time when/the place wherean event happens; to witness, e.g.
Septembe 21, 2001 saw the 60thanniversary of the university.
The house saw many important meetings inthe country’s history.
38. Agreat white stillness had taken over and with it, biting cold.
The storm had blown itself out. Now nothingin this white world moved. It was quiet and terribly cold. / What smotheredthis world of whiteness was stillness plus biting cold.
take over: to gain control
39. Mysupply of wood was almost gone. Ther must be more.
I had little wood left. I needed more tokeep warm in the biting cold.
40.Slashing off green branches with my knife, I cut my hand and blood spurtedfreely from my wound.
While cutting twigs (= small branches) fromgreen branches with my knife, I cut my hand and blood started pouring out fromthe wound.
41. Thehowl seemed to freeze the world with fear.
The long loud cry seemed to have struckterror into every living creature, and they suddenly became still.
freeze: to stop moving because of fear, etc., e.g.
The children froze at the frightening moan.
42. Itwas the food cry.
food cry: (here) the wolf’s howl that called his kind to comefor food
43.Suddenly the world exploded in snarls. I was thrown against the branches of theshelter.
Suddenly with terrible snarls, the wolfbegan to attack. I was sent flying and landed against the shelter.
44.Slowly I worked my way out of the snow and raised my head.
work one’s way to/into/out of: to move or pass to/out of a particularplace or state, usually gradually, e.g.
The old man worked his way to the door andout of the house.
The ambitious man worked his way to topmanagement.
45.Maybe it was relief or weakness or both – I don’t know.
I wasn’t quite sure why I cried. Maybe Icried because I was now out of danger, or maybe because I was so weak that Iwanted to let all my anxiety of the past few days pour out in tears.
Cultural Note: In the US (also, in the UK), women are allowed by societyto cry, but men do not cry very much, except when someone has died, but mostmen do not feel comfortable crying at other time. A young boy who cries issometimes disproved of and called a crybaby. It is only when under greatemotional strain that a big boy of 16, like the narrator then, cries.
46. Thecold and loss of blood were taking their toll.
As I had lost a lot of blood, and it wasextremely cold, I was sick and weak.
take its/their/a heave toll on sb./sth.: to have a bad effect on sb./sth., e.g.
Years of hard work and anxiety have takentheir toll on his health.
His liver trouble has taken a heavy toll onhim.
The destruction of the World Trade Center in New York is taking its toll on US airlines.
47. Thesun was midway across the sky when I noticed how restless Maheegun had become.
When the sun was shining above, I boticedMaheegun had become very restless.
midway: in the middle position
48. Iput the last of my birch bark on the fire and fanned it into life.
fanned it into life: caused it to burn by blowing the fire
49.Suddenly, as if by magic, the police dog team came up out of the creek bed …
Suddenly, something seemingly impossiblehappened – the pack of police dogs appeared. It looked as if they had been senther through some magical power.
50.“Don’t shoot!” I screamed and ran toward him, falling through the snow.
falling through the snow: moving through the snow
51. Itwas quite some time before my eyes came into focus enough to see my grandfathersitting by my bed.
It took quite some time for my eyes toadjust themselves to be able to see clearly my grandfather sitting by my bed.
in(to) focus: if your eyes, a camera, a telescope or otherinstruments come or comes/are or is in focus, the edges of what you see are clearand sharp, e.g.
Before you shoot a photograph, you shouldadjust the camera so that it comes in focus.
While watching, bring your telescope intofocus.
52. “Heshould be fine. He is with his won kind.”
“He is probably fine living among hisfellow wolves.”
“Should” hereexpresses likelihood.
Part Four Assignment
Questions to think about and discuss:
1. Findmore similes and metaphors in the text.
2. Give alist of all the descriptions of snow in the article.
3. Group the words of hunting and weather.
Lesson Twelve Christmas Day in the Morning
l Teaching Aims:
• Through this unit, students should
– understand themain idea and the structure of the text and be able to talk about the theme(s)of the text;
– the key words, idiomatic expressions, collocations, sentencestructures and grammar items in the text;
– acquire a basic understanding of the writing techniquesin this text: simile, metaphor, alliteration, euphemism, and flashback
– inform themselves about the author Pearl Buck (life, bestknown work[s], relation with
– learn to do a mini-Internet-research by doing;
– form a comprehensive understanding of Christmas
Part One Warm-up
1. Do you know any Bible story about Christmas?What does Bible tell usabout the birth of Jesus?
Bible:
…And when they (the three Magis ) had come into the house, they saw theyoung child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him; and whenthey had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts: gold andfrankincense, and myrrh…
2. What is Christmas?
Christmas Day—December, the 25th—which
celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the founder of the
Christian religion, is the biggest and the best-loved
holiday throughout the Christian world. It is a time of
warmth and gaiety, love and laughter, hospitality and
good will. Today, it’s a time for people from far
distance to gather with their families.
Part Two Background Information
l Pearl S. Buck(1892-1973)
• A friend ofChinese people
• A LiteratureNobel Prize Laureate (1938)
• Birthday: June 26, 1892
• Parents: Absalom and CarolineSydenstricker
• Came to
• Period of stay in
• Residential area: Zhenjiang, JiangsuProvince
• Works: East Wind, West Wind
The Good Earth
Dragon Seed
The Big Wave
Satan Never Sleeps, etc.
• Prizes: Pulitzer Prize and Howells Medal for The GoodEarth
Nobel Prize inLiterature 1938 for The Good Earth
• In 1973, Pearldied at Green Hills Farm, at the age of 80.
l Do you know some ofthe most popular Christmas customs?
• Exchanging gifts
• Hanging a stocking near the chimney and receiving toysfrom Santa Claus
• Singing Christmas carols
• Decorating for Christmas
Part Three Text Analysis
l Text Structure:
Part 1 (Paras. 1-8): Rob woke suddenly in an early Christmas morning andinsisted on a proper celebration of Christmas for his wife and himself.
Part 2 (Paras. 9-41): Rob recalled the Christmas morning when he wasfifteen years old and it was on that morning that he realized how much hisfather loved him.
Part 3 (Paras. 42-46): Rob realized that love alone can waken love andwrote a letter to his wife to express his love for her.
l Theme:
Love alone can waken love.
It means that love is always mutual and always begins with giving. In viewof the growing lack of human warmth partly due to the fierce competition inmodern society, this idea appears all more important. Of course it would benaive to think that love is the answer to all our problems today, and in aworld divided by class, racial and national conflicts, universal love is stillunrealistic.
l Writing Devices:
1. Flashback: A literary orcinematic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normalchronological order of a narrative.
Write down the numbers of the paragraphs for the time period according tothe text:
1) Christmas morning, Rob’s present time: Paras.1-2; Paras. 7-8; Paras.42-46
2) The previous day: Paras. 3-6
3) That particular Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, when Rob was fifteen: Paras.14-15; Paras. 19-41
4) The day when love woke in Rob: Paras. 9-13
5) The time of the conversation between Rob and his father, when he was alittle boy: Paras. 16-18
2. Alliteration: The same consonant sound isrepeated at intervals in the initial position.
e.g.
1). She sells sea-shells on the seashore.
2). Wild Mushrooms:Mysterious-Menacing-Magnificent
3). Predictably the winter will be snowy, sleetyand slushy.
4). weak and weary
3. Euphemism:The substitution of amild or indirect word or phrase for a blunter or harsher one
e.g.
1). ugly: plain-looking; homely-looking
2). die: to pass away, to depart, to go to sleep(heaven)
3). fat: plump, stout, chubby, weight catcher
4). toilet habits: to go to the bathroom, to doone’s business, to answer nature’s call
l Language Study:
1. Strange how the habits of hisyouth clung to him still! (para. 1)
Paraphrasing: It was strange how upto that moment he had continued doing things the way he had always done themfrom boyhood.
2. cling to (para. 1)
e.g.
– Cling to an idea/the hope
– His mother’s last words clung to his memory.
– The wet clothes clung to his body.
– The child clung onto its mother.
3. He slipped back in time, as hedid so easily nowadays. (para. 9)
Paraphrasing: He had recently gotinto the habit of recalling things in the past /of reminiscing/ of letting histhoughts go back to the old days.
4. He had never thought of itbefore, taking for granted the tie of their blood. (para. 13)
Paraphrasing: He had never thoughtof the fact that his father loved him because he took the relationship offather and son as a matter of course. He had never given this another thought.
5. His heart was bursting withlove. (para. 38)
Paraphrasing: His heart was filled/overflowing with love.
6. slip (para. 9)
v.
1) to slide unintentionally
2)to go somewhere or carry out an action quickly so that you are not noticed
e.g.
1) Time is slipping away.
2) Never let a good chance slip by!
3) The dog slipped his collar.
n. a slip of paper
e.g.
1) a slip of the tongue/pen7. grant (para. 13)
1). to give what is wanted/requested
e.g.
They were granting a holiday for their achievement.
2). to admit to the truth of sth.
e.g.
I had to grant him the reasonableness of his argument.
8. loiter (para. 13):
1). to move on /about with frequent stops;
2). to move slowly around or stand especially in a public place without anobvious reason
e.g.
1). You should not loiter your time away.
2). A gang of youths were loitering outside the cinema.
3). Come straight home and don't loiter, Alan.
9. stumble (para. 13)
vi.
1). to step awkwardly while walking or running and fall or begin to fall
e.g.
I stumbled over a stone and fell.
我在石头上绊了一下跌倒了。
2). to make a mistake, such as repeating something or pausing for toolong, while speaking
e.g.
stumble over one's words 结结巴巴地说话
10. creep (para. 22)
to move slowly and quietly with the body close to the ground (usu.stealthily)
e.g.
The hours crept by.
crawl:
to move slowly with the body close to the ground/floor, or on the handsand kneese.g.
That apple is crawled with worms.那个苹果爬满了虫子。
11. burst (para. 38)
1). (to be filled ) to the breaking point
2). to feel a strong emotion, or strong wish to do something
e.g.
1) He is bursting with health.
2) The hall was bursting with people.
3) The barns were bursting with grain.
4) Tom was bursting to tell everyone the news.
12. Love alone could waken love.(para. 44)
Paraphrasing: Only love could wakenlove. Love could not be bought or forced.
13. shimmer: to shine with a soft trembling light
e.g. The water shimmered in the moonlight.
Ø beam: 1.of the sun or othershining objects to send out light to smile brightly and happily
e.g. The sun beamed through the cloud.He beamed on his visitors. 他对着客人们微笑。
Ø glimmer: to give a very faitunsteady light
e.g. A faint light glimmered at the endof the corridor.走廊的尽头闪着一星微光。
Ø gleam: 1. to give out a bright light
2. to be expressed with a suddenlight in the eyese.g. The furniture gleamed afterbeing polished. 家具擦后闪闪发亮。
Amusement gleamed in hiseyes. 他眼睛流露出愉快的神情。
Part Four Assignment
l Pair-work:Discuss the following quotes on love with your partner.
1. Faults arethick where love is thin.
2. Love and coughcannot be hid.
3. Love at firstsight.
4. Love cannot beforced.
5. Love is blind.
6. Love is neitherbought nor sold.
7. Love is themother of love.
8. Love lives incottages as well as in courts.
9. No herb willcure love.
10. One lovedrives out another.
11. Love me, lovemy dog.
l Chooseone topic from the list below for the class to
discuss in groups.
1. When did you first realize the love of yourparents for you? Do you have any similar experiences to Rob’s?
2. Do you agree that “love alone could wakenlove”?
3. Among the presents you have received, whichone is the most precious? Why?
Lesson Thirteen The Greatest Invention
l Teaching Aims:
Ø To understand theliterary genre of fable/parable.
Ø To understand the story-in-storystructure of the text.
Ø To be aware of thefrequent use of direct speech in story-telling.
Ø To learn the relatedvocabulary and other useful words and phrases in the text.
Ø To independently thinkabout and present on the issue of scientific ethics.
Part One Warm-up
How much do you know about these great men: Issac Newton, BenjaminFranklin, Albert Einstein. Why are they honored as giants?
Part Two Background Information
l Lord Dunsany(1878-1957)
• Born in Londonof an old Anglo-Irish aristocratic family.
• Wrote many short stories, novels and plays as well aspoetry.
• Best known for his imaginative fantasies and use oflanguage.
l A Modern Fable
Fable: a tale, esp. with animals as characters, conveying a moral.
Parable: a narrative of imagined events used to illustrate a moral orspiritual lesson.
Fantasy: a genre of imaginative fiction involving fantastic stories, oftenin a magical pseudo-historical setting.
Part Three Text Analysis
l Text Structure:
Part 1 (Paras. 1-4): Introduction:
Jorkens raised anissue at a club: It’s hard to know what any country can and will do.
Part 2 (Paras. 5-44): Body:
Jorkens told a story about ascientist and the former minister of warfare of a small Caribbeancountry.
Part 3 (Para. 45): Conclusion:
The man with amustache fell silent as if still thinking about what his country almost hadachieved.
l Theme:
Ø The purpose ofscience?
Ø The driving force ofscientific development?
Ø Debate: What is thepurpose of scientific research, for intellectual knowledge or for practicaluse?
l Language Study:
1. Now that a man can carry in abag a bomb that is more powerful than several battleships, it is hard to findout what any country can do or will do next.” (para. 4 )
Paraphrasing: This is no longer science fiction. When the technology for producingthese terrible weapons is so easily available, the threat to the safety of thepeople in the world is only too real. Now the question is what we should doabout this.
2. Structure Study: …so many inventions…of which weknow nothing.
antecedent + relative clauseintroduced by “prep. + which”
• The “prep. + which” structure can often, but not always,be substituted with the relative adverb “where”; The prep. usually comes from averb phrase (with a loose relationship between the verb and the prep. ) in therelative clause; Occasionally “which” functions as a modifier and thus isfollowed by the headword of a noun phrase.
• Do the exercise 1 on page 301.
3. ...a certain look in his eyesthat made me wonder if he might not have something interesting to tell. (para.5)
Paraphrasing: Somehow the way the man looked made me feel that this man probably hadsomething interesting to tell.
4.War is no longer a matter ofarmies; it depends on the intelligence of scientists. (para. 6)
Paraphrasing: Modern wars do not depend on how big an army you have. The number oftroops are no longer decisive. You depend more and more on high-tech, whichmeans you depend more and more on the intelligence of scientists.
5. We had to get rid of him inorder to fulfill our just aspirations. (para. 12)
Paraphrasing: We had to remove him from office to achieve our just goals.
6. We knew that we had marvelouspowers within our grasp, if only Carasierra could be kept at his work. (para.18)
Paraphrasing: We knew that we wereable to achieve marvelous powers if only we forced him to continue with thework.
7. Always spurred on by a fierceambition. His very life was devoted to making inventions. (para. 20)
Paraphrasing: Always driven by astrong ambition, he dedicated his life to making inventions.
8. But nothing would turn himfrom his project. The splendor of his new inspiration gripped him, and he waslike a man drugged. (para. 23)
Paraphrasing: But nothing wouldmake him give up that project. The impressive beauty of his new inspirationheld his attention powerfully. He was like a man who had been drugged.
9. And the splendor of ourposition faded like dreams.(para. 24)
position: Here, it refers to the places the man’s country was in inrelation to other countries.
fade (away): to gradually disappear (color, hopes, memory, dream, beauty,etc.)
10. We were so nearly one of theGreat Powers but for a fancy that came to this man’s mind. (para. 24)
but for a fancy: if not for a fancy;
but for a fancy that came to this man’s mind: if a fancy had not grippedthis man.
11. Whether it was that thestranger’s tale was told,”Jorkens concluded, putting down his glass, “or thatthe influence of the queer wine was over, he fell then to silent brooding,gazing, as it seemed, into the past at the grip that his country had lost onthe Caribbean, perhaps on the world.” (para. 45 )
Paraphrasing: Jorkens implied that the man told the story under the influence of thewine, that is, when he was drunk.
Part Four Assignment
Writing:
What is thepurpose of scientific research: for intellectual knowledge or for practicaluse? What other purposes could be there
Lesson Fifteen Clearing in the Sky
l Teaching Aims:
Ø To understand thestructure and the general idea of the story.
Ø To think about how tointerpret the story.
Ø To know somethingabout the author.
Ø To solve your ownquestions about the story.
Part One Warm-up
Make a list of all the words and expressions useful for describing atypical farmer’s work and life.
• Component parts
• Farm tools
• Animals used for food or farming
• Farm work
Part Two Background Information
l Jesse Stuart(1907-1984)
• Born in the Kentuckyhills where he first worked as a farmer
• A prolific American writer, known for short stories,poetry, and novels
• Named Poet Laureate of Kentucky in 1954
• Centers his writing around Kentucky land and people he knows well
• Established Jesse Stuart State Nature Preserve Commissionto preserve W. Hollow from destruction
• Poetry: Manwith a Bull-Tongue Plow,1934 (acollection of 703 sonnets)
Kentucky is My Land, 1952
• Novels: TheThread that Runs so True,1950
Daughter of theLegend,1965
• Collection of short stories: Men of the Mou. 1941.
Tales from the PlumGrove Hills, 1946
Clearing in the Sky& Other Stories, 1950
My Land Has a Voice, 1966
Part Three Text Analysis
l Text Structure:
Part 1 (Paras. 1-4): On a hot summer day, a 70-year-old farmer was taking hisson somewhere on his land.
Part 2 (Paras. 5-26): The places father and son went brought fond memoriesof their life in the past.
Part 3 (Paras. 27-43): The old farmer explained to his son why he made theclearing and opened so many paths up tothe clearing.
l Theme:
Think about these questions:
Ø Why is the father sofond of his land?
Ø How do you understandthe father’s feelings?
Ø What American valuesdoes this short story convey?
Ø How do you view thesevalues?
Ø American values:
Ø Self-reliance, ruggedindividualism, respect for hard manual labor
Ø Food for thought: Whyare these values strong in American culture? How about in presentindustrialized
Ø Father-sonrelationship
Ø Human beings andland/nature
Ø Unyielding vigor inold age
Ø A background note:
Ø Respect for hard workand a tradition of sentimental glorification of the rural way of life areparticularly strong in the American culture, partly due to the Calvinist viewthat work is the only way to attain personal salvation, partly due to the earlysettlement and frontier experience.
Ø Thomas Jeffersondeveloped this tradition into a political theory that farming gives peoplestrength, courage, industry, independence, honesty, and fierce love of freedom,the foundation of democracy.
Ø In the present-day US,many people are getting nostalgic about their good old days, while many people consider these valuesold-fashioned and unrealistic.
Ø Think about thesequestions:
Ø What values doesfarming carry in
Ø How do you like thisstory? Do you find it touching or over-sentimental? What does this say aboutyou?
Ø Have you ever givenany thought to farming? What about your parents and grandparents? How do youlook at different generations’ attitudes toward farming and rural life?
l Language Study:
1. I wiped the streams of sweatfrom my face to keep them from stinging my eyes. (para. 2)
Paraphrasing: I wiped the sweat that was flowing down from my face so that my eyeswouldn’t hurt.
2. The pines on top of themountain above us looked as if the fingers of their long boughs were fondling a white cloud. (para. 19)
Paraphrasing: This is a metaphorical sentence; the pines are personified as people withlong fingers fondling a white cloud. Similar metaphorical use of language inthis part include the “saddle” between two hills, the “canopy” of trees, etc.
3. But I have cheated death manytimes! Now I’ve reached the years the Good Book allows to a man. Three-scoreyears and ten. (para. 36)
Paraphrasing: Although I have been very close to dying many times, I have managed toescape death. I have reached my seventy, which is the age a man could live toaccording to the Bible.
4. The doctors told me to sitstill and take life easy. (para. 42)
Paraphrasing: The doctors told me not to do anything, not to work too hard or do toomuch, just relax.
Part Four Assignment
Role-play
1. Imagineyourself to be Jesse. Describe your father’s farm to your son withunforgettable memories of your happy childhood.
2. Imagineyourself to be Jesse’s mother. Describe your husband to your grandson after hepasses away.
Lesson Sixteen The Monsters are Due in Maple Street
l Teaching Aims:
Master the language points listed. Know something about the author and hisworks.Know something about the play’s political background: McCarthyism. Learnto appreciate a drama.Think about the themes of the play and form your ownopinions.
Part One Warm-up
What is a “monster”?animaginary creature usually having various human and animal partssomeone orsomething that is abnormally large and powerful a person or animal that ismarkedly unusual or deformed a cruelwicked and inhuman person
Part Two Background Information
l Rod Serling
American television (TV) dramatist, noted for his artistic successes inthe 1950s and for his commercial success as creator, narrator, and host of “TheTwilight Zone” (1959-1975)Six Emmy Awards (1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1964,3 for the “the Twilight Zone”);A George Foster Peabody Award in 1957 forbroadcast excellence;Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame (1985).
l McCarthyismNamed afterthe
l Key Elements of Drama
setting: The time when and the place where the events in a playhappen.character: A person in a play.plot: The events that form the main storyof a play.conflict: A struggle of some kind, on which drama is based. It couldbe a struggle of man against man, or man against nature, or an innerconflict.theme/message: The central idea of a play.characterization: The skill ofshowing what a character is like. (telling and showing)stage direction: awritten description of sth. an actor must do on stage in performing a play,which is italicized and given in brackets.
l Plot Development
The introduction: The opening section of a plot in which the setting, maincharacters and the conflict are presented.The rising action: The section of aplot in which the conflict is developed. The rising action leads to the climaxof the play.The climax/turning point: The point of greatest emotional impact indrama; the climax is the turning point because it leads to a resolution of theconflict upon which the play is based. The falling action: The action followingthe climax of a plot. The falling action presents the solution(s) to theproblems raised, and it resolves the conflicts in the play.The resolution: Theoutcome or conclusion of a plot.
Part Three Text Analysis
l Text Structure:
Introduction (1-29): Things go wrong in Maple Street.
Rising Action (30-103): Tommy suggests there might be aliens disguised astheir neighbors and Goodman and Steve become suspects in turn.Climax (104-111):Pete Van Horn is shot dead by Charlie.Falling Action (112-134): The neighborssuspect and accuse each other and chaos and destruction descend on Maple Street.
Resolution (135-139): The truth is revealed: the residents of Maple Streetdestroyed not by monsters from outer space but by monsters from their ownhearts.
l Theme:
In this play, the author seems to emphasize three fatal human weaknesses:our deep suspicion and distrust of one anotherour eagerness to find a scapegoatour readiness to turn into a mob.It implies that if we human beings want to bereally safe, we must kill those monsters in our hearts: we should try tounderstand and trust each other, to be less eager to assign blame, and toresist the kind of group (mob) mentality which too often results in violenceand tragedy.
l Language Study:
1. Narrator: "Maple Street,
2. A little failure and rightaway we get all excited. (para. 21)
Paraphrasing: As soon as electricity is cut off, we all get nervous.
More examples: A few nice words, and he will do anything for you.One stepforward and you’ll fall off the cliff.
3. There’s a laughter at this, butit’s a laughter that comes from a desperate attempt to lighten the atmosphere.(para. 55)Paraphrasing: Hearing Tommy’s words, some people laugh, not because theythink the boy’s remarks funny, but because they are terrified and try uselesslyto reduce their anxiety about the situation.
4. The people pick this up, andtheir murmuring becomes a loud chant filling the air with demands for action.(para. 67)Paraphrasing: The people realize what Don means and shout repeatedly foraction against Goodman, the monster sent from space.
5. You could quit walking aroundlike a self-appointed hanging judge … (para. 91)Paraphrasing: You could stoptalking and behaving as if you had given yourself the right to pass outunfairly harsh punishments to others. 6.And then we might as well set up some kind of kangaroo court. (para. 95)Paraphrasing:And then we will have no reason not to set up an unofficial court to punishthose who are suspected of being our disguised enemies.
7. Steve: (interrupting) Don’tstart telling me who’s dangerous and who isn’t, and who’s safe and who’s amenace. (He turns to the group and shouts.) And you’re with him, too —all of you! You’re standing here all set to find a scapegoat — alldesperate to point a finger at a neighbor! Well now, look, friends, theonly thing that’s going to happen is that we’ll eat each other up alive —(para. 102)Question: How does Steve describe the nature of the violent behavior ofhis neighbors?Paraphrase the underlined parts: And you all agree with him … You are allready to find someone who will be blamed for your own failure, and all anxiousto accuse your neighbor of being the enemy in disguise.
Part Four Assignment
Retell the storyof the play briefly.
刘爱萍
目录
-
1 课程简介
-
1.1 课程介绍
-
1.2 教材介绍
-
-
2 教学团队
-
2.1 教师队伍
-
-
3 课程大纲
-
3.1 综合英语课程大纲
-
-
4 多媒体课件
-
4.1 现代大学英语第一册
-
4.2 现代大学英语第二册
-
4.3 现代大学英语第三册
-
4.4 现代大学英语第四册
-
4.5 高级英语第一册
-
4.6 高级英语第二册
-
-
5 电子教案
-
5.1 现代大学英语第一册
-
5.2 现代大学英语第二册
-
5.3 现代大学英语第三册
-
5.4 现代大学英语第四册
-
5.5 高级英语第一册
-
-
6 授课录像
-
6.1 主讲教师：张杨1
-
6.2 主讲教师：张杨2
-
6.3 主讲教师：陈百琴1
-
6.4 主讲教师：陈百琴2
-
6.5 主讲教师：陈百琴3
-
6.6 主讲教师：陈百琴4
-
-
7 试题库
-
7.1 现代大学英语试卷及答案
-
7.2 高级英语试卷及答案
-
7.3 英语专业四级真题
-
7.4 英语专业四级综合技能分项训练
-
-
8 教学条件及资源
-
8.1 教学条件
-
8.2 第二课堂
-
8.3 英文原声电影
-
8.4 英语学习网站
-
-
9 教学改革及研究
-
9.1 论文科研
-
-
10 课程评价
-
10.1 师生评价
-
现代大学英语第一册
上一节
下一节
