Part One Teaching Goals
On completion of this unit, teachers are expected to have enabled students to:
■ have a thorough understanding of the text contextually and linguistically;
■ build up an active vocabulary to talk about freshman year and know how to use the key words and expressions in context properly;
■ communicate with regard to freshman year experience;
■ understand what American parents and their childrenthink of the freshman year;
■ reflect on their own experience of the first year atcollege and how their parents feel when they leave home to attend college;
■ make a comparison between American college students’parents and Chinese ones;
■get familiar with the writing of an email.
Part Two: Opener
This is a song by an American rock band Family of the Year. It was used in the 2014 Oscar-nominated (提名) film Boyhood, which is about coming of age (长大成人). In the film, the song comes on when the boy Mason is driving far to go to college.
Tasks(p35):
Pair work:
Read the words of a song in the box below. While listening attentively to it twice, put the lines marked A, B, C and D in their proper places in the song. Check with your partner and see if you two agree.
Group work:
Did you enroll by yourself? Why or why not?
In the following speech, Michelle Obama talks about her own experience when she was a freshman, and offers some tips on how to adapt to the new life in college. Her tips may be useful to the freshmen who live away from home for the first time.
Group work: After watching the video the third time, discuss the song in groups of four.
Translation：
President Xi offers his advice to freshmen and hopes they can shoulder the social responsibility.
大学的青春时光，人生只有一次，应该好好珍惜。为学之要贵在勤奋、贵在钻研、贵在有恒。鲁迅先生说过：“哪里有天才，我是把别人喝咖啡的工夫都用在工作上的。”大学阶段，“恰同学少年，风华正茂”，有老师指点，有同学切磋，有浩瀚的书籍引路，可以心无旁骛求知问学。此时不努力，更待何时？要勤于学习、敏于求知，注重把所学知识内化于心，形成自己的见解，既要专攻博览，又要关心国家、关心人民、关心世界，学会担当社会责任。
—2014年5月4日习近平在北京大学师生座谈会上的讲话
A person enjoys only once the youthful days at college, so you should cherish them. To acquire knowledge, one has to study diligently, intensively and persistently. Lu Xun once said, “Who said I’m a genius? I spent all my time working when others were sipping coffee.” In college days, “Young we were, schoolmates, at life’s full flowering.” One can totally throw oneself into seeking knowledge without any distractions, learning from teachers, exchanging views with classmates and rummaging through piles of books. So there is no reason not to study hard. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
Watch the clip of the movie and discuss Liz's spirit, especially her independence.
Read the passage and do the taskbelow.
Youth Speaks! — On Freedom of Expression
Steph Tan
I aman eighteen-year-oldteenager who wants to have the freedomand opportunities to speak out, to have a say in things, toexpress my feelings and thoughts freely.
Whyis this freedom of expression so important to me? Although I may be young, I want to beheard as an individual. Whenever adults take my ideas into account and allow meto contributein decision-makings, I feel respected and appreciated as it shows that I am capable ofcontributing in discussions. Thisnaturally gives me an indescribable sense of achievement, and thus builds myconfidence in the long run.
Besides that, freedom of expression is essential for the unity of my family. For me, when myparents allow me to have a say in things, and take my thoughts andfeelings into considerationbefore making decisions, I am assured that I havea significant influence in my family, that I do play a role as a member of myfamily. By giving me this freedom, my parents aretelling me that they love me and that my feelings and thoughtsmatter to them. It creates a special bond between my parents and I. In a way, this freedomimproves my relationship withmy parents and thus, brings the relationship to a whole newlevel.
Most importantly, this freedom allows me to stand up for what I believe in, and for what is right.An incident that happenedto me in college recently can be a verygood example to portray theimportance of this freedom. ___________________________________________________________________________
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Tryto imagine yourself in my situation but without the freedom to voice out what you believe in. Youwould be forced to just nodand agree on something when you actually do not. Wouldn’t thatbe a total nightmare?
It is evident and clear that the freedom of expression is important to young people like me. Wewant to speak for ourselves,to be respected as individuals, and to have the opportunityto contribute in our families and even our society. To be able to state our opinions publiclyis our right. Is it too muchto ask for? Do not take this right away from us.
Group work: Work in groups and discuss the following questions
1.Whatarguments or examples can you give to back up the main points in Para. 4?
2. Howdo you understand freedom of expression?
