Teaching Plan for Unit 4
The surprising purpose of travel
Teaching Objectives
1. To talk about the surprising purpose of travel
2. To further understand the text
3. To apply the phrases and patterns
4. To master the cause-effect essay writing skill
5. To develop a proper attitude toward traveling
Teaching procedures
I Warming-up activities
1. Discussing: Why do we travel?
2. Cultural background:
• Left Bank café, Let’s Go, Machu Picchu
II. Text study
1. Main idea -Global understanding
The text is an exposition that tries to illustrate the reasons why we travel — because we need mental refreshment for creativity.
2. Detailed understanding
Read the text and answer the following questions.
1). Use one word to describe the feeling of the author’s imaginary traveling experience mentioned in Para. 1. Burdensome.
2).Why does the author choose the word “burdensome” to describe his imaginary travel? (Para. 1)
3). What does the author think of travel? (Para. 2)
The author raises a common question for all travelers: Why do we travel? In his eyes, travel feels like a tedious lesson in the ills of modernity, it sucks. Then what is the driving force behind our travel?
4). Why do we travel even though it sucks? (Para. 3-4)
We travel because we need to and we want to.
5). What is the ironic effect of travel? (Para. 5)
It is ironic that most of us travel for the sake of relaxation but during the journey our minds still focus on the stubborn domestic issues;
6). What is the real effect of travel according to some research? (Para. 6)
In effect, travel enables us to experience an exotic culture, which in turn endows us with a valuable open-mindedness.
7). What is the real effect of travel to seasoned travelers? (Para. 7)
Travel also helps them interpret the world in different ways, through which their cognition circumference is expanded
8). What’s the lasting impact of experiencing difference while travelling? (Para. 8)
Such difference, as a result of travel, keeps us more open-minded and less insular, thus leading to our mental flexibility or renaissance of creativity.
9). What are the drawbacks of travel? (Para. 9)
To endure jet lag; To be lost in somewhere while travelling; To lose luggage.
10).What will happen to us after travel? (Para. 9)
Travel will change our mind to some extent, which in turn can have effects on everything in our life --- distance and difference are the secret cornerstones of creativity.
3. Structure:
• Introduction (Para1-2)
The author introduces his theme through a vivid description of his imaginary travel experience, and then raises a common question for all travelers: Why do we travel?
• Three causes
We need to. (Para. 3)
We want to. (Para. 4)
We can improve our creativity. (Para. 5-8)
• Conclusion (Para.9)
4. Reading between lines
Read the following sentences from the text, and explain the meaning beyond words.
1. Because Paris is Paris. (Para. 4)
2. But here’s the irony: Our mind is most likely to solve our most stubborn problems while we are sitting in luxury in a Left Bank café. (Para. 5)
3. The larger lesson, though, is that our thoughts are saturated with the familiar. (Para. 6)
4. As a result, creativity is traded away for efficiency; we think in finite, literal prose, not symbolic verse. (Para. 6)
5. We don’t spend 10 hours lost in the Louvre because we like it, and the view from the top of Machu Picchu probably doesn’t make up for the trouble of lost luggage. (Para. 9)
5. Critical thinking
Think over the following three questions and share your ideas with your classmates.
• What is the most useful purpose of travel in your opinion?
• Do you agree that cultural difference is the biggest barrier in travel?
• Can travel affect our personalities? If so, how?
III. Language focus
1. Practical Phrases.
be offset by sth. on sale mingle… with … endow …with… be open to sth. more often than not be saturated with
2. Sentence structure
1). The brain is a space of near infinite possibility, which means that it spends a lot of time and energy choosing what not to notice. (Para. 6)
Eg: I stayed up last night, which makes me feel dizzy now.
2). We don’t spend 10 hours lost in the Louvre because we like it.
Eg: I don’t learn English because I want to pass CET4.
3) Parallelism
A: Words of same part of speech: We are creating a nation once again vibrant, robust and alive.
B: Phrases: something important about the handshake…eating…seeing..
C: Clauses or sentences: because…because…because…because…because…
Parallel structure or parallel construction, is often a balance within one or more sentences of similar phrases or clauses that have the same grammatical structure which is called parallelism. The application of parallelism improves writing style and readability, and is thought to make sentences easier to process and more elegant.
IV. Writing devices
A. Develop a cause-and-effect essay
Writing practice: why we learn the Chinese language?
Outline:
1. Introduction: current situation + thesis statement
2. Main body: Cause-Effect analyses (cause 1 + 2 +3)
3. Conclusion: Restatement /future trend
B. Plan a three-day trip with your group members.
