Unit2  Conspicuous Consumption

Who Are the Joneses and Why Are We Trying to Keep Up withThem?

 

Learning Objectives[殷1]  for This Unit

Instudying this unit, you must be able to:

1. have a thorough understandingof the text contextually and linguistically;

2. expand your vocabulary aboutconspicuous consumption and know how to use the key words and expressions incontext properly;

3. talk about the conspicuousconsumption of luxury goods, how it has come into being and the effects itmight have on society;

4. conduct group discussionscentering on the“fuerdai”(the rich second generation) phenomenon in China;

5. become familiar withexpository writing, whose purpose is to write an expository essay according tothe graph.

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Pre-readingTasks  

Task 1 Oral Activity:

Questions:

1. What does the idiom“Keeping up with theJoneses”mean?

2. Whom dose the“Joneses” in the idiom refer to?

3. What is the“Keeping up with the Kardashians”?

4. Why is the show often criticized by the critics?

5. What is the mission of “Operation Beautiful”

1. What dose the campaign “Body Heart” encourage people to do?

 

1) Talk about your consumption concept or the differences of consumptionconcept between China and the West.

 

Task 2 Words and Phrasesand Expressions Studying:Read Words and Phrases at Side Note Part on Page 38-40 in the textbook.Make sure that you can read every word and every phrase correctly and that youare familiarized with the pronunciation, word form, Englishmeaning and Chinese meaning. Then they are supposed to study thefollowing words and phrases that are crucial in the text “Who Are the Jones and Why Are We Trying to Keep Up withThem?”:

vanish           episode        core        generate          perceive

vicious           cycle          guilt       meaningless       website

come into being   open up        strive for   be content with     keep up with        

derive from       pokefun at    make a living      forthat matter   out of date      

       

Task 1 First Reading

   Read thetext again. You may underline or mark the difficult sentences or phrases thatyou do not understand.

   1) Try to answer the following questions at Exercise 2.1in Comprehension Check on Page 42:

(1)Wheredoes the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses”come from? (Para. 2)

(2) Whywere we not aware of what the Joneses were doing prior to the late 1880s(Paras.3&4)?

(3) What was theready solution provided by magazines in order for us to catch up with the                 Joneses (Para.4)

(4)Wheredo true happiness and joy come from, if they are not anything money can buy (Para.9)

(5)Whatare we supposed to do to stop keeping up with the Jones? (Para. 10)

2) Try to finish Exercise 2.2 in Comprehension Check onPage 43 to check your understanding to some difficult sentences.

 

Task 2 Second Reading

Read the text again and fill in the blanks

Part I (Paras.1—2): The meaning and origin of the expression “            ”.

Part II (Paras. 3—6): Howthe phenomenon of keeping up with the Joneses               and why people               it .

Part III (Para. 7-10):What we should do to               .