Unit 1 The Dinner Party
I. Warm-up activities and introductory remarks
1. Set aside about 20 minutes for a group discussion about the question:
Who do you think are braver, women or men Please take the story of the text as an example to support your statement.
Tip: Whom do you think are braver, men or women This question is asked again and again, but different people have different opinions. In the text the question is settled in a rather unexpected way. Take the hostess and the American man as examples. Let's see how they react to the crisis in the story. When the American man realizes they are all in great danger, he not only keeps himself calm but also manages to prevent the others from commotion. When a cobra crawls across her foot, the hostess shows great self-control and comes up with a very effective solution. When praised, she doesn't appear as if she has done something great. Instead, she gives a faint smile. Both examples show that men and women can be brave enough to cope with any crisis.
2. Wind up the discussion with introductory remarks
It is a well-knit story, isn't it The story may not be true, but is told in a very convincing way. Besides, its message is clear: women are able to face a crisis with perfect calmness and self-control.
II. Introduction on background information
1. Cobras
Cobras, found in some parts of Africa and Asia, are poisonous snakes. Most cobras bite their victims and their bite may cause death within a few hours.
The king cobra, the largest of all poisonous snakes, may reach a length of 18 ft (5.5 m) and feeds chiefly on other snakes. When disturbed, it raises its hooded head to get a better view or to strike. Large individuals may raise themselves to a height of about 1 m (about 4 ft).
The Indian cobra is usually 4-5 ft (1.2-1.6 m) long. The snake's color ranges from yellowish to dark brown. It has a mark like a pair of spectacles on the back of its hood. It preys on rats and is therefore often found in houses. The Indian cobra and the Egyptian cobra are often displayed by snake charmers. The cobras appear to respond to the music played by the charmer, but, like all snakes, they are deaf and only follow the movements of the charmer.
2. Prejudice Against Women
Women have been prejudiced against for centuries perhaps ever since life on earth. They have long been referred to as "weaker sex" or "fairer sex," considered naturally weaker than men, squeamish, unable to perform the work that requires muscles or pluck the courage to face up to any crisis. As we know, Plato, Aristotle, Shakespeare, and Confucius all made negative remarks about women. And even today, such a prejudice has not entirely been eliminated and the argument in the text shows how hard long-standing prejudices die.
III. Global understanding of the text
Ask the students to do a true or false exercises for global understanding:
1. The setting of the story is in India and the time of the story is during the First World War. ( F )
It took place before the First World War.
2. The guests attending the party are the persons with high social status. ( T )
3. The room where the party was held is very big and quite good. ( T )
4. In the discussion, the young girl points out that women are braver than men. ( F )
The girl only means women are now braver than they were in the past.
5. When the American naturalist notices a strange expression coming over the hostess's face, he immediately knows that there is a snake in the room. ( F )
It is not until he sees the boy place a bowl of milk on the veranda that he knows that.
6. After the American realizes what is happening in the room, he is very astonished. ( T )
7. The trick the American uses then shows that he is a cowardly man. ( F )
He is a clever and calm man.
8. From the last sentence of the story, we can come to the conclusion that the hostess is calmer than the American. ( T )
IV. Detailed studies of the text / language points
Key words:
1. heated: adj. angry; excited
eg. At a heated moment in the discussion, I lost my self-control.
Ed and I used to stay up all night, drinking wine and having heated arguments about politics.
2. bare:
1) adj. not covered; with no plants growing on it; no more than; mere
eg. If my memory serves me, there was a bare hill near your hometown.
He earns a bare living by his work.
2) v. reveal
eg. The lady screamed as the snake bared its teeth.
3. outgrow: vt.
1) grow more than
eg. He has outgrown his elder brother.
2) grow too large for
eg. The boy has outgrown this suit.
3) lose or discard in the course of maturation
eg. She outgrew her youthful idealism.
4. count: vi. be of value or importance
eg. It's not the weapons but the men who use them that count.
It is not how much you read but what you read that really counts.
5. contract: vi.
1) make or become tighter or narrower
eg. Her stomach contracted at the sight of a cobra.
2) make or become smaller or shorter
eg. "I am" is usually contracted to "I'm" in oral speech.
3) settle or arrange by formal arrangement
eg. Their firm has contracted to build a double-purpose bridge across the river.
6. motion:
1) v. give a signal by moving the hand or head; signal to sb.
eg. Seeing Diana in the doorway, I motioned her to the room.
2) n. signal by hand or head; moving; proposal to be discussed and voted on at a meeting
eg. He made a motion with his hand, as if to tell me to keep back.
Never get on or off a bus while it is in motion.
The motion put forward by the chairman was adopted / carried but the motion by me was rejected.
7. emerge: vi. come or appear (from somewhere)
eg. He emerged from behind the tree.
If the economy goes on like this, another crisis will emerge soon.
8. faint: adj. weak or slight; indistinct
eg. He felt faint for lack of food.
There is a faint hope that she may be cured.
9. crawl: vi. move forward on one's hands and knees; move very slowly
eg. The wounded soldier crawled into a cave to hide himself.
The truck had to crawl along because of the snow.
Phrases & expression:
1. track down: find (sb./sth.) by hunting or searching
eg. It was almost two weeks before they tracked down the facts they needed.
The police need your help to track down the murderer.
2. spring up: begin suddenly, increase or grow quickly and as if from nowhere
eg. Many buildings have sprung up in what was a desert.
A strange idea sprang up in her mind.
3. feel like: have a liking for, wish for; want (sth. to do sth.)
eg. What lovely weather! I do feel like a swim.
Mary doesn't feel like playing tennis today because she feels tired.
4. come to:
1) be aware of, regain consciousness
eg. The doctor applied some medicine and the driver began to come to.
2) occur to sb.
eg. It suddenly came to her that she had been wrong all along.
3) amount to, be equal to
eg. Jim's rent comes to thirty per cent of his salary.
5. frighten sb. into doing sth.: cause sb. to do sth. by frightening him
Pattern: frighten sb. into (doing) sth.;
frighten sb. out of doing sth.;
frighten sb. + adv.
eg. A cobra emerged from behind the rock. This frightened the girl into screaming.
He waved his torch to frighten away / off the wolf.
6. make for:
1) move (esp. quickly) towards
eg. When the class was over, everyone made for the dining room.
2) cause; lead to; result in; help; favor sth.
eg. Poor service does not make for satisfied customers.
7. ring out: (of a voice, bell, etc.) sound loudly and clearly
eg. Cheers rang out from the crowd waiting in front of the building.
A shot rang out, and then there was silence.
8. light up:
1) cause to be bright with light or colour; give light to
eg. The sun rose and began to light up the sky.
Unit 3
MY FIRST JOB
Warm- up questions and Introductory Remarks
1. What is an interview?
2. For what purpose is an interview needed?
Everyone wants to find a good job. What’s the procedure for job-hunting then? This text tells
a true story of a young man, the first job he applied for, and the first job interview he experienced. Let’s see what happened and what we can learn from it.
Language Points and Questions for Discussion
Lines1-5
Language Points
1. apply:
a) write to ask for ( a job, membership, etc.) ( vi ) 伸请
e.g. Out of the 5,000 high school graduates who applied for this famous university, only a handful was admitted.
b) (cause to ) have a bearing on; concern (vi ) 适应，适用
e.g. This rule only applies to people above 60.
c) make use of (vt ) : (apply sth to + n..) 把。。。应用 。。。
e.g. People applied the theory to practice.
2. I saw advertised in a local newspaper a teaching post …: I saw a teaching post …advertised in a local newspaper.
As the direct object “a teaching post” has a lengthy modifier, it needs to be postponed order that the whole sentence has “end weight”.
chance: possibility; probability (have chance of doing )
e.g. We have little chance of winning the game.
Questions
1. Would you please to paraphrase the sentence “ My chances of getting the job were slim.”
(There was little possibility that he could get the job.)
2. Do you think it a wise decision to get a job before entering university?
(It is a chance to come into contact with the workplace. Also it is an effective way to earn some money to pay for tuition after entering university. However, it also takes up time that could be used for reading and studying. )
Lines 6-10
Language Points:
1. prove: turn out to be prove +adj. (prove to be )
e.g. Her advice proved sound.
2. As a result I arrived on a hot June morning too depressed to feel nervous.: Therefore when I got to the school on a hot morning in June I was in such low spirits that I did not and could not feel any anxiety of fear at all.
as a result : therefore
e.g. The girl did not work hard enough and she failed the exam as a result.
depress: make sad /press/make lower
e.g. (1) I was depressed after reading so much depressing news.
(2) depress the button
(3) to depress prices
Questions
1. Why does this paragraph begin with “however”?
( He had not expected to be asked for an interview.)
2. What does it mean to be asked for an interview? ( There is hope that one will get the job.)
Lines 11-13
Questions
1. What’s the picture in your mind when you read the description of the school?
( It’s not a nice school. It is quite plain and in a very busy place.)
2. What do you think are the favorable surroundings that a school should be in?
( A school should be located in a quiet and peaceful place away from pollution and distractions, with its buildings in pleasant surroundings, so that students can concentrate on and enjoy their studies.)
Lines 14-28
Language points
1. He looked at me with an air of surprised disapproval.- He looked at me in disapproval that was mixed with surprise.
air: appearance, manner
e.g. She has a certain air of sadness about her.( have an air of )
He always talks with an air of self-importance.
2. judge: estimate
e.g. Don’t judge persons by appearances.
judging by / from: an independent element in a sentence.
e.g. Judging by the response of the students, the lecture was quite a success.
Judging from his accent, he must be from the North.
3. attach importance to: consider important; treat as important
e.g. Our teacher attaches great importance to listening comprehension.
Questions
1. How does the description of the headmaster’s appearance and behavior, the inside of the school impress you? (Unpleasantly. It’s poor, plain and dirty.)
2. What do the “bloodshot eyes” remind you of? (Perhaps drinking, sleeping little, illness, etc.)
3. Do you think games are a vital part of children’s education? Why or why not?
( Scientific research has shown that playing games can stimulate children’s imagination and make them active, and studying in games is a much more effective and suitable way to develop children’s personality. On the other hand, nobody should be forced to play games if they are really not interested in them.)
Lines 29-38
Language Points
1. The school, he said, consisted of one class of twenty-four boys, ranging in age from seven to thirteen.
The school described in the story is what people call a one-room school house- a school with one teacher who must instruct all of the students. Today one-room school houses might still be found in small villages.
consist (vi)
1. consist of +n.: be composed of / be made up of
e.g. This apartment consists of three bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom and a kitchen.
2. consist in + doing: have as the chief element
e.g. Happiness consists in being contented with what one has.
range(vi) range from …to …:vary between two limits of … and …
e.g. The ages of the students in our class range from 20 to 23.
2. leisure: free time/ the state of being free
e.g. Call me when you are at ( your) leisure.
I have no leisure for golf.
Questions
1. What do you think of the teaching set-up? Is it normal?
(In some village schools in our country, it is still the case. Obviously, the teaching set-up was caused by the poor conditions in the school. Meanwhile, it would challenge a teacher’s abilities, skills and patience.)