Unit One Growing Up
Objectives
• Grasp the main idea and structure of the
text;
• Appreciate the narrative skills
demonstrated in the text;
• Master the language points and
grammatical structures in the text;
• Conduct a series of reading, listening,
speaking and writing activities related to
the theme of the unit.
Warming-up:
Have you ever seen the American soap opera
“ Growing Pains ”? Do you like it? Why?
Do you like to be a child or an adult? Why?
Pre-reading recordings
Global Reading
Look at the
paragraph
paragraph
what the
myself”.
title of Text A, then find out in which
a similar phrase appears. Read that
carefully and explain in your own words
author means by saying “write for
 Write about the warmth and good
feeling of it.
 Put it down for his own joy.
 Recapture and hold that moment
for himself.
 Relive the pleasure of that evening.
Grasping the structure of the text
Scan Text A and circle all the time words, phrases and clauses
since my childhood in Belleville (LL.1~2)
until my third year in high school (L.2)
until then (L.3)
when our class was assigned to Mr. Fleagle for third-year
English (L.7)
late in the year (L.17)
until the night before the essay was due (LL.20~21)
when I finished (L.40)
next morning (L.42)
two days passed (L.42)
when I saw him lift my paper from his desk… (LL. 45~46)
when Mr. Fleagle finished (L.58)
Text Organization (P.9)
Paragraphs
Headings
1
Baker’s feelings about English courses
2
Baker’s impression of his new English teacher
3
A topic that attracts Baker’s attention
4
Vivid memories the title brought back
5
Baker’s sudden desire to write about the topic
6
Anticipating punishment
7
Mr. Fleagle’s announcement
8
Classmates’ response to the essay
9
What Baker discovered
Part Division of the Text
Parts Paragraphs Main Ideas
1
Paras 1~2
Baker was bored by everything
associated with English courses,
including his new English teacher
2
Paras 3~5
Baker found himself attracted by one
particular topic and wrote about it for
his own joy.
3
Paras 6~9
The experience of writing the essay
helped him discover his talent for
writing and realize what he wished to
do in life.
Cultural Notes
Spaghetti and the proper way of eating it
Spaghetti is the Italian-style thin noodle, cooked
by boiling and served with sauce. Usually you
would put a fork into a plate of spaghetti, turn the
fork several times so that spaghetti will wind
around the fork, then place the fork into your
mouth. It's impolite to suck. Don’t use the spoon
when eating spaghetti to help you wrap the pasta.
It is considered bad form. Spaghetti should be
eaten with the fork only. Never cut the threads of
pasta with the knife or the fork. Spaghetti is sold
in the right length, about 10 -inches long, and that
is just the right size. Don’t slurp. Absolutely no
sounds of any kind.
pasta:意大利面制品, 意大利面食(包括通心粉及面条等)
slurp:啧啧吃的声音
The US Grade School System
In the united States, education is the responsibility of
individual states, not the federal government, so
requirements may vary from one state to another. The
following is a generalization:
Kindergarten: under 5 years old
Elementary/primary school (grades 1~6): 6~11 years old
Junior high/middle school (grades 7~8): 12~13 years old
Senior high school (grades 9~12): 14~17 years old
College, institute, academy(学院), university
What American teachers wear in school
Nowadays, people in the U.S. love to dress
casually. Even among those companies with a rigid
dress code some now allow employees not to wear
suits on Fridays. U.S. teachers wear fairly formal
clothes to school, but not necessarily suits and
ties. Bow ties are considered even more oldfashioned than ties.
Language Study
Paragraph 1
off and on (or on and off):If something happens off and on or on and
off, it happens occasionally, or only for part of a period of time, not in a
regular or continuous way
Examples: I was still working off and on as a waitress to support
myself.
We lived together, on and off, for two years.
take hold:start to have a definite effect; become established
Examples: The idea of one child only has taken hold in many Chinese
families.
Old habits die hard. That's why you should stop smoking
before the habit takes hold.
bore: make (sb.) feel tired and lose interest
Examples: The speaker went on and on, and the audience grew bored
by his speech.
Tom Sawyer grew bored with painting the garden fence,
so he thought of a way to make others paint for him.
associate somebody/something with something: to make a
connection in your mind between one thing or person and another
Examples: We associate Egypt with pyramids.
I don't associate him with energetic sports.
Jim wished to forget everything associated with his
former life.
Paragraph 2
anticipate [transitive]:expect that something will happen and be
ready for it: anticipate (that); anticipate doing something
Examples: This year, we anticipate that our expenses will be
15% greater.
I didn't anticipate having to do the cooking myself!
tedious :something that is tedious continues for a long time and is not
interesting --synonym boring
Examples: The work was tiring and tedious.
The movie was so tedious that many viewers left before it
was over.
reputation [countable] :the opinion that people have about someone
or something because of what has happened in the past: reputation for;
reputation as
Examples: Jim Kerry has quite a reputation for being comic.
In her last job she acquired a reputation as a troublemaker.
inspire: encourage someone by making them feel confident and
eager to do something
inspire somebody to do something ;
inspire somebody to something
Examples:He inspired many young people to take up the sport.
I hope this success will inspire you to greater efforts.
Inspired by the sunny weather, I decided to explore the
woods.
rigid: (often disapproving) fixed in behavior; based on correct or
accepted rules --opposite flexible
Examples: rigid adherence to old-fashioned ideas
If he had been a little less rigid about things, his
daughter would not have left home at such a young age.
out of date: old-fashioned – synonym outdated
Examples:New words are constantly added to our vocabulary
while some old words go out of date.
Although her clothes were out of date, the old woman
appeared clean and dignified.
severe: 1) completely plain
Examples: The widow wore a severe black dress for her husband’s
funeral.
Earnest Hemingway is known for his severe writing style.
2) stern, strict
Examples: Only those who have undergone severe training can be
accepted into the air force.
He was so severe with his son that even his wife would cry.
3) causing very great pain, difficulty, worry, etc
Examples:The severe chest pain experienced by the Vice-President
proved to be a heart attack.
A factory must turn out newer and better products to win in
the climate of severe business competition.
Paragraph 3
tackle: to try to deal with a difficult problem
Examples: It took twelve fire engines to tackle the blaze.
There is more than one way to tackle the problem.
face up to: accept that a difficult situation or problem exists, even
though you would prefer to ignore it
Examples: Many couples refuse to face up to the fact that there
are problems in their marriage.
Now that your daughter is born, you'll have to face
up to the responsibilities of being a father.
Paragraph 4
vivid:vivid memories, dreams, descriptions etc are so clear that
they seem real
ￚopposite vague
Examples:I've got vivid memories of that summer.
He had a vivid picture of her in his mind.
recall: [intransitive,transitive not in progressive] to remember a
particular fact, event, or situation from the past:recall (that); recall
doing something; recall what/how/where etc
Examples:You don't happen to recall his name, do you?
I seem to recall I've met him before somewhere.
I can't recall who gave me the information.
Paragraph 6
turn sth in: American English to give a piece of work you have
done to a teacher, your employer etc
British Equivalent: hand in
Examples: Have you all turned in your homeworkassignments?
command: n. ▶CONTROL◀
[uncountable]the control of a group of people or a situation
under somebody's command
Example: troops under the command of General Roberts
in command (of something)
Examples: Lieutenant Peters was now in command.
He felt fully in command of the situation
take command (of something) (=begin controlling a group or
situation and making decisions)
Example: The fire officer took command, ordering everyone to
leave the building.
▶ORDER◀
[countable] an order that should be obeyed
Example: Shoot when I give the command.
command: v. ▶ORDER◀
[intransitive and transitive] to tell someone officially to do something,
especially if you are a military leader,a king etc
command somebody to do something
Example: Captain Picard commanded the crew to report to the
main deck.
command that (As with the verbs "suggest, demand", subjunctive
mood is used in a that-clause after command.)
Examples: The General commanded that the regiment attack at once.
The king commanded that the victory day become a national
holiday.
Paragraph 8
hold back: hold sth back, to stop yourself from feeling or showing a
particular emotion
Examples:She struggled to hold back her tears.
Anger flooded through her. She couldn't hold it back.
Paragraph 9
avoid: to prevent something bad from happening
avoid doing something
Examples:Road safety is taught to young children to avoid road
accidents.
It is important to take measures to avoid the risk of fire.
The refugees left to avoid getting bombed.
He stayed away from the cafe so that he could avoid
running into his former girl friend.
set the seal on sth: [British English] to make something definite
or complete
Example:In 1972, Nixon himself went to China to set the seal
on the new relationship.
课文中运用的写作技巧
1. Russell Baker is very good at choosing details to prove his point.
Questions
① In Part 1, what details are selected to show “ I’d been bored
with everything associated with English courses?
② In Part 1, what details are given to show that Mr. Fleagle was
dull and rigid?
③ In Part 2, which sentences show that at first Baker was
unwilling to write the essay?
④ In Part 3, the author didn’t tell us directly that his essay was
very good. By which sentences did he manage to give us the
impression that his essay was very good?
Description of persons
Age: young, old, years old, middle-aged, in one’s teens,
in one’s early/late twenties
Hair: curly/wavy/frizzy hair, straight hair, long hair, spiky hair,
blond hair, is nearly bald with a little hair above each band
His hair was primly cut and primly combed.
Her hair is tied in a pigtail with ribbon in it.
Wear a ribbon/hair band,
Clothes: suit and tie, jeans and T shirts,
loose/tight clothes, jumper,
short/long-sleeved blouse, striped skirt, sweater
Figure: tall, high, short, small, fat, stocky, slim, thin, slender,
be of medium build/height, be of average height,
170 centimetres tall
Facial feature: beard and moustache, clean-shaven, dimple, scar,
straight/pointed nose, pointed jaw, pointed chin, long angular face,
an oval face (鹅蛋脸), aquiline /`aekwilain/ nose (鹰钩鼻子)，
cherry lips, arched eyebrow (柳叶眉)
 Personality: honest, creative, optimistic, pessimistic (悲观的),
extrovert, introvert(内向的), forgetful, moody(喜怒无常的),
reserved(保守的), organized(有组织才能的),
easy-going, hard-working, quick-tempered(性急的)
2. Repetition is employed not only to make it easy for readers to follow
what he is saying, but also to impress them more deeply.
Questions
In P2, and P5, find out what has been repeated?
9 prim’s or primly’s (P2)–a vivid picture of what Mr. Fleagle
looked like
5 I wanted’s (P5) –help to emphasize Russell Baker’s strong
desire to write for himself.
3. Synonymous words and phrases are employed to
avoid repetition.
 dull, lifeless, cheerless, tedious
 turn out, write, compose, put down
 anticipate, prepare for
 formal, rigid, prim, correct, proper, respectable
 vivid memories of sth. Come flooding back to
sb,sth. reawakes in one’s mind, sb. Recalls sth.
 recapture, relive
 pleasure, delight, happiness
 contempt, ridicule
 topic, title
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