Unit 1 Another School
Year-What For
教学目的 了解作者及其背景知识；
熟悉本文使用的写作手法；
掌握委婉语；
通过深刻理解文章内涵，培养学生社会洞察力和
相关的讨论能力，同时掌握文中的核心语言点。
教学内容
背景知识介绍
作品赏析
写作技巧
语言理解
教学重点 文学作品的赏析；
文学中的修辞手法―委婉语的使用
构词法：词缀
教学方法 多种教学法（讲授、问答、讨论、模仿、练习等）
并用
Warming-up: Discussion
Divide the class into several groups and make them have a discussion
about the advantages and disadvantages of formal education at
school.
Suggested Answers:
Advantages:
1. a systematic mastery of the knowledge required by the public
education.
2.an access to an atmosphere which is full of competition
3. opportunities of being together with those with whom you share the
similar experience
4. teachers are professionals in the field of education and can
provide with what we expect from them;
Disadvantages:
1. formal education pays much attention to similarity rather than
individuality;
2. those with special talents cannot exert their potentiality at a formal
school;
Background Information
1. William Shakespeare
Tragedies:
(1) 'Hamlet', 'Macbeth', 'King Lear', 'Othello';
(2) 'Antony and Cleopatra', 'Coriolanus', 'Romeo and
Juliet', 'Julius Caesar';
(3) 'Richard II', 'Richard III', 'Timon of Athens';
(4) 'King John', 'Titus Andronicus', 'Henry VI'.
Comedies:
'The Tempest',
As You Like It',
'The Winter's Tale',
'The Merchant of Venice',
Twelfth Night',
'Much Ado about Nothing',
'Cymbeline',
'A Midsummer Night's Dream';
'The Merry Wives of Windsor',
'The Taming of the Shrew',
'Two Gentlemen of Verona',
'All's Well That Ends Well',
'A Comedy of Errors',
'Pericles',
‘Love's Labour's Lost',
'Two Noble Kinsmen'.
Histories:
'Henry IV', Parts 1 and 2,
'Henry V',
'Richard II',
'Richard III',
'Henry VIII,;
'King John',
'Henry VI', Parts 2 and 3,
'Henry VI', Part 1.
Serious Plays, or Bitter
Comedies:
 Measure

for Measure',
'Troilus and Cressida'.
2. Bach (1685-1750)
Bach, Johann Sebastian, was
considered by many of his
peers to be the supreme
master of counterpoint
(compositional technique
pitting note against note or
melody against melody). This
quality was expressly
illustrated in his fugal
compositions. In this excerpt
from his famous Toccata and
Fugue in D Minor, written in his
early years as a court organist,
Bach expands on the toccata
(short, intricately articulated
keyboard movement) form in
an elaborately constructed
fugue.
3. Homer
Homer, name traditionally
assigned to the author of the
Iliad and the Odyssey, the two
major epics of Greek antiquity.
Nothing is known of Homer as
an individual, and in fact it is a
matter of controversy whether
a single person can be said to
have written both the Iliad and
the Odyssey. Linguistic and
historical evidence, however,
suggests that the poems were
composed in the Greek
settlements on the west coast
of Asia Minor sometime in the
8th century BC.
THE ILIAD

The Iliad is set in the final year of the Trojan War, fought between the
Greeks and the inhabitants of the city of Troy. The legendary conflict
forms the background for the central plot of the story: the wrath of the
Greek hero Achilles. Insulted by his commander in chief, Agamemnon,
the young warrior Achilles withdraws from the war, leaving his fellow
Greeks to suffer terrible defeats at the hands of the Trojans. Achilles
rejects the Greeks' attempts at reconciliation but finally relents to
some extent, allowing his companion Patroclus to lead his troops in
his place. Patroclus is slain, and Achilles, filled with fury and remorse,
turns his wrath against the Trojans, whose leader, Hector (son of King
Priam), he kills in single combat. The poem closes as Achilles
surrenders the corpse of Hector to Priam for burial, recognizing a
certain kinship with the Trojan king as they both face the tragedies of
mortality and bereavement.
THE ODYSSEY
The Odyssey describes the return of the Greek hero
Odysseus from the Trojan War. The opening scenes
depict the disorder that has arisen in Odysseus's
household during his long absence: A band of suitors is
living off of his wealth as they woo his wife, Penelope.
The epic then tells of Odysseus's ten years of traveling,
during which he has to face such dangers as the maneating giant Polyphemus and such subtler threats as the
goddess Calypso, who offers him immortality if he will
abandon his quest for home. The second half of the
poem begins with Odysseus's arrival at his home island
of Ithaca. Here, exercising infinite patience and selfcontrol, Odysseus tests the loyalty of his servants; plots
and carries out a bloody revenge on Penelope's suitors;
and is reunited with his son, his wife, and his aged father.
4. VIRGIL, or VERGI (70-19 BC).
The greatest of the Roman poets, Publius Vergilius Maro, was not a
Roman by birth. His early home was on a farm in the village of
Andes, near Mantua. His father was a farmer, prosperous enough to
give his son the best education. The young Virgil was sent to school
at Cremona and then to Milan. At the age of 17 he went to Rome to
study. There he learned rhetoric and philosophy from the best
teachers of the day.
Virgil studied the Greek poets. He wrote his 'Eclogues'. These are
pastoral poems describing the beauty of Italian scenes. At the
suggestion of Maecenas he wrote a more serious work on the art of
farming and the charms of country life called the 'Georgics'. This
established his fame as the foremost poet of his age.
The year after the 'Georgics' was published, he began his great
epic, the 'Aeneid'. He took as his hero the Trojan Aeneas, supposed
to be the founder of the Roman nation. The poem, published after
Virgil's death, exercised a tremendous influence upon Latin and later
Christian literature, prose as well as poetry. Thus his influence
continued through the Middle Ages and into modern times.
5. DANTE (1265-1321).
One of the greatest poets in the history of world literature,
Italian writer Dante Alighieri composed poetry influenced
by classical and Christian tradition.
Dante’s greatest work was the epic poem La divina
commedia (1321?; The Divine Comedy, 1802). It
includes three sections:
the Inferno (Hell), in which the great classical poet
Virgil leads Dante on a trip through hell;
the Purgatorio (Purgatory), in which Virgil leads Dante
up the mountain of purification; and
the Paradiso (Paradise), in which Dante travels through
heaven. This passage from the Inferno (recited by an
actor) comes at the beginning of the epic, when Dante
loses his way in the woods.
The Divine Comedy
was probably begun about 1307; it was completed shortly before his
death. The work is an allegorical narrative, in verse of great
precision and dramatic force, of the poet's imaginary
journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven.
In each of the three realms the poet meets with mythological,
historical, and contemporary personages. Each character is
symbolic of a particular fault or virtue, either religious or political; and
the punishment or rewards meted out to the characters further
illustrate the larger meaning of their actions in the universal scheme.
Dante is guided through hell and purgatory by Virgil, who is, to
Dante, the symbol of reason. The woman Dante loved, Beatrice,
whom he regards as both a manifestation and an instrument of the
divine will, is his guide through paradise.
6. ARISTOTLE (384-322 BC).
One of the greatest thinkers of all time, an ancient Greek philosopher.
His work in the natural and social sciences greatly influenced
virtually every area of modern thinking.
Aristotle was born in 384 BC in Stagira, on the northwest coast of
the Aegean Sea. His father was a friend and the physician of the
king of Macedonia, and the lad spent most of his boyhood at the
court. At 17, he went to Athens to study. He enrolled at the famous
Academy directed by the philosopher Plato.
Aristotle threw himself wholeheartedly into Plato's pursuit of truth
and goodness. Plato was soon calling him the "mind of the school."
In later years he renounced some of Plato's theories and went far
beyond him in breadth of knowledge
After his death, Aristotle's writings were scattered or lost. In
the early Middle Ages the only works of his known in
Western Europe were parts of his writings on logic. They
became the basis of one of the three subjects of the
medieval trivium--logic, grammar, and rhetoric. Early in
the 13th century other books reached the West. Some
came from Constantinople; others were brought by the
Arabs to Spain. Medieval scholars translated them into
Latin.
The best known of Aristotle's writings that have been
preserved are 'Organon' (treatises on logic); 'Rhetoric';
'Poetics'; 'History of Animals'; 'Metaphysics'; 'De Anima'
(on psychology); 'Nicomachean Ethics'; 'Politics'; and
'Constitution of Athens'.
7. Geoffrey Chaucer
Called the Father of the English
Language as well as the Morning Star
of Song, Geoffrey Chaucer, after six
centuries, has retained his status as
one of the three or four greatest
English poets.
He was the first to commit to lines of
universal and enduring appeal a vivid
interest in nature, books, and people.
As many-sided as Shakespeare, he
did for English narrative what
Shakespeare did for drama. If he lacks
the profundity of Shakespeare, he
excels in playfulness of mood and
simplicity of expression.
Though his language often seems
quaint, he was essentially modern.
Familiarity with the language and with
the literature of his contemporaries
persuades the most skeptical that he
is nearer to the present than many
writers born long after he died.
The Canterbury Tales
The Tales is a collection of stories set within a framing story of a
pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral, the shrine of Saint Thomas à
Becket. The poet joins a band of pilgrims, vividly described in the
General Prologue, who assemble at the Tabard Inn outside London
for the journey to Canterbury. Ranging in status from a Knight to a
humble Plowman, they are a microcosm of 14th-century English
society.
The Canterbury Tales contains 22 verse tales and 2 prose tales
presumably told by pilgrims to pass the time on their way to visit a
shrine in Canterbury, England.
The tales represent nearly every variety of medieval story at its best.
The special genius of Chaucer's work, however, lies in the dramatic
interaction between the tales and the framing story.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
(1613-80).
Francois de La Rochefoucauld was born to one of the
noble families of France on Sept. 15, 1613, in Paris. His
notions of human faults and foibles grew out of a life
immersed in the political crises of his time. The public life
of his family was conditioned by the attitude of the
monarchy toward the nobility--sometimes flattering,
sometimes threatening. Having served in the army
periodically from 1629 to 1646, La Rochefoucauld
became one of the prominent leaders in the civil war
from 1648 to 1653. Wounded in 1649 and again in 1652,
he finally retired from the struggle with extensive face
and throat wounds and with his health ruined.
The literary reputation of La Rochefoucauld rests on one
book: 'Reflexions ou sentences et maximes morales',
published in 1665. Generally called the 'Maximes', these
moral reflections and maxims are a collection of cynical
epigrams, or short sayings, about human nature--a
nature that the author felt is dominated by self-interest.
Typical of his point of view are the following sayings: "We
seldom find such sensible men as those who agree with
us"; "Virtues are lost in self-interest as rivers are lost in
the sea"; "The surest way to be deceived is to think
oneself cleverer than the others"; and "We always like
those who admire us; we do not always like those whom
we admire."
After convalescing, he settled in Paris where he became
involved with a circle of brilliant and cultivated people
who debated intellectual subjects of all kinds. As an
exercise, they attempted to express their thoughts with
the greatest brevity. In so doing they made great use of
the epigram, or maxim, which creates surprise through
the devices of exaggeration and paradox. La
Rochefoucauld soon gained mastery of this device. The
first edition of his 'Maximes' contains, in fact, some
longer selections along with the epigrams. Altogether he
authorized five editions of the book in his lifetime, the
last appearing in 1678. Two years later, on March 17,
1680, he died in
Paris.
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the
world’s leading research universities, in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. In 1865 the school was opened in
Boston by geologist William Barton Rogers, who
became its first president.
Throughout its history MIT has held a worldwide
reputation for teaching and research. It was among
the first schools to use the laboratory method of
instruction, develop the modern profession of
chemical engineering, and offer courses in
aeronautical and electrical engineering and applied
physics.
Word Study
1. Verbal affixies
-ize/ise: 1)to cause to be; to make; to become
modernize / stabilize / realize / materialize / standardize /
computerize / idealize /
2) to put into stated place
hospitalize / centralize / socialize
-fy
to cause to be
purify / simplify /clarify /justify / notify /simplify / classify
identify / terrify / qualify /terrify
-en
1) to become darken / weaken / blacken /
sadden
2) to be made of
wooden / golden / woolen
2. body / faculty / staff
body
1).whole physical structure of a human being or an animal;
main part of a human body
dead body
a
strong body
2). main part of sth
the body of a ship the body of the theater, the main body of
the book
3). object heavenly bodies
a foreign body
4). group of people working or acting as a unit
a body of troops, a body of supporters, a legislative body, a
government body
the student body, the governing body, the school body, an
elected body
faculty
1). any of the power s of the body or mind
the faculty of the
sight mental
faculties
2). department or group of related departments in
a university
the Faculty of Law
the Faculty of
Science
3). the whole teaching staff in one of the
departments or in the whole university
The entire faculty of the university will attend the
meeting.
staff (usu. sing)
1). group of assistants working together in a
business, etc responsible to a manager or a
person in authority
the hotel staff
the shop staff
We need more staff in the office. I have a staff of
ten
2). Those people doing administrative work
a head teacher and her staff
(校长及全体教师）
The school staff are expected to supervise school
meals.
3. testify / justify / verify / Certify
1). testify declare as a witness, esp in court; give evidence（提供证
据，作证）
Two witnesses testified against her and one in her favor.
2). justify
show that sth / sb is right, reasonable or just （表明或证
明某人或某事是正当的，有理的或公正的）
You shouldn’t attempt to justify yourself
They found it hard to justify their son’s giving up a secure well-paid
job.
3). verify
to check; to make sure sth is true or accurate （证实，核
查）
The computer verified the data was loaded correctly.
4). certify to declare formally, esp in writing or on a printed
document （尤指书面证明）
He certified it was his wife’s handwriting.
4. say / speak / talk / tell / converse
1). say 其宾语通常是所说的话的内容，或用以表达出直接引语
He hasn’t said that he is leaving.
He said, “Good night”, and went to bed.
2). speak 用途较广,可指说或说话,还可指发言或演讲，通常是一人讲大家听
The baby is learning to speak.
Please don’t speak with your mouth full of food.
I’d like to speak with you about my idea.
We have invited her to speak on American politics.
还可用来指会说或能够用某种语言说话。
He speaks several languages.
3). talk 通常用来指两人或两人以上相互交谈，含着有谈话对象的意思, 往往只调
侃或闲聊
We sat in the bar and talked for hours
4). tell 强调一人提供信息，其他人接受信息
She told him to hurry up.
She told me nothing about herself.
5). converse 谈话交谈，更正式
It is a pleasure to converse with you.
It is difficult to converse with people who do not speak your language
5. rather / fairly / quite / pretty
几个副词均可以表示“适度地”，“在某种程度上”，或“不很”之意，常用于
改变所修饰的形容词或副词的分量。
1). rather
a. 既可与褒义词连用也可与贬义词连用。与褒义词连用时，听起来令人心情
愉悦；
rather good play rather poor work
b. 与贬义词或中性词连用时，表示不赞成或不满意。
rather hot
rather small
c. 可与比较级或too连用
The house is rather bigger than we thought.
Those shoes are rather too small.
d. 与a/an + adj. + n.连用时，可置于a / an 之前。
a rather nice day a rather pretty woman
2). fairly 词义最弱，多与褒义词连用 fairly tidy / friendly
3). quite 和rather一样，在与a/an + adj. + n.连用时，可置于a / an 之前。
A quite nice guy a quite promising future
4). pretty
a.词义最强也最通俗，但词义的强弱受语调影响较大。
A pretty simple question
a pretty ugly ma
b.和rather一样既可与褒义词连用也可与贬义词连用。与褒义词连用时，
听起来令人心情愉悦；
6. sensitive / sensible
1). sensible reasonable; having or showing
good sense
a sensible person a sensible
suggestion
2). sensitive easily hurt, damaged, affected,
offended, upset
a sensitive nerve heat-sensitive a
sensitive girl
sensitive to criticism
Writing Technique ( 20 minutes)
Euphemism 委婉语
Euphemism, or “language pollution”, or “double speak”, as
some call it, is often intended to obscure or hide the real
situation.
jump the fence
go to the electric chair
pass away
rest in peace
go to the bathroom
ladies’ room
senior citizen
sanitary engineer
correction center
domestic help
meat technologist
substandard housing
He is a bit slow for his age.
Text Analysis
1. Structure
Part I (para.1 – 8) describes the writer’s
encounter with one of his student.
Part II (para. 9 – 14) restates what the
writer still believes to be the purpose of a
university: putting its students in touch with
the best civilizations the human race has
created.
2. Difficult Sentences
1). New as I was to the faculty, I could have
told this specimen a number of things.
Though I was a new teacher, I knew I
could tell him what a university was for, but
I couldn’t.
specimen: a person who is unusual in
some way. Here it refers to the student
who challenges the teacher.
2). You will see to it that the cyanide stays out of the aspirin,
that the bull doesn’t jump the fence, or that your client
doesn’t go to the electric chair as a result of your
incompetence.
You have to take responsibility for the work you do. If you’
re a pharmacist, you should make sure that aspirin is not
mixed with poisonous chemicals. As an engineer, you
shouldn’t get things out of control. If you become a lawyer,
you should make sure an innocent person is not
sentenced to death because you lack adequate legal
knowledge and skill to defend your client.
see to it that: to make sure that
the bull jumps the fence: to make trouble; to make out of
control.
go to the electric chair: to be sentenced to death
3). They will be your income, and may it always suffice.
may: in formal English, “may” is used to express a hope or wish
May you happy new year. May you a happy holiday.
May peace finally prevail.
May our country be prosperous and our people happy.
4. You are on your way to being that new species of mechanized savage,
the push-button Neanderthal.
You will soon become an uneducated, ignorant person who can only
work machines and operate mechanical equipment.
1). on one’s way to: on the point of experiencing or achieving
2). new species of mechanized savage: new types of humans who
are intellectually
simple and not developed and who can only work machines
3). The push-button Neanderthal: an uneducated, ignorantperson
who can only
use / operate machines by pushing the buttons.