21st Century College English: Book 1
Unit 7 : Part A
I Became
Her Target
Unit 7: Text A
• Lead-in Activities
• Text Organization
• Reading & Writing Skills
• Language Points
• Guided Practice
• Assignment
Lead-in Activities
Questions for Discussion
1. Have you ever been in a situation where you were
considered “different” from everyone else? What
happened? How did you feel?
2. A teacher who knows his/her subject well is a
successful teacher?
Text Organization
The Structure of Text A
I suffered from prejudice in my new neighborhood and
new school.
Para. 1-3
Miss Bean went right at me by giving me chances to answer
questions.
Para. 4-6
Miss Bean encouraged me to think for myself.
Para. 7-11
Miss Bean finally helped me to be accepted by my
classmates by becoming “Old Dead-Eye”.
Para. 12-14
Reading & Writing Skills
1. Throughout Text A, the author makes statements
and generalization which are supported with
specific examples or explanations.
2. The author applies the way of contrasting, direct
commenting and actual facts or stories to illustrate
how differently the teacher treats him and how
greatly the teacher helps him. So readers can have
an understanding what personalities the teacher
has as a teacher.
Text A: Language Points
•
Text-related Information
•
Intensive Study
 Difficult sentences
 Key words, phrases & usages
 Comprehension exercises
Text A: Language Points
Segregation in the United States
A system of racial segregation（种族隔离制度）arose soon after
the American Civil War in most former slave states. In 1948,
President Truman（杜鲁门总统）ordered to put an end to segregation
in the armed forces and segregation of the races in public schools was
banned in 1954.
Southern antagonism toward desegregation continued into the
1960s, however. Most white schools remained totally segregated by
the mid-1960s.
In the 1970s, the federal government began to withhold federal
funds from segregated schools and the Supreme Court expanded the
fight when it ruled in 1976 that private, nonsectarian schools may not
exclude black children because of their race.
School desegregation, however, has still not seemed accomplished
in much of the U.S.
Text A: Language Points
I Became Her Target
By Roger Wilkins
1. My favorite teacher’s name was “Dead-Eye” Bean. Her real name
was Dorothy. She taught American history to eighth graders in a
junior high school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was the fall of 1944.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was president; American troops were battling
their way across France; I was a 12-year-old black newcomer in a
school that was otherwise all white. When we moved in the problem
for our new neighbors was that their neighborhood had previously
been all-white and they were ignorant about black people. The
prevailing wisdom in the neighborhood was that we were spoiling it
and that we ought to go back where we belonged. There was a lot of
angry talk among the adults, but nothing much came of it.
Text A: Language Points
2. But some of the kids were quite nasty during those first few
weeks. They threw stones at me, chased me home when I was on foot
and spat on my bike seat when I was in class. For a time, I was a
pretty lonely, friendless and sometimes frightened kid.
3. I now know that Dorothy Bean understood most of that and
deplored it. So things began to change when I walked into her
classroom. She was a pleasant-looking single woman, who looked old
and wrinkled to me at the time, but who was probably about 40.
Text A: Language Points
4. Whereas my other teachers approached the problem of easing
in their new black pupil by ignoring him for the first few weeks,
Miss Bean went right at me. On the morning after having read our
first assignment, she asked me the first question. I later came to
know that in Grand Rapids, she was viewed as a very liberal
person who believed, among other things, that Negroes were equal.
Text A: Language Points
5. I gulped and answered her question and the follow-up. They
weren’t brilliant answers, but they did establish the fact that I could
speak English. Later in the hour, when one of my classmates had
bungled an answer, Miss Bean came back to me with a question that
required me to clean up the girl’s mess and established me as a
smart person.
6. Thus, the teacher began to give me human dimensions, though
not perfect ones for an eighth grader. It was somewhat better to be,
on one’s early days, a teacher’s pet than merely a dark presence in
the back of the room.
Text A: Language Points
7. A few days later, Miss Bean became the first teacher ever to
require me to think. She asked my opinion about something
Jefferson had done. In those days, all my opinions were derivative. I
was for Roosevelt because my parents were and I was for the
Yankees because my older buddy from Harlem was a Yankees fan.
Besides, we didn’t have opinions about historical figures like
Jefferson. Like our high schoolbuilding, he just was.
Text A: Language Points
8. After I had stared at her for a few seconds, she said: “Well,
should he have bought Louisiana or not?”
9. “I guess so,” I replied tentatively.
10. “Why?” she shot back.
11. Why! What kind of question was that? But I ventured an answer.
Day after day, she kept doing that to me, and my answers became
stronger and more confident. She was the first teacher to give me the
sense that thinking was part of education and that I could form
opinions that had some value.
Text A: Language Points
12. Her final service to me came on a day when my mind was
wandering and I was idly digging my pencil into the writing surface
on the arm of my chair. Miss Bean impulsively threw a hunk of gum
eraser at me. By amazing chance, it hit my hand and sent the pencil
flying. She gasped, and I crept hurriedly after my pencil as the class
roared.
13. That was the ice breaker. Afterwards, kids came up to me to
laugh about “Old Dead-Eye Bean.” The incident became a legend,
and I, a part of that story, became a person to talk to.
14. So that’s how I became just another kid in school and Dorothy
Bean became “Old Dead-Eye.”
battle one’s way
— making one’s way by fighting a series of battles
e.g.
Cf.
•shoulder
Theone’s
Mongolian
one’s
waytroops battled their way from Asia to
elbow
way
the Rhine.
shoulder
— to make one’s way with his elbow
e.g.
Tom
shouldered hiskid
wayelbowed
to the gate
to welcome
The three-year-old
his way
in the
crowded
supermarket
his favorite
movie star.to look for his mother.
Translate into Chinese:
I was a 12-year-old black newcomer in a school that
was otherwise all white.
我当时是一名十二岁的黑人新生，学校里除我以外都是
Translate
otherwise
e.g.
白人。
他本来是个可爱的孩子,
就是有一点淘气。
under other circumstances;
in other respects
• He is white-haired, but is otherwise a handsome
fellow.
Key
• He
This
a serious
mistake
an otherwise
well-written
is ais bit
naughty,
but isin
otherwise
a lovely
kid.
report.
prevailing wisdom
— usual or most common opinion (especially of a group
of people on a particular subject)
e.g.
• The minister voiced the prevailing wisdom about
conserving energy.
• This is the prevailing wisdom on the current world
situation.
go at
— make an attack at, rush at
e.g.
Translate
• The two boxers went at each other furiously.
早餐做好了，汤姆马上狼吞虎咽起来。
• Suddenly, he went at me with a knife.
Key
The breakfast was ready and Tom went at it at
once.
among other things
— This expression is used to say that there are more facts,
things, etc. like the one or ones mentioned but that the
speaker chooses not to discuss them in detail.
Translate
e.g.
Chairman Mao was, among other things, a highly
• imaginative
Winston Churchill,
among other things, was a great
poet.
writer.
Key
• 除了其他方面以外,
Professor Smith, among
other things, has shown us a
毛主席还是一位极具想象力的诗人.
new approach to the problem.
do/did + infinitive
It is possible to use this structure in the affirmative
when we wish to add special emphasis.
e.g.
• You do look nice today!
• She does talk a lot, doesn’t she?
More to learn
Exercises
Complete the following sentences, using do + to give emphasis
to the main verb.
《读写教程 I》: Ex. VIII, p. 191
1. It’s true that I don’t get much exercise now, _______. (但我
在大学的时候的确时常踢球。)
 but I did play football quite often when I was in college
Exercises
Complete the following sentences, using do + to give emphasis
to the main verb.
2. I don’t have much contact with my family, ________. (但我
有时候的确去看望母亲。)
 but sometimes I do go and visit my mother
Exercises
Complete the following sentences, using do + to give emphasis
to the main verb.
3. The children made a lot of work for me, _________. (但他们也
的确为我干了许多事。)
 but they did do a lot of work for me too
Exercises
Complete the following sentences, using do + to give emphasis
to the main verb.
4. Our high school English teacher was a bit strict with us,
_________. (但我们确实从他那里学到了许多。)
 but we did learn a lot from him
Exercises
Complete the following sentences, using do + to give emphasis
to the main verb.
5. I know that you didn’t expect him to be there, _________. (但他
确实去听了讲座，见了那位教授。)
 but he did go to the lecture and meet the professor
establish vt.
— 1) show beyond dispute; prove
2) (used in the pattern “establish somebody as”)gain
full recognition or acceptance as
e.g.
Translate
• 他很快就证明自己是一个优秀的工程师.
The doctors
so far been
unable to as
establish
the
victory have
established
our company
a leading
cause
of his
death.
offshore
service
company on the South China Sea.
•Key
He established
his innocence
by ashowing
he was in
soon established
himself as
leadingthat
statesman
another
when thehimself
murder
committed.
the
He world.
sooncity
established
aswas
an excellent
engineer.
Translate into Chinese:
Thus, the teacher began to give me human dimensions,
though not perfect ones for an eighth grader.
就这样，这位老师开始用人的标准对待我，虽然这种标准对
一个八年级学生来说还是不完全的。
Translate into Chinese:
It was somewhat better to be, on one’s early days, a
teacher’s pet than merely a dark presence in the back of
the room.
在一个人的早期，做一名老师的得意学生比起做一名只坐在
教室后面的黑孩子来，总是要好一些。
be for
— be in favor of
e.g.
• The majority of the people are for peace.
• Are you for or against the proposal that student dorm
be equipped with computer?
Translate into Chinese:
Like our high school building, he just was.
就像我们中学有一栋大楼一样，只不过有过这样一个人
而已。
venture v.
— take the risk of saying (sth. that may be opposed or
considered foolish)
e.g.
• “I’m the most qualified candidate.” the boy ventured.
• She ventured the opinion that the project would be too
expensive to complete.
service n.
— a helpful act, something done to help or benefit
others
e.g.
Translate
• You
Theyhave
willdone
be very
give their services free of
me happy
a greatto
service.
charge.
•KeyPremier Zhou En Lai has been remembered for his
devoted service to the country.
你帮了我一个大忙。
• the public services — 公用事业
by chance
— by accident, in an unplanned way
e.g.
by sheer
surprising
chance
by chance
chance
• It was _____________________
that I won the
prize.
ice breaker
— (originally) a boat that cuts through the ice
Cf:
e.g.
break
ice joke was an ice breaker and the couple
• Thethekid’s
to talk
to each
other.
e.g.began
The kid
suddenly
made
a face in order to break the
ice among the adults.
Paraphrase:
So that’s how I became just another kid in
school …
My classmates began to talk to me and treated me as
any other kids at the school …
Text-related information
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
(1882-1945)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, known popularly as
F.D.R., was elected to four consecutive terms as
president of the United States, serving from 1933 to 1945.
He is credited with leading the country out of the Great
Depression through an ambitious plan of government
spending known as the New Deal (新政). Roosevelt also
led the U.S. through most of World War II, though he
died before the war ended. He is considered by many to
be the greatest president of the 20th century and his
likeness is immortalized on Mt. Rushmore along with
those of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln.
Text-related information
Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826)
Thomas Jefferson served as third President of the United
States, was the author of the Declaration of Independence
《独立宣言》, and founded what came to be the Democratic
Party. He played a major part in shaping government theory
and practice, putting into words and laws the ideals of a
nation dedicated to the principle that allmen are created free
and equal.
Beyond his achievements in politics, Jefferson is noted as
a “renaissance man” for his accomplishments in architecture,
science, and philosophy, among other fields. He designed his
own home, Monticello, which is now a national park, and
founded the University of Virginia.
Text-related information
Harlem
Harlem is a section of upper Manhattan（曼哈顿）
in New York City which, though originally settled by
the Dutch （荷兰人）, has long contained one of the
largest urban concentrations of black people in the
United States. In the 1930s, such figures as the writer
Langston Hughes contributed to a Harlem Renaissance
in arts and literature. Today, much of the area is
dilapidated and high in crime.
Text-related information
The Louisiana Purchase
Though
was a great) bargain,
the
Louisianait(路易斯安那州
is a state doubling
of the southern
size
U.S. of
at Mexico
the time
and adding
richly a
U.S. of
on the
the Gulf
（墨西哥湾）
; originally
French
colony,
bought by
theLouisiana
United States
as partwas
ofthe
productive
farmlands,
the
Purchase
Louisiana
Purchase.
controversial
because it was unclear that the
president
had the
authority
make
such（土地
a
The Louisiana
Purchase
refers to the
land deal
交易）
made
between
president
Thomas Jefferson
purchase
without
theU.S.
approval
of Congress
（美国
and
Napoleon
Bonaparte of France in 1803. Jefferson
国会）
.
authorized the purchase of land from the Mississippi
River （密西西比河） westward to the Rocky Mountains
(洛基山脉）and from the Gulf of Mexico northward to
Canada for roughly $525 million.
Guided Practice
•
•
•
•
Vocabulary
Cloze
Translation
Structure Writing
Vocabulary
•
Vocabulary
 Ex. IV
 Ex. V
Vocabulary
《读写教程 I》: Ex. IV, p. 188
Vocabulary
IV. Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Change the
form where necessary.
confident
presence
chase
venture
roar
merely
previously
creep
spoil
liberal
ignorant
whereas
1. Gathering up his courage, Little Tom ___________
silently into the dark cave.
 crept
2. The ____________ of our professors added much honor
to our New Year’s Party.
 presence
Vocabulary
IV. Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Change the
form where necessary.
confident
presence
chase
venture
roar
merely
previously
creep
spoil
liberal
ignorant
whereas
3. Have you ever heard that single women tend to live
longer than married women, ____________ married
men tend to live longer than single men?
 whereas
4. His natural desire to learn was ___________ by the
cruelty of an insensitive teacher.
 spoiled
Vocabulary
IV. Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Change the
form where necessary.
confident
presence
chase
venture
roar
merely
previously
creep
spoil
liberal
ignorant
whereas
5. The young Wilkins was a black newcomer in a school
that had __________________ all white.
 previously
6. Though it was about midnight, the football fans were
still in high spirits, ___________with laughter as they left
the stadium.
 roaring
Vocabulary
IV. Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Change the
form where necessary.
confident
presence
chase
venture
roar
merely
previously
creep
spoil
liberal
ignorant
whereas
7. That hairstyle was ____________ a passing fad, as no one
wears it this year.
 merely
8. These young people were so _____________ about things
in the U. S. that they thought blacks and whites had
always had equal educational opportunities there.
 ignorant
Vocabulary
IV. Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Change the
form where necessary.
confident
presence
chase
venture
roar
merely
previously
creep
spoil
liberal
ignorant
whereas
9. The student was not quite ____________ about his
answers as he knew very little about historical figures
like Jefferson.
 confident
10.Whenever I take on a difficult task, I say to myself,
“Nothing ____________, nothing gain.”
 ventured
Vocabulary
IV. Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Change the
form where necessary.
confident
presence
chase
venture
roar
merely
previously
creep
spoil
liberal
ignorant
whereas
11. The child was truly frightened by the large dog which
________________ him all the way home.
 chased
12. Traditional as he is in his way of life, the elderly
professor is more _____________ than most of his
students in accepting new ideas.
 liberal
Vocabulary
《读写教程 I》: Ex. V, p. 189
Vocabulary
V.
Complete the following sentences with phrases and
expressions given below. Change the form where necessary.
throw…at
move in
by chance
establish oneself as come up to
be for
view…as
among other things
stare at
come of
1.
stared at
Mary ______________
her little brother for a few
seconds, not knowing how to answer his question.
2.
come of
I’m sure nothing much will ______________
your
arguing with him.
Vocabulary
V.
Complete the following sentences with phrases and
expressions given below. Change the form where necessary.
throw…at
move in
by chance
establish oneself as come up to
be for
view…as
among other things
stare at
come of
3.
establish itself as
Shanghai is now trying to __________________
financial center of the world.
4.
threw
at
The children ____________little
stones ______
the dog to keep it away from them.
a
Vocabulary
V.
Complete the following sentences with phrases and
expressions given below. Change the form where necessary.
throw…at
move in
by chance
establish oneself as come up to
be for
view…as
among other things
stare at
come of
5.
came up to
Just as I was going to give up, William ___________
me and encouraged me to go on with my plan.
6.
These children are too young to form any opinions
are for
of their own. Usually they ____________
something
just because their elders are in favor of it.
Vocabulary
V.
Complete the following sentences with phrases and
expressions given below. Change the form where necessary.
throw…at
move in
by chance
establish oneself as come up to
be for
view…as
among other things
stare at
come of
7.
They have bought a new house and are going to
move in
_____________
next month.
8.
viewed as
The racial problem has always been _____________
one of the most sensitive questions in American
society.
Vocabulary
V.
Complete the following sentences with phrases and
expressions given below. Change the form where necessary.
throw…at
move in
by chance
9.
establish oneself as come up to
be for
view…as
among other things
stare at
come of
among other things
He suggested, _______________________,
that we
approach the problem in a more practical way.
by chance
10. I just met him _________________
on my way from
the library.
Cloze
《读写教程 I》: Ex. IX, p. 191
Cloze
XIII. Fill in each of the blanks with an appropriate word.
It was not easy being the first black student in a
previously all-white school. Some of the other students,
_____________
ignorant
who were _______________
about black people, were quite
nasty
_______________
to me. And many of the teachers simply
presence
ignored my ______________.
I was very lucky to have a
liberal
_________________
single woman such as Dorothy Bean as
a teacher. Day after day, Miss Bean challenged me to work
Among
hard and think _______________
myself. ____________
for
other things, she asked my opinion about historical events
support
and she expected me to give reasons to _____________
my
answer.
Cloze
XIII. Fill in each of the blanks with an appropriate word.
One day, when I was not concentrating, she
threw
_____________
an eraser at me. By chance, it hit me right
sent
in the hand and _____________
my pencil flying. She
crept
gasped and I ___________
hurriedly after my pencil as the
roared
class __________
with laughter. Because Miss Bean
treated me just like every one else, the other students
____________
as
started to see me ____________
one of them. I was shocked
when she threw the eraser at me, but _____________
afterwards I was
glad to be just another kid in school.
Translation
《读写教程 I》: Ex. X, p. 192
Translation
1. 史密斯先生被认为是一位十分开明的人, 除了别的之外,
他还认为在法律面前人人平等。
liberal
be viewed as
among other things
Mr. Smith was viewed as a very liberal person who
believed, among other things, that all men were equal
under the law.
Translation
2.他获奖并非偶然; 他的成功来自艰苦的训练
won the prize
by chance
hard
It is not by chance that he won the prize; his success
comes from his hard training.
Translation
3.老师跟白人孩子们谈了很多, 试图使他们相信人人生而平
等。
convince them
the white kids
talked a lot
The teacher talked a lot with the white kids, trying to
convince them that all man are created equal.
Translation
4. 因为我刚来到这所学校,所以 有一段时间我感到孤独,也
没有朋友。
as a new comer
for a time
felt lonely
As I was a newcomer to that school, I felt lonely and
friendless for a time.
Translation
5. 伟明日复一日坚持与威尔逊夫人进行交谈, 他的英语
口语变得越来越流利, 越来越自然。
day after day
oral English
kept talking
Day after day Wei Ming kept talking with Mrs. Wilson,
and his oral English became more and more fluent and
natural.
Translation
6. 尽管在最初那几个星期一些孩子对我很不客气, 一个白
人小姑娘却特别友好。
quite nasty
Whereas
during those first few weeks
Whereas some of the kids were quite nasty during those
first few weeks, a little white girl was especially friendly
to me.
Translation
7. 我后来才知道那位看起来又老又满脸皱纹的人才45岁左
右。
looked old and wrinkled
later
came to know
I later came to know that the man looked old and wrinkled
was only about 45.
Translation
8. 大学毕业之后不久, 他便证明自己是一个称职而负责的
英语教师。
establish himself as
responsible
qualified
After graduating from university, he soon established
himself as a qualified and responsible teacher of English.
Structured Writing
《读写教程 I》: Ex. XII, p. 193
Structured Writing
Learn to support a statement with a specific example
Wilkins’s technique:
First to make a statement /generalization
Then to support with a specific example / explanation
Drill: Find the examples or explanations given by Wilkins
to illustrate his statement or generalizations.
Structured Writing
Learn to support a statement with a specific example
Statement 1: But some of the kids were quite nasty during
those first few weeks.
?
They threw stones at me, chased me home when I was on
foot and spat on my bike seat when I was in class.
Structured Writing
Learn to support a statement with a specific example
Statement 2: Whereas my other teachers approached the
problem of easing in their new black pupil by
ignoring him for the first few weeks, Miss
Bean went right at me.
On the morning after having read our first assignment, she
asked me the first question... Later in the hour, when one of
my classmates had bungled an answer, Miss Bean came
back to me with a question that required me to clean up the
girl’s mess and established me as a smart person.
?
Structured Writing
Learn to support a statement with a specific example
Statement 3: In those days, all my opinions were derivative.
?
I was for Roosevelt because my parents were and I
was for the Yankees because my older buddy from
Harlem was a Yankee fan.
Structured Writing
Practice
Write a short passage about a time you learned
an important lesson. This could have occurred in
school. Structure your passage in the following way.
First, explain the lesson you learned. Then tell the
story by using details so that the reader can actually
see a picture of what happened.
Assignment
1. Ex. IV, p. 160;
2. Ex. V, p. 161;
3. Ex. IX, p. 164;
4. Ex. X, p. 165;
5. Reading Skill IV, P.200.