Book III
Unit 4
Section A
Five Famous Symbols of
American Culture
Hu Lanying
College of Foreign Studies
Book III
Unit 4
Teaching Objectives
1. Help students grasp the main idea
and important details of the text;
2. Help students review some grammar
points;
3. Help students learn the use of some words,
phrases and structures from the text;
4. Help students master the writing technique--making narrations according to time
sequence;
5. Help students know more about American
culture.
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Unit 4
Background Information
Pre-class Task Checking
Text Understanding
Difficult Sentences
Words and Expressions
Summary of the Text
Writing
Group Discussion
Post-class Tasks
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Unit 4
Background Information
Book III
Unit 4
The Statue of Liberty
Book III
Unit 4
The Statue of Liberty
The idea of creating the Statue of Liberty began in
France at a dinner party hosted by Edouard Rene
Lefebvre Laboulaye, a scholar. Laboulaye and
Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, a sculptor, began to
discuss the idea of presenting the United States with
a monument to memorialize independence and human
liberty.Bartholdi sailed from France to New York on
June 8, 1871, to propose the building of the statue to
honor the friendship between France and the United
States. As the ship pulled into New York Harbor,
Bartholdi spotted the perfect location, Liberty Island.
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Barbie Dolls
Book III
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Barbie Dolls
It was the late 1950s when Ruth Handler
noticed her daughter playing with paper dolls
and imagining them in grown-up roles. Since
most dolls at the time were baby dolls, Ruth
envisioned one that would inspire little girls to
think about what they wanted to be when they
grew up. Ruth created a teenage fashion
model doll named Barbie (after her daughter),
and the rest is history. Barbie has been an
integral part of the lives of millions of young
girls. Her timeless appeal has resulted in a
dedicated legion of fans that love to collect her.
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The Mattel Toy Company
Mattel is the worldwide leader in the
design, manufacture, and marketing
of toy products. The company’s core
brands include Barbie, Hot Wheels,
Matchbox, Fisher-Price, and
American Girl. With headquarters in
El Segundo, California, Mattel has
offices and facilities in 36 countries
and sells its products in more than
150nations throughout the world.
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Unit 4
American Gothic
Book III
Unit 4
American Gothic
Wood intended the couple to represent a typical
small town resident and his daughter, but most
interpret them as man and wife. Since completion,
Grant Wood’s 1930 painting American Gothic has
become a critically acclaimed work that continues to
enjoy enormous popularity. It also has become an
American icon and is the model for a countless
number of commercial art parodies, such as posters,
cards, and souvenirs. The painting hangs in the Art
Institute of Chicago.
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Buffalo Nickel
Book III
Unit 4
Buffalo Nickel
In 1911 sculptor James Earl Fraser began
designing the “Buffalo” nickel. Fraser said the
portrait on the “head’s” side was a composite of
three American Indians — Iron Tail, Big Tree and
Two Moons.
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New York City’s Central Park
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Unit 4
New York City’s Central Park
Central Park was the first landscaped public park in
the United States. Advocates of creating the park —
primarily wealthy merchants and landowners —
admired the public grounds of London and Paris
and urged that New York needed a comparable
facility to establish its international reputation. A
public park, they argued, would offer their own
families an attractive setting for carriage rides and
provide working-class New Yorkers with a healthy
alternative to the saloon.
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New York City’s Central Park
After three years of debate over the park site and
cost, in 1853 the state legislature authorized the City
of New York to use the power of eminent domain to
acquire more than 700 acres of land in the center of
Manhattan.
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Uncle Sam
Book III
Unit 4
Uncle Sam
The prevailing theory is that Uncle Sam was
named after Samuel Wilson. Wilson was born in
Arlington, Mass., on September 13, 1766. His
childhood home was in Mason, New Hampshire.
In 1789, he and his brother Ebenezer walked to
Troy, New York. Samuel Wilson died in 1854.
His grave is in the Oakwood Cemetery in Troy.
The single most famous portrait of Uncle
Sam is the “I WANT YOU” Army recruiting poster
from World War I. The poster was painted by
James Montgomery Flagg in 1916-1917.
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Pre-class Task Checking
Question Answering
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1. What are the five symbols
of the United States?
The Statue of Liberty,
Barbie, American
Gothic, The Buffalo
Nickel and Uncle Sam.
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2. Why did the French artist
build the Statue of Liberty?
To celebrate US
independence and the
French-American
alliance.
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3. How popular is Barbie
according to the text?
Barbie has become the universally
recognized Queen of the Dolls.The
average American girl owns ten Barbie
dolls, and two are sold somewhere in
the world every second.
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4. How did the artist get the
idea of painting American
Gothic?
He was inspired by the
Gothic window of an
old farmhouse.
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5. What did the Buffalo Nickel
honor?
It honored a pair of connected
tragedies from the settlement of the
American frontier---the destruction of
the buffalo herds and the American
Indians.
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6. Why did Fraser go to New
York City’s Central Park Zoo
to sketch an aging buffalo?
Because buffalo no
longer wandered about
the great grasslands.
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7. What did the employee say
when he was asked about the
letters “EA-US”?
He said “US” was short
for “Uncle Sam”
Wilson.
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8. Who did Flagg’s Portrait of
Uncle Sam look like?
It was a self-portrait of
Flagg.
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9.What famous symbols of Chinese
culture do you know? Can you say
something about one of them? (e.g. its
historical background, origin and
relevant stories)
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Text Understanding
Structure and Main Idea
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Unit 4
Main idea of the text ?
The passage is about five famous symbols of
American culture, telling readers their
historical backgrounds, origins and relevant
stories.
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Main idea ?
Part I
(Paras. 1-3)
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
To celebrate US independence
and the France-America alliance,
a French artist created the Statue
of Liberty, with his wife’s arm and
his mother’s face as models for his
creation.
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Main idea ?
Part I
Part II
(Paras. 4-8)
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Barbie originated from a German doll
and an American girl, Barbara, whose
parents founded the Mattel Toy
Company and made Barbie popular.
Barbara and her brother Ken, the
human models of Barbie and her
boyfriend, had different opinions on the
doll.
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Unit 4
Main idea ?
Part I
Part II
Part III
(Paras. 9-11)
Part IV
Part V
Inspired by the Gothic window of an
old farmhouse, Grant Wood produced
American Gothic. It was the faces of
his dentist and sister in the painting
that captured the world’s attention.
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Part I
Main idea ?
Part II
Part III
Part IV
(Paras. 12-14)
Part V
Contrary to the tradition, the
image of a buffalo and three
actual American Indians were
used on two sides of the coin,
the Buffalo Nickel, by a famed
artist James Earle Fraser.
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Main idea ?
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
(Paras. 15-17)
When Sam Wilson was providing
meat to the army in a war, some
explained the initial letters “US”
as Uncle Sam. It became popular
later because of a character in
political cartoons. An artist created
its portrait in army recruiting posters.
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Difficult Sentences
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1. (L21) The three-dimensional model for Barbie was
a German doll---a joke gift for adults (described as
having the appearance of “a woman who sold
sex”).
appositive
attribute
Translation
芭比娃娃的三维模特是一个德国洋娃娃，一个哄成年
人开心的礼物，被描绘成具有“风尘女子”的模样。
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2. (L23) Mattel refashioned the doll into a
decent, all-American---(although with an
exaggerated breast size)---version and named
it after Barbara, (who was then a teenager).
Paraphrase
Mattel Toy Company changed
the main structure the doll into a model that was
respectable, purely American,
with big breasts, and gave the
new-born doll a name Barbara.
Barbara was a teenager at that
time.
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conjunction+prepositional phrase
(used when the subject of the main clause and
the subject of the subordinate clause refer to the
same person or the same thing or when the
predicate of the subordinate clause has “there
be”or “have”.)
e.g.(L23) Mattel refashioned the doll into a decent,
all-American---although with an exaggerated
breast size ---version and named it after Barbara,
who was then a teenager.
See P101, Exercise Ⅹ.
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Translation
马特尔公司将这个娃娃做了一番改造，变成了体面
而地道的美国版本，尽管胸围有些夸张。它以当时
10多岁的少女芭芭拉的名字命名。
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3. (L74) After the war, a character
attribute
{called Uncle Sam }began appearing
in political cartoons,{ his form evolving
from an earlier cartoon character
[ called Brother Jonathan (that was
attribute
popular during the American Revolution)]}.
attribute
the main structure absolute structure
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Absolute Structures
More examples:
A. n.(pron.)+p.p.
The storm having destroyed their hut, they had to
live in a cave.
He lay on his back, his hands crossed under his
head.
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B. n.(pron.)+adj.
He entered the room, his nose red with
cold.
C. n.(pron.)+inf.
Here are the first two volumes, the third
one to come out next month.
D. n.(pron.)+prep.
After shopping with her mother for a
whole day, the tired little girl fell asleep very soon,
her lovely Barbie Doll in hand.
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E. n.(pron.)+adv.
He put on his socks wrong side out.
这类结构和一个从句差不多，前面的名（代）词
相当于从句的主语（也就是后面部分的逻辑上的
主语），后面部分相当于从句中的谓语或表语。
在描绘性文字中有时用到它，来使描绘更生动。
在译为汉语时或是译为一个状语，或是译成一个
并列的句子。在口语中这种结构用得很少。
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独立主格结构多用来表示行为方式或伴随的情况。有时
它也表示时间、原因和条件。又如：
He entered the room, gun in hand.
He sat in the front row, his mouth half open,
his head thrust forward so as not to miss any word.
Spring coming on, the trees turned green.
The people, their livelihood secure, now have
the leisure to take up sports.
Weather permitting, we’ll go on an excursion
to the Western Hills tomorrow.
See P100, Exercise Ⅸ.
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Translation
战后，政治漫画里开始出现一个名叫“山姆大叔”的
人物。他的原型是一个早期漫画人物，名叫乔纳森大
哥，此人在美国独立战争时期非常出名。
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Words and Expressions
 Old to New
 Chinese to English
 Word Using
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I. Old to New
freedom from slavery
accept; permit
love
fit together
worldwide
serious-looking
encourage







liberty
approve
affection
assemble
universal
solemn
inspire
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set free
look at sth. closely
show
develop gradually
find
 liberate
 inspect
 display
 evolve
 come up with
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II. Chinese to English
着手（研究，设计）
 work on
爱上
 fall/be in love with
赞成
 approve of
出售
 for sale
联合创始人
 co-founder
一举成名
 rise to fame
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表情木讷
 sour-looking
杰出人物
 a prominent figure
反传统
 be against tradition
持久、永久的
 enduring
签合同
 sign a contract
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III. Word Using
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1.赞成
 to approve of (L. 6)
我同意你去挣一些钱, 可是请不要误了功课。
I approve of your trying to
earn some money, but
please don't neglect your
studies.
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2.把这个娃娃改造成······
 to refashion the doll into … (L. 23)
你能将这件连衣裙改成短裙子吗？
Can you refashion this
dress into a skirt?
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3.成名
 to rise to fame (L. 36)
Faced with any difficulty, one
should never choose to beat a
but rise to the challenge
retreat,___________________
(而要接受挑战).
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4.令世界瞩目
 to capture the world’s attention (L. 41)
这则广告可引起各处读者
的注意。
The advertisement will
capture the attention of
readers everywhere.
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5.毫无疑问
 there was no doubt (that)… (L. 44)
毫无疑问，她有很大的优点--她是一个可爱的，有
同情心的，有知识和修养的女人。
There was no doubt she
had great merits-she was
charming, sympathetic,
intelligent, cultivated.
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6.使她摆脱了一种乏味的生活
 to save her from a very boring life (L. 46)
Her honesty and
deligence not only
saved her from being
____________________
dismissed (让她保住了
_________
饭碗) , but got her a
promotion as well.
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7.反传统而行
 to go against tradition (L. 55)
(任何有悖自然规律的
事情)
Anything that
__________________
goes against the law
__________________
________
of nature will receive
severe punishment
from it.
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8.与某人签订一份合同
 to sign a contract with sb. (L. 67)
周五早上他向俱乐部表明了续约新合同的意向。
Friday morning he
stated his intention to
sign a new contract
with the Club.
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9.从 ······ 进化而来
 to evolve from (L. 75)
The human figure in the
Emblem of 2008 Olympic
evolved from the
Games________________
______________________
Chinese character “Jing”
(京), referring to Beijing
____________________
(来自于汉字“京”，指“北
京”).
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Summary of the Text
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Bartholdi’s _________
monument celebrating US independence
was a statue of a woman his mother did not
approve of. But when assembling
_______
_________ the statue in his
artist’s mind, he only had his eyes on his ____.
wife So,
“my daughter, Liberty” has his mother’s face
combined
model for Barbie
________ with his wife’s body. The _____
comes from an ___________
version of an older doll
exaggerated
____ in Germany.
It’s _________universally
seen as the Queen
sold
famous
of dolls. The ______ faces
in Grant Wood’s
graveand the woman
American Gothic of a _____ farmer
alongside
standing ________
him, with their ________
necks,
stretched
painter’s
______ derive
from the ________
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dentist and sister. When American coins honor
prominent figures of the US government –mostly
_________
famous former presidents, the Buffalo nickel was
designed
________ in memory of the destruction of the buffalo
herds and the American Indians. It was James Earle
against tradition by using actual
Fraser that went _______
American Indians as models for his creation. Uncle
Sam may have the name of a meat inspector with a
reputation
_________ for honesty or because Sam Wilson’s
stamp was “EA-US”, it happens to stand for the
______ of the United States.
initials
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Writing
Structure Analysis
Your Task
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I. Structure Analysis
One of the writing techniques about
a person is to organize his/her life
story according to the time
sequence …
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Of the five parts of the passage, three
(Parts I, II and V) are written mostly
following the time sequence.
(Refer to Parts I, II and V for details.)
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Typical sentences for the time sequence
1. In the mid-1870s, French artist Frederic
Auguste Bartholdi was working on an
enormous project ….(Para. 1)
2. At the same time, he was in love with a woman
whom he met in Canada. (Para. 1)
3. …, but Bartholdi went ahead and married his
love in 1876. (Para. 1)
4. That same year Bartholdi had assembled the
statue’s right arm … (Para. 2)
5. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on an
island in Upper New York Bay in 1886. (Para.
3)
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Sample
The Life of Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplain was born on April 16, 1889, in
London. His childhood was one of extreme
poverty and he did not have much schooling.
But Charlie showed an early gift for acting and
longed to be an actor.
In 1910 Charlie went to the United States for
the first time as part of a troupe and thus
started his formal acting career. He was very
successful in his acting and made about 80
films throughout his life.
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After World War II, Chaplin did not stop to
rest on his earlier successes. He gave up the
Little Tramp character and tried to grow as
an artist. Later Chaplin settled in Switzerland
and stayed there for the rest of his life. He
died in Switzerland on December 25, 1977
and the world lost one of the greatest
creative artists of the 20th century.
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II. Your Task
Write a composition of no less than
120 words on one of the following
topics with the details organized in
time sequence.
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Topic 1: An Interesting Outing
1.The date, the preparation and the destination for
the outing;
2.What people did during the outing;
3.The end of the outing and your impressions of it.
Topic 2: My First Day at Collge
1. The time when you arrived at the college;
2. What you did on your first day at college;
3. What you think of it.
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Topic 3: My English Learning in High School
1. The beginning of my English learning in high
school;
2. The difficulties I had and the progress I made;
3. When my English learning
in high school ended and
what I have gained.
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Group Discussion
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How to promote cultural exchanges
between China and the United States?
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Tips
1. Set up a fund designed to support the
broadening of public awareness and
appreciation of arts and culture of the two
countries.
2. Exchanges of the artists of the two.
3. Cooperate with each other in some projects
concerning cultural exchanges.
…
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Post-class Tasks
1.Do the exercises after the text (from
Exercise Ⅲ to ExerciseⅩⅢ);
2.Write a composition of no less than120
words on one of the given topics with the
details organized in time sequence;
3. Work in groups and make a research on
the symbols of your city.