Audio-Visual English Course
(2008-2009 1st Semester)
Unit 4 At the Movies
1st Class
Ready, Set, Go!
Warm-up exercise: Warm-up
exercise: Write about
one or two of
My Favorite Movies
Recommending: Homerun, Mulan
Do you prefer funny movies or serious
ones that really make you think?
Are your favorite shows action-packed or
romantic or both?
Section 1 Sound Recognition
 / iə / The end of the pier码头 is near I fear
and the mist hasn’t cleared.
 / əu / The thing wouldn’t grow even slowly
in this cold, you know.
 / uə / I’m sure this is newer and purer
than the drink in that ewer水罐.
 / oi / I was annoyed at the boy for spoiling
the toy which belongs to Joy.
Section 2
Interactive Listening Task 1
 Activity 1 The words and phrases in the Word Box will appear in the
following dialogue. Study the definitions so that you will be able to read
along with the recording.






 Word Box
comedy: a book or movie that is funny
hectic: very busy
imaginary: something pretended or not real
I haven’t … in ages: This phrase means it has been a b\very long
time since I …
“Indiana Jones” is the name of a famous movie. Harrison Ford is
the name of the main actor in this movie.
We’re set: We’re made a decision or Our plans are complete.
Section 2
Interactive Listening Task 1
 Activity 2 Listen to the following dialogue. Write the missing
words and phrases you hear in the blank spaces provided to
complete the dialogue.
Keys for reference
 Danny
Lynn
 Friday night / rent a movie / at home / week / boring /
lots of action / funny
Section 2
Interactive Listening Task 1
 Activity 3 Answering the following questions
regarding the dialogue above. Write your answers in
the space provided and discuss your answers in class.
 1. How do you think the speakers are related
to each other?
 2. What does Lynn mean when he says: ‘I
could use a good laugh’?
 3. Has Danny seen the movie before? If so,
why does he want to watch it again?
Section 3
Culture Klatch
 Activity 1 Listen to the passage. From the context of the passage, identify and write the
definitions of the words or phrases in the Word Box. Do not use a dictionary .
Word Box
 bring/come to life: refers to something imaginary, such as a story,
becoming real because it is so well-told. (vivid)
 bring/come to an end/a halt
 bring/come into being
 stale不新鲜的, 陈腐的, 疲倦的, 陈旧的boring or unused,

cracker/biscuit/bread go bad imagination-blunt钝的, 生硬/dull感觉或理解
迟钝的/stale
passively: the brain is only receiving input actively: the brain is working to
understand and imagine positively/negatively
 made for the screen/the page: first written as a movie/a book
 genre: a general style or category(文艺作品的)风格, 类型, 流派


prefer A over B
increasingly lack original origin amazing inactivity/ replace
Section 3
Culture Klatch
 Activity 1 Listen to the passage. From the context of the passage, identify and write the
definitions of the words or phrases in the Word Box. Do not use a dictionary .
Word Box

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

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The Lord of the Rings指环王
The Chronicles of Narnia：The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe纳尼亚传
奇：狮王、女巫和魔衣橱 类型：动作/冒险/史诗/奇幻/科幻/惊悚/家庭
Dune沙丘魔堡
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory查理和巧克力工厂 / 港译：朱古力掌门人
Finding Nemo 海底总动员
Toy Story玩具总动员
The Incredibles 超人特工队/超人总动员
Monsters Inc.怪物公司
Shrek 怪物史莱克
Section 3
Culture Klatch
 Activity 2 You’ll hear a series of sentences related
to what you’ve just heard. Write the down the
sentences and check your dictation for accuracy.





1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Section 3
Culture Klatch
 Activity 2 You’ll hear a series of sentences related to what you’ve just
heard. Write the down the sentences and check your dictation for accuracy.
 1. The writer prefers reading a book to watching a movie.
 2. Watching a movie is a passive way of hearing a story, but
reading a book requires active use of the imagination.
 3. Many children’s books have been made into movies.
 4. Some of the best movies are original stories that were made
for the screen.
 5. People do not have enough patience to spend time reading
if they can watch a movie instead.
Section 3
Culture Klatch
 Activity 3 Listen to the passage and fill in the blanks to complete this
summary.
 ____ a book take more _____ and _____ than
watching a movie. Reading also requires ____
participation by the reader in order to bring the story
____ in his or her imagination. Movies, on the other
hand, are passive. Whenever a book ____ into a
movie, the ______ of our society becomes _____. It
would be _____if movies were written as movies,
and ______ were left as books in order to train the
imagination of the ____ generation.
Section 3
Culture Klatch
 Activity 3 Listen to the passage and fill in the blanks to complete this
summary.
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



Keys for reference
reading
time
patience
active
to life
Movies
is made
imagination stale
best
books
next
Section 3
Culture Klatch
 Have you ever watched a movie that was based on a book you had
already read? What did you think? Did you prefer one over the
other?
 Movies are just one way of telling a story or sharing an idea, but
increasingly movies are becoming the most popular way. It might
take ten or twenty hours to read a good book, but it seems that
many people these days either lack the spare time or don’t have the
patience to read. Instead, they prefer to watch a two-hour movie.
Section 3
Culture Klatch
 Many of my favorite stories from childhood have been made into
movies. Some examples are The Lord of the Rings指环王, The
Chronicles of Narnia：The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe纳尼亚
传奇：狮王、女巫和魔衣橱, Dune沙丘魔堡, Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory查理和巧克力工厂 / 港译：朱古力掌门人. All of
these are pretty good films, but in my opinion none of them are
even half as good as the original books! These movies have
amazing special effects that appear to bring the stories to life.
However, the enjoyment of these movies seems stale to me
because one simply watches them passively and doesn’t have to
actively imagine anything. When reading the book, the story and
the settings and all of the characters come to life more vividly in the
reader’s own imagination.
Section 3
Culture Klatch
 I think that the imagination of our whole society is becoming stale
by inactivity and this problem get worse whenever another delightful
book is taken off the shelf and replaced by yet another movie. In my
opinion, movie writers should create their own original stories. In
the genre of children’s films, there are many fantastic examples of
such original work that is truly made for the screen rather than
made for the page – movies such as Finding Nemo 海底总动员, Toy
Story玩具总动员, The Incredibles 超人特工队/超人总动员, Monsters
Inc.怪物公司, Shrek 怪物史莱克.