Unit 5 Athletes
Are you a fan for sports
Or
a fan for people who do sports?
Part I Preparation:
•
•
•
•
a quick survey
Do you like sports?
Do you like certain athletes because of sports or
something else?
List some of your role models (athletes) and
briefly introduce them.
How do you think about athletes being
celebrities, “image representatives” for their
home countries, or role models for youngsters?
---do they deserve so much? (P207)
Part I Preparation:
To see what people have to say about
“athletes being role models”
Athletes: Are they role models?
What responsibilities do athletes have as
role models?
Part II Reading-Centered
Activities
ICR: Athletes Should Be Role Models
ACR (independent study)
1: Athletes Should not Be Role Models
---How does each passage support its
own argument?
2: Playing to Win
ICR
Athletes Should Be Role Models
--Karl Malone
Pre-reading task (1)
Do some internet research on Karl
Malone (the author) , Charles
Barkley and the “Dream Team”.
Karl Malone
 Malone twice won the National Basketball
Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player
award.
 generally considered one of the greatest
power forwards in NBA history, and has
scored the second most points (36,928) in
NBA history
 Malone spent his first 18 seasons (1985–
2003) as the star player for the Utah Jazz,
played one season (2003–04) for the Los
Angeles Lakers before retiring.
Charles Barley
 A great rebounder in the NBA for many
years, and he was also an important
member of the United States national
basketball teams known as the Dream
Teams, which won the gold medals at the
1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona Spain,
and the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Georgia.
 He was named as one of the 50 greatest
Players on the NBA.
Dream Team
 The original Dream Team, the U.S.
basketball team that won the gold
medal at the 1992 Olympics in
Barcelona, was a phenomenon on
and off the court. It dominated the
Olympic competition, beating its eight
opponents by an average of 44 points.
Pre-reading task (2)
“Role model”?
What problems could be caused by taking
athletes (or some pop/movie stars) as role
models?
Do you believe it must be a good thing for
those athletes who are taken as role models by
their fans?
To interpret
Some “fragments”
Some “fragments”
Para1-2
L14-16
Charles, you can deny being a role model all you want, but I don’t
think it’s your decision to make. We don’t choose to be role
models, we are chosen. Our only choice is whether to be a good
role model or a bad one.
L18-20
I don’t think we can accept all the glory and the money that
comes with being a famous athlete and not accept the
responsibility of being a role model, of knowing that kids and
even some adults are watching us and looking for us to set and
example.
1.
2.
What messages are conveyed in the above sentences?
Difficulties in understanding
Some “fragments”
Para 3-4
L23-25
I love being a role model, and I try to be a positive one. That
doesn’t mean I always succeed. I’m no saint. I make mistakes, and
sometimes I do childish things. ..
L29-30
But you don’t have to be perfect to be a good role model, and
people shouldn’t expect perfection.
* L37-38 (para 5)
“just because I can dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise
your kids.”
1.
2.
What do all these negative tones try to emphasize?
If perfection is not what people should expect from their role
models, what should they know about whether one deserve to be
positive role model? (find the answer in para 4)
Some “fragments”
Para 5-6
L38-39 But sometimes parents need a little assistance…
L44-45 As athlete, we can’t take the place of parents, but we can
help reinforce what they try to teach their kids.
L46-47 Parents just have to make sure they don’t take it too far.
*L71-74 But one thing I would encourage parents to do is to remind
their kids that no matter which athletes they look up to, there are
no perfect human beings. That way, if the kid’s heroes should
make mistakes, it won’t seem like the end of the world to them.
1.
2.
3.
4.
So what are parents supposed to do about kids’ role models?
What’s the difference in parents’ role and role models’ role in
teaching kids?
What’s “taking to too far” like? Examples?
So why would it seem like the end of the world to people when
their role models make mistakes? How do you think we can avoid
this kind of mental collapse?
Some “fragments”
Para 7-8
L 55
Constantly being watched by the public can be hard to tolerate at
times…
L59-61
Ever since I played on the Dream Team in the Olympics, I can’t go
anywhere without being the center of attention, and that’s very
confining.
L68-71
But the good things about being a role model outweigh the bad. It’s
a great feeling to think you’re a small part of the reason that a kid
decided to give school another try instead of dropping out or that a
kid had the strength to walk away when someone offered him drug.
1.
2.
3.
Can you summarize these sentences with one or two very short sentences?
To what degree can you understand the confinements the author suffered?
Can you explain why it’s a good feeling to think ….?
Post-reading questions
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Are you convinced that athletes should be role
models? Yes—Why? No—Why?
One little thing which is not entirely covered here:
why people need role models, since role models
could break our hearts at times when we find out
that they are making mistakes too.
--task: to read ACR1 and see how the
argument “Athletes should not be role model”
is made
How do role models help people (esp.
children)
role models:
 show you what is possible
 teach you how to attain the goals you are striving for
 encourage you to persevere, knowing that others have
traveled the same path before you
Children learn from modeling. They don’t learn from
being told. They learn from watching, observing and
picking it up. Learning is a discovery process.
Words & phrases
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Follow one’s lead L22
Look up to L33
Take the place of L44
Take…too far L46
Go too far L51
Have a fit L64
measure up to L65
You name it L65

P182 E2
Words & phrases
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Endorsement L21
Cereal
L22
Confine
L61
Glory
L18
Outweigh
L68
Pasture
L5
Scary
L54
Worship
L49
Athlete
Championship
Vocabulary: Exercises

keys
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Questions?
ACR 1
Athletes Should not Be Role Model
Independent study:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Learn the bad example (para 8) and good example
(para 9) of athlete role models
In what ways are many star athletes spoiled?
Long sentences L11-14; L50-54
New words & phrases: after-class work
Exercises: P193 E2
ACR 2 Play to Win

1.
2.
3.
Independent study
Text comprehension
New words & phrases
Exercises: P203E2
Part III
 E1 CBBBBC AACACC
Part IV
 Independent study
Quiz
 I: Dictation 30%
 II: Choose the most appropriate word or phrase to
complete each of the following sentences. 10% 词
义辨析
 III. Complete the following sentences with the
correct form of the words in the brackets. 20%
（改词性）
 IV. Fill in each of the blanks with an appropriate
form of the word in the brackets. 20% （改搭配）
 V. Error Correction 20% （2 paragraphs from ACR1）