Lesson Plans
for
Comprehensive English 3
Lesson 1 ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Lesson 2 .......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Lesson 3 .......................................................................................................................................... 19
Lesson 4 .......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Lesson 5 .......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Lesson 6 .......................................................................................................................................... 52
Lesson 7 .......................................................................................................................................... 60
Lesson 8 .......................................................................................................................................... 67
Lesson 9 .......................................................................................................................................... 79
Lesson 10 ........................................................................................................................................ 86
Lesson 11 ........................................................................................................................................ 97
Lesson 12 ...................................................................................................................................... 106
Lesson 13 ...................................................................................................................................... 115
Lesson 15 ...................................................................................................................................... 128
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Lesson 1
I. Objectives
1. Thematically, to help students realize the importance of college education in one’s life
2. Grammatically, to master 1) the present perfect tense
2) the anticipatory “it” clause
3) the attributive clause
II. Contents & Time Allotment
1. Discussion of the text entitled Your College Years (1.5 hours)
2. Detailed study of the language points and grammar (1.5 hours)
3. Work on the related exercises (as you see relevant for your students) or some other
reinforcement work
III. Key Points
1. Have you ever considered…
2. Has it ever occurred to you that…/Has it ever dawned on you that…
3. attributive clauses that appear in this text
4. to be independent from…/to be dependent on...
5. in relation to
6. to feel free to do sth.
7. to show respect for sb.
8. in addition to sth/doing sth
IV. Suggested Class Activities
1. Group discussion of the text on such topics as (a) the importance of college
education (b) identity crisis (c) growing pains and so on.
2. The discussion of the text could also be done in the form of interview or role play.
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V. Assignment(s)
1. Exercises
relating
to
word-building
(word
formation/anonyms
and
antonyms/blank-filling)
2. Exercises on key grammatical points.
3. Translation exercises on the key sentence patterns or phrases.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 1
Text A: Your College Years
I. Morning Report (since this it the first meeting of the new semester, it would be a
good idea to ask students’about their summer vacation and plan for the new semester)
II. Weekly Quiz (again since this is the first class no weekly quiz)
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
1. Ask some questions to check students’preview and comprehension of the text (You
may make use of the questions on p.13 or ask questions of your own choice).
2. Check some of the key words in the glossary, and alert the students of the word
formation. Take the following for example:
a.
adolescence/adolescent
b.
adult/adulthood
B. In-class Tasks
1. Work on the comprehension of the text. You may ask the students to analyze the text
( I personally and strongly suggest this) or you may ask some questions about the text.
Questions may include:
a. What are some of the key changes that happened to you in your first year in the
university?
b. What is identity? Have you ever experienced this identity crisis? Tell us something
about it.
c. According to Hoffman, there are four distinct aspects to psychological separation
from one’s parents. What are they respectively?
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d. What is sexual identity? Is it also one of your most stressful matters? And how do
you handle it?
e. What does paragraph 7 tell us about?
f. To sum up, what is the importance of college education?
2. Detailed study of the language points in the unit
a. Has it ever occurred to you that…1
It never occurred to me that wealth could ruin a person’s life.
It suddenly occurred to me that I have not touched meat for months. Or
It suddenly dawned on us that high savings rate may not be a good thing.
It struck her that although she was now rich by her own standard, she was not really
happy.
b. to perceive— to think of as, to notice/discover/observe 2
He perceived himself a loser who could not even support his family.
Musicians can perceive very small differences in sounds.
I gradually perceived that culture and language cannot really be separated
c. “to be independent from” and “to be dependent on” 3
Financially they are still dependent on their parents.
These bank are now completely independent from/of each other.
d. Functional independence: independence in handling everyday life situations4
e. Handling finances: learning how to spend money wisely
f. Choosing one’s wardrobes: choosing one’s clothes
g. Determining one’s daily agenda: determining (making a list of ) what they are going
to do every day
h. in relation to
I have nothing to say in relation to the quality of these goods. 关于这批货的质量我没有
什么要说的。
Wages are very low in relation to the cost of living. 与生活费用相比，工资水平就非常低
了。
i. to feel free to do something
If you have any further questions, feel free to come to my office after class.
Feel free to contact me if any further information is needed.
4
j. to drag one’s feet: to delay deliberately, 5
The local authorities are dragging their feet closing these small coal mines.
k. to show respect for 6
It is our tradition for the young to show some respect for the old.
He has won/gained broad respect from the people as a revolutionary leader.
l. to internalize—(a psychological term) to make faith, values, morals, attitudes,
behaviors, languages, etc. part of your nature by leaning or assimilating them
unconsciously 7
m. to rebel against, to be prejudiced against. Do not drop the preposition “against”.
n. people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds —people from many different races7
e.g. a life full of variety, variety in one’s food
His failure was due to a variety of reasons.
o. in addition to 8
In addition to the book you asked for, I also brought you a novel by Ernest Hemingway.
p. to see sth/sb in a different light: to see sth/sb in a certain way9
e.g. After I took the course of World History, I began to see the world in a new light.
q. To contribute to: to help to cause sth to happen 10
e.g. What do you think are the main factors that contributed to his success in this exam?
Each of us should contribute something to the class discussion.
For more, please consult the teachers’ book.
Text B: Preparing for College
1. About the author
Lincoln Steffens
Lincoln Steffens (1866-1936) was the most famous of the
American muckraker journalists of the period 1903-1910.
His exposés of corruption in government and business
helped build support for reform.
Lincoln Steffens was born on April 6, 1866, in Sacramento,
Calif. The son of a wealthy businessman, he went to an
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expensive military academy where he began showing signs of the rebelliousness that
would eventually lead him to political radicalism. After barely graduating from the
academy, he went to the University of California at Berkeley, where he became
convinced that the answers to the great questions of life and politics lay in the study of
philosophy. Upon graduating in 1889, he continued his pursuit of "culture" in Europe,
studying at universities in Germany and France.
When Steffens returned to New York in 1892, secretly married to an American girl he
had met in Germany, he found a $100 check from his father and a note saying that this
was the last subsidy. Steffens got a job as police reporter for the New York Evening Post.
He soon became fascinated with the tangled web of corruption that ensnared the police
department and municipal government in general. He wrote of this for the Evening Post
in the 1890s, as did other journalists. But he became famous for this only in 1903, when,
as an editor of McClure's Magazine, he began a series of articles on corruption in
various American cities entitled "The Shame of St. Louis," "The Shame of
Minneapolis," and so on, which portrayed a pattern of shocking corruption in municipal
government throughout the country.
The publication of Steffen's articles, in conjunction with the first chapters of Ida
Tarbell's exposé of the Standard Oil Company, led to a sharp climb in McClure's
circulation, and soon many other magazines were competing to boost their circulations
by exposing the ills of American government. This type of writing was derided by
President Theodore Roosevelt as "muckrake" journalism, and the term stuck.
Steffen's series, published as The Shame of the Cities (1940), became a best seller. Its
popularity was well deserved, for Steffens's work stood far above most of the other
muckraking exposés of municipal corruption in terms of both literary style and
intellectual perception. He was not interested in merely exposing corrupt bosses. Indeed,
his affection for many of those colorful characters shows through in his work. He
wanted to expose the pattern of corruption and the real villains, the supposedly
respectable, honest businessmen whose bribes and greed fueled the whole system.
The decline of muckraking journalism about 1910 coincided with Steffens's growing
doubts as to its effectiveness. He increasingly doubted the effectiveness of reform
politics, which seemed to seek to eradicate the symptoms of corruption rather than its
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causes. With the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, he became fascinated by
the idea of revolution and wrote many articles in the succeeding decade supporting the
more radical revolutionaries. He saw the revolution as an attempt to uplift Mexico by
eliminating the two most corrupting factors: American domination and capitalism.
Steffens was coming to associate the economic system of capitalism with the cause of
social corruption; the apparent success of the Bolshevik Revolution seemed to bear him
out. In 1921, returning from a trip to the Soviet Union, he uttered his famous words, "I
have seen the future, and it works."
Like many liberals and radicals, Steffens found the United States of the 1920s a very
uncongenial place. He moved to Europe and settled in a villa in Italy, where he became
mildly enamored with Mussolini's revolution and began working on his autobiography.
The Autobiography of Lincoln Steffens hit the United States at just the right time.
Published in 1931, after 2 years of the Great Depression, it chronicled Steffens's mental
journey from over sophisticated intellectual to reformer to revolutionary in a way that
struck a deep chord among many people who felt that they should travel the same route.
Although he never joined the Communist party, Steffens clearly indicated his thought
that only something like a Communist revolution could save the United States. However,
it was not just what he said but how he said it that made the book an instant success, for
he wrote with wit, charm, and compassion. His autobiography is certainly one of the
most interesting, literate, and thought-provoking autobiographies of the 20th century.
He died in Carmel, Calif., on Aug. 9, 1936.
2. About the writing
In 1892 Steffens became a reporter on the New York Evening Post. Later he became
editor of McClure's Magazine, where he became associated with the style of
investigative journalism that became known as muckraking. One of Steffen's major
investigations involved exposing local government corruption. A collection of Steffen's
articles appeared in the book The Shame of the Cities (1904). This was followed by an
investigation into state politicians, The Struggle for Self-Government (1906).
In 1906 Steffens joined with the investigative journalists, Ida Tarbell and Ray Stannard
Baker to establish the radical American Magazine. He continued to write about
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corruption until 1910 when he reported the Mexican Revolution. He became a strong
supporter of the rebels and during this period developed the view revolution, rather than
reform, was the way to change capitalism.
Steffens visited Russia in 1919 and when he returned in 1921 made the famous
comment, "I have seen the future and it works." Steffens enthusiasm for the Soviet form
of government did not last and by the time he wrote his memoirs, Autobiography (1931),
he was disillusioned with communism.
3. About the text
Put off: delay
Envy: to wish that you had someone else’s possessions, abilities, etc.
To bring up:
to raise, to grow up
Make out: figure out; understand
Dazed: unable to think clearly,especially because of a shock, accident etc.
Indifferent: not caring about what is happening, especially about other people’s
problems or feelings
Bear on sth: to have some connection with
For keeps: infml
for ever
Metaphysics: the part of the study of philosophy that is concerned with trying to
understand and describe the nature of reality
Fanatic: someone who has extreme political or religious ideas and is often dangerous
Homer: a Greek poet and lived around 700 BC, in the Archaic period in Greece
Dante: The greatest Italian poet and one of the most important writers of European
literature. Dante is best known for the epic poem COMMEDIA, c. 1310-14, later named
LA DIVINA COMMEDIA. It has profoundly affected not only the religious
imagination but all subsequent allegorical creation of imaginary worlds in literature.
Dante spent much of his life traveling from one city to another. This had perhaps more
to do with the restless times than his wandering character or fixation on the Odyssey.
However, his Commedia can also be called a spiritual travel book.
For certain: for sure
Napoleon: Napoleon I Emperor of the French 1769 - 1821
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IV. Homework
1.
ex. 3 p.15;
ex. 5 p. 16; ex 3) p. 22 for Day One
2.
ex. 1 p.14; ex.4 p 16;ex. 6 p 18; ex 7 p. 19; ex 3 p 22 for Day Two
3.
Review the whole text and get ready for the weekly quiz
4.
Preview Unit 2
Weekly Quiz
1. Spelling (two parts)
A. (20 words) academic
environment
prejudiced
feminine
parental
encyclopedia
developmental
functional unquestionably
masculine
genetic
journal
attitudinal
separation
newscast
anxiety
resentment
interaction
definite
bounce
B. (10 words) a gentle feeling of love and caring (affection)
a list of things to be done (agenda)
the natural ability, skill, or power that makes you able to do something (capability)
a period of great danger, difficulty, or uncertainty (crisis)
the quality or ability that someone has naturally (endowment)
much more that is reasonable or necessary (excessive)
connected with money or the management of money (financial)
someone of the same age or the same social status as you (peer)
to understand or think of something in a particular way (perceive)
better or having a higher position (superior)
2. Sentence translation
A. 我们应该如何应付毒品问题？
How do you think we should handle the drug problem?
人们都注意到了，没有有效的监督，我们都有滥用权力的倾向。
Many people have observed that, without effective checks, we have a tendency to abuse
our power.
对沙尘暴的治理，涉及到大量的工作和金钱。
The control of the sand storms will involve a tremendous amount of work and money.
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在多民族的国家里，民族之间的和谐需要小心处理。
In a country of many nationalities, ethnic harmony requires very careful handling.
人们从胜利中所学甚少，从失败中所学到的要多得多。
People learn little from victory, but much more from defeat.
B. to go through…
to be dependent on / independent from/of …
to relate to …
to apply to …
in a different light …
3. Dictation (a paragraph from Text B of Lesson One)
My parents sent me to school, they gave me teachers of music, drawing; they
offered me every opportunity in their reach. But also they gave me liberty and tools of
quite another life: horses, guns, dogs, and the range of an open country. The people, the
businesses, and the dreams of this life interested me, and I learned well whatever
interested me. Schools subjects which happened to bear on my outside interests I
studied in school and out; I read more than was required, and I read for keeps, too. I
know these subjects to this day, just as I remember and love still the men and women,
the boys and girls, who let me be friends with them then and so revealed to me some of
the depths and the limitations of human nature. On the other hand I can remember few
of my teachers and little of the subjects which seemed irrelevant to my life. (157 words)
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Lesson 2
I. Objectives
1. Helping students recognize and appreciate the writing techniques of a successful
narration and description of characteristics and the scene.
2. Drawing students’ attention to the use of the key grammar in this text: simple past
continuous tense: a strong disapproval of a habitual action.
3. The learning and use of the key vocabulary describing the characteristics’
personalities, the psychology of the characteristics and the scenery of the
environment
4. Making use of this text as an example to inspire students to discuss their
growing-up experience and how much they know about their parents love.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
1. The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the
first part of the text (1.5 hours)
2. The study of the second part & the exercise from P.49-54 (1.5 hours)
3. The study of the last part of the text & the exercise from P.44-48 (1.5 hours)
III. Key Points
9. Key vocabulary as is indicated in the teaching notes
10. Key grammar as is indicated in the teaching notes
11. Important sentence as is indicated in the teaching notes
IV. Suggested Class Activities
1. Ask students to present their pre-class homework as well as their questions
about the text orally.
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2. Try the selected oral work on P. 43 in the exercise.
3. Ask students to have group discussion on a series of topics about the writing
techniques of a successful narration.
V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 2
Text A: Discovery of a Father
I. Morning Report
II. Weekly Quiz
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
1. Divide students into several groups, and ask them to report what they have found to
the class to better their understanding of the text. Also ask students to prepare their
questions about the text.
2. Since students have done a research about the features of a good narration before
class, ask them to have a group discussion on the following topics:
a. What are the characteristics of the stories included in a good narration
b. What is a good description?
c. How to present the main characters effectively.
B. In-class Tasks
1. Group discussion on the lead-in questions asked by the teacher.
The title of a text can more or less tell us something about the following text.
Sometimes, it implies the main idea; sometimes, it has a symbolic meaning, which can
only be figured out after reading the text carefully.
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a. What does the first sight of this title strike you? Do you find it a familiar topic? Does
it remind you of your view of father as a kid? Has that view been changing?
b. What’s the main idea of this narration?
2. Group discussion and presentation on the following topics:
a. The genre of this article & the main idea of this narration
b. The important elements of a narration
c. Organization of the narration
Part I: (Para. 1) introduction
Part II: (Para. 2-26) development of the narration & tension and conflicts
Part III: (26-41) the climax and end of the narration
3. Group discussion: How the story can successfully engage the readers’ interest and
emotion?
4. Group discussion: What are the characteristics of the father? Students are suggested
to work in groups to draw a vivid character sketch of the author’s
father.
5. Students are required to present what background knowledge in the text they have
explored during their study of the text.
6. Role-play of the narration (students can choose any part of the narration and design
a
play)
7. Ask students to pick out the new vocabulary relating to the personality, psychology
of the main character as well as the words describing the environment; Check their
mastery of the important vocabulary of the text.
8. Detailed study of the text (please also refer to the reference book)
1. a flow of pride (1)= a continuous stream, movement, or supply of
something, e.g.
During the tourist season, the flow of traffic usually doubles.
They know they are going to face a terrible flow of refugees if nothing is
done to prevent this humanitarian disaster.
2. …he was always showing off. (2)
Draw the students’ attention to the use of continuous tenses to express
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strong approval or disapproval. E.g.
He is always making fun of other people. I don’t like that.
She is a wonderful person. She is always helping others.
3. The druggist would be in it. (2)
Druggist (BrE chemist): a person who prepares and sells medicines; a
pharmacist
Would be in it: would play a part in it; would be involved in it
“Would” is used here to refer to characteristic behavior or habitual action.
4. I didn’t see how mother could stand it. (2)
Stand: to endure; to bear; to put up with, e.g.
She doesn’t like the summer here. She can’t stand the heat.
I didn’t go to his talk. I couldn’t stand his nonsense.
5. …he was shouting back and having as good a time as they were (4)
Refresh the students’ memory of the uses of the structure “as…as”.
6. There’d be men I didn’t think would want to be fooling around with
him. (6)
There’d be men who I didn’t think would want to be fooling around with
him.
Want to be fooling around: This continuous tense in the infinitive phrase
also emphasizes a strong disapproval.
7. …he livened it up. (6)
liven something/sb. Up = cause something/sb. to become lively
8. To hear him tell it he’d been in about every battle. (11)
See note 14.
9. to be intimate with General Grant so that when Grant went East to
take charge of all the armies, he took father along. (11)
to take charge of = be responsible for
to be in charge of = in a position of control or command over sb./sth.
to put sb in charge of
to leave sb in charge
10. “I was an orderly at headquarters and Sim Grant said to me, Irve,” he
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said, “I’m going to take you along with me.”
Notice how the affectionate names “Sim” and “Irve” are used to show that
the relationship between the orderly and the general is really very close.
11. to slip off (13) = to go off quietly or secretly without being noticed or
caught
to slip out, into …; to slip through one’s fingers
12. … when he got word that Lee was ready to call it quits, he was
suddenly and miraculously cured. (14)
to call it quits = to agree that a debt or an argument is settled; or to agree to
stop doing something, e.g.
Let’s do one more exercise, and we’ll call it quits for today.
13. An orderly riding by had told him, because the orderly knew how thick
he was with Grant. (19)
to be thick with sb = to be very friendly with sb
14. I didn’t know what was up. (30)
Draw the students’ attention to the different uses of “up”. See note 30.
IV. Homework
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Text B: The Last Word Was Love
1. About the author
William Saroyan (1908-1981). American author whose stories celebrated optimism in
the middle of trials and difficulties of the Depression-era. Several of Saroyan's works
were drawn from his own experiences, although his approach to autobiographical facts
can be called poetic. His advice to a young writer was: "Try to learn to breathe deeply;
really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as
possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell."
Saroyan worked tirelessly to perfect a prose style, that was full of zest of for life and
was seemingly impressionistic. The style became known as 'Saroyanesque.'
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William Saroyan was born in Fresno, California, as the son of an Armenian immigrant.
His father moved to New Jersey in 1905 - he was a small vineyard owner, who had been
educated as a Presbyterian minister. In the new country he was forced to take
farm-labouring work. He died in 1911 from peritonitis, after drinking a forbidden glass
of water given by his wife, Takoohi. Saroyan was put in an orphanage in Alameda with
his brothers. Six years later the family reunited in Fresno, where Takoohi had obtained
work in a cannery.
In 1921 Saroyan attended the Technical School in order to learn to type. At the age of
fifteen, Saroyan left the school. His mother had showed him some of his fathers
writings, and he decided to become a writer. Saroyan continued his education by
reading and writing on his own, and supporting himself by odd jobs. At the San
Francisco Telegraph Company he worked as an office manager. A few of his early short
articles were published in The Overland Monthly. His first collected stories started to
appear in the 1930s. Among these was 'The Broken Wheel', which was written under
the name Sirak Goryan. It was published in the Armenian journal Hairenik in 1933.
"The writer is a spiritual anarchist, as in the depth of his soul every man is. He is
discontented with everything and everybody. The writer is everybody's best friend
and only true enemy - the good and great enemy. He neither walks with the
multitude nor cheers with them. The writer who is a writer is a rebel who never
stops." (from The William Saroyan Reader, 1958)
As a writer Saroyan made his breakthrough in the Story magazine with 'The Daring
Young Man on the Flying Trapeze' (1934), after the popular song. The protagonist is a
young, starving writer who tries to survive in a Depression-ridden society. "Through the
air on the flying trapeze, his mind hummed. Amusing it was, astoundingly funny. A
trapeze to God, or to nothing, a flying trapeze to some sort of eternity; he prayed
objectively for strength to make the flight with grace." Saroyan's character has some
connections to Knut Hamsun's penniless writer in his famous novel Hunger (1890), but
without the anger and nihilism of Hamsun's narrator. The story was republished in
Saroyan's bestselling collection, and with its royalties Saroyan financed his trip to
Europe and Armenia, where he learned to love the taste of Russian cigarettes. He also
16
developed a theory that "you may tend to get cancer from the thing that makes you want
to smoke so much, not from the smoking itself." (from Not Dying, 1963)
Many of Saroyan's stories were based on his childhood, experiences among the
Armenian-American fruit growers of the San Joaquin Valley, or dealt with the
rootlessness of the immigrant. The short story collection MY NAME IS ARAM (1940),
an international bestseller, was about a young boy, Aram Garoghlanian, and the colorful
characters of his immigrant family. It has been translated among others into Finnish.
As a playwright Saroyan's work was drawn from deeply personal sources. He
disregarded the conventional idea of conflict as essential to drama. MY HEART' IN
THE HIGHLANDS (1939), his first play, was a comedy about a young boy and his
Armenian family. It was produced at the Guild Theatre in New York. Among Saroyan's
best known plays is THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE (1939), set in a waterfront saloon in
San Francisco. It won a Pulitzer Prize. Saroyan refused the honor, on the grounds that
commerce should not judge the arts, but accepted the New York Drama Critics Circle
award. In 1948 the play was adapted into screen, starring James Gagney.
THE HUMAN COMEDY (1943) was set in Ithaca, in California's San Joaquin Valley,
where the young Homer, a telegraph messenger, becomes a witness of sorrows and joys
of small town people during World War II. "Mrs. Sandoval," Homer said swiftly, "your
son is dead. Maybe it's a mistake. Maybe it wasn't your son. Maybe it was somebody
else. The telegram says it was Juan Domingo. But maybe the telegram is wrong." (from
The Human Comedy) The story was bought by MGM and made Saroyan's shaky
financial situation more secure. Louis B. Mayer had purchased the story for $60,000
and gave Saroyan $1,500 a week for his work as producer-director. After seeing
Saroyan's short film, Mayer gave the direction to Clarence Brown. The sentimental final
sequence of the Oscar-winning film, starring Mickey Rooney and Frank Morgan, has
been called "the most embarrassing moment in the whole history of movies." (David
Shipman in The Story of Cinema, vol. 2, 1984) Before the war Saroyan had worked at
one point on the screenplay of Golden Boy (1939), based on Clifford Odet's play, but he
never gained much success in Hollywood, although his screenplay for The Human
Comedy won the an Oscar for Best Original Motion Picture Story. The film was also
nominated for best picture, best director, best cinematography and best actor.
17
Saroyan also published essays and memoirs, in which he depicted the people he had met
on travels in the Soviet Union and Europe, such as the playwright George Bernard Shaw,
the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, and Charlie Chaplin. During World War II Saroyan
joined the US army. He was stationed in Astoria, Queens, but he spent much of his time
at the Lombardy Hotel in Manhattan, far from the Army personnel. In 1942 he was
posted to London in as a part of a film unit and narrowly avoided a court martial, when
his novel THE ADVENTURES OF WESLEY JACKSON (1946) turned out to be
pacifist.
In 1943 Saroyan married the seventeen-years-old Carol Marcus; they had two children,
Aram and Lucy. When Carol revealed that she was Jewish and illegitimate, Saroyan
divorced. They remarried again and divorced. Lucy became an actress. Aram became a
poet, who published a book about his father. Carol Marcus married later the actor
Walter Matthau.
Saroyan's financial situation did not improve after WW II, when interest in his novels
declined and he was criticized for sentimentalism. Saroyan praised freedom; brotherly
love and universal benevolence were for him basic values, but with his idealism
Saroyan was considered more or less out of date. However, he wrote prolifically. "How
could you write so much good stuff and still write such bad stuff?" asked one of his
readers. In 1952 Saroyan published the first of several book-length memoirs, THE
BICYCLE RIDER IN BEVERLY HILLS. In the title novella of THE ASSYRIAN,
AND OTHER STORIES (1950) and in THE LAUGHING MATTER (1953) Saroyan
mixed allegorical elements within a realistic novel. The plays SAM EGO'S HOUSE
(1949) and THE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS (1958) examined moral
questions, but they did not gain the success of his prewar works. When Saroyan joked
on Ernest Hemingway's Death in the Afternoon, Heminway responded: "We've seen
them come and go. Good ones too. Better ones than you, Mr. Saroyan."
Many of Saroyan's later plays, such as THE PARIS COMEDY (1960), THE LONDON
COMEDY (1960), and SETTLED OUT COURT (1969), premiered in Europe. A
number of his plays, now housed at Stanford University with his other papers, have
never been performed. Saroyan worked rapidly, hardly editing his text. Much of his
earnings he spent in drinking and gambling. From 1958 the author lived mainly in Paris,
18
where he had an apartment. "I am an estranged man, said the liar: estranged from myself,
from my family, my fellow man, my country, my world, my time, and my culture. I am
not estranged from God, although I am a disbeliever in everything about God excepting
God indefinable, inside all and careless of all." (from Here Comes There Goes You
Know Who, 1961) In the late 1960s and the 1970s Saroyan managed to write himself
out of debt and create substantial income. Saroyan died from cancer on May 18, 1981,
in Fresno. "Everybody has got to die," he had said, "but I have always believed an
exception would be made in my case." Half of his ashes were buried in California, and
the rest in Armenia.
2. About the writing
“The Last Word Was Love” is one of the more poignant and moving tales when an older
brother leaves home to escape the incessant squabbling of their parents.
3. About the text
organization of the story:
Part I: paragraph 1-8
Part II: paragraph 9-25
Part III: paragraph 26-67
Part IV: paragraph 68- 69
Weekly Quiz
I.
bitterness
Congressman
drip
druggist
general
glimpse
headquarters
intimate
memoir
miraculously
momentary
orderly parade
ridiculous shed smash surrender sympathize
II.
to agree to stop doing sth. (call it quits)
a road made of hard earth (dirt road)
to find sth. so that you can use it (get hold of)
to waste time behaving in a silly way (fool around)
to prevent the public from knowing sth. Immoral or dishonest (hush up)
to make an event more exciting (liven up)
to arrive at a place where someone is waiting for you (show up)
very friendly with somebody (thick with somebody)
III.
19
harness
naked
1. 他们的讨论包括了所有共同感兴趣的重要问题。
Their discussion covered all the important issues of mutual interest.
2. 我还记得一辆自行车被当作一家最重要财产的那些日子。
I still remember those days when the bike was considered the most important piece of
family property.
3. 我们把我们所有的毕业生，不只是几个名人，都看作我们学校的荣耀。
We regard all our former students, not just a few celebrities, as the credit to our
university.
4. 我离开五十年以后重回故乡，故乡的巨大变化给我留下了深刻的印象。
After some 50 years I revisited my home village and I was struck by the great changes
that had taken place.
5. 公司的早期，关于重大决策老板常常听取员工的意见。
In the early days of the company, the boss would seek employee’s opinions on big
decisions.
IV.
Wherever you are, and whoever you may be, there is one thing in which you and I are
just alike at this moment, and in all the moments of our existence. We are not at rest; we
are on a journey. Our life is a movement, a tendency, a steady, ceaseless progress
towards an unseen goal. We are gaining something, or losing something, everyday. Even
when our position and our character seem to remain precisely the same, they are
changing. For the mere advance of time is a change. It is not the same thing to have a
bare field in January and in July. The season makes the difference. The limitations that
are childlike in the child are childish in the man. Everything that we do is a step in one
direction or another. Even the failure to do something is in itself a deed. It sets us
forward or backward. The action of the negative pole of a magnetic needle is just as real
as the action of the positive pole. To decline is to accept – the other alternative.
20
Lesson 3
I. Objectives
1. Helping students review the writing techniques of a successful narration.
2. Consolidating grammar points or structures such as infinitives or infinitive phrases
and their grammatical functions
3. The learning and use of the words and expressions about business and trade.
4. In going over the success story of Michael Dell, trying to draw students’ attention
to the qualities which distinguish Dell from others and which can apply to all
academic pursuits.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
4. The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the
first part of the text ( 2 hours)
5. The study of the second part & the exercise from P.76-81 (2 hours)
6. The study of the last part of the text & the exercise from P.82-88 (2 hours)
III. Key Points
12. Key vocabulary as is indicated in the teaching notes
13. Key grammar as is indicated in the teaching notes
14. Important sentence as is indicated in the teaching notes
IV. Suggested Class Activities
21
4. Ask students to present their pre-class homework as well as their questions
about the text orally.
5. Try the selected oral work on P. 75 in the exercise.
6. Ask students to have group discussion on the topic about “success”.
V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 3
Text A: Michael Dell’s Two-Billion-Dollar Dream
I. Morning Report
II. Weekly Quiz
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
Divide students into several groups, and ask them to report what they have found to the
class to better their understanding of the text. Also ask students to prepare their
questions about the text.
B. In-class Tasks
1. Presentation on what students have found about Dell company and Dell himself.
2. Group discussion:
What are the qualities in Michael Dell that contribute to his success?
What is your opinion of higher education? Do you think it is quite necessary to a
person’s success in career?
3. Interview. (One student acts as a TV host and another one as Michael Dell)
22
4. Ask students to pick out the vocabulary related to business and trade. Check their
mastery of the important vocabulary of the text.
Business and Trade Vocabulary:
Tycoon
personal computers
Fortune 500 corporation
Free subscription
Pay in cash
Dealer
Markup
Custom-made
Added value
Manufacturer/end user
Quota
Excess inventory
At cost
Retail price
Gross $50,000
Make a deal
Launch a company
To incorporate
On a month-to-month lease
Guarantee
Toll-free line
Subsidiary
Revenue
Entrepreneurship
MBA
Competitive edge
5. Detailed study of the text (please also refer to the reference book)
1) … painstakingly putting together a trotline, a maze of ropes to which several fish
23
hooks could be attached.
trotline: a strong fishing line strung across a stream, or deep into a river, having
individual hooks attached to smaller lines at intervals.
a maze of: a large number of things arranged in a complicated and confusing way
a maze of streets
a maze of rules
to be attached to: to be connected with; to like very much; to be part of
There is a hospital attached to the medical school.
A trailer is attached to the car.
The two sisters are very much attached to each other.
2) Still, the youngster cast the trotline far into the water, anchoring it to a stick that he
plunged deep in the sand.
to cast: to throw
to anchor sth.: to fasten sth to a certain place firmly so that it cannot move
to plunge into: to push sth. Firmly into something else
3) He has become … the youngest man ever to head a Fortune 500 corporation.
to head…: this is an infinitive phrase used as an attributive to the noun “man”.
to head: to be at the top or at the front of
Compare:
You are heading for trouble if you don’t listen to me.
She was asked to head a delegation to discuss the border issue with India.
4) Growing up in Houston, Michael and his two brothers were imbued by their
parents with the desire to learn and the drive to work hard.
to be imbued with: to be filled with or inspired by certain feelings
Young people are usually imbued with strong patriotic feelings.
It is pathetic how these people are imbued with their self-importance.
5) Like the time a saleswoman came asking to speak to “Mr. Michael Dell” about his
getting a high school equivalency diploma.
Obviously the 8-year-old boy had asked this saleswoman about the possibility of
buying a high school equivalency diploma, not knowing of course that the diploma is
not for sale. Dell’s parents naturally were surprised, therefore he had to “explain” to
24
them. Notice that this little anecdote is not supposed to reflect Dell’s dishonesty. It is
meant to show that he was unusual even as a little boy. He couldn’t wait to complete
his education.
6) Newlyweds, he figured, were the best prospects.
He guessed that newly-married people were the most likely to buy the subscriptions.
prospect: a person or plan or job that has a good chance of success in the future. Here:
a potential client.
I think the best prospects for our products are in Africa.
The trade between the two countries have bright prospects.
7) …but dealers were selling them at a hefty markup.
Hefty: big and heavy as in “a hefty man”, “a hefty book”, “a hefty amount”, “a hefty
fine”, etc.
markup: the increased price at which you sell the product. It comes from the phrasal
verb to “mark up”.
This car is sometimes marked up at 50%.
Notice how this compound noun is made; observe the following similar compound
nouns:
Printout; handout; backup copies; takeover; sellout; checkup; pickup; comeback;
payoff; standby
8) Dell knew that IBM required its dealers to take a monthly quota of PCs.
Dell knew that IBM required its dealers to sell a certain fixed number of personal
computers every month.
9) He also knew that holding excess inventory was costly. So he bought dealers’
surplus stock at cost.
excess inventory: too many goods in stock
to buy or sell at cost: to buy or sell sth. at the price paid for its production
Text B: Would You Know a Computer If You Met One?
1. About the author (The following information is taken from the author’s website.):
Career background
25
I have been a member of the residential faculty of the GCC Business and Information
Technology Department since 1982 as well as an assistant chairperson for the BPC/CIS
area. Since I had been a programmer/analyst prior to being at GCC, my specialty has
been teaching computer languages, including C, COBOL, FORTRAN, Pascal, RPG,
Visual Basic and Visual Basic .NET. In addition, I have learned C#, C++, Neat/3, and
Lisp.
During the summers of 1997 through 2000, I had the opportunity to work in industry for
an international telecommunications corporation. Along with applying my C and Visual
Basic skills, I learned, designed, and developed applications and systems using Delphi,
MS Access, MS SQL, and the Rational Unified Process.
Personal Interests
I have an eclectic lifestyle and enjoy many activities. Some of these are:
o
Day Hiking
o
Reading
o
Traveling
o
Juggling
o
Attending concerts, plays and sporting events
China Trip 2001
26
On the Great Wall at Simatai
My experience during the summer of 2001 will be forever remembered as one of the
most incredible in my life. I was fortunate to be chosen to participate in the MCCD
China Fellowship program, and spent six weeks at Wuyi University in Jiangmen,
China, a city in the southeastern province of Guangdong.
This time was spent attending lectures, teaching classes in their Foreign Language
Department - English! - visiting cultural sites, eating amazing food, meeting remarkable
people, and being made to feel very special.
My MCCD colleagues and I attended lectures covering an array of topics, from Chinese
philosophy, educational system, minority peoples, and oral and written language to
painting, food, cinema, and traditional dress. These lectures gave us a foundation for
both a better comprehension and an appreciation of China, the Chinese people and their
culture.
The Chinese students were very interested in their American counterparts. I explained
some of the differences between a class of students at Wuyi and one of my classes at
27
GCC: At Wuyi, all of the students in the class are Chinese; at GCC, the students are
from many countries. They had a pretty good picture of this. At Wuyi, all of the
students in the class are about the same age; at GCC, the students are all ages. They
were amazed that I had a 72-year-old and a 13-year-old in the same class! At Wuyi, all
of the students in the class have the same major; at GCC, the students have various
majors. They had a hard time imagining this. At Wuyi, all of the students in the class
had to pass a rigorous national exam, scoring in the top 3 to 10%; at GCC, the students
did not have an entrance exam. They all wished they were going to school in the U.S.!
We visited many temples, parks, museums, and villages, usually with faculty, staff
and/or students from Wuyi University as our guides. I loved the intricate roof
architecture on the temples and buildings and the incredible detail of the various art
forms. I was also fortunate to be able to spend an additional two weeks being a tourist. I
will never forget climbing the Great Wall near Beijing and seeing the terracotta warriors
at X’ian.
The Guangdong province is famous for its cuisine. I ate many things that I would never
have thought of eating before, and many other things I didn’t know existed. Most
everything was delicious, and I ended up gaining weight, even though I was pretty
unskilled with chopsticks before the trip. I’m an expert now.
During those two months, I was warmly welcomed everywhere, even by strangers on
the street. People would come up smiling, wanting to speak English with me.
Schoolchildren were delighted to be able to talk to me. The people at Wuyi, especially
my partner, Michael Deng Yong, were warm, friendly, and wonderful to me. The
relationships I formed during my stay were the keystone of my experience.
My mother worried about me going to such a far-away, strange country for so long. I
can best describe my experience with a quote from one of my emails to her: "I have an
air-conditioned room, a television with a remote control, people who take good care of
me, and I’m eating better than I do at home."
2. About the writing:
Text B is an expository essay about the wide use of computers in our daily lives. First,
the definition of computer as well as the working mechanism is given. Then, the author
invites us to a variety of aspects in our lives where we use computers, from school
28
registration, to personal banking, to bar code in the supermarket, to video games, to
late-model cars, to movie-theatres, to jet planes and to our homes. All in all, computer
has become something we can’t live without.
3. About the text
Useful expressions:
on a regular basis
define … as…
execute instructions
accept/process data
keep track of
bar coding
sticker price
debit card
fasten the seat-belt
computer-generated graphics
Weekly Quiz
1. spelling (30)
administration
consumer
advertisement
customized
dignify
equivalency
excess
manufacturer
painstakingly
subscription
assemble
feature
attach
diploma
gross
profitable
entitlement
imbued
prospect
charitable
entrepreneurship
incorporate
recipient
competition
revenue
magnitude
subsidiary
surplus tycoon vengeance
2. Word Derivation
1) We are trying to keep our new product a secret from our _____. (compete)
2) He said that he wanted to see a society in which the ______ of all people was
recognized. (dignify)
3) ______ exercise can sometimes cause health problems. (excess)
4) The computer allows you to ______ standard letters by adding a greeting and an
address to each one. (person)
5) The latest cut in government spending will affect income support ______ and
29
their families. (receive)
Key: competitors, dignity, excessive, personalize, recipients
3. Translation
1) 我没有去出席他们的聚会,必须向他们示歉意。
2) 总经理心里想的全是如何提高产品质量。
3) 学生和教职员工之间关系逐渐紧张起来
4) 这个去年上马的项目完成后，我们就能将气从西部一直输送到东部。
5) 我不明白您的意思。
Reference:
1) I must offer them an apology for not going to attend their get-together.
2) The managing director's only concern was how to improve the quality of their
products.
3) Tension developed between students and faculty.
4) When completed, the project launched last year can bring the gas from the west all
the way to the east.
5) I do not understand what you are driving at.
4. Dictation
In managing information resources, the medium may be the key to an effective system./
The medium is a vehicle, a tool, or a container for holding information;/ the information
itself is the thing of value./
Three popular categories of information media are paper, film, and electronic
storage devices./ The media choice must not be viewed as a choice among these
three;/however; it must be viewed a s an opportunity to select from a multitude of media
possibilities/ in combinations that build effective systems./ In many instances the person
responsible for information-resource management/ is not the person who determines the
medium/ in which information will be created./ In such a case, the manager of a firm's
information resources faces a challenge /in making a significant contribution to the
organization's objectives.
30
Lesson 4
I. Objectives
1. Helping students recognize and appreciate the writing techniques of a successful
narration and its theme, which is summed up at the very end.
2. Drawing students’ attention to the use of the key grammar in this text: adverbial
modifier.
3. Making use of this text as an opportunity to organize a discussion on friendship, the
essence of true friendship and its main ingredients.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
7. The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the first
half of the text ( 1.5 hours)
8. The study of the second half & the exercise from P.109-112 (1.5 hours)
9. Summary and review of the story, group discussion on friendship & the exercise
from P.113-119 (1.5 hours)
31
III. Key Points
1. Key vocabulary as is indicated in the teaching notes
2. Key grammar as is indicated in the teaching notes
3. Important sentence as is indicated in the teaching notes
IV. Suggested class activities
1. Ask students to present their pre-class homework as well as their questions about
the text orally.
2. Try the selected oral work on P. 106 in the exercise.
3. Ask students to have group discussion on a series of topics about the friendship.
V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 4
Text A: Wisdom of Bear Wood
I. Morning Report
II. Weekly Quiz
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
32
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
3. Divide students into several groups, and ask them to report what they have found to
the class to better their understanding of the text. Also ask students to prepare their
questions about the text.
4. Ask them to have a group discussion on the following topics:
a. How do you like the story?
b. What is the main idea of the story?
Is it possible for two people who belong to different age groups to become close friends?
Do you have such friends? Have you heard of such cases?
3. Some Proverbs
The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
The bird a nest; the spider a web; man friendship.
- William Blake
33
Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.
- Helen Keller
What is a friend? A single soul in two bodies.
- Aristotle
Friendship---Friendship Day (Aug. 2nd)
B. In-class Tasks
1. About the author
Michael Welzenbach (1954-2001) was an art critic as well as a poet and a novelist. He
wrote some of the most stimulating criticism of art and music for the Washington Post.
2. Robin Hood
A legendary English outlaw of the 12th century, hero of
many ballads, who robbed the rich to give to the poor; a
popular model of courage, generosity and justice, as well
as of skill in archery, he lived and presided over his band
of followers chiefly in Sherwood Forest.
Everyone has heard of Robin Hood, Nottinghamshire's
most famous son and the world’s favourite folk hero. His
adventures have been told and retold down the
generations, from medieval ballad to Hollywood movie.
A famous outlaw and romantic hero of the Middle Ages.
Whether he was a living man or only a legend is uncertain. Old ballads relate that Robin
Hood and his followers roamed the green depths of Sherwood Forest, near Nottingham,
in the center of England. There they lived a carefree life, passing the time playing
games of archery, hunting the king's deer, and robbing the rich. They shared their spoils
with the poor and never injured women or children. Robin Hood represents the ideal of
the common people of England in the later Middle Ages. He stands for liberty and the
rights of the people against unjust laws and the tyranny of the nobles.
3. General structure
Narration (something common → something thought-provoking)
a. Introduction: sth. special about the boy’s family. (move very often) (par. 1-3)
34
b. Discovery of my paradise (par. 4)
c. Meeting between the boy and the lady (par. 5-23)
d. What I’ve learned from her and my development (par. 24-27)
e. Her death (par. 28-35)
f. The influence of our friendship on me→the theme of the story (par. 36-37)
2. Detailed study of the text (please also refer to the reference book)
a. Introduction: sth. special about the boy’s family. (move very often) (par. 1-3)
 Questions to be discussed:
1). Why did his family go to England? How did he like the frequent moves?
2). Who had such experience of moving to other places? What’s your feeling?
3). What kind of feelings did “wrench” indicate when he left his friends?
 Paraphrase: (TB P44-45)
1). I spend most of my time roaming the woods and fields alone, playing Robin Hood.
2). Keeping to myself was my way of not forming attachments that I would only have to
abandon the next time we moved.
3). But one day I became attached through no design of my own.
 Language points:
1). wrench myself away from sb.
n.--the wrench of leaving home 离家的悲痛/feel a wrench
v.--to torture the feelings or emotions of sb.; make sb. distressed 使感情或情绪受折
磨；压抑
e.g. It wrenched me to watch them go. 看着他们离开，我很难受。
2). verge
v. to be on the edge or border
e.g. Her land verges on the neighboring township.她的土地与邻镇相连.
n. on the verge of
3). rocket
v. to soar or rise rapidly
e.g. The book rocketed to the top of the bestseller list. 这本书一下子就跃居畅销书
榜首.
4). play
v. to behave as if you are a particular kind of person
e.g. She liked to play the teacher and gave directions to other kids.
35
These ordinary people played the police for a while.
5). be/become attached----To bind by emotional ties, as of affection or loyalty:
e.g. I am attached to my family. 我对我的家依依不舍
attach great/primary importance to sth.
b. Discovery of my paradise (par. 4)
 Paraphrase: (TB P45)
1) …sloping hill to an almost impenetrable stand of trees called Bear Wood.
2) My own breathing rang in my ears, and the slightest stirring of any woodland
creature echoed through this private paradise.
 Language points
1). for: serving as (TB P45)
c. Meeting between the boy and the lady (par. 5-23)
 Activities:
1) Ask students to retell the meeting scene
2) Or role-play the meeting scene
 Language points
1). put me at ease: to make sb. feel relaxed (TB P46)
2). introduce: v. bring sth. into a place from somewhere else
3). trespass
vi. to infringe on the privacy, time, or attention of another
e.g. The farmer said we were trespassing. 这个农民说我们未经许可进入了他的土
地。
d. What I’ve learned from her and my development (par. 24-27)
 Questions to be discussed:
1) What did he learn from the woman?
2) Was it a rewarding friendship to the woman?
 Paraphrase: (TB48)
1) Familiarity sometimes makes people physically invisible, for you find yourself
talking to the heart—to the essence, as it were, rather than to the face.
Do you agree with the author on this line? Can you back up your explanation by
giving some examples?
2) … and my well of knowledge about natural history began to brim over.
Put it into Chinese.
(1). brim over
vi. to overflow; to be full to the brim
36
e.g. The cup is brimming over with chowder.杯子里盛的羹汤溢出来了。
n. the rim or edge of a container, bowl or a basin
e.g. the brim of a hat
(2). be inclined to do sth
v. influence or be influenced toward a particular attitude or course of action
incline/be inclined to do
incline to sth./ incline sb to do
e. Her death (par. 28-35)
 Questions to be discussed:
1) Why did her death come so suddenly for the boy?
 Language points:
1). eye
v. observe or watch in suspicion (TB P48)
2). sting my eyes
v. to cause to feel a sharp, quick pain on a sharp point
e.g. The heavy smoke was stinging our eyes. 浓烟刺痛了我们的眼睛
f. The influence of our friendship on me→ the theme of the story (par. 36-37)
 Questions to be discussed:
1) What do “the seen” and “the unseen” refer to?
2) How do you understand “things that change” and “things that changeless”?
3) Why does the author say that it is “an enduring and rewarding friendship”?
 Language points:
1). in time: after a certain period of time, esp. after a gradual change and development
e.g. Don’t worry. I’m sure things will get better in time.
2). odds and ends: small things of various kind
IV. Homework
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Text B: Baby Birds
1. About the author:
37
I am a retired English teacher,
freelance
writer,
and
self-taught/self-teaching naturalist who
lives on an old hill farm in a small
Vermont town called Huntington. I’m
a native Vermonter, but I didn’t grow
up here. I spent most of my childhood
in various American suburbs outside
the cities where my father worked. It
took me thirty years to find my way
back to Vermont, but once I got here I knew I was home.
My first year back — 1975 — I decided I needed to make up for lost time. I began
exploring the natural world with all the mid-life energy and enthusiasm that had
motivated my return to Vermont. Around the edges of my job at the University of
Vermont, where I taught English off and on for 20 years, I began my self-education as a
naturalist. I started by volunteering at a local nature center.
To enforce my learning — and to demonstrate to my University of Vermont students
that writing had its uses in the real world — I started writing a weekly natural history
column for several Vermont newspapers. These columns led to four books:
THE BEGINNING NATURALIST Shelburne, VT: New England Press, 1979
A FIELD GUIDE TO THE FAMILIAR Hanover, NH: University Press of New England,
1998
A NATURALIST INDOORS Lincoln, NE: iUniverse.com, 2000
THE VERMONT LIFE GUIDE TO FALL FOLIAGE Montpelier, VT: Vermont Life,
2001
2. About the writing
This article is from her book The Beginning Naturalist (1979). It
gives some suggestions to the family that faced with the “baby bird
crisis”.
38
3. About the text
hatch the brood:
to produce (young) from an egg
the young of certain animals, especially a group of young birds or fowl hatched at one
time and cared for by the same mother
tumble: to fall or roll end over end
The kittens tumbled over each other.
shrub: a woody plant of relatively low height, having several stems arising from the
base and lacking a single trunk; a bush.
vulnerable: susceptible to physical injury
aviary: a large enclosure for holding birds in confinement.
predator: an organism that lives by preying on other organisms.
Weekly Quiz
A. Spelling
1. instinctively
2. proceed
3. immense
4. familiarity
5.abandon
6. pheasant
7. impenetrable
8. munch
9. echo
10. twitter
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11. suspect
12. vaulted
13.rewarding
14. dense
15. fascinate
16. identify
17. ivory
18. private
19. rustle
20.soccer
B. Translate the Following Phrases and Expressions
1. 探索自然的秘密
to explore the secrets of nature
2. 一时屏住呼吸
to catch one’s breath
3. 赢得每个人的羡慕
to earn everybody’s admiration
4. 引进新品种
to introduce new breeds
5. 高倍望远镜
powerful binoculars
6. 铁丝网篱笆
a barbed-wire fence
7. 零星的东西
odds and ends
8. 笨拙的动作
clumsy movements
9. 潜在的购买者
potential buyers
10. 面上有玻璃的书架
glass-fronted cases
C. Translate the Following Sentences
1. 今天中国的老年人通常并不想和孩子住在一起。(to incline)
2. 我们无法辨认这尸体，因为它烧得面目全非了。(to identify)
3. 我仍然认为年轻人重视他们的民族观念很重要。(to regard)
4. 他作为一个正直的政府官员得到人民的爱戴。(to earn)
5. 有那么多人的了胃癌。我怀疑我们喝的水有严重的污染。(to suspect)
1. Old people in China today are not inclined to live with their children.
2. We could not identify the body because it was too badly burnt.
3. I still regard it as important for our young people to care about their national
identity.
4. He has earned the great admiration of the people as an honest government official.
5. So many people get stomach cancer. I suspect that the water we drink may be
seriously polluted.
D. Dictation
40
United Nations’ Day
The 24th of October is celebrated as United Nations’ Day./ It is a day that belongs to
everyone, and is celebrated in most countries of the world./ Some countries celebrate for
a week instead of a day,/ and in many parts of the world, schools have special programs
for the day./ Boys and girls and some communities decorate a UN Tree./ In other
communities, young people play games about the UN./ Some libraries exhibit children’s
art work from around the world./ Schools celebrate with the songs and dances of other
countries,/ or give parties where foods of other countries are served./ No matter how the
day is celebrated, the purpose of the celebration is to help everyone understand/ the UN
and the important roles it plays in world affairs./ The UN encourages people to learn
about other lands and their customs./ In this way, people can gain a better understanding
and appreciation of people all over the world.
Lesson 5
I. Objectives
1. Helping Students get to know something about the criminal court in the United
States.
2. Helping Students appreciate the basic structure and language features of a
playwriting.
3. Making use of this text as an opportunity to discuss American judicial system.
4. Making use of this text as an opportunity to organize an acting-out of the play.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
1. The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the first
41
part of the text ( 1.5 hours)
2. The study of the second part & the exercise from P.147-152 (1.5 hours)
3. The study of the last part of the text & the exercise from P.142-147 (1.5 hours)
III. Key Points
1. Key vocabulary as is indicated in the teaching notes
2. Key grammar as is indicated in the teaching notes
3. Important sentence as is indicated in the teaching notes
IV. Suggested class activities
1. Ask students to present their pre-class homework as well as their questions about
the text orally.
2. Try the selected oral work on P. 141 in the exercise.
3. Ask students to act out the play.
V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 5
Text A: Twelve Angry Men (I)
Before the class:
Teachers are suggested to ask students to do a research on the judicial system in the
United States.
1. Teachers may ask students to find out the words & expressions used in a criminal
court.
42
2. Ask students to look for some information about the procedure of a criminal court.
a)
Morning Report
b)
Weekly Quiz
c)
In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
1. Divide students into several groups, and ask them to report what they have found in
their research.
2. Group Discussion on the following topics:
1) What is the play about? Where does the story happen?
2) What do you know about the boy who was accused of killing his father?
3) What was the evidence against the boy?
4) How many doubts did No. 8 cast on the boy’s case? What are they?
5) How is the American court system different from the Chinese one?
The play gives insight into several aspects of the American court system:
(1) The accused is deemed innocent until and unless proved guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt.
(2) The burden of proof is on the prosecutor.
(3) In most cases, the verdict had to be unanimously reached.
(4) A trial doesn’t aim at discovering who committed a particular crime, but rather the
innocence or guilt of the accused.
B. In-Class Tasks
1. General Structure:
 The first vote (par. 1-5)
 No. 8 voted not guilty (par.6-24)
 The discussion of the case which resulted in the second vote (par. 25-84)
 The second vote and further discussions (par.85-117)
2. Detailed study of the text (Please also refer to the reference book)
Part One: the first vote (par. 1-5)
Questions to be discussed:
1) Why doesn’t the author give names to the characters in the drama?
43
2) What would have happened to the boy if he had been found guilty?
Paraphrase:
1) I think it’s customary to take a preliminary vote.3
2) Maybe we can all get out of here. 4
3) Now we know where we are. 5
Language Points
preliminary:3
happening before sth. that is more important, often in order to prepare for it
---The Congress will start preliminary hearings soon.
---They will have a preliminary discussion of this problem before the Board meeting.
Part Two: No. 8 voted not guilty.(par. 6-24)
Questions to be asked
1) Why No. 8 was voted not guilty? Was it out of sheer pity for the boy? What was his
motive?
2) What kind of person is No. 10?
Paraphrase
1) It’s not easy to send the boy off to die without talking about it first. 17
2) I think we owe him a few words. That’s all. 19
3) You’re not going to tell me that we are supposed to believe this kid, knowing what
he is! 20
4) Since when is dishonesty a group characteristic? 21
Part Three: The discussion of the case which resulted in the second vote (par.
25-84)
Questions to be asked
1) What is No.2’s reason for voting guilty? What kind of person do you think No. 2 is?
2) Why does No. 3 think the boy is guilty?
3) Why does No. 4 vote for guilty?
4) What makes No. 10 believe that the boy is the murderer?
5) Does No. 5 give a reason for voting guilty? Why do you think he voted guilty?
6) What does No. 6 say about the boy’s case? Do you think what he has reason enough
to vote guilty?
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7) Why does No. 5 quarrel with No. 10?
8) What does No. 8 do that casts the first serious doubt on the boy’s guilt? What effect
does his doubt have on the second vote?
Paraphrase
1) I mean nobody proved otherwise. 26
2) I’m just as sentimental as the next fellow. I know he’s only eighteen.29
3) How come you believe the woman’s? She’s one of THEM, too, isn’t she? 36
4) It’s just part of the picture. 45
5) It may have been two too many. Everyone has a breaking point. 47
6) This is a real fine boy. 49
7) And all slums are breeding-grounds for criminals. 52
8) Now you can say that again. 53
9) I don’t want any part of them. 53
10) You pulled a real bright trick. 76
11) But if anyone votes not guilty, we’ll stay here and talk it out. 84
Language Points
1. otherwise 26
(1) in or on other way ; different
---You have to do it this way. You can’t do it otherwise.
---Some people may think that social stability is more important than social
progress, although some people may think otherwise.
(2) in other respects
---This otherwise excellent students is too conceited.
---There was one thing wrong with this otherwise wonderful trip. On the day we
were to fly to Shanghai we couldn’t get out plane ticket.
2. flimsy 30:
thin, weak, feeble
---flimsy dress/ cloth/building/evidence/argument/excuse
3. miss the point 52
Refresh students’ memory of some of the collocations of “point”:
---Make a point, see the point, miss the point, come to the point, get to the point, prove
45
one’s point
4. alleged 60:
supposed to be true although there is no proof
--- The man was criticized for his alleged hostility towards the Black.
--- It took 15 years for the alleged criminals (= people thought to be criminals) to prove
their innocence.
5. claim 60
to say that something is true even though it has not been proved
--- He claimed to know half a dozen foreign languages.
--- One day a man suddenly appeared who claimed to be the rich woman’s long-lost
brother.
Part Four: The second vote and further discussions (par.85-117)
Questions to be discussed
1) What’s the result of the second vote?
2) Who voted for not guilty? Why did he do so?
3) What questions does No. 8 raise that casts the second serious doubt on the boy’s
guilt?
Paraphrases
1) Brother, you really are something.88
2) And then some golden-voiced preacher started to tear your poor heart out about a
poor kid, so so you changed your vote. 88
3) He is very excitable. 90
4) It’s like talking to a dead phone. 99
5) What are you getting at? 103
6) You couldn’t hear yourself think. 104
Language Points
something 88: an important or remarkable person
--- He couldn’t forget his wife, for she was really something.
--- He is something in the customs.
More questions for discussion on the theme of the text
46
Please comment on the characters of the following jurors.
No. 8: honest, humane, thoughtful, witty, a man of moral principles and a strong
sense of justice.
No. 10: extremely prejudiced against poor people and people with little schooling,
excitable and irrational
No. 9: of humble background, poor and unimportant, but decent and upright, also
serious about his first juror duty
No. 5: born in a slum, slightly bashful, not much of a speaker, not a man with ready
ideas
Can you point out a few examples of sarcasm in the text?
It might be useful to let students act out the whole play (or part of the play).
IV. Homework:
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize the text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
V. Further Background Information about Text A
1. Information about the American Jury system
Jury
In trials, a group of people selected and sworn to inquire into matters of fact and to
reach a verdict on the basis of the evidence presented to it.
In U.S. law, decisions in many civil and criminal trials are made by a jury. Considerable
power is vested in this traditional body of ordinary men and women, which is charged
with deciding matters of fact and delivering a verdict of guilt or innocence based on the
evidence in a case. Derived from its historical counterpart in English common law, trial
by jury has had a central role in U.S. courtrooms since the colonial era, and it is firmly
established as a basic guarantee in the U.S. Constitution. Modern juries are the result of
a long series of Supreme Court decisions interpreting this constitutional liberty and, in
significant ways, extending it.
Jury Selection
Jury selection is the process of choosing jurors. Not all people are required to serve on
the jury: some individuals and members of some occupational groups can be excused if
47
serving would cause them or their family hardship.
Federal courts select grand and petit juries according to the guidelines in the Jury
Selection and Service Act of 1968. Generally, most communities use voter registration
lists to choose prospective jurors, who are then summoned to appear for jury duty. This
group of prospective jurors is called a venire.
Once the venire is assembled, attorneys for both the prosecution and the defense begin a
process called voir dire. Literally meaning "to speak the truth," voir dire is a preliminary
examination of the prospective jurors to inquire into their competence and suitability to
sit on the jury. Although the judge may ask questions, primarily the attorneys do so.
Their goal is to eliminate jurors who may be biased against their side, while choosing
the jurors who are most likely to be sympathetic. Attorneys for each side are allowed to
reject potential jurors in two ways. They may dismiss anyone for cause, meaning a
reason that is relevant to that person's ability and fitness to perform jury duty. And they
may issue a limited number of peremptory challenges, which are dismissals that do not
require a reason.
Jury Size
Juries range in size according to their nature. Grand juries are so-called because they are
usually larger than petit juries, having from twelve to twenty-three members.
Traditionally, petit juries have had twelve members, but the number is not fixed. Parties
in federal district courts as well as in many state courts can stipulate that the jury size be
any number between six and twelve. Commonly, federal district court juries consist of
six persons for civil cases.
Jury Instructions
Throughout a trial, the jury receives instructions from the judge. The judge explains
relevant points of law, which the jury is bound to accept and apply. The judge directs the
jury to disregard inadmissible testimony and provides guidelines on how to behave
outside of court. During the 1995 trial of O. J. Simpson for the murder of his estranged
second wife and a friend of hers, for example, Judge Lance Ito issued daily orders to
jurors not to discuss the case with anyone. Some instructions vary across jurisdictions
and according to judges, such as whether jurors will be allowed to take notes during the
trial; generally, they may not. In certain highly publicized trials, the judge may sequester
48
the jury—that is, isolate its members in private living quarters such as hotel rooms in
order to shield them from trial publicity. Violating the judge's orders can result in a juror
being dismissed from the trial in favor of an alternate juror.
Jury Verdict
Following the closing arguments in a trial, jurors deliberate in private to arrive at a
verdict, which is then reported to the court by the jury foreman or forewoman.
Defendants in federal jury trials have the right to a unanimous verdict. This is not true in
state jury trials, where the size of the jury determines whether unanimity is required: a
twelve-member jury may convict without unanimity, a six-member jury cannot.
In some cases, agreement among jurors is very difficult to reach. When jurors fail to
reach an agreement, the judge may issue an instruction known as an Allen charge, in
which the judge tells the jurors to continue deliberating and to listen carefully to and be
deferential toward each other's views. Continued failure to arrive at a verdict results in a
hung jury, which necessitates a new trial with a different jury.
In criminal trials in most jurisdictions, the jury's job ends with the delivery of a verdict
of guilt or innocence on every count pertaining to the case, and the judge determines
sentencing. In civil cases, juries generally determine the amount of a damages award.
2. About the movie “Twelve Angry Men”
12 Angry Men (1957) is the gripping, penetrating, and engrossing examination of a
diverse group of twelve jurors (all male, mostly middle-aged, white, and generally of
middle-class status) who are uncomfortably brought together to deliberate after hearing
the 'facts' in a seemingly open-and-shut murder trial case. They retire to a jury room to
do their civic duty and serve up a just verdict for the indigent minority defendant (with a
criminal record) whose life is in the balance. The film is a powerful indictment,
denouncement and expose of the trial by jury system. The frightened, teenaged
defendant is on trial, as well as the jury and the American judicial system with its
purported sense of infallibility, fairness and lack of bias. One of the film's posters
described how the workings of the judicial process can be disastrous: "LIFE IS IN
THEIR HANDS - DEATH IS ON THEIR MINDS! It EXPLODES Like 12 Sticks of
Dynamite."
This was television-trained director Sidney Lumet's first feature film - a low-budget
49
($350,000) film shot in only 17 days from a screenplay by Reginald Rose, who based
his script on his own teleplay of the same name. After the initial airing of the TV play in
early 1954 on Studio One CBS-TV, co-producer/star Henry Fonda asked Rose in 1956 if
the teleplay could be expanded to feature-film length (similar to what occurred to Paddy
Chayefsky's TV play Marty (1955)), and they became co-producers for the project
(Fonda's sole instance of film production).
The jury of twelve 'angry men,' entrusted with the power to send an uneducated,
teenaged Puerto Rican, tenement-dwelling boy to the electric chair for killing his father
with a switchblade knife, are literally locked into a small, claustrophobic rectangular
room on a stifling hot summer day until they come up with a unanimous decision either guilty or not guilty. The compelling, provocative film examines the twelve men's
deep-seated personal prejudices, perceptual biases and weaknesses, indifference, anger,
personalities, unreliable judgments, cultural differences, ignorance and fears, that
threaten to taint their decision-making abilities, cause them to ignore the real issues in
the case, and potentially lead them to a miscarriage of justice.
Fortunately, one brave dissenting juror votes 'not guilty' at the start of the deliberations
because of his reasonable doubt. Persistently and persuasively, he forces the other men
to slowly reconsider and review the shaky case (and eyewitness testimony) against the
endangered defendant. He also chastises the system for giving the unfortunate defendant
an inept 'court-appointed' public defense lawyer who "resented being appointed" - a
case with "no money, no glory, not even much chance of winning" - and who
inadequately cross-examined the witnesses. Heated discussions, the formation of
alliances, the frequent re-evaluation and changing of opinions, votes and certainties, and
the revelation of personal experiences, insults and outbursts fill the jury room.
Even in the 50s, it would have been unlikely to have an all-male, all-white jury.
However, it's slightly forgivable since the play made the jury and trial largely symbolic
and metaphoric (the jurors were made to represent a cross-section of American attitudes
towards race, justice, and ideology, and were not entirely realistic.) The introduction of
information about the defendant's past juvenile crimes wouldn't have been allowed.
Jurors # 3 and # 10 were so prejudiced that their attitudes would have quickly
eliminated them from being selected during jury review. And it was improper for Juror #
50
8 to act as a defense attorney - to re-enact the old man's walk to the front door or to
investigate on his own by purchasing a similar knife. The 'angry' interactions between
some of the jurors seem overly personal and exaggerated.
This classic, black and white film has been accused of being stagey, static and
dialogue-laden. It has no flashbacks, narration, or subtitles. The camera is essentially
locked in the enclosed room with the deliberating jurors for 90 of the film's 95 minutes,
and the film is basically shot in real-time in an actual jury room. Cinematographer Boris
Kaufman, who had already demonstrated his on-location film-making skill in Elia
Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954) in Hoboken, and Baby Doll (1956) in Mississippi,
uses diverse camera angles (a few dramatic, grotesque closeups and mostly
well-composed medium-shots) to illuminate and energize the film's cramped
proceedings. Except for Henry Fonda, the ensemble character actors were chosen for
their experience in the burgeoning art of television.
The film was a financial disaster when it first opened (during a time of colorful
widescreen film offerings), but it did receive three Academy Award nominations (with
no wins): Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. All three categories
lost to David Lean's Oscar-sweeping, extravagant epic film The Bridge on the River
Kwai. Henry Fonda's central role as a juror with resolute caution was un-nominated as
Best Actor.
None of the jurors are named, and they don't formally introduce themselves to each
other (except for two of them in the final brief ending). Jurors are labeled with numbers
based on their jury numbers and seats at a conference table in the jury room (in
clock-wise order).
3. A character sketch of the twelve jurors
A summary of the anonymous characters helps to flesh out their characters and
backgrounds. The order in which each eventually decides to vote "not guilty" is given in
brackets:
Juror #1: A high-school assistant head coach, doggedly concerned to keep the
proceedings formal and maintain authority; easily frustrated and sensitive when
someone objects to his control; inadequate for the job as foreman, not a natural leader
and over-shadowed by Juror # 8's natural leadership [9]
51
Juror #2: A wimpy, balding bank clerk/teller, easily persuaded, meek, hesitant, goes
along with the majority, eagerly offers cough drops to other men during tense times of
argument; better memory than # 4 about film title [5]
Juror #3: Runs a messenger service (the "Beck and Call" Company), a bullying, rude
and husky man, extremely opinionated and biased, completely intolerant, forceful and
loud-mouthed, temperamental and vengeful; estrangement from his own teenaged son
causes him to be hateful and hostile toward all young people (and the defendant);
arrogant, quick-angered, quick-to-convict, and defiant until the very end [12]
Juror #4: Well-educated, smug and conceited, well-dressed stockbroker, presumably
wealthy; studious, methodical, possesses an incredible recall and grasp of the facts of
the case; common-sensical, dispassionate, cool-headed and rational, yet stuffy and prim;
often displays a stern glare; treats the case like a puzzle to be deductively solved rather
than as a case that may send the defendant to death; claims that he never sweats [10 tie]
Juror #5: Naive, insecure, frightened, reserved; grew up in a poor Jewish urban
neighborhood and the case resurrected in his mind that slum-dwelling upbringing; a
guilty vote would distance him from his past; nicknamed "Baltimore" by Juror # 7
because of his support of the Orioles [3]
Juror #6: A typical "working man," dull-witted, experiences difficulty in making up his
own mind, a follower; probably a manual laborer or painter; respectful of older juror
and willing to back up his words with fists [6]
Juror #7: Clownish, impatient salesman (of marmalade the previous year), a flashy
dresser, gum-chewing, obsessed baseball fan who wants to leave as soon as possible to
attend evening game; throws wadded up paper balls at the fan; uses baseball metaphors
and references throughout all his statements (he tells the foreman to "stay in there and
pitch"); lacks complete human concern for the defendant and for the immigrant juror;
extroverted; keeps up amusing banter and even impersonates James Cagney at one point;
votes with the majority [7]
Juror #8: An architect, instigates a thoughtful reconsideration of the case against the
accused; symbolically clad in white; a liberal-minded, patient truth-and-justice seeker
who uses soft-spoken, calm logical reasoning; balanced, decent, courageous,
52
well-spoken and concerned; considered a do-gooder (who is just wasting others' time)
by some of the prejudiced jurors; named Davis [1]
Juror #9: Eldest man in group, white-haired, thin, retiring and resigned to death but has
a resurgence of life during deliberations; soft-spoken but perceptive, fair-minded;
named McCardle [2]
Juror #10: A garage owner, who simmers with anger, bitterness, racist bigotry; nasty,
repellent, intolerant, reactionary and accusative; segregates the world into 'us' and 'them';
needs the support of others to reinforce his manic rants [10 - tie]
Juror #11: A watchmaker, speaks with a heavy accent, of German-European descent, a
recent refugee and immigrant; expresses reverence and respect for American democracy,
its system of justice, and the infallibility of the Law [4]
Juror #12: Well-dressed, smooth-talking business ad man with thick black glasses;
doodles cereal box slogan and packaging ideas for "Rice Pops"; superficial,
easily-swayed, and easy-going; vacillating, lacks deep convictions or belief system;
uses advertising talk at one point: "run this idea up the flagpole and see if anybody
salutes it" [8]
Text B: Shot Actress---Full Story
1. About the author
H E Bates Biography
Acclaimed by Graham Greene as one of the best short story writers of the twentieth
century, H. E. Bates, in full Herbert Ernest Bates, was born in Rushden,
Northamptonshire on 16th May 1905. He was a popular writer whose work covered
many genres. He wrote poetry, plays and essays on the country and on gardening, but is
best known as a novelist and master short-story writer.
Bates attended Kettering Grammar School, where he met his English master, Edmund
Kirby, who was to instil in Bates a love of literature and inspired his ambition to
become a writer. With his poem ‘Armistice Day, November 11th 1920’, the school
magazine – ‘that universal graveyard of budding poets’ – gave him ‘the first of a host of
embarrassments of seeing myself in print’.
Bates left school at 16 and found his first job as a junior reporter in the Wellingborough
53
office of the Northampton Chronicle. Not settling here he moved on to work as a
warehouse clerk for a Rushden leather merchant. This job had the advantage of allowing
him the time to write. Left unsupervised he finished his daily tasks by 9.30am and then
spent the rest of the day working on his own writing. It was in this Rushden office that
he wrote his first novel, The Two Sisters.
His early short stories, essays, and novels in the 1920s were highly praised, but he
became well known as a writer about the countryside and the life of the agricultural
labourer with The Poacher (1935); A House of Women (1936); Through the Woods
(1936); My Uncle Silas (1940), widely enjoyed for its earthy, Rabelaisian humour; and
The Beauty of the Dead and Other Stories (1941). From 1932 he also wrote a regular
column ‘Country Life’ for the Spectator. His love of the Northamptonshire countryside
is reflected in his books. His detailed observations of country life and character and his
descriptions of the Northamptonshire landscape and architecture are a delight to read.
He describes Fotheringhay as a village ‘with a superb church standing like a small lost
cathedral over the graves of kings’ and Lilford as a place with ‘a stone humpbacked
bridge over the Nene that is not equalled anywhere in England.’
Bates married Marjorie Helen Cox at Rushden in 1931. They moved to Kent and made
their home at The Granary in the village of Little Chart. There Bates created a beautiful
garden out of what had originally been a wilderness.
World War II made Bates famous. Commissioned as a writer for the Royal Air Force in
1941, as "Flying Officer X" he gained great popularity with The Greatest People in the
World (1942) and How Sleep the Brave (1943), collections of stories that conveyed the
feel of flying in wartime. Fair Stood the Wind for France (1944), about a British bomber
crew forced down in occupied France (and the focus of Northamptonshire’s upcoming
centenary celebrations), remains one of Bates’ best-selling novels. The sights and
sounds of Bates’ last overseas assignment in the RAF, a tour of India and Burma to
gather material for writing stories of the war with Japan, influenced three novels
published in this country and in America under his own name. These novels, The Purple
Plain (1946), The Jacaranda Tree (1948) and The Scarlet Sword (1950) also helped to
earn Bates a new reputation as a novelist of power.
54
In his post-war novels and stories Bates reached the height of his powers. From The
Nature of Love (1954) to A Moment in Time (1964) and The Triple Echo (1970), he
developed consistently in subtlety, depth, and strength as a novelist, and in The Darling
Buds of May (1958) he created a realistic, lovable farm family, the Larkins. Some
critics felt that these stories were too lightweight in content, but the reading public was
delighted and took them to its heart as it had with Bates’ Uncle Silas stories in the early
1940s. Colonel Julian (1955) demonstrates his range in the short story, and the
autobiographical The Vanished World (1969) and The Blossoming World (1971) show
that he retained his power to capture the mood of the passing moment.
Bates was created a CBE in June 1973 and died on January 29, 1974, in Canterbury,
Kent.
Bates was an avid reader and library user from a very young age. His local library at
Rushden features in his story The Bride comes to Evensford (1943). When this was
published Bates himself was already a much requested author there! Today the Bates
collection at Rushden library includes: a comprehensive collection of books by Bates,
including some limited editions; magazines to which he contributed; biographical,
critical and other studies of HE Bates and a file containing cuttings from the local and
national press about Bates’ life and work.
2. About the writing
Shot Actress - Full Story!, was a poignant tale of a man whose life is turned upside
down after he finds his neighbour shot dead in her bathroom.
3. About the text
paragraph 4
solitary: A solitary person or thing is the only person or thing in a place:
On the hill, a solitary figure was busy chopping down trees.
In the distance was a solitary building.
He was a solitary child (= He enjoyed being alone).
paragraph 6
get a view of: get to see sth. Similar phrases include:
The cloud lifted, and the tops of the mountains suddenly came into view (= could be
seen).
55
She turned a corner, and disappeared from view/out of view.
Andy and Vicki had a furious row outside their house, in full view of the neighbours.
I always make sure I keep the children in view whenever we're in a public place.
paragraph 17
as good as: almost:
The decorating is as good as finished - I just need to finish off the painting.
paragraph 34
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare written around 1603. The
play is a concentrated, tightly-constructed domestic tragedy, revolving around five or
six central characters. Othello's ill-placed trust in the villain Iago, resulting in his
growing suspicion in his wife Desdemona's infidelity with his lieutenant Cassio, led to
the ultimate tragedy. Othello is commonly considered one of Shakespeare's great
tragedies, and one of his finest works
paragraph 35
Desdemona
Desdemona is a fictional character in the play Othello by William Shakespeare. She is
Othello's wife, and the daughter of Senator Brabantio.
Desdemona lives with her father in Venice before secretly marrying Othello. She stands
up to her father before the Duke and Council, proclaiming her love for Othello and her
father reluctantly accepts the union. Desdemona also requests that she travel to Cyprus
with her new husband. Othello encourages the Duke to agree and requests that Iago's
wife, Emilia attends on her.
After Cassio is disgraced, Iago advises that he should confess himself to Desdemona
and importune her to put him in his place again. Cassio thanks him for the advice and
seeks Desdemona's help. Meanwhile, Iago persuades Othello that Desdemona is having
an affair with Cassio, and Othello becomes jealous and paranoid. Acting on Iago's
request, Emilia steals a handkerchief from Desdemona, which had been a gift from
Othello.
Desdemona is concerned over the loss of the handkerchief but maintains that it would
not cause her husband to grow jealous. But she is confused over her husband's
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unexplained behaviour, culminating in his striking of her in public and accusing her of
being a whore.
Desdemona is deeply upset by her husband's attacks but continues to assert her love. In
the final act, Othello challenges her and tells her that he is going to kill her. Despite
Desdemona's claims of innocence, Othello refuses to believe her and when he tells her
that Cassio has been killed, Desdemona cries. Othello sees this and becomes enraged.
Desdemona continues to plead for mercy and Othello suffocates her.
Weekly Quiz
I.
spelling
abstain
coincidence
swear
testimony
filthy
orphanage
II.
counselor
yell
violence
upright
customary
diverge
guilty
excitable
forgery
innocent
privilege
prosecution
provoke
switch
Dictation
Population Control
The world’s population continues to grow. //There are now about 4 billion of us
on earth.// That could reach 6 billion by the end of the century// and 11 billion in
another 75 years. //Experts have long been concerned about such growth. //But a
major new study shows that the situation may be changing. //A large and rapid
drop in the world’s birth rate has taken place during the past 10 years.
//Researchers said they found a number of reasons for this.// More men and
women are waiting longer to get married. //They are using birth control devices
to prevent or delay pregnancy.// More women are working at jobs instead of
having children. //More governments, especially in developing nations now
//support family planning programs to reduce population growth.// Several
nations in Europe already have fewer births than deaths. //Experts said that these
nations could face a serious shortage of workers in the future.//
III.
Word Derivation
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1.
He is a very ________ person. He will be sorry for what he said just now
when he calms down.(excite)
2.
The atmosphere at work at the moment is quite _______. (bear)
3.
They ______
4.
Doctors guilty of neglect are liable to _________. (prosecute)
5.
The slaves were treated with ________ cruelty. (sick)
a number of works of art and sold them as genuine. (forgery)
Key: excitable, unbearable, forged, prosecution, sickening
IV.
Translation
1. 这家公司声称对这起河流污染事件不付任何责任。(claim)
The company claims (that) it is not responsible for the pollution in the river.
2. 警方认为他就是凶手，但所有的证据却显示并不是这样。(otherwise)
The police believe he is the thief, but all the evidence suggests otherwise.
3. 在这幅名画被盗的三天之后，警方逮捕了两名嫌犯。(alleged)
Three days after the famous painting was stolen, two alleged thieves were
arrested by the police.
4. 他被控告一级谋杀，并被判终身监禁。(charge)
He was charged with first-degree murder and was sentenced to life
imprisonment.
5. 我想你应该向我解释一下。(owe)
I think you owe me an explanation.
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Lesson 6
I. Objectives
1. Helping students recognize and appreciate the writing techniques of a successful
narration.
2. Drawing students’ attention to the use of the key grammar in this text: modal
verbs.
3. Making use of this text as an opportunity to organize a discussion on the judicial
system in the United States.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
10. The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the
first half of the text ( 2 hours)
11. The study of the second half of the text (2 hours)
12. Review of the story and the study of the exercise from P.178-187 (2 hours)
III. Key Points
15. Key vocabulary as is indicated in the teaching notes
16. Key grammar as is indicated in the teaching notes
17. Important sentence as is indicated in the teaching notes
IV. Suggested Class Activities
7. Describe the twelve jurors
8. Encourage the students to act out the play or act out a play they write in
imitation of the text based on real cases in China
9. Make students sort out all the evidence against the boy and let them describe
how it is torn piece by piece, in their own words
V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
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2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 6
Text A: Twelve Angry Men (Part Two)
I. Morning Report
II. Weekly Quiz
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
5. Divide students into several groups, and ask them to report what they have found to
the class to better their understanding of the text. Also ask students to prepare their
questions about the text.
6. Ask them to have a group discussion on the following topics:
c. How do you like the story?
d. What is the main idea of the story?
e. Why do you think the author gives “The 12 Angry Men” as the title of the play?
Why are these people so angry? Do you agree that strong emotions can often
affect our judgment?
B. In-class Tasks
1. Work on the comprehension of the text. You may ask the students to analyze the text
or you may ask some questions about the text. Questions may include:
A. What is the question raised by No.11? How do those still voting guilty try to
explain why the boy risked being caught and came back 3 hours after he had killed
his father?
B. No.7 says that the old man ran to the door. Is that a faithful description of what
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happened?
C. One important piece of testimony against the boy is the fact that he couldn’t even
remember the name of the film he saw at the night of the murder. How does No.8
prove that it is not impossible?
D. What does No.10 say that disgusts almost everybody and discredits whatever else
he has to say?
E. What does No. 4 consider “the unshakable testimony”? How is this “unshakable”
testimony finally shaken?
F. What finally makes No.3 change his vote?
G. What is the conclusion of the jury in the end? Do they prove the boy innocent? Is
there any possibility that the jury is wrong after all? Do you think No.8 is still right to
do what he does even if the boy should turn out to be the real murderer?
2. Detailed study of the text (please also refer to the reference book)
a. pace off (out):to measure out 12 feet by taking steps of equal length.(para. 36)
b. take cake: (AmE) spoken to be worse than anything else you can imagine.(para.43)
c. You bet: Of course; Certainly; You can be sure (para.47)
d. run for one’s life: to leave quickly because your life is in danger(para. 62)
e. run the show: to be in charge of the whole thing (para. 62)
f. break the tie: to put an end to the situation in which those who vote yes and those
who vote no are even in number.(para.99)
g. 9 to 3 in favor of acquittal: 9 people for acquittal and 3 against.(para. 112)
3. Exercises
A. Exercise 4: verbal phrases involved
cut in
插嘴
Don't cut in while I'm talking.
我说话时别插嘴。
超车抢挡；（突然）插入
to cut in on a queue
加塞儿
cut off
切断, 断绝, 剥夺继承权
cut down
砍倒；砍伤；砍死
to cut down a tree with an axe
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用斧头把树砍倒
减少；减低
to cut down on smoking
减少抽烟
损害…健康；使残废；（疾病）杀害
cut out
剪除；切掉；割掉, 去掉
to cut out a dress
裁剪衣服
停止；放弃
to cut out smoking
戒烟
cut into
侵犯, 打断，切成。。。
draw out
拉长；伸长
The child drew out the elastic until it measured a yard.
这小孩将橡皮筋拉至 1 码长。
（白天）渐长
离开
The train drew out.
火车开走了。
从银行提取（款）
大略说明
The committee drew out a plan for the reorganization.
委员会大略说明了改组的方案。
诱使说出；使…吐露实情
draw aside
把...拉开
拉到 一边
draw apart
分离, 拉到一边，疏远
draw up
草拟；写
I will draw up a scheme of it for you.
我将替你草拟这事的计划。
部署；配置；排列
The troops drew up on the parade ground.
军队在阅兵场排队。
（汽车）停在…
挺神气地站立着；笔挺地站着
draw into
(车船等)驶进, 开到； 引诱到。。。
B. exercise 5
1. incredible 和 incredulous
incredible“不可相信的，难以置信的”；incredible energy 惊人的能量，精力。
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incredulous“不相信的，表示怀疑的”；be incredulous of hearsay 不相信道听途说；
an incredulous look 怀疑的目光。
2. declare& announce
declare 经常用于正式场合,指“清楚, 有力地, 公开让人知道”, 如:
He declared his intention to run for office. 他宣布了自己参加竞选的想法。
announce 指“把人们关心或感兴趣的事正式公布于众”, 如
announce a sale 公布减价。
3. capture , catch, arrest
arrest: 指根据法律或命令进行逮捕并予以监禁或拘留。
capture: 指通过武力或计谋等，战胜抵抗而捉住敌人或动物。
catch: 普通用词，指捉住跑动或隐藏中的人或动物，一般指活捉。
4. annoy, disturb, trouble, bother
annoy 使烦恼；使生气 程度比较强烈
annoy with
生…的气
annoy at
讨厌某事
These flies are annoying me.
这些苍蝇真让人讨厌。
We're annoyed at his cavalier treatment of his old friends.
他用这种傲慢的态度对待老朋友,我们都感到气愤。
bother 和 disturb 常用于主动和被动两种形式中。用于被动时，bother 指常受到
时有时无的小事的烦扰。用于主动时，bother 的意思比 disturb 强，带有故意打
扰他人的意思。
If you return me the book, I will stop bothering you.你归还我的书后，
我就不打扰你了。
disturb 用于被动形式时，意思比 bother 强烈，有时甚至可指精神错乱。用在主
动形式时，意思最弱，指某人无意中打扰他人，这种打扰行为并非存心冲着他
人去的。
这个人精神错乱了。
trouble 比较正式些，指麻烦别人一件事而影响他人舒适、方便、效率、健康或
心境的平静等，如
May I trouble you for the book? 麻烦您把书递给我好吗?
IV. Homework
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Text B: Shot Actress – Full Story
1. About the author: H. E. Bates
H.E.Bates, perhaps best known to modern audiences from the film The
Triple Echo and the TV versions of
63
Fair Stood the Wind for France
and The Darling Buds of May, wrote over 600 short stories, and is acknowledged as a
master of the art.
presentation’ –
‘His tales have a dramatic vitality eminently adaptable to live
Ann Morley-Priestman, The Stage.
Acclaimed by Graham Greene as one of the best short story writers of the twentieth
century, H. E. Bates, in full Herbert Ernest Bates, was born in Rushden,
Northamptonshire on 16th May 1905. He was a popular writer whose work covered
many genres. He wrote poetry, plays and essays on the country and on gardening, but is
best known as a novelist and master short-story writer.
Bates attended Kettering Grammar School, where he met his English master, Edmund
Kirby, who was to instil in Bates a love of literature and inspired his ambition to
become a writer. With his poem ‘Armistice Day, November 11th 1920’, the school
magazine – ‘that universal graveyard of budding poets’ – gave him ‘the first of a host of
embarrassments of seeing myself in print’.
Bates left school at 16 and found his first job as a junior reporter in the Wellingborough
office of the Northampton Chronicle. Not settling here he moved on to work as a
warehouse clerk for a Rushden leather merchant. This job had the advantage of allowing
him the time to write. Left unsupervised he finished his daily tasks by 9.30am and then
spent the rest of the day working on his own writing. It was in this Rushden office that
he wrote his first novel, The Two Sisters.
His early short stories, essays, and novels in the 1920s were highly praised, but he
became well known as a writer about the countryside and the life of the agricultural
labourer with The Poacher (1935); A House of Women (1936); Through the Woods
(1936); My Uncle Silas (1940), widely enjoyed for its earthy, Rabelaisian humour; and
The Beauty of the Dead and Other Stories (1941). From 1932 he also wrote a regular
column ‘Country Life’ for the Spectator. His love of the Northamptonshire countryside
is reflected in his books. His detailed observations of country life and character and his
descriptions of the Northamptonshire landscape and architecture are a delight to read.
He describes Fotheringhay as a village ‘with a superb church standing like a small lost
cathedral over the graves of kings’ and Lilford as a place with ‘a stone humpbacked
bridge over the Nene that is not equalled anywhere in England.
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Bates married Marjorie Helen Cox at Rushden in 1931. They moved to Kent and made
their home at The Granary in the village of Little Chart. There Bates created a beautiful
garden out of what had originally been a wilderness.
World War II made Bates famous. Commissioned as a writer for the Royal Air Force in
1941, as "Flying Officer X" he gained great popularity with The Greatest People in the
World (1942) and How Sleep the Brave (1943), collections of stories that conveyed the
feel of flying in wartime. Fair Stood the Wind for France (1944), about a British
bomber crew forced down in occupied France (and the focus of Northamptonshire’s
upcoming centenary celebrations), remains one of Bates’ best-selling novels. The sights
and sounds of Bates’ last overseas assignment in the RAF, a tour of India and Burma to
gather material for writing stories of the war with Japan, influenced three novels
published in this country and in America under his own name. These novels, The Purple
Plain (1946), The Jacaranda Tree (1948) and The Scarlet Sword (1950) also helped to
earn Bates a new reputation as a novelist of power.
In his post-war novels and stories Bates reached the height of his powers. From The
Nature of Love (1954) to A Moment in Time (1964) and The Triple Echo (1970), he
developed consistently in subtlety, depth, and strength as a novelist, and in The Darling
Buds of May (1958) he created a realistic, lovable farm family, the Larkins. Some critics
felt that these stories were too lightweight in content, but the reading public was
delighted and took them to its heart as it had with Bates’ Uncle Silas stories in the early
1940s. Colonel Julian (1955) demonstrates his range in the short story, and the
autobiographical The Vanished World (1969) and The Blossoming World (1971) show
that he retained his power to capture the mood of the passing moment.
Bates was created a CBE in June 1973 and died on January 29, 1974, in Canterbury,
Kent. Bates was an avid reader and library user from a very young age. His local library
at Rushden features in his story The Bride comes to Evensford (1943). When this was
published Bates himself was already a much requested author there! Today the Bates
collection at Rushden library includes: a comprehensive collection of books by Bates,
including some limited editions; magazines to which he contributed; biographical,
critical and other studies of HE Bates and a file containing cuttings from the local and
national press about Bates’ life and work.
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2. About the writing
Shot Actress - Full Story!, was a poignant tale of a man whose life is turned upside
down after he finds his neighbor shot dead in her bathroom.
'Beautiful red-haired actress recluse dead in bathroom', scream the headlines in the
newspapers.
Sprake, a jeweller, was hounded by the press and in the town of Claypole, rumour
gossip and innuendo flourished, with devastating consequences. But who killed the
actress? And who is the man with the yellow tie?
3. About the text
paragraph 4
tangible:clear and definite; real
paragraph 4
busybody: (derog)person who interferes in other people’s affairs
paragraph 4
squint: look with eyes half shut or turned sideways, or through a narrow opening
paragraph 6
quid: (pl unchanged) one pound sterling
quids in (idm):in a position to profit from sth
paragraph 7
loose: (esp attrib) (of talk, behavior, etc) not sufficiently controlled
paragraph 8
on the off-chance (of doing sth/that…): in the hope of sth happening, although it is
unlikely
paragraph 11
loopy: (sl) crazy
Weekly quiz
E. Spelling
1. acquittal
6. alibi
11.arrogance
16.blunder
2. avenger
7. bunch
12. commotion
17. detective
3. display
8. testify
13. trot
18. yak
F. Dictation
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4. slob
9. stamp
14.eyesight
19. lousy
5.prejudice
10. scarlet
15. lunge
20.intimidate
Airplane Engines
In 1945 a new type of airplane engine was invented.// It was much lighter and
more powerful than earlier engines,// and enabled warplanes to fly faster and higher
than ever.// This type of engine was called the jet engine// because it blows a large jet of
hot air backwards at high speed.// The first airplane to use the new jet engine was built
in Britain// and it began carrying passengers in 1952.// It had two jet engines and flew
much higher than petrol-engine airplanes.// At this height the air is thinner and very
cold,// and so the airplane can cut through the air more easily.// However, the cabin has
to be air-conditioned and has to be at normal pressure// so that the passengers may eat,
read and sleep in comfort.//
Today all long-distance airplanes have jet engines.// The modern jet airplanes are
very big and can carry hundreds of passengers on two different floors,// which makes air
travel much cheaper.
(160 words)
G. Translation the Following Phrases and Expressions
治理国家
to run the country
掩盖失误
to cover one’s blunder
跺脚
to stamp one’s feet
做一示范
to give a demonstration
摆出证据
to present the evidence
歪曲事实
to twist the fact
重现当时情景
to recreate the scene
设身处地
to put oneself in sb’s place
打破平衡僵局
to break the tie
做深呼吸
to take a deep breath
H. Translate the Following Sentences
1. 如果你保持这些坏习惯，你就得冒失去健康的危险。（stick to ）
If you stick to these bad habits, you will risk losing your health.
2. 假如我万一考砸了，我是否还有资格补考一次？（be entitled to sth）
If I should fail, am I entitled to a makeup exam?
3. 请提醒大家，明天的排球比赛延期了。(put off)
Please remind everybody that tomorrow’s volleyball match has been put
67
off.
4. 我仍然更喜欢让父母年老的时候和我们住在一起。(in favor of )
I am still in favor of having my parents live with us in their old age.
5. 今天所有国有企业都必须自己承担亏损。(bear)
Today all state-owned enterprises must bear their responsibilities for
their losses.
Lesson 7
I. Objectives
1. Helping students appreciate the quick wits displayed by both parties and the
charm of the English language used in the verbal fencing.
2. Consolidating grammar points or structures such as conditional clauses (real and
unreal), passive infinitives, present participles and gerunds.
3. Key words study: due, to inform, to adopt, to rob, to reach.
4. Draw students’ attention to the vivid descriptions in the text.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
13. The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the
text ( 2 hours)
14. The study of the text (2 hours)
15. Exercises and the quiz (2 hours)
III. Key Points
18. Key vocabulary as indicated in the teaching notes
19. Key grammar as is indicated in the teaching objectives
20. Important sentences as indicated in the teaching notes
IV. Suggested class activities
10. Ask students to act the whole text or part(s) of the text out.
11. Try the selected oral work on P.207 in the exercise.
12. Ask students to have group discussion on the topic about who was the winner in
the rivalry.
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V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 7
Text A: The Rivals
I. Morning Report
II. Weekly Quiz
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
Finish the exercises on P207.
B. In-class Tasks
3. Ask the students about what is the clue of the story that runs through the whole
text.
4. Ask and help students to pick out all the descriptive words, phrases and
sentences in the story.
5. Detailed study of the text (Please also refer to the reference book)
Language points:
1. The train was traveling at a good sixty miles an hour… (Para.1)
a good sixty miles: at least sixty miles, perhaps more
2. The only other occupant of the carriage…(Para.1)
The only other person in the carriage/car
occupant: someone who is in a room, vehicle, etc at a particular time
carriage: in American English, car or compartment
3. Then the two men exchanged a sharp glance…(Para.1)
Then the two men looked at each other briefly and severely.
Notice that “to look sharply” usually means to look in a critical and disapproving way.
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But here no emotion of any kind is revealed.
4. Mr. Harraby-Ribston resumed his seat and sat for a while puffing a little and with a
heightened color as a result of his exertion.
(Para.1)
resumed his seat : went back to his seat; sat down again.
puffing: breathing quickly and with difficulty after running or carrying heavy loads etc.
heightened color: increased color ( his face looked redder.)
as a result of his exertion: because he had exerted himself; because he had made such
an effort
5. Mr. Crowther’s glance had betrayed not the smallest emotion.
(Para.1)
Mr. Crowther’s look did not show any feelings. He did not show any surprise or even
interest.
To betray: to show feelings you are trying to hide.
6. Mr. Harraby-Ribston’s curiosity was violently aroused. (Para.1)
This made Mr. Harraby-Ribston extremely curious.
Some collocations of “to arouse”: arouse fear
arouse anger
arouse interest
7. …he began to feel that he had merely made a fool of himself in the eyes of his
companion. (Para1)
…he began to feel that he had only made himself appear stupid and ridiculous.
To make a fool of sb.: to make sb. look stupid
in the eyes of: in the opinions of; in the judgment of
8. …in which event he would perhaps inform the police when they reached their
destination (Para1)
Notice that the relative pronoun “which” here stands for the whole situation stated in the
that-clause.
in the event of: in case of
--According to the treaty, the two countries will fight together in the event of a war.
--In the event of a fire, people on the top floors can use these mini-parachutes to save
their lives.
9. Such were the thoughts that buzzed round Mr. Harraby-Ribston, robbing him of the
satisfaction and refreshment that were his due.
(Para.1)
These thoughts were moving around quickly in Mr. Harraby-Ribston’s mind, and they
took away his hope that his action would give him an interesting conversation, which
he thought he deserved.
To buzz around: to move around quickly with a sound like the buzzing of a bee
To rob sb. of sth.: to take away sth that belongs to sb.
Refreshment: here, the experience of being made to feel less tired and bored
One’s due: sth one has a right to, eg.
-- I just want to take what is my due. Not a penny more.
70
-- The first prize went to Zhang, which we all thought was her due.
10. Mr. Crowther, for his part, had also suffered some distraction. (Para 2)
For his part: used to say that when compared to someone else, this person also…
To suffer distraction: to experience unpleasant distraction
11. The fellow was obviously counting o him for a violent reaction, and so Mr.
Crowther made a point of not reacting.
(Para 2)
Make a point of doing sth.: to do sth. deliberately so that people notice, eg
-- He always makes a point of letting people know that he is an artist.
-- He always makes a point of casually dropping some important names to show that he
is well-connected.
12. Mr. Crowther considered it an annoying infringement of his privacy.
to infringe: to do sth. against a law or sb’s rights
--to infringe the intellectual property rights
--to infringe sb’s privacy
(Para 2)
13. I don’t know about that. Surely, surely, my dear sir, it was…
(Para 7)
I don’t know about that: used to show that you slightly disagree with what the other
person has just said.
14. Mr. Crowther reflected. “ I don’t know that I have; but then, to the best of my
recollection, I’ve never seen a man eat a raw turnip in the train or dance a Highland
Fling during family prayers for that matter.
(Para 8)
to reflect: to think carefully about sth.
to the best of my recollection: (fml) as far as I can remember
or…for that matter: used to say that what you are saying about one thing is also true
about sth. else, eg.
-- He has never lifted a finger against anybody. He can never kill a man or harm an ant
for that matter.
-- We must not follow our parents’, our teachers’ or anybody’s advice blindly for that
matter
15. and in saying this I make no reference to the quality of the leather,… (Para 14)
in saying this: when I say this; by saying this
to make (no) reference to: to refer to
16. Only in so far as they affect mine.
(Para 16)
Only to the degree that they affect mine.
17. launched out
to launch out: to burst out or plunge boldly into a speech or action
18. Clothes, hairbrushes and so on all have their associations, and associations are
precisely what I want to be rid of. Hence my rather unusual action. (Para 23)
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Clothes, hairbrushes and so on are all somewhat related to my marriage and will bring
back memories, which I want to bury for ever. That was why I threw out that suitcase.
to be rid of: to have got rid of sth so that it will not bother you any more.
19. I’m no chicken, I admit. (Para 23)
I’m no longer a child, I admit.
20. “You seem to me,” said Mr. Crowher, “ a man much given to surprise.” (Para 26)
“You seem to me,” said Mr. Crowher, “a man quite easily surprised.”
to be given to: to tend to do sth, esp sth you should not do, eg.
-- She is much given to giggling.
-- I remember a man I used to share an apartment with, who was much given to
daydreaming.
21. “While you, I take it,” Mr. Harraby-Ribston snapped back, “pride yourself on
being surprised by nothing.”
(Para 27)
It was a quick retort. Mr. Harraby-Ribston wanted Mr. Crowther to know that to try so
hard to show that he was surprised by nothing is also ridiculous.
I take it: I assume; I suppose; I gather
to snap back: to respond quickly and in an annoyed way
Notice the difference between the following two expressions involving the word “pride”
To pride oneself on (doing) sth.
To take a pride in (doing) sth.
Examples: -- She takes a great pride in keeping her apartment spotlessly clean.
-- He prides himself on having many fancy titles.
22. Not quite that. Leaving one’s wife involves leaving one’s home, and that was out of
the question.
(Para 32)
Not quite (that): Not exactly (used to show that what the other person said is not
completely true.)
to be out of the question: not possible or not allowed
23. I have them to myself. (Para 32)
to have sth/sb (all) to myself: to be the only person in a place , using sth., talking to sb
etc.
--My husband is away from home. So now I can have the computer all to myself.
--At long last I had her all to myself. I was bursting with questions for her.
24. all curiosity once more (Para 35)
looking extremely curious once more
all curiosity (all smiles/ innocence/ wrinkles/ tears etc): used to emphasize that
someone or sth has a particular quality of appearance. Eg
--This time when they saw him, they were all smiles.
--She asked her son whether he had eaten the rest of the cake, he said no. He was all
innocence.
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25. “ I don’t think…that my particular method would be quite in your line.” (Para
38)
I don’t think that my particular method would be to your taste or would be suitable for
you.
be in sb’s line: to be the type of thing that sb is interested in or good at, eg
--Public speech is not in my line.
--Everybody thinks that teaching is in her line.
26. …(it) might land you in a very uncomfortable position (Para 42)
(it) might put you in a very awkward position. The word “uncomfortable” is also an
understatement.
27. “Quite! Quite!” said Mr. Harraby-Ribston, who, by now, was worked up to a
dangerous pitch of excitement. (Para 45)
quite: BrE used to show that you agree with what someone is saying.
to be worked up: to be very excited about sth
to a certain pitch: to a certain degree; to a certain level or height
28. Mr. Harraby-Ribston took the disclosure remarkably well. (Para 47)
to take sth well: to react well when you find out,eg.
--He took it quite well when the doctor told him the truth.
C. Discussion:
What kind of traveling companion do you want?
Text B: The Open Window
1. About the author
Hector Hugh Munro, or Saki was a satirist and author
with a taste for the witty and outrageous. Saki wrote most
of his best work for newspapers such as the Westminster
Gazette, Daily Express, Bystander, Morning Post and
Outlook. A master of the short story, Saki entertains like
few other writers do at the first reading. It is on
subsequent readings that one is made aware of the sheer
beauty and ease of Saki's language.
Christopher Morley writes that Saki provides one
an excellent introduction to "the mysterious jungles of English humour, a savage
country with birds of unexpected plumage." Saki is often compared to O. Henry, but I
rather suspect his stance is more closely related to Dorothy Parker's. In any case, Saki
speaks for himself and indeed it is quite difficult to speak of Saki.
Saki was a student of European history and gifted with a prodigious memory, if
he had continued to write historical tracts (as his first book was) it is not improbable
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that the study of history would be looked upon today as a rather light endeavour. Saki
was eminently capable of saving an entire discipline from a doddering reputation. His
varied interests are apparent in his political satires, short stories and plays. Saki loved
wild animals and had a knack of finding the most interesting individuals and places
wherever he went.
2. About the writing
"The Open Window'' is Saki's most popular short story. It was first collected in
Beasts and Super-Beasts in 1914. Saki's wit is at the height of its power in this story of a
spontaneous practical joke played upon a visiting stranger. The practical joke recurs in
many of Saki's stories, but "The Open Window'' is perhaps his most successful and best
known example of the type. Saki dramatizes here the conflict between reality and
imagination, demonstrating how difficult it can be to distinguish between them. Not
only does the unfortunate Mr. Nuttel fall victim to the story's joke, but so does the
reader. The reader is at first inclined to laugh at Nuttel for being so gullible. However,
the reader, too, has been taken in by Saki's story and must come to the realization that
he or she is also inclined to believe a well-told and interesting tale.
"The Open Window" brilliantly portrays how one's nerves affect his/her personality.
As Framton embarks on a trip intended as a "nerve cure," he finds himself in an
unfamiliar situation that ultimately has a negative effect on his seemingly nervous
personality. The story allows students and teachers a glimpse at the reality of two
characters, and, ultimately, the reader will side with one of the characters in the story.
This is a perfect story for a rainy day or during the fall season!].Vera, a self-possessed
young lady, takes it upon herself to entertain Mr. Nuttel, a nervous newcomer to the
countryside, by letting her imagination run wild.
3. About the text
Vocabulary:
1. snipe - a type of wading bird
2. pariah - member of lowest class in India; a social outcast
3. rectory - a home occupied by a minister or clergy
4. moor - a broad area of open land, often high but poorly drained, with patches of
heath and peat bogs
5. bog - soft, waterlogged ground; a marsh
6. falter - to be unsteady in purpose or action, as from loss of courage or
confidence; waver
7. infirmities - frailties; disabilities
8. imminent - about to occur; impending
Weekly Quiz
I. Spelling
1. detachment
6. languid
2. disclosure
7. occupant
3. evidently
8. refreshment
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4. infringement
9. trivial
5. flinch
10. humiliate
11. insignificant 12. infallible
13. rivalry
14. occurrence
15. shrug
16. reference
17. extraordinary 18. airily
19. primitive
20. confess
II. Word derivation
1. There is great __________ between the two sisters. (rival) rivalry
2. The car plunged into the river, killing all its __________. (occupy) occupants
3. As she waited, her fears__________. (high) heightened
4. He always keeps to himself and is not fond of being with people. He is very
________. (society) unsociable
5. So what if I did get the answer wrong? I’m not ________, you know! (fallible)
infallible
（这句话的意思是：我确实把答案弄错了又怎么样？我可不是绝无差错的，你
知道。）
III. Dictation:
After an hour’s flying// I noticed black clouds ahead through my window. //My
nervousness immediately returned. //An electric sign flashed on//: “Fasten your seat
belts, please,” //and one of the hostesses made a similar request over the loud speakers.
//She told us we were about to fly into a storm//but added cheerfully there was nothing
to worry about. //Then very suddenly it rose twenty feet// and a great flash of lightning
lit up the passenger compartment. //For five minutes the three hostesses did their best//
to give out anti-sickness pills and comfort the passengers. //The plane rose and fell.
//Then we noticed it was climbing higher and higher. //The sky became light again and
soon we were flying steadily. //
IV. Translation. (C-E)
1. 据知道内情的人说，经济已陷入困境。(know n.)
People in the know say the economy’s in trouble. (考察 P204 的练习 3))
2. 比赛最后打成平局。
The match ended in a draw/tie. (考察 P204 的练习 3))
3. 正式的合同将在适当的时候寄给你。 （due）
A formal contract will be sent to you in due course. （考察 P204 的 word study 里的
due）
4. 我们的目标是建立一个富裕、自由和公正的社会。但是我们不付出痛苦的代价
是达不到这个目的的。
Our goal is to build a society that is rich, free and just. But we can’t reach that
destination without pain and suffering.
5. 他说要不是因为有以前的科学家为他开辟了道路，他是不会成功的。
He said that he wouldn’t have succeeded if scientists before him hadn’t paved the
way for him.
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Lesson 8
I. Objectives
1. Helping students recognize and appreciate the writing techniques of a successful
argumentation and its theme.
2. Drawing students’ attention to the use of the key grammar in this text: object
complement and passive forms.
3. The learning and use of the key vocabulary in addressing the problem of moral
principles.
4. Making use of this text as an opportunity to inspire students to discuss their views
on what constitute moral actions.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
16. The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the
first part of the text ( 1.5 hours)
17. The study of the second part & the exercise from P.242-248 (1.5 hours)
18. The study of the last part of the text & the exercise from P.237-241 (1.5 hours)
III. Key Points
21. Key vocabulary as is indicated in the teaching notes
22. Key grammar as is indicated in the teaching notes
23. Important sentence as is indicated in the teaching notes
IV. Suggested class activities
13. Ask students to present their pre-class homework as well as their questions
about the text orally.
14. Try the selected oral work on P. 236 in the exercise.
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15. Ask students to have group discussion on the author’s views as well as the
theme of this article.
V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 8
Text A: We’re Only Human
I. Morning Report
II. Weekly Quiz
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
7. Divide students into several groups, and ask them to report what they have found to
the class to better their understanding of the text. Also ask students to prepare their
questions about the text.
8. Ask students to have a group discussion on the following topics:
f. What are the author’s views on being a “human”?
g. What are three Cs?
h. How does “happiness”differ from “pleasure”?.
B. In-class Tasks
1. General structure:
A. The general presentation of the author’s views on being a “human”: (par 1- par 7)
B. Three Cs: (par 8 – par 30)
ⅰ Character (par 8-16)
1. Character: The First C (par 8-10)
2. When can I get rewards? (par 11-16)
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ⅱ. Courage (par 17- 19)
ⅲ. Conscience (par 20- 30)
1. Conscience: The Third C (par 20-23)
2. “Happiness” and “pleasure”: (par 24 – par 29)
3. A Good Conscience Has Its Perks ( par 30)
9. Detailed study of the text (please also refer to the reference book)
A. The general presentation of the author’s views on being a “human”: (par 1- par
7)
★ Questions to be discussed:
a. What is the final excuse people use to justify their wrong doings?
b. Why did the author feel “quivering” to hear this excuse? What should
distinguish human being from animals?
c. What is the example given by the author to better illustrate her ideas?
d. Does the author agree with one of the First Principles “survival of the fittest”?
How can you tell?
e. How to be altruistic and yet derive pleasure?
★ Language points and important sentences
a. Nobody is acknowledged to have free will or responsibility any more.
Everyone is the product of causation. There are no longer individuals, just
victims in groups. {par 1}
Nobody is acknowledged to have free will or responsibility any more:
People no longer admit that every person has a free will to decide to do or not to
do, and therefore should be responsible for their actions or behavior.
Everyone is the product of causation. There are no longer individuals, just
victims in groups:
The author is referring to the behaviorist theory that human behavior is a
response to external stimulation, and therefore is genes-determined. In this
sense human beings have no free will, they are all victims of these external
causes as a group.
The author is clearly opposed to this theory and is deeply disturbed by the
implications.
78
b. As if one’s humanness were a blueprint for instinctive, reflexive reactions
to situations, like the rest of the animal kingdom. {par 2 }
As if the fact we are human were a kind of detailed plan which determines how
we react to situations. This reaction is instinctive and natural just like with all
animals, insects, birds.
Reflexive reactions: something you do when you react to a situation without
thinking
c. ……there is something extra special about the human mind that leads us….
to take that extra step past some action that makes sense on only the basis
of “ survival of the fittest”, or “survival of me”. {par 5}
…… there is something special about the human mind which can make us go
beyond selfish actions, actions that can only be explained by the need for
survival.
The author obviously is opposed to the idea that the Darwinist theory of the
“survival of the fittest” can also apply to human beings, and she sarcastically
rephrases this theory to “survival of me”.
d. to forgo immediate pleasure and benefit another person at some expense of
the self, ….eliminating the investment concept of reciprocal altruism and
restoring character to its rightful place in our lives. {par 7}
to forgo: to decide to not do or have something, esp something enjoyable
at the expense of : with some harm done to, e.g.
⑴ We have been developing our economy at the expense of our
environment.
⑵ It is unwise to increase production at the expense of quality.
eliminating the investment concept: Often people do things to benefit others
so that some day those people will do things to benefit them in return. So what
they do to others today is basically a kind of investment. The author here is very
critical about this attitude, and she calls it the investment concept.
restoring character to its rightful place in our lives: returning character to its
important position.
Character: moral strength
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B. Three Cs: (par 8 – par 30)
i. Character (par 8 – 16)
1. Character: The First C ( par 8 – par 10)
★ Questions to be discussed:
a. What is the first C?
b. What does “character” mean here? And how does the author define it?
c. Except brute strength, what are the other factors that can also forge
character?
d. How can we tell if a person has little “ character” ?
★ Language points and important sentences:
a. ….character, which I once heard defined as “ What you are when no
one else is looking.” { par 8}
If you do good things when no one else is looking it means no one will
know what you have done. It will then mean that you can never get
anything in return. It means that you are doing what you are doing not for
returns of any kind, but because you feel happier doing them. This is how
character was once defined, and the author obviously agreed with it.
b. to honor his commitments to others. {par 10}
to do what he has committed to do to others; to do his duty; to respect his
obligations to others.
2. When can I get rewards? ( par 11- 16)
★ Questions to be discussed:
a. Summarize the example with your partner
b. What can we draw from Tony’s case?
c. What would you do if you were Tony? Why?
★ Language points and important sentences:
a. I don’t think I’m being selfish. { par 13}
Notice the difference between “being selfish” and “be selfish.”
b. If I could project you fifteen years into the future and you could look
back at this time in you life, what would you want to see yourself
having done? { par 14}
80
to project: to throw
to see sb having done something: compare with: to see sb do sth; to see sb
doing sth.
c. Clearly, to resist the inner drive toward self- indulgence over character
requires a value system that judges some behaviors as better than
others.
the inner drive toward self- indulgence over character: the desire to
enjoy life rather than defend one’s character.
ii. Courage (par 17- 19)
★ Questions to be discussed:
f. What are the differences between “ sustaining life” and “living life”?
g. What is the importance of “courage” ?
★ Language points and important sentences:
i.
Courage is to life what broth is to soup. { par 18}
Courage is as important to life as broth is to soup.
More examples:
i.
People are to the revolutionary soldiers what water is to the fish.
ii.
This mighty river is to the nation what the chief blood artery is to a
man.
iii. Conscience (par 20- 30)
1. Conscience: The Third C (par 20-23)
★ Questions to be discussed:
a. What is difference between “ guilt” and “shame” according to the author?
b. What does “conscience” consist of ?
c. Can you further explain what are “ compassion” , “empathy” and
“ identification”?
★ Language points and important sentences:
a. Conscience, our capacity to judge ourselves in moral terms and to
conform to those standards and values that we make a part of our inner
being, is also motivated by good feelings such as pride, compassion,
empathy, love and identification. { par 22}
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Notice how the author defines the word “ conscience” (please refer to the
reference book)
Compassion: a strong feeling of sympathy for someone who is suffering and
a desire to help them.
Empathy: the ability to understand other people’s feelings and problems
Identification: a strong feeling of sympathy with someone that enables you
to share their feelings.
to conform to : to obey
2. “Happiness” and “pleasure”: (par 24 – par 29)
★ Questions to be discussed:
a. Can you retell in your own words what are “happiness” and “pleasure” ?
b. How do you distinguish “happiness” from “pleasure”?
c. What would you like your life to be? A happy life or a fun life?
★ Language points and important sentences:
a. While a balance of both is a great formula for a satisfying life, the
confusion between the two, and the emphasis on the latter, have been
devastating to individuals as well as families, and inevitably, society.
{par 25}
Of course if we have a balanced amount of happiness and pleasure it would
be ideal. But if we confuse these two and put too much emphasis on pleasure,
then it will be very harmful to individuals, families and inevitably society.
a great formula: a wonderful set of principles worked out to achieve a
certain purpose
3. A Good Conscience Has Its Perks (par 30)
★ Questions to be discussed:
a. What are the rewards of good conscience according to the author?
★ Language points and important sentences:
a. something we impose upon ourselves in order to become complete human
beings. {par 30}
to impose on/ upon : to place something unpleasant on somebody. E.g.
a) Teachers sometimes have no choice but to impose strict rules on the
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students.
b) I’m not going to impose it on you. But it will be for your own good
if you could keep a diary in English.
Group discussion: P 237, 2
IV Homework
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Text B: Button, Button
I. About the author and the text:
Richard Matheson is one of the most influential writers ever to grace
the field of speculative fiction. He has probably touched a greater
audience than any other living writer in his field, with the possible
exception of Stephen King. You don't believe me, I know. He can't be
that good, you say, because you don't even know his name. It's true
that he isn't as famous as Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Dean Koontz,
or Chris Carter. But every one of these better-known artists has
named Matheson as a major influence and inspiration. And unless
you've managed to completely ignore television, film and horror
fiction for the last forty-five years, you definitely know his work.
Ever seen "Duel", Steven Spielberg's first feature-length movie? Sure you have, they
show it on TV at least once a month. Richard Matheson wrote it. "The Incredible
Shrinking Man" - or "Woman"? Richard Matheson. The Twilight Zone episode
"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" - you know, the one where the guy sees the gremlin eating
the plane's engines? Richard Matheson wrote that, along with most of the other really
good Twilight Zone episodes. "What Dreams May Come"? You guessed it. "The
Omega Man"? Ditto. That Star Trek episode where Kirk was split into good Kirk and
evil Kirk? Matheson. And a hundred other great moments on TV and film. Matheson
wrote almost every one of the scariest scenes on television - the stories people
remember forty years later and say wistfully, "they don't make scary shows on TV
anymore". Remember the horrible African doll chasing Karen Black in "Trilogy of
Terror"? Yeah. Matheson. Just about every horror writer since then has tried to rewrite
that story, and none of them did it half as well. Hang on, let me go back to the
beginning. You'll see.
Richard Matheson was born in Allendale, NJ on February 20, 1926. He started writing
as a child, publishing several stories and poems in a local newspaper. His first
professional sale, the short story "Born of Man and Woman", debuted in the Magazine
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of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950. Like many of his works to follow, it was a
blend of dark fantasy and science fiction. Matheson himself has said that he never
meant for it to be science fiction, yet it has been recognised as an SF classic many times
since its publication.
In the next few years he wrote numerous short stories, which were very successful, and
two commercially successful but rather forgettable novels. Then, in 1954, he wrote "I
Am Legend", which was a breakout hit and is generally regarded as one of the finest
vampire novels ever written. Using an average of one adjective every two paragraphs,
Matheson somehow manages to project a multitude of emotions into the story of Robert
Neville, the last `normal' male alive in a world full of vampires. The book is only 174
pages long, but it's astonishingly rich. Using science fiction rationalizations to explain
one of the great horror tropes, "I Am Legend" rises far above the pack in both genres. In
a word, classic. It has been adapted for film three times (with another version presently
stuck in development Hell), but none of the adaptations have even come close to the
power of the novel. George Romero's film "Night of the Living Dead" is suspiciously
similar to "I Am Legend", and is a better adaptation than any of the credited versions.
Matheson followed "Legend" with the novel "The Shrinking Man", another huge
success. This time the hero found himself alienated by his changing size. Once again,
the simplest of horror plots - the hero, a businessman named Scott Carey, finds himself
shrinking away at a rate of 1/8" per day and that's the whole story - is used as a
springboard for Matheson to explore some surprisingly deep themes about modern
society. A few dramatic confrontations, such as the battle between the hero and a black
widow, made it an instant best-seller, but what really drives the book is Carey's inner
battle against a feeling of helplessness, and his search for a self-definition that does not
rely on size or material success. Matheson immediately sold the film rights to Universal,
with the stipulation that he would write the screenplay.
Writing for movies had been his goal from the very beginning, and from this time
onwards, Matheson was constantly in demand to write adaptations and original
screenplays for numerous horror films and TV projects. He began by writing many
episodes for The Twilight Zone, amongst them fan favourites such as "Third from the
Sun". This episode, based on Matheson's own short story, introduced the concept of a
group of interstellar refugees fleeing to the Earth. No, it wasn't Glen A. Larson's idea.
Following his work on Twilight Zone, Matheson was hired to adapt Poe's works for film
by American International Pictures. Then he co-wrote the wonderful "Burn, Witch,
Burn", an adaptation of Fritz Leiber's great modern Gothic novel "Conjure Wife".
A series of minor works followed "Burn, Witch, Burn", with Matheson finding steady
employment and occasional breakthroughs, like the quintessential Star Trek episode
"The Enemy Within" and the TV movie "Duel", based on a novelette Matheson
originally published in Playboy and directed by the unknown Steven Spielberg. But his
next shining moment came in 1973, with "The Night Stalker".
"The Night Stalker" was not an original Matheson work. It was based on an unpublished
(and, according to Stephen King, quite bad) novel by Jeff Rice. But the adaptation bears
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the trademark Matheson touch. "Stalker" is a tale of a reporter named Carl Kolchak,
who works in Las Vegas and uncovers the story of a vampire stalking the city. It has
become one of the all-time classics of television horror, spawning a sequel ("The Night
Strangler", also written by Matheson) and a series which lasted only 20 episodes before
cancellation. Matheson refused to write any scripts for the series, perhaps understanding
that the basic concept of a reporter criss-crossing America and finding monsters in
every city was horribly flawed and doomed to failure. Somewhere along the line,
however, the idea made enough of an impression on the young Chris Carter that he
would later borrow Matheson's name for a character in his own version of "Kolchak, the
Night Stalker" - the X-Files.
Matheson spent the next two years churning out teleplays and short stories, most of
which were decent but not classics. "Trilogy of Terror", broadcast in 1975, was the
major standout. After "Trilogy", Matheson began to lighten his work load and
concentrate on novels once more. "Bid Time Return" sold well and was made into the
movie "Somewhere in Time". "What Dreams May Come" made a relatively small
splash, and had to wait twenty years for a film adaptation. After "Dreams", Matheson
began a slow fade into relative obscurity. During the Nineties he wrote several Western
novels, virtually disappearing from the specfic genres until two new adaptations of his
work came out - "Stir of Echoes", which was a good movie that won critics' praise but
got demolished at the box office by "The Sixth Sense", and "What Dreams May Come",
which polarized viewers into `loved it' and `hated it' camps almost equally. At present a
new adaptation is in the works - Eddie Murphy is remaking "The Incredible Shrinking
Man". Presumably this will be similar to Murphy's reworkings of "The Nutty Professor"
and "Dr. Dolittle", both extremely loose adaptations to say the least. This will
undoubtedly annoy Richard Matheson, as do most of the adaptations of his work. He is
happy with all the movies that have been made from his own screenplays, but actively
dislikes those that other writers have adapted. However, this doesn't keep him from
selling the rights to almost every story he writes.
BOOKS:
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Someone is Bleeding - 1953
Fury on Sunday - 1953
I Am Legend - 1954.
Born of Man and Woman - 1954 (collected stories)
Third from the Sun - 1955 (collected stories)
The Shrinking Man - 1956
The Shores of Space - 1957 (collected stories)
A Stir of Echoes - 1958
The Beardless Warriors - 1960
Shock! - 1961 (collected stories)
Shock II - 1964 (collected stories)
Shock III - 1966 (collected stories)
Shockwaves - 1970 (collected stories)
Hell House - 1971
Bid Time Return - 1975
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What Dreams May Come - 1978
Earthbound - 1982 (published under the name Logan Swanson)
The Twilight Zone: The Original Stories - 1985 (collected stories)
Richard Matheson: Collected Stories - 1989 (collected stories)
Through Channels - 1989
Journal of the Gun Years - 1991
7 Steps to Midnight - 1993
The Gunfight - 1993
By the Gun - 1993 (collected stories)
The Path - 1993 (nonfiction)
Shadow on the Sun - 1994
Now You See It... - 1995
The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok - 1996
Richard Matheson: The Twilight Zone Scripts - 1998 (collected scripts)
Passion Play - 2000
Hunger and Thirst - 2000
Mediums Rare - 2000
Camp Pleasant - 2000
Hunted Past Reason 2002
A Primer of Reality - 2002 (nonfiction)
And Now I'm Waiting - forthcoming (collected stories)
SCREENPLAYS:
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The Incredible Shrinking Man - 1957
The House of Usher - 1960 (adapted from Poe)
The Pit and the Pendulum - 1961 (adapted from Poe)
Master of the World - 1961 (adapted from Jules Verne)
Tales of Terror - 1962 (adapted from Poe)
Burn Witch Burn - 1962 (adapted from Fritz Leiber's "Conjure Wife")
The Raven - 1963 (adapted from Poe)
The Comedy of Terrors - 1963
Die! Die! My Darling! - 1965 (adapted from Anne Blaisdell's novel)
The Devil Rides Out - 1967
The Young Warriors - 1967 (adapted from "The Beardless Warriors")
The Legend of Hell House - 1973 (adapted from "Hell House")
Dead of Night - 1977
Somewhere In Time - 1980 (adapted from "Bid Time Return")
Twilight Zone - The Movie - 1983 (segment "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet")
Jaws 3-D - 1983 (it wasn't his fault. He was the third of four writers brought in
to work on this script, OK?)
Loose Cannons - 1990
TELEPLAYS:
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Twilight Zone episodes: from 1959 on, too many to list here. Matheson was the
third most frequent writer for TZ. Fan favourites include "The Invaders", "Steel",
and of course "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet".
Combat!: Forgotten Front - 1962
Star Trek: The Enemy Within - 1966
Duel - 1971
The Night Stalker - 1972 (adapted from a novel by Jeff Rice)
Ghost Story - 1972 (adapted from a story by Elizabeth M. Walker)
The Night Strangler - 1973 (adapted from a novel by Jeff Rice)
Dying Room Only - 1973
Bram Stoker's Dracula - 1974 (adapted from you-know-what)
Scream of the Wolf - 1974 (adapted from a story by David Case)
The Morning After - 1974 (adapted from a novel by Jack B. Weiner)
The Stranger Within - 1974
Trilogy of Terror - 1975 (includes two segments adapted from Matheson stories
by William F. Nolan, and one segment, "Amelia" adapted by Matheson from his
story "Prey".)
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver - 1977
The Martian Chronicles - 1980 (adapted from Ray Bradbury's novel)
The Twilight Zone: Button, Button - 1985
Amazing Stories: The Doll - 1985
Amazing Stories: One for the Books - 1986
The Dreamer of Oz - 1990
Trilogy of Terror II - 1996
ADAPTATIONS:
The following were all adapted by other writers from Matheson's stories and novels 
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The Last Man on Earth - 1964, from "I Am Legend"
Soy Leyenda - 1967, from "I Am Legend"
No Such Thing as a Vampire - 1968
Journey to the Unknown - 1968
It's Alive - 1969, from "Being"
The House That Dripped Blood - 1970, segment "Sweets to the Sweet"
The Omega Man - 1971, from "I Am Legend"
Cold Sweat - 1974, from "Ride the Nightmare"
Icy Breasts, AKA Someone is Bleeding - 1974, from "Someone is Bleeding"
The Incredible Shrinking Woman - 1981, from "The Shrinking Man"
What Dreams May Come - 1998
Stir of Echoes - 1999
The Incredible Shrinking Man - forthcoming in 2003?
I Am Legend - currently in Development Hell. Planned as a Will Smith vehicle.
Even odds on it sucking or being brilliant - Big Willie does have his moments.
II. About the writing:
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are unhappy. Their car is broken. They live in a cramped
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one-bedroom apartment. They're often bickering. One day, their doorbell rings but
there's nobody there. A package addressed to both of them was left by the door. Inside it
is a wooden box with a plastic dome on the locked lid. A note on the bottom says a "Mr.
Steward" will come that night. He comes on schedule and explains the offer to Mrs.
Lewis. If she unlocks the lid and pushes the button under the dome, someone they don't
know will die and she'll receive $50,000, tax-free. She tells the details to her husband
and he's adamantly against it. He opens up the bottom of the box and finds nothing
inside. Cynical, he throws the box into a dumpster but she retrieves it after he's asleep.
They continue to argue about whether to push the button. Finally, Mrs. Lewis presses it.
At the same time, she got a phone call from the hospital telling her that her husband was
dead in an accident that morning and she can receive $ 50,000s’ life-insurance of her
husband. When she called Mr. Steward and asked him why it was her husband who died,
Mr. Steward answered: “ Do you really think you knew your husband?”
Weekly Quiz
I. Spelling
Altruistic causation commitment conniver devastating motivate protective
rationalization seduction self-advancement overwhelming indulgence transgression
transitory vibrancy inescapable initiative integrity obligatory reciprocal reflexive
reputation
II. Word Derivation
give ns of the following
devastate-devastation
conform-conformity invoke-invocation project-projection
exhilarate-exhilaration
procreate-procreation
sustain-sustenance
derive-derivation restore-restoraion
give vs of the following
contortion-contort
rationalization-rationalize
transgression-transgress
seduction-seduce destruction-destroy condemnation-condemn gratification-gratify
indulgence-indulge motivation-motivate survival-survive
III. Translation
1. 绝大多数的主要经济大国都愿意对全球生态保护承担义务。
Most of the leading economic powers in the world are committed to global
environmental protection.
2. 这个条约规定所有成员国都有义务发展他们的合作。
This treaty commits all member nation to develop their cooperation.
3. 世界上很多东西都需要很好平衡。一旦失去平衡，麻烦就来了。
Many things in this world require a good balance. Once you lose balance, troubles
begin.
4. 我认为利用他们的困难捞好处事不道德的。
I think it immoral to take advantage of their difficulty.
5. 他们的事迹使我们考虑在类似的情况下我们会做什么。
Their stories set us wondering what we would do under similar circumstances.
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6. 西方有些政治学家相信实力的平衡会导致世界和平。
Some political scientists in the West believe that a balance of power could lead to
world peace.
IV. Dictation
Jogging is running slowly for long distances. Every day, in all kinds of weather,
many thousands of men and women jog. Why has jogging become so popular? Most
joggers begin because they hear it is very good exercise. Jogging makes the heart
stronger and helps people lose weight. It can also help them feel better about themselves.
Should you jog too? If you do, be sure to ask your doctor for advice. It is important to
have a good pair of shoes that were made especially for jogging. They protect your feet
and legs from the shock of running on hard surfaces. Jog with a friend and talk to each
other as you run. Remember not to go too far too soon. You should walk the first few
times, and then do some short jogs. (135 words)
Lesson 9
I. Objectives
1. Helping students recognize and appreciate the writing techniques of a successful
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narration and description of characteristics and the scene.
2. Drawing students’ attention to the use of the key grammars in this text:
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rhetorical questions
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exclamatory sentences
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the function of “what” and “how”
3. The learning and use of the key vocabulary describing the
characteristics’ personalities, the psychology of the characteristics
and the scenery of the environment
4. Making use of this text as an example to inspire students to discuss problems that
deal with the relations between the genders.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
1. The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the
first part of the text (2 hours)
2. The study of the second part & the exercise from P.274-279 (2 hours)
3. The study of the last part of the text & the exercise from P.270-273 (2 hours)
III. Key Points
1. Key vocabulary as is indicated in the teaching notes
2. Key grammar as is indicated in the teaching notes
3. Important sentence as is indicated in the teaching notes
IV. Suggested class activities
Ask students to have group discussion on the psychological analyses of the text.
V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 9
Text A: A Dill Pickle
I. Morning Report
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II. Weekly Quiz
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
Divide students into several groups, and ask them to report what they have found to the
class to better their understanding of the text. Also ask students to prepare their
questions about the text.
B. In-class Tasks
 Questions to help comprehension and appreciation
1. Can you use your imagination on the basis of the clues provided in the text and
reconstruct the story of Vera and the man?
2. What do you know about Vera? Her age? Profession? Interest in life?
Education? Family life? Hobby? Personality and habits? What about the
man?
3. What do you think was the nature of their relationship six years earlier? What do
you think drew them together? Did they have anything in common? Was Vera
completely indifferent to the man? What do you think she saw in him? Why didn’t
she marry him then when he proposed to her? Had it been easy for her to decide to
reject him?
4. Can you describe the setting in which they met again six years later? How did Vera
feel when she met him? Was she prepared for the man’s reaction? Why did it take
the man so long to recognize Vera? What does it show? What had the man been
doing all those years? How about Vera? Did she feel happy with her life?
 Group discussion: How the story can successfully engage the readers’ interest and
emotion?
 Role-play of the narration (students can choose any part of the narration and design
a play)
 Ask students to pick out the new vocabulary relating to the personality, psychology
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of the main characters; Check their mastery of the important vocabulary of the text.
 General structure:
1．The reunion (par 1- par 2)
2．The recollection of one past incident revealing how immature he was(par 3- par 15)
3．The recollection of another past incident showing how close they used to be (par 16par 21)
4．The conversation on his traveling experiences (par 22- par 44)
5．The conversation disclosing further information about their past relationship (par
45- par 56)
6．The conclusion of their meeting (par 57- par 66)
 Detailed study of the text (please also refer to the reference book)
1. And then, after six years, she saw him again.
From this very first sentence we can infer that:
a) She had met him before. In fact they must have known each other quite well
although the exact nature of their relationship was not clear at this point.
b) For some reason, they had not seen each other for six years.
2. He was peeling an orange.
to peel an orange: to take off the peel of an orange, c.f.
to peel potatoes; to husk the ice; to shell the peas; to weed the garden; to skin a
cat; to gut the fish; to dust the tables
3. “Loathe it.” She shuddered.
to loathe: to hate very much
notice that it will be useful to know the synonyms of a word which are stronger in
meaning, e.g.
to dislike (to loathe); to like (to adore); small (tiny); big (huge, enormous,
immense, colossal); possible (probable); sure (positive); to surprise (to stun;
to shock); angry (furious); many (numerous); fine (excellent, superb); poor
(destitute); old (ancient)
4. But she was thinking how well she remembered that trick of his—the trick of
interrupting her—and of how it used to exasperate her six years ago.
Vera well remembered this trick of his—the trick of interrupting her.
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this trick of his: more emphatic than “his trick”.
“Look at that son of yours,” the husband shouted at his wife, “he stinks!”
I like that car of yours. It looks so beautiful.
to exasperate: to annoy, to vex, to irritate very much
This is perhaps the first clue that the man and Vera were lovers six years ago, but
the author is in no hurry to tell the readers the truth. She continues to keep them in
suspense.
5. I am still just as ignorant for all your telling me.
for all: in spite of all, e.g.
For all our efforts, we still couldn’t save his life.
For all his power, he is still the most despised person.
6. …behaving like a maniac about the wasps---waving them away, flapping at
them with his straw hat, serious and infuriated out of all proportion to the
occasion. How she had suffered.
What happened that afternoon that made Vera suffer? (He was so childish, trivial,
and ridiculous that she felt that he had made a fool of them both.)
Out of all proportion to the occasion: completely uncalled-for; totally unnecessary
under the circumstances
7. he was certainly far better looking now than he had been then. He had lost all
that dreamy vagueness and indecision. Now he had the air of a man who has
found his place in life. He must have made money, too. His clothes were
admirable, and…
Vera is secretly comparing the man now with what he was six years ago, and her
conclusion is the man has changed for the better. He has become better-looking and
much richer, and more mature.
dreamy vagueness and indecision: At that time, the man was much younger, full of
dreams, very unpractical, very unclear about what he should do with his life.
had the air of a man who…: looked like a man who…(air: manner, carriage,
bearing)
to find one’s place in life: to find a successful career
8. As he spoke, … she felt the strange beast that had slumbered so long within her
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bosom stir, stretch itself, yawn, prick up its ears, and suddenly bound to its feet,
and fix its longing, hungry stare upon those far away places.
the strange beast: It probably refers to her long-cherished wish to travel to all
those distant and mysterious places. It had been hidden deep in her heart for quite a
long time because it was impossible for her to realize it given her financial and
health conditions. But now this old wish seemed to be suddenly awakened.
9. It’s so informal, so impulsive, so free.
Informal, impulsive, casual, natural, free, rather than formal, planned, arranged,
controlled, staged, affected.
10. It simply was that we were such egoists, so self-engrossed, so wrapped up in
ourselves that we hadn’t a corner in our hearts for anybody else.
Is this a pretty accurate description of the man himself? Do you think Vera is just
like the man? How do you explain Vera’s loneliness?
Notice that the man is making an important confession: he really hasn’t a corner
in his heart for anybody else. Therefore Vera was right to leave him six years
ago, and she is right to leave him now.
IV. Homework
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Text B: The Valentine Generation
About the author
英国-作家-John Wain
John Wain 韦恩 1925Poet, critic and novelist. John Barrington Wain was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of a
dentist, and educated at Newcastle-under-Lyme Grammar School, Staffordshire, before
going on to St. John‘s College, Oxford. From 1949 until 1955 he lectured in English at
Reading University before turning to freelance writing full-time. From 1973 to 1978 he
was Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford. For most of his life, John Wain
worked as a freelance jouranlist and author, writing and reviewing for newspapers and
the radio. He died in May 1994 at Oxford. From 1974 his literary manuscripts have
been deposited at Edinburgh University Library.
His output has been considerable, encompassing fiction, poetry, plays and literary
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criticism. He had great success with his early novel, Hurry on down (1953), entitled
Born in captivity in the United States, which was an amusing but critical view of
post-war British society. It tells of a university graduate, Charles Lumley, who turns his
back on his enhanced prospects as a result of his education to seek employment in a
series of menial jobs in order to discover his own identity. He won the Whitbread Award
in 1982 for his novel Young shoulders His poetry is witty, but has been described as
being, at times, rather self-conciously clever. He wrote several studies of literary
characters associated with the West Midlands of England, including William
Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson and Arnold Bennett.
John Wain was associated with several literary groups. His early writing led to him
being dubbed as one of The Angry Young Men, that included within its ranks writers
such as John Braine, Kingsley Amis, Alan Sillitoe and John Osborne. His publisher
refuted this. He was a member of The Inklings, an Oxford literary group united by a
love of literature and traditional values. Other members included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R
Tolkien. John Wain was also associated with The Movement, a group mainly made up
of post-war British poets. Its title came from an article by J.D. Scott published in The
Spectator in 1954 and found a voice in several anthologies, particularly New Lines
(1956), compiled by Robert Conquest. Contributors included D.J. Enright, Thom Gunn,
Elizabeth Jennings and Philip Larkin.
________________________________________
Works
Selected books by the author
The following works are available in the West Midlands Creative Literature Collection:Arnold Bennett
The contenders (1958)
Death of the hind legs and other stories (1966)
Feng—a poem
A house for the truth; critical essays (1972)
Hurry on down (1953)
John Wain selection
Letters to five artists (1969)
The Life guard and other stories (1971)
Mid-week period return: home thoughts of a native
The Pardoner‘s tale (1978)
Poems 1949-1979 (1981)
Professing poetry (1977)
Samuel Johnson (1974)
The shape of Feng (1975)
The smaller sky (1967)
Strike the father dead (1962)
A travelling woman (1959)
Weep before God: poems (1961)
Wildtrack (1965)
A winter in the hills (1971)
Young shoulders (1982)
The young visitors (1965)
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Weekly Quiz
1. Spelling
A. (20 words)
astound; dreamy; exasperate; infuriate; loathe; scrape; moan; maniac;
barbarian; bound; decorate; grimace; indecision; mysteriously; slumber;
luxury; pickle; sufficient; veil; champagne
B. (10 words)
 To irritate or annoy greatly (exasperate)
 A slight indication or trace (hint)
 Not formal, without formality (informal)
 To feel hatred or disgust for sth. or sb. (loathe)
 Greatly amazed (thunder-struck)
 to take the skin off (peel)
 sad and sorrowful (mournful)
 mad person, wild and foolish person (maniac)
 a person who is always thinking about themselves or what is best for
themselves (egoist)
 action of mocking sb. Or sth. Scorn or ridicule (mockery)
2. Translation
1. 她当时处境十分困难。她既无法忍受他，又不能离开他
She was then in a terrible fix. She could neither bear him nor leave him.
2. 假如你超过那个限度的话，经济就会崩溃
If you go beyond that limit, the economy will collapse.
3. 事故发生的时候，我就站在离汽车几米远的地方
When the accident happened I was standing only a few meters apart
from the car.
4. 这沙漠绵延近一百公里
The desert stretches for nearly a hundred miles.
5. 在她面前是一片美丽的开阔地
In front of her was a beautiful stretch of open land.
3. Dictation
No country is so wild and difficult but men will make it a theater of war; concealed
in the forest at the bottom of that military rattrap in which half a hundred men in
possession of the exits might have starved an army to submission, lay five regiments of
Federal infantry. They had marched all the previous day and night and were resting. At
nightfall they would take to the road again, climb to the place where their unfaithful
sentinel now slept, and descending the other slope of the ridge, fall upon a camp in the
rear of it. In case of failure, their position would be perilous in the extreme; and fail they
surely would, should accident or vigilance apprise the enemy of the movement.
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Lesson 10
I. Objectives
1. Helping students realize that great literature has eternal charm, and certain issues
have eternal importance, and the difference between a tested text and modern
commercials or cheap journalism.
2. Drawing students’ attention to the use of the key grammars in this text:

subject-verb inversion

the + comparative/superlative adjective ( + of phrase)
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determiners
3. Making use of this text as a good example of contrast , the contrast
of two legendary figures, and many other contrasts.
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4. Making use of this text as an opportunity to discuss what kind of life we should
pursue.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
1. The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the first
part of the text (2 hours)
2. The study of the second part & the exercise from P.305-309(2 hours)
3. The study of the last part of the text & the exercise from P.299-304(2 hours)
III. Key Points
1. Key vocabulary as is indicated in the teaching notes
2. Key grammar as is indicated in the teaching notes
3. Important sentence as is indicated in the teaching notes
IV. Suggested class activities
Ask students to have group discussion on the contrast between Diogenes and Alexander,
and their main ideas.
V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 10
Text A: Diogenes and Alexander
I. Morning Report
II. Weekly Quiz
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
Divide students into several groups, and ask them to report what they have found to the
class to better their understanding of the text. Also ask students to prepare their
questions about the text.
B. In-class Tasks
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1. Work on th comprehension of the text. You may ask the Ss to analyze the text or you
may ask some questions about the text. Questions may include:
a. How does the author draw his contrast between Diogenes and Alexander? In what
paragraph does the focus shift from the former to the latter?
b. Is there any climax in this essay? What is it? Do you find it dramatic?
c. What do you know about Diogenes and his philosophy?
d. What do you know about Alexander? What had he learned from Aristotle?
e. How would you contrast Diogenes and Alexander, these two legendary figures?
2. General structure:
a. Diogenes the beggar. (paras 1 - 10)
b. Alexander the conqueror. (paras 11 - 13)
c. Their dramatic encounter. (paras 14 - 17)
3. Group discussion on the following questions:
a. If Diogenes reminds you of any ancient Chinese philosopher, make a comparison
between them.
b. If you also think of yourself as a person with a mission, a mission to serve the people,
would you rather be Diogenes with his philosophy or Alexander with his power?
4. About Diogenes
A Greek to Remember
Diogenes was a famous Greek philosopher of the fourth century B.C. ,who established
the philosophy of cynicism. He often walked about in the daytime holding a lighted
lantern, peering around as if he were looking for something. When questioned about his
odd behavior, he would reply, "I am searching for an honest man." Diogenes held that
the good man was self-sufficient and did not require material comforts or wealth. He
believed that
wealth and possessions constrained humanity's natural state of freedom. In keeping with
his philosophy, he was perfectly satisfied with making his home in a large tub discarded
from the temple of Cybele, the goddess of nature. This earthen tub, called a pithos, and
formerly been used for holding wine or oil for the sacrifices at the temple. One day,
Alexander the Great ,conqueror of half the civilized world, saw Diogenes sitting in this
tub in the sunshine .So the king, surrounded by his countries, approached Diogenes and
said, "I am Alexander the Great. "The philosopher replied rather contemptuously, "I am
Diogenes, the Cynic. "Alexander then asked him if he could help him in any way." Yes,"
shot back Diogenes, "don't stand between me and the sun. "A surprised Alexander then
replied quickly, "If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes."
5. Detailed study of the text (please also refer to the reference book)
1. … he looked like a beggar or a lunatic. (para 1)
lunatic: (offensive slang abbreviation: loony) an insane or mad or crazy person;
someone who is extremely foolish or reckless
word origin: Insanity was once believed to be controlled by the moon and its phases.
Lunatic literally means “moonstuck”, subject to the changes of the moon, and
comes from the Latin word Luna, moon.
2. Everybody knew him, or knew of him. (para 1)
“To know sb.” means you are quite familiar with the person whereas “to know of sb.”
means you have been told or you have read or heard about this person.
Notice when these two expressions are contrasted, the “of” in “know of ” should be
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stressed.
3. garment (para 2)
The technical term for any article of clothing. There are of course special terms for
special kinds of garments or clothes such as “shirt”, “dress”, “jacket”, “vest”, “skirt” etc.
which proves Diogenes’s point when he says life is too complicated.
4. He was the founder of the creed called Cynicism (doggishness). (para 2)
Diogenes was a cynic philosopher in ancient Greece, but it is not clear whether he was
the founder of the philosophy.
Cynicism originally meant doggishness because Diogenes’s philosophy made it a virtue
to live like a dog. But today when we say sb. is cynical we mean that this person is not
willing to believe that people have good, honest, or sincere reasons for doing sth..
5 He was not the first to inhabit such a thing. But he was the first who ever did so
by choice, out of principle. (para 3)
He was not the first to live in a cask. But he was the first who ever did so because he
wanted to, based on a principle, and not by necessity, not because he was forced to.
More e.g.s of the use of “by choice”:
I did not become a teacher by choice. I was assigned to be a teacher as was the
practice in our time. But soon I began to like my job.
Yue Fei did not withdraw his troops by choice. He was forced to do that by
twelve successive imperial edicts.
More e.g.s of the use of “out of (principle)”:
Out of principle you should not give the contrast to your relative’s company.
I opened the box out of curiosity and found it filled with gold.
I decided to visit him out of respect.
She began to learn how to cook out of interest, not out of necessity.
6. Live without conventions, which are artificial and false; escape complexities and
extravagances: only so can you live a free life. (para 4)
a) Diogenes despised conventions believing them to be artificial and false.
Convention: behavior and attitudes that most people in a society consider to be normal
and right
Notice the subtle differences between the following synonyms:
habit: (picking one’s nose; biting one’s nails; smoking; getting up early, etc)
custom: (using chopsticks; wearing black in mourning; expressing love with a kiss, etc)
tradition: (respecting the old; cherishing the family; eating turkey on Thanksgiving;
loving peace; always ready to help others, etc)
convention: (married women taking their husbands’ names; shaking hands when you
meet with friends; marrying within your own religion; wearing suit and tie on
formal occasions, etc)
Young people in the sixties rebelled against social conventions.
“When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Remember to respect local
conventions when you are visiting foreign countries.
b) to escape complexities and extravagance: to avoid complex lives and things that are
not necessary
7. He was a missionary. (para 5)
missionary: originally a person sent by a church to a foreign country to convert local
people to Christianity. Here: a person who feels that he has a mission or sacred duty to
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do sth..
8. Now he was lying in the sunlight, contented and happy, happier (he himself used
to boast) than the Shah of Persia. (para 10)
Shah: formerly king of Iran
Notice that this sentence serves as the transition to the second half of the article which
describes the other chief character: Alexander.
9. He looked them over, as a sober man looks at a crowd of tottering drunks, and
shook his head. (para 11)
sober: not drunk
drunk: used as a noun here, meaning a person who is often drunk
Find the differences between “totter”, “walk”, “pace”, “stroll”, “shuffle”, “stagger”, etc.
Please see the picture on P1262 fo the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
(1995 edition)
10. Like all Macedonians he loved drinking, but he could usually handle it; and
toward women, he was nobly restrained and chivalrous. (para 12)
to handle: to deal with the problem
restrained: clam and having self-control
chivalrous: polite, kind, generous, and honorable esp. towards women
11. He was the man of the hour, of the century (para 13)
the man of the hour: the most successful, important, powerful, or talked about person
of the present time, e.g.
Pollution is one of the serious issues of the hour.
12. With his handsome face, his fiery glance, his strong body, his purple and gold
cloak, and his air of destiny, he moved through the parting crowd toward the Dog’s
kennel. (para 14)
fiery glance: passionate or fierce look
air of destiny: air of sb who has the power to determine the course f events in future.
the Dog’s kennel: the humorous reference to Diogenes’s cask.
13. “Yes,” said the Dog. “Stand to one side. You’re blocking the sunlight.” (para 16)
When Alexander asked Diogenes whether there was anything he could do for him, he of
course was thinking of money, power, a job, a decent house or a warm garment. But
Diogenes did not want any of these. What he wanted from the king was not to block the
sunlight, not to interfere with his life, not to stand in his way.
Notice that “blocking the sunlight” here has both a literal and a symbolic meaning.
14. They took it as a paradox… (para 17)
They regarded it as a paradox.
paradox: a statement that seems impossible because it contains two ideas that are both
true. e.g.
The more haste, the less speed. That is a familiar paradox.
People often say that many hands make light work. But the paradox is, in some
cases, too many hands spoil the broth.
15. He understood Cynicism as the others could not. (para 17)
While ordinary people thought that Diogenes was either a lunatic or a beggar, Alexander
understood him because he was also a philosopher in a way, and that was why he later
took one of Diogenes’s pupils along with him in his expedition to India as his
philosophical interpreter.
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Notice how the author makes a contrast using the word “as”.
16. He was what Diogenes called himself, a “citizen of the world”. Like Diogenes,
he admired the heroic figure of Hercules, who labored to help mankind while all
others toiled and sweated only for themselves. (para 17)
a) “a citizen of the world”: a man whose mission is to help mankind (humanity).
b) to toil and sweat: to work very hard for a long time
c) Notice how the author makes contrast by using “while” and “like”. e.g.
Like her father she is extremely talented and honest.
Unlike many officials in his position, he never takes money from anybody.
It is unfair that while city people can get unemployment benefits, peasants must
continue to pay tax when their crops fail.
While it used to be the privilege of the few to go to school, today it has become a
universal right to do so.
17. He knew that of all men then alive in the world only Alexander the conqueror
and Diogenes the beggar were free. (para 17)
Alexander thought that he was free because he had absolute power and Diogenes was
free because he didn’t need any power.
Translation for Text A
他躺在光溜溜的地上，赤着脚，胡子拉茬的，半裸着身子，模样活像
个乞丐或疯子。可他就是他，而不是别的什么人。大清早，他随着初
升的太阳睁开双眼，搔了搔痒，便像狗一样在路边忙开了他的公事”
。
他在公共喷泉边抹了把脸，向路人讨了一块面包和几颗橄榄，然后蹲
在地上大嚼起来，又掬起几捧泉水送人肚中。他没工作在身，也无家
可归，是一个逍遥自在的人。街市上熙熙攘攘，到处是顾客、商人、
奴隶、异邦人，这时他也会在其中转悠一二个钟头。人人都认识他，
或者都听说过他。他们会问他一些尖刻的问题，而他也尖刻地回答。
有时他们丢给他一些食物，他很有节制地道一声谢；有时他们恶作剧
地扔给他卵石子，他破口大骂，毫不客气地回敬。他们拿不准他是不
是疯了。他却认定他们疯了，只是他们的疯各有各的不同；他们令他
感到好笑。此刻他正走回家去。
他没有房子，甚至连一个茅庐都没有。他认为人们为生活煞费苦
心，过于讲究奢华。房子有什么用处？人不需要隐私；自然的行为并
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不可耻；我们做着同样的事情，没什么必要把它们隐藏起来。人实在
不需要床榻和椅子等诸如此类的家具，动物睡在地上也过着健康的生
活。既然大自然没有给我们穿上适当的东西。那我们惟一需要的是一
件御寒的衣服，某种躲避风雨的遮蔽。所以他拥有一张毯子——白天
披在身，晚上盖在身上——他睡在一个桶里，他的名字叫第欧根尼。
人们称他为狗”，把他的哲学叫做犬儒哲学。他一生大部分时光都在希
腊的克林斯城邦度过，那是一个富裕、懒散、腐败的城市，他挖苦嘲
讽那里的人们，偶尔也把矛头转向他们当中的某个人。
他的住所不是木材做成的，而是泥土做的贮物桶。这是一个破桶，
显然是人们弃之不用的。住这样的地方他并不是第一个，但他确实是
第一个自愿这么做的人，这出乎众人的想法。
第欧根尼不是疯子，他是一个哲学家，通过戏剧、诗歌和散文的
创作来阐述他的学说；他向那些愿意倾听的人传道；他拥有一批崇拜
他的门徒。他言传身教地进行简单明了的教学。所有的人都应当自然
地生活，他说，所谓自然的就是正常的而不可能是罪恶的或可耻的。
抛开那些造作虚伪的习俗；摆脱那些繁文缛节和奢侈享受：只有这样，
你才能过自由的生活。富有的人认为他占有宽敞的房子、华贵的衣服，
还有马匹、仆人和银行存款。其实并非如此，他依赖它们，他得为这
些东西操心，把一生的大部分精力都耗费在这上面。它们支配着他。
他是它们的奴隶。为了攫取这些虚假浮华的东西，他出卖了自己的独
立性，这惟一直实长久的东西。
有好多人对社会生活感到厌倦，都逃避到小小的农庄上、静静的
乡村里，或隐居的山洞中，在那里过着简朴的生活。第欧根尼不这样
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做。他是一个传教士。他明确自己的生活目标，那就是“重铸货币”
②：拭去人类生活上面的金银蒙尘，揭除陈规陋习的假面具，重新印
上人类生活的真正价值。
公元前 4 世纪，其他伟大的哲学家如柏拉图和亚里士多德，他们
主要是在自己的私塾里教学。但对第欧根尼来说，实验室和标本，大
课堂和学生，这些都存在于芸芸众生中间。因此他决定住在雅典或科
林斯，那里来自地中海一带的游客络绎不绝。他故意在大庭广众中这
样做，目的是向世人显示什么是真正的生活。
他认为世人大都是半死不活的，大多数人只是个半人。在中午，
光天化日下，他打着一盏点着的灯笼穿过市井街头，碰到谁他就往谁
的脸上照。他们问他何故这样，第欧根尼回答：
“我想试试能否找出一
个人来。”
有一次，见到一个达官贵人正让仆人帮他穿鞋，第欧根尼对他说：
“他为你揩鼻涕的时候，你才会真正感到幸福：不过这要等到你的双
手残废以后。
”
曾经爆发过一场严重的战争，连浑浑噩噩、醉生梦死的科林斯人
都不禁惊恐万状。他们开始厉兵秣马，重新修建荒废已入的防御工事。
第欧根尼也推着他那破旧的木桶在地上滚来滚去，
“看到你们忙得不亦
乐乎，
”他说，“我想我也该干点什么事情啦！”
他就这样生活着——像一条狗，有些人这样说，因为他全然不顾
社会规范，而且还朝他所鄙视的人咧嘴叫喊。此刻他正躺在阳光下，
心满意足，乐也悠悠，比波斯国王还要快活（他常这样自我吹嘘）。他
知道他将有贵客来访，但仍然无动于衷。
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狭小的广场开始充满黑压压的人群。僮仆、士兵、文书、官员、
外交家，他们逐渐在第欧根尼的四周围成一个圈子。他抬眼望去，就
像一个清醒的人审视一群蹒跚的醉鬼，然后他摇了摇头。他知道他们
是谁。他们是亚历山大的奴仆。这位马其顿国王、希腊的征服者正在
视察他新的王国。
年仅 20 岁，亚历山大比他的年龄要成熟和睿智得多。他像所有的
马其顿人一样嗜酒，但他一般能够适可而止；他对待妇女彬彬有礼，
不失骑士风度。像所有的马其顿人，他热衷打仗；他是一个非常出色
的指挥官，但并非只是一部军事自动机器。他善于思考。亚历山大 13
岁就师从希腊最伟大的思想家亚里士多德，汲取希腊访华精华。亚里
士多德教授他诗歌、哲学，特别是政权的形态和应用；此外还向他传
授科学研究的方法。的确，正是从亚里士多德那里，亚历山大学会了
从错综复杂的事物中找到富有启发性的东西。
眼下亚历山大在科林斯担任他父亲腓力二世所创建的希腊城邦联
盟的首脑。他到处受欢迎受尊崇受奉承。他是一代英雄。他新近被一
致推举为远征军司令，准备向那古老、富饶而又腐败的亚洲进军。几
乎人人都涌向科林斯，为的是向他祝贺，希望在他麾下效忠，甚至只
是想看看他。惟独第欧根尼，他身居科林斯，却拒不觐见这位新君主。
怀着亚里士多德教给他的宽宏大度，亚历山大决意造访第欧根尼。
亚历山大相貌英俊，眼光炯炯有神，一副强健的身躯，披着带金
的紫色斗篷，器宇轩昂，胸有成竹，他穿过两边闪开的人群走向“狗
窝”。他走近的时候，所有的人都肃然起敬。第欧根尼只是一肘支着坐
起来。他进入每一个地方，所有的人都向他鞠躬敬礼或欢呼致意。第
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欧根尼一声不吭。
一阵沉默。亚历山大先开口致以和蔼的问候。打量着那可怜的破
桶，孤单的烂衫，还有躺在地上那个粗陋邋遢的形象，他说：
“第欧根
尼，我能帮你忙吗？
能，”
“狗”说，
“站到一边去，你挡住了阳光。
”
一阵惊愕的沉默。慢慢地，亚历山大转过身。那些穿戴优雅的希
腊人发出一阵窃笑，马其顿的官兵们判定第欧根尼不值一踢，也互相
用肘轻推着哄笑起来。亚历山大仍然沉默不语。最后他对着身边的人
平静地说：“假如我不是亚历山大，我一定做第欧根尼。”他们以为这
话自相矛盾。但亚历山大说此话自有他的道理。他理解别人所不能理
解的犬儒主义。他是第欧根尼所自称的“世界公民”
。像第欧根尼一样，
他崇拜海格立斯③的英雄形象，当别人只为自己的利益费尽心机之时，
这位英雄却在为人类而摩顶放踵。他知道世上活着的人当中只有征服
者亚历山大和乞丐第欧根尼是自由的。
Text B : A Horseman in the Sky
1. About the author
Ambrose Bierce(1842-1914): American short-story writer and journalist, noted for his
irony and incisive prose style. He served with distinction in the Civil War. After the war,
he edited several San Francisco journals, and then lived and wrote in England for a few
years. In 1899, he moved to Washington D.C., where he continued writing. His principal
books are Tales of Schools and Civilians and Can Such Things Be?
2. Background of the American Civil War
Before the war, there were really two Americas – an industrial north and an agricultural
south. Conflicting interests between the two became increasingly apparent. Southerners
attributed their backwardness to northern expansion. Northerners, on the other hand,
declared that slavery was responsible for the region’s backwardness. For the middle
1840s, the slavery issue overshadowed all else in American politics. The majority of
southern planters came to regard slavery as necessary and permanent. But more and
more people believed that slavery was morally wrong. They organized a powerful
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anti-slavery movement and demanded slavery be abolished. In 1845, the acquisition of
Texas and soon after, the territorial gains in the southwest resulting from the Mexican
War, converted the moral question of slavery into a political issue. Should the new
territories join the Union as slave states or free states? Senator Henry Clay, who twice
before in times of crisis had come forward with compromise arrangements, now once
again solved the problem with a compromise. However, the fear many had for the
expansion of slavery into the new western lands grew. The slavery issue became more
bitter when Mrs. Stowe published her book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in 1852, which
exerted a great influence on people.
Abraham Lincoln, who had long regarded slavery as an evil, was elected President of
the United States in 1860. In response, South Carolina seceded from the Union and a
few other southern states followed its example. Feb. 8, 1861, they formed the
Confederate States of America. On March, 4, 1861, in his inaugural address, Abraham
Lincoln refused to recognize the secession. His speech closed with plea for restoration
of the bonds of Union. But the south turned deaf ears to it, and on April 12, guns fired
on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. The Civil War thus started.
3. About the writing
Carter Druse is the main character of the story. He was born in Virginia. He loved his
parents, his home and the south. But he loved his country, too. And in the autumn of
eighteen sixty-one, when the United States was divided by a terrible civil war, Carter
Druse, a southerner, decided to join the Union Army of the north.
When he told his father about his decision one morning at breakfast, the older man was
too shocked to speak. Then he said, "As of this moment you are a traitor to the south.
Please don't tell your mother about your decision. She is sick, and we both know she has
only a few weeks to live." "Carter," he continued, "No matter what happens -- be sure
you always do what you think is your duty."
Carter soon left his home, and wore the blue uniform of the Union soldier.
One sunny afternoon, the union was to attack by surprise an army of southerners,
camped on the other side of the cliff. But if their enemy learned about the Union Army
hiding in the forest, the soldiers would find themselves in a trap with no escape. That
was why Carter Druse had been sent to guard the road. His duty was to be sure that no
enemy soldier, dressed in gray, spied on the valley, where the union army was hiding.
But Carter Druse had fallen asleep. As he lifted his head, he saw a man on horseback
standing on the huge rocky cliff that looked down into the valley.
The rider and his horse stood so still that they seemed made of stone. The man's gray
uniform blended with the blue sky and the white clouds behind him. He held a gun in
his right hand, and the horse's reins in the other.
Suddenly the horse moved, pulling back its head from the edge of the cliff. Carter was
completely awake now. Just as he aimed for the horseman's heart, the horseman turned
his head and looked in Carter's direction. Carter's face became very white. His entire
body began shaking.
Then Carter looked down into the valley so far below. He saw a line of men in blue
uniforms and their horses, slowly leaving the protection of the forest. He looked back to
the man and horse standing there against the sky. Again he took aim. But this time he
pointed his gun at the horse. Carter Druse was calm as he pulled the trigger of his gun.
At that moment, a Union officer happened to look up from his hiding place near the
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edge of the forest. His eyes climbed to the top of the cliff that looked over the valley.
Just looking at the top of the gigantic rock, so far above him, made the soldier feel
dizzy.
And then the officer saw something that filled his heart with horror. A man on a horse
was riding down into the valley through the air!
The officer got to his feet, still shaking. He went back to his camp. But he didn't tell
anyone what he had seen. He knew no one would ever believe him.
Soon after firing his gun, Carter Druse was joined by a Union sergeant. Carter did not
turn his head as the sergeant kneeled beside him.
When the sergeant asked him whether he fired or not, Carter Druse’s face was white and
he admitted that he fired at a horse and there was somebody on the horse – his father.
3. About the text
Paragraph 1
a clump of: a group of, a cluster of
at full length: with the body stretched out and flat
rhythmic movement: movement as marked by rhythm; regular movement
Paragraph 2
sheer: adv. straight up or down
Paragraph 4
theatre: scene of important military events
take to the road: go to the road, start marching
fall upon: attack, assault (the enemy)
apprise…of…(fml.): inform…of…
Paragraph 7
commend oneself to: be to the liking of
outpost: observation post at a distance from the main body of troops
Paragraph 8
subdue: soften, reduce, ease, make less prominent
Paragraph 9
dispel: to drive away
alive to: aware of; sensitive to
Paragraph 18
yonder: adj. in or at that indicated place over there
Weekly Quiz
1. Spelling (20%)
acclamation
doctrine
discard
elaborately
unanimously sober
garment
chivalrous
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restrain
corps
monarch
perishable
lunatic
expedition
fiery
extravagance
hermit
paradox
cloak
Iliad
2. Dictation (30%)
Inventions
Inventions are the result of man’s natural curiosity about the world around him, and of
the urge to fill an expressed need. It was a need for more durable building materials that
led men to invent bricks about 4000 B.C. It was probably just curiosity that led to the
invention of the wheel about 3000 B.C. The date of the invention of the bow and arrow
had been lost in time, but it is fairly certain that it was for the purpose of providing early
man with a quicker and surer means of killing animals for food. We look upon
thousands and thousands of things today as commonplace, but at one time the world did
not have them. They all had to be invented.
Inventions have provided our world with matches, telephone, wire, needles and thread.
They have provided us with light bulbs, radio, television, motors, medicines, and even
paper and ink. Inventors, being curious and at the same time seeing need, bring their
ideas and the necessary materials together to produce something new – something that
has not existed before – an invention.
3. Word Derivation (10%)
1) The army destroyed most of the town’s fortifications. (fortify)
2) It would be sheer lunacy to turn down an offer like that. (lunatic)
3) After he trained as a priest he went to work for the missions in Africa. (missionary)
4) This sad situation is the result of foreign conquest. (conqueror)
5) Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels’ is a satirical book. (satirize)
4. Sentence translation from Chinese into English (40%)
1) 仅仅是贫困还不能解释犯罪率上升的原因。(account)
Poverty alone cannot account for the increase of the crime rate.
2) 她自称她具有一种特异功能，就用她神奇的手就能治病。(possess)
She claims to possess an unusual ability – the ability to cure disease simply by her
magic hand.
3) 一位女律师最近被任命到最高法院工作。(appoint)
A woman lawyer has been recently appointed to the Supreme Court.
4) 他就像哲学家一样眼珠滴溜溜转了转，笑了。(roll)
He just rolled his eyes philosophically and smiled.
5) 在故事里，这个妖怪常常以美女的样子出现。(form)
In the story, this evil spirit often appeared in the form of a pretty lady.
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Lesson 11
I. Objectives
1. Helping students recognize and appreciate the argumentative essay
2. The learning and use of the lyrical description of the town before the ecological
disaster.
3. Drawing the students’ attention to the effective use of contrast in this text between
the town before and after the ecological disaster.
4. Making use of this text to inspire the students to discuss their understanding about
the relationship between man and nature.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
1. The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the
first part of the text (1.5hours)
2. The study of the second part & the exercises from P.334-339 (1.5 hours)
3. The study of the second part & the exercises from P.329-333 (1.5 hours)
III. Key Points
4. Key vocabulary as is indicated in the teaching notes
5. Important sentences as are indicated in the teaching notes
6. Analysis of the text as is indicated in the teaching notes
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IV. Suggested class activities
1. Ask students to present their pre-class homework as well as their questions
about the text orally.
2. Try the selected oral work on P. 328 in the exercise
3. Ask students to have group discussion on the writing techniques of a successful
description.
V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Recite paragraph 1-2.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 11
Text A: Silent Spring
I. Morning Report
II. Weekly Quiz
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
9. Divide students into several groups, and ask them to report what they have found to
the class to better their understanding of the text. Also ask students to prepare their
questions about the text.
10. Ask them to have a group discussion with the help of writing knowledge on the
following topics:
h. What are the elements of a description? (object and observer)
i. What specific details are usually used in a description? (The best details are
those that appeal to the five senses)
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j. What does these details help to create? (a dominant impression or focus)
k. What order may a description follow? (order of importance, space, etc.)
B. In-class Tasks
1. Group discussion on the lead-in questions asked by the teacher.
The title of a text can more or less tell us something about the following text.
Sometimes, it implies the main idea; sometimes, it has a symbolic meaning, which can
only be figured out after reading the text carefully.
a. How does the first sight of this title strike you?
b. What do expect to get after reading the text?
2. Ask students what type of writing the text is and the message of it
The text，which is taken from the first and second chapter of Rachel Carson’s book
SILENT SPRING, named A FABLE FOR TOMORROW and THE OBLIGATION TO
ENDURE, is short but forceful. Message of the text:
Human beings are tampering with nature and causing changes that are too many
and too quick, so that they cannot adapt to them.
3.Ask students to give the organization of the text
Part I: (Para.1-9) Description of a (imaginary) American town, which is
extremely beautiful until it is destroyed by chemicals.
Part II: (Para.10-25) Explanation of what causes the change—our indiscriminate
use of chemicals.
4.Group discussion and presentation on the following questions
a. Carson described a beautiful town once existed in the heart of U.S. What town was
she referring to?
b. What was she trying to appeal to when she make a sharp contrast between the
town prior and after the ecological disaster?
c. What did Carson means by the “evil spell” that settled on this community?
d. Do you think the author guilty of being an alarmist in imagining such a terrible
tragedy?
e. How did Carson try to explain the ecological disasters?
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f. Aren’t nuclear energy and chemicals great human inventions? Why did Carson
quote a scientist as saying that they were “devils”?
g. Did Carson mean that we should never use insecticides? What was her contention
then?
h. How did Carson illustrate the great harm of indiscriminate use of chemicals on our
environment step by step?
Harm of chemicals to man—life of generations to adjust ourselves to the change of
world—man invent endless stream of new powerful chemicals in the labs—man’s
indiscriminate use of chemicals—more harm of indiscriminate use of chemicals—
lead to a vicious cycle
5. Ask students to appreciate the description in the first part and pick out the specific
details that appeal to our five senses
a)
The diction of spatial order used in the first part of the text
In the heart of / Lay in the midst of / Above the green fields / Across a
background of pines / Along the roads / rising above the snow / Out of the hills /
shady pools where the trout lay
b) The diction of chronological order used in the first part of the text
In spring / In autumn / Even in winter /
c)
The precise diction used in the text which makes the description specific
In autumn, oak and maple and birch set up a blaze of color that flamed and
flickered across a background of pines (instead of trees)
Along the roads, laurel, great ferns and wildflowers delighted the travelers eye
(instead of bushes and flowers)
...contained shady pools where trout lay (instead of fish)
Specific details appealing to the readers’ sense of sight
...White clouds of bloom drifted above the green fields
...Oak(yellow) and maple(red) and birch(brown)set up a blaze of color that
flamed and flickered across a background of pine(dark green)
...Shady pools where trout lay
specific details appealing to the readers’ sense of sound
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...fox barked in the hills and deer silently crossed the fields
specific details appealing to the reader’s sense of touch
...stream, which flowed clear and cold out of the hills
6.Ask students to point out the contrasts Carson made in the text when illustrating her
argument
i.
Rosy
Contrasts made in the text
picture
of
the
town
before
the
evil-spelled
town
after
the
ecological disaster
disaster
Relatively slight modification of life
alteration to the nature of world in
the present century
upon environment over the long history
in contrast
of life on earth
to
The known harm of radiation from
Unknown harm over Nature from
nuclear pollution
indiscriminate use of chemicals
Man slow in adjusting to changes caused
the endless stream of new even
by the use of these chemicals
powerful chemicals coming out of
our labs
ii.
The effect achieved by using contrast in conveying her theme:
The use of contrast here effectively conveys the author’s message, lay stress on the
significant power of man in altering the nature of our world, call our attention to the
terrible harm of indiscriminate use of chemicals so that it gives the readers a strong
shock.
7.Detailed study of the text (please also refer to the reference book)
15. in harmony with(1)=in a state of peaceful existence and agreement
16. white clouds of bloom(1)=white flower-shaped clouds/white clouds that
looked like flowers
17. set up(1)=to start
18. a blaze of color(1)=an impressive and noticeable show of colors
19. flocks of chickens(3) also a flock of sheep/tourists, a herd of
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cattle/elephants
20. …throbbed with the dawn chorus of scores of bird voices(4)=the
morning air used to vibrate with the singing of birds...
……
IV. Homework
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Recite paragraph 1-2.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Text B: Of Man and the Stream of Time
About the author:
Rachel Carson's Biography
Rachel Louise Carson
Born: May 27, 1907
in Springdale, Pennsylvania
Died: April 14, 1964
in Silver Spring, Maryland
Rachel Carson, writer, scientist, and ecologist, grew up simply in the rural river town of
Springdale, Pennsylvania. Her mother bequeathed to her a life-long love of nature and
the living world that Rachel expressed first as a writer and later as a student of marine
biology. Carson graduated from Pennsylvania College for Women (now Chatham
College) in 1929, studied at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory, and
received her MA in zoology from Johns Hopkins University in 1932.
She was hired by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries to write radio scripts during the
Depression and supplemented her income writing feature articles on natural history for
the Baltimore Sun. She began a fifteen-year career in the federal service as a scientist
and editor in 1936 and rose to become Editor-in-Chief of all publications for the U. S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
She wrote pamphlets on conservation and natural resources and
edited scientific articles, but in her free time turned her government
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research into lyric prose, first as an article "Undersea" (1937, for the Atlantic Monthly),
and then in a book, Under the Sea-Wind (1941). In 1952 she published her
prize-winning study of the ocean, The Sea Around Us, which was followed by The Edge
of the Sea in 1955. These books constituted a biography of the ocean and made Carson
famous as a naturalist and science writer for the public. Carson resigned from
government service in 1952 to devote herself to her writing.
She wrote several other articles designed to teach people about the wonder and beauty
of the living world, including "Help Your Child to Wonder," (1956) and "Our
Ever-Changing Shore" (1957), and planned another book on the ecology of life.
Embedded within all of Carson's writing was the view that human beings were but one
part of nature distinguished primarily by their power to alter it, in
some cases irreversibly.
Disturbed by the profligate use of synthetic chemical pesticides
after World War II, Carson reluctantly changed her focus in order to
warn the public about the long term effects of misusing pesticides.
In Silent Spring (1962) she challenged the practices of agricultural
scientists and the government, and called for a change in the way
humankind viewed the natural world.
Carson was attacked by the chemical industry and some in
government as an alarmist, but courageously spoke out to remind us
that we are a vulnerable part of the natural world subject to the
same damage as the rest of the ecosystem. Testifying before Congress in 1963, Carson
called for new policies to protect human health and the environment. Rachel Carson
died in 1964 after a long battle against breast cancer. Her witness for the beauty and
integrity of life continues to inspire new generations to protect the living world and all
its creatures.
Biographical entry courtesy of Carson biographer? Linda Lear, 1998, author of Rachel
Carson: Witness for Nature (1997).
About the writing:
Man’s relationship with nature is a connection that has often been discussed in
literature. Within the past fifty years, a new generation of writers has surfaced to urge
society toward realizing the consequences of wanton destruction of natural lands.
Rachel Carson is such a writer, stressing the importance of knowledge in the face of
ignorant destruction and the necessity of some action to reverse the annihilation of
nature. Wilderness is something that man has historically taken to be predominantly
made only for the benefit of mankind, and man has assumed a position of superiority to
the land, quite wrongly.
Rachel Carson, in her cultural commentary, “Of Man and the Stream of Time,”
discusses the poor attitude of humankind towards nature. She defines nature as being
“the part of the world that man did not make.” Man, Carson says, has always boasted
control of nature, and aimed toward the conquest of that which he did not create. Now,
in modern times, humans find themselves equipped with a plethora of biological
weapons to destroy surrounding flora and fauna. As we dispose of our waste, we
inadvertently destroy the eternal cycles of life—the once-untouchable oceans and water
116
cycles can now be irrevocably damaged by man’s ignorance and wanton attitude
towards natural wilderness. In the span of a mere million years, a second in earth’s
lifetime, we have drastically changed our environment more than nature could in
hundreds of millions of years.
One of the points Carson makes is that man cannot continue to exclude himself
from nature and thereby justify his actions as not hurting humanity itself. However,
Carson notes that “His [mankind’s] war against nature is inevitably a war against
himself.” Try as we might, mankind can never be so fully removed from nature that
when we destroy nature we don’t destroy our own habitat. One example Carson uses
is the chemicals man uses to wage war against other organisms, and in doing so, hurts
himself.
The main emphasis of Carson’s essay is the concept of the passage of time as a
constant. In a state of nature, there have always been environmental elements hostile
to life, but in a state of unaltered nature, life has always had time to adapt to its
changing environment. Life, Carson says, “has reached an accommodation, a balance.”
However, with man’s current forays into biotechnology and other disciplines,
environmental hazards are increasing at an exponential rate to which life simply cannot
adequately adapt.
Carson calls for an immediate raise in awareness among the younger generations.
The burden to save the environment has always fallen on the shoulders of those who
will control the world in the future, and as the stream of time moves on, that burden
falls on today’s graduates. Carson says that the younger generation should take
responsibility for improving man’s relations with nature and summarizes her position
with this sentence: “In today already walks tomorrow.”
Silent Spring, a full-length book by Rachel Carson, explores many of the same
ideas, but from a slightly different angle. Whereas Carson’s cultural commentary is
more of an urge for awareness in young people, Silent Spring is more of a call for action,
an urgent plea upon lawmakers and leaders to regulate a newborn industry unaware of
its own destructive power. The main point of the book is to point out the deadly
effects of chemical spraying for pest control. Pesticides, she points out, should more
aptly be named “biocides.”
In both of the Carson pieces, the theme is one of man’s relationship with nature and
his heedless destruction of it. Man is often unaware of his own power, and in trying to
tame nature for his own inhabitation repeatedly destroys the natural world around him
and in doing so ironically makes the world a worse place for humans to live.
Throughout the contemporary revolution of ecology, writers such as Rachel Carson
and Alice Walker have illuminated a problem in the world and urged us as humans to do
something about it. Rather than sit back and allow the world to be destroyed by our
chemicals and ignorance, we need to take action. Humans have ignored the planet’s
cries for too long, and now is the time to do something.
117
About the text:
Organization of Text B
Part I (1-2) Introduction to her speech—man’s relation to nature
Part II (3-9) Man’s poor attitude towards nature—boasting arrogantly to conquest
nature.
Part III (10-18) Man cannot continue to exclude himself from nature and thereby
justify his action as not hurting humanity itself.
Part IV (19-24) The passage of time is a constant, but man is causing too many
and too quick changes for itself to adapt to.
Part V (25-26) Carson calls for an immediate raise in awareness among the
youngster generation to take responsibility for improving
man’s relations with nature.
Similarity of theme between Text A and B.
In both of the Carson pieces, the theme is one of man’s relationship with nature
and his heedless destruction of it. Man is often unaware of his own power, and in
trying to tame nature for his own inhabitation repeatedly destroys the natural world
around him and in doing so ironically makes the world a worse place for humans to live.
118
Weekly Quiz
1. Spelling (20%)
Abundance
accidental
annually
assault
chorus
confined
consent
contaminate
counterpart
ecosystem
emerge
flicker
impetuous
indiscriminately
intermingle
sinister
spiral
substantial
synthetic
throb
2. Dictation (30%)
Most people are much more frightened by being unemployed than they need to be./
Being unemployed certainly has disadvantages, / but there are good things about it, too./
One advantage is that you don't have to get up early to work in the rush hour./ You can
stay in bed as long as you like,/ and there is plenty of time to read the newspaper/ and
have a leisurely breakfast. / But the best thing of all is that you are your own boss/ and
there is no one to tell you what to do and when to do it./ One drawback of being
unemployed is that you haven't got much money coming in—/ having a job at least
enables you to save a lot of money to go on holiday./ On the other hand, when you are
unemployed/ you needn't go on holiday, / because you are on holiday already./ In fact,
the main trouble is that you have to spend much time looking for a job.
3. Word Derivation (10%)
1) We must never let any ____________ success go to our heads.
(accident)
2)
The fire caused ____________ damage to the church. (consider)
3) The men opened fire ____________. (discriminate)
4) He is very inventive, always dreaming up new gadgets for the home. (invent)
5) Illegal ____________. are sent back across the border if they are caught.
(migrant)
Keys: Accidental
considerable
indiscriminately
inventive
immigrants
4. Sentence translation from Chinese into English (40%)
1) 我们必须保证旅游业和环境的协调发展。（in harmony with）
We must ensure that tourism develops in harmony with the environment.
2) 别让没有经过训练的人乱动这台机器。(tamper with)
119
Don’t let an untrained person tamper with the machine.
3) 甚至在花都拿走以后，屋里香味犹存。(linger on)
Even when the flowers were taken away, the smell lingered on in the
room.
4) 他们当时在争吵，不知怎么回事，我也卷了进去。(get caught up in)
They were having an argument and somehow I got caught up in it.
5) 大多起过一次水痘（chicken pox）的人终生都有免疫力。(be immune to)
Most people who've had chicken pox once are immune to it for the rest
of their lives.
Lesson 12
I. Objectives
1. Helping students recognize and appreciate the writing techniques of a good essay
and give a short summary of the major factors of an essay, emphasizing coherence,
logical connection, and clarity.
2. Drawing students’ attention to the use of the key grammar in this text: noun clauses.
3. Making use of this text as an opportunity to organize a discussion on human needs/
different propositions of human needs.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
1.
The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the first
half of the text ( 1.5 hours)
2.
The study of the second half (1.5 hours)
3.
Summary and review of the story, group discussion & the exercise from
P.355-370(1.5 hours)
III. Key Points
120
1.
Key vocabulary as is indicated in the teaching notes
2.
Key grammar as is indicated in the teaching notes
3.
Important sentence as is indicated in the teaching notes
IV. Suggested class activities
1.
Ask students to present their pre-class homework as well as their questions about
the text orally.
2.
Try the selected oral work on P. 358 in the exercise.
3.
Ask students to have group discussion on a serious of topics about the human
needs.
V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Unit 12
Text A: The Needs That Drive Us All
I. Morning Report
II. Weekly Quiz
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
1. Divide students into several groups, and ask them to report what they have found to
the class to better their understanding of the text. Also ask students to prepare their
questions about the text.
2. Ask them to have a group discussion on the following topics:
a.
How do you like the essay?
121
b.
What are the basic human needs in your understanding?
c.
Do you agree with the author that the need for power is one the basic human
needs and it is very important in every aspect of our lives ?
B. In-class Tasks
1. General structure
Essay
a. Introduction: general introduction of five basic human needs and the need for power
is uniquely human(par. 1-2)
b. the need for power (par. 3-9)
c. the need for freedom (par. 10)
d. the need for fun (par. 11-14)
2. Detailed study of the text (please also refer to the reference book)
1. Introduction:
general introduction of five basic human needs and the need for
power is uniquely human(par. 1-2)
1 Questions to be discussed:
1). What does the author think are the needs that drive us all?
Are they all uniquely
human needs? What is in hte author's opinion is the uniquely human need?
2). Why does the author consider it so important for us to understand human drives?
3). What will happen if our needs are not satisfied?
2.the need for power: the author's analysis of the need for power in particularly
interesting.
Teachers are suggested to help make clear to students how the author prove this point
logically step by step.
P3: ( survival needs are clear-cut and easy to understand) the need for power is not so
easy to satisfy, partly because certain cultures condemn it.
P4: the need for power is beneficial to the development of economy and society.
P5: power is a basic human need is hard to understand, one possible reason for this is
we have been victims of it.
P6: however, the need for power is written in our genes.
P7: pervasiveness of human need for power
122
P8: how human need for power is manifested in every aspect of our lives
P9: the need for power is a psychological matter, it is not an ethical matter of right or
wrong. we are born with this need, and it proved to be of important for young students.
3. the need for freedom: like power, freedom need to be controlled.
4. the need for fun: it's hard for people to understand that seeking fun is also one of the
basic human needs.
P11: the author explains the characteristics and functions of fun in our lives instead of
defining it
P12: the need for fun is shared among basically all animals
P13: learning satisfies the need for fun.( 正说）such ..... are fun.
P14: boredom is the opposite of fun (反说）such ..... are not fun
3. Paraphrase: (TB P355)
1). All are important and must be reasonably satisfied if we are to fulfill our biological
destiny.
2). That their teachings have been largely accepted when what they advocate is so
obviously self-serving is tribute to how effectively they have been in getting their
message across.
3). My guess is that we will survive in direct proportion to how much we can learn.
4. Language points:
1). build in/into:
to cause to be part of sth which cannot be separated or removed from it; to
make...inherent, e.g.
We don't want to build in too much furniture, just a bookcase and two wardrobes.
I hope
you'll build some entertainment into the schedule for the training.
2). attach to sb/ sth:
to be connected with sb/sth; to connect sth to sth,
e.g. Love is freely given, with no strings attached.
Responsibility attaches this job.
3). strive for
(fml) to struggle hard; to make a great effort, esp. to gain sth,
e.g. The young man is striving for recognition of his musical talent.
123
4). run into
v. to begin to experience (difficulty) ; get into ( a difficult or unpleasant situation).
e.g. After successive crop failures, Farmer Jones ran into debt.
The peace talks ran into a deadlock when both sides rejected any
compromise.
5). a tribute to sth/ sb
sth that shows the good effects or influence of sth/sb,
e.g.Our graduates' performance is a tribute to the high-quality education of our
university.
6). branch out:
to add to the range of one's interests or activities, e.g.
Xiao Li doesn't want to concentrate on just one field, he wants to branch out more.
The company decided to branch out into producing digital cameras.
7). regardless of:
without worrying about or taking account of , e.g.
The law says that all citizens have the right to education regardless of age, sex, race
and religious belief.
The couple decided to send their son to an elite high school
regardless of whether
they could afford it.
8). humane: showing human kindness, thoughtfulness, and sympathy for the suffering
and misfortune of others etc.(仁慈的，人道的，有人情味的）
human : showing the feelings, especially those of kindness which people are
supposed to have ( 人的，常人般的， 有人性的，通人情的）
e.g. (in)humane treatment of POW
humane method of killing animals
It's human nature to want to love and be loved.
The tough policeman is really quite human at heart.
IV. Homework
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
124
Text B: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
ALL HUMANS HAVE BASIC NEEDS, according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
(Maslow, 1987). This hierarchy consists of five levels of needs that humans try to
obtain. Higher levels will not be attempted or reached by an individual without first
meeting the lower,
prerequisite levels. Maslow argues that people’s
most basic needs are those necessary for
survival: food, water, shelter and warmth. Once
these needs have been met a person is then able
to address their needs at the next level, the need
for safety and security. As each level is obtained
in succession, the individual is able to move to
the next higher level. The ultimate goal for each
person is to reach the level of self-actualization,
where one seeks to discover and develop his or
her own unique strengths and talents.
Abraham Maslow is known for establishing the theory of a hierarchy of needs, writing
that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs, and that certain lower needs need
to be satisfied before higher needs can be satisfied. Maslow studied exemplary people
such as Albert Einstein, Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick Douglas rather
than mentally ill or neurotic people. This was a radical departure from two of the chief
schools of pyschology of his day: Freud and B.F. Skinner. Freud saw little difference
between the motivations of humans and animals. We are supposedly rational beings;
however, we do not act that way. Such pessimism, Maslow believed, was the result of
Freud's study of mentally ill people. "The study of crippled, stunted, immature, and
unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy"
125
(Motivation and Personality). Skinner, on the other hand, studied how pigeons and
white rats learn. His motivational models were based on simple rewards such as food
and water, sex, and avoidance of pain. Say "sit" to your dog and give the dog a treat
when it sits, and-after several repetitions--the dog will sit when you command it to do
so. Maslow thought that psychologists should instead study the playfulness, affection,
etc., of animals. He also believed that Skinner discounted things that make humans
different from each other. Instead, Skinner relied on statistical descriptions of people.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs was an alternative to the depressing determinism of Freud
and Skinner. He felt that people are basically trustworthy, self-protecting, and
self-governing. Humans tend toward growth and love. Although there is a continuous
cycle of human wars, murder, deceit, etc., he believed that violence is not what human
nature is meant to be like. Violence and other evils occur when human needs are
thwarted. In other words, people who are deprived of lower needs such as safety may
defend themselves by violent means. He did not believe that humans are violent because
they enjoy violence. Or that they lie, cheat, and steal because they enjoy doing it.
According to Maslow, there are general types of needs (physiological, safety, love, and
esteem) that must be satisfied before a person can act unselfishly. He called these needs
"deficiency needs." As long as we are motivated to satisfy these cravings, we are
moving towards growth, toward self-actualization. Satisfying needs is healthy, blocking
gratification makes us sick or evil. In other words, we are all "needs junkies" with
cravings that must be satisfied and should be satisfied. Else, we become sick.
Needs are prepotent. A prepotent need is one that has the greatest influence over our
actions. Everyone has a prepotent need, but that need will vary among individuals. A
teenager may have a need to feel that he/she is accepted by a group. A heroin addict will
need to satisfy his/her cravings for heroin to function normally in society, and will not
worry about acceptance by other people. According to Maslow, when the deficiency
needs are met:
At once other (and higher) needs emerge, and these, rather than physiological hungers,
dominate the organism. And when these in turn are satisfied, again new (and still higher)
needs emerge, and so on. As one desire is satisfied, another pops up to take its place.
Physiological Needs
126
Physiological needs are the very basic needs such as air, water, food, sleep, sex, etc.
When these are not satisfied we may feel sickness, irritation, pain, discomfort, etc.
These feelings motivate us to alleviate them as soon as possible to establish homeostasis.
Once they are alleviated, we may think about other things.
Safety Needs
Safety needs have to do with establishing stability and consistency in a chaotic world.
These needs are mostly psychological in nature. We need the security of a home and
family. However, if a family is dysfunction, i.e., an abusive husband, the wife cannot
move to the next level because she is constantly concerned for her safety. Love and
belongingness have to wait until she is no longer cringing in fear. Many in our society
cry out for law and order because they do not feel safe enough to go for a walk in their
neighborhood. Many people, particularly those in the inner cities, unfortunately, are
stuck at this level. In addition, safety needs sometimes motivate people to be religious.
Religions comfort us with the promise of a safe secure place after we die and leave the
insecurity of this world.
Love Needs
Love and belongingness are next on the ladder. Humans have a desire to belong to
groups: clubs, work groups, religious groups, family, gangs, etc. We need to feel loved
(non-sexual) by others, to be accepted by others. Performers appreciate applause. We
need to be needed. Beer commercials, in addition to playing on sex, also often show
how beer makes for camaraderie. When was the last time you saw a beer commercial
with someone drinking beer alone?
Esteem Needs
There are two types of esteem needs. First is self-esteem which results from competence
or mastery of a task. Second, there's the attention and recognition that comes from
others. This is similar to the belongingness level, however, wanting admiration has to
do with the need for power. People who have all of their lower needs satisfied, often
drive very expensive cars because doing so raises their level of esteem. "Hey, look what
I can afford-peon!"
Self-Actualization
127
The need for self-actualization is "the desire to become more and more what one is, to
become everything that one is capable of becoming." People who have everything can
maximize their potential. They can seek knowledge, peace, esthetic experiences,
self-fulfillment, oneness with God, etc. It is usually middle-class to upper-class students
who take up environmental causes, join the Peace Corps, go off to a monastery, etc.
Weekly Quiz
I. spelling
ambitious
associate
downtrodden
frivolous
catalyst
eternity
humility
clout
coerce
crumble
dedication
expertise
incentive
manipulate monotonous
spontaneous
tyrant
unbridled
italiceze
mores
II. word derivation
1. I was really bored by the tedious speech, the speaker was too much _______ on those
several points.( repeat---repetitive)
2.
The
sales
manager
was
frustrated
by
the
__________
of
his
proposals.(deny----denial)
3. People living in democratic society today could hardly understand the misery of those
living under _______.( tyrant----tyranny)
4. This paragraph in your article is really _________(monotony----monotonous)
5. Keeping English journals would be ______(benefit----beneficial) to your English
learning.
III. translation
满足一个人的欲望
操纵他人
寻找复仇机会
完成个人的计划
谴责他们无动于衷
a long-term plan
128
a power payoff
unbridled power
masters of this art
the mores of a culture
我们不能允许任何人享有任何特权
2008年的奥运会快到了，我们得加紧各项准备了。
他并没有懂得形势的严重性。
宪法明确规定公民的权利不得侵犯。
你的服务越好，你就能获得越多的市场份额。
IV. dictation
If you wish to marry in England and Wales, you may do so either by a civil or religious
ceremony./
A civil ceremony can take place at a register office approved by the local authority for
marriages./
A religious ceremony can take place at a church or any other places of worship./ The
minimum legal
age for getting married is 16 years old./ In England and Wales the written consent of the
parents or guardians /
is required for persons who have not reached the age of 18 / and have not been
previously married. /
If either of the persons is below 18, a birth certificate must be produced./ It is preferred
that all persons produce such evidence./
There is no limit to the number of marriages you can enter into providing you are free to
do so./
129
Lesson 13
I. Objectives
1. Helping students appreciate the charm and humor of Baker displayed in this short
story.
2. Consolidating grammar points or structures such as conditional clauses (real and
unreal), passive infinitives, present participles and gerunds.
3. Key words study
4. Draw students’ attention to the vivid descriptions in the text.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
1. The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the text
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( 1.5 hours)
2. The study of the text (1.5 hours)
3. Exercises and the quiz (1.5 hours)
III. Key Points
1. Key vocabulary as indicated in the teaching notes
2. Key grammar as is indicated in the teaching objectives
3. Important sentences as indicated in the teaching notes
IV. Suggested class activities
1. Ask students to act the whole text or part(s) of the text out.
2. Ask students to have group discussion on the topics of old age and generation gap.
V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 13
Text A: In My Day
I. Morning Report
II. Weekly Quiz
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
A. Check Pre-class Task
B. In-class Tasks
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6. help the students to figure out the structure of the story.
7. Detailed study of the text (Please also refer to the reference book)
◆About the author
Baker has been charming reader for years with his astute political commentary
and biting wit. As a journalist, humorist, essayist, and biographer, he has written or
edited 17 books. Baker is famous for turning the daily gossip of most newspaper into
the staff of laugh-out-loud literature. He received his first Pulitzer Prize for
distinguished commentary in 1979 in recognition of his “ Observer” column. Baker
received his second Pulitzer Prize in 1983 for his autobiography, Growing up(1983).
With a moving mix of humor and sadness, baker insightfully recounts the struggle he
and his mother endured in depression-era Virginia, New Jersey and Baltimore after his
father pass away. The book’s greatest achievement is Baker’s portrayal of his mother,
a driven woman hunted by poverty and dreams of her son’s success.
◆About the text
This text is taken from Baker’s autobiography, and it deals with two human problems:
aging and generation gap.
Old age is sometimes described romantically as the beautiful setting sun, throwing its
last beams upon the golden pond. Bertrand Russell compares it to the slowdown of a
mighty river before it joins the great sea. However we all know that this last phase of
human life is not a happy one. “Old age is not for cowards” goes an old saying, because
during this period one goes through many physiological and psychological changes. His
movement becomes slow, his hair turns gray, his teeth begin to drop, his sight and
hearing start to go. Things can actually get a lot worse. But apart from their physical and
mental deterioration, old people also suffer from loneliness, boredom and lack of love,
like Russell Baker’s mother. That is why the author believed that his mother’s mind
wandered free because she wanted to go back to the old days when she was needed and
loved, because she wanted to recapture her happiness.
However Baker did not understand his mother so well before she became senile, and
this led him to ponder the weaving of past and present that flows through all families.
His regret over his loss of contact with his mother made him feel keenly the problem of
generation gap. The disconnection between parents and children of course is not a new
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subject, but in this article, Baker looks at this issue from both the point of view of a son
and the point of view of a father, thus making his views much more balanced. Unlike
some articles in which the old blame the young or the young blame the old, in this
article, the author discusses the responsibilities of both generations. He points out that
young people should understand the importance of their past; they should have more
interest and respect of what their parents stand for-their legacy. On the other hand, he
also advises old people to show understanding to young people’s greater interest in the
future, and warns them not to keep lecturing the young starting with the expression “In
My Day”.
Perhaps we can read this article in yet another way and take it as a touching story of a
courageous woman who lived her life as a soldier fighting a battle, and her son, the
author, who has such fond memories of his mother and deeply regrets not having been a
better son. It is in this sense that we might say that this article is somewhat similar to
Zhu Ziqing, the famous Chinese writer’s beautiful essay describing his last memory of
his father as he disappears in the distance.
◆Detailed
discussion of the Text
1. for children who were now gray with age.
For children who were now old people with gray hair.
With: because of
More examples: his face was blue with anger; she was beaming with excitement; her
fingers were numb with cold.
2. …traveling among the dead decades with a speed and ease beyond the gift of
physical science.
…traveling among the decades that were past and gone very quickly, so quickly and
easily that no physical science would be able to do it. (not even jet plane or spaceship
would have the same speed.)
physical science: jet plane, spaceship
gift: ability, talent
She is a very gifted pianist.
He has many natural gifts.
3. nursing home
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a private hospital or residential home for old people, similar to “养老院” in China.
4. She gazed at this improbably overgrown figure out of an inconceivable future
and promptly dismissed it.
Because that day she thought she was a young country wife, she could not recognize me
because I had become much too big. She could not conceive of the future when her little
Russell would be that tall and big. Therefore she immediately put that thought out of her
mind.
5. That day she was a young country wife in the backyard with a view of hazy blue
Virginia Mountains behind the apple orchard, and I was a stranger old enough to
be hr father.
That day she was a young country wife in the backyard behind the apple orchard, from
which she could see the hazy blue Virginia Mountains. She could not associate this
stranger old enough to be her father with her son who was only two feet from the floor
at that time.
6. “Are you coming to my funeral today?” she asked.
It was clearly an indication that her mind was going the way she talked about her own
funeral at this ungodly hour early in the morning. Just a moment ago she might have
been still a young country woman in Virginia. It showed how her mind could wander
free in time.
7. It was an awkward question with which to be awakened.
One expects to hear an important and urgent message when they are awakened so early
in the morning. But what Russell heard was simply a question which was silly and
impossible to answer.
awkward: difficult, unpleasant, uncomfortable, difficult to handle
8. “I’m being buried today,” she declared briskly, as though announcing an
important social event.
“I’m going to be buried today,” she said quickly and practically, as if announcing an
important social event (social gathering with friends).
social: related to the meeting of friends
Notice that the present continuous tense (passive) is used to denote the future.
9. There had always been a fierceness in her. It showed in that anger challenging
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thrust of the chin when she issued an opinion, and a great one she had always been
for issuing opinions.
There had always been a fierceness about her. When she expressed an opinion, her chin
would come forward which made her look anger and defiant. And she liked to give her
opinions. She always called a spade a spade, never mincing words, never afraid of
speaking her mind.
10. “It’s not always good policy to tell people exactly what’s on you mind,” I used
to caution her.
“It’s not always wise to tell people what you think,” I used to warn her. (It might hurt
people unnecessarily for example.)
to caution: to warn that something might be dangerous or difficult.
caution & warn：caution 提醒，警告，语气较弱
warn 普通用词 警
告，告诫
eg: The kind old lady cautioned me against that man, saying he was deceitful.
My mother was warned by the neighbors that they were in great danger.
policy: a particular principle that you believe in and that influences the way you behave.
I still think honesty is the best policy.
My Ma keeps telling me that it is not good policy to sleep on a full stomach.
11. “If they don’t like it, that’s too bad,”… “because that’s the way I am.”
“If they don’t like it, that’s too bad, but there is nothing I can do about it because that is
my habit.”
We must not think that the author’s mother was really apologetic. No, she was a woman
of strong character. She was used to having things her own way. She liked to say exactly
what was on her mind.
12. And so she was, a formidable woman, determined to speak her mind,
determined to have her way, determined to bend those who opposed her.
And that was the kind of woman she was…
Pay attention to the use of the word “so” again.
to bend: to cause sb to submit or yield
13. She had hurled herself at life with an energy that made her seem always on the
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run.
to hurl… at; to throw… at, with a lot of force
on the run: always busy or in a hurry.
on: used to indicate a state or condition of sth
Also: on the increase; on the decline; on fire
14. She ran after chickens, an axe in her hand, determined on a beheading that
would put dinner in the pot.
Notice the humorous effect achieved by using a formal work like “beheading” and
describing the dramatic scene of a young country woman running after a chicken with
an axe in hand.
15. …she tripped on the stairs and tumbled down, ending at the bottom in the
debris of giblets, hot gravy, and battered turkey.
As she was running upstairs with the turkey, she stumbled, fell down, and landed at the
bottom of the stairs. The turkey flew from her platter to the ground, with its giblets, hot
gravy all over the place
debris: the scattered remains of something broken or destroyed such as the debris of a
building
giblets: the heart, liver, and gizzard of a bird used as food
16. Life was combat, and victory was not to the laxy, the timid, the drugstore
cowboy, the mush-mouth afraid to tell people exactly what was on his mind.
In the days of the author’s mother, the Puritan traditional work ethic was still very
strong. Life was a struggle, a fight, a battle for survival, for salvation, and for the glory
of God. Every body should work hard. The author was also heavily influenced by this.
His children, however, were very different because they were born and brought up in an
“affluent society”, hence the particularly sharp generation gap.
and victory was not to …: and victory did not belong to …
Notice the use of the definite article to denote the whole class: the timid, the lazy etc.
17. for a time I could not accept the inevitable.
For a period of time I could not accept what was inevitable.
the inevitable: it refers to the fact that when one grows old, he/she is bound to
deteriorate in health.
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18. As I sat by her bed, my impulse was to argue her back to reality.
When I sat by her bed, my first thought was to argue with her so as to bring her back to
reality.
to argue her back: to argue until she is back to normal
Similar expressions: to talk sb into (doing) sth; to talk sb out of (doing) sth; to sleep it
off; to laugh it away
19. “ Russell’s way out west,” she advised me.
way out west: far our west; a great distance out west
to advise: to inform
20. The doctors, diagnosed a hopeless senility or hardening of the
arteries. I thought it was more complicated than that.
The doctors, diagnosis was that my mother was suffering from
senility or the hardening of arteries, and there was no cure for this
disease. But I did not quite agree. I thought it was not that simple.
I think it is more complicated than that: this is often used to express
a mild objection.
21. For ten years or more the ferocity with which she had once attacked life had
been turning to a rage against the weakness, the boredom, and the absence of
love that too much age had brought her.
She once attacked life with fierceness, but now the battle was over, and so was the
ferocity. In its place was an uncontrollable anger. She was anger about her declining
health, her boredom and her loneliness.
Notice that these are the common problems of old people: poor health, boredom,
loneliness. They are bored with life because there is often nothing for them to do.
They are lonely because their children have grown up and are gone; their friends are
either gone or unable to move around much like themselves.
absence of love: no love
22. Now… she seemed to have broken chains that imprisoned her in a life she had
come to hate and to return to a time inhabited by people who loved her, a time in
which she was needed.
For the doctors, Baker’s mother was suffering from an irrevocable disease; but for
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Baker his mother had won new freedom. For the doctors, the mother’s condition would
get worse and worse until in the end she died; but for Baker, his mother would now be
able to go back to the times when she was much younger, when she was needed and
loved. Baker as a writer has given us a poetic approach to old age, and in doing so, has
restored a sense of dignity to it in our mind.
1) go down to (place): pay a visit to…
2)go down before sb. : be dfeated
eg: Rome went down before the barbarians.
3) go down (in sth.): be written in
eg: It all goes down in his notebook.
4) go down to: be continued
eg: This ‘History of Europe’ goes down to 1970.
5) go down ( with sth.): fall ill
eg: Poor Peter—he ‘s goen down with flu.
23. I … had written her with some banal advice to look for the silver lining, to
count her blessings instead of burdening others with her miseries.
silver lining: a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy situation; a reason for thinking
that the situation is not that bad.
to count her blessing: to think about the good things that have happened to her
to burden sb with sth: to make sb worry about sth
24. I suppose what it really amounted to was a threat that…
to amount to: to have the same effect as; to be equal to
Examples:
The doctor’s diagnosis amounted to a death sentence.
It does not mater whether I go or not. It amounts to the same thing.
25. This one was written out of a childish faith in the eternal strength of parents, a
naïve belief that age and wear could be overcome by an effort of will, that all she
needed was a good pep talk to recharge a flagging spirit.
Out of a childish faith: out of a naïve belief
eternal strength of parents: children often believe that their parents would be strong
and be able to take care of them often ever.
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wear: used as a noun here, meaning damage done by continuous use for a long time
effort of will: effort of determination
pep talk: an encouraging talk
to recharge: to put a new supply of electricity into a battery.
Here: to give back one’s strength and energy
flagging: tired, weaker, and less interested
26. She wrote back in an unusually cheery vein intended to demonstrate, I suppose,
that she was mending her ways.
In a … vein: in a … way or style, esp in writing or speaking
He usually wrote in the same humorous vein.
Although she spoke in a light-hearted vein, the subject she touched upon couldn’t be
more serious.
to mend one’s ways: to improve one’s ways after behaving badly for a long time.
27. … she had managed to forget the fatigue and loneliness and to recapture
happiness.
… she had managed to forget her tiredness and loneliness and to bring back her happy
feelings when she was young.
28. At that moment she was a young girl standing on a wharf, waiting for the
Chesapeake Bay steamer…
Chesapeake Bay: the largest inlet on the Atlantic coast of the United States, receiving
the Susquehanna, Potomac, Rappahannock, York and James Rivers, all navigable.
Refer to….
1) send, take, hand over to
eg: The dispute was～ed to the UN.
2) speak of, apply to
eg: What I have to say～ s to all of you.
3) turn to, go to , for information
eg: The speaker often ～ed to his notes.
29. … if I had been able to step into my mother’s time machine.
… if I had been able to travel to all those past times together with my mother, who
seemed to have a time machine to enable her to do that.
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30. A world had lived and died, and though it was part of my blood and bone I
knew little more about it than I knew of the world of the pharaohs.
Though I was related to them, I knew very little about them. They lived in a world that
was past and gone. They were as remote to me as the ancient Egyptian kings.
31. The orbits of her mind rarely touched present interrogators for more than a
moment.
She could seldom respond to the questions put to her today because her mind was
moving in a different orbit.
32. Sitting at her bedside, forever out of touch with her…
Although I was sitting at her bedside, very close to her physically, I was completely out
of touch with her. there was a distance between us. I had no idea what she was thinking
about. Nor did she know what I had in mind. Barriers of time and age prevented us from
reaching out to each other.
Notice the regretful tome of the author. Now that his mother had passed away, he
regretted not having been a better son.
33. … and when age finally stirs their curiosity there is no parent left to tell them.
… when they become older and older and one day become curious about their past, it is
too late because both their parents are gone.
34. If a parent does lift the curtain a bit, it is often only to stun the young with some
exemplary tale of how much harder life was in the old days.
to lift a curtain: to reveal the truth; to let you see
exemplary tale: a story that serves as an example for people to learn from; a moral
lesson
35. It irritated me that their childhood should be, as I though, so easy when my
own had been, as I thought, so hard.
“should” is used here after “that” to express a feeling.
as I thought: this parenthesis implies that the author now realizes that he was wrong to
think that way. He thought their childhood was easy and he thought his own had been
hard. Now looking back, he has to admit it wasn’t fair.
36. … a son had offended me with an inadequate report card.
… a son had made me angry because his report card showed that he had not done very
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well in his studies.
inadequate: not good enough; not up to standard
37. …he hazed at me with an expression of unutterable resignation
… he looked at me tiredly. He knew what was coming. He hated being lectured on, but
he knew there was nothing he could do about it. He had to let it happen. So he had a
look of resignation that was hard to describe.
resignation: acceptance of an unpleasant situation without complaining or trying to
change it.
38. I was angry … with myself for having become one of those ancient bores whose
highly selective memories of the past become transparently dishonest even to small
children.
ancient bores: old people who bore the young by endlessly teaching them moral
lessons
selective memories: old people must have made mistakes or committed moral sins in
their time. But in order to set a good example for their children, they have to select what
they consider would be suitable from their memories.
transparently dishonest: clearly dishonest; so clearly dishonest that everybody can see
39. He looked upon the time that had been my future in a disturbing way. My
future was his past, and being young, he was indifferent to the past.
My future was his past: the author was talking as a boy about what he would do in
future when he grew u. he did it to impress upon his son that he should do the same. But
my future was my son’s past now.
… he was indifferent to the past: it is generally the case that young people are more
interested in the present and future whereas old people are more interested in the past.
40. Instinctively, I wanted to break free, and cease being a creature defined by her
time.
When my mother was young, I was her future. But I didn’t like it. I wanted to be free
and independent. I wanted to live my own life and did not want to live my life by my
mother’s standards any longer.
41. These hopeless end-of-the-line visits with my mother made me wish I had not
thrown off my own past so carelessly.
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end-of-the-line visits: visits paid to somebody during the last stage of their life.
Those last visits (They were hopeless because they did not mean anything to my mother
any more. She was not going to recover. And she did not even know I was there.) made
me wish I had valued my past more, and had paid more attention to the world she
represented.
42．throw sth./sb off: manage to get rid of
eg:
～off a cold/ one’s pursuers
2) throw sth off: produce, compose easily, as if without efforts
eg: ～off a few lines of verse.
43. We all come from the past, and children ought to know what it was that went
into their making, to know that life is a braided cord of humanity stretching up
from time long gone, and that it cannot be defined by the span of a single journey
from diaper to shroud.
We ass come from the past, and children ought to know what made them what they are
today, to know that life is a continuous process, it is like a human cord made of many
people starting from a long time past continuing to the present day, and it cannot be
separated or understood just by one person’s life. We should all cherish our roots, our
heritage.
Text B My Grandmother, the Bag Lady
1. About the writing
The article first appeared in Newsweek in 1985. It is a touching portrait of an
elderly woman, the author’s grandmother, whose world has shrunken away to the
contents of a paper bag. This “bag lady” is not one of the pathetic homeless who roam
big-city streets, but ives comfortably in a nursing home with around-the-clock
attendance and a family who cares and visits her regularly. Yet she shares with the
homeless the loss of possessions, place and independence.
2. About the text
Paragraph 2
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jolt: Sudden unpleasant shock
e.g. The bus checked with a jolt.
Paragraph 3
accommodate: To have room for
e.g. How many passengers does it accommodate?
I can accommodate your wishes.
Paragraph 6
conceivable:
e.g. It is hardly conceivable that he will fail.
He was edgy and irritable. It was conceivable that he could blow up.
Under the circumstances it is the best conceivable.
Paragraph 8
bulge: to protrude or swell
e.g. The baby boom created a bulge in school enrollment.
The gun he carried caused a bulge in his jacket
Paragraph 10:
rummage: to conduct a search
e.g. I had a rummage in drawers.
I'll have a good rummage around and see what I can find.
Paragraph 14
attendant: Miseries are attendant on vice.
Paragraph 16
scribble: To write carelssly and aimlessly, especially when preoccupied.
e.g. His writing is nothing but a scribble.
I can make nothing of this scribble.
I.
Assignments
1．Review Lesson 6, focusing on the key words and expression
2．Preview Lesson 7, and list the puzzles in TEXT A in the lesson
Weekly Quiz
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I. Spelling
1. interrogator 2. pharaoh 3. prompt 4. resignation 5. throne 6. radiant 7. prompt 8.
inconceivable
9. recharge 10. recapture 11. debris 12.
dispute 13. diagnose 14. formidable 15.
ceremonial
II. Word derivation
1. The lion attacked its victim with great ___________. (ferocious)
2. It was then that I ____________ the notion of running away. (conceivable)
3. She simply ignored the ______of asking for comments and suggestions from other
committee members. (ceremonial)
4. After examining the patient for a while, the doctor finally made a _______.
(diagnose)
5. I ______ myself to a long wait in line. (resignation)
III. Dictation:
In the United States today, more attention is given to ways of preventing crime. There
are special police programs and training programs in self-defence are aimed at helping
citizens guard themselves. Police departments have even offered to citizens tips on how
to take precautions while walking at night. For example, people are told not to walk near
dark buildings or high shrubbery or parked cars, and never to take shortcuts through
alleys or parks at night. They are advised to “look up to a light in the window if
someone nearby is making you feel uncomfortable and pretend someone is waiting for
you and is watching out for you.” In some neighbourhoods large “eye” signs are posted
very conspicuously to indicate that the place is closely watched by police.
IV. Translation.
1. 你可以阻止年轻人谈这些事情，但是你无法停止他们想这些事情。
2. 这完全是浪费时间和金钱。他们在漂亮的湖边造那么可怕的东西真是疯了。
3．我倒是上了大学，得了学位。但是这些都没有什么好处。
4．主教练世界杯比赛后将辞职。
5．国防部长的辞职等于联合政府完蛋了。
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Lesson 15
I. Objectives
1. Help students understand the US president’s role as a corporate salesman.
2. Learn new words and develop vocabulary relating to the above topic and some
political affairs.
3.Consolidate grammar points or structures such as the inversion with the negative
word at the beginning of a sentence, the adverbial of concession with “be”,
“should” used in a conditional clause, etc.
II. Contents & Time Allotment
4. The check of pre-class work and the oral work in the exercise; the study of the
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first half of the text ( 1.5 hours)
5. The study of the second half & the exercise. (1.5 hours)
6. Summary and review of the story, group discussion on friendship & the
exercise.(1.5 hours)
III. Key Points
7. Key vocabulary as is indicated in the teaching notes
8. Key grammar as is indicated in the teaching notes
9. Important sentence as is indicated in the teaching notes
IV. Suggested class activities
16. Ask students to present their pre-class homework as well as their questions
about the text orally.
17. Try the selected oral work in the exercise.
18. Ask students to have group discussion on a serious of topics about presidency.
V. Assignment(s)
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
Teaching Notes for Lesson 15
Text A: The President as Corporate Salesman
I. Morning Report
II. Weekly Quiz
III. In-class Teaching Procedures
In-class Task-cycle
146
A. Check Pre-class Task (Warm-up questions & background information)
1. Do you know anything about American political system? (A free talk)
2. What do you know about the president in the US? Who is the American president
today?
3. Name a few presidents you know in American history. Who is/was the most
influential one in American history in your opinion? And why do you think so?
4. What roles does the US president play in the country’s political life?
B. In-class Tasks
1. Work on the main ideas:
Thesis statement --The president of the United States acts as the guardian and
representative of corporate America.
Main idea of the whole article:
In author’s opinion, the American president is best defined as a corporate salesman,
selling the business ideology to the general public both in and outside the country.
2. Language points:
Para. 1
Seldom mentioned is this role as guardian and representative of corporate America.
-- Inversion is used with a negative word at the beginning of the sentence.
(Review sentences on Page 305.)
Para. 3
They would have us believe that … (Para. 2)
-- “Have” here is a causative verb, meaning “to cause sb./sth. to be in a particular
state”.
(See Note 2.)
Para. 4
Prosperity, our presidents tell us, is here or not far off--but so are the nation’s many
wild-eyed enemies, be they communists, revolutionaries, or terrorists
-- Notice the irony involved in the sentence.
wild-eyed: having an insane, angry, and distressed expression in the eyes
be they communists, revolutionaries, or terrorists: an adverbial clause of concession,
meaning “whether they are…”
(See Note 4.)
Notice the plural form of the word “crisis” is “crises”.
(Also: analysis--analyses; oasis--oases, basis--bases)
to downplay (to play down): the opposite of “to emphasize”
interventionism: the belief that the government has the duty to
influence what happens in foreign countries.
Notice that for specific cases, the word “intervention” is used.
curbs on political dissent: efforts to control and limit political opinions different
from the official views
Para. 5
In fact, a president’s primary commitment abroad is not to democracy -- as such but …
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As such: in itself
(See Note 7.)
Para. 8
After leaving office they continue to feed from the public trough.
-- After they leave the White House they continue to spend lots of public money.
Notice the vivid and sarcastic metaphor “feeding from the trough” which is
usually used to refer to animals.
Para. 9
…but if it should happen that …: should denotes what is possible (but not probable) in
the future in a conditional clause.
(See Note 10.)
Para. 10
For their part, presidents seem as capable of trading favors for
campaign money as any influence-peddling, special-interest
politician—only on a grander scale.
-- to trade favors for campaign money: to give favors to big
contributors in return for money with which they can conduct their
presidential campaign successfully
influence-peddling, special-interest politicians: politicians who try to sell their
political influence in return for money and who serve special interests such as the
interests of oil business or steel business etc.
only on a grander scale: only on a larger scale
In return, they enjoyed White House handouts, special favors on
regulatory and legal matters, and appointments to choice
ambassadorships.
-- handouts: money given free to a needy person
regulatory matters: 有关条例规定方面的问题
choice: (adjective) of a very high quality
ambassadorship: the position or job of an ambassador
Para. 11
It is said that the greatness of the presidential office lends greatness to its occupant,
so that even persons of mediocre endowment grow from handling presidential
responsibilities and powers.
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-- (the president) office: the important job and position with power
to lend (greatness) to sb: to give a particular quality to sb
e.g.
His presence lent a certain importance to the occasion.
Some colorful bottles seemed to lend some cheerfulness to the small dark room.
mediocre endowment: limited abilities
mediocre: not very good
endowment: natural ability
from handling presidential responsibilities and powers: as a result of performing
his duties as a president
Para. 12
The White House tapes, which recorded the private Oval Office conversations of
President Nixon, showed him to be a petty, vindictive, bigoted man who manifested a
shallowness of spirit and mind that the majestic office could clock but not transform
-- petty, vindictive, bigoted: trivial, mean, narrow-minded; cruel and unfair to whoever
has opposed him; and full of political racial and other prejudices
to manifest: to show; to reveal
… that the majestic office could cloak but not transform: … that the important
and impressive office of the president could from the public view but could not change
Para. 15
When engaged in such conflicts the president takes on an appearance of opposing
the special interests on behalf of the common interest. In fact, he might better be
described as protecting the common interest of the special interests.
-- to protect the common interest of the special interests: to protect the common
interest of the business community
IV. Homework
1. Review the text and the vocabulary.
2. Summarize this text orally with partners.
3. Prepare the new lesson.
More information about the text:
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About the author:
Michael Parenti is an internationally known
award-winning author and lecturer. He is one
of the nation's leading progressive political
analysts. His highly informative and
entertaining books and talks have reached a
wide range of audiences in North America
and abroad.
"A prolific author, a charismatic
speaker, and a regular guest on radio
and television talk shows, Parenti
communicates his message in an
accessible, provocative, and historically informed style that is unrivaled
among fellow progressive activists and thinkers."
-- Aurora Online, January 2004
2. Overview of the United States Political
System
The US is claimed to be the oldest continuous democracy in the world. It was
established in 1789, although not all features of the system were as democratic as they
are now.
Key Facts:


The US is a Federal system. This means that power is divided between a
central/national government and the States. The national government is referred
to as the Federal Government.
There are 50 States.
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



The Federal Government has three branches/arms:
o Legislative Branch
o Executive Branch
o Judicial Branch
The Legislative Branch consists of:
o House of Representatives
o Senate
The Executive Branch consists of:
o The President
o The Cabinet
o The Federal Departments and Agencies
The Judicial Branch consists of:
o The Supreme Court
o Other Federal Courts
3. About the president electoral system
Presidential Elections
The president and vice president are elected to four-year terms in even-number
years evenly divisible by 4 (e.g. 1992, 1996, 2000, etc.) The 22nd amendment to the
Constitution limits presidents to no more than two terms.
In the event the presidency becomes vacant due to death, permanent disability,
resignation or impeachment, the vice president becomes the new president. During the
temporary disability of the president, the vice president serves as acting president. In the
event of a vice presidential vacancy, the president nominates a replacement who must
be approved by Congress before taking office as the new vice president.
4. List of all presidents of the United States:
1. George Washington, 1789-1797
2. John Adams, 1797-1801
3. Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809
4. James Madison, 1809-1817
5. James Monroe, 1817-1825
6. John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829
7. Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837
8. Martin Van Buren, 1837-1841
9. William Henry Harrison, 1841
10. John Tyler, 1841-1845
11. James Knox Polk, 1845-1849
12. Zachary Taylor, 1849-1850
13. Millard Fillmore, 1850-1853
14. Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857
15. James Buchanan, 1857-1861
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16. Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865
17. Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869
18. Ulysses Simpson Grant, 1869-1877
19. Rutherford Birchard Hayes, 1877-1881
20. James Abram Garfield, 1881
21. Chester Alan Arthur, 1881-1885
22. Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889
23. Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893
24. Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897
25. William McKinley, 1897-1901
26. Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909
27. William Howard Taft, 1909-1913
28. Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921
29. Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1921-1923
30. Calvin Coolidge, 1923-1929
31. Herbert Clark Hoover, 1929-1933
32. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1945
33. Harry S. Truman, 1945-1953
34. Dwight David Eisenhower 1953-1961
35. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1961-1963
36. Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1963-1969
37. Richard Milhous Nixon, 1969-1974
38. Gerald Rudolph Ford, 1974-1977
39. James Earl Carter, Jr., 1977-1981
40. Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1981-1989
41. George Herbert Walker Bush, 1989-1993
42. William Jefferson Clinton, 1993-2001
43. George Walker Bush, 2001-
Text B: Our Leaders Don’t Know Best
1. Factual questions on the text:
1) Who are supposed to make decisions on public affairs according to the
antidemocratic theorists?
(The leaders, who supposedly know things the rest of the people don’t know.)
2) Does the writer argue for or against their opinion? How did he argue against them?
(He is opposed to these points of view by commenting on Vice President Spiro
Agnew’s view of public affairs and Polish president Lech Walesa’s antidemocratic
policy.)
3) According to Vice President Spiro Agnew, who should be relied on in statecraft, the
citizens or their leaders?
(Their leaders.)
4) What comparison did he make to support his view?
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(Ordinary people are like patients who can not treat their own diseases. Instead, they
must rely on their physicians for medical care.)
5) What was Polish president Lech Walesa’s theory?
(Democracy had become a troublesome barrier to the transition to capitalism and
had to be stuffed back into the bottle.)
6) What analogy did he employ to illustrate his theory? What does analogy mean?
(A bus must be driven by the driver and not by the passengers. Analogy means a
comparison made between things that are really quite different.)
7) How did the writer retort their theories?
(Par. 6: Patients should show no more unquestionable trust toward doctors than
citizens toward officials.
Para. 7: while passengers should not grab the wheel, they certainly have a right to
know where they are being taken, …)
8) Can their analogy about doctor-patient or passenger-bus driver settle the original
question regarding the appropriate role of democratic input in public affairs?
(No.)
9) What did the notion that people should trust their leaders result in?
(It has led to many unfortunate outcomes.)
10) What are some of the unfortunate outcomes implied by the writer?
(The Vietnam War, the Iraq War)
11) What is the essence of democracy according to the writer?
(People should not trust and not have faith in their leaders, because democracy is a
system built on distrust.)
12) Then who does the writer maintain to trust?
(A vigilant, informed, distrustful citizenry: the people.)
13) What does the title convey to you after you have read the article by Michael
Parenti?
(It conveys to us that the leaders cannot be trusted since they don’t know best the
affairs of the nation/the successful administration of the nation.)
2. Key phrasal verbs & some other expressions:
1) to form one’s decisions – to make one’s decision
2) to be responsive to – answering (easily or quickly)
cf. be responsible for – involving the obligation to make decisions for others and bear
the blame for their mistakes
3) to leave sth in the hands of sb. -- to get sth. to be looked after or managed by sb.
4) to admonish sb. for sth./doing sth. – (fml) to give a mild warning or a gentle reproof
153
to sb. for sth.
5) to indict sb. for sth./doing sth. – (legal) to accuse sb. of sth./doing sth.; to charge sb.
with sth. /doing sth.
6) to be appreciative of – to be feeling the value and showing proper understanding and
recognition of
7) to make way for – to prepare for
8) to subject oneself to sth. –to bring/get under control of; cause to undergo or
experience; to expose
9) to resort to – to make use of
10) to submit to – to abstain from resistance
11) to see sb. through (sth.) – to give sb. support, encouragement, until the end; to help
sb. out of difficulty
1) to conjure up – to cause to appear as if from nothing,
2) to give an account of – to explain
3) to collude with – to act in secret with
4) to place one’s faith in – to put one’s faith in
5) to subvert with – to destroy, overthrow with
Weekly Quiz
I. Vocabulary:
A. Spelling: executive
legislator
denounce
initiative
virtue
emphasize
enterprise manifestation
acute
well-stocked
cellar
loophole
Kennedy
compelled
guardian
vigor
campaign
allowance
oval
ideology
B. Corresponding words:
1. having the same meaning as (synonymous)
2. refusal to accept an official opinion or an opinion of the majority (dissent)
3. amount by which payments exceed receipts (deficit)
4. opposed to great or sudden change (conservative)
5. a person considered suitable for a certain position (candidate)
6. belonging to the central government (federal)
7. to go from place to place trying to sell something (peddle)
8. to improve one’s character (to ennoble)
9. intolerant and narrow-minded (bigoted)
10. money paid regularly to someone who is retired
C. Sentences:
1. 让我们年轻人接触外国文化不是一件坏事。
It is not a bad thing to have our young people exposed to foreign culture.
2. 由于利息很低，人们现在更青睐于购买每年发行的国库券。
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Because of the low interest rate people now prefer to buy the national bonds issued
every year.
3. 起初他试图否认这文章是从网上抄来的。
At first he tried to deny having copied the essay from the Website.
4. 由于这个人几乎穿得衣衫褴褛，服务员十分怀疑他能否付帐。
As the man practically in rags, the waiter seriously doubted that he could settle the
bill.
5. 要是产品的质量没有改进的话，公司是不会获得如此大的市场份额的。
If the quality of their products hadn’t been improved, the company wouldn’t have
been able to gain such a large market share.
III. Dictation:
The researchers gave special attention in their study to the personalities of George
Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They note that both men have been in the top three
of every historian's poll of presidential greatness, but besides being very tall and
imposing men, they seemingly had little in common. Washington scored very high on
conscientiousness but scored lower than typical Americans today on openness,
extraversion and agreeableness. He also scored quite low on vulnerability, which
indicates an exceptional ability to tolerate stress and adversity. He also scored low on
openness to values, which indicates that he was traditional in his morals and relied on
leadership from church and religious figures in these matters. Additionally, Washington
scored high on achievement striving, competence, self-discipline and deliberation.
Lincoln scored high on openness, but his highest score was on depression, which
the authors say is consistent with reports that he occasionally suffered periods of deep
despair. Lincoln scored low on straightforwardness. "He was willing to bend the truth,"
said the authors, "although he was usually seen as honest and well intentioned."
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