Unit 2 The Dinner Party
1
• A heated discussion about whether men are b
raver than woman is settled in a rather unexp
ected way.
• The setting of the story was in India. A young girl and
a major had a heated discussion about how women
would react to a crisis at a dinner party, which is give
n by a colonial official and his wife. Then one of the g
uests noticed a strange expression come over the fac
e of the hostess and wondered what was happening.
It so happened there was a cobra in the room and it
was crawling across the feet of the hostess! In the en
d, the crisis was tackled in a perfect way. The crisis s
howed that women are able to face a crisis with perfe
ct calmness and great self-control.
Contents
• Pre-activities: background info (India, Table setting, Cobra )
• Text Reading:
– When & where was the dinner party?
– Who were at the dinner party?
– What happened at the dinner party?
– What’s the intention of the author?
• Language learning
• Post-activities: food for thinking, writing
Background info --- India
• India used to be a British colony
• There lived many British officers and their families
• On one hand, they were familiar with their living environm
ent already.
• On the other hand, they still led a British social life ---- par
ties, social activities were never ignored.
Background info ---Table setting
• At a formal party, the order of the seats were stress
ed to show politeness to the guests.
L M L M L ImM
H
HS
ImL M L M L M
L M L
H (8, 12, 16, 20, 24) ImM
ImL M HS
Background info --- cobra
• Snakes usually feed on small mammals, birds, re
ptiles or fish. Some snakes, like cobra, are poison
ous and can kill with a single bite. Boas(蟒) suff
ocate (使窒息) their prey by wrapping tightly aro
und it.
Background info --- cobra
• Cobras, also called “spectacled cobra”, are rather s
low snakes. They can be found in some parts of Af
rican and Asia. A full-grown Indian cobra is nearly
six feet long and about five inches around.
When & where?
• Time:
– shortly before WWI
• Place:
– India --- a colonial official’s home
What was the dinning room like?
Dinning room
•
•
•
•
•
spacious
bare marble floor
open rafters
wide glass doors opening onto a veranda
long table for 20
Who?
• The host and the hostess
• officers and their wives & a young girl and a majo
r
• The visiting American naturalist
What happened at the dinner party?
• girl vs. major
– a spirited discussion
• host
– listened and likely to be involved
• Am. naturalist
– watch
• hostess
– motioned to a native boy
the spirited discussion
• girl
– woman have outgrown the jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-m
ouse era
• major
– they haven’t
– women --- scream in any crisis
– men --- that last ounce of control counts
• Am. naturalist
Am. naturalist
•
•
•
•
•
Watch whom?
the other guests
the hostess
the native boy
What did he respond to the situation?
first impulse to jump
counting test for better control
the hostess
• facial expression?
– strange --- staring straight ahead, muscle contractin
g
• action?
– motioned to the native boy and whispered sth.
the native boy
• response?
– eyes widened, leave the room quickly
• action?
– place a bowl of milk on the veranda outside the open doors
What does this mean?
Cobra!
the counting test
• want to know what control everyone at the table has
• count three hundred --- five minutes
• move a muscle --- forfeit 50 rupees
What happened at the end of his counting?
The cobra made for the milk.
end of story
• people’s reaction in the end?
– Screaming
• host’s remark?
– An example of men’s perfect self-control
• naturalist’s reply?
– To the hostess
How did she know that a cobra was in the room?
It was crawling across her foot.
What’s the intention of the author?
• (L2) “though any naturalist would know it couldn’t be”
– food for snakes
– purpose-oriented
• Who is braver, men or women?
– Generally speaking, men is stronger physically, but that
doesn’t mean women are weak. They may behave very
brave and calm in some cases, even in crisis.
Language learning
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
heated
unexpected
shortly
track down be seated
bare & empty
spring up
outgrow
jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse era
while
feel like
count
join in
contract
motion
come to
likely
warn
frighten … into
emerge
ring out
light up
heated a.
lively, spirited
• The two professors started a heated debate on whether inte
llectuals should go into business.
• It was a very heated argument and people were shouting at
each other.
unexpected a.
unthought of
• He made an unexpected appearance and took up two hours out of my li
mited time.
• The weather change is so unexpected that many people shudder in the
wind.
• The old woman was shocked by the unexpected death of her son.
shortly (after/before) ad.
soon
•
•
He sent me his address in Boston shortly before I lef
t for the US.
He died shortly after the car crash.
The magazine story, and the person…, I’ve
never been able to track down.
• track down的宾语为“the magazine story, and the person
who…” 起强调作用,密切上下句
• This the masses can understand.
• Everything young Albert touched he did well.
track down
find by determined searching or hunting
• Did the hunter manage to track down the wounded deer?
• They hope to track down the source of the infection (传
染源).
be seated:
sit down (not passive, but reveal state)
• Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. (the performan
ce is to begin soon)
• Be seated, folks, we’ll start our class soon.
bare & empty:
bare a.
1) without clothing/covering to protect
• bare legs/waist, bare-foot doctor, bare floor, bare tr
ee
• After years of efforts, those bare hills are now cove
red with young trees.
2) basic, just only sufficient
• His income can only buy the bare necessities of life.
• The candidate won the election by a bare majority.
empty a.
1) have nothing or nobody in or inside
• The streets were almost empty.
• He came back from fishing empty-handed.
• My mind seems completely empty of ideas. (~ of sth.)
2) without sense or purpose
• empty words/ talk/ dreams/ promise
• He did not want to retire and had to lead an empty life.
spring up:
arise, develop or grow quickly
• Towns have sprung up in those remote areas.
• When the problem was solved, another sprang up.
outgrow v.
grow beyond or get rid of by growing old
• outgrow a childish habits/ one’s earlier interests
• I have outgrown the craze for chasing stars.
• Bill has outgrown the fear of the dark.
jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight- of-a-mou
se era
(the era) when they would jump on a chair at the sight
of a mouse
• a not-so-easy-to-operate machine
• an always-say-no-to-anybody-girl
while
1) during the time that
• Never get on or off a bus while it is still moving.
2) although
• While I can understand you, I can’t agree with you.
3) whereas
• Some people waste food while others haven’t enough.
4) as long as
• While you promise to be back earlier, I will let you go.
feel like:
feel a desire for; be inclined for or to
• I feel like a big meal now.
• He is so sick today that he does not feel like hav
ing anything to eat.
count v.
1) say/name numbers in order
• The boy can count to 100 now.
2) calculate the total of sth.
• Has the votes been counted up yet?
3) be of value or importance 很重要
• At the moment, every minute counts.
• Her opinion counts because of her experience.
join in:
take part in (an activity)
• Nearly everyone joined in the discussion.
• Sarah never joins in; she always plays on her own.
Note: We can either say “join in a game” or “join a game”, but we can
only say “join the Party/the Youth League”.
contract v.
1) make or become tighter or narrower
• Her stomach contracted at the sight of a dead rat. (~ his
forehead )
• The tunnel contracts to a narrow passageway as you go
deeper.
2) make or become smaller or shorter
• The word “Madame” usu. contracts to “Mm.”
• The Government plans to contract its import.
Note: contract/ contact/ contest/ content
motion v.
give a signal by moving the hand or head
• The manager motioned (to) me to a chair/ in/ away.
• He motioned to the waiter for his bill.
• He motioned me to sit down while talking into the phone.
n. 1) signal by hand of head
• He made a motion to let me sit down.
2) moving
• The clock is still in motion after twenty years.
3) proposal to be discussed and voted
• The Congress passed the motion to impeach the President.
come to:
return to consciousness
• When he came to, he found himself in a hospital.
• It was a long time before she came to -- her son has died.
likely
a. probable 可能的
– Ms. White is a likely candidate for the job.
– This is a likely place for him to stay.
ad. probably 可能地 (多与most, very连用)
– We will most likely be late.
– Very likely, he will forget all about it.
句型
•
•
•
•
sb. is likely to do sth.
It is likely that…
She is very likely to ring me tonight.
He is much more likely to be in the library.
It is highly likely that he will win the race.
It is likely that she will quit the job.
warn v.
give notice of possible danger; inform in advance
~ sb. of sth. / ~ sb. not to do sth. / ~ that …
• We had warned him of the danger but he turned a deaf e
ar to our warning.
• The children were warned not to open the door to a stra
nger.
• The whistle warned visitors that the ship was ready to sa
il.
frighten sb. into doing sth.
• They tried every means to frighten the old man into signing
the paper.
• The little girl was frightened into screaming at the sight of t
he big green worm.
(force, talk, shock, persuade, trick etc. 有同样用法)
emerge v.
come or appear from somewhere
•
•
The diver (swimmer) emerged from under the water in
a minute.
If the economy goes on like this, another crisis will em
erge soon.
ring out:
sound loudly and clearly
• Cheers rang out from the group waiting in front of the build
ing.
• The bell rang out when it got to the midnight of the New Y
ear.
light up:
give light to; become or make bright
照亮; (脸,眼)发亮,露出喜色
• The fire lit up the whole neighborhood.
• A smile of triumph lit up his face when the news came.
Words to Drill
•
•
•
•
•
argument
emerge
impulse
slam
bare
•
•
•
•
•
faint
likely
slightly
contract
heated
Words to Drill
•
•
•
•
•
motion
tone
crawl
host
outgrow
•
•
•
•
•
unexpected
crisis
image
shortly
widen
Food for thinking
– social roles
Socially, we are given different roles to play and dif
ferent personalities/qualities to present since we we
re born as boys and girls.
Can you figure out some of them?
Writing
• Write a short passage on “social roles”
• fixed structure:
Men and women act different social roles in society. …
Men are supposed to …
While, women are supposed to …