UNIT SEVEN

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

1. grasp the main idea and the structure of the text ;

2. understand the devices developing the paraphrases and some figures of speech in the text;

3. master the key words and phrases and sentence patterns in the text;

4. conduct a series of reading, listening, speaking and writing activities related to the theme of the unit.

TIME

50minutes x 4 periods

Section A Face to Face with Guns

TEACHING PROCEDURE

Pre-reading Activities

Background information

KFC: Kentucky Fried Chicken, known as KFC in the US, is the world’s most popular chicken restaurant chain. The company originated and still has its headquarters in the US. It now has more than 30,000 restaurants worldwide.

Blake's Thames: Blake, William (1757 - 1827) was an English poet and artist whose best known books of poems are Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. The quotation used in Passage A comes from the first verse of a poem called “London.”

The Thames is the main river flowing through London, and England's most important river.

Questions

1.How many things did the thieves steal from the man? What were they?

2.What saved the man’s life?

3. What is the raging river?

4.What do you think lies behind the gun violence in the American society?

5. What steps should we take to check the armed robberies in our society ?

II. Text Analysis: Main Idea and Devices for Developing It

Main idea of the text ?

One night two armed young men robbed me of money, watch and even KFC. Next day, I went to look through the mug shots at the police station, affected with the impression that these young men, like a raging current, were eating at the foundations of what we had held dear.

Devices for developing it?

叙事法 Narration

描写法Description

对话法Dialogue

Main Idea of each part

Part I (para. 1)

In spite of my caution, someone attacked me.

Description of sequential actions (动作顺序法)

being cautious; scan the street before pulling in; walking out of the garage; a man emerged and put his gun at me

Part II (para.2-27)

I was robbed by two young men, losing my money, watch and chicken.

Combination of narration-

description-dialogue

(叙事-描写-对话结合法)

Part III (para.28-30)

Back at home, I reported the robbery to the police and they inquired into the case.

Description of sequential actions

(动作顺序法)

Part IV (para.31-34)

When looking through the mug shots at the station, I began to reflect on the damages these young people have done to our society.

Description (描写法) Description of my feelings and reflections

III. Expressions & Patterns

A:Expressions:

1. face to face with

2. to scan the street and pathways for

3. to be no exception

4. to emerge from the shrub

5. to be cautious of

6. to pull into

7. as if

8. to attach to

9. to focus on

10. rather than

11. to have mercy on somebody

12. to fade down

13. to turn to

14. to get to one’s feet

15 to look through

16. be out of control

17. to eat (away) at

18. to hold dear

19. the fruits of labor

20. to seek the depths of

B. Patterns for you to use as models

Typical patterns for concurrence:

原句:

As I spoke, I set the KFC box on the planter beside the pathway…. (L. 7)

我一边说,一边把肯德基快餐盒放在小路旁边的播种机上,… …

句型提炼

1) As sb did sth, sb/someone else did sth else.

某人一边做某事,一边做另一件事。 在某人做某事的同时,他/有人做另一件事。

应用: a. 警察从前门冲进大楼的时候,这群小偷从后门逃走了。

As the police were entering the building from the front entrance, the thieves escaped through the back door.

应用: b. 警察一边喊着:“不许动!”, 一边拔枪。

As he shouted: “Freeze!”, the policeman pulled out his pistol.

原句:

“Here,” I replied, extending my left arm sideways. (L. 19)

“在这儿,” 我边回答,边把左臂伸向路旁

句型提炼

2) Sb does/did sth, doing sth else.

某人一边做某事,一边做另一件事。

应用: a. 妻子一边开门,一边说她再也不回这个家了。

The wife opened the door, saying she would never return to this home.

应用: b. 父亲一边威胁着要教训他不争气的儿子,一边举起了手中的鞭子。

The father threatened to teach his shameful son a good lesson, raising the whip in his hand.

2. Typical patterns for simile:

原句:

(1) His dark eyes shone like polished glass. (L. 22)

他深色的眼睛里闪着光,好似擦亮了的玻璃.

(2) Turning those pages and studying their photographs is like flowing on a sad current … (L. 56)

一张张翻看并研读这些照片,仿佛漂流在一条让人伤心的河流上,… …

句型提炼

1) Sb/Sth does sth like sth. 某人/某物做某事,好像/好似…一样。

Doing sth is like / just the same as (doing) sth else.做某事仿佛(做)另一件事一样。

应用: a. 她漂亮的长发从肩头垂下,好似一条黑色的瀑布。

Her beautiful long hair fell down over her shoulders like a black waterfall

b. 学如逆水行舟,不进则退。

Learning is like rowing upstream; you either struggle forward or drop behind.

原句:

…his arms and legs moved unexpectedly, as if attached to unseen wires. (L. 23)

他手臂和双腿冷不防地移动着,就好像是连着看不见的电线似的。

句型提炼

2) Sb./Sth. does sth., as if …

某人/某物做某事就好像是……

应用: a. 她看上去似乎是冰做的。

She looked as if she were made of ice.

应用: b. 河床上遍布裂缝,像是在大声抗

议人类在开发自然资源时的贪婪。

The cracks are everywhere on the riverbed as if they were shouting protests against man’s greed in exploiting natural resources.

3. Typical patterns for suggestion

原句:

Presently, all we can do is look at smug shots and stick our fingers in the dam. (L. 63)

而目前,我们所能做的就是看看罪犯的照片,并参与到构筑抑制犯罪的大坝中去。

句型提炼

All (that) sb could/can do is (to) do sth. 某人所能做的事是……

应用: a. 作为大学生,你现在所能做的事情就是全身心地获取知识。

As a student, all you’ve got to do now at college is to put all your heart into acquiring knowledge.

应用: b. 在抗击非典的战斗中,一个普通公民所能做的就是坚守岗位,更加努力地工作。

During the battle against SARS, all an ordinary citizen could do was stick to his / her post and work harder.

IV. Summary

The other night as I walked _____ the garage, a portly man wearing a stocking cap ________from a bush and aimed a pistol between my eyes. As I set down my KFC, I ___________ tossed my keys into a shrub. I said my money was in my wallet. He moved to _______ my trousers’ pockets. Suddenly, I was face to face with his _____ partner with _______ eyes and legs like shouted to stop _______ at them. I was trying to notice details so I could remember them.

_____, I was on the ground, guns at my neck and temple, my face digging into dirt on the ________. I felt I was going to die.

____________ they asked a question: “What is this?” It was my KFC. They grabbed the ______ chicken and ran, their footsteps fading ______ the night.

I phoned the police who called back for _________ details. __________ these two probably committed several________ in my _____________.

At the police station I looked at mug shots to try to _______ them. These photos _______ me _____ the impression of a raging current, destroying the foundations of our freedom and values.

Exercises『omitted』

Section B Should I Have a Gun?

Reading Skills Reading Between the Lines

Reading between the lines means drawing understanding about the author's ideas from what is written and from what is not written. Writers don't always express all their thoughts openly, either as a matter of style, or because they assume we know and share their opinions-or because they aren't sure how to express themselves.

To draw inferences about the author's ideas we have to be very careful with what is advised.

1) You have to make use of context clues, common sense and our knowledge of the world.

2) Connect ideas and draw conclusion from the reading passage.

3) Form and test what you have understood between the lines. The reading act is a two-way communication between the reader and the writer about understanding, forming ideas, testing your ideas during the reading of the passage, correcting or changing your own ideas and understanding and, finally, you are able to get what the writer is driving at or communicating.

Now here are some more examples taken from passage A.

1. “Hey,” I said, “just take it.” As I spoke, I set the KFC box on the planter beside the pathway, contriving as I did so to toss my house keys into a bush. (Para. 3, Passage A)

Question: Why did the writer toss his house keys into a bush?

Possible answer: He would not let the robbers to have his keys to the house.

2. He wasn’t stupid. I’ve seen enough criminal trials to know victims of armed attacks are seldom able to identify their offenders because their attention focuses on the guns, rather than on their users. I consciously noted details of their faces. (Para. 15, Passage A)

Question: Do you think the writer was stupid, too?

Possible answer: No. The writer was careful enough to note details of the robbers so that he could identify them later if possible.

To get the right answers to the above questions, you have to read very carefully and also make use of context clues.

Every kid should have an older brother he can look up to. I feel sorry for those kids who don’t care for their older brothers as I do mine. A boy requires understanding, protection, and a strong sense of belonging and identity. I guess Kevin was my security blanket. It wasn’t that he allowed me to follow him around puppy-style. I can’t explain it; he was just there –like the Rock of Gibraltar.

Which of the following judgments applies to Kevin?

A) He was fair but demanding.

B) He was dull and silent.

C) He was quiet and soft-hearted.

D) He was reliable and helpful.

2. The idea in the paragraph would most probably be discussed in a book dealing with ____ .

A) behavior problems

B) marriage counseling

C) family court

D) child development

3. Kevin’s behavior toward his young brother reveals ____ .

A) a good background in education

B) a patient and understanding attitude

C) a deep concern for his brother’s safety

D) a lack of friends and social life

For most students the transition from high school to college-level classes is a shock. It takes some freshmen many months to adapt to the lecture and note-taking system. Preparation for this change gives the student confidence and competence from the beginning and makes him an effective and attentive listener. Listening skills can be developed and note-taking techniques learned; together they bring order to the confusion frequently experienced by new freshmen.

The paragraph ____ .

A) mistrusts college freshmen

B) offers positive suggestions

C) encourages private education

D) recommends higher education

2. Which of the following judgments can be justified by the paragraph?

A) College entrance examinations can be upgraded.

B) The nation’s high schools are seriously understaffed.

C) Increased aid to education is necessary.

D) The number of college freshmen drop-outs can be reduced.

3. The relationship between applied study skills and academic achievement seems ____ .

A) debatable B) direct

C) unjustified D) unusual

Text B

Question Previewing

1. The writer didn’t own a gun in the past partly because ______________________.

2. Why does the writer think what the gun is able to do frightens her more than what it may prevent?

3. The writer feels uncomfortable about the imagined robbery because _____________ .

4. While waiting to pay the cashier in a gas station, the writer feels nervous because ____________________________________.

5. Which of the following shows the writer’s feeling when she saw her friend lock the doors of the car when they saw a black man crossing the street in front of them?

6. In her imagined confrontation before her apartment, the writer feels more frightened of _____________________________.

7. Which of the following might be concluded from the passage?

8. We can understand from the passage that _____________________________________.