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新疆医科大学外语教研室
全新版大学英语二册教案
Unit
5
Unit 5
Overcoming Obstacles
Ⅰ
. Suggested
Teaching Plan
Objectives
Students will be able to:
1.
grasp the main
idea (dreaming and hard work helped Michael Stone
on his way to success) and the
structure of the text (narration with a
flashback);
2.
appreciate
the
narrative
skills
(using
details
to
bring
out
a
character;
a
surprising
ending;
use
of
puns);
3.
master the key
language points and grammatical structures in the
text;
4.
conduct
a series of reading, listening, speaking and
writing activities related to the theme of the
unit.
Time
allotment
1
st
period
Pre-reading;
While-reading
(text
organization;
language points)
2
nd
period
3
rd
period
4
th
period
5
th
period
While-reading
While-reading
(language points)
(closing
line;
usage of “work”;
details)
Post-reading
Theme-Related
(play on the
Language Learn-
meaning of
ing Tasks
words;
exercises);
Check
on
students’
home reading
(Text B)
Pre-reading
tasks
1.
T asks
Ss the following questions on the song
Coming out of Dark:
(5 minutes)
—
Consider the
title of the son
g, what does “Dark”
refer to? (near death; loss of consciousness after
the car accident; slow and painful
recovery; despair)
—
How is the song related to the theme of
the unit? (To get over despair after injury is
also a form of
overcoming obstacles.)
2.
Do you know these
proverbs?
(13 minutes)
1)
T dictates the following
proverbs to Ss:
—
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. (<
/p>
有
志
者
事
竟
成
)
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新疆医科大学外语教研室
全新版大学英语二册教案
Unit
5
—
Rome wasn’t
built in a day. (
伟
业
非
一
日
之
功
/
罗
马
非<
/p>
朝
夕
建
成
)
—
God
helps those who help themselves. (
黄
天
不
负
有
心
人
/
自
< br>助
者
天
助
,)
—
You shall
reap, what you sow. (
种
瓜
得
瓜
,
种
豆
得
豆
/
一
分
耕
耘
,
一
分
收
获<
/p>
。
)
—
Constant dripping wears away the stone.
(
锲
而
不
舍<
/p>
,
金
石
可
镂
。
)
2)
Ss try to
translate these proverbs into Chinese.
something, work for it! / You want
something, work for it!
)
3.
T may lead in
to the text by saying: Hard work is important to
success, but it is not the only factor
that
contributes
to
success.
As
we
will
find
out
in
this
text,
dreaming
is
equally
important.
(2
minutes)
3)
Ss
scan Text A to find a similar saying by Michael’s
father, which is in italics.
(
If you want
While-reading tasks
1. Text organization
(17
minutes)
1)
T guides Ss through the directions for
Text Organization Exercise 1, so that they know
the text
consists of four parts.
2)
Ss scan the
first sentence of Paras 1-6, and get ready to
answer the following questions:
—
Which first
sentence switches from past tense to past perfect
tense? (the first sentence of Para 3)
(
T may as well tell Ss this: a story is usually
narrated in the simple past tense. When a past
event
is
recalled,
the
past
perfect
tense
will
be
used
as
a
signal.
Afterwards
the
flashback
is
also
narrated in the simple
past tense.)
—
Which first sentence shows that the
flashback is over and the narration returns to the
National
Junior Olympics? (the first
sentence of Para 6)
—
By now, do you know how to divide the
text into four parts? Write down your answers in
the
blanks provided in Text
Organization Exercise 1.
3)
Ss do Text Organization Exercise 2.
2. T explains language points and gives
Ss practice (see
Language
Study
).
When they
come to the end
of a part, Ss will sum
up its main idea in the blanks provided in Text
Organization Exercise 1.
(60
minutes)
3.
Ss answer these questions (see
Text Analysis
):
(8 minutes)
—
Without the
last sentence, would you still admire Michael
Stone’s achievement?
—
Who would you
admire better, a Michael Stone with a sound body
or a blind Michael Stone?
—
Why does the author keep the secret
about Michael’s blindness until the last
sentence?
4.
Usage
(15
minutes)
1)
Ss scan the text again to find out the
three instances where “work” is used as a
verb.
2)
T asks some Ss to explain in English
the three different meanings of “work”.
3)
Ss do the
after-
text Usage exercise on
“work”.
2
新疆医科大学外语教研室
全新版大学英语二册教案
Unit
5
5.
Finding out details
(20 minutes)
1)
T introduces
the activity by saying: A child usually inherits
characteristics from both his / her
mother and father. So does Michael
Stone. Michael’s mother is romantic and
passionate, while
his father is a hard-
core realist. Work with a partner, find out those
details about Michael Stone
that shows
him to be his mother’s boy or his father’s
son.
2)
Some pairs report to the class their
findings.
3)
T
asks Ss this question: Dreaming and hard work,
which is more important to Michael’s success?
Why?
Post-
reading Task
1. Playing on
the meaning of words (see
Text
Analysis
).
(15
minutes)
1)
T
introduces
the
idea
that
many
words
have
more
than
one
meaning
and
can
remind
one
of
a
number of different ideas
and events all at once.
2)
Ss
read
the
first
three
sentences
of
the
text
to
find
out
where
the
author
uses
a
word
in
two
different senses (the word “hot”
meaning respectively “having a high temperature”
and “fierce,
intense”).
3)
Ss give
individual opinion on this question: How do you
understand the title of this text? Does it
also carry more than one meaning?
4)
Extra reading
for fun (This can be either an in-class or out-of-
class group discussion. The words
that
can help you recall the discoveries of the
scientists are underlined.): Here the poet plays
on
words. Each line has a word or words
that remind us of an activity or discovery
associated with
the scientist
mentioned. Can you spot the words?
REPL
YING TO AN
INVITA
TION TO A SCIENTISTS’
BALL
Pierre and Marie Curie
were radiating enthusiasm;
Einstein
thought it would be relatively easy to attend;
V
olta was electrified and
Archimedes, buoyant at the thought;
Ampere was worr
ied he wasn’t
up to
current research;
Ohm
resisted the idea at first;
Boyle said
he was under too much pressure:
Edison
thought it would be an illuminating experience;
Watt reckoned it would be a good way to
let off steam:
Wilbur Wright accepted,
provided he and Orville could get a flight:
Morse’s reply: “ I’ll be there on the
dot. Can’t stop now —
must
dash
.”
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新疆医科大学外语教研室
全新版大学英语二册教案
Unit 5
2.
T guides Ss
through some after-text exercises.
(20
minutes)
3.
T checks on Ss’ home reading (Text
B).
(3 minutes)
4.
Ss do Part IV:
Theme-Related Language Learning Tasks.
(1 period)
5.
T asks Ss to
prepare the next unit:
(2
minutes)
1)
do the pre-reading task;
2)
preview Text
A.
Ⅱ
.Text
Analysis
Those who have
read this story will probably agree that its most
striking feature is the closing line.
As we read on, our admiration for
Michael is building up until we believe that, when
Michael broke
both national and
international records, we have reached the climax.
However, the real climax is in the
last
sentence. When we find that out, what a great
impact it has on us!
The text plays on
words on more than one occasion. The text title,
True Height,
itself has more
than one meaning. We may understand it
as the new bar heights that Michael cleared one
after another,
or
we
may
view
it
as
the
tremendous
obstacles
Michael
had
overcome
in
attaining
his
goal.
As
mentioned in the
Suggested
Teaching Plan,
the word “hot” in the
first paragraph al
so plays on two
different meanings, one literal, the
other figurative.
We will also notice
how the author uses details skillfully. How do we
know that Michael’s success
at
pole-
vaulting is especially
significant? We know it by inferring, because even
“Bert
‘If You Want It,
Work For It’
Stone was
crying like a baby in his wife’s arms. He was
crying harder than Mildred had
ever
seen before”. How do we conclude that Michael is a
highly motivated person with a passion for
detail? Because the author told us in
detail how he had followed a rigid training
program, as well as
how he appeared
unmoved by his own success and going on doggedly
to scale a new height, not once
forgetting “his routine of three
finger
-tipped
push-
ups”.
Ⅲ
.
Cultural Notes
1.
Sports:
Sports
play
an
important
part
in
American
life.
Professional
baseball
and
(American)
football games attract large crowds,
and many people watch games on television.
Although many
parents
complain
about
their
children
being
couch
potatoes
(
=
people
who
spend
a
lot
of
time
watching television),
there are sports sessions at school for all ages.
College students are usually
also
required to take physical education classes to
complete their studies.
2.
Olympics:
The Olympic Games are the most
important international sports event in the world
held
every four years.
The ancient Olympic Games were held in
Olympia every four years from 776 B.C. to 392 A.D.
The modern Games were first held in
1896 in Greece and, with the exception of three
games not
held because of the two world
wars, have been held in various cities of the
world at regular 4-year
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