Book 3 Unit 1 for
My Father
I. Teaching Aims:
1. Enable students to understand generation gap and different values between the young and the old.
2. Enable students to contrast uncountable mass nouns with related countable nouns, such as: bread →a loaf
3. Familiarize students with vocabulary: be easy to get along with, be pleased to do ... (adj. + to do
something), vain, easy-going, keep oneself to oneself, be out of touch with, come first, be off somewhere doing something, be proud of something, show off, let somebody down, settle down, not to see much of somebody, in the wrong (right) clothes, be opposed to, humble
4. Enable students to know writing skills: introducing styles of writing and train ing Ss how to describe people
from subjective judgment and selected details by fragmented memor y
II. Lead-in: Listening & Speaking Activities
1. Brainstorming (20 minutes)
1) Adjectives for describing personality (character):
?Positive adjectives: easy-going, honest, open-minded, humorous, interesting, pleasant, pleasurable, frank, sympathetic, helpful, loyal
?Negative adjectives: arrogant, dishonest, difficult, narrow-minded, boring, loathsome, unpleasant, selfish, rude, cowardly
?Neutral adjectives: complicated, reserved, silent, quiet, talkative, sophisticated, ambitious, aggressive, timid, impulsive, sociable / unsociable
2) Expressions for personal appearance( one's looks):
?Size: thin, skinny, slim, slender, big, large, small, little, stout, plump, fat, robust, athletic, muscular ?Age: old, young, look old / young, doesn't look one's age, youngish, elderly, middle-aged, in one's thirties (f orties)....
?Resemblance: look like somebody, resemble, take after somebody, have someone's eyes / nose / hair...
3) Expressions for likes and dislikes:
?love, like, enjoy, be crazy / mad about, be keen on, be interested in
?dislike, feel sick about, hate, be indifferent to, don't care for, be disgusted with
4) Expressions for managing relationships:
?Improving relations: get along with, have a good or friendly relationship with, be on good terms with, live happily with, be kind / nice / agreeable to, compliment, praise, appreciate one's help / advice ?Hurting relations: laugh at, criticize, ridicule, quarrel with, split with, break up with, look down upon, interfere with one's affairs, have a bad relationship with, there is bad blood between ... and.... be difficult / hard on somebody
?Neutral: cope with, keep in touch with, be in / out of contact with
5) Expressions for people we know or meet:
?friends, strangers, acquaintances, colleagues, classmates, schoolmates, roommates, fellow students, fellow workers, neighbors, alumnus (pl. alumni)
?employer -- employee, superior -- inferior (subordinate), teacher -- student, doctor -- patient, salesman -- customer, etc.
2. Listening Activities (20 minutes)
Topic: I have a brother
?Put some difficult words on BB.
?Play the tape without pause in order to let Ss grasp the main idea
?Explain some useful or difficult phrases
?Design some comprehensive questions and guide Ss to get specific information.
?Encourage Ss to finish the questions.
?Play the tape from beginning to end again.
3. Review words and expressions learned in the brainstorming section. (5 minutes)
III. Reading Comprehension and Language Activities
1. Review (5 minutes)
2. Pre-reading discussion: (15 minutes)
1) Is there a generation gap between you and your parents?
2) List at least three things that show the differences between you and your parent.
3. Probe the text (35 minutes)
1) Summariz ing the story and paragraphs. ( 10 minutes)
In the article, the narrator presents her personal impression about her father from two perspectives: first, she describes her father’s character, which is completely different from her own; secondly, she tells the reader that she and her father have different interests. We can conclude that they are not very close.
Summarize the paragraphs:
Para. 1 The narrator describes her father in her eyes
Para. 2 The narrator cites a number of examples to support her statement that her father is quite self-centered and a little bit vain.
Para. 3 The narrator tells of her school experience to show that her father is not aware of what she really needs and how she really feels.
Para. 4 The narrator examines the different interests she and her father have and tells of the gap between them.
Para. 5 The narrator tells the different attitudes she and her father have towards her marriage and having grandchildren.
Para. 6 The narrator tells that she is not that interested in what her father is doing.
2) Text notes ( 10 minutes)
3) Question s and story reproduction (10 minutes)
?Does any feel close to her father? Why or why not?
?Why doesn't she remember much about her father in her childhood?
?What is her father's job? Is he successful in his career?
?Why does she say that her father is a little bit vain?
?Why was she asked to leave school??
?Why did she give up her jobs?
?What did the father think of Amy's marriage?
?Is she going to have children?
4.Detailed study of the text: (70 minutes)
1) language points
(1) This passage is written from a personal viewpoint. It is a daughter's view on her relationship with her
father. Passages like this usually include a number of facts, which are interpreted by the narrator from how he / she feels about them. Probably, others may have different, even opposite, views on the same facts. Readers should be aware of the subjectivity of the views expressed in this passage.
(2) Para. 2. award: to give, esp. as the result of official decision (v&n)
award to sb /award sb. sth.
reward: v&n. (sth. Gained or received as ) a return for doing sth.
good or valuable = because of
eg. They rewarded the boy with E5 for bringing the list dog back.
(3) Para. 2. be proud of
take pride in
pride oneself on /upon
prideful adj.
(4) Para. 2. It was incredibly boring: It was extremely boring. The adverb incredibly is an intensifier,
denoting a high degree. The use of intensifiers is a common feature of spoken language. Similar
intensifiers include "terribly", "awfully” etc.
Here are two examples:
e.g. I am awfully glad to see you.
e.g. It was terribly cold outside.
(5) Para. 2. You had to sit there for hours: The pronoun you is used here to refer to people in general,
denoting a colloquial style.
(6) Para. 3. Settle down
1. t o sit comfortably
e.g. She settled (herself) down in a chair with a book an d a cup of tea.
2. (vi.) to establish a home and live a quiet life. 定居
e.g. I hate all this travel; I want to get married and settle down.
3. (vi.) to become used to a way of life, job, etc. 从事固定的职业，过安定的生活
eg. He soon settled down in his new school.
4.(vi. to) to start giving one’s serious or whole attention to a job, activities.
e.g. I must settle down and do my homework. 安下心来，专心致志于
(7). Para. 3. I didn't want to go there in the first place: I had no intention to go there from the very
beginning. The phrase in the first place can also
1. introduce or draw attention to the illustration of a series of points or reasons,
e.g. Now, in the first place, what made you leave so suddenly, and in the second place, why did
you leave no message?
2. denote a very important point or reason,
e.g. In the first place, I must define some terms.
(8). Para. 4. that: adv. (int.) (usu. In questions and negatives) so; to such a degree.
e.g. It wasn’t that good, actually. (=it was quite good but not very good). (BE·dial). I was that
hungry I could have eaten a horse!
(9). Para. 4. As a family, we're not that close: The word that in the sentence is an adverb to
emphasise the degree of a feeling or quality (=so).
Here is another example from the text: I'm not that interested.
More examples:
The baby cannot stay up that late. You can't have eaten that much.
(10). Para. 5. break up: to come or bring to an end, esp. by separating
e.g. Their marriage broke up.
The police broke up the fight.
The conference broke up without reaching any agreement.
2) Language work
Ex.1 In other words
Ex.2 Work with sentences
Ex.3 Word study
Ex.1 and Ex.2 are designed to give Ss an opportunity to revisit the text and refresh the knowledge of language points. Ex.3 can improve Ss’ ability to use the given prompts to produce sentences.
5. Summary (10 minutes)
Retell the text using the following clues.
? a self-centred, unapproachable father
? a little bit vain
?the writer’s school experience
?difference in interests between father and daughter
?the father’s attitude to his daughter’s marriage and having children
IV. Extended Activities (3学时)
1. Review: New words and expressions in Part II; Grammar points (15 minutes)
2. Dictation (15 minutes)
P8 Ex.1
3. Reading more: skimming and scanning (10 minutes)
P9 Ex.2 My Daughter (a story told by the father, a famous actyor) by James Mitford
4. Grammar work ( 20 minutes)
P10 Ex.3 Difference between Count Nouns and Non-count Nouns
5. Vocabulary work (10 minutes)
P13 Ex.4
6. Translation (15 minutes)
P12 Ex.5
7. Raising questions (10 minutes)
P12 Ex.6
8.Writing: Styles of writing. (20 minutes)
To describe people from subjective judgment and selected details by fragmented memory
9. Cultural information: Gypsy (10minutes)
Answer the following questions according to the cultural information.
?Who is a gypsy?
?Why are they often treated with disapproval in Britain?
?What does the word "gypsy" refer to in the US?
10. Assignment (10minutes)
V. Assignment (three times)
1．Comprehension work
P5 Ex.1 part A. B. C.
2．Language work
P6-7 Ex.2 part A. B. C.
3．Grammar work
P10 Ex.3
4．Vocabulary work
P11 Ex.4
5．Translation
P12 Ex.5
6．Words and expressions dictation
7．Story reproduction
Retell the text using the following clues.
? a self-centred, unapproachable father
? a little bit vain
?the writer’s school experience
?difference in interests between father and daughter
?the father’s attitude to his daughter’s marriage and having children 8．Writing: Styles of writing.
To describe people from subjective judgment and selected details by fragmented memory