Wisdom of Bear Wood

Wisdom of Bear WoodI. Pre-class Work1. Read the text and listen to the recording. Try to understand as much as possible with the help of the notes, glossary, dictionaries and reference books. Think over the following questions:✓Introduce one of your best friends to your classmates. Are there things in common that lead to your friendship?✓Why do we need friendship? What can we get from it?✓Can you give us some tips to better cultivate friendship?✓List out the ingredients you think of importance to true friendship.2. Make up a story with the following elements:Woodland, cottage, an owl, an old lady, a little boyCompare your story with the text. Have you found anything unexpected?II. Introduction to the TextIt’s a story about both the beautiful nature a nd beautiful friendship. It is about “ a wisdom tutored by nature itself, about the seen and unseen, about things that change and things that are changeless, and about the fact that no matter how seemingly different twos souls may be, they possess the potential for that most precious, rare thing---an enduring and rewarding friendship.Why the “seemingly different two soul” become good friends? First, they are both lonely: the boy is lonely because he is in a foreign country with his father; the woman is lonely because she has just lost her dear husband.Second, they have the common interest in nature and knowledge, which is another bond of their friendship. The shortbread the woman keeps supplying for the boy is also one of the reasons.But the real reason for their friendship is the old woman’s selfless interest in the boy. It is often said that true love is in the giving and not in the taking. So is friendship. The woman not only gives the boy good food to eat, she also gives him a new vision of the beautiful nature, the key to the treasury of human knowledge, and above all, her care, concern, love and affection. Does she get anything in return? Yes. Through giving, she cannot help receiving. Although totally unaware, the boy has given the woman great consolation too. He is the real good companion of the woman. He brings great happiness and consolation to the woman. That is what she really needs in her deep heart.III. Basic Structure of the TextPart I (Para.1-4): The loneliness of the boy and his roaming in the woods.Part II (Para. 5-23): The boy met Mrs. Robertson-Glasgow in the Bear Wood and they became best friends.Part III (Para.24-27): Mrs. Robertson-Glasgow became sick and dead while their friendship flourished more than ever before.Part III (Para.28-37): The death of the old lady and the boy’s nostalgia for her.IV. Text in DetailPara 11. the title: wisdom of bear wood: the name of a wood, where, presumably, there are or there used to be bears-a large strong animal. So this is an entirely different word from bear in the sense of 忍受. These two words are called homonyms, which means words that happen to have the same sound and often the same spelling but different in meaning. In dictionaries, they are put in different entries. More examples: lie/ mine/ lead/ fine/ found/ ball/ bit1.…my family moved to England, the fourth major move in myshort life…: This noun phrase could be regarded as an condensed non-restrictive relative clause: which was the fourth…, which is referring to what is stated in the main clause. More examples: Lottie grinned, a real wide open grin./ His father was laughing, a queer sobbing sort of laugh.2.demand that…: subjunctive mood3.overseas:4.every few years5.be used to doing6.wrench myself away from:她努力把身体挣脱开来。

/用力把手脱开。

7.Question: Why did Michael’s family go to England? How did helike the frequent moves?Para 21.nearby were ancient…: inversion2.loving nature, however,…: However, as (because) I lovednature… present participle used as an adverbial clause of cause/reason.3.delight;4.a patchwork of farms …: farms that look like small pieces ofcloth of different colors when seen from far above.A. patch/ patchwork5.surround/ surroundings6.in the deep woods that verged against our back fence…:A. deepB. verge/ verge against/ verge on/ on the verge of sth.C.againstD.Chinese version7.a network of8.lead anywhere/ lead to nowhere9.rocket off: go off like rocket; move extremely quickly: 她转瞬间成了明星。

/房价正飞涨。

Similar usages: f actories mushroomed.( They grew like mushroom.) / He was wolfing it down as if he had not eaten for days./ It could snowball into a serious conflict.( gradually develop into a serious conflict like a snowball.)/ He tried to worm into that organization.Para 31.roam: walk or travel for a long time without any clear purpose.Here it is used as a transitive word. Normally it is used as intransitive verb as in “ roam about” “roam around”e.g. roam through the deserted village/ roam over sth.2.play3.Robin Hood:Exercise1.He was a young man barely eighteen years, evidentlycountry____ (长大的)2.The new secretary has written a remarkably ____ report.( concise;precise; elaborate)3.exhausted/ exhaustive/ exhausting/ exhaustible4.She called ____ world opinion to condemn their policy ofaggression.5.The poor reception on your TV is probably due to outside ______.(intervention/ interruption/ interception/ interference)6.He couldn’t explain the problem well, as he had only a(n) ____knowledge of the subject. (elementary/ rudimentary/ fundamental/ basic)7.One small settlement is expected to ______ 10,000 families.(populate/ dwell/ reside/ house)8._____the mercy of sb. 由某人摆布，控制9.We have to ____ if we want to go to Florida this summer. (lay up/save up/ put aside/ put away)10.They always take ___ extra staff in the summer season.4.bug: (CD Unit 4 Book 3 College English)5.Keeping to myself was my way of not forming attachments thatI …:A.ParaphraseB.Keep to oneselfC.Attachment( to/for sb./sth.)D.Attached6.But one day I became attached through no design of my own.A.Chinese version.B.Paraphrase: not that I intended ( planned) to do it./ just bychanceC.Design: purpose; intentionD.Have design on sb./ sth.: intend to harm sb/sth or take sb./sth.for oneself. E.g. 觊觎他的钱财/他对她心存不良。