Women,Half the sky

Unit 6 Women, Half the SkyText A I’m Going to Buy the Brooklyn BridgePreview Tasks: Read Text A and answer the following questions:1. Tell some information on the current situation of women’s liberat ion and find some examples to support your idea.Suggested answers: Women are supporting one another, standing side by side, “toe to toe”, but they still have a long way to go. They are only in the early stages of their struggle to get what they want and to get men to change their ideas. They can do scientific miracles, fight for their dreams by overcoming difficulties with their own hand, even support a family regardless of the husbands.2. Preview Text A and summarize the main idea, then finish the exercise about the text structure on page 184 about the structure of the text and summarize the main idea of each part.Suggested answers: See Part III. Structure and Main IdeaTeaching Objectives:Students will be able to:1.grasp the main idea and structure of the text;2.appreciate how the author achieves coherence for her essay;3.master 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 theunit.Periods 1 and 2 (90 minutes)I. Cultural Notes (15 minutes)T asks Ss to tell how much they know about The Brooklyn Bridge and Feminism, then shares them the following information.A. The Brooklyn Bridge(5 minutes)小练习：T reads the following paragraph once and asks Ss to fill in the blanks.The Brooklyn Bridge: the bridge over the East River in New York City that connects Manhattan with Brooklyn. It was opened in 1 and has a 2 of 1595 feet (486meters). The Brooklyn Bridge is considered a 3 of 19th-century engineering and a bridge of many firsts. It was the first 4 bridge to use steel for its cable wire; it was the first bridge to use explosives in a dangerous underwater device called a caisson. The expression selling the Brooklyn Bridge to somebody means 5 .Suggested answers: 1. 1883 2. length 3. brilliant feat 4. suspension5. tricking them in a dealB.Feminism: (5 minutes)In the 1960s feminism (= the belief that women and men are equal in abilities and should have equal rights and opportunities) became the subject of intense debate when the women’s liberation movement encouraged women to reject their traditional supporting role and to demand equal status and equal rights with men in areas such as employment and pay. It is widely accepted by younger people that women should, if they wish, be allowed to develop their careers and not give up work when they have a family. Feminism has brought about many changes in the English language. Many words for job titles that included “man” have been replaced, for example “police officer” is used instead of “policeman” and “chairperson” for “chainman”. “He” is now rarely used to refer to a person when the person could be either a man or a woman. T he title “Ms” is used for womeninstead of “Miss” or “Mrs.”, since it does not show whether a woman is married or not.C. John Milton (1608-1674): (5 minutes)English poet, whose rich, dense verse was a powerful influence on succeeding English poets, and whose prose was devoted to the defense of civil and religious liberty. Milton is often considered the greatest English poet after Shakespeare. His masterpiece, Paradise Lost, is considered unsurpassed among English epic poems. It is a powerfully imaginative and dramatic work, based in part on the biblical story of the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.II. Introductory Words (10 minutes)You may all know the well-noted female professor in our university --- DongYajuan(董雅娟)，who succeeded in cloning cows. You may also know the mother college student（妈妈大学生）on the campus, who studies here while she has to take care of her baby after class. You may have watched the TV series《当家的女人》. With great efforts, the heroine in the TV series managed to bring the poor family to a well-off one and she herself became a famous local leader.How do you think women like them? From them you may find women today are extremely independent . They can do scientific miracles, fight for their dreams by overcoming difficulties with their own hand, even support a family regardless of the husbands. In one word, women today are capable of holding up half the sky.In this unit, we’ll learn two stories of this kind. Text A focuses on how the belief in superwoman encourages average women to achieve their goals. Text B tells a woman at her age of 29 quitted her job and bean anew by returning back to school and finally realized her dream and started her new career.Next let’s focus on Text A.(Notes: Here Ts may also introduce the text by leading Ss to discuss some of the following questions:1. Do you think male and female graduates from your college have the same job opportunities? Suggested answer: The male graduates have more opportunities. On some occasions, female graduates are definitely refused.2. If you are married, would you prefer your wife to pursue her career or take good care of the family? Why?Suggested answers: I prefer my wife to pursue her career because women and men are equal in abilities and should have equal rights and opportunities to do their jobs.I prefer my wife to take good care of my family because the wife’s job is just to take care of her husband, cook meals for him, watch clothes for him, clean the house for him, bear babies for him.3. What do you think of President Mao’s famous saying that women hold up half the sky? Suggested answer: Nowadays, everyone may find women today are extremely independent . They can do scientific miracles, fight for their dreams by overcoming difficulties with their own hand, even support a family regardless of the husbands. There are more and more female house buyers so the housing market witnesses a She-Era. Examples of this kind are endless. In one word, women today are capable of holding up half the sky.)III. Structure and Main Idea (40 minutes)T may illustrate the structure with the following graph:The above graph shows: Despite her friend’s advice, the author, unable to resist the temptation, falls for superwoman stories again. One day, she meets a superwoman face to face and her encounter influences her a lot. She thinks a lot and analyzes what prevents her from becoming a superwoman herself. The factors are such as: she is unable to get an act together, she almost expects things to go wrong as soon as she sets to work, anything on the schedule will take up much more of time set aside, she usually feels exhausted after a busy day and never thinks about doing more. But she is still fascinated by modern superwoman tales. After her analysis, she comes to the conclusion that to her, admiring a heroine is something worth doing.According to the graph and the exercise on page 184, the text can be divided into five parts: Array IV. Detailed Explanation of Each PartParas 1-3 (15 minutes)T asks Ss at random to answer the following questions:1. According to the first two paragraphs, why did a friend say “if I believed everything in the report, she had a bridge in Brooklyn she'd like to sell me.”?Because the friend thought the stories reported about superwomen were not true and never happened, so it was impossible for women to succeed both in jobs and family life.2. what does the term “a bridge in Brooklyn” mean according to your understanding?It refers to an incredible story, something impossible.V. Homework:(10 minutes)1. Reread the text carefully and understand the following sentences according to the context:Since my own schedule rarely succeeds, her accomplishments fill me with equal amounts of wonder and guilt.(Para 4)I should have known better than to ask. (Para 6)If I create schedules of military precision in which several afternoon hours are given over to the writing of the Great American Novel, the school nurse is sure to phone at exactly the moment I put pencil to paper. (Para 9)Despite my friend's warning against being taken in, despite everything I've learned, I find that I'm not only willing, but positively eager to buy that bridge she mentioned. (Para 12)Then I'll tell her a story: the tale of a woman who bought her own version of that bridge in Brooklyn and found that it was a wise investment after all.( Para 15)2. Finish Comprehensive Exercise on page 192.Periods 3 and 4 (90 minutes)I. 小练习：Listen to the passage (T may read it ) and answer the questions that follow.(10 minutes)The most commonly granted degrees in the U.S. are the B.A., or bachelor of arts, and the B.S., or bachelor of science, both given generally after the completion of a 4-year course of study and sometimes followed by a mark of excellence. The master's degree is granted after one or two years of postgraduate work and may require the writing of a thesis or dissertation. The doctorate requires two to five years of postgraduate work, the writing of a thesis, and the passing of oral and written examinations. In the mid-1990s U.S. institutions of higher learning annually granted about 1.2 million bachelor's degrees, some 387,000 master's degrees, and 43,000 doctor's degrees.1.what are the most commonly granted degrees in the U.S.?The most commonly granted degrees in the U.S. are the B.A., or bachelor of arts, and the B.S., or bachelor of science.2. What does the master's degree require?The master's degree may require the writing of a thesis or dissertation.3. How many master's degrees were granted annually in the mid-1990s U.S.?In the mid-1990s U.S. institutions of higher learning annually granted some 387,000 master's degrees.II. Detailed Explanation of Each Part (60 minutes)Paras 4-7A. Paraphrase the following sentences:T asks Ss at random to paraphrase the following sentences:1. Since my own schedule rarely succeeds, her accomplishments fill me with equal amounts of wonder and guilt.Because I seldom do based on my own schedule, I feel sense of guilt as much as I am amazed at her accomplishments.2. I should have known better than to ask.I should have known the answer so it was unnecessary to ask.3. Other women, it seemed to say, are movers and shakers — not only during office hours, but in their spare time as well. It seemed to say that other women do excellently at their jobs as well as in their spare time.B. Answer the following questions:1. What figure of speech is applied in the sentence “Her life runs as precisely as a Swiss watch ”? Simile.2. What does “it” in the sentence “What, it asked, do you accomplish in your spare time?” refer to? “It” here refers to a jar of strawberry mentioned in the first sentence in para 7.Paras 8-11A.Paraphrase the following sentences:T asks Ss at random to paraphrase the following sentences:1. If I create schedules of military precision in which several afternoon hours are given over to the writing of the Great American Novel, the school nurse is sure to phone at exactly the moment I put pencil to paper.If I make schedules precise like military plans, in which I will spend several afternoon hours on the writing of the Great American Novel, I will be surely interrupted by the school nurse who phones me at exactly the moment I start to write.Metaphor is used in the phrase “schedules of military precision”. It means schedules as precise as military plans.2. In fact, I waste a good deal of my spare time just worrying about what other women are accomplishing in theirs.In fact, a lot of spare time I waste is just spent on worrying about what accomplishment other women achieve in their spare time.B. Be familiar with Get + infinitiveGet + infinitive is often used to mean one has the opportunity to do something or is allowed to do it.e.g. We didn’t get to see her --- she was too busy.I got to know the principal of the university when I translate materials for him.With an infinitive,get can also mean on gradually acquires something or gradually becomes aware of something.e.g. You will get to speak English more easily as time goes by.He is nice when you get to know him.Paras 12-14, para 15T arranges Ss into several groups and asks the following question:Can you underline sentences containing the word “bridge” and explain them?1. Despite my friend's warning against being taken in, despite everything I've learned, I find that I'm not only willing, but positively eager to buy that bridge she mentioned. (Para 12)Although my friend had warned me not to believe in the stories about any incredibly successful woman, I am still willing to believe that they are true.2. Then I'll tell her a story: the tale of a woman who bought her own version of that bridge in Brooklyn and found that it was a wise investment after all.( Para 15)Then I'll tell her about myself: how I believed in superwomen tales and how this belief had encouraged me to attain my own goal.3. Underline words and phrases related to food in para 14 and understand their meanings.a. a piece of cake: sth. that is very easy to dob. we can’t have our cake and eat it too: can’t have both fish and the pawc. the old low-dream diet: Women always expect little, believing that you can’t have everything at onceIII. 小练习：Translation: (15 minutes)After explaining the details T may ask Ss to translate in class the following sentences with key words given to each sentence to see whether Ss have mastered the words.1. 詹妮浏览那份报纸时，一则奇怪的消息引起了她的注意。

In 5 minutes he undid my whole day’s work. 他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
His pride will undo him some f remarks, etc.) have the intended effect.
A lot of what he said hit home.
6.开业儿科医生 7.电视女主持人
practicing pediatrician television anchorwoman
8.女总裁
woman executive
9.如瑞士表一样精确
as precisely as a Swiss watch
10.听起来熟悉
have a familiar ring
the latest bulletin about the Premier's health
Collocation: annual bulletin government bulletin information bulletin news bulletin
年度公报
政府公报, 官方公报 情报通（公）报 新闻公报
Many fairy stories, like Cinderella, are about ladies being
rescued from danger or poverty by a handsome prince, suggesting that a woman has to rely on a man to take care of her.
Para10: but he forgot to add that they don’t get to be superwomen that way. 但他却忘了补充一句，她们这样站着等候成不了女强人。 “ Get + infinitive” means “succeed, become enabled, or be permitted to do/be”. Here “get to be” means “have the opportunity to become”.

Warm-up Questions: 1.Is your mother busy? What are her main tasks in daily life?
2. If your mother has a full-time job, can she manage family responsibilities and still find time for doing other things?
shopping list.
undo
• 1) (fml) disturb or upset greatly • My daughter’s idea about wealth undid me. • The sight of the animal’s suffering undid me. • 2)untie, open • It’s so warm inside. He undid his coat and
Because such stories often have an
optimistic approach to life.(para12)
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took it off.
consume
• 1)eat or drink • Michael consumes nearly a pound of

Text Organization
The author falls for superwomen stories again. (Para. 1-3)
Her encounter with a superwoman and its impact on her. (Paras. 4-7)
She tells about what prevents her from becoming a superwoman herself.(Paras.8-11)
they have a family.
Background Information
Oklahoma: a southern central state of the Us. The capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. It produces oil, gas, coal, wheat and cotton.
2. Can you name some successful women to back up the statement that women are not second-class citizens? What are their characteristics?
Hints: self-independent; self-confident; diligent; knowledgeable
译 他在会上展示了自己的论文，但一些教授 却质疑他的发现。
4.rarely (Line 24, Para. 4)
adv. Not happen often 不常发生 例 Rarely have I seen a student who is so
absorbed in history.