新世纪 基础英语综合教程2 unit 2

新世纪英语专业本科生教材（修订版）综合教程2（第2版）电子教案 Unit 2 1 Unit 2 The Virtues of Growing Older Section One Pre-reading Activities I. Audiovisual supplement Watch the video and answer the following questions. 1. What’s wrong with the young boy? 2. Can you imagine the life of growing younger? Answers to the Question: 1. He is not like normal people. He is not growing older, but growing younger. 2. Open. Video Script: Daisy: Do you remember me? I’m Daisy. Benjamin: I’m Benjamin. Daisy: It’s nice to meet you, Benjamin. Would you mind if I sit with you? I would love to hear you play. Benjamin: Do I know you? Voiceover: And every day, I would stop by to make sure that he was comfortable. Benjamin: No, I didn’t. Nurse: You just finished eating. Benjamin: Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing! You’re all fucking liars! Nurse: He doesn’t believe he just had his breakfast. Daisy: Now, why don’t we see if we can’t find something else for you to do? Benjamin: I have a feeling there’s a lot of things I can’t remember. Daisy: Well, like what, sugar? Benjamin: It’s like there’s this whole life I had, and I can’t remember what it was. Daisy: It’s okay. It’s okay to forget things. Voiceover: Many times, he would simply forget who or where he was. Nurse: There he is. He’s up there on the roof. Voiceover: It wasn’t easy. Daisy: Benjamin! Benjamin: I can see everything! I can see the big river! Daisy: That’s right. You can see everything, sweetheart. Benjamin: I can see the graveyard where Mama’s buried, and all those other people. Daisy: I want you to come down! Benjamin: What if I could fly? Daisy: I knew a man who could fly. You come down, and I’ll tell you all about him. II. Cultural information 1. Quote Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. — Samuel Ullman 2. Growing Pains Growing Pains is an American television sitcom about an upper-middle class family with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together, which aired on ABC from 1985 to 1992. The show’s premise is based on the fictional Seaver family, who reside in Huntington, Long Island, New York. Dr. Jason Seaver (Alan Thicke), a psychiatrist, works from home because his wife, Maggie Malone (Joanna Kerns), has gone back to work as a reporter. Jason has to take care of the kids: troublemaker Mike (Kirk Cameron), honors student Carol (Tracey Gold), and rambunctious Ben (Jeremy 新世纪英语专业本科生教材（修订版）综合教程2（第2版）电子教案 Unit 2 2 Miller). A fourth child, Chrissy Seaver, was born in 1988. Section Two Global Reading I. Main idea This piece of writing is an attempt to subvert the “traditional” view and convince the reader that growing older is not necessarily that dreadful. The author points out a number of advantages of growing older. These advantages are enumerated on the basis of the experiences of her brother and her own. By means of contrast (being young and being old) the author reveals true happiness and contentment in old age, which have often been overlooked. II. Structural analysis 1. Divide the text into parts by completing the table. Paragraphs Main ideas 1-2 The writer airs her view about growing older. 3-5 The writer discusses three distinct advantages of growing older. 6 The writer winds up her discussion with reference to her parents’ life to reaffirm that growing older would be “a better phase” of her life. 2. What techniques does the author adopt to present the advantages of growing older? The author illustrates them with examples and by contrast (being young and being old). Section Three Detailed Reading Text I The Virtues of Growing Older Carol Siskin

1 Our society worships youth. Advertisements convince us to buy Grecian Formula and Oil of Olay so we can hide the gray in our hair.1 Middle-aged folks work out in gyms and jog down the street, trying to delay the effects of aging. 2 Wouldn’t any person over thirty gladly sign with the devil just to be young again?2 Isn’t aging an experience to be dreaded? Perhaps it is un-American to say so, but I believe the answer is “No.” Being young is often pleasant, but being older has distinct advantages. 3 When young, you are apt to be obsessed with your appearance.3 When my brother Dave and I were teens, we worked feverishly to perfect the bodies we had. Dave lifted weights, took megadoses of vitamins4, and drank a half-dozen milk shakes a day in order to turn his wiry adolescent frame into some muscular ideal. And as a teenager, I dieted constantly. No matter what I weighed, though, I was never satisfied with the way I looked. My legs were too heavy, my shoulders too broad, my waist too big. When Dave and I were young, we begged and pleaded for the “right” clothes. If our parents didn’t get them for us, we felt our world would fall apart.5 How could we go to school wearing loose-fitting blazers when everyone else would be wearing smartly tailored leather jackets? We would be considered freaks. I often wonder how my parents, and parents in general, manage to tolerate their children during the adolescent years. Now, however, Dave and I are beyond such adolescent agonies. My rounded figure seems fine, and I don’t deny myself a slice of pecan pie if I feel in the mood. Dave still works out, but he has actually become fond of his tall, lanky frame. The two of us enjoy wearing fashionable clothes, but we are no longer slaves to style6. And women, I’m embarrassed to admit, even more than men, have always seemed to be at the mercy of fashion7. Now my clothes are attractive yet easy to wear. We no longer feel anxious about what others will think. As long as we feel good about how we look, we are happy. 4 Being older is preferable to being younger in another way. Obviously, I still have important choices to make about my life, but I have already made many of the critical decisions that confront those just starting out.8 I chose the man I wanted to marry. I decided to have children. I elected to return to college to complete my education. But when you are young, major decisions await you at every turn. “What college should I attend? What career should I pursue? Should I have