上外全新版大学英语综合教程讲义-book2-unit5

Unit 5 Overcoming Obstacles

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

1. grasp the main idea and structure of the text; 2. appreciate the narrative skills;

3. master the key language points and grammatical structures in the text; 4. conduct a series of reading, listening, speaking and writing activities; Pre-reading task:

1. Collect proverbs and quotations related with the theme of this unit.

2. On the way to success, there must be many obstacles, how can one overcome them?

First Period

I. Listening Task (10m)

Listen to the dialogue and try to answer the questions.

A: May I help you? B: yes, I’ve come to apply for the position as a telephonist. A: how long have you been in London? B: about three months.

A: Have you worked as a telephonist? B: No, but I think I can learn quickly.

A: Your English is very good, I’ve noticed that, but the problem is my telephonist must have local

knowledge as well. B: Is it?

A: People call us not just to order meals. They often ask questions about travel, entertainment, etc.

So I have to say I can’t offer you the job. B: That’ll right. I can try other places. Questions:

1. What’s the relationship of these two persons? (interviewer and applicant) 2. In which city does the dialogue take place? (London)

3. What kind of job does the person what to get? Does the person get the job finally? What’s the reason? (telephonist; no; have no experience) 4. Why does the telephonist need local knowledge? II. Review Task (20m)

1. Proverbs and quotations

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. (有志者事竟成。) Rome wasn’t built in a day. (罗马非一日建成。)

God helps those who help themselves. ( 自助者天助。) You shall reap what you sow. （一份耕耘，一份收获。）

The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming.（障碍越是巨大，逾越它就越感自豪。） When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. ( 只有天空漆黑时，你才可以看到星星。) If you want something, work for it!

2. On the way to success, there must be many obstacles, how can one overcome them? Give us your own experiences to show that.

From the last saying said by Michael’s father, it is known that hard work is important to success, but it is not the only factor that contributes to success. As it can be found out in this text, dreaming it equally important. III. Cultural Notes (15m)

Olympics: the Olympic Games is the most important international sports event in the world held

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every four years.

Ancient Olympic Games: held in Olympia every four years form 776B.C. to 392A.D.

Modern Olympic Games: first held in 1896 in Greece; held in various cities of the world at

regular 4 years’ intervals.

The Olympic symbol ---- five interlocking circles

The Olympic motto ---- “Swifter, Higher, Stronger” (详细见教参52页) Related Words:

track and field events (田径运动) track events（径赛）field (田赛运动场) track（跑道）corner（弯道）starting line（起跑线）finish line（重点县）sprint/ dash（短跑）middle distance race（中距离赛跑） long distance race（长距离赛跑）relay race（接力赛）hurdles（跨栏赛跑）field events（田赛）jumping events (跳跃项目) triple jump（三级跳远）long jump 跳远）high jump（跳高）Fosbury flop or back bend（背越式跳高）straddle jump（俯卧式跳高）pole vault （撑杆跳高）throwing events （投掷项目）shot put (铅球)discus throw（掷铁饼）hammer throw（掷链球）javelin throw（掷标枪）marathon（马拉松）competitive walking/ heel-to-toe walking （马拉松）modern pentathlon （现代五项）horse-riding（骑马）fencing (击剑) shooting（射击）swimming（游泳）cross-country race（越野赛） IV. Structure of Text A （45m）

List the questions on the blackboard, ask the students to read the text quickly in 10 minutes and then answer the questions.

1. Why is the competition at the National Junior Olympics described as the most challenging in Michael’s pole-vaulting career?

Michael was preparing for the pole vault, and the pole was set at 17 feet three inches higher than his personal best, so it can be regarded as the most challenging day. 2. Why the pole vault is the highlight of the track and field competition? There are so many people watching the competition, because it combines the grace of a gymnast with the strength of a body builder. 3. What was Michael’s childhood dream? How come he had this dream? He was dreaming of flying like an eagle. His mother contributes a lot to his dream. 4. What did Michael begin to do from the age of 14? He began a careful training program in order to fulfill his flying dream. 5. What made Michael associate his final jump with his childhood dream?

Before the final jump, he felt nervous very much, and then he began to think about his mother, and took deep breath. After he overcame his nervous state, he began to run, and he felt it was like the flying in his dream, which indicated that he had achieved success that he expected for a long time. 6. Why would Michael attract a lot of media attention? He was a blind man.

Summary:

Part I → Ques1-2 Michael was facing the most challenging competition in his (para1-2) pole-vaulting career.

Part II → Ques3-4 Michael’s childhood was marked with dreams and tough (para3-5) training

Part III → Ques5 Michael topped his personal best, won the championship and (para6-12) set a new world record.

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Part IV → Ques6 what was most unusual about Michael’s victory was that he (para13) was blind. V. Homework (5m)

Collect stories relevant to overcoming obstacles, especially those who do not have a sound body, and try to tell the story during the class.

Second Period

I. Review Task (10m)

Divide the class into several groups, and ask them to tell their stories to each other, and then choose one representative to tell the story during the class.

(Helen Keller: though she was blind and deaf, but she became a famous writer and teacher.

Stephen Hawking: though he suffered a serious disease, and can’t move and speak, he became a famous scientist and developed a lot of influential theories. ) II. Detailed Analysis of the Text (60m)

1. Playing on the Meaning of Words (part I)

Many words have more than one meaning and can remind one of a number of different ideas and events all at once. For example, the first three sentences of paragraph one, in which a word is used in two different senses. What are they?

And ask the students to give their own opinion on the question: How do you understand the title “True Height”? Does it also carry more than one meaning?

After reading the whole text, it is known that the title of the text had more than one meaning. It can be understood as the new bar heights that Michael cleared one after another, or it can be viewed as the tremendous obstacles Michael had overcome in attaining his goal.

Extra reading for fun: each line has a word or words that remind us of an activity or discovery associated with the scientists mentioned, can you soot the words? Replying to an Invitation to the a Scientists’ Ball a. Pierre and Marie Curie were radiating enthusiasm; b. Einstein thought it would be relatively easy to attend; c. Edison thought it would be an illumination experience; (详见教参50页) 2. Writing Technique: flash back (part II)

As the text consists of the main story and a flashback, the narration has to switch from the ongoing competition to earlier events and then return to the ongoing competition. How does the author manage to make these parts in the text flow smoothly?

1) To repeat a key word; ask the students to find the key word that helps join part one and part two.

2) To pick up a key idea and then repeat; ask the students to find the key idea that helps join part two and part three.

Ask the students to pay more attention to the change of the tense. (Which sentence shows the beginning and ending of the flashback? past tense ---- part perfect tense ---- past tense) 3. Finding out Details (part II—part III)

1) A child usually inherits characteristics from both his or her mother and father. So does Michael. Michael’s mother is romantic and passionate, while his father is a hard-core realist. Ask the students to find out those details about Michael that show him to be his mother’s boy or his father’s son.

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His parents’ different approaches to child rearing:

Mother: tell stories and picture the world romantically ---- free spirit and keen eye; Father: believe in hard work and sweat ---- give him a careful training.

2) In your opinion, dreaming and hard word, which is more important to Michael’s success? Why?

4.Ask the Students to Answer These Questions (part IV)

1) Without the last sentence, would you still admire Michael’s achievement?

2) Who would you admire better, a Michael with a sound body or a blind Michael?

3) Why does the author keep the secret about Michael’s blindness until the last sentence? From the text, it can be found that the 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, real climax is in the last sentence. When we find that out, what a great impact it has on us! III Homework

1. Words and phrases: incline, in excellent health, horrible, suffer from, progressive, in spite of,

install, optimist, to a degree, hold onto, miserable, dismiss, ease, interval, penetrate, trait, shortcoming, disillusion, sanity, sweep over, honk the horn, jack up, humble. 2. Finish the comprehension check

3. Answer the question: how many parts should the text be divided into?

Third Period I. Dictation:

Ask the students to put down the following phrases and ask them to translate them into Chinese or make sentences with them.

1) coincide with 2) bring (somebody) back to earth 3) in one’s mind’s eye 4) be ashamed of 5) bear (somebody/something) out 6) along with 7) stretch out 8) on one/two/several occasion(s) II. Summary of Text A

From the text, we can find that the real climax is in the last sentence. Michael Stone, a blind athlete, dreamed flying passionately and he reached his destination after years of rigid training. On the way to his success, he overcomes some obstacles. He didn’t complain about his unfortunate, but strive to make a miracle of himself. His achievement was a proof that no matter who you are, no mater what you have experienced and no matter what confronts you, your job is to run for your dream via hardworking persistently. Life is a journey full of adventure, so you have to explore the ways to overcome the obstacles in your way to success. III. Do the after-text exercises IV. Analysis of text B: Fourteen Steps 1. Analysis of the title:

Usually, to go through fourteen steps is just a piece of cake for a healthy person. So we can infer that there must be something special or different in the story that we are going to read in the text. Probably it’s about a disabled man who has difficulties in finishing those fourteen steps. Therefore, the title suggests that we’ll learn something about obstacles or barriers or people’s attitudes towards those sufferings. 2. General Statement of the content:

It’s a story about a cripple, who got the disease of the motor nerves and finally had to rely on a crutch when walking. The story develops according to the changes of his attitude towards life since

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