Unit 7 Book Two
Text A:The Glorious Messiness of English
After learning this unit, Ss are suppod to be able to
●grasp the main idea and structure of the text;
●understand some idiomatic English usages mentioned in the unit;
●master key language points and structures in the text;
●conduct a ries of reading, listening, speaking, and writing activities related to the theme of
the unit.
1st and 2nd period — Pre-reading Activities;
3rd and 4th period — While-reading Activities;
5th and 6th period — Post-reading Activities;
7th and 8th period — Listening and Speaking.
I. Important Points
A. Key Words and Phras
Key word s: corrupt, ban, necessity, arou, remble, modify, addition, alternative, classic, climate, conquer, corrupt, descend, drift, independent, royal, mystery, source, snack, surrender, systematic, tolerance, virtually, enrich
Key phra s: put into practice, out of control, pass on to, strictly speaking, strike out , to an extent
蒸栗子B. Key Sentence Patterns
1) must (ud to express a strong belief)后庭准入
They must have also enjoyed themlves becau they gave us the word laughter.
2) be suppod to (ud to express one‘s wishes)
So they invent a word, balladeur, which French kids are suppod to say instead — but they don‘t.
II. Difficult Points
1. Position of Connecting Adverbs
Generally speaking, there are three normal positions for connecting adverbs: initial, middle or end position. Not all adverbs, however, can go in all three of the positions. Most kinds of adverbs can go in both mid-position and end-position, but there are some that can only go in one or the other. Only certain kinds of adverbs can go in initial position, when we study
项目方案怎么写adverbs or adverb phras we should give enough attention to this aspect.
●However, I do not want to overstate my ca.
●Instead, it is a vehicle that is ud globally.
●Fortunately their idea has never been put into practice.
●At any rate, Dan‘s a nice guy.
2. Some difficult collocations
1) matter to --- to be important to (sb.):[ IØ + to (simple tens)] (matter: v.有关系，要紧)
●My health matters more to my doctor than to my family.
●Does it matter to you what people say?
●It matters little to me who is elected. 谁当选对我都无关紧要。
●It matters nothing to me. 对我毫无关系。
●It doesn‘t ma tter to me what you do or where you go. 你做甚麽或去哪里，对我都无关
紧要。
●It does not matter to me which side may win or lo.谁赢谁输对我来说都无关紧要。
Also,
●What they said matters little. 他们说的话无关紧要。
●It doesn‘t matter much whether we go together or parately. 我们一起去还是分头去
都无所谓。
2) for effect ---In order to produce a favorable impression, without regard to anything el. 为了
给人以良好印象；做做样子，为了给人某种印象，为了加深印象, 张皇，铺张，动人耳目
●He acted only for effect. 他的行为不过是做做样子而已。
●Her whole behavior is calculated for effect 她的一举一动都以引人注目为目的。
●Her tears were purely for effect. 她的眼泪纯粹是装装样子的。
夜郎自大的成语故事●Here the speaker paud for effect. 演说者讲到这儿停顿了一下，以加强效果。
3) speak to ---(5---4) (formal) ( at a meeting of a committee, council, etc.) make a statement on a
particular question. S: member, councilor, deputy. o: question, item (on the agenda), matter; // Or: to express one‘s opinion, or make a statement, about (a matter being talked about, as in a meeting): [T1 (often simple tens)]
●Would any committee member care to speak to the question?
●I‘m not prepared to speak to a title like that.
●The next item is student accommodation. Mr. Peters, might I ask you to speak to this?
●Patrick spoke to this question for some time, accommodating various points raid by
Martha.
Also,
●speak to one‘s heart ---In Scrip., to speak kindly to him; comfort him; encourage him,
亲切言之，温语，慰籍，鼓励
4) find (onelf) with---(2---1) to become conscious of being (something or somewhere); end
by (in a certain state): [L1 (simple tens)]
●He woke one morning to find himlf the owner of the firm.
●[L7 (simple tens)] Put your money in my business, and you could find yourlf rich.
●[L9 (simple tens)] When he regained consciousness, he found himlf in the middle of
the forest.
●Y ou‘ll find yourlf in trouble if you‘re not careful.
I. Pre-reading Activities
A. Warm-up Activities李姓取名
a) Work in pairs to discuss the following questions to learn about the students‘ experiences of
learning English
1) When and where did you begin to learn English?
空间注销2) Do you enjoy learning English? Why?
除皱的方法3) Is it easy or difficult for you to learn English? Why?
4) What do you think is the best way to learn English well?
5) How was your English teacher in junior or nior middle school?
6) How do you learn English? Is your learning of English successful?
b) Work in groups to discuss the following questions.
1) What problems do you have in trying to learn English in your middle school?
2) What other things do you think we can gain through English language learning ?
3) Why do you think the computer can help you in learning English?50岁妇女
Hence, bad on the above discussion, some relevant conclusion can be drawn as follows: 1) There are some problems in learning a foreign language, such as pronunciation, grammar rules,
and cultural background. And the most frustrating one was how to memorize a large body of new words. English class is very large and few chances are available to practice spoken English in class.
2) For one thing, students have more freedom to t the pace of study for themlves. For another,
they could lect the material to their taste or bad on their English level. And best of all, they have more chances to exchange ideas with native speakers, without much worry about making mistakes.
3) Learning English can bring us a lot of benefits. To begin with, it can teach us the value of
practice. The more practice we do in listening, speaking, reading and writing, the more progress we make in English. Besides, it can give us insights into other cultures, keeping our mind open to new ways of thinking. And above all, it can help us communicate with many more people than before. Now talking with people in English is one of our favorite activities.
Thus, the following can be applied into the introduction to the text: Although English language learning is not easy or sometimes frustrating, we can get many things from it. Besides, studying English in regular classrooms, we can learn it online. The text we are going to learn is to tell us how one student learned English by using a computer.
Furthermore, A fascinating feature of the English language is its tolerance of new words and phras, either borrowed or invented. Some people thins that borrowed words corrupt the language. They believe the language is running out of control. There were even some talks at one time of establishing an academy to maintain the purity of the language. Massive borrowing form a rich variety of sources was, as a result, left free to greatly enrich the language.
c) Questions for understanding the reading passage
1) Why does English today have a much larger vocabulary than any other living language? How
large is it?
2) What makes up the core of the English language?
3) What do great speakers of English do when they want to arou people‘s emotions?
4) How did the European Renaissance influence the English language?
5) Is there any need to worry about the purity of the English language in the opinion of the author?
6) Why or why not?
d)Discussion:
What do you think has made English the ―first truly global language‖?
e)Explaining the rhetorical devices ud in the passage:
1) oxymoron: putting two contradictory terms together to puzzle the reader, luring him or her to pau and explore why.
< The coach has to be cruel to be kind to his trainees.
When the news of the failure came, all his friends said that it was a victorious defeat.
The president was conspicuously abnt on that occasion.
2) metaphor
3) parallelism
4) personification
< This time fate is smiling to him.
Thunder roared and a pouring rain started.
5) Metonymy
< Sword and cross in hand, the Europeans fell upon the Americans.
When the war was over, he laid down the sword and took up the pen.
f) The real meaning of the title of the passage
English is messy, but the messiness reflects some commendable qualities of English, such as
tolerance, the love of freedom, and the respect for others‘ rights.
B. Background Information
1) History of English
The roots of English: English began as a west Germanic language which was brought to England by the Saxons around 400 A.D. Old English was the spoken and written language of England between 400 and 1100 A.D. Many words ud today come from Old English, including man, woman, king, mo
ther, etc. But Old English was very different from modern English and only a few words can be easily recognized. In the 9th and 10th centuries, when V ikings invaded England, Old Nor words, e.g. sky, take and get and many place names, entered the language.
From the Norman Conquest (1066) until the late 12th century English was replaced as the official language by Norman French, though English was still ud by the lower class. English from about 1300 to 1500 is known as Middle English. It was influenced by French and also Latin in vocabulary and pronunciation. French brought many words connected with government, e.g. sovereign, royal, court, legal and government itlf. Latin was the language of religion and learning and gave to English words such as minister, angel, master, school and grammar. Literature began again to be written in English during this period. One of the most famous Middle English works is Chaucer‘s The Canterbury Tales.
The development of Modern English: Modern English developed from the Middle English
dialect of the East Midlands and was influenced by the English ud in London, where a printing press was t up by William Caxton in 1476. English changed a great deal from this time until the end of the 18th century. During the Renaissance, many words were introduced from Greek and Latin
to express new ideas, especially in science, medicine and philosophy. They included physics, species, architecture, encyclopedia and hypothesis. In the 16th century veral versions of the Bible helped bring written English to ordinary people. The Elizabethan period is also famous for its drama, and Shakespeare‘s plays were en by many people.
The development of printing helped establish standards of spelling and grammar, but there remained a lot of variation. Samuel Johnson‘s A Dictionary of the English Language(1755) was the first authoritative treatment of English. It defined about 40,000 words and gave examples of their u.
By the 18th century American English was established and developing independently from British English. After colonists arrived in the US new words began to be added from Native American languages, and from French and Spanish. In 1783, soon after Johnson‘s dictionary was published, Noah Webster‘s The Elementary Spelling Book was published in the US. At first it ud Johnson‘s spellings, but later editions contained many of what have come to be known as American spellings, e.g. harbor and favorite.
20th Century English: During the 19th and early 20th centuries many dictionaries and books about language were published. New words are still being added to English from other languages, includin
g Chine (feng shui) and Japane (karaoke). Existing words gain new ns, and new expressions spread quickly through television and the Internet.
English is now an international language and is ud as a means of communication between people from many countries. As a result the influences on the English language are wider than ever and it is possible that World English will move away from using a British or American standard and establish its own international identity.
2) Pidgin English
The influence of the mass media appears likely to result in standardized pronunciation, more uniform spelling, and eventually a spelling clor to actual pronunciation. Despite the likelihood
of such standardization, a unique feature of the English language remains its tendency to grow and change. Despite the warnings of linguistic purists, new words are constantly being coined and usages modified to express new concepts. Its vocabulary is constantly enriched by linguistic borrowings, particularly by cross-fertilizations from American English. Becau it is capable of infinite possibilities of communication, the English language has become the chief international language.
3) Winston Churchill
Churchill, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer (1874-1965): British politician and prime minister
of the United Kingdom (1940-1945, 1951-1955), widely regarded as the greatest British leader of
the 20th century. Churchill is celebrated for his leadership during World War II (1939-1945). His courage, decisiveness, political experience, and enormous vitality enabled him to lead his country through the war, one of the most desperate struggles in British history.
Winston Churchill‘s public life extended from the reign of Queen Victoria in the late 19th century to the Cold War. During this long political career, Churchill held every important cabinet office in the British government, except foreign minister. Churchill was also known for the many books on British history and politics he wrote throughout his lifetime. His command of the English language not only made him a great orator but earned him the Nobel Prize for literature in
