Heroic Spirit Stays (P4-5)

太原市外国语学校    王丽媛

 

I. Warming up

Who is Louis Cha?

What do you know about the works of Louis Cha (Jin Yong)? Can you name some of them?

 

II. Pre-reading   

Works by Louis Cha (Jin Yong):

Other Tales of the Flying Fox                    《飞狐外传》,1960

Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain                  《雪山飞狐》,1959

A Deadly Secret                              《连城诀》,1963

Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils                    《天龙八部》, 1963

The Legend of the Condor Heroes                《射雕英雄传》

Swords Woman Riding West on White Horse       《白马啸西风》,1961

The Deer and the Cauldron                     《鹿鼎记》,1969-1972

The Smiling Proud Wanderer                    《笑傲江湖》,1969

Ode to Gallantry                              《侠客行》,1965

The Return of the Condor Heroes                 《神雕侠侣》,1959

The Book and the Sword                        《书剑恩仇录》,1955

Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre                 《倚天屠龙记》,1961

Sword Stained with Royal Blood                  《碧血剑》,1956

Blade-dance of the Two Lovers                   《鸳鸯刀》,1961

 

III. While reading 

Read the article and try to answer the following question: 

What is the article mainly about?

It mainly explores why the wuxia works by Jin Yong have been so popular.

Try to answer the following questions:

1. What is wuxia?

Wuxia is a special kind of Chinese popular literature.

2. How many works has Louis Cha written in all?

In all, Louis Cha has written 15 works.

3. How many works of Louis Cha’s are mentioned in this article? What are they?

Three works of Louis Cha’s are mentioned in this article: 

The Book and the Sword, The Return of the Condor Heroes and Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. 

4. What is the real spirit of the knight according to Louis Cha?

To Cha, the real spirit of the knight is that of working for country and people, even if it brings no benefit – even if it brings death.

 

Try to judge whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F) according to the article you have read:

1. Louis Cha is 91.                                   

2. Last week the Phoenix Entertainment company announced that it had gotten the comics-relatedadaptation rights to all of Cha’s works.

3. According to Graham Earnshaw, Cha is one of the most popular Chinese novelists in the world.

4. Over one billion copies of Cha’s books, including pirated (盗版的) copies, have been sold.

5. The jianghu society built by Cha respects the power of martial arts.

6. The person with the highest level of kung fu is always the real knight in Cha’s novels.

7. Many of Cha’s characters are simple.

8. In Cha’s works, Chinese knights use armed expertise to protect others and fight injustice. They are honorable though they are different in personality.

Key: FFTTTFFT

 

IV. Discussion

You can choose either Topic 1 or Topic 2: 

Topic 1:

Have you ever read any works by Louis Cha? Have you watched any plays adapted from the original works of the same name by him? Who is your favorite character in these works and why? Have a discussion with your group members about this topic and try to describe your favorite hero to others.

Topic 2:

The Phoenix Entertainment company is going to adapt Cha’s works for comics. Do you like comics? Who is your favorite cartoonist? Why do you like him or her so much? Try to share with your group members the reasons why you prefer a particular cartoonist.

 

V. Writing 

Choose either Topic 1 or Topic 2 according to the discussion you have chosen. 

Topic 1:

Write an article describing your favorite hero in Cha’s works.

Topic 2:

Write an article describing your favorite cartoonist.

 

 

Londoners dislike subway chat idea (P4-5)

中国人民大学附属中学  宋玖青

 

I. Warming up   

When you take public transportation like buses or the subway alone, what do you usually do?

lListen to music?

lPlay with your cellphone?

lRead books?

l…

lTalk to strangers?

 

II. Pre-reading

If you were handed a badge (徽章) with “Tube chat?” on it, what would be your reaction? Would you take it and chat with people on the subway, or would you refuse? 

 

III. While-reading

lScanning 

Read the article and answer the following questions. 

1. How can the participants let others know that they are taking part in the campaign?

By wearing a Tube Chat badge. 

2. What has been Londoners’ reaction to the Tube Chat Campaign, according to Jonathan Dunne?

About 20 percent think it’s nice and about 80 percent of people think it’s terrible, the worst idea ever. 

lClose Reading 

Read the article again, and list the reasons why people like/dislike the idea of tube chat

ProsCons

1. One might learn something by talking to others. 2. People who take part want to talk, and this badge gives people choices without  forcing others to talk. 1. Londoners may be the least friendly group of people in the world. 2. Some people don’t like to hear about others’ talking. 

 

IV. Post-reading 

lParaphrase 

Paraphrase the following sentence.

There is more chance of a UK summer passing without rain than there is of a Londoner having a conversation with someone he or she has never met before. 

In the UK, it always rains during summer. So there’s an extremely low possibility that there will be no rain during a whole UK summer. However, the possibility of a Londoner talking to strangers is even lower than that. That is to say, there seems to be almost no chance that a Londoner will talk to strangers. 

lDiscussion 

1.Do you think the idea of talking to strangers on the subway is good or bad? Would you participate in the campaign?

2.You’ve probably heard of the “Give Me a Hug” activity. Do you think this kind of activity would be successful in China?

 

V. Homework 

Report 

Do an investigation among at least 10 of your friends and relatives about whether they are for or against the idea of “tube chat”, and write a report about the results.

 

 

Every sock helps (P6)

山东烟台经济技术开发区高级中学  唐福珍

 

I. Warming up

Do you often meet the homeless on the streets? What do you do when you meet them? Do you believe they are really homeless? Do you give them money or food?

 

II. Skimming 

Read the passage and decide the what its main idea is.

It is mainly about the author’s experience of helping the homeless by handing out socks regularly.

 

III. Scanning 

Read the passage and answer the following questions.

1. What inspired the author to hand out socks to the homeless?

One of the guys at the homeless shelter told the author that he would like a pair of socks.

2. Find a phrasal verb in paragraph 5 which has a similar meaning to the phrasal verb “hand out”.

Give out

3. What does the author do if he is on vacation or a business trip for more than a week?

He brings a bag of socks with him and hands them out to the homeless on the streets in other states and countries.

4. What can we find out from the last paragraph?

It feels good to help the homeless.

 

IV. Sentence structure

1.Years ago my wife and I volunteered at a homeless shelter in downtown Los Angeles, US, preparing meals for thousands of people.

“Want to see mine?” he asked, lifting his leg. 

两个句中的现在分词都作伴随状语。其逻辑主语与句子主语一致，并且是主动关系。

2.That next morning, I set my alarm for 5 am and drove over to Santa Monica’s Palisades Park, which is a common destination for homeless people.

句中，which引导的是非限制性定语从句，先行词是 Santa Monica’s Palisades Park，并且关系词代替先行词在定语从句中做主语，因此用关系代词which。但是，如果关系词代替先行词在从句中做状语，就需要用关系副词引导。如： 

That next morning, I set my alarm for 5 am and drove over to Santa Monica’s Palisades Park, where some homeless people had gathered. 

 

V. Vocabulary

1. He said he had been meaning to pick up a pair but hadn’t gotten around to it. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.

lmean to do: 打算做某事 

lpick up: 找到，得到   

lget around to:抽出时间做(或考虑)某事

2. It’s incredibly satisfying to operate  “under the radar” to help make some people’s lives a little bit easier. 

incredibly: 1) 非常地；2） 难以置信的

Studying in your dorm can be incredibly distracting.（非常地）

Phrases in the passage:

排队                 in line

得到                 pick up

打算做               mean to do

装满                 fill up

用……把……装满     stuff with

前往                head for

看起来很疑惑        look confused

分发                give out / hand out

在度假中            be on vacation

在出差旅行中        be on a business trip

 

VI. Discussion

What do you think of the author’s experience? What will you do to help others in the future?