Castro passes away at 90 (P2)

山东省烟台第二中学  柳力文

 

I. Warming Up

The year 2016 has been full of changes and instabilities in leaders around the world. Do you know what happed to them?

lDavid Cameron announced his resignation on 24th June 2016, when Britain voted to exit the European Union, and stepped down on July 13th, 2016. He stood down as MP for Witney (牛津郡维特尼区的国会议员) with immediate effect on 12 September 2016. David Cameron was the leader of the Conservative Party. He became British Prime Minister in May 2010 aged 43, the youngest British PM for nearly 200 years. 

Although leaving Europe was not the path I recommended, I am the first to praise our incredible strengths.

I have said before that Britain can survive outside the European Union, and indeed that we could find a way. I love this country – and I feel honored to have served it.

And I will do everything I can in future to help this great country succeed.

lLONDON, July 13. British Conservative Party leader Theresa May was officially appointed the new prime minister of Great Britain.

lShe was appointed by a royal order after an audience (会见) with Queen Elizabeth II in the Buckingham Palace.

lMay is the 13th head of government during the rule of the current monarch (the queen).

lNEW YORK, Nov. 8. Republican Donald Trump beat Democrat rival Hillary Clinton in a close race to win the 45th U.S. presidency early on, pulling off a major upset after a controversial (有争议的) and scandalous (涉及丑闻的) campaign. 

President Park Geun-hye of South Korea said on Nov. 29, 2016 that she was willing to resign before her term ends, after a devastating (毁灭性的) corruption scandal, or the “confidante scandal”, aroused massive anti-president rallies (集会) and turbulence (骚动) in the country. 

Do you know who this is? 

Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader of Cuba.

 

II. Skimming

1. What news is the article about? Please use one sentence to summarize it. 

Fidel Castro, Cuba’s revolutionary leader, died on Nov 25 at the age of 90.

Match the paragraphs with their main ideas.

 

 

III. Scanning: read part by part

lPara 1~2

1. How did people feel when they heard the news of their leader’s death? Why did they feel that way?

They found the news hard to take because Castro basically rebuilt the country and was a hero in their hearts.

2. What did people do in memory of him?

They closed their bars and restaurants and would do it for nine days.

lPara 3~7

1. What is the main idea of Paragraph 3 and 4?

The two paragraphs tell the reader about Castro’s fight against the dictator Batista and his success in the end.

2. What good characteristics of Castro can you find? Give your reasons. 

He was brave, ambitious, determined, visionary and hardworking.

3. What does the writer indicate by saying “this wasn’t always a good thing for him” in Paragraph 5? 

After he became Cuba’s leader and made the country a socialist country, the interests of some countries and groups were under threat, which would bring him danger and even death.

lPara 8

What can we conclude from the last paragraph?

Castro’s ideas and Cuba’s communism will be continued.

 

IV. Language focus

Read the article carefully and fill in the blanks based on your understanding.

Fidel Castro, Cuba's revolutionary leader, passed            aged 90. People could                take the news and would close their shops for nine days in a row to           him.             his legend at 26, Castro failed in the fight                the Cuban dictator and                   in prison. In 1956, he                     with others and started all over again.

Finally in 1956, he took over the of Cuba and made Cuba the first           country in the west.

Over the years, he was fortunate enough to         as many as 637 plans               to kill him as he was seen as a              to the interests of some. Meanwhile, he made great              to such fields as education, health care, sports and so on.

He believed that although he would die as everyone else would, the                of Cuba’s communism would               .

Key: away; hardly/ barely; honor/remember; Starting; against; ended up；teamed up；leadership； socialist；survive；intended；threat；contributions；ideals；remain

 

V. Learn to use

1. …, they would stay closed for nine days – in honor of Fidel Castro, … 

纪念：in honor/ memory of…, to memorize…/ to commemorate…

eg. A party was held in memory of the company’s founder.

2. He fought against Cuban dictator (专制者) Fulgencio Batista but failed and ended up spending 22 months in prison. 

1）如果你再这样抽烟，总有一天会抽死的。

If you go on smoking like this, you will end up dead one day.

2）他们长期的努力以失败告终。

Their long struggle ended in failure.

3. …, because the US government and terrorist groups saw Castro as a threat to their interests in Cuba. 

1）毒品对社会构成一大威胁。

Drugs pose a major threat to our society.

2）很多物种面临灭绝的威胁。

Many species are under threat of extinction.

3）她拿着一把枪威胁他。

She threatened him with a gun.

4）她屡次威胁要自杀。

She repeatedly threatened to commit suicide

 

VI. Discussion

1. We’ve learned that Fidel Castro, the revolutionary leader of Cuba, had many good qualities. What qualities do you think someone needs to have in order to be a good leader in the future?

2. What do you think of the year’s news about the leaders of Britain, America, South Korea and Cuba? What will happen to the countries in the future? Choose one to comment on.

 

Tea has great meaning for Britons (P4)

沈阳市第二中学 常虹

 

I. Lead-in

Look at the picture and make some guesses.

•What are they doing?

•Which country are they from?

•What is their relationship?

•What social class do they belong to?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The British tea culture Tea gown Tea cakes Tea house

 

II. While reading 

lScanning

Read the article and answer the following questions. 

1. What is builder’s tea?

It is a strong cup of tea, usually served with full-fat milk and two teaspoons of sugar.

2. Who drinks the strongest tea?

The strongest cups of black tea are usually drunk by the working class.

3. What does sugar indicate about class?

Taking sugar in your tea is thought by many to be a sign of a lower-class person: even one makes people suspicious. More than one and you are lower-middle at best; more than two and you are definitely working class.

4. When do the English make tea?

Whenever the English feel awkward or uncomfortable in a social situation (that is, almost all the time), they make tea.

lRead in depth and answer the question. 

1. Can you conclude what an upper-class British lady will do if she drinks a cup of tea?

She must wear her tea gown, drink weak tea without sugar, perhaps with a bit of milk and have some tea cakes. 

2. What does a working-class British person do if he or she wants to drink a cup of tea?

They will have the strongest tea, put at least 2 sugars.

 

III. Language focus

Sentences completion

Britons’ preferences _____ types of tea and how to drink it can really say a lot about them. There are several clear messages that are sent _________ a Briton makes a cup of tea. The tea gets weaker ____ one goes up the social ladder. More than one sugar and you are lower-middle at _____. Tea doesn’t just show class, ______; it can also be a social space ____ (fill).

Key: for; whenever/when; as; best; though; filler

 

IV. Post-reading 

lBackground information:

1.The first record of tea written in English came from English merchants abroad. In 1615, Richard Wickham, who ran an East India Company office in Japan, wrote in a letter to merchants in Macao requesting that they bring him “a pot of the best sort of chaw”. Peter Mundy, a traveller and merchant who came across tea in Fujian, China in 1637, wrote, “Chaa — only water with a kind of herb boiled in it.”

2.Since the 18th Century the United Kingdom has been one of the world’s greatest tea consumers. Tea, which was an upper-class drink in Europe, became the love of every class in Great Britain over the course of the 18th century and has remained so. Tea is a typical feature of British culture and society.

lAct it out

Read the following description and try to act it out.

Drinking etiquette

Historically, during the 1770s and 1780s, it was fashionable to drink tea from saucers. Saucers were deeper than the current ones and more similar to bowls like the Chinese ones that came earlier. 

If one is seated at a table, the proper manner in which to drink tea is to raise the teacup only, placing it back into the saucer in between sips. 

When standing or sitting in a chair without a table, one holds the tea saucer in the second hand and the tea cup in the dominant hand.  

When not in use, the tea cup is placed back in the tea saucer and held in one's lap or at waist height. 

In either event, the tea cup should never be held or waved in the air. Fingers should be curled inwards and no finger should extend away from the handle of the cup.

 

V. Homework

Surf the internet and find more information about British tea culture or Chinese tea culture.

 

Presenting a better you (P6)

山东省烟台第二中学  赵娟

I. Lead-in

PowerPoint is widely used in small business meetings, classroom teaching, lectures, big conferences, etc. 

A good presentation with PowerPoint can make your words more powerful and effective. It, as a result, will give you a strong sense of accomplishment, thus making you feel more confident and proud.

With an awkward PowerPoint, you may suffer embarrassment, or even worse, a failure in your work – “Death by PowerPoint”.

 

II. Before reading

Quickly read the title and the first paragraph and guess what the article is mainly about.

Title: Presenting a better you

•a speech

•forgot what she was going to say.

How can you give a good presentation?

 

III. Fast reading

Questions:

1. In the article, what tips are given on how to present a better you?

1) Focus on what’s in for the audience rather than yourself

2) Be prepared

3) Engage the audience

2. What is the purpose of mentioning Sally Chopping’s experience at the beginning of the article?

To introduce readers to the topic – a good presentation requires strategies and skills.

3. Why does Doug Carter get to the location of his presentation the day before?

To make sure all the electronic aids work and to ensure the screen, lighting and inputs all work properly.

4. How many ways of engaging the audience are mentioned in the article? What are they? 

1) Storytelling

2) Pausing

 

IV. Careful reading

1. What is an exit plan and how to build an exit plan before you present your speech?

Having a point from which you know you can conclude your main idea helps when (you’re) approaching the end of your given time, or if you are given an unexpected five-minute warning.

在你展示的时间快要结束，或者突然有人提醒你只剩最后五分钟时，知道从哪个点可以总结概括会很有用。

An exit plan= an exit strategy

It is a plan for ending your involvement in an activity. In this article, it refers to a plan for ending a presentation. 

注意:

Having a point … main idea为非谓语动词做主语, 句子谓语动词用单数形式helps.

e.g. 每天早上做运动已经成了我们的日常常规。

Exercising every morning has become part of our daily routine. 

2. What does the underlined phrase mean in the following sentence?

For years, Sally Chopping, a speech coach for the US training company Acting for Business, had feared the day she would draw a blank during a presentation. 

A. be unable to speak

B. be unable to remember sth

C. be unable to stop

key: B

lTranslation

Stories paint even the most complex of topics in a new light and can show something new and enhance the message. 

通过故事以全新的角度进行描述，甚至是最复杂的话题也会呈现出新意，从而突出主题。

in a new light 用新的眼光，以新的见解

For example:

但其中任何一件事件的发生，都可能使我们从全新的角度来看待中国及其未来。

But any one of the events could make us see China and its future in a new light. 

 

V. Grammar focus

Fill in the blanks with the proper conjunctions.

1. _____ that taught me is the audience doesn’t care ____ you mess up, and what they care about is _____you are going to do about it.  

2. Having a point ______ you know you can conclude your main idea helps _____ approaching the end of your given time.

3. The hardest thing for people to do is say nothing, ________ it can be an effective tool. 

4. _______ possible, he gets to the location of his presentation the day before to make sure all the electronic aids (电子辅助设备) work. 

Key: 1. what; if; what 2. from which; when 3. although 4. When/If

 

VI. Post-reading

Discussion

Apart from the tips given in the article, what other advice would you offer on how to do presentations?

lLess is more

lBe bold

lMove around

lAvoid technology problems

lAnswer questions in time

lPractice makes perfect…