Exploring inner conflict (P1)

山东省烟台第二中学  柳力文

I. Leading-in   

1.What TV series is this article about?

2. Have you seen or heard of this TV series? What do you know about it?

 

II. Skimming

Read the article quickly and answer the question.

•What is the main idea of the article?

•The features of the TV series In the Name of People, and opinions and experience of Zhou Meisen, the writer of the novel of the same name.

 

III. Scanning

Read the article carefully and answer the following questions.

•1. What is the TV series In the Name of People about? How has it been received by the audience?

•It is a political-themed series mostly based on real corruption cases, or in short, about anti-corruption.

•It attracts both older and younger audiences.

 

•2. What are the features of the series?

•It is mostly based on real cases.

•It describes a deputy state-level official as a villain. 

•The novel not only shows the complexity and difficulty of the battle against corruption but also explores what makes a politician’s soul twisted.

 

•3. According to Zhou Meisen, what are the reasons for the officials’ corruption?

•Weakness of character;

•the temptations present in an official career;

•traps set by other people;

•the real reason: the development of human greed, with the power not being supervised properly.

 

•4. What did Zhou do to help his novel become better? How did this experience help him?

•He took a one-year job as a deputy secretary general in the city government of Xuzhou, Jiangsu, in 1994. 

①This job made him realize that power is something that one can easily become addicted to.

②It also enabled Zhou to describe his characters with more detail. 

 

IV. Language study (1)

Find the sentences that have similar meanings to the following sentences.

1. In the Name of People is different from other political-themed stories, and it attracts both older and younger audiences.

•Different from other political-themed stories, In the Name of People attracts both older and younger audiences.

•Note: “Different from other political-themed stories”是形容词短语作状语。

•E.g., Unlike many female characters of her time, Anne had a sharp intelligence.

 

2. For example, the drama is built around a corruption case. The case was brought to light by conflicts at a factory in a fictional province.

•  For example, the drama is built around a corruption case brought to light by conflicts at a factory in a fictional province.

•过去分词短语brought to light …作后置定语。

 

IV. Language study (2)

Translate the sentences. Pay attention to the sentence structures.

1.The novel not only shows the complexity and difficulty of the battle against corruption. Rather, Zhou makes a deep inquiry into what makes a politician’s soul twisted.

•What makes a politician’s…是宾语从句，由于从句中缺主语，因此用what来引导。

•rather: 用在这里有递进的含义，此句可以用“not only … but also”的结构改写。

•这部小说不仅反映了反腐败的复杂性和难度，作者周梅森还深入地探究了使政治家心灵扭曲的原因。

 

2.But actually, the real reason is the development of human greed, with the power not being supervised properly. 

•with the power…是with引导的独立结构。宾语power与supervise是被动关系，且此处描述的是没有被监管的状态/现状，因此用进行时较好。

•greed：the desire to have more of something, such as food or money, than is necessary.  

•n. 贪婪

•greedy a.贪婪的

•但事实上，（腐败）真正的原因是人心越来越贪婪，而他们的权利又没有得到很好的监管。

 

3.I had no idea of what privilege was like until I became a deputy secretary general in the city government

•what引导宾语从句。until引导时间状语。

•直到我在市政府做了副秘书长，才知道特权是什么。

 

4. This job made him realize that power is something that one can easily become addicted to.

•that引导定语从句。此处由something等不定代词做先行词，因此关系词不能用which。

•be addicted to 对…上瘾/着迷

•这项工作让他意识到，人们很容易就会对权利上瘾。

 

5. But it was also this experience that enabled Zhou to describe his characters with more detail.  

•What sentence pattern is this?

•Emphatic sentence.

•但正是这次经历让周能更详细地描述他小说中的人物。

 

V. Learn to use

Translate the sentences with a proper word, phrase or sentence structure in the article.

1.这一罪行是以宗教的名义犯下的。

•The crime was committed in the name of religion.

2. 他对电脑游戏上瘾了。

•He became addicted to computer games.

3. 这些事实刚刚被揭露。

•The facts have only just been brought to light.

4. 这档节目将于下周二晚播出。

•The show will be aired next Tuesday night.

5. 这个故事围绕着一群辍学的中学生展开。

•The story is built around a group of high school dropouts.

6. 正是通过他，她才得到答案。

•It is through him that she finally got the answers.

7. 勇敢又聪明的她展示出毅力、真诚和勇气。

•Brave and smart, she shows perseverance, honesty and courage.

 

VI. Discussion

1. What do you think of corruption, and corrupt officials?

2. Do you have any suggestions on how to tackle corruption?

•The government? 

•The general public? 

•The educators?

•Ourselves?

•……

 

 

Santiago treats dogs with love and respect  (P4-5)

邯郸市第一中学  吴新萍

 

I. Warming up   

Is it common to see dogs in your neighborhood? 

What kind of life do the dogs live? 

 

II. Reading

Skim the article quickly, divide it into three parts and work out the main idea of each part.

Part 1 (Para.1- 4 ) 

The stray dogs and their present situation in Chile.

Part 2 (Para. 5 )

Some people’s attitude towards the situation.

Part 3 (Para.6) The future of the dogs is uncertain. 

 

Scanning  Answer the following questions.

1.What is a stray dog? 

It is a dog with no home, who lives on the streets.

 

2. What did the author think of the stray dogs at first? What did she find out later?

At first the author thought they might be aggressive or unfriendly. But later, she found that the stray dogs there are passive, quiet and friendly.  

 

3. How are the stray dogs treated by the local people? Can you give some examples?

The dogs are accepted and welcomed in Chile. They are often given food and water by the public. 

Some people even make jackets for the dogs or put out beds or kennels for them to sleep in.

 

Read paragraph 5 carefully and fill in the table. 

 

 

True or False. 

1.I usually lose my way while walking around the streets in a new city.

第一段 get lost in the city 是沉浸于其中的意思。 陷入沉思: be lost in thought  

陶醉于书中: be lost in a book

2. The stray dogs in Chile are quiet and friendly. 

3. The stray dogs lead an easy life in Chile.

4. There are more stray dogs than people in Chile.

5. There hasn’t been any plan for the future of stray dogs. 

Key: FTFFT

 

III. Discussion

Do you think that people should take action to control the population of stray dogs? Do you have any suggestions to help this problem? 

 

 

Inspired by Educators (P6)

中国人民大学附属中学  宋玖青

 

I. Warming up   

How would you describe your teachers?

 

II. Pre-reading

Among the teachers who have taught you, who do you remember the most? Why?

 

III. While-reading 

Scanning

Read the article and answer the following questions.

1. Who does the author model herself on as an educator?

Mrs Pruitt.

2. Does the author think that college teachers are the same as primary and secondary school teachers?

No. She seldom saw them.

 

Close Reading

Read the article, and divide it into different parts, then give the main idea of each part.

Possible answer:

Part 1 (Para. 1): A lead-in to the topic.

Part 2 (Para. 2-5): My model as a teacher - Mrs Pruitt.

Part 3 (Para. 6-7): My high school teacher Willa Garnick.

Part 4 (Para. 8-10): My helpful college teachers.

Part 5 (Para. 11): Conclusion - the memories of being taught stay with us forever.

 

Read the article again, and answer the following questions.

1. What kind of teacher was Mrs Pruitt?

She was the most welcoming, most generous and most creative teacher. 

2. What did Willa Garnick offer the author?

She offered intelligent and useful sympathy and gave practical advice to the author. 

3. Who helped the author a lot in college? What did the author learn from them? 

Her female teachers. The author learned not to admire the leaders in a discussion too much, because everyone can be the leader if they want to. 

 

IV. Post-reading 

Paraphrase

Paraphrase the following sentences. Pay attention to the underlined parts.

1. I think I was six years old when she told me that, but no other words I’ve heard since have stayed in my heart longer.

I was only six years old when she said that she wanted a daughter like me, but I have remembered it so well till today because it was so touching. I have never heard any words as sweet as those since. 

 

2. I wouldn’t have believed this if she hadn’t shown the truth of it through her own actions.

Mrs Garnick’s love and care made me believe that speaking to adults can relieve my sorrow, and she was the one who helped to make me feel better.  

 

3. Many of my college teachers were worth seeking out.

My college teachers were hard to find, but they always gave good advice when I had trouble.  

 

Discussion

Do you agree with the author’s opinion that “What you remember about your teachers might have little connection to the lessons they’d planned”? Why or why not?

 

Sharing

Talk to your partner about one of your teachers. Tell a story about something that happened between you, then share it in class. 

 

V. Homework

Thank you letter

Write a thank you letter to the teacher who you just talked about to your classmates, expressing your gratitude. Tell him/her what you learned from them and how they have inspired you.