Toughened on the pitch (P1)

I. Warming up

* Have you ever faced a tough period in your life? If so, what troubled you and how did you get though it?

* What do you know about Karim Benzema from Real Madrid, a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain?

 

 

II. Reading

Read the story of Karim Benzema to find out how he got through his tough periods. 

Key: For Karim Benzema, tough periods only seem to make him stronger.  

 

Read the article again and answer the following questions:

1. What problems did Benzema meet with during his career?

1) He was first asked to lose weight and build up his muscles. 2) His personality and attitude also needed fixing. He didn’t train hard enough. 3) As Spain-based columnist Sid Lowe put it, it was hard to avoid the feeling that Mourinho did not entirely trust him even as he began to score goals.

 

2. How did Benzema perform in the game between Real Madrid and Schalke on Feb 27?

He linked up excellently with both Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale to win a memorable 6-1 Champions League victory over Schalke. Each of the three players scored two goals to tear apart the German club. 

 

3. What did Benzema’s performance on Feb 27 mean to him?

For him, it was not only about the so-called “BBC” (Bale, Benzema and Cristiano) scoring the goals. It was also about relief and re-demption.

 

4. How did Benzema go through the period when he didn't score so much?

Although he didn’t score much, he still had confidence in himself. He argued that he was a different type of striker than the typical goal-machine. Realizing that he was in a group, he was focused on the group winning and ready to free up space and create chances for his colleagues.  

 

III. Language study

Sentences:

1. Mourinho’s opinion of Benzema was summed up in his famous remark (话语) from 2010: “If you can’t hunt with dogs, you have to hunt with cats.”

由于穆里尼奥是在说锋线的问题时说了这句话，且当时又提到了本泽马和伊瓜因，所以人们认为穆里尼奥是在将伊瓜因比喻成捕猎能力强大的猎狗，将本泽马视为抓捕能力差一个等级的猫。句意为：“如果你去打猎时，不能带上一条捕获能力强的猎狗，那也只能带着猫出去，因为你总不能孤身一人去打猎。”

 

2. But in the end, there is only one way on the pitch to present a water-tight argument: score goals.

water-tight：无懈可击的。例如：The case has to be made water-tight.

 

IV. After reading

Discussion:

Life is full of ups and downs. What do you think we should do when we experience tough times?

 

Selfies reveal your self (P5)

I. Pre-reading

Today it’s not difficult to find social networking pages full of photos people have taken of themselves and their friends. Do you like taking photographs of yourself? Why do you like doing it or why not?

 

II. Reading

Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions:

1. What is the article mainly about?

A. The definition and fun of taking selfies.

B. A study of why people love to take selfies.

C. How taking selfies influences people’s daily lives.

D. How to interpret people’s facial expressions in their selfies.

2. The underlined word “perceive” in the third-to-last paragraph is closest in meaning to _____.

A. recognizeB. beautify   C. view    D.  ignore

3. What did Kilner discover from research?

A. People tend to spend more time looking at their own faces than at others’.

B. People are likely to believe that they look more attractive than they actually are.

C. People usually interpret other people’s facial expressions worse than their own.

D. People who like to take selfies tend to know more about their own facial expressions.

4. According to Kilner, people like taking selfies probably because they think ____.

A. it is a good chance for them to learn more about their actual faces 

B. it enables them to interact better with their friends in social media

C. it allows them to choose how they look and match their expectations with their appearance 

D. it is a way for them to learn to read and correctly respond to other people’s facial expressions

 

Key:

1. B。本文主要讲的是James Kilner关于人们为什么喜欢自拍的研究，所以B为正确答案。

2. C。根据下文实验的内容Kilner让实验对象去挑选他们认为最像自己的照片可知，该实验是为了检测人们对于自己面容的看法，所以C为正确答案。

3. B。由倒数第三段的“Kilner found that most people chose the more attractive picture. This suggests that we tend to think of ourselves as better-looking than we actually are.”可推知B为答案。

4. C。由倒数第二段的“Selfies give us the power to create a photograph – by taking it from various angles, with different poses, using filters (滤镜) and so on -- that better matches our expectations with our actual faces.”可以推知C为正确答案。

 

III. Language study

1. He showed people different versions of their own portrait -- the original, one that had been edited to look less attractive and one that was made more at-tractive – and asked them to pick the version which they thought looked most like them.

本句的主干是：He showed people different versions of their own portrait and asked them to pick the version。两个破折号之间的成分用作同位语，补充说明Kilner展示出的肖像具体有哪三种（原版，编辑得不好看一些的；编辑得更好看的）。Which引导的定语从句修饰其前面的the version。

 

2. Selfies give us the power to create a photograph – by taking it from various angles, with different poses, using filters (滤镜) and so on -- that better matches our expecta-tions with our actual faces.

本句的主干是：Selfies give us the power to create a photograph。破折号之间的成分用作方式状语，说明人们拍照的方式；破折号后的that引导定语从句，修饰第一个破折号前的先行词a photograph。

 

Treasure your work (P6)

I. Pre-reading

As is known to us all, work plays an important part in our lives. But why is it important?

What do people who lose their sight usually rely on to interact with the world around them?

 

II. Fast reading

Read the article quickly to find out what the author’s nephew relied on to know about what hap-pened around him after his sight was gone?

Key: He relied on his memory mostly and listening to conversations around him as well as listening to television and radio. 

 

III. Specific reading

Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions:

1. What surprised the author when she re-ceived her nephew’s phone call?

A. An eagle remained in her nephew’s backyard for a long time. 

B. The sight of an eagle made her nephew so excited.

C. Her nephew regained his sight after he had been blind for several years.

D. Despite being blind, her nephew described the eagle as if he could really see it.  

2. By mentioning her nephew leading her around when she visited his parents, the author intends to ____. 

A. show that she got along well with her nephew and his family

B. tell us of her nephew’s good sense of direction

C. show how good a memory her nephew has

D. prove that her nephew had no trouble living by himself alone

3. According to the article, a job is very important to the author’s nephew mainly because ____.

A. a job makes him confident and stops him from complaining 

B. a job enables him to feel normal

C. with a job he can afford to raise his guide dog

D. with a job he can help his parents support the family

4. What can we conclude from the last two paragraphs?

A. Everyone has to work, so make sure to play.

B. The harder you work, the more successful you will be. 

C. Work enriches our lives, so we should appreciate it.

D. Work is just a way for us to kill time and make a living.

 

Key: 

1. D。由第七段的“I could believe they had the rare pleasure of spotting an eagle. What I couldn’t believe was that my nephew, without sight, was giving the commentary.”可以推知D为正确答案。

2. C。作者列举的她侄子为他们指路一事是为了说明前面她提到的“From memory, mostly; from conversations around him; from listening to television and radio. He has an amazing memory.”所以C为正确答案。

3. B。由文中的“Having a job makes him like everybody else. Now, he has something to come home and complain about at the end of the day.”可推知B为答案。

4. C。由文章最后三段可以推知作者的观点，作者认为我们为了工作而生，工作让我们有事可干，有地方可去，想想那些失业者，我们就会感到工作很重要。所以可以推知C为正确答案。

 

IV. After reading

Question:

Do you agree with the author’s view that “work is a gift”? Why or why not?