World in one place (P1)

山东省烟台第二中学  柳力文

 

I. Leading-in   

If you wanted to tell the history of the whole world, how would you do it? 

 

II. While-reading (1)

Read the article and answer the following questions:

1.What is the name of the recent exhibition?

•“A History of the World in 100 objects”.

2. When and where will the exhibition be on display?

•The collection will be on display in the National Museum in Beijing from March 2 to May 31.

3. How many historical objects does the British Museum own?

•At least eight million historical objects.

4. Who was assigned the task of choosing 100 objects from the collection? 

•Neil MacGregor, then-director of the British Museum.

5. What principles did he follow when choosing the objects?

①The items had to range in date from the beginning of human history around two million years ago to the present day.

②The objects had to cover the whole world.

6. What Chinese items were chosen in the collection, and why were they chosen?

•There is a banknote from the Ming Dynasty, showing China as the first country to issue paper money. 

•And a bronze bell from the time of Confucius symbolizes how the famed Chinese philosopher “saw in music the harmony he wanted to achieve in society.”

 

III. While-reading (2)

Read again and check whether the statements are true (T) or false (F).

1.It took MacGregor twenty weeks to choose  the 100 objects.

2.All the objects were chosen from the British Museum’s collection.

3.The idea of the exhibition came from a successful BBC radio show.

4.The items on display speak of whole societies as well as individual events.

5.Both antiques and modern items are included in the exhibition.

6.The items may contain more meanings than they originally had when they were created.

Key: FTTFTT

 

IV. Language study - sentences

Read the sentences and translate. Please pay attention to the sentence structures.

1. Its blockbuster (轰动的) exhibition, “A History of the World in 100 Objects”, featuring rare and ancient items from across the planet, will come to China for the very first time. 

•“A History of the World in 100 Objects”是exhibition的同位语， featuring rare…部分是现在分词短语作后置定语。

•feature: show a particular person or thing in a film, magazine, show, etc.

•(大英博物馆)引起轰动的展览将首次在中国展出。这次展览名为“100件藏品中的世界史”，将展出来自全世界罕见和古老的物品。

 

2. With this in mind, how did it choose these 100 items to represent our planet’s history?

• with this in mind是with+宾语+宾补的独立主格结构，此处宾补是介词短语。

•有这么多藏品，博物馆是怎么选出了这100件藏品来代表世界历史呢？

•eg. The teacher came in, with a book in his hand.

•= The teacher came in, book in hand.

•此外，with复合结构的宾补还可以是形容词、副词、现在分词、过去分词和不定式。

•Can you make up some sentences with this structure?

 

3.  “These signals from the past speak of whole societies rather than individual events, and tell of the world for which they were made, sometimes having meanings far beyond the intention of their original makers.”

•for which they were made是定语从句，修饰先行词world. sometimes having meanings…是现在分词短语作伴随状语。

•这些来自过去的物品讲述的是整个社会群体发生的事件，而不是个体事件，讲述的是制造物件时的世界，有时候它们包含的意义超出了最初制造者的本意。

 

V. Language study – useful expressions

Find and figure out the meaning of the following expressions in the context.

•fit the entire history into one building

•be on display

•item

•range from…to…

•speak of, tell of

•be far beyond one’s intention

•issue paper money

•symbolic, symbolize

•contribute to

 

VI. After reading - discussion

Let’s look at the items and have a discussion.

Topic: 

Which item in the exhibition are you most familiar with or interested in, and do you know the story behind it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trump shows power with greetings (P4-5)

天津市第三中学  朱煜

 

I. Warming up   

How do people usually greet each other？

Say hello

Shake hands

Hug each other

Kiss each other on the cheek

…

Who is this man?

US President Donald Trump

What do you know about him?

 

II. Fast-reading

Read the article and choose the best answer

What are the reasons for Trump’s “yank-shake” according to Darren Stanton?

Trump wants to display his power, and to test whether people are willing to cooperate with him. 

 

III. Careful- reading

Read the article again and find out the answers to the questions.

1. How do you understand the phrase “put under the microscope”？

To examine or think about a situation very carefully.

2. Why did the handshake between Trump and Shinzo Abe draw so much attention?

Because unlike a typical handshake, the one between them lasted a full 19 seconds. 

3. What are other ways for people to display power with their hands according to the article?

Some people may rotate their wrists during handshakes so that their hand ends up on top instead of underneath. Some may squeeze so hard that it leaves the other person’s hand in pain.

4. How did Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau handle Trump’s handshake?

Trudeau managed to avoid the embarrassment by grabbing Trump’s shoulder to stop himself being pulled in. 

 

IV. Vocabulary  

Fill in the blanks with the given words or phrases.

mess with    regardless of      squeeze         typical       resistant       sum up              in charge (of)

1.He continued speaking, _________ my feelings on the matter. 

2. I must look like the  ____ tourist with my shorts and my camera.

3. Don't ________ her when she's angry. 

4. Who will be ________ the department when Sophie leaves?

5.After we accomplished this task, we sat down to _________ experience.

6. As she waited to go into the exam, he _______ her hand and wished her good luck.

7. Most elderly people are always ________ to change. 

(regardless of, typical, mess with, in charge of, sum up, squeezed, resistant )

V. Discussion

What can you know about a person’s personality by shaking hands with him or her? 

A weak hand may suggest a weak personality.

Squeezing means aggression, so does yanking someone’s hand.

…

 

Ever-changing lives (P6)

山东省烟台第二中学   朱洪图

 

I. Warming up 

Discuss the question below with your partner.

What kind of life do you want to live? A steady, peaceful life or a life full of changes and adventures? Why ?

II. Skimming

What is the main idea of this text?

The writer drew a lesson from her grandmother’s and her own experiences that life is full of possibility.

III. Scanning

Read the text and try to work out the outline of the text.

Para. 1-2 The introduction to the topic

Para. 3-5 The writer’s story about creating a new life

Para. 6-8 Great changes the writer’s family experienced

Para. 9  Conclusion: Life is full of possibility and change

 

Read the article and decide if these statements are True or False.

The writer was unhappily married for five years. (F)

The writer ended her unhappy marriage to pursue the life she wanted.(T)

The writer started an exciting, new career and cut off all contact with old friends and family members.(F)

The writer raised her daughters alone, cared for her elderly mother and rarely traveled out of her hometown. (F)

 

Read the article and answer the questions.

1. Why did the author mention the story of her late grandmother ?

Because her late grandmother is a good example of someone who began a new life.

2. Why has the writer always known that great change is possible ?

Because of her family’s, especially her grandmother’s, influence.

 

IV. Language points

Assume      accept sth to be true without question or proof

Adventurous  not afraid to do new and dangerous or exciting things 

Multiple      many, numerous

Barely       only just; almost not

Twist        a point at which sth turns or bends

Recognizable  easy to recognize; easy to be aware of

 

Sentence pattern

I am the great-grandchild of Eastern European immigrants who left their countries with few contacts and even less English. 

翻译：我是一个东欧移民的重孙女，他们离开祖国时既没有熟人也不会多少英语。

语法：who 引导定语从句。Contact 此处的含义为“熟人，有用的社会关系”。

 

They can double back and leap forward and begin another story altogether.

翻译：他们可以沿原路返回，也可以向前跃进，开始一个全新的故事。

重点词：Altogether 在此处翻译为completely; totally。

V. Post-reading

Read the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost and think about what it is about. 

 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear …

 

One possible answer: life is full of possibility and change. We should not be afraid to make changes and we should be responsible  for our choices