Current generation defined (P2)

河北省邯郸市第一中学  余云娟

I. Lead-in   

• It’s believed that the current generation of young people will shape the future of the country. But how is it different from previous generations?

 

II. Scanning: How is the text organized?

 

 

III. Skimming: Hobby time

What do the following numbers stand for?

73 percent

62 percent

58 percent

40 percent

37 percent

72.9 percent

85 percent

Key: 

 

 

III. Skimming: Independent interests

Q1: What’s the key difference between the post-1995 generation and their parents when selecting majors?

Unlike their parents, members of the post-1995 generation select majors based on their interests.

 

Q2: What’s the purpose of telling Wang Zeping’s personal story?

To support the author’s idea and make it more specific and convincing.

 

Finish the following phrases with proper words.

 

 

IV. Language study

Appreciate some useful sentence structures.

1. __________ (人们相信) the current generation of young people will shape  the future of the country. 

2.The study found that 73 percent of respondents have hobbies, _____________________ (音乐是最受欢迎的). 

3.About 10 percent report blowing over 10,000 yuan ______ (一次) for a single experience.

blow: spend a lot of money at one time in a careless way. 挥霍,乱花 

e.g. I blew it all on a trip to Hawaii.

 

Key: 1. It’s believed that2. with music being the most popular3. at a time

 

V. Learn to use

Fill in the blanks with the proper form of the given words.

1.The murder was brought in, with his hands ____ (tie) behind his back.

2.He lay there, with his eyes ________(look) straight up.

3.I sat in my room for a few minutes with my eyes ____ (fix) on the ceiling. 

4.With a lot of difficult problems _________ (settle), the newly-elected president is having a hard time．

 

Key: tied; looking; fixed; to settle

 

VI. Discussion

As a member of the post-1995 generation, 

Ø what are your hobbies? 

Ø would you blow a lot of money for your hobbies?

Ø would you choose your major based on your interests?

Ø how would your hobbies and interests shape your and your country’s future?

 

Staying young forever (P4-5)

河北省邯郸市第一中学  王永仙

I. Lead-in   

vHave you ever read the novel Peter Pan? 

vIf you have, tell us something about the hero.

vDo you know an adult who still plays with toys?

vWhy do you think this person still plays with toys?

 

II. Skimming

Read the article quickly and answer the question.

 •What is the writing genre of this article?   C

   A. Narration (记叙)

   B. Description（描写）

   C. Exposition（说明）

   D. Argumentation（议论）

 

III. Scanning

Read the article carefully and divide it into some parts. Then work out the main idea of each part.

Part 1 (Para ____):

Part 2 (Para ____):

Part 3 (Para _____):

 

Key:

 

 

Read the article carefully and answer the following questions.

1. Can you guess the meaning of kidult?

Kidult (a blend of kid and adult) refers to a so-called grown-up who doesn't want to grow up (or at least act like an adult) and would instead prefer so-called “children's” stuff for entertainment, like cartoons, toys, comic books, etc.

 

2.According to Frederique Tutt, what is the motivation behind kidults’ behavior?

The motivation of these grown-ups is to escape the stress of today’s fast-paced world. They are driven toward the more immediate pleasures brought by toys than those brought by, say, getting a promotion, which is far less easy to achieve.

 

3.  What do people think of the kidult trend? 

1) Some social scientists see the trend as disturbing. To Frank Furendi, a professor at the University of Kent in the UK, the fact that so many adults are pursuing “the thrills of youth” is the evidence that “adulthood has got nothing attractive about it anymore. That’s actually quite sad.”

2) According to Canadian comic book artist Todd McFarlane, collecting toys could simply be a way for people to express their individuality.

 

4.  What does the statement “Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional” mean?

Age is an issue of mind over matter, so when we physically grow into an adult, we can still choose to live a kid’s life.           

 

Translate the sentences. Pay attention to the sentence structures.

1.All children, except one, grow up.

• Except，除了…之外不包含。

• 句意为：除了一个孩子，所有的孩子都长大了。

 

2. According to the NPD Group, a US market research company, sales of toys to adults in the UK increased by more than 20 percent in 2016, three times the pace of the children’s toy market itself. 

•倍数表达法: 

 three times the pace of 为倍数+the+名词+of。

• 句意为：依据美国NPD集团，一个美国市场调查公司的调查，英国成人玩具的销售在2016年的增长超过了百分之二十，是儿童玩具市场增速的三倍。

 

3. They are driven toward the more immediate pleasures brought by toys than those brought by, say, getting a promotion, which is far less easy to achieve.

• 句中两个brought …过去分词短语都作后置定语，分别修饰pleasures和those。

• say意为“举例说明，比方说” 。例如：

We could leave on any day – say, on Monday. 

• which引导非限定性定语从句，修饰promotion。

•句意为：他们被玩具带来的即时乐趣而不是被升职所吸引，因为后者更难以实现。

 

Fill in the blanks with proper words or phrases.

•But this “fact” doesn’t seem to ______ (适用于) today’s world anymore. 

•These toys _________ (范围从……到……) puzzles and Lego building sets to ______ vehicle models and action figures.  

•This is also why these adults are sometimes referred to as “kidults”.

•According to Canadian comic book artist Todd McFarlane, collecting toys could simply be a way for people to _________________ (展现个性).

 

Key: apply to; ranged from … to; express their individuality

 

V. Discussion:

1. What is your opinion of kidults?

2. Would you choose to be a kidult in the future? Why or why not? 

 

Get used to unfairness(P6)

山东省烟台第二中学 朱洪图

 

I. Warming up 

Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

“Life’s not fair, it never was, it isn’t now and it won’t ever be.” 

By Matthew McConaughey，Oscar-winning Actor

 

II. Skimming

Read the text and answer the question below. 

•What is the writing genre of this article?           D

•   A. Narration (记叙)

•   B. Description（描写）

•   C. Exposition（说明）

•   D. Argumentation（议论）

•

II. Skimming

What is the main idea of this text?

• Life is not fair and how to deal with life’s seeming unfairness.

 

Read the text again and try to work out its outline.

 

 

III. Scanning

Answer these questions below.

1.Why did the writer mention her two marriages in Paras 4-5?

To prove that “if we let life’s unfairness defeat us, we will never receive the beautiful blessings (幸事) that life has in store for us.” 

 

2. What did the writer do when she got divorced?

She didn’t let one seemingly unfair experience stop her from believing that she could one day be happily married. And then one day, she met another man and got married.

 

3. Faced with life’s seeming unfairness, what should we do?

We should keep our faith, let go of the outcome that we are looking forward to and keep trying, working hard and doing the right thing …

 

IV. Language points

Use the words below to fill blanks

Incredibly/promote/ bottom line/shut down/handle

divorce/straightforward/drive away/ in store for

• a man whose marriage has been legally ended _____

• easy to do or to understand; not complicated    _____

• to make them want to go away or stay away _______

• about to happen                           ________

• extremely                                   _______

• to move sb to a higher rank or more senior job    _____

• the essential point of a discussion           ________

• to stop opening for business; to stop working_______

• to deal with a situation, a person, an area of work_____

 

Key: divorce; straightforward; drive away; in store; incredibly; promote; bottom line;

shut down; handle

 

Use the correct form of the words below to complete the sentences.

 

 

V. Sentence patterns

•And then one day, I met this kind, thoughtful, generous man with whom I now have a wonderful friendship and marriage. 

•With whom,定语从句中介词的前置

 

•But that wouldn’t have happened if I had decided to give up after one failed marriage.

•If 引导的虚拟语气条件句

•表示对过去的虚拟：if从句使用过去完成时，主句谓语动词用would/could/might/have done。

 

VI. Discussion

• Some are born rich while some are born penniless. Some are born genius while some are born disabled. The world seems really unfair. What do you think is the right attitude toward the unfairness in your life?