《综合英语》备课笔记III-5

Unit5TheRealTruthaboutLies

TeachingPoints

Bytheendofthisunit,studentsaresupposedto

grasptheauthor’spurposeofwritingandmakeclearthestructureofthewholepassagethroughanintensivereadingofTextITheRealTruthAboutLies.

comprehendthoseusefulorimportantexpressions/sentencesinTextIthoroughlyandbeabletoparaphrasethem.

beawareofnewwordsandstructuresandusethemfreelyinconversationandwriting.

reconsiderthedilemma:tolieornottolie.

Topicsforpre-readingdiscussion

Haveyoueverbeenlyingtootherswithaseeminglygoodintention?How’stheconsequence?

Ifsomebodyliestoyouforyourowngood,howwouldyoufeel?

II.

AnintegratedAnalysisofTextI.

Highlights

Thistextisofjournalisticstyle.Fromtheverybeginningthewritershowsusthatmostpeoplelieintheirdailylives,andhegoesontoexplainthattellingwhiteliesisacommonpractice.Intheend,afterdealingwiththegraveconsequenceoftellinglies,thewriterdiscusseshowtodecidewhichliesaretobeavoided.

Structuralanalysisofthetextandlanguagepoints

Thepassagecanbedividedintofourparts.

PartOne:(Paragraphs1-6)Reportingtwosurveyresults,thewriterintroducesthetopicthattellingliesiscommom.

Paras.1-4:theresultofBellaDepaulo’ssurveyshowsthat140outof147peopleadmittedhavingtoldlies;

Paras.5:theresultofthesurveyconductedbyJosephsonInstituteofEthicsshowsthat92percentprofessedtohavetoldlies;

Paras.6:indailylivespeopleareoftenlyingwithorwithoutawareness.

PartTwo:(Paragraphs7-11)peoplearelyingwithafamiliarreason:theydon’twanttohurtothers.

Para.7-10:bycitinganexampleinthispart,thewritergoesontoexplainthattellingwhiteliesisacommonpractice;

Para.11:thewriterarguesthatthoselittlewhitelies,thoughseeminglyharmlessandwell-intended,arelikelytobringoutunforeseenconsequences.

PartThree:(Para.12-15)inthispartthewriterdealswiththeconsequencesoftellinglies–theubiquityofliesmaycausepeopletobedistrustfulofeachother,thusleadingtothecollapseofthewholesociety.

PartFour:(Para.16-18)asaconclusion,thewriterdiscusseswhetherliesshouldbeavoidedatallcostsandarguesthatmostacceptableliesarebasedonwhatmoralistscalltheprincipleofloveandcareratherthanthatoftrust.

Languagepoints

volunteer:giveorofferwillinglyofwithoutbeingpaid

e.g.:Manypeoplevolunteeredforreliefworkthererightaftertheearthwake.

Jennyvolunteeredtoclearupafterwards.

profess:tomakeaclaim;tostateopenlythatonehas

e.g.:Sheprofessedtotalignoranceofthematter.

earth-shattering:earthshaking;ofthegreatestimportancetothewholeworld

e.g.:Thepresident’sassassinationwasaneventofearth-shatteringimportance.

feign:topretendtohaveorbe

e.g.:Hefeigneddeathtoescapecapture.

spareone’sfeelings:avoidhurtingsb’sfeelings

e.g.:Hesparedherfeelingsbynotcriticizingherhusbandinfrontofher.

Notroublewassparedtomakesuretheguestsenjoyedthemselves.

preoccupation:thestateofconstantlythinkingorworryingaboutsth.

e.g.:Suchanexcessivepreoccupationwithyourhealthcan’tbenormal.

prevarication:thestateofavoidinggivingadirectanswerormakingafirmdecision

e.g.:Thereportwasfullofliesandprevarications.

Noprevarications!Justtellusexactlywhathappened.

devote:togivecompletelyto

e.g.:Hehasdevotedhislifetohelpingblindpeople.

Severalpagesofthepaperweredevotedtoanaccountoftheelection.

ethics:moralrulesorprinciples

e.g.:Whetheracountryshouldhavenuclearweaponsornotshouldbeaquestionofethics,notofpolitics.

pundit:(sometimeshumorous)anexpect;anauthority

e.g.:Thepunditsdisagreeonthebestwayofdealingwiththeproblem.

whitelie:harmlessortriviallie

ubiquitous:presenteverywhere

e.g.:Istherenoescapefromtheubiquitouscigarettesmokeinbus?

.

suppose:takesthasafact

e.g.:Supposethatyouhaveamillionpounds–howwouldyouspendit?

Idon’tsupposethatyouwouldgibemealifttothestation,wouldyou?

YouaresupposedtoreturnthebookbyFriday.

blurtout:saysth.suddenlyandtactlessly

e.g.:HeblurtedoutthebadnewsbeforeIcouldstophim.

.

compliment:praise

e.g.:Imustcomplimentyouonthewayyouhandledthemeeting.

.

theslipperyslope:courseofactionthatcaneasilyleadtodisaster,failure,etc.

e.g.:Extremenationalismcanbethestartoftheslipperyslopetowardsfascism.

Onceyou’vegivenintotemptationforthefirsttimeyouareontheslipperyslope.

.

weardown:tolessenthestrengthordeterminationof

e.g.:Weworedowntheiroppositionafterseveralhours’argument.

perception:qualityofunderstanding;insight

e.g.:Hisanalysisoftheproblemshowedgreatperception.

.

warp:toturnortwistoutofshape

e.g.:Herviewsofmanhadbeenwarpedbyseveralbadexperiences.

.

proliferation:rapidgrowthorincrease

e.g.:Anon-proliferationtreatywascalledupontostopthespreadofnuclearweapons.

cynical:(sometimesderogative)likeortypicalofacynic

e.g.:Shewasverycynicalaboutthepeaceconferenceandsaidthepresidentwasonlytheretoboosthispopularity.

falter:tolosestrengthoreffectiveness;weaken

e.g.:Thebusinessfalteredbadlylastyearbutitseemstoberecoveringnow.

paraphrase:“Themostunderstandableandforgivableliesareanexchangeofwhatethicistsrefertoastheprincipleoftrustfortheprincipleofcaring.”(para.16)

=>Theruleofhonestyismostacceptablyviolatedsoastoestablishtheprincipleofshowingloveandcare.

.

setsb.up:

a.makesb.healthier,stronger,etc.

e.g.:Aweekinthecountrywillsetherupnicelyafterheroperation.

b.tocausetoseemguilty

e.g.:Thecriminalsclaimedthattheyhadbeensetupbythepolice.

associate:

a.n.partner,colleague,companion

e.g.:Heisnotafriend,butabusinessassociate.

b.tocombineortoconnect

e.g.:I’veneverassociatedmyselfwithpoliticalextremism.

undermine:weakengraduallyorinsidiously

e.g.:Theseincidentscouldseriouslyunderminesupportforthepolice.

.

ruleofthumb:aprincipleormethodbasedonpracticalsenseandexperienceratherthanexactmeasurement

e.g.:Asaroughruleofthumb,each1000poundsyouborrowwillcostyou10poundsamonthinrepayments.

confound:toconfuseandsurprise

e.g.:Hegaveamarvelousperformancethatcompletelyconfoundedhiscritics.

Questionsforconsideration

i.

Whatisthewriter’spurposeofreportingtwosurveyresultsfirst?(para.6)

Reportingthesurveyresultsisagoodwaytobeginanexpositoryessay.Ononehanditclearlypresentthetopictothereader:tellingliesisacommonpractice;ontheotherhand,itisauthoritativeandtrustworthy.

ii.

Whatdoesthissentencemean:“Whatatangledwebweweave,whenfirstwepracticetodeceive?”(para.11

Whenwetellalie,verylikelywewillhavetotellmoreliestocoveruptheliewehavetold.Oneliewillleadtomorelies.Then,wewillgetourselvesentangledwiththewebofliesweourselvesweave.

iii.

Whatisthegraveconsequenceoftellinglies?(para.15)

Theubiquityofliesmaycausepeopletobedistrustfulofeachother,thusleadingtothecollapseofthewholesociety.

iv.

questionopenfordiscussion:Doyouthinkthelieswillbewellreceivedoncetheyareexposed?

TextIIToLieorNotToLie–TheDoctor’sDilemma

Mainideaofthetext:

Thistextisaboutthequestionofwhetherpatientsshouldbetoldthetruthabouttheirillnesses.Manyphysiciansmayslipintodeceptivepracticesinthebeliefthatthismaybenefitthempsychologicallyandhelpthemrecover.Butnewstudiesshowthatmostpatientswanttoknowthetrutheveninthecaseofgraveillnesses.Thewriterarguesthatlyingmakesitdifficultforthepatientstomakechoicesfortheirownhealth,andcanalsocausedoctorstolosetheirintegrityandcredibility.

Paraphrasethefollowingsentencesselectedfromthetext: