Lesson11TheMidnightVisitor.doc

lesson 11 the midnight visitor robert arthurteaching objectives 1. to get students to know something about the author and secret agents.2. to guide students to understand and appreciate the text. 3. to help students to master the key words, phrases and sentences.4. to foster the four basic skills of students. teaching contents 1. background information about the author and secret agents2. key words, phrases and discourses in the text. 3. writing styles and techniques of the text.4. discussions and debates about the topic.teaching techniquesto integrate several different teaching methods and techniques: elicitation; explanation; illustration and discussion.teaching procedures i background (50 minutes)1. about the author:robert arthur was born on november 10, 1909, at fort mills, corregidor island, the philippines. arthur graduated from the university of michigan in 1930 with a b.a. in english. after working as an editor at one of the publications, he returned to the university of michigan where he received his m.a. in journalism in 1932. he then moved to new york city, where he lived in greenwich village. (美国纽约市作家等聚居的)格林威治村during this time, he began to work as a writer and editor for detective magazines. between 1930 and 1940, his stories were published in a great variety of detective stories, such as wonder stories, detective fiction weekly, mystery, thrilling detective, startling stories, colliers, the phantom detective. 2. about secret agentsin this lesson well read about a secret agent or international spy. have you ever seen hollywood movies of secret agents. which movie or secret agent impressed you most? i think 007 movies are most amazing. do you agree? are you attracted by james bond. what is james bond like? young, strong, handsome, attractive, irresistible to women, intelligent and having infinite power in contrast to 007, what is the image of the secret agent called ausable in our text? can you describe him? fat, sloppy, unhealthy, no guns, no threat to anybody, no linguistic genius, nothing mysterious, nothing romantic, nothing exciting being a secret agent so far away from the commonly accepted image, what is it that makes ausable so uncommon?in the case of ausable, the most outstanding feature must be his wisdom, his presence of mind （镇定，沉着）and his quick wit. he is not strong physically, but he can beat his enemy. he is fat and slow, but he reacts very quickly. he carries no weapon, but he has an excellent brain which is more powerful than any magic weapon. he appears helpless, but he gets rid of his deadly enemy without lifting a finger. there is no shooting or fighting, but the battle of wits is even more exiting and appealing.it is precisely this commonness that makes him so uncommon. the author is very clever in portraying him in this way in contrast to the general image because it makes the story fresh, unexpected and dramatic.ii structure analysis (30 minutes)part i (1-5) tells who ausable is and why fowler wants to see him. in this part our impression of ausable is no different from fowlers. therefore, like fowler, we as readers are not at all prepared for what is to happen next.part ii (6-16) describes the unexpected visit of ausables adversary max. this gives fowler as well as us a great start. ausable also says he is totally unprepared, but in fact he is very calm. he talks as if he has admitted defeat. actually he is already laying out a plan to deal with the situation. this is why he keeps talking about the balcony.part iii (17-28) tells us how ausable outwits max and makes him jump onto the “balcony”iii. detailed analysis (100 minutes)a. sentence paraphrasing (40 minutes)1. ausable didnt fit the description of any secret agent.ausable was not at all what a secret agent should look like.2. hardly a setting for a romantic figure.not the kind place suitable for a romantic person like a secret agent3. i wasdealing in espionage and danger.i was a secret agent, engaged in spying and such dangerous work.4. before long you will see a paperinto official hands.soon you will see a document/a report come to me and when i receive that paper, ill place it in the hands of the proper authorities. by that time i will have fulfilled my task/mission.5. it will be safer in my hands than in yours.we can assume that max is an eastern german defending the secret document of new russian missiles. the question here is not in whose hands it will be safer. it is a life-and-death struggle.6. im going to raise the devil with the management this time.he was making up a story, which turned out be a trap for max.7. it was an ordinary window, against which now the night was pressing blackly.the night was pressing against the window blackly or threateningly.b. language points (70 minutes)1. thrill if something gives you a thrill, it gives you a sudden feeling of great excitement, pleasure, or fear. give sb a thrill i can remember the thrill of not knowing what i would get on christmas morning. its a great thrill for a cricket-lover like me to play at the home of cricket. verb v n, v +at/to +n if something thrills you, or if you thrill at it, it gives you a feeling of great pleasure and excitement. the movie thrilled us. the children will thrill at all their favourite characters.thrill with joywe thrilled at the good news.2. disillusion v to free or deprive of illusion.使人清醒，使人梦想破灭n. the act of disenchanting.使不再着迷的行为the condition or fact of being disenchanted.醒悟；理想破灭：处于醒悟的状态或事实 n.觉醒; 幻灭 be disillusioned with对.大失所望illusion幻影象 ; 幻觉, 幻想; 错觉 ; 错误的印象概念; 假象an optical illusion视错觉be under no illusion about as to sth.对某事不存幻想cherish the illusion that .错误地认为.have no illusion about .对.不存幻想3. romanticof, relating to, or characteristic of romance.given to thoughts or feelings of romance. displaying, expressive of, or conducive to love:a romantic atmosphere.imaginative but impractical; visionary:romantic notions.not based on fact; imaginary or fictitiousromantic tales adventures传奇式的故事冒险romantic scenes富于浪漫色彩的情景景色a romantic scheme不现实的计划a romantic report 夸大的报道4. gloomyalmost dark: a gloomy hotel room/ a gloomy day hopeless, cheerless: my future seems gloomy.take a gloomy view of feel gloomy 5. deal indeal in从事于; 经营, 做.买卖make/do a deal with与.做成一笔交易; 与.达成协议thats a deal.就这么办, 一言为定。its a deal.就这么办, 一言为定。call it a deal 俚就这样决定; 一言为定6. be engaged by为.所吸引be engaged in正做着, 正忙着engage oneself inbe engaged on/upon 着手(某事), 从事(某事)be engaged to 同.订婚7. crack发出爆裂/劈啪声;断裂; 裂开the pistol/mirror cracked.a gun/whipcrack a book打开书本阅读; crack a beer.打开啤酒crack a criminal case/codecracker 爆竹, 饼干8. have message slipped into his hand he slipped some money into the officials hand. a note we wont let him/the opportunity through our finger.9. chuckle: laugh quietly吃吃的笑cf. smile, grin, laugh, titter, gigglegrin: a smile which shows the teeth, a wide smile grin from ear to ear露齿而笑giggle: a form of laughter which is repeated in an uncontrolled manner, esp. by young girls 吃吃的笑 傻笑titter： to laugh in a restrained, nervous way; giggle.嗤嗤地笑，傻笑，窃笑：偷偷地笑；咯咯地傻笑sneer 冷笑, 嘲笑10. give sb a start; surprise or frighten start v& n 惊跳，惊起，吃惊start to ones feet蓦地站起start at the mere rustle of leaves in the wind一有风吹草动就胆战心惊jump up with a , wake up with a 11 glance at/ stare at /gaze at/glimpse atglance 匆匆一看, 一瞥; glimpse指“瞥见”, 是glance的结果。“take a glance at .(看一看)的结果便是“get a glimpse of