Unit 3 Why Do We Believe That The Earth Is Round Teaching plan大学英语四.doc

Unit 3 Why Do We Believe That the Earth Is Round?Teaching Time: 4 hoursStudents level: Sophomores of non-English majors in the 2nd semester.Teaching Objectives: 1. Get Ss to know the authors purpose is to teach Ss to have a correct attitude towards knowledge and accepting of knowledge by taking the examples of others arguments of the shape of Earth. 2. About the text, Ss should grasp the text content, text structure, basic vocabularies and required grammar points of the section. Words: preface, remark, cite, exaggerate, mast, appeal, analogy, cast, precarious, produce, burden, bother Phrases & Expressions: appeal to, follow up, for the sake of, throw light on, shaped like, cast on, fall back on, stray away from,Grammar: 3. About the reading, Ss should know the reading skills of telling difference bwteen facts and opinion sentences.4. About the writing, Ss should get to know the writing skillcoherence.5. About the listening, Ss finish the Unit 3 directed by teacher. Teaching Procedures:I. Pre-reading Activities1.Background information1) George Orwell2) George Bernard Shaw3) The Flat Earth Theory and the Round Earth Theory4) Eclipses5) Playing Cards6) Comrade Mao Tse-tung on knowledge, on Direct Experience and Indirect Experience2. warm- up questions and introductory remarks1) Do you believe that the earth is round? Why?Yes, I do, because science proves that it is true. 2) Have you heard of other conclusions about the shape of the earth?What are they? Why dont you believe them?Yes. The earth was said to be flat or oval. I dont believe them because the photos from satellites or the scenes of eclipses show that its round.2) why is “the earth is round” put in a question?3. Key words and expressions:Study of the words and phrasesNew words and old wordsteacher students(old words or expressions) (new ones)forward prefacesay,argue remarkquote citesimply merelyaccept without question swallowoverstate exaggerateattract appeal tofor the good of for the sake ofpole on a ship mastbend curvecomparison analogyquickly promptlyround plate discthrow castgo to aim atinsecure precariousturn to for help fall back onin another way otherwisemove from stray away fromshow produceload burdentake trouble botherEnglish and Chinese PhrasesTeacher(Chinese) students(English)在某处 somewhere or other序言 the preface to中世纪 the middle ages普遍认为 the widespread belief that普通人 the ordinary citizen迎合口味 appeal to我的完蛋了 bang goes my求助于 fall back on不屑一顾 would not even bother to 反驳 sayagainst天体 heavenly body由此可见 it will be seen that靠不住的理由 precarious reasons知识面 the range of knowledge无力的论据 weak argumentII. While-reading Activities1.Ss have the silent reading on the text (10 mins)2.T explains the text in details.Appeal to1. do detective films appeal to you?Yes, .No, .2. what kinds of books appeal most to youth?Books on 3. why are childrens clothes colorful?Bright and colorful clothes usually appeal to children.Follow up1. what do the police do if a case is reported to them?They follow up the case. 2. what do you do if you read an interesting story series on a newspaper?I follow it up.For the sake of1. what do people usually do for the sake of health?They eat healthy food, do exercises and dont smoke,dont2. why is it necessary to widen the streets?Its necessary to widen the streets for the sake of a smoother flow of traffic.Throw light on1. what is the use of the background knowledge of a story?It throws light on it.2. why are illustrations, data and charts or tables necessary in scientific reports or business presentations?They throw light on the reports and presentations.Shaped like1. Why is a UFO also called a flying saucer?It is shaped like a saucer.2. what is a space shuttle like?It is shaped like a huge plane.Cast on1. what can you see on a moon-lit night in the open?I can see my shadow cast on the ground.I can see the shadows of the trees cast on the wall/window.Fall back on1. why do you set aside some money every month?I set aside some money every month so that I can fall back on it if I get sick or become unemployed.2. what do you do when you get lost in a new city?I fell back on the police.Stray away from1. what must you bear in mind when you walk along a path in an area of swamp?I must not stray away from the path.2. what kind of people dont you like to talk to?I dont like to talk to those who often stray away from the topic.Text and questions for discussionLines1-71. why is “ Saint Joan” in italics?It is the name of a play. See note 3 in your textbook.2. who is Bernard Shaw? See Note 4 in your textbook. He is widely considered the treatest British dramatist since Shakespeare. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1925. For more details, refer to Note 1,2. in Teachers book.3. what do “gullible and superstitious” mean?Gullible means willing to believe anything or anyone, easily deceived. “superstitious” means willing to believe something that cannot be explained by reason or science or that brings good or bad luck.4. can you paraphrase “swallows this theory”?accepting the theroy blindly without questioning and suspicions.Lines 8-131. what does “it” refer to in the sentence “ the light it throws on modern knowledge”?It refers to “ the question”2. what is the question that is worth following up?Are we too gullible and superstitious today?3. why does the author only tend to speak of ordinary men when answering why we believe that the earth is round?Ordinary men dont have the espertise to prove it scientifically.Lines 14-191. why is a distant ship invisible but its mast and funnel can be seen from the seashore?Look at the picture on the next page.2. can you paraphrase “what can I say against it?”I can refute the Flat Earth theory but I need more proofs to refute the Oval Earth theory.Lines 20-261. does the author really “play cards”?no. this is a figure of speech used to mean preenting an argument point by point. “the first card I can play” means the first pointi can make to support my argument.2. what does “analogy of the sun and moon” mean?To compare the earth to the sun and the moon.Lines 27-311. when does a lunar eclipse occur?When the earth passes between the sun and the moon and blocks the sunlight, or casts its shadow onto the moon, a lunar eclipse occurs.2. Use the Oval Earth theory to refute the authors eclipse argument.The shadow cast on the moon is round, but it doesnt follow that the earth is spherical. It may perfectly well be flat like a disc.3. what is the authors argument about the eclipses based on?Publications, such as newspapers and magazines.Lines 32-391. what does the author mean by “ the minor exchanges?” the less important points of debate.2. what does the author think of his previous defeats?He considers them minor/unimportant points, and he is hopeful to win in the debate.3. who is Royal?See note 6.4. which is higher, Queen,King, or Ace?King is higher than Queen,and Ace is higher than King.5. can you paraphrase the last sentence?Refer to note 23.Lines 40-461. what does “bang goes my ace” mean?My ace doesnt work. I lose my ace. My argument isnt conclusive.2. what does the author think of his “ last card”?he believes that the last point of his argument defeats the Oval Earth man.Lines 47-601. what does the author think of his evidence?He doesnt think it convincing enough.2. what does “an exceptionally elementary piece of information” mean?A piece of information that everyone knows.3. what is this piece of information?The earth is round.4. can you use a Chinese saying to explain “when the range of knowledge is so vas that the expert himself is an ignoramus as soon as he strays away from his own specialty”?隔行如隔山5. what does “ credulous” mean?Ready to believe, without evidence. 3. T asks Ss to come out the main idea, structure of the text (10mins)Summary questions and Concluding remarks1. what ca