综合英语2 unit 7.doc

Unit 7Unit 7 The ChaserSection One Pre-reading Activities1I. Audiovisual Supplement1II. Cultural Background2Section Two Global Reading3I. Text Analysis3II. Structural Analysis3Section Three Detailed Reading4I.Text 14II. Questions6III. Words and Expressions7IV. Sentences10Section Four Consolidation Activities10. Vocabulary10. Grammar13. Translation16. Exercises for Integrated Skills17. Oral Activities19. Writing19Section Five Further Enhancement21I. A Lead-in Question21II. Text 221III. Memorable Quotes24Section One Pre-reading ActivitiesI. Audiovisual SupplementWatch the video clip and answer the following questions.Script:Man: It has been three years since our first date. Time has really gone by fast.Woman: Yep.Man: And over the past few weeks, I have been doing some thinking, mainly thinking about the human condition. A lot of life comes down to making sacrifices and deciding which direction is my life gonna go. Could you please leave? Thank you very much.Woman: Are you OK?Man: Yeah.Woman: OK?Man: A lot of life comes down to deciding what am I willing to sacrifice because obviously if you choose one path in life, well, you know, you cant choose the other. Thats kind of where I found myself lately, ever since we, you and I, in our relationship, en, have reached that place.Woman: That place.Man: The upshot is “you win.” Woman: “You win”? Was that a proposal?Man: You win was just the last part of it. The whole thing was a proposal. The “you win” had a context. Arent you even gonna look at it?Woman: But, first, can we just, can we retrace the mental steps that led to “you win”? Like when you say you and I have reached that place. What place?Man: You know what I mean. Shit or get off the pot?Woman: Did you really just say “shit or get off the pot”? Right here in the starlight room? Man: What is a big deal?Woman: Why cant you just cay “fish or cut bait”?Man: Because we always say “shit or get off the pot.” Everybody says “shit or get off the pot.”Woman: Not in the Starlight Room!Man: What is it with the Starlight Room?Woman: Magic, Jimmy. Romance. You know, the whole reason why you come up here to propose. You see the lights in the city. You have a wonderful meal. You listen to beautiful music. And it casts this romantic spell. When you say “shit or get off the pot”, all the magic just suddenly disappears. Now all you have left is bowel trouble.Man: I am sorry. I didnt think youd get so upset over a figure of speech.Woman: Its not the words, Jimmy. Its the whole approach. God, its as if you deliberately Man: What? What?Woman: You dont want to marry me, do you?Man: I just proposed to you. Woman: Yeah, but the way that you proposed, you werent asking me to marry you. You were asking me to say no.Man: Just put it on. All right? Please.Woman: If you dont want to marry me, Jimmy, I dont want to be married to a guy who doesnt want to get married. Questions （在每个问题下面设置按钮，点击以后出现正确答案）1. Why does the man choose to propose to his girlfriend in the Starlight room?Answer: It is because the Starlight room is a romantic and magic place to propose.2. Why does the woman say no to his proposal?Answer: It is because she feels he is not ready for marriage.II. Cultural Background1. Proposal of Marriage l The proposal of marriage is an event where one person in a relationship asks for the others hand in marriage. l If accepted, it marks the initiation of engagement. l It often has a ritual quality, sometimes involving the presentation of an engagement ring and a formalized asking of a question such as “Will you marry me?” l Often the proposal is a surprise. l In many Western cultures, the tradition has been for the man to propose to the woman. 2. Engagementl An engagement is a promise to marry, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage which may be lengthy or trivial. l During this period, a couple is said to be affianced, betrothed, engaged to be married, or simply engaged. l Future brides and grooms are often referred to as fiance or fiancs respectively (from the French word “fianc”). l The duration of the courtship varies vastly.l Long engagements were once common in formal arranged marriages. l In 2007, the average engagement time in the United States was 17 months, but the figure around the world varies greatly depending on culture and customs.Section Two Global ReadingI. Text AnalysisThe short story is a fable of love with a strong sarcastic tone. The protagonist, Alan Austen, wants to find an easy solution to the problem of love by purchasing a love potion. However，its not the love potion that the old man intends to sell primarily, but “life cleaner”. The theme of “The Chaser” is the cynicism of experience, portrayed on a field of Alans youthful naivety and the old mans pessimistic certainty.The title of this short story is somehow a pun. “A chaser” can be a person that pursues someone like in “a woman chaser”. In addition, it can refer to a weaker alcoholic drink taken after a strong one. A whisky, like the potion, intoxicates. A beer chaser, like the “life cleaner”, mollifies the harshness of the spirits. The potion and the poison go together like a strong alcoholic drink and a chaser. II. Structural Analysis This short story, which combines elements of horror and love, is built almost entirely through dialogue between a young man, Alan Austen, who is deeply in love and wants to possess his lover entirely, and an unnamed old man who believes in a life free of romantic involvement.In “The Chaser” John Collier uses:l the dramatic irony of the title to initialize a cynical landscape; l and the understatement of the ending to enclose the cynical world of the old man, a world which Alan is entering. Paragraph 1: In this part, the protagonist, Alan Austen, has been introduced.Paragraphs 2-12: The old man is trying to sell his mixture.Paragraphs 13-45: Austen got to know about the love potion and in the end bought it.Section Three Detailed ReadingI. Text 1The ChaserJohn Collier1 Alan Austen, as nervous as a kitten, went up certain dark and creaky stairs in the neighborhood of Pell Street, and peered about for a long time on the dim hallway before he found the name he wanted written obscurely on one of the doors. 2 He pushed open this door, as he had been told to do, and found himself in a tiny room, which contained no furniture but a plain kitchen table, a rocking-chair, and an ordinary chair. On one of the dirty buff-coloured walls were a couple of shelves, containing in all perhaps a dozen bottles and jars. 3 An old man sat in the rocking-chair, reading a newspaper. Alan, without a word, handed him the card he had been given. “Sit down, Mr. Austen,” said the old man very politely. “I am glad to make your acquaintance.” 4 “Is it true,” asked Alan, “that you have a certain mixture that has er quite extraordinary effects?” 5 “My dear sir,” replied the old man, “my stock in trade is not very large I dont deal in laxatives and teething mixtures but such as it is, it is varied. I think nothing I sell has effects which could be precisely described as ordinary.” 6 “Well, the fact is ” began Alan. 7 “Here, for example,” interrupted the old man, reaching for a bottle from the shelf. “Here is a liquid as colourless as water, almost tasteless, quite imperceptible in coffee, wine, or any other beverage. It is also quite imperceptible to any known method of autopsy.” 8 “Do you mean it is a poison?” cried Alan, very much horrified. 9 “Call it a glove-cleaner if you like,” said the old man indifferently. “Maybe it will clean gloves. I have never tried. One might call it a life-cleaner. Lives need cleaning sometimes.” 10 “I want nothing of that sort,” said Alan. 11 “Probably it is just as well,” said the old man. “Do you know the price of this? For one teaspoonful, which is sufficient, I ask five thousand dollars. Never less. Not a penny less.” 12 “I hope all your mixtures are not as expensive,” said Alan apprehensively. 13 “Oh dear, no,” said the old man. “It would be no good charging that sort of price for a love potion, for example. Young people who need a love potion very seldom have five thousand dollars. Otherwise they would not need a love potion.” 14 “I am glad to hear that,” said Alan. 15 “I look at it like this,” said the old man. “Please a customer with one article, and he will come back when he needs another. Even if it is more costly. He will save up for it, if necessary.” 16 “So,” said Alan, “you really do sell love potions?” 17 “If I did not sell love potions,” said the old man, reaching for another bottle, “I should not have mentioned the other matter to you. It is only when one is in a position to oblige that one can afford to be so confidential. “ 18 “And these potions,” said Alan. “They are not just just er ” 19 “Oh, no,” said the old man. “Their effects are permanent, and extend far beyond the mere casual impulse. But they include it. Oh, yes they include it. Bountifully, insistently. Everlastingly.” 20 “Dear me!” said Alan, attempting a look of scientific detachment. “How very interesting!” 21 “But consider the spiritual side,” said the old man. 22 “I do, indeed,” said Alan. 23 “For indifference,” said the old man, “they substitute devotion. For scorn, adoration. Give one tiny measure of this to the young lady its flavour is imperceptible in orange juice, soup, or cocktails and however gay and giddy she is, she will change altogether. She will want nothing but solitude and you.” 24 “I can hardly believe it,” said Alan. “She is so fond of parties.” 25 “She will not like them any more,” said the old man. “She will be afraid of the pretty girls you may meet.” 26 “She will actually be jealous?” cried Alan in a rapture. “Of me?” 27 “Yes, she will want to be everything to you.” 28 “She is, already. Only she doesnt care about it.” 29 “She will, when she has taken this. She will care intensely. You will be her sole interest in life.” 30 “Wonderful!” cried Alan. 31 “She will want to know all you do,” said the old man. “All that has happened to you during the day. Every word of it. She will want to know what you are thinking about, why you smile suddenly, why you are looking sad.” 32 “That is love!” cried Alan. 33 “Yes,” said the old man. “How carefully she will look after you! She will never allow you to be tired, to sit in a draught, to neglect your food. If you are an hour late, she will be terrified. She will think you are killed, or that some siren has caught you.” 34 “I can hardly imagine Diana like that!” cried Alan, overwhelmed with joy. 35 “You will not have to use your imagination,” said the old man. “And, by the way, since there are always sirens, if by any chance you should, later on, slip a little, you need not worry. She will forgive you, in the end. She will be terribly hurt, of course, but she will forgive you in the end.” 36 “That will not happen,” said Alan fervently. 37 “Of course not,” said the old man. “But, if it did, you need not worry. She would never divorce you. Oh, no! And, of course, she will never give you the least, the very least, grounds for uneasiness.” 38 “And how much,” said Alan, “is this wonderful mixture?” 39 “It is not as dear,” said the old man, “as the glove-cleaner, or life-cleaner, as I sometimes call it. No. That is five thousand dollars, never a penny less. One has to be older than you are, to indulge in that sort of thing. One has to save up for it.” 40 “But the love potion?” said Alan. 41 “Oh, that,” said the old man, opening the drawer in the kitchen table, and taking out a tiny, rather dirty-looking phial. “That is just a dollar.” 42 “I cant tell you how grateful I am,” said Alan, watching him fill it. 43 “I like to oblige,” said the old man. “Then customers come back, later in life, when they are better off, and want more expensive things. Here you are. You will find it very effective.” 44 “Thank you again,” said Alan. “Good-bye.” 45 “Au revoir,” said the man. II. Questions1. What is the image of Alan Austen in the first part? (Paragraph 1)Alan Austen is depicted as a timid, skeptical and hesitant character. Through descriptions like “as nervous as a kitten,” “peering about for a long time on the dim hallway”, the writer creates a sense of apprehension. 2. Why do you think the old man told Austen about the life-cleaner before selling the love potion? (Paragraph 7)The sophisticated old man had encountered many young men who had been in the grip of romantic desire before, but who eventually got tired of the possessive love they had experienced. He knew for sure that Austens possessive love wouldnt last long. It would eventually bore and repel him. He expected that when his enthusiastic passion changed into hatred, Austen would come to him again, because he had already seen those disillusioned customers return to buy the “chaser” so that they could be free from the women for whom they had previously bought the love potion. 3. What is the implied meaning of the old mans remark, “Young people who need a love potion very seldom have five thousand dollars. Otherwise they would not need a love potion” (Paragraph 13)?What the old man means is that a young man who falls in love one-sidedly is seldom rich enough to win a girls heart; if he were rich enough, it would be much easier for him to win the girls hand. His words imply that money is one of the crucial factors for love. If a man is not rich, he can rarely expect to be loved by a girl.4. What is Austens understanding of love? (Paragraphs 23-32)Austen was filled with illusions and unrealistic expectations of love. To him, love meant the entire possession of the lover. When the old man talked about the magic effect of the love potion and described the expectant possessive love, Austen cried “That is love!”, which suggests that he was overwhelmed with joy. 5. What does the old mans remark in Paragraph 39 “ one has to be older than you are, to indulge in that sort of thing” mean?Young people tend to be over-passionate for love, sometimes senselessly and irrationally, while the old, just like the old man who sells the mixtures, would take a cool and sensible, sometimes even cynical attitude toward love. Class ActivityRole play l Work in pairs and role play the dialogue. l Make sure youve tried your best to learn the lines by heart.l You can also ask a fellow student to supply a prompt.l Then discuss with each other how you understand the two roles in the story. III. Words and ExpressionsParagraph 1peer v. look very carefully or hard, especially as if not able to see clearlye.g. She sat next to me, peering through the windscreen.Comparison: peer & peep peep: look at sth. quickly and secretly, esp. through a hole or other small openinge.g. His door was ajar and she couldnt resist peeping in.Paragraphs 2-12make sbs acquaintancemeet sb. for the first timee.g. That evening he made the acquaintance of a young actress.laxatives and teething mixturesLaxatives (or purgatives) are foods, compounds, or drugs taken to induce bowel movements, most often taken to treat constipation. Teething mixture is a preparation which consists of a syrup designed to cure the teething pain. imperceptible a.that cannot be noticed or felt because so small, slight or graduale.g. an imperceptible change in temperatureMarthas hesitation was almost imperceptibleDerivations:perceive (v.), perception (n.), perceptible (a.), imperceptible (a.), imperceptibly (ad.)autopsy n.the examination of a dead body to determine the cause of death e.g. Since the family opposed an autopsy, the death was officially listed as drowning. They carried out/performed an autopsy.Synonym: post-mortemapprehensively ad.full of anxiety about the future e.g. They looked at each other apprehensively.Derivations: apprehensive (a.), apprehension (n.)Practice：（制作的时候先出现中文，每句中文下面设置按钮，点击以后出现对应的英文翻译）每次儿子骑摩托车出门，她都会担心儿子的安全问题。She was apprehensive about/for her sons safety every time he went out on his motorcycle.学生们正在焦急地等待着他们的期末考试成绩。Students are waiting with apprehension for their final examination results.Paragraphs 13-45love potiona magical potion, drug or charm that supposedly has the power to make a person fall in love with another or excite sexual passion especially toward a particular person, notably the one who gives it to the imbiberoblige v. 1. do sb. a favor; fulfill the wishes ofe.g. She asked him to lend her his car, and he willingly obliged (her).I should/would be obliged if you could speak louder.2. make it necessary for sb. to do sth.e.g. The heavy snow obliged me to abandon the car and continued on foot.Eric felt obliged to resign after such an unpleasant quarrel with the vice presidentdetachment n.the state of not reacting or being involved in sth. in an emotional waye.g. She studied the blood with detachment.Derivations: detach (v.), detached (a.)substitute v. put sth. or sb. in place of anotherCollocations:substitute A for B = replace B with Ae.g. They were expected to substitute violence for dialogue.The doctor advised him to substitute low-fat cheese for butter.substitute for: replacee.g. As the pianist suddenly fell ill the day before the concert, we had to find someone to substitute for him.substitute n.sb. or sth. that takes the