大学听说教程3unit2coincidence

1、Unit 2 CoincidencePart APre-listening TaskQuestions for Discussion1. What is coincidence Give an example to illustrate it.2. Have you ever experienced or read about an amusing case of coincidence If yes, what is it3. How do people react to coincidences How important are they in human life4. Can coin

2、cidences be explained Why or why not5. What can coincidences do Are they mostly beneficial or harmful6. What do you think can be the causes of coincidences Do you think coincidences are beyondchanceAdditional Question for DiscussionDo you think there is a cause-and-effect relationship between events

3、 that share some similaritiesWhy or why notLanguage FocusHere are some sentences and structures that you may find useful in discussing the abovequestions.Coincidence refers to the phenomenon in which two or more events which are similar orrelated happen to take place at the same time or place.It s /

4、 What a coincidence thatCoincidence is not rare. It happens around us every day.It so happened that three of our classmates were born on the same day.Compared with non-coincidental events, coincidences are rare.Coincidence is the result of pure chance / our memories.The human mind tends to look for

5、patterns in events / remember events that match butforget events that don tmatch.Speak of the devil and he will appear / the devil comes.No coincidences, no stories.Everything under the sun is possible.Coincidences make great stories / very good topics for small talk.Coincidences make life more inte

6、resting / amusing / colorful.Coincidences tend to stay in our memory longer.People remember coincidences and love to pass them around among friends.It s meaningless to try to explain coincidences.Some people try to find a cause-and-effect relationship between events that happen toshare some similari

7、ties.Some people believe coincidences are the work of mysterious forces / supernatural powers.Some people believe coincidences can reveal relationships between events, human beingsand natural phenomena that are not obvious to them.Coincidences have nothing to do with good luck or bad luck / no power

8、 to predict futureevents.As the saying goes,“ Good fortune seldom repeats itself but troubles never come singly.”Part BListening TasksPassage 1What a Coincidence! (Part One)Word Banktuitionn. payment for schooling学费somehowad. for some reason that is not clear由于某种未知的原因clickv. to become suddenly clear

9、 or understandable突然变得明白real estate agenta person whose business is to buy, sell or look after houses or land forpeople房地产经纪人note downto write down记下Andrew（男子名）Stewart（姓）Script:Andrew had always wanted to be a doctor. But the tuition for a medical school in 1984 was15,000 dollars a year, which was m

10、ore than his family could afford. To help him realize his dream,his father, Mr. Stewart, a real estate agent, began searching the house-for-sale ads in newspapersin order to find extra business. One advertisementthat he noted down was for the sale of ahouse in a nearby town. Mr. Stewart called the o

11、wner, trying to persuade him to let him be hisagent.Somehow he succeeded and the owner promised that he would come to him if he failedto get a good deal with his present agent. Then they made an appointment to meet and discussthe thing.As good things are never easy to acquire, the time for the appoi

12、ntment had to be changedalmost ten times. On the day when they were supposed to meet at 3 oclock in the afternoon, Mr.Stewart received another call from the owner. His heart sank as he feared there wouldbeanother change of time. And so it was. The owner told him that he couldntmake it at three but i

13、fhe would come right then, they could talk it over. Mr. Stewart was overjoyed. Leaving everythingaside, he immediately set out to drive to the house.As he approached the area, he had a strange feeling of having been there before. The streets,the trees, the neighborhood, all looked familiar to him. A

14、nd when he finally reached the house,something clicked in his mind. It used to be the house of his father-in-law! The old man had diedfifteen years ago but when he was alive, he had often visited him with his wife and children. Heremembered that, like his son Andrew, his father-in-law had also wante

15、d to study medicine and,failing to do so, had always hoped that one of his two daughters or his grandchildrencouldsomeday become a doctor.Exercise 1Listen to the story and choose the right answers to the questions you hear.1. Who are the two main characters in the story you have just hearda. Mr. Ste

16、wart and his son.b. Mr. Stewart and his client.c. Mr. Stewart and his father-in-law.d. Mr. Stewart sfather-in-law and the owner of the house.2. How did Mr. Stewart get to know the owner of the housea. From a house-for-sale advertisement in a newspaper put up by the owner.b. Through the introduction

17、of Mr. Stewarts father-in-law.c. They attended the same medical school.d. They lived in the same neighborhood.3. What problem did Mr. Stewart havea. He had no house to live in.b. He had lost his job.c. He was disappointed with his son.d. He did not have enough funds for his son scollege education.4.

18、 What is the coincidence in the story you have just hearda. His clientshouse was the one that once belonged to a friend of his.b. His client shouse was the one his family once lived in.c. His clientshouse was the one his father-in-law once lived in.d. His client shouse was the one he once wanted to

19、buy.Exercise 2Listen to the story again and fill in the blanks with the missing information.The story happened in 1984. Mr. Stewart, a real estate agent, had a son whose name wasAndrew. The young man wanted to go to a medical school. But the tuition was so high that hisfathercouldn t afford it. In o

20、rderto help his son realize his dream, Mr. Stewart searchednewspaper ads, hoping to find extra business. One advertisement caught his eye. It was for thesale of a house near where he lived. But although he succeeded in persuading the owner of thehouse to let him be hisagent, the appointment time was

21、 changed again and again. At last, hereceived a phone call from the owner, asking him to go and discussthe matter with him rightaway. Mr. Stewart put aside everything he was doing and left immediately for the house. Whenhe approached the area, he found everything there looked familiar to him. And wh

22、en he saw thehouse, he realized it was his father-in-law sold house. He had visited it many times years agowhen his father-in-law was still alive. What a coincidence!Passage 2What a Coincidence! (Part Two)Word Banklattern. the second of two things or persons just mentioned 后者intriguev. to fascinate;

23、 to appeal strongly to sb.激起 极大的兴趣mystifyv. to fill with wonder; to completely puzzle使困惑；使大为惊奇standinga. being at a particular level or amount（水平、量等）现有的，现在显示的coverv. to be enough to pay for sth. 够支付bearv. to have or show具有，带有miraclen. a wonderful event奇事，不可思议的事blessingn. a lucky thing 幸事be in forto

24、be going to experience sth. 必定会经历receipt slipa written or printed statement acknowledging that sth. has been paid for orreceived 收条come toto amount to合计，总数为in sb.splaceinstead of sb. 代替某人Script:When he entered the house, Mr. Stewart was even more amazed to find that the house wasdecorated exactly as

25、 he had remembered it. He told the owner about this and the latter becameintrigued too. However, they were in for even greater surprises. It so happened that in the middleof their discussion, a postman came to deliver a letter. And the letterwas addressed to Mr.Stewart sfather-in-law! Were it not fo

26、r Mr. Stewartspresence there and then, the letter wouldbe returned as no person of that name lived in the house any longer. As the postman demandeda signature on the receipt slip, Mr. Stewart signed for his long-deceased father-in-law. Mystified,the owner urged Mr. Stewart to open the letter and see

27、 what it contained. The letter was from abank.When he opened it, two words immediately met his eye “For education ”.It was abank statement of an amounthis father-in-lawhad put in years ago for his grandchildren seducation needs. Withthe interest it had earned over the years, the standing value of th

28、eamount came to a little over $15,000, just enough money to cover the tuition of Andrewsfirstyear at a medical college!Another thing that is worth mentioning is about the postman. The original postman, whohad worked in this neighborhood, called in sick that day. So the postman, who was new to theare

29、a, came todelivermail in his place. Had it been the old postman,theletterwouldundoubtedly have been returned to the sender, as he knew full well that no person bearing thatname lived in that house any longer.The miracle was a blessing for Andrew. With the money given to him by his grandfather hewas

30、able to study medicine. Now he is a doctor in Illinois.Listen to the recording and write down the coincidences mentioned in the text.1. The house was decorated exactly the same as Mr. Stewart remembered it.2. Mr. Stewart happened to be in the house when a postman came to deliver a letter to hisfathe

31、r-in-law who had died 15 years ago.3. The old postman had called in sick that day, and the postman who came in his place was not familiar with the neighborhood. Otherwise the letter would have been returned to its sender.Exercise 2Listen to the recording again and write down answers to the following

32、 questions.1. How did the owner feel about the fact that Mr. Stewartsfather-in-law once lived in the houseHe was intrigued.2. What was inside the letter delivered by the postman A bank statement.3. What did Mr. Stewart learn from the letterHis father-in-law had put an amount of money in the bank for

33、 his grandchildrens education.4. What was the standing value of the amount of money fifteen years later A little over $15,000.5. What could Andrew do with the moneyHe could use the money to cover the tuition of his first year at a medical college.6. What do you know about Andrew now He is a doctor i

34、n Illinois.Speaking TasksPair WorkDebating Arguments for or against believing in the supernaturalA SamplePeople hold different views toward coincidences. Some think that they are mere chancewhile those who believe in the supernatural search for some higher order behind them. What your view Express a

35、nd defend your view from the perspectives given in the card below.sTopic: Are there mysterious forces at work when coincidences occurPerspectives:1. From the perspective of a person who believes in the supernatural (positive)2. From the perspective of a person who believes in science (negative)Possi

36、ble Arguments (for reference)From the perspective of a person who believes in the supernatural (positive)A lot of strange coincidences happen around us. And so far science hasntbeen able toprovide answers to them. For example, a friend of mine told me that he dreamed that his unclehad died and the d

37、eath was confirmed by a phone call he received the next morning immediatelyafter he woke up. Wasntthat odd There was no way he could have known about his unclesdeath beforehand. My friend believed that it was his uncle coming to bid him farewell before heleft the worldfor good. And I don t know whet

38、herhe is right or not. It couldn t be just acoincidence, I think. There seems to be some mysterious forces at work. If not, how can weexplain itFrom the perspective of a person who believes in science (negative)I dont thinktherearemysteriousforcesatworkwhencoincidencesoccur. Mostcoincidences are sim

39、ply the result of pure chance. And some coincidences, unusual though theymay be, can actually be explained. Take coincidental birth dates for example. An experimentmentioned in an article by a professor at the University of Virginia shows that if you randomlyselect a group of 23 persons, there is a

40、50 per cent chance that at least two of them celebrate thesame birth date. Unbelievable, isn tit Few people would have guessed that could be so common.If that sthe case with birth dates, isn tit likely that many other coincidences are probable as wellThis experiment proves that it is possible to cal

41、culate the probabilities of some seeminglycoincidental happenings. In real life, however, we tend to give coincidences a lesser probabilitythan they deserve.Now use the above sample as a model and carry on similar activities with your partner. You canrefer to the notes below for ideas and vocabulary

42、. You are also welcome to contribute ideas ofyour own.Topic: Do you think one sfate is a decisive factor in one slifePerspectives:1. From the perspective of a person who believes in fate (positive)2. From the perspective of a person who believes that success depends on human effort (negative)Some Id

43、eas for ReferenceThe Argument (positive)1. Effort alone sometimes can do nothing. In the old days, many girls were deprived of their right to education simply because they were girls.2. People are sometimes too weak to fight against their fate.3. We can never choose our parents / what families or wh

44、at regions we were born in.4. Our birth often determines what we can achieve in future.5. We can be limited in what we can achieve by forces beyond our control.6. There are things that we can hardly control. Natural disasters, diseases, wars are some of the things that can prevent our dreams from co

45、ming true no matter what great efforts we make.7. We human beings appear so fragile and helpless before misfortunes that may fall on us.8. All our efforts would be wasted if we were unlucky enough to be the victim of an ill fate.The Counter-argument (negative)1. The success stories of many people at

46、 home and abroad have shown that so long as you persevere in doing what you aim to do, you will succeed one day no matter who you are.2. There are many factors contributingto a person s success in his or her life. According toAbraham Lincoln, our resolution to succeed is more important than anything

47、 else.3. A person s clear goal and his or her perseverance in realizing it are really something that counts.4. For us college students, to have a clear aim and to work hard toward its realization is of vital importance.5. Ones success has nothing to do with his or her fate.6. We are not destined fro

48、m birth for what we are or will be.7. We create our fate every day we live.8. Our fate is in our own hands.9. Fate is a cover-up for the fact that you don thave control over your own life.Part CTest Your ListeningA Compound DictationListen to the passage three times and supply the missing information.One of the best-known 1) collections of parallels is between the careers of Abraham Lincolnand John F. Kennedy. Both were 2) shot on a Friday, in the 3) presence of their wives; both weresucceede