Unit 5 Overcoming Obstacles

(8 Periods)

Teaching Aims:

1. Grasp the main idea(dreaming and hard work helped Michael Stone on his way to success) and the structure of the text(narration with a flashback);

2. Appreciate the narrative skills(using details to bring about a character; a surprising ending; use of puns);

3. Introduce new vocabularies and expressions of text A. and ss are expected to master the blackened ones;

4. Master emphatic structure.

Difficult Points：

1. Narrative skills: flashback; a surprising ending; pun;

2. Emphatic structure: It + be + focused element + that /who clause; 3. Language points and sentence patterns. (Ref. Language Learning).

Teaching procedures:

I. Lead-in Group discussion

1) Read the story in Part one and think that what John Coutis impresses on you most? 2) Can you list more famous disabled people in China and the West? II. Text study

1. Global reading

1) Questions about the Text

a)What does the text title True Height mean?

(=It has more than one meaning. They are:

1) the new bar heights that Michael cleared one after another.

2) the tremendous obstacles Michael had overcome in attaining his goal.)

b) As the text consists of the main story and a flashback, can you figure out the flashback

(=The flashback is from line 11 to line 35)

2) Scan the whole text to find out all the words and phrases that are related to sports or stadium. And think about their Chinese equivalents.

National Junior Olympics 全国少年奥林匹克运动会 personal best 个人最高记录 stand(s) 看台

final race 赛跑决赛

pole vault event 撑竿跳高项目 track and field competition 田径比赛 gymnast 体操运动员 body builder 健美运动员 weightlifting 举重

bar 横杆 inflated landing mat 充气垫

vaulter 撑竿跳高运动员 finger-tipped push-up 俯卧撑 runway 跑道 National record 全国记录 pole 撑竿 take-off 起跳

set a new world record 刷新一项世界纪录 3) Part Division of the Text Parts 1 2 3 4 Lines 1~11 12~35 36~90 91~95 Main Ideas Michael faced the most challenging competition in his pole-vaulting career. Michael’s childhood was marked with dreams and tough training. Michael topped his personal best, won the championship and set a new world record. What was most unusual about Michael’s victory was that he was blind. 2. Detailed reading 1) Questions and answers

Who is talked about in part one? What does he do?

Can you use one word to describe Michael’ s mother and father respectively?

How did Michael feel about his successful attempt at beating his personal best by three inches? At what moment did Michael begin to feel nervous? What helped Michael overcome his nervousness?

What made Michael associate his final jump with his childhood dream?

How did Michael think his parents might feel about his success? And what was his father’s reaction to his feat?

Why would Michael attract a lot of media attention? 2) Difficult Sentences

a)(LL. 8~9) It combines the grace of a gymnast with the strength of a body builder.

Translate the sentence into Chinese.

(=它融合了体操运动员的优雅与健美运动员的力量。)

b)(LL. 16~20) He would be running sown a country road. As he raced between golden wheat fields, he would…

Why is Michael’s dream of flying described in details?

(=Because Michael has a very deep impression about the dream. There are two evidence for that: 1) His mother read him numerous stories about flying when he was growing up. 2) He always dreamed of flying.)

c)(L. 21) Where he flew would always coincide with his mother’s stories.

Paraphrase the sentence.

(=In his dreams, he would always fly over those places described in his mother’s stories.)

d)(L. 23) His dad, on the other hand, was not a dreamer.

1. What is function of the phrase “on the other hand”?

(=The phrase is used for comparing different things or ideas.) 2. What can you infer from the phrase?

(=Michael’ s parents are totally different types of people and they play the different roles in Michael’s success.) e)(LL. 47~48) Nothing to be ashamed of, but Michael would not allow himself the thought of not winning first place.

1. Paraphrase the first part of the sentence.

(=He would not be ashamed of getting himself the second place, but…) 2. What can you learn from the sentence?

(=Michael holds a very attitude toward the competition. On the one hand, he wouldn’t

think it is a shame of winning the second place, on the other hand, he would try his best to win the first place.) f)(LL. 54) Then it all hit him like a wet bale of hay.

1. Paraphrase the sentence.

(=If something strikes you like a wet bale of hay, it comes as a sudden, forceful and unpleasant surprise.)

2. Use some adjectives to describe how Michael felt at that time. (=He felt anxious, tense, nervous, etc.)

g)(LL. 68~69) The silence was deafening.

Is this sentence contradictory with “silence” and “deafening”?

(=No. “Deafening” here is used to modify “the silence”. It is not an ordinary silence, but a deafening one. This shows both Michael and the crowd are very tense at that moment.) h)(L. 76) Only this time he knew he wasn’t dreaming.

What does “only” mean here?

(=“Only” here means “but”.)

3)Words and Expressions a.(L. 1) sweat:

1. v. produce sweat

*The white shirts were sweated through. *He was sweating after working so hard.

2. n. liquid which comes out from the body through the skin to cool it

(=I was covered in sweat after running to catch the bus.)

b.(L. 8) grace: n.

1) quality of being smooth and elegant, esp. in movement or structure

*We admired the grace with which the fashion models walked across the room.

*She danced with a grace that surprised us. 2) kindness; willingness to do what is right *She had the grace to say that he was right. *他勉强地承认他错了。

(=He agreed that he was wrong with bad grace.)

c. (L. 10) mere: adj. nothing more than

(=She lost the election by a mere 20 votes.) 光说无济于事。

(=Mere words won’t help.)

2. (L. 10) fantasy: n. (creation of ) imagination

*The story is a fantasy.

*He lives in a world of fantasy.

CF: fantasy, fancy & imagination

fantasy 通常指无限制的，不受意志支配的，完全脱离现实的空想。例如：

*An amusement park full of figures from fairy tales may be called Fantasy Land. 一个游

乐园，如果充满了神话故事中的人物塑雕，则堪称虚幻境界。

fancy 强调凭空想象客观世界不存在之事物，这种凭空想象并非完全脱离现实，只是离现实

较远。例如：

*Her mind went where fancy took it. 他总是不着边际地胡思乱想。

imagination 是个常用词，最少有贬义，它所表示的想象或想象力可以指对过去的事物的重

新构想；也可以指对不存在或不能存在之事物的构想。例如：

*Does she have the imagination to figure out what happened? 她真的富有想象力，能

够推想出发生的事情吗？

*These plans reveal a complete failure of imagination. 这些计划显得毫无想象力。

d. (L.13) numerous: adj. very many

*He has a numerous acquaintance among politicians.

*During the Depression, numerous people wandered from town to town looking for work.

e. (L. 15) passion: n. strong feeling, esp. of love

(=The poet expressed his burning passion for the woman he loved.) 他特别喜欢吃冰淇淋。

(=He has a passion for ice cream.)

f. (L. 15) detail: n. small, particular fact or item

*Everything in her story is correct down to the smallest detail. 不要遗漏一点细节。

(=Don’t omit a single detail.)

Collocation:

go/enter into details 详细说明

in detail 详细地

g.(L. 16) recur: vi.

1) come or happen again

*If the pain recurs, take this medicine. 你知道循环小数吗？

(=Do you know the recurring decimals?) 2) (of ideas, events etc.)come back

*My first meeting with her often recurs to my memory.

*Thoughts of home and family recurred to the lonely traveler. 3) go back (to sth.) in words or thought *Let us recur to what you said yesterday. *Do you mind if I may recur to your idea

h.(L. 21) coincide: v.

1) (of ideas, opinions, etc.) to be in agreement

*His tastes and habits coincide with those of his wife. *The judges did not coincide in opinion.

2) happen at the same time of during the same period of time

*They could not go to the theatre together because his free time never coincided with hers. (=The art exhibition coincides with the 50th anniversary of his death.)

i.(L. 24) core: n.

1) most important or central part of anything

*The core of the problem is their objection to educational reform. 让我们直入事务的本质。

(=Let’s get to the core of the matter.)

2) hard central part containing the seeds of certain fruits, such as the apple *An apple core is the part of an apple left after the flesh has been eaten.

Collocation:

to the core: 彻底地; 完全地

*She is French to the core. 她是个地道的法国人。

j.(L. 28) alternate:

1. adj. 1) every other or second

*He works on alternate days.

*The show was sponsored by different clients on alternate weeks.

2) (or two things) happening by turns

这是晴雨交替的一周。

(=This is a week of alternate rain and sunshine.)

*She wears a shirt with alternate stripes of blue and white.

2. v. (cause to ) follow by turns

*We alternated periods of work and rest.