Unit 1

My Father

Outline for this unit

Part I Listening and Speaking Activities

Part II Reading Comprehension and Language Activities

Part III Extended Activities

P1 Brainstorming1. Adjectives for describing personality/

character:

Positive adjectives: easy-going, honest

Negative adjectives: arrogant, dishonest

Neutral adjectives: quiet, talkative

open-minded, humorous, interesting,

peasant, pleasurable, frank, sympathetic,

helpful, loyal , selfless

difficult, narrow-minded, boring, loathsome,

unpleasant, selfish, rude, cowardly

complicated, reserved, silent, quiet, talkative,

sophisticated, ambitious, aggressive, timid,

impulsive, sociable/unsociable

(of a person) easy to like E.g. I don’t find her a very sympathetic

person. This meaning is not very common

and you should use likeable or pleasant instead

2. Expressions for personal appearance

/one’s looks (most of these expressions

describe the physical features of a person):

Size: thin, slim

Age: old, young

Resemblance: look like

Brainstorming

slender, big, large, small, little, stout, plump,

fat, robust, athletic, muscular, well-rounded,

heavy

look old/young, doesn’t look one’s age,

youngish, elderly, middle-aged, in one’s

thirties/forties, aged, grey-haired , in the

springtime of life

resemble, take after somebody, have

someone’s eye’s/nose/hair, be similar to ---

3. Expressions for likes and dislikes: love, like, enjoy, be crazy/mad about, be keen o

n, be interested in, be hungry for, be fond of, be thirsty for, have a great/strong/huge crush on someone

dislike, feel sick about, hate, be indifferent to, don’t care for, be disgusted with, feel hostile towards, be tired of, be unwilling to, be fed up with

Brainstorming

4. Expressions for managing relationships:

Improving relations: get along with, praise

Hurting relations: interfere with, laugh at

Neutral: cope with

Brainstorming

have a good or friendly relationship with, be on good terms with, live happily with,

be kind/nice/agreeable to, compliment, appr

eciate one’s help/advice

criticize, ridicule, quarrel with, split with, break up with, look down upon, interfere with one’s affairs, have a bad relationship with, there is bad blood between…and…, be difficult/hard on somebody

keep in touch with, be in/out of contact with

5. Expressions for people we know or meet :

friends, strangers, acquaintances, colleagues, classmates, schoolmates, roommates, fellow students, fellow workers, neighbors, alumnus (pl. alumni)

employer—employee, superior—inferior/subordinate, teacher—

student, doctor—patient, salesman—customer, etc.

Brainstorming

Listening

This is an interview; in this interview the interviewer tells us how he changed his ideas towards his brother. Listen to the interview and answer the following questions on page 2.

Key words arch enemy: it refers to the main enemy,

the chief foe, the person you hate or dislike or are against.

hostility: unfriendly or aggressive feelings or behavior

bully: noun, verb. to frighten or hurt a weaker person; to use ones strength or power to make sb do sth

enrage: to make sb very angry clash: fight, quarrel

Speaking Ask your partner about his/her friends. You may ask them questions like

these: Have you any friends? What do your friends look like? How did you become good friends?

What do you like to do when you are with your friend or with your friends?

Consider the following topics or situations.

at school in your spare time At weekends Doing homework together Going out together

Homework

Speculate on the picture on page 3 and then write a short composition based on the clues

(Book 3) Unit One P2

Text: My Father

A story between

you and your father

I Pre-reading Task

II Text: Listen and answer the questions1.Does Amy feel close to her father? Why or why not?

She does not feel close to her father. In her opinion, her father is not easy to get on with. He is quite self-centered and unapproachable in some ways. Besides, her father is not aware of how she really feels.

Because he wasn’t at home much when she was a child. Her father has always been slightly out of touch with family life.

2. Why doesn’t she remember much about her father in her childhood?

3. What is her father’s job? Is he successful in his career?

An actor. Yes, he is quite devoted to his work and successful in his career for he has won several awards and made a Member of the British Empire.

II Text: Listen and answer the questions

4. Why does she say that her father is a little bit vain?

5. Why was she asked to leave school?

Because he loves being asked for his autograph, loves to be recognized, and shows off his awards whoever comes to the house.

She was asked to leave school because of her total lack of interest and non-attendance. It was her father who got her into the school in the first place. She herself didn’t want to go there.

II Text: Listen and answer the questions

6. Why did she give up her jobs?

7. Do the father and daughter have some common interests? What are their respective interests?

She couldn’t settle down in them. Maybe they were not challenging / interesting enough for her.

They have little in common in their personal interests. While she is interested in quiet country life, her father is into books, music and, above all, opera.

II Text: Listen and answer the questions

8. What did the father think of Amy’s marriage?

He was totally opposed to her marriage. He thought that her husband was too humble and she should have married someone famous. She thinks that her father wishes that they would break up.

II Text: Listen and answer the questions

10. How often do they see each other? They don’t see much of each other t

hese days because they are not that close, either emotionally or geographically.

9. Is she going to have children?

No, she is not going to have children even though her father keeps talking about wanting grandchildren.

II Text: Listen and answer the questions

self-centred vain

unapproachable

easy-going

keep oneself to oneself

boring

let him down

like chalk and cheese

ideal

humble

III Group-work 1: Describe a person with the following words or expressions

Amy Mitford’s father

rehearse autograph award

Buckingham Palace

a Member of the British Empire

opera mink leather

be totally opposed to

III Group-work 2: Say something about Amy Mitford’s father

Amy Mitford

non-attendance

in the first place

taken away from

settle down

geographically

break up humble

III Group-work 3: Say something about Amy Mitford

IV Summarise the paragraphs

Para. 1:

Para. 2:

Para. 3:

The narrator cites a number of examples to support her statement that her father is quite self-centered and a little bit vain.

The narrator presents her personal impression about her father.

The narrator tells of her school experience to show that her father is not aware of what she really needs and how she really feels.

Para. 4:

Para. 5:

Para. 6:

V Summarise the paragraphs

The narrator examines the different interests she and her father have and tells of the gap between them.

The narrator tells of her father’s attitude to her marriage and having children.

It indicates that the narrator and her father are not very close.

V Summarise the story

From what perspective does the narrator present her personal impression about her father and their relationship?

In the article, the narrator presents her personal impression about her father from two perspectives: first, she describes her father’s character, which is completely different from her own; secondly, she tells the reader that she and her father have different interests. We can conclude that they are not very close.

VI Language Points

1. get on/along with:

e.g. 她似乎与新同学相处不好 .

she doesn’t seem to get on/along well with her new classmates.

2. vain:

e.g. Since the release of her debut single, the pop singer has become vain.

live in a social way with.

having too high an opinion of one’s looks, abilities, ect.

3. easy-going:e.g. Doctors tell is an easy-going person is less likely to get diseases.

4. keep oneself to oneself:e.g. A person who always keeps himself to himself is likely to have psychological problems.

VI Language Points

good-tempered; easy to get on with.

avoid meeting people.

VI Language Points

5. out of touch:

e.g. 我与玛丽失去联系多年，但昨天我与她在电话里联系上了。

I’d been out of touch with Mary for years, but I managed to reach her by phone yesterday.

6. It was incredibly boring: extremely

7. You had to sit here for hours: people (in general)

VI Language Points

8. show off:e.g. 那老兵喜欢对每一位来访者炫耀他的勋章。 The veteran enjoys showing off his medals to everyone who visits him.9. I didn’t want to go there in the first place: I had no intention to go there from the very beginning. e.g. a) Now, in the first place, what made you leave so suddenly, and in the second place, why did you leave no message? b) In the first place, I must define some terms.

VI Language Points

10. settle down in them:

apply oneself seriously to or concentrate on some work.

e.g. 因为托马斯不安心工作，他的父母十分担忧 .

As Thomas couldn’t settle down in his job, his parents were very worried.

Other meanings : a) The man settled down in a small town. b) He waited for the audience to settle down before he spoke.

VI Language Points

11. As a family, we’re not that close: so

e.g. a) I’m not that interested.

b) The baby cannot stay up that late. You can’t have eaten that much.

12. be opposed to:

e.g. 她丈夫似乎十分反对她出国 .

Her husband seems very much opposed to her going abroad.

VII Homework

Retell the text.

Exercises.