Book 2 Unit 3: The Generation Gap

1. Book 2Unit 3: The Generation Gap Text A: Father Knows Better Powerpoint Slides by Li Xiangqi

2. I. About Drama The drama is one of several methods of telling a story. It differs from the novel in that the story is not told directly by the author but is acted on a stage by actors before an audience. Strictly speaking, a printed play is not a play until it is acted. So in reading plays, the reader should visualize as well as he can the stage for which the play was written; that is, he must imagine seeing and hearing the characters in action.

3. I. About Drama The playwright has special restrictions not imposed on the novelist or short-story writer. He is restricted in time by the patience and endurance of the audience, and in space by the physical limitations of the stage and the kind of visual backgrounds the theater affords. One more restriction on the playwright is that he must keep himself out of the picture. He cannot, like some novelists or short-story writers, come forward, interrupt the action, and tell the audience what he means by a

4. I. About Drama certain scene or explain to them what is going on in the minds of his characters. He cannot point out the moral; the play must do the job. The major components of a play are characters, settings, stage directions, language, conflicts, climax, and theme. But most critics agree that the essence of drama is conflict. A conflict is a clash of actions, ideas, desires or wills. It may happen in different forms: man against man, man against environment or

5. I. About Drama man against himself. The conflict becomes more and more intensified as the story moves on until it reaches its climax, the greatest point of greatest excitement or tension. When the story is over, we are able to see what it all amounts to, what the playwright has been gradually disclosing throughout the play. Only then can we define and assess the theme, a kind of generalization about life embodied in the play.

6. I. About Drama The Layout of the Stage: Up Left Up Right Stage Stage Left Center Stage Right Down Left Down Right Audience

7. II. The Generation Gap? The term “Generation gap” is generally believed to be dated back to the late 1960s. It is one of the most widely discussed and controversial problems of the recent years. Generation gap is the lack of understanding or the differences in ideas, life styles and attitudes between older and younger people. Many younger people often feel misunderstood by their parents’ generation, a generation they are quite happy to blame for the ills of the world.

8. II. The Generation Gap? On the other hand, many older people often complain that their children behave entirely differently. Both parties feel a gap between them. And the gap is made wider by different attitudes to change, the young welcoming it, the old resisting it. But people also think that this gap can be bridged by efforts to achieve mutual communication and understanding between the two generations.

9. III. About the Text 1. Characters of this one-act play: Father Mother Heidi (14 yrs) Diane (17 yrs) Sean (16 yrs) Restaurant Manager Mrs. Higgins

10. 2. Three Settings of the Play Setting 1: A Fast-food Restaurant (Lines 5-65) Father embarrasses Sean by talking too proudly to the manager at the restaurant. Setting 2: Dining Room at the Thompson’s (Lines 66-169) Father embarrasses Diane by persuading a workmate into pressing his son to ask her to the senior prom.

11. Setting 3: A High School Office (Lines 170--end) Father embarrasses Heidi by boasting to an official of her new school about how bright she was.

12. Analysis of the Main Characters in this Play Father: meddles in children’s affairs ( job, love , and schooling)with good intentions, but only to find his efforts unwelcome. Mother: real head of the whole family, giving out commands to both her children and her husband. She maintains dignity of Father among the children and peace between children and Father.

13. Children:respect Mother, love Father and are used to and tired of Father’s meddling with their affairs.

14. 4. Introductory Remarks about the Text As you find from your preview of the text, parents and children do not often see eye to eye. When parents interfere with their children’s affairs, they believe that they are doing so in the interest of their children. However, the children may not be grateful, thinking that their parents are too snoopy about their own private affairs such as, job, love and school life.

15. Language Study Introductory paragraph Center around sth---have sth. as a main subject; alsocenter on/upon/round -- The summit meeting between the two presidents centered around the reconstruction of the Iraq after the war. somehow or other---in some way not yet known -- Somehow or other he manage to obtain a position in the company.

16. End up doing sth (Line 9)--finish in a particular place or way --He started as a sales clerk, but ended up (as) general manager of the company. --We will go to quite a few places in Malaysia, but we may end up in Singapore. --He came to help us, but their efforts to help ended up ruining our plan. Carry things to extremes---exaggerate things extremely Cf. Go/be driven to extremes

17. ---When we try to solve problems, we should never carry things to extremes because we always have to keep a kind of balance between things.. For the sake of ---for benefit/purpose of ---He walks to work everyday for the sake of saving enough to buy a motorcycle. ---Think of giving up smoking and drinking for the sake of your own health.

18. Embarrass (line 10)---make someone feel awkward or ashamed --What Mr. Smith said embarrassed his wife who seldom attended that kind of parties. --He felt embarrassed when he found his shoes unlaced. --It is embarrassing to be found wearing clothes inside out.

19. (L11) Been saving money for a long time. (Elliptical sentence in spoken English) =He has been saving money for a long time. (L12) Waiting tables(informal): waiting at tables; acting as a waiter at a restaurant (L13) figure +that clause: consider/believe/think +that clause 盘算着… --I figured that he would come over to offer us help.

20. (L16) He’s always pulling these dumb things on me. =He’s always playing these stupid tricks on me. (L18) In unison---acting in the same way at the same time --When the teacher entered the classroom, the students greeted him in unison.

21. (L20) Consist of---(No passive voice is used ) be made up of; be composed of; include --The committee set up to look into the matter consists of five FBI agents and three experts in nuclear weapons. --The atmosphere consists of certain gases mixed together in definite proportions.

22. (L35) Deserve ---be worthy of; be fit for --Such bad behavior deserves a big beating. --He worked the hardest and produced the most;so he deserved all the praises that he had got. (L41) I wouldn’t know--- I don’t know, and I am not he person you should ask. (L43) Address---attend to; deal with; speak to sb

23. --Easier tasks were assigned to the others while he himself addressed to the main difficulty. --The president addressed the team which had achieved most in the past year. Know better than to do sth---be wise or well- trained enough not to do sth --He should know better than to give up that job. Such good jobs as that one are not available everywhere these days.

24. --You should know better than to drive beyond the speed limit. It is too dangerous to drive so fast in the city center. (L61) Overall, I wouldn’t want to trade my father for anyone else’s: Generally, I wouldn’t exchange my father for anyone else’s father (because my father is the best father in the world).

25. Trade sth for sth else---exchange sth for sth else --The developing countries, in most cases, trade their raw materials for high technology and advanced equipment from the developed countries. --My present house has a gorgeous view. I won’t trade it for one twice as big downtown.

26. -- He is so interested in traveling in the space that would trade all that he has for a single opportunity to travel to the moon. (L63-64) He needs to give them more thought… He needs to think more about these things. Cf. give sth one’s careful consideration 对某事加以 慎重考虑 -- You should have given more thought to the problem before you jumped to that conclusion.

27. (L73) Keep sb in suspense : delay telling sb what they are eager to know 吊某人胃口； 卖关子 --The teacher kept the students in suspense about the results of the mid-term examination. --We were kept in suspense for over two hours when the surgeon operated on the child. (L79)- I’ll bet: I am sure --I bet he gave up the job because he didn’t want to see his former girlfriend everyday.

28. --I bet he was late for the meeting on purpose. (L81) Distract --take one’s attention away from especially for a short time distract sb or sth; distract sb/sth from ---The listeners are all requested to turn off their mobile phones because any ringing may distract the participants’ attention while the meeting is in session. ---He admits that his hobbies sometimes distract him from his studies.

29. (L109) Be short with sb: be rudely impatient with sb --Mother was short with Father because he had been watching the NBA finals and forgetting all the work about the house. --She was so tired that she became short with her husband. (L117) Hand down: pass down; give or leave sth to people who are younger or come later

30. --Every country’s literature contains legends and fables handed down from generation to generation. --In poor families, clothes may be handed down from child to child. (L122) At any rate: in any case; whatever happens 无论如何；至少 --It’s not much of a car, but at any rate it is not very expensive.

31. --We are going to have a great deal of rain next month; at any rate, so the weather forecasters say. (L125) That narrows it down: That limits the possibilities of what they might have discussed. Narrow down to---make a list of things smaller --The long list of suspects of the murder was narrowed down to three who had been closest to the victim. --The 500 applicants will be narrowed down to a list twenty candidates.

32. (L129) Breathing hard as if exhausted: Breathing hard as if she was tired out. “As if” introduces, instead of an adverbial clause, a present or past participle, an adjective, an infinitive phrase, or a prepositional phrase. --His mouth was open as if shouting to someone in front of him. --He opened his lips as if to say something. --He walked as if lame in his left leg. --Sally spoke as if hurt by what Joseph had said.

33. --Our goal is to make our guests feel as if (they are) at home. Exhaust—make very tired either physically or mentally; use up completely --He exhausted himself by walking 3 kilometers so as to make it easier for him to sleep. --China has realized that it is exhausting its reserves of oil and it is seeking ways worldwide to cooperate with countries rich in oil.

34. What has come over you?(Line 133)--- What has affected you? come over---(of a strong feeling) to trouble or annoy someone --A feeling of faintness and sickness came over me, so I had to lie down for a little while. --He is cross with everyone today. I don’t know what has come over him.

35. (L138) Get over with: finish; overcome; recover --I think we get over with this task by half past seven at latest. --When I last saw Marie she had almost completely got over her nervousness in the presence of strangers. --She has just about got over that attack of influenza. She will go back to work tomorrow.

36. ( L142) It looks like my little scheme is a success: It looks as if my little scheme is a success. “Look like” is informally used here to mean “look as if”. It normally means “appear to be”. --The first spaceship looked like a capsule; thus a spaceship is now also called a capsule. (L156)Insist: 1. to declare firmly; 2. to order sth. to happen --Some literary critics insisted that Somerset Maugham was a story-teller rather than a writer.

37. --The manager insisted that the work should be finished by the end of this month. --What Marx and Engels did insist upon was that a work of art should conform to its author’s outlook on the world. --I must insist on your giving me a straight- forward answer right now.

38. (L163)Humiliate: make sb feel ashamed of sth in public --The football team was once again humiliated in the match with a score of 0-5. --He felt it humiliating to have been paid such empty compliments by the other artists in today’s newspaper.

39. (L167)Constant: unchanging; continuous; loyal or faithful --Careful control insures constant quality of the product. --It is important in scientific experiments that all the conditions are kept constant. --Teachers and parents should give the children a constant feeling of success. --constant friends 忠诚的朋友 constant love 忠贞的爱情 constant companion 忠实的伴侣

40. (L172) In charge of: having control over, having responsibility for --The vice premier was in charge of the cabinet while the premier was abroad visiting foreign countries. --He was in charge of the shop when the boss was in the hospital. (L181) And the teachers more than willing to answer questions: And the teachers are extremely willing to answer questions.

41. (L180) More than ---to a degree that “…”is no longer a strongenough or suitable word; very --We are more than happy that you have given up the job. --If you tell your father what you have done, he will be more than angry.

42. (L181) Exceptional: unusual (often in a good sense) --He began to learn painting from his father and showed exceptional artistic ability at the age of five. --an exceptional man with great business talents (L184) Fill out: complete a form by providing required information --Fill out a form --fill in the blanks or information

43. (L185) Don’t know where he got her brains: I don’t know how it is that she is so clever. (L191) Carry on (with): continue , especially in spite of an interruption or difficulties; go on with --You should carry on with the treatment if you want to see more satisfying results. --carry on with the plan --carry on with the business

44. V. Concluding Remarks It is inevitable that parents and children differ from each other in attitudes toward things ranging from school life through jobs to such private affairs as love. Such differences may even come to conflicts between the two generations. Yet such a gap can also be bridged by heart-to-heart communication and mutual understanding between parents and children.

45. Key to Exercises Language Focus (Page 80) Words and Phrases to Drill: bet community consist constant distract dumb embarrass exceptional executive exhaust fade frank glorious interference interrupt junior location overall proof repeatedly swallow

46. Key to ExercisesWords and Phrases to Drill: talent welfare at any rate come over consist of fill out hand down in charge of in unison keep sb. In suspense know better than (that/to do sth.) narrow down trade…for…

47. Vocabulary I. 1. Fill in the gaps with works or phrases chosen from the box. … 1) swallow 2) dumb 3) Overall 4) glorious 5) welfare 6) repeatedly

48. Vocabulary 7) interference 8) fading 9) junior 10) frank 11) distract 12) at any rate 13) has narrowed down 14) in unison 15) has come over

49. Vocabulary I. 2. Rewrite each sentence with the word or phrase in brackets, keeping the same meaning. 1) The security council consists of five generals and four police officers. 2) The new hotel will be in a location overlooking the lake. 3) I was embarrassed by her comments about my clothes.

50. Vocabulary 4) Do you have any proof that it was Henry who stole the computer? 5) The boy was exhausted after the long cycle ride. I. 3. Complete the following sentences, using the words or phrases in brackets…. 1) That exceptional stamp was handed down by your grandfather, and is worth a fortune. You should have known better than to trade it for a few drinks.