College English Integrated Course

1. College English Integrated Course Book Three 山东大学威海分校大学外语教学部 2010.09

2. Unit 4 Imagination and CreativityText A Was Einstein a Space Alien?

3. Contents • Teaching Objectives • Background Information • Lead-in Activities • Language Points • Text Analysis • Oral Practice 山东大学威海分校大外部

4. Teaching Objectives • Students will be able to: • 1) understand the main idea (Einstein was a child of his time); • 2) grasp the key points in Text A and learn how to use them in context; • 3) understand the cultural background related to the content. • 4) appreciate the various techniques employed by the writer (using a question as the title of the text, illustrating his answer with various supporting facts, use of subheadings, use of quotations, etc.); • 5) express themselves more freely on the theme of Imagination and Creativity after doing a series of theme-related reading, speaking and writing activities; • 6) write an essay paying special attention to unity.

5. Background Information • Patent Office • A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention. A patent office is a governmental or intergovernmental organization which controls the issue of patents. In other words, it may grant a patent or reject the patent application based on whether or not the application fulfills the requirements for patentability.

6. Background Information • Maxwell’s Equations • They are a set of four partial differential equations that relate the electric and magnetic fields to their resources, charge density and current density. These equations can be combined to show that light is an electromagnetic wave.

7. Lead-in Activities • The teacher leads in to Text A by saying: Imagination and creativity lie at the heart of scientific revolutions that challenge established ways of looking at the world and offer in their place completely new outlooks. Take Newton and Einstein for examples. Let’s talk about the important role creative imagination played in their scientific achievements. • Warm-up Discussion • Have Ss form groups to discuss the following two questions and report the discussion results to the class. • —What’s imagination? • —Why is imagination so important in scientific work?

8. Language Points • frail: a. weak in body or health • e.g. a frail old lady虚弱的老太太 • She’s still feeling a little frail. 她仍然感到有些虚弱。 • frail health • mentally/physically frail • c.f. frail, fragile • fragile: • 1) slight in body or weak in health • e.g. a fragile old lady 一个瘦弱的老太太 • 2) easily broken or damaged 易碎的，易坏的 • e.g. This old glass dish is very fragile. 这个旧玻璃盘很容易破碎。 • a fragile relationship 脆弱的关系 • fragile economy

9. Language Points • mess: n. • 1) a state of disorder to untidiness; dirty material 杂乱无章；混杂；肮脏 • e.g. This room is in a mess. • You dropped the food so you can clean up the mess. • The company’s affairs are in a terrible mess. • 2) infml a person whose appearance, behavior, or thinking is in a disordered state (非正式)邋里邋遢、稀里糊涂的人 • e.g. You look a mess—you can’t go to the office like that. • make a mess of (doing) sth 把某事搞的一塌糊涂

10. Language Points • e.g. I feel I’ve made a real mess of my marriage. • Many people made a mess of handling money. • get into the mess/sort out the mess • e.g. All she could do was pray that, somehow, she might be able • to sort out the mess she had got herself into. • messy: a. untidy • e.g. It is a messy business having a tooth taken out. • 拔牙弄的人身上挺脏。

11. Language Points • outburst: n. (of) a sudden powerful expression of feeling or • activity 爆发 • e.g. outbursts of weeping/laughter/gunfire • 爆发一阵哭声/笑声/枪声 emotional/violent/angry/hysterical/spontaneous/occasional/furi ous/passionate outburst • e.g. his father’s violent outbursts of temper 他父亲的大发雷霆 • an outburst of creative energy 创作力的勃发 • outbursts of violence 暴力行为的剧增 • [+against] • e.g. A player was cautioned for his angry outburst against the • referee.

12. Language Points • accordingly: ad. fml • 1) in a suitable manner 照着做；相应地 • e.g. Please inform us if you are not satisfied with the car, and we will act accordingly. (=by giving you another one) • 如果您对这辆汽车不满意，请通知我们，我们将照您的吩咐办。（=给您换一辆） • Katherine still considers him a child and treats him accordingly. • 2) therefore; so 因此；于是 • e.g. Some of the laws were contradictory. Accordingly, measures were taken to clarify them.有些法律相互矛盾，因此，采取了措施将其阐明。

13. Language Points • trifle: n. • 1) a thing of little value or slight importance 小事；无价值的东西 • e.g. wasting one’s money on trifles 把钱浪费在小东西上 • There is no point in arguing over trifles. • 2) a trifle: (fml) slightly; to some degree; rather 有点 • e.g. He is a trifle angry. 他有点生气。 • a trifle eccentric/odd/unexpected etc 有点儿古怪/奇怪/出乎意料等

14. Text Analysis • 1) T asks Ss the following questions to develop their critical thinking: • i. What does the author begin his essay with? (an anecdote) • ii. What effect does this way of beginning the essay have on readers? (They are tempted to go on reading as they are curious to learn more about Einstein.) • 2) In part two, famous scientists (Isaac Newton and Max Planck) are mentioned besides Einstein. T asks Ss to talk about more information about them; some will be chosen to report to the class.

15. Text Analysis • 3) In part three, we learn that Einstein’s parents played a very important role in developing his interest in science. The teacher divides the class into groups and asks them the following question: How did your parents or someone else influence the development of your interests? Use anecdotes to illustrate your answer. • 4) The teacher makes the final comment on the text, which focuses on the writing skills. • i. After doing Text Organization exercise 2, T tells Ss that all the facts in the text talk about its controlling idea (Einstein was not a space alien but a child of his time). Then T draws Ss’ attention to unity as explained in the writing strategy of this unit.

16. Text Analysis • ii. To make a character portrait convincing, an author would do well to refrain readers directly what the person is like. Instead, he/she should help readers deduce. • Of all the methods of indirect description, the one used most frequently in Text A is quoting. The author quotes not only Einstein himself (e.g. “I believe in intuition and inspiration.”, “At times I feel certain I am right while not knowing the reason.”, “I have no special talents.”, “I am only passionately curious.”), but also other people (e.g. Peter Galison: “Einstein was no space alien.”, Dr. Joseph Degenhart: “Your mere presence here undermines the class’s respect for me.”, Maja: “…even when there was a lot of noise, he could lie down on the sofa…”).

17. Text Analysis • iii. The text begins with an anecdote. This way of beginning an essay usually stimulates readers to go on with relish. Further anecdotes appear later in the text. All these anecdotes and other details are used to support the main thoughts of the text (Einstein was a child of his time).

18. Oral Practice • Group Discussion • Ss form groups and discuss on the following • questions. After the discussion, report the • results to the class. • 1. What do you think were the ingredients in Einstein’s discoveries? Explain. • 2. Why do you think it important that scientists should possess creative powers? • 3. What role do you think imagination plays in promoting the advancement of science and technology?