College English Integrated Course

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

The last leaf Unit 6 The Human Touch Text A The Last Leaf

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

Teaching Objectives • 1. understand the main idea (Old Behrman saved Johnsy’s • life at his expense of his own) and structure of Text A; • 2. appreciate how the repeated use of clues helps weave a • piece of narrative together; • 3. master the key language points in Text A and learn how • to use them in context; • 4. understand the cultural background related to the • content.

Background Information • The Bay of Naples • It is a 10-mile wide gulf located in the south western coast of Italy, (province of Naples, Campania region). It opens to the west into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered on the north by the cities of Naples and Pozzuoli, on the east by Mount Vesuvius, and on the south by the Sorrentine Peninsula and the main town of the peninsula, Sorrento. The islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida are located in the gulf. The area is an important tourist destination for Italy with the Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum (destroyed in the A.D. 79 eruption of Vesuvius) nearby.

Background Information • Port Wine • Port wine is produced from grapes grown and processed in the demarcated Douro region. The wine produced is then fortified by the addition of a neutral grape spirit known as aguardente (葡萄牙语，意为烈酒) in order to stop the fermentation, leaving residual sugar in the wine, and to boost the alcohol content. The wine is stored and aged, often in barrelsstored in a cave before being bottled. The wine received its name, Port, in the latter half of the 17th century from the seaport city of Porto at the mouth of the Douro River, where much of the product was brought to market or for export to other countries in Europe. The Douro valley where Port wine is produced was defined and established as a protected region, in 1756 — making it the third oldest defined and protected wine region in the world after Chianti (1716) and Tokaj (1730).

Lead-in Activities • The teacher makes a brief introduction to O Henry, the author of The last Leaf, including his experiences, his writing style (twist ending), his masterpieces (The Gift of the Magi, The Cop and the Anthem) and the general theme in his works (the human touch). • The teacher guides Ss to listen to the story three times and requires Ss to fill in the gaps with the exact words they have heard. • The teacher writes down on the blackboard the saying “Charity begins at home” and asks the question: Is it enough to help only those people we know? Then students are divided into a pro side and a con side to debate.

Language Points • scarcely: adv. not quite; almost not • e.g. The country has scarcely any industry. • The couple has scarcely gone out since the baby was born. • c.f. scarcely和hardly都有“几乎不，刚好”之意，scarcely含有“不太够”的意思，强调不能令人满意，例如：There were scarcely a hundred people present.出席的人数不足一百。hardly表示接近最低限度，没有多余，而且强调困难，例如：We could hardly endure the winter here. 我们几乎忍受不了这里的冬天。

Language Points • subtract: vt. take (a number, quantity) away from • e.g. When total taxes are subtracted from personal income, the • remainder is called disposal income. 在全部税收从个人收 • 入中扣除后，剩余部分被称为可支配收入。 • Students had a lot of practice in adding, subtracting, • multiplying and dividing. whistle: v. 用口哨吹出（曲调等）；吹口哨 • e.g. Someone was whistling Beatles tune outside my window. • She heard the wind whistling through the trees.

Language Points • masterpiece: n. a piece of work, esp. art, which is the best of • its type or the best a person has done • e.g. Many consider Michelangelo’s sculpture David to be his • masterpiece. • The Wealth of Nations is Adam Smith’s masterpiece. • to excess: to an extreme degree • e.g. His father never smoked or drank to excess. • Red meat, usually high in fat and calories, is harmful to • health if eaten to excess.

Language Points • fancy: n. • 1) sth. imagined; unfounded opinion or belief • e.g. I think the story is a mixture of fact and fancy. • 2) (singular) (fancy for sth.) desire • e.g. I have a fancy for some wine tonight. 我今晚想喝点酒。 • adj. (esp of small things) brightly colored, made to please the • eye or taste; not plain or ordinary; unusual • e.g. That’s a fancy pair of shoes.这是一双很精致的鞋。 • vt. think or believe sth; imagine • e.g. I fancy that he is quite happy now. 我猜他现在很幸福。

Language Points • wear away: • 1) (of time) pass gradually • e.g. They didn’t reach an agreement. Instead they wore away • the afternoon in arguing. • The day wore away, and we still couldn’t find a solution to • the problem. 2) (cause to) become thin or damaged by constant use • e.g. The steps have been worn away by the feet of thousands • of visitors. • The pattern on the handle had completely worn away. • cling to: hold tight to • e.g. The child is clinging to his mother’s legs. • The man was rescued as he clung to a stump near the • riverbank.

Language Points • sin: n. offence against God, religion or good morals • e.g. In Christian theology, the first sin was committed by Adam. • The man confessed his sin to the priest. • commit a sin 犯罪 • confess a sin 忏悔罪过 • deadly sin 死罪 • mortal sin 重罪 • c.f. sin和crime都有“犯罪，罪恶”之意，sin意为罪恶，尤指违背宗教和道德的恶行，例如：Lying , stealing and cruelty are sins.说谎，盗窃和残忍都是恶行。crime多指刑事犯罪，例如：Violent crime is on the increase in the city.这个城市的暴力犯罪正在上升。

Text Analysis • Ss complete text-related cloze on P.181 in 5 minutes based on the understanding of the text and new words. • Ss work in pairs to do the oral practice (ask-and-answer) on P.172. • the teacher makes the final comment on the text, which focuses on the writing style and the theme of the text.

Writing Task • Ss write a note asking for leave according to the writing strategies on P.189

Oral Practice • Ss are required to talk about the moving stories they have ever experienced or heard of.

Thank you!

College English Integrated Course