Unit 8 Secret Messages to Ourselves

P IListening and Speaking Activities Part IIReading Comprehension and Language Activities Part IIIExtended Activities Unit 8 Secret Messages to Ourselves

Part I Listening and Speaking Activities • Introduction of functions • Listen and speak • Try to speak more • Make your own dialogue • What are they for? • If you want to learn more

Introduction of functions • You may express an intention like this: • I’m going to do…. • I’ve decided to do…. • plan to do…. • I’m planning to do…. • I’m thinking of doing…. • I’m considering doing…. • I’ll make an effort to do… • I intend to do…. • My intention is to do …. • I reckon I will do…. • I’ll do what I can to do…

Listen and speak • Listen to the conversation and tick the correct answer to each question. • What did Xiaogang say he likes to do, according to Mr. Smith? Key: c • What was Xiaogang daydreaming about just now? Key: b • What was Mr. Smith’s attitude towards Xiaogang’s daydreaming? Key: a • What did Mr. Smith say about great discoveries? Key: c Turn to p. 105, and let’s listen.

Try to speak more • Notes: • dream about/of (sth/doing sth):a. experience sth in a dream b. imagine sth • work on:从事…,致力于…,作…工作 e.g. The novelist is working on a new book. • Substitute sb/sth (for sb/sth):a. v. put or use (a person or thing) in place of another b. n. one that takes the place of another; a replacement e.g. We must substitute a new chair for the broken one. Use plastics as a substitute for steel. • come across:to meet sb or find sth/sb by chance e.g. We’ve just come across an old friend we haven’t seen for ages.

Make your own dialogue 1. Make a dialogue with your partner, using the following cues. (Turn to page 107) 2. Look at the following picture of an invention. Work on your own first about its use and then work with three of your classmates to see if you agree with each other. (Turn to page 107)

What are they for? Key: 1. e 2. d 3. a 4. c 5. b 6. f If you want to learn more Key: 1. g 2. d 3. k 4. b 5. a 6. f 7. h 8. e 9. j 10. i

Part II Reading Comprehension and Language Activities • Pre-reading Tasks • Notes • Translation • Comprehension work • Language work(A, B, C)

Part II Reading Comprehension and Language Activities • Pre-reading Tasks • What kind of dreams do you often have? And can you remember them afterwards? • Have you encountered, in your dreams, anything related to your work, friends, or family? • Do you believe that dreams may have a special meaning or message to us?

Secret Messages to Ourselves Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing-machine but he had run intoa very difficult problem: it seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle Despite his exhaustion, Howe slept badly. He tossed and turned. Then he had a nightmare. He dreamt that he had been captured by a tribe of terrible savages whose king threatened to kill and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing-machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle. The king flew into a rageand ordered his soldiers to kill Howe. They advanced towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. Turn to p. 109, and listen to the text.

Secret Messages to Ourselves The inventor awoke from the nightmare with a start, realizing that he had just found the solution to the problem. Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the needle. This was the simple idea that finally enabled Howe to design and build the first really practical sewing-machine. Elias Howe was far from being unique in finding the answer to his problem in this way. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light bulb, said that his best ideas came tohim in dreams. So did the great physicist, Albert Einstein. Charlotte Bronte also drew onher dreams in writing Jane Eyre. The composer, Igor Stravinsky, once said the only way he could solve his problems in musical composition was to “sleep on them”.

Secret Messages to Ourselves To appreciate the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a Part of your mind is still working. This unconscious, but still active part digests your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day. It stores all sorts of information and details which you may have forgotten or never have really noticed. It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake. However, the unconscious part expresses itself through its own logic and its own language. It uses strange images which are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”.

run into: a. run into sthto start to experience a difficult or unpleasant situation run into trouble/problems/difficulties b. run into sb informal to meet someone by chance e.g. He ran into criticism after remarks he made in a television interview. 他在电视采访中做出评论后受到了批评。 The business ran into financial difficulties almost immediately. should go wrong. 这个企业几乎立即遭遇到了金融困难。 toss and turn:to be unable to sleep or to sleep badly, especially because something is worrying you. e.g. I couldn’t sleep but kept tossing and turning in bed all night. 我彻夜在床上辗转反侧不能成眠。

fly into a rage:fly into a rage/temper/panic etc to suddenly get extremely angry, extremely worried etc 勃然大怒 e.g. Rebecca flew into a rage when she realized no one had been listening to her. 当丽蓓卡意识到没有人在听她说时，她勃然大怒。 come to sb (that…):[no passive] if a thought or idea comes to you, you realize or remember sth （指主意）被想出 e.g. It suddenly came to her that she had been wrong all along. 她突然想到她从开始就错了。 Suddenly the words of the song came to me. 我猛然想起了这首歌的歌词。

draw on:to use something that you have gradually gained or saved e.g. She has 20 years' teaching experience to draw on. 她有二十年的教学经验可利用。 He drew on his childhood memories for the material of his novel. 他利用童年的回忆作为小说的素材。 appreciate: (never used in progressive) to understand the true nature of a situation, and realize why it is important or serious. e.g. Her abilities are not fully appreciated by her employer. 她的能力还未被雇主充分意识到。 Parents have to find ways to show their children that they appreciate their feelings and reactions. 父母得找办法向他们的孩子示意他们能够理解他们的感情和反应。

digest:to understand information when there is a lot of it, when it is difficult or unexpected; to arrange or summarize.

神秘的信息 一百多年前的一个凌晨，一位名叫埃利亚斯•豪的美国发明家终于入睡了。他为设计一种缝纫机已忙了整整一夜，却遇到了一个辣手的问题：无法让线跟着运转的针顺利地穿进穿出。尽管他精疲力竭，但却无法安睡。他辗转反侧，并做了一个噩梦。他梦见自己被一个野蛮民族的人抓住了，该族的国王威胁要把他杀了吃掉，除非他能造出一台完美的缝纫机。当他在卖力地做这件事时，却遇到了同样的问题：线老在针头那儿缠住。国王大发雷霆并命令士兵杀掉豪。士兵们举起长矛向他逼近。就在这时发明家突然注意到了一个情况：每个长矛顶部都有一个洞眼。发明家从梦中猛地惊醒，意识到自己已找到了问题的解决办法。他不再用线围绕针的办法，而是将线穿进针中央的眼里。正是这个简单的主意使豪设计并制造了第一台真正实用的缝纫机。

神秘的信息 埃利亚斯•豪绝非第一个用这种方法解决问题的人。托马斯•爱迪生，电灯泡的发明家声称他最好的主意都来源于他的梦。伟大的物理学家，爱因斯坦也是如此。夏洛蒂•勃朗特也是在梦中得到灵感写出了《简•爱》。作曲家，伊格•斯坦文斯基曾说他解决音乐创作中的问题的唯一办法就是“带着问题去睡觉”。要弄懂梦的价值，你必须弄懂睡梦里发生了什么。即便在那时，你大脑的某个部分仍在工作。这个无意识但仍活跃的部分在消化你所经历的事情并解决你白天所遇到的问题。它储存着各种各样的你自己甚至都遗忘了或压根就未曾真正注意过的信息和细节。只有当你入睡时，大脑的这个部分才会向你清醒时大脑工作的那个部分发送信息。然而，这个无意识的部分是通过自己独特的逻辑和语言来表述意思的。它运用奇怪的影像，这种影像有时被称为“体内的神秘信息”。

Comprehension work (Questions for discussion ) 1. What had Elias Howe been working on all night before he finally fell asleep? 2. Did he have a problem? What was it? 3. Why did Howe sleep badly despite his exhaustion? 4. What made him awake with a start?

Comprehension work (Questions for discussion ) 5. What did Howe suddenly realize? 6. Was Howe unique in finding an answer to his problem in this way? Are there any other cases in history in which some people found the answers in their dreams? 7. What happens to your mind when you are asleep? 8. How does the unconscious part of the mind express itself?

Answers composer, unique, capture drew on ran into, exhaustion, solutions value, worked on, store Despite, run Instead of, enabled nightmare design, unless Language work(A, p. 111)

Language work(B, p.111) 1. The explosion of a bomb made such a noise at night that people nearby all awoke with a start. 2. When he realized that he had been cheated, the man flew into a rage. 3. The employees threatened to go on strike if they did not get a pay rise. 4. Can you appreciate the importance of his suggestion?

Language work(B, p112) 5. The ship was being tossed about on the rough sea. 6. During a war, human beings sometimes behave like savages. 7. It took him quite a long time to digest the report. 8. A car crashed into a lamp-post. The driver who was badly injured lay unconscious on the road.

Language work(C, p.112) 1. a. At the moment when the thief intended to run away he was captured by the policeman who had followed him for a long time. b. The soldiers tried to rescue the woman who had been captured by the robber as a hostage. c. Can you capture this moving scene in words?

Language work(C, p.112) 2. a. After thinking over this math problem for half an hour, he found a solution to it at last. b. Many countries are now very serious about finding a solution to climate changes brought about by the greenhouse effect. c. We must find a solution to this technical problem.

Language work(C, p.113) 3. a. His academic background will enable him to find a good job without any difficulty. b. The new communication facilities enable people at different places in the world to communicate with each other more quickly and easily. c. A good vocabulary will enable one to speak and write effectively.

Language work(C, p.113) 4. a. Though he is very diligent, he is far from being the top student in the class. b. The quality of the new product is far from being perfect. c. Your mother is far from pleased with your examination results.

Language work(C, p.113) 5. a. Despite the differences in age, background, and education, they become close friends. b. Despite lack of enough bombs, the soldiers still did their best to defeat the enemy. c. Despite the bad climate, the scientific expedition teams went on with their research work in the Antarctic.

Language work(C, p.113) 6. a. The dumb people expressed themselves by making gestures. b. You are free to express yourself with him. c. The student expressed herself in good, clear English.

Dictation Read more Grammar work Word formation Vocabulary work Translation Part III Extended Activities

Dictation • Script of the Dictation People believe that there are two reasons for making inventions or discoveries. The first reason is that an invention is the result of social development. In other words, if a society has prepared the conditions in economy, technology and culture, something will be invented by one person or another. Who does it is just a historical accident. This theory has some support in the invention of the steamboat and the airplane. However, this reason does not explain why a great inventor can observe more things than others. Therefore, there must be another reason for inventions, and the second theory considers the individual as the most important element in the inventive process.

Read more • True/False/Not Mentioned Answers: 1. NM 2. F 3.T 4.T 5. T 6. NM 7. NM 8. F • Topics for discussion 1. Divide the class into three groups and assign a topic to each group. 2. Select one student from each group to report the result of their discussion. 3. Comment on the presentation and the discussion.

Grammar work 1. Original:I have read the first English novel is Jane Eyre. Correct: The first English novel that I have read is Jane Eyre. 2. Original: As soon as she came into the classroom that she began to read English. Correct: As soon as she came into the classroom she began to read English. 3. Original: Countries their banking systems were not well-developed suffered greatly in the recent economic crises. Correct: Countries whose banking systems were not well-developed suffered greatly in the recent economic crises.

Grammar work 4. Original:The snow is very soft that I can hardly walk on it. Correct: The snow is so soft that I can hardly walk on it. 5. Original: She went to bed until she had finished her homework. Correct: She did not go to bed until she had finished her homework.Or: She went to bed when/after she had finished her home work 6. Original: Mary is the most intelligent student who I have ever known. Correct: Mary is the most intelligent student that I have ever known.

Grammar work 7. Original: The boy studies music plays the piano well. Correct: The boy who studies music plays the piano well.

Word formation • Answers • inhabitants • Buddhist, Buddhist • assistant • pianist • Vietnamese, Korean • interviewees, interviewers • hostess, actress

Answers waking awake afloat floating afraid frightened asleep sleeping, sleeping live alive lone alone Vocabulary work

Translation 1. The new education system enables college students to gain work experience while continuing their studies. 2. A writer should draw on his imagination and experience in his writing. 3. After a promising start, the company ran into heavy debt. 4. “Have you drawn up that list of names yet?” “No, I’m still working on it.” 5. Despite the great difference in age, they became good friends. 6. He will not pass the examination unless he works harder. 7. After turning it over in his mind for a whole week, he at last solved the problem.

Unit 8 Secret Messages to Ourselves