Unit 20

1. Unit 20 Humour Reading

2. Presentation Today we come to the Reading. It’s about some laughing matter. And we are going to learn how to interview somebody, too.

3. Look at pictures What do you know about him He was Charlie Chaplin, a very famous comedian.

4. Look at pictures He was born on April 16, 1889 in London. He began to act when he was five. When he was 17, he went to the United States. During his lifetime, he wrote, acted and directed many films. His own manner of acting makes him funny. Even his way of walking down the street, eating and turning a corner is different from others.

5. Look at pictures What do you know about him He was Hou Baolin, the famous well-known artist of crosstalk show in China.

6. Look at pictures What do you know about them They are all well-known comedians of crosstalk shows or xiangsheng shows. Their crosstalk shows always make the audience in China burst into laughter.

7. Look at pictures What do you know about him He was Rowan Atkinson, a famous comedian, who is well known as Mr. Bean.

8. Look at pictures They are comedians, too. You Benchang is known as Jigong, and Wang Jingyu is the famous pantomimist (哑剧演员) in China. Jigong is widely known (家喻户晓). all over the nation and Wang Jingyu’s dumb shows or pantomimes (哑剧) are remarkably true to life (惟妙惟肖). You Benchang & Wang Jingyu What do you know about them

9. Look at pictures What do you know about them They are comedians, too. Their shows don’t look like comedians on the stage. They often act out a situation during their short time shows and make audience burst into laughter. We call their shows as sketches (小品) .

10. Look at pictures He is, a comedian, who was born in Canada. His comedies are full of with humorous and satiric connotation. The TV program, In Living Color makes him succeed and be widely known. The serious, The Duck Factory makes him be a popular cartoon star, loved by the children in USA. What do you know about him Jim Carrey

11. Look at pictures What do you know about him In the film,Hoffman acts the role of a woman, and many agree that his performance was so good that you often can’t tell the difference. Dustin Hoffman

12. Pre-Reading 1. Do you know who these comedians are? What makes them funny? 2. Do you know other comedians who are funny in the same way? 3. Have you seen any of these comedians or programs? What do you think of them? Look at the pictures on the textbook & discuss the questions

13. Pre-Reading Answers to question 1 Photo 1 The comic duo of the 1930s "Laurel and Hardy." (The thin one is called Stan Laurel, while the stout one is called Oliver Hardy.) They are funny because they are each other's opposites: one fat and one thin; one is clever and one is silly etc. Look at the photos. Do you know who these comedians are? What makes them funny?

14. Pre-Reading Answers to question 1 Photo 2 This is Mr. Bean. Although Mr. Rowan Atkinson acts as different comic characters he is most famous around the world as Mr. Bean. Mr. Bean is funny because he makes funny faces, he acts silly, he seems to be quite stupid, and the things he does are strange.

15. Pre-Reading Answers to question 1 Photo 3 Dustin Hoffman in the film Tootsie (1982). In this film Hoffman acts the role of a woman, and many . People agree that his performance was so good that you often can't tell the difference. But in the film, of course, there all kinds of funny moments.

16. Pre-Reading Answers to question 1 Photo 4 He was Ma Ji, who was a well-known artist of crosstalk shows in China. His numerous crosstalk shows always made his audience roar with laughter.

17. Pre-Reading Answers to question 2 Photo 1 Other comic duos are for example, Abbott and Costello, French and Saunders, Wallace & Gromit or Beavis and Butthead. Photo 2 Other comedians acting as clowns are for example, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton or Austin Powers. Do you know other comedians who are funny in the samne way?

18. Pre-Reading Answers to question 2 Photo 3 Other famous comedians who dressed up as women are for example, Dame Edna (Australia), Milton Berle (USA) and Eddy Izzard (UK). Photo 4 Other famous crosstalk artists are Hou Baolin, Guo Qiru, Hou Yuewen, Shi Fukuan, Ma Sanli, Jiang Kun, Tang Jiezhong, Liu Wei etc. Do you know other comedians who are funny in the samne way?

19. Reading In what performances do we enjoy ourselves? comedy, clown, crosstalk, funny stories, jokes, comedian’s performances, and so on.

20. Reading Now, let’s learn the passage about laughing matter. Read the passage first, then listen to it. LAUGHING MATTER

21. Fast Reading Answer the following questions 1. What is comedies? 2. How do the writers of comedies make people laugh? 3. How does a clown make people laugh? 4. What is crosstalk show? 5. How long has the tradition of crosstalk existed in China?

22. Fast Reading The sample answers to the questions 1. What is comedies? 2. How do the writers of comedies make people laugh? Comedies are theatre plays that make people laugh. They use different techniques such as cross-dressing, stereotypes and word play.

23. Shakespeare and his plays Fast Reading 3. How does a clown make people laugh? They often act alone or as a pair and make a different kind of fun…

24. Chinese crosstalk shows Fast Reading 4. What is crosstalk show? A pair of comedians entertains the audience with word play. 5. How long has the tradition of crosstalk existed in China? More than 2,000 years.

25. Laughing matter Intensive Reading Comedies Clowns’ performance Comedians and their sketch Crosstalk Forms of humour

26. Intensive Reading 1. What’s comedy? About comedy (p1) Cross dressing men or women Stereotypes of nationalities or people speak with a foreign accent 2. techniques The details of the paragraph Play on words

27. Intensive Reading 1. Act alone or as a pair About clowns (p2) Don’t use any words 2. techniques The details of the paragraph Use their clothes, make-up and the way they walk etc.

28. Intensive Reading 1. Walk alone or a pair About comedians (p3) Body language and their face Act out a situation-sketch 2. techniques The details of the paragraph Use word play

29. Intensive Reading 1.Work in pairs About Chinese crosstalk show (p4-5) 2.Long history (more than 2000 years) Dress up a little or act out small sketches 3. techniques Use rhythm and rhyming words The details of the paragraph Use tongue twisters

30. match the main idea Alone or a pair; unlike clowns; body language and face; play with words. About Chinese crosstalk show Part 1 (Para.1) About clowns A pair; play with words; make jokes and funny conversations; sometimes dress up a little or act out small sketches. Part 2 (Para.2) About comedians Theatre play; use different techniques: cross-dressing, stereotypes, word play; Part 3 (Para.3) Alone or a pair; do not use any words; special clothes, make-up and the way they walk. Part 4 (Para.4.5.) About comedies

31. Choose the best answer • Why is Dustin Hoffman so famous? • A. He is famous for his works • B. He is famous for his foreign accent. • C. He is famous for his role • D. He is good at playing. • 2. What does a “sketch” mean in the text? • A. A rough, quickly made drawing. • B. General outline. • C. Short , humorous play. • D. A piece of writing.

32. Choose the best answer 3. Comedians and players in a comedy are similar in ____. A. Their way of playing with words B. Clothes C. Cross-dressing. D. Foreign accent. 4. In a cross-talk show , comedians do NOT ____ . A. Play with words B. use make-up at all C. act out some small sketches D. only depend on body language

33. Choose the best answer 5. Why have cross-talk shows been popular with people ? Which of the following is not the reason? A. They have two speakers B. They make people not only laugh, but also think about life. C. The richness of the spoken language is made full use of. D. Their talk includes rhythm and rhyming words.

34. Choose the best answer 6. Choose the main idea of each paragraph of Reading Text A. Description of a clown. B. What’s a crosstalk show. C. The traditional crosstalk show. D. Description of comedians. E. The writers of comedies both at home and abroad. A. 1-e, 2-a, 3-d, 4-b, 5-c B. 1-e, 2-d, 3-c, 4-a, 5-b C. 1-a, 2-e, 3-d, 4-b, 5-c D. 1-e, 2-a, 3-b, 4-d, 5-c

35. Fill in the blanks Comedies are t______ plays that make people laugh. C____________ men or women often appear on the stage. Comedies often have characters that are s_________ of nationalities or people doing certain jobs. W______ play is also a way to c_____ fun in comedies. C______ make people laugh and can make people forget their p________, at least for a short moment. theater cross-dressing stereotypes Word create Clowns problems

36. Fill in the blanks Comedians C__________ , unlike clowns, act out a s_____ during their shows. They make people laugh, but also t______ a ______ life. sketch about think Typical comedy show in China is the c _______ show. To a ________ it, listeners should know what the comedians are talking about. crosstalk appreciate

37. Language points 1. Cross-dressing men or women often appear on the stage. 穿异性服装的男演员或女演员经常亮相舞台。 1) appear：出现，呈现，用作不及物动词，不能用于被动语态 。 反义词为 disappear eg. A rainbow appeared in the sky after the rain. 雨后天空出现彩虹。 We expected him at seven but he didn’t appear until eight.我们期待他7点回来，但他到8点才出现。

38. Language points 2)appear还可作“似乎，好像，显得”，不用于进行时。 eg. You don’t appear to care much for music. 你好像不怎么喜欢音乐。（appear to do sth.） She appears （to be）an honest girl. 她似乎是个诚实的女孩。 3)appear，look ，seem 辨析 appear指根据事物的表面现象而提出的判断，暗含事实往往并非如此。 look凭视觉印象而做出的判断，实际上也可能如此。 seem是指暗含有一定根据，往往接近事实的判断，是强调内心的感受，它们都可以接名词、形容词，to be 不定式等结构。

39. Language points 2. The actors make us laugh by making fun of somebody’s way of dressing or telling an amusing story. 表演者通过取笑某人的着装方式，讲述有趣的故事，引我们发笑。 1) make sb. do sth.“使某人做某事”，其中的do sth. 为不带to 的动词不定式作宾语补足语，这一结构变为被动结构时，原来的宾语变成了主语，宾语补足语变成了主语补足语，这时的不定式要带to。 除make 外，see，hear 等动词也可接不带to 的动词不定式作宾语补足语。 eg. A funny movie often makes us laugh.

40. Language points 2) by与动名词或名词连用，表示方式、手段或原因，意为“通过，凭借，因为”。多用于动作，表示通过做什么事情以取得预期的结果。 eg. He caught a cold by playing soccer in the rain. 他在雨中踢足球而感冒了。 Don’t judge a person by appearance. 不要以貌取人。 with多用于一件东西、工具等，表示用什么工具。 He got what he wanted by talking very cleverly. 他话说得很乘巧，因而得到了他想要的东西。 He got what he wanted with flowers and chocolates. 他靠花束和巧克力糖得到了他想要得到的东西。

41. Language points 3) an amusing story 一个好笑的故事 amusing 现在分词作定语。区别于动名词作定语: 现在分词作定语，它与所修饰的名词之间在逻辑上存在着主谓关系，表示这个名词的动作，可改写成一个定语从句； 动名词作定语通常表示它所修饰的名词的用途，可改写成一个for短语，二者不存在逻辑上的主谓关系。试比较： a sleeping boy（= a boy who is sleeping） 一个睡着的男孩 a sleeping car（= a car for sleeping） 一辆卧车

42. Language points 3. Today students of English, even if English is their mother tongue, cannot understand his jokes. 今天，学英语的学生，即使英语是他们的母语，也无法理解他的笑话。 even if相当于even though，即使；尽管 如： We will go, even if it rains. 即使下雨，我们也要走。 He will come, even if he is ill. 即使病了，他也会来的。 Even though it is hard work, I enjoy it. 尽管很难，我喜欢这件事。

43. Language points 4.Another type of people whose job is to make people laugh are comedians. 另一种类型的使人发笑的专业人员就是喜剧演员。 1) type 类型，样式 type of后的名词通常不加冠词。如： What type of blood is yours? 你是什么血型？ She isn’t my type of woman. 她不是我喜欢的那种类型的女人。 请看 kind，sort，type 的辨析:

44. Language points 2) kind，sort，type 的辨析 kind 特指性质相同，且有极相似之特征，比较笼统、模糊; sort 指大体相似的东西，它们常被通用； type 指“型，类型”等，比较具体和肯定。 这三个词之后多接单数名词。如： this kind of car或cars of this kind. 3) typical 典型的 Typical for China is the crosstalk show, where a pair of comedians … 中国典型的是相声表演， 两个滑稽演员… …

45. Language points 5. What comedians have in common with the players in a comedy is their way of playing with words. 滑稽演员与喜剧演员，共同点在于说话玩弄辞藻。 （have）…in common（with） （和……）有共同之处，（和……）一样 eg.I haven’t a thing in common with my father. 我与父亲没有共同之处。 In common with most young people he hates getting up in the morning. 他跟大多数年轻人一样，早晨不愿起床。 out of the common异乎寻常，不平常

46. Language points 6. A few minutes later everybody is quiet，listening and thinking about the comedian’s words. 过了几分钟，大家都安静下来，听着台词陷入沉思。 listening and thinking… 是现在分词作伴随状语，表示同步于句子谓语的动作。 eg.Singing a pop song in a low voice, the girl came into the yard. 这姑娘低声哼着流行歌曲，走进了院子。 The old man sat by the window, reading a newspaper. 老人坐在窗边，读着报纸。

47. Language points 7. Typical for China is the crosstalk show, where a pair of comedians entertain the audience with word play. 中国喜剧的典型是相声，两个滑稽演员通过玩弄辞藻（语言游戏）来逗乐观众。 这是一句倒装句，其主语是the crosstalkshow, typical是形容词，作表语。原来句子顺序是 The crosstalk show, …, is typical for China. 但由于show 后面跟了一句较长的非限制性定语从句，整个句子结构不平衡，所以把表语和系动词前置，避免了头重脚轻。

48. Language points 8. Dating back to the Qing Dynasty, the traditional crosstalk shows, xiangsheng shows, have made people all over China roar with laughter for centuries. 传统的相声表演可以追溯到秦朝，已使全中国人笑了几百年了。 date back to是固定短语，解释为“ 可追溯到……；是……时代开始有的” 不能用于被动语态，谓语常用一般现在时。 eg. This town dates back to Roman times. 这个小镇的历史可以追溯到罗马时期。 date from与date back to意思相似。

49. Language points 9. Skilled artists make use of all the richness of spoken language to create a rapid flow of fun. 技艺高超的艺术家利用丰富多彩的口语，创造出连绵不绝的乐趣。 a flow of某事物的持续或连续供应 eg. cut off the flow of oil 切断石油输送 the constant flow of information 源源不断的信息 10. I decided to look on the whole matter as a great joke. 我决定将整件事情当作一个大笑话！ look on sb. / sth. as sb./ sth.将某人/某事看作…… She is looked on as the leading authority on the subject. 她被认为是该问题的主要权威。

50. Post-reading Answer the following questions 1. How long has the tradition of crosstalk existed in China? 2. Give three examples of techniques that writers of comedies often use to make people laugh. 1_________ 2__________ 3__________ 3. Why are some of Shakespeare’s comedies not so funny for us?