Unit 10 Going Home

1. Unit 10 Going Home 大学英语 精读 Back to the main (第三版)第一册

2. Lead In Background Text Reading Skill • Question to the Text • Group discussion • Language Points • Classroom Activity Writing Fun Time Back to the main

3. Lead-in Song HOME • Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree

4. Background Information HOME • Parole It is a legal term, which means release of a convicted criminal from prison before he has served his full sentence. A parole is usually granted to a prisoner as a reward for good conduct. A paroled convict isa relatively free man, but he isunder thesupervision of a parole officer or some other person until the end of the term of his sentence. The paroled convict reports regularly to the parole officers. He can be sent back to prison if his conduct is not satisfactory.

5. Background Information HOME Significance of Tying a Yellow Ribbon Display of a Yellow Ribbon is a sign of loyalty to family, friends or loved ones who are welcome home. Customarily it is used to welcome home men and women who have been away for a long time under particularly difficult circumstances such as war or prison.

6. Background Information HOME Florida and Sun Belt Americans have a craze for the sun. The most desirable place in the American sun is the coastline of southern California, but Florida is perhaps the most popular state in the Sun Belt. In fact, it calls itself “The Sunshine State." It has a subtropical climate and is ideal for a winter vacation. From November to March northerners and easterners come to lie on the warm, sandy beaches of Miami, Palm Beach and the other resorts along the coast. And that is why the boys and girls in our story are so eager to leave the “gray", “cold" city of New York to vacation in Florida.

7. Florida: HOME Back to the main

8. Florida: HOME

9. Part Division of the Text HOME

10. I first heard this story a few years ago from a girl I had met in New York’s Greenwich Village. Probably the story is one of those mysterious bits of folklore that reappear every few years, to be told anew in one form or another. However, I still like to think that it really did happen, somewhere, sometime. HOME

11. Going Home They were going to Fort Lauderdale — three boys and three girls — and when they boarded the bus, they were carrying sandwiches and wine in paper bags, dreaming of golden beaches and sea tides as the gray, cold spring of New York vanished behind them. HOME

12. As the bus passed through New Jersey, they began to notice Vingo. He sat in front of them, dressed in a plain, ill-fitting suit, never moving, his dusty face masking his age. He kept chewing the inside of his lip a lot, frozen into complete silence. Deep into the night, outside Washington, the bus pulled into Howard Johnson’s, and everybody got off except Vingo. He sat rooted in his seat,and the young people began to wonder abouthim, trying to imagine his life: perhaps he was a sea captain, a runaway from his wife, an old soldier going home. When they went back to the bus, one of the girls sat beside him and introduced herself. “We’re going to Florida,” she said brightly. “I hear it’s really beautiful.” HOME

13. “It is,” he said quietly, as if remembering something he had tried to forget. “Want some wine?” she said. He smiled and took a swig from the bottle. He thanked her and retreated again into his silence. After a while, she went back to the others, and Vingo nodded in sleep. In the morning, they awoke outside another Howard Johnson’s, and this time Vingo went in. The girl insisted that he join them. He seemed very shy, and ordered black coffee and smoked nervously as the young people chattered about sleeping on beaches. When they returned to the bus, the girl sat with Vingo again, and after a while, slowly and painfully, he began to tell his story. He had been in jail in New York for the past two years, and now he was going home. HOME

14. “Are you married?” “I don’t know.” “You don’t know?” she said. “Well, when I was in jail I wrote to my wife,” he said. “I told her that I was going to be away a long time, and that if she couldn’t stand it, if the kids kept asking questions, if it hurt her too much, well, she could just forget me. I’d understand. Get a new guy, I said — she’s a wonderful woman, really something — and forget about me. I told her she didn’t have to write me. And she didn’t. Not for three and a half years.” “And you’re going home now, not knowing?” HOME

15. “Yeah,” he said shyly. “Well, last week, when I was sure the parole was coming through, I wrote her again. We used to live in Brunswick , just beforeJacksonville, and there’s a big oak tree just as you come into town. I told her that if she didn’t have a new guy and if she’d take me back, she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree, and I’d get off and come home. If she didn’t want me, forget it — no handkerchief, and I’d go on through. ” “Wow,” the girl exclaimed. “Wow.” HOME

16. She told the others, and soon all of them were in it, caught up in the approach of Brunswick, looking at the pictures Vingo showed them of his wife and three children — the woman handsome in a plain way, the children still unformed in the much-handled snapshots. Now they were 20 miles from Brunswick, and the young people took over window seats on the right side, waiting for the approach of the great oak tree. Vingo stopped looking, tightening his face, as if fortifying himself against still another disappointment. HOME

17. Then Brunswick was 10 miles, and then five. Then, suddenly, all of the young people were up out of their seats, screaming and shouting and crying, doing small dances of joy. All except Vingo. Vingo sat there stunned, looking at the oak tree. It was covered with yellow handkerchiefs — 20 of them, 30 of them, maybe hundreds, a tree that stood like a banner of welcome billowing in the wind. As the young people shouted, the old con slowly rose from his seat and made his way to the front of the bus to go home. HOME

18. mysterious HOME

19. mask HOME

20. retreat HOME

21. approach HOME

22. handle HOME

23. stun HOME

24. Question to the text HOME • Retell the outline of the story : Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree

25. Useful Expressions HOME • 1. 神秘的民间传说 mysterious folklore • 2.不合身的便服 ill-fitting suit • 3.在深夜 deep into the night • 4. 打着盹睡着了 nod in sleep • 5. 喋喋不休地谈论… chat about • 6.坐牢 be in jail • 7.对电视节目入迷be caught up in the TV program • 8.徒劳地 in vain

26. Group Discussion HOME • Reunion of Vingo’s Family: to discuss what might happen to Vingo when he got home. Students are encouraged to bring their imagination into full play

27. Cultural Tips: Western Manners HOME • 1) Subject to AvoidThere are certain things which are considered bad manners in western countries to talk about in public. It is very important to know these and avoid them. The subjects to be avoided are: bodily functions, or anything connected with the more private parts of the body, details of birth, details of unpleasant illnesses; income or salary of friends, or prices of their possessions; the age of the person one is talking with; personal questions or remarks, such as “why don’t you get married?” or “I should think you would want to have some children.” Some of these are allowed in Chinese society, but they are all taboo (禁忌) in formal western society.

28. Cultural Tips: Western Manners HOME • 2) Speaking About One’s CountryIt is not good manners to speak of one’s own country as if it were more important or better than others. But neither is it good to speak badly of one’s country or call it “unworthy”. • Western manners do not require one to say anything that is untrue, but it is best to avoid being too frank about things which would make people feel uneasy--- unless by doing so you feel some good might come of it. Speak naturally but not boastfully of the good things in your own country, and speak appreciatively (欣赏地) of what you can approve of in the foreign country.

29. Cultural Tips: Western Manners HOME • 3) The Right AttitudeIn a conversation or discussion it is bad manners to take more than your share of the time in talking when others wish to talk also. It is bad manners to interrupt anyone else when he is talking. It is bad manners to be dogmatic (顽固的) and sure of your own point of view, suggesting by your speech or action that no one else’s viewpoint is of any value. It is bad manners to get cross or surly (粗暴地) or angry in a conversation or discussion. If you think as much of others as of yourself, you will not make any of these mistakes.It is considered impolite, when in a small group, for two people to talk together in a language unfamiliar to the others. If for any reason you find it absolutely necessary to do so, you may say to the others, “ Would you pardon me, please, if I explain something to Mr. Spooner in Chinese?”

30. Reading Skill: reading for full understanding HOME • First read through the whole story to obtain an overall impression, and then, reread it and answer the question or questions after each part

31. Writing HOME • Suppose the following is the beginning part of the letter Vingo wrote to his wife before he was set free on parole. Now complete it in about 120 words.

32. Model Writing HOME • Dear Wendy, • It’s 3 and a half years since I wrote to you last. How have you and the kids been doing lately? I miss you so much……

33. Fun Time: Line-filling HOME • I’m coming home, I’ve done my___1___ . • Now I’ve got to know what is and isn’t mine. • If you ___2___ my letter telling you I’d soon be free, • Then you know just what to do, if you still want me. • Oh, tie a yellow____3___ ’round the old oak tree. • It’s been three long years. • Do you still want me? • If I don’t see a ribbon ’round the old___4___ , • I’ll stay on the bus, ____5___ about us, • Put the ___6____ on me,

34. Fun Time: Line-filling HOME • Bus ___7___, please look for me, • ’cause I couldn’t ____8___ to see what I might see. • I’m really still in __9__ , and my love she still holds the_10__. • A simple yellow ribbon’s what I need to __11____me free. • I wrote and told her please — • Oh, tie a yellow ribbon ’round the old oak tree. • It’s been ___12___ long years. • Do you still want me? • If I don’t see a ribbon ’round the old oak tree, • I’ll ___13____ on the bus, forget about us, • Put the blame on me, • If I don’t see a yellow ribbon ’round the__14__ oak tree. • If I don’t see a yellow ribbon ’round the___15___ oak tree. • And I can’t believe I see a ___16____yellow ribbons ’round the old oak tree.

35. Keys to the Line HOME • Keys: 1.time ,2.received ,3.ribbon, 4.oak tree, 5.forget,6. blame, 7.driver, 8.bear, • 9.prison,10. key, 11.set , 12.three, 13.stay, 14.old, 15.cheerful,16.hundred