21世纪大学实用英语综合教育教案第二册Unit1

教案

1st period Text A (Global Reading)

1 Background Information

English Language

The English language is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is used as either a primary or secondary language in many

countries.

During the 1500s, fewer than 2 million people spoke English. All of them lived in what is now Great Britain. Through the centuries, as the result of various historical events, English spread throughout the world. Today, about 400 million people speak English as their native language. Most of them live in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States.

Another 100 million people living chiefly in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and in many African countries speak English in addition to their own language. An additional 200 million people probably know at least some English. (From the 1998 World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia)

Characteristics of English

Vocabulary. English has a larger vocabulary than any other language. There are more than 600,000 words in the largest dictionaries of the English language.

Some English words have been passed on from generation to generation as far back as scholars can trace. These words, such as woman, man, sun, hand, love, go, and eat, express basic ideas and feelings. Later, many words were borrowed from other languages, including Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Latin, Russian, and Spanish. For example, algebra is from Arabic, fashion from French,

piano from Italian, and canyon from Spanish.

A number of words, such as doghouse and splashdown, were formed by combining other words. New words were also created by blending words. For example, motor and hotel were blended into motel. Words can be shortened to form new words, as was done with history to form story. Words called acronyms are formed by using the first letter or letters of several words. The word radar is an acronym for radio detection and ranging.

Pronunciation and spelling in English sometimes seem illogical or inconsistent. Many words are spelled similarly though pronounced differently. Examples include cough, though, and through. Other words, such as blue, crew, to, too, and shoe, have similar pronunciations but are spelled differently. Many of these variations show changes that occurred during the development of English. The spelling of some words remained the same through the centuries, though their pronunciation changed.

Grammar is the set of principles used to create sentences. These principles define the elements used to assemble sentences and the relationships between the elements. The elements include parts of speech and inflections.

Parts of speech are the word categories of the English language. Scholars do not all agree on how to describe the parts of speech. The

traditional description lists eight classes: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. The most important relationships of the parts of speech include subject and verb, verb and predicate, and modifier and the word modified. English has fewer inflections than most other European languages. An English noun has only two inflections, the plural and the possessive. Inflections are used to change the tense and number of a verb or the case of a pronoun. Inflections can change adjectives to the comparative or the superlative —for example, big, bigger, biggest.

American English

American English is a variety of the English language spoken in the United States. Although all Americans do not speak the same way, their speech has enough in common that American English can be recognized as a variety of English distinct from British English, Australian English, and other national varieties. American English has grown up with the country. It began to diverge from British English during its colonial beginnings and acquired regional differences and ethnic flavor during the settlement of the continent.

Today it influences other languages and other varieties of English because it is the medium by which the attractions of American culture —its literature, motion pictures, and television programs —are

transmitted to the world.

Characteristics of American English

A. Pronunciation

In broad terms, Canadian and American speakers tend to sound like one another. They also tend to sound different from a large group of English speakers who sound more British, such as those in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. For example, most Canadians and Americans pronounce an r sound after the vowel in words like barn, car,and farther, while speakers from the British English group do not. Also, some British English speakers drop h sounds at the beginning of words, so that he and his are pronounced as if they were spelled ee and is. The English spoken in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa sounds more like British English than American English does because these varieties have had less time to diverge from British English. The process of separate development began later in these countries than in North America.

In some cases there are differences between American English and British English in the rhythm of words. British speakers seem to leave out a syllable in words like secretary, as if it were spelled secretry, while Americans keep all the syllables. The opposite is true of other words, such as specialty, which Americans pronounce with three syllables (spe-cial-ty) while British speakers pronounce it with five syllables (spe-ci-al-i-ty). Vowels and consonants may also have different

pronunciations. British speakers pronounce zebra to rhyme with Debra, while American speakers make zebra rhyme with Libra. Canadian and British speakers pronounce the word schedule as if it began with an sh sound, while Americans pronounce it as if it began with an sk sound.

B. Words

The most frequently used words are shared by speakers of different varieties of English. These words include the most common nouns, the most common verbs, and most function words (such as pronouns, articles, and prepositions). The different varieties of English do, however, use different words for many words that are slightly less common —for example, British crisps for American potato chips, Australian billabong for American pond, and Canadian chesterfield for American sofa. It is even more common for the same word to exist with different meanings in different varieties of English.Corn is a general term in Britain, for which Americans use grain, while corn in American English is a specific kind of grain. The word pond in British English usually refers to an artificial body of water, whereas ponds also occur naturally in North America. British English chemist is the same as American English drugstore, and in Canada people go to the druggist. Many of the words most easily recognized as American in origin are associated with aspects of American popular culture, such as gangster or cowboy.

C. Spelling

American English spelling differs from British English spelling largely because of one man, American lexicographer Noah Webster. In addition to his well-known An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828), Webster published The American Spelling Book (1783, with many subsequent editions), which became one of the most widely used schoolbooks in American history. Webster’s books sought to standardize spelling in the United States by promoting the use of an American language that intentionally differed from British English. The development of a specifically American variety of English mirrored the newcountry’s separate political development. Webster’s most successful changes were spellings with or instead of our (honor, labor for the British honour, labour); with er instead of re (center, theater for the British centre, theatre); with an s instead of a c (defense, license for the British defence, licence); with a final ck instead of que (check, mask for the British cheque, masque); and without a final k (traffic, public, now also used in British English, for the older traffick, publick). Later spelling reform created a few other differences, such as program for British programme. Canadian spelling varies between the British and American forms, more British in eastern Canada and more American in western Canada.

2. Group Discussion

Have you ever had an experience in which you are misunderstood or have failed to understand others? Misunderstandings can result from the spoken form or written form of the language that you use.

2nd period Text A (Detailed Reading)

Words and Expressions & Difficult Sentences

1) misunderstanding: n. (an example of) wrong understanding 误解，误会

e.g. Her poor French often leads to misunderstandings when she visits France.

misunderstand: vt. understand wrongly 误解

e.g. I’m sorry, I misunderstood you.

It seems that you have misunderstood what I said at the meeting.

2) get on: board (a bus, a train, etc.)登上（公共汽车、火车等）

e.g. When I got on the bus, I found all the seats were occupied.

They felt worried when they realized that they had got on the wrong

train.

3) head for: go towards 向…走去；朝…行进

e.g. The ship was heading for Britain.

He headed for the bus stop.

4) …he could ride to New York without paying.

介词without 解释为“不、未”，其后跟动词时，须用V-ing形式。

e.g. Tom was talking to his girlfriend without looking at her.

He understood the meaning of the word without looking it up in a dictionary.

5) The message was passed from person to person.

这口信通过一个又一个的乘客传下去。

注意本句中from…to…这一结构中的名词前没有冠词。

e.g. She went from house to house asking if anyone had seen the child. They work hard from morning to night.

6) by the time: 到…时候

e.g. The phone was ringing but by the time she got indoors, it had stopped.

7) not…but…:

这一结构常常用来连接两个单词、词组或句子，表示“并非…而是…”的意思。

e.g. The animal you saw in this area was not a rabbit, but a wild cat. These youngsters are motivated not by a desire for success, but by fear of failure.

8) pull over: drive a vehicle to the roadside

把车开到路边

e.g. The policeman asked the driver to pull over.

9) get off: leave (a bus, a train, a plane, etc.) 下（公共汽车、火车、飞机等）

e.g. Tom was seen to get off the bus near the railway station.

When I got off the train at the city on the coast, I could smell the sea. Second Period

10) takeoff: n. the beginning of flight, when a plane, spacecraft, etc. rises from the ground（飞机的）起飞；（航空器的）升空

e.g. The plane crashed five minutes after takeof

f.

11) He thought he heard his flight announced.

他以为听到广播中宣布了他的航班。

句中announced是宾语补足语。

12) uncommon: a. rare or unusual罕见的；不平常的；异乎寻常的

e.g. 20 years ago, supermarkets were uncommon in China.

common/: a. found or happening often and in many places; usual常见的；普通的；通常的

Jones is a very common name in Britain.

13) wonder: v. express a wish to know sth., silently or in words对…感到疑惑；想知道

e.g. I was wondering if you are free for lunch.

I wondered what his words meant.

14) in the world: used for emphasis after words that ask questions, as who,

why, what, etc. (用于疑问词who, why, what等后以加强语气)究竟，到底e.g. What in the world is he doing?

Where in the world were you when I was in need of your help?

15) be on time: be not late 准时

e.g. The London train was on time, but I didn’t see my Chinese friend. Don’t worry, she’ll be on time.

16) You were 15 minutes late.

你迟到了15分钟。

英语中表示时间、距离时，常将具体的数字放在形容词late, long等前面。e.g. The bus was ten minutes early.

The bridge is 140 feet long.

During the storm, there were waves of up to 30 meters high off the coast.

17)instead of: in place of 代替；而不是

e.g. Can I have tea instead of coffee?

Let’s play cards instead of watching television.

If you want to have your meal at seven o’clock instead of five o’clock, you can.

18) feel like: have the feeling of being; have a wish for, want有…的感觉；想要

e.g. When my best friend left me alone in the street, I felt like a hurt animal.

Do you feel like another drink?

19) all right: good enough, satisfactory but not very good; in good health or spirits; well 令人满意的；不错的；健康良好的；健康的

e.g. “What’s the food like in this restaurant?”“It’s all right.”

Kate looks really unhappy. You’d better make sure she’s all right. Are you feeling all right now?

3rd period Grammar Review

动词的-ing形式

动词的-ing形式由动词原形+ -ing构成。它可以在句中作主语、表语、定语、宾语、宾语补足语和状语,但不能单独构成谓语。

4 th period Practical Writing

Letters of Invitation

Do you have an engagement, wedding, or graduation coming up? Is

there a performance, school event, or meeting to which you want to invite people? Do you want to invite someone to speak at your meeting or conference? Whatever your event is, the following will help you write an effective invitation.

Guidelines for writing invitations:

●State the occasion, date, time, and place. Include addresses and a

map if necessary. Mention if refreshments will be served. List any charges that may apply. Include a telephone number for RSVPs. If there is a dress code, state the preferred dress in the lower left-hand corner of the card.

●If you need a response, include a self-addressed, stamped reply

card or envelope with your invitation.

●Express that you are looking forward to seeing the person.

●Do not use abbreviations and do not use contractions (don’t; we’

ll) except for name titles, such as Mr., Mrs., etc.

●If dinner will be served, state two separate times: the time people

can start arriving and the time dinner will be served.

●If you do not want gifts, briefly state that gifts are not desired or

needed. Explain that your guests presence is the only gift you need.

●Make sure you send out your invitations with ample advance

notice.

●If you have guests coming from out of town or from other

countries, you may want to send out your invitation several months in advance (especially if your event takes place around a holiday). This will allow your guests adequate time to make preparations, reservations, save money, etc.

●For smaller, less formal events that include local guests or guests

from nearby areas, you may only need to provide a few weeks’notice.

●If you are inviting someone to speak at a conference, your

invitation should include the following information: * Name of the conference and the sponsoring organization;

* Date, time, place of the conference and speech;

* Type of audience;

* Type of speech, topic, and how long the speech should be;

* Any accommodations that will be made, including lodging, meals, and transportation;

* Name of the contact person along with phone numbers and addresses where that person can be contacted; and

* Finally, articulate your pleasure at having the person speak at the meeting or conference.

Useful Expressions:

1. How to start your letter:

●You are invited to attend our company’s annual open house.

●We invite you to join us in thanking David Shaw for his 25 years of

leadership.

●It would be a great pleasure to meet you on _____ (date) at/in the

____ (place).

●_______ (company) invites you to an exclusive showing of its latest

computing and telecommunications products.

●Would you be interested in sharing your experience with the

members of our association at their monthly dinner meeting?

2. How to offer details about your arrangements:

●We are giving a luncheon at _____ (place) at _____ (time) on ______

(date) to introduce .

●The company will host a celebration in honor of David’s

retirement at Legal Tech, on June 27, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.

●Refreshments will be served from p.m. to p.m.

●The presentation will take place at (place) at (time) on (date).

3. How to end your letter: