Unit 1

Text I My First Job

Objectives:

• 1.fast reading skills

• 2.prediction of the passage

• 3. vocabulary and structures

How to skim?

1). Run the eyes over the text rapidly, read only the familiar words and phrases and ignore the unfamiliar ones.

2). Try to recognize the key words and phrases, and ignore the supporting details.

3). Read only the first and the last sentence of each paragraph, for, as a rule, the gist of a paragraph is found there. But, there are exceptions.

4). Read the first paragraph and the lat paragraph of a text for the same reason as step 3

Steps:

1). Three minutes for the first reading should be enough. If it is difficult, one or two minutes more is given.

2). Decide which statement best sums up the content. (see page 2)

Teaching Tasks and Process

I. Pre-reading Questions

• ____The writer describes what his first job was like.

• ____The writer wanted to have a job because he wanted some experience.

• ____The writer found his first job unpleasant.

• ____The writer enjoyed his first job.

II. Language Points

1. Being short of money and wanting to dosomething useful,…

As I was short of money and wanted to do something useful,…

More examples:

Being in poor health and lacking in teaching experience, he was dismissed.

• to apply for a job/ a grant/ a visa/ a loan job application V.S. job applicant

Please fill out the job application and send it to our company before next Friday.

This year fierce competition left those job applicants hopeless.

apply: to make a formal request

• chances: possibilities  e.g. Being out of practice for a long time, his

chances of winning first place in the contest are slim.

• land: (informal) to obtain through tough

competition

He deserved to land the promotion because he worked hard and efficiently.

…, that without a degree and no experience of teaching my chances

of landing the job were slim.

slim: not as big as one would like or expect; small

• slim hopes/ chances

• I would still try hard as long as there was a slim hope. 一线希望

• a slim girl/ figure

summon: to order someone

• to summon a doctor/ a conference/ a defendant

• The manager summoned his secretary to his office.

• The headmaster summoned the teacher for an explanation of his behavior.

prove (to be): be found to be; turn out to be

• The play proved to be very good.

• The new typist proved to be useless.

awkward: uncomfortable, uneasy

• an awkward position/ journey/ feeling/ laugh/ silence

• He feels awkward with girl students.

• He was short and rotund. He had a sandy-colored moustache, a freckled forehead and hardly any hair….

• Asking about a person’s appearance or / and character

• Description of a person

1). “How does he look now?”

This question is asked about a person whom the inquirer knows but has not seen for some time.

Asking about a person’s appearance or / and character:

2). “What does he look like?”This question is asked about a person whom the

inquirer probably does not know, so the inquirer will expect a description of the person’s appearance in the answer.

3). “What is he like?”This question is asked when the inquirer wants i

nformation either about the person’s appearance, or about his character or qualities, or about both.

1). Forehead: A person’s forehead can be large, high, low, broad, narrow, domed or retreating.

2). Moustache: A person may grow a moustache, which can be close-cropped, drooping or pointed.

3). Eyes: A person may have bloodshot eyes, bulging eyes, prominent eyes, close-set eyes, dark eyes, deep-set eyes or sunken eyes.

Description of a person

4).Hair: hair may be short, long, thin, thick, straight, curled, curly, wavy, sparse, unkempt, disheveled, luxuriant, permed.

The color of hair can be: black, dark, red, grey, silver, chestnut, white, brown, fair, blond, golden, jet-black, dyed.

5). Figure: slender, stout (fat, plump), stooping, thin (lean), slim

6). Height: tall, short, of medium (average) height.

He looked at me with an air of surprised disapproval,…

• air: an outward appearance 神态

• an air of dignity/ importance/ anxiety/ sadness/ delighted surprise

His study, judging by the crumbs on the carpet,…

• judge by/ from: form an opinion about somebody or something; estate

• Judging by the way she prepares the meal, we can say that she must have been trained in a good restaurant.

• Judging from what you say, she ought to succeed.

I mumbled something about not attaching too much importance to them.

• attach importance to: to place importance on something

• Language teachers should attach great importance to the students' practical skills.

The headmaster and I obviously had singularly little in common.

• to have something in common: to share interest or characteristics

• to have little/ a lot/ much/ nothing/ plenty/ everything/ not a thing in common

Although they are twins, they have nothing common in personality.

…, ranging in age from seven to thirteen.

• range in … from … to …: indicating a wide range of

• The color ranges from yellow through green to black.

• The goods in the shopping center range in variety from small daily necessities to household electric appliances.

The teaching set-up appalled me.

• appall: to shock or horrify

• He was appalled by the news/ scene/ results.• The newspaper report of starving children

appalled me.

Before I could protest he got to his feet.

• protest: to express disapproval; object

• to protest against, over or at a plan/ a decision

• The demonstrators marched through the town to protest against the law.

• protester / protestor

• The protesters’ words on human rights sounded hollow.

This was the last straw.

• the last straw: This was the trouble that made the situation unbearable when it was added to the trouble I was experiencing.

• It was the last straw that breaks the camel.

Comments on the Text

Text II

The Interview

Questions

1. For what purpose do you think Blakey want to the interview?

2. Why did Blakely feel uneasy when he was asked what had prompted him to want to change to medicine?

3. Why did one of the interviewers say that Blakey was capable of a change of heart?

4. What was the reason that Blakey gave for leaving University without taking a degree?

5. Do you think Blakey was well-prepared to answer the question about his financial status? Give your reasons.

6. Why did Blakey at first have a sense of guilt, and why was he then stung by a sense of inadequacy?

7. What do you think was the outcome of the interview? Why do you think so?

Discussion/Exercises

• Oral Work

• Role-play—An Interview

Interaction Activities

Making Preparations for an Interview

Guided Writing

• Précis writing• Paragraph writing—Narration and

Description• Letter writing—Heading and Salutation

Assignments:

• Exercises on the Work Book