Unit 1 Unit 1 The Dinner PartyThe Dinner Party

Designed by Shi Yuan

BookⅡ

The First Two Periods

Listening and Speaking

Listening and Speaking

• Group discussion• Background information • Comprehension of the text• Oral Practice• Assignments

Group Discussion

1. Please divide yourselves into groups of 4 or 5 students for each.

2. Have a discussion focusing on one of the following questions for 5 minutes.

3. Choose one out of each group to present your group discussion. When the student gives his or her presentation, please come to the front of the classroom.

4. Others listen carefully and grade the performance of the speakers.

5. The speakers grade their own performance.

6. The teacher grades the performance of each speaker.

Direction:

Discussion

Whether men are braver than woman is settled in a rather un

expected way?

Men are braver than Women??...

As a woman, what will you do when you experience

discrimination at work? Will you report it to your boss? /

As a man, what do you think a woman can do when she

experiences discrimination at work?

Suggested answer

• Some women will choose to keep quiet when they experience discrimination at work. You know, finding a job is not something very easy nowadays, especially for women. So even women have experienced some unfair treatment at work, they do not want to make it bigger and be labeled as a troublemaker or to lose their jobs. Women really want to be treated equally, but sometimes they don’t seem to have many choices.

• 一部分女性在工作中遭遇性别歧视后，往往会选择保持沉默。要知道，如今，找工作并不是件很容易的事，尤其是对女性而言。所以，女性在工作中即使遭遇了不平等的对待，她们也往往不想把事情闹大，而被说成是“事妈”，或者因此失去工作。虽然女性很想获得平等的待遇，但有时她们似乎没有太多的选择。

Is it possible to solve the problem of sex

discrimination at work? If no, please give your

reasons. / If yes, what can we do to reduce discrimination?

Suggested answer

• I think the problem will be solved one day, although it will take a really long time. In my opinion, if we want to reduce discrimination, we should have certain laws that will truly protect women’s rights. Also people should update their concept of women. In the modern world today, women have played a significant part in the society, and their importance is increasingly steadily.

• 我觉得虽然这会花相当长的时间，但性别歧视的问题将最终得以解决。在我看来，如果我们要减少歧视现象，我们就需要有能真正保护妇女权益的法律法规。同时，人们需要更新他们对女性的理解和认识。在如今的现代化社会，女性扮演着重要的角色，而且她们的重要性还在日益稳步上升。

Background information

Prejudice Against Women IndiaCobra

Spot dictation

• Prejudice Against Women

• Women have been prejudiced against for centuries perhaps ever since life on earth. They have long been referred to as “ sex” or “fairer sex,” considered naturally weaker than men, squeamish, unable to perform the work that requires or pluck the courage to face up to any . As we know, Plato, Aristotle, Shakespeare, and Confucius all made negative remarks about women. And even today, such a prejudice has not entirely been and the in the text shows how hard long-standing prejudices die.

musclescrisis

eliminated argument

weaker

India

India, officially called Republic of India, is a country in southern Asia, located on the subcontinent of India.

New Delhi is the country’s capital and one of its largest cities. India used to be a British colony There lived many British officers and their families On one hand, they were familiar with their living environment

already. On the other hand, they still led a British social life ---- parties,

social activities were never ignored.

Do you know the national

flag of Indian?

The Taj Mahal

The Victoria Memorial

Do you know this famous person?

Can you say something about

him?

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) -- Indian Nationalist Leader

The campaign of nonviolent civil resistance organized by Indian nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi against British rule in India led to the country’s independence in 1947. A member of the merchant caste, Mohandas K. Gandhi, later called Mahatma (Sanskrit for “great soul”), Gandhi studied law in London, England. As a lawyer and later as a political activist, he effectively fought discrimination with the principles of truth, nonviolence, and courage, which he derived in part from the teachings of Hinduism.

• Cobras

• Snakes usually feed on small mammals, birds, reptiles or fish. Some snakes, like cobra, are poisonous and can kill with a single bite. Boas( 蟒 ) suffocate ( 使窒息 ) their prey by wrapping tightly around it.

Comprehension of the textListening Practice---Blank-filling

A heated discussion about whether men are braver than women is settled in a rather unexpected way.

The Dinner Party

I first heard this tale in India, where it is told as if true — though any naturalist would know it couldn’t be. Later someone told me that the story appeared in a magazine the First World War. That magazine story, and the person who wrote it, I have never been able to .

The country is India. A colonial official and his wife are giving a large dinner party. They are seated with their guests — officers and their wives, and a visiting American naturalist — in their spacious dining room, which has a bare marble floor, open rafters and wide glass doors opening onto a veranda.

shortly before

track down

• A spirited discussion between a young girl who says that women have the jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse era and a major who says that they haven’t.

• “A woman’s reaction in any crisis,” the major says, “is to scream. And while a man may feel like it, he has that ounce more of control than a woman has. And that last ounce is what really counts.”

The American does not join in the argument but watches the other guests. As he looks, he sees a strange expression the face of the hostess. She is staring straight ahead, her muscles slightly. She motions to the native boy standing behind her chair and whispers something to him. The boy’s eyes widen: he quickly leaves the room.

springs upoutgrown

come overcontracting

• Of the guests, none except the American notices this or sees the boy place a bowl of milk on the veranda just outside the open doors.

• The American comes to with a start. In India, milk in a bowl means only one thing — bait for a snake. He realizes there must be a cobra in the room. He looks up at the rafters — the likeliest place — but they are bare. Three corners of the room are empty, and in the fourth the servants are waiting to serve the next course. There is only one place left — under the table.

• His first impulse is to jump back and warn the others, but he knows the commotion would frighten the cobra into striking. He speaks quickly, the tone of his voice so that it everyone.

“I want to know just what control everyone at this table has. I will count three hundred — that’s five minutes — and not one of you is to move a muscle. Those who move will forfeit 50 rupees. Ready!”

commandingsilences

• The 20 people sit like while he counts. He is saying “... two hundred and eighty…” when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees the cobra and make for the bowl of milk. Screams ring out as he jumps to slam the veranda doors safely shut.

• “You were right, Major!” the host exclaims. “A man has just shown us an example of perfect self-control.”

• “Just a minute,” the American says, turning to his hostess. “Mrs. Wynnes, how did you know that cobra was in the room?”

• A faint smile the woman’s face as she replies: “Because it was crawling across my foot.”

stone images

emerge

lights up

Comprehension of the text Questions

– When & where was the dinner party?

– Who were at the dinner party?

– What happened at the dinner party?

– What’s the intention of the author?

When & where?• Time:

– shortly before WWI• Place:

– India --- a colonial official’s home

What was the dinning room like?• spacious • bare marble floor• open rafters• wide glass doors opening onto a veranda• long table for 20

Who?

• The host and the hostess

• officers and their wives & a young girl and a major

• The visiting American naturalist

What happened at the dinner party?

• girl vs. major– a spirited discussion

• host – listened and likely to be involved

• Am. naturalist– watch

• hostess– motioned to a native boy

What’s the intention of the author?

• Who is braver, men or women?– Generally speaking, men is stronger physically, but

that doesn’t mean women are weak. They may behave very brave and calm in some cases, even in crisis.

Oral Practice

Sex discrimination has been a problem for women over the centuries. Although the situation is getting better gradually,

many serious problems still remain. Have you ever experienced sex

discrimination at work yourself? Or have you ever heard form your friends or colleagues about their experiences

of sexual discrimination?

Assignments

• Read the new words again and again after class, next time you are supposed to read them aloud in class.

• Read the text and do Ex. 1-2.• Preview Reading skill and do related ex.• Do translation work.