Unit 10 Man and Animals
Teaching Aims,
In this unit students are required to,
1) get to know some useful information concerning the topic of the reading passages in this unit and to know more about English culture;
2) do some preparation activities such as discussion,group work,etc,to practice their spoken skill and communicative skills;
3) grasp some new words and try to use these words which help them to enrich their vocabulary;
4)read the in-class reading passage in a limited time and grasp some expressions and grammatical points in the in-class reading passage to improve their reading comprehension;
5) do some post-reading exercises and some after-class reading to practice what they have got to know in class to improve their English comprehensive skills.;
6) translate some typical sentences into Chinese or English by using some expressions learned in the reading passages to acquire some translating skills and better their translating abilities.
I,Useful Information
Man’s relationship with animals has always been ambivalent,On the one hand,animals have been worshipped and attributed with all kinds of mysterious and superior powers,On the other hand,they have been hunted,domesticated,exterminated,and even exploited as a source of entertainment,In many countries,man has also created imaginary creatures that play a major role in popular cultures,The Chinese dragon is perhaps one of the most famous examples.
Comparisons between animals and man have been made throughout the centuries,In some cultures,the sinister and aggressive aspect of man is regarded as the animal side of human nature,Recent research on human behavior,for example,draws parallels between the aggressiveness of modern man and the abnormal behavior of a caged animal,Some scientists believe that unnatural conditions,such as overcrowding and alienating routine jobs,cause people to perform acts of violence,Other scientists feel that aggression is a natural instinct that should be directed towards positive and creative activities.
II,Preparation
Discussion of,Noah’s Ark’
Tape script
Noah’s Ark
Do you know the story of Noah’s ark? Noah lived a long,long time ago,He was a good man,God told Noah to build an ark and to gather his family and two of every animal (one female and one male) into the ark because it was going to rain and the world was going to be destroyed.
So Noah gathered two of every animal including snakes,elephants,giraffes,cows,and even skunks! It rained for 40days and 40 nights,After the rain stopped,the water dried up,One year later,Noah let the animals out of the ark,Some went to Africa,some to Asia,and some to Australia,Europe,and America.
God promised never to destroy the earth again with water,And as a promise,God gave us the rainbow.
Note:
The story of Noah’s ark is from the Old Testament of the Bible.
Sample
If I were Noah,I would not take snakes,They are disgusting creatures,And it is not necessary to take them since practically all snakes can swim.
III,Reading-Centered Activities
Pre-Reading
Directions,Work in groups and answer the following questions.
Are you frightened of dogs? If so,why？
When are animals aggressive?
When do people become aggressive?
What aggressive acts do you associate with human beings?
Possible answers:
Yes,extremely frightened,I’m terrified of them because I feel they can easily become fierce and nasty,They attack and bite people,They also carry diseases.
When they are frightened;
When they want to protect their young;
When they are attacked or hurt;
When they are put in a corner or a small space.
When they are put in certain situations:
In war;
In self-defense;
When they are extremely angry;
When they lack space and freedom.
fighting,beating,slapping,invasion,war,etc.
2,Passage Reading
Words,Phrases and Grammatical Points
some zoologists and psychologists compare modern man to a caged lion,(L.17)
“compare …to ….” 除了有“把，，，，比作，，，的意思外，还有”把，，，与，，，比较“的意思（可用,compare…with….”来替代）
e.g,He compared London to/with Paris.
It was a very small place then compared to/with what it is now.
This road is quite busy compared to/with ours.
Children seem to learn more interesting things compared to/with when we were at school.
In fact,it is almost impossible for them to behave otherwise,(L.24~25)
The word,otherwise” means in a way that is different from what has been mentioned.
e.g,The government claims that the economy is improving,but this survey suggests otherwise.
Take approximately 60 mg up to four times a day,unless advised otherwise by a doctor.
All photographs are by the author unless otherwise stated.
There is no way anything would ever happen between us,and believe me I’ve tried to convince myself otherwise.
in itself (L.27),by itself,to itself,of itself
in itself considered without other related ideas or situations 本身
e.g,The plan wasn’t illegal in itself but it would lead to some doubtful practices.
The problem is unimportant in itself,but its long-term effects could be very serious.
by itself A)alone 单独地
e.g,The animal had been left in the house by itself.
The farmhouse stands by itself in the fields.
B)without help 自动地
e.g,The dog managed to drag the box into the room by itself.
The door opened by itself.
to itself not shared with others
e.g,This idea deserves a chapter to itself.
The committee kept the results of the survey to itself,fearing a bad public reaction.
of itself 自然地，自行地
e.g,The light went out of itself.
4) The word,constructive” (L.28) derives from,construction”,“aggressive” (L.1) from,aggression” and,destructive” (L.29) from,destruction”,Similar word formation can be found in:
appreciation—appreciative extension—extensive
creation—creative investigation—investigative
production—productive impression—impressive
competition—competitive generation—generative
deception—deceptive perception—perceptive
exclusion—exclusive inclusion—inclusive
conclusion—conclusive evaluation—evaluative
protection—protective
5) Unable in these conditions to channel their aggression into creative work,people will probably express it through resentment and anger,(L.38~39)
The word,channel” means,to direct something into a particular place or situation” (把…引导向，转到)。
e.g,If she could only channel all that nervous energy into something useful.
A lot of money has been channeled into research in that particular field.
He channeled his thoughts toward one phase of the problem,
3,Post-Reading
Translation
She always behaves badly when her aunt comes to visit.
If it hadn’t been for your help,we wouldn’t have been able to finish the task in time.
I warned him off going to the east coast because it was full of tourists.
The fact that something is cheap doesn’t necessarily mean it’s of low quality.
Without someone to turn to for help,making the most appropriate choice can be difficult.
His sadness at the death of his wife found expression in his music.
Only if Peter goes to the evening party will she go.
I can only compare the experience to a nightmare,even ancient tombs.
IV,Further Development
Writing Animals Should Be Trained
Sample
There are many kinds of animals in the world,And many of them are highly intelligent,So if we train some animals to do something for human beings,we can save a lot of money and manpower,
First,some kinds of animals can be trained based on their capacity to do certain types of jobs better than humans,For example,since dogs have a superior ability to track down odors,we can train them to find special things,even ancient tombs.
Second,some animals can even lend us their hands,The monkey is a good example,Monkeys can be trained to learn to open doors,fetch tools,bring books,etc,So they can help people who can not move about freely because of some physical problems,Monkeys make the lives of these people happier and more comfortable.
Finally,in some cases,using animals not only saves money but also trouble,Using dolphins as underwater guards can be better and cheaper than man-made tracking devices.
In a word,animals should be trained to help humans,If we train animals in the proper way,both humans and animals can develop well.
Teaching Aims,
In this unit students are required to,
1) get to know some useful information concerning the topic of the reading passages in this unit and to know more about English culture;
2) do some preparation activities such as discussion,group work,etc,to practice their spoken skill and communicative skills;
3) grasp some new words and try to use these words which help them to enrich their vocabulary;
4)read the in-class reading passage in a limited time and grasp some expressions and grammatical points in the in-class reading passage to improve their reading comprehension;
5) do some post-reading exercises and some after-class reading to practice what they have got to know in class to improve their English comprehensive skills.;
6) translate some typical sentences into Chinese or English by using some expressions learned in the reading passages to acquire some translating skills and better their translating abilities.
I,Useful Information
Man’s relationship with animals has always been ambivalent,On the one hand,animals have been worshipped and attributed with all kinds of mysterious and superior powers,On the other hand,they have been hunted,domesticated,exterminated,and even exploited as a source of entertainment,In many countries,man has also created imaginary creatures that play a major role in popular cultures,The Chinese dragon is perhaps one of the most famous examples.
Comparisons between animals and man have been made throughout the centuries,In some cultures,the sinister and aggressive aspect of man is regarded as the animal side of human nature,Recent research on human behavior,for example,draws parallels between the aggressiveness of modern man and the abnormal behavior of a caged animal,Some scientists believe that unnatural conditions,such as overcrowding and alienating routine jobs,cause people to perform acts of violence,Other scientists feel that aggression is a natural instinct that should be directed towards positive and creative activities.
II,Preparation
Discussion of,Noah’s Ark’
Tape script
Noah’s Ark
Do you know the story of Noah’s ark? Noah lived a long,long time ago,He was a good man,God told Noah to build an ark and to gather his family and two of every animal (one female and one male) into the ark because it was going to rain and the world was going to be destroyed.
So Noah gathered two of every animal including snakes,elephants,giraffes,cows,and even skunks! It rained for 40days and 40 nights,After the rain stopped,the water dried up,One year later,Noah let the animals out of the ark,Some went to Africa,some to Asia,and some to Australia,Europe,and America.
God promised never to destroy the earth again with water,And as a promise,God gave us the rainbow.
Note:
The story of Noah’s ark is from the Old Testament of the Bible.
Sample
If I were Noah,I would not take snakes,They are disgusting creatures,And it is not necessary to take them since practically all snakes can swim.
III,Reading-Centered Activities
Pre-Reading
Directions,Work in groups and answer the following questions.
Are you frightened of dogs? If so,why？
When are animals aggressive?
When do people become aggressive?
What aggressive acts do you associate with human beings?
Possible answers:
Yes,extremely frightened,I’m terrified of them because I feel they can easily become fierce and nasty,They attack and bite people,They also carry diseases.
When they are frightened;
When they want to protect their young;
When they are attacked or hurt;
When they are put in a corner or a small space.
When they are put in certain situations:
In war;
In self-defense;
When they are extremely angry;
When they lack space and freedom.
fighting,beating,slapping,invasion,war,etc.
2,Passage Reading
Words,Phrases and Grammatical Points
some zoologists and psychologists compare modern man to a caged lion,(L.17)
“compare …to ….” 除了有“把，，，，比作，，，的意思外，还有”把，，，与，，，比较“的意思（可用,compare…with….”来替代）
e.g,He compared London to/with Paris.
It was a very small place then compared to/with what it is now.
This road is quite busy compared to/with ours.
Children seem to learn more interesting things compared to/with when we were at school.
In fact,it is almost impossible for them to behave otherwise,(L.24~25)
The word,otherwise” means in a way that is different from what has been mentioned.
e.g,The government claims that the economy is improving,but this survey suggests otherwise.
Take approximately 60 mg up to four times a day,unless advised otherwise by a doctor.
All photographs are by the author unless otherwise stated.
There is no way anything would ever happen between us,and believe me I’ve tried to convince myself otherwise.
in itself (L.27),by itself,to itself,of itself
in itself considered without other related ideas or situations 本身
e.g,The plan wasn’t illegal in itself but it would lead to some doubtful practices.
The problem is unimportant in itself,but its long-term effects could be very serious.
by itself A)alone 单独地
e.g,The animal had been left in the house by itself.
The farmhouse stands by itself in the fields.
B)without help 自动地
e.g,The dog managed to drag the box into the room by itself.
The door opened by itself.
to itself not shared with others
e.g,This idea deserves a chapter to itself.
The committee kept the results of the survey to itself,fearing a bad public reaction.
of itself 自然地，自行地
e.g,The light went out of itself.
4) The word,constructive” (L.28) derives from,construction”,“aggressive” (L.1) from,aggression” and,destructive” (L.29) from,destruction”,Similar word formation can be found in:
appreciation—appreciative extension—extensive
creation—creative investigation—investigative
production—productive impression—impressive
competition—competitive generation—generative
deception—deceptive perception—perceptive
exclusion—exclusive inclusion—inclusive
conclusion—conclusive evaluation—evaluative
protection—protective
5) Unable in these conditions to channel their aggression into creative work,people will probably express it through resentment and anger,(L.38~39)
The word,channel” means,to direct something into a particular place or situation” (把…引导向，转到)。
e.g,If she could only channel all that nervous energy into something useful.
A lot of money has been channeled into research in that particular field.
He channeled his thoughts toward one phase of the problem,
3,Post-Reading
Translation
She always behaves badly when her aunt comes to visit.
If it hadn’t been for your help,we wouldn’t have been able to finish the task in time.
I warned him off going to the east coast because it was full of tourists.
The fact that something is cheap doesn’t necessarily mean it’s of low quality.
Without someone to turn to for help,making the most appropriate choice can be difficult.
His sadness at the death of his wife found expression in his music.
Only if Peter goes to the evening party will she go.
I can only compare the experience to a nightmare,even ancient tombs.
IV,Further Development
Writing Animals Should Be Trained
Sample
There are many kinds of animals in the world,And many of them are highly intelligent,So if we train some animals to do something for human beings,we can save a lot of money and manpower,
First,some kinds of animals can be trained based on their capacity to do certain types of jobs better than humans,For example,since dogs have a superior ability to track down odors,we can train them to find special things,even ancient tombs.
Second,some animals can even lend us their hands,The monkey is a good example,Monkeys can be trained to learn to open doors,fetch tools,bring books,etc,So they can help people who can not move about freely because of some physical problems,Monkeys make the lives of these people happier and more comfortable.
Finally,in some cases,using animals not only saves money but also trouble,Using dolphins as underwater guards can be better and cheaper than man-made tracking devices.
In a word,animals should be trained to help humans,If we train animals in the proper way,both humans and animals can develop well.
