Unit Two Psychology in Our Daily Life
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
1,Psychology is a young and growing science that touches on a broad range of human activities,In general,however one can say that psychology tries to explain why people cat,think,and feel the way they do,
2,Psychologists are interested not only in how individual minds work but also in the various interactions of minds in society,It should be noted that psychology provides methods of analyzing and understanding human behavior and emotion that are not based on moral codes,
3.The whole field of psychoanalysis originated with the research of the Austrian doctor,Sigmund Freud (1856-1939),According to his theories,people are driven by irrational (not being able to reason; illogical) forces or primitive instincts,Freud believed that the inner struggle between instincts and conscience often led to disaster which was manifested (show clearly) in the form of personal tragedies such as murder and suicide or collective tragedies such as war,He advocates (support) the use of psychoanalysis to help people control irrational forces,Much of Freud’s work was based on his interpretation of dreams and sexual instincts.
4.The whole field of psychology has evolved (develop) and expanded considerably since the early part of the twentieth century,There are now many branches of psychology and it is no longer limited to clinical (cold; without feelings) work and the analysis of dreams,
5.Men and women with training in psychology now work in many different careers ranging from therapists to advertising agents,The findings of psychological research are used help the victims of family violence,to design aptitude tests(性向测验),to carry out efficiency studies in the workplace,to develop educational strategies,to conduct political campaigns,and to predict consumer spending,In fact,there id hardly any aspect of modern society that has not been influenced in some way by research in the field of psychology.
II,Preparation
1.Describing the pictures on page 32.
Picture 1,The patient looks sad,He is coming out of the hospital,carrying a test report in his hand,Judging from the black cloud hanging over the hospital,the drooping flowers and trees,and the report with the word,Cancer” on it,we can assume that he has had a series of tests.
Picture 2,The man is lying in bed,The doctor has obviously prescribed all kinds of medicine because there bottles of pills on the table beside the bed,There is also a piece of paper with the word,will” written on it,The man is also depressed that he has written his will because he thinks he is going to die.
Picture3,The man appears extremely happy,The sun is shining over the hospital,The flowers and trees are upright,The doctor has told the man that he does not have cancer after all,(The report he is carrying has an,X” through the word,cancer”.) On seeing this result,he can’t believe his eyes.
Picture 4,The sun is shining,the trees are full of fruit and the hospital has disappeared,The man is happy,He appears to be singing or whistling,He takes a racket and heads off to play tennis,He is healthy and energetic again,
2,Getting to know your classmates
Possible reasons for the beliefs and feelings
Those who love shopping may have a lot of money to spend and take delight in doing shopping,Sometimes they have a sense of accomplishment after shopping is done,In other cases,when people are in low spirits,they tend to do a lot of shopping.
Some people don’t eat beef because of their religion,For example,Hindus do not eat beef,Others do not eat beef because of their family habits.
Bus service in some places is very poor,Buses are usually crowed and dirty,That is why people don’t like to ride on a bus and when they are on a bus,they will get sick,The result will probably be that they hate riding on a bus even more.
Those who love to talk to themselves are often timid and reserved(shy),They express their own feeling by doing so,Some people do so because they are not sure of themselves,They can practice talking to others in imagination,i.e,by imagining that they are facing other people and talking with them.
Some people are terrified of snakes because some snakes are very poisonous,Other people hate them because they are ugly and disgusting.
People sometimes associate violence and ghosts with darkness,In the darkness,people usually feel lonely and helpless.
Some people think they are too fat when compared with those slim people around them,In most parts of the world,people are worried when they gain weight and try every means to keep thin,Everyone hopes to be good-looking or beautiful and follow the trend.
Those who hold on to their money as long as possible are usually very thrifty,They are afraid that if they spend all their money,they will have nothing to rely on,With as much money as they can save,they can at least have a sense of security.
People who hate queuing are impatient,They think it is a waste of time to spend their precious time queuing.
People believe in ghosts if they have heard many ghost stories,Some people who have dreamed of ghosts may believe in them.
These people believe that everyone has a certain fate,It is fate that determine everything in their life,They are anxious to find out what their future will be like,So they go to a fortune teller in order to know their future in advance.
III,Pre-Reading Activities
Directions,Discuss the following questions in pairs
If you have any health problems,do you always go to the doctor? If so,what do you expect from the doctor?
Possible answer:
If I have health problems,I will go to the doctor,I want the doctor to examine me,to diagnose the problem,to write a prescription or to tell me if there is anything I should do or avoid,If it is necessary,the doctor will give me some tests,Above all,I always expect that the doctor will tell me that I will get better quickly.
IV,In-Class Reading Activities
1,The students are supposed to finish the in-class reading passage within 14 minutes,
2,Language points
1) to come away with sth,to leave a place with sth
e.g,We came away with an uneasy feeling that all was not well with marriage.
To come away from sth,to become detached from sth(脱落)
The light switch came away from the wall.
2)…all a sick person needs is some…
all that ( that is omitted),what(the verb must be single)
e.g,All I can say is that we are extremely sorry,(subject)
All that he lacked was training,(subject)
He thought over all that his parents had said (object)
Do not all you can; spend not all you have; believe not all you hear; and tell not all you know,(obj.)
Is that all you want to say? (predictive)
That’s all there is to be said,(predictive)
3)…some assurance that… (appositive clause)
(fact,opinion,notion,suggestion,proposal,thought,news,truth,report,idea,rumor,hope,belief,doubt,proof…)
e.g,I have no idea that you were here.
They marveled at the fact that China did it all on its own.
There can be no doubt that he is qualified for the job.
4) even though/if,in spite of the fact that; no matter whether
e.g,Even if I have to walk all the way I’ll get there.
They’ll stand by (support) you even if you don’t succeed,
5) to open up,to begin to develop开采,开发,开垦
e.g,They have already made plans to open up the mine/land.
6) More wasted land will be opened up in a planned way.
to open up,open打开,开放
e.g,After we had opened up the package,we found that it had nothing in it of important.
They opened the country up to trade.
to open up,to make sth available开拓(新领域)展示,揭示
e.g,His stories opened up new worlds of the imagination.
Einstein’s theories opened up a whole new area for study.
to open up开刀,切开
e.g,They opened up his stomach to get at the source of the trouble.他们给他的胃开了刀,找出了病根
7) to fool sb into doing sth,trick/deceive sb into doing sth欺骗某人做某事
to fool sb into sth
e.g,He has fooled a lot of people into believing he is a rich man.
He fooled himself into believing that he was contributing to the motherland.
to make a fool of oneself使自己出丑,出洋相
e.g,The boy made a fool of himself.
to make a fool of sb欺骗,愚弄,捉弄
e.g,She is always trying to make a fool of her husband in public.
类似结构的短语:
to persuade sb into doing sth
to cheat sb into doing sth
to deceive sb into doing sth
to frighten sb into doing sth
to force sb into doing sth
to trap sb into doing sth使…陷入圈套
to lure sb into doing sth诱惑…做…
e.g,He persuaded her into buying the house.
Think carefully before you answer his questions,You may be trapped into giving away vital information.
The young man frightened the old man into signing the paper/ the will.
8)It seems that似乎看来,仿佛感到(觉得)
e.g,It seems that nobody knew what had happened.
It seems that sth is wrong.
It seems to me that someone is calling.
It seemed to him that he had never worked so hard in his life.
9) to rest with
to rest with,to lie with由…决定,得靠
e.g,It rests with to make the decision.
The final decision rests with the headmaster.
The success of our plan lies with you.
to rest with,to be the responsibility of是…的责任;在…的手中
e.g,The fate of these prisoners rests with the judge.
The trouble rests with you.
to rest on/upon,to depend on依靠 寄托在
e.g,His fame rests on his plays more than on his novels.
Our hopes rest on you.
The charge rests on the evidence of one witness.
10) to have/put/place trust in,to trust in; to have faith in信赖,相信,信任
e.g,I have absolute trust in the doctor,我绝对相信医生。
I put trust in you.
I don’t place any trust in his promises.
11) in a way; in one way,in some ways,to a certain degree在某种程度上,就某个意义来说
e.g,The changes are an improvement in one way.
In a way,her health is much improved,but she is still not really well.
In a way you are right.
12)“role” is often used in this phrase,to play a role/part in”
e.g,Especially in Brazil,the Negroes have played a most important role in the development of the nation.
He had played a major role in the foundation of the United Nations.
13)as a result结果(状语)
e.g,As a result he had been given an excellent job.
as a result of由于…的结果(状语)
e.g,Meanwhile other events had occurred as a result of this war.
14)the same…as和…一样(同样)
e.g,My stand on this just the same as before.
Meet me at the same place as you did yesterday.
15)to have an effect on
e.g,It had an almost immediate effect on his thinking.
This had a great effect upon the future of both mother and son.
The acid had no effect on the metal.
16) reaction on
to react on,respond to对…作出反应,对某人有疗效
e.g,How did he react to the news?
How is your patient reacting to the course of treatment?
to react positively/negatively to a suggestion(赞成/反对)
reaction to,response to对…反应
e.g,What was his reaction to the news?
Our reaction to a joke is to laugh.
His reaction to the doctor’s treatment was satisfactory.
3,Questions for group discussion
1) Is there really a doctor in the body? If so,who do you think is the doctor? Why?
I think there is a doctor in the body and it is the mind,Usually if we are quit confident,we will react as if everything will go well,That is to say,if we are mentally sure that we will get better,the body will start functioning better,Otherwise we will lose heart and the illness in our body will probably get worse,I really believe in the power of,mind over matter”.
2) How would you feel if your doctor had given you a placebo instead of medicine?
It depends,If I got better,I would feel lucky to have been given a placebo instead of real medicine,because medicine often has some side effects,However,if I didn’t feel better,I would be very angry and probably would never go back to that doctor.
3) If you got better anyway,would you think the doctor had cheated you? Would you be pleased that you had been able to heal your own body just by believing that you could?
I would think the doctor had cheated me,At the same time,I would be pleased that I had been able to heal my body by believing that I could,I would be proud of my will power and become more confident of myself
4,Translation
All I can say is that we are extremely sorry.
In many cases regulations alone will not work.
He is highly likely to succeed because of his intelligence and diligence.
She stared at me as if I were a stranger.
It is reported that three people were injured in the traffic accident yesterday.
I feel angry at the way he has treated me.
The patient is much the same as he was yesterday.
I’d like to stay at home this evening rather than go out.
V,Further Development
1,Words Association and Story-telling
STEP ONE emergency,first aid,injury,penicillin,shock,wound,sore,scrape,choking,bruise,shot,pulse,unconscious(ness),antibiotic,cough,rescue faint(ing)thermometer,soothe,injection,headache,toothache,stomachache,hospital,dentist,therapy,therapist,drug,medicine,heart attack,chronic,seasick(ness),airsick(ness),bleed(ing),fracture,fever,flu/influenza,cold,dislocation,temperature,disease,illness,cancer,infection,ulcer,placebo,case,heal,cure,capsule,pill,tablet,prescribe,prescription,cut examine,X-ray,etc.
STEP TWO
Last summer,my friends and I decided to go mountain-climbing,Our excursion up the mountain turned out to be a disappointing adventure.
We began by following the long winding path that leads to the summit of the mountain,It was raining so it was very slippery in some spots,When we were half way up,one of my friends fell,He hurt his leg very badly,It bled a lot and it was so painful that he could not walk,We were sure he had a broken leg,With the help of several kind people we managed to carry him all the way down the mountain.
When we reached the village,we were able to get a taxi to the hospital,The doctor cleaned the cuts and bruises and examined my friend’s leg very thoroughly,He said that it was not broken but that it would be very sore for some time and that it would take a while for the cuts to heal,Just knowing that his leg wasn’t broken made my friend feel better,The doctor gave him an injection of antibiotics to prevent infection and told him that he would have to come back for more shots.
Three days later we came down with terrible colds,We all had had coughs so we went to see the doctor,He prescribed some cough medicine,He said that the medicine wouldn’t cure our coughs but that it would soothe our throats.
Feeling tired and discouraged,we decided to leave for home,Our mountain-climbing trip had not been very successful,We were three healthy people when we arrived and we left feeling tired and miserable.
2,Interpreting an old saying
Directions,There is an old saying,Once bitten,twice shy”,Work in groups to explain the proverb by using examples.
This proverb means that if a person is frustrated (prevent sb from doing sth)by an experience or even suffers loss,either material or mental,from it,then it will have a psychological influence on him that he wouldn’t dare to do it again or he will try to avoid it,A typical example in Chinese folklore is that a man who has been bitten by a snake is so afraid of it that he shies at the coiled rope for ten years.
3,Trying to be a psychologist
Possible advice:
Susan is a shy girl,She is afraid of talking with others.
To make her realize that everyone is equal and that she is as intelligent as or even more intelligent than others; to encourage her to take the initiative in conversation with others; to tell her family members or close friends or praise her regularly and let her know that they appreciate her company.
Jack is the owner of a boutique(时装店),His clothes do not sell well.
To tell Jack to sell his clothes on sale and let customers know that the discount cannot be ignored; to ask Jack to raise the price of the clothes so that people feel they are of good quality;
Peter is a sloppy(马虎的)college student,He is reluctant to make his bed and wash his clothes.
To invite a girl student to his dormitory; to ask his classmates to tell him casually that a sloppy person is just disgusting;
Tom is a football fan,He is depressed to see his team always defeated.
To tell Tom that football is not everything in life and that some football fans die of heart attacks because they are so excited; to help him to cultivate some other hobbies and interests.
4,More ways to comfort ourselves
Step One
Other methods that can be used:
a,to write diaries
b,to go traveling
c,to cry alone
d,to go swimming
e,to go for a walk
f,to have a good dinner and eat a lot
g,to go shopping and buy a lot of things
h,to go to bed and have a good rest
i,to talk with or write one’s best friends who will give comfort
j,to see a psychologist
k,to play sports,e.g,basketball,football
l,to listen to the radio late into night
m,to sing loudly
n,to have a haircut
VI,Writing
Psychology in Our Life
Sample One
Psychology plays an important role in our daily life,Our feelings and attitudes color the way we behave,Confidence is a good example.
In reality,a great number of people complain that they haven’t the ability to do something or that their difficulties are too great to overcome,In some cases,this may be true,But in other cases,it means that people allow themselves to get discouraged.
For example,a confident man can accomplish many things,If you have confidence,you believe you can do things well,You might not always do as well as you hope,but you will try harder the next time,A man who lacks self-confidence might not be able to complete simple tasks,Without confidence you might be nervous,unsure of yourself and confused about what to do and how to do it,You might think you will fail,so perhaps you do not try hard enough.
There is a well-known proverb that says:,Where there is a will,there is a way.” In other words,if you have the will or the determination to do something,you will always find a way to do it,Having confidence is an important part of our life.
Sample Two
In our daily life,we often have to buy things,Most of us cannot really distinguish good quality from bad quality,Obviously we can see if an apple is rotten,but we cannot always see if something is well made,What makes us buy things?
A woman might decide to buy a particular style of dress because several of her friends have chosen that style,She wants to be like her friends,A man might decide to buy a particular coat because it expensive,He thinks that since it is expensive it must be of good quality,A student who has a lot of money might decide to buy a jacket because it was made by a well-known designer,Wearing a jacket with the designer’s name on it makes him feel important.
These are not the logical reasons for buying things,but they explain the motivation behind people’s action or behavior,Our psychology or mental state plays an important role in many aspects of our daily life.