Unit 5  Unit 5 Section A Graceful Hands I. Greetings II. Review: Have a dictation of the new words from Unit 4: approve, affection, exaggerate, version, fame, solemn, inspire, stretch, settlement, reputation, contract, evolve, astonish, annual, bare, distinct, comprise, imaginary, feature, illustration, influential, plunge, gratitude, distribution III. Start the new lesson: 1. Introduction Mrs. Clark was seriously ill and would die soon. She was just a skeleton at that time. The nurse accompany her finishing her rest of life. She was the mother of seven, grandmother of eighteen and a concert piano player. Her graceful hands impressed the nurse greatly. 2. Discourse analysis: Part I (Paras 1-4): The lean Mrs. Clark was dying. Part II (Para 5): The nurse looked after her, who was too weak for anything. Part III (Paras 6-7): The exchange between the nurse and Mrs. Clark. Part IV (Para 8): The nurse was glad that she was there when Mrs. Clark died. Part V (Para 9): After Mrs. Clark died, the nurse knew what she was. Part VI (Para 10): Mrs. Clark’s hands impressed the nurse greatly. 3. language points: 1. precede: v. 1) come or go just in front of He came into the room preceded by a small dog. 2) be earlier than The week that preceded National Day had seen days of heavy rain. 2. decay: n. the action or state of gradually going bad Dental/tooth decay in children is a common phenomenon all over the world. vi. 1) become bad; rot The cabbage had already started to decay. 2) fall to a worse state; lose health, power… At that time, the Roman Empire had already decayed. As people grow old, they will decay mentally as well as physically. 3. slide: v. 1) (cause to) move smoothly—slid The children slid around on the polished floor. 2) ( cause to ) move quietly Tom slid out of the house when no one was noticing. An elderly lady slid into the seat when the movie had already started. 3) slide into The boy slid into the bad habit of smoking. 4) gradually change to a worse state or condition Don’t sell your stocks just because the price starts to slide. The prices of small computers slide fast. n. slide show Presentations with overhead projection or slides may soon look old-fashioned. 4. ease: v. 1) relieve; lessen Take this medicine and it will ease the pain./ The aspirin eased his headache. 2) make more comfortable I eased her mind by telling her that the children were safe. n. 1) leisure; peace of mind The retired couple lived a life of ease. 2) with ease, the ability to do sth. without difficulty He writes with ease. / Our team won the game with ease. The wall is so low that they can jump over it with ease. 5. outline: n. 1) line(s) showing the shape or outer edge (of sth) She could see the outline of a person through the mist. 2) a statement of the main facts or points a brief outline of Chinese history vi. give a short general description of (sth) Let me outline a few of the obstacles that we might encounter in our future work. 6. hint: n. 1) a slight indication Give me a hint so that I can solve the riddle. 2) a subtle way of indicating to sb. what one is thinking or what one wants The book is full of hints and tips on low-fat eating and healthy living. v. suggest sth slightly or indirectly I hinted to him that I was dissatisfied with his work. 7. interval: n. 1) a period between two events or times, or the space between two points There was a long interval before he replied. 2) a brief period between the parts of performance I like to eat ice cream in the interval./ Coffee is available during intervals. at intervals (of) He is likely to need to rest at frequent intervals. Trees are planted at intervals of three feet in this area. 8. blank: a. 1) empty: I tried to explain, but he just gave me a blank look. Emily turned to him with a blank expression. 2) carrying no information or mark Please write your name in the blank space at the top of the page. He turned on the TV but nothing was happening--- a blank screen. n. an empty space When I tried to remember his name, my mind was a complete blank. When you have completed the blank, send it back to me. IV. Summary: Mrs. Clark was seriously ill and would die soon. She was just a skeleton at that time. The nurse accompany her finishing her rest of life. She was the mother of seven, grandmother of eighteen and a concert piano player. Her graceful hands impressed the nurse greatly. V. Homework Write a composition entitled “ Laying-off”. Section B Decisions of the Heart I. Greetings II. Review: 1. Answer the question: Why was the word “graceful” used to describe the grandmother? 2. Have a dictation of one paragraph. III. Start the new lesson: 1. Introduction Decisions of the heart actually refer to making patients die without pain. That is to say, in order to alleviate their suffering, the lives of the patients who are seriously ill and hopeless shouldn’t be prolonged by modern medical technology. Doctors shoe the situation of the patient to the families, and they cooperate to decide whether or not the doctor let the patient die without any pain. Under any possible circumstances, the patient should be consulted. 2. Discourse analysis: Part I (Paras 1-5): The author gives us a question that what we should do if our 90-year-old mother has suffered a stroke. Part II(Paras 6-12): As a doctor, he tells us the measures we should take according to his experience. Part I (Paras 13-17): In this case, the sensible decision is to put the patient’s interest in the first place. 3. language points: 1. ( all ) on one’s own 1) alone John lives all on his own. / I need some time on my own. 2) without help I managed to repair the car all on my own. She is old enough to do it on her own. Compare: of one’s own Kate has always wanted a car of her own. / You see, we have problems of our own. 2. come along: arrive; appear Is your daughter married yet? No, she’s still waiting for Mr. Right to come along. They had no idea if success would come along one day. 3. condemn: vt. criticize strongly, usu. for moral reasons East and west leaders join in condemning violence and killing. The author condemned racism in the strongest language in this article. condemn sb to : 1) make sb. take or accept sth. unpleasant His broken leg condemned him to a wheelchair. 2) punish sb with sth In former times a murderer who was found guilty would be condemned to death. Compare: condemn sb/sth for: have a poor opinion of sb or sth because of sth bad The city was condemned for its high crime rate. 4. fight off: keep sth away with an effort; avoid sb. unwanted I must wear warm clothes, as I am fighting off this cold. The firm had to fight off a lot of competitors to win the contract. Compare: fight against: oppose sth or doing sth I tried to fight against sleep, but in vain. We must fight against unfairness and cruelty. 5. vain: a. 1) unsuccessful or useless; of no value Next day I made a vain attempt to look for work, walking from house to house. 2) too interested in one’s own appearance or achievements I think she is a rather vain girl and thinking too much about her figure. Was he as calculating and vain as that? in vain: with no result; uselessly Our efforts were not in vain and the situation began to improve. Her voice was beginning to rise and she tried in vain to control it. 6. withdraw: v. 1) pull or take (sb/sth) back or away Jack withdrew the key from the table. / Mary withdrew 100 pounds from the bank. She was not surprised when he withdrew his objection. 2) go away from a place or from other people The smaller company later withdrew from the competition. 7. come by: 1) obtain, usu. By effort Jobs are hard to come by now with so many people out of work. Did you come by the money honestly? 2) receive by accident or chance; get How did you come by that wound in your arm? 8. Chances are (that)…: It is likely that… Chances are that he won’t come back when he gets there. Chances are that She’ll marry the man who is now her boss. 9. bring in: ask sb. to come to one’s help We may have to bring extra workers in to help us with this big job. A specialist was brought in to set up the new computer system. 10. bar: vt. 1) prevent from doing or using sth If I were in charge, I would bar tourists from getting into the wildlife reserve. He was barred for life from game. 2) obstruct so as to prevent progress No policeman seemed brave enough to bar his way. IV. Summary: We learn a lot of new words and phrases as well as grammars. We also learn many things about reading skills—understanding idiomatic expressions. V. Do the exercises VI. Homework: Review all the lessons.