Unit 2
Text A All the Cab Had Was a
Letter
? Part 1 Objectives
? Part 2 Cultural Notes
? Part 3 Text Structure
? Part 4 Language Points
? Part 5 Content Questions
I,Objectives
Students will be able to,
1.grasp the main idea (never delay expressing your true
feeling to a friend) and structure of the text (developing a
story around a letter);
2.appreciate that spoken English is much more informal than
written English,short,simple,incomplete,some words
/phrases do not usually find their way into written English,
shorter paragraph length,sentence length,dialogue,etc.[Back]
II,Cultural notes
1.Halloween
Halloween is celebrated annually,It is on the night of
Oct,31st,when people once believed that ghosts could be
seen,Now in Britain and
America,it is a time when
children have parties,dress up
as witches,make lanterns out of
pumpkins from which the inside
has been removed,and play
“trick or treat”.The traditional
activity means that they will
play a,trick”,or joke,on the
people in the house unless they
are given a,treat”,eg,sweets
or money,Most people prefer to
give treats rather than having
tricks played on them,[Back]
III,Text Structure
IV,Language points
1.available,able to be used,had
Parts Paragraphs Main ideas
Part 1 Paras 1-20 From a conversation with the cab driver
the author learned how much he regretted
failing to keep up correspondence with his
old friend Ed,
Part 2 Paras 21-35 Reading the letter by himself,the author
learned more about the lifelong friendship
between the driver and Old Ed,
Part 3
Paras 36 The driver’s experience urged the author
to reach for his pen,
,
e.g.--We have already used up all the available space,
--These tickets are available for one month only,
2.estimate,form a judgment about
estimation n,overestimate underestimate
e.g.--We estimate that the total cost for the treatment of the
disease will go from $5,000 to $7,000,
-- The expense is estimated at three million,
3.practically adv.,almost
practice v,practical adj,Practicable adj,
e.g.--It rained practically everyday,
--He says he is practically ruined,
4.correspondence correspond with… ; corresponding;
correspondent
e.g.--I have been in correspondence with him about the
problem,
--Her interest in writing came from a correspondence
with a close friend,
--There is not much correspondence between their
ideals and ours,(agreement; similarity)
5,go ahead,continue; begin
e.g.--The board will vote today on whether to go ahead with
the plan,
-- I had enough confidence to go ahead,
6.kind/ sort of, a little bit; in some way or degree ( used
before verb)
e.g.--The boy’s description kind of gives us an idea of what’s
happening,
--I kind of thought this would happen,
7.on one’s mind,be troubled about sth
e.g.--Dealings on the stock market have been on his mind all
the time,
--It weighs heavily on my mind,
8.skip,move quickly from one thing to another
e.g.-- He skipped the dull parts of the book,
-Children who skip breakfast often don’t concentrate
as well as others,
9.reference,mention refer to
reference book; for further reference
reference to, with reference to = concerning; about
e.g.-- It was strange that he made no reference to any
work experience in his resume,
-- With reference to your recent letter,I’m instructed
to inform you that we cannot accept the offer,
10.urge,urge sb,to do sth,/ into doing sth,
urge that -clause
e.g.-- I don’t want to urge you against your own wish,
-- We urge that systems be put in place to prevent
such accidents,
11.postpone = put off; delay; suspend; hold up
e.g.-- Let’s postpone making a decision until we have more
information,
-- They had postponed having children to go abroad,
12,come up,happen; occur; take place; turn up
e.g.--Her divorce case comes up next month,
--Something new has just come up and I must go and
attend to it immediately,
13,hang out,to wait aimlessly in a certain place
e.g.-- Teenagers like to hang out round the square,
14,He must have been completely lost in something
because…
Paraphrase,He must have been fully occupied with what
he was reading because I had to make some noise on the
window to draw his attention,
15.,Letters from home always mean a lot,” I said., At least
they do with me because I’m on the road so much.”
Paraphrase,Letters from home are of great value,at least they
are of a lot of importance to me because I travel a lot in a car
for long distance,
16.,… But I take it he is someone you’ve known quite a
while?
Paraphrase,But I expect that he is someone that you have
known for quite a long time,
17.But I realized that Old Ed was still on his mind when he
spoke again,almost more to himself than to me:, I should
have kept in touch,Yes,” …
Paraphrase,But I realize that the taxi driver was still
thinking of Old Ed when he spoke again,It seemed that he
spoke more to himself than to me:, I should have written to
him regularly,Yes.” He said repeatedly,,I should have kept in
touch with him.”
18.might /may (just) as well
e.g.-- Since it is a fine day,we might as well walk,
-- Anyway,you’ve here; you might as well stay,
19.sound/ look/smell/ feel + as if
e.g.-- It feels as if it is made of silk,
-- She looks as if she is worried about it,
V,Content questions
1,What was the cab driver doing when the author
wanted to take the taxi?
2,How often did they see each other over the past 25
or 30 years? Why?
3,Why did the author repeat that he should have kept
in touch?
4,What did the author decide to do when he arrived at
the hotel? Why? [Back]
Ex1,Complete the following sentences with the given
words and the phrase,might/may as well”,
1,It’s too late to go to the movies so we ______ (watch),
2,Since they’re ready to lend an ear,you ______ (pour
out) your troubles to them
3,I think we ______ ( buy ) this coat,We’re not going to
find anything cheaper,[Back]
Text A All the Cab Had Was a
Letter
? Part 1 Objectives
? Part 2 Cultural Notes
? Part 3 Text Structure
? Part 4 Language Points
? Part 5 Content Questions
I,Objectives
Students will be able to,
1.grasp the main idea (never delay expressing your true
feeling to a friend) and structure of the text (developing a
story around a letter);
2.appreciate that spoken English is much more informal than
written English,short,simple,incomplete,some words
/phrases do not usually find their way into written English,
shorter paragraph length,sentence length,dialogue,etc.[Back]
II,Cultural notes
1.Halloween
Halloween is celebrated annually,It is on the night of
Oct,31st,when people once believed that ghosts could be
seen,Now in Britain and
America,it is a time when
children have parties,dress up
as witches,make lanterns out of
pumpkins from which the inside
has been removed,and play
“trick or treat”.The traditional
activity means that they will
play a,trick”,or joke,on the
people in the house unless they
are given a,treat”,eg,sweets
or money,Most people prefer to
give treats rather than having
tricks played on them,[Back]
III,Text Structure
IV,Language points
1.available,able to be used,had
Parts Paragraphs Main ideas
Part 1 Paras 1-20 From a conversation with the cab driver
the author learned how much he regretted
failing to keep up correspondence with his
old friend Ed,
Part 2 Paras 21-35 Reading the letter by himself,the author
learned more about the lifelong friendship
between the driver and Old Ed,
Part 3
Paras 36 The driver’s experience urged the author
to reach for his pen,
,
e.g.--We have already used up all the available space,
--These tickets are available for one month only,
2.estimate,form a judgment about
estimation n,overestimate underestimate
e.g.--We estimate that the total cost for the treatment of the
disease will go from $5,000 to $7,000,
-- The expense is estimated at three million,
3.practically adv.,almost
practice v,practical adj,Practicable adj,
e.g.--It rained practically everyday,
--He says he is practically ruined,
4.correspondence correspond with… ; corresponding;
correspondent
e.g.--I have been in correspondence with him about the
problem,
--Her interest in writing came from a correspondence
with a close friend,
--There is not much correspondence between their
ideals and ours,(agreement; similarity)
5,go ahead,continue; begin
e.g.--The board will vote today on whether to go ahead with
the plan,
-- I had enough confidence to go ahead,
6.kind/ sort of, a little bit; in some way or degree ( used
before verb)
e.g.--The boy’s description kind of gives us an idea of what’s
happening,
--I kind of thought this would happen,
7.on one’s mind,be troubled about sth
e.g.--Dealings on the stock market have been on his mind all
the time,
--It weighs heavily on my mind,
8.skip,move quickly from one thing to another
e.g.-- He skipped the dull parts of the book,
-Children who skip breakfast often don’t concentrate
as well as others,
9.reference,mention refer to
reference book; for further reference
reference to, with reference to = concerning; about
e.g.-- It was strange that he made no reference to any
work experience in his resume,
-- With reference to your recent letter,I’m instructed
to inform you that we cannot accept the offer,
10.urge,urge sb,to do sth,/ into doing sth,
urge that -clause
e.g.-- I don’t want to urge you against your own wish,
-- We urge that systems be put in place to prevent
such accidents,
11.postpone = put off; delay; suspend; hold up
e.g.-- Let’s postpone making a decision until we have more
information,
-- They had postponed having children to go abroad,
12,come up,happen; occur; take place; turn up
e.g.--Her divorce case comes up next month,
--Something new has just come up and I must go and
attend to it immediately,
13,hang out,to wait aimlessly in a certain place
e.g.-- Teenagers like to hang out round the square,
14,He must have been completely lost in something
because…
Paraphrase,He must have been fully occupied with what
he was reading because I had to make some noise on the
window to draw his attention,
15.,Letters from home always mean a lot,” I said., At least
they do with me because I’m on the road so much.”
Paraphrase,Letters from home are of great value,at least they
are of a lot of importance to me because I travel a lot in a car
for long distance,
16.,… But I take it he is someone you’ve known quite a
while?
Paraphrase,But I expect that he is someone that you have
known for quite a long time,
17.But I realized that Old Ed was still on his mind when he
spoke again,almost more to himself than to me:, I should
have kept in touch,Yes,” …
Paraphrase,But I realize that the taxi driver was still
thinking of Old Ed when he spoke again,It seemed that he
spoke more to himself than to me:, I should have written to
him regularly,Yes.” He said repeatedly,,I should have kept in
touch with him.”
18.might /may (just) as well
e.g.-- Since it is a fine day,we might as well walk,
-- Anyway,you’ve here; you might as well stay,
19.sound/ look/smell/ feel + as if
e.g.-- It feels as if it is made of silk,
-- She looks as if she is worried about it,
V,Content questions
1,What was the cab driver doing when the author
wanted to take the taxi?
2,How often did they see each other over the past 25
or 30 years? Why?
3,Why did the author repeat that he should have kept
in touch?
4,What did the author decide to do when he arrived at
the hotel? Why? [Back]
Ex1,Complete the following sentences with the given
words and the phrase,might/may as well”,
1,It’s too late to go to the movies so we ______ (watch),
2,Since they’re ready to lend an ear,you ______ (pour
out) your troubles to them
3,I think we ______ ( buy ) this coat,We’re not going to
find anything cheaper,[Back]
