Unit 5
Overcome
Obstacles
Text A True Height
Contents
? Teaching Objectives
? Background Information
? Text Organization
? Language Points
? Discussion
Teaching Objectives
?Main idea
Dreaming and hard work helped Michaeal
Stone on his way to success
?Narrative skills
using details to bring out a character; a
surprising ending; use of puns
?language points,grammatical
structures and comprehensive skills
Background Information
Olympics
The Olympic Games are the most important
international sports event in the world held every
four years,The ancient Olympic Games were
held in Olympia every four years from 776 B.C to
392 A.D,The modern Games were first held in
1896 in Greece and,with the exception of three
games not held because of the two world wars,
have been held in various cities of the world at
regular 4-year intervals,In 2008 Beijing will host
the 29th Olympic Games,
Text Organization
Parts Para,Main Ideas
One 1-2
Two 3-5
Three 6-12
Four 13 --
Michael faced the most challenging
competition in his pole-vaulting career,
Michael?s childhood was marked with
dreams and tough training,
Michael topped his personal best,
won the championship and set a new
world record,
Language Points
mere fantasy detail
relax vain emotion
passion intensity anxiety
tension tense congratulate
bear out coincide with
on (…)occasion(s) be ashamed of
along with stretch out
it is…that… What-clause
mere
adj [attrib] (no comparative form) nothing
more than; no better or more important than
She's a mere child,
他不只是拳击手,还是世界冠军呢,
He's not a mere boxer,he's world champion,
merely adv only; simply 仅 ; 只 ; 不过
Ex,光说（不做）无济於事,
Mere words won't help,
fantasy n
1) [U] imagination or fancy,esp when completely
unrelated to reality,
I still have the fantasy that one day I will win the
National Lottery,
2) [C] product of the imagination; wild or
unrealistic notion,
Stop looking for the perfect job-- it's just a
fantasy,
Ex.这个年青人生活在幻想的世界里。
The young man lives in a world of fantasy/a
fantasy world,
detail
n [C] [U] small,particular fact or item细节 Please
give me all the details,
A good organizer pays attention to detail,
Collocation,
go into detail(s)详述,逐一细说
in detail 详细地
Can you give me a rough idea of what happened,
without going into detail?
Ex,给我说说事故发生的详情，详细告诉我发生了
什么事。
Give me all the details of the accident — tell me
what happened in detail,
relax
vt,vi,make or become less tense,worried or
nervous 放松，松弛
Don't worry about it; just try to relax,
Don't relax your efforts,
你不要松懈下来。
n,relaxation
Ex,经过一天辛苦工作后，他喜欢看电影消遣。
After a hard day?s work,he liked to relax by
going to the movies,
vain adj,
1) too pleased with one's abilities or looks 虚荣
的，自负的 【 ~of/ about】,
Too much praise can make a person vain,
She was vain of/about her appearance,
2) 无用的；徒劳的,
All our work was in vain,
我们所有的工作都白费了。
Ex.他对自己的发言很得意。
He is vain of his speech,
emotion
n 1) [C] strong feeling of any kind情感,
The speaker appealed to our emotions rather than
to our minds,
演讲者激发了我们的情感而不是启发我们的思考,
爱情,喜悦,憎恨,恐惧,嫉妒都是强烈的感情,
Love,joy,hate,fear and jealousy are all emotions,
2) [U] excitement or disturbance of the mind or
(more usu) the feelings 激动 ; 感动,
She answered in a voice filled with emotion,
passion n
1)[U,C] strong feeling,eg of hate,love or anger,
Passions were running high at the meeting,
have a strong passion for,have a strong interest
in sth,and like it very much
She had a passion for dancing,
2) [sing] angry state; rage (used esp in the
expressions shown)
be in a passion 在盛怒中
get/fly into a passion 勃然大怒
passionate adj,热情的 passionately adv,
Ex,她争论时情绪很激动,
She argued with great passion,
intensity
n [U] 1) state or quality of being intense 强烈 ; 剧
烈 ; 紧张,
He worked with greater intensity,
2) strength of emotion （感情的）强烈程度,
I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings
on this issue,
我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋,
intense adj,强烈的,热情的,激烈的,
intense competition 激烈的竞争
Ex,_________________________________
（动情地望着她）,the man said,“would you
please marry me?”
Looking at her with intensity (passion)
anxiety
n 1) [U] a feeling of worry or fear; [C] instance of
such a feeling忧虑 ; 担心,
We waited for news with a growing sense of
anxiety,
The anxieties of the past week had left her
exhausted,
2) [U] 【 ~ for sth/to do sth】 strong desire or
eagerness for sth/to do sth 渴望
Ex.这个医生的报告消除了他的一切忧虑。
The doctor's report removed all their anxieties,
tension
n 1) [U] worry,nervousness or tenseness紧张,
Tension is a major cause of heart disease,
精神紧张是引起心脏病的主要原因,
2) [U] state or degree of stretching or being
stretched 拉力 ; 张力 ;紧张状态,
Massage helps relieve the tension in one's
muscles,
按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛,
3) [U,C usu pl.] condition when feelings are
tense or relations between people,groups,etc
are strained 心情、关系紧张的状态,
racial/social tension (s)
tense
adj 1)causing tenseness 引起紧张的,
a tense moment,atmosphere,meeting
2) stretched tightly; taut 拉紧的 ; 紧张的,
3) with muscles tight in anticipation of what may
happen （因预料要出事）肌肉紧的,
faces tense with anxiety 因焦急而显得紧张的面孔,
4) unable to relax; edgy神经紧张的 ; 易怒的,
He's a very tense person,
tense vt,(cause sb/sth to) become tense
tenseness n,
Ex,比赛一直都很紧张。
The game is tense (intense) all the time,
congratulate
vt,【 ~ sb (on sth)】 tell sb that one is pleased
about his good fortune or achievements； 【 ~
oneself (on/upon (doing) sth) 】 be proud (of sth)
庆贺，庆幸,
congratulate sb on his marriage,new job,etc,
You can congratulate yourself on having done a
good job,
Ex,他的老师 庆贺他获得演讲比赛一等奖,
His teacher congratulated him on winning the
first prize in the speech contest,
bear out vt,prove that (sth.) is true 证实
The other witnesses will bear me out/bear out
what I say,
Cf,1) bear down vt,战胜或击败 2) bear up
(against/ under sth) 对付 ; 处理 3) bear with
(sb/sth) vt,耐心地忍受,
Ex,Choose the correct word from the above,
He's ___________well against all his misfortunes,
They ___________ the enemy,
We must _____________ her (ie treat her with
sympathy) during this difficult period,
bearing up
bore down
bear with
coincide with (sth.)
vi 1） (of events) occur at the same time,
Her arrival coincided with our departure,
她来到时我们正好离开,
vi,2） be in agreement 一致,
100 degrees centigrade coincides with 212
degrees Fahrenheit,
Ex,她在音乐方面的爱好与她丈夫一致,
Her taste in music coincides with her husband's,
on one/two/several/ numerous occasin（ s ）
有一（两，几,无数）次
On several occasions,I attempted to talk with my
parents about my taking a part-time job,but my
mother instantly interrupted me by asking me
questions about my studies,
Cf,on occasion adv.有时
He reads detective stories on occasion,
Ex.有几次市内交通被暴风雪所阻断 (interrupt)。
Traffic in the city was interrupted by a snowstorm
on several occasions,
be ashamed of (sth./ sb./ oneself)
[= be ~ (that...) ]feeling foolish or uncomfortable
because of (sth.) 感到羞耻 ; 感到惭愧,
She was ashamed of her behavior at the party,
You should be ashamed of yourself for telling
such lies,
I feel ashamed that I haven't written for so long,
= I feel ashamed of not having written for so
long,
Ex,He felt that he has done so little work,(改写
为 be ashamed of)
He felt ashamed of having done so little work,
along with prep,together with,
I keep my checks in the top drawer,along with
my other important documents,
stretch out vt,vi,hold a part of your body
straight out in front of you,
There were beggars everywhere,pathetically
stretching their hands out to passers-by,
We stretched out on the lawn,
Ex,我伸手去拿那本杂志。
I stretched out my arm for the magazine,
it is…that… 强调句 （分裂句 cleft sentence）
分裂句是以 it 为引导词的强调句型。它的结构形式
是,It+ be + 中心成分 + that-/who- 分句。分裂句
是由普通陈述句转换而来，可以强调除谓语动词
外的大多数句子成分，如主语、宾语、状语，使
之成为信息中心。如,
a)It was at the exact moment he took a deep
breath that he began to lift off the ground,(line
18-19);
强调时间状语 at the exact moment…,转换为普
通陈述句为 He began to lift off the ground at
the exact moment he took a deep breath,
b)It was either the eruption of the people in the
stands or the thump of his landing that brought
Michael back to earth,(line 79-80)
强调主语，转换为普通陈述句为 Either the
eruption of… or… brought Michael back to
earth,
Ex,Rewrite,
?John gave Mary a handbag at Christmas,
强调间接宾语,
It was Mary that John gave a handbag (to) at
Christmas,
强调状语,
It was at Christmas that John gave Mary a
handbag,
what clause (wh- 名词性从句 )
a)Where he flew would always coincide with his
mother?s stories,Wherever he flew was with a
keen eye for detail and the free spirit of his
mother?s love,(line 21-23) ;
b) What he didn’t know was that his dad was
hugging his wife and crying,(line 83-84)
wh-名词性从句可作主语,也可作宾语。 Wh- 疑问
词通常包括 who,what,whichever等连接代词，
和 where,when,how,why 等连接副词。如,
Why he left so abruptly is not known to any of us,
Ex,I can?t imagine_______________________
(什么会使他那样做 )。
what made him act like that
Discussion
?Michael is blind,Why do you think the author
wants to keep quiet about this important detail
until the very end of the story?
As we read on,our admiration for Michael is
building up until we believe that,when Michael
broke both national and international records,we
have reached the climax,However,the real
climax is in the last sentence which shows that
Michael is blind,It has a great impact on us,
?How do you understand the title,True
Height”?
The text title,True Height,itself has more
than one meaning,It literally means,the new
bar heights that Michael cleared one after
another,and figuratively means,the
tremendous obstacles Michael had overcome
in attaining his goal”
Overcome
Obstacles
Text A True Height
Contents
? Teaching Objectives
? Background Information
? Text Organization
? Language Points
? Discussion
Teaching Objectives
?Main idea
Dreaming and hard work helped Michaeal
Stone on his way to success
?Narrative skills
using details to bring out a character; a
surprising ending; use of puns
?language points,grammatical
structures and comprehensive skills
Background Information
Olympics
The Olympic Games are the most important
international sports event in the world held every
four years,The ancient Olympic Games were
held in Olympia every four years from 776 B.C to
392 A.D,The modern Games were first held in
1896 in Greece and,with the exception of three
games not held because of the two world wars,
have been held in various cities of the world at
regular 4-year intervals,In 2008 Beijing will host
the 29th Olympic Games,
Text Organization
Parts Para,Main Ideas
One 1-2
Two 3-5
Three 6-12
Four 13 --
Michael faced the most challenging
competition in his pole-vaulting career,
Michael?s childhood was marked with
dreams and tough training,
Michael topped his personal best,
won the championship and set a new
world record,
Language Points
mere fantasy detail
relax vain emotion
passion intensity anxiety
tension tense congratulate
bear out coincide with
on (…)occasion(s) be ashamed of
along with stretch out
it is…that… What-clause
mere
adj [attrib] (no comparative form) nothing
more than; no better or more important than
She's a mere child,
他不只是拳击手,还是世界冠军呢,
He's not a mere boxer,he's world champion,
merely adv only; simply 仅 ; 只 ; 不过
Ex,光说（不做）无济於事,
Mere words won't help,
fantasy n
1) [U] imagination or fancy,esp when completely
unrelated to reality,
I still have the fantasy that one day I will win the
National Lottery,
2) [C] product of the imagination; wild or
unrealistic notion,
Stop looking for the perfect job-- it's just a
fantasy,
Ex.这个年青人生活在幻想的世界里。
The young man lives in a world of fantasy/a
fantasy world,
detail
n [C] [U] small,particular fact or item细节 Please
give me all the details,
A good organizer pays attention to detail,
Collocation,
go into detail(s)详述,逐一细说
in detail 详细地
Can you give me a rough idea of what happened,
without going into detail?
Ex,给我说说事故发生的详情，详细告诉我发生了
什么事。
Give me all the details of the accident — tell me
what happened in detail,
relax
vt,vi,make or become less tense,worried or
nervous 放松，松弛
Don't worry about it; just try to relax,
Don't relax your efforts,
你不要松懈下来。
n,relaxation
Ex,经过一天辛苦工作后，他喜欢看电影消遣。
After a hard day?s work,he liked to relax by
going to the movies,
vain adj,
1) too pleased with one's abilities or looks 虚荣
的，自负的 【 ~of/ about】,
Too much praise can make a person vain,
She was vain of/about her appearance,
2) 无用的；徒劳的,
All our work was in vain,
我们所有的工作都白费了。
Ex.他对自己的发言很得意。
He is vain of his speech,
emotion
n 1) [C] strong feeling of any kind情感,
The speaker appealed to our emotions rather than
to our minds,
演讲者激发了我们的情感而不是启发我们的思考,
爱情,喜悦,憎恨,恐惧,嫉妒都是强烈的感情,
Love,joy,hate,fear and jealousy are all emotions,
2) [U] excitement or disturbance of the mind or
(more usu) the feelings 激动 ; 感动,
She answered in a voice filled with emotion,
passion n
1)[U,C] strong feeling,eg of hate,love or anger,
Passions were running high at the meeting,
have a strong passion for,have a strong interest
in sth,and like it very much
She had a passion for dancing,
2) [sing] angry state; rage (used esp in the
expressions shown)
be in a passion 在盛怒中
get/fly into a passion 勃然大怒
passionate adj,热情的 passionately adv,
Ex,她争论时情绪很激动,
She argued with great passion,
intensity
n [U] 1) state or quality of being intense 强烈 ; 剧
烈 ; 紧张,
He worked with greater intensity,
2) strength of emotion （感情的）强烈程度,
I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings
on this issue,
我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋,
intense adj,强烈的,热情的,激烈的,
intense competition 激烈的竞争
Ex,_________________________________
（动情地望着她）,the man said,“would you
please marry me?”
Looking at her with intensity (passion)
anxiety
n 1) [U] a feeling of worry or fear; [C] instance of
such a feeling忧虑 ; 担心,
We waited for news with a growing sense of
anxiety,
The anxieties of the past week had left her
exhausted,
2) [U] 【 ~ for sth/to do sth】 strong desire or
eagerness for sth/to do sth 渴望
Ex.这个医生的报告消除了他的一切忧虑。
The doctor's report removed all their anxieties,
tension
n 1) [U] worry,nervousness or tenseness紧张,
Tension is a major cause of heart disease,
精神紧张是引起心脏病的主要原因,
2) [U] state or degree of stretching or being
stretched 拉力 ; 张力 ;紧张状态,
Massage helps relieve the tension in one's
muscles,
按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛,
3) [U,C usu pl.] condition when feelings are
tense or relations between people,groups,etc
are strained 心情、关系紧张的状态,
racial/social tension (s)
tense
adj 1)causing tenseness 引起紧张的,
a tense moment,atmosphere,meeting
2) stretched tightly; taut 拉紧的 ; 紧张的,
3) with muscles tight in anticipation of what may
happen （因预料要出事）肌肉紧的,
faces tense with anxiety 因焦急而显得紧张的面孔,
4) unable to relax; edgy神经紧张的 ; 易怒的,
He's a very tense person,
tense vt,(cause sb/sth to) become tense
tenseness n,
Ex,比赛一直都很紧张。
The game is tense (intense) all the time,
congratulate
vt,【 ~ sb (on sth)】 tell sb that one is pleased
about his good fortune or achievements； 【 ~
oneself (on/upon (doing) sth) 】 be proud (of sth)
庆贺，庆幸,
congratulate sb on his marriage,new job,etc,
You can congratulate yourself on having done a
good job,
Ex,他的老师 庆贺他获得演讲比赛一等奖,
His teacher congratulated him on winning the
first prize in the speech contest,
bear out vt,prove that (sth.) is true 证实
The other witnesses will bear me out/bear out
what I say,
Cf,1) bear down vt,战胜或击败 2) bear up
(against/ under sth) 对付 ; 处理 3) bear with
(sb/sth) vt,耐心地忍受,
Ex,Choose the correct word from the above,
He's ___________well against all his misfortunes,
They ___________ the enemy,
We must _____________ her (ie treat her with
sympathy) during this difficult period,
bearing up
bore down
bear with
coincide with (sth.)
vi 1） (of events) occur at the same time,
Her arrival coincided with our departure,
她来到时我们正好离开,
vi,2） be in agreement 一致,
100 degrees centigrade coincides with 212
degrees Fahrenheit,
Ex,她在音乐方面的爱好与她丈夫一致,
Her taste in music coincides with her husband's,
on one/two/several/ numerous occasin（ s ）
有一（两，几,无数）次
On several occasions,I attempted to talk with my
parents about my taking a part-time job,but my
mother instantly interrupted me by asking me
questions about my studies,
Cf,on occasion adv.有时
He reads detective stories on occasion,
Ex.有几次市内交通被暴风雪所阻断 (interrupt)。
Traffic in the city was interrupted by a snowstorm
on several occasions,
be ashamed of (sth./ sb./ oneself)
[= be ~ (that...) ]feeling foolish or uncomfortable
because of (sth.) 感到羞耻 ; 感到惭愧,
She was ashamed of her behavior at the party,
You should be ashamed of yourself for telling
such lies,
I feel ashamed that I haven't written for so long,
= I feel ashamed of not having written for so
long,
Ex,He felt that he has done so little work,(改写
为 be ashamed of)
He felt ashamed of having done so little work,
along with prep,together with,
I keep my checks in the top drawer,along with
my other important documents,
stretch out vt,vi,hold a part of your body
straight out in front of you,
There were beggars everywhere,pathetically
stretching their hands out to passers-by,
We stretched out on the lawn,
Ex,我伸手去拿那本杂志。
I stretched out my arm for the magazine,
it is…that… 强调句 （分裂句 cleft sentence）
分裂句是以 it 为引导词的强调句型。它的结构形式
是,It+ be + 中心成分 + that-/who- 分句。分裂句
是由普通陈述句转换而来，可以强调除谓语动词
外的大多数句子成分，如主语、宾语、状语，使
之成为信息中心。如,
a)It was at the exact moment he took a deep
breath that he began to lift off the ground,(line
18-19);
强调时间状语 at the exact moment…,转换为普
通陈述句为 He began to lift off the ground at
the exact moment he took a deep breath,
b)It was either the eruption of the people in the
stands or the thump of his landing that brought
Michael back to earth,(line 79-80)
强调主语，转换为普通陈述句为 Either the
eruption of… or… brought Michael back to
earth,
Ex,Rewrite,
?John gave Mary a handbag at Christmas,
强调间接宾语,
It was Mary that John gave a handbag (to) at
Christmas,
强调状语,
It was at Christmas that John gave Mary a
handbag,
what clause (wh- 名词性从句 )
a)Where he flew would always coincide with his
mother?s stories,Wherever he flew was with a
keen eye for detail and the free spirit of his
mother?s love,(line 21-23) ;
b) What he didn’t know was that his dad was
hugging his wife and crying,(line 83-84)
wh-名词性从句可作主语,也可作宾语。 Wh- 疑问
词通常包括 who,what,whichever等连接代词，
和 where,when,how,why 等连接副词。如,
Why he left so abruptly is not known to any of us,
Ex,I can?t imagine_______________________
(什么会使他那样做 )。
what made him act like that
Discussion
?Michael is blind,Why do you think the author
wants to keep quiet about this important detail
until the very end of the story?
As we read on,our admiration for Michael is
building up until we believe that,when Michael
broke both national and international records,we
have reached the climax,However,the real
climax is in the last sentence which shows that
Michael is blind,It has a great impact on us,
?How do you understand the title,True
Height”?
The text title,True Height,itself has more
than one meaning,It literally means,the new
bar heights that Michael cleared one after
another,and figuratively means,the
tremendous obstacles Michael had overcome
in attaining his goal”
