Unit 7
The Virtues
of Growing
Older
purposes
? 1,To get students know the virtues of
growing old,
? 2,To understand the purpose of writing and
the advantages the writer mentions,
? 3,To reinforce some basic linguistic
knowledge by doing various types of
exercises,
? The,game of life” is really a game of trade-
offs,As we age,we trade strength for
ingenuity,speed for thoroughness,passion
for reason,These exchanges may not
always seem fair,but at every age,there are
some advantages,So it is reassuring to note
that even if you’ve passed some of your
“prime”,you still have other prime years to
experience in the future,
Structural analysis of the text
? Main idea of each part,
Part I (1-2)—The writer airs her own view about
growing older,
Part II (3-5)—The writer illustrates a number of
distinct advantages of growing older with
examples,
Part III (6)—The writer winds up her discussion
with a reference to her parents’ contentment,
About the Text
? What are the advantages the writer mentions in the
second part? Pick out the relevant topic sentences,
Being less obsessed with one’s appearance,
Being less uncertain about the unknowns,
Being sure of one’s identity,
? What is the function of the last sentence of the
second paragraph?
It is both thematic and transitional,
some difficult sentences,words or phrases
? And women,I’m embarrassed to admit,even more than
men,have always seemed to be at the mercy of fashion,
I am embarrassed to admit that women are less capable
than men of resisting the temptation of fashion,
? It means trying on new selves by taking up with
different crowds,
It means that you make friends with different people in
order to find a new identity for yourself,
Language Points
convince
? persuade 说服
究竟是什么使得你愿意投他们的票？
What convinced you to vote for them?
我们说服了安妮放弃乘飞机而坐火车走。
We convinced Anne to go by train rather than plane,
? make sb feel certain; cause sb to realize使某人确信，使
某人明白
他认识了错误
He was convinced of his error,
她的一番话使我认识到我错了。
What she said convinced me that I was mistaken,
Work out
? to work out daily with sparring partner 每天和拳击陪练
员练习
我经常努力锻炼身体以保持健康。
I work out regularly to keep fit,
? Things worked out quite well,
? to work out the equation/problem,
? I’ve never been able to work her out,
? I’ve worked out your share of the expenses,
? The general worked out a new plan of attack,
? The total works out at $10,
(turn out)
(solve)
(understand sb’s nature)
(calculate)
(devise)
aged
? My daughter is aged 7 years,
? a man aged forty (years)
? The sick and the aged need our help,
? an aged man
be apt to
? 易于 … 的
这种鞋容易滑倒。
This shoe is apt to slip,
他容易为小事而激动。
He is apt to get excited over trifles,
? 聪明的；伶俐的
an apt student 聪明的学生
My little sister is apt at languages,
我的小妹妹 善于 学习语言。
be obsessed with
? fill the mind of sb continually 使某人牵挂、惦念、着迷或
困扰
She became obsessed in her old age with what to do with
her immense wealth,
他老是害怕失业。
He is obsessed with the fear of unemployment,
她总觉得受人监视而心神不宁。
She was obsessed with the idea that she was being
watched,
Mega-
? million; very large or great
megadeath megahertz megaton
megaphone megastar
fall apart
? break; fall to pieces
我的汽车要散架了。
My car is falling apart,
他们的婚姻终于破裂了。
Their marriage finally fell apart,
? John enjoys taking old clocks apart,
? tell/know A and B apart
deny
? refuse to give,or prevent sb from having
She was angry at being denied the opportunity to see me,
He denies himself nothing,克制自己
He denied himself all small pleasures and luxuries in his
effort to live a holy life,
Stop denying yourself! Relax and have a good time,
? say that is not true
He denied knowing anything about it,
He denied that he was involved,
at the mercy of
? 在,..的掌握之中,完全受,..支配,任,..摆布
那只船在暴风雨中失去控制。
The ship was at the mercy of the storm,
? Never leave a silk shirt to the tender mercies of an
automatic washing-machine,
听任某人粗暴对待 ; 听任某人任意摆布
preferable
? 较合意的；更可取的
Coffee is preferable to tea,I think,
在这样的热天吃冷食更好。
Cold food is preferable in this heat,
他感到在乡村生活比在城市生活要好些。
He finds country life preferable to living in the city,
elect
? 作出选择；决定
他决定当医生。
He elected to become a doctor,
她决定孩子出生后再去做工作。
She elected to return to work after her baby was born,
(It's) no wonder
难怪；并不奇怪；当然
难怪他不饿，他整天在吃糖果。
No wonder he is not hungry; he has been eating sweets all
day,
wish
? 但愿我能变成一只鸟。
I wish I were [was] a bird,
? 我希望现在能看到他。
I wish I could see him now,
? 他想要是他没这样做该多好。
He wished he hadn't done it,
? 我希望你能找到一个好职业
I wish (that) you would get a good job,
contradict
? Your actions contradict your declared moral principles,
你的行为违背了你宣称的道德准则。
? 这些报告相互矛盾。
The reports contradict each other,
? 他的实验结果似乎违背了物理定律。
The result of his experiments seemed to contradict the
law of physics,
Translation
1,They were all staring at me—honestly,I had never felt so
embarrassed in my whole life,
2,Before you can make the right choice,you need a lot more
information,
3,The party failed to convince the majority of the voters that it
was capable of governing the country,
4,To keep slim,she denied herself ice-creams,
5,Recently he has taken up with two bad boys,which makes his
parents really angry,
6,Have you read these newspaper reports? They totally
contradict each other,
7,In a number of professions it is possible to continue working
beyond the retirement age,
8,When he was in the mood,he would sing his favorite song,
Dictation
I think that a successful old age is easiest for those who have
strong impersonal interests leading to suitable activities,It is in
these activities that long experience is really fruitful,and that the
wisdom born of experience can be used without becoming a
burden,It is no use telling grown-up children not o make mistakes,
both because they will not believe you,and because mistakes are
an essential part of education,But if you are one of those who are
incapable of impersonal interests,you may find that your life will
be empty unless you concern yourself with your children and
grandchildren,In that case you must realize that while you ch still
help them in material ways,you must not expect that they will
enjoy your company,
The Virtues
of Growing
Older
purposes
? 1,To get students know the virtues of
growing old,
? 2,To understand the purpose of writing and
the advantages the writer mentions,
? 3,To reinforce some basic linguistic
knowledge by doing various types of
exercises,
? The,game of life” is really a game of trade-
offs,As we age,we trade strength for
ingenuity,speed for thoroughness,passion
for reason,These exchanges may not
always seem fair,but at every age,there are
some advantages,So it is reassuring to note
that even if you’ve passed some of your
“prime”,you still have other prime years to
experience in the future,
Structural analysis of the text
? Main idea of each part,
Part I (1-2)—The writer airs her own view about
growing older,
Part II (3-5)—The writer illustrates a number of
distinct advantages of growing older with
examples,
Part III (6)—The writer winds up her discussion
with a reference to her parents’ contentment,
About the Text
? What are the advantages the writer mentions in the
second part? Pick out the relevant topic sentences,
Being less obsessed with one’s appearance,
Being less uncertain about the unknowns,
Being sure of one’s identity,
? What is the function of the last sentence of the
second paragraph?
It is both thematic and transitional,
some difficult sentences,words or phrases
? And women,I’m embarrassed to admit,even more than
men,have always seemed to be at the mercy of fashion,
I am embarrassed to admit that women are less capable
than men of resisting the temptation of fashion,
? It means trying on new selves by taking up with
different crowds,
It means that you make friends with different people in
order to find a new identity for yourself,
Language Points
convince
? persuade 说服
究竟是什么使得你愿意投他们的票？
What convinced you to vote for them?
我们说服了安妮放弃乘飞机而坐火车走。
We convinced Anne to go by train rather than plane,
? make sb feel certain; cause sb to realize使某人确信，使
某人明白
他认识了错误
He was convinced of his error,
她的一番话使我认识到我错了。
What she said convinced me that I was mistaken,
Work out
? to work out daily with sparring partner 每天和拳击陪练
员练习
我经常努力锻炼身体以保持健康。
I work out regularly to keep fit,
? Things worked out quite well,
? to work out the equation/problem,
? I’ve never been able to work her out,
? I’ve worked out your share of the expenses,
? The general worked out a new plan of attack,
? The total works out at $10,
(turn out)
(solve)
(understand sb’s nature)
(calculate)
(devise)
aged
? My daughter is aged 7 years,
? a man aged forty (years)
? The sick and the aged need our help,
? an aged man
be apt to
? 易于 … 的
这种鞋容易滑倒。
This shoe is apt to slip,
他容易为小事而激动。
He is apt to get excited over trifles,
? 聪明的；伶俐的
an apt student 聪明的学生
My little sister is apt at languages,
我的小妹妹 善于 学习语言。
be obsessed with
? fill the mind of sb continually 使某人牵挂、惦念、着迷或
困扰
She became obsessed in her old age with what to do with
her immense wealth,
他老是害怕失业。
He is obsessed with the fear of unemployment,
她总觉得受人监视而心神不宁。
She was obsessed with the idea that she was being
watched,
Mega-
? million; very large or great
megadeath megahertz megaton
megaphone megastar
fall apart
? break; fall to pieces
我的汽车要散架了。
My car is falling apart,
他们的婚姻终于破裂了。
Their marriage finally fell apart,
? John enjoys taking old clocks apart,
? tell/know A and B apart
deny
? refuse to give,or prevent sb from having
She was angry at being denied the opportunity to see me,
He denies himself nothing,克制自己
He denied himself all small pleasures and luxuries in his
effort to live a holy life,
Stop denying yourself! Relax and have a good time,
? say that is not true
He denied knowing anything about it,
He denied that he was involved,
at the mercy of
? 在,..的掌握之中,完全受,..支配,任,..摆布
那只船在暴风雨中失去控制。
The ship was at the mercy of the storm,
? Never leave a silk shirt to the tender mercies of an
automatic washing-machine,
听任某人粗暴对待 ; 听任某人任意摆布
preferable
? 较合意的；更可取的
Coffee is preferable to tea,I think,
在这样的热天吃冷食更好。
Cold food is preferable in this heat,
他感到在乡村生活比在城市生活要好些。
He finds country life preferable to living in the city,
elect
? 作出选择；决定
他决定当医生。
He elected to become a doctor,
她决定孩子出生后再去做工作。
She elected to return to work after her baby was born,
(It's) no wonder
难怪；并不奇怪；当然
难怪他不饿，他整天在吃糖果。
No wonder he is not hungry; he has been eating sweets all
day,
wish
? 但愿我能变成一只鸟。
I wish I were [was] a bird,
? 我希望现在能看到他。
I wish I could see him now,
? 他想要是他没这样做该多好。
He wished he hadn't done it,
? 我希望你能找到一个好职业
I wish (that) you would get a good job,
contradict
? Your actions contradict your declared moral principles,
你的行为违背了你宣称的道德准则。
? 这些报告相互矛盾。
The reports contradict each other,
? 他的实验结果似乎违背了物理定律。
The result of his experiments seemed to contradict the
law of physics,
Translation
1,They were all staring at me—honestly,I had never felt so
embarrassed in my whole life,
2,Before you can make the right choice,you need a lot more
information,
3,The party failed to convince the majority of the voters that it
was capable of governing the country,
4,To keep slim,she denied herself ice-creams,
5,Recently he has taken up with two bad boys,which makes his
parents really angry,
6,Have you read these newspaper reports? They totally
contradict each other,
7,In a number of professions it is possible to continue working
beyond the retirement age,
8,When he was in the mood,he would sing his favorite song,
Dictation
I think that a successful old age is easiest for those who have
strong impersonal interests leading to suitable activities,It is in
these activities that long experience is really fruitful,and that the
wisdom born of experience can be used without becoming a
burden,It is no use telling grown-up children not o make mistakes,
both because they will not believe you,and because mistakes are
an essential part of education,But if you are one of those who are
incapable of impersonal interests,you may find that your life will
be empty unless you concern yourself with your children and
grandchildren,In that case you must realize that while you ch still
help them in material ways,you must not expect that they will
enjoy your company,
