Unit Fourteen
The Learning of America
Teaching Objectives
?1,To get students have some knowledge
about blue jeans---not only tough and
reliable pants,but also symbol of
American spirit---equality.,
?2,To understand the purpose of writing
and organization of the text,
?3,To reinforce some basic linguistic
knowledge by doing various types of
exercises,
I,About the text
?1,What is the theme of the text?
?The history of what nowadays is a common
and popular pair of pants---jeans---is
also that of Western Movement---the
primary booming of America,
?2,How is this investigative writing
organized?
? By arranging in the chronological
order the activities and events in
reality,
3.How does the author make his
writing impressive?
?The author provides some important
information in detail---including who
the inventor was,when and how the pants
came into being,why they have become
popular and what they symbolize,
especially detailed time,inventor and
customers involved,numbers of jeans
consumed in different periods,and
examples of historic or interesting
moments when jeans-wearers witnessed,
?In addition,some terms regarding
clothes making and colloquial words
are applied,
?II,Structural analysis of the text
?Main idea of each part,
?Part One (1) ---claiming that jeans are
a sturdy American symbol---even more
popular than dollar and Coco-Cola,
?Part Two (2-3) --- introduces Levis and
his early experience as an immigrant,
?Part Three (4-5)--- the invention of
jeans and how the invention of jeans
became a legend,
?Part Four (6)---how jeans gained a
worldwide fame,
?Part Five (7)--- examples reiterate
jeans’ primary quality---roughness
and reliability,
III,Some difficult
sentences,words or phrases
?1,They drew no distinctions and
recognize no classes,
?They do not show differences in the
wearers’ professionals and social status,
?2,For two years he a lowly peddler,
hauling some 180 pounds of sundries door
to door to eke out a marginal living.,
? For two years he made a poor living
by working as a peddler of low status
who dragged heavy bags of groceries from
door to door and sold them,
?1,… his sole support (being) the
Levis belt loop…
?It is a nominative absolute
structure with,being” omitted,say,
the Levis belt loop was his only
support(saved him),
?,
?4.seek after
?e.g,We’re earnestly seeking after truth,
? It’s important to seek both happiness
and freedom,
?5,eke out
?e.g.Being abandoned by his sons,that
old grandpa had to eke out his earning
by collecting plastic bottles,
?He managed to eke out his money until
the end of the month,
?6.stand up to
?e.g,That car can stand up to various
hard conditions,
?7.get around
?e.g,Gossip soon got around that this
famous movie star got divorced,
?My father is the last one to be got
around.(persuade)
?I’m busy now but I’ll get around to
calling you later.(when convenient)
?8.runt out of
?e.g,Unfortunately,the car ran out of
its gas and couldn’t finish the left race,
?9.adapt to
?e.g,It’s necessary to adapt to your
neighbourhood when you move to a new
place,
?10.convert into
? e.g,Hydraulic power is converted
into electricity.,
IV,Some exercises after
the text
?Translation exercises,
?1) It’s important to draw a
distinction between the policies of
the leaders and their views of
their supporters,
?2) In Europe,the color white
symbolizes purity but in Asia it is
often the symbol of mourning,
?3) The tour group is confined to
the planned activities,
?4) Once the rumour gets around,he
will never work in this town again,
?5) He’s always running out of
money before payday,
?6) He got the Nobel Prize for Peace
because he was engaged in promotion of
world peace all his life,
?7) The children have found it
difficult to adapt living in an
apartment---they want a garden to play
in,
?8) A Swiss company has found a way to
convert animal waste into fuel,
?
Dictation,
?As the eldest son of my parents who were
themselves poor,I had,fortunately,to
begin to do some useful work while still
very young in order to earn a living and
therefore came to understand even in
early boyhood that my duty was to assist
my parents and become,as soon as
possible,a breadwinner in the family,
?It was a terrible task for a lad of
12 to rise every morning,except
Sunday,to go to the factory while
it was still dark,and not be
released until after darkness came
again in the evening,forty minutes’
?break only being allowed at noon,
Design of the Teaching Process
?1,Students are asked to talk about how
to start a career of their own.,
?2,Detailed study of the text mainly
based on students’ group discussion,
?3,Exercises and comment;
?4,Assignment,Write a passage
commenting on,opportunity favours those
who are fully prepared”,
? 5,Means of classroom instruction,Multi-
media