Unit 5 Overcoming Obstacles Text A True Height

Pre-reading activities Cultural notes Text organization Language points Post-reading tasks

Pre-reading activities: Listen to A Song Named Coming Out of Dark and answer the following questions: 1. Consider the title of the song, what does “ Dark ” refer to? 2. How is the song related to the theme of the unit? 3. What proverbs can you think of in association with the theme of the unit? What is the Chinese version of these proverbs? 4. There is also a similar saying by Michael ’ s father, what is that? 5. What contributes to success according to the text?

Keys to Pre-reading Questions 1. It refers to near death, loss of consciousness after the car accident, slow and painful recovery, and despair. 2. The song is about getting over despair after injury, which is also a form of overcoming obstacles. 3. (1). Where there is a will, there is a way. 有志者事竟成。 (2). Rome wasn ’ t built in a day. 伟业非一日之功 / 罗马非朝夕建成。 (3). God helps those that help themselves. 黄天不负有心人 / 自助者天助。

(4). You shall reap what you sow. 种豆得豆，种瓜得瓜 / 一分耕耘，一分收 获。 (5). Constant dripping wears away the stone. 碶而不舍，金石可镂。 4. If you want something, work for it./You want something, work for it. 5. Hard work is important to success, but it is not the only factor that contributes to success. As we will find in this text, dreaming is equally important.

Cultural Notes 1. Sports : Sports play an important in American life. Professional baseball and (American) football games attract large crowds, and many people watch games on television. Although many parents complain about their children being couch potatoes (=people who spend a lot of time watching television), there are sports at school for all ages. College students are usually also required to take physical education classes to complete their studies.

2. Olympics: The ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia every four years from 776 B.C. to 392 A.D. The modern Games first held in 1896 in Greece and, with the exception of three games not held because of the two world wars, have been in various cities of the world at regular 4-year intervals. Since 1924, a separate program of minter sports has been added to the Games. IN 2008 Beijing will host the 29 th Olympic Games.

The Olympic symbol--- five interlocking red, blue, yellow, and green circles on a white field--- represents the continents of the world joined in friendship. The Olympic motto is Citius---Altius---Fortius. These words mean “ Swifter, Higher, Stronger. ”

The Olympic Games are organized and governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It has offices in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Committee has made many decisions that affect the modern Olympics. For example, in 1912, the Committee decided to allow women to compete in the Games. Olympic Museum Lausanne Back

Text Organization 1 Organizationally the text could break into four parts. Part one narrates the most challenging competition in Michael/s career. In part two, the author goes back to talk about Michael ’ s childhood dreams. Part three resumes the narration of the competition, and Part four serves as a conclusion. Now put the paragraph numbers of each part and then give its main idea.

Keys to Text Organization 1 PartsParagr- aphs Main ideas Part One Paras 1-2 Michael faced the most challenging competition in his pole-vault career. Part Two Paras 3-5 Michael’s childhood was marked with dreams and tough training. Part Three Paras 6-12 Michael’s topped his personal best, won the championship and set a new world record. Part Four Paras 13 What was most unusual about Michael’s victory was that he was blind.

Text Organization 2 Now scan the first sentence of Paras 1-6 and answer the following questions. 1) Which first sentence switches from past tense to past perfect tense? 2) Which first sentence shows that flashback is over and the narration returns to the National Junior Olympics?

Keys to Text Organization 2 1) The first sentence of Para 3: As long as Michael could remember he had been always dreamed flying. A story is usually narrated in the simple past tense. When a past event is recalled, the past perfect tense will be used as a signal. Afterwards the flashback is also narrated in the simple past tense. 2) The first sentence of Para 6: All of Michael ’ s vaults today seemed to be the reward for his hard work.

Text Organization 3 As the text consists of the main story and a flashback, the narration has to switch from the ongoing competition to earlier events and then return to the ongoing competition. How, then, does the author manage to make these parts in the text flow smoothly?

Keys to Text Organization 3 One way is to repeat a key word in the last sentence of a paragraph in the first sentence of the next paragraph. Another way is to pick up a key idea from a previous paragraph and repeat it in the sentence introducing the next paragraph. Now find out the key word that helps join Part One and Part Two and the key idea that helps join Part Two and Part three.

1) Key word: It also has the element of flying, and the thought of flying as high as a two-story building is a mere fantasy to anyone watching such an event. As long as Michael could remember he had always dreamed of flying. 2) Key idea: All of Michael ’ s vaults today seemed to be the reward for his hard work.

Language points: 1. bear out : prove that (sth.) is true The witnesses will bear you out in court.

2. sweat : drops of a liquid similar to water that come through the skin when one is hot, ill, afraid, etc. Sweat was dripping from his forehead. v. produce sweat He was sweating heavily when he returned from his run.

3. grace : quality of being smooth and elegant, esp, in movement or structure Classically trained dancers have an extraordinary grace of movement.

4. mere : nothing more than It ’ s a mere 200 meters from my house to the college.

5. fantasy : imagination, esp, when it has no connection at all with reality. Having watched so many animated cartoons, some children can ’ t tell fantasy from reality

6. numerous : very many During the Depression, numerous people wandered from town to town looking for work.

7. passion : strong feeling, esp, of love. He had never before loved anyone with such passion. have a passion for : have a strong interest in sth. and like it very much She had a passion for dancing which interfered with her schoolwork.

8. detail : 1) small, particular fact or item. No details of the negotiation between the two countries have been revealed. 2) sth. which is unimportant and doesn’t affect the main issue. The salary is a detail; the main thing is to find a jib. go into detail(s) : explain sth. Thoroughly Can you give me a rough idea of what happened, without going into detail? in detail : fully or thoroughly She told them in detail what they were going to say at the meeting.

9. recur : come or happen again The school authorities warned the student that he would be expelled if this cheating recurs.

10. coincide : 1) happen at the same time (following by with) The art exhibition coincides with the 50 th anniversary of his death. 2) be in agreement (with) He gave great encouragement to his students, especially if their passion happened to coincide with his own.

11. core : the most important part The core of the problem is their objection to educational reform.

12. alternate : every other or second, happening by turns He experienced alternate bouts of depression and cheerful within one day.

13. relax : make or become less tense, worried or nervous The rest strategy for avoiding stress is to learn how to relax.

14. on one/two/several occasion(s) : once/twice/several times in the past 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.

15. vain : too pleased with one’s own abilities or looks She was vain of/about her appearance

16. emotion : a strong feeling of any kind Love, joy, hate, fear and jealousy are all emotions.

17.preparation : the act or process of preparing Banks have made adequate preparations for the introduction of the euro the new common currency in 12 European countries.

18.be ashamed of : feeling foolish or uncomfortable because of (sth.) You should be ashamed of yourself, telling lies at your age.

19. startle : give a sudden shock or surprise to Goodness, how you startled me appearing out of nowhere like that.

20. intensity : the state of being intense In order to finish the job in time, we have to work with greater intensity.

21. anxiety : a feeling of worry or fear The increase in the tax on heating fuel is causing a lot of anxiety among elderly people.

22. tension : worry or nervousness Smiling and laughing has been shown to relieve tension and stress.

23. tense : feeling worried or nervous; making people worried or nervous Facing so many teachers, John got very tense and made several mistakes in his recitation.

24. along with : together with Along with hundreds of others he had invested money in stocks and bonds.

25. stretch out : hold a part of your body straight out in front of you There were beggars everywhere, pathetically stretching their hands out to passers-by.

26. bring (sb.) back to earth : cause (sb.) to stop daydreaming; cause (sb.) to return to reality. Jack had been spending all his time chatting on line with his key-pals until his parents had a word with him and brought him back to earth.

27. in one ’ s mind ’ s eye : in one ’ s imagination; in one ’ s memory In his mind, she is still a shy girl.

28. congratulate : tell (sb.) that one is pleased about his good fortune or achievements (followed by on ) His teachers congratulated him on winning the first prize in the speech contest. My son has been promoted to CEO. We must write to congratulate him.

29. media : (collective noun) means of mass communication, e.g. TV, radio, newspapers. They are wondering whether bias in the news media contributed to the candidate ’ s defeat. Much of what children learn comes directly from the mass media.

Post-reading tasks: 1. Usage of Work Study the different meanings of the word work in the following sentences: 1.do an activity which needs physical or mental effort … they worked on perfecting their craft … (Text A, Unit1, Book2) He ’ s studied woodworking and worked at it … (Text B, Unit2, Book2) If you want something, work for it. (Text A, Unit5, Book2) 2. engage in physical exercise or training He worked out every other day with weightlifting … (Text A, Unit5, Book2) 3. have the desired effect It turned out to be untrue, but the move worked. (Text A, Unit2, Book2)

He began shaking the tension. It wasn ’ t working. (Text A, Unit5, Book2) 4. be calculated at Compounded, that works out to an annual rate of more than 70 per cent. (Text B, Unit3, Book2) 5. (cause to) move gradually or with difficulty into another position … began working his upper body through the window inch by inch. (Text B, Unit7, Book1) 6. (cause to) operate Unfortunately, science doesn ’ t work that way. (Text B, Unit3, Book1) It was a good example of the scientific method working the way it is supposed to. (Text B, Unit3, Book1) Back

2. Playing on the Meaning of Words 1.Many words have more than one meaning and can remind one of a number of different ideas and events at all. Read the first three sentences of the text to find out where the author uses a word in two different senses. 2.How do you understand the title of this text? Does it also carry more than one meaning?

Keys to Playing on the Meaning of Words 1. The word “ hot ” in “ The sun was as hot as the competition he faced at the National Junior Olympics. ” plays on two different meanings, respectively “ having a high temperature ”, which is literal, and “ fierce, intense ”, which is figurative. 2. The text plays on words more than one occasion. The text title, True Height, itself has more than one meaning. We may understand it as the new bar heights that Michael cleared one after another, or we may view it as the tremendous obstacles Michael had overcome in attaining his goal.

Here the poet plays on words. Each line has a word or words that remind us of an activity or discovery associated with the scientist mentioned. REPLAYING TO AN INTIVATION TO A SCITNTISTS ’ BALL Pierre and Marie Curie were radiating enthusiasm; Einstein thought it would be relatively easy to attend; Volta was electrified and Archimedes, buoyant at the thought; Ampere was worried he wasn ’ t up to current research; Ohm resisted the idea at first; Boyle said he was under too much pressure; Edison thought it would be an illuminating experience; Watt reckoned it would be a good way to let off steam; Wilbur Wright accepted, provide he and Orville could get a flight; Morse ’ s reply: “ I ’ ll be there on the dot. Can ’ t stop mow---must dash.