Do you know the famous actress? She is regarded as the one of the most elegant ladies in the world. What’s her name? Can you name some films which she acted in?

罗马假期 (Roman Holiday) 1953 年

龙凤配 (Sabrina) 1954 年

战争与和平 (War and Peace)1956 年

修女传 (The Nun‘s Story) 1959 年

第凡内早餐 (Breakfast at Tiffany‘s) 1961 年

窈窕淑女 (My Fair Lady) 1964 年

Questions: 1.Have you seen the film My Fair Lady ? 2.Who wrote the play? George Bernard Shaw

Do you know something about Shaw? George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist, literary critic, a socialist spokesman, and a leading figure in the 20th century theater. Shaw was a freethinker, defender of women’s rights, and advocate of equality of income. In 1925 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. Shaw accepted the honor but refused the money. He was a very humorous playwright.

The Fair Lady by George Bernard Shaw is an adaptation of a Greek story. Do you know the story?

Pygmalion, a gifted artist, makes a stone statue of a beautiful woman

He asks the Greek Goddess to bring her to life.

His wish is granted.

Task 1 Please retell the Greek Story. Pygmalion was a very gifted artist. He spent a long time making a stone statue of a beautiful woman. It was so beautiful that he couldn’t help loving it and wanted it to be his wife.

But it was only a stone. How could he make his dream become true? He thought and thought and at last he asked the Greek Goddess to help him to bring it to life. The Greek Goddess agreed to help and his wish was granted.

Task 2 Discussion 1.Do you think that Pygmalion and his statue –wife will be happy together? 2. What problem do you think they will have? 3. How do you think they might solve them?

Suggested answers: No, I don’t think so. May be they can’t understand each other,because they come from different world. It’s very hard for Pygmalion to understand his wife,because his wife is made from a stone. She doesn’t know the words, behavior, anything about him.…

Pygmalion loves the girl so much that he decides to teach her how to speak and how to behave herself. Little by little, they understand each other well and live happily.

Do you heard of “the Pygmalion Effect”? The Pygmalion Effect is that people tend to behave as you expect they will. If you expect a person to take responsibility, they probably will. If you expect them not to even try, they probably won’t.

The play by Shaw has the same theme as the Greek story. What this theme might be? Write a short passage less than 100 words.