Lesson 3 My Favorite Comedy

Free talk Do you like to watch comedies? What is your favorite funny movie or TV program? Who is your favorite TV comedian?

For me, I like watching comedies very much. Of all the comedies I have watched, I like the Crazy Stone best because all the lines there are in Chongqing dialect. And I can easily follow the plot. The best comedian, in my mind, is Mr. Bean.

Background Mr. Bean

phrasal verbs The most famous comedy actor Chaplin is fond of imitating other people. Zeng Zhiwei can put on different voices.

Xie Tingfeng always gets into trouble and then gets out of it. Mr. Bean makes out that he/she is not very bright. He usually dresses up as different people.

He tells good anecdotes and makes up good jokes. Mr. Bean can make you burst out laughing. I really turn you off because you never return back my things.

Reading Strategies 1. First, read the text to get the general idea Reading Strategies 1. First, read the text to get the general idea. Then read the questions and use them to guide you.

2.Sometimes things are not stated explicitly in the text. You need to make inferences or read between the lines to understand what is meant. 3.Read the text again using logic to make inferences.

Read Text 1 and answer the questions. 1.Why has Mr. Bean gone to a fancy restaurant on this particular day? 2.Does Mr. Bean have many friends? How do you know?

3.Why does Mr. Bean choose the “steak tartare”? 4.Why does Mr. Bean pretend to like the food when the waiters talk to him?

Answers 1.Because that day was Mr. Bean’s birthday and he wanted to show to a lot of people that someone really sent him a card. Actually , the birthday card was sent to him by himself.

2.No. because nobody sent him a birthday card. He could only write it by himself. 3.Because he didn’t have enough money to order other dishes. 4. Because if he showed his disliking to the face of the waiter, the waiter would ask him to order something else.

As all of us know, he could not afford to order other dishes.

Adverbs and its usages 1.Mr. Bean is an internationally recognized comedy character on TV and in films. People all over the world know Mr. Bean. He constantly gets into awkward and absurd situations,

which greatly amuses audiences regardless of their nationality and culture. 2.Frequently getting into strange and embarrassing situations makes somebody laugh.

Its usages 1.Adverbs that describes the way something is done 2.Adverbs that describe when or how often something is done 3.Adverbs that can describe other adjectives

Useful phrases 1.He became so desperate in the end that he even hides some inside the purse of a woman sitting near him and throws some down the trousers of the restaurant’s violinist! hopeless people who major in playing violin(小 提琴)

2.The humor is always made clearly through a series of simple and funny acts that purely rely on body language, which is universal. many /only

3.When he looks at the menu, an astonished look swiftly appears on his face. a surprised facial expression quickly

4. He makes an attempt to eat it, but it is clear from the look on his face that he finds the taste truly disgusting. try to do sth. really bad

Read the second passage, and try to work out the main idea of the second passage. The passage talks about the actor who plays Mr. Bean, Rowan Atkinson.

Second-reading 1.How do you know that Rowan Atkinson is not like his famous character Mr. Bean? In what ways is he different? 2.Did Rowan Atkinson’s parents encourage him to become an actor? Why or why not?

Answers 3.Does Rowan Atkinson like to work with other talented people? How do you know? Answers 1.In the first paragraph, there is a sentence: if you think that Rowan Atkinson is anything like his famous creation, then you’re in for a surprise. So we can infer from it that Atkinson is not like

his famous character Mr. Bean at all. 2.No. Because he spent his early years with his family on the farm with his mother, three older brothers and his strict father, who did not believe in the value of television.

3.Yes. Because when he met a group of talented people at university, he realized this could be a career for him. We can infer from this passage that he likes to work with other talented people.

Words and phrases 1. …, then you are in for a surprise. You will be surprised. 2.At Oxford, he obtained his Master’s degree in electrical engineering. This might explain his interest in fast cars, of which he has a vast collection.

got his Master’s /Bachelor'/Doctor's degree .That is why he is so interested in … 3.Rowan’s career change from an electrical engineer to a famous comedian was partly due to some speaking problems he had in his childhood.

4.He compensated for this by talking very deliberately. be because of 4.He compensated for this by talking very deliberately. make up for …(弥补) intentionally 5.This may have inspired the abnormal speech patterns of many of his characters. activated / not normal

6.Although his teachers predicted a career in acting, Rowan was not convinced himself, until he met a group of talented people at university, who were involved in theater, and he realized this could be a career for him.

tell sth. in advance/sure take part in sth./participate in sth. 7.It was one of those things which happen very rarely in your life, when you realize you are in the presence of genius. I was convinced he would be more famous than Chaplin. seldom/be faced with

Speaking Retell the second passage according the following clues: When he was young, he …. , who ….He studied in the same .... At 13, he earned …to study in a….

Later he studied …in … university. he was so interested in …that he had a vast …of …. There are two reasons for his change of career: the first, he had some problems in …, so he compensated for this by talking intentionally.