1. Unit 6 The First Day at School

2. Useful expressions in listening and speaking activities The traffic is terrible The traffic is heavy I ’ m always ready to listen You ’ re a quick learner Let them down It is fun What do you say we go skiing? Why don ’ t we go skiing?

3. About the Author: One of America ’ s greatest black writers, Richard Wright was also among the first African American writers to achieve literary fame and fortune, but his reputation has less to do with the color of his skin than with the superb quality of his work. He was born and spent the first years of his life on a plantation, not far from the affluent city of Natchez on the Mississippi River, but his life as the son of an illiterate sharecropper was far from affluent. Though he spent only a few years of his life in Mississippi, those years would play a key role in his two most important works: Native Son, a novel, and his autobiography, Black Boy.

4. Key points for text Warming up questions: Warming up questions: 1) What was your first day in school like? 2) Try to list as many words as possible to describe your feeling for the first day at school.

5. Laughing stock If you say that a person or an organization has become a laughing stock, you mean that they are supposed to be important or serious but have been made to seem ridiculous. n. 笑柄 If you say that a person or an organization has become a laughing stock, you mean that they are supposed to be important or serious but have been made to seem ridiculous. n. 笑柄 e.g. an international laughing stock 在国际上遭耻笑的对象 The truth must never get out. If it did she would be a laughing-stock....his policies became the laughing stock of the financial community....his policies became the laughing stock of the financial community.

6. lift (v.) 1) raise from a lower to a higher position e.g. He was too weak even to lift his hand. e.g. He was too weak even to lift his hand. 他虚弱得连手都抬不起来。 2) take hold of something and move it to a different location. e.g. I lifted the child down from the tree. e.g. I lifted the child down from the tree. 我把孩子从树上抱了下来。 3) move upwards e.g. The mist began to lift. 雾开始消散。

7. Lift (n) 1) lifting; being lifted; 抬； 举 e.g. Give him a lift. He is too small to see anything. 把他抱起来，他人太矮，什么也看不见。 2) elevator 电梯 2) elevator 电梯 e.g. He pressed the button to call the lift. e.g. He pressed the button to call the lift. 他按键招呼电梯。

8. giggle 1. v. If someone giggles, they laugh in a childlike way, because they are amused, nervous, or embarrassed. e.g. Both girls began to giggle... `I beg your pardon?' she giggled. `I beg your pardon?' she giggled....a giggling little girl....a giggling little girl. 2 n. If you say that someone has the giggles, you mean they cannot stop giggling. e.g. I was so nervous I got the giggles... She had a fit of the giggles. She had a fit of the giggles.

9. stiffen v. 1) If you stiffen, you stop moving and stand or sit with muscles that are suddenly tense, for example because you feel afraid or angry. e.g. Ada stiffened at the sound of his voice... 2) If your muscles or joints stiffen, or if something stiffens them, they become difficult to bend or move. e.g. The blood supply to the skin is reduced when muscles stiffen. These clothes restrict your freedom of movement and stiffen up(=stiffen) the whole body... 3) stiffened: If something such as cloth is stiffened, it is made firm so that it does not bend easily. e.g. This special paper was actually thin, soft Sugiwara paper that had been stiffened with a kind of paste... e.g. This special paper was actually thin, soft Sugiwara paper that had been stiffened with a kind of paste...

10. coax v. coax sb. into doing sth. = persuade them to do sth. coax sb. into doing sth. = persuade them to do sth. e.g. The government coaxed them to give (or coaxed them into giving)up their strike by promising them temporary residence permits.

11. impulse n. a sudden desire to do sth. e.g. He resisted an impulse to smile. An impulse buy/ impulse purchase: something you decide to buy when you see it, although you had not planned to buy it. Those books were an impulse buy. on impulse: e.g. After lunch, she decided on impulse to take a bath. Impulsive adj.

12. flash v. 1) If something flashes through or into your mind, you suddenly think about it. e.g. A ludicrous thought flashed through Harry's mind... 2) If something flashes past or by, it moves past you so fast that you cannot see it properly. e.g. It was a busy road, cars flashed by every few minutes.

13. flash n. You talk about a flash of something when you are saying that it happens very suddenly and unexpectedly. You talk about a flash of something when you are saying that it happens very suddenly and unexpectedly. e.g. `What did Moira tell you?' Liz demanded with a flash of anger... The essays could do with a flash of wit or humor. If you say that something happens in a flash, you mean that it happens suddenly and lasts only a very short time. e.g. The answer had come to him in a flash... It was done in a flash. It was done in a flash.

14. redeem v. If you redeem yourself or your reputation, you do something that makes people have a good opinion of you again after you have behaved or performed badly e.g. He had realized the mistake he had made and wanted to redeem himself... e.g. The sole redeeming feature of your behaviour is that you're not denying it.

15. When something redeems an unpleasant thing or situation, it prevents it from being completely bad. e.g. Work is the way that people seek to redeem their lives from futility.. redemption n.

16. paralyse / paralyze v. 1) If someone is paralysed by an accident or an illness, they have no feeling in their body, or in part of their body, and are unable to move. e.g. Her married sister had been paralysed in a road accident. 2) If a person, place, or organization is paralysed by something, they become unable to act or function properly. 2) If a person, place, or organization is paralysed by something, they become unable to act or function properly. e.g. For weeks now the government has been paralysed by indecision... The strike has virtually paralysed the island. The strike has virtually paralysed the island.

17. paralysed adj. e.g. The disease left him with a paralysed right arm. He was absolutely paralysed with shock. paralysing adj. e.g....paralysing shyness.

18. to the exclusion of If you do one thing to the exclusion of something else, you only do the first thing and do not do the second thing at all. e.g. Diane had dedicated her life to caring for him to the exclusion of all else. exclude v. e.g. The Academy excluded women from its classes... e.g. The Academy excluded women from its classes... exclusive adj. 专一的，专用的，不包括的；

19. flush (v.) 1) If you flush, your face goes red because you are hot or ill, or because you are feeling a strong emotion such as embarrassment or anger. e.g. Do you sweat a lot or flush a lot?... He turned away embarrassed, his face flushing. He turned away embarrassed, his face flushing.

20. flush v. 2) When someone flushes a toilet after using it, they fill the toilet bowl with water in order to clean it, usually by pressing a handle or pulling a chain. You can also say that a toilet flushes. e.g. She flushed the toilet and went back in the bedroom....the sound of the toilet flushing....the sound of the toilet flushing. 3) cause birds to fly suddenly e.g. The birds flushed with the sound of the gunshot. 枪声惊飞了鸟。 e.g. The birds flushed with the sound of the gunshot. 枪声惊飞了鸟。

21. Flush (n) 1) sudden reddening of the face (as from embarrassment or guilt or shame or modesty) 脸红 2) sudden brief sensation of heat (associated with menopause and some mental disorders) 激动；兴 奋 e.g. She shows a flush of joy at his coming. e.g. She shows a flush of joy at his coming. 对他的到来她表现出一阵兴奋。 对他的到来她表现出一阵兴奋。

22. titter v. laugh nervously e.g. The audience tittered politely. 听 众很有礼貌地吃吃地笑了笑. n. a nervous restrained laugh 嗤笑, 偷笑 n. a nervous restrained laugh 嗤笑, 偷笑

23. 笑 smile 微笑，亲切愉快的； smile 微笑，亲切愉快的； laugh 出声大笑； laugh 出声大笑； grin 露齿而笑； grin 露齿而笑； giggle 哧哧地笑，傻笑； giggle 哧哧地笑，傻笑； guffaw 哄笑； guffaw 哄笑； beam 面露喜色； beam 面露喜色； sneer 冷笑； sneer 冷笑； titter 窃笑，偷偷地笑； titter 窃笑，偷偷地笑；

24. desperate adj. 1) arising from or marked by despair or loss of hope 绝望的 e.g. a desperate cry for help 2) (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair 不顾一切的 e.g. e.g. He was rifling through her desk in a desperate search for the letter. He was rifling through her desk in a desperate search for the letter.

25. Utter (adj) adj. without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers; total. 全然的, 绝对, 完全 e.g. What utter rubbish he talks! e.g. What utter rubbish he talks! It ‘ s an utter waste of time. It ‘ s an utter waste of time. Our new radio is an utter failure. Our new radio is an utter failure. 我们的新收音机完全是个废物. 我们的新收音机完全是个废物.

26. Utter (v) articulate; either verbally or with a cry, shout, or noise 发出, 作声 e.g. e.g. How can you utter such falsehoods? How can you utter such falsehoods? 你怎么能说出这种谎言？

27. Utterly (adv) completely and without qualification; used informally as intensifiers 完全, 全然, 绝对 e.g. She utterly despises him. She utterly despises him. We utterly failed to convince them. We utterly failed to convince them. He was utterly shameless in his demands.

28. prolong (vt.) lengthen in time; cause to be or last longer 延 长, 拖延 lengthen in time; cause to be or last longer 延 长, 拖延 e.g. e.g. The meeting may be prolonged into the evening because so many problems have to be solved tonight. The meeting may be prolonged into the evening because so many problems have to be solved tonight. 我们怎样才能延长短促的人生？ How can we endeavor to prolong the brevity of human life? How can we endeavor to prolong the brevity of human life?

29. prolonged (adj.) relatively long in duration 持续很久的 ( 长时期的, 长时间的 ) relatively long in duration 持续很久的 ( 长时期的, 长时间的 )e.g: After prolonged questioning, she finally confessed. After prolonged questioning, she finally confessed. The crowd burst into prolonged cheering. The crowd burst into prolonged cheering.

30. Keys to translation 1. Three days’ hard work made John tired out / exhausted. 2. This point is no doubt quite absurd. (No doubt this point is quite absurd.) (No doubt this point is quite absurd.) 3. I was about to answer the phone when the door-bell rang.

31. 4. Please place the book back when you have finished reading it. 5. The meeting was prolonged into the evening. 6. Maggie spends almost all her spare time reading, to the exclusion of other entertainment.

32. Written work Write a passage on one of the following topics: 1. My First Day at School 2. My First Day at College 3. Tips on the First Day at School

33. You must use at lease five of the following words in your writing: You must use at lease five of the following words in your writing: (a)laughing stock, be about to do … (a)laughing stock, be about to do … impulse, flush, confidence, impulse, flush, confidence, burst into laughter/tears, perform, no doubt, burst into laughter/tears, perform, no doubt,