1. Unit 6

2. Contents  Pre-reading questions Pre-reading questions Pre-reading questions  Background information Background information Background information  Structure analysis Structure analysis Structure analysis  Comprehension questions Comprehension questions Comprehension questions  Language points of Text I Language points of Text I Language points of Text I  Grammatical items Grammatical items Grammatical items  Exercises Exercises  Comprehension questions of Text II Comprehension questions of Text II Comprehension questions of Text II  Oral activities Oral activities Oral activities  Writing practice Writing practice Writing practice

3. Text I Towards a Gender Free Society  Pre-reading questions Are there any boy schools or girl schools in your city? What is your idea of such schools?

4. Background information (1)  How does single sex school come from?  The contemporary concept and implementation of public single-sex schools is less than a decade old. The Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem, for example, was founded in 1996. However, private single-sex schooling has a much longer history. Up until the 20th century, most private schools were sexually segregated, largely because young women were not deemed worthy of a proper education.

5. Background information (2)  How does single sex school come from?  Furthermore, Victorian propriety considered it risky for young women and men to be in the same classrooms — females, it was understood, needed to be protected from the more-brutish nature of the male. To some extent, this is the same argument put forth today: women need to be protected from men.

6. Background information (3)  How does single sex school come from?  And it’s true that studies show that college-age women do better in the classroom in single-sex situations, primarily because men often take up more classroom time and space, leaving the women in the room at a disadvantage.

7. Background information (4)  Debate: single sex education or coeducation?  Coeducation has been scrutinized on several fronts: some evidence suggests that coeducational classes cultivate interactions both between boys and girls and between students and teachers that impede academic achievement. Supporters of single-sex education assert that when removed from the social pressures and sexual biases inherent to mixed-sex environments, many students demonstrate more commitment to academics, fewer sexually stereotyped behaviors, and higher achievement than their co educated peers.

8. Background information (5)  More recently, proponents have pointed to the growing body of research that shows the very different ways that the brain functions and develops in boys and girls (particularly in terms of language, spatial relations, and emotions) in making the case for single-sex schools.

9. Structure analysis of the text (1)  In the first two paragraphs, the writer states the existing gender stereotypes be fore he rejects the social sex norms on the ground that they are invented and imposed on man, but rest their logic nowhere. Clearly, he negates the artificially crated gender norms by means of logical reasoning.

10. Structure analysis of the text (2) Then, he naturally arrives at the conclusion that the idea of single sex schools is groundless. In the third paragraph, the write argues against the single sex school by pointing out its defects or disadvantages. Then, he naturally arrives at the conclusion that the idea of single sex schools is groundless. In the third paragraph, the write argues against the single sex school by pointing out its defects or disadvantages.

11. Structure analysis of the text (3)  The first sentence of the fourth paragraph is a topic sentence, which is supported bye a summary of the advantages of coeducation. In the concluding paragraph, the write repeats his idea of coeducation and suggests what a gender free society should be like.

12. Comprehension questions (1)  How are boys portrayed as from the time they are born?  They are portrayed as boisterous and disruptive once they are born.  What are such concepts as “gender appropriate” and “stereotyped sex roles”?  They are only social norms invented by man, imposed on man, but cannot support their logic at all.

13. Comprehension questions (2)  What is the aim of education according to the author?  It is to stimulate impulses, encourage free thinking and boldness in thought and keep alive various interests.

14. Comprehension questions (3)  For what reason does the author cite the example “ a boy enjoys sewing”? What may the education in single sex school lead to?  The author cites this example to illustrate that education should not interfere with individual freedom and kill autonomy of self –determinism. It may lead to the fragmentation of knowledge of individual identity.

15. Comprehension questions (4)  In what sense does the author say that sexual polarization is dangerous?  It is dangerous in a sense that it servers a sense of community by isolating people into two gender groups who have little chance to communicate and hold a distorted and hostile image of each other.

16. Comprehension questions (5)  To what extent in the author’s opinion can a society be healthy?  It is a gender free society, in which male and female are a reproductive category only, but no longer central to their identity and to the understanding of themselves and others.

17. Language points of Text I (1)  1. masculine: of or having the qualities or appearance thought to be typical of men.  Eg. She looks rather masculine in that suit.  Eg. He is tall, strong, energetic, generous, and very brave, showing a number of masculine traits and qualities.

18. Language points of Text I (2)  feminine: of having the qualities or appearance considered characteristic of women.  It is said that babies like feminine voices.  She is full of feminine sympathy for the poor and the misfortunate.

19. Language points of Text I (3)  unwavering: firm, unmoved, not hesitating.  He has an unwavering belief that one day he will succeed as a great artist.  That man is unwavering in his support for feminism

20. Language points of Text I (4)  stereotype: a conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image which is considered to be true in all cases. (sb. Or sth. That represents) a fixed set of ideas about what a particular type of person or thing is like.  she believes that she is not a good mother because she dies not fit the stereotype of a woman who spends all her time with her children.  The characters in the film are just stereotypes with no individuality.

21. Language points of Text I (5)  portray:  a. depict or represent pictorially; to make a picture of  The young artist tried to portray the old countess  b. depict or describe in words  Mark Twain portrayed little Tom as a naughty but lovely boy   c. represent dramatically, as on the stage   The young actor portrayed the antagonist vividly

22. Language points of Text I (6)   boisterous   ( of people or behavior ) noisy, lively and cheerful  The children are really boisterous today.  (of the wind or sea) stormy; rough  The boisterous sea devoured several boats.

23. Language points of Text I (7)  disruptive: bringing or throwing into disorder  A few disruptive students can easily ruin a class.  He has a disruptive influence on the other children

24. Language points of Text I (8)  Conform to: agree with or comply with  She refuses to conform to the normal social conventions.  The building does not conform to safety regulations.

25. Language points of Text I (9)  docile: quiet and easily controlled, managed. Or influenced, submissive  A docile horse is not difficult to control.  She has always been a docile child.

26. Language points of Text I (10)  Permanent  1) lasting or expected to last for a long time or forever  The injury left him with a permanent limp.  2) being not likely to change  I will give you my permanent address.

27. Language points of Text I (11)  Identify  1) show or prove who or what sb or sth is; to recognize  Can you identify your umbrella among all these ones?  Consider sth to be identical with sth else; to equate two things  We can not identify happiness with wealth.

28. Language points of Text I (12)  attribute:  a.quality regarded as a natural or typical part of somebody/ something.  Patience is one of these most important attributes in a teacher.  b.Object recognized as a symbol of a person or his position.  Te scepter is an attribute of kingly power.

29. Language points of Text I (13)  distinction:  a.difference or contrast between one person or thing and another  He drew a quite artificial distinction between men and women.  b.separation of things or people into different groups according to quality, grade, etc.  The university enrolls students without distinction of rank.

30. Language points of Text I (14)  Excellence: the quality of being excellent or very good  The carpenter won a prize for excellence in furniture design.  We all admire the excellence of her cooking.

31. Language points of Text I (15)  Appropriate: suitable for a particular situation; right and proper  You will be informed of the details at the appropriate time.  His bright clothes were hardly appropriate for such a solemn occasion.

32. Language points of Text I (16)  norm: generally accepted standard or pattern that is typical( of a group, etc.)  You must adapt to the norms of the society you live in.  Terrorists violate the norms of civilized society.

33. Language points of Text I (17)  Impose: to force the acceptance of something usu. Difficult or unwanted  The band has imposed very strict conditions for the repayment of the loan.  Economic sanctions have been imposed on the small nation.

34. Language points of Text I (18)  Rest: be based on sth.  His fame rests more on his plays than on his novels.  Your arguments rests on a statement that can’t be proved.

35. Language points of Text I (19)  grounds: reasons; the facts or conditions that provide a basis for an action  You have no grounds for constant complaining.  Her claim was disallowed on the ground that she had not paid her premium.

36. Language points of Text I (20)  Impulse 1)Sudden urge to act without thinking about the results  He felt an irresistible impulse to jump. 2)Push or thrust; stimulus; impetus  The government took new measures to give an impulse to industrial expansion.

37. Language points of Text I (21)  Boldness  1)being confident and brave; daring ;enterprising  The soldier is famous for his boldness.  2)being clearly visible; being vivid, distinct  You can see the boldness of the outline of the mountain against the sky.

38. Language points of Text I (22)  Uniform: not changing in form or character; not different or varying in any way.  The rows of houses were uniform in appearance.  The air-conditioning system maintains a uniform temperature in the building.

39. Language points of Text I (23)  prescribe:  a.advise or order the use of (esp. a medicine, remedy, etc,)  Ask the doctor to prescribe something for your cough.  b.declare with authority that sth. Should be done or is a rule to be followed.  Police regulations prescribe that an officer’s number must be clearly visible.

40. Language points of Text I (24)  curriculum: (pl. curriculums or curricula) subjects included in a course of study or taught at a particular school, college, etc,  Is German on your schools curriculum?  Has computer study been introduced into the school curriculum?

41. Language points of Text I (25)  Accessible: that can be reached, used, obtained, etc.  These documents are not accessible to the public.  The island is accessible only by boat.

42. Language points of Text I (26)  segment: part of sth. Separated or marked off from the other parts  She cleaned a small segment of the painting.  The company dominates this segment of the market.

43. Language points of Text I (27)  interfere with : obstruct sth. Wholly or partially; to prevent sth. From being done or carried out properly; to get in the way of  He never allows pleasure to interfere with duty and work.  The children who are making much noise outside are interfering with my reading.

44. Language points of Text I (28)  entail: make an event or action necessary; to involve  That will entail an early start tomorrow morning.  Writing an academic book entails plenty of hard work and creative effort

45. Language points of Text I (29)  autonomy: the right of self- government or management of one’s own affairs  Branch managers have full autonomy in their own areas.  The political system of the country allows a high degree of local autonomy.

46. Language points of Text I (30)  Bar: prevent sb from using sth or from doing sth  She was barred from(entering) the competition because her age.  Traffic has been barred from the city center.

47. Language points of Text I (31)  vigorous:  a.strong, active or energetic.  He is a vigorous supporter of human rights.  b.using forceful language, etc.  My decision met with vigorous opposition.

48. Language points of Text I (32)  stature  a.natural height of the body  Though he id short of stature, he is very bright.  b.importance and reputation gained by ability or achievement  Einstein is a scientist of international stature.

49. Language points of Text I (33)  Fragmentation: the act or process of breaking into small parts or pieces  The fragmentation of metals occurs under certain conditions.  The fragmentation of a society into competing groups benefits social progress.

50. Language points of Text I (34)  Identity: who or what a particular person or thing is  The identity of the murdered woman has not yet been established.  She experienced a loss of identity after giving up her career to get married.

51. Language points of Text I (35)  distort  a.give a false account of sth.; misrepresent  The Government was accused of having distorted the protesters’ case.  b.make sth. Look or sound unnatural  This distorting mirror makes me look long and thin  c.pull or twist sth. Out of its usual shape  His face was distorted by pain.

52. Language points of Text I (36)  Integrated: with various parts fitting well together, showing a pleasing mixture  He has an integrated personality, showing a pleasing mixture of various qualities.  It is an integrated school with children of different races and social classes.

53. Language points of Text I (37)  spectrum (pl. spectra)  a.image of a band of colors as seen in rainbow ( and usu. Described as red,orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet)  Red and violet are at opposite ends of the spectrum.  b.a broad and continuous range  There is a wide spectrum of opinions on this question.

54. Language points of Text I (38)  move ahead: advance; make progress  Share prices have been moving ahead.  Urban civilization is moving ahead rapidly.

55. Language points of Text I (39)  blur: (cause sth. To ) become unclear or indistinct  Her eyes blurred with tears.  Tears blurred his eyes.  reproductive: producing offspring by natural means; concerned with producing young  Must all living creatures have reproductive organs?  This is a picture of the female reproductive system.

56. Grammatical items (1) Complete the following sentences with few, a few, little or a little. Complete the following sentences with few, a few, little or a little. Henry rarely spoke. He is man of ______words. Henry rarely spoke. He is man of ______words. Its accomplishment will take quite _______years. Its accomplishment will take quite _______years. Hurry up. We have _________time to waste. Hurry up. We have _________time to waste. He has ______gray hairs. He has ______gray hairs. The________words he spoke were well chosen. The________words he spoke were well chosen. ____________knowledge is a dangerous thing. ____________knowledge is a dangerous thing. few a few little a few few A little

57. Exercises (1) Translation exercises  为数不少的老师往往对调皮学生抱有成 见.(stereotype)  Quiet a lot of teachers tend to hold stereotyped opinions about naughty pupils.  她温柔体贴, 为人友好, 慷慨大方, 这是她的特 性.(be characteristic of)  Being gentle thoughtful, friendly, and generous is characteristic of her.

58. Exercises (2)  将自己的观点强加于别人是不对的.(impose)  It is wrong to impose one’s own opinions on others.  他戒烟戒酒了其理由是吸烟酗酒对健康有 害.( on the ground that)  He gave up drinking and smoking, on the grounds that they would do harm to health.

59. Exercises (3)  这批新书最近才向公众开放.(accessible to)  This collection of new books has only recently been made accessible to the public.  你要是不依这个婴儿, 他就用小手抓 你.(interfere with)  The baby will claw at you with his little hands if you interfere with what he wants.

60. Exercises (4)  这个科学家经过多年的努力, 取得了一项具有国际水 平的新成就.(stature)  That scientist has scored a new achievement of international stature through many years of hard work.  我＆朋友通过移动电话频频交流思想感情, 传递信 息.(communicate)  My friend and I frequently communicate ideas, feelings, and information to each other through mobile phone.

61. Exercises (5)  男女同校同班接受教育是最理想的教育形式, 因为男 女学生有机会相互了解, 相互学习, 相互竞争.(compete with)  Coeducation is the most desirable form of education, because boys and girls are given the opportunity to know each other, to learn from each other and to compete with each other.  人们对翻译这个问题的看法众说纷纭, 莫衷一 是.(spectrum)  There is a wide spectrum of opinion on the question of translation criteria.

62. Exercises (6)  Fill in the blank in each sentence with a word or phrase taken from the box in its appropriate form. Stereotype conform denote uniform prescribe interfere vigorous parallel distort hostile spectrum integrate blur

63. Exercises (7)  The public complained that the government did not take_________measures to prevent the spread of the disease.  More effective government policies are to be _________ into the country’s economy.  Scott never likes to do things in a single, ______ way; instead, he would rather various approaches. vigorous integrated uniform

64. Exercises (8)  The new design aims at catering to a wide _____ of computer users, ranging from housewives to IT professionals.  Teachers are not supposed to ________ methods that students must follow in their studies.  The experts’ messages sometimes get_________ because the newspaper have their own interests to serve. because the newspaper have their own interests to serve. spectrum prescribe distorted

65. Exercises (9)  All medical products are required to _________ the standards set by China Drug Administration.  Constant questioning may ___________with the speaker’s natural flow of ideas. conform interfere

66. Exercises (10)  There are interesting _________ between the two wars, although they were of a very different nature.  One characteristic of poor education may be that children are brought up to have fixed sex __________. parallels stereotypes

67. Comprehension questions of Text II (1)  Why did the author envy women?  They were the only people the author had ever known who wee interested in art or music or literature and seemed to enjoy a sense of ease and grace.  According to the author, what did men and women have in common?  Both felt worried about money.

68. Comprehension questions of Text II (2)  How did women react when the pay stopped coming in?  Unlike the men folk, they didn’t have to struggle for a living.  What prompted the author to think that women enjoyed a sense of ease and grace?  Few of them held jobs outside home; they visited their neighbors, did shopping in town, enjoyed reading in the library and went to church.

69. Comprehension questions of Text II (3)  What did the author not realize about the life of women?  They stayed at home, deprived of most social activities and some of them suffered from men;s bullying.  6.What was the attitude of college girls towards men?  They accused them of gaining control of all the joys and privileges.

70. Comprehension questions of Text II (4)  What is the author referring back to with the phrase “the big wheels of the big cities”?  Literally, a big wheel is a driving force the controls the way something function or operates. Here, the big wheels refer to the influential fathers of college girls who control the way the big cities function.

71. Comprehension questions of Text II (4)  8.What idea is the author trying to put across in the last paragraph?  Some women and men hold a distorted image of each other because they fail to see the miseries in the lives of each other.

72. Oral activities  Debate on co-education  Form two groups, each consisting of three or four students, debating for/against coeducation.

73. Writing practice (1) Writing: My view of single sex school Material for writing: I have been a proponent of co-ed public schools forever… In my high school an all-girls physics classes were piloted. The school was unique enough to have two classes full of girls wanting to take single sex physics. Girls could choose which section they preferred.

74. Writing practice (2)  I don’t think single sex school is a good idea…  It is great that girls are more able to express themselves in a single sex environment, but I wonder how well that translates into the real world where women have to learn to get along with men. I worry about this from the perspective of women in science. If we teach girls that they can only express themselves well in a single sex environment how do we expect them to succeed in a field dominated by men?

75. Writing practice (3)  While I couldn't get in as it was full, it was an extremely popular choice, and lots of girls said that this would be their preferred method to have separate classes, especially in math and science, where how girls learn and approach these disciplines can be quite different from how boys do, but to be in the same school, so they can have the male-female interactions. It makes sense to me…

76. Writing practice (4) To be an educated person is not easy. Firstly we should know clearly the purpose of being educated. Secondly, we should be diligent and persistent, trying our best to overcome all the difficulties that we come across. Lastly, we should not only educate ourselves, but also help others as much as possible to acquire knowledge and skills. Generally speaking, an educated person will have more responsibility for his country and the society. To be an educated person is not easy. Firstly we should know clearly the purpose of being educated. Secondly, we should be diligent and persistent, trying our best to overcome all the difficulties that we come across. Lastly, we should not only educate ourselves, but also help others as much as possible to acquire knowledge and skills. Generally speaking, an educated person will have more responsibility for his country and the society.

77. Good bye! Good bye!