Unit 12

A Memorable Event

Deborah Soong

Teaching Activities

Index

Teaching Activities1st period 1. Warm-up

2. The Vocabulary, and Idioms & Phrases within Paragraphs 1-5

3. Reading – Paragraphs 1-5

2nd period 1. The Vocabulary, and Idioms & Phrases within Paragraphs 6-9

2. Reading - Paragraphs 6-93. Post-reading

3rd period 1. Word File2. Sentence Patterns3. Expansion4. Writing Practice

4th period Review: Oral & Listening – Unit 7-9 Unit 7 Unit 8 Unit 9

Warm-up

Vocabulary Idioms & Phrases

Reading-Paragraphs 1-5

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Listen to paragraphs 1-5.

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Now,answer the following questions.

Indicate T (True) or F (False) for the following statements.T F□ □ When he was a child, Chaplin was very poor.□ □ Chaplin’s mother, a singer, was the only breadwinner in the family.□ □ Although she was sick, Chaplin’s mother continued to work.

Charlie Chaplin was a successful comedian and acted in many of the silent movies of the 1920s.

acted in many of the silent movies of the1920s→ performed in many of the silent movies from 1920 to 1929.

Read the following story to find out how his mother and an event in his childhood played a part in starting off his career as a comedian.

原句 = how his mother and an event in his childhood had an effect on his taking up the profession of being a comedian.

I was born on April 16, 1889, at eight o’clock at night in London. According to Mother, my world was a happy one.

原句 = Mother said (at that time) I lived a happy life.

in ＋ 年份／大地方be born + on ＋ 特定時間 at ＋ 小地方 of ＋ 家庭• He was born of French parents/ a well-to-do family.

Our circumstances were moderately comfortable; we lived in three tastefully furnished rooms.

原句 = We lived/led a fairly but not very comfortable life and stayed in three rooms with tasteful furniture.

The Childhood of Charlie Chaplin

His childhood was filled with the worst kind of poverty and it was this poverty from which he would develop his identification with “the little person.” He used the misery of that childhood to create his own style, a combination of comedy and melodrama.

The Childhood of Charlie Chaplin

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One of my early memories was that each night before Mother went to the theater, my brother, Sydney, and I were lovingly tucked up in a comfortable bed and left in the care of the housemaid.

in the care of sb = in sb’s care 　由某人照料、看管

One of my early memories was that each night before Mother went to the theater, my brother, Sydney, and I were lovingly tucked up in a comfortable bed and left in the care of the housemaid.

原句 = I remember that, in my early childhood, before going to the theater, Mother would pull the bed clothes tight to make my brother, Sydney, and me comfortable in bed with love, and she asked the housemaid to look after us.

Mother was a singer on the variety stage. She had fair skin, violet-blue eyes and long light-brown hair that she could sit upon.

原句 = She had light-colored skin, violet-blue eyes and her light-brown hair was so long that she could even sit upon it.

I adored my mother. Though she was not an exceptional beauty, I thought she looked lovely.

Though she was not an exceptional beauty, I thought she looked lovely.→ Truly, she was not unusually beautiful, but she looked lovely to me.

In her late twenties, Mother suffered from laryngitis, but she had to keep working as we had no other means of financial support.

in sb’s teens/twenties/thirties 「在某人十／二十／三十幾歲時」，數字前可加上early/mid/late 來修飾。suffer from 患…病= to experience an illness, especially over a period of time Next

In her late twenties, Mother suffered from laryngitis, but she had to keep working as we had no other means of financial support.

as we had no other means of financial support→ because we couldn’t get any financial help from others→ because Mother was the only breadwinner in the family

As a result, her voice grew progressively worse.

as a result = therefore = consequently = accordingly 　因此• Sam had a bad cold. As a result, he didn’t go to school.progressively = increasingly = gradually逐漸地As a result, her voice grew progressively worse.→ Hence, her voice got worse and worse.

She could not rely on it. In the middle of singing, it would crack or suddenly fade into a whisper, and the audience would laugh and start booing.

rely on 　指望，依靠• You can’t rely on the weather.

fade/go into a whisper = fade out 　( 聲音 ) 逐漸變小 Next

She could not rely on it. In the middle of singing, it would crack or suddenly fade into a whisper, and the audience would laugh and start booing.

原句 = When she was singing halfway, her voice would suddenly change in loudness or gradually become inaudible, and the audience would show their disapproval by shouting boos.

It is...that-clause 為分裂句構，用來突顯說話者所要強調的信息焦點。• They quarreled with each other about the money.→ It was about the money that they quarreled with each other.I can study math only when I am alone.→ It is only when I am alone that I can study math.

It was because of her voice that at the age of five I made my first appearance on stage.

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It was because of her voice that at the age of five I made my first appearance on stage.

It was because of her voice that at the age of five I made my first appearance on stage.→ Because of/Owing to her voice, I gave my first performance on stage at five.

Mother usually took me to the theater at night in preference to leaving me alone in rented rooms.

in preference to = rather than = instead of 　寧願…而不…• On second thought, Tom chose to study German in preference to French.

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Mother usually took me to the theater at night in preference to leaving me alone in rented rooms.

leave + O + OC 使…處於…之中 ( 受詞補語可以是 V-ing 、 V-en 或 Adj)• Don’t leave your girlfriend waiting too long.• The long walk left Jane exhausted.• They left the windows open so that the wind might come in. Next

Mother usually took me to the theater at night in preference to leaving me alone in rented rooms.

Mother usually took me to the theater at night in preference to leaving me alone in rented rooms.→ Mother often brought me to the theater at night instead of letting me stay in rented rooms by myself.

She was working at a dirty, mean theater.

The audience was mostly noisy and rough soldiers who needed no excuse to laugh and ridicule.

laugh and ridicule 為同義反覆 (tautology) 用法，用來加強語氣，類似的用法尚有：end and aim honest and true really and truly

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The audience was mostly noisy and rough soldiers who needed no excuse to laugh and ridicule.

The audience was mostly noisy and rough soldiers who needed no excuse to laugh and ridicule.→ Most of the audience was noisy and rough soldiers; they often laughed at the performers for no reason.

To performers, the theater was a place of terror.

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