Unit 2

Why My Great-uncle Gave Up the Ministry

Outline for this unit

Part I Listening and Speaking Activities

Part II Reading Comprehension and Language Activities

Part III Extended Activities

P1 Brainstorming

1. Expressions for describing general impressions of a person:

Positive expressions: polite, smart Negative expressions: clumsy, forgetful Neutral expressions: funny

cute, nice, a good leader, gentle, charming, wise

man, optimistic, hospitable, generous, creative, int

egrated, upright, capable, quick-witted, graceful, c

harming

rude, careless, stupid, a follower, (somebody) hav

e more age than experience, wise guy, coarse, un

derhand ( 阴险的 ), sneaky （卑劣的） , dishonora

ble, deceitful, violent, gossiper, like the devil, evil,

devilish （如恶魔般的） , devious ( 不坦率、不光明正大的 )

sensitive, outspoken, restless

2. Expressions for describing someone’s emotional changes:

Changes for the better: calm, cool,

cheer up, feel better, be sympathetic with, tranquil, peaceful, free from anxiety / worry, unruffled, cheerful calm

Changes for the worse: get panicky, feel nervous,

have butterflies in the stomach, get irritated/angry, become anxious, wear/have a questioning expression, be horrified, feel guilty, be embarrassed, disappointed

Brainstorming

3. Expressions of behavior: Silly behavior:

play the fool (e.g. to make people laugh), behave badly

Good behavior: be good, set a good example (to sb)

Neutral behavior: behave normally

Brainstorming

make a fool of oneself (unintentional), be up to no good / mischief (intentional, usually in secret), mess / fool around (wasting one’s time, behaving foolishly), get into trouble be as good as gold (of children, behaving very well), turn over a new leaf, behave oneself, do good deeds, be a good model conduct oneself (behave in a particular way, such expressions are usually used with other qualified expressions, e.g. conduct oneself responsibly; behave very well)

4. Expressions for social position or titles: headmaster, doctor

nurse, teacher, director, supervisor, composer, pilot, airhostess, hairdresser, coach, president, chairman/chairwoman, professor, singer

Brainstorming

5. Expressions for commenting personalit

ies: can’t stand,

(can’t) put up with, it takes all sorts (to mak

e a world) ( 世界上什么样的人都有 ); To err

is human, to forgive is divine （人孰无过，宽恕为上） ; (someone’s silly behavior) alm

ost bring down the house, arouse hilarious

laughter, be disgusted at/with

Brainstorming

Listening

This is a story of an old lady in an old people’s

nursing home. Listen to the interview and answer

the questions on page 15. Key Words:

wrinkled: refers to the lines in something which is folded or crushed, especially on the skin when a person is old.

attach to: to come to; to cause to join as a member of in action

Speaking

Learn to describe people in the following aspects:

Address Facial expression Appearance Manner Language Special deeds and action / behavior, etc

Self- report: I was born in Skoplje, Macedonia, on August 27, 1910. I looked like an old lady from my picture with a wrinkled face and a big nose. At the age of twelve, I strongly felt the call of God. I knew I had to be a missionary to spread the love of God. The most important thing for me to do is to help the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, and all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared-for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone. My work had been recognized, acclaimed throughout the world and I had received a number of awards and distinctions. In 1979 I was awarded Nobel Peace Prize for my promotion of international peace and understanding. I was cited as one of the Heroines of Peace.

Mother Teresa

Guess who is this famous person?

Mother Teresa

Guess who is this famous person?

Mother Teresa

Describe her

Homework

Speculate on the picture on page 16 and then make up a story based on the clues.

Preview P2.

Unit 2

P2 Text

Why My Great-uncle Gave Up the Ministry

Pre-reading Task: Discussion

Have you ever done something foolish

or made any mistake accidentally? What feelings do you have when you commit a folly? What will be your best ways to make good a loss?

I Listening

Listen to the text. Try to reproduce the story.

II Reproduce the story

Describe a person or Uncle Alden Bentley:

following jolly beloved full-time Baptist fault clumsy

II Reproduce the story

Retell how Uncle Alden Bentley accidentally

killed the dog: pastoral inadvertently

hip underneath

slip devastated

bring oneself to do sth.

II Reproduce the story

Retell Uncle Alden Bentley’s another incident of damaging the furnishing of the lady’s home:

overnight resolve unburden brand-new curtain pitcher sermon retire grope horrified retrace one’s steps rise to one’s feet

III Summarise the paragraphs

Para. 1:

Para. 3:

Para. 4:

It is a general description of the narrator’s great-uncle and his accidental killing of a small dog because of his clumsiness.

It is an account of how his clumsiness led to a terrible mess in the guest room during his visit to the lady.

It describes how the narrator’s great- uncle damaged a beautiful candelabra when he rushed downstairs.

IV Summarise the story

The kindly and gentle minister decided to retire from the ministry because his clumsiness brought about two accidents, which made him suffer from a guilty conscience.

Give the reasons why the narrator’s

great-uncle gave up the ministry?

V Language Points

1) he was paying a pastoral call one day on a woman in Dillon:

he was visiting a woman as a minister, which is part of duties or activities in the Christian churches.

call on / pay a call on sb.

call at / pay a call at somewhere

V Language Points

2) panicked and slipped the dead dog into his coat pocket:

panic ---- panicked picnic (v.) ---- picnicked

slip: put something away quickly in secret.

e.g. I saw him slip a note into her hand.

As he approached the landing, his foot slipped.

(lost one’s balance and fell or almost fell)

V Language Points

3) Although he was devastated he could not bring himself to tell the woman … :

Although he was conscience-stricken for his follies he could not make himself tell the woman.

bring oneself to do sth: make oneself do sth (usually used in a negative or a question sentence)

e.g. I could never bring myself to associate with a person like that.

Some teenagers cannot somehow bring themselves to an awful revision.

V Language Points

4) resolve to do sth: be determined to do sth

e.g. 他决定立即着手这项复杂的工程 . (work on)

He resolved to work on the complicated project immediately.

5) so he could work on his sermon before retiring:

before going to bed (formal).

e.g. She retired early with a good book.

He then retired from the ministry. ( give up)

V Language Points

6) knock over: to hit sb and make him fall down on the ground.

e.g. 他们看见一位老人被对面驶来的汽车撞到 .

They saw an old man knocked over by a car coming from the opposite direction

7) grope:

e.g. 他在黑暗中摇摇晃晃 , 摸索着寻找电灯开关 .

He walked unsteadily / stumbled along in the dark, groping for the light-switch.

to try to find sth by feeling with the hands.

V Language Points

8) The crisp white curtains … :

It can be used to describe something (usually paper or cloth) that is fresh and stiff with no crease in it or is not crumpled.

e.g. a crisp linen jacket.

9) In a shaken state of mind …:

In a condition of panic (indicating that he was

greatly upset and disturbed)

V Language Points

10) rise to one’s feet:

e.g. 病了 3 个月之后 , 他几乎站也站不稳了 .

After three month’s illness, he found it difficult to rise to his feet again.

to stand up

11) a private preparatory school: In the United States, a private preparatory school is a privately-run school in which secondary school courses are provided to prepare pupils for advanced education (usually college education). But, in English a preparatory school refers to part of schooling in elementary education. In this passage, the expression is a US usage.

V Language Points

VI Homework

1. Retell the text.2. Preview P3.