Unit 4Unit 4

TURNING OFF TV: A QUIET HOURTURNING OFF TV: A QUIET HOUR

Teaching PlanTeaching Plan

Warming up Warming up

Global ReadingGlobal Reading

Text AnalysisText Analysis

New WordsNew Words Exercise &AssignmentExercise &Assignment

Proverbs & SayingsProverbs & Sayings

• 1. US television:• A demonstration of television was held at the

New York World’s Fair in 1939, and during the 1940s networks were established and TV sets began to be sold.

• It was in the 1950s that television started to take the place of radio in the US.

• Today there are more than 1000 stations all over the country .

• 2. The Big Three of the US Television Networks:• The National Broadcasting Company (NBC)• The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)• The American Broadcasting Company (ABC)• They once controlled up to 99% of the US television.• But with the broadcast competitors such as Fox, the

WB (Warner Brothers), the UPN (United Paramount Network), satellite and cable companies, the Big Three’s Market share decreased.

• 根据尼尔森公司的调查数据，有一半美国家庭拥有 3 台或以上的电视机，只有 19% 的家庭只拥有一台电视。

• 尼尔森公司的调查报告提供了不少例子。例如，纽约一名设备经理家里拥有 3 台电视机，还不包括浴室里的一台可视对讲机。这还算平常的，如果家里有孩子，电视机的数量可能要翻倍：一对拥有双胞胎的纽约夫妇家里有 7 台电视机，另外有一台新的电视机还没有安装——夫妇的房间里装一台、两个孩子的房间各一台、客厅一台、厨房一台……电视机几乎是无处不在。

• 3. Couch Potato

4 TV can bring some problems

• The generation gap The term is used to mean differences

in ideas, life styles and attitudes between older and younger people, differences which result in a lack of understanding between them and frequently lead to confrontations.

• High divorce rate in the US Divorce is a major problem in the US.

At present, it is estimated, about one quarter to one third of all American marriages end in divorce. There is a great difference of opinion as to the causes of this high rate of divorce..

• But studies indicate that there are more cases of divorce among persons with low incomes and inadequate education and among those who marry at a very young age. Apart from legally divorced cases there are many separated couples.

• The immediate result that arises from the high divorce rate is an increasing number of single parent homes, i.e., homes where children are being raised by only one parent.

Television, since its first prevalence over radio in the 1950s, has played a more and more important role in people’s lives..As a matter of fact, it has become so much a part of human life that a modern world without television is unimaginable.

Some people even say that life without television is not worth living. But some, on the other hand, argue against TV. They think TV is taking up too much of a person’s time and making him lazy, not to mention its harmful influence upon him. The author of this article, for example, is raising his voice against TV, urging viewers to turn off their sets and enjoy a precious quiet hour, an hour without the distraction of TV.

Many people in the United States spend most of their free time watching television. Certainly, there are many worthwhile programs on television, including news, educational programs for children, programs on current social problems, plays, movies, concerts, and so on. Nevertheless, perhaps people should not be spending so much of their time in front of the TV. Mr. Mayer imagines what we might do if we were forced to find other activities.

Global Reading

I would like to propose that for sixty to ninety minutes each evening, right after the early evening news, all television broadcasting in the United States be prohibited by law.

Let us take a serious, reasonable look at what the results might be if such a proposal were accepted. Families might use the time for a real family hour. Without the distraction of TV, they might sit around together after dinner

Turning Off TV: A Quiet Hour Robert Mayer

Global Reading

• and actually talk to one another. It is well known that many of our problems — everything, in fact, from the generation gap to the high divorce rate to some forms of mental illness — are caused at least in part by failure to communicate.

We do not tell each other what is disturbing us. The result is emotional difficulty of one kind or another. By using the quiet family hour to discuss our problems, we might get to know each other better, and to like each other better.

On evenings when such talk is unnecessary, families could rediscover more active pastimes. Freed from TV, forced to find their own activities, they might take a ride together to watch the sunset. Or they might take a walk together (remember feet?) and see the neighborhood with fresh, new eyes.

With free time and no TV, children and adults might rediscover reading. There is more entertainment in a good book than in a month of typical TV programming.

• Educators report that the generation growing up with television can barely write an English sentence, even at the college level. Writing is often learned from reading. A more literate new generation could be a product of the quiet hour.

•A different form of reading might also be done, as it was in the past: reading aloud. Few pastimes bring a family closer together than gathering around and listening to mother or father read a good story. The quiet hour could become the story hour. When the quiet hour ends, the TV networks might even be forced to come up with better shows in order to get us back from our newly discovered activities.

But it is not radical at all. It has been only twenty-five years since television came to control American free time. Those of us thirty-five and older can remember childhoods without television, spent partly with radio — which at least involved the listener’s imagination — but also with reading, learning, talking, playing games, inventing new activities. It wasn’t that difficult. Honest. The truth is we had a ball.

At first glance, the idea of an hour without TV seems radical. What will parents do without the electronic baby-sitter? How will we spend the time?

I would like to propose that for sixty to ninety minutes each evening, right after the early evening news, all television broadcasting in the United States be prohibited by law.

Let us take a serious, reasonable look at what the results might be if such a proposal were accepted. Families might use the time for a real family hour. Without the distraction of TV, they might sit around together after dinner

Turning Off TV: A Quiet HourRobert Mayer

What does a real family hour refer to?It refers to an hour when family members might sit around together, doing sth. meaningful like talking to each other and reading novels, etc.

Families might use the time for a real family hour. Without the distraction of TV, they might sit around together after dinner and actually talk to one another. It is well known that many of our problems — everything, in fact, from the generation gap to the high divorce rate to some forms of mental illness — are caused at least in part by failure to communicate.

Paraphrase the sentence:If there had not been for the distraction of TV, they might sit around together after dinner and really talk to one another.

介词短语 without… 相当于一个以 if 引导的条件从句，常用虚拟语气。

但是， without 有时也不用虚拟语气。 I can’t do it without your help.

表示“希望你能帮我”。I couldn’t do it without your help.

表示“事实上你会帮我的”。Without his pension, he would have starved.

On evenings when such talk is unnecessary, families could rediscover more active pastimes. Freed from TV, forced to find their own activities, they might take a ride together to watch the sunset. Or they might take a walk together (remember feet?) and see the neighborhood with fresh, new eyes. 1. Why does the author use the rhetorical question

“remember feet?”This rhetorical question implies that Americans are now so used to traveling by car or other vehicles that many people almost forget that they can walk to some place. This perhaps can also explain why America is sometimes nicknamed as “a country on wheels”.

2. Why does the author encourage us to “to see the neighborhood with fresh, new eyes”?

We might pass the neighborhood everyday but have no time to enjoy it. When we are back from work, we prefer to stay at home, watching TV to kill time rather than going out. Seeing it with fresh, new eyes might help us to find something we haven’t noticed before and appreciate the neighborhood even more.

Educators report that the generation growing up with television can barely write an English sentence, even at the college level. Writing is often learned from reading. A more literate new generation could be a product of the quiet hour. Do you think reading can improve writing? In what way?It is generally accepted that reading can help us learn writing. When we read, we can actually enjoy the writing. Besides, we can develop our sense of language, and observe writing skills. Therefore, reading a lot of good books can help to improve our writing ability.

But it is not radical at all. It has been only twenty-five years since television came to control American free time. Those of us thirty-five and older can remember childhoods without television, spent partly with radio — which at least involved the listener’s imagination — but also with reading, learning, talking, playing games, inventing new activities. It wasn’t that difficult. Honest. The truth is we had a ball.

1. Paraphrase the sentence.

I’m telling you the truth: we Americans used to have a very good time before TV came into our life.

2. Translate this sentence

真的。那时我们确实过得很开心。

New words and expressions

1. worth adj./n. • worth 值得…的，有…的价值• be (well) worth + n./doing • be worthy of + n./doing/being done• be worthy to be done

• worthwhile adj.• It is/was worthwhile + doing/to do

• worth of … 价值……的• I went and bought about six dollars' worth of potato

chips. • 我去买了价值约六美元的土豆片。

• worthy of 值得

武汉这个地方值得重游一次。

• The place is well worth visiting a second time.• The place is worthy of being visited a second time.• The place is worthy to be visited a second time.• It is worthwhile visiting the place a second time.

2. current n. 1) movement of electricity, water, air, etc 流，流动 水流，电流，洋流 …electric currents 电流逆水行舟row against the current 有些鸟用温暖的气流帮助它们飞行。 Some birds use warm air currents to help them fly.

2) course or movement of events, opinions, etc. 趋势，倾向 Ministers are worried by this current of anti-government feel

ing.

current adj. of present times, happening now 实事current events/issues同源词：currently 现在；当前；通常地currency 流通货币

current n. 电流，水流，气流 adj. 流通的，当前的currency n. 流通货币cur- 词根：跑 car torrent n. 激流，洪流tune 转excursion n. 短途旅行 跑precursor n. 先驱curriculum n. 课程（表）occur v. 发生outrecur re + occur v. ( 尤指不好的事 ) 一再发生curve n. 曲线 v. 弄弯curb n.

propose : vt. suggest; put forward for consideration

• We propose that the meeting be held on time.• Our teacher proposes reading aloud for 30

minutes every day.

{that …(should) do• propose {doing {to do

• Note: • propose 后常跟虚拟形式的宾语从句。动词要求用原形。类

似的动词还有： suggest, demand, request, ask, move, insist, urge, require, order, command, advise, desire, recommend, maintain, vote, etc.

• This is chiefly used in very formal English.

一个“坚持”

四个”要求“三个“建议”

两个”命令“insist order

command

suggest

proposeadvise

requireask

requestdemand

proposalproposal• The NMD proposal has already been condemned by a nu

mber of US Canada.• Aileen had many proposals but preferred to remain singl

e.

distract/ distraction• be distracted by/ with• distract sb. from doing• Children are so easily distracted.• The film managed to distract me from work.• There are so many distractions in the

dormitory for me to work properly.

disturb 1) make worried 2) break the peace or order of

• Constant calls disturbed her work.• I was disturbed to hear of your illness.• The little stone disturbed the smooth surface

of the lake.

trouble disturb v. disturbance n. turbulent adj.

同义词： perturb v. 扰乱• Even though the road was littered with boulders an

d pitted with holes, Bruce was not in the least perturbed. (N3 lesson 39)

typical: adj. representative or characteristic

• Her typical accent didn’t change much although she spent several years abroad.

• It is typical of him to be so hesitant. 是 ... 的特点• 这样的屋顶是典型的中国式建筑风格。• Such a roof is typical of buildings in Chinese

architecture.

barely

• She had barely time to catch the bus.• The room was furnished barely.• Barely does he have enough money to last the

month.• 他不记得一周前发生的事情了。• Barely did he remember what had happened a

week ago.

letter literal adj. 字面的 liter literate adj. 识字的 (illiterate) literature n. 文学• Children of highly literate parents tend to be

more polite.

1. He _______ the boy into silence. 2. Some students tend to ______ at their neighbor’s

paper on the exam. 3. He __________ over the bookshelf and picked up

the book he wanted. 4. She was angry and ________ me down.

staredpeer

glanced

stared

Vocabulary Activity• 1)free• 2)accept• 3)at least• 4)different• 5)failure• 6)sunset• 7)quiet• 8)in the past• 9)unnecessar

y• 10)turn off

1)involves2)proposal3)emotional4)at first glance5)actually6)disturbed7)typical8)come up with9)worthwhile10)Imagination11)current12)neighborhood13)gap14)activities

Translation1 ．他们想出了更好的办法来解决这道数学题。

They came up with a better solution to the maths problem.

2 ．作为一名水手需要长期出门在外。Being a sailor involves long period away from home.

3 ．要是有你的支持，我们可能已经完成了这本书。With your support, we could have completed the book.

4 ．与会代表们倡议建立一个专门的基金会资助那些上不起学的优秀大学生。The representatives at the meeting proposed that a special foundation be set up to help those top students who couldn’t afford studying in a university.

Mr. Mayer, the author of this article is his voice against watching TV all the time in spite of the fact that there are many programs: news, plays, movies, concerts, educational programs for children, programs on social problems, and so on. In his opinion, many problems from the gap to the high rate to forms of illness are caused at least in part by failure to communicate. He suggests that people turn off their TV sets for one hour each evening, which will make people understand each other better, and help families rediscover more active . Without the of TV, a more new generation could be produced, and people could also have a wonderful time. Of course, the author’s suggestion sounds but hard to be put into practice.

pastimes

divorce______generation_________

reasonableliterate

distraction

mental

current

worthwhileraising

Directions: Listen to the passage and fill in the blanks.

_______________

______

______

_______________

_________

_______

Spot Dictation

1. A Brief Introduction

Redundancy refers to the use of language that can be eliminated without incurring a loss of meaning. Redundancy is the adding of words or phrases that add nothing to the overall meaning because their senses have already been expressed. Redundancy in writing usually comes from these sources: 1) Wordy phrases; 2) Employing obvious qualifiers when a word is implicit in the word it is modifying; 3) Using two or more synonyms together.

Writing

1. To take this job would involve working on weekends frequently, but John didn’t mind.

2. It is well known that lung cancer is caused at least in part by smoking too much.

3. My grandparents said that the man who invented television had once lived in their neighborhood.

4. I propose that we go to find Prof. Smith in his office right after the meeting and invite him to our English evening.

5. Having been operated on twice for the disease, she was so weak that she could barely stand up.

6. Educators think that the generation growing up with television spend so much of their time in front of the TV that they do not have enough time to study.

7. I do hope that you can come up with a better solution than this one.

8. At first glance the picture didn’t look very good, but after examining it carefully, we found that it was indeed a masterpiece.

1. 当今社会问题current social problems

Useful Expressions

2. 关掉电视 turn off TV

3. …我想建议 I would like to propose that…

4. 晚间新闻 evening news

5. …严肃而通情达理地来看 Let’s take a serious, reasonable look at…

6. 依法禁止 be prohibited by law

7. 采纳建议 a proposal is accepted

8. 电视的干扰 distraction of TV

9. 围坐一团 sit around together

10. 代沟 generation gap

11. 高离婚率 high divorce rate

12. 精神病 mental illness

13. 无法沟通fail to communicate

14. 情感障碍 emotional difficulty

15. 看日出 /日落 watch sunrise/sunset

16. 带着新奇的眼光去看see…with fresh, new eyes

17. 伴随电视成长的一代the generation growing up with television

18. 制作好节目come up with good shows

19. 需发挥想像 involve imagination

20. 过得开心 have a ball

21. 电视台television broadcasting

22. 积极的消遣 active pastime

23. 大学水平 at college level

24. 值得看的电视节目worthwhile TV programs

25. 偏激的想法radical idea

26. 有文化的一代 a literate generation

Assignment

• Write a composition about what you have discussed with your group members:

• Is TV a Plus or a Minus• Using argumentation as your writing style.

Proverbs and Quotations1. A good book is a light to the soul.

好书一本，照亮心灵。2. By reading we enrich the mind; by conversation we polish it.

读书可以使我们的思想充实，谈话使其更臻完美。

3. Education has for its object the formation of character.

教育的目的在于培养品德。

4. Idle young, needy old.

少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲。

5. If you lie upon roses when young, you'll lie upon thorns when old.

7. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy; all play and no work makes Jack a mere boy. — James A. Howell, British writer

年青时躺在玫瑰上，老年时就会躺在荆棘上。

只工作，不玩耍，聪明孩子要变傻；尽玩耍，不学习，聪明孩子没出息。 — 英国作家 J. A. 豪维尔

6. I might say that success is won by three things: first, effort; second, more effort; third, still more effort.

成功之道唯三点：努力、努力、再努力。