Unit 2 What is happiness to you?
Reading
Teaching goals 教学目标
1. Target language 目标语言
a. 重点词汇和短语
throughout the world, broom, legally, ceremony, bride, groom, religious, path, be sent to, cruel, individual, fall in love, make arrangements, disturb, attic, propose to sb
b. 重点句式
It is interesting to note that African slaves who were brought to the USA started this tradition.
African American couples were not allowed to legally marry so instead they had a ceremony where the bride and groom jumped over a broom “into marriage”.
Then on Saturday, there is a religious ceremony in a church, followed by another party when the bride and groom celebrate the wedding with friends and relatives again.
Jane is still not completely happy because she realizes that women do not have the freedom to choose what they want to do — she has become a teacher because she has no other choice.
2. Ability goals 能力目标
Enable the students to talk about different wedding customs in different countries and learn the brief introduction of Jane Eyre’s life.
3. Learning ability goals 学能目标
Help the students learn how to talk more about happiness.
Teaching important and difficult points 教学重难点
Get the main idea of the texts and answer the questions about each text.
Teaching methods 教学方法
Skimming and scanning, asking-answering activity.
Teaching aids 教具准备
A recorder, a projector, and some slides.
Teaching procedure && ways 教学过程与方式
Step ⅠRevision
T: In the last period, we learned about two attitudes towards happiness. Do you still remember the two texts? What do they tell about? Who can briefly tell us the summaries of them?
S: The first one is about an old man’s opinion about happiness. He thinks the golden days at school were the happiest of his life. Because at that time, he didn’t have any worries in life. He may play freely with his friends and spend a few hours studying. He needn’t think about problems at work, or worry about income or how to take care of a family. When he was young, he also had good health. That is an important part of happiness. So that was the happiest time in his life.
T: Well done. And the next one?
S: The second text is about a girl’s opinion about happiness. She thinks her happiness is in the future. Because in the future, new technology will allow people to live longer and be healthier. She also will be successful in her job. People will have learned to fix many of the problems that affect us now. Robots and computers will assist us with the things that are boring. That is why she thinks her happiest days will be in the future.
T: Very good! You have done a very good revision. Today we’ll read another two texts. Please open your books to Page 112.
Step Ⅱ Lead-in and Fast-reading (Text A)
T: We have learned that different people have different opinions about happiness. But I think whether the happiness lies in the past or in the future, there is a time that is the happiest for all. Can you guess when it is?
Ss: The wedding time.
T: I think so. In a wedding ceremony the bride and the groom are the happiest in the world. Have you ever attended any wedding ceremonies?
Ss: Yes!
T: Can you tell us something about that?
S: In the morning the groom will go to the bride’s to get the bride. Before entering the bride’s, the groom has to knock at the door to beg the relatives of the bride to open the door. And the relatives will ask the groom for some money for fun. The groom can only see his bride by overcoming many difficulties. In the evening, there will be a wedding dinner. Sometimes the couple will be asked to play many games.
T: Yes, it is a brief introduction of the wedding custom of Han nationality. Today we will learn about more wedding customs in different countries. Read the passage quickly and then answer the questions:
How many wedding customs are mentioned in the text? And what countries do they belong to separately?
Get the students to read through the passage.
T: Now, time is up. Let’s check the answers. How many wedding customs are mentioned in the text?
S: Five wedding customs are mentioned in the text. They are in the USA, in France and Germany, in Greece and Italy, and in England.
T: That is the answer. Thank you.
Step Ⅲ Careful-reading (Text A)
Get the students to understand the passage thoroughly.
T: You have done very well. Please read the text again carefully, and then answer the questions below the text. This time I will give you five minutes to read.
About five minutes later.
T: OK, now let’s check the answers. The first question.
S: Jumping over a brush in African-American weddings represents the beginning of family life.
T: Good! That is the old tradition for African-American. Today some African-American weddings still include the old tradition. Now next question, who will answer it?
S: I will try. In Germany, weddings often last for three days.
T: Yes, you are right. Can you explain it in detail?
S: OK. On Thursday, there is a simple ceremony at a government office noting the official marriage of the couple. Then the couple will have a dinner with family and close friends. On Friday, there is a wedding-eve party. Then on Saturday, there is a religious ceremony in a church, followed by another party when the bride and groom celebrate the wedding with friends and relative again.
T: Very good! And what about the third one?
S: In Greece and Italy, people eat special kinds of sweets at the wedding and they also have their own special wedding dances.
T: Right! Next question.
S: The Russian couples tie a doll to their wedding car if they want to have a daughter. If they want to have a son, they tie a toy bear.
T: OK. And the last question.
S: The woman who catches the bouquet is supposed to be the next person to get married.
T: Good, well done. I believe every one of you have had a better understanding of the text. Right?
Ss: Yes!
T: Good! Now let’s move to the next text.
Step Ⅳ Lead-in (Text B)
T: Have you ever read Jane Eyre?
S: Yes!
T: What’s the end of the story?
S: She and her busband lead a happy life.
T: So, what qualities do you think help her find the happiness.
S: I think it should be diligence. Or we can say hard-working.
S: Self-confident.
S: Strong-willed.
S: Positive no matter how hard the time is.
S: Do what she thinks is right.
…
T: Yes, I think all the qualities are important. Now we will read a book review of Jane Eyre. After numerous difficulties, Jane Eyre won her happiness at last. It is one of the literary classics of the nineteenth century. Do you know the writer of the novel?
S: She is Charlotte Bronte.
T: You are right. Before reading the text, let’s learn something about the author.
Show the students the following introduction:
Charlotte is the author of Jane Eyre and a member of the remarkable Bronte family. The sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne first published their poetry under pseudonyms: Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell (三姐妹的笔名：柯勒·贝尔、艾利斯·贝尔、阿克顿·贝尔)was released in 1846, selling only a few copies. Charlotte’s novel Jane Eyre was published in 1847, shortly after Emily’s Wuthering Heights; the sisters had almost simultaneously written what later became known as two of the great novels of English literature. Jane Eyre was an immediate success and Charlotte went on to publish Shirley（《雪莉》1848) and Villette（《维莱特》1853). She outlived her sisters but still was only 38 when she died in pregnancy. Charlotte was the only one of the sisters to marry. Her novel The Professor（《教师》1857）was written before Jane Eyre but not published until 1857. As children the three sisters and their brother Branwell dreamed up and wrote intricate histories of the fantasy kingdoms of Angria and Gondal; Legends of Angria, a collection of Charlotte’s childhood writings, was published in 1933.
Step Ⅴ Careful-reading (Text B)
T: As you have read the novel before, I think it is easy for you to understand the book review. Now I will give you five minutes to read the passage carefully. And then try to answer the questions below the passage.
About five minutes later.
T: OK, time is up. Let’s check the answers. Who will answer the first question?
S: I will. Helen believes that it is better to do without the things you want. But Jane believes that both rich and powerful people and poor people deserve equal human rights.
T: Very good. That’s the answer. Next one.
S: Jane is still unhappy because she realizes that women do not have the freedom to choose what they want to do — she has become a teacher because she has no other choice.
T: Yes, actually at that time, women couldn’t enjoy the equal rights as men. Now the third question.
S: Although Jane loves Rochester, she knows since his wife is still alive, it would not be a good idea to stay with him. So she makes the difficult decision to leave him.
T: A good answer! Who will answer the next question?
S: Jane doesn’t truly love St John Rivers, so she refuses him even though he is a good man.
T: Right! Now let’s move to the last question.
S: Jane finds happiness in the end by following what she believes is right.
T: Good! You all have done a good job.
Step Ⅵ Self-assessment
T: In this unit, we have learned a lot, which are all listed on Page 32. Next, let’s do a self-assessment to check if you have mastered all the skills in the unit well. Rank your confidence level.
Several minutes later
T: Have you finished? If you are not confident about some of the items listed, please make an action plan after class so that you can improve on them. That’s all for today.
Step Ⅶ Homework
Preview Unit 3.
附 件
Ⅰ. 课文注释与疑难解析
1． Technology will guarantee good health and happiness for all.
科技将为每个人的健康、幸福提供保障。
guarantee 保证，担保
guarantee sth 保证…
E.g. They guarantee this clock for a year.
他们对这个钟表保修一年。
I guarantee the success of the show.
我保证这场表演会成功。
guarantee sb sth / guarantee sth to sb
保证某人……
E.g. Buying a train ticket doesn’t guarantee you a seat. 买到火车票并不保证你有座位。
They guarantee their workers regular employment. 他们保证长期雇佣他们的工人。
guarantee to do sth 保证做某事
E.g. I guarantee to pay off his debt.
我保证付清他的债务。
I guarantee to be here tomorrow.
我保证明天来这里。
guarantee sth (to be)... 保证……是……
E.g. The art dealer guaranteed the picture (to be) genuine. 那个工艺品商保证这幅画是真品。
guarantee that ... 保证……
E.g. I guarantee that you will be satisfied with the result. 我保证你会对结果感到满意。
2． I had all my friends around me and the encouragement and guidance of my family.
朋友和家人都陪伴着我，鼓励我，开导我。
guidance 指导，指引
E.g. I need guidance on this matter.
这件事我需要有人指导。
I need some guidance with my studies.
我需要有人指导我的学习。
Under his guidance, I managed to solve the problem.
在他的指导下我设法解决了那个问题。
I learned how to ski under his guidance.
我在他的指导下学习滑雪。
3. We will have robots and computers to assist us with the things that are boring.
机器人和电脑会帮我们做那些烦人的事。
assist 帮助，协助
assist sb with sth 帮助某人做某事
E.g. Two students assisted me with the experiment. 两个学生帮我做这个实验。
She employed a woman to assist her with the housework. 她雇了一位妇女帮她做家务。
assist sb in doing sth 帮助某人做某事
E.g. He assisted my father in cleaning the car.
他帮我的父亲清洗汽车。
She asked us to assist her in carrying out the plan. 她请我们帮她实施那项计划。
assist sb to do sth 帮助某人做某事
E.g. He assisted us to establish a new company. 他帮助我们成立了一家新公司。
A good dictionary will assist you to understand English. 好词典会帮助你理解英文。
assist in (doing) sth 帮助做某事
E.g. My father assisted in building our new house.
我父亲帮助我们盖新房子。
He thought he had a duty to assist in this movement. 他认为他有责任帮助这次活动。
Ⅱ. 补充材料
What is happiness?
Happiness and unhappiness are opposite sides of a judgment about your situation. If you judge your situation as bad for you, that’s unhappiness. If you judge a situation as good for you, that’s happiness.
The experience of happiness is one of those general terms we use to say, “I feel good emotionally.” People use different terms to describe what feels good for them. For someone it might be excitement, passion, exhilaration, fulfillment, freedom, feeling fully alive with inspiration and joy. For another it might be more peaceful, content, capable, hopeful, satisfied, and comfortable feeling. Whatever you call it, it just feels darn good.
Our natural state of being is to be happy. When you remove all the uncomfortable emotions we humans can experience (and they are numerous), you’re left with happiness. So it’s easiest to define happiness by what it is not.
Happiness is what you feel when you’re NOT feeling....
self doubt, depressed, hateful, fearful, worried, unsatisfied, bored, grief, shame, guilt, discontent, anxious, annoyed, angry, irritated, stressed, frustrated, upset, down, sad, envious, or, jealous.
Whew! That’s a long list!
Pleasure vs. Happiness
Happiness is not pleasure although they can appear similar. Pleasure is enjoyment of an outside stimuli. You might find pleasure in buying a new car, or in going on vacation, or having friends over for dinner, or....the list is long on what you might enjoy experiencing. Pleasure requires an external stimulus for you to experience it. Happiness does not. Happiness is a belief about yourself and the outside world. You can be doing something you normally experience as pleasurable but not be happy! Pleasure is born from the external world; happiness is born from the internal workings of our own minds.
Tips for Happiness in Daily Life
By Remez Sasson
Daily life can be made happier. It is a matter of choice. It is our attitude that makes us feel happy or unhappy. It is true, we meet all kinds of situations during the day, and some of them may not be conductive to happiness. We can choose to keep thinking about the unhappy events, and we can choose to refuse to think about them, and instead, relish the happy moments. All of us constantly go through various situations and circumstances, but we do not have to let them influence our reactions and feelings.
If we let outer events influence our moods, we become their slaves. We lose our freedom. We let our happiness be determined by outer forces. On the other hand, we can free ourselves from outer influences. We can choose to be happy, and we can do a lot to add happiness to our lives.
What is happiness? It is a feeling of inner peace and satisfaction. It is usually experienced when there are no worries, fears or obsessing thoughts, and this usually happens, when we do something we love to do or when we get, win, gain or achieve something that we value. It seems to be the outcome of positive events, but it actually comes from the inside, triggered by outer events.
For most people happiness seems fleeting, because they let changing outer circumstances affect it. One of the best ways to keep it, is by gaining inner peace through daily meditation. As the mind becomes more peaceful, it becomes easier to choose the happiness habit.
Here are a few tips for increasing happiness in daily life:
1) Endeavor to change the way you look at things. Always look at the bright side. The mind may drag you to think about negativity and difficulties. Don’t let it. Look at the good and positive side of every situation.
2) Think of solutions, not problems.
3) Listen to relaxing, uplifting music.
4) Watch funny comedies that make you laugh.
5) Each day, devote some time to reading a few pages of an inspiring book or article.
6) Watch your thoughts. Whenever you catch your- self thinking negative thoughts, start thinking of pleasant things.
7) Always look at what you have done and not at what you haven’t.
Sometimes you may begin the day with the desire to accomplish several objectives. At the end of the day you might feel frustrated and unhappy, because you haven’t been able to do all of those things.
Look at what you have done, not at what you have not been able to do. You may have accomplished a lot during the day, and yet you let yourself become frustrated, because of some small things that you did not accomplish. You have spent all day successfully carrying out many plans, and instead of feeling happy and satisfied, you look at what was not accomplished and feel unhappy. It is unfair toward yourself.
8) Each day do something good for yourself. It can be something small, such buying a book, eating something you love, watching you favorite program on TV, going to a movie, or just having a stroll on the beach.
9) Each day, do at least one act to make others happy. This can be a kind word, helping your colleagues, stopping your car at the crossroad to let people cross, giving your seat in a bus to someone else, or giving a small present to someone you love. The possibilities are infinite. When you make someone happy, you become happy, and then people try to make you happy.
10) Always expect happiness.
11) Do not envy people who are happy. On the contrary, be happy for their happiness.
12) Associate with happy people, and try to learn from them to be happy. Remember, happiness is contagious.
13) Do your best to stay detached, when things do not proceed as intended and desired. Detachment will help you stay calm and control your moods and reactions. Detachment is not indifference. It is the acceptance of the good and the bad and staying balanced. Detachment has much to do with inner peace, and inner peace is conductive to happiness.
14) Smile more often. Hello! Are you there? How about having dinner after work?
【点此下载】