●Task writing a biographical article
This section consists of a series of activities which provide opportunities to learn and practice language skills. Each of the three steps is preceded by a skills building activity. Try to learn how to write a curriculum vitae and a biographical article.
Skills building 1: listening for figures
In this part you will learn when to use cardinal numbers or ordinal numbers and how to identify specific numbers when listening. You will also learn what words or phrases can be used to express an approximate number or to modify a number. Listen to an interview and fill in the figures you hear.
1.?????? First let’s review different forms of numbers. Please give the ordinal form of the numbers below.
① 1-12
Cardinal numbers Ordinal numbers formation
one first/1st 1. 序数词1-3为特殊变化
two second/2nd 2. 4-12在基数词词尾加-th构成。
three third/3rd 注意fifth, ninth, twelfth的词形变
four fourth/4th 化。
five fifth/5th
nine ninth/9th
twelve twelfth/12th
② 13-19基数词在数词3-9后加-teen构成，其中13和15发生拼写变化，分别为thirteen, fifteen
13-19序数词在基数词后加-th构成。如：thirteen--thirteenth
③ 20-90整十位数在基数词2-9之后加后缀-ty构成，其中20，30，40，50拼写发生变化，分别为twenty, thirty, forty, fifty; 构成序数词时，将词尾y变成i加eth, 如：sixty—sixtieth/60th
十位数之间的数，由十位数加个位数构成，中间用连字符号。构成序数词时，十位数用基数词表示，个位数用序数词表示。如：21/ twenty-one→twenty-first/ 21st
Note:
When we talk about the date or want to talk about something in order, we use ordinal numbers, for example, 1st January, on the third floor, the second one on the left, etc.
We can use numbers to talk about time, date, age, price, street number, percentage, etc.
2. Go over Points 1 to 3 on page 52. Pay special attention to the word stress when listening to the numbers, such as fifteen and fifty, eighteen and eighty.
3. Look at Point 4 to learn how to express an approximate number or modify a number.
1.?????? Listen to the tape and fill in the figures you have heard.
Tapescript
Interviewer: Welcome to Spotlight. Today’s interview is with the famous balloonist, Steve Fosssett. Welcome, Steve.
Steve: Hello.
Interviewer: So when did you first become interested in balloons, Steve?
Steve: I started becoming interested in balloons quite late in life. It was in my late thirties.
Interviewer: How long have you been a balloonist?
Steve: For ten years.
Interviewer: You’ve only just recently managed to achieve your dream of flying around the world, at the age of fifty-eight, haven’t you?
Steve: Yes. I have, finally. That was the sixth time I tried.
Interviewer: I also know that you’re quite a good swimmer too. Would you like to tell us something about that?
Steve: Sure. I swam across the English Channel between France and England in nineteen eighty-five.
Interviewer: And you’ve broken fourteen world records too. How do you do it?
Steve: Just the usual hard work and practice, like everything in life.
Interviewer: Thank you, Steve. That’s all we’ve got time for today. Goodbye.
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Answers
(1)30s/thirties (2)10/ten (3)58/fifty-eight (4)6th/sixth
(5)1985/nineteen eighty-five (6)14/fourteen
Step1: finding a speaker for your school
Listen to the headmaster to fill in the note. The headmaster wants a person to speak to the school. He will talk about what kind of person he needs. Listen carefully and complete an advertisement with what you have heard.
1. Listen to the tape and fill in the note sheet in Part A on page 53.
Tapescript
Headmaster:
I have been thinking about what kind of speaker we should invite to the school. I want you to look for someone young enough that students can relate to him or her. It does not matter if the person is a man or a woman, but they should be no older than thirty-five. But, they do need to be old enough to have done something exciting or important, so they should be at least eighteen years old. So, older than eighteen but younger than thirty-five, and if they have some experience as a speaker already, that would be helpful. I think I’d also prefer to have someone who is Chinese, so the students can really understand his or her experiences. Yes, a Chinese person is preferred, but he or she must be able to speak both English and Putonghua. Now, there are certain things you need to look for. We can’t pay travel money or for a stay in a hotel, so we need someone who is from Nanjing. This person will need to be here sometime between the thirtieth of May and the second of June. It doesn’t matter which day, as long as it’s between those dates, and he or she can speak for three hours, from ten a.m. until one p.m. The speech should last for two hours and there should be one hour kept for questions and answers with the students. Hmm, what else? The only other thing I can think of is what the person is like. The person we choose must be friendly and outgoing and happy to spend time talking with the students at our school.
Now, if you can write up an advertisement for me, that would be really helpful, Thanks!
?
Answers
A 1. 18,35 2. Nanjing 3. 30th, 2nd 4. 10, 13 5. two, one
6. exciting, important 7. English, Putonhua 8. Chinese
9. helpful 10. friendly
2. Please use the information you get from the tape to complete the advertisement in Part B on page 53.
Answers
B (1)important (2)(your school name) (3)June (4)18 (5)Nanjing
(6)English/Putonghua (7)Putonghua /English (8)outgoing
Skills building 2: reading a CV
Here we will learn what a CV (curriculum vitae) is and what should be included in a CV so as to know how to read a CV in English.
1.?????? Do you know what a CV is and when a CV is needed? (A CV is a summary of one’s education and work skills. CV stands for curriculum vitae. When one wants to get a job, his/her CV will be presented to the employer. So a CV is very important if he/she wants to get the job.)
2.?????? Go over the six points on page 54 that describe what a CV should include and should not include. Pay attention to the order in which education and experience are listed on a CV.
Note that if someone wants to find a job, his or her CV usually includes Identification, to tell others who you are and how to contact with you; Objective, to tell the kind of job you want to get. This item can be omitted sometimes; Education, to list the names of the schools at which you studied and the graduation dates. The name of the most recent school should be listed first, and then the second most recent one. The first school that you went to should be the last one written down; Experience, to tell your past jobs, company names, location and position held for past jobs, other experiences, such as work, either professional, internship or volunteer. Note that experience related to the job being applied for should be listed first, and any other experience related to the job wanted can be listed. The most recent one should be listed first; References, to tell the names of the persons who once worked or studied together with you and their contact information. This is usually done when requested. The referees should never be your family members; and at the end of a CV, there’s usually the item Other, to tell the honors you’ve got and activities you have taken part in, your hobbies and interests.
3. To make sure that you know how to write a curriculum vitae, I’d like to leave you 5 minutes or so to write a CV about yourselves and then present it to the class.
4. Go over the CV excerpts on page 54 individually and explain the reasons for your choices.
Answers
1???????? 1994-1998 Beijing University
1990-1994 No.1 High School
2???????? Wang Bing ﹡123 Nanjing Road
﹡5555 8920 ﹡wbing@getajob.com
3???????? Referees: English teacher
Ms Lu Xia 5555 4334
Mr Zhang Xi 5555 5433
Step 2: introducing a speaker
In this part you are asked to introduce a speaker according to a CV to develop your speaking skills. You will first read the CV and take some notes. Then talk about the person in pairs according to the notes you have taken.
1.?????? Read the CV in Part A on page 55, take notes individually, and then list the information you find, such as the person’s name, address, age, nationality, experience abroad, language, education, work experience and interests, including personality.
Note that western people usually use Mandarin instead of Putonghua when referring to the Chinese language.
Whether you think the person is fit for the principal’s requirements or not and why? You may look at page 53 to review what the principal’s requirements are.
Answers
1. Gao Jian
2. 9407 Zhongshan Nan Road
﹡Flat D﹡Nanjing﹡China
3. Female
4. 29 (Born in 1975)
5. Putonghua (native); English (fluent)
6. 2002-2003 Was a Goodwill Ambassador for China
Travelled around the world giving speeches and introducing Chinese culture
2002??? Started a school to help students get accepted to study-abroad programmes
1998-2002 Worked as an English teacher in a college
1981-1991 Lived in Australia
7. BA in English; Goodwill Ambassador for China; start a school; a college teacher for years
8. Travel and adventure
9. Friendly, outgoing
2. Work in pairs to practice what you should say to the principal about the candidate. Then I’d like some of you to present your speech to the whole class.
You may begin your speech like this: I think we have got a good person to speak to the whole school. Her name is…
Possible example
I think we have got a good person to speak to the whole school. Her name is Gao Jian. She is 29 this year and lives in Nanjing. She lived in Australia from 1981 to 1991. Then she came back and studied in Nanjing No.5 High School. She graduated from Beijing University in 1998. After graduation she worked as a Goodwill Ambassador for China. She traveled around the world giving speeches and spreading knowledge about Chinese culture. She is good at not only Chinese but also English. I think her experiences are exciting and will inspire our students.
Skills building 3: organizing information
In this part you will learn how to group pieces of information about a person into three different sections and how to organize the information in a logical order. You are to organize some notes about a famous woman scientist, Dian Fossey, into the appropriate sections. Then you will put some paragraphs in the correct order to complete an article.
1.?????? First let’s read Points 1,2 and 3 on page 56 to learn more about how to group the information into different sections and how to organize the information in a logical order.
When we want to write an article about a person, we usually divide the article into three sections: introduction, body and conclusion. Before writing, we should know who we are writing the article for.
Introduction: Who we are going to write about and why we are writing about him/her.
Body: Details about the person, for example, what he/she did, what he/she said, his/her opinions, the facts, the statistics, etc.
Conclusion: The important result of his/her deeds and what people think about him/her.
2.?????? Next let’s go over Part A on page 56. Work in pairs first to group the notes given into three sections. Then we’ll check the answers together.
Answers
A 1 B 2 B 3 B 4 B 5 B 6 B 7 B 8 B 9 I 10 I 11 C 12 C
3.?????? Please go over the six paragraphs in Part B on page 57 and explain the reasons for your answers.
Answers
B E→C→B→A→D→F
Paragraph E tells us who the passage is about.
Paragraph C, B, A and D tell us some detailed information about the person in the order of the events that happened.
Paragraph F is the conclusion of the whole passage.
Step 3: Writing a biographical article
We have learned how to group and organize information about a person, so please write a biographical article for the person you have dealt with in Step 1and 2. You may use the article about Dian Fossey as a sample to write this article.
1.?????? Go over Step 3 to learn what you will do. Try to find all the information about Gao Jian you can get in Steps 1 and 2.
2.?????? Please write a biographical article about Gao Jian for the school newspaper.
3.?????? Please do Parts A and B in Listening on page 102 in Workbook. After you finish the note sheet through listening to a radio programme and a conversation, you should finish the letter in Part C on the same page.
Possible example
We are going to invite Ms Gao Jian to our school to give a speech at the end of this month. She once lived in Australia and has traveled around the world. She is friendly and outgoing. She knows China and Chinese culture quite well, and she also knows about the world.
She was born in Yangzhou. In 1981 she went to Australia and lived there until 1991. Then she came back to China and studied in Nanjing No.5 High School. She is good at both Chinese and English. She studied English Language and Literature in Beijing University from 1994 to 1998. After graduation, as a Goodwill Ambassador for China, she traveled around the world giving speeches and introducing Chinese culture. She likes travel and adventure. In 2002, she started a school to help poor students get accepted to study-abroad programmes. She will talk about studying in foreign countries, as many students are thinking about this. We are looking forward to her coming.
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