Unit 5 Overcoming Obstacles

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Unit 5 Overcoming Obstacles

• Text A True Height

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Objectives

• To grasp the main idea and the structure of the
  text
• To appreciate the narrative skills
• To master the key language points and grammatical
  structures in the text

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Pre-reading tasks

• Listen to the song Coming out of Dark and answer
  the following questions
• Consider the title of the song, what does dark
  refer to?
• How is the song related to the theme of the unit?

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Suggested answers

• (near death loss of consciousness after the car
  accident slow and painful recovery despair)
• (To get over despair after injury is also a form
  of overcoming obstacles.)

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Pre-reading tasks

• Do you know these proverbs?
• Where theres a will, theres a way.
• Rome wasnt built in a day.
• God helps those who help themselves.
• You shall reap what you sow.
• Constant dripping wears away the stone.
• Now scan the text and find a similar saying.
• If you want something, work for it! / You want
  something, work for it!

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Pre-reading tasks

• Introductory remarks
• Hard work is important to success, but is it
  the only factor that contributes to success? As
  we will find out in the text, dreaming is equally
  important.

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Text analysis --- text organization

• Scan the text and decide on how many parts it can
  be divided into.
• Organizationally the text could break into four
  parts
• Part One ? Paragraphs 1-2
• Part Two ? Paragraphs 3-5
• Part Three ? Paragraphs 6-12
• Part four ? Paragraph 13

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Text analysis --- main ideas of the first three
parts

• Part One
• Michael faced ________ in his pole-vaulting
  career.
• (the most challenging competition)
• Part Two
• Michaels ________ was marked with dreams and
  tough training.
• (childhood)
• Part Three
• Michael topped his personal best, won the
  ________ and set ________.
• (championship, a new world record)

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Text analysis --- style

• Scan the text and see if the text is developed in
  time sequence.
• The text consists of the main story and a
  flashback. You may have noticed that the
  narration has to switch from the ongoing
  competition to earlier events and then return to
  the ongoing competition.

A flashback is a scene in a film, novel, etc. set
in a time earlier than the main action.
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Text analysis --- style

• How does the author manage to connect
• these parts so that the text flows smoothly?
• See Ex.2 on P.154.
• It also has the element of flying, and the
  thought of flying as high as a two-story building
  is a mere fantasy to anyone watching such an
  event.
• All of Michaels vaults today seemed to be the
  reward for his hard work.

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Cultural notes

• Olympics The Olympics Games are the most
• important international sports event in the
  world held every four years.
• The Olympic symbol five interlocking red,
  blue, yellow, black, and green circles on
  a white field --- represents the continents of
  the world joined in friendship.

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Cultural notes
New Beijing, Great Olympics
The Olympic motto is --- Citius - Altius -
Fortius. Swifter, higher, stronger.
In 2008 Beijing will host the 29th Olympic Games.
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Language study

• confront(L4) (fml.) face up to and deal with
  ( a problem or difficulty, etc.)
• -- the enemies bravely
• -- typical problems that Chinese learning
  English

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Language study

• mere(L10) no more or better than and
  therefore not important
• -- She is a child she doesnt understand.
• -- They were puppets manipulated by men in
  search of power.

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Language study

• fantasy(L10) imagination, esp. when it has
  no connection at all with reality
• -- Having watched so many animated cartoons,
  some children cant tell from reality.
• -- Its all nothing like that happened to him.

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Language study

• passion(L15) strong feeling, esp. of love
• If you have a passion for something, you have a
  very strong interest in it and like it very much.
• -- She had developed a for gardens.
• -- Biology is their great at the moment.

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Language study

• detail(L15)
• 1) small, particular fact or item
• -- No s of the negotiation between the two
  countries have been revealed.
• -- I can still remember every single of that
  night.
• 2) sth. which is unimportant and doesnt
  affect the main issue
• -- The salary is a the main thing is to find
  a job.

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Language study

• go into detail(s) explain thoroughly
• -- Can you give me a rough idea of what
  happened, without going into detail?
• in detail fully or thoroughly
• -- His theory is examined in chapter 12.

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Language study

• recur(L16) come or happen again
• -- The theme of love recurred in many of Celine
  Dions songs.
• -- It was probable that the same circumstances
  would now recur.

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Language study

• coincide(L21) happen at the same time
  (followed by with)
• -- His arrival in Tokyo d with the beginning
  of the war.
• -- The art exhibition s with the 50th
  anniversary of his death.

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Language study

• alternate(L28) every other or second
  happening by turns
• -- We saw each other on Sunday nights.
• -- We had a week of rain and sunshine.

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Language study

• vain(L37) too pleased with ones own
  abilities or looks
• -- Too much praise can make a person .
• A vain attempt or action fails to achieve what
  is intended.
• -- the teachers plea for silence
• If you do something in vain, you do not succeed
  in achieving what you intend.
• -- We tried to discover what happened.

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Language study

• startle(L53) give a sudden shock or surprise
  to
• -- Goodness, you d me I thought you you
  were in the garden.
• -- He was d by the fevered look of his patient.

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Language study

• intensity(L56) the state of being intense
• -- In order to finish the job in time, we have
  to work with greater .
• -- The mayor didnt realize the of peoples
  feelings on the housing issue.

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Language study

• tense(L57)
• If you are tense, you are worried and nervous
  and cannot relax.
• -- They began to grow over the likelihood of
  a long delay.
• -- The flight had been postponed five hours and
  all of the passengers were getting .

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Language study

• tension(L57)
• Tension is the feeling of fear or nervousness
  that is produced when sth. difficult, dangerous,
  or important is happening.
• -- the between the two countries
• -- With in his voice he said he wanted to
  tell me something.

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Language study

• stretch out(L66)
• If you stretch out a part of your body, you hold
  it out straight.
• -- He ed a thin arm and took our hands.
• -- The beggar ed her hand for the money.
• -- in comfort

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Language study

• bring (sb.) back to earth(L80)
• cause (sb.) to stop day-dreaming cause
  (sb.) to return to reality
• -- Jack had been spending all his time chatting
  on line with his key-pals until his parents had
  a word with him and brought him back to earth.

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Language study

• congratulate(L87)
• If you congratulate someone, you praise them
  for something that they have done.
• -- sb. on sth.
• -- His teachers d him on winning the first
  prize in the speech contest.

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Language study

• media(L91) (collective noun)
• means of mass communication
• -- You can refer to _____, _____ and _____ as
  the .
• (television, radio, newspapers)
• -- These problems have been exaggerated by the
  .

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Grammatical structures

• It was either the eruption of the people in the
  stands or the thump of his landing that brought
  Michael back to earth. (L79)
• It isthat
• This structure can be used to emphasize almost
  any part of the sentence.
• What he didnt know was his dad was hugging his
  wife and crying. (L83)
• Whatis/was
• This structure is used to emphasize the subject
  or object.
• (See more practice on Page 161.)

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Cleft sentences

• If we want to give special importance to one part
  of a sentence, we can put it into a separate
  clause.
• There are two common ways of doing this. One is
  to use the structure It is/wasthat the other
  is to use Whatis/was.
• Compare
• Harry told the police. It was Harry that told
  the police.
• I need a beer. What I need is a beer.
• Sentences like these are called cleft
  sentences by grammarians (cleft means
  divided).

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Post-reading tasks

• How do you understand the title True Height?
• ( We may understand it as the new heights that
  Michael cleared one after another, or we may view
  it as the tremendous obstacles Michael had
  overcome in attaining his goal.)
• What does hot in the first paragraph mean?
• (It plays on two different meanings one
  literal, the other figurativefierce or intense.)

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Post-reading tasks

• In the text the author skillfully uses details to
  bring out a character. Now scan the text again to
  list the details that help us to understand
  Michael.

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Details that help bring out a character

• Paragraphs 3 5
• L16-20 Michael had this one recurring dream.
  He would be running down a country road...
  soaring like an eagle.
• L21-22 Wherever he flew was with a keen eye
  for detail
• L26-30 He began a very careful training program.
  He worked out every other day was a coachs
  dream.
• L30-32 Besides being an honor student and only
  child, Michaelcontinued to helpwith their
  farm chores.

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Details that help bring out a character

• Paragraphs 6 8
• L38-40 As soon as he landed on the inflated
  landing mat, and with the crowd on its
  feet, Michael immediately began preparing
  for his next attempt at flight.
• L43-44 When Michael cleared the bar at 17,
  again he showed no emotion.
• L50-51 He rolled over and did his routine of
  three finger-tipped push-ups.

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Post-reading tasks

• What do you think of the ending of the story?
• Why do you think the author keeps quiet about
  Michaels blindness until the very end of the
  story? Does he in any way suggest Michaels
  handicap?

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Are you a careful reader?

• Clues that suggest Michaels handicap
• L44-46 As he lay on his back and heard the
  crowd groan, he knew the other vaulter had
  missed his final jump. He knew it was time for
  his final jump.
• L53 The runway felt different this time.
• L69-70 When he heard the singing of some
  distant birds in flight, he knew it was his
  time to fly.

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Are you a careful reader?

• Clues that suggest Michaels handicap
• L71-72 something felt wonderfully
  differentThe surface below him felt like
  the country road
• L77-78 The air around him was the purest and
  freshest he had ever sensed.
• L81-82 he knew he could only see in his
  minds eye the smile on his mothers face.

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Post-reading tasks

• Dreaming and hard work, which is more
  important to Michaels success? Why?

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Post-reading tasks

• Scan the text to find out the three instances
  where work is used as a verb and explain in
  English its meanings.
• If you want something, work for it. (L25)
• He worked out every other day with weightlifting.
  (L27)
• He began shaking the tension. It wasnt working.
  (L57)
• (See pp.159-160 to know more about the usage of
  work.)

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Are you a good listener?

• To a child, _____ and reality are very close.
• (fantasy)
• He works on _____ days, not every day.
• (alternate)

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Are you a good listener?

• Someone who is _____ is extremely proud of their
  beauty, intelligence, or other good qualities.
• (vain)
• If something such as a sudden noise _____ you, it
  surprises and frightens you slightly.
• (startles)

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Are you a good listener?

• I must _____ you on a successful interview.
• (congratulate)
• Much of what children learn comes directly from
  the mass _____.
• (media)

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Word Bank sports-related voc.

• the National Junior Olympics
• The pole was set at 17 feet.
• three inches higher than his personal best
• pole-vaulting
• the final race
• track and field competition
• a gymnast
• a body builder

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Word Bank sports-related voc.

• training program
• weightlifting
• running
• coach
• trainer
• the inflated landing mat
• beat his personal best by three inches
• one of the final two competitors in the
  pole-vaulting event

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Word Bank sports-related voc.

• clear the bar at 17 feet 2 inches
• miss his final jump
• A miss would get him second place.
• winning first place
• push-ups
• Thats only one inch off the National record.
• sprinting down the runway
• win the National Junior Olympics
• set a new world record

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Word Bank words and expressions associated with
imagination

• The thought of flying as high as a two-story
  building is a mere fantasy to anyone
• As long as Michael could remember he had always
  dreamed of flying.
• dreams full of color and beauty
• have one recurring dream
• begin soaring like an eagle
• dreamer
• that free dreaming little boy

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Word Bank words and expressions associated with
imagination

• Then out of nowhere, and from the deepest depths
  of his soul, he pictured his mother.
• Visions of the golden wheat fields seemed to fill
  his thoughts.
• It was either the eruption or the thumpthat
  brought Michael back to earth.
• He knew he could only see in his minds eye the
  smile on his mothers face.

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Remember--

• To review the first four units and get prepared
  for the coming mid-term exam.
• To bring your listening textbook for class next
  time.
• See you !