a comic novel. charles dickens (1812-1870) he was one of the greatest novelists of the 19th century....
TRANSCRIPT
A Comic Novel
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) He was one of the greatest novelists of the 19th century. His father was put in prison for debt, so he had to start work when he was very young.
He began writing for popular magazines and became famous with The Pickwick Papers, a collection of amusing stories about the eccen-tric Mr. Pickwick and his friends.
His most famous novels: Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield and Great Expectations.
Background
Pre-reading
Which of the key words are
related to these things?
* Water * ice * holding people
* nervous * reactions * noise *
Use the words below to fill in the blanks!Cling clutch drown emerge faint float grasp redden scream shout skate slide splash tremble turn pale
Key words
The monkey ______ to the rope to keep from falling.
He ________ at the branch but could not reach it.
The moon ________ from behind the clouds.
I ________ at the very thought of it.
I ________ the cat by the back of its neck.
Don't play by the river in case you fall in & _______!
clung
clutchedemerged
tremblegrasped
drown
Picture-telling
Work in pairs. Look
at the pictures. Use the
key words to describe
what is happening. Then
guess what happens next.
While-readingLook through the text and check your guess.
1. When someone suggested going ice skating, Mr.
Winkle was . A. happy
B. embarrassed C. enthusiastic D. bored
2. When someone said there were skates for every
one, Mr Winkle was . A. excited
B. depressed C. anxious D. overjoyed
3. When Sam said it was “not uncommon” for ice t
o be slippery, he was being . A. sarcastic
B. helpful C. impatient D. observant
4. Winkle offered Sam the coats and the money because .
A. he was being generous.
B. he wanted Sam to stay with him to help him.
C. he was making conversation.
D. Sam was helping him.
5. Winkle crashed into Bob Sawyer because .
A. Sam pushed him deliberately.
B. he wasn’t looking.
C. he was jealous of Sawyer’s skating skills.
D. he couldn’t stop.
6. Mr. Pickwick was to slide on the ice.
A. eager B. excited C. unwilling D. impatient
7. It was to et Mr Pickwick out of the water.
A. difficult B. not necessary C. easy D. impossible
1. Why does Mr. Winkle redden (line 10) when he says that he would lover to skate? Is he telling the truth?
2. Why is Mr. Winkle’s smile described as ghastly (line 34)? Is he happy?
3. In line 38, Mr Winkle is clinging to affectionately to Sam. Do you think Mr Winkle was really being affectionate? Why was he clinging to sam?
4. Why two inferences can you draw from your answers to the three questions above?
A. Mr. Winkle loves skating.
B. Mr winkle lied.
C. Mr Winkle can’t skate.
After-reading
out of
turn
dry
express
fall down
float
cling
a) on the surfacea) on the surface
b) paleb) pale
c) landc) land
f) to sb.f) to sb.
g) practiceg) practice
d) an opiniond) an opinion
e) heavilye) heavily
Classify the collocations into categories:
a) verb + adverb
rain heavily spend heavily sleep heavily
b) adjective + noun
dry clothes a dry climate a dry sense of humor
c) preposition + noun
out of practice out of breath out of order
out of this world out of control
d) verb + adjective
turn pale turn red turn cold turn nasty
e) verb + noun
express thanks express concern express horror
Have you ever been in a situation like Mr.
Winkle when you lied about your abilities?
What happened?What, if anything, do you find funny in the
main text?Have you ever chuckled to yourself while
reading a book? Which book?
