Unit 3 TaskUnit 3 Task

Giving a talk about

a historical event

Giving a talk about

a historical event

listening for the gist

1. When you have conversations with

your friends, what decides the topic

you are talking about?

2. Will the topic be different if someone

else joins your conversation?

Skills building 1:

Discuss the following questions in groups:

3. Will the topic be different if you

move to another place to talk?

4. Will it be different if you are doing

something else while you are

talking?

When we are listening to get the gist,

we should try to find out:

1. how many people are talking

2. where they are

3. what they are doing

4. what they are talking about

Listen to a short conversation and

complete the note sheet below:

The number of people talking: (1)

The place they are talking in: (2)

The thing they are doing while talking:

(3)

The subject they are talking about: (4)

three

taking notes

learning from past experiences

classroom

Mr Pitt: Students, please take some notes

while we discuss the final question.

Do you think we should learn

from our past experiences? What

do you think, Betty?

Betty: Yes, Mr Pitt, I think we should.

We can make mistakes, because

we are human, but we’d better

Tapescript

not make the same mistake a

second time. That’s why we should

learn from our past experiences.

Mr Pitt: That’s right. What’s your opinion,

Wang?

Wang: I agree with the idea of learning

from the past, Mr Pitt. Actually

there’s a saying to express the

same meaning in Chinese.

If we put it into English, it’s

‘Don’t forget things in the past.

They could be your teacher in the

future.’

Mr Pitt: That makes a lot of sense. Now we

know one more Chinese saying.

Thank you, Wang. OK, that’s

all for today. See you in next

week’s history class.

Don’t forget to bring your

report on one of the historical

events on the list. See you then.

Step 1: finding useful expressions

Note sheet

I am now listening to (1) a quarrel / an

interview / a chat between friends.

I can hear (2) one person / two people /

three people talking.

Listen to a conversation and fill in the

note sheet:

The conversation takes place in a

(3) classroom / restaurant / library.

The title of the girl’s talk is (4)

_________________.The surprise attack

Listen to the conversation again and pay much attention to the details:

Useful expressions to use when giving a talk

1 Greeting the audience

* Informal: (1) _____________________

Hello, good to see you all here.

Nice to see you all here.

* Formal:

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Good morning, everyone.

2. Expressing thanks to the audience

* Informal:

Thanks for coming. I’m so glad you

could all join us.

Thank you for coming to the talk

today.

* Formal:

Thank you all for taking the time to

be here.

(2) ___________________________ ___________

Thank you for joining us, ladies and gentlemen.

3. Explaining the reason why you are talking to the audience Today

(3) __________ show you some illustrations of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, and to tell you something about

I’m very grateful that you have

come today.

I am here to

(4) _______________ and what its

consequences were. We’re all

gathered here to view some…

how it happened

4. Mentioning your hopes

I hope this has been informative and

interesting for you.

(5) _____________________________

Hopefully you have all learned

something new.

I hope that you enjoyed this talk.

5. Giving a final expression of thanks

Thank you for being such a good

audience.

(6) _____________________________

Thanks again for coming.

Thank you for your kind attention.

6. Giving the audience a question-and-

answer session

I’m now open for any questions you

may have.

(7) ____________________________

________________

Now that we’re finished, does anyone

have any questions?

If you have any questions, please

feel free to ask me.

Boy: This is really relaxing. I mean this

place. How did you find it?

Girl: One day I got very tried and

hungry, and I just happened to go

past this place. I came in and found

it quite pleasant. I like the juice

here. It’s very fresh.

Tapescript

Boy: Yes, and the bacon and egg

sandwiches are also good. Oh, yes, I

heard from Sun Qing that you are

going to give a talk at your school.

Have you got everything ready yet?

Girl: No, I am still preparing the talk.

That’s why I wanted to meet you. I

need your help. You gave a

talk at your school last month,

didn’t you?

Boy: Right. I gave a talk about my trip to

Beijing, and it turned out to be a big

success.

Girl: Aha, I’ve found the right person to

ask for help. Listen, my problem is

what expressions I should use

when I speak. I have a short list, but

need more ideas. For example, what

should I say when I greet the

audience?

Boy: It depends on what kind of audience

you are speaking to. If they are your

schoolmates, or people you know well,

you can greet them casually

by saying ‘Good morning, everyone.’

If there are guests from outside the

school, you must be more formal. You

should greet your audience by saying

‘Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.’

Girl: I see. And how should I express my

thanks to the audience for coming?

Boy: It’s easy. On a less formal occasion,

you say ‘Thank you for coming to my

talk today.’ and for a formal one, you

can say ‘I am very grateful that you

have come today.’

Girl: Wait, let me write that down. I am

very grateful that you have come

today. Right?

Boy: Right, and you also have to explain

why you are there talking to the

audience. What is the subject of your

talk?

Girl: The Attack on Pearl Harbor. The

title of my talk will be ‘The surprise

attack.’ I have some illustrations to

show my audience.

Boy: So you can say ‘Today I am here to

show you some illustrations of the

Attack on Pearl Harbor, and to tell you something about how it happened and what its consequences were.’

Girl: What should I mention at the end?

Boy: you may want to mention your hopes,

such as ‘ I hope that you enjoyed this

talk.’ You should also give a final

expression of thanks, for example,

‘Thank you for your kind attention.’Girl: If I want to start a question-and- answer session, what should I say?

Boy: Just say ‘If you have any questions,

please feel free to ask me.’ If you

need any more help, just give me a

call.

Girl: Thanks so much for your help.

Boy: That’s all right.

describing illustrations

When we are describing an illustration, we should pay attention to: Do not wish to point out every detail of the illustration.Briefly mention the subject of the illustration. Focus on the related background information about it.

Skills building 2:

This is a picture of the Mogao Caves. There are altogether 492 caves. The caves are located in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, on the famous Silk Road.

A. Look at this illustration, try to

describe it

Look at the picture of Tian’anmen Gate

and write a description for it according t

o the key words given:

Tian’anmen Gate

1st October 1949

The founding ceremony of the People’s

Republic of China

Chairman Mao Zedong

This is a picture of Tian’anmen Gate.

On 1st October, 1949, the founding cerem

ony of the People’s Republic of China wa

s held on the second floor of Tian’anmen

Gate. Chairman Mao announced the fou

nding of the new country as he overlooke

d Tian’anmen Square.

These photos remind us of the attack carried out in 1941 by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, an important US military base in Hawaii, during World War II.

1. This picture shows the night before

the attack. Many Japanese ships and

aircraft carriers sailed to the

Hawaiian Islands and were waiting

there for a surprise attack.

2. This picture shows the

scene after the attack.

As a result of the fatal

attack, much of the US

Pacific Fleet was

destroyed.

3. The man in this

picture is the former

US President Franklin

Roosevelt. He declared

the war against Japan

after the attack.

4. This picture shows the US national memorial at Pearl Harbor. It was established to remember those Americans who died in the attack in 1941.

Skills building 3

a simple outline of a speech often includes:

A greeting to the audience

An expression of thanks to the audience

An explanation of why the speaker is

there, or what the speech is about

planning an outline for a speech

The main body of the speech: details,

facts, names, dates, and/or history

Your vision and hopes for the future

The conclusion of the speech

A final expression of thanks

Organize the notes into an outline for the speech

Explanation: what UNESCO has done to protect the world cultural heritage.

Good afternoon, distinguished guests.

I am very honoured and grateful that you have come today.

What our team has done in Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China: helping local people form an action plan to preserve the ancient town, move most factories out of town, improve the water supply and fire control.

3

1

2

4

Thank you for your kind attention. 7

5

6

Future: UNESCO is going to help protect more sites around the world and provide more education to make sure that people can enjoy the treasures from the past.

Join us and support our project of protecting the world cultural heritage.

Step 3: giving your talk

Organize students into small groups and choose some sets of illustrations.

Plan an outline according to a set of illustrations.

Give the talk in groups and pay attention to the points given on P57.

Make preparations for a talk:

Do not say anything you do not know.

Do not move your body or your

hands frequently.

Write your speech, speak it out and

rewrite it until you think it is good

enough.

More advice on making a speech:

Change your tones to emphasize

the important parts of your speech.

Practice until you think it is good

enough.