Unit 5

Romance

Contents

• I. Lead-in

• II. Text Analysis

• III. Language Points

• IV. Presentation and exercises

I. Lead-in

• Public libraries in the U.S.: public libraries in the U.S. are free to the public. One can get a library card at the local library by filling in a form and showing the librarian a valid ID and something to prove that one lives in the neighborhood .

• e.g., a used and stamped envelope with one’s name as the addressee, one’s phone bill, gas bill, etc.

• Besides borrowing books, people go to libraries to borrow video tapes, use the computers there, attend book readings by authors and other cultural events. Libraries are regarded as community centers.

Discussion

• What are your standards in choosing a lover?

• Is cyber-love acceptable or not? Why?

II. Text Analysis

• Part Division• Part One (Para 1)

Opening of the story — John Blanchard was expecting someone at Grand Central Station.

• Part Two (Paras 2-6)

Explanation — Whom he was waiting for and why. How John Blanchard had fallen in love with Miss Maynell.

• Part Three (Paras 7-15)

Development of the story — Miss Maynell put Blanchard to a test.

• Part Four (Paras 16-17)

Implication — The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive. It was wise of Miss Maynell to give such a test.

• In this text there are some examples of simile and metaphor. A simile is a comparison of one thing to another, using the words “like” or “as”, e.g., “her hair was black as night”; “in her green suit she was like springtime come alive” (Para. 7).

• A metaphor is a suggested but not stated comparison of one thing to another, e.g., “while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment” (Para. 14).

• Notice also that the characters talk in a rather informal way. For example, “Going my way, sailor?” is an incomplete sentence. Or see how the middle-aged woman spoke in Para. 15—“son”, “go and tell”, “some kind of ” and so on are all casual.

Comprehension

• Group Discussion• How do you understand Houssaye’s remark “T

ell me whom you love, and I will tell you who you are”?

• If you loved someone but your parents forbade you to see him or her, what would you do?

III Language Points

• Vocabulary• straighten v.: (cause to) become straight

or level or tidy （使）变直；（使）变平整

• e.g. He straightened the bent wire. • The road straightened out here.• straighten out （ 1 ）变直；把…弄直

（ 2 ）克服，解决（困难）。• straighten up （ 1 ）把身体挺直 （ 2 ）

整顿，整理

• make one’s way: go 走去• e.g. In the evening the Gadfly made his way

to the appointed meeting-place.

• When the concert ended I made my way out of the hall.

• reflect v.: be a sign of, show; express 反映；显示

• e.g. Does this letter reflect your real opinions / reflect how you really think?

• previous a. : happening or coming before or earlier 早先的，先前的

• e.g. It is illustrated on the previous page. 在前一页有图解说明。

• Without previous experience in teaching my chances of getting the job will be slim.

• previous to: before 在…之前• e.g. Previous to leaving for France, he studied a

lot about the country.

• locate vt. : (1) find the exact position of ; 找到…的位置，探明，查明

• e.g. Keep talking with him for five more seconds and I will locate the place he is calling from.

• An X-ray will help locate where your ring has gone in your dog’s stomach.

• correspond v. : (1) exchange letters regularly (with) 通信

• e.g. Even after becoming president, he still corresponds with his old friends personally instead of asking his secretary to do it.

• (2) be in agreement; match (with, to) 相符合，成一致

• e.g. These goods don’t correspond with / to the list of those I ordered.

• overseas ad., a. : to or in another country 去（在）国外（的）， 去（在）海外（的）

• e.g. Spring Festival is coming and many Chinese are planning to go traveling overseas.

• fertile a. : (1) (of land) able to produce good crops 肥沃的，富饶的

• e.g. Human civilization first bloomed in fertile lands along big rivers. China is a case in point.

• take a chance (on sth.) : attempt to do sth. In spite of the possibility of failure ; take a risk

• (= take chances) 碰运气；冒险 • e.g. You’re taking a chance of going bankru

pt. 你在冒着破产的危险。• You should never take chances when drivi

ng a car. 开车时决不应冒险。

• 大纲中含 “ chance” 的词组有： :

• by chance 偶然，碰巧

• by any chance 万一，也许

• chance on / upon 偶然找到，偶然遇到

• stand a chance of 有…的希望，有…的可能

• Sentences • 1. The woman's face broadened into a

smile.: The woman smiled. broaden: make or become broader.

• Examples: The road broadens once it has passed through the village.

• The widespread use of computers has broadened the scope of our knowledge.

•

• 2. "Tell me whom you love," ... "and I will tell you who you are.": If you tell me whom you love, I will tell you what kind of person you are.

• 3. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her. And yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own.

• I felt as if there were two of me, one wishing earnestly to go with the pretty young woman, the other wanting to stay with the woman who had befriended me and warmed my heart.

• split: (cause to) break into two or more parts

• Examples: The U.S. Department of Justice tries to split Microsoft into three separate companies.

• Plate flower

V. Presentation and exercises

• a) Role play: Key Pals’ Meeting• b) Essay-writing • Please write an essay entitled A Memorable

Meeting. Your essay should cover the following points:

• 1) Whom you met.• 2) When, where and how you met.• 3) What happened during the meeting.• 4) In what way the meeting was significant to you.

• Real love is a permanently self-enlarging experience.

-- M. Scott Peck

• Life’s greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.

-- Victor Hugo

• One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.

-- Sophocles

• Passion makes the world go round. Love just makes it a safer place.

-- Ice T, The Ice Opinion

• Pitcher flower

• Cookies

The End