Unit Four Section A

The Great TV Turn-off

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Teaching PlanⅠ. Objectives

Ⅱ. New Words and Phrases

Ⅲ. Lead-in

Ⅳ. Cultural Notes

Ⅴ. Language Points and Sentence Explanation

Ⅵ. Assignments

Ⅰ. Objectives

After studying this text, students are expected to be able to:

1. talk about advantages and disadvantages of TV;

2. talk about what they might do when there is no TV to watch;

3. master new words, phrases, language points, and understand the text.

Ⅱ. New Words and Phrases

1.impress  vt. 1. influence deeply especially with a feeling of admiration 给……深刻的印象She's always trying to impress her readers with her writings. 她一直努力使自己的作品打动读者。2. press something into something else 印；压印The old man impressed the paper with one of his fingers. 老人在那张纸上按了手指印。 impression n. impressionism n. impressionist n. impressive a. impressionistic a. impressionable a. impressible a.2.project  n. [C]a piece of work that needs skill, effort, and careful planning, esp. over a period of time 项目；计划；大型作业

They gave money to Project Hope even though they themselves were not rich. 3.warn  v. tell of something bad that may happen, or of how to prevent something bad 警告；提醒I warned you of the dangers of smoking, but you didn't listen to me. 我提醒你吸烟的危害，但你却不听。warn sb to (not) do sth 4.touch  vt. 1. feel, strike lightly, or make connection (with), especially with the hands or fingers （尤指用手、手指）触摸；碰Don't touch the wet paint on the wall. 墙上油漆未干，请别碰。2. affect someone's emotions, especially by making them feel pity or sympathy 触动；打动；使受感动The movie touched me so deeply that I decided to see it again.

这部电影深深地打动了我，所以我决定再看一遍。n. [U] connection, especially so as to receive information; contact 接触；联系People stay online more to keep in touch with others. 人们上网更多的是为了和其他人保持联系。E-mail is a cheap way to stay in close touch with friends who live far away. 电子邮件是一种价格便宜的联系方式，人们通过它与远方的朋友保持密切联系。touching a. moving 5.blank  n. [C] an empty space; a form with empty spaces on it 空白；空白表格Please fill in the blanks on the form. 请填写表格上的空格。I need some blanks. 我需要几份空白表格。adj. 1. without writing, print, or other marks 空白的；空着的

blank tapes 空白磁带blank questionnaires 空白问卷调查表2. empty or expressionless 茫然的；无表情的His eyes were blank of expressions. 他目无表情。a blank stare 茫然的凝视 6.cruel  adj. 1. causing suffering 令人痛苦的I was very unhappy with his cruel remarks. 他的话很伤人，令我很不开心。2. enjoying the pain of others; very unkind 残酷的；残忍的The story characterizes the wolf as a tricky and cruel animal. 这个故事体现出狼既狡猾又残暴的特征。cruelty n.7.neglect  vt. 1. fail to do something because of carelessness or

forgetfulness （由于疏忽、遗忘等）漏掉（做某事情） Don't neglect to turn off the light when you leave. 走时别忘了关灯。I was late this morning because I neglected setting my alarm clock last night. 今早我迟到了，因为昨晚忘了上闹钟。2. give too little attention or care to 忽视；忽略 The student neglected his teacher's warning. 学生把老师的警告当耳边风。 8.handle  vt. deal with; control 对付；控制How well do you handle daily stress? 你对日常压力处理得如何 ?n. [C]the part of an object that you use for opening or holding it 柄；把手She turned the handle and opened the door. 她转动把手， 把门打开了。

9.sale   n. 1. [C; U] (an) exchange of property or goods for money; act of selling 出售；销售The building is for sale . 此屋待售。You can go to a yard sale for cheap things. 你可以去庭院旧货摊买便宜货。2. [C] a special offering of goods in a shop at lower prices than usual 减价出售；贱卖a clearance sale 清仓大减价活动10.faithful  adj. 1. full of or showing loyalty 忠实的；忠诚的The employees are faithful to their company. 雇员们对自己的公司忠心耿耿。2. true to the facts or to an original 如实的； 忠于原文的This is a faithful report of the event.

这篇报道对事件做了如实的描述。aa faithful translation 忠于原文的翻译 11.go without  succeed in living without something 没有……也行；将就The old man is a heavy smoker, so he cannot go without cigarettes. 老人烟瘾很大，所以不抽烟不行。12.draw a blank  be unsuccessful, especially in an attempt to find information or the answer to a problem [口 ] （尤指在寻求消息或问题的答案时）不成功；无结果I drew a blank on several test questions. 我有几道试题没做出来。He tried looking up the phrase in the dictionary but drew a blank. 他在词典中查找这个词组的意思，但没找着。

Ⅲ. Lead-in

Students are encouraged to discuss the following questions:

2.What do you think of the advantages and disadvantage of TV?

1. Besides watching TV, what else do you often do in your spare time?

3. What will you do if you’re not allowed to watch TV for a whole week?

4. If you’re deprived of going online or using cell phones for a week, what will you do? How will you feel?

Advantages

1. important and convenient channel of knowledge and information

2.educational programs (such as health, cooking, documentary, language

learning,etc.)3. entertaining programs (such as films, plays, sports games, etc. which can relieveour pressure from study and work. It is really a good wayof relaxation.)

Disadvantages1.the opium of the people & Fool’s Box (People, especially young people might be addicted to TV, which will influence their academic performance, their word, even health)2. negative and misleading influence on viewers (such as violence, crime, disaster, accident, etc shown on TV . Don’t forget there are so many advertisements, some of which are really annoying. )3. negative influence on interpersonal relationships (People spend so much time TV that they have no time talking to friends or family members.)

This text is a story about an experiment to see what families do when there’s no TVTo watch. The subjects of the experiment are required to keep a diary about their activities during the week without TV. Ted, the hero of the story, must have been used to watching TV. So at the very beginning, he does not know what else to do. But in the end he is glad to find that there are many other better things to do than watching TV.

1.At the beginning, Ted was strongly against the idea of turning off TV for a whole week.

2.Then he was struggling between the idea of watching TV and that of doing something else.

3. Ted came to realize that besides watching TV, there is something better to do.

What Ted did throughout the week:

Days Activities

Monday Went to bed early. did nothing.

Tuesday Built a house with friends. Cleaned his room.

Wednesday Cleaned some old games and played with friends.

Thursday Finished a painting.

Friday Borrowed two books.

Saturday Cleaned out his room. Set up a yard sale.

Sunday Bought two model planes and two mysteries. Helped mother make a cake.

Ⅴ. Language Points and Sentence Explanation1. The Great TV Turn-off Meaning: A big project of turning off TV for one week. Notice this is the name for an experiment started by the local library to see what families do when there's no TV to watch. It lasts for a week. 2. "No television this week, Teddy,"… Meaning: "You won't be allowed to watch TV this week, Teddy,"… Here Teddy is the diminutive (昵称 ) of Ted—the narrator. Other examples are: Bill for William, Liz for Elizabeth, Dick for Richard, etc. Please also pay attention to the structure of "No + noun/doing

something", which means "You are not allowed to do something." For example, No bare feet. 禁止赤脚。There is a sign on the wall, "No smoking". 墙上写着一条告示：“禁止吸烟”。 3. I was not impressed. Meaning: I didn't like the idea. Notice that the phrase "be impressed by" normally means "be influenced by...with a feeling of admiration". Here it is used colloquially (口语化 ) and just means "I didn't like the idea", but with a mild force (语气比较委婉 ). 4. ...what it's like to go without TV for a week.

what it's like: this is used in questions to ask about the nature or characteristic of something or someone, meaning "how it feels". For example: what it's like to walk in the rain without an umbrella? 不打伞在雨中行走是什么滋味？She really wants to know what it is like to be a famous singer. 她很想知道做歌星是什么感觉。go without： succeed in living without something 没有……也行；将就 People cannot imagine what it's like to go without electricity.

人们很难想像，没有电，生活会是什么样子。We are running out of salt, so we'll have to go without it.

盐快没有了， 所以我们只好将就了。 5. I'd rather find out how long I can take being at the dentist's, as long as I can watch TV while I'm there. Meaning: I prefer to get to the dentist's office and see how long I can stand staying there, only if I can watch TV. Notice that in the US, kids are regularly taken to the dentist's to have their teeth checked, and most kids think it is a boring and painful experience. Ted said this to show that turning off the TV was even worse than going to the dentist's and he would do anything as long as he could watch TV. Here "the dentist's'' refers to "the dentist's office" (牙科诊所 ). Other examples of the similar kind are: the hairdresser's ( 理发店 ) ， the butcher's (肉店 ) ， etc.

6. I valued my life plenty, so I didn't touch the TV when I came home from school that day. Meaning: Since I thought my life was very important, I didn't watch any TV after school that day.Notice that here "plenty" is used informally as an adverb meaning "quite, very much, to quite a large degree". For example: There's no need to add any more: it's plenty big enough already. 没有必要再增加了，已经相当大了。I'm plenty hungry, you guys. 大伙儿听着，我饿得很呢。 7. I...opened the diary my mother had given me to write in.

Meaning: I...opened the diary that had been given to me by my mother and started to write in it. Here "my mother had given me to write in" is a relative clause, modifying "the diary". had given: The past perfect tense is used because the action of my mother's giving me the diary happened before the action of my opening it. Other examples are:When I arrived at the station, the train had already left. 当我到达车站时，火车早已开走了。I asked the price of the bike, but they had already sold it. 我问那辆自行车卖多少钱，但是他们已经把它卖给别人了。Please notice here "in" is a preposition, with "the diary" as

the object. The word "in" can also be used as an adverb. For example:The water seemed cool, so I jumped in. 水看上去很凉快，所以我就跳了下去。"Why did you come in so early?" my boss asked me. “ 你为什么来得这么早？”老板问我。Please do not confuse the uses of "in" as a preposition and as an adverb, although they appear in the same position. 8. What else was there to do? Meaning: What other things could I do besides writing a diary?Notice Ted really could not find other things to do besides watching TV. Since he was not allowed to watch TV, he

could only write a diary.The word "else" means "besides, also" and is often used after certain nouns and pronouns. For example:You've already got what a lucky person could have. What else do you want? 你已经得到了一个幸运儿可以得到的一切。你还想要什么呢？You are the smartest among us, so if you say you can't do it, who else can? 你是我们这些人中最聪明的，如果你说不行，那谁能行呢？ 9. Monday: I'm drawing a blank! Meaning: I can't think of anything to write in the diary.

10. There wasn't a whole lot to write in my diary the next day either, but I did it anyway. Meaning: Like the first day, there wasn't much to write about the next day, but in spite of this, I just managed to write something in the diary. Notice "I did it" means "I wrote something". anyway: adv. in spite of everything, in any case 不管怎样 This year we had poor crops of wheat, but we could expect a good corn harvest anyway. 今年我们的小麦歉收，不过不管怎样，我们的玉米可望有个好收成。I know it's raining heavily, but you'll have to come here right now anyway.

我知道现在雨下得很大，但是不管怎样你得马上赶过来。 11. Tuesday: Got tired of staring at DO NOT WATCH TV sign. Meaning: On Tuesday, I felt bored with looking all the time at the sign on the TV that said DO NOT WATCH TV. Notice that this is what was written in the diary and it was about what "I" did on this particular day. Since this is written in the form of a diary, the subject "I" has been omitted. 12. After supper, I cleaned my room without being asked.

Meaning: After I finished supper, I cleaned my room, although my mother had not asked me to do so.without being asked: without being told to do so 主动地

When I come back from work, my daughter will bring me a cup of water without being asked. 我下班后一到家，我女儿就会主动给我端上一杯水。Since Fred always ordered the same thing in our restaurant, I would bring him the right food without being asked. 因为弗雷德到我们饭店总是点同样的东西， 所以我总是不等他点就主动把他要的东西端上去。 13. I must be going mad. Meaning: It is very probable that I am becoming crazy.Notice Ted must have seldom cleaned his room without being asked before this project began. Now that he did, he must be going mad.must be (must have done): to be, do, etc., very probably, or certainly 一定是；肯定发生了某事

It is wet outside, so it must have rained last night. 外面很湿，昨晚一定下雨了。She hasn't talked to me for two days, so I think she must be mad at me. 她都两天没和我说话了，我想她肯定很生我的气。 14. Wednesday: Blew the dust off some old games on the shelf. Meaning: On Wednesday, I cleaned the dust from some old games on the shelf. 15. I got around to working on a painting I had been neglecting. Meaning: I found time to continue working on the painting that I had forgotten to finish.

16. Broke down and walked downtown to that place—the library. Meaning: I couldn't control myself anymore, so I walked to that special place at the center of the town—the library.Notice the author used "that place" to show that he is not quite happy with the place where this Great TV Turn-off Project was started. 17. Checked out two mysteries. Meaning: I borrowed from the library two novels which tell stories about crime and murder. 18. I don't think I can handle this any longer! Meaning: I don't think I can go on without TV like this. not...any longer(no longer): not...any more 不再

Many young people no longer listen to classic music. 许多年轻人不再听古典音乐了。I cannot stand his bad temper any longer. 他那样的坏脾气我再也受不了了。 19. Tell me, what is there to do on a Saturday morning besides watching TV? Meaning: Please tell me, on a Saturday morning, what else can I do apart from watching TV? 20. Late Saturday: Finally found something to do—cleaned out my room. Meaning: Towards the end of Saturday, I found something to do at last—I cleaned and tidied my room and removed the things that I didn't want any more.

21. My mother said it was okay to set up a yard sale outside. Meaning: Mother said that I could sell in our yard the stuff cleaned out of my room. 22. Your faithful diary-writer has amazed himself! Meaning: After turning off the TV and keeping a diary for one week, I am surprised to see how I have changed 23. I don't think I'll turn on the TV today, though... Meaning: Although the project is over, I don't think I'll watch TV today. 24. I might just find something better to do. Meaning: I would possibly do something more interesting than watching TV.Notice here "might" is used to express possibility.

Ⅵ.Assignments

Ⅰ.Students are required to finish the exercises after the text.

P66-P71

Ⅱ.Presentation

Students are divided into 6 groups, and each group

will select two representatives to make presentations

on strengths and shortcomings of TV, internet and cell

phone.