德国党卫军军旗:Unit 01

Unit 1  This Year It’s Going to Be Different

I. Teaching Objectives:

 1. A brief summary of the ways to express futurity.

  1) will do    2) be going to    3) be to do    4) be about to do

 2. the use of over in the text

  tiptoe over, go over, put it over, take over, …

 3. draw a sketch, be drawn by …

II. Difficult and important points

1. Compound nouns formed with “self-”

self-improvement,  self-control,  self-respect,  self-determination …

2. Pragmatics: how to understand the meaning of a sentence in different context. See: “You’re looking lovely…” “Look … to stay out until four a.m.” in the text.

III. Introduction of the Text:

 1. The Author ___ Will Stanton(1918- ), American humorist and magazine writer. He has published more than 150 articles in such magazines as Reader’s Digest, McCall’s and The New Yorker. This text first appears in his collection The Old Familiar Booby Traps of Home(1978).

 2. The hero of the text, who is married and has four children, is talking about his New Year’s resolutions, which perfect as they seemed, ended in total failure. This is a light, humorous piece of writing with vivid descriptions.

 3. The Main Idea: The statement that best sums up the main idea is(3):

“The writer carried out his New Year’s resolution faithfully to improve himself, but the results all went contrary to his expectations.”

IV. Detailed Study of the Text:

1. New Year’s resolution ___ something one makes up one’s mind to do at the beginning of a new year in order to be and do better in the year ahead.

  “Resolution” here is a countable noun which means 决定、决议, but it can be also used as an uncountable noun which means 坚定、果断. Its verb form is “resolve”.

  Resolve on sth. / doing sth.  or resolve to do sth.

Set phrase: be resolved to do sth. (下决心做某事)

2. … would be blessed with a richer life

 ___ anyone would be lucky enough to have an interesting and eventful life.

The literal meaning of “bless” is “ask God’s favour or protection for”. 为祝福

Be blessed with, however, only means “to have something such as an ability, a good quality, which is admired or which is an advantaged to a person.”幸运拥有

e.g.  I am blessed with many good friends. (我有许多好朋友，真是幸运。)

    He is blessed with good health. (她享有良好健康的幸福。)

   Fortune blessed him with success and victory. (命运之神赐给他成功与胜利)

3．Be spontaneous in showing affection

  Spontaneous, impulsive, instinctive, automatic, etc. show the meaning of “人的行为、话语等不假思索的，未经考虑的”。Now see the difference:

  Spontaneous —— 强调自发的，自愿的，发自内心而没有外力的干涉的；

  Impulsive —— 指冲动，意气用事的，更强调不由自主和受感情支配的；

  Instinctive —— 以为本能、天生的，下意识的，常表习惯性动作；

  Automatic —— 指不经思考，没有感觉的机械运行，没变化的机械反应

4．Don’t ever sneak up on me …

sneak up on…___creep up on, come near quietly and unnoticed.

e.g.  Don’t sneak up on me like that, you give me a shock!

Darkness was sneaking up on the travelers as they entered the forest.

The wrinkles are sneaking up on my fsce.

Other use: sneak on ___ give information about (a bad thing)(to somebody)

e.g. The class had an agreement not to sneak on each other to the teacher.

(……不把各自的过失告诉给老师。)

        sneak out (of)___ leave in a secretive manner

e.g. We were still having the class when the boy sneaked out of the classroom.

Don’t try to sneak out of your duties like you did last time.

    sneak in ___ enter a place secretly

e.g. The boys used to sneak in without paying.

5. “You’re looking lovely…” “Look … to stay out until four a.m.”

 注意此处丈夫与妻子的对话，妻子的回答看似文不对题，但根据语用学（pragmatics）的原理，人们在对话过程中理解话语时，在新出现的信息与当时的语境之间通过认知和推理寻找其中的关联性，已达到交际的目的。而信出现的信息与当时的语境相结合时，可以通过逻辑的推理关系推导出新的暗含的语境效果。例如，

   1)  A: How’s he?

B: A couple of pills will cure him.

   2)  A: How’s he?

B: An ambulance must be sent for at once.

  B似乎都没有直接回答A的问题，没说He 的病情究竟如何，但基于双方共有的常识，B的话都是A的问题的恰当的回答。

## “Look, … it wasn’t my idea to stay out until four a.m.”

Para.  I didn’t want to remain outside as late as four in the early morning.

(how can I look lovely？)

“Look” in this context is an interjection that is used for emphasizing a point before making a statement, often when one is angry.

6. A sincere compliment is worth its weight in gold.

___ A truthful word makes its worthy to others. (真诚的称赞比金子都贵重，非常有价值的)

7. Sammy wandered off several times, …

Wander off (v + dav. or prep.)___ leave a place unintentionally, stay from

e.g. When she forgot what she was supposed to be doing, she used to wander off, and would often be found quite a long way from home.

   You are wandering off the point again; do please try to keep to the subject.

8. “Then how come it doesn’t?”

This is a colloquial expression in an informal way, which means, “Then why doesn’t it run/work?”

How come is informally used to ask “how does / did it happen (that) or why…?”  (怎么会……，为何会……)

e.g.  How come she hates birds? (她为何讨厌鸟？)

How come you never visit us any more?  (你为何不再来看我们？)

9. “…I’ll bet the fellows are swarming around. …”

Para: “… I’m sure many young men are after you.”

The literal meaning of bet is “risk (money) on the result of a future event.” Or “be certain that something will happen.”

10. “ I know you’re not feeling your best after last night,” …

Para:  I know you are not in your right mind, …

11. I struck up a conversation with …

strike up ___ begin playing (music)

e.g.  The band struck up the wedding march as soon as the bride and bridegroom stepped in.

____ begin (a relationship or conversation. usu. Informal )

e.g. It’s easy to strike up a friendship with people you meet on holiday.

(很容易与在假日里结识的人建立友谊。)

  He struck up a conversation with this other woman in the shop.

    (他开始与另一名妇女交谈。)

strike with ___ hit (someone or something) by using (something)

e.g. It’s not easy to strike the ball with this narrow piece of wood.

 be struck with ___feel the effect of (a strong feeling)

e.g. I was struck with wonder as I saw the great ship for the first time.

   They were greatly struck with the new young singer.

 be stricken with ___ begin to suffer from (something such as a disease)

e.g. Many chickens and duck were stricken with influenza. We call this bird flu.

12. I touched on hippies, …

touch on ___ mention (something) for a short time

e.g. The book only touches on the causes of the war and does not do justice to the influence of the slave trade.  

(此书谈及这场战争的理由，但对贩卖奴隶的影响却不公正。)

____ come very near, or be much like (something)

e.g. His manner was very inconsiderate, touching on rudeness.

(他的行为非常轻率，简直就是粗鲁。)

   His remarks were more than slightly unsuitable; they touched on the offensive.  (他的那些话有点不太适合，几乎令人不愉快。)

touch someone on the raw  (揭别人的短；触及到别人的痛处)

___ make sb. suffer by mentioning a delicate subject about which he is sensitive

e.g. Your mention of his time in prison touched him on the raw, so no wonder he took offence. (……，难怪他会大怒。)

13. throw in (or up)the sponge  (认输，放弃)

Para: (They) would have admitted defeat and given up doing …

In the boxing match one boxer’s coacher throws the sponge or tower in to admitted being defeated.

Pass the sponge over  抹去、购销（怨恨等）

14. Maggie always dreads taking down the Christmas tree, …

 1) Dread ___ feel worried about.  Dread is followed by an –ing participle.

e.g. Small children usually dread paying a visit to the dentist.

   I dread to think of what will happen in the next few days.

It is also correct to say:

   Small children usually dread a visit to the dentist.

   Small children usually dread that they will be taken to the dentist.

To be/live in dread of …(生活在…的恐怖之中)

2) take down ___ move something to a lower level or from a higher position

e.g. The librarian took the book down from its shelf and handed it to the reader.

We must take the curtains down for cleaning next week.

     ____ pull something to pieces usu. to remove it

e.g. It’s sad to see the old building being taken down to make way for a new shopping center.

   take over (v + adv.)____ lead sb. or carry sth. to another place.

e.g. He took the letter over to the window to read it in a good light.

                ____ become the person or group in charge

e.g. Thank you for your introduction; now I’ll ask the next speaker to take over.

Prices seem to go no rising whichever political party takes over.

      (无论哪个政党执政，物价似乎不断上涨。)

take over (v + prep.) ____ enable sb.or sth to cross; spend time on

e.g. Run and take that old lady over this busy road, she might get hurt without help.

   I have taken nearly three days over this book already.

Take pains/trouble over ____ be thorough in dealing with sth.

e.g. I can see that you’ve taken pains over your studies, but you should still work hard.

Take one’s time over ____ work at sth. solely or carefully

e.g. I like to take my time over preparing a meal for important visitors.

Take a (firm) stand over/on ___ act firmly on one’s judgment about

e.g. The government has decided to take a firm stand over fighting the bird flu.

   The United States is taking a stand over/on human rights.

15. The use of “over” in the text

 1) I tiptoed over and kissed her …

   “Over” here is used as an adv. Meaning across a distance or open space, towards or away from somebody/something.

2) “What did you do over the holidays?”

 “Over” here is used as a prep. Meaning during, in the course of…

e.g. She likes to listen to some light music over the weekend.

3) “… and put it over a chair.”

 “Over” here is used as a prep. which means resting on top of something and covering something partly or completely.

e.g. She spread a clean cloth over the table.

   He put his hand over his mouth when he yawned.

4) Take over one of his wife’s chores, …

 “Take over” is a v-phrase which means “take charge of…”

16. I was about two thirds done when Maggie came in.

Para: I had finished about two-thirds of the work, …

Two-thirds serves as an adverbial modifying done.

e.g. His new novel is about two-fifths thicker than his previous one.

   At the end of last year the construction project was already four-fifths finished.

17. The kids have been impossible all day.

Para: The children have been very unpleasant and disagreeable.

“Impossible” here means: unbearable to others or can’t be endured, extremely difficult to deal with

e.g. He is an impossible person.   (他是一个令人无法忍受的人。)

18. By now the kids were in the room, drawn by the commotion.

___ The first “by” here means “before or not later than” which usually shows the time.

e.g. He promised to be here by the appointed time.(…答应在约定时间前到达。)

   I shall come back ten years from now; you’ll be a big boy by then.

___ The second “by” is used here to introduce the doer in passive voice.

V. Assignment

  (omitted)

VI. Feedback

  (omitted)