Unit One Section A TimeConscious Americans

1、unit one section a time-conscious americanstime allotment: (4 periods)section a and language points (3 periods)exercises and writing (1 period )teaching aims: the teaching of this text aims to enable students1. to master the new words and useful phrases;2. to learn about how americans value time and

2、 culture differences between countries; 3. to get acquainted with skills of starting a paragraph with a general statement that is supported by specific details;4. to get acquainted with skills of reading for main ideas;5. to practice what has been learned. i. background information1. the definition

3、of cultureculture is a very broad term used to describe the arts, the beliefs, the values, the traditions, the customs, and the institutions that are considered to be the characteristic of a community, a people, a region, or a nation. culture also includes the languages and dialects that people use

4、to express their feelings and to communicate with each other. it is often difficult to dissociate language and culture since, in most cases, language is the main medium through which culture is transmitted. most people feel that it is impossible to really know a culture without speaking the language

5、. in some immigrant populations in north america, however, the original language (french, german, chinese, polish, etc. ) has been lost but customs and traditions are still maintained.2. cultural differencewhat we perceive as a different culture varies as we grow. the more experience that a person h

6、as with one culture helps him understand another culture and think of them as not so different from his own. if some person lived with an american, for example, he might not think of their culture as new and different if he were to travel to the united states for a while. but, if a person didnt know

7、 anything about this different culture, he might think that going to this place would be an exotic adventure into the unknown.3. cultural conflictseach nation has its own conventions. different nations have different cultures. when two cultures clash, communication problems may occur. some people wi

8、th ethnocentric attitudes think it is the others responsibility to understand their own culture. in fact, knowing and understanding the others culture is the responsibility of both sides. both sides must work at rising above cultural differences and be willing to compromise. but in both cases, most

9、likely neither side has access to the cultural conventions of the other. so educating rather than complaining and blaming is the best solution to cultural conflicts.4. time orientated culture past-orientated cultures believe strongly in the significance of prior events. history, established religion

10、s, and tradition are extremely important to these cultures, so there is a strong belief that the past should be the guide for making decisions and determining truth. we see this orientation in china, which because of its long and splendid history countries to respect the past. present-orientated cul

11、tures hold that the moment has the most significance. for them, the future is vague, ambiguous, and unknown and what is real exists in the here and now. future-orientated cultures, such as the one found in the united states, emphasize the future and expect it to be grander and nicer than the present

12、.ii. warm-up questions1. what are the two elements that americans save carefully?the key answers are “time” and “labor”.2. why is time so important for the americans? the key answers are because americans believe no one stands still; if you are not moving ahead,you are falling behind.3. how do the a

13、mericans treat time? the key answers are time is treated as if it were something almost real; they budget it, save it,waste it, steal it, kill it, cut it, account for it, also charge for it; time is a precious resource; theywant every minute to count.iii. text structure analysis1. outline of the tex

14、tpart iintroduction: american save two things, time and labor. (para.1)question: what results in a nation of people committed to researching, experimenting and exploring?part ii body: the ways of american saving time. (paras.2-7)questions: 1) what is the attitude of americans towards time? and why?

15、2) what is a foreigners first impression of the u.s. likely to be? and how do city people appear in the writers eyes?3) what is the writers advice if you “miss smiles, brief conversations, small exchanges with strangers?” and why?4) what examples does the writer give to show that americans work hard

16、 at the task of saving time? and how do americans view the impersonality of electronic communication?5) do you think it is right to get work done faster through electric devices?part iii conclusion: the foreigners have different ideas from those of american. (para.8)2. summary of the textthis passag

17、e shows the way of americans regarding time. americans are famous for their time-consciousness. his/her belief is that no one stands still. no moving ahead means falling behind. this results in a country that people of it devote themselves into researching, experimenting and exploring. time is the m

18、ost important thing for americans lives.on one hand, americans try their best to save up time by different ways. they are in hurry to get their destination, push the others in order to finish their shopping quickly. racing through daytime meals is part of the pace of life in america. people make ful

19、l use of modern ways to communicate with each other efficiently.on the other hand, people miss the relaxed way of living. they like the opening exchanges of a business call. they miss the ritual interaction that is suitable for a welcoming cup of tea or coffee. the people coming from different cultu

20、res have different ideas from those of american.iv. new words and phrases1. no one stands still. (para. 1)stand: v. keep or stay in a particular position or statefor this sense, “stand” is followed by adjectives or adjective-like phrase and used as a linking verb.stand firmdont let them tell you wha

21、t to do.the old school still stands.how do things stand at the moment?they stood ready for battle.still: adj. not moving, motionless, calm, quietthe sea was calm and still.keep still while i comb your hair.still waters run deep.2. this attitude results in a nation of people committed to researching,

22、 experimenting and exploring. (para. 1)result in: have as a result; his efforts resulted in failure.i hope it doesnt result in tears!the accident resulted in the death of two people. syn.: cause; lead to; bring about; give rise to; achievecompare with the phrase of “result from”: be caused bynothing

23、 has resulted from his efforts.what results from your interview?be committed to: be engaged in i am determined to be committed to the course of education.3. time is one of the two elements that americans save carefully, the other being labor. (para. 1)notice here in this sentence we have a special t

24、ype of adverbial clause: “ the other being labor”. the structure is: subject + v-ing /v-ed. this type of clause can also be put at the beginning of the whole sentence. 独立主格结构小结： 1) 逻辑主语+v.-ing： thorpe breezed through both events，his dark hair flopping，his smile flashing，his muscled body gliding alon

25、g the track 2) 逻辑主语+v.- ed after a11，eighty was a special birthday，another decade lived or endured just as you chose to look at. 3) 逻辑主语+to do sth here are the first two volumes，the third one to come out next month 4) 逻辑主语十adj she told the others，and soon all of them were in it，caught up in the appr

26、oach of brunswick，looking at the pictures vingo showed them “his wife and three childrenthe woman handsome in a plain way，the children still uniformed in the muchhandled snapshot 5) 逻辑主语+adv. 1 went around to the front of the house，sat down on the steps，and, the crying over，i ached 6) 逻辑主语+prepphras

27、e following them to the attic，she found a wounded union soldier，with 3 rifles at his side 4. we are slaves to nothing but the clock. (para. 2)slave to/of sth. : a person who is completely influenced or dominated by something.a slave to drink /money/smokeslaves of fashionnothing but: onlydont worry f

28、or my illness; what i need is nothing but a few days rest.the report contains nothing but lies.considering the situation, we can do nothing but wait.according to the traditional rule, nothing is invariably treated as a singular, even when followed by an exception phrase containing a plural noun:noth

29、ing but roses meets the eye5. we budget it (para. 2)budget: v. to plan in advance the expenditure of: he saves a lot of money by careful budgeting.sometimes we can say “budget ones time”, which means “to arrange ones time carefully”.as college students we should budget our time wisely.budget for: to

30、 plan to save enough money for he budgeted for the coming year/for a holiday/for (buying) a new house. the government budgeted for paying 50 new roads this year.n. 1) a plan of how to spend moneya family/weekly/government budget 2) the quantity of money stated in the plana budget of $ 1,000 adj.: ap

31、propriate to a budget; inexpensive; cheap:a budget car/dressbudget meals enjoy our budget prices now!6. kill it (para. 2): kill timekill time: make time pass quickly by finding something to do; to pass (time) in aimless activity; to make free time pass by finding something to do while waiting for th

32、e train he killed time by going for a walk.he went shopping to kill a couple of hours.7. account for it (para. 2)account for: 1) to give an explanation or reason for he could not account for his foolish mistakes.how do you account for all the accidents in series?2) to be the cause or origin of north

33、 seal oil account for a high proportion of our trade.on account of: because oftake into account: to take into consideration; allow for. on no account: by no means, in no case. under/in no circumstances8. we also charge for it. (para. 2)charge for: ask in payment for how much did he charge you for re

34、pairing the bicycle?do you charge for the use of the office telephone at off-duty time?9. a rather acute sense of (para. 2)acute: a. 1) (of the mind or the senses) able to notice small differences, as of meaning or sound; working very well; sharp dogs have an acute sense of smell.she still has very

35、acute hearing, though she is eighty years old.syn.: sharp, penetrating, quick, smart, subtle2) severe; strong; deep acute pain there was an acute lack of food. 3) (of a disease) coming quickly to a dangerous condition sars: sever acute respiratory syndromeantonym: chronic sense: appreciation or unde

36、rstanding of; consciousness ofa sense of humor is a great quality of a person.a sense of sight (hearing, smell, taste, touch) a sense of duty the sense of place (direction) be lost (or: dead) to all sense of shame10. have run out of a persons hourglass, (para. 2)run out of: 1) (of a person) to use a

37、ll ones supply of; have no more of were running out of time.im running out of patience.syn: use up2)（of liquid or something like liquid）flow out ofmany rivers run out of the hpare: run out of run out use upour food soon ran out. we soon ran out of our food.our food was soon used up.we so

38、on ran out of our food.11. they cannot be replaced. (para. 2)replace: vt. 1) put something back where it was beforewhen you have finished using the axe, please replace it.replace the book on the shelf.2) take the place ofreplace coal by /with gas can anything replace a mothers love and care?12. we w

39、ant every minute to count. (para. 2)count: to have a specified importance or value:their opinions count for little.every second counts.13. restlessly seeking attention in a store, or elbowing others (para. 3)elbow: vt. push others out of the way using elbows she elbowed her way through the crowd. he

40、 elbowed me out of the way.14. racing through daytime meals (para. 3)race through: do something in a hurrythe child raced through his homework in order to watch the football match on tv.15. you also find drivers will be abrupt (para. 3)abrupt: a. 1) (of behavior) roughan abrupt manner/ attitude 2) s

41、udden and unexpectedan abrupt change in the weather 16. you will miss smiles, brief conversations, and small exchanges with strangers. (para. 3)brief: concise he gave a brief account of the incident.his remarks were brief and to the point.(to)be brief (with you), i disagree.in brief: in as few words

42、 as possiblein brief he says no17. dont take it personally. (para. 3)take personally: if you take someones remarks personally, you are upset because you think that they are being critical about you in particular.you mustnt take her negative comments of your plan personally.18. they will miss the rit

43、ual interaction (para. 4)ritual: 1) n. one or more ceremonies or customary acts which are often repeated in the same formshe went through the ritual of warming the teapot before she put the tea in.2) adj. of or done regularly followed in exactly the same way each timeevery day the work begins with t

44、he ritual phrases of greeting. interaction: communicationinformal interactions among adults 19. american dont assess their visitors in such relaxed surroundings over extended small talk(para. 4) assess: to calculate or decide the value or amount of: to judge the quality, importance, or worth of be c

45、areful to assess the speech at its true worth. damages in the blood were assessed at 10% million.syn: appraise , evaluate, estimate, valueextended: lasting for a long period of time(para. 4)the child has received formal education over an extended period.20. much less (para. 4)much less: not to menti

46、on; and even less likelyi can hardly walk, much less run.“i didnt even see him, much less speak to him.”21. since we generally assess and probe professionally rather than socially, we start talking business very quickly. (para. 4)probe: v. examine closely; investigate. (sometimes this verb can be us

47、ed intransitively and then the preposition “into” is needed. the use of the preposition is by choice.)she tried to probe (into) my mind and discover what i was thinking. probe a matter to the bottomsyn: examine, explore, investigate compare: rather than other thanrather than：in preference to (sbsth)

48、；instead ofnuclear science should be developed to benefit the people rather than harm them. rather than cause trouble，he left other than：(esp. after a negative)except；different from；not he never speak to me other than to ask for something i have never known his behave other than selfishly.22. conseq

49、uently, we work hard at the task of saving time. (para. 5)consequently: adv. as a result, somr. foster has never been to china. consequently / hence he knows very little about it.23. especially given our traffic-filled streets. (para. 5)given: 1) prep. conj. taking into accountgiven their inexperien

50、ce, theyve done a good job.given that they are inexperienced, theyve done a good job.2) adj. fixed for a purpose and stated as suchthe work must be done within the given time.24. we, therefore, save most personal visiting for after-work hours or for social weekend gatherings. (para. 5)save for: keep

51、 something for future use, not use up somethingthe young couple have already saved ample money for the summer vocation.25. the matter at hand. (para. 6)at hand: 1) near in time the great day is at hand. 2) under discussion or being consideredher question was not related to the matter at hand. 3) nea

52、r in placei still have some money at hand. apart from “at hand” and “near at hand”, we can also say “close at hand”. all three phrases mean exactly the same.26. in some countries no major business is conducted without eye contact, requiring face-to-face conversation. (para. 6)conduct: vt. 1) carry o

53、utconduct an experiment conduct a surveyconduct ones private affairs2) to serve as a medium for conveying; transmit:some metals conduct heat.27. whereas the postal service is less efficient. (para. 7)whereas: conj. but, in contrast; whilesome people like fat meat, whereas others hate it. they want a

54、 house, whereas we would rather live in a flat. 28. unless a certain amount of time is allowed to elapse, it seems in their eyes as if the task being considered were insignificant, not worthy of proper respect. (para. 8)elapse: vi. (fml.) (of time) pass ;slip byweeks elapsed before we could start re

55、novating. five months have elapsed since he joined the army. 29. in the u.s., however, it is taken as a sign of skillfulness or being competent to solve a problem, or fulfill a job successfully, with speed. (para. 8)competent: adj. qualified; capablei need a competent typist. he is competent for the

56、 task. he is competent as a teacher. he is competent to teach english.fulfill: vt 1) do or perform or carry outthey have fulfilled their promises. he has fulfilled the orders that i gave him. 2) satisfy.does this job fulfill your desire? 30. in order to “get it moving”.get sth./sb. doing (sth.): mak

57、e sth./sb. do sth.can you get the old car going again? its not hard to get the boy talking; the problem is stopping him.v. difficult sentence analysis1. americans believe no one stands still. (para. 1)-americans think that no one should keep motionless, everyone should move and advance.2. this attitude results in a nation of