(共31张PPT)
Unit 6 Nature in words
Understanding ideas
Learning objectives
1. To understand the main idea of the passage;
2. To learn how the picturesque language is used to depict the first snow and how the author feels.
Read the short introduction to the author of First Snow and answer the questions.
John Boynton Priestley (1894 — 1984) was born in the English county of Yorkshire, and knew early on that he wanted to become a writer. When World War I broke out, Priestley joined the army, and escaped death on a number of occasions. After the war, he gained a degree from Cambridge University, and then moved to London, where he worked as a freelance writer. During World War II, he presented a weekly radio programme, which became immensely popular.
自由撰稿人
extremely
Pre-reading
Priestley wrote many successful articles, essays, novels and plays, but is best remembered for his play An Inspector Calls. Priestley loved snow and expressed a desire to live in a country where it often snowed.
Read the short introduction to the author of First Snow and answer the questions.
1. What careers did Priestley have in his lifetime
Priestley joined the army in World War I before going on to study at Cambridge University. After graduation, he worked as a freelance writer and radio presenter.
2. What kind of person do you think Priestley was
Do more research if necessary.
John Boynton Priestley was an English novelist, playwright and broadcaster known for his perceptive and often humorous characterisations of people in their day-to-day lives. His best-known and most widely performed play is An Inspector Calls, written at the end of World War II.
Free Talk: describe snow in your own words.
Useful expressions:
Snowfall; snowflake;
snow-covered; big snowflakes; heavy snow; fluttering; feathery snowflakes …
Fast reading
Read the passage and underline the expressions the author uses to describe the first snow.
The expressions used by the author to describe the first snow: an event, so fantastically carpeted, a magical event, a cold place of dead white and pale blues, faintly flushed, artfully disposed, a cold sparkle of white and blue, falling heavily, in great soft flakes ...
Choose the author’s purpose in writing the passage and give your reasons.
1. By describing the magical scenery of the first snow, the author encourages readers to come to England and experience its beauty for themselves.
2. By depicting the beautiful, near-magical scenery of the first snow, the author wants to convey his love for snow.
3. By recalling his memories as a child during the first snow, the author expresses his longing for the innocent happiness of childhood.
Check your answers.
2. By depicting the beautiful, near-magical scenery of the first snow, the author wants to convey his love for snow.
Complete the table with the expressions you have underlined in the passage.
Timeline Scenery
When I got up this morning… The world became a 1._________________ _________________. The light coming through the windows seemed quite strange, and it made the familiar business of splashing and shaving and brushing and dressing very strange too.
cold place of dead white and pale blues.
Intensive reading
Timeline Scenery
The sun came out … The snow became 2.____________. My dining-room window changed into 3.____________________. The little plum tree outside, with snow 4._______________ _____________________________ stood in full sunlight.
An hour or two later… Everything was a 5.___________________________. The ground 6.______________, the sky was 7.__________, and all the trees 8._____________________________________. The entire scene looked 9.__________________.
Now… The snow is 10._____________________________. The roofs are 11._______. The trees are 12.____________. I can see the children flattening their noses against the window.
delicate pinks
a lovely Japanese print
lining its branches
and artfully disposed along its trunk
cold sparkle of white and blue
went on and on
thick grey
so many black and threatening shapes
like a cruel grassland
falling heavily, in great soft flakes
thick
all bending
Now work in pairs and talk about how the author uses picturesque language to depict the first snow.
Share the expressions or the sentences you like best.
Post-reading
1. Why does the author mention Jane Austen at the beginning of the passage
By referencing the characters of Jane Austen, who is known for her witty, perceptive observations of early 19th century English country life, the author is emphasising the irony and self-awareness with which he goes on to make his statement about the first snow.
2. What images does the author use to enhance the description of snow
Images used by the author to enhance the description of snow: a cold place of dead white and pale blues, flushing the snow with delicate pinks, a cold sparkle of white and blue, falling heavily, in great soft flakes ...
3. What other literary works about snow do you know Share them with the class.
4. Have you encountered any difficulties in understanding this passage
Can you use visualisation to better understand the passage
Share your own answers.
I didn’t really want to go but he insisted.
我并不真的想去,但他硬要我去.
1. insist v. ①坚决要求;坚持
②坚持说
He insisted that he was innocent. 他坚持说他是无辜的。
近义短语:stick to
He insists that she (should) come. 他执意要她来。
③insist on doing sth. 坚持做某事
They insisted on being given every detail of the case.
他们坚持要求说明事情的整个来龙去脉。
Language points
The chief disposed his attendants in a circle.
酋长让他的随从站成一圈。
2. dispose v. ① 排列;布置;安排
②去掉;清除
They have no way to dispose of the hazardous waste they produce. 他们没法处理那些由他们制造出来的危害性废弃物。
派生词: disposable 用后即丢弃的;一次性的 disposable gloves / razors 一次性手套/剃刀
n. 刺眼的光
These sunglasses are designed to reduce glare.
这些太阳镜是为减少刺眼的强光而设计的。
3. glare
v. 怒目而视
He didn’t shout, he just glared at me silently.
他没有喊叫,只是默默地怒视着我。
词义辨析:stare; glance; glimpse; glare
1. at the risk of _____________________
2. talk away _____________________
3. come round _____________________
4. come out _____________________
5. transform … into … ____________________
6. (be) close to ______________________
7. used to do sth ______________________
不断地谈;在谈话中度过
冒着……的风险
发生;再度出现
(太阳、星星或月亮)出来
把……变为……
(在时间、空间上)接近
过去常常做某事
1. “They are people in whose lives a slight fall of snow is an event.” Even at the risk of appearing to this fair and witty reviewer as another Mr. Woodhouse, I must insist that last night’s fall of snow here was an event.
Paraphrase: For Jane Austen’s characters, even something as small as a slight fall of snow is significant and exciting. Even though this fair and witty reviewer might think of me as another Mr. Woodhouse, I have to say that last night’s fall of snow here was significant and exciting.
Mr. Woodhouse is a central character in Emma, and the father of the protagonist (主人公), Emma Woodhouse. He is constantly worried about his health and wants a quiet, simple life.
Emma was written by Jane Austen.
Jane Austen (1775-1817) was an English novelist, best known for her social commentary in novels such as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Emma.
Background information
1. “They are people in whose lives a slight fall of snow is an event.” Even at the risk of appearing to this fair and witty reviewer as another Mr. Woodhouse, I must insist that last night’s fall of snow here was an event.
event 意为“(重要、有意思或不寻常的)事件”。
This election is the main event of this year.
这次选举是今年的主要事件。
event 还可以表示“体育运动的比赛项目”。
The 800 metres is the fourth event of the afternoon.
800米赛是下午的第四项比赛。
1. “They are people in whose lives a slight fall of snow is an event.” Even at the risk of appearing to this fair and witty reviewer as another Mr. Woodhouse, I must insist that last night’s fall of snow here was an event.
insist 意为“坚决认为” ,后接 that 从句,从句常用陈述语气。She insisted that she was right. 她坚决认为自己是对的。
insist 还可以表示“坚持主张、坚决要求” ,后接 that 从句,从句常用 should 型的虚拟语气。
Jane insisted that he should be present.
Jane 坚持要他出席。
2. You go to bed in one kind of world and wake up to find yourself in another quite different, and if this is not magic, then where is it to be found
Paraphrase: You go to bed and the world changes while you are sleeping, and when you wake up it is quite different. If you don’t consider this magic, then where else could you find it
补充完整:You go to bed in one kind of world and wake up to find yourself in another quite different world.
指代前一句
指代 magic
3. Then the sun came out, and by the time I had sat down to breakfast it was shining bravely and flushing the snow with delicate pinks.
Paraphrase: Then the sun appeared, and by the time I had sat down to eat breakfast it was shining brightly and causing the snow to appear delicate shades of pink.
bravely 是副词,修饰 shinning;
注意作者在描写景物时使用的不同词的形式:
3. Then the sun came out, and by the time I had sat down to breakfast it was shining bravely and flushing the snow with delicate pinks.
flush 是动词,意为“(使)发红”,与 shine 并列,一起描述阳光洒下的情形,这两个词生动地描写了阳光的状态,将阳光拟人化,体现了它的明媚、耀眼;
delicate 是形容词,意为“柔和的、淡雅的”,修饰pinks, delicate pinks 表示“淡粉红色”。
4. It was as if our kindly countryside, close to the very heart of England, had been turned into a cruel grassland.
Paraphrase: It was as if our gentle countryside, which was close to the central area of England, had been turned into a harsh, vast landscape.
本句中的 close to the very heart of England 是插入语,修饰 countryside, 指出它的具体方位,即“靠近英格兰的中心”。这样的描写加强了气氛的渲染,使读者更加清楚地感受到 countryside 原本的样子。
4. It was as if our kindly countryside, close to the very heart of England, had been turned into a cruel grassland.
as if 在本句中引导表语从句,从句内容不是真实的情况,故用虚拟语气。
I felt as if my heart had stopped.
我觉得好像我的心都不跳了。
He acted as if he hadn’t heard any of it.
他表现得好像一点都没有听过这件事一样。
5. But the snow is falling heavily, in great soft flakes, so that you can hardly see across the shallow valley, and the roofs are thick and the trees all bending, and the weathercock of the village church, still to be seen through the grey loaded air, has become some creature out of Hans Andersen.
Paraphrase: Because the snow is falling heavily, in big soft flakes, you cannot see clearly across the shallow valley. The roofs are covered with snow and the trees are all bending under its weight. The rooster-shaped weathervane of the village church, which can still be seen through the dense, grey air, looks like a creature straight out of a Hans Andersen story.
注意作者在描写雪景时使用的词和短语:
用 falling heavily, in great soft flakes 描写雪的形态;用the roofs are thick, the trees all bending 描写雪后的场景; 用 hardly see across the shallow valley, the grey loaded air 描写这是一场大雪; 用 Hans Andersen 笔下的生物借代描写教堂上风信鸡的美与奇,描绘出一个雪后的童话世界。
Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a Danish author who wrote some of literature’s best-loved fairy tales, including “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, “The Little Mermaid” and “The Ugly Duckling”. His fairy tales are among the most frequently translated works in all of literary history, and the themes of his stories appeal to adults and children alike.
Background information
1. Summarize what you’ve learnt today.
2. Search the Internet to get to know more literary works about snow.
Homework