before-readingwhile-readingafter-reading unit 3 the generation gap text a father knows better

Before-Reading While-Reading After-Reading

Unit 3The Generation Gap

Text A Father Knows Better


Before-Reading



Bob Dylan, born on May 24,1941 in Duluth, Minnesota in the USA, is widely regarded as perhaps America’s greatest popular songwriter born in the twentieth century. Much of his best work is from the 1960s when his musical shadow was so large that he took on political influence.

The civil rights movement had no more moving anthem than his song Blowin’ in the Wind. Millions of young people embraced his song The Times They Are A-Changin’ during that era of extreme change. The radical political group The Weathermen named themselves after a lyric in Dylan’s song Subterranean Homesick Blues (“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows”).

Bob Dylan

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The song

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What is Drama The Essence of Drama Genres of Drama Spot Dictation - Comedy

About Drama

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What is Drama?• The dramadrama is one of several methods of telling

a story. It differs from the novel in that the story is not told directly by the author, but is acted on a stage by actors before an audience. Strictly speaking, a printed play is not a play at all until it is acted. So, in reading plays, we should visualize as well as we can the stage for which the play was written, that is, we must imagine seeing and hearing the characters in action.

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The Essence of Drama• Most critics agree that the essence of

drama is conflict. A conflict is a clash of actions, ideas, desires or wills. It may happen in different forms: man against man, man against environment, or man against himself. The conflict becomes more and more intensified as the play moves on until it reaches its climax, the point of greatest excitement or tension.

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Genres of Drama• Comedy • Tragedy• Tragic comedy

•Associated with:•-Humorous behavior•-Word play•-Pleasurable feeling •-Release of tension•-Laughter•Exposes ：•-Incongruous or ridiculous aspects of human nature

To which genre does this drama belong?

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Spot dictation

universal major

humorous behavior

feeling laughter

exposes

human nature

lead to

widely

fixed pattern

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Fast-food Restaurant

A fast-food restaurant is a restaurant characterized by food which is supplied quickly after ordering (and which may or may not be consumed quickly as well), and by minimal service. The food in these restaurants is commonly cooked in advance and kept hot, or reheated to order. Many fast-food restaurants are part of restaurant chains or franchise ( 特许经营权 ) operations, which provide standardized foodstuffs to the individual restaurants, shipped from central locations.

Because of its convenience, fast food (also known as take-away food or take-out food) is very popular in many modern societies, but is often criticized for poor nutritional value (often contributing to obesity [ 肥胖 ]), advertising (especially directed at children), and other issues.

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Warm-up Questions Is there a generation gap between

you and your parents? What will you do if you have differ

ent opinions with your parents? What are the major components o

f a play?

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While-Reading


Words to Drill

• Locate• Embarrass• Dumb • Fade • Overall • Interrupt

• Distract • Come over • Swallow • Know better than • Junior

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Locate vt.

• 他的家位于新购物中心里。• His house is located in the new shopping center. • The plan is to locate the hotel somewhere overlooking the lake. • 计划把旅馆的位置设在望湖的地方。• Location n. • The new hotel will be in a location overlooking the lake. • 新旅馆将设在一个望湖的位置。• 证人向警察指出事故的确切地点。• Witnesses showed the police the exact location of the accident.

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Embarrass vt. Make feel awkward or ashamed

• Paul chose his words carefully in order to avoid embarrassing anyone.

• 保罗说话很小心为了避免让任何人尴尬。• 他对我穿着的评价让我尴尬。• I was embarrassed by his comments about my clothes.• 在人群面前讲话使他难为情。• It embarrassed him that he had to give a talk in front of people. • Embarrassing /embarrassed a. • An embarrassing moment/incident• An embarrassed look • Embarrassment n.

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Dumb a. foolish; unable to speak

• 他笨得又把钥匙落在家里了。• He was so dumb that he left his keys at home again.• 他生来不会讲话但学会了唇语。• He was born dumb but learnt lip-read. • The artists stood before the paintings almost dumb with astonishme

nt at their beauty. • 这位画家站在画前，几乎被其美丽惊呆了。

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Fade v. lost color or brightness; disappear slowly

• All colors fade especially under the impact of direct sunlight. • 所有的颜色都会褪色，尤其在阳光的直射作用下。• 随着天气越来越冷，她做早操的热情也消退了。• Her enthusiasm for early-morning exercises faded as the weather was

getting colder and colder.

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Overall a. ad.

• Overall, by 1990 black unemployment was 2.5 times higher than white unemployment in the United States.

• 总体来说，截止 1990 年，在美国，黑人失业数比白人失业数高 2.5 倍。• The overall length is 15 feet. 总长度为 15 英尺。• Cut down on the overall extracurricular activities and spend more time

on study.• 减少课外活动总量，多花时间学习。

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Interrupt v. stop from continuing 打断 • My little son kept interrupting me whenever I read newspaper. • 我一看报纸，我的小儿子就来打断我。• 区别： interfere • I was irritated when my parents constantly interfere in my personal a

ffairs. • 父母不停干涉 / 介入我的私事，我很恼火。• Interfere unwanted involvement 妨碍，干涉，介入

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Distract take away, esp. for a short time

• Drivers are forbidden to honk their horns in these areas in order not to distract students from preparing for the College Entrance Examination.

• 这些地区禁止司机鸣笛，为了不打扰准备高考的学生。

• dis + tract

away ，off

draw

Attract extract subtract contract 吸引提取减去收缩

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Come over to affect

• He has never been so rude to me. What’s come over him? • 他从没对我这么无礼过，他这是怎么了？• 很抱歉我对你发脾气了，我也不知道我这是怎么了。• Sorry I brought it on you. I don’t know what came over me. • 你放弃了一份那么受人尊敬报酬丰厚的工作就为了这样一个没有前途

的工作？你怎么了？• You quit that respectable, well-paid job for this unpromising one? W

hat has come over you?

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Swallow v. • Paul took a bite of the apple, chewed and swallowed. • 保罗咬了一口苹果，嚼了嚼，咽了下去。• I found the story a little hard to swallow. • 我发现这个故事很难理解。• 他把心里的火儿压了下去。（ swallow）• He has swallowed the anger he felt. • Proverb : One swallow does not make a summer.

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Know better than…

• Mary knows better than to cheat on exams. • 玛丽明白，不会考试作弊的。• Aunt Betty certainly knows better than to invest all her money in one

company’s stock. • 贝蒂姨妈当然聪明，才不会把所有的钱都投资到一家公司的股票里。• 你应该知道午饭后不要立刻去游泳。• You ought to know better than to go swimming right after lunch.

• See Structure Exercise 2 on Page 84

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Junior a. n.

• Michael had been a junior clerk for three years before he was promoted to senior clerk.

• 迈克尔初级职员当了三年之后，才被提升为高级职员。• Jane is several years junior to her husband.• 珍妮比她丈夫小几岁。

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Quiz on the Focused Words

Fill in the blanks with the words given with proper forms

• Her hope of her husband’s return is _________ as years go by. • The sore throat made it hard to _________ even such a small pill. • This corner would make it a good _________ for a gas station. • A disturbance outside my dormitory __________ my attention. • Nobody was allowed to __________ them while the meeting was in

progress. • He looked down at the floor in an attempt to hide his ____________.

distract locate fade embarrass interrupt swallow

fading

swallow

location

distracted

Interrupt

embarrassment

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Global-Reading

Characters in the play Settings Main idea of each scene

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Characters in the play• Father • Mother • Heidi (14)• Diane (17)• Sean (16)• Restaurant manager (20s)• Mrs. Higgins

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Settings

Scene Settings

1 A fast food restaurant

2 The Thomason family

3 An office at a high school

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Main Idea of Each Scene

Parts Lines Main Ideas

1 1~65

2 66~169

3 170~210

In a fast-food restaurant, Father embarrassed Sean by talking too proudly to the restaurant manager. In the Thompson family dinning room, Father embarrassed Diane by persuading a work-mate into pressing his son to ask her to the senior prom.

In an office at Heidi’s high school, Father embarrassed Heidi by boasting to an official about how bright she was.

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• CHARACTERS: FATHER; MOTHER; HEIDI, 14; DIANE, 17; SEAN, 16; RESTAURANT MANAGER, 20s; MRS. HIGGINS.

• SETTING: Various locations including a fast-food restaurant, the Thompson family dining room, and an office at a high school.

• AT RISE: As the lights come up, HEIDI enters and crosses Down Right to the edge of the stage. SEAN and DIANE enter and cross Down Left to the edge of the stage. They listen as HEIDI addresses the audience.

Father Knows Better


• HEIDI: My dad’s a nice man. Nobody could possibly believe that he isn’t. Yet he’s... well, he’s always doing these stupid things that end up really embarrassing one or more of us kids. One time, see, my brother wanted to buy this guitar. Been saving money for it for a long time. Then he got a job at this fast-food place, OK? Waiting tables. It was Sean’s first actual job, and he was real happy about it. He figured in two or three months he’d have enough money to buy exactly the kind of guitar he wanted. Mom and Dad were proud of him, and well, OK, he’s my big brother, and he’s always pulling these dumb things on me. But, well, I was proud of him too. You know what happened? I hate to tell you because:


• SEAN, DIANE and HEIDI: (In unison ) Father knows better!

• (The lights come Up Left on the fast-food restaurant where SEAN works. It consists of a counter and a couple of small tables. The MANAGER stands behind the counter. SEAN is busily cleaning the tables when FATHER walks in.)

• MANAGER: Good evening, sir. May I help you?• FATHER: Good evening.• SEAN: (To himself) Oh, no! (He squats behind one of the

tables trying to hide from FATHER.)• FATHER: I’m looking for the manager.


• MANAGER: That would be me, sir.• FATHER: I’m Sam Thompson. My son works here.• MANAGER: Oh, you’re Sean’s father.• FATHER: Yes. It’s his first job, you know. I just wanted to chec

k that he’s doing OK.• MANAGER: Oh, fine. No problem.• SEAN: (Spreading his hands, palms up, speaking to himself)

What did I do to deserve this? Tell me what? • FATHER: Hiring him was a good thing then?• MANAGER: Well, yeah, I suppose so.• SEAN: (Still to himself) Go home, Dad. Go home. Go home.• FATHER: I’m sure he’s a good worker but a typical teenager,

if you know what I mean.


• MANAGER: (Losing interest) I wouldn’t know.• FATHER: He’s a good boy. And I assure you that if there a

re any subjects that need to be addressed, Sean and I will have a man-to-man talk.

• MANAGER:I don’t think that will be necessary…• FATHER: Oh, no problem. I’m proud of my son. Very, very

proud. And I just wanted you to know that I’ll do anything I can to help him through life’s dangerous sea.

• SEAN: (Standing up and screaming) Aaaargh! Aaaargh! Aaaaaaargh!

• FATHER: Son, I didn’t know you were here.• SEAN: It’s where I work, Dad.• FATHER: Of course. I mean, I didn’t see you.• SEAN: I can’t imagine why.


• FATHER: Your manager and I were just having a nice chat. (DIANE enters Down Left just as HEIDI enters Down Right. They look at SEAN and FATHER.)

• SEAN, DIANE, HEIDI: (In unison) Father, you know better than that. (The lights quickly fade to black and then come up a second or two later. SEAN stands alone at the Down Right edge of the stage. HEIDI and DIANE cross to Down Left edge of the stage.)

• SEAN: If that sort of thing happened only once in a while, it wouldn’t be so bad. Overall, I wouldn’t want to trade my dad for anyone else’s. He loves us kids and Mom too. But I think that’s sometimes the problem. He wants to do things for us, things he thinks are good. But he needs to give them more thought because:


• SEAN, HEIDI and DIANE: (In unison) Father knows better! • (The lights fade to black and come up on the Center Stage

area where FATHER and the three children are seated around the dining room table. MOTHER enters carrying a dish, which she sets on the table. FATHER quickly rises and pulls out her chair. She sits. The family starts eating dinner.)

• FATHER: I have a surprise for you, Diane.• DIANE: (Knows it can’t be good.) You have... a surprise?• MOTHER: Well, whatever it is, dear, don’t keep us in

suspense.• FATHER: Well, you know, Dan Lucas and I work together?


• DIANE: Kyle’s father?• MOTHER: Don’t interrupt, dear, your father is trying to tell y

ou something.• HEIDI: (Stage whisper to SEAN) Something Diane won’t wa

nt to know, I’ll bet.• SEAN: (Whispering to HEIDI) Whatever would make you thi

nk that?• MOTHER: Sean, dear. Heidi, sweetheart, don’t distract your

father.• SEAN and HEIDI: (Simultaneously) Sorry, Mom.• FATHER: Now then. As I was saying, I know how much you

like young Kyle.


• DIANE: Father!• FATHER: It’s true, isn’t it? Didn’t I hear you tell your mother

that you wish Kyle would ask you to the senior prom?• SEAN: Uh-oh!• HEIDI: Oops!• MOTHER: Please, children, please. Your father is trying to

speak.• DIANE: (Through clenched teeth, the words are in a

monotone and evenly spaced.) Yes-I-said-that-why-are-you-asking?

• FATHER: Well then.• DIANE: (Becoming hysterical ) “Well then” what?!• FATHER: What did I say? Did I say something wrong?• HEIDI: (To SEAN) Not yet, he didn’t.


• SEAN: (To HEIDI) But you know it’s coming.• MOTHER: Children, please. Do give your father the

respect he deserves.• HEIDI and SEAN: (Rolling their eyes) Yes, Mother.• FATHER: Well, today I saw Dan and asked if he’d like to

go to lunch at that French restaurant on Third Street. You know the one, Mother.

• MOTHER: Well, yes, I believe I do.• FATHER: My treat, I told him. And, of course, he was glad

to accept.• MOTHER: Why wouldn’t he be?• FATHER: (Somewhat surprised) Well, yes.


• DIANE: What-has-this-to-do-with me?!• MOTHER: Diane, sometimes I just don’t understand your beh

avior. I try my best.• DIANE: (Very short with her) I’m sorry.• MOTHER: Thank you, Diane. (To FATHER) Please do go on,

dear.• FATHER: As I said--• HEIDI: We know what you said, Daddy.• FATHER: Er...uh, what’s that?• SEAN: She said, “We know what you said, Daddy.”• FATHER: Yes, yes, of course.• MOTHER: Do get on with it, dear. I’ve made the most glorious

dessert. An old recipe handed down to me by my great Aunt Hilda--


• DIANE: Mother, please!• MOTHER: Yes, dear? • (DIANE shakes her head and lets her body fall against

the back of the chair.)• FATHER: At any rate, Dan’s a nice guy. Never knew him

well. Found we have a lot of the same interests. Our families, our community, global peace, human welfare.

• HEIDI: (Mumbling to herself) That narrows it down, all right.

• SEAN: Father?• FATHER: Yes, son?• SEAN: I do believe Diane would like to know the surprise.


• DIANE: (Breathing hard as if exhausted, she turns to SEAN, nodding her head up and down repeatedly.) Thank you, Sean. I owe you one.

• FATHER: Well, yes. Here it is then. I told Dan of your interest in his son.

• DIANE: You what?• MOTHER: Diane, what has come over you? I just don’t

understand the younger generation. Why back in my day--

• DIANE: Mother, please!• MOTHER: What, what? What?• HEIDI: Mother, I believe she wants Father to continue.• SEAN: (To himself) Get this over with, more likely.


• DIANE: Daddy, please, tell me. Now. Right away. What did you say, Daddy? Please. Tell me, what did you tell Mr. Lucas? Tell me, please. Please, tell me.

• FATHER: Well, now, isn’t this nice. It looks like my little scheme is a success. You’re so eager to find out ... makes a man feel as if it’s all worthwhile.

• HEIDI: (To SEAN) Can you believe this?• SEAN: (To HEIDI) Oh, sure. Can’t you?• FATHER: Yes, well, I told him how much you liked young K

yle, and how you’d been wishing he’d ask you to the prom.• DIANE: You didn’t! Tell me you didn’t!• FATHER: Oh, yes. Anything for my children.• DIANE: (Swallowing hard) And ... and--


• MOTHER: Diane, are you all right?• DIANE: (She juts out her chin at MOTHER and quickly

jerks her head around to face FATHER.) Well ... what did he say?!

• FATHER: Well, of course, being the sort of man he is -- frank, understanding, he said he’d speak to the young man, insist he give you a call.

• DIANE: (Angry scream!) Whaaaaaat!• SEAN and HEIDI: (Together) Father, you know better t

han that.• FATHER: I do? Yes, yes, I guess I do. I’ve ... done it ag

ain, haven’t I?


• (The lights quickly fade to black and then come up a second or two later. DIANE stands alone at the Down Right edge of the stage. HEIDI and SEAN enter Down Left and cross to the edge of the stage.)

• DIANE: Can you imagine how humiliated I was? An honor student, class president. And Father was out asking people to have their sons call and ask me to the prom! But that’s dear old dad. Actually, he is a dear. He just doesn’t stop to think. And it’s not just one of us who’ve felt the heavy hand of interference. Oh, no, all three of us live in constant dread knowing that at any time disaster can strike because:


• DIANE, HEIDI and SEAN: (Shouting in unison) Father knows better.

• (The lights fade to black and quickly come up again Stage Left where there is an executive-type desk and chair and two other chairs. Behind the desk sits MRS. HIGGINS, in charge of admitting new students to Benjamin Harrison High School. HEIDI and FATHER sit in the other chairs.)

• MRS. HIGGINS: So this is our new student, is it?• FATHER: That’s right.• MRS. HIGGINS: What’s your name, young lady?• HEIDI: HEIDI Thompson.


• MRS. HIGGINS: I’m sure you’ll find the students friendly. And the teachers more than willing to answer questions.

• FATHER: She is an exceptional young woman, you know.• HEIDI: Daddy!• FATHER: Very, very bright.• MRS. HIGGINS: Yes, now if we can get you to fill out--• FATHER: Don’t know where she got her brains. Her moth

er, I suppose. Oh, I was bright enough. But nothing like HEIDI. All her teachers have told Mrs. Thompson-- that’s her mother--and me that she was just about the brightest--MRS. HIGGINS: (Interrupts as she loses her patience, though trying to be pleasant) As I said, if you have proof of vaccinations--


• FATHER: (Interrupts, carrying on with his line of thought) Besides being bright, she’s very, very talented.

• HEIDI: (Twists her hands over and over in front of her chest.) Please, Daddy, don’t do this.

• FATHER: Well, of course I will, darling. I’m proud of you. Your mother and I are proud of you. (Turns back to MRS. HIGGINS.) Why just last year, in her last year of junior high school, before we moved, Heidi placed first in the county in the annual spelling bee! Isn’t that wonderful? And she plays the piano like an angel. An absolute angel.

• HEIDI: Daddy, please. Please, please. Daddy, I have to go to class. I want to go to class. Please let me go to class.


• FATHER: See what I mean? Such an eager learner. I can’t imagine anyone’s being more eager for knowledge than my Heidi. My little girl.

• MRS. HIGGINS: Yes, well, be that as it may--• HEIDI: Aaargh! Aaaaargh! Aaaargh!• (DIANE and SEAN enter Down Right. They look at HEI

DI, FATHER, and MRS. HIGGINS.)• HEIDI, DIANE and SEAN: (Shouting in unison) Daddy, y

ou know better than that!• FATHER: Er, uh, I do?

• (Curtain)


After-Reading


Useful expressions 舞台边缘对观众说话到头来让人尴尬 To wait tables To have a man-to-man talk 和别人交换爸爸把…蒙在鼓里 To roll one’s eyes 无论如何 Global peace 不断点头 129 An honor student 班长 To live in constant dread

The edge of the stage 6To address the audience 7End up embarrassing sb. 9做餐厅服务员 12严肃的谈话 43To trade my dad for anyone else’s 61To keep … in suspense 73翻白眼 99At any rate 122世界和平 123To nod one’s head up and down repeatedly 优等生 163Class president 163时常生活在担惊受怕中 167

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Discussion What do you think causes the generation gap?

What can be done to solve the problem of the generation gap?

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Verbs in the text

Cross 5 Address 7Squat 26Spread 34Scream 48Fade 57Rise 69

Interrupt 76Whisper 80Clench 91Roll 99Shake 120Mumble 125Nod 129

Swallow 151Jut 153Jerk 153Humiliate 163Twist 193

Can you make up a story using as many of these verbs as possible ?

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Spot dictation

A generation gap describes vast cultural differences between a younger generation and their elders. The term first _____________________ in Western countries during the 1960s. There were major differences between the young people and their parents _________________ musical tastes, fashion, drug use, and politics. Several examples of generational differences were prominent during the period. Rock music and soul music, _______________________, were mostly detested by their elders. Long hair on young males was frequently seen as a shocking act of _______________________ by their parents.

The large-scale protest against the Vietnam War on American college campuses _________________________ the universal national support for World War II that their parents had experienced. Many youths “dropped out” into the hippie counterculture (嬉皮士反文化潮流 ). The term “generation gap” ______________________, as generational differences and generational identity are now in Western society than during the 1960s.

in such matters as

popular among the youth

rebellion against society

contrasted sharply with

is rarely used todayless significant

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came into prominence


Quotations & Proverbs• 有其父必有其子。• Like father, like son. • Spare the rod and spoil the child.• 孩子不打不成器。• Train up a child in the way he should go.• 培养孩子走正路。• All I am, or can be, I owe to my angel mother. -Abraham Lincoln, American p

resident• 我之所以，我之所能，都归功于我天使般的母亲。 - 美国总统 A 林肯• If you want your children to keep their feet on the ground ， put some respons

ibility on their shoulders. –John Bunyan, British essayist • 你若希望你的孩子脚踏实地，就要让他们负些责任。 - 英国散文家班扬• The fundamental defect of fathers is that they want their children to be a credi

t to them. –Bertrand Russell, British philosopher • 父亲们最根本的缺点在于想要自己的孩子为自己争光。 - 英国哲学家罗素

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Line 7 They listen as HEIDI addresses the audience• To make a formal speech to • He addressed the crowd gravely.• 他严肃的向人群致词。• Which American president an address to the public after the Pearl H

arbor Attack?

Franklin D. RooseveltAttack 攻击Launch an attack 发动攻击Offensive 侵犯Infamy 丑事Deliberately 蓄意的At peace with 处于和平状态Solicitation 恳求帮助Military 军事的，军队的Defense 防卫，自卫

He addressed a protest to the faculty senate.

Mr. Smith addressed himself to a task.

He has addressed the issue of absenteeism

提出

指派

处理

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Line 9 …well, he’s always doing these stupid things that end up really embarrassing one or more of us kids.

• End up doing 结果会……• Translate: 如果你不知道想要什么，结果得到的也许就是你不想要的东西。• If you don’t know what you want, you might end up getting something you

don’t want. • You may end up losing everything if you attempt to have it all. • 如果你什么都试图要拥有，也许就会失去一切。

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Line 42 He’s a good boy. And I assure you that if there are any subjects that need to be addressed, Sean and I will have a man-to-man talk.

• What is a man-to-man talk?• To discuss a serious personal matter.

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Line 47 …life’s dangerous sea.

• What does it mean?• Life is compared to an arduous sea voyage. Here it refers to the

time period of youth when puzzles and confusion often occur. If handled inappropriately, they may lead one’s life astray.

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Line 73 Well, whatever it is, dear, don’t keep us in suspense.

• Wh- + ever 强调• Change：What would make you think that? Whatever would make you think that?

• See Structure exercise 1 page 83

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Line 91 (Through clenched teeth, the words are in a monotone and evenly spaced.) Yes-I-said-that-why-are-you-asking?

• Try to present what Diane says according to the stage directions in the brackets.

• Why does Diane say it in that manner?• Try the following:• Line 105 Diane: What-has-this-to-do-with-me?!

• Line 120 Diane shakes her head and lets her body fall against the back of the chair.

• Line 129 Breathing hard as if exhausted, she turns to SEAN, nodding her head up and down repeatedly.

• Line 139 Diane: Daddy, please, tell me. Now. Right away…Tell me, please. Please, tell me.

• Line 150: Diane: (Swallowing hard) And… and ---

• Line 156: Diane: (Angry scream) Whaaaaaaat!

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Line 179 And the teachers more than willing to answer questions.

• Adjective + to do • I am very glad to be here tonight with such a distinguished group of

talents. • She is unable to get her act together.

• See Collocation exercise page 82

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before-readingwhile-readingafter-reading unit 3 the generation gap text a father knows better

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