unit 4 turning off tv: a quiet hour. content information related to the text introduction language...

Unit 4

TURNING OFF TV: A QUIET HOUR

Content

Information related to the textIntroductionLanguage pointsStudy and PracticeReading activityGuided writing

Information related to the text

US television--- yesterday and today

A demonstration of television was held at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, and during the 1940s networks were established and television sets began to be sold. But,for a while, radio still had complete control of the entertainment industry.

It was in the 1950s that television started to take the place of radio in the United States, and in the early 1960s over 750 TV stations were telecasting to about 52 million sets with the result that the American TV audience included almost every family.

Today there are a thousand stations all over the country, and in many places there is a choice of five or six channels, not counting in the cable programs one can buy.

The Big Three of the networks ---the National Broadcasting Company(NBC), the Columbia Broadcasting System(CBS), and the American Broadcasting Company(ABC)---introduce a large number of new shows, which are relayed throughout the United States and are often sold abroad.

The generation gap The term is used to mean differences in ideas,

life styles and attitudes between older and younger people, differences which result in a lack of understanding between them and frequently lead to confrontations.

The “generation gap” is one of the most widely discussed and controversial problems of recent years. Some doubt whether such a “gap” exists. They don’t believe the younger generation is set apart from the older generation by a wide gap.

Many others, on the other hand, insist a gap between parents and children is unavoidable and the generation gap today, if anything, is

worse than it has ever been before.

The reason they give is that the tremendous explosion of knowledge in the twentieth century has made life for young people today so very different form life as it was when their parents were young.

High divorce rate in the US Divorce is a major problem in the US. At

present, it is estimated, about one quarter to one third of all American marriages end in divorce. There is a great difference of opinion as to the causes of this high rate of divorce..

But studies indicate that there are more cases of divorce among persons with low incomes and inadequate education and among those who marry at a very young age. Apart from legally divorced cases there are many separated couples.

The immediate result that arises from the high divore rate is an increasing number of single parent homes, i.e., homes where children are being raised by only one parent.

The breakup of a family affects the children most. They fear being deserted or left alone. Many children suffer from a feeling of guilt when their parents divorce. They think that perhaps some of their actions have caused the parents’ separation.

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I 、 Introductory Remarks

Television, since its first prevalence over radio in the 1950s, has played a more and more important role in people’s lives..As a matter of fact, it has become so much a part of human life that a modern world without television is unimaginable.

UNIT 4 TURNING OFF TV: A QUIET HOUR

Some people even say that life without television is not worth living. But some, on the other hand, argue against TV. They think TV is taking up too much of a person’s time and making him lazy, not to mention its harmful influence upon him. The author of this article, for example, is raising his voice against TV, urging viewers to turn off their sets and enjoy a precious quiet hour, an hour without the distraction of TV. 返回

II 、 Text&Vocabulary

1. Worthwhile: worthy of the time, efforts,etc. .

Language Points

eg: Can you recommend some worthwhile books for me to read?(

The difference among worthwhile, worth and worthy:

1) Worthwhile “ 值得花时间或精力干的事”，可做表语、定语或宾补，后面一般不接动名词或不定式。It is worthwhile to do/doing sth.(2) Worth “ 值得 , 值”表语形容词 , 但必须接宾语 , 宾语多为表“价格”或“代价”等词 , 后接 -ing 作宾语时，表被动，不能做定语。(3)worthy “ 值得、配得上的”，可做定语，还可做表语，但须与介词 of 搭配后接宾语。如果 of 后接 -ing 作宾语时多为被动语态，有时还可以接不定式。Be worthy of + nbe worthy of + 动名词（被动式）be worthy of + 动词不定式（被动式）


2. Current:<1>of the present time.eg: What is the current exchange rate for U.S. dollars?

<2> generally accepted or in fashion.eg: The current belief is that human beings evolved from monkeys.<3> stream of flowing water, air, gas.eg: The cold currents of air from Siberia influence the climate of China..

<4> flow of electricity through a wire.alternate current （交流电）direct current ( 直流电 )<5> general courseeg: Newspapers influence the current of public opinions


3. propose: (followed by an object clause in the subjunctive form) suggest.

eg: He proposed that we (should) go there on foot.


4. right: exactly

eg: The boy will go to school right after breakfast.

5. prohibit: forbid (especially by rules or law)

eg: Smoking is prohibited in public places.

prohibit sb. from doing prohibit sb. to do


6. proposal: <1>plan

eg: The two warring countries agreed to the peace proposal.

<2> offer of marriage

eg: She had had many proposals but preferred to remain single.


7. actually: really

eg: I don’t like the dinner, actually.

8. in part: partly

eg: The driver was in part responsible for the accident.


9. get to: begin by chance

eg: We get to know the professor at the party.

10. on evenings when…

To express periods of the day are: in the morning/afternoon/evening, and at night; but if we have a particular morning, afternoon, etc. the preposition “on” is used instead of “in” or “at”

eg: See you on Monday morning.


11. more active pastime

When we watch TV, we take in passively whatever is being shown on the screen. Compared with watching TV, many other pastimes call for a more vigorous exercise of the mind& are more active. For instance, reading can be active. Dancing is physically active.


.

12. take a ride: make a trip on an animal or vehicle. eg: To take a ride in a car. To take a ride in the bus

13. sunset eg: a sunset of life


14. remember feet: do we remember that we can travel on foot? Implies that Americans are so used to traveling by car or other vehicles that they seem to have forgotten they can travel on foot.


15. See the neighborhood with fresh, new eyes:

See the neighborhood as if for the first time.

.

16. Rediscover reading:Reading as a habit has been thrown into disuse and

modern man needs to start cultivating it as if for the first time.17. Typical: representative/characteristic

eg: Zhuozheng garden is a typical Suzhou garden


18. grow up: become adult

eg: What are you going to be when you grow up?


19. barely: hardly

eg: Barely did he remember what had happened a week before.

20. a more literate new generation could be a product of the quiet hour.

if our children formed the habit of reading worthwhile books instead of watching TV for at least an hour each day, they would certainly be better cultured than they are now.


21.A different form of reading might be done, as it was in the past:

“As” in this sentence is used as a conjunction expressing a comparison or similarity. “It was” in the as-clause can be omitted.

eg: Olive oil is used in cooking in Greece as (it is ) in Italy.


22.come up with: produce

eg: Intelligent students can always come up with good solutions to problems.


23.the electronic babysitter: the TV set. This is a clever metaphor in that a TV set is an electronic toy that can attract and hold the attention of children whom parent can leave unattened while the machine is on.


24.”It has been/is … years/months/weeks since …” is a useful sentence pattern.

eg: It has been 2 months since he left for Beijing.

25.come to: grow to

eg: Living here for years, she has come to know the city well.


26.partly: in some degree

eg: What he told me is partly true, partly made-up.


27.It wasn’t that difficult. Honest . The truth is we had a ball : It wasn’t so difficult for people to occupy their spare time without the help of TV. I am telling you the truth: We Americans used to have a very good time before Tv came into our life.

28 .have a ball : have a good time.

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Study and Practice

Words to Drill actually, barely, communicate, curre

nt disturb, gap, glance, invent, involve, mental, neighborhood, nevertheless, partly, programme, prohibit, proposal, propose, rate, social, typical, worthwhile

Answering the following questions:1. How do many people in the United

States spend their free time?2. How does the author feel about the

amount of time this countrymen spend watching TV?

3. What does the author propose in relation to the television broadcasting in the United States?

4. What might the results be if families used a quiet hour to discuss their problems?

5. According to the author, what could help to turn out a more literate new generation?

6. What does the author mean by “the story hour”?

What effect might it have on the TV networks?

7. Sum up the advantages of turning off TV for an hour every night.

8. What do you think of the author’s proposal?

9. Describe the television watching habits of the people around you---when they watch TV, what they watch, how much they watch, and so on.

10. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of watching TV.

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Reading Activity

Skill: Reading Attack Skill Ⅰ---Using Context Clues for Word Meanings (Part Ⅰ)

Context Clue1: Definition

Sometimes a writer knows that a word is unfamiliar or strange to many readers. To make the word easier to understand, the writer may include a definition of the word in a sentence. This context clue is the easiest one to spot.

Look at the following examples:All other birthdays are called sing il (born day). The sixty-first birthday is called huan gup (beginning of new life).The harbor is protected by a jetty--- a wall built out into the water. Jane is indecisive, that is, she can’t make up her mind.

Context Clue2: Restatement

More often, you may find a restatement, which tells you almost as much as a definition.Look at these examples:He had a wan look. He was so pale and weak that we thought he was ill.Carbon monoxide is a noxious gas which can cause death.I am a resolute man. Once E set up a goal, I won’t give it up easily.

Context Clue3: General Knowledge

More often than not, the meaning of many words can be readily guessed if you use your own experience or general knowledge of the subject. Look at the following examples:The door was so low that I hit my head on the lintel.Mark got on the motorbike, I sat behind him on the pillion, and we roared off into the night.

“We have found that no one in the freshman class can add, multiply, subtract or divide simple sums… Therefore, we are setting up a special remedial arithmetic course,…”

Context Clue4: Related information

Sometimes you can make an intelligent guess of the meaning of some new words or expressions if you put together related information from the surrounding text. Just look at the following examples:

“She went to school for 12 years and she can’t write a sentence?” Timken said. “They made an illiterate out of my daughter!”Timken was now angry… Once again the flew into a rage.Just before the exam Carl’s hands shook and sweated so much that he could not hold a pen. His heart beat fast and his stomach ached, even though he knew the subject very well. He really had a strange phobia about taking tests.

When you come across a new word or expression in a comprehension passage, you are well advised to notice how the word or expression is repeated later in the text. Generally the more often it is used, the easier it is to understand.

Look at the context of each word or expression--- the sentence that the word or expression is in and the sentences that come before and after. It is usually possible to find hints or clues about its definition from the context.

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Guided Writing

Contraction: avoiding redundancyBrevity is the soul of wit. Therefore, you should always try to look out for unnecessary repetition n your writing.

Study the following examples and then rewrite the following sentences, leaving out redundant words.Examples:I would like to propose that all television broadcasting in the United States be (officially) prohibited by law.

( There are ) Few pastimes ( that ) bring a family closer together than gathering around and listening to mother or father read a good story.

1. Tom is a recent newcomer to our class.2. The true fact is, I never liked him.3. I first began to feel sick when we went

into the classroom.4. It was his customary habit to sit at the

table by the window.

5. At one time total extinction threatened the panda.

6. He was frightened with fear by the mysterious sound behind him.

7. In this modern world of today, people never walk when they can ride.

8. Without a doubt, this month has certainly been the coldest January on record.

9. It was the most interesting book I had ever read before in my life.10. We asked Mr. Wilson to give us advice because of the fact that he is such a wise man.11. There are many children who like collecting stamps.12. I studied history in the afternoon. Then in the evening I studied English. After that, I treated myself to a movie.

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