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Unit 2 The Dinner PartyUnit 2 The Dinner Party

Men are braver than

Women??...

• A heated discussion about whether men are braver than woman is settled in a rather unexpected way.

• The setting of the story was in India. A young girl and a major had a heated discussion about how women would react to a crisis at a dinner party, which is given by a colonial official and his wife. Then one of the guests noticed a strange expression come over the face of the hostess and wondered what was happening. It so happened there was a cobra in the room and it was crawling across the feet of the hostess! In the end, the crisis was tackled in a perfect way. The crisis showed that women are able to face a crisis with perfect calmness and great self-control.

Contents

• Pre-activities: background info (India, Table setting, Cobra )• Text Reading:

– When & where was the dinner party?– Who were at the dinner party?– What happened at the dinner party?– What’s the intention of the author?

• Language learning• Post-activities: food for thinking, writing

Background info --- India

• India used to be a British colony

• There lived many British officers and their families

• On one hand, they were familiar with their living environment already.

• On the other hand, they still led a British social life ---- parties, social activities were never ignored.

Background info ---Table setting

• At a formal party, the order of the seats were stressed to show politeness to the guests.

L M L M L ImM

H HS ImL M L M L M

L M LH (8, 12, 16, 20, 24) ImM ImL M HS

Background info --- cobra

• Snakes usually feed on small mammals, birds, reptiles or fish. Some snakes, like cobra, are poisonous and can kill with a single bite. Boas( 蟒 ) suffocate ( 使窒息 ) their prey by wrapping tightly around it.

Background info --- cobra

• Cobras, also called “spectacled cobra”, are rather slow snakes. They can be found in some parts of African and Asia. A full-grown Indian cobra is nearly six feet long and about five inches around.

When & where?

• Time:

– shortly before WWI

• Place:– India --- a colonial official’s home

What was the dinning room like?

Dinning room

• spacious • bare marble floor• open rafters• wide glass doors opening onto a veranda• long table for 20

Who?

• The host and the hostess• officers and their wives & a young girl and a

major• The visiting American naturalist

What happened at the dinner party?

• girl vs. major– a spirited discussion

• host – listened and likely to be involved

• Am. naturalist– watch

• hostess– motioned to a native boy

the spirited discussion

• girl– woman have outgrown the jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-

mouse era• major

– they haven’t– women --- scream in any crisis– men --- that last ounce of control counts

• Am. naturalist

Am. naturalist

Watch whom?• the other guests• the hostess• the native boy What did he respond to the situation?• first impulse to jump• counting test for better control

the hostess

• facial expression?– strange --- staring straight ahead, muscle

contracting

• action?– motioned to the native boy and whispered sth.

the native boy

• response?– eyes widened, leave the room quickly

• action?– place a bowl of milk on the veranda outside the open doors

What does this mean? Cobra!

the counting test

• want to know what control everyone at the table has

• count three hundred --- five minutes

• move a muscle --- forfeit 50 rupees

What happened at the end of his counting?

The cobra made for the milk.

end of story

• people’s reaction in the end?– Screaming

• host’s remark?– An example of men’s perfect self-control

• naturalist’s reply?– To the hostess

How did she know that a cobra was in the room?It was crawling across her foot.

What’s the intention of the author?

• (L2) “though any naturalist would know it couldn’t be”– food for snakes

– purpose-oriented

• Who is braver, men or women?– Generally speaking, men is stronger physically, but that

doesn’t mean women are weak. They may behave very brave and calm in some cases, even in crisis.

Language learning

• heated unexpected shortly

• track down be seated bare & empty

• spring up outgrow

• jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse era

• while feel like count

• join in contract motion

• come to likely warn

• frighten … into emerge ring out

• light up

heated a.

lively, spirited

• The two professors started a heated debate on whether intellectuals should go into business.

• It was a very heated argument and people were shouting at each other.

unexpected a.

unthought of• He made an unexpected appearance and took up two hours out of my l

imited time.

• The weather change is so unexpected that many people shudder in the wind.

• The old woman was shocked by the unexpected death of her son.

shortly (after/before) ad.

soon

• He sent me his address in Boston shortly before I left for the US.

• He died shortly after the car crash.

The magazine story, and the person…, I’ve never been able to track down.

• track down 的宾语为“ the magazine story, and the person who…” 起强调作用 , 密切上下句

• This the masses can understand.

• Everything young Albert touched he did well.

track down

find by determined searching or hunting • Did the hunter manage to track down the wounded deer?

• They hope to track down the source of the infection ( 传染源 ).

be seated:

sit down (not passive, but reveal state) • Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. (the

performance is to begin soon)

• Be seated, folks, we’ll start our class soon.

bare & empty:

bare a. 1) without clothing/covering to protect• bare legs/waist, bare-foot doctor, bare floor, bare

tree• After years of efforts, those bare hills are now

covered with young trees.2) basic, just only sufficient• His income can only buy the bare necessities of life.• The candidate won the election by a bare majority.

empty a.1) have nothing or nobody in or inside

• The streets were almost empty.

• He came back from fishing empty-handed.

• My mind seems completely empty of ideas. (~ of sth.)

2) without sense or purpose

• empty words/ talk/ dreams/ promise

• He did not want to retire and had to lead an empty life.

spring up:

arise, develop or grow quickly

• Towns have sprung up in those remote areas.

• When the problem was solved, another sprang up.

outgrow v.

grow beyond or get rid of by growing old

• outgrow a childish habits/ one’s earlier interests

• I have outgrown the craze for chasing stars.

• Bill has outgrown the fear of the dark.

jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight- of-a-mouse era

(the era) when they would jump on a chair at the sight of a mouse

• a not-so-easy-to-operate machine

• an always-say-no-to-anybody-girl

while

1) during the time that

• Never get on or off a bus while it is still moving.

2) although

• While I can understand you, I can’t agree with you.

3) whereas

• Some people waste food while others haven’t enough.

4) as long as

• While you promise to be back earlier, I will let you go.

feel like:

feel a desire for; be inclined for or to

• I feel like a big meal now. • He is so sick today that he does not feel like

having anything to eat.

count v.

1) say/name numbers in order• The boy can count to 100 now.2) calculate the total of sth. • Has the votes been counted up yet?3) be of value or importance 很重要• At the moment, every minute counts.• Her opinion counts because of her experience.

join in:

take part in (an activity)

• Nearly everyone joined in the discussion.

• Sarah never joins in; she always plays on her own.

Note: We can either say “join in a game” or “join a game”, but we can only say “join the Party/the Youth League”.

contract v.

1) make or become tighter or narrower • Her stomach contracted at the sight of a dead rat. (~ his forehead )• The tunnel contracts to a narrow passageway as you go deeper.2) make or become smaller or shorter • The word “Madame” usu. contracts to “Mm.”• The Government plans to contract its import. Note: contract/ contact/ contest/ content

motion v.

give a signal by moving the hand or head• The manager motioned (to) me to a chair/ in/ away.• He motioned to the waiter for his bill.• He motioned me to sit down while talking into the phone.n. 1) signal by hand of head• He made a motion to let me sit down. 2) moving• The clock is still in motion after twenty years. 3) proposal to be discussed and voted• The Congress passed the motion to impeach the President.

come to:

return to consciousness• When he came to, he found himself in a hospital.

• It was a long time before she came to -- her son has died.

likely

a. probable 可能的– Ms. White is a likely candidate for the job.

– This is a likely place for him to stay.

ad. probably 可能地 ( 多与 most, very 连用 )– We will most likely be late.

– Very likely, he will forget all about it.

句型 sb. is likely to do sth. It is likely that…

• She is very likely to ring me tonight.• He is much more likely to be in the library.• It is highly likely that he will win the race.• It is likely that she will quit the job.

warn v.

give notice of possible danger; inform in advance~ sb. of sth. / ~ sb. not to do sth. / ~ that …

• We had warned him of the danger but he turned a deaf ear to our warning.

• The children were warned not to open the door to a stranger.• The whistle warned visitors that the ship was ready to sail.

frighten sb. into doing sth.

• They tried every means to frighten the old man into signing the paper.

• The little girl was frightened into screaming at the sight of the big green worm.

(force, talk, shock, persuade, trick etc. 有同样用法 )

emerge v.

come or appear from somewhere

• The diver (swimmer) emerged from under the water in a minute.

• If the economy goes on like this, another crisis will emerge soon.

ring out:

sound loudly and clearly

• Cheers rang out from the group waiting in front of the building.

• The bell rang out when it got to the midnight of the New Year.

light up:

give light to; become or make bright照亮 ; ( 脸 , 眼 ) 发亮 , 露出喜色

• The fire lit up the whole neighborhood.

• A smile of triumph lit up his face when the news came.

Words to Drill

• argument• emerge• impulse• slam• bare

• faint• likely• slightly• contract• heated

Words to Drill

• motion• tone• crawl• host• outgrow

• unexpected• crisis• image• shortly• widen

Food for thinking

– social roles Socially, we are given different roles to play and

different personalities/qualities to present since we were born as boys and girls.

Can you figure out some of them?

Writing

• Write a short passage on “social roles”• fixed structure: Men and women act different social roles in society. …

Men are supposed to …

While, women are supposed to …