part3

Part2

Part1

Unit4 The Dream of an Hour

by Kate Chopin

Reading comprehension and language activities

Listening and speaking activities

Extended activities

Part4

Language points

Listening and speaking activities (omitted )

Reading comprehension and language activities

Pre-reading Discussion

1. Can you stand somebody persistently imposing his/her will on you, even if he/she is well-intentioned?

2. Most of us have some inner desires. How would you feel if you long-suppressed desire finds a momentary outlet?

The Dream of an Hour By Kate Chopin Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted

with heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death.

It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences, veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband’s friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard’s name leading the list of “killed.” He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.

She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.

There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul. She would see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

There were patches of blue sky showing here and there though the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.

She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.

She was young, with a fair, clam face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull share in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will---as powerless as her two white slender hands and would have been.

When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: “free, free, free!” The vacant share and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her: A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial.

She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of year to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.

There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem to less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination.

And yet she had loved him----sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

“Free! Body and soul free!” she kept whispering.

Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission. “Louis, open the door! I beg; open the door---you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louis? For heaven’s sake open the door.”

“Go away. I am not making myself ill.” No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.

He fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.

She arose at length and opened the door to her sister’s importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister’s waist, and together they descended the stairs. Richard stood waiting for them at the bottom.

Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine’s piercing cry, at Richard’s quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.

But Richard was too late. When the doctors came they

said she had died of heart disease---of joy that kills.

Comprehension workA Probe the story Discuss the following questions.1. How, as Josephine and Richards assumed, would Mrs.

Mallard react to the news of her husband’s death? What did they do when breaking the news to her? Find evidence to support your answer.

2. What was Mrs. Mallard’s immediate reaction to the sad news?

3.What is the significance of Chopin’s description of the scene in paragraph five?

4.“There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully.” “She was beginning to recognize this thing… She was striving to beat it back” What was this “something”? Why was she waiting for it fearfully? Why did she try to beat it back?

5. How do you interpret the following sentences in the text “The vacant stares and the look of terror…went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulse beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body”?

6. What does “a very elixir” refer to in the sentence “She was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window”?

7. Why did Mrs. Mallard pray that life might be long while the same idea caused a shudder the previous day?

Language work A In the other wordsFill out each blank with a word from the text

which is closest in meaning to the word or expression in the brackets.

1. The drizzle and mist made the distant lighthouse on elusive sight. (difficult to see clearly)

2. Acid rain, greenhouse effect, frequent floods and droughts bespeak our deteriorating environment caused by man’s reckless interference with nature. (indicate)

3. At daybreak the city was veiled in the slumbering morning mist. (covered masked)

4. When he appeared in the court as a witness, the security guard composedly reconstructed the scene of the murder. (calmly, in a self-controlled manner)

5.The news that their national team won the World Cup in the finals threw France in an exalted mood. (full of joy and happiness)

6. In the great cavern no sound could be heard save water dripping from the dome. (except)

7. The two parties reached am agreement in the last minute, thereby forestalling a political crisis in the coalition government. (preventing)

8. Many educators believe that children’s self-assertion is largely nourished by appropriate encouragement from their teachers and parents. (confidence)

Work with sentencesRewrite the following sentences with

the following expressions. impose on afflict with

count for strive to do implore for die of abandon oneself (to)

1. Every year the United Nations provides emergency aid to those countries that are suffering from famine.

2. Facing the competitive market, the company is making a great effort to update its products.

3. Many local government departments collect fees of different kinds from local businesses.

4. Most manufacturers and marketing expert admit that package design is of great importance in promoting sales.

5. Finally, she wrote to the President, begging him to intervene in the situation.

6. The brilliant young athlete Joyce died suddenly one night in her home due to epilepsy.

7. The lady was completely lost in her profound grief of losing her child in the accident.

Answer for rewriting of the sentences 1.Every year the United Nations provides

emergency aid to those countries that are afflicted with famine.

2. Facing the competitive market, the company is striving to update its products.

3.Many local government departments impose fees on different kinds from local businesses.

4.Most manufacturers and marketing expert admit that package design counts for a great deal in promoting sales.

5. Finally, she wrote to the President, imploring for his intervene in the situation.

6. The brilliant young athlete Joyce die suddenly of epilepsy in her home one night .

7. The lady abandoned herself to the profound grief of losing her child in the accident.

Dictation Script Literature has two main divisions:

fiction and non-fiction. Fiction is writing that author creates from imagination. Authors may include facts about real persons or events, but they combing these facts with imaginary situations. Most fiction is written in prose form, such as novels and short stores. Non-fiction is the branch of literature that deals with real-life situations. The chief forms of non-fiction include the essay, history, biography, autobiography, and diary. Almost every literary work includes four elements: characters, plot, theme, and style. A good writer tries to balance these elements to create a unified work of art.

Work with wordsFill in the blanks according to the given

initials and ending letters. Why do we read literature? We all

read for a variety of reasons. There reasons change with our age, our interest, and the literature we read. Our basic reason for reading is probably pleasure. We read literature mostly because we enjoy it.

Reading for pleasure may take various forms. We may read just to pass the time. We often read for information and knowledge. We find pleasure in learning about life in the Swiss Alps or on the Mississippi River. We find possible solutions to our problems when we meet in books whose problems are like our own. Through literature, we sometimes understand situations we could not otherwise understand in real life.

We also read simple for the enjoyment we get from the arrangement of words. We can find pleasure even in nonsensical syllables, just as children like the sound of “Ring Around the Rosie,” though they may not know what the words mean.

Reading is such a personal activity that there can no final rules for judging a piece of writing. The taste and fashion of the times often enter into critical judgments. Some books become best sellers overnight. But their popularity does not necessarily mean that they are great.

Yet, readers and critics do agree on certain writings that they consider classics or literature of the highest rank. For example, thousands of stories have been published about young lovers whose parents disapproved of their romance. Most of these stories were soon forgotten. But for about 400 years, Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has been considered of a classic story of young love.

Translation Put the following sentences into

English.1.许多新兴国家在刚获得独立的时候，都遇到过经济问题的困扰。（ afflict）

2.为了保护国内工业，政府决定对进口倾销产品征收反倾销关税 (anti-dumping tariff) 。(impose … upon/on)

3.只有学问而没有实践经验，这种学问没有多少价值。 (count for)

4.敌军入侵使得成千上万的老百姓只好弃家而逃。(abandon)

5.我在上海住了很久，已把这个城市看作我的第二故乡。 (look upon/on)

6.修理屋顶时底下必须用东西支撑着。 (prop up)

7.在困难面前，他仍然保持着幽默。 (in (the) face of )

Answer for translation 1.Many developing countries, after

independence, were afflicted with economic problems to begin with.

2.In order to protect domestic industries, the government decided to impose anti-dumping tariff on imported products.

3.Knowledge without practical experience counts for little.

4.Thousands of people were forced to abandon their homes to the invading enemy troops.

5.I’ve lived in Shanghai so long that I’ve looked upon the city as my second hometown.

6.The roof will have to be propped up while repairs are being carried out.

7.In the face of great hardship, he managed to keep his sense of humor.

The End ！