Unit 5Unit 5RomanceRomance

Text A Text A

A VALENTINE STORYA VALENTINE STORY

Pre-reading TaskPre-reading Task

• Listen to one romantic song two or three times and give several nuclear words to conclude what is the love.

• Listen to the following story two times and then answer questions.

Pre-reading TaskPre-reading Task

1. When did Valentine live? 2. What was Valentine? 3. What did he do to help young lovers? 4. When was he killed? 5. Is there any day like Saint Valentine’ Day in China?

New words in the story:

priest Rome Claudius

volunteer ceremony

behead jailer

Pre-reading TaskPre-reading Task• St. Valentine’s Story Valentine was a priest living in Rome during the third century. At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius. He wanted to have a big army and expected men to volunteer to join. However, many men just did not want to leave their wives and families. This made Claudius very angry. He thought that if men were not married,

they would not mind joining the army. So Claudius banned marriage even engagement from his empire. But Valentine would keep on performing marriage ceremony secretly. He was caught by the soldiers at a wedding, and was thrown into prison and beheaded.

Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his jailer when he was in prison. Before he was taken to his death on February 14, 269 A.D., he signed a farewell message to her,” Love from your Valentine.” That note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine’s Day.

Valentine Traditions and CustomsValentine Traditions and Customs

•      St Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14 of each year, the reason why it is celebrated on this day is because this was the day that the Patron Saint of Lovers "St Valentine " was supposedly executed on. On this day lovers all around the world mark this occasion as a day for sending poems, cards, flowers or candy, etc. They might also be a social gathering or ball to mark the occasion.

•     Many Valentine's Day customs involved ways that single women could learn who their future husbands would be. Englishwomen of the 1700's wrote men's names on scraps of paper, rolled each in a little piece of clay, and dropped them all into water. The first paper that rose to the surface supposedly had the name of a woman's true love.

•     Also in the 1700's, unmarried women pinned five bay leaves to their pillows on the eve of Valentine's Day. They pinned one leaf to the center of the pillow and one to each corner. If the charm worked, they saw their future husbands in their dreams.

•     One of the oldest customs was the practice of writing women's names on slips of paper and drawing them from a jar. The woman whose name was drawn by a man became his valentine, and he paid special attention to her. Many men gave gifts to their valentines. In some areas, a young man gave his valentine a pair of gloves. Wealthy men gave fancy balls to honor their valentines.

•    

Valentine Traditions and CustomsValentine Traditions and Customs

• Valentine cards became popular in Great Britain in the nineteenth century. Noted artist Kate Greenaway created cards which featured joyful children and beautiful gardens. Esther Howland was one of the first Valentine card manufacturers in the United States. Inspired by a British card, she began production in 1847. Her cards featured lace and paper flowers and leaves. Other card manufacturers emphasized

•     Cupid, the pudgy, winged son of Venus, the goddess of love. In Roman lore, Cupid is known as Eros, the son of Aphrodite.

•    In the United States and Canada, children exchange valentines with their friends. In some schools, the children hold a classroom party and put all the valentines into a box they have decorated. At the end of the day, the teacher or one child distributes the cards. Many children make their own valentines from paper doilies, red paper, wallpaper samples, and pictures cut from magazines. Sometimes they buy kits that include everything needed to make valentines. Many children send their largest, fanciest cards to their parents and teachers.

•     In Europe, people celebrate Valentine's Day in many ways. British children sing special Valentine's Day songs and receive gifts of candy, fruit, or money. In some areas of England, people bake valentine buns with caraway seeds, plums, or raisins. People in Italy hold a Valentine's Day feast.

While-reading TaskWhile-reading Task• Choose the best answer for each question. 1. Who was coming toward Blanchard? A) A middle-aged woman B) A young beautiful lady C) A worn-out soldier D) A lively and native pupil 2. The young lady was dressed in ___. A) the red suit B) the yellow suit C) the blue suit D) the green suit 3. How old was the “supposed” Hollis Maynell? A) Over 20 B) Over 30 C) Over 40 D) Over 50

While-reading TaskWhile-reading Task 4. While he spoke Blanchard felt chocked by the bitterne

ss of his ___. A) disappointment B) happiness C) excitement D) enjoyment 5. Why did Miss Maynell ask the middle-aged woman to

act as her? A) It was a joke. B) It was a sense of humor. C) It was April Fool’ Day. D) It was some kind of test.

While-reading TaskWhile-reading Task• Decide whether the following statements are true or false.

Write “T” for true and “F” for false. 1. They had known each other for more than 12 months. ( ) 2. After writing a letter introducing himself, John never corre

sponded with Miss Hollis Maynell again. ( ) 3. The real reason that Miss Hollis refused to give him her ph

otograph is that she was not pretty. ( ) 4. Seeing John, Hollis invited him to go with her. ( ) 5. John was disappointed to see Miss Hollis Maynell and left t

he station immediately. ( ) 6. The woman was the person used by Miss Hillis Maynell to t

est Lieutenant John Blanchard’s true love for her. ( )

Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading• make one’s way: 1) go © Early in the morning the hunter made his wa

y into the woods. õ The old man slowly rose from his seat and m

ade his way to the front of the bus. 2) succeed õ 你要想成功，就得学会趁着年轻多多努力。 ◊ If you want to make your way you must lear

n to work hard while you are still young.

Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading

∞Collocation: make away with make up make believe make out make of make off

Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading• take sth. Off (sth.):1) lift and move sth. From (sth.) to another posi

tion õ 把你的手从我肩膀上拿开。 ◊ Take your hands off my shoulder.2) deduct an amount of money from (sth.) õ 她和小贩讨价还价，直到他同意减了 50 便士。 ◊ She bargained with the trader till he agreed t

o take 50p off the price.

Detailed Detailed ReadingReading

CF: take, grasp, grab & snatch 这四个词都是动词，都有“拿”、“抓住”之意。take 系常用词，表示用拿取或用别的方式获得或占有。例如： õ The brave soldier took two enemy soldiers single-handed at

a time. ◊ 这位勇敢的战士曾只身一次活捉两个敌兵。grasp 指“快速而紧紧地抓住”，用于比喻意义时指“掌握”，

“领会”，例如： õ I don’t know how many times I have explained this word, y

et he still fails to grasp it. ◊ 这个词我不知道都解释多少遍了，可他还是不能理解。

Detailed ReadingDetailed ReadingCF: take, grasp, grab & snatchgrab 指“抢夺”，“攫取”，常表示粗鲁地甚至不顾侵犯他

人权利地抓取，例如：Õ How can you grab the credit for the work done by othe

rs?◊ 你怎么能无功受禄呢？snatch 指“突然快速地拿、取、夺、抢走”，强调拿取时动

作的突然，而不表示是否拿得稳或紧，例如：Õ The naughty boy snatched his aunt’s handbag and r

an away.◊ 这个淘气的小男孩一把抢走他阿姨的手提包，跑远了。

Detailed Detailed ReadingReading

Fill the blanks with the appropriate formsof the words in CF. take, grasp, grab & snatch1. The boy _____ the apple and ran off with it.2. The mother _____ her child by the hand.3. The hawk ______ the chicken and flew away.4. Have you _______ the meaning of this text? (grabbed, took, snatched, grasped)

Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading

∞Collocation: take care take care of take charge take hold of take notice of take place take for granted

Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading• absorb: vt.1) (usu. passive) complete hold one’s attention (usu. Followed

by in)2) take in3) EndureMatch the above definitions with the sentences below.Õ The sponge absorbed all the split water.Õ She won’t be able to absorb another heavy blow.Õ Totally absorbed in writing the computer software, Michael order

ed take-out food when he was hungry, slept on the office floor when tired out.

Õ The walls of the house absorb heat during the day.Õ The writer was absorbed in his writing that he forgot to flick the a

shes from his cigar.Õ We will not absorb these changes.

Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading• Each letter was a seed falling on a

fertile heart. (in Line 2, Para. 4)Paraphrase the sentence: Each letter from one would bring

forth a warm response from the other as a seed falling on fertile soil is likely to grow into a plant.

Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading• I’d always be haunted by the feeling th

at you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me.

Translate the sentence into Chinese: 我将一直深感不安，惟恐你只是因为我的

容貌就贸然与我相爱，而这种爱情令我憎恶。

Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading• fertile: adj. 1) (of land) able to produce good cropsÕ 这片土地很肥沃，一年可种三季庄稼。◊ The land is so fertile that three crops a year can grow.Õ Human civilizations first bloomed in fertile lands along

big rivers. China is a case in point.2) highly or continuously productive; prolificÕ He is fertile of imagination.∞ Collocation: fertile soil (fields) fertile showers a fertile mind be fertile in expedients

Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading• request: 1. v. ask (a person) to do somethingÕ 我对你的唯一请求是要你早点到。◊ All I request of you is that you should be early.Õ 我请求他为我使用他的影响力。◊ I requested him to use his influence on my behalf.CF: request, ask & solicit 这三个词都可作动词用，都有“要求”的意思。request 意思是“请求（某人）做某事”，侧重请求。例如：Õ You are sincerely requested to be present at the party.◊ 敬请您光临宴会。

Detailed ReadingDetailed ReadingCF: request, ask & solicitask 作“询问”，“提问”，“要求”讲时，指某

人对不知道或不明白的事情、道理提出问题，请别人解答；作“要求”讲时，侧重要求得到某物，例如：

Õ He has asked his father for too much.◊ 他向他父亲要的太多。solicit 是正式用语，指“恭敬或认真地请求”，现在多用于“请求别人注意”，因而常见于商业用语中，例如：

Õ China Daily is soliciting subscriptions.◊ 〈中国日报〉正在征求订户。

Detailed ReadingDetailed ReadingNB: request 一词后如果接宾语从句，则从句中用虚拟语气 should + v.(原形 ) ，或省略 should ，直接用 v.(原形 ) 。

Õ 佩恩先生要求我星期五之前交作业。◊ Mr. Paine requested that I (should) hand in m

y homework before Friday. 类似的用法还有 suggest, advise, demand, orde

r及这些词的名词形式。Õ He gave us a suggestion that we (should) stay

at home on the National Day, because there were crowds everywhere in the city.

Detailed ReadingDetailed Reading2. n. a polite demandÕ He made a request that I should help him.∞Collocation:at sb.’s requestby request (of)comply with sb.’s requestmake (a) request foron requestin great request (=much in request)

After ReadingAfter Reading

Useful Expressions1. 把…搞错 2. 整了整军装3. 人群 4. 发现自己被吸引5. 多思善虑的心灵 6. 富于洞察力的头脑7.前一位拥有人的姓名 8. 确定地址9. 请她回复 10. 被运往海外11.仅因为那而碰运气 12. 安排了两人的第一次见面13.始终支持他 14. 犹如春天般生气盎然15.差不多就站在…正后面 16. 体态臃肿17.挺胸站立，敬了个礼 18. 那本蓝色羊皮面旧书19. 因失望的痛苦而哽咽 20. 理解且钦佩某人的智慧