New Horizon College English
Book 4 Unit 5
Teaching Plan
(4 periods)

Contents:
Section A Choose to Be Alone on Purpose
Section B Roommate Conflicts
Section C An Indian Arranged Marriage

Objectives
Students will be able to:
Share their ideas of personal relationships.
Learn to understand modern patterns of interrelationships, e.g. living alone, sharing a room with others and arranged marriage, etc.
Develop their ability in understanding reading texts and listening materials.
Enlarge their vocabulary.
Develop their ability in expressing their ideas in both spoken and written form.

Lesson procedure

Section A Choose to Be Alone on Purpose

Warm-up Activities
1. Do you sometimes want to be alone?
2. In what situation you choose to be alone?
3. What can you benefit from being alone?
4. What is the disadvantage of being alone?

Background Information
Lonely Poets and Philosophers:
1. Henry David Thoreau: 1817-1862. U.S. thinker, essayist, and naturalist. The author of Walden

Thoreau's House: Copied by Charles H. Overly from a drawing done by Thoreau's sister, Sophia.
Famous quotations by Henry David Thoreau
The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance (偶然, 恐怕), a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length (最后), the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed (貯放柴薪的木棚) with them.
Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance (遺傳, 遺產(chǎn)) of generations and nations.
Books, not which afford us a cowering (畏縮, 退縮) enjoyment, but in which each thought is of unusual daring (大膽的); such as an idle man cannot read, and a timid one would not be entertained by, which even make us dangerous to existing institution--such call I good books.
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
The heart is forever inexperienced.
There is no remedy for love but to love more.
In human intercourse (交往, 交流) the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.

2. John Milton: 1608-1674. English poet, one of the greatest poets of the English language.
Milton was born in London on December 9, 1609 as the son of a wealthy notary (公證人). He was educated at St. Paul's School. Milton received a Master’s degree from Cambridge University in 1632. In 1638, he undertook a European tour where he met many of the major thinkers of the day, especially in Italy.
On his return to England, Milton became a Puritan (清教徒), and an opponent of the Catholics and of the Stuarts (英國斯圖亞特王室). He was also an ardent (熱心的, 熱情洋溢的) polemicist (善辯論者), a follower of Cromwell (克倫威爾), and the latter's foreign language secretary. In 1652 he became completely blind. His first wife died in 1652 and he remarried in 1656.
After the restoration of the Stuarts he suffered considerable persecution (迫害). He withdrew from active participation in politics and concentrated on his poetry. Paradise Lost was published in 1667, followed by Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes in 1671. Among other popular works by Milton are the elegy (悲歌, 挽歌) "Lycidas", Comus , a masque (假面舞會(huì)), and the companion pieces "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso."

3. William Wordsworth: 1770-1850. British poet, who spent his life in the Lake District of Northern England.

Wordsworth’s personality and poetry were deeply influenced by his love of nature, especially by the sights and scenes of the Lake Country, in which he spent most of his mature life. A profoundly earnest and sincere thinker, he displayed a high seriousness tempered (調(diào)節(jié)) with tenderness and a love of simplicity.

Global Reading
Understanding the Text
1. (para.1-2) Living alone– a common social phenomenon
By recent count, … people live alone for one reason or another. (para.1)
What do people think of living alone?
2 A national disease;
2 A characteristic of American hero. Some people choose to be alone on purpose.
Examples (para.2)
2. (Paras.3-10) Who are often living alone?
2 Poets and philosophers are for … in solitude.
Example: William Wordsworth
2 Solitude is improved by being voluntary.
Example : John Milton
2 Some artists choose to be alone while their loved ones prepare comforts for them at home.
Example: Henry Thoreau
The message from the people who choose to be alone: The lager the ego, the more likely for them to live alone.
3. (Paras. 11-13) The comments on the phenomenon of solitude
2 If you live with other people, their temporary absence can be refreshing.
2 It is human that we need to talk to others.
2 Scientific surveys show that those people who live alone will behave ridiculously and talk at length to themselves and their pets and television.
2 But it is different when you live alone: solitude strikes hard at you.
4. (Paras 14-16) Conclusion:
The author advises people to stay rational, settle down and make themselves comfortable, not like a self-centered British poet. After all, there is no place like home.

Language Study
Words and Expressions
1. by…count
by recent count
據(jù)最近的統(tǒng)計(jì)
by our count
我們數(shù)了一下
by my count
我統(tǒng)計(jì)了一下
at the last count
最后一次點(diǎn)數(shù)時(shí)，上次點(diǎn)數(shù)時(shí)
2. on purpose故意
Did you tell him about it on purpose?
3. cast out趕出去
cast out devil
be cast out by the landlady
be cast out of one’s home
4. alone
lonely
solitary
solitude
5. be for: support; favor
be against:
6. speak highly of
speak ill/ bad of
7. seek out: find (sth/ sb)
look for
find
find out
8. set forth
set out
bring forth
9. creep away
10. write down
11. the high priest of
Priest
12. stretch out
stretch
extend
13. fill up
fill in
fill out
14. stay up late
get up late
15. at one sitting
16. at one’s own pace
17. back up
Traffic is starting to back up on both lanes of the motorway.
He doesn’t back up his arguments with facts.
18. supreme
the Supreme Court justice (法官)
the supreme commander of the armed forces
the supreme ruler of his country
a supreme effort of will
19. at length
20. might as well

After Reading
1. Expressing yourself:
In your opinion, which is better for the old, living with their children or living alone?
2. Writing task: Do free essay writing
Writing techniques: making comparison and contrast.

Homework
1. Finish the exercises in Section A.
2. Prepare for Section B.?