新视野大学英语第二册（第三版）教案

Students-centered , Task-based teaching and learning

Step 1 Lead-in

I. Greeting and warming-up questions discussion.

1. How do you think of your current major? If you were given a second chance to choose your major, what would you select and why?

2. What liberal arts / humanities courses do you learn in college? Do you think they are necessary for your education? II. Listening and discussing. 1. Listening practice.

2. In your opinion, what are the most important skills you learned in high school? III. Listening to a talk and answer questions on page 30.

Step 2 Section A An Impressive English Lesson I. Background information 1. the humanities

The humanities are a group of academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative. Therefore, they are distinguished from the approaches of the natural sciences. The humanities, called social sciences, include history, anthropology, communication studies, cultural studies, law, language, literature, philosophy, religion, music and theater, etc. Through exploration of the humanities, students learn how to think creatively and critically, to reason, and to ask questions. Because these skills allow students to gain new insights into everything from poetry and paintings to business models and politics, humanistic subjects have been at the heart of a liberal arts education. Today, humanistic knowledge continues to provide the ideal foundation for exploring and understanding the human experience. 2. self-awareness

Self-awareness isn’t a quality that you demonstrate by telling a story, but rather it has to do with how you tell the story and your ability to communicate what you learned. Being able to explain to the admissions committee why you value one accomplishment above others, what you learned from a setback, or the deeper meaning of your career goals, is evidence of self-awareness. Furthermore, the self-aware individual has knowledge of both his strengths and weaknesses.

II. Useful expressions and Practical Phrases 1. major in 主修（某一）科目 2. in succession 连续发生 3. be bound to 肯定会，注定 4. stand up for 支持，维护 5.speculate about 推测，猜测

6. invest sb. wth sth. 赋予（某人/某物）以某种性质 7. be liable to 可能/易于做某事

新视野大学英语第二册（第三版）教案

III. Functional Patterns and Functions & Usages

1.Sth. is/are more and more seen as … rather than … 用于表达“人们对某一事物的看法的变化”。

2.Once + N., sth. now … 用于表达“今昔对比”。

3. If sb. only do sth. / If sb. do sth. alone, it’s likely that … / sb. are liable to …用于表达“如果只做??可能出现的后果”。

Ⅳ.Structure Analysis:

Main idea of section A: this text is a narrative that talks about the author’s personal experience in giving an effective English lesson to his son. He claims that students can learn better if they are properly taught.

Part I (Paras. 1-5) Part I provides the background information of the argument. By moving away from the humanities and taking some ―hard-skill courses instead, students think it would improve their chance of finding a job. Because of the economic downturn, this trend is likely to persist and even accelerate. However, the humanities play a significant role in people’s lives and can’t be ignored.

Part II (Paras.6-9) Part II presents the author’s argument to stand up for the true value of the humanities: studying the humanities can improve our ability to read and write, invest us with great insight and self-awareness, thereby releasing our creative energy and talent, and provide the scope of possibilities that are widely open to us. It also suggests that inner insight, combined with technical knowledge, is ideal for the establishment of a good career.

Part III (Para. 10) Part III summaries the main ideas stated in the argument: The humanities help to create well-rounded human beings with inner insight and understanding of the passions, hopes and dreams common to all humanity

Step 3 Language points Detailed study of the text

1. When the going gets tough, the tough take accounting. (Para. 1)

Meaning: When conditions or situations become difficult, determined people choose to study the subject of accounting, hoping they can more easily find a job in the future.

★When the going gets tough: when the situation becomes difficult 当形势变得严峻时

When the going gets tough, women can get as tough as men. 当形势变得严峻时，女人可以变得跟男人一样坚强。

★accounting: n. [C] the work of accountants or the methods they use会计; 会计学 Students’ major objective is to be financially well off. Accordingly, today the most popular course is not literature or history but accounting. 学生的主要目的是经济上富裕。因此，当今最流行的课程不是文学或历史，而是会计。

★take accounting: choose to study the subject of accounting 选择学会计

2. When the job market worsens, many students calculate they can’t major in English or history. (Para. 1)

Meaning: When there are fewer job openings, many college students make a

新视野大学英语第二册（第三版）教案

judgment from the situation and think they can’t study English or history as their major.

★calculate: vt.

1) make a judgment about what is likely to happen using the available information 估计；预测；推测

It’s difficult to calculate the long-term effects of these changes in the law. 这些法律上变化带来的长期影响是难以预测的。

2) find out how much sth. will cost, how long sth. will take, etc. by using numbers 计算；核算

Nowadays the accountants in the enterprise use computers to calculate the cost of production with accuracy. 如今，企业财务人员利用电脑来计算准确的生产成本。 ★major in: study sth. as your main subject at college or university 主修（某一）科目

The high demand for persons with knowledge about computers is why I chose to major in computer science at the university. 对具有电脑知识人才的高需求是我选择在大学主修计算机科学的原因。

ists to engage in basic research, not applied research. 产业领导者们希望科学家们从事基础研究，而不是应用研究。

★bet : (bet, bet) vt. be fairly sure that sth. is true, that sth. will happen, etc., although you can’t prove this 肯定

I bet the train will be late. 我敢打赌，列车会晚点。

v. risk money on the result of a race, game, competition or other future event 下赌注；与?打赌 I bet my life that he will take my money and leave. 我敢用我的命打赌，他将拿着我的钱离开。

5. In other words, a college education is more and more seen as a means for economic betterment rather than a means for human betterment. (Para. 2)

Meaning: In other words, a college education is more considered as a method to improve students’ economic status rather than improve human nature or behavior. 6. This is a trend that is likely to persist and even accelerate. (Para. 2)

Meaning: Very likely, the trend will continue to exist and even go faster than ever. ★persist: vi. (fml.) continue to exist 继续存在；持续

1) If the bad weather persists, the farmers will suffer great losses this year. 如果恶劣天气持续，农民今年将遭受巨大的损失。

2) continue to do sth., although this is difficult, or other people oppose it 坚持；执意 Students must persist in their efforts if they wish to do well. 学生如果想取得好成绩就必须坚持努力。 ★accelerate: v. happen or make sth. happen at a faster rate （使）加快；促进

Human activities can cause or accelerate permanent changes in natural systems. 人类的活动可能导致或加速自然系统的永久变化。

7. Over the next few years, as labor market struggle, the humanities will probably continue their long slide in succession. (Para. 3)

Meaning: For the next few years, as the going gets tough with labor markets, the subjects of the humanities will continue to shrink and worsen for a long time each year.

新视野大学英语第二册（第三版）教案

Note: It might be worthwhile to have a review of the word slide used as a noun or a verb:

n. [usu. sing.] a situation in which sth. gradually gets worse or sb. develops a problem (情况) 变糟，恶化；（人）出现问题

School administrators were unable to explain the slide in students’ performance. 学校管理人员无法解释学生成绩下降的原因。

v. gradually become worse, or begin to have a problem 逐渐破坏；开始出现问题 Students’ test scores started to slide in the mid-1990s. 20世纪90年代中期，学生的考分开始下降。

★succession: n. [sing.] a series of people or things of the same type 一连串，一系列（同类型的人或物） After graduation, he took a succession of low-paid jobs. 毕业后他干了一连串报酬低微的工作。

★in succession: happening one after the other without anything different happening in between 连续发生地；接连发生地

She is an accomplished athlete and won the championship four times in succession. 她是一个成功的运动员，连续四次获得冠军。

8. There already has been a nearly 50 percent decline in the portion of liberal arts majors over the past generation, and it is logical to think that the trend is bound to continue or even accelerate. (Para. 3)

Meaning: Based on the factor that there already has been about 50 percent decrease in the numbers of students majoring in liberal arts over the past years, it is reasonable to think that the trend will surely continue or even speed up. ★liberal: a.

1) (～arts) school or college subjects that give students a general education and teach them to think rather than those subjects that develop practical skills 文科

The liberal arts are college or university subjects such as history, languages and literature but not science. 文科是学院或大学的如历史、语言和文学之类的学习课目，而不是理科学科。

2) accepting different opinions and ways of behaving and tending to be sympathetic to other people 心胸宽广的；开明的

She is known to have liberal views on divorce. 人们知道她对离婚持有开明的观点。 ★logical: a. connecting ideas or reasons in a sensible way 合乎逻辑的；合理的

It is logical to think that when people are deprived of their familiar surroundings they will feel disoriented. 脱离熟悉的环境时，人们会感到迷失方向，这样想是符合逻辑的。

★bound: a. (～to) sth. that is bound to happen will almost certainly happen 一定的；几乎肯定的 The weather is bound to get better tomorrow. 明天的天气肯定更好。 9. Once the dominant pillars of university life, the humanities now play little roles when students take their college tours. These days, labs are more vivid and compelling than libraries. (Para. 3)

Meaning: The humanities that once dominated university life now play a trivial role when students have their college visits; nowadays, labs are more eye-catching and fascinating than libraries.

★dominant: a. more important, powerful, or successful than the other people or