Before Reading >> English Song – Beautiful Boy

I. John Lennon

i. A Brief Introduction to John Lennon

John Lennon (1940~1980) was an English rock musician and cofounder of The Beatles, the most lauded and influential rock group of all time.

ii. Questions about John Lennon

1. Who was John Lennon?

2. Which country was he from?

3. What was his profession?

4. Do you know any songs by him?

5. Can you tell us anything about Lennon?

iii. Chronology of John Lennon

– October 9, 1940

Born John Winston Lennon, in Liverpool, England.

– September 1957

Enrolled at Liverpool College of Art.

– August 23, 1962

Married college girlfriend Cynthia Powell (divorced 1968).

– February 19, 1963

Please Please Me reached Number One in the U.K. charts.

– February 12, 1964

The Beatles started their first U.S. tour.

– June 15, 1965

The Beatles received MBEs (Member of the Order of the British Empire) from Queen Elizabeth II.

– March 14, 1969

Married Yoko Ono.

– November 25, 1969

Lennon returned his MBE in peace protest.

– December 8, 1980

Shot dead outside his apartment in the Dakota building in New York City. The killer was a crazed fan, Mark Chapman, who had recently obtained Lennon’s autograph(亲笔签名).

II. Beautiful Boy

Lyric:

Close your eyes

Have no fear

The monster's gone

He’s on the run and your daddy's here

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

Beautiful boy

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

Beautiful boy

Before you go to sleep

Say a little prayer

Every day in every way

It's getting better and better

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

Beautiful boy

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

Beautiful boy

Out of the ocean sailing away

I can hardly wait

To see you come of age

But I guess we'll both just have to be patient

’Cause it’s a long way to go

A had row to how

Yes it’s a long way to go

But in the meantime

Before you cross the street

Take my hand

Life is what happens to you

While you’re busy making other plans

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

Beautiful boy

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

Beautiful boy

Before you go to sleep

Say a little prayer

Every day in every way

It's getting better and better

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

Beautiful boy

Darling, darling, darling

Darling Sean

III. Questions about the Song and the Texts

1. In your opinion, what is the song Beautiful Boy going to tell us?

2. What does Lennon think of growing up? Is it easy or full of adventures?

3. Can you guess what the texts in this unit are going to be about?

Before Reading >> Spaghetti

I. Definition

Spaghetti is the Italian-style thin noodle, cooked by boiling and served with sauce. Unlike some Chinese noodles, it is not served in soup and will never taste pulpy (软乎乎、没有嚼劲的).

II. Listen and Practice

Read the words given below and then listen to the passage. After listening to the passage, one student is required to come up and show the right way of eating spaghetti before the class.

The Right Way of Eating Spaghetti

1.         Hold the fork in your hand as if to poke the spaghetti.

2.         Scoop up a small amount of spaghetti on your fork and raise it about 30cm above your plate.

3.         Make sure the spaghetti on your fork is completely disconnected from the remainder on your plate.

4.         Put the prongs of the fork at an edge of the plate that is free of food.

5.         Quickly point the prongs of the fork straight down toward the plate and place the points on the plate.

6.         Twirl the fork to gather the spaghetti around the prongs.

7.         With a quick scooping movement, gather up the roll around the prongs and place it in your mouth.

8.         Gently gather up any stray spaghetti ends that don’t make it all the way into your mouth.

Before Reading >> The American Educational System

    In the United States, education is the responsibility of individual states, not of the federal government, so requirements may vary from one state to another. The following is a generalization:

-        kindergarten: under 5 years old

-        elementary / primary school (grades 1~6): 6~11 years old

-        junior high / middle school (grades 7~8): 12~13 years old

-        senior / high school (grades 9~12): 14~17 years old

-        college, institute, academy (学院), university

Global Reading >> Scanning

Scan Text A and find out all the time words, phrases and clauses.

Key:

since my childhood in Belleville  (Para. 1)

until my third year in high school (Para. 1)

until then (Para. 1)

when our class was assigned to Mr. Fleagle for third-year English (Para. 2)

late in the year (Para. 3)

until the night before the essay was due (Para. 3)

when I finished (Para. 6)

next morning (Para. 6)

two days passed (Para. 6)

when I saw him lift my paper from his desk ... (Para. 6) when Mr. Fleagle finished (Para. 9)

Global Reading >> Part Division of the Text

Global Reading >> Further Understanding

I. For Part 1 True or False

1. Baker had never thought of becoming a writer until he was in the eleventh grade. (F)

(As a child in Belleville, he had thought of becoming a writer from time to time.)

2. Teachers found it painful to read students’ long and lifeless essays. (T)

3. Before Mr. Fleagle became the English teacher for Baker’s class, the English course had been interesting. (F)

(From the words “another cheerless year” we can see the English course had been quite boring.)

4. In Baker’s opinion, Mr. Fleagle was really a formal, rigid and out-of-date teacher only because of Fleagle’s manner of speaking. (F)

(Besides the manner of speaking, Fleagle’s appearance and dress also showed that he was a dull and rigid teacher.)

II. For Part 2 Multiple Choice

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence.

1. At first, Baker thought Mr. Fleagle’s English course was ___________. (B)

A. interesting                              B. dull                                                      C. hopeful                                     D. attractive

2. In Baker’s opinion, the title of the composition “What I Did on My Summer Vacation” was _________. (D)

A. dull                                                               B. unfruitful                                  C. difficult                                     D. foolish and dull

3. Baker liked to write a composition with the title “The Art of Eating Spaghetti” because __________. (D)

A. neither Baker nor Doris had ever eaten spaghetti before

B. Baker and Doris argued about it at a supper

C. spaghetti was from Italy and quite new then

D. it reminded him of the pleasure of that evening

4. Which of the following statements is TRUE? _________ (A)

A. You’ll not write a good composition until you like the topic.

B. When Baker wrote the essay, he thought his teacher would like it.

C. Mr. Fleagle had liked Baker’s compositions before.

D. Baker succeeded in writing two compositions.

III. For Part 3 Questions and Answers

1.         Do you think Baker would write another essay if he had enough time? Why?

2.         What was Baker prepared for when he found all the papers had been given back but his?

3.         Whose essay did Mr. Fleagle read to the class? How did the class respond?

4.         Which paragraph in this part gives readers the impression that Baker’s essay was very good?

5.         Why did Baker feel so delighted?