Before Reading >> English Song – That’s What Friends Are For

I. Introductory Remarks

Just what are friends for? To have fun with, of course, to share in the good times. Yet most people would say that a real friend is more than just a fair-weather friend. A fair-weather friend? A fair-weather friend is someone who's happy to stay with you when things are going well but leaves as soon as trouble arrives, while a good friend, a true friend, is one who'll stand by you when you find yourself in difficulties. That’s certainly what the song is about. As they tell each other … So let's listen to them as they sing the song.

II. That’s What Friends Are For

Listen to the song and fill in the blanks with what you hear.

And I never thought I’d feel this way

And as far as I’m concerned

I’m glad I got the chance to say

That I do believe I love you

And if I should ever go away

Well, then close your eyes and try

To feel the way we do today

And then if you can remember

Keep smiling, keep shining

Knowing you can always count on me

For sure, that’s what friends are for

For good times and bad times

I’ll be on your side forevermore

That’s what friends are for

Well, you came and opened me

And now there’s so much more I see

And so by the way, I thank you

And then for the times we’re apart

Well, then close your eyes and know

These words are coming from my heart

And then if you can remember

Keep smiling, keep shining

Knowing you can always count on me

For sure, that’s what friends are for

In good times and bad times

I’ll be on your side forevermore

That’s what friends are for

Keep smiling, keep shining

Knowing you can always count on me

For sure, that’s what friends are for

For good times and bad times

I’ll be on your side forevermore

That’s what friends are for

Keep smiling, keep shining

Knowing you can always count on me

For sure, that’s what friends are for

For good times and for bad times

I’ll be on your side forevermore

That’s what friends are for

Count on me, for sure

Count on me, for sure

Count on me, for sure

That’s what friends are for

Keep smiling, keep shining

III. Questions and Answers

1. What is a fair-weather friend?

(One who is happy to stay with you when things are going well but leaves as soon as trouble arrives.)

2. Do you know anything about the singers?

(Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight.
Dionne Warwick
    Dionne Warwick was a pop and R&B (Rhythm and Blues, 节奏蓝调音乐) music star of the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s she worked jointly with Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder on the Grammy-winning single That’s What Friends Are For, a fundraiser for AIDS victims.

Elton John

Elton John (1947~), an English rock composer, singer and pianist, is one of rock music’s durable (持久的) performers. He played the piano by ear from age four, and studied at the Royal Academy of Music at 11. The top pop star of the 1970s, his performance was featured by wild eyeglasses and outlandish (奇异的) costumes on the stage. Despite health problems in 1993 he continues to perform live across the world, mostly on the softer side these days.

His latest success includes the best-selling sound track for The Lion King (1994), a Disney film. And the recording of Candle in the Wind 97, sung at the funeral of Princess Diana, became the largest-selling single in history within a month of its release (发行). He was knighted (授予爵士称号) in 1998.)

3. According to the song, what are friends for?

(For both good times and bad times.)

4. How can friend and friendship be defined?

(Friend Definition A:

A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one’s heart, chaff (谷壳) and grain together, knowing that gentle hands will take and sift (筛，过滤) them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.

— George Eliot (1819~1880), English novelist

Friend Definition B:

A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803~1882),

American poet and philosopher

Friend Definition C:

A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your successes.

— Doug Larson (1902~1981),

English middle-distance runner

Friendship Definition A:

True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it is lost.

— Charles Caleb Colton (1780~1832),

English author and clergyman

Friendship Definition B:

Friendship is a ship big enough to carry two in fair weather, but only one in foul (天气恶劣的).

— Ambrose Bierce (1842~1914),

American author and journalist,

from The Devil’s Dictionary

Friendship Definition C:

Friendship is a treasure that always helps us overcome any kind of difficulty. Friendship is a comfort which always understands worries and emotions. Friendship is a blessing because it teaches the way to live.

— Unknown)

5. Can you give some examples of great friendship?

(Marx and Engels

Marx valued Engels’ friendship so highly that he once said he loved and admired his friend very much. Engels had been aiding Marx who suffered greatly from bitter poverty. Were it not for the help Marx obtained from Engels, Marx would hardly have been able to overcome poverty and he surely would not have left behind him a monument.

Qu Qiubai and Lu Xun

Qu Qiubai was one of CPC’s principal leaders in the early period. Under the persecution (迫害) of Wang Ming, one of the CPC’s early leaders, Qu was dismissed from his important posts in the CPC Central Committee. But he soon took an active part in the struggles launched by the left-wing cultural front, together with Lu Xun, in Shanghai. During the two years of joint work , they became true friends.)

Before Reading >> Background Information

Halloween

Halloween is celebrated annually. It is on the night of 31 October, when people once believed that ghosts could be seen. Now, in Britain and America, it is a time when children have parties, dress up as witches, make lanterns out of pumpkins from which the inside has been removed, and play “trick or treat”.

“Trick or treat” is a traditional activity at Halloween. Children dress in costumes and visit houses. At each house they say “Trick or treat”. This means that they will play a “trick”, or joke, on the people in the house unless they are given a “treat”, e.g. sweets or money. Most people prefer to give treats rather than having tricks played on them.

Before Reading >> Word Web

The stories in this unit are about friendship. Write down five words which you would use if you were writing a poem on this subject.

(durable, long-standing, enduring, lifelong, genuine, help, generous, everlasting, intimate, close, warm, trust, perpetual)

Before Reading >> Topic-related Prediction

1. Text A is titled All the Cabbie Had Was a Letter. Before you read the story, think about the answers to the following questions.

-        What does a cabbie do?

-        What is a letter used for?

-        Who wrote the letter to the cabbie?

-        Why was all the cabbie had only a letter?

2. Read the last sentence of Text A and try to guess what the story is about.

When I got to my hotel room I didn’t unpack right away. First I had to write a letter — and mail it.

3. Read Text A as quickly as possible, and find out if you are right. Can you summarize the story with three sentences?

Key words: lost in thought; read a letter; an old friend; lifelong friendship; regret; author decided

Before Reading >> Warm-up Questions

1. Do you often write letters to your friends?

2. Did you ever write a letter which was not sent? Why did you keep it?

Global Reading >> Scanning

Scan Text A and decide which of the following statements is the theme.

1. One should keep in touch with his friends.

2. Never delay expressing your true feelings to a friend.

3. A true friend will stand by you forever.

4. Late is better than never.

(Never delay expressing your true feelings to a friend.)

Global Reading >> Group Discussion

1. The following questions are what the narrator asked the cab driver. Put them in the right order.

1) Did you go to school together?

2) The letter must have made you feel good, didn’t it?

3) Is your cab available?

4) Is he someone you’ve known quite a while?

5) Is he dead?

6) I thought your friend was Ed. Why did he sign it Tom?

7) Is the letter from a child or a grandchild?

8) Did you two work at the same place?

(3 — 7 — 4 — 1 — 5 — 8 — 2 — 6)

2. What were the cabbie’s responses to these questions?

3. The narrator thought that the cabbie had received a letter from a friend named Ed. Which round of question-and-answer in the text leads to the misunderstanding?

(The second round: “Is the letter from a child or a grandchild?”

“No. Ed was my oldest friend.”)

Global Reading >> Part Division of the Text

Global Reading >> Further Understanding

I. For Part 1 True or False

1. The driver caught a cold that day. (F)

(He had just cried.)

2. The driver had never seen Ed in the past 25 or 30 years. (F)

(He had only seen him once or twice a year.)

3. The driver had never forgotten his old friend. (T)

4. The narrator was quite eager to read the letter. (F)

(He thought it was very personal.)

II. For Part 2 & 3 Question and Answers

1. What did the driver and Ed use to do before they got married?

(They went to school and passed time together.)

2. What did the narrator mean by saying the first sentence in the letter reminded him of himself?

(He often postponed writing to his friends.)

3. Who wrote the letter? Who did the narrator think had written the letter? Find out sentences that demonstrate the narrator’s misunderstanding.

(The driver wrote the letter. The narrator thought that Ed had written the letter. For example, “I know I’d like to receive a letter like that from my oldest friend.”)

4. What did the narrator decide to do when he arrived at the hotel? Why?

(He decided to write a letter and mail it immediately because he wouldn’t wait until it was too late.)