unit13.ppt

Unit  13      The Media  

Part  A    

Communicative Function   Describing Things

       In daily life we often describe things to others. In our descriptions, we talk about size, shape, color and so on. 

Listen to the Conversation and supply the missing information in the blanks.

               Color:                      orange

               Shape:                     rectangular

               Material:                  wool

               Usage:                     to keep warm

               The present:             a woolen scarf 

Script

Rose:        Hi, James. I hear that your birthday is coming soon.

James:      Yes. It's next Tuesday.

Rose:        I've bought a present for you.

James:      What is it? Can you tell me?

Rose:        No, it's a surprise. You'll see it next Tuesday.

James:      Let me guess. What color is it?

Rose:        Um…it's orange.

James:      And what about the shape?

Rose:        Rectangular.

James:      How big is it?

Rose:        Oh, about 30 centimeters wide and 2 meters long.

James:      Really? Is it heavy?

Rose:        Not really.

James:      What's it made of?

Rose:        It's made of wool.

James:      What's it used for?

Rose:        To keep warm.

James:      Oh, I know! It's a woolen scarf.

Rose:        That's it. See you next Tuesday, James. Bye.

Notes

There are a variety of shapes. The common ones are round, square (正方形), oval (橢圆形), long, angular (尖角形), rectangular (长方形) and so on.

Useful Expressions for Describing Things

Asking for Descriptions

l  How big is (the living room)?

l  How heavy is (this down jacket)?

l  How does (the computer) work?

l  What's (the shopping bag) made of?

l  What's (this tool) used for?

l  What color are (the walls)?

l  What size are (the shoes)?

l  What does (your new apartment) look like?

l  Can you describe (the house/flat you have just moved in)?

l  Tell me about (the kitchen).

Describing Things

l  It's (dark blue).

l  It's (round).

l  It's made of (wood/plastic/leather).

l  It's (quite long and rather wide).

l  It's (a multi-storey building).

l  It's (in the center of the town).

l  It’s (quite modern).

l  It looks like (a TV set).

Listening Strategy    Filling in Forms

In everyday life we often have to fill in different kinds of forms. Knowing how to fill in a form is a skill we must learn. Before filling in a form it is important to find out what kind of information is required and where to write the relevant details. 

Now listen to the tape and then complete the student information card and the hotel reservation form below.  

Student Information

Name           Betty Li

Date of birth     August 19th, 1990

Sex             Female

Date of entering the university  August 31st, 2008

Address          Room 420, No 1 Residence Hall for students

Education        graduated from No. 3 Girls High School in Shanghai

Interests          writing, painting and music

Script

         Betty Li graduated from No.3 Girls High School in Shanghai in the summer of 2008. She enrolled in the Department of Chinese at Northwest University on August 31st, 2008. Betty lives on campus. She lives in Room 420 of No.1 Residence Hall for students. Her phone number is 52167739. 

         Betty was born on August 19th, 1990. She is interested in writing, painting and music. She hopes to become a writer when she finishes college.

Part B                            

Pre-listening   Task

Questions for Discussion    

You are going to talk about the media. Read the following questions and discuss them with your partner.

1.       Do you often listen to the radio?

2.       What kind of radio programs do you listen to? What do you think of them?

3.       Do you often watch TV?

4.       What TV programs do you like watching?

5.       Which do you like better, radio or television? Why?

6.       What role do radio and TV play in your life? 

7.       Can you imagine a life without TV or radio?

Demo

4. What TV programs do you like watching?

    I like watching travel programs and Discovering Channel. For example, travel programs introduce to the audience the unknown land with peculiar culture or customs of the native people. So the audience, without going out of doors, can experience the beautiful scenery and the fantastic customs. I have to admit that I'm a big fan of Discovery Channel which shows the recent development or findings in science and technology. I can still remember one issue of the program about the Mood Landing. It's really fascinating. I think Discovery Channel does produce some of the best documentaries in the world.

6. What role do radio and TV play in your life?

    TV and radio are an integral part of my life. I don't read newspapers and I rely heavily on radio or TV to keep me informed. I watch the news on TV every evening or listen to the news while having a dinner. What's more, the radio and television present various kinds of programs. They present programs of sports and entertainment. We can enjoy listening to different forms of music and songs on the radio and watch the live broadcast of sports events and the reports of adventures in the mountains and unknown lands. Educational programs of different kinds are presented on the radio and television as well. These programs are very informative. There are lectures and discussions on the latest science and arts subjects.

Language Focus    

Here are some sentences and structures that you might find handy in discussing the above questions:

l  Radio and TV connect us to the outside world / tell us what is happening near and far / shortens the distance between us and the outside world.  

l  I listen to news / English news / music / story-telling / sports / talk of the day / economic news on the radio while I'm getting up / having breakfast / on my way to class / before I go to bed ….

l  I like to leave my radio on while I'm reading / working on my homework / waiting for a bus / riding on a train …

l  I enjoy listening to / watching …program most. I think it's terrific / fascinating / moving / funny / informative / instructive / amusing / relaxing / entertaining / romantic …

l  I like small portable radios. You can carry one with you wherever you go.

l  Many people catch the latest news on their car radio.

l  I often watch sports / discovery channel programs / travel programs / talk shows / quiz shows / soap operas / variety shows on TV. 

l  I prefer TV to radio. TV is visual / not only tells you what is happening but also lets you see it with your own eyes / brings the outside world right into your room.  

l  One picture is worth a thousand words.

l  Compared with radio, everything on television is more lifelike, vivid and real.

l  Television takes up too much of our time. We no longer have enough time to develop other interests. 

l  Life without TV or radio is possible today ’cause we’ve got the Internet, which presents us a more colorful world.

l  I think turning off TV one night or two a week is a good thing/ will give us more time to be with our family or friends.

Listening   Tasks

A Passage

Radio and TV

Word  Bank

adapt           v.  to adjust  适应

imaginative      a.  using or having imagination富有想象力的

visual           a.  gained by seeing, visible视觉的，看得见的

flexible         a.  adaptable  灵活的，适应性强的

portable         a.  movable; quite small and light便携的，手提式的

jog             v.  to run slowly and steadily  慢跑

access          n.  means of obtaining 取得……的途径

interval         n.  a period of time between events, activities, etc.  间隔

interactive       a.  influencing or having an effect on each other交互的,互动的

Script

Radio and TV

         The most obvious difference between radio and television is that you listen and look at the television, but just listen to the radio. In this way, radio is more imaginative because it forces you to form pictures in your own mind rather than providing you with visual information, which is what television does. 

         In addition, radio is more flexible than television, since you don't have to be in the same room as the radio set in order to listen to the programs, but you do have to be in the same room as a television in order to watch it.

         A radio is also far more portable than a television. You can listen to the radio while driving in the car, jogging or even just walking around. Although portable televisions do exist, you can't really watch one while you are jogging, for example.

         One of the main advantages of radio, however, is that it offers the listener more immediate access to information. Most radio stations broadcast news reports at regular half-hour or hourly intervals, but television news is only broadcast a few times each day. Also, the variety of topics you get on the radio is much greater than that on television. 

         Radio is more personal than television. Many radio programs are interactive in a way that television can never be. Listeners can call the radio station they are listening to and express their thoughts and opinions live on air. You can't ring up a television station and express your opinions, can you? 

Language and Culture Notes  

1. Background information  From its appearance at the beginning of the 20th century, radio had been a major provider of news and entertainment until television came into being. The early models of the modern television appeared in the 1920s but its popularity did not begin until after World War II, especially until after color TV became available in the 1960s. Today TV sets are much more sophisticated. Not only are they attached with remote control, but they can be hooked to VCR, VCD, DVD and even to the Internet. So it is not surprising that more and more people now watch TV to get news, sports, and a great variety of entertainment. Yet television cannot completely replace radio. Many people still like radio because of its compactness in size. Radio also survives as a major part of a tape recorder, a hi-fi and a necessary component of a car. To adapt to the invention of TV, radio has also made great changes in its system, and in the way it presents programs. The stereo system, for example, is successful in winning music lovers to radio programs.   

2. portable television   A television set about 3" in size and can easily be carried or moved

3. at regular half-hour or hourly intervals   (the program is broadcast on the radio) every half hour or every hour

4. Many radio programs are interactive …   Program hosts or hostesses can get immediate feedback from their listeners and they can discuss a topic on the air. With TV, however, audience interaction is more difficult. The usual way is to send out a TV crew to bring in live coverage of people's response to some event.  

5. live on air  Listeners' thoughts or opinions can be heard on the radio at the moment they are spoken rather than later on a recording.   

Exercise 1: Listening for general understanding  

Listen to the recording once and choose the right answers to the questions you hear.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

      a. The advantages of radio over television.

      b. The difference between radio and television.

      c. The changes made to radio programs.

      d. The reasons for the unpopularity of TV programs.

2.    Which of the following reflects the speaker's attitude?

         a. The invention of television is a failure.

         b. The invention of television has had a great impact on radio.

         c. Radio definitely has a larger audience than television does.

         d. Radio will not easily be replaced by television.

Exercise 2: Listening for details             

Listen to the recording once again and fill in the chart with the missing information.

Special features of                                the radio

Illustrations

1) imaginative

Radio forces you to form pictures in your own mind.

2) flexible

To receive radio programs, you don't have to stay in the room where the radio set is. 

3) portable

When you listen to the radio, you can do something else, like driving in the car, jogging or even just walking around.

4) accessible

Radio stations broadcast news reports at half-hour or

hourly intervals. And they offer a greater variety of topics.

5) interactive

Listeners can call the radio station they are listening

to and express their opinions.

 Speaking Tasks

Pair Work

Listen to the conversations and repeat after the recording. Practise the conversations with your partner, playing the role of A or B. Then work with your partner to create your own conversations by replacing the underlined parts with your own words.  

Conversation  1

A:    When I was around sixteen years old, I liked to 1) lie in bed late at night and listen to the radio.

B:     What sort of programs did you listen to?

A:    I was a teenager then, so of course I liked to listen to 2) music. But I was also 3) keen on 4) talk shows.

B:     You could concentrate on conversations in the middle of the night?

A:    5) In a way. You see, I like this feeling of being connected to the outside world, yet at the same time comfortable and safe at home in my bed.

B:    6) I prefer watching TV. It's more 7) exciting.

A:    8) Oh, of course I love TV too, and movies. But they are entirely different experiences from listening to the radio.  

B:     Yes, they're intensely visual.  

A:    And much more passive. You just sit back and let the images happen to you.

B:    9) It may be so, but I still prefer TV to the radio.

Substitution 1

1.       sit in bed late at night and listen to the radio / listen to the radio until lat at night

2.       pop songs

3.       fond of / greatly interested in 

4.       quiz programs / news stories

5.       To some extent

6.       I would rather watch TV / I like watching TV better.

7.       interesting / stimulating

8.       Oh, I certainly enjoy watching TV, and movies as well.

9.       You may be right.

Conversation  2

A:    You know, 1) these days television has by far become the dominant medium.

B:    2) That's understandable. Television has such a powerful visual impact.

A:    3) There's also that old saying: "One picture is worth a thousand words."  

B:     And television is an endless sequence of "pictures", isn't it?

A:    4) Right. Radio used to be an important source of news, but now 5) everybody turns to television for news.

B:     And for entertainment too.  

A:  But 6) radio will never be totally replaced by television, I think.  

B:  Yes, it's 7) important to people who are busy doing other things, like cooking or driving.

A:  That's right. You can't be driving and watching TV at the same time, can you? 

B:  8) Certainly not. But you can be 9) cooking and 10) listening to music at the same time.   

1.         nowadays / today

2.         It’s easy to understand / I ‘m not surprised.

3.         As the says goes

4.         That’s right / You are right / Exactly.

5.         everybody watches television to get news

6.         television can never completely replace radio

7.         very useful

8.         Of course not/ Definitely not/ Absolutely not.

9.         driving / washing

10.     enjoying music / listening to news