Unit 5 Overcoming Obstacles

1. Unit 5 Overcoming Obstacles Text A True Height

2. Proverbs: • Where there’s a will, there’s a way. （有志者事竟成。） • Rome wasn’t built in a day. （伟业非一日之功 / 罗马非朝夕建成） • God helps those who help themselves. （皇天不负有心人 / 自助者天助 ） • You shall reap what you sow. （种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆 / 一份耕耘，一份收获） • Constant dripping wears away the stone. （ 锲而不舍，金石可镂。）

3. Study Objectives • 1. grasp the main idea and structure of the text • 2. appreciate the narrative skills. • 3. master key language points and grammatical structures

4. Global reading • Scan the first sentence of para1-6,and get ready to answer the following questions: • 1.Which first sentence switches from past tense to past perfect tense? • 2.Which first sentence shows that the flashback is over and the narration returns to the National Junior Olympics?

5. Global reading • Scan the text to see if any natural dividing lines separating it into part. • Part Division

6. Text organization • Part One ( Paras 1-2 ) Michael faced the most challenging competition in his pole-vaulting career. • Part two (Paras3-5) Michael’s childhood was marked with dreams and tough training.

7. Text organization • Part three (Paras 6-12) Michael topped his personal best, won the championship and set a new world record • Part Four (Para 13) What was most unusual about Michael’s victory was that he was blind.

8. Language Points merefantasydetail relaxvainemotion passionintensityanxiety tensiontensecongratulate bear outcoincide with on (…)occasion(s)be ashamedof along withstretch out it is…that…What-clause

9. mereadj [attrib] (no comparative form) nothing more than; no better or more important than She's a mere child. 他不只是拳击手, 还是世界冠军呢. He's not a mere boxer: he's world champion. merely adv only; simply 仅; 只; 不过 Ex. 光说（不做）无济於事. Mere words won't help.

10. fantasyn 1) [U] imagination or fancy, esp when completely unrelated to reality: I still have the fantasy that one day I will win the National Lottery. 2) [C] product of the imagination; wild or unrealistic notion : Stop looking for the perfect job-- it's just a fantasy. Ex.这个年青人生活在幻想的世界里。 The young man lives in a world of fantasy/a fantasy world.

11. detail n [C] [U] small, particular fact or item细节Please give me all the details. A good organizer pays attention to detail. Collocation: go into detail(s)详述, 逐一细说 in detail 详细地 Can you give me a rough idea of what happened, without going into detail? Ex. 给我说说事故发生的详情，详细告诉我发生了什么事。 Give me all the details of the accident — tell me what happened in detail.

12. relax vt. vi. make or become less tense, worried or nervous 放松，松弛 Don't worry about it; just try to relax. Don't relax your efforts. 你不要松懈下来。 n. relaxation Ex. 经过一天辛苦工作后，他喜欢看电影消遣。 After a hard day‘s work, he liked to relax by going to the movies.

13. vainadj. 1) too pleased with one's abilities or looks 虚荣的，自负的 【~of/ about】: Too much praise can make a person vain. She was vain of/about her appearance. 2) 无用的；徒劳的: All our work was in vain. 我们所有的工作都白费了。 Ex.他对自己的发言很得意。 He is vain of his speech.

14. emotion n 1) [C] strong feeling of any kind情感: The speaker appealed to our emotions rather than to our minds. 演讲者激发了我们的情感而不是启发我们的思考. 爱情、 喜悦、 憎恨、 恐惧、 嫉妒都是强烈的感情. Love, joy, hate, fear and jealousy are all emotions. 2) [U] excitement or disturbance of the mind or (more usu) the feelings 激动; 感动: She answered in a voice filled with emotion.

15. passion n • [U, C] strong feeling, eg of hate, love or anger: Passions were running high at the meeting. • have a strong passion for: have a strong interest in sth. and like it very much • She had a passion for dancing. • 2) [sing] angry state; rage (used esp in the expressions shown) • be in a passion 在盛怒中 • get/fly into a passion 勃然大怒 • passionate adj. 热情的 passionately adv. • Ex. 她争论时情绪很激动. • She argued with great passion.

16. intensity n [U] 1) state or quality of being intense 强烈; 剧烈; 紧张: He worked with greater intensity. 2) strength of emotion （感情的）强烈程度: I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue. 我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋. intense adj. 强烈的, 热情的, 激烈的: intense competition 激烈的竞争 Ex. _________________________________（动情地望着她）, the man said, “would you please marry me?” Looking at her with intensity (passion)

17. anxiety n 1) [U] a feeling of worry or fear; [C] instance of such a feeling忧虑; 担心: We waited for news with a growing sense of anxiety. The anxieties of the past week had left her exhausted. 2) [U] 【~ for sth/to do sth】strong desire or eagerness for sth/to do sth 渴望 Ex.这个医生的报告消除了他的一切忧虑。 The doctor's report removed all their anxieties.

18. tensionn 1) [U] worry, nervousness or tenseness紧张: Tension is a major cause of heart disease. 精神紧张是引起心脏病的主要原因. 2) [U] state or degree of stretching or being stretched 拉力; 张力;紧张状态: Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles. 按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛. 3) [U, C usu pl.] condition when feelings are tense or relations between people, groups, etc are strained 心情、关系紧张的状态: racial/social tension (s)

19. tenseadj 1)causing tenseness 引起紧张的: a tense moment, atmosphere, meeting 2) stretched tightly; taut 拉紧的; 紧张的. 3) with muscles tight in anticipation of what may happen （因预料要出事）肌肉紧的: faces tense with anxiety 因焦急而显得紧张的面孔. 4) unable to relax; edgy神经紧张的; 易怒的: He's a very tense person. tense vt. (cause sb/sth to) become tense tenseness n. Ex. 比赛一直都很紧张。 The game is tense (intense) all the time.

20. congratulate vt. 【~ sb (on sth)】 tell sb that one is pleased about his good fortune or achievements； 【~ oneself (on/upon (doing) sth) 】be proud (of sth)庆贺，庆幸: congratulate sb on his marriage, new job,etc. You can congratulate yourself on having done a good job. Ex. 他的老师 庆贺他获得演讲比赛一等奖. His teacher congratulated him on winning the first prize in the speech contest.

21. bear out vt. prove that (sth.) is true 证实 The other witnesses will bear me out/bear out what I say. Cf. 1) bear down vt. 战胜或击败 2) bear up (against/ under sth)对付; 处理3) bear with (sb/sth) vt. 耐心地忍受: Ex. Choose the correct word from the above: He's ___________well against all his misfortunes. They ___________ the enemy. We must _____________ her (ie treat her with sympathy) during this difficult period. bearing up bore down bear with

22. coincide with (sth.) vi 1） (of events) occur at the same time: Her arrival coincided with our departure. 她来到时我们正好离开. vi. 2）be in agreement 一致: 100 degrees centigrade coincides with 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Ex. 她在音乐方面的爱好与她丈夫一致. Her taste in music coincides with her husband's.

23. on one/two/several/ numerous occasin（s） 有一（两，几,无数）次 On several occasions, I attempted to talk with my parents about my taking a part-time job, but my mother instantly interrupted me by asking me questions about my studies. Cf. on occasion adv.有时 He reads detective stories on occasion. Ex.有几次市内交通被暴风雪所阻断(interrupt)。 Traffic in the city was interrupted by a snowstorm on several occasions.

24. be ashamedof (sth./ sb./ oneself) [= be ~ (that...) ]feeling foolish or uncomfortable because of (sth.) 感到羞耻; 感到惭愧: She was ashamed of her behavior at the party. You should be ashamed of yourself for telling such lies. I feel ashamed that I haven't written for so long. = I feel ashamed of not having written for so long. Ex. He felt that he has done so little work. (改写为be ashamed of) He felt ashamed of having done so little work.

25. along withprep. together with: I keep my checks in the top drawer, along with my other important documents. stretch out vt. vi. hold a part of your body straight out in front of you: There were beggars everywhere, pathetically stretching their hands out to passers-by. We stretched out on the lawn. Ex. 我伸手去拿那本杂志。 I stretched out my arm for the magazine.

26. it is…that… 强调句 （分裂句 cleft sentence） • 分裂句是以it 为引导词的强调句型。它的结构形式是：It+ be + 中心成分+ that-/who- 分句。分裂句是由普通陈述句转换而来，可以强调除谓语动词外的大多数句子成分，如主语、宾语、状语，使之成为信息中心。如： • It was at the exact moment he took a deep breath that he began to lift off the ground. (line 18-19); • 强调时间状语at the exact moment…，转换为普通陈述句为 He began to lift off the ground at the exact moment he took a deep breath.

27. It was either the eruption of the people in the stands or the thump of his landing that brought Michael back to earth. (line 79-80) • 强调主语，转换为普通陈述句为 Either the eruption of… or… brought Michael back to earth. • Ex. Rewrite: • John gave Mary a handbag at Christmas. • 强调间接宾语： • It was Mary that John gave a handbag (to) at Christmas. • 强调状语： • It was at Christmas that John gave Mary a handbag.

28. what clause (wh- 名词性从句) • Where he flew would always coincide with his mother’s stories. Wherever he flew was with a keen eye for detail and the free spirit of his mother’s love. (line 21-23) ; • What he didn’t know was that his dad was hugging his wife and crying. (line 83-84) • wh-名词性从句可作主语,也可作宾语。Wh- 疑问词通常包括who, what, whichever等连接代词，和where, when, how, why 等连接副词。如： • Why he left so abruptly is not known to any of us. • Ex. I can’t imagine_______________________ (什么会使他那样做)。 what made him act like that

29. Writing analysis

30. Writing skills • Take the text as an example: the text consists of the main story and a flashback, the narration has to switch from the ongoing competition to earlier events and then return to the ongoing competition

31. The two ways • One way is to repeat a key word in the last sentence of a paragraph in the first sentence of the next paragraph. • Another way is to pick up a key idea from a previous paragraph and repeat it in the sentence introducing the next paragraph.

32. Narrative skills Using details to describe a character: For example: in text, we know that Michael’s success at pole-vaulting is especially significant,because even “Bert ‘if you want it,work for it” Stone was crying like a baby in his wife’s arms. We also conclude that Michael is a highly motivated person with a passion in detail how he had followed a rigid training program,and so on.

33. Narrative skills-USE OF PUNS • Definition: an amusing use of a word or phrase that has two meanings,or of words having the same sound but different meanings. • Example in text:(para1) Having a hightemperature hot Fierce,intense

34. More examples: • True height The new bar height that Michael Cleared one after another The tremendous obstacles Michael had overcome in attaining his goal

35. Narrative skills-surprising ending • In the text: As we read on , our admiration for Michael is building up until we believe that,when Michael broke both national and international records, we have reached the climax. However,the real climax is in the last sentence. It was simply because Michael Stone is blind.

36. Translation • Paychologists have used munerous facts to bear out the argument/statement/claim that in order to revover speedily from negative emotion, you should allow yourself to cry. You needn’t/son’t have to be ashamed of crying. Anxiety and sorrow can flow out of the body along with tears. Consider the case of Donna /Take Donna as an example. Her son unfortunately died in a car acccident. The intensity of the blow made her unable to cry. She said, “It was not until two weekds later that I began to cry.. and then I felt as if a big stone had been lifted from my shoulders. It was the tears that brought me back to earth.”