全新版大学英语1Unit 2Text A All the Cabbie Had was a Letter-Study

Background information
Halloween
It‘s a festival celebrated annually. 2. It‘s on the night of 31 October. 3. People once believed that ghosts could be seen on that night.
1.
the eve of Hallowmas
4. Now, in Britain and America, it is a time when children have parties, dress up as witches, make lanterns out of pumpkins and play ―trick or treat‖. Trick or treat is a traditional activity at Halloween.
Part 1: Paras 1-20
From a conversation with the cab driver the author learned how much he regretted failing to keep up corresponding with his old friend Ed.
Study Part I – 1 (Paras 1—6) What helped start a conversation between the cab driver and the passenger?
The letter to a friend.
Study Paras 1
He must have been completely lost in something he was reading because I had to tap on the windshield to get his attention. 他准是完全沉浸在所读的东西里了，因为我不得 不敲挡风玻璃来引起他的注意。
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I had lost myself in thought. 他忙于这项工作，而对周围的一切很漠然。 He was lost to the wras 2
"Is your cab available?" I asked when he finally looked up at me. He nodded, then said apologetically as I settled into the back seat, "I'm sorry, but I was reading a letter." He sounded as if he had a cold or something. 他总算抬头看我了。“你出车吗？”我问道。他 点点头，当我坐进后座时，他抱歉地说：“对不 起，我在读一封信。” 听上去他像是得了感冒什 么的.
Text A Study
All the Cabbie Had was a Letter
Unit 2 Book 1
Teaching Plan
Objectives Background Knowledge Text Organization Abstract (Main Idea of Text A) Introduction Remarks Text A Study Summary of Text A (Homework)
to keep up corresponding with his old friend
Ed.
Text Organization
Part 2: Paras 21-35
Reading the letter by himself, the author
learned more about the lifelong friendship
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.
Text Organization P. 40 (developing a story around a letter)
Part 1: Paras 1-20
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From a conversation with the cab driver the
author learned how much he regretted failing
Warm-up: True or False Statements
1. The driver caught a cold that day. ( F ) 2. The driver had never seen Ed in the past 25 or 30 years. ( F ) 3. The driver had never forgotten his old friend. ( T ) 4. The narrator was quite eager to read the letter. ( F ) He just cried. He had only seen him once or twice a year. He thought it was very personal.
A: There are no tickets available for tonight‘s concert .
available
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以前几乎所有的中国大学生都可以享受免费医疗. Free medical service was available to nearly all the college students in China. 律师现在没空。 The lawyer is not available now.
available Q: Your friend want to use your bicycle, but it’s being repaired. In this situation, you may say … A: I‘m afraid my bicycle is not available ; it‘s being repaired. Q: The tickets for tonight’s concert have been sold out. You can also say …
Objectives
Grasp the main idea (never delay expressing your true feelings to a friend) and structure of the text (developing a story around a letter); Appreciate that spoken English is much more informal than written English; Master key language points and grammatical structures in the text; Conduct a series of reading, listening, speaking and writing activities related to the theme of the unit.
available Is your cab available? 你出车吗？ available: (a.) — able to be used, had or reached e.g.I have a friend. He is endlessly patient. When I am bored, he entertains me. When I am dispirited, he lifts me up. When I am lonely, he keeps me company. He is always available when I am in need of help. Can you guess his name? His Reading / Books name is ―_______________________‖.
Introductory Remarks (P.32)
How do you feel when old friends are far away? Do you make an effort to keep in touch? Sometimes it is easy to put off writing a letter, thinking that there will be plenty of time tomorrow. But then sometimes, as this story shows, we leave it too late. Perhaps reading it will make you want to reach for your pen. 老朋友天各一方，你心有何感？你是否努力保持 联系？有时候写信的事很容易会一拖再拖，总以 为明天有的是时间。然而，正如这则故事所表明 的，有时我们拖得太晚了。也许读一读这个故事 会让你提起笔来。
between the driver and Old Ed. Part 3: Para 36 The driver‘s experience urged the author to reach for his pen.
Abstract of Text A The passage develops the story around a letter. The author wanted to take a taxi while the taxi driver was reading a letter, so the conversation began. The first impression readers will get is that the letter is from the taxi driver‘s friend. Later, we will find out the letter is in fact written by the driver himself. Because the driver always postponed writing a letter to his life-long friend, until one day he learned that his friend had passed away before he posted the letter. He is full of regret and can‘t help recalling their beautiful, sweet childhood. After having read the story, we know that we should never delay expressing our true feelings to our friends.
be lost in be lost in / lose oneself in: be absorbed in, be fully occupied with He was lost in playing computer games so he was unaware of my entering the room.