Unit 7 the magic word of words

Once a man went to a post office to post a letter. He bought a stamp and handed it with the letter to the girl behind the counter. “You must stamp it on yourself!” said the girl. “Must I stamp it on myself? I want to post the letter.” The puzzled man said.
• Lewis Carroll(1832-1898)的名作《艾丽丝漫游奇 境记》中艾丽丝与女王的对话： “How is bread made?” “I know that!” Alice cried eagerly. “You take some flour…” “Where do you pick flower?” the White Queen asked. “In a garden， or in the hedges?” “Well, it isn’t picked at all,” Alice explained: “it’s ground …” “How many acres of ground?” said the White Queen.
Paraphrase
1. We can do a lot of things only by using languages. We still don’t know how we create languages. This question is very interesting and there are many guesses about it.
worduglyreadingcomprehensionreadingcomprehensiontranslationtranslationtranslationtranslationbackbackhowwecreatedwordshowweusethemhowwechangethemfascinatingrealmhumanmindpresentdayevolutionreadingcomprehensionreadingcomprehensiontranslationtranslationbackback语言的世界真的非常神奇这不仅仅是因为我们人类能够通过语言来保护自己构建形象娱乐自己追求所好以及完成许多其他任务
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Reading
Pre-reading Tasks
Reading Comprehension
After-reading Tasks
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Pre-reading tasks
Before you read, discuss the following question in groups:
Language is very important for human beings. We use language to communicate with others and express our feelings. People may wonder how language came into being. Actually, the origin of language is still a mystery .How do you think language was created?
Translation
The magic of how we create words is just as fascinating and countless. This applies equally well to almost all languages in the world.
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It also applies to the wonderful ability of humans, even very young ones, to form their own words, based on applying the rules of words they already know. A common test performed on pre-schoolers tells them there is one “wug”and now there are two of them. A child who has never heard of a “wug” will be able to determine that there are two “wugs”, (why?) based on his store of mental rules for forming plurals. IS there difference in rules for forming plurals between adults and children?
Sonnet 18th Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? 我想将你比作迷人的夏日， Thou art more lovely and more temperate: 但汝却更显可爱和温存： Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, 狂野之风摧残着五月蓓蕾的柔媚， And summer's lease hath all too short a date: 也一天天消逝着夏日的归期： Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, 苍天的明眸偶然泻出璀璨， And often is his gold complexion dimm'd; 却难以辉映他暗淡的容颜； And every fair from fair sometime declines, 一切明媚的色彩渐已消褪， By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd; 过程是如此苍白；
image drawing would have deprived him of the unlimited use of language that serves all purposes. deprived of one's civil rights 剥夺某人
的Байду номын сангаас民权
William Shakespeare
Reading Comprehension
Translation
2. Do modern men have their own language? How about early men? In what ways did early men use to record things? And what were those things? Did the early men have a sense of humor? What are the limitations of image drawing? Modern man has developed a word usage system and a corresponding vocabulary to serve just about any purpose, without using his hands. Using his hands, he has also created another language—sign language. Prehistoric man had to point to danger, prey, or food sources. Now we have words, either spoken or written, that advise us to “Watch Out” or to buy “Steak on Sale”. Early man’s expressive side was primarily satisfied by cave drawings or notches to indicate passage of time or number of conquests. Though of course we continue to use visual arts, we also write lyrical poetry, exciting stories and have calendars and mathematical symbols to keep track of things. Whether early man had or felt the need for a sense of humour is not known, but the limitations of
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The magic world of words
Reading Comprehension
1. Why does the author think the world of words is magical? Is the magic of how we created words is still unknown to us? The world of words is truly a magical place, and not only for the reason that we humans can protect ourselves, create images, entertain, court and perform so many other tasks without using any other organs than our mouths. (Can you show some more examples? ）
Mr. See owned a saw and Mr.Soar owned a seesaw. Now See’s saw sawed Soar’s seesaw before Soar saw See.
Warm-up
listen to a speech about how to improve skills in listening , and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or (false).
( ) 1. It is easy to identify English words in print. ( ) 2. In speech, students can easily identify the words if they know them. ( ) 3. It is difficult to identify the places where one word finishes and the next one begins in speech. ( ) 4. In speech, only the speaker’s tone can cause difficulty for students to recognise every word. ( ) 5. It is not difficult to remember what has been said because it can usually be heard more than once. ( ) 6. Often listening to English radio and watching English films or programmes can help students improve their listening ability because they can learn more new words. 1.T 2.F 3.T 4.F 5.F 6.T
A: Who can bear such a fool? B: Your mother can.
Professor: You missed my class yesterday, didn’t you? Student: Not in the least, no, not in the least.
Unit 7
The magic world of words
Book Three
Unit 7
1
2 Warm-up
Reading Language in Use
Project Culture Tips Homework
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4 5 6
Can you can a can as a canner can can a can ?
There is even a “lie” in believe.
Barber: Your hair needs cutting badly.
Customer: No, it needs cutting nicely. You cut it badly last time.
A: What’s the difference between a prize fighter and a man who’s got a cold? B: Well, that’s one knows his blows and one blows his nose.