新视野大学英语第三版第三册第八单元教案

Unit 8 book 3-3rd The art of parenting

Section A Reflections of a Chinese mother in the West

If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you will have given your children the greatest of all blessings.

— Brian Tracy (Canadian author)

A boy or girl who knows that love abounds at home will not resent well-deserved punishment. One who is unloved or ignored will hate any form of discipline.

— Dr. James Dobson (American author) Preview---Before learning this unit, read the following paragraph and think.

From the moment a child is born, parents imagine a bright, successful future for their child. Reaching that bright future depends upon a first-class education. A primary role parents fulfill for their child is ensuring the child learns to work hard to maximize educational opportunities to succeed in school and in life. While parents in the East and West both passionately believe in education, encouraging success and excellence in their children, there are profound differences in their approaches. Such differences have long caused heated discussions among both parents and educators. Consider the ways in which your parents taught you to learn. What were their expectations of your performance in school or other areas like learning music, dancing, or painting? Did your parents ever force you to learn something that you disliked, at the time, but thanked them later? Looking back, what do you think of that approach to education now?

Lead-in: Short answer questions

Watch a video clip and answer the two questions.

Q1: Is your mother a Tiger Mother? What would your parents do if you failed to meet their expectations?

Yes.

Assume strength rather than fragility;

Be strict with me;

Not permit me to do …;

Physically punish me.

Q2: Have you ever hated your parents when they forced you to do something you disliked but which later proved to be worthy of your efforts?

Yes.

Force me to learn the Chinese calligraphy;

Physically punished me because of my lack of

self-discipline;

Be all for my good;

Better appreciate traditional culture;

Foster patience and persistence;

Be forever grateful for their guidance.

Pre-reading activities: Listen and talk

1.Listen to a short talk about an interesting competition and fill in the blank in each sentence based on what you hear.

1. A competition was organized to investigate what parents really liked most_about their children.

2. According to the speaker, the Gladometer is the only contraption (奇特的装置) ever built capable of measuring ___joy and happiness_____.

3. After the children demonstrated their particular talents, the Gladometer faithfully measured their parents' __reactions_.

4. The Gladometer showed clearly that the parents were very __happy__to see their children's performance.

5. The Gladometer showed that what pleases parents the most about their children is they "always ___obey_____their parents".

Once upon a time, in a small country, people decided to investigate what it was that parents really liked most about their children. A competition was organized. It would use the latest invention of Professor Crank-Shafte: the Gladometer.

To date, the Gladometer is the only contraption ever built capable of measuring joy and happiness. So, one by one, the children demonstrated their own particular talents to their parents. And the Gladometer faithfully measured their parents' reactions.

One boy turned up with a trained pig; the pig sang and danced. A girl came and played the violin like an angel, and an intelligent boy came and read his very big book. The parents' happiness was plain to see.

Finally, a boy came to the Gladometer carrying nothing. Nor did he know how to do anything. When the organizers asked him what he was going to do, he simply said: "I always obey my parents."

The machine measured such a high reading that it began violently shaking, and finally exploded. The boy who had done nothing won all the prizes that day, for solving the mystery of what pleases parents the most.

Listen to a short talk about an interesting competition and then discuss the questions.

1. Why did the boy who had done nothing win all the prizes that day?

To obey his parents;

Obedience is the most important quality;

To feel extremely happy if parents have such an obedient kid.

2. What do you think your parents expect most from you?

To have a good education;

To land a satisfactory job to support myself;

To be honest and mature;

To be the best.

Cultural background

The Grading System in the US

In education grades are standardized measurements of the levels of comprehension of a given subject. Grades can be assigned in letters (for example, A, B, C, D, or F), as a range (for example 4.0-1.0), as a number out of a possible total (for example out of 100), as descriptors (excellent,