Unit 4
Why don’t you talk to your parents?
Review
Giving advices
I’m a little bit shy. I’m afraid of speaking in front of people. What should I do?
You should be more confident. You should play sports with your friends after class.
I left my homework at home.
You should tell it to your teacher. You could call your parents and ask them to bring it to school.
What’s wrong with the girl?
She’s too stressed out.
Warming up
What should she do? Can you give her some advice?
Why not hang out with her friends?
She could play sports.
She could play computer games.
She should listen to music and read
some books.
Order the things
What activities do you like to do to help lower your stress? Order them
[1- 8] with 1 being the most favorite thing you do to lower stress.
1a
______ play sports
______ hang out with friends
______ talk to parents or other family members
______ spend time alone
______ play computer games
______ read books
______ watch movies
______ other: _______________
Tell your partner about your answers in 1a.
I always hang out with my friends to lower stress.
I like to listen to music to lower stress best.
I’d like to play sports when I’m stressed out.
1b
Talking
Jenny is the most active member in our group.
珍妮是我们小组最活跃成员。
1. member n. 成员；分子
New words
2. pressure n. 压力 （不可数名词）
Never give her a lot of pressure about school , just encouragement.
不要给她太多的学习压力，多一些鼓励。
3. compete v. 竞争；对抗
compete with 与……进行竞争
We can’t hope to compete with such a experienced team.
我们没有希望与如此经验丰富的队竞争。
Listening
Listen and check the problems Wei Ming talks about.
1c
___ My parents give me a lot of pressure
about school.
___ I don’t get enough sleep.
___ I don’t have enough free time.
___ I had a fight with my parents.
___ I have to compete with my classmates
at school.
1. Although you may be ________ with your parents, you should talk to them. Ask them why they give you so much _______.
1d
Listen again. What advice does Alice give to Wei Ming? Fill in the blanks.
pressure
unhappy
2. Life shouldn’t just be about ______. Free time activities like _____ and hanging out with friends are important, too.
3. You shouldn’t _______ with your classmates to get better grades. You should all be _______ each other to improve.
grades
sports
compete
helping
Talking
What is your advice for Wei Ming? Tell your partner and say why.
1e
I think Wei Ming should more free to play sports after class.
Why?
Health is more important than grades. Grades isn’t everything after all.
Check the after-school activities you and your classmates usually do.
2a
____ do homework
____ use the Internet
____ have after-school lessons
____ hang out with friends
____ watch movies
____ play sports or exercise
New words
2. soccer ball
英式足球
1. football n.
美式足球
3. push v.
推
4. opinion n. 意见；想法；看法
In my opinion, it’s better not to go.
以我的看法，还是不去好。
Do you have the skill to ski such a difficult slope?
你有沿着这样陡的坡滑雪的技巧吗？
5. skill n. 技巧；技艺
7. crazy adj. 不理智的；疯狂的
6. cut out 删除；删去
The editor cut out the last paragraph.
编辑将最后一段删掉了。
You must be crazy to ride a bike without brakes.
你骑一辆没闸的车，一定是疯了吧。
8. cause v. 造成；引起
A bad tooth can cause pain.
一颗蛀牙可以引起疼痛。
Warming up
What did you do after school?
Do you have stress in your life?
How do you relax yourself?
Reading
2b
Skim the article and answer the questions.
What is the common problem for Chinese and American families?
Parents give their children too much stress.
2. Who gives their opinions about the problems?
Linda, Miller and Dr. Alice Green.
1. Chinese children have to take so many after-school classes on weekends these days.
2. Cathy Taylor really wants her three children to be successful, so she believes these after-school activities are important for them.
Read and circle again, judge T or F.
T
T
3. Linda Miller thinks parents should send their small kids to all kinds of classes.
4. Linda thinks some parents push their kids too much.
5. Alice thinks kids shouldn’t have time to relax and think for themselves.
T
F
F
Look at the words in bold in the article. Can you guess their meanings? Try to match them with the meaning below.
1. Keeping on happening _______
2c
continue v. 持续；继续存在
用法：continue to do sth. 强调继续做另一件事情，前后所做的事情不同。
continue doing sth. 多强调接着做以前所做事情。
continue
e.g. Can I continue to read aloud?
我可以继续朗读吗？
The workers refused to continue
working.
工人们拒绝继续工作。
2. Physical exercise and practice of skills
_______
training n. 训练
e.g. Nurses have several years of training.
护士需要几年的培训。
training
3. Worries about things at home, school or work ______
stress n. 压力
e.g. In fact, stress isn’t always bad thing.
事实上，压力并不总是坏事情。
stress
4. Usual or common _______
typical adj. 典型的
e.g. On a typical day, we receive about fifty letters.
我们通常一天收到五十封信。
typical
5. Try to be the best or the first to finish something ________
compete v. 竞争；对抗
e.g. We can’t compete with them on price.
我们不能和他们在价格上进行对抗。
compete
6. Getting better or bigger ____________
development n. 发展；发育；成长
e.g. Development of the area would endanger the wildlife.
开发这一地区将会危及野生生物。
development
7. Look for differences and similarities between things _________
compare v. 比较
compare …with… 比较；对比
e.g. How does your new house compare with your old one?
你的新房子和旧房子比起来怎么样？
compare
2d
Read the article again and answer the questions.
1. Does Cathy Taylor think it’s important for kids to join after-school activities?
Yes. She believes these activities are important for her children’s future.
2. Does Linda Miller agree with Cathy?
What’s her opinion?
No, she doesn’t. She thinks it’s crazy and unfair to send small kids to all kinds of classes. Parents shouldn’t push their kids so hard.
3. Does Dr. Green agree with Cathy or Linda? What does she say?
No, she doesn’t. She says kids should have time to relax and think for themselves. Although it’s normal to want successful children, it’s even more important to have happy children.
What do you think of after-school activities?
In my opinion, if the kid really like the activity such as basketball, he can go to these classes. They may have some fun as well some skills. I don’t agree that some parents push the kids to take these activities.
Discuss the questions with your partner.
Discussing
2e
2. What should you do to relax?
There are a lot of ways to relax. I’d like to listen to music or play sports to relax. But my friend, Eric would like to sleep a lot and eat some nice food.
Homework
1. Read the article again after school.
2. Write a short passage about Cathy’s daily life and her opinions about the education of the kids.