Unit Eight

Teaching objectives

to teach the students how to use some new words and phrases, typical sentence structures out of the text; to practice the students’ skill of translating and summarizing; and to ask the students to get acquaintance with some famous scientists and philosophers.

Teaching Process

Step One: Background information

1.Richard Wagner: (1813-1883), the greatest composer of German opera, made a major addition to the nature of opera through his writings about and the creation of music drama. Music drama combines singing, orchestra, verse, story, drama and spectacle. Wagner’s works include the “The Ring of the Nibelung” (1853-1874), a set of four operas based on historical German The Rhinegold, the first of the four operas in the “Ring” cycle, exemplifies Wagner's theory of music drama in its purest s.

2. Henri Poincare (1854-1912), a great French mathematics and theoretical science professor at the Sorbonne (University of Paris), had a highly original influence on the development of pure and applied mathematics. He also worked on functions that changed celestial mechanics, helped pioneer algebraic topology and co-discovered the special theory of relativity.

3. Descartes, Rene (1596-1650), a famous French philosopher, mathematician and scientist, was one of the most influential thinkers in history. He is considered the founder of both modern philosophy and analytic geometry. During his life, established ideas were being challenged, so he tried to develop a way to reach the truth. He based his theory that the world is made up of mind and matter on a concept that came to him in a dream.

4 Cogito ergo sum ia Latin for “I think; therefore, I exist”, a key point in Descartes’ philosophy.

Step Two Text analysis

1. Listen to the tape recording and answer some general questions:

a. Where do good ideas come from?

b. How many examples or ways of getting good ideas are discussed?

c. How did Wagner get the idea for the beginning of his music?

2 Divide the text into parts and point out the main idea of each part

Part I (para. 1-3)

Main idea: Creative thoughts depend on what was unknown becoming known. This is easily seen in the famous creative people.

Device of developing: Argumentation through concession (让步法)

Part II (para. 4-6)

Main idea: The author presents three different ways of forming big ideas: Wagner’s conscious mind knew nothing about the process of idea forming while Poincare’s conscious mind observed the process of idea forming in the unconscious, and Descartes’ dream enabled him to make an important discovery.

Device of developing: Comparison and contrast (对比法)

Part III (para. 7)

Main idea: In creative thought the unconscious is responsible for the production of new organized forms from relatively disorganized elements.

Device of developing: Induction (归纳法)

Genius is one 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

Sleep on / sit on / dwell on

Flash / flush /

Puzzle / wonder / riddle

Proceed to

In some degree / in a way / to a certain extent

Compose of/ composer / comprise of/ make up of / consist of / consist in / lie in

Don’t monkey about in the room.

It was very cold and they pigged together.

The winding road snakes into the forest.

In contrast to /

While: during the time / as long as / although / whereas

Tom is very talkative/ big mouth, while his sister Mary is quiet.

A good case in point is …

Test Yourself

Section A

1. Achieving a high degree of proficiency in English as a foreign language is not a mysterious ______ without scientific basis. (硕士统考, 1993-1, 28题)

A) process B) practice C) procedure D) program

2. Preliminary estimation puts the figure at around $110 billion, ______ the $160 billion the President is struggling to get through the Congress. (硕士统考, 1998-1, 33题)

A) in proportion to C) in relation to

B) in reply to D) in contrast to

3. Housewives who do not go out to work feel they are not working to their full ______. (CET-4, 97-6, 35题)

A) capacity B) strength C) length D) possibility

4. While nuclear weapons present grave ______ dangers, the predominant crisis of overpopulation is with us today. (CET-6, 1998-1, 61题)

A) inevitable B) constant C) overwhelming D) potential

Section B

5. A healthy life is frequently thought to be ______ with the open countryside and homegrown food. (CET-4, 96-6, 23题)

A) tied B) bound C) involved D) associated

6. Some crops are relatively high yielders and could be planted in preference to others to ______ the food supply. (CET-6, 2003-12, 63题;97-6, 58题;2001-1, 53题)

A) enhance B) curb C) disrupt D) heighten

The republication of the poet's most recent works will certainly _____ his national reputation. (CET-6, 97-6, 58题)

A) magnify B) strengthen C) enlarge D) enhance

The Japanese scientists have found that scents ______ efficiency and reduce stress among office workers. (CET-6, 2001-1, 53题)

A) enhance B) amplify C) foster D) magnify

7. When Jack was eighteen he _____ going around with a strange set of people and staying out very late. (CET-6, 1993-6, 58题;硕士统考, 1992-1, 4题)

A) took to B) took for C) took up D) took on

Richard doesn’t think he could ever ______ what is called free style poetry. (硕士统考, 1992-1, 4题)

A) take on B) take over C) take to D) take after

8. Bob was completely ______ by the robber's disguise. (硕士统考, 1991-1, 24题;在职硕士,2000-6, 34题)

A) taken away B) taken down C) taken to D) taken in

As the firm's business increased they ______ more and more employees. (在职硕士,2000-6, 34题)

A) took up B) took in C) took after D) took on

9. Important people don't often have much free time as their work ______ all their time. (CET-4, 91-6, 53题)

A) takes away B) takes over C) takes up D) takes in

10. He ______ so much work that he couldn't really do it efficiently. (CET-6, 1991-6, 62题)

A) put on B) turned on C) brought on D) took on

11. The new government ______ the foreign-owned oil fields one after another. (在职硕士, 1996-6, 32题)

A) took over B) took out C) took off D) took on