3 Zhanglei AmericanCulture.pptVIP

Reading for Skills and Vision A New Textbook for Extensive Reading Unit Three Changing American Culture Brief Introduction to the Unit: The first two articles in this unit are about some new changes in American culture and life, each depicting and revealing some typical American ways of living and thinking. And Text Three tells us about some basic traits of Americans and American culture. Put together, they provide a clue about the links between the ever-changing American culture and the never-changed American traditions. Questions to Consider? Survey the first two texts quickly to find out what specific change s each of them addresses. Answers to Questions Text A: More and more Americans love to buy bigger and taller Christmas Trees to put up in their houses. Text B: Hurricane Katrina has changed many Americans’ attitudes towards life, racial relations, and government. Text A Demand Growing for Taller Christmas Trees Background Information A Christmas tree is an absolute must for an American family during the Christmas holidays. It is usually a fir tree decorated with such lovely ornaments like candies, cards, toys, colored lights, etc. Though artificial Christmas trees are readily available now, many Americans still like to put freshly chopped fir trees in their houses. An Outdoor Christmas Tree A Small Christmas Tree An Extravagant Christmas Tree Cultural Notes New Hampshire N. H. : a state of the U.S. located in New England, the capital of which is Concord St. Louis: the largest city and traffic hub of the American mid-western state Missouri Mo. Key Words Expressions Words upscale trimming function affluent commission anecdotal accommodate surplus Expressions holiday season fit in be suited to one’s eyes are bigger than sth e.g. one’s stomach Difficult Language Points …some buyers’ eyes are bigger than their living rooms. para. 1 Some buyers want to buy too big Christmas trees for their living rooms to hold. 全句意为：有些购买者不切实际地购买其起居室容