新編英语教程UnitTen(toss).docVIP

Unit Ten Text I I. Writing Skills The text is a short narrative piece of writing which vividly and amusingly relates how a young inexperienced stand-in teacher attempts to control a class that has frightened away a succession of substitutes for their own teachers. The writer is particularly successful in his effective use of comic exaggeration. The narrative is convincing due to the writer’s keen observation of the behaviour of a young and inexperienced teacher when his authority is threatened. The various ways in which comic exaggeration is achieved. The use of vivid similes. A simile is a direct comparison of one thing to another by using the word like or as. e.g. To make this clear, he showed me his thumb, a huge thing, like a pocket cudgel. The use of appropriate metaphors. A metaphor is a phrase which describes one thing in terms of another thing with which it can be compared without using the word like or as. e.g. I was inwardly all white flag. The use of striking contrast. One thing is put in sharp contrast with another so that a strong effect is produced. e.g. Enormous boys were everywhere,…Was I really so puny? The use of parallelisms to intensify the meaning. I was toying inwardly with ideas of thunderbolts, earthquakes, and mass executions. The use of vocabulary which emphasizes not the normal order in a classroom but that of fighting and war. An excellent description of a situation which is totally out of control. A keen observation of the behaviour of a young , weak, inexperienced teacher. II. Language Points keep sb/sth under one’s thumb: control sb/sth eg:--- What should a teacher do? --- He should keep his students under his thumb. --- What should a father do? --- He should keep his children under his thumb. 2. cudgel: n. short thick stick or club 短棒 take up the cudgel for: fight for, support strongly 为 … 而奋斗；极力支持 eg: People in that country are taking up the cudgels for freedom. --- What are you taking up the cudgels for now? --- We