Unit 2

Part I  Pre-Reading Task

Script for the recording:

The song you are going to listen to is called Abraham, Martin & John, sung by Dion.

Abraham, Martin & John

Dion

Has anybody here,

Seen my old friend Abraham,

Can you tell me, where he's gone,

He freed a lotta people,

But it seems the good die young,

I just loohed around,

And he's gone,

Has anybody here,

Seen my old friend John,

Can you tell me, where he's gone,

He freed a lotta people,

But it seems the good die young,

I just loohed around,

And he' s gone,

Has anybody here,

Seen my old friend Martin,

Appendix  I       - 95 -

Can you tell me, where he's gone,

He freed a lotta people,

But it seems the good die young,

I just looked around,

And he's gone,

Didn't you love the things they stood for,

Didn't they try to find some good for you and me,

And we'll he free,

Someday soon it's gonna be one day,

Has anybody here,

Seen my old friend Bothy,

Can you tell me, where he's gone,

I thought I saw him walhin' up over the hill, With Ahrah am, Martin and John.

The unit we are going to study is all about civil-rights heroes. The song you have just heard is about four of them. Can you guess who they are? All are American. All are dead, all, as the song says, "gone". How about Abraham? Dion says he freed a lot of people. That's one clue. Another comes when she quotes the proverb: "the good die young." So it seems Abraham died young. My guess is Dion has in mind Abraham Lincoln, the American president who freed the slaves and was assassi­nated. How about John, another leader who helped people to free themselves? He too died young. Can you guess who it might be? President John F. Kennedy seems most likely. He too supported civil rights. He too died young, assassinated like Lincoln.

Now who could Martin be? Another civil-rights leader who died young, once again assassi­nated. A great speaker comes to mind. Who do you think? Martin Luther King, surely. And finally, Bobby. Bobby who? Probably Dion is thinking of Bobby Kennedy, John Kennedy's brother, another supporter of civil rights. He was running for president when, like his brother before him, he too was gunned down.

- 96 -        Appendix   I

Part II Text A

Text Organization

1.

2. Story 1 (Paras 6-10):   After winning his own freedom from slavery, John Parker helped other

slaves to escape north to Canada to get freedom.

Story 2 (Paras 11-15): Supported by a strong religious conviction, the white man Levi Coffin helped black slaves to escape at huge risk to himself.

Story 3 (Paras 16-23): By traveling the Underground Railroad, Josiah Henson reached his desti­nation and became free at last.

Vocabulary

I.   1. 1) decades                                             2) historic

3) imposed                                              4) racial

5) slender                                                6) closing in on

7) settlement                                           8) site

9) mission                                             10) authorized

11) terminal                                            12) make the best of

13) exploits                                                14) religious
15) on the side
2.  1) pass for                                           2) stood up for

3) laid down                                            4) take on

Appendix  I       - 97 -

5) let (us) down                                       6) draw on

7) come up                                              8) given up

3.   1) The Europeans are fully confident that the Americans will not be able to justify their mea-

sures to protect the struggling American steel industry.

2)         Clinton is, in the eyes of Joe Klein, staff writer of the New Yorker and author of The Natural, the most talented politician of his generation and the most compelling.

3)         There's not much you can do if people are really intent on destroying themselves with drugs.

4)    A different experience of the world could forge a completely different approach to life.

5)         It is our conviction that cloning of human beings is bound to cause many ethical and social problems in the long run.

4.   1) As for the protection of these endangered species, many countries do not compel fisher-

men to report accidental capture of small cetaceans (H § %}$}) in their nets, so signifi­cant catches may go unnoticed for years. To deal with this problem, animal protectionists have forged an international alliance. On the other hand they have urged the United Nations to lay down more specific laws to save these animals.

2)        It was reported that food supplies would soon run out and most of the victims of the earthquake would starve to death. At huge risk, a group of volunteers from the Red Cross took on the mission to transport food, clothes and medicine to the most seriously hit areas.

3)        A rally was going to be held in honor of the 16^th US President Abraham Lincoln who abolished slavery in 1863 and liberated the slaves in the South. In the eyes of many African-Americans, Lincoln was America's greatest president thanks to his outstanding exploits.

II. Words with Multiple Meanings

1.          I'll tell you about my research project in a minute, but first let's hear about your French trip.

2.          Most McDonald's look almost the same on the outside, but actually there are about 16 differ­ent basic designs.

3.          Loaning money from the banks is but one of the methods we can use to get through a financial crisis.

4.          This second-hand car has been nothing but trouble; it's always breaking down.

5.          In your resume you've mentioned everything but one vital point.

6.          Our technicians have discovered a simple but effective solution to the problem.

7.          I am sorry, but I think you shouldn't have delayed your homework.

8.          The bankruptcy of the company was not caused by evil, but by simple ignorance.

- 9$ -          Appendix  I

III. Usage

1. lonely                                                      2. friendly

3. weekly, monthly                                       4. lovely

5. cowardly                                                 6. kindly / saintly

7. lively                                                       8. motherly

Structure

1.   1) A letter posted today will probably reach him the day after tomorrow.

2)         Thus encouraged, we made a still bolder plan for the next year.

3)    Our government has banned imports of cosmetics containing animal products from 18 coun­tries, mostly in Europe, for fear that they could cause mad cow disease.

4)    Having graduated from St. Mary's College, Joyce applied to the University of California at Los Angeles.

2.   1) Often it is in overcoming hardships that we come to appreciate the value of life.

2)         Some scientists believe that people will come to like genetically modified crops someday since they can increase yields and farmers' incomes, reduce prices and help combat hunger and disease in the developing countries.

3)         With repeated hackers' attacks on our system, we have come to realize the necessity of hiring a computer-security expert.

4)    Having conducted some surveys in Chinese kindergartens, Howard Gardner came to under­stand that the Chinese preferred "teaching by holding the hand".

Comprehensive Exercises

I. Cloze

(A)

1. Underground                                          2. forged

3. stand up                                                 4. transport

5. compelled                                               6. convictions

7. liberating                                                 8. mission

9. abolish                                                  10. intent on

11. risk

(B)

1. who                                                       2. the

Appendix  I       - 99 -

3.  along                                                     4. in

5.  that                                                      6. through

7.  not                                                       8. as

9.  referred                                                10. escape

11. where                                                  12. If

13.  in                                                          14. even

15.  until                                                       16. instead

17.  as

II. Translation

Henson's painful life as a slave strengthened his determination to struggle for freedom. Shortly after he achieved freedom he became a member of an organization that assisted fugitive slaves. He secretly returned to the United States from Canada several times to help others to travel the Underground Railroad to freedom. Once some slave catchers closed in on the escaping slaves and Henson when they were on the run. He disguised them and successfully avoided capture. In addition, later he built a small settlement in Dresden in Canada for escaped slaves, setting up a chapel and a school where they could learn useful ways of making a living. He held to the conviction that slavery would be abolished, all the slaves would be liberated, and the day was bound to come when racial discrimination no longer existed.

Part III TextB

Comprehension Check

1. a                                                              2. d

3. c                                                              4. d

5. b                                                              6. b

Translation

(#J& Appendix III)

Language Practice

1. remarkable                                               2. commitment

3. flourish                                                     4. resulted from

- 100 -        Appendix  I

Part IV Theme-Related Language Learning Tasks

Model paper

The Civil-Rights Movement in the U.S.

Black Africans were first brought as slaves to what was to become the United States in the seventeenth century. Slavery was strongest in the South, where large plantations grew cotton, to­bacco, and other crops. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, a growing demand for cotton led to an increase in the demand for slaves in the region. Slavery was less profitable in the North, however, and much of the opposition to slavery came from the northern states. The tension between the North and the South over the issue of slavery led to the Civil War in 1861.

With the victory of the North, slavery was abolished. Discrimination, however, did not end. Black Americans were treated as second class citizens, especially in the South. Dissatisfaction with unfair treatment eventually led to the civil rights protests of the 1950s and 1960s that brought about government action aimed at reducing discrimination.

As a result, African Americans have come a long way in the last fifty years, but they still find themselves at a disadvantage in comparison with Americans of European descent. Only 17 per cent of the black population are able to finish higher education, in contrast to 28 per cent of whites. Incomes for the average white family were just over $44,000 in 1999. For an average black family, however, the figure was in the region of $25,000. Not one of the chief executive officers of the top 500 companies is black.

Anyway, the civil-rights movement in the U.S. still has a long way to go.

(254 words)