Unit five cruelty
Learning objectives:
Students will be able to:
1. Grasp the main idea and structure of the text;
2. Give reasons when they do the ranking activities and make predictions;
3. Master the key language points and grammatical structures in the text;
4. Conduct a series of reading, listening, speaking and writing activities related to the theme of the unit.
Pre-reading tasks:
1. Upon first seeing the title, what kind of story it is in your guess?
2. Can we judge a person by his/her appearance? Why? or why not?
First period
I. Listening practice (15m)
For a long time, scientists have suspected that life exists on other plants besides earth, but until recently, they had very little evidence to support this theory. Not long ago, some pieces of rock from outer space were discovered in Australia. This discovery has stirred up a lot of excitement among experts throughout the world because these rocks contain chemicals similar to those found on earth and in our own bodies. This indicates to some specialists that life, in some form, is not only possible but also probable on other planets. Other scientists agree that there is a possibility of life on other planets but perhaps had flourished and died off many millions of years ago.
Questions:
1. According to this passage, does life exist on other planets?
－Possibly.
2. What did the rocks from other space contain?
－Chemicals similar to those found on earth.
3. What about the experts’ reactions to this discovery?
  －this discovery has stirred up a lot of excitement.
II. Review work (15m)
reactions to the online manage
1. Upon first seeing the title, what kind of story it is in your guess?
Possible answer: Upon first seeing the title, we may think, "oh, it’s just another story about how people helped their friend in need!" However, when we finish reading it, we will find it is an entirely different story. Those who appear to be friendly may turn out to be so evil-minded as to be ready to strike a cruel blow at a friend in need, just like Edward Burton in this passage.
2.  Can we judge a person by his/her appearance? Why? or why not?
Possible answer: some people seem easy to understand because their character appears obvious on first meeting. But appearances are not always reliable. They can be deceptive or misleading sometimes.
III. Background information (10m)
Maugham, William Somerset (1874—1965)
Maugham, William Somerset was British novelist, playwright, short-story writer, and  highest paid author in the world in the 1930s. His novels and short stories are characterized by great narrative facility, simplicity of style, and a disillusioned and ironic point of view. His reputation stood higher with the public than with critics. He believed that man’s fate is usually determined by accidents beyond his control, so his attitude to life was somber and pessimistic. He was influenced a lot by Guy de Maupassant. He was born in the British Embassy in Paris and studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg. His partially autobiographical novel of Human Bondage (l915) is generally acknowledged as his masterpiece and is one of the best realistic English novels of the early 20th century. One st
ory, Rain, which appeared in The Trembling of a Leaf (1921), was also turned into a successful feature film. Popular plays written by Maugham include The Circle (1921), East of Suez (1922), The Constant Wife (1926) and the anti-war play, For Services Rendered (1932). Other novels contributing to his worldwide fame include The Painted Veil (1925), Cakes and Ale (1930), Christmas Holiday (1939), The Hour Before the Dawn (1942). He also wrote satiric comedies——The Circle (1921) and Our Betters (1923).
In his later years Maugham wrote his autobiography, Summing Up (1938) and works of fiction such as The Razor's Edge (1945), Catalina (1948) and Quartet (1949).
IV. The structure of Text A (50m)
Part One (para1)    It is no easy to judge people, for they aren’t always what they appear to be.
Part Two (para2-3)  Kind and gentle, Edward Burton, a wealthy merchant, appeared as if he could not bear to hurt a fly.
Part Three (para4-51) As it turned out, Burton was cold-blooded enough to send a friend to certain death.
Explain the three parts in details:
Part one: we get some clues about Maugham’s point of view: even though
he has been studying his fellowmen for thirty years, he still feels it hard to judge people, for they aren’t always what they appear to be. What’s more, the longer he knows people the more they puzzle him.
Attention to the two phrases:
1. shrug one’s shoulders: raise(one’s shoulders) slightly to express doubt, indifference, ignorance, etc.
2. for sb’s part/the part of sb.: as far as sb is concerned.
Eg. For my own part I am against the belief that men should dominate the nature rather tha
n live in harmony with it.
Part two: Almost the entire Part two is devoted to the description of Edward Burton’s kindly appearance and pleasant manners. Neither the “I” in the story nor readers could imagine him hurting a fly. Yet in Part Three Burton recounts cold-bloodedly how he destroyed a human life. (contrast)
Questions to help the students understand this part:
1. Does the narrator think our first impressions of a person are always right? Why or why not?
The narrator thinks that our first impressions are always deceptive, because he found that the longer he knows people the more they puzzle him. (L2-5)
2. What was Edward Burton by profession? How did he look?
He was a merchant. (L7) He was a tiny little fellow, not much more than five feet four in height, and very slender, with white hair, a red face much wrinkled, and blue eyes. (L13-15)

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