2. Teaching Procedures
Ⅰ Warming-up questions
Ⅱ Background
Ⅲ Check on preclass work
Ⅳ General Understanding of the text
Ⅴ Detailed study of the text
Ⅵ Language Focus
Ⅶ Exercises
3. ⅠWarming-up questions
1.How much do you know about Nelson Mandela?
2.What do you think is his greatest contribution to his
country and whole human being?
3.What personality do you find about Mandela from the
text?
4.Do you find any charisma of him as a leader and
husband?
4. Ⅱ Background
1. Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela has long been a legendary figure. His struggle
against apartheid(racial segregation ) in South Africa, and his
twenty-seven-year-long imprisonment mand him a symbol of
political courage.
Important events in Mandela’s life
1) Born on July 18,1918;
2) Jointly established the African National Congress
Youth League(ANCYL) in 1944;
3) Imprisoned (1962-1990);
4) Awarded, with F.W.de Klerk, Nobel Peace Prize in 1993;
5) Elected the first black president of South Africa in 1994;
6) Divorced in 1996;
7) Resigned from his office without seeking a second term in 1999.
5. Ⅱ Background
2. Apartheid
Apartheid is the policy the white government of South Africa
followed from 1950 to the early 1990s, to keep the different
races in the country separate from each other. It is a policy of
discrimination—racial, political, and economic—against the
country’s non-white majority. The apartheid laws classified
people according to three major racial groups—White,
Bantu(black Africans), and Colored(people of mixed descent).
Later Asians, or indians and Pakistanis, were added as a fourth
category. The laws deternined where members of each group
could live, what jobs they could hold, and what type of
education they could receive. These laws also forbade most
social contact between races, and denied any presentation of
nonwhites in the national government.
6. Ⅲ Check on preclass work
P217 Find useful phrases and idioms from the text and list
them below.
as much as possible
give in
ask for permission
give up
at first
in order to
at great length
neither…nor
at heart
provide with
at the time
read into
be empty of
remove from
behind bars
spend time on
drive back
supply with
either…or…
take pride in
from the beginning of throught trial and error
7. Ⅲ Check on preclass work
P217 Find useful verb + noun collocations and expressions from
the text and list them below.
announce the decision
discuss issues arrange work
eliminate the weed
grow peanuts
bury the dead
cultivate the land
lack care
require care
develop ways to
order books
harvest the results
noursih the relationship
offer satisfaction start a garden
save space and time
plant tomates
sweep a hallway
prepare legal document
take responsibility
pursue hobbies
take satisfaction in
remove rocks
tend the garden
remove roots
8. Ⅳ General understanding of the text
Structure
This text can be divided into three parts.
Part one: Background information: The end of manual
labor made it possible for Mandela to start a garden in
prison.(para.1)
Part two: Mandela’s gardening experience in prison (paras.
2-7)
Part three: The insights Mandela gained from this
gardening experience. (paras. 8-11)
9. Ⅴ Detailed study of the text
Detailed discussion of part one
Questions:
1) What changes took place in early 1977?
2) How did Mandela feel about the changes?
3) What did he do to spend his his free time?
10. Ⅴ Detailed study of the text (part one)
1.
In early 1977, the authorities announced the end of manual
labor and arranged some type of work for us to do in the
courtyard, so we could spend our days in our section. (para.
1)
the authorities: the people or organizations in charge. Here it
refers to the prison authorities.Other frequently used
expressions: school authorities,local authorities, etc.
announced the end of manual labour (cultural note) In the
past, Mandela and other political prisoners locked up on
Robben Island were made to work in a quarry to cutting
stones which was very hard manual labor.
11. 2. The end of manual labor was liberating. (para. 1)
This arrangement not only freed the prisoners from hard manual labor,
but also saved them long trips to and from the quarry so that they now
had time and energy for things they were unable to do in the past.
liberating: a present participle used as an adjective
Compare the present participle and past participle used as adjectives:
Present participle
Past participle
He found the end of manual labor liberating.
He felt liberated.
I found Dickens’ novel very interesting.
I was very
interested.
The news was very disapointing.
I felt very
disappointed.
The result was a bit surprising.
Everybody was
surprised.
The whole experience was exciting.
We all got excited.
12. Ⅴ Detailed study of the text (part two)
Questions:
1. What did Mandela do to survive in prison?
2. What does the important tasks outside of prison refer
to? How can he feel the same pride in doing small
things inside prison?
3. How did Mandela get permission of prison autnorities
to start a garden immediately?
4. Why do people say that Mandela “was a miner at
heart”?
5. Did the prison authorities regret giving permission?
6. How was Mandela’s gardening experience?
13. Ⅴ Detailed study of the text (part two)
1. To survive in prison one must develop ways to take
satisfaction in one’s daily life. (para. 2)
In order to keep alive in prison, you must do things that you
can do there and that can also make you feel happy in a way.
survive: to continue to live after an accident or war, or from an
illness, or under extremely harsh conditions
one: ( formal) people in general, including yourself, any person
More examples:
Great works of literature make one think.
One never knows what the weather would be.
get satisfaction from/find satisfaction in/ take satisfaction in or
from sth: to feel happy or find pleasure in sth
e.g. She finds great satifaction in helping her neighbours to
learn English.
14. 2. One can feel fulfilled by washing one’s clothes so that they
are particularly clean, by sweeping a hallway so that it is
empty of dust, by organizing one’s cell to save as much
space as possible. ( para. 2)
feel fulfilled: to feel happy and satisfied because you are
doing useful or important things
empty of sth: completely without sth
More examples:
The restaurant was almost empty of customers.
The street was empty of traffic.
15.
3. …one can find the same pride in doing small things …
( para. 2)
take/find pride in (doing) sth: to feel very pleased about sth
or sb
More examples:
The little town takes great pride in their recent achievement.
The children take pride in wearing school uniform.
4. … they gave in ( para. 3)
… they unwillingly agreed
give in to: to finally agree to what sb wants, after refusing for
a period of time
More examples:
The factory finally gave in to workers’ demand for a pay
rise.
When you badly want a cigarette, don’t give in to it.
16.
5. I had to remove a great many rocks to allow the plants room to
grow. (para. 4)
remove: to take away from a place; to get rid of; to force sb from an
important position or dismiss sb from a job
e.g. She removed the cups and glasses from the table.
The Minster of Defense was removed from
office.
a great many/ a good many/ very many: a great number of
allow: to make it possible for sth to happen or sb to do/ have sth
e.g. His job allows her much time to look after her baby.
His experience in the army allows him to handle
dangerous situations firmly.
17.
6. While I have always enjoyed gardening, it is not until I was
behind bars that I was able to tend my own garden.
Although I have always loved gardening, I didn’t have a
garden of my own until I was in prison.
while: although
behind bars: in prison
tend: ( formal, od-fashioned) to look after sth/ sb
18.
7. … I had neither the time nor the spce to…. (para. 7)
neither …nor: used when mentioning two things and both are not
true or possible
More examples:
The film was neither interesting nor beautifully shot.
she had neither the desire nor the courage to try it.
He did it neither for noney nor for fame.
Neither my brother nor I am interested.
19.
8. through trial and error. (para. 7)
a way of achieving an aim or solving a problem by trying a
number of different methods and learning from mistakes that
you made.
More examples:
We have found a solution through trial and error.
They changed their policies after trial and error.
The best way of learning to ride is by trial and error.
20. Ⅴ Detailed study of the text (part three)
Questions:
1. Why did Mandela write to Winnie about the beautiful
tomato plant?
2. What do you think of Mandela from the way he treated
the relationship between winnie and him?
21.
1. The sense of being the owner of the small patch of earth offered
a small taste of freedom. (para. 8)
Being aware that you could grow whatever you wanted on a small
piece of land enabled you to enjoy a small amount of freedom.
sense: a particular feeling about sth
More phrases:
the sense of being different from your peers, a deep
sense of despair, the sense of being appreciated,
a great sense of relief
More examples:
In the darkness, they felt a growing sense of danger.
Too many electronic products give you an unpleasant sense of
being their slave.
22.
2. Leaders must also look after their gardens; they, too, plant
seeds, and then watch, cultivate, and harvest the results. (para.
9)
Mandela is here comparing his gardening with his
responsibility as a national leader. As in gardening, in his
struggle as an ANC leader, he also has to plant seeds, and take
care of what he has planted until in the end he harvests the
results.
23.
3. Like gardeners, leaders must take responsibility for what they
cultivate; they must mind their work, try to drive back enemies,
save what can be saved, and eliminate what can not succeed.
(para. 9)
save what can be saved, and eliminate what can not succeed:
Mandela seens to be talking about his relations with his
comrades in general , his relations with his wife in particular.
When differences occur, a leader should always try to patch up /
resolve / settle these differences. However, if these differences
concern matters of principle and cannot be reconciled, a leader
must resolutely part from those people, just as one has to
eliminate the weeds inone’s garden.
24.
4. …either through some mistake or lack of care, the plant
began to wither and decline, and nothing I did would bring it
back to health. (para. 10)
Mandela seemed to feel that he was partly responsible for the
way his relationship with his wife had declined, and that was
why he did what he could to save their marriage. But he felt
that their marriage probably wouldn’t survive.
25.
5. I told her this small story a great length. ( para. 11)
I told her the story aboput the potato plant in great detail.
at length: 1) for a long time
eg. We discussed this problem at length.
2) in a full and complete way, in detail
eg The book discusses the topic at length.
3) (literary) after a long time, finally, in the end
eg At length, the boy got permission from
his parents to make a trip to Tibet on his own.
26. Ⅵ Lauguage Focus
1. Key word
to give
2. word formation
suffixes:-ing, -ed
3. Idioms and expressions
as much as possible
give in give up
in order to
ask for permission
at first
at heart neither…nor
read into
drive back provide with
at the time be empty of
remove from
behind bars
spend time on at great length
supply with
either…or… take pride in
from the beginning of throught trial and error
27. Ⅵ Lauguage Focus
4. verb + noun collocations
announce the decision
discuss issues arrange work
eliminate the weed
grow peanuts
bury the dead
cultivate the land
lack care
require care
develop ways to
order books
harvest the results
noursih the relationship
offer satisfaction start a garden
save space and time
plant tomates
sweep a hallway
prepare legal document
take responsibility
pursue hobbies
take satisfaction in
remove rocks
tend the garden
remove roots
28. Ⅵ Lauguage Focus
5. Antonyms
end –beginning
possible—impossible
manual-mental
important—unimportant
legal—illegal
outside—inside
satisfy—dissatisfy
refuse—permit/allow
clean—dirty
narrow—wide/broad
clear—unclear
rarely– often
6. Grammar
1) infinitive as subject, adverbial of purpose, attributive
modifier, logical subject of modifier
2) neither…nor, either…or
3) as introducing an adverbial clause of manner
