新世纪英语专业综合教程 unit 7 lecture notes.doc

Unit 7 Letter to a B Student Section One Pre-reading Activities . Cultural information 1. Quote Histories make men wise; poems witty; the mathematics subtle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave; logic and rhetoric able to contend. — Francis Bacon 2. Grades Grades are standardized measurements of varying levels of comprehension within a subject area. Grades can be assigned in letters (for example, A, B, C, D, or F), as a range (for example 4.0 –1.0), as descriptors (excellent, great, satisfactory, needs improvement), in percentages, or, as is common in some post-secondary institutions in some countries, as a Grade Point Average (GPA). The GPA can be used by potential employers or further post-secondary institutions to assess and compare applicants. A Cumulative Grade Point Average is the mean GPA from all academic terms within a given academic year, whereas the GPA may only refer to one term. Section Two Global Reading I Text analysis What issues does the writer of the letter intend to deal with? How should students regard grades, both good and bad? Are grades as important as they are assumed to be? Do good grades necessarily lead to achievements and bad grades result in failure in a student’s later life? What’s the theme of this piece of writing? It is explicitly stated in the first sentence of the third paragraph: to put a B student’s disappointment in perspective by considering exactly what the grade B means and doesn’t mean. II Structural analysis 1. Divide the text into parts by completing the table. Paragraphs Main idea 1 It introduces the topic of the letter. 2-5 Grades do not mean everything. 6-8 Getting a B in class does not mean one will always be a B performer in life. 9-10 In a complex society like ours, labels are necessary but they should be kept in perspective. 2. Apart from the first paragraph, the rest of the text falls clearly into three parts, each of which is marked at the beginning by a key word or words. Try to find these key words. Par