Unit Two Sailing Round the World
I. The Teaching Aims:
After learning the story which Francis Chichester traveled round the world alone in a small yacht in spite of the fact he had lung cancer, let the students understand & learn Francis Chichester’s indomitable death-defying spirit, which he marched forward courageously.
II. The Important Teaching Points:
1. Consolidate the use of the “Subjunctive Mood”.
2. Understanding of “ He had given men throughout the world new pride.”
III. Teaching Strategies:
Class discussions, giving instructions
IV. Time: 3 periods
V. The Teaching Procedure:
Step I. Learn the new words, phrases & expressions:
1. fail:
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(1). (vi.) be unsuccessful; become weak or exhausted
e.g: - She failed in everything she tried.
- He has been failing in health in the past years.
(2). (vt.) unable to do sth ; disappoint; do not pass an exam
e.g: - Jim failed to pass the final exam.
- Words failed me.
- The test is easy. You simply can’t fail it.
2. voyage:
(1) (n.) sea journey
e.g:- The letter was written on Hemingway’s voyage from the US to Paris.
- The first space shuttle voyage was devoted entirely to astronomy.
(2) (v.) go on a sea journey
e.g: - The seaman has almost voyaged around the world.
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Note: The word “journey (n.)” usually refers to going to a distant place on the land.
“Travel (n.)” is a general word which means going to a distant place,
by air, sea or car.
“ Trip (n.)” usually refers to a pleasure excursion as in “a honeymoon
trip”, “ a weekend trip to the seaside”.
3. retire: (vi.)
(1) give up one’s job because of old age
e.g.- Professors usually retire at 60 in China.
- Next year I will retire from the school.
(2) go away; withdraw
e.g.-After the dinner, the ladies retired to the drawing room, leaving the men to their cigars and drinks.
(3) go to bed
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e.g.-The writer usually retires at midnight.
4. damage:
(1) (vt.) cause harm to
e.g. -Hurricane Andrew damaged thousands of homes.
- The scandal damaged his career.
(2) (n.) harm: loss
e.g. - We must find ways to repair the damage.
e.g.- The hurricane did great damage to the crops.
5. contact:
(1) (vt.) get in touch with
e.g - Do you contact your classmates often?
e.g.- As soon as the headmaster arrives, he will contact you.
(2) (n.) state of touching or communication
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e.g. - Many people are afraid of contacts with AAIDS patients.
e.g - Robinson Crusoe was out of contact with everybody else for a long time.
6. waken:
(1) (vi.) stop sleeping
e.g - He wakened at the first ray of daylight.
(2) (vt.) wake up sb.
- e.g. - The alarm bell wakened him out of a sound sleep.
Step II. Learn the text
A. Introduction
Introductory Remarks:
Before we study the text, I’d like to ask you some question :
(1). What is your greatest dream ?
(2). Have you ever dreamed of sailing round the world?
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(3). If you could sail to any place in the world, where would you want to go? Why?
(4). If you decided to sail round the world, what would you need to take with you
the boat?
Almost everyone has dreamed of travelling round the world. However, sailing round the world all by oneself is very difficult and adventurous. Many people have traveled round the world, but no one else has done it the way Sir Francis Chichester did. Let’s see a living example that the text shows us.
About Sir Francis Chichester (1901-1972):
Born in Devon, Britain in 1901, Sir Francis Chichester was a British adventurer. In 1931, he planned to fly round the world, but the plane was damaged in Japan. In 1960, he won the first solo transatlantic race by sailing the “Gipsy Moth II”. During 1966-1967 he sailed round the world alone in a 53-foot yacht the “Gipsy Moth IV”. He published two books “The Lonely Sea and Sky” & “ The Gipsy Moth Circles the World”
The text tells us briefly what happened on him on his voyage, one of the greatest seafaring exploits of all time. To begin with the text, let’s look at a map of Chichester’s course. (Show students the map.)
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B. Divide the text
.This article can be divided into three parts.
Part I ( Lines 1-11)
The Main Idea:
Sir Francis Chichester was an ambitious man. He was determined to carry out his plan to sail round the world.
Language Points
(1)“Francis Chichester had already surprised his friends several times.”-Why?
---He was not an ordinary individual & he had tried to do sth. special. E.g: He attempted to fly round the world. Although he had failed, the whole event showed that he was different from others. His courage, ambition & behavior surprised his friends.
(2) Why was Chichester determined to carry out his plan?
-a. His old dream of going round the world hadn’t been realized.
-b. He won the first solo transatlantic sailing race.
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-c. He was not young 7 had lung cancer, which meant that he didn’t have
much time or chance left.
Part II (Lines 12-37)
The Main Idea: The process of Francis Chichester’s travelling.
a. From England to Sydney.
b. From Sydney to England
Language Points:
(1) clipper ship: used in the China tea trade in the nineteenth century. The
great age of the clipper was 1845-1860. Speed was demanded in the China tea trade & also for the fast delivery of cargoes to San Francisco and Melbourne during the California and Australian gold rushes. Clippers fell out of use as freight rates declined and steam ships provided competition.
(2) crew: the captain, sailors, mechanics, cooks, etc.
(3) steering device: a piece of equipment for particular direction
(4) What was the difference between Chichester and the great nineteenth
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century sailors?
The sailors of the nineteenth century used big clipper ships which had had lot of crew on them. Their success was the success of a group of people. Although Chichester followed their route, he had sailed alone. His success was the success of an individual.)
(5) by far: usually used to modify a superlative or comparative degree adj. or adv.
e.g : -She is by far better than Jim at spelling.
-He is by far the best boy in the class
(6) Why did everybody say that he had done enough when he arrived in Australia?
The distance he covered was twice the previous record & he had already set a new record of sailing alone. Moreover, he was very tired and weak after 107 days of voyage.
(7) “… the sea became so rough that the boat almost turned over.” so…that: to/ in such a degree that ( the adv. clause of result)
e.g: -Was he so angry that he hit her?
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-She ran so fast that we couldn’t catch up with him.
(8) dissuade sb from doing sth.:
prevent sb. from doing sth. by giving reasons
e.g:- They dissuaded her from leaving school.
- The father finally dissuaded his son from giving up the job in the factory.
(9) Cape Horn: a steep headland at the south of Horn Island, Chile. It is generally considered the southernmost point of South America. All the water between South America and the Antarctic Ocean is squeezed this narrow shallow gap. Sometimes the waves there may be as high as 50 feet.
(10) “Wild horses could not drag me down to Cape horn and that sinister Southern Ocean again”:
---“ Wild horses could not drag” is a common metaphor used mean that nothing, no matter how strong, could make you do something.
e.g: Wild horses could not have dragged me away from the exciting film. (= Nothing could have made me leave.)
Ask: - What was the picture when the sea became rough?
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-Why did he have such a horrible feeling about that night’s experience?
Part III ( Lines 38- 49)
1) The Main Idea: After Chichester arrived back in England, Queen Elizabeth and the people were waiting to welcome him. The author appraised his voyage.
Ask: - What had Chichester learnt himself during the voyage?
- What kind of new pride had he given to men through the world?
Step III. Summary Questions & Concluding Remarks:
Ask: - What do you think is Chichester’s greatest achievement?
- Can you sketch a map to illustrate Chichester’s sailing course?
The article describes Francis Chichester’s experience of sailing round the world, as well as his courage and determination in spite of many difficulties and attempts at dissuasion to prove human perseverance. People today can certainly learn a lot from him.
C. Assignments:
1. Recite the words.
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2.Read the text fluently.
3. Preview all the exercises.
References:
The Lonely Sea and the Sky by Sir Francis Chichester, Summersdale Publishers;
New Ed edition (January 31, 2002)
\"Gypsy Moth\" Circles the World by Sir Francis Chichester, Hodder & Stoughton
Ltd (June 1, 1972)
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