Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman1 Unit 7 Making a Living Text A Life of a Salesman
2 One student will act as a salesperson. All other students will act as his/her potential customers. (From the role-play we know the sale of goods is rather a difficult job. It is even more difficult for a handicapped person, like Bill Porter in Text A.) Role Play :
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman3 This article first appeared in a newspaper; therefore it carries many characteristics of journalistic writing. First of all, a journalist tries to be objective in reporting. As a result, third-person narrative is usually preferred over first-person narrative. Moreover, the journalist would not make any comments to reveal his/her feelings, but simply give the facts. Text Analysis
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman4 Secondly, an eye-catching beginning helps lure readers to linger more on the story out of an overwhelming number of stories offered by the day’s newspaper. For example, at the beginning of this story, we learn that it takes our physically deformed hero great efforts to get up so as to do something important, yet what is this something? We are kept in suspense until the fourth paragraph. Text Analysis- 2
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman5 Text Analysis- 3 Thirdly, the vocabulary is simple, the sentences and paragraphs short, sometimes elliptical. When needs arise, a paragraph is as short as one sentence. Lastly, conversations can be transcribed word for word if they illustrate the theme, like the one in the text between Bill Porter and his indecisive female customer.
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman6 linger (L1):remain or stay (longer than necessary) The scent of her perfume lingered in the room. The voice of singing lingered for three days. I lingered around the West Lake until it ’ s time to catch the train.
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman7 betray betray one ’ s friend, trust, country, etc. His trembling voice betrayed his nervousness. She said it didn ’ t matter but her facial expression betrayed her annoyance.
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman8 gain on sb/sth (L14): chase to get in front of or near to sb/sth The patrol boat is gaining on the smuggling ship. In autumn the night gains on the day. See to it that no bad habit gains on you.
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman9 tilt: n. & v. 倾斜 He tilted the chair back on two legs and stretched his long body. She tilted her head back to see who ’ s behind. The chairman tilts towards my opinion. Minjin Party is criticized for its tilt towards independence of Taiwan.
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman10 Lean: v. She ’ s leaning on a tree for rest. The old man leant against his cane. I lean towards your viewpoint.
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman11 Lean: adj. a lean year / a lean harvest (ant. Profitable) Lean meat (ant. Fat) a lean athlete (thin but strong)
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman12 False start: 失败的开端，起步 失误；抢跑，起跑犯规 1) A false start is an attempt to start sth. which fails because you are not properly prepared or ready to begin. E.g. Any reform faces false starts and mistakes. 2) In a race, a false starts means one of the competitors moves before the start signal.
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman13 Pledge: v. & n. 保证；抵押 1) The leaders pledged to step up cooperation between the two countries. 2) It ’ s time to fulfill your pledge. 3) And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. 为了 支持这篇宣言，我们坚决信赖上帝的庇佑，以我 们的生命、我们的财产和我们神圣的名誉，彼此 宣誓。
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman14 Strain: v. 使过劳； n. 重负 During the Golden Week, the large number of tourists really strained the public facilities in many tourist attractions. The stresses and strains of such a busy and demanding career as salesman
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman15 register: 注册，登记；被注意 1 ） register to vote. 2) I registered my name with the golf club. 3) I warned him several times but it just didn ’ t register in his brain. 4) He simply didn ’ t register my warning.
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman16 be laid up (with an illness): confined (as by illness) to bed; be bedridden The football player was laid up in bed with a twisted knee. He was laid up with acute flu for weeks.
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman17 in time: within an indefinite time; eventually In time they came to accept the harsh facts. You will in time recover your health and strength.
Unit 7 Text A Life of a Salesman18 Assignment The text depicts a physically deformed salesperson who sustained himself on mere tough work. What are your reflections on this feature story? Write a journal entitled Purpose in Life.