Unit 9 On Becoming a Better Student

1. Unit 9 On Becoming a Better Student

2. Contents • Pre-reading questions • Background information • Structural analysis of the text • Comprehensive questions • Language Points • Sentence highlights • Language appreciation • Grammar points • Comprehensive questions of Text II

3. Pre-reading questions • 1. What kind of people are considered wise? Cit some examples. And what are the elements that constitute wisdom? • 2. How can you become wise? Do you think what you are doing in college contributes to wisdom?

4. Background information • About the author and the text • Donna Farhi Schuster is a certified yoga teacher from the San Francisco Bay Area. This article originally appeared in Yoga Journal in September/October 1987.

5. Structure analysis of the Text These paragraphs are developed through restatement, example, definition and comparison Paragraphs 1-2 what the writer expects from her students-learn how to learn by themselves.

6. Paragraphs 3-9 • Discusses the qualities good students have. • Paragraph 10 • Gives more tips for the aspiring student.

7. Questions for comprehension (P.128) • 1.What does the author mean by saying “it is really not possible to teach” (Paragraph 2)? • The author’s confession indicates a shift of her attention from teaching to learning. She believes that students should play a more active role in the learning process, getting fully involved in constructing knowledge meaningful to themselves and practicing their skills. Teachers should, in the meantime, play a supportive role helping students arrive at their own conclusions instead of imposing their own views upon students or instilling the so-called knowledge in students’ minds.

8. 2. How important is discipline for studies? • According to the author, it is discipline that gives substance to learning. There is no shortcut in learning; it is only with persistence and discipline that one can reach the very end and savor the full flavor of hard-won success.

9. 3. How do you understand the statement that “To learn… is to open oneself” (Paragraph 8) It means one has to drip his prior knowledge so as to absorb new knowledge. If he refuses to do so, the old knowledge may hinder the assimilation of new knowledge/framework. It also implies that one should learn to appreciate constructive criticism, for if he constantly fails to take criticism, he can never know where his weakness lies or grow out of it.

10. 4. What do you think the author means by saying “Listen with your whole body” (Paragraph 10) “ Listen with your whole body” is, in other works, getting yourself fully activated both cognitively and physically. That is to say, you have to be extremely attentive to what the teacher says instead of letting your mind wander and keeping your body inert.

11. 5. You may disagree with some of the author’s views in the text, for example, you may think it sounds too idealistic for the teacher to encourage students to take risks in academic studies, or that teachers should take a main role in the learning process. Express your views and discuss them in groups.

12. Language points • 1. partake(often humorous) to eat or drink，especially something offered • “Would you care to partake of a little wine with us?” • “No，thank you I don’t partake．”(=don’t drink alcohol) In the passage．“partake” is figuratively used to mean“ to draw on or rise as one wishes (the teachers’ repositories of skill and knowledge)．”

13. 2．at will (formal)as one wishes You can use my car at will(=anytime you want to)． • cf．with a will: energetically；with eager interest • They worked with a will and had cleared a path by 9: 00 a. m．

14. 3. to feel weighted to feel unhappy and anxious

15. 4. Nobel Prize—winning physician Albert Szent—Gyorgyi put it well when he said．．． • put : to say；to express…in words, e.g. • She wanted to tell her parents that she was planning to live on her own，but she didn't know how to put it.

16. 5. discipline • (1)training，especially of the mind and character，aimed at producing self-control．obedience，etc． • Any discipline—but especially those with great subtlety and complexity，like yoga or T’ai chi—call be a lifelong pursuit． • (2)the quality of being able to behave in a strictly controlled way which involves obeying particular rules or standards • Persistence，consistency，and discipline are required． • (3)a branch of knowledge：a subject of study • If we can look at our chosen discipline or craft as ail ongoing process rather than as a discrete accomplishment，the potential for learning can be infinite．

17. 6.Without these, our learning is but froth without substance. but: (formal)only, e.g. She is but a beginner． One cannot but do something. =One Can only do something. I could not but admit that you were right and laws wrong．

18. 7. Compare discrete with discreet The two words are frequently confused due to their similarity in pronunciation and spelling, e.g. These small companies now have their own discrete (=independent, separate) identity． We must be extremely discreet (=careful) in what we do and say: the police suspect something.

19. 8. live up to: to behave in accordance with (what is expected); to achieve or keep (high standards), e.g. Did the concert live up to your expectations? (=Was it as good as you had expected?) You disappointed US by failing to live up to your principles.

20. 9. approach • n. way of dealing with a thing or person • a new approach to foreign language teaching. • v. to begin to consider or deal with • There are quite a few ways of approaching the problem.

21. 10. Precedence • the condition of being dealt with before other things or of being considered more important than other things • Business people often think that fluency and communication take／have precedence over grammar when speaking． • Let’s deal with the question in order of precedence(=the important ones first)·

22. Related words are precede (v.)，precedent (n.)，precedented (a.)，and unprecedented (adj.). • Precede: to come or go before something in time，order，rank，etc. e.g • Bill Clinton preceded George W．Bush as President of the United States. • Precedent: earlier decision，case，event，etc that is regarded as an example or rule for what comes later, e.g • to create／establish／set／serve as a precedent for something • The Queen has broken with precedent by sending her children to ordinary schools.

23. Precedented: having or supposed by a precedent, e.g. • It was a decision not precedented in English law. • Unprecedented: without precedent；never having happened，been done or been known before, e.g. • A situation unprecedented in the history of the town. • The twentieth century witnessed environmental destruction on all unprecedented scale.

24. 11. prior: coming or planned before • She was unable to attend the reception because of a prior engagement (=before she was invited to the reception，she had arranged to do something else which would prevent her from going to the reception)． • Prior to (formal)before • The contract will be signed prior to the ceremony．

25. 12. pitfall: a mistake that may easily be made • The English numbers and figures provide many pitfalls for Chinese learners. • Can forward planning help avoid stressful pitfalls?

26. 13. Complacency: (disapproving) a feeling of calm satisfaction with one’s own abilities or situation that prevents one from trying harder • What worries the principle about these students is their complacency—they seem to have no desire to expand their horizons. • complacent a • I dislike his complacent attitude／smile. • complacently ad． • I dislike it when he smiles complacently．

27. 14. Correspondence: the act of exchanging letters：the letters exchanged between people • to take／do a correspondence course(=a course of lessons in which information and work are exchanged by post) • Correspondent • (1)a person with whom another person exchanges letters regularly • (2)a newspaper or television reporter，especially one who specializes in a particular type of news • a war／diplomatic／health／environment correspondent

28. 15. go out of one’s way (to do something): Totake the trouble to do something; to make a special effort, especially in spite of difficulties, e.g. • She was very kind to us and seemed to go out of her way to help us. • They went out of their way to make things difficult for their rivals. Some other verb phrases formed with “go” and “way”: go a long way towards something／doing something, go one’s own way, go somebody’s way

29. 16. cumulative (also acuumulative) increasing steadily in amount or degree by one addition after another • cumulative interest payable on a debt • The cumulative effect of using so many chemicals on the land could be disastrous.

30. 17. badger: to repeatedly tell (somebody) to do something or ask (somebody) questions • The Little girl badgered her father into buying her a pony. • The reporters were requested to stop badgering the chairman with questions.

31. Sentence highlight • 1. With this curiosity comes an “investigative spirit;” the learning is not so much the acquisition of information as it is an investigation—a questioning, a turning over of the object of study to see all sides and facets.(para.4) • Paraphrase:

32. 2. IF we can look at our chose discipline or craft as an ongoing process rather than as a discrete accomplishment, the potential for learning can be infinite.(para.5) • Paraphrase:

33. 3. Children enter school as question marks and leave as periods.(para,6) • Paraphrase:

34. Language Appreciation • 1. As students we expect a great deal from our teachers. We expect them to be enthusiastic. We expect them reliable. We may even have expectations that they be endless repositories of…(Para. 1) • Repetition: • Emphasis • coherence

35. 2. The fruit of these seemingly dry qualities is the satisfaction of having tasted the fullness of completion, or the thrill of meeting a difficult challenge with success. (Para.5) • metaphor

36. 3. Why is it, then, that so few people live up to their true potential? (Para. 6) • Can we begin, then, to see that our teachers are guides on our journey, but that the journey itself is our own responsibility? (Para.7) • Rhetorical questions

37. 4.Yet most education discourages people from venturing far enough to take risks to make mistakes. (Para.6) • A poetic device-assonance

38. 5. Persistence, consistency, and discipline are required. (Para. 5) • Highly personal questions with little relevance to the subject at hand are best asked after class. (Para. 10) • tone, passive construction

39. Grammar points • Functions of Non-finite Clause • A non-finite clause is a clause with a non-finite verb phrase as predicate. Non-finite clauses include infinitive clause, -ing participle clause and –ed clause participle clause.

40. Comprehensive questions of Text II • 1. Why does the author say that when hubris rises, nemesis falls? • When she was so confident, arrogant and even rude without much guilt, several disastrous events happened to her. Three members of her immediate family dies, a friend she had much affection for died and her friends drifted apart from her.

41. 2. Why was Dr. Jacob Taubes considered as the most brilliant and exciting teacher the author had ever experienced? • He displayed European academic wizardry, answered the questions raised by the author with intensity and challenged the author with intellectually vigorous questions and above all, he acknowledged the author when she most needed it. Now students are supposed to talk about one or two teachers they have selected.

42. 3. What is the major difference between a bright show-off and a serious student? • The former tends to display superficial learning to draw attention or satisfy his vanity while the latter exerts himself to acquire new knowledge and explore the unknown areas.

43. 4.How is it described when one is acknowledged by another in time of confusion, loss, disorientation and disheartenment? • One is give time and place in the sunshine as the acknowledgment ranted to him is the solar stimulus for transformation.

44. 5. Why is acknowledgement an art form? • It is based on deep psychological reciprocity and shows the skill of mutual transformation.