Listening in
I. Time Allotment
2 periods
II.Teaching Objectives and Requirements
1. Develop the Ss’ awareness of involving of talking about their university traditions.
2. Ask Ss to remember useful words and expressions;
3. Strengthen Ss’ ability to discuss related questions critically;
4. Encourage students to give reasons or alternative views.
III. Teaching Procedures
News report
Step 1 Work in pairs and discuss the main idea of the news.
Step 2 Work in pairs and discuss the questions.
Passage 1
Step 1 Work in pairs. Look at the factfile and discuss what you know about the Ivy League.
Step 2 Detailed study of the passage. Students then check out their answers.
Number of institutions: 8
Sporting importance: University sports teams compete against each other
Academic importance: near or at the top of the US colleges and university rankings
Social importance: having a reputation for social elitism; most students are white, rich and intellectual
Location: the US ( north-east)
Origin of name: Roman numeral IV (meaning four) or ivy plants growing on walls
Oldest institution: Harvard, founded in 1636
Largest number of undergraduates: Cornell, about 13,000
Acceptance rate: 7% to 20%
Famous alumni: George Bush, John F Kennedy and many others
Step 3. Background information of the IVY League
但是近几年来,有新成员加入,成为以下:
新常青藤(New Ivy):25所院校因其高质量的教育和不断取得的国际学术成就而受到越来越多的学生的青睐,这些学校被称为“新常春藤”院校: 加州大学洛杉矶分校、北卡罗来纳大学 、埃默里大学、圣母大学、华盛顿大学圣路易斯分校、波士顿学院、塔夫茨大学、伦斯勒理工学院、卡内基梅隆大学、范德比尔特大学、弗吉尼亚大学、密歇根大学、肯阳学院、罗彻斯特大学、莱斯大学、纽约大学、戴维森学院、科尔盖特大学、科尔比学院、瑞德学院、鲍廷学院、欧林工程学院、史基德摩尔学院、麦克莱斯特学院、克莱蒙特学院联盟。
Step 4 Developing critical thinking
1. What advantages and disadvantages over other universities does an Ivy League university have?
2.Is the purpose of a university education a practical one, to prepare people for their working lives, or a more spiritual one, an opportunity to study and explore fundamental knowledge of life?
Passage 2 A beautiful mind
Step 1 Background information about the John Nash
Step 2 Watching the fantastic film---A Beautiful Mind
Step 3 Some Useful Expressions in the Film
Step 4 Detailed study of the passage
Work in pairs and discuss the questions.
1. What message did you learn from the film? Do you agree with it?
Example answer:
I learnt that people with mental illness can be successful and creative, and also that they face a lot of difficulties and discrimination. It also increased my understanding of mental illness. I agree with the message of the film, though it is definitely a dramatized version of reality.
2. It is said that “Creativity could be tied to both sanity and madness.” Do you agree? Why / Why not?
Example answer: There might be some truth to that, as many famous creative people have had mental illness. I think it gives them a different perspective.
I’m not sure I agree. I suspect this is just a stereotype about “mad geniuses”. Perhaps if we looked at a data set we’d see that creative people are no more prone to mental illness than anyone else.

