Unit 3 Task Giving a talk about a historical event

listening for the gist 1. When you have conversations with your friends, what decides the topic you are talking about? 2.Will the topic be different if someone else joins your conversation? Skills building 1: Discuss the following questions in groups:

3. Will the topic be different if you move to another place to talk? 4. Will it be different if you are doing something else while you are talking?

When we are listening to get the gist, we should try to find out: 1. how many people are talking 2. where they are 3. what they are doing 4. what they are talking about

Listen to a short conversation and complete the note sheet below: The number of people talking: (1) The place they are talking in: (2) The thing they are doing while talking: (3) The subject they are talking about: (4) three taking notes learning from past experiences classroom

Mr Pitt: Students, please take some notes while we discuss the final question. Do you think we should learn from our past experiences? What do you think, Betty? Betty: Yes, Mr Pitt, I think we should. We can make mistakes, because we are human, but we’d better Tapescript

not make the same mistake a second time. That’s why we should learn from our past experiences. Mr Pitt: That’s right. What’s your opinion, Wang? Wang: I agree with the idea of learning from the past, Mr Pitt. Actually there’s a saying to express the same meaning in Chinese.

If we put it into English, it’s ‘Don’t forget things in the past. They could be your teacher in the future.’ Mr Pitt: That makes a lot of sense. Now we know one more Chinese saying. Thank you, Wang. OK, that’s all for today. See you in next week’s history class.

Don’t forget to bring your report on one of the historical events on the list. See you then.

Step 1: finding useful expressions Note sheet I am now listening to (1) a quarrel / an interview / a chat between friends. I can hear (2) one person / two people / three people talking. Listen to a conversation and fill in the note sheet:

The conversation takes place in a (3) classroom / restaurant / library. The title of the girl’s talk is (4) _________________. The surprise attack

Listen to the conversation again and pay much attention to the details: Useful expressions to use when giving a talk 1 Greeting the audience * Informal: (1) _____________________ Hello, good to see you all here. Nice to see you all here. * Formal: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Good morning, everyone.

2. Expressing thanks to the audience * Informal: Thanks for coming. I’m so glad you could all join us. Thank you for coming to the talk today. * Formal: Thank you all for taking the time to be here.

(2) ___________________________ ___________ Thank you for joining us, ladies and gentlemen. 3. Explaining the reason why you are talking to the audience Today (3) __________ show you some illustrations of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, and to tell you something about I’m very grateful that you have come today. I am here to

(4) _______________ and what its consequences were. We’re all gathered here to view some… how it happened

4. Mentioning your hopes I hope this has been informative and interesting for you. (5) _____________________________ Hopefully you have all learned something new. I hope that you enjoyed this talk.

5. Giving a final expression of thanks Thank you for being such a good audience. (6) _____________________________ Thanks again for coming. Thank you for your kind attention.

6. Giving the audience a question-and- answer session I’m now open for any questions you may have. (7) ____________________________ ________________ Now that we’re finished, does anyone have any questions? If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.

Boy: This is really relaxing. I mean this place. How did you find it? Girl: One day I got very tried and hungry, and I just happened to go past this place. I came in and found it quite pleasant. I like the juice here. It’s very fresh. Tapescript

Boy: Yes, and the bacon and egg sandwiches are also good. Oh, yes, I heard from Sun Qing that you are going to give a talk at your school. Have you got everything ready yet? Girl: No, I am still preparing the talk. That’s why I wanted to meet you. I need your help. You gave a

talk at your school last month, didn’t you? Boy: Right. I gave a talk about my trip to Beijing, and it turned out to be a big success. Girl: Aha, I’ve found the right person to ask for help. Listen, my problem is what expressions I should use

when I speak. I have a short list, but need more ideas. For example, what should I say when I greet the audience? Boy: It depends on what kind of audience you are speaking to. If they are your schoolmates, or people you know well, you can greet them casually

by saying ‘Good morning, everyone.’ If there are guests from outside the school, you must be more formal. You should greet your audience by saying ‘Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.’ Girl: I see. And how should I express my thanks to the audience for coming? Boy: It’s easy. On a less formal occasion,

you say ‘Thank you for coming to my talk today.’ and for a formal one, you can say ‘I am very grateful that you have come today.’ Girl: Wait, let me write that down. I am very grateful that you have come today. Right? Boy: Right, and you also have to explain

why you are there talking to the audience. What is the subject of your talk? Girl: The Attack on Pearl Harbor. The title of my talk will be ‘The surprise attack.’ I have some illustrations to show my audience. Boy: So you can say ‘Today I am here to

show you some illustrations of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, and to tell you something about how it happened and what its consequences were.’ Girl: What should I mention at the end? Boy: you may want to mention your hopes, such as ‘ I hope that you enjoyed this talk.’ You should also give a final expression of thanks, for example,

‘Thank you for your kind attention.’ Girl: If I want to start a question-and- answer session, what should I say? Boy: Just say ‘If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me.’ If you need any more help, just give me a call. Girl: Thanks so much for your help. Boy: That’s all right.

describing illustrations When we are describing an illustration, we should pay attention to: Do not wish to point out every detail of the illustration. Briefly mention the subject of the illustration. Focus on the related background information about it. Skills building 2:

This is a picture of the Mogao Caves. There are altogether 492 caves. The caves are located in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, on the famous Silk Road. A. Look at this illustration, try to describe it

Look at the picture of Tian’anmen Gate and write a description for it according to the key words given: Tian’anmen Gate 1st October 1949 The founding ceremony of the People’s Republic of China Chairman Mao Zedong

This is a picture of Tian’anmen Gate. On 1 st October, 1949, the founding ceremony of the People’s Republic of China was held on the second floor of Tian’anmen Gate. Chairman Mao announced the founding of the new country as he overlooked Tian’anmen Square.

These photos remind us of the attack carried out in 1941 by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, an important US military base in Hawaii, during World War II.

1. This picture shows the night before the attack. Many Japanese ships and aircraft carriers sailed to the Hawaiian Islands and were waiting there for a surprise attack.

2. This picture shows the scene after the attack. As a result of the fatal attack, much of the US Pacific Fleet was destroyed.

3. The man in this picture is the former US President Franklin Roosevelt. He declared the war against Japan after the attack.

4. This picture shows the US national memorial at Pearl Harbor. It was established to remember those Americans who died in the attack in 1941.

Skills building 3 a simple outline of a speech often includes: A greeting to the audience An expression of thanks to the audience An explanation of why the speaker is there, or what the speech is about planning an outline for a speech

The main body of the speech: details, facts, names, dates, and/or history Your vision and hopes for the future The conclusion of the speech A final expression of thanks

Organize the notes into an outline for the speech Explanation: what UNESCO has done to protect the world cultural heritage. Good afternoon, distinguished guests. I am very honoured and grateful that you have come today. What our team has done in Lijiang, Yunnan Province, China: helping local people form an action plan to preserve the ancient town, move most factories out of town, improve the water supply and fire control

Thank you for your kind attention Future: UNESCO is going to help protect more sites around the world and provide more education to make sure that people can enjoy the treasures from the past. Join us and support our project of protecting the world cultural heritage.

Step 3: giving your talk  Organize students into small groups and choose some sets of illustrations.  Plan an outline according to a set of illustrations.  Give the talk in groups and pay attention to the points given on P57. Make preparations for a talk:

Do not say anything you do not know. Do not move your body or your hands frequently. Write your speech, speak it out and rewrite it until you think it is good enough. More advice on making a speech:

Change your tones to emphasize the important parts of your speech. Practice until you think it is good enough.