1. Unit 4
The American Dream

2. Warm-up Activities 1.What is the American Dream in your opinion?
the belief that everyone has the chance to achieve success: a happy family, an ideal job, and a nice house. For minorities and immigrants, it also includes freedom and equal rights.
2. In what ways can a person be considered as being successful?

4. Dream: A Balanced Life

5. Text A Tony Trivisonno’s American Dream

6. Part Division of the Text
GR _ 1
Text Organization
Part Division of the Text
Parts
Para(s)
Main Ideas 1
1~29
With determination and with help from Mr. Crawford, Tony achieved his dream of having his own farm.
Tony’s career set the author thinking about why and to what extent he had been successful. 2
30~33

7. Time phrases L2 one evening L12 the next evening
L19 the next two days L27 summer passed
into fall
L32 the months passed L34 one day
L39 months later L44 a year or two passed
L55 from then on L59 after about two years
L71 sometime later L77 then, during the war

8. Function of the time words and phrases
They serve as transitional devices by which an author switches from one event to another.

9. Skim and scan: part I(para1.-----para29)
Question: How many times is this sentence repeated in the text?
Why is it repeated?
The sentence is repeated four times. That’s because it shows Tony’s determination in finding a job, and his optimistic view that people would help a man who needed a job.

10. BR_2_2
First Immigrants

11. BR_2_2_pop
The first immigrants to America came almost from western Europe. During the first decades of the 17th century, settlers from England colonized Virginia and New England. Immigration to New England began in 1620 when English Puritans established Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts. The values of these Puritan settlers strongly influenced the culture of the American colonies and later of the United States.

12. turn away refuse to help (sb.) or allow (sb.) to enter a place
他拒绝了所有的应征者。
He turned all the applicants away.
He turned away several people who didn’t have the tickets.

13. BR _3
The Great Depression

14. BR _3_pop
The Great Depression is considered the most severe economic crisis in the industrialized world. It began when American stock market fell on Friday, Oct. 24, 1929, and continued the following Tuesday, known as Black Tuesday, with a greater fall. The Depression struck many other countries as well, particularly Germany, Japan, and Britain. In the early 1930s millions of people lost their jobs, and millions of businesses and banks failed. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies improved the situation, but the Great Depression did not come to an end until World War II when industrial production for the war increased.

15. Language points Well, what do you do with such determination and hope?
Paraphrase the sentence.
It is hard to refuse a person who is determined and hopeful to get a job.

16. determination
n. the ability to continue trying to achieve what you have decided to do even when this is difficult
He has great determination to learn English well.

17. skilled adj. 1) having skill; trained; experienced a skilled worker
2) needing skill
skilled work
CF: skilled & skillful
skilled, skillful 表示“有技术的，熟练的”时可以互换。
skilled 通常是指受过正规训练，有多年实践经验而掌握某项专门技术。
skillful 是指人聪明，做事很灵巧，尤指手的灵巧。

18. Language points
My wife and I were delighted with what we felt was a satisfying end of the story.
Q: What does the sentence imply?
My wife and I were happy with what Tony had achieved, and thought that the whole thing had thus been settled.

19. Skim and scan: part II(para30------para33)
Tony did not begin on the bottom rung of the ladder. He began in the basement.
What does “ladder” refer to? And what does
“basement” refer to?
“Ladder” refers to the way to success. “Basement” refers to Tony’s starting point. He was worse than ordinary people. He had nothing to help him seek his American Dream.
2.What can you infer from the sentence?
Tony had nothing when he arrived in the United States, and he built up from nothing.

20. for sale: available to be bought
e.g. The company will put the houses for sale.
e.g. Not for Sale. 非卖品。
Collocation:
on sale 减价，贱卖
a sale on credit 赊购
包退包换的
on sale or return

21. character n. the particular collection of qualities that make sb. /
sth. different from others
He has a strong but gentle character.
Character building should be the main point of education.

22. send for: ask for the arrival of
e.g. I was seriously ill and my father had to send for a doctor.
e.g. Do you want to send for the police?

23. Writing strategy: The importance of details in describing a person
A narrative comprises details. It is important to remember only those that help bring out the main idea of the narrative are useful and effective.
Functions of these details: they show that Tony’s social status has been improving and he has been moving nearer to his success.

24. GR _ 2_P1_3.1
Scanning
Scan the text to find out descriptions of Tony’s physical appearance.
Para. 1
He was about five-foot-seven or eight, and thin.
Para. 22
He seemed to stand a little straighter. He was heavier. He had a look of confidence.
Para. 27
… neatly dressed

25. Key words: mow the lawn, clean up the yard, clear snow, an apprentice, skilled, buy a house , for sale, a wreck, buy a farm

26. Summary Writing From the start, Tony showed ___________________
His determination to achieve his dream
From the start, Tony showed ___________________
(实现梦想的决心).When he turned to Mr. Crard for the
first time, Mr. Crawford _____________ (拒绝了他),
but he didn’t give up. Later, Mr. Crawford offered
him a job in the factory, he worked hard, and
became_______________ (技术工人). Then with Mr.
Crawford’s help, he________________(以人品担保
得到贷款) for a house. Finally he bought a farm, and
he was able to ___________ (把家人接来). His
dream came true.
Turned him away
a skilled worker
got a loan on character
send for his families

27. Homework
Review what has been learned, especially the confusable words mentioned in class.
Finish all the exercises for Text A
Write an essay describing one of your classmates.