Unit One

Fresh Start

Nice to meet you all, welcome back!

Learning Objectives

By the end of this unit, you are supposed to understand the main idea, structure of the text and the author’s writing style

master the key language points and grammatical structures in the text

understand the better attitudes towards making mistakes in college as well as in life.

Teaching ProcedurePre-reading QuestionsText I. Fresh Start● Main idea of the passage● Structure analysis● Passage understanding● Language points ● sentence studies ● vocabulary studies

Text II. A University stands and Shines

Pre-reading questions

Do you remember your first days at college? Did anything special happen then?

tense/ gulp down/ rush into/ a tide of/ sweep over/ flesh over/ a shrill of/ tear open/ wake up with a start/ a burst of / amused

Memorable/unforgettable/ …?

Are you afraid of making mistakes that cause embarrassment? Why or why not?

Yes?It’s a destruction of one’s confidence. No?Even Homer sometimes nods.

How to deal with your mistake?

Main idea of the text

This is an autobiographical essay describing the author’s true inner thoughts during the first days of college.( What are the thoughts?)

The author pays great attention to the details while sharing a few trivial incidents with the readers. (What are they?)

At last, the author gets to understand how to face mistakes in college. (How?)

Structure Analysis Part 1(para.1)Introduction: my feelings and plans on the first day

of college. Part 2(paras.2-9) Description of a few incidents during my first days of

college.1st : pretending not to be a newcomer2nd : seat strategy and wrong classroom incident3rd : funny ketchup incident Part 3(paras.10-14)Conclusion: I’ve learnt that one should be relaxed

and be oneself as college student.

Text I Fresh Start

1 I first began to wonder what I was doing on a college campus anyway when my parents drove off, leaving me standing pitifully in a parking lot, wanting nothing more than to find my way safely to my dorm room. The fact was that no matter how mature I like to consider myself, I was feeling just a bit first-gradish. Adding to my distress was the distinct impression that everyone on campus was watching me. My plan was to keep my ears open and my mouth shut and hope no one would notice I was a freshman.

2 With that thought in mind, I raised my head, squared my shoulders, and set out in the direction of my dorm, glancing (and then ever so discreetly) at the campus map clutched in my hand. It took everything I had not to stare when I caught my first glimpse of real live college football player. What confidence, what reserve, what muscles! I only hoped his attention was drawn to my airs of assurance rather than to my shaking knees. I spent the afternoon seeking out each of my classrooms so that I could make a perfectly timed entrance before each lecture without having to ask dumb questions about it whereabouts.

3 The next morning I found my first class and marched in. once I was in the room, however, another problem awaited me. Where to sit? Freshmen manuals advise sitting near the front, showing the professor in intelligent and energetic demeanor. After deliberation, I chose a seat in the first row and to the side. I was in the foreground (as advised), but out of the professor’s direct line of vision.

4 I cracked my anthology of American literature and scribbled the date at the top of crisp ruled page. “Welcome to Biology 101”, the professor began. A cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck. I groped for my schedule and checked the room number. I was in the right room. Just the wrong building.

5 So now what? Get up and leave in the middle of the lecture? Wouldn’t the professor be angry? I knew everyone would stare. Forget it . I settled into my chair and tried to assume the scientific pose of a biology major, bending slightly forward, tensing my arms in preparation for furious notetaking, and cursing under my breath. The bottled snakes along the wall should have tipped me off.

6 After class I decided my stomach (as well as my ego) needed a little nourishment, and I hurried to the cafeteria. I piled my tray with sandwich goodies and was heading for the salad bar when I accidentally stepped in a large puddle of ketchup. Keeping myself upright and getting out of the mess was not going to be easy, and this flailing of my feet was doing no good. Just as I decided to try another maneuver, my food tray tipped and I lost my balance. As my rear end met the floor, I saw my entire life pass before my eyes: it ended with my first day of college classes.

7 In the seconds after my fall I thought how nice it would be if no one had noticed. But as all the students in the cafeteria came to their feet, table by table, cheering and clapping, I knew they had not only noticed, they were determined that I would never forget it. Slowly, I kicked off my ketchup-soaked sandals and jumped clear of the toppled tray and spilled food. A cleanup brigade came charging out of the kitchen, mops in hand. I sneaked out of the cafeteria as the cheers died down behind me.

8 For three days I dined alone on nothing more than humiliation, shame, and an assortment of junk food from a machine strategically placed outside my room. On the fourth day I couldn’t take another crunchy-chewy-salty-sweet bite. I needed some real food. Perhaps three days was long enough for the campus population to have forgotten me. So off to the cafeteria I went.

9 I made my way through the food line and tiptoed to a table, where I collapsed in relief. Suddenly I heard a crash that sounded vaguely familiar. I looked up to see that another poor soul had met the fate I’d thought was reserved only for me. I was even more surprised when I saw who the poor soul was: the very composed, very upper class football player I’d seen just before (though he didn’t look quite so composed wearing spaghetti on the front of his shirt). My heart went out to him as people began to cheer and clap as they had for me. He got up, hands held high above his head in a victory clasp, grinning from ear to ear. I expected him to slink out of the cafeteria as I had, but instead he turned around and began preparing another tray. And that’s when I realized I had been taking myself far too seriously.

10 What I had interpreted as malicious attempt to embarrass a naïve freshman had been merely a moment of college fun. Probably everyone in the cafeteria had done something equally dumb when he or she was a freshman – and had lived to tell about it.

11 Who cared whether I dropped a tray, where I sat in class, or even whether I showed up in the wrong lecture? Nobody. This wasn’t like high school. Popularity was not so important: running with the crowd was no longer a law of survival. In college, it didn’t matter. This was my big chance to do my own thing, be my own woman – if could get past my preoccupation with doing everything perfectly.

12 Once I recognized that I had no one’s expectations to live up to but my own, I relaxed. The shackle of self- consciousness fell away, and I began to view college as a wonderful experiment. I tried on new experiences like articles of clothing, checking their fit and judging their worth. I broke a few rules to test my conscience. I dressed a little differently until I found the Real Me. I discovered a taste for jazz, and I decided I liked going barefoot.

13 I gave up trying to act my way through college (this wasn’t drama school) and began not acting at all. College, I decided, was probably the only time I would be completely forgiven for massive mistakes (including stepping in puddles of ketchup and dropping food trays). So I used the opportunity to make all the ones I thought I’d never make.

14 Three years after graduation, I’m still making mistakes. And I’m even forgiven for a few.

Key sentences The fact was that no matter how mature I like to

consider myself, I was feeling just a bit first-gradish. (para.1)

Paraphrase:In fact, however full-grown I tended to think of my

self, I was feeling that I had a certain quality and characteristics of a first-grade student.

No matter how…First-gradish: -ishChildish, bookish, babyish…

My plan was to keep my ears open and my mouth shut and hope no one would notice I was a freshman. (para.1)

Paraphrase:I planned to be observant and silent so

that nobody would notice that I was only a newcomer to college.

Did you have the same feeling? Why do some newcomers want to be seemingly mature?

I only hoped his attention was drawn to me airs of assurance rather than to my shaking knees. (para.2)

Paraphrase: I only wished that it was my seeming

confidence but not my trembling knees that made him notice me.

My air of assurance My shaking knees

The comparison made the incident very vivid

For three days I dined alone on nothing more than humiliation, shame, and an assortment of junk food from a machine strategically placed outside my room. (para.8)

Paraphrase: For three days I felt humiliated and ashamed,

and the only food I tool was all sorts of junk from a machine, which was placed outside my room strategically.

With the use of “dined” “humiliation, shame” and “an assortment of junk food”, the author showed great humor in it.

I was even more surprised when I saw who the poor soul was: the very composed, very upper class football player I’d seen just days before. (para.9)

Paraphrase: I was even more amazed when I saw who

the pitiful man was: it was rightly the calm upper class football player I’d seen several days before.

The poor soul—figurative speech ? The footballer (second time)-the

development of the story

What I had interpreted as a malicious attempt to embarrass a naïve freshman had been merely a moment of college fun.(para.10)

Paraphrase:I had considered this a malicious attempt

to humiliate an ignorant freshman, while actually, it turned out to be a sheer moment of college pleasure.

This is the minor change beginning from the incident which would show the author’s attitude afterwards.

This wasn’t like high school. Popularity was not so important: running with the crowd was no longer a law of survival. In college, it didn’t matter. (para.11)

Paraphrase:It wasn’t high school here, as popularity

was not so important in college as in high school: it didn’t matter whether you were widely accepted or admired or not, and you didn’t have to behave to the liking of everybody else.

Then how to be a qualified college student?

This was my big chance to do my own thing, be my own woman– if I could get past my preoccupation with doing everything perfectly. (para.11)

Paraphrase: So long as I could give up the attempt

to be perfect in everything, I would well be able to do what I wanted in the way I was comfortable with.

Once I recognized that I had no one’s expectations to live up to but my own, I relaxed. The shackle of self- consciousness fell away, and I began to view college as a wonderful experiment. (para.12)

Paraphrase: The moment I realized that I didn’t need to

live with other people’s anticipation, I eased myself. When I got rid of the restraint from the self- consciousness. I began to regard college a marvelous experiment.

Live up to: Metaphor used here:?

Assignments

Translation exercise on p.9 Read text II and think about the questions

listed afterwards. Finish the exercises in unit one

Text II A University Stands and Shines

Questions for discussion How do you understand the idea that a

University is even more enduring than religions and dynasties?

What is Humanist? What do you think are the major marks of the Humanist?

Make an analysis of these few paragraphs and show four main points of the selection.

Key words and expressions of the text

Square /square off/square up Discreetly Reserve Grope/ grope one’s way Tip off Flail Maneuver Rear/bring up the rear/rear-end Sneak/sneaky/on the sneak/ sneak away (off, out)/

sneak in (out)/ sneak up on Clasp Slink (away/by/off) Malicious/maliciousness/malign