莆田二十八中 英语组 background knowledge about mark twain and his play

莆田二十八中 英语组

Background knowledge about Mark Twain and his play .

Getting to know Getting to know a great literary a great literary

giant:giant:

Mark TwainMark Twain

Task 1:

Real name of Mark Twain

Meaning of his pen name

Birth Date

Birth Place

His famous

works

Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Hannibal, Missouri, along the Mississippi

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Life on the Mississippi

This play was made into a film.

Two rich gentlemen in London made a bet on what would happen to a person if he was given a million pound bank-note. An American young man who sailed too far was carried out to sea, but was saved by a British ship for London . So he was now in London , tired,hungry and penniless……

Task 2: Getting to know the story.

Try to gain as much informationas possible from the story throughreading and train reading skills.

Task 1. Scanning

Reading strategy: Go through the play for specific information.Don’t read sentence by sentence.

Characters （人物）：

Henry Adams :

a lost American businessman

in London

“Roderick” and “Oliver” :

two brothers and rich Englishmen

sailing

carried

spotted

London

Towards

nightfall

Lastly

About a month ago

The next morning

Henry was _____ out of the bay.

Henry was ______ out to sea by a strong wind.

Henry was ________by a ship.

Henry arrived in __________ by working as an unpaid hand.

Roderick _______ him and asked him to step in.

Roderick gave Henry a _________ with money in it.

lost

called

letterRoderick gave Henry a _________

with money in it.

Now Henry was______ in London and wandering in the street.

Just at that time

To Henry’s surprise

letter

Task 2. Skimming

Reading strategy: Go through the play for the gist which is the general idea of the play.Don’t worry about the language.

Answer the following questions:

1. Where does Henry Adams come from? Does he know much about London?

2. What did he do in America?

3. Why did he land in Britain?

Henry comes from San Francisco. No, he doesn’t know London at all.

He worked for a mining company.

He was sailing out the bay when he was carried out to sea by a strong wind and was survived by a ship for London.

Henry wandered in London streets.

About a month ago Henry Adams was sailing out of the bay.

The next morning he was spotted by a ship.

Towards nightfall he found himself carried out to sea by a strong wind.

On the ship he earned his passage by working as an unpaid hand.

Put the following eventsin correct order.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Task 3. Detailed-reading

Reading strategy: Read the play carefully and try to get as much information as possible .Try to keep them in mind.

The story happened in _________ in ________. Henry, a tramp who came from ______________ landed in Britain ____________. He earned his ________ by working as an _________ hand. He was _____in the street in_____. Two rich brothers gave him a million pound bank-note because they had made a_____.

London1903

San Franciscoby accident passage

unpaid lost rags

bet

Retell the story

Think about what kind of person Henry was?

It is my first trip here.

Well, to be honest, I have none. (no money)

Well, I can’t say that I have any plans.

I earned my passage by working as an unpaid hand.

Could you offer me some kind of work here?

I don’t want your charity, I just want an honest job.

Well, it may seem luck to you but not to me.

If this is your idea of some kind of joke, I don’t think it’s very funny.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll be on my way.

Let’s learn some important words and expressions:

1. A large quantity of money= a large sum of money

2. Make a bet

make a bet on sth. With sb= bet on sth with sb.

I bet …= I’m certain… 我肯定…3. Permit sb. To do sth.

E.g. : Her mother would not permit her to come back late.

permit doing sth.

E.g. :We do not permit smoking in the office.

4. Find oneself carried out to sea ( 发现某人自己被漂流到海上）

find one’s + 介词短语 / 分词 （发现某人自己不知不觉… )

He found himself walking in the direction of the park.

5. Account for （说明 / 解释某事的原因） E.g. His illness accounts for his absence.

6. by accident= by chance E.g. I only found it by accident.7. stare at stare at angrily= glare at8. to be honest= to tell you the truth = honestly

speaking9. pretend to do pretend to be doing10. take chances of doing sth./on sth.(冒险 /碰运气）

Rewrite the play in to a story in your own words.