大二下英語(yǔ)課american characterfu

1、American Culture and Oral English (5)vAmerican CharacterAmerican Characterv v School of Foreign School of Foreign Language EducationLanguage EducationIn your mind, what is an American like?outgoingcheerfuladventurousindependentfriendlypracticalsportsman shiphumorousvLead-in Question:v1. What attitud

2、es towards difficult problems do Americans usually have?vThe pioneering spirit of the immigrant is still an important part of the American character. vAmericans like to believe that a difficult problem can be solved immediately and impossible one may take a little longer. They take pride in meeting

3、challenges and ing difficult obstacles. This can-do spirit has traditionally given Americans a sense of optimism about themselves and their country.vEvidence 1:vWestward Movement & Gold RushvEvidence 2:vAmericans are, trained from childhood to question, analyze and search.v Go look it up for you

4、rself a child will be told. School tasks are designed to stimulate the use of a wide range of materials. Even in the primary grades, children are taught to use libraries and to search for new ideas. vLead-in Question:v2. How do Americans deal with the relations between truth and politeness?vIn the U

5、nited States truth has a higher priority than politeness. vAmericans are taught from babyhood that honesty is the best policy.vThey are direct and assertive.v“Say what you mean, and mean what you say.”vEvidence:l Children argue with their parents and citizen express opposition to actions of the gove

6、rnment;l If the soup is cold or the meat is tough, the diner can complain to the waiter;l If the boss makes a mistake, an employee may politely point it out.vLead-in Question:v3. Do you think Americans are formal or informal? Explain.vAmerican is clearly characterized by much more informality and le

7、ss social distinction than many other countries.vEvidence:l Casual dress l Greeting normsl Being on first name termsv1. Read the essay “What is an American?” and finish the following exercises.v1) The topic sentence of the text is_ _.v2) “They love to think of themselves as though-minded business me

8、n, yet they are push-overs for any hard luck story.” Through the context, we can tell the underlined word carries the meaning that Americans are _ (hard/easy) to e or control.v3) American people are very fond of bigness. The statement is_. (True/False)v4) Americans crowd their highways with cars while complaining about the traffic. The underlined phrase can be replaced by _ (griping about/gripping about).v5) In recent years, they have learned how to play, but they make work of that too. The italicized sentence can be paraphrased as _.v2. Read the poem “The Road Not Taken”. Can you d