The damned human race英文教案Word下载.docx

1、I. Pre-Reading1. Comment on the Quotations on human I sometimes think that God in creating man somewhat overestimated His ability.Oscar Wild Men! The only animal in the world to fear.D.H. Lawrence We are perverse creatures and never satisfied.Nan Fairbrother Such is the human race, often it seems a

2、pity that Noah. didnt miss the boat.Mark Twain Mana creature made at the end of the weeks work when God was tired.Mark TwainDiscussion: what is your view?1） What is your understanding of human nature?2） Have you found any defect? Or nothing negative at all?3） Please name three major defects of human

3、 nature.2. Background knowledge1） About the authorBill Buford （1950- ） Mark Twain （1835-1910） was born Samuel Langhorne Clements in Florida, Missouri, but lived as a child in Hannibal, Missouri, on the Mississippi River. He took the pen name Mark Twain from the call of the pilots on the river steame

4、rs, which indicated that the water was twelve feet deep, a safe depth for a steamer. During his early years, he worked as a riverboat pilot, newspaper reporter, printer, and gold prospector. But then he turned to writing, and became one of the greatest of American writers. His masterpiece:n Innocent

5、s Abroad1869n The Adventures of Tom Sawyer1876n The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn1885n Life on the Mississippi1883n The Prince and the Pauper1882 His writing style:n hilariously humorousn bitterly satirical2） About the text The author writes about ugly human traits and dispositions. In his opinion,

6、 human beings are not ascended from the lower animals but descended from the higher animals.3） Cultural backgrounda） Plains Bison 美洲或欧洲的野牛 Originating in Eurasia（欧亚大陆） but migrating to North America across the Bering land bridge during prehistoric times, they thrived on the Great Plains, until the a

7、rrival of white settlers drove them tothe brink of extinction. Although they once ranged across the Great Plains from Mexico to Canada, with numbers estimated at 60 million, today they exist primarily on game reserves and ranches（大牧场）, with estimated numbers of 200,000.b） Buffalo Chase with Bows and

8、 Lances（长矛） Horsemen pursue buffalo on the Great Plains in Buffalo Chase with Bows and Lances（长矛）. Hunters first isolated a buffalo by riding between it and the rest of the herd; then, riding at full speed alongside the animal, they shot it with a bow and arrow or a lance. Later, firearms were used.

9、c） The Peerage（贵族阶级） The collective noun for peers, men and women whose rank is equal to nobility and aristocracy. In the United Kingdom, the peerage comprises hereditary peers（世袭贵族）and life peers（终身贵族）. Both male and female peers receive the same rights. In the United Kingdom, hereditary peers are

10、known by a number of titles, which rank them in terms of importance. Most important are 24 dukes. Next in rank are the 35 marquises. Earls, the level below, there are around 200 in the UK in total. The female equivalent of an earl is a countess. There are 120 or so viscounts, and the nearly 500 baro

11、ns or baronesses. Life peers, called baron or baroness, total approximately 500. A life peer has all the rights of an hereditary peer, but he or she cannot pass on the title to his or her heirs.duke 公爵；marquis 侯爵；earl: 伯爵viscount 子爵；baron 男爵 The United Kingdom is the only country that has an Upper H

12、ouse comprising the aristocracy. Originally vested with a great deal of power, interms of land, money, and followers, the peers would be summoned to sit in the House of Lords. Thus, the principle of the few representing the many evolved. The original Upper House sat in the Parliament House in the Pa

13、lace of Westminster. Today the United Kingdom is the only country in Europe whose Upper House is still composed of unelected peers. Members of the aristocracy or members of the old noble families still act in an advisory capacity to the monarch.d） Anaconda（水蟒） Anaconda, common name for large South A

14、merican snakes. Anacondas are among the largest and most powerful snakes in the world. A large adult may be 6 m long and weigh 107 kg. Anacondas kill their prey by constriction or squeezing. The common anaconda inhabits the river systems of northern and Amazonian South America east of the Andes（安第斯山

15、脉）. Female anacondas give birth to living young.e） Darwinian theory Darwinism originally included the broad concepts of transmutation of species or of evolution which gained general scientific acceptance when Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, including concepts which predated Darwins theories, but subsequently referred to specificconcepts of n