Студопедия — Make up a dialogue using the Speech Patterns and act it out (to be done in pairs).
Студопедия Главная Случайная страница Обратная связь

Разделы: Автомобили Астрономия Биология География Дом и сад Другие языки Другое Информатика История Культура Литература Логика Математика Медицина Металлургия Механика Образование Охрана труда Педагогика Политика Право Психология Религия Риторика Социология Спорт Строительство Технология Туризм Физика Философия Финансы Химия Черчение Экология Экономика Электроника

Make up a dialogue using the Speech Patterns and act it out (to be done in pairs).






TEXT THREE

TO SIR, WITH LOVE

 

By E.R.Braithwaite

The Guianan diplomatist Eustace Braithwaite was born in 1912 in British Gui­ana. He flew with the R.A.F. 1 during the war years. After the war со1ощ prejudice precluded him from obtaining the kind of job for which his scientific qualifica­tions fitted him. From 1950—1957 he worked as a school-teacher. In the sixties he was a Permanent Representative of Guiana to the UN. In 1959 Braithwaite won the Ainsfield Wolff Literary Award for To Sir, with Love, a book about his experiences as a teacher in a school in London's East End. The other books that came from his pen are A Kind of Homecoming (1961), Paid Servant (1962), A Choice of Straws (1965), Reluctant Neighbours (1972).

Chapter 8 (Extract)

Each Friday morning the whole school spent the pre-recess pe­riod in writing their Weekly Review. This was one of the old Man's2 pet schemes: and one about which he would brook no interference. Each child would review the events of his school week in his own words, in his own way; he was free to comment, to criticise, to agree or disagree, with any person, subject or method, as long as it was in some way associated with the school. No one and nothing was sacred, from the Headmaster down, and the child, moreover, was safe from any form of reprisal.

"Look at it this way," Mr. Florian said. "It is of advantage to both pupils and teacher. If a child wants to write about something which matters to him, he will take some pains to set it down as carefully and with as much detail as possible; that must in some way improve his written English in terms of spelling, construction and style. Week by week we are able, through his review, to follow and observe his progress in such things. As for the teachers, we soon get a pretty good idea what the children think of us and whether or not we are getting close to them... You will discover that these children are reasonably fair, even when they comment on us. If we are careless about our clothing, manners or person they will soon notice it, and it would be pointless to be angry with them for pointing such things out. Finally, from the reviews, the sensible teacher will observe the trend of individual and collective interests and plan his work accordingly."

On the first Friday of my association with the class I was anxious to discover what sort of figure I cut in front of them, and what kind of comment they would make about me. I read through some of the reviews at lunch-time, and must admit to a mixture of relief and dis­appointment at discovering that, apart from mentioning that they had a new "blackie" teacher, very little attention was given to me...

It occurred to me that they probably imagined I would be as transient as my many predecessors, and therefore saw no point in wasting either time or effort in writing about me. But if I had made so little impression on them, it must be my own fault, I decided. It was up to me to find some way to get through to them.

Thereafter I tried very hard to be a successful teacher with my class, but somehow, as day followed day in painful procession, I re­alized that I was not making the grade. I bought and read books on the psychology of teaching in an effort to discover some way of providing the children with the sort of intellectual challenge to which they would respond, but the suggested methods somehow did not meet my particular need, and just did not work. It was as if I were trying to reach the children through a thick pane of glass, so remote and uninterested they seemed.

Looking back, I realize that in fact I passed through three phases in my relationship with them. The first was the silent treatment, and during that time, for my first few weeks, they would do any task I set them without question or protest, but equally without interest or enthusiasm; and if their interest was not required for the task in front of them would sit and stare at me with the same careful patient attention a birdwatcher devotes to the rare feathered visitor...

I took great pains with the planning of my lessons, using illus­trations from the familiar things of their own background... I creat­ed various problems within the domestic framework, and tried to encourage their participation, but it was as though there were a conspiracy of indifference, and my attempts at informality fell pitifully flat.

Gradually they moved on to the second and more annoying phase of their campaign, the "noisy" treatment. It is true to say that all of them did not actively join in this but those who did not were obviously in some sympathy with those who did. During a lesson, especially one in which it was necessary for me to read or speak to them, someone would lift the lid of a desk and then let it fall with a loud bang; the culprit would merely sit and look at me with wide innocent eyes as if it were an accident.

They knew as well as I did that there was nothing I could do about it, and I bore it with as much show of aplomb as I could man­age. One or two such interruptions during a lesson were usually enough to destroy its planned continuity... So I felt angry and frus­trated when they rudely interrupted that which was being done purely for their own benefit.

One morning I was reading to them some simple poetry. Just when I thought I had inveigled them into active interest one of the girls, Monica Page, let the top of the desk fall; the noise seemed to reverberate in every part of my being and I felt a sudden burning anger. I looked at her for some moments before daring to open my mouth; she returned my gaze, then casually remarked to the class at large: "The bleeding 3 thing won't stay up." It was all rather de­liberate, the noisy interruption and the crude remark, and it her­alded the third stage of their conduct. From then on the words "bloody" or "bleeding" were hardly ever absent from any remark they made to one another especially in the classroom. They would call out to each other on any silly pretext and refer to the "bleed­ing" this or that, and always in a voice loud enough for my ears. One day during an arithmetic period I played right into their hands. I was so overcome by anger and disgust that I completely lost my temper... I went upstairs and sat in the library, the only

place where I could be alone for a little while. I felt sick at heart, because it seemed that this latest act, above all others, was intend­ed to display their utter disrespect for me. They seemed to have no sense of decency, these children; everything they said or did was coloured by an ugly viciousness, as if their minds were forever rooting after filth. "Why, oh why," I asked myself, "did they be­have like that? What was wrong with them?"

EXPLANATORY NOTES

1. R.A.F.: Royal Air Force.

2. old Man: here School Headmaster.

3. bleeding: vulg. bloody

ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY

Vocabulary Notes

1. school л 1) an educational establishment for children, as a nursery school, primary school, secondary school, boarding school, compulsory school age, e. g. The school leaving age has been raised to 16. Most schools in England take football seriously. 2) (no article) the time when teaching is given; the process of being educated; lessons, e. g. He was very bright at school. It was nearly time for school. He left school when he was fifteen. 3) all the pupils in an educational institution, e. g. The school will have a holiday tomorrow. 4) any institution giving specialized instruction, either to children or to adults; a specialized institution which forms part of a university, as a ballet school, law school, London School of Economics. 5) a group of persons having the same ideas about a subject, as the Dutch school of painting.

Note: The English for «учиться в школе» is 'to go to school', 'to be at school' and not 'to study at school', e. g. He learnt to read before he went to school. Moth­er and Mrs. Dames had been at school together.

schooling n education obtained at school, e. g. Schooling is compulsory in Russia.

scholar n a learned and erudite person, especially one who is learned in the classical languages and their literature, e. g. Dr. Grant is a distinguished scholar.

scholarship Л a sum of money given by an individual, a collective body, or the state, to enable a person to study, e. g. He has won a scholarship to Cambridge.

2. advantage n 1) smth. useful or helpful, smth. likely to bring success, esp. success in competition with another or others, e. g. The advantages of a good education are great. The shallowness of the seas round the British Isles is in some ways an advantage, to have (gain, win, give smb.) an advantage (over smb.) to have a better position or opportunity, e. g. He has an advantage over other students, he is well-read, to have the advantage of to be in a better position because of smth., as to have the advantage of being modern (being cheap, etc.), e. g. He has the advantage of being young. 2) benefit, profit; to take advantage of smth. to make good use of smth., to profit by smth., as to take advantage of an opportunity (of smb.'s weakness, ignorance, absence, etc.), e. g. Jack took advantage of the opportunity to speak to Gwendolen, to advantage in a way that shows its good points, as to be seen (heard, shown, exhibited) to advantage, e. g. The picture is seen to (better) advantage from a distance, ant. disadvantage.

3. admit vt/i 1) to allow a person to enter, e. g. The woman opened the door and admitted me into the house. Children are not admitted. 2) to accept as a member of, as to be admitted to an institute (school, party), e. g. Only one hundred boys are admitted to the school every year. 3) to have enough space for, e. g. The theatre admits only 200 persons. 4) to acknowledge, confess, accept as true, as to admit one's mistake (fault, that one's wrong), e. g. You must admit that the task is difficult, ant. deny, e. g. I deny that the statement is true.

admission n 1) allowing to come, go in, being admitted, as admission is free, admission by ticket, price of admission; to apply for admission to an institute (party), e. g. Admission to the school is by examination only. 2) statement admitting smth., as an admission of guilt, e. g. The accused refused to make an admission of his guilt.

4. waste vt/i 1) to use without a good purpose or result; to spend uselessly, as to waste one's time (energy, money, work), e. g. All his efforts were wasted. 2) to lose strength by degrees, e. g. He was wasting away.

waste n unprofitable use; useless remains of smth. e. g. It's a waste of time to wait any longer. There is too much waste in the house, to lay waste to ravage, to destroy, as to lay waste a country, a city, a village.

waste adj useless; unwanted; thrown away, as waste paper, a waste paper basket, waste effort.

wasteful adj using or spending too much or uselessly, as a wasteful man, wasteful habits, wasteful process.

back vi/t 1) to go, or cause to go backwards, e. g. Montmorency would growl and back at a rapid pace. 2) to give support to, to help (with money, arguments, etc.), as to back smb. or smb.'s proposal (plans, etc.)

back n 1) the hinder part of the body, as to stand with one's back to the window; to turn one's back to (the audience, the window, etc.), e. g. Turn your back to me, I'll put your collar straight, to turn one's back on smb. to turn away or run away from smb., e. g. It was mean of you to turn your back on her when she needed your help, to do smth. behind smb.'s back to do smth. without smb.'s knowledge, e. g. You ought not to criticize her behind her back. 2) the part of a thing which is farthest from the front, as the back of the house, the back of one's head, the back of a chair, at the back of one's mind; 3) (modifying other nouns) away from the front, as a back seat (street, vowel), back teeth (rows, etc.)

back adv to, in or into an earlier position or state, as to go (run, turn, be, come) back; to go back on one's word to fail to keep a promise, e. g. One cannot rely on a person who goes back on his word, to keep smth. back from smb. to conceal, e. g. You needn't keep this news back from him. back from at a distance from, e. g. The house stood back from the road, back and forth to and fro, as to walk (run, fly) back and forth, backbreaking adj very hard, as backbreaking work, backbone n the row of bones joined together along the back; to the backbone (fig.) completely, e. g. He is Russian to the backbone.

background n 1) contrasting surface; on (against) the background of smth., e. g. The white house stood out on the background of the green trees, on (against) a white (black, red) background, e. g. The girl wore a dress with white spots on a blue background. 2) the part which is at the back, as in the background (foreground) of a picture; to keep (stay, remain, be) in the background to keep where one will not be noticed, e. g. She is very shy and always keeps in the background. 3) origin, social status and qualifications of a person, e. g. Tell me your background (tell me about yourself).

backward adj behind others, as a backward district (child, people), backwards adv with the back coming first, e. g. Can you spell the word "backwards"?

5. require vt to ask for, to need, as to require extra help, e. g. The matter requires great care. He did all that was. required of him. syn. demand (to ask for with authority, to insist on having), e. g. The policeman demanded his name. The strikers demanded immediate payment.

requirement n thing required, as the requirements of the law, to meet the requirements of people, e. g. What are the requirements for entering this institute?

6. reference n 1) (instance of) alluding, e. g. You should make reference to a dictionary. The book is full of references to places that I know well. 2) a statement about a person's character or abilities, e. g. The clerk has excellent references from former employers. 3) note, direction, telling where certain information may be found, e. g. He dislikes history books that are crowded with references to earlier authorities.

refer vt/i 1) to send, take, hand over (to smb. or smth.), e. g. I was referred to the manager. 2) to speak of, allude to; to apply to, e. g. Don't refer to this matter again, please. Does that remark refer to me? 3) to turn (to), go (to) for information, etc., e. g. The speaker often referred to his notes.

8. temper n 1) a disposition, as a person of even (pleasant, fiery, etc.) temper; to have an even (sweet, uncertain, quick, etc.) temper; hot- tempered

good-tempered, bad-tempered; 2) a mood, as to be in a good (bad, forgiving, calm, friendly) temper.

Note: When the word is used without an adjective, the meaning is always "an angry state of mind".

to lose one's temper, to control (to keep) one's temper, to get (to fly) into a temper about smth., to be in a temper, e. g. I was surprised but I did not lose my temper. There is nothing to fly into a temper about. Joseph saw that she was fighting to keep her temper.

9. display vt 1) to show, esp. spread out or place so that there is no difficulty in seeing, as to display pictures (paintings) in a gallery; to display goods in a shop-window; 2) to show signs of having, as to display courage (heroism, anxiety, a contempt for one's feeling, no enthusiasm about smth.).

display n displaying, showing or exhibiting, as a fine display of courage, a display of bad temper, a fashion display, to make a display of one's affection, e. g. There was a fine display of flowers at the ex­hibition.

10. decent adj 1) proper and suitable, good for a particular time or place, as decent clothes (conditions, marks); 2) modest, not likely to cause people to feel shame, as a decent fellow (conduct, book, film).

decency n the quality of being decent, e. g. He doesn't know the meaning of shame or common decency. Have the decency to admit it.







Дата добавления: 2015-12-04; просмотров: 315. Нарушение авторских прав; Мы поможем в написании вашей работы!



Аальтернативная стоимость. Кривая производственных возможностей В экономике Буридании есть 100 ед. труда с производительностью 4 м ткани или 2 кг мяса...

Вычисление основной дактилоскопической формулы Вычислением основной дактоформулы обычно занимается следователь. Для этого все десять пальцев разбиваются на пять пар...

Расчетные и графические задания Равновесный объем - это объем, определяемый равенством спроса и предложения...

Кардиналистский и ординалистский подходы Кардиналистский (количественный подход) к анализу полезности основан на представлении о возможности измерения различных благ в условных единицах полезности...

Сосудистый шов (ручной Карреля, механический шов). Операции при ранениях крупных сосудов 1912 г., Каррель – впервые предложил методику сосудистого шва. Сосудистый шов применяется для восстановления магистрального кровотока при лечении...

Трамадол (Маброн, Плазадол, Трамал, Трамалин) Групповая принадлежность · Наркотический анальгетик со смешанным механизмом действия, агонист опиоидных рецепторов...

Мелоксикам (Мовалис) Групповая принадлежность · Нестероидное противовоспалительное средство, преимущественно селективный обратимый ингибитор циклооксигеназы (ЦОГ-2)...

Упражнение Джеффа. Это список вопросов или утверждений, отвечая на которые участник может раскрыть свой внутренний мир перед другими участниками и узнать о других участниках больше...

Влияние первой русской революции 1905-1907 гг. на Казахстан. Революция в России (1905-1907 гг.), дала первый толчок политическому пробуждению трудящихся Казахстана, развитию национально-освободительного рабочего движения против гнета. В Казахстане, находившемся далеко от политических центров Российской империи...

Виды сухожильных швов После выделения культи сухожилия и эвакуации гематомы приступают к восстановлению целостности сухожилия...

Studopedia.info - Студопедия - 2014-2024 год . (0.009 сек.) русская версия | украинская версия