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Unit 3 Gender Differences

Teaching Aims:

In this unit students are required to :

1) get to know some useful information concerning the topic of the reading passages in this unit and to know more about English culture;

2) do some preparation activities such as discussion, group work, etc. to practice their spoken skill and communicative skills;

3) grasp some new words and try to use these words which help them to enrich their vocabulary;

4)read the in-class reading passage in a limited time and grasp some expressions and grammatical points in the in-class reading passage to improve their reading comprehension;

5) do some post-reading exercises and some after-class reading to practice what they have got to know in class to improve their English comprehensive skills.;

6) translate some typical sentences into Chinese or English by using some expressions learned in the reading passages to acquire some translating skills and better their translating abilities.

I. Preparation

Useful information:

"Gender differences" is a term used to refer to both biological and social characteristics that distinguish men and women. The social characteristics include such things as differences in hair styles, clothing, family responsibilities, occupational roles, acceptable behavior and other culturally learned activities and traits. All of these differences are linked to the non-biological notions of masculinity and femininity which vary from one culture to another.

Many of the traditional stereotypes associated with women were questioned by the feminist movement that began in the West in the early 1960s. This movement (also known as the women's liberation movement) favored increased rights and activities for women throughout society. Feminists stressed that it was not primarily biology that determined women's roles and status in society, but social prejudices. According to the feminists, women were usually socialized and educated differently from men because it was assumed that women were physically and intellectually inferior.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, efforts were made to reduce sexist attitudes in educational systems and in the workplace. Girls were encouraged to study medicine, law, mathematics, engineering, etc. and to follow careers normally associated with men. Laws were passed prohibiting sexual discrimination in employment practices in order to give women equal job opportunities.

Despite social reforms and changing attitudes, there are still many unanswered questions regarding gender differences. Do women feel compelled to act more like men in order to overcome stereotypes? Can or should men and women ever be truly equal in any society?

II. Pre-Reading Activities

Discuss the following questions.

A. Apart from the physical differences between men and women, are there any features of men and women that are patterned by culture?

■ Give some examples.

■ Men

□ have an aggressive nature.

□ seldom express feelings.

□ are strong and full of vigor.

□ are independent.

□ are daring（胆大的，勇敢的）.

□ are not excited by trivial（not important细小的) matters.

□ are less concerned with their appearance.

□ are more likely to “explode like volcano”.

□ make decisions easily.

□ are more dominating.

■ Women

□ are neat and clean.

□ like to talk.

□ are shy and obedient.

□ have an extremely strong need for security.

□ pay a great deal of attention to their appearance. Are loyal.

□ easily express gentle feelings.

□ are well-mannered.

□ understand other people’s feelings better.

□ are more sensitive.

B. In each subject, who do you think do better, boys or girls? (art, language, music, geography, chemistry, history, P.E. , math)

□ ----I think, generally speaking, boys do better in chemistry, math, geography and P.E., and girls in art, language, music and history.

C. From your point of view, what are the characteristics of the ideal wife and the ideal husband?

■ Ideal husband

□ tall, handsome and strong

□ rich

□ capable of supporting a family

□ educated and with a good career

□ kind and loyal

■ Ideal wife

□ warmed-hearted

□ beautiful and healthy

□ capable of understanding her husband

□ intelligent and educated

□ having some interests in common with her husband

□ a good cook

D. Would the ideal wife and the ideal husband have been different in your parents’ generation and in your grandparents’generation? If so, how?

□ ----Yes. In my grandparents’ generation, people, especially women, didn’t have to be educated so long as they had someone to support them or could earn a living. Of course, a woman would have liked to marry a rich man, but at that time, money was not considered to be so important. In my parents’ generation, knowledge and money were less important. The ideal husband and the ideal wife would both be workers.

III. Passage-Reading Activities

1. Finishing reading the passage within 16 minutes, and point out the main idea of the passage.

2. Filling the blanks in the reading comprehension exercises.

3. Language Points

1）to constitute

[a]to constitute: make up(a whole);form

■ To constitute something is to be the parts that form it or make it up.

■ Seven days constitute a week.

■ Listening, speaking, reading, then writing constitute the fundamental order in language learning.

[b] to constitute: to set up; establish

■ Governments should be constituted by the will of the people.

■ A committee was constituted to investigate(look into) rising prices.

[c] to constitute: to appoint任命(某人)担任(某职务),指定,派...为

■ He was constituted chief adviser. 他被任命为首席顾问。

辨析constitute, compose, comprise组成,构成,由...组成

■ to constitute正式用语,指若干部分构成一个整体,不用被动语态

to compose指一个整体由若干部分构成或由哪些要素构成,常用be composed of (整体is composed of部分)

■ Water is composed of Hydrogen and Oxygen.

■ Steel is composed of iron and a number of other elements.

■ The book comprises ten chapters.这本书共有十章。

■ Studying and doing experiments comprised practically the whole of his life. 研究和做实验几乎就是他生活的全部内容。

to comprise不仅有 “整体由...构成”的意思,还有”由若干部分构成整体”的意思,不用被动语态。

to make up组成,构成(注意:被动语态的句子要加,多用于被动语态)

■ These three articles make up the whole book.

■ The board of directors is made up of experienced people.

■ Society is made up of people with widely differing abilities.

■ to consist of: to be made up of

■ The United Kingdom consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

■ A university consists of teachers, administrators and students.

2) in (the)process of

■ When you are talking about sth. that has happened or has been done, and you talk about sth. else that happened or was done in the process, you mean that the second event happened during the first or as a result of the first.

■ You are in the process of sth when you are still doing it.

■ The house is in the process of being built.

■ They play an important part in the process of learning.

3) to call on

[a] to call on :to visit sb

■ You call on sb when you pay tem a short visit.

■ We called on Ton on the way north.

■ I hope to call on you at your office at 3 today.

[b] to call on sb to do sth/to call on sb for sth: to ask sb to do sth/to ask sb for sth

■ When you call on or upon sb to do sth you ask or demand that they should do it.

■ He called on me to speak after him.

■ I’ll call on Mary for an answer.

[c] to call on: to need to use

■ The President called on his people to make sacrifice for the good of their country.

■ We call on every friend to support him

4) to have an impact on...

impact: strong impression or effect on sb./sth.

■ The impact that something has on you is the effect it has or the impression it makes.

■ His criticisms have made little impact on our resolve to pursue the campaign.

■ That first meeting had a very strong impact on me.

■ This book had/made a tremendous impact on its readers.

■ the impact of new methods/technology on modern industry.新方法,新技术对现代工业的巨大影响。

to impact on: to have an effect on ...

influence: power to affect a person’s character or actions

■ You have influence over sb. if they tend to follow your advice, agree with your opinions or copy your behavior or the way you do things.

■ He’ll use his influence with the manager to get sth done about it.

■ Something has an influence on things that it affect or changes.

■ The book discusses the influence of the war on the poverty of the period.

5) to develop

[a] to develop sb./sth. from...into...: cause to grow gradually

■ Something or someone develops when they grow, change and progress; you develop sth. when you put your efforts and energy into making it progress

■ Hand in hand with reading he had developed the habit of making notes.

■ They provided good material for developing the reading skills.

[b] to develop: to treat (an exposed film)so that the photo can be seen冲洗胶卷)

■ to take a film to be developed

6) as a matter of fact

■ You use the phrases in fact, in actual fact, as a matter of fact and in point of fact to emphasize the truth or accuracy of what you are reporting, or to correct a wrong impression that may have been made.

■ As a matter of fact, we also received a letter from him.

■ As a matter of fact, I don’t know she/he died yesterday.

the matter: wrong

■ Something is the matter when sth is wrong, or there is a problem.

■ I could see she had been crying, and I asked her what the matter was.

■ I couldn’t understand what was the matter with me.

■ There is something the matter with this car.

■ There is nothing the matter with him; he is just pretending.

■ Anything the matter with you?

in the matter of: concerning在...方面

■ The children have everything they need in the matter of clothes, but very few toys.

to make matters worse: to make a state of affairs more serious, more difficult to deal with

■ Trying to smooth her only made matters worse.

■ I realized that anything I could say would only matters worse.

7) to take over: to gain control over and responsibility for

■ To take over a company or organization is to gain control of it.

■ You take over a job from another person when you start doing it after they have stopped doing it.

■ This large company has taken over many small ones.

■ He is taking over my job when I am on holiday.

■ Who do you think will take over now that the governor has been dismissed?

8) subordination...to

to subordinate sth. to sth.: to treat sth as of lesser important than sth. else

■ If you subordinate sth. to sth. else you treat it as being less important than that other thing.

■ He subordinated his personal needs to his political interests.

■ to subordinate passion to reason使感情受理智控制

subordinate adj.

■ Something that is subordinate to something else is secondary to or of less importance than that other thing.

■ If one person is subordinate to another, they are of a lower rank or importance than other person and take orders from them.

[opposite superior]

■ In the army a captain is subordinate to a major.

9) in accordance with: in agreement with or harmony with sth.

■ Something is done or happens in accordance with a rule, law or principle, if it obeys it.

■ in accordance with one’s wishes to act

■ in accordance with customs, the regulations, the law

■ In accordance with your orders, I sold the boat.

■ Nowadays you are encouraged to look after yourself first, which is not in accordance with Christian principles.

to accord with

■ One thing accords with another if it fits with, agrees with, or corresponds to ,it.

■ The newspaper review of the play didn’t in the least accord with my opinion of it.

■ You accord a person or their achievements something such as approval when you give it to them.

■ In time, her work will be accorded the recognition it deserves.

[same as grant]

10) to put away

(a) to put away: to put in the usual place of storage

■ You put something away when you put it into the place where it is kept.

■ She opened the drawer to put away the knives and spoons.

■ If you have finished with these tools, I wish you’d put them away.

(b) to put away: to save money for later use He puts a little away every week for his grandchildren.

■ I’ll have to put something away for my retirement.

11) to be superior to: to be better or good in quality or value; to be higher in rank or class

■ If one is superior to another, they are higher in rank or position than that other person.

■ He thinks he is superior to us because his father is an important man.

■ If one thing is superior to another, it is better in quality than that one thing.

■ This wine is far superior to the one we had last week.

[opposite inferior]

superior n.

■ Your superior or superiors are people who are higher in rank or position than you are, especially in work

■ I’ll speak to your superior about this careless work.

■ I’ll have to refer the matter to my superiors.

[opposite subordinate]

12) to fall/get behind: to fail to keep level with

■ You fall behind when you progress more slowly than other people and they get ahead of you.

■ We mustn’t let Britain fall behind in technology.

■ He didn’t want to fall behind in his studies.

[same as drop behind]

13) to approve of: to give one’s approval of; to consider ...good/right/wise

■ You approve of sth. if you regard it as acceptable or satisfactory, or admire it; you approve of someone if you admire or like them.

■ She would never do anything that was not approved of by her parents.

■ I quite approve of the idea of your plan.

■ I just don’t approve of killing animals. [opposite disapprove]

to approve vt.: agree to批准，同意

■ He doesn’t approve its policies.

■ Congress approved the budget. to approve one’s daughter’s marriage

14) to carry over: to remain, continue

■ The habit of reading aloud in the morning carries over from my childhood

■ What you learn in school should carry over into adult life.

■ The story was carried over to the next page.

to carry through

■ You carry sth. through when you put it into practice or complete it.

■ We hope that the plan can be carried through in it entirety.

■ Something carries you through a difficult experience if it helps you to survive it.

■ It was my religious faith that carried me through those days in captivity.

15) to turn out

[a] to turn out: to stop(a gas/oil/electric light/heating apparatus etc.)

■ You turn out a light or a gas fire when you operate a switch to stop its shining or giving out heat. [same as turn off, opposite turn on]

[b] to turn out: to drive out; to send away

■ You turn sb. out, or turn them out of a pace, when you make them leave it.

■ They were turned out of their house for non-payment of rent.

■ She wept and begged him not to turn her out.

[c] to turn out: to come out or gather as for a meeting/public event

■ People turn out eg for an event or an election when they come and participate, or come and vote.

■ Voters turned out in large numbers in the safe seats.

■ The whole town turned out for the parade.

■ Not many men turned out to watch the match.

[d] to turn out: to produce

■ Something such as a factory or a place of education turns out a certain type of thing or person if they produce them.

■ Centers of higher education have turned out many highly skilled software engineers.

■ The college turns out hundreds of good teachers a year.

■ The factory is now turning out 1000 cars a month.

[e] to turn out: to happen to be in the end

to turn out + adj

■ The examination turned out easy.

■ Do you think the crops will turn out well this year?

to turn to: to be

■ The meeting turned out to be interesting.

■ The letter turned out to be a forgery.

It turns out that...

■ It turns out that he was never there.

■ It turns out that this method doesn’t work well.

IV. Further Development

1. Finish the reading comprehension exercises on page 2000 and 2001.

2. Finish the vocabulary exercises on page 2002 and 2003.

3. Translation

■ He was ill for six weeks and fell behind in his schoolwork.

■ They say they expect the meeting to have a marked impact on the future of the country.

■ If you have finished with those tools, I wish you’d put them away.

■ The establishment of joint ventures has opened the door to wider international cooperation.

■ The company conducted a survey to learn about local reaction to the leisure centre.

■ Testing patients without their consent would constitute a legal offense.

■ Do you want me to take over the work if you are tired?

■ I enjoyed being in the course. I learned a lot from the teacher and students alike.

4. Writing

■ Write a composition according to the following table

|Who are teachers’ pets? |Boys |Girls |Neither |It depends on the |

| | | | |teacher |

|In the primary school |6 |20 |2 |2 |

|In junior school |10 |11 |3 |6 |

|In senior middle school |15 |6 |5 |4 |

|In college |4 |4 |16 |6 |

Note: We designed a questionnaire and gave it to 30 students. They just had to put a mark in the square that corresponded to their opinion. We then analyzed the results of our survey. The results of the survey are shown in the table.

Sample

Who Are Teachers’ Pets, Boys or Girls?

According to the results of the survey, we can see that in primary school girls are thought of as teachers’ pets. When they are very young, boys are naughtier than girls, who are generally very well-behaved.

As they get older, boys are more likely to be teachers’ pets. In middle school, boys perform better in subjects like math and physics. Boys are thought to be cleverer than girls. As teenagers, both girls and boys are well-behaved. Since boys are no longer naughty, it is easier for them to become teachers’ pets.

Most students feel that neither boys nor girls become teachers’ pets in college. Teachers don’t know their students as well as teachers in junior or senior middle school, so they don’t have pets.

Based on the results of our survey, we can conclude that whether boys or girls are teachers’ pets depends on their age.

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