All the Cabbie had was a letter

Part I Lead-in Part II Language Study Part III Text Analysis Part IV Writing

Word Web

The stories in this unit are about

friendship. Write down five

words which you would use if

you were writing a poem on this

subject. Friends

hip

friendship

durabl

e

everlastin

g

war

m

lifelon

g

perpetu

al trus

t

clos

e intimat

e

long-

standing

endurin

g

genuin

e help

generou

s

Warm-up Questions

1. Do you often write letters to

your friends?

2. Did you ever write a letter which

was not sent? Why did you keep it?

Background Information Hallowe

en

HalloweenHalloween is celebrated annually. It is on the night of 31 October, when people once believed

that ghosts could be seen. Now, in Britain and America, it is a time when children have parties, dress up as witches,

princess, make pumpkin lanterns from which the inside has been removed, and play ‘trick and treat’.

Trick or treat is a traditional activity at Halloween. Children dress in costumes and visit houses. At each house, they say trick or treat . This means that they will play a trick, or joke, on the people in the house unless they are given a ‘treat’, e.g. sweets or money. Most people prefer to give treats rather than having tricks played on them.

Trick or treat

The American tradition of "trick-or-treating" probably dates back to the early All Souls' Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray for the family's dead relatives.

The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as "going a-souling" was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.

1. be lost in/ lose oneself in: be fully occupied with;

be absorbed in…Examples: ☆ He was lost in the movie. ★ My son lost himself in playing computer

games.

2. available: be able to be used, had or reachedExamples:

◇ Are there any rooms available for tonight?◇ We have used up all the available space.

3. might/may (just) as well: had betterIf you say that you might just as well do sth., you will do it although you do not have a strong desire to do it and may even feel slightly reluctant about it. ◇ You may as well know the truth.

CP: may well do sth.: have reason to do sth. be liable to do sth.

◇ You may well say so. ◇ It may well rain tonight.

4. not much of a + N: not a good ◇ He is not much of a father, but he is a

famous teacher.

5. correspondence: the act of writing, receiving or

sending letters( a can be used but not s) ◇ a long correspondence with a friend

letters (UN) ◇ Any further correspondence should be sent to

my new address. More: correspond: communicate by exchange of

letters ◇ They had corresponded for years before they

finally met.

Phrase: correspond with sb. (exchange letters with sb.)■correspond: to be in agreement or conformity; match

◇ his actions do not correspond with his words.

■correspond: to be similar ◇ The US congress corresponds to the British Parliament.

■correspondent: ＊ a person who communicates by letters ＊ a person who works for a newspaper,

television network etc. to gather and report news

from a distant place ■corresponding: equivalent, matching

6. urge: try to persuade＊ urge sb. to do sth.＊ urge that (subjunctive mood)

More: ＊ ask; prefer; require; arrange; propose

etc.

urgent: ＊ It is urgent that (subjunctive mood)

More: ＊ imperative; important; advisable;

essential

Part 1 ( L1—L42)• Main idea: From a conversation with the cab

driver the author learned how much he regretted failing to keep up correspondence with his old friend Ed.

• reach for sth.Ex: --- Reading it will make you want to reach

for your pen. Phrases: reach for sth…. reach out for sth. reach out… hold out… stretch out

keep up I don’t think any of us keep up our

correspondence too well. → keep up sth.: maintain a required pace or level; ---- He could not keep up and dropped out of the

race.

→ lengthen or extend in duration or space : ---- We sustained the diplomatic negotiations as

long as possible. ---- keep up the good work

→ keep informed: ---- He kept up on his country's foreign policies.

→ prevent from going to bed at night ---- The anticipation of the trip kept the

children up all night. ---- I kept myself up all night studying for

the exam.

→ keep doing → keep on doing sth.

It is no fun ( painful) to lose a friend.

Part 2 ( L43 --- L87)• Main idea: Reading the letter by himself,

the author learned more about the lifelong friendship between the driver and Old Ed.

It had references to( referred to ) things that probably

meant something to the driver. → mean something to sb. : be important to

sb. → mean nothing to sb.: be

unimportant to sb.

Part 3 (L 88—L89) Main idea: The driver’s experience urged the author to reach for his pen.

Text Text AnalysisAnalysis

Parts Lines Main Ideas

Part One

1~42 From a conversation with the cab driver the author learned how much he regretted failing to keep up correspondence with his old friend Ed.

Part Two

43~87 Reading the letter by himself, the author learned more about the lifelong friendship between the driver and Old Ed.

Part Three

88~89 The driver’s experience urged the author to reach for his pen.

Letter Letter WritingWriting

Heading Inside Address Salutation Body Complimentary closing Signature Enclosure Postscript

Blocked Letter Format ( 齐头式 )Ex:

Educational Computer Conferences18 Calvert CourtPiedmont, California 94611U.S.ATel: (510)584-1248Fax: (510)584-1936

Indented Letter Format ( 缩进式 )

Ex:Immunology Department

School of Basic Medical Science

Jilin University828 Xinmin Street Changchun, Jilin 130021 P.R. of China

Modified Block Format◦ -----◦ -----

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------.

--------------------

Listening Comprehension

Difficult words and phrases:

interview, jealous, forgive, fault, mood, an essential part, fulfilling, tremendous satisfaction, male and female, spiritually

In Mr. Brooks’ opinion, friendship is __________________________________ .He thinks “ A friend in need is a friend indeed” is _____true. A real friend should be able to share your _________ -- without feeling _________ . A good friendship is one where one accepts and forgives __________ , and understands_________ . _________is an essential part of any relationship. According to Mr. Brooks, family life is _____________ without friends even if it is fulfilled. He and his wife get tremendous____________ from their friends. After all, real friendship, in his opinion, is a spiritually _________ experience.

happy moments

jealous

faults

Honesty

satisfaction

developing

one of the most important things in life

partly

moods

not enough