Reading

UnitUnit11

Self-reflection:

Think of the most recent fightwith your friend. What caused it?

Group discussion:

The reasons leading to a broken friendship· Not trusting each other· Misunderstanding· Lacking communication· There being conflicts in interest· Not caring each other enough ……

Group work:

What puzzle do you have in getting along with you friends?

Write down the puzzles on a piece ofPaper and then exchange the piece withanother group.

Brainstorming:

Who can we turn to for help whenwe have problems with our friends?

parents teachers …… magazine advice columnists

Secrets and lies

Read the title of the passage andthe first sentence of the first paragraph, and try to predict the main idea of the letter.

Secrets and lies

Fast reading:

Secret:______________________

Lie:_________________________

Sarah got a D in a surprise Maths test.

Hannah denied having let out the secret.

Secrets and lies

Careful reading:

Questions:1.Why do you think Sarah and Hannah could be good friends before ?2. Why did Sarah tell Hannah that they weren’t going to be friends any more?3. What might have caused their friendship to break?

1.Why do you think Sarah and Hannah could be good friends before ?

They were like each other and had much incommon.

2. Why did Sarah tell Hannah that they weren’t going to be friends any more?Because she thought Hannah had told everyone how badly she had done in the Maths test.

3. What might have caused their friendship to break?

Sarah didn’t trust her friend.Hannah may have betrayed her friend.Sarah and Hannah lacked communication.

Secrets and liesReading strategy: understanding feelings

A letter to a magazine advice columnist usually includes:1)Descriptions of problems2)Descriptions of feelings

While reading such a letter, it’s importantto identify the writer’s feelings towards a certain problem and then think about what advice to give him/her.

Let’s take Sarah’s letter for example:

betrayed

upset

angry

ashamed

How Sarah felt: Why?She thought her best friend Hannah didn’t keep her secret.

She scored the lowest mark in herclass.

She found a piece of paper on her desk that said “stupid Sarah got a D”.

She thought Sarah didn’t keep her word.

Game: Can you express different emotions

without actually mentioning the words?

Andrew felt: Why?___________ They lost the game because of

Matthew’s bad performance.___________

___________ Matthew hasn’t spoken to him though they sit next to each other in class.

___________

Practice of Reading Strategy:Read A friendship in trouble, and try tofind out Andrew’s problem and how hefeels about it by filling in the blanks:

angry

guiltyawkward

in a dilemma

He made some cruel remarks.

His best friend Matthew has stopped talkingto him.

Pair work:

In your own words, tell each other what Andrew’s problem is and what caused his friendship with Matthew in trouble.

Andrew blamed the losing of the match on Matthew’sbad performance and they had a bitter quarrel with each other. Now they aren’t talking to each other any more and Matthew seems to want to make friends with another boy. Andrew really shouldn’t have blamedMatthew without thinking twice.

Group work: Problem solving (1)

Suppose you are the advice columnist, what advice will you give Sarah and what to Andrew? Choose one of the topics and try to think of as much advice as possible.

Finish Exercise E on page 5 and getto know what advice it is that theadvice columnist actually givesto Sarah and Matthew.

Group work: Problem solving (2)

Go through the puzzles your classmateshave about getting on with friends andgive useful advice to them by writing it down on the back of the paper. Then exchange the piece again.

Conclusion:

My advice to all of you on how to mend a friendship:1. You have to talk to your friend. When there is no one around, have an honest talk.2. If your friend doesn’t want to talk, you could write a letter.3. Always remember there are three steps to being friends again:

Tell your friend how you’re feeling;

Say what your friend has done wrong,and explain why you did this or that;

Remember that friendship is the mostimportant thing in your life.