Electronic Teaching Portfolio Book One
Unit One: College Life
Part I Get Started
Section A Discussion
▇ Sit in groups of threes or fours and discuss the following questions.
1. You may have imagined what college life would be like before you became a college student. Has it turned
out to be what you expected? Provide examples in support of your answers.
2. Whenever you think about college life, what are some of the things that come to mind? Following the
examples given, make a list of such things in the following table. Share your answers with your group members and comment on each of the items you have listed as you go along. College Life assignments deadlines …
3. How do you like your college life so far? Give examples.
4. What do you think is the most important thing to achieve at college? Explain.
▇ Answers for reference:
1. Possible positive comments on college life may include the following:
academic atmosphere, good student accommodations, modern facilities for teaching and research, qualified professors, nice classmates, etc.
Possible negative comments on college life may include the following:
hard to get adjusted to the new environment, academic pressure, homesickness, problems in interpersonal relationships, poor food, etc. 2.
assignments deadlines tuition projects College Life friendship roommates tests teachers classmates graduation grades academic pressure
3. Possible examples are: carefree and colorful life, academic environment, friendship, a door leading to the outside world, etc.
However, college life may also be boring for some students, because most of their time is spent on study, and they are far away from home, etc.
4. Possible answers are: academic excellence, developing communicative skills and interpersonal relationships
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Section B Quotes
▇Study the following quotes about education and see if you accept the ideas expressed in the quotes.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
⊙ The things taught in schools and colleges are not an education, but the means to an education.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Interpretation:
We don’t go to school or college to learn, but to seek the way to learn.
About R. W. Emerson (1803–1882): R. W. Emerson, a US poet and writer who had great influence on the religious and philosophical thought of his time.
W. B. Yeats
⊙ Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
— W. B. Yeats
Interpretation:
Instead of stuffing students with knowledge, real education aims at bringing out what is inside students and cultivating their potential.
About W. B. Yeats (1865–1939): W. B. Yeats, an Irish writer of poems and plays, whose early work is often based on old Irish stories. He is considered one of the most important Irish writers, and he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
Galileo
⊙ You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.
—Galileo
Interpretation:
Teaching doesn’t really help anyone, but it helps a person find out what he/she is good at.
About Galileo (1564–1642): Galileo, an Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist whose many
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discoveries had a great influence on modern science. He discovered mountains and craters (月球表面的环形山) on the surface of the Moon, and his study of the changes in the appearance of Venus (金星) proved that it was moving around the Sun. He also discovered that if you drop objects of different weights from a high place, they fall at the same speed. He was punished by the inquisition (宗教法庭) because he believed that the Sun, not the Earth, was the centre of the universe.
Section C Watching and Discussion
▇Watch the following video clip “How to Select Your College major” and do the tasks that follow: 插入视频片段： ―How to Select.wmv‖
1. Fill in the missing words according to what you hear from the video clip.
Hi, this is Laura Turner, and today I’m going to talk to you about how to select your college major. I would like to tell you that if you select something that you love and that you’re passionate about, everything’s going to be fine and you’re going to get a great job with your degree, but of course this is not completely true. However, when you’re going to college, your primary reason for going to college is to educate yourself, which means to make yourself a better person both intellectually, spiritually, mentally, all of these things.
2. Discuss the topic with your group members:
What are the recommended concerns in selecting a college major according to the video clip? And how did you choose your current major?
▇Answers for reference:
According to the video clip, the main concerns should be: first, to choose something you really enjoy; second, to choose something your school is well known for.
Script:
Hi, this is Laura Turner, and today I’m going to talk to you about how to select your college major. I would like to tell you that if you select something that you love and that you’re passionate about,
everything’s going to be fine and you’re going to get a great job with your degree, but of course this is not completely true. However, when you’re going to college, your primary reason for going to college is to educate yourself, which means to make yourself a better person both intellectually, spiritually, mentally, all of these things. So, whenever you choose your major, I would say yes, do choose something that you enjoy, because really if you are just in it to get a degree that will get you a high-paying job and you’re not really passionate about this and you want to be an Engineering Major just because you know that’s going to make you into a high earning person, that may be the wrong reason to study it because you’re going to get overwhelmed over time because a degree takes, it’s four years out of your life that you’re going to be studying this thing. There has to be something beyond money, and beyond the job that’s going to keep you interested. So I would suggest picking something that you love as well as, hopefully, it will be
something that will get you a job. Also, my other point is, pick something that your school is well known for, something in your school, the major in your school that actually has really great professors to teach you. If you have a great English Department, if you have a great History Department, and you’re passionate about those things, study with professors who are great and they can help turn a little bit of interest in a subject matter into a lifelong love of it. So good luck with choosing your major wisely.
Part II Listen and Respond
Section A Word Bank
freshman n. infml a student in the first year at college or university〖非正式〗大学一年级新生 in general for the most part; commonly, usually一般说来 3
anticipation n. the feeling one has when expecting something pleasant to happen期望；预期 discovery n. a fact or thing that has been discovered被发现的事实、事物 definitely ad. without doubt; clearly无疑地，确实地 impression n. [(on)] an image or effect that is produced in the mind by a person, event, experience, etc. [常与on连用] [人、事件、经历等留下的]印象；感想 head off move towards; go to朝??前进，向??去 related a. [(to)] connected in some way [常与to连用]有关系的 workload n. the amount of work that a person or machine is expected to do in a particular period of time人或机器在一定时期的工作量，工作负担 challenge n. (something with) the quality of demanding competitive action, interest, or thought挑战性；具有挑战性的事物 amount n. [(of)] a collection or mass considered as a unit in terms of its size, number, etc. [常与of连用]总数，数额，数量 deadline n. a date or time before which something must be done or completed截止日期；最后期限 frustration n. the feeling of being annoyed, upset or impatient沮丧；失望 previous a. happening or existing before the one mentioned 在先的，在前的，以前的 patience n. [U] the ability to accept pain, trouble, anything that causes annoyance, without complaining or losing one’s self-control 忍痛的能力，忍受力，耐性 diverse a. different (from each other); showing variety 各不相同的，各种各样的 relationship n. [(between, with)] a friendship or connection between people [常与between 或with连用]友谊；关系 so to speak as one might say 可谓，可以说，简直是 responsibility n. [U] [常与for连用]责任（心）；责任感，可信赖性 anticipate vt. think likely to happen, expect预期，期望 mission n. the particular work which one believes it is one’s duty to do职责；使命 inspiring a. that gives one the urge or ability to do great things激励人心的；启发灵感的 career n. a job or profession for which one is trained and which one intends to follow for part or the whole of one’s life职业；一生的事业 Section B
Task One: Focusing on the Main Ideas
1. Choose the best answer to complete each of the following sentences according to the information contained in the listening passage.
1) In this monologue the speaker mainly talks about ________.
A) stories about college life B) the life of college freshmen C) carefree life of college students D) differences between college and high school
2) According to the speaker, the freshman experience will ________.
A) enable students to find true friendship B) leave a deep impression on every student C) decide what a student can do in the future D) teach students the importance of responsibility
▇ Key:
1) B) 2) C)
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2. Read the following statements and decide whether each of them is true or false based on the information contained in the listening passage. Write T for True and F for False in the space given before each statement. 1) ________ Freshman experience is an unforgettable experience to college students.
2) ________Students will feel just as comfortable in their first year at college as in their previous years when they were in high school or back at home.
3) ________ Students are able to find very good friends at college.
4) ________ Learning to be responsible for oneself at college is very important. 5) ________ Freshmen should not be concerned with their future careers.
▆ Key: 1) T 2) F 3) T 4) T 5) F
Section C Task Two: Zooming in on the Details
Listen to the recording again and fill in each of the blanks according to what you have heard.
1) The freshman year at college is, generally speaking, a time filled with _____________, some anxiety, and
_________________________________.
2) The workload will be ______________ and the major challenges of college work are a large amount of
___________________ and the short ______________.
3) College Friendship will be among the _____________________________ and
_______________________ of one’s life. It’s always exciting to discover how ________________________________ college relationships can be.
4) Students should remember that they are at college with an _____________________: they shouldn’t waste
time on ___________________________.
5) Going to college is not just to get a degree: it is to find out ___________________ and
____________________________________.
▇ Answers for reference:
1) The freshman year at college is, generally speaking, a time filled with anticipation, some anxiety, and
wonderful discoveries. 2) The workload will be heavier and the major challenges of college work are a large amount of reading and
writing and the short deadlines.
3) College friendship will be among the most satisfying and long-term of one’s life. It’s always exciting to
discover how wonderfully diverse college relationships can be.
4) Students should remember that they are at college with an anticipated mission; they shouldn’t waste time
on meaningless things.
5) Going to college is not just to get a degree; it is to find out who you are and what you are really made for. Script: I am now a fourth-year student at college, but I can never forget my freshman year here. In general, it is a time filled with anticipation, some anxiety, and wonderful discoveries.
College is a lot different from high school. Your freshman experience will definitely make an impression on you. So, what can you expect as you head off into the wonderful world of higher education?
The first thing you’ll notice is the workload. It will be heavier than you ever experienced before. The major challenges of college work are the large amount of reading and writing, and the short deadlines. A related effect that can be brought on by the workload is doubt, frustration, and possibly loneliness. You’ll be
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