Unit 4 The Virtual WorldTeaching Aims:1.Understanding the main idea and structure of the text.2.Deduce the meaning of new vocabulary related to computers and the Internet.3.Grasp the key language points in Text A and learn how to use them in context.4.Understand the cultural background related to the content.5.Express themselves more freely on the theme of The Virtual World after doing a series oftheme-related reading, listening, speaking, and writing activities6.Write e-mail message in an appropriate way.Teaching Keypoints:1.Grasp the main idea of Text A and language points in Text A2.Cultural background in Text A3.Analysis of the difficult sentences in Text ATeaching Difficulties:1.Writing strategy and style demonstrated in Text A2.Write an essay with an anecdote or a piece of news, etc.Teaching Aids:Teaching, discussion, exercises, group-activities, student-centredTeaching Procedure:Step 1Warming up1.Ask students questions about the poem. They should have listened to this before class.2.Have students look at the theme of this unit(The Virtual World ) and the title of Text A(AVirtual Life) and then try to.---find antonyms of “virtual world” and “virtual life”(real world, real life).---suggest synonyms for “virtual world”(cyberia,etherworld,virtual reality,Internet world, net world,etc).---say what people can do on the Internet (communicating with people, shopping, reading, entertaining,education,working, hacking, publishing,etc).Step 2 Global Analysis of Text A1. Division of the Text APart1: Paras.1-3Description of the author’s virtual life.Part2: Paras.4-10How the author feels after staying on the Internet for a while.Part3: Para.11-13The author tries to find her way back into the real world but fails.Step 3. Detailed leaning of Text A1.My boyfriend’s Liverpool accent suddenly becomes impossible to interpret after his easily understood words on screen: a secretary’s clipped tone seems more rejecting than I’d imagined it would be.What does the sentence imply?I have become more familiar with the virtual world than the real world.2.We have become the Net critics’worst nightmare.Paraphrase the sentence.We have got into a situation that critics of the Net describe as most dreadful.3.And once you start replacing real human contact with cyber-interaction, coming back out of the cave can be quite difficult.What does “cyber-interaction”mean?“Cyber-”is a prefix which means “of the computer”. “Cyber-interaction”means the contact with the computer.What does “cave”here refer to?“Cave”here refers figuratively to the isolated life of the virtual world.Paraphrase the second part of the sentence.Returning to normal society from the isolated life of the virtual world can be quite a problem.4.At times, I turn on the television and just leave it to talk away in the background, something that I’d never done previously.Translate the sentence into Chinese.有时我把电视机开着，让它作为背景声音一直响着，以前我从不这样做。

5.“Dateline,”“Frontline,”“Nightline,”CNN, New York1, every possible angle of every story over and over and over, even when they are of no possible use to me.Give the Chinese equivalents for “Dateline”, “Frontline”, “Nightline”, “CNN”, “New York1”.“每日新闻”、“一线新闻”、“夜间新闻”、“有线新闻电视网”、“纽约一套”。

6.Work moves into the background.What does this sentence mean?It means work becomes less important.Why does work become less important?Because in my mind’s eye, communicating with the real world has become more important at that time.7.When I’m in this state, I fight my boyfriend as well, misinterpreting his intention because of the lack of emotional cues given by our typed dialogue.Why do I misinterpret my boyfriend’s intention?Because the typed dialogue lacks the emotion that is expressed and implied in the real dialogue. 8.I arrange interview for stories, doctor’s appointments —anything to get me out of the house and connected with others.What does “story”here refer to?“Story”here refers to any descriptive article in a newspaper or an event, a situation, etc. suitable for such an article.9.virtual: adj.1)created and existing only in a computerI can visit a virtual store and put what I want in my basket at the click of a mouse button.Some people spend too much time escaping from reality into the virtual world conjured up on their computer screens.2)almost what is stated,in fact though not in nameThe officials hear this kind of talk in virtual silence.国王处处都受王后的影响，以至于王后成了国家实际上的统治者。