1、1. To read and talk about humorous or funny stories2. To read for general understanding 3. To read for specific information and understand words in context4. To express the funny part of each joke5. To learn to use humour to handle awkward situations and get a positive attitude to lifeWhats so funny
2、?Share your humorous or funny stories that you read with your partner. Then discuss what makes these stories funny.I like reading humorous stories because I like the play on words.Do you like reading humorous or funny stories? Why?(add joy / relax / a sense of well-being / natural feel-good chemical
3、s) Read Story A and answer the following questions.1. Which characters are in the story?2. Where are they?3. What happened to / between them?4. Why is it funny?1. Which characters are in the story?2. Where are they?3. What happened to / between them?4. Why is it funny?A famous art collector, a store
4、 owner and a cat.They are in a store in the city.The art collector wanted to buy the saucer but instead bought a cat.The store owner knew everyone wanted to buy the saucer the cat used, and he made money by selling the cat.ResultWhere Who What An art collector, a store ownerbuy a cat in high price t
5、o get the saucer for free; sell cats with the saucerbuy a catnot get the saucerA storeComplete the notes.Character Which did each person do?Real purpose The resultThe art collectorThe store ownerHe made money by selling the cat.He bought a cat. He wanted to buy the saucer. He bought a cat that he di
6、dnt want.He knew everyone wanted to buy the saucer.He made money.1. What kind of person is the art collector? Why?2. What kind of person is the store owner? Why?3. Why is the story funny?4. What expressions are used to make the story funny?Discuss the following questions.1. What kind of person is th
7、e art collector? Why?He is a smart aleck who always think he is very clever. He pretended not to know the saucer was a valuable antique and tried to buy the cat to the get the saucer for free. He also thought the sore owner didnt know the price of the saucer.2. What kind of person is the store owner
8、? Why?He is very cunning and crafty. He deliberately told the collector the cat was not for sale in order to raise the price. He knew the value of the saucer and refused to give it away to the collector.Because the famous art collector, who was a smart aleck, was finally fooled by the store owner.Pa
9、ra. 1 a famous art collectorPara. 2 so he walked causally into the store and innocently offered to buy the cat the saucer was an antique and very valuablePara. 6 if you could throw in that old saucer.3. Why is the story funny?4. What expressions are used to make the story funny?The store owner said
10、“sorry” twice. The first time he refused to sell the cat in order to raise the price. The second time he refused to sell the saucer to tell the art collector the truth. The same word must be said in different intonations.Its funny to contrast the art collectors lengthy / long explanation for his urg
11、ent need of a cat with the store owners brief / short answer “sold”.1. What do you learn from the story?2. What is the possible title for the story?Read Story B and answer the following questions.1. Which characters are in the story?2. Where are they?3. What happened to / between them?4. Why is it f
12、unny?1. Which characters are in the story?2. Where are they?3. What happened to / between them?4. Why is it funny?Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. They are outdoors.They were on a camping trip. They were talking about the stars that they could see.Watson spoke about astronomy, the position of stars,
13、the atmosphere but didnt realise they could see the stars because their tent had been stolen.ResultWhere Who What Sherlock Holmes, Dr. WatsonSherlock asked Watson what could deduce from the star in the sky.Dr. Watson made four different inferences about the stars he saw.Watson didnt realise their te
14、nt was stolen.On a camping tripTell the story youve read from the following aspects.CharacterWhat did each person do?Real purposeThe resultSherlock HolmesDr. WatsonHe woke up and asked Watson what he saw.He spoke about astronomy and the stars he saw.He wanted Watson to confirm that their tent was st
15、olen.He focused on the stars.He realized their tent was stolen.Complete the notes.He didnt realise.1. What is the funny part of the story?2. Why is the story funny?3. What expressions are used to contribute to the funny effects of the story?Discuss the following questions.1. What is the funny part o
16、f the story?2. Why is the story funny?3. What expressions are used to contribute to the funny effects of the story?Sherlock and Dr. Watson saw millions of stars at night because someone had stolen their tent.Dr. Watson made so many reasonable inferences based on his knowledge but failed to deduce th
17、eir tent was stolen.Parallel structure like “according to” is used to highlight the rationality and specialty of Watsons deduction, which makes it funny when readers know their tent was stolen.1. What do you learn from the story?2. What is the possible title for the story?Read Story C and answer the
18、 following questions.1. Which characters are in the story?2. Where are they?3. What happened to / between them?4. Why is it funny?1. Which characters are in the story?2. Where are they?3. What happened to / between them?4. Why is it funny?A doctor and a clown.They are in the doctors room.The clown w
19、as feeling unhappy.The clown who makes a everyone laugh cant cheer himself up.ResultWhere Who What The middle-aged man; The doctorThe middle-aged man was feeling down and went to see the doctor. The doctor examined the mand and suggested he see the performance of Grock, an amazing clown.The man was
20、Grock.In a hospitalTell the story youve read from the following aspects.CharacterWhat did each person do?Real purposeThe resultThe middle-aged manThe doctorHe told the doctor that he was feeling down.She asked the clown questions.He wanted to see how he could feel better.She wanted to figure out wha
21、t was wrong.The clown who makes everyone laugh cant cheer himself up.She suggested that he goes to see the clown who cheered everyone up.Complete the notes.1. What is the funny part of the story?2. Why is the story funny?3. What expressions are used to contribute to the funny effects of the story?Di
22、scuss the following questions.1. What is the funny part of the story?2. Why is the story funny?3. What expressions are used to contribute to the funny effects of the story?The doctor suggested the middle-aged man see the performance of Grock, an amazing clown but actually he was Grock.An amazing clo
23、wn who could make others laugh couldnt make himself laugh.Lots of continuous tenses like “had been going wrong” are used to emphasise the mans long-time depression, which makes it funny when readers know the man is the clown.1. What do you learn from the story?2. What is the possible title for the s
24、tory?Complete the funny part of the three stories.Story The funny part A The store owner refused to give away the saucer with the cat becauseB Sherlock and Dr. Watson saw millions of stars at night becauseC An amazing clown couldnthe has sold 68 cats because of the saucer.their tent was stolen.cheer
25、 himself up.Match the underlined expressions in column A with their meanings in column B.A B1. A famous art collector was walking through the city when he noticed a dirty cat lapping milk from a saucer in the doorway of a store. He did a double take.a. unhappy2. The collector continued,“Hey, for the
26、 200 dollars I wonder if you could throw in that saucer. The cats used to it and Itll save me from having to get a dish.”b. to go to sleep3. After a good dinner and a bottle of wine, they retired for the night, and went to sleep.c. a rapid or surprisedsecond look4. A middle-aged man was feeling very
27、 down. Everything had been going wrong for him.d. to add something to what you are selling, without increasing the pricecdbaComplete the summaries with the words or phrases you have learnt from Story A. An art collector noticed a cat lapping milk from a _ in the _ of a store. He realised that it was
28、 an _ and very valuable. He decided to buy the cat and offered to pay 200 dollars in the end. Then he asked the store owner to _ the saucer, but the owner refused to give it away for he had sold 68 cats because of this lucky saucer.saucerdoorwayantiquethrow inSherlock Holmes asked his _ friend Dr. W
29、atson what he saw from the sky. “_ of stars,” said Dr. Watson. Based on his knowledge on _, he believed there are millions of galaxies and _ of planets. He deduced that it was probably a quarter past three based on the _ of time. From the _, he forecasted that it would be a beautiful day the next da
30、y. Watson didnt realise that someone had stolen their tent!faithfulMillions and millionsastronomybillionsscientific measurementcurrent atmosphereA middle-aged man who was _ went to the doctor. The doctor examined him and found _ OK. The doctor thought that what the man needed was_, and suggested _.
31、Actually he was _.depressedeverything was (working)a good laugha circus performancethe amazing clownWhich of the three stories do you like most? Why? Tell it to your group using your own words.Read the jokes and talk about the funny part of each joke.1. Girl: Why was the cat sitting on the computer?
32、 Boy: He was keeping an eye on the mouse.The funny part is the play on the meaning of “mouse”; a computer mouse and a mouse.2. Teacher of politics: Who is the speaker of the House? Student: Mother.The funny part is the play on the meaning of “the House”. In politics it often refers to the political
33、institute and is capitalised. The student understood it to be the household. The mother is often thought of the speaker as she tends to talk more at home and decides on household matters.3. Student: Professor, I did the best I could on this test. I really dont think I deserve a zero. Professor: Neit
34、her do I. But thats the lowest grade Im allowed to give.The funny part is that the students is complaining about the low mark and the professor responds as it is higher than what he deserves. The professor uses sarcasm here.4. Teacher: What is the chemical formula for water? Student: HIJKLMNO!Teache
35、r: What are you talking about?Student: Yesterday you said its H to O!The funny part is the play on “to”; a number two or going from one point to another. It implies that the student doesnt know what a formula is.Look at the picture and tell your partner what the funny part is.What can you do to make
36、 yourself a humorous person? Try to make a list. Collect some humorous stories, share them with your group members, choose the best one and present it to your class.1. What have you learned from these humorous stories? 2. What are the benefits we can get from humour?3. Have you learned how the funny
37、 effect is realised?4. What other writing skills can you share with us? By using proper adverbs and contrast. By creating a result that is contrary to peoples expectation. By creating intentional ambiguity (歧义歧义) in the context of situation.1. Prepare a humorous or funny story for next classs share.2. Finish exercise 1 on page 78 and think about the question: what does the story want to tell us?
