1、Nothing ventured,nothing gainedUnit 1Do you always keep some English proverbs in mind?Do you know the Chinese meaning of the English proverb“Nothing ventured,nothing gained”?不入虎穴不入虎穴焉得虎子焉得虎子Look at these pictures.What do you think about the stories?Which story inspires you most?Why？A spider was maki
2、ng its web while Robert the Bruce was watching it in a cave.It tried again and again to fix its thread but each time it failed.When it finally succeeded,Robert realized that it had taught him a valuable lesson and he was inspired to continue fighting till he defeated the English and gained independe
3、nce for Scotland.He became the first Scottish king.Robert I,the Bruce(1274-1329)Robert Bruce was the heroic King of Scots who,despite set-backs,secured Scotlands independence from England.Bruce was distantly related to the Scottish royal family and always had ambitions to be king.The story(1306-1329
4、)of Robert the Bruce(1274-1392)Robert the Bruce was the rightful king of Scotland but until 1306 the country was ruled or controlled by the English.So Robert the Bruce had to fight for 30 years to achieve Scottish independence.It was after one of the worst defeats of the Scottish army against the En
5、glish that Robert the Bruce lost heart and took shelter to avoid being caught by the British army.It seemed at this time as if all hope of Scottish independence was over:Their greatest military leader,William Wallace,had already been captured and killed in 1305,the armyhad been defeated and all the
6、leaders had been forcedto hide from the British army.Robert the Bruce was indespair and wondered if he should go to France to endhis life in comfort there.Then his eye fell on a spiderspinning its web.It kept trying to swing across the ceilingto make its web.Over and over again it failed and tried,u
7、ntil at last it reached the other side and secured thefirst strand of the web.To Bruce it seemed like a message for him tocontinue.Try,and try again the spider seemed to besaying to him.Bruce adopted the same motto and spentthe next eight years fighting the English until they wereat last driven out.
8、In 1314 he succeeded by defeating thearmy of King Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn.He became the first true King of Scotland.Helen Keller was a young girl who was unable to speak,hear or see anything.Struggling in a world of silence and darkness,she seemed to be simple-minded.One day a teacher
9、,Anne Sullivan,came to her parents house and she helped Helen to learn how to communicate with others using her hands.The patience and kindness of Anne Sullivan proved very successful and finally Helen became a famous writer.Helen was born a very bright,beautiful baby.As early as she was six months
10、she could already say a few words.She took her first steps on the floor when she was only one year old.But before she was two years old,she had a disease that left her in darkness ever since.She couldnt see or hear-and soon she couldnt even talk.From then on,Helen had to struggle in the darkness and
11、 silence.When she tried to do anything in the house,she only got every one into trouble.Because her family did not know what else to do,they soon began to give everything she wanted.The girl could do nothing right.When she tried to cut out paper dolls,she cut her dress instead.She pushed her baby si
12、ster off the bed,thinking that she was a doll.Once she was almost burned to death,because she was standing too near to the fire.More InformationHelen Keller(1880-1968),an American writer and lecturer.In 1887 Annie Sullivan came to look after her and became Helens teacher and lifelong companion.Helen
13、 Keller made rapid progress at school and in 1904 graduated from Radcliffe College with honours.She published many books and lectured to raise funds for the training of the blind and for other social causes.About Helen Keller No matter what happens,keep on beginning.Each time you fail,start all over
14、 again.You will grow stronger each time,until you can do and finish what you started out to do.By Annie Sullivan The story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Helen Keller(1880-1968)Helen was born a normal little girl but at the age of 19 months she became ill and lost her hearing and her sight.She be
15、came so badly behaved that no one wanted to look after her.Her family was in despair until Alexander Graham Bell suggested that they write to a college for blind teachers for help.The college sent Anne Sullivan.Her work with Helen was so successful that the girl entered Radcliffe College.After colle
16、ge,Helen became a convinced socialist.She gave lecture tours speaking about her experiences and her beliefs.The tours were very successful.Later her life was made into three films called Deliverance,The Unconquered and The Miracle Worker.Both Helen and Anne worked very hard to raise money for the ed
17、ucation of blind children.They travelled to many countries encouraging people to educate blind and deaf children.In 1961 Helen became very ill and retired from public life but she has always been remembered as the person who overcame tremendous difficulties and went on to lead a very successful and
18、useful life.Anne Sullivan(1866-1936)When she was eight years old,Annies mother died and two years later her father disappeared,never to be heard from again.Annie became very unhappy when she and her brother had to live in a home for orphans,where the boy died.While she was there,she became blind but
19、 as she was a clever girl she went to a college for the blind,where she learnt braille.Later,an operation helped her to get back part of her sight.Six years later,in 1886,Annie graduated from college.On March 3 1887,she met Helen Keller for the first time.Helen Keller had also become blind,but,in ad
20、dition,she could not talk or hear either.Annie helped Helentalk,read,write and feel things.In 1900,Annie helped Helen get into college and Helen graduated in 1904.Helen Keller,born a normal little girl,but in 1880,she had a fever that made her blind and deaf at the age of 19 months.She and her famil
21、y was in despair until they met Anne Sullivan.Her work with Helen was very successful.“你忘掉了在吴你忘掉了在吴国的耻辱吗？国的耻辱吗？”Beaten by Wu in 494 BC,Gou Jian,the King of Yue,was forced to live as a slave in Wu for three years.When Gou Jian returned to his homeland,he plotted to recover his lost land.He slept on f
22、irewood and straw to remind him of his sufferings.Before every meal and at bedtime he tasted a bitter gall-bladder to strengthen his determination.Eventually he defeated the King of Wu.Sleep On Brushwood and Taste Gall The story of Gou Jian(497 BC-465 BC)Gou Jian was the ruler of the kingdom of Yue.
23、He lived at a time when there were many wars between states and during one of these wars the kingdom of Yue was conquered by the neighbouring kingdom of Wu.Gou Jian was made a slave by the King of Wu.As a slave he suffered many hardships including living in a stable,eating food left over from the ho
24、rses and acting as a chair when the King was tired.However,because of his tolerance,he earned the trust of the King of Wu and eventually Gou Jian was set free.But he never forgot his suffering and when he returned home,Gou Jian slept on firewood and straw every night and tasted bitter gall-bladder t
25、o remind himself of his life as a slave.He waited until his kingdom was strong enough and then Gou Jian attacked the King of Wu and killed him.Read the three stories on P1.And try to think out the characters they have in common.What do you think helped them out and achieved success in life?TasksRead
26、 the materials on Page 3 and fill in the table below.Who?What troubles were they in?Qualities that helped themWhat achievements did they make?RobertBruceachieve successHelen Kellerin lifeGou JianRobert BruceGou JianWho?What troubles were they in?Helen KellerBeaten by the English several times;At fir
27、st lost the war against the EnglishUnable to speak,hear or seeBeaten by the King of Wu;Kept as a slave in WuWhat achievements did they make?Defeated the English;became the first Scottish kingLearned how to communicate;became a famous writerDefeated the king of Wu;Regained his lost landQualitiesthat
28、helpedthemachievesuccessIn lifeDo you think the characters above have something in common?continue fightingpatiencedeterminationperseverancenever lose heartconfidentcourageouskeep goingnot give uppersist/stick atkeep positive,etcpatient,resilient,persevering,resourceful,focused,serious,determined,st
29、rong-willedobstinate,stubborn,pig-headedPositive adj.Negative adj.Discussion1.What conclusion can we draw from the three stories?2.By what did they achieve their success?3.How do you regard the behaviour of Gou Jian?4.What can we learn from them?Homework1.Learn the new words and expressions of this unit.2.Preview reading part.
