Mandela’s Garden

Mandela’s Garden Background Information Warming-up questions Text appreciation Structure analysis In-class discussion Language understanding Topics for discussion Supplementary Reading

Warming-up questions

How much do you know about Nelson Mandela?

What do you think is his greatest contribution to his country and whole human being? What personality do you find about Mandela from the text? Do you find any charisma of him as a leader and husband?

Structure Part 1: Description of his gardening experience (p

ara. 1- 8 ) The gardening gives him satisfaction, offers a taste of freedom, and makes him strong physically and mentally

Part 2: Significance of his gardening experience (para.9 - the end)

It has become a metaphor and gives him inspiration on how to be a good revolutionary leader and how to nourish important human relationship

In-class discussion

“one can feel fulfilled by washing one’s clothes ….” what is meant by “feel fulfilled…” in this sentence, and why does he say so? (para. 2)

What does the important tasks outside of prison refer to? How can he feel the sane pride in doing small things inside prison? (para.2)

Why do people say that Mandela “was a miner at heart”? (para.4)

In-class discussion

“in some way, I saw the garden as a metaphor for certain aspects of my life.” what is being compared? (para.9)

Why does he have a mixture of feelings when he writes to Winnie?

Language understanding The end of manual work is liberating. I felt liberated from the manual work. I found Dickens’s novel very interesting. I was

____. The news was very disappointing. I felt terribly

______. The result is a bit surprising. Everybody was

______. The whole experience was exciting. We all got

extremely ______.

survive 比……活得长， 幸存 vi. to remain alive or in existence: ----Few survived after the flood. ----Books have survived from the time of the Egyptians. vt. to live longer than; outlive:

----He survived his wife for many years. to live or persist through ----The house survived the storm. ----He did not long survive his humiliation. the survival of the fittest, hopes of survival the only survivor of the shipwreck send help to the s

urvivors of the earthquake

Language understanding One must develop ways to take satisfaction in one’

s daily life. take satisfaction in (doing) sth.: to learn to enjoy st

h. more phrases: find satisfaction in feel satisfaction at to sb.'s satisfaction (to the satisfaction of sb.)

Language understanding

satisfy, satisfied, satisfying, satisfactory satisfaction I had a feeling of _____ when the work was finished. Mr. Knight gave a _____ smile. All the information was not enough to ___ me. I am not ____ with the present situation. After a ____ meal, you no longer feel hungry. That certainly seems a ____ explanation.

He is an enthusiastic reformer __ heart. I must get this poem __ heart. The words were spoken __ the depths of her heart.

He has lost his heart __ a very pretty young girl. heart and soul heart attack break one’s heart 内心深处 ; 强记 ,逐字记忆 ; ；最真诚的 ; 极其害怕或担心 ; 完全的 ,完整的 ; 爱上（某人 )

Contact

n. Finally he managed to get into contact with him. The journalist has a contact in Paris.

v. I shall contact you by telephone on Friday. be in [out of] contact with lose contact with contact lenses Contact person

Decline v. to slope or move downwards About 2 miles east, the land begins to decline towards the

river. to move from a better to a worse position, or from higher to

lower His power/health/influence has begun to decline now that

he is old. to refuse, usu. politely; be unwilling We asked them to come to our party, but they declined

(the invitation). The minister declined to make a statement to the

newspapers.

Decline n.

There is a sharp decline in interest in sports in our town.

She went into a decline and soon died.

Differentiation

decline: to refuse politely, formal word refuse: to say or show one is unwilling to give

or accept sth. general word. reject: to refuse to accept, submit to, believe, or

make use of, strong word

refuse/decline an invitation; refuse permissions; decline, reject, or turn down a suggestion; refuse, decline, reject, or turn down an

offer; reject or turn down a plan or proposal. must decline in words: The horse rejected/refused the apple.

He had set his heart on pursuing his studies abroad.

We have always pursued a friendly policy towards the Japanese people.

He has been pursued by misfortune. He pursued the river to its source. closely pursue the enemy resolutely pursue knowledge pursue a 4-year course of study at a college pursue the study of English for five years prudently pursue the plan After a pursuit lasting all day we finally caught

up with them.

The new cleanser completely fulfilled its purpose. The doctor’s instructions must be fulfilled exactly. She succeeded in fulfilling herself both as an

actress and a mother.

fulfil a task ahead of schedule fulfil a promise to the letter After many years, his plans came to fulfillment. The fulfillment of my dream is apparently as far

off as ever.

He drove at a constant speed.

A thermostat keeps the temperature constant. The machinery requires constant maintenance. constant arguments under constant attack in the newspapers a constant friend

constancy of temperature

Crops flourish in rich soil. He is flourishing in his new job. The British Empire flourished in the 19th

century. The magazine was in full flourish then.

They vowed their love would endure for ever. They had spent three days in the desert without

water, and could not endure much longer. Few of the runners endured to the finish. She endures many discomforts without complaint. Cheap cloth has little endurance. His cruelty is beyond endurance.

She went through the typescript carefully to eliminate all errors from it.

We eliminate most of the runners in the heats; only the best run in the final.

The platform bridge over the railroad tracks eliminated danger in crossing.

He was distressed at the elimination from the contest.

nourish hope in one’s heart nourish the baby on healthy mother’s milk nourish an infant with milk The flowers have withered away/up. Older people are complaining that the old ethical

values are withering away. The wound is still tender. tender meat a tender heart a child of tender years She has a tenderness for cats.

Anyway he was dead. I couldn’t bring him back to life.

His painting is a strange mixture of styles. In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for

love. You can learn technical skills through/by

trial and error.

manual manual skill (adj.) a manual worker (adj.) a manual for students (n.)

Of or relating to the hands A small reference book, especially one giving instructions. Employing human rather than mechanical energy: a pocket reference manual the service manual manual industry manual labor manual training

Bar • The bar of soap slipped from his grasp. • Poor health may be a bar to success in life. • After finishing here legal studies she was called to

the bar. • He opened a snack bar. • He barred all the doors and windows of his house. • My father barred smoking at the dinner-table.

At length * After some time; eventually: At length we arrived at our destination. * For a considerable time; fully: spoke at length about the court ruling.

More phrases about length *cannot see beyond the length of one's nose find [have, get, know, take] the length of sb.'s foot keep sb. at arm's length

Language understanding

There’s little chance that mankind would __ a nuclear war.

A. retain B. endure

C. maintain D. survive In the past, most foresters have been men, but

today, the number of women __ this field is climbing.

A. engaging B. devoting

C. registering D. pursuing

D

In previous times, when fresh meat was in short __, pigeons were kept by many households as a source of food.

A. store B. provision

C. reserve D. supply __ she wondered if she had made a mistake.

A. Not until long afterwards that

B. Not long until afterwards

C. It was not until long afterwards that

D. It was long afterwards until

D

C

Humidity is so intense in some parts of the tropics that Europeans find they are unable to __ it.

A. maintain B. persist

C. endure D. sustain She once again went through her composition

carefully to __ all spelling mistakes from it.

A. withdraw B. diminish

C. abandon D. eliminate

C

D

Those people __ a general understanding of the present situation.

A. lack of B. are lacking of

C. lack D. are in lack last year, the crime rate in Chicago has sharply

__.

A. declined B. lessened

C. descended D. slipped

C

A

Crisis would be the right term to describe the __ in many animal species.

A. minimization B. restriction

C. descent D. decline

D

Topics for discussion

What do you think made Mandela such a remarkable person? There are quite a few people who think that he should be considered the man of the 20th century. Do you agree? Why or why not?

In the last paragraph, Mandela wrote, “Sometimes there is nothing one can do to save something that must die.” Do you agree? Why or why not?