Words and Expressions

in Unit20

A minister

Who can marry many wives but can stay single all of the life?

question:

Period2 Reading

Laughing Matter

Pre –reading Let’s go!Discuss the following questions with your partner.

1.Look at the photos. Do you know who these comedians are? What makes them funny?

Laurel and Hardy

Mr BeanRowen Atkinsen

Dustin Hoffman

Ma Ji

Mr. Bean is funny because he makes ______ faces, he acts ____ , he seems to be quite ______ , and the things he does are ________ .

funny sillystupid

strange

A. silly B. differently

A. funnyB. terrible A. clever

B. stupid

A. commonB. strange

Charlie Chaplin was born in London in 1889 and died in 1977. He was a great silent movie stars. Modern Times, The Little Tramp, The gold Rush, City Light are his masterpieces. He was very popular in his time.

Task 1 Listen and understandWhat forms of humor are introduced

in the text?

1.Today all students of English can understand Shakespeare’s jokes. ( )

2.In the writer’s opinion, clowns are only funny for children and nothing more. ( )

3.Clowns play with words to make people laugh. ( )

4.Comedians of all times and many countries may dress up a little or act out small sketches. ( )

5.Listeners don’t need to know well what the comedians are talking about when they want to enjoy the jokes of crosstalk artists. ( )

F

F

F

F

T

Laughing Laughing mattermatterLaughing

mattersimilarity

Comedies 

Clowns 

Comedians 

Crosstalk shows 

funny;

have a long history;

make people happy and laugh.

Read quietly and slowly, and then complete the following.

Task2 Intensive reading

Laugh-ing

Matter

Four forms of humor

comedy

clown

comedian

Chinese cross-talk show

What is comedy?

techniques

cross-dressing telling an amusing story

acting out stereotypes word play act alone or as a pair

techniques

using body language, their clothes, their make-up and the way they walk

work alone or as a pair

techniques body language and face acting out a sketch

playing with words make people laugh, think about life

work in pairs and a long history

techniques

word play; making jokes and funny conversation; acting out small sketches; saying tongue twisters

ring

Jokes in English which have a “play on words”.

< 一 >

Girl : If we marry, will you give me a ? Boy: Of course, what’s your telephone number?

< 二 >

Policeman: You can’t park here. Driver: Why not? It says, “ ____ for parking”, so I parked.

Fine

< 三 >

Mary: John says I’m pretty. Andy says I’m ugly. What do you think of me, Peter? Peter: A bit of both. I think you’re _________ . < 四 >

Daughter: Auntie kissed me this morning, Mum ! Mum : How nice ! Did you kiss her ____ ,dear ? Daughter: Of course not. I kissed her face.

back

pretty ugly

Language Points

1.Funny plays often have characters that are stereotypes of nationalities or people doing certain jobs (Para1, 3rd line)

• certain adj. 某个、某些、某种• some adj. 某个　　　 　

• Character n. 特点、性格、特性　　　　　（小说、戏剧）中的人物 　　　　　 文字、符号、记号　

a certain + 可数名词单数some + 可数名词单数

Chinese characters 汉字

2.The actors make us laugh2.The actors make us laugh by making fun of somebody’s way of dressing or telling an somebody’s way of dressing or telling an amusing story. (Para1, 4th line)amusing story. (Para1, 4th line)

1. 别嘲笑别人的错误。Don’t make fun of other people’s mistakes.

• for fun I said it only for fun.

　　　 　• great fun Our math teacher is great fun.　　　

　

• have fun Have fun at the party tonight.　　　 　

取笑地，非认真地

很有趣的人或事

玩得开心

3. It often makes people roar with laughter• roar with laughter ＝ laugh very loudly

放声大笑

（例）他看上去那么滑稽，我们都哈哈大笑eg. He looked so funny that we all roared with laugher

4.It sounds funny to hear foreigners speak with an accent (Para1,7th line)

听外国人用一种口音说话很有趣。speak with an accent5.What comedians have in common with the players

in a comedy is their way of playing with words (Para3,5th line)• have…in common with… I have nothing in common with my parents.　 　

• out of the common 　

异乎寻常，不平常

He noticed nothing out of the common

• Listening and thinking 是动词 ing 形式作伴随状语，表示同步于句子谓语的动作。

6. A few minutes later everybody is quiet, listening and thinking about the comedians’ words. (Para3, last line)

1. 这女孩低声地唱着流行歌曲，走进了教室Sing a pop song in a low voice, the girl came into the classroom.

2. 那个老教师坐在窗边，读着报纸。The old teacher sat by the window,reading a newspaper.

7.Dating back to the Qin Dynasty, the traditional crosstalk shows have made people laugh… (Para5, 1st line)

date back to = date from 追溯到，从…时起

1.This castle dates back to/ dates from the 14th century.

2.My interest in stamp collecting dates from

my schooldays.

• a flow of 　某事物的持续或连续供应

8.Skilled artists make use of all the richness of the spoken language to create a rapid flow of fun. (Para5, 3rd line)

• cut off the flow of oil

• the constant flow of information

技艺高超的艺术家利用丰富多彩的口语，创造出连绵不绝的乐趣。

源源不断的信息

切断石油的供应

appreciate + n./ doing/ that-clause

1.I appreciate your help.

9.To appreciate the jokes of crossstalk artists, listeners have to know very well what the comedians are talking about.

（ Para5, 4th line ）enjoy

感谢

欣赏2.A sensitive mouth is necessary to appreciate good wine.

3.Houses in this area have all appreciated.增值，涨价

suffer

The army suffered heavy losses in the battle.

经受（痛苦）

He drank a lot and his work suffered.

受影响

He is suffering from a bad cold.

suffer vt. + n.

苦于… , 患…病

vi.

suffer from

Post-reading(answer the following questions)

1.How long has the tradition of crosstalk existed in China?

2.Give three examples of techniques that writers of comedies often use to make people laugh.

1. 2. 3.______________

3.Why are some of Shakespeare’s comedies not so funny for us?

More than 2200 years.

cross-dressing stereotypes word play

Because the meaning of words in English has changed.