Periods 4 Learning about Language

Teaching Goals: 

1. To enable Ss to master some new words and expressions.

2. To get Ss to have knowledge of this grammar point: the subjective mood.

Teaching Procedures:

Step 1. Pair work 

Purpose: To learn a number of time expressions.

Read the passage again and underline all the time expressions in the reading passage. Compare your answer with your partner.

Suggested Answers:

1. Art is influenced by the customs and faith of a people. Styles in Western art have changed many times.

2. …this text will describe only the most important styles, starting from the sixth century AD.

3. During the Middle Ages, the main aim of painters was to represent religious themes.

4. But it was evident that ideas were changing in the 13th century…

5. During the Renaissance, new ideas and values gradually replaced these held in the Middle Ages.

6. One of the most important discoveries during this period was how to draw things in perspective.

7. This technique was first used by Masaccio in 1428.

8. When people first saw his paintings they were convinced they were looking …

9. …oil paints were also developed at this time…

10. In the late 19th century, Europe changed a great deal…

11. At first, many people disliked this style of painting….

12. At the time they were created, the impressionists’ paintings were controversial…

Step 2 Individual work 

Purpose: To practice time expressions.

Use time expressions to complete the text below.

The Middle Ages in Europe began _________ and lasted __________. The period after the Middle Ages is called the ______. _____ most artists painted religious paintings. However, in _____ Masaccio discovered how to make paintings look more real by using perspective. This led to a great change in painting styles. During the Renaissance, which lasted ______, painters also discovered oil paints which made their paintings look much richer. They also began painting other things besides religious subjects.____ impressionist painters developed a new style of painting. They were more interested in light and color than detail. The impressionist period is generally recognized as the beginning of modern painting. ____ there are many different styles of Western art and no doubt there will be even more new styles _____.

Suggested Answers: 

in the 5th century, until the 15th century, Renaissance, In the Middle Ages, 1428, from the 15th to the 16th century, In the late 19th century, Nowadays, in the future

Step 3. Group work 

Write down the root word from which these words are formed. Discuss the answers in groups.

 realistic  impressionism  symbolic  shadowy  religious  attemptable  

 valuable  aimless  prediction  believable  European  ridiculous

Suggested Answers: 

real  impress  symbol  shadow  religion  attempt 

 value  aim  predict  believe  Europe  ridicule

Step 4. Pair work 

Find words in the text to complete the sentences.

1. My ____ is to go to an art college when I finish high school.

2. A cross is a ____ of the Christian religion.

3. I lost all my _____ when a fire destroyed my house.

4. I would love to visit France, Italy, Germany and other countries in ____.

5. I like ____ art better than realistic art because it makes you see things in a new way.

Suggested Answers: 

1. aim  2. symbol  3. possessions  4. Europe  5. abstract  

Step 5. Free talk

Purpose: To practice the subjective mood.

Pair work: 

Please have a free talk with your partner using the structure: If I did/were…, I would do… You can choose any topic below.

1.If you became the head of the United Nations, what would you do first?

2.If you were the mayor of our city, what changes would you make?

3.If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and what would you do?

Step 7 Grammar

1. Explanation of the subjective mood

虚拟语气表示说的话不是事实，或者是不可能发生的情况，而是一种愿望、建议或者与事实相反的假设等。一般常用于正式的书面语中。

与现在事实相反的条件句

虚拟语气在条件句中共有三种情况：与现在的事实相反；与过去的事实相反；与将来的事实相反。本单元只练习与现在的事实相反的条件句，其谓语动词的形式如下：

if条件从句             主句 

动词的过去式（be的过去式用were） would(should, could, might)+动词原形

If I were you, I would go there.

I don't have a cell phone. If I have one, it would be convenient for me to get in touch with others.