Transcript Text A

College English Book X
（全新版）大学英语X
School of Foreign Studies
外国语学院
Unit 2
Civil Rights Heroes
Unit Two
Civil Rights Heroes
Martin Luther King
Unit 2: Text A
 Objectives
 Background Information
 Warm Up Activities
 Text Organization
 Language Points
 Text Analysis
 Exercises
 Assignment
Objectives:
 Grasp the main idea (early civil-rights struggles in the US, esp.
the Underground Railroad);
 learn to use library resources and other sources of information;
 grasp the key language points and grammatical structures in
the text;
 conduct a series of reading, listening, speaking and writing
activities to the theme of the unit.
Background Information
Background Information
1. Knowledge of American Geography
The USA was divided after the Abolition Act (废除黑奴
制法案): the Northern States supported it, while the
Southern States disapproved of it.
Background Information
The Southern
States (marked
with blue and
green)
The Deep South
states are marked
with green.
Background Information
2. Freedom and Rights
Freedom of the individual is considered one of the
essential features of western civilization, which is
itself sometimes called the Free World.
This freedom is often expressed in terms of rights
to do certain things or to be treated in a particular
way.
In Britain and the US the most basic rights include
freedom of expression, of choice and of worship.
Background Information
3. The Civil Rights Movement
In the US, the national campaign by African-Americans for
equal rights especially in the 1950s and 1960s.
The campaign included boycotts, the actions of freedom riders,
and in 1963 a march to Washington led by Martin Luther King.
(addition to a government bill)
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of
1965 were also introduced as a result of the civil rights
movements, which has helped to change the attitudes of many
white Americans.
Background Information
4. The Underground Railroad
A secret system used in the US before the Civil War for
helping thousands of slaves to escape to the free
northern states or Canada.
The slaves were called “passengers”, the people who
helped them were “conductors”, and the slaves hid in
“stations” (safe houses) along the way.
Routes to Escape
Background Information
Background Information
5. Uncle Tom’s Cabin
A novel ( 1852 ) by the US writer
Harriet Beecher Stowe which increased
support for the movement to free slaves.
It is about a kind slave called Tom who
is badly treated and finally killed by
Simon Legree. Tom’s daughter Little
Eva also dies, and another well-known
character in the novel is the slave child
Topsy. The name Uncle Tom is
sometimes used as an insult to describe
an African-American who has too much
respect for white people.
6. Christian
1) Quaker
Any member of the Society of Friends, a religious
group established in England in 1650s by George Fox. They
were originally called Quakers because the members were
thought to “quake” or shake with religious excitement. The
Quakers worship Christ without any formal ceremony or
fixed beliefs, and their meetings often involve silent thought
or prayer. They are strongly opposed to violence and war,
and are active in education and charity work.
2) Methodist
A member of the Methodist Church, the largest of
the Protestant Free Churches in Britain and the US. It was
established in 1739 by John Wesley as part of the Church of
England but it became separate from it in 1795.It was
introduced into the US in the 18th century and today has
over 50 million members around the world. It emphasized
the importance of moral issues, both personal and social.
Warm-up Activities
Do you know them?
WHO
ARE
THEY?
Group Discussion:
Talk about what you know
about the four people. Are there
anything related among them?
1. They are Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King,
President John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy, John
Kennedy’s brother.
2.They stood for the civil-rights leaders, who advocated
black civil-rights.
3.They were assassinated young because they fought for
the civil-rights, which resulted in making many enemies.
4. The texts in this unit are going to talk about the civilrights and its givers.
Text A
The Freedom Givers
The heart is the happiest when it beats for others.
心为别人跳动时最幸福。
Text A: Structure
Structure of Text A
Text Organization
Part one (Introduction)
It’s high time to honor the heroes who help
liberate slaves by forging the UR in the early
civil-rights struggles in American.
Paras 1-5
Part two (Giving 3 examples)
Paras 6-23
By citing examples the author praises the
exploits of civil-rights heroes who helped
slaves travel the UR to freedom.
The Stories about The UR and The
Early Black Civil-Rights Movement
Name
John Parker
Levi Coffin
Josiah
Henson
Identification Role in the UR
freed slave
white
slave
Motivation
conductor
Their own
painful
experience
conductor
Religious
conviction
passenger
To struggle for
his own freedom
Story One (Paras 6-10)
After winning his own freedom
from slavery, John Parker
helped other slaves to escape
north to Canada to get
freedom.
Story Two (Paras 11-15)
Supported by a strong
religious conviction, the white
man Levi Coffin helped black
slaves to escape at huge risk.
Story Three (Para 16-23)
By traveling the Underground
Railroad, Josiah Henson
reached his destination and
became free at last.
Text A
The Freedom Givers
By Ferqus M. Bordewich
1 A Gentle Breeze swept the Canadian plains as I
stepped outside the small two-story house. Alongside
me was a slender woman in a black dress, my guide
back to a time when a surrounding settlement in
Dresden, Ontario, was home to a hero in American
history. As we walked toward a plain gray church,
Barbara Carter spoke proudly of her
Text A
great-great-grandfather, Josiah Henson. “ He was confident that
the creator intended all men to be created equal. And he never
gave up struggling for that freedom.
2 Carter’s devotion to her ancestor is about more than
personal pride: it is about family honor. For Josiah Henson has
lived on through the character in American fiction that he helped
inspire: Uncle Tom, the long-suffering slave in Harriet Beecher
Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Ironically, that character has come
to symbolize everything Henson was not. A racial sellout
unwilling to stand up for himself? Carter gets angry at the
thought. “Josiah Henson was a man of principle,”
She said firmly.
Text A
3 I had traveled here to Henson’s last home —— now a
historic site that Carter formerly directed—to learn more about a
man who was, in many ways, an African-American Moses. After
winning his own freedom from slavery, Henson secretly helped
hundreds of other slaves to escape north to Canada—and liberty.
Many settled here in Dresden with him.
Question
4 Yet this stop was only part of a much larger mission for
me. Josiah Henson is but one name on a long list of courageous
men and women who together forged the Underground Railroad,
a secret web of escape routes and safe houses that they used to
liberate slaves from the American South. Between 1820 and 1860,
as many as 100,000 slaves traveled the Railroad to freedom.
Text A
5 In October 2000, President Clinton authorized $ 16
million for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
to honor this first great civil-rights struggle in the U.S. The center
is scheduled to open in 2004 in Cincinnati. And it’s about time.
For the heroes of the Underground Railroad remain too little
remembered, their exploits still largely unsung. I was intent on
telling their stories.
6 John Parker tensed when he heard the soft knock.
Peering out his door into the night, he recognized the face of a
trusted neighbor. “There’s a party of escaped slaves hiding in the
woods in Kentucky, twenty miles from the river,” the man
whispered urgently. Parker didn’t hesitate. “I’ll go,” he said,
pushing a pair of pistols into his pockets.
Text A
7 Born a slave two decades before, in the 1820s, Parker
had been taken from his mother at age eight and forced to walk in
chains from Virginia to Alabama, where he was sold on the slave
market. Determined to live free someday, he managed to get
trained in iron molding. Eventually he saved enough money
working at this trade on the side to buy his freedom. Now by day,
Parker worked in an iron foundry in the Ohio port of Ripley. By
night he was a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad,
helping people slip by the slave hunters. In Kentucky, where he
was now headed, there was a $ 1000 reward for his capture, dead
or alive.
8 Crossing the Ohio River on that Chilly night, Parker
found ten fugitives frozen with fear.” Get your bundles and follow
Text A
Me.” he told them, leading the eight men and two women toward
the river. They had almost reached shore when a watchman
spotted them and raced off to spread the news.
9 Parker saw a small boat and, with a shout, pushed the
escaping slaves into it. There was room for all but two. As the
boat slid across the river, Parker watched helplessly as the
pursuers closed in around the men he was forced to leave behind.
10 The others made it to the Ohio shore, where Parker
hurriedly arranged for a wagon to take them to the next “station”
on the Underground Railroad—the first leg of their journey to
safety in Canada. Over the course of his life, John Parker guided
more than 400 slaves to safety.
Text A
11 While black conductors were often motivated by their
own painful experiences, whites were commonly driven by
religious convictions. Levi Coffin, a Quaker raised in North
Carolina, explained, “ The Bible, in bidding us to feed the hungry
and clothe the naked, said nothing about the color.”
12 In the 1820s Coffin moved west to Newport (Now
Fountain City), Indiana, where he opened a store. Word spread
that fleeing slaves could always find refuge at the Coffin Home. At
times he sheltered as many as 17 fugitives at once, and he kept a
team and wagon ready to convey them on the next leg of their
journey. Eventually three principal routes converged at the
Coffin house, which came to be the Grand Central Terminal of
the Underground Railroad.
Text A
13 For his efforts, Coffin received frequent death threats
and warnings that his store and home would be burned. Nearly
every conductor faced similar risks—or worse. In the north, a
magistrate might have imposed a fine or a brief jail sentence for
aiding those escaping. In the Southern states, whites were
sentenced to months or even years in jail. One courageous
Methodist minister, Calvin Fairbank, was imprisoned for more
than 17 years in Kentucky, where he kept a log for his beatings:
35,105 stripes with the whip.
14 As for the slaves, escape meant a journey of hundreds
of miles through unknown country, where there were usually easy
to recognize. With no road signs and few maps, they had to put
their trust in directions passed by word of mouth and in secret
Text A
Signs—nails driven into trees, for example—that conductors used
to mark the route north.
15 Many slaves traveled under cover of night, their faces
sometimes caked with white powder. Quakers often dressed their
“passengers”, both make and female, in gray dresses, deep
bonnets and full veils. On one occasion, Levi Coffin was
transporting so many runaway slaves that he disguised them as a
funeral procession.
16 Canada was the primary destination for many
fugitives. Slavery had been abolished there in 1833, and
Canadian authorities encouraged the runaways to settle their vast
virgin land. Among them was Josiah Henson.
Text A
17 As a boy in Maryland, Henson watched as his entire
family was sold to different buyers, and he saw his mother
harshly beaten when she tried to keep him with her. Making the
best of his lot, Henson worked diligently and rose far in his
owner’s regard.
18 Money problems eventually compelled his master to
send Henson, his wife and children to a brother in Kentucky.
After laboring there for several years, Henson heard alarming
news: the new master was planning to sell him for plantation
work far away in the Deep South. The slave would be separated
forever from his family.
19 There was only one answer: flight.” I knew the North
Star,” Henson wrote years later.” Like the star of Bethlehem,
Text A
it announced where my salvation lay.”
20 At huge risk, Henson and his wife set off with their
four children. Two weeks later, starving and exhausted, the family
reached Cincinnati, where they made contact with members of
the Underground Railroad.” Carefully they provided for our
welfare, and then they set us thirty miles on our way by wagon.”
21 The Hensons continued north, arriving at last in
Buffalo, N.Y. There a friendly captain pointed across the Niagara
River. ‘“ Do you see those trees? ’ he said. ‘ They grow on free
soil. ’” He gave Henson a dollar and arranged for a boat, which
carried the slave and his family across the river to Canada.
22 “ I threw myself on the ground, rolled in the sand and
danced around, till in the eyes of several who were present, I
Text A
passed for a madman. ‘ He’s some crazy fellow’, said a Colonel
Warren.”
23 “‘ Oh, no! Don’t you know? I’m free! ’”
Language Points
1. breeze: n. a gentle wind
e.g. A gentle breeze blew over the garden.
凉爽清新的微风
a cool, refreshing breeze
比较：gust, gale, hurricane, tornado
gust: a strong, abrupt rush of wind
gale: a very strong wind
hurricane: a severe tropical cyclone, usu. Involving heavy rains
tornado: a rotating column of air
2. slender: (of people) slim; not very wide but comparatively
long or high
e.g. Although her face was quite plain, she had long, slender
expressive hands, like a concert pianist.
King crabs have long, slender legs, with a span over 1 meter (3
feet).
Slender fingers
a slender income
a slender waist
slender hopes
a woman with a slender figure
3. ironically - it seems ironic (that)
Examples:
The widespread use of antibiotics（抗生素）seems to be
causing a lot of unexpected health problems.
具有讽刺意味的是,常常是穷人付出最多.
Ironically it is often the poorer people who give the most.
4. racial - relating to a person's race, or to different races of
people
Examples:
Slavery is closely associated with racial prejudice, the belief that
one race is superior to another.
种族歧视
Racial discrimination
5. stand up for: speak, work, etc. in favor of sb./ sth.; support sb./sth
e.g. Don’t be afraid to stand up for your rights.
我所有的朋友都会支持我。
All my friends will stand up for me.
stand up to: 勇敢地面对；经得起
e.g. A soldier must stand up to the danger.
士兵必须敢于面对危险。
你的论点根本经不起仔细检查。
Your argument just won’t stand up to close scrutiny.
6. site: n. place where a building , town, etc. was, is, or will be situated.
e.g. The site for the new factory has not been decided.
一所新的学校占据了工厂的旧址
A new school occupies the site of the old factory.
Collocation:
a historic site
历史古迹
construction sites
建筑工地
a battlefield site
战场的遗址
7. mission - particular task or duty undertaken by an individual or
a group
Examples:
Some delegates were immediately sent to Israel. Their mission
was to negotiate a ceasefire.
The five young people have been on a mission to help the
Cambodians.
8. forge: v. 1). create by means of much hard work
Their friendship was forged by shared adversity.
他们和法国共产党建立了联系。
They forged links with the French Communist Party.
The two countries agreed to forge closer economic ties.
She forged a new career for herself as a singer.
2).make a forgery or counterfeit
He got the money dishonestly, by forging his brother’s signature on a
check.
伪造签名
Forge a signature
9.liberate - set from (used in the pattern: liberate sb./ sth. from)
Examples:
The new Afghan government is trying to liberate its people from
poverty with international help.
The Troops’ aim is to liberate the country by the end of the year.
n. Liberation
n. Liberty
The Statue of Liberty
10. authorize: v. give approval or permission for (sth.); give
authority to.
The government authorized the publication of this book.
I have authorized him to act for me during my absence.
主任允许我们在实验室工作。
The director authorized us to work in the laboratory.
11. exploit - n. brave and adventurous deed or action (usu. pl)
功绩，业绩
Examples:
The general’s wartime exploits were later
made into a film and a television series.
My grandfather entertained us with stories of
wartime exploits.
vt. 1) to use (esp. a person) unfairly for one’s own profit 剥削
Examples:
The cruel boss exploited the poor by making
them work for less pay.
2) to use or develop (a thing) fully so as to get
profit 开发，利用
Examples:
to exploit the oil under the sea
n. exploitation
12. be intent on doing sth.: be eager and determined to do sth.
He was intent on the job he was doing.
他决心去法国继续深造。
He is intent on going to France to continue his studies.
13. peer: vi. look closely or carefully, esp. as if unable to see well(followed by
at/through/into, etc.)
She peered at him closely, as if not believing it could really be him.
Stephen had been peering at a computer printout that made no sense
at all.
Hawking was a typical grind, underweight and awkward and peering
through eye-glasses.
CF: peer, gaze & stare 这三个词都是动词，都有注视、凝视之意。
peer 通常指半闭着眼睛看，并伴随着向前移动，含有好奇地看或难以看清的意味。例
如：The old man peered at her over his spectacles.
老头儿从他的眼镜上方盯着她。
Short-sighted people often peer at others when they are wearing no glasses.
近视眼的人不戴眼镜时常常眯着眼看人。
Gaze
指持久不停地看，通常有惊奇、羡慕、感叹等含义。例如：
All of us gazed at the beautiful view in the distance.
我们都凝视着远方美丽的景色.
For two hours Tom sat gazing out of the window.
两个小时过去了，汤姆一直坐着凝视着窗外。
Stare
指出于好奇、惊讶、茫然或赞叹等原因而瞪大眼睛长时间、直接地注视。例
如：
The woman stared at the stranger in astonishment.
那个女人吃惊地盯着陌生人。
It is very impolite to stare at other people.
14. on the side: as an additional job or source of income; secretly
He is a teacher, but he makes a little money on the side by repairing cars in his
free time.
He’s married but he has a girlfriend on the side.
他虽有妻室，但暗地里还有一个女朋友。
Other expressions:
at the side of
be on both sides of the fence
be on sb.’s side of the fence
be on the other side of the fence
be on the safe side
blind side
weak side
put sth. to one side
hold one's sides
get on the right side of sb.
take sides with
There is much to be said on both sides.
在...旁边; [口]与...相比
[美]两面讨好
[美]支持某人
[美]在反对的一边
为了稳妥起见, 以防万一
弱点, 缺点
弱点, 缺点
把...撇在一边, 置之不理
捧腹大笑, 笑破肚皮
得到某人喜爱, 骗取某人的欢心
偏袒; 拥护(某方面)
公说公有理, 婆说婆有理。
15.capture - capturing or being captured; seize
Examples:
Rebel forces captured the city after a week-long battle.
FBI逮捕了一些介入911事件的恐怖分子.
Some of the terrorists who were involved in the 9.11 event were
captured by the FBI.
16.close in (on/around) – come near to,
esp.in order to attack from several directions; surround
Examples:
Hitler committed suicide as Soviet forces were closing in on
Berlin.
Right after the suicide explosion, Israeli troops began to close in
on the Palestinian city.
17. conviction: n. firm opinion or belief
She expressed her firm conviction that television was harmful to
children.
她坚信她是对的。
She had a firm conviction that she was right.
Collocation:
a lifelong conviction
终身的信仰
political conviction
政治信念
strengthen/deepen one’s conviction that…
增强/加深某
人的信念…
be open to conviction 服理， 能接受意见
carry conviction
有说服力
in the full conviction that
充分相信是...
listen with conviction
(虚心)倾听
18.converge – meet or join
convergent – convergence
Examples:
The avenues converge at the central square.
diverge－separate and go in different
directions; deviate from a prescribed course
divergent – divergence
Examples:
What you are talking has diverged from this topic to another one.
19. terminal - 终点站, 终端, 接线端 adj. 末期, 每期的
Examples:
terminal stages of cancer
癌症晚期
Most large airports have shops, restaurants, and banks in the terminal building,
plus special lounges for departing passengers.
All staff have terminals attached to the company's main computer.
20. impose: vt. 1). place (a penalty, tax, etc.) officially on sb./sth.
New duties were imposed on wines and spirits.
征收进口税
impose a tax on imports
2).try to make sb. accept (an opinion or a belief)
She imposed her ideas on the group.
I must perform the task that has been imposed on me.
impose oneself on/upon sb.
硬缠着某人; 打扰某人
CF: depose: vt.免职, 废(王位), 作证vi.宣誓作证
e.g. The king was deposed by his people.
那位国王被人民罢免[废除]。
compose: v. 组成, 写作, 排字, (使)安定, 调解
e.g. the parts that compose the whole
组成全体的各部分
She composed herself to answer the letter.
她镇静下来写回信。
He teaches music and also composes.
他教音乐，并且作曲。
21. as for – with regard to
Examples:
As for your request for a free sample, we will send it to you in about ten days.
Some people have complained, but as for me I’m perfectly satisfied with the
working conditions here.
C.f.
when it comes to
as far as …be concerned
with regard to
regarding, concerning,
as to, about
22. transport - take sth./sb. from one place to another in a vehicle
Examples:
public transport.
公共交通系统
inland transport
内陆运输
Pipelines are used mainly to transport liquids or gases over long distances.
23. disguise: vt. give sb./sth. a false appearance
disguise sb./sth. as
e.g. He disguised himself as a woman.
The soldiers disguised themselves by wearing white garments in the
snow.
这一事实是无法隐瞒的。
It is impossible to disguise the fact.
24. abolish: vt. end the existence of (a law , custom, system, etc.)
e.g. The death penalty is to be abolished before the
废除奴隶制
abolish slavery
坏的风俗应当废除。
Bad customs should be abolished.
end of this year.
25.make the best of - accept an unsatisfactory situation cheerfully
and try to manage as well as you can
Examples:
I know it's cold and raining but we're here now, so let's just make
the best of it.
The living conditions in the village were very poor, but we had to
make the best of it.
26. compel: vt. make (sb.) do sth.; force
e.g. Duty compelled the soldiers to volunteer for the mission.
大雨迫使我们呆在屋内。
The heavy rain compelled us to stay indoors.
Collocation:
compel sb. to do sth.
be compelled to (do)
强迫某人做某事
不得不（做）
27. at risk: threatened by the possibility of loss, failure, etc.; in danger
e.g. The disease is spreading, and all children under five are at risk.
risk: vt. 冒...的危险; 冒险干; 赌注于
risk getting caught in a storm
冒遭遇风暴之险
risk everything on a single throw
at all risks (=at any risk) 无论冒什么危险; 无论如何
at the risk of (=at risk to)冒...之险; 不顾...之风险
take no risks
慎重行事
28. starve: v. (cause a person or an animal to) suffer severely or die from
hunger
starve to death
What's for dinner? I'm starving!
晚饭吃什么? 我饿死了!
starve for news 渴望消息
She's lonely, and starving for companionship.
她很寂寞，渴望友谊。
29. pass for - appear like; be accepted or looked upon as (same as
pass as)
Examples:
He speaks American English well enough to pass for an
American.
30. (L39) Determined to live free someday, he managed to get
trained in iron molding.
译文：由于打定主意有朝一日要过自由生活，他便设法学会了铸铁这门
手艺。

1) 过去分词短语可以用作状语，相当于一个状语从句。
如：
Deeply moved by his words ,I promised to help him .
划线部分相当于一个原因状语从句， ( As I was deeply moved by his
words .)
再如：
Having graduated from St. Mary’s College , Joyce applied
to the University of California.
划线部分相当于After she graduated from St. Mary’s College ,
 2). 过去分词短语也可用作定语，相当于一个定语从句，如：
These are goods (that are ) imported from Japan .
 3). 现在分词短语也可作后置定语，相当于一个定语从句，如：
This is the road leading to the station .
划线部分相当于which leads to the station
 4). 现在分词短语也可作为状语，如：
Turning to the left ,you will find the post office .
划线部分相当于If you turn to the left
31. (L40) Eventually he saved enough money working at this trade on the side to buy
his freedom.
分词短语做状语, 表示方式
32. (line 45) …dead or alive .
形容词短语作让步状语，相当于no matter he was dead or alive .
又如：They came home ,happy and gay .
形容词短语表示伴随行为。
33. (L82) Many slaves traveled…, their faces sometimes caked with
white powder.
Structure: 独立结构：N. + V-ed/Adj./ prepositional phrase/infinitive
phrase
--The hunter returned home, his left leg injured by a shot
from his friend.
--The boy entered the room, his nose red with cold.
--The farmers went into the field, spades and shovels on their
shoulders.
34. (lines 92-93) Making the best of his lot ,… rose far in his owner’s regard .
1). make the best of one’s lot :非常认命，充分把握运气
2). rise in sb.’ s regard /opinion : 受某人器重
Question
Why was Henson called an African-American Moses?
In the Bible, Moses was the leader who brought the Israelites out
of slavery in Egypt and led them to the Promised Land. Just like
Moses, Henson helped hundreds of slaves to escape to Canada and
liberty, so he was called an African-American Moses.
Question
Both Josiah Henson and Uncle Tom are slaves. In the eyes
of Barbara, are they identical, or different? In what way?

Different. Uncle Tom was an enduring slave and unwilling to
struggle for himself, while Josiah Henson did what he believed
was right and took an active part in the anti-slavery movement.
Further Understanding
Para 1: What do you learn from this paragraph?
--Ontario was home to Josiah Henson, a hero fighting for freedom in
American history.
--The guide Barbara Carter, brought the writer back to a time when
Americans fought for their rights.
Further Understanding
Para 2: Why is the guide so devoted to her ancestor,
Josiah Henson?
--Josiah Henson, a man of principle instead of a racial sellout,
has lived on through the character of Uncle Tom in H.B.
Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Further Understanding
Para 3: How important is Josiah Henson for the
African Americans in their struggle for freedom from
slavery?
Josiah Henson was, in many ways, an African-American
Moses who, after winning his own freedom from slavery,
helped the Afro-Americans escape and win liberty.
Note:
Moses (摩西): the Leader who brought the Israelites out of
slavery in Egypt and led them to the Promised Land (迦南, 上
帝答应给 Abraham 及其后裔的土地).
Further Understanding
Para 4: What do we learn from this paragraph?
Josiah Henson was but one name of a long list of
courageous men and women who forged the Underground
Railroad, a secret web of escape routes and safe houses that
they used to liberate slaves from the American South.
Further Understanding
Para 5: Why does the writer compose this article?
The heroes of the Underground Railroad remain little
remembered and their exploits still largely unsung. So the writer
composes this article at the time that the National Underground
Railroad Freedom Centre opens in 2004 to honour the freedom
givers in this great civil-rights struggle in the U.S.
Further Understanding
Paras. 6-10: What does the writer tell us in this
section of the text?
The author tells us the life of the black John Parker, who
used to be a slave himself, and his deeds or exploits of
conducting escaped slaves to safety and freedom in the north.
Further Understanding
Paras 11-15: From whom did the Blacks get help
in their escaping to freedom to the North?
White Americans like Levi Coffin and Calvin
Fairbank, who were driven by their religious convictions
and un-scared of the death threats, warnings and severe
punishment, also helped the slaves to win freedom. The
runaway slaves met with great hardships and tried different
ways in travelling to freedom in the North.
Further Understanding
Paras 16-23: What does the writer tell the readers in
this part of the text?
This part of the text is a flashback to the life story of
Josiah Henson: why and how he and his family managed to
escape to the North.
Text Analysis
1. Why some terms in this text are markedly of Christian
origin, like “Methodist Minister”, “Bible”, “Quaker” etc
or other terms refer to places from Biblical stories, such
as Moses who led the Jewish people out of slavery in
Egypt, or Bethlehem, a holy city for Christians?

When we learn a foreign language, the culture of that language
is also an important part to learn. Text A in this unit is a good case
in point. We need some basic knowledge of Christianity.
Text Analysis
2. Among so many participants of the Underground
Railroad, why were John Parker, Levi Coffin and
Henson chosen as their representatives? Why do they
each represent?
The three stories are chosen because they are
representative of all participants in the early Black civil rights
movement. John Parker is a freed slave who later turned into a
courageous “conductor”; Levin Coffin is a brave white
“conductor”; Josiah Henson is a slave who struggled his way to
freedom with the help of the Underground Railroad.
Text Analysis
3. We learn about Henson in Part 1, then why is his story
delayed until the last Part?
In this way the author achieves coherence of the text.
Text Analysis
4. Why does the author sometimes quote directly from
characters in the stories?
Direct speech is more convincing than indirect speech,
especially when it comes to expressing personal beliefs. On other
occasions, direct speech makes a story more vivid.
Assignments
You have learned quite a lot about the Underground Railroad now,
but you may want to know more about what it was like to travel
along the Underground Railroad. Here’s how: go through the
journey on nationalgeographic.com’s Underground Railroad site
(www.nationalgeographic.com/features/railroad). And your
homework is to write a composition about the conditions in
which slaves lived and some of the dangers that an escaping
slave faced.
Text B The Dream, the Stars and Dr. King
Language Points
1. come a long way vi. have developed or become very successful有很大进
步(有很大改进)
The company has come a long way since its beginnings.
公司自开办以来有很显著的改善。
Regarding the environment, Beijing has come a long way since its
last bid in 1993.
关于环境方面，自1993年申办以来，北京做出了巨大努力。
2. commitment n. thing one has promised to do委托,实行,承诺,保证(律）拘
禁令
His political commitment is only skin-deep.
他政治上的承诺只是表面文章。
The President affirmed America's commitment to its transatlantic (ie
European) allies.
总统申明美国履行对其欧洲盟国承担的义务.
3. against (the/ all the ) odds: despite strong opposition or disadvantages.
He survived the cancer against all odds.
他勇敢地与癌症做斗争活了下来。
Against all the odds, he finished his work ahead of time.
他克服了重重困难，提前完成了任务。
4. play up: ingratiate oneself to; often with insincere behavior 加油，鼓吹
She tried to play down his part in the affair and play up her own.
她极力贬低他在这一事件中的作用而抬高自己的作用。
5. do well (to do sth.): used to advise sb. that they should do sth.
Everyone should do well to follow his parents’ advice.
Writing
Write a draft for a speech
Model Paper
Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface
air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation.
Global average air temperature near the Earth's surface rose 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.3 ± 0.32 °F)
during the past century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes, "most
of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very
likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations," which leads
to warming of the surface and lower atmosphere by increasing the greenhouse effect. Natural
phenomena such as solar variation combined with volcanoes have probably had a small warming
effect from pre-industrial times to 1950, but a cooling effect since 1950. The basic conclusions
have been endorsed by at least 30 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of
the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries. The American Association
of Petroleum Geologists is the only scientific society that rejects these conclusions, and a few
individual scientists also disagree with parts of them.
Key to exercise
Vocabulary
Ⅰ1. 1) decades
2) historic
3) imposed
4) racial
5) slender
6) closing in on
7) settlement
8) site
9) mission
10) authorized
11) terminal
12) make the best of
13) exploits
14) religious
15) on the side
2. 1) pass for
3) laid down
5) let (us) down
7) come up
2) stood up for
4) take on
6) draw on
8) given up
3. 1) The Europeans are fully confident that the Americans
will not be able to justify their measures to protect the
struggling American steel industry.
2) Cliton is, in the eyes of Joe Klein, staff writer of the
New Yorker and author of The Natural, the most talented
politician of his generation and the most compelling.
3) There’s not much you can do if people are really intent
on destroying themselves with drugs.
4) A different experience of the world could forge a
completely different approach to life.
5) It is our conviction that cloning of human beings is
bound to cause many ethical and social problems in the long
run.
4. 1) As for, do not compel, capture of, have forged
2) would starve, At huge risk, the mission, transport
3) who abolished, liberated, In the eyes of, exploits
Ⅱ. Words with Multiple Meanings
1) I’ll tell you about my research project in a minute, but
first let’s hear about your French trip.
2) Most McDonald’s look almost the same on the
outside, but actually there are about 16 different basic
designs.
3) Loaning money from the banks is but one of the
methods we can use to get through a financial crisis.
4) This is second-hand car has been nothing but trouble;
it’s always breaking down.
5) In your resume you’ve mentioned everything but one
vital point.
6) Our technicians have discovered a simple but
effective solution to the problem.
7) I am sorry, but I think you shouldn’t have delayed
your homework.
8) The bankruptcy of the company was not caused by
evil, but by simple ignorance.
Ⅲ. Usage
1. lonely
3. weekly, monthly
5. cowardly
7. lively
2. friendly
4. lovely
6. kindly/ saintly
8. motherly
Structure
1. 1) A letter posted today will probably reach him the day
after tomorrow.
2) Thus encouraged, we made a still bolder plan for the
next year.
3) Our government has banned imports of cosmetics
containing animal products from 18 countries, mostly in
Europe, for fear that they could cause mad cow disease.
4) Having graduated from St. Mary’s College, Joyce
applied to the University of California at Los Angeles.
2. 1) Often it is in overcoming hardships that we come to
appreciate the value of life.
2) Some scientists believe that people will come to like
genetically modified crops someday since they can increase
yields and farmer’s incomes, reduce prices and help combat
hunger and disease in the developing countries.
3) With repeated hackers’ attacks on our system, we have
come to realize the necessity of hiring a computer-security
expert.
4) Having conducted some surveys in Chinese
kindergartens, Howard Gardner came to understand that the
Chinese preferred “ teaching by holding the hand”.
Comprehensive Exercises
Ⅰ. Close
(A)
1. Underground
3. stand up
5. compelled
7. liberating
9. abolish
11. risk
(B)
1. who
2. forged
4. transport
6. convictions
8. mission
10. intent on
2. the
3. along
5. that
7. not
9. referred
11. where
13. in
15. until
17. as
4. in
6. through
8. as
10. escape
12. If
14. even
16. instead
Ⅱ Translation
Henson’s painful life as a slave strengthened his
determination to struggle for freedom. Shortly after he
achieved freedom he became a member of an organization
that assisted fugitive slaves. He secretly returned to the
United States from Canada several times to help others to
travel the Underground Railroad to freedom. Once some
slave catchers closed in on the escaping slaves and Henson
when they were on the run. He disguised them and
successfully avoided capture. In addition, later he built a
small settlement in Dresden in Canada for escaped slaves,
Setting up a chapel and a school where they could learn
useful ways of making a living. He held to the conviction
that the slavery would be abolished, all the slaves would be
liberated, and the day was bound to come when racial
discrimination no longer existed.
Part Ⅲ Text B
Comprehension Check
1. a
2. d
3. c
4. d
5. b
6. b
Language Practice
1. remarkable
3. flourish
5. grave
7. enforce
9. guarantee
11. discriminate
13. unlike
15. at best
17. come a long way
19. against all the odds
2. commitment
4. resulted from
6. In the midst of
8. recovery
10. remedy
12. with each passing by
14. subjected to
16. plays up
18. do well
20. In this context
Thanks for your attention