Unit 1 Friendship
Part One: Teaching Design (第一部分：教學(xué)設(shè)計(jì))
Period 1: A sample lesson plan for reading
(ANNE’S BEST FRIEND)
Aims
To talk about friendship
To read about friendship
Procedures
I. Warming up
1. Warming up by assessing
A lot of people have only few possibilities of getting feedback about their own personality. In this exercise you will have the opportunity to get some feedback and to discuss it with a partner. While comparing your mutual judgements, certain prejudices or misunderstandings may appear, as people often do not know each other thoroughly enough to judge others correctly. Try to be honest!
Self assessment
Of the following characteristics choose 5 that are particularly applicable to you personally.
sociable, honest, friendly, easygoing, nervous, open-minded, anxious, careful, talented, talkative, nosy, thoughtful, generous, carefree, pessimistic, peaceful, optimistic, interesting, reliable, helpful, active, careless, caring, exact, adventurous, imaginative, hot-blooded, well-organised, trustworthy, patient, responsible, outgoing, kind, brave, warm-hearted, selfless, tolerant
Partner assessment
Now choose 5 characteristic features which you think are especially applicable to your partner.
sociable, honest, friendly, easygoing, nervous, open-minded, anxious, careful, talented, talkative, nosy, thoughtful, generous, carefree, pessimistic, peaceful, optimistic, interesting, reliable, helpful, active, careless, caring, exact, adventurous, imaginative, hot-blooded, well-organised, trustworthy, patient, responsible, outgoing, kind, brave, warm-hearted, selfless, tolerant
2. Warming up by describing
Have the students get into groups of four to describe their own ideal friend. Individual students must decide on TOP 5 character adjectives that could be used to describe the ideal friend and insist they have good reasons for their choice. Then let the group leader give the class a description of their ideal friend.
3. Further applying
You may also have the students do the survey in the textbook, following the steps below.
1. Get the students to make a list of three qualities a good friend should have.
2. Have the students get into groups of four to find out what each has listed.
3. Have a member of each group report on what their lists have in common and list them on the board.
4. Ask the class whether or not they agree with all the qualities listed.
5. Then have the students do the survey in the textbook.
6. Have the students score their survey according to the scoring sheet on page 8.
7. The teacher ask some students how many points they got for the survey and assess their values of friendship:
★ 4~7 points: You are not a good friend. You either neglect your friend’s needs or just do what he/she wants you to do. You should think more about what a good friend needs to do.
★ 8~12 points: You are a good friend but you sometimes let your friendship become too important, or you fail to show enough concern for your friend’s needs and feelings. Try to strike a balance between your friend’s needs and your own responsibilities.
★ 13+ points: You are an excellent friend who recognizes that to be a good friend you need balance your needs and your friend’s. Well done.
(You may also show your students the results above and let themselves self-reflect upon their own values of friendship)
II. Pre-reading
To focus the Students’ attention on the main topic of the reading passage.
To activate their previous knowledge on the topic.
III. Talking and sharing
Work in groups of four. Tell your group mates how you reflect on these questions.
1. Why do you need friends? Make a list of reasons why friends are important to you.
2. What do you think a good friend should be like? List what a good friend should do and share the list with your partners.
3. Does a friend always have to be a person? What else can be a friend?
4. Do you think a diary can become your friend? Why or why not?
Instructions: The teacher can give each group one of these questions above to talk about. Then let the class share their ideas. It’s better to stimulate the students to challenge their classmates’ opinions about these questions.
Possible answers
Q1: Reasons I need friends:
※ to cope with stressful situations in life
※ to share my worries and secrets in my inner world
※ to show my concern for other people
※ to let other people share my happiness
※ to unfold to other people the secrets in my heart (to name but few.)
Q2: A good friend should:
※ tell me the truth (honest)
※ be good to me (friendly)
※ be willing to consider or accept others’ ideas or opinions (open-minded)
※ be willing to help others (generous or helpful)
※ be good-tempered
※ think about what others need and try to help them (caring)
※ be loyal to their responsibility (responsible)
※ not easily upset (easy-going)
※ be out-going (like to meet and talk to new people)
※ be tolerant (allow other people to have different opinions or do something in a different way)
※ be selfless (to name but few)
Q3: What else can be a friend?
Answers can be various. (omitted)
Q4: Students’ answers may vary but must include a reason.
Yes. I think it can be, because I can set down how I feel every day in my diary, and let other people read it to share my feelings some time later. Above all, it feels good to write down my thoughts and feeling on paper when I am sad or lonely.
IV. Reading
1. Looking and guessing
Work in pairs. Look at the pictures and the heading and guess what the text might be about.
1). Imagine what it might be like if you had to stay in your bedroom for a whole year. You could not leave it even to go to the WC or to get a cup of tea. How would you feel?
2). What would you choose if you are only allowed to have five things with you in the hiding place because there is very little room?
2. Reading to summarise the main idea of each paragraph.
Skim the text and summarise the main idea of each paragraph in one sentence.
Para. One: Anne made her diary her best friend whom she could tell everything.
Para. Two: Anne’s diary acted as her true friend during the time she and her family had to hide away for a long time.
Para. Three: Having been kept indoors for so long, Anne grew so crazy about everything to do with nature.
3. Language focus
Next you are to read and underline all the useful expressions or collocations in the passage. Copy them to your notebook after class as homework.
laugh at, go through, make/call + O +Noun (as O.C.), hide away, set down, grow crazy about, do with…, there was a time when…, keep sb. spellbound, on purpose, in order to do sth., far too +adj./adv, happen to do sth., it was the first/second time that …, face to face
V. Closing down
Closing down by doing exercises
To end the lesson you are to do the comprehending Exercises 1 and 2.
Closing down by discussion of ideas
Work in groups of four. Discuss the ideas put forward in the reading passage. It does not matter whether you agree or disagree. What is important is that you should have a reason for what you say. Also you can put forward your own ideas, either criticising the text or using it as a support:
★ What would you do if your family were going to be killed just because they did something the Emperor did not like?
★ Where would you plan to hide?
★ How would you arrange to get food given to you every day?
What would you do to pass the time?
Language chunks from Unit 1 Friendship
add up, get sth. done, calm sb. done, have got to, go on holiday, talk care of, walk the dog, get loose, pay for sth, cheat in the exam, should have done, someone else’s, laugh at, go through, hide away, set down, a series of, a hiding place, I wonder if…, grow/be/become crazy about, could have done, keep sb.spellbound, keep doing, stay awake, on purpose, in order to, by oneself, far too much, it was(is) the first time that…, face to face, feel lonely/sit alone, save one’s life, be concerned about, with so many clothes on, have trouble with sb, at the moment, get along (well) with sb./ sth, enjoy doing, be/become/make friends with, be/fall in love (with), try sth. out on sb. ask for advice, give sb. some advice on…, make an effort to do sth., join in sth., show one’s interest in, far and wide, pay attention to, look to one’s own concern, share one’s thoughts and feelings with sb, come to a conclusion, be prepared to do sth., a heart-to-heart talk, hurt one’s feelings, change one’s mind, live in peace, go on a picnic, get away with, feel at home, in need
Period 2: A sample lesson plan for Learning about Language
(Direct & Indirect Speech(Ⅰ) statements & questions)
Aims
To discover useful words and expressions
To discover useful structures
Procedures
I. Warming up
Warming up by discovering useful words and expressions
Turn to page 4 and do Exercises 1, 2, 3 and 4 first. Then check your answers with your class partner.
II. Learning about grammar: Direct and Indirect Speech
1.Direct Speech
In direct speech, the original speaker's exact words are given and are indicated by quotation marks.
★ “I don’t know what to do,” said Dean.
In some grammar books, ‘said Dean’ is referred to as a reporting clause. “I don't know what to do,” is referred to as the reported clause.
2. Indirect Speech
In indirect speech, the exact meaning of the speaker’s words is given, but the exact words are not directly quoted.
★ Dean said that he didn’t know what to do.
To convert direct speech into indirect speech:
If the main verb is past tense, present tense verbs in ‘that clause’ must also be changed to past tense.
Dean said that he didn’t know what to do.
First and second person pronouns must be changed to third person pronouns.
Dean said that he didn’t know what to do.
(The word ‘that’ can often be left out: Dean said he didn’t know what to do.)
3. Indirect Questions
Direct question: “Did Marama’s horse win a prize?” Owen asked.
Indirect questions: Owen asked whether (or if) Marama’s horse had won a prize.
The same rules apply to indirect questions as to indirect statements. The difference is that a wh- clause is used instead of a that clause.
Direct question: “Why won’t you marry me?” asked Donald.
Indirect question: Donald asked her why she wouldn’t marry him.
In telling a story or recounting events, a speaker using direct speech has all the resources of intonation to produce a lively account. Because indirect speech is always speech reported by someone else, the account is more reserved and restrained.
“What shall we do?” asked Bev.
“Don’t worry, Bev,” said Duncan, “I’ve got a plan.”
Bev asked Duncan what they should do. He told her not to worry and that he had got a plan.
The ability to change direct speech into indirect speech is a useful skill for those engaged in taking the minutes of a meeting or reporting on events.
Direct speech: “First of all, I would like to thank everybody who helped with the fair. The results were very good, and we will now be able to buy two more computers.”
Indirect speech: The principal said that he would like to thank everybody who had helped with the fair. He announced that the results were very good and that the school would now be able to buy two more computers.
III. Discovering words and expressions
Do exercises 1, 2, 3 and 4 on page 4 and 5. Check your work with your partner’s.
IV. Discovering structures
Do exercise 1 and 2. Check your work with your partner’s.
Period 3: A sample lesson plan for Using Language
(A letter from a student to the editor of The 21st Century)
Aims
To listen to a letter about friendship
To speak about a questionnaire about friendship
To write advice about friendship
To write a few lines describing a friend
Procedures
I. Warming up
1. Read the letter to Miss Wang and find out what was upsetting Lisa.
2. Listen to what Miss Wang says, and then answer the questions in Exercise 2.
3. Listen to the tape again and try to spell out the missing words in Ex 3.
II. Talking about designing a questionnaire
Work in groups of four. Design a questionnaire to find out what kind of friends your classmates are. Ask the Students to use the quiz in the Warming Up as an example.
Note: The students should be talking while they are doing the task. This provides the students with the opportunity to practise expressing thought and concern in matters of immediate concern and interest. Tell the students to follow these steps:
Step1: In your group, come up with four situations among friends. Design four questions accordingly with three possible answers.
Step2: Put the four questions together and form a questionnaire.
Step3: Check the questionnaire through and try it out on your own group.
Step4: Share your questionnaire with another group and try each other’s questionnaires.
Sample questionnaire:
This questionnaire has four questions, and each question is followed by a set of possible answers. Please read the questions, and then consider which response fits you best.
1.Why am I close friends with this person now?
A. Because being friends with him/her helps me feel important.
B. Because my friend would be upset if I ended the relationship.
C. Because he/she is someone I really enjoy sharing emotions and special events with.
2. Why do I spend time with my friend?
A. Because my friend would get mad at me if I didn’t.
B. Because it is fun spending time with him/her.
C. Because I think it is what friends are supposed to do.
3.Why do I listen to my friend’s problems, or to what my friend has to say?
A. Because my friend praises me and makes me feel good when I do.
B. Because it’s interesting and satisfying to be able to share like that.
C. Because I really value getting to know my friend better.
4.Why do I keep promises to my friend?
A. Because I believe it is an important personal quality to live up to my promises to a friend.
B. Because it would threaten our friendship if I were not trustworthy.
C. Because I would feel bad about myself if I didn’t.
Scoring Sheet:
Q1 A 1point
Q2 A 1point
Q3 A1 point
Q4 A3 points
B 2points B 2points B2 points B2 points
C 3points C 3points C3 points C1 point
☆ 4~6 points: You are not a good friend. You either neglect your friend’s needs or just do what he/she wants you to do. You should think more about what a good friend needs to do.
☆ 7~9 points: You are a good friend but you sometimes let your friendship become too important, or you fail to show enough concern for your friend’s needs and feelings. Try to strike a balance between your friend’s needs and your own responsibilities.
☆ 10+ points: You are an excellent friend who recognizes that to be a good friend you need balance your needs and your friend’s. Well done.
Students work in groups and try their own questionnaires in the school to collect more information about students’ reflection of the values of friendship.
III. Guided writing
1. Read the letter to the editor from Xiaodong and make sure you know what problem Xiaodong has.
2. Discuss in groups of four. Think what advice you can give Xiaodong.
3. Write your advice to Xiaodong as an editor individually.
Sample writing:
Dear Xiaodong,
Some people like talking with others, but some people are shy. If you fall into the second group, it can be hard to make friends. But you can change the situation.
What are you interested in? If you like basketball, for example, you could talk with some of your classmates who like basketball. The easiest way to start talking to people is to find something you have in common.
If you are standing beside a group of your classmates, join in their discussion if you know something about the subject they are discussing. But if you don’t, you shouldn’t feel afraid to say, for example, “That sounds interesting, what is it about?” Once you start talking to one person, it will get easier to talk to others.
Find one person you have something in common with, and once you become friends with him, his friends will start talking to you too.
Good luck!
Editor
IV. Writing assessment
1. Can you give Xiaodong some good advice?
2. I s your letter well developed?
3. Are your ideas well organized to the point?
4. Do you have a good choice of words and idioms in your writing?
5. Do you get a good mastery of complex structures of language?
6. What kind of mistakes have you made in your writing? What can you do to avoid such mistakes?
V. Further Applying
Here are some proverbs about friends and friendship. Read them carefully and pay attention to the sentence stress and intonation. Then write a passage. Choose some you agree and explain why. Then choose some you disagree and explain why.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
Friends are like wine, the older, the better.
When you meet your friend, your face shines-you have found gold.
A friend to all is a friend to none.
The same man cannot be both friend and flatterer.
The best mirror is an old friend.
False friends are worse than open enemies.
Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.
Friendship cannot always stand on one side.
The friendship that can end is never real.
With clothes the new are best, with friends the old are best.
■You may also have the students complete the task as homework after class.
Part Two: Teaching Resources (第二部分：教學(xué)資源)
Section 1: Background reading on friendship
Friendship Quotes
I. Questions about friendship
1.What is the main problem in friendship? (leaving someone out)
2.How do you keep a friend? (treat someone like you want to be treated)
3.What is a good friend? (somebody whom you can depend on)
4.What if your friend said they wouldn’t be your friend if you were another person’s friend? (That “friend” would not mind if she were really your friend.)
★ “True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost.”--- Charles Caleb Colton
★ “A friend is one who walks in when others walk out”---Walter Winchell
★ “A friend is one who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself.” --- Lysha
★ “The better part of one's life consists of his friendships.”--- Abraham Lincoln
★ “Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.” --- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
★ “Friendship is the golden ribbon that ties the world together.” ---Kristina Kentigian
★ “Friends are the sunshine of life.” ---John Hay
★ A friend in need is a friend indeed.
II. Tips on being a good friend
※ Treat your friends the way you want to be treated.
※ Keep secrets that are told to you.
※ Pay attention when your friend is talking.
※ Keep your promises.
※ Share things with your friend.
※ Tell your friend the truth.
※ Stick up for your friend.
III. What kind of friend are you?
1. If your friend tells you a secret that isn’t bad but you promised not to tell anyone, you will________.
A. tell everyone B. keep the promise
2. If you know your friend is planning to cheat on a test, you will________.
A. tell your teacher B. let your friend cheat
C. help your friend study for the test so she won't feel she needs to cheat
3. If your friend tells you a secret and it may cause his or her death, you will________.
A. tell a trusted adult B. keep it a secret C. tell your friends
You may print this sheet and answer the questions. Then discuss the answers with your friends.
A true friendship should:
☉encourage you to live your dream.
☉support you toward your goals.
☉sympathize for your losses and help you find a silver lining.
☉build your self-esteem.
If happiness and life-satisfaction are your goals, your friends should be chosen on the basis of how well they can accomplish those four goals.
Happiness is a personal choice that comes from within. But, as the friendship poem says, it surely doesn’t hurt to have supportive friendships that help us achieve our goals.
IV. Self-reflection upon friendship
Read the following statements and then tick Yes (√) or No( ×) to show your opinions upon friendship.
1. Friendship is very important to me.
2. I have a lot of friends.
3. There can be true friendship between a schoolboy and a schoolgirl.
4. I am very kind to my friends.
5. I think everyone should have friends.
6. Friends must have the same character.
7. I keep a diary and think it is my close friend.
8. When my friend is in trouble, I am always ready to help.
9. I don’t like to talk to others very much. I like to be alone.
10. I keep a pet animal and treat it like a friend.
A friendship poem
Choose friends wisely, the portrait they paint
Is who you are and who you ain’t.
Friendship is life’s great support
When friends are of the right sort.
For all your dreams do they make room,
Or bring you down with doom and gloom?
You will know a friendship is true.
When it brings out the best in you.
It’s true. You can tell a person by the company she keeps. Our friendships not only tell a lot about who we are --- they make us who we are. The friendship poem above says it all. You will know a friendship is true when it brings out the best in you.
Take a look at your friends. Do they bring out the best in you? That might seem like a silly question. We all tend to think, “Of course they bring out the best in me. I wouldn’t be friends with them otherwise.”
Section 2: Vocabulary teaching strategy
I. The role of vocabulary teaching
In the context of learning English as a foreign language, a learner is forced to be autonomous and independent and make conscious effort to learn vocabulary outside the classroom simply because the exposure to the target language is limited in class. So teachers cannot rely on their students ‘picking up’ lexical items. This makes explicit vocabulary teaching necessary. However, vocabulary is notoriously difficult if not impossible to teach because of the complexity of its linguistic, semantic and psycho-cognitive aspects
II. Best approach
There are no universally useful strategies and they contribute to vocabulary learning in different ways. Students use a number of strategies, often simultaneously. The efficiency of vocabulary learning depends on how students combine individual strategies. If students combine and employ individual strategies from different groups they will be more successful in developing the target language lexicon. Thus, the ideal combination would be that of strategies from all four groups.
The teacher should create activities and tasks (to be done both in and outside class) to help students to build their vocabulary and develop strategies to learn the vocabulary on their own. Students experiment and evaluate and then decide which to adopt or reject since strategies are not intended to be prescriptive.
III. Practical activities
Here is a selection of practical activities that direct learners towards using strategies of vocabulary learning.
1. The useful alphabet (self-initiated independent learning)
Each student gets a letter and has to find 5, 10 or 15 words he or she thinks would be useful for him or her. He or she then report to the class, perhaps as a mingle activity, using word cards (on one side they write the letter, on the other the information on the word - spelling, pronunciation, definition).
2. Word bag (formal practice)
This is to get your students to write down new words they hear in class.
At the beginning of the term/course, divide students into groups of about 5 and give each group a number (e.g. 1-6). At the beginning of each class, give each group about 10 cards on which they write the number of their group and the new words they hear in class. At the end of each class, they put their cards into the “word bag” and every 2 weeks you check whether they still know those words and which group has the most cards. In the end there are two winners: the group that has the most cards, and the one that knows more words.
3. Especially for you (Functional practice)
The teacher prepares a list of words. Each student gets one word, which is prepared especially for him or her. The trick is that each student gets a word whose initial letter is the same as the initial of the student’s first name, e.g. Linda gets listless. Each student must look it up in the dictionary during the class and after a few minutes report to the class. E.g. “My name is Linda and I’m listless. That means that I am ... (definition)...”. For homework students can do the same using their surname.
4. Word tour (memorizing)
Instructions for your students: Think of a town or city you know well. Imagine that you are organizing a sightseeing tour. Think of 5 places you would include on your tour and write down the order in which the tourists would visit them. Learn your tour off by heart so that you can picture it in your mind. Whenever you have 5 new English words to learn, imagine these words are the tourists on your tour and picture the words in the places on your tour like this.
Tour: Trafalgar Square; Buckingham Palace; Houses of Parliament; Westminster Abbey; Downing Street. Words to learn: apron, dustpan, vacuum cleaner, feather duster, broom. Imagine Nelson on his column in Trafalgar Square wearing an apron, the queen brushing the floor in Buckingham Palace and using a dustpan...
Section 3: Words and expressions from Unit 1 Friendship
add v.1. put something with something else or with a group of other things: Do you want to add your name to the list? 2. to put two or more numbers together in order to calculate the total: Add 6 and 6 to make 12. 3. to increase the number: The sales tax adds 15% to the price of clothes. 4. to say some more that is related to what has already been said: That’s all I want to say. Is there anything you’d like to add.
Other verbal phrases of “add”
add to: to make something larger and more noticeable: Our explanation seemed only to add to his bewilderment.
add up: to calculate the total of several numbers: Add your scores up and we’ll see who won.
add up to: to have a particular result: His schooling added up to no more than one year.
point: n. 1. small spot: The stars shone like tiny points of light in the sky. 2. sharp end: a knife with a very sharp point. 3. a unit used to show the score in a game or sport: She lost three points for that fall.(in a skating match)
upset: 1. vt. & vi. to make someone feel unhappy or worried: I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. 2.adj. (not before noun) unhappy and worried: She was still upset about the argument that she had had with Harry.
ignore: vt. 1. to behave as if you had not seen or heard someone or something(不理睬): Either she didn’t see me wave or she deliberately ignored me. 2. to pay no attention to something that you have been told or that you know about(忽視): Some drivers simply ignore speed limits.
calm: 1. adj. quiet and without excitement, nervous activity or strong feelings: Keep calm, and try not to panic. 2. vt.& vi. to make someone or something quiet after strong emotion or nervous activity: Charlie tried to calm the frightened children. 3. calm down: vt &vi. to become quiet or make someone quiet after strong emotion or nervous activity: Calm down and tell me what happened.
concern: 1. n. worry: something that worries you or a feeling of worry: There is growing concern about/over the effects of pollution on health. The rise in unemployment is of great concern to the government. 2.vt. to make someone feel worried or upset: The fact that she spends so much money on her own really concerns me. More and more people are concerning themselves with/about environmental problems. 3. be concerned about/for/with: Ross has never been concerned about what other people think of him. Rescuers are concerned for the safety of those trapped in the mine. This story is concerned with a Russian family in the 19th century.
cheat: 1.vi. to behave in a dishonest way in order to win or to get a advantage in a competition, game or examination: Jack always cheats at cards. 2. vt. to trick someone who trusts you.
share: vi & vt. 1.use equally: The last bus had gone, so the three of us shared a taxi. I shared a room with him at college. 2. to have the same opinion, experience, feeling etc as someone else: I share your concern about this problem. 3. to tell other people about an idea, secret, problem: It’s always better to share your worries. 4. n. part of sth.: I do my share of the housework. Don’t worry---you’ll get your fair share.
set down: to write down something so that you have a record of it: I want to set down
my feelings on paper.
Other verbal phrases of “set”
set apart: to make someone or somebody different from other people or things.
set aside: to keep some money or time for a special purpose
set off: to start to go somewhere/ to cause a explosion
set out: to start a journey/ to talk about something in an organized way
set up: to start an organization/ to build something
crazy adj. 1. impractical; foolish: That’s the craziest idea I’ve ever heard. 2. mad; ill in the mind: Turn that music down---it’s driving me crazy. 3. be crazy about=to like sb. very much, or be very interested in something: The boy is crazy about football. 4. like crazy=very hard: We have to work like crazy to get this finished on time.
purpose: 1. n. an intention or plan; the feeling of having an aim in life: The discussion serves a twin purpose---instruction and feedback. Tom went for a walk, with no definite purpose in mind. 2. on purpose=deliberately
trust: 1. n. a strong belief in the honesty, goodness etc. of someone or something e.g. You shouldn’t put your trust in a man like that. 2. vt. to believe that someone is honest and will not harm you or cheat you: I trusted Max, so I lent him the money. Can he be trusted to look after your pet dog?
suffer: vt. & vi. 1. to experience physical or mental pain: At least he died suddenly and didn’t suffer a lot. 2. to be in a very bad situation that makes things very difficult for you: If you break the law, you must be prepared to suffer the punishment. She was very generous to him but she suffered for it when he ran away with all her money.3. to experience something unpleasant: The car suffered severe damage in the accident.
get along (with): 1. to have a friendly relationship: If you two are going to share a room, you’d better learn how to get along. I’ve always found him a bit difficult to get along with. 2. to progress you are doing: How are you getting along with your English studies?
Other verbal phrases of “get”:
get about/around: (news)get widespread
get away: to succeed in leaving a place
get back: to return to a place; to have sth. returned to you
get down: to make sb. feel unhappy;
get down to sth./doing sth.: to start doing something that needs a lot of time or energy.
get over: get well after an illness; to do and finish sth. difficult
get through: to pass a test or exam
communicate: vi. to express your thoughts and feelings: Parents sometimes find it difficult to communicate with teenage child.