●Word power

Step 1: Brainstorming

1. Guessing Game:

At the beginning of today’s class, let’s play a guessing game. Here are several cards, each of which says a household appliance. I’d like one of you to give a brief description of the device and other students to guess what it is.

For reference

An air-conditioner: It can be stationed on the wall. It can make our room warm in winter and cool in summer.

A microwave oven: It’s a type of oven which cooks food very quickly using microwaves.

A refrigerator: A cabinet or room in which food is kept cold.

A washing machine: A electric machine for washing clothes.

A digital computer: A device that makes calculations, etc with data represented as a series of digits.

A vacuum cleaner: A electrical appliance that takes up dust, dirt, etc by suction.

2. Next time you are in a shop, notice the electrical and electronic goods especially household appliances that are sold and try to list as many devices as possible.

Step 2: Vocabulary learning

1. A section manager from a big department store is showing the electrical and electronic goods to a new salesperson. Please read what the manager says (Part A on Page6). Pay special attention to the phrases in blue. Make sure that you understand what they actually mean.

2. Now, please arrange the goods from the manager’s introduction in the correct section. Fill in the form.

Electronic goods

Audio devices:

CD players

MD players

MP3 players Educational products:

educational software

electronic dictionaries

electronic translators

Video devices:

Video cameras

Digital cameras Computers

Mobile phones

3. Let’s come to the household appliances section. Read the passage in Part B. Pay attention to the names of the goods in this section.

4. Pair work: Give a brief description of the household appliances to you partner in your own words. You may also describe other household appliances you know.

5. Now we’ve been familiar with the names of household appliances. Let’s try to complete the article in Part C on Page 7.

Answers

C

(1) electronic goods (2) household appliances (3) audio devises

(4) CD player (5) MD players (6) MP3

(7) video cameras (8) educational software (9) translators

(10) freezer section (11) vacuum cleaners (12) microwave oven

Step 3: Vocabulary extension

1. Of course, electrical appliances and electronic devices are useful in various ways in our lives. But which do you think is the most useful? First, have a discussion in group of four about the questions.

2. Now, present the result of your discussion.

3. Let’s come to Part D on Page 7. Complete the table with as many as you can think of, placing the items in order of importance with the most important one first.

4. Reading:

words:337 time:5’10’’

All in the mind: Scientific metaphors

It is certainly true that computers, cell phones and digital cameras have become part of our everyday life. Anywhere we go, we can hear the ringing of a cell phone, the tapping of a keyboard or the clicking of a mouse. We are said to be living in the “Information Age”, a time of new discoveries and great changes. But is it really true that we are living in the “Information Age”? Has our life changed that much? Many of the things we do with computers, such as typing and sending mail, are things that we also did before. Has anything really changed except the tools we use?

When we describe or talk about new inventions, we use words and ideas that we already know. For example, when we want to explain how a computer works, we use words like “memory”, “store” and “cut and paste”. The words are useful, but they are not quite true. A computer’s “memory” is similar to human memory in some ways, but it is also very different. A computer does keep information in its memory, but that is clearly different from other kinds of storage. We do cut and paste, but we don’t use scissors or glue. Using familiar words makes it easier for us to understand and use a new tool, but it may also make it more difficult for us to use the new invention in the best way. After all, what makes a new invention such a wonderful thing is that it allows us to do something we could not do before.

Science is not just about electronics and plastic; it is also about how we think about the world. Now that we are developing new technology at such a high pace, the true challenge is to find new ways of using it. How will we use computers in the future? How will we use the Internet? The real function will only be known once we discover new ways of thinking about the technology.