The Use of “It”

Teaching Aims:

Revise and sum up the use of “it”.

Teaching Important Point:

Master the use of “it”,especially the emphatic use and the use as a preparatory subject or a preparatory object.

Teaching Difficult Point:

How to master the use of “it”correctly.

Teaching Methods:

1.Having a little quiz to revise the common use of “it”.

2.Inductive method to go through some important sentence patterns with “it”.

3.Practice to consolidate the use of “it”.

Teaching Aids:

1.a projector and some slides

2.the blackboard

Teaching Procedures:

Step Ⅰ Greetings

Greet the whole class as usual.

Step Ⅱ Test

T:In the last two periods,we revised the use of “it”.Now let’s have a test.(Teacher shows the following on the screen.)

Tell what the word “it” refers to and its functions:

1.It’s difficult to remember all their names.

2.It’s very quiet in the cafe.

3.It rained for three days.

4.He made it clear that he didn’t want to speak to me.

5.It was nice seeing you.

6.It was on Tuesday that Mrs Smith came.

7.It’s three miles to the nearest garage.

8.A tall man stood up and shook hands.It was Captain Lawie.

9.I hear you bought a new bike.Can you show it to me?

10.It was five o’clock when we got back home yesterday.

T:Now I’ll give you three minutes to write down your answers on a piece of paper.Then let’s check the answers together.

(Ss can exchange their papers for comment and correction.)

Suggested answers:

1.a preparatory subject for an infinitive

2.refer to the present situation

3.refer to weather

4.a preparatory object

5.a preparatory subject for an “-ing” form

6.emphasize the adverbial of time

7.refer to distance

8.refer to a person when we are identifying somebody(saying who somebody is)

9.refer to the word “bike” mentioned earlier

10.refer to time

Step Ⅲ Revision and Induction

T:Well done.You are already familiar with the common use of “it”.Next,let’s revise some important sentence patterns.Now,let’s do an exercise.Look at the screen.

Complete the sentences,paying attention to the structures of them and the use of “it”.

1.______(據報道)that dozens of children died in the accident.

2.______(真遺憾)that he can’t swim at his age.

3.______(很可能)that they will beat us tonight.

4.______（看來）that he enjoys pop songs very much.

5.______（仍然是一個問題）when we shall have our sports meet.

6.______(還不確定)whether he can attend this conference or not.

7.______（不要緊/沒關系）whether we go together or separately.

8.It’s up to you ______（決定是否接受這項工作）。

9.It is important ______（我們學英語）.

10.It is kind ______（你們幫助我）.

11.It took me five days ______（解決這個問題）.

12.It’s no use ______（與她爭論）.

T:Now please work in pairs to do it and you can write down the answers on a piece of paper.Then I’ll check your answers.(If necessary,teacher may give some explanations.)

Suggested answers:

1.It was reported…

［It be+p.p.(known,thought,told,believed,hoped…)+that-clause］

2.It is a pity…

［It be+n.(an honour,a good thing,a fact,a surprise…)+that-clause］

3.It is likely…

［It be+adj.(wonderful,true,important,surprising,clear…)+that-clause］

4.It seems…

［It seems/appears/happens+that-clause］

5.It is still a question…

［It be+n.+wh-/how-clause］

6.It is uncertain…

［It be+adj.(not decided,uncertain)+wh-/how-clause］

7.It doesn’t matter…

［It doesn’t matter(It’s no wonder;It doesn’t make too much difference…)+wh-/how-clause］

8.…to decide whether to take the job or not

［It’s up to sb.to do sth.］

9.…for us to learn English

［It be+adj.(difficult,easy,hard,important…)for sb.to do sth.］

10.…of you to help me

［It be+adj.(kind,nice,brave,clever,stupid…)of sb.to do sth.］

11.…to solve the problem.

［It takes(took)sb.…to do sth.］

12.…arguing with her

［It’s no use(no good,useless)doing sth.］

(Teacher writes the structures on the Bb one by one while checking the answers.)

T:Look at the blackboard now.In all these structures,“it”is used as preparatory subjects.Can you tell me the real subjects in them?

Ss:Yes.Infinitives,-ing forms and clauses.

T:Quite right.You should remember and often use these structures.Besides,“it” can be used in some other structures to express “time”.Let’s do another exercise on the screen.

Complete the sentences

1.______(已經有三年了)since his father passed away.

2.______(不久)the police arrived.

3.______(已經八點了)when we got home.

4.______（該……的時候了）she wrote a letter to her boyfriend.

5.______(這是第一次)that these Europeans have visited the Great Wall.

6.______（我們該）to go to school.

(Ss prepare first.Then teacher checks the answers and sums up the structures with the whole class.At the same time,teacher writes the structures on the blackboard.)

Suggested answers:

1.It is/has been three years…

［It be+some time+since…］

2.It was not long before…

［It be(not)+long(days,weeks,months…)before…］

3.It was already eight o’clock…

［It be+definite time+when…］

4.It is(high)time(that)…

［It be(high)time+(that)…］

5.It is the first time…

［It be+the first(second,third…)time+that-clause］

6.It is time for us…

［It be time for sb.to do sth.］

T:Well,we also know that “it”can be used as an preparatory object.Let’s do an exercise.Look at the screen.

Rewrite the following sentences,using“it”as a preparatory object.

1.To make others laugh is difficult.(I found…)

2.To help him is my duty.(I consider…)

3.That we should keep calm is important.(I think…)

4.That he objected to the proposal is clear.(I made…)

T:Now I want some of you to rewrite the sentences one by one.Li Hao,the first one.

S1:I found it difficult to make others laugh.

T:The second one,Wang Hua.

S2:I consider it my duty to help him.

T:…

S3:I think it important that we should keep calm.

S4:I made it clear that he objected to the proposal.

T:Well done.From these sentences,we know that the commonest structure with “it” as a preparatory object is “subject+vt.+it+adj./n.+to do sth./that-clause.Some verbs like “find,feel,think，consider,make”are often used in this structure.Are you clear about it?

Ss:Yes.

(Bb:subject+vt.+it+adj./n.+to do sth./that-clause)

T:Well,besides the use as a preparatory subject or object,we all know “it” can be used to give special emphasis to almost any part of a sentence except the verb.Can you tell me the emphatic structure?

Ss:Yes.It is “It be+the emphasized part+who/that…”.

(Teacher writes the structure on the blackboard.)

T:Quite right.Now let’s look at the screen and do another exercise.(Teacher shows the following on the screen.)

Correct mistakes if there are any.

1.It is he that I want to see.

2.It is I who is leaving for London next week.

3.It was on Tuesday when Mrs Smith came.

T:Who’d like to do the first one?Any volunteer?

S1:Let me try,“him” should be used instead of “he”,because the emphasized part is an object.

T:Quite right.The second one?

S2:“is” after “who” should be replaced by “am” to agree with “I” in person and number.

T:…

S3:“when” should be replaced by “that” to give special emphasis to the adverbial of time.

T:You are all right.You’ve mastered this sentence structure very well.Now I will show you some other sentences.(Teacher shows them on the screen.)

1.It is my turn.

2.Let’s call it a day.

3.If the teacher sees you doing that,you will catch it.

4.Go ahead,we’ll make it in the end.

5.-I will study hard in the future.

-That’s it.

6.Take it easy.

T:Now please look at the sentences on the screen.I’d like you to translate them into Chinese.Any volunteer?

S1:輪到我了。

S2:今天就到這里吧。

S3：如果老師看到你這么做，你就會挨批評。

S4：繼續干吧，我們最終會成功的。

S5:-今后我會努力學習的。

-這就對了。

S6：別著急。

T：Very good.We can see in these sentences,“it” has no special meaning.Is that clear?

Ss:Yes.

T:Well,now let’s do more exercises to further master the use of “it”.

Step Ⅳ Practice

(Teacher shows the following on the screen.)

Choose the best answers:

1.Is______necessary to complete the design before National Day?

A.this B.that C.it D.he

2.She heard a terrible noise,______brought her heart into her mouth.

A.it B.which C.this D.that

3.Tom’s mother kept telling him that he should work harder,but ______didn’t help.

A.he B.which C.she D.it

4.______is a fact that English is being accepted as an international language.

A.There B.This C.That D.It

5.I hope there are enough glasses for each guest to have______?

A.it B.those C.one D.them

6.-Why don’t you take a little break?

-Didn’t we just have ______.

A.that B.this C.one D.it

7.I don’t think ______ possible to master a foreign language without much memory work.

A.this B.that C.its D.it

8.-He was nearly drowned once.

-When was ______?

-______was in 1998 when he was in middle school.

A.that;It B.this;This C.this;It D.that;This

9.The weather turned out to be very good,______was more than we had expected.

A.what B.which C.that D.it

10.Was ______ that I saw last night at the concert?

A.it you B.not you C.you D.that yourself

(Teacher gives the Ss some minutes to prepare,then checks the answers with the whole class.)

Suggested answers:

1~5 CBDDC 6~10 CDABA

Step Ⅴ Summary and Homework

T:In this class,we revised the use of “it” by doing some exercises,especially the use as a preparatory subject or object and the emphatic use of “it”.After class,you should practise more and try to use the sentence structures on the blackboard.Are you clear about it?

Ss:Yes.

T:So much for today.Bye.

Ss:Bye.

Step Ⅵ The Design of the Writing on theBlackboard

Unit 20 Archaeology

The Fifth Period

The Use of “it”

Ⅰ.Preparatory Subject

1.It be+p.p./n./adj.+that-clause

2.It seems/appears/happens+that-clause

3.It be+n./adj.+wh-/how-clause

4.It doesn’t matter(It’s no wonder…)+wh-/how-clause

5.It’s up to sb.to do sth.

6.It be+adj.+for/of sb.to do sth.

7.It takes sb.…to do sth.

8.It’s no use doing…

Ⅱ.Structures to express “time”

1.It be+…+since…

2.It be(not)+long(days,weeks…)+before…

3.It be+…when…

4.It be (high)time(that)…

5.It be the first(second…)time+that-clause

6.It be time for sb.to do sth.

Ⅲ.Preparatory Object

Subject+vt.+it+adj.+to do sth./that-clause

Ⅳ.The Emphatic Use

It be+…+who/that…

Step Ⅶ Record after Teaching