Unit 20 Humour

written by Wu Huan

Goals

1 Learn to talk about humour.

2 Practise saying tongue twisters.

3 Listen to a humorous story, train Ss’ ability to get a general understanding and spot specific information.

4 Improve Ss’ spoken English by making jokes according to some cartoon pictures.

Procedures

Step 1 Warming-up

We have been working hard on modern agriculture these days, so we shall be doing something interesting to relax ourselves. Now, let’s see a video segment.

( A video segment of Mr Bean, which is played by a very funny English comedian Rowan Atkinson.)

It is the humour of Mr. Bean that makes you laugh so happily. What do you know humour means? In what performances do we often enjoy humour?

( Give Ss some pictures and a lexical chunk )

Step 2 Practise saying tongue twisters.

What must we be able to do if we want to be a crosstalk artist?

(Let Ss listen to a Chinese tongue twister in a crosstalk show.)

Yes, a crosstalk artist should be able to say tongue twisters. And y.ou know, Americans have their tongue twisters as well. Look at the three tongue twisters on the screen, try to say them quickly, correctly and loudly.

(Give Ss three tips to say tongue twisters well: say in word groups; pay attention to some special sounds; and say with undivided attention.

Hold a speaking competition.

Step 3 Listening

In the following time, you will listen to a funny story. In the dialogue the granddaughter asks her grandmother about her marriage. How did she marry her grandfather. Then the grandmother tells her the love story.

(Give Ss some pictures and ask them to put them into correct order. Play the tape several times, let Ss finish the exercises.)

Answers to exercise 1

Correct order: 6 5 4 3 1 2

Questions and answers:

1 What was the man’s job? ---- He was a minister in the church.

2 In England, who can marry couples in church? ---- A minister.

3 How close to each other did the man and the woman live?---- About eight kilometers from each other.

4Where did the woman ask the minister to marry her? ---- In a restaurant.

5 When did he ask her to marry him? ---- A few days later.

Step 4 Speaking and acting.

As the saying goes, every man has his humor. What about you? Do you have any humor? Now , look at these cartoons and make jokes by yourselves. Try to make as many people laugh as possible.

Step 5 Homework

Discuss those questions with your partners:

How do comedians make people laugh?

How do comedians make people think about life?

Are they always as happy as they are on the stage?