English in Current Affairs

Working Sheet

This sheet is designed to help you in reading this supplementary text(s). You fill in the information required while you are doing the reading.

　Before Reading

	your response before reading	your response after reading: were you right?
the title Read the title of the text. What does it mean to you? Are there any words missing from it? Are there any puns in it? Can you predict what the text is going to be about?
the illustrations Are there any illustrations with the text? How do they seem to relate to the title? How do they help your prediction of what the text is about?

　While Reading

	after reading the first paragraph	after reading the whole text
check prediction Read the first paragraph very quickly. Now go back to your prediction. Do you wish to change it all? Now go and read the whole text very quickly and compare your prediction with what the text actually says.
	after first reading	after further readings
the gist After reading the whole text quickly for the first time, write down what the main gist of the text is about.
the main argument Try to draw out the writer's main argument? What are the main points?
the evidence How does the writer use specific examples to prove his argu-ment? Give some examples in your own words and say which points they illustrate.

　After Reading

　Language Study

	words you know	words you don't know
key words Pick out what you think the key words are in this text.
	what you think they mean	what the dictionary says
unknown words Pick out some words that are unknown to you but seem to be important in the text. Try to work out their meaning from the context and write down what you think it is in the next column. After that,look the words up in the dictionary to see if you can find the exact meaning in this context. Write that in the far column.
idioms Do the same with idioms that are unknown to you as you do for unknown words.

　Cultural Information

　Notes

　Rating

Group discussion:

1. What do you think of Barbara Bush's suggestions for reading aloud to your children?

2. Is the idea of parents reading aloud to children very much part of Chinese culture? What do they read? Is the situation changing? If so, in what way?

3. What parallels can you draw between suggestions for reading to children in the first language and learning to read in a foreign language?

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