Unit 1
Text I Never Give in, Never, Never
1. Ask a pre-reading question:
What do you know of Winston Churchill?
A: a combination of soldier, writer, artist, and statesman; full of courage, imagination, and intellect; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945; a leading role in the resistance against German domination of Europe.
2. Structural analysis:
Ask the Ss to read the text and do exercises I & II on page 5, then judge how many parts the text can be divided into.
Part I (paragraph 1): opening remarks in which Churchill summarized the great events that had happened in the world with Great Britain in particular and then talked about the purpose of his visit- to encourage the whole nation to fight against the Nazis.
Part II (paragraphs 2-5): the body of the speech in which he analyzed the world situation and how other countries looked at Britain and then called on the British people not to give in.
Part III (paragraphs 6-8): closing remarks in which, by changing a word in the additional verse of the school song, he expressed his conviction that this nation was determined to fight for the victory of this great war.
3. Explain some important language points:
Part I:
Ups and downs: a mixture of good things and bad things
The unmeasured menace of the enemy: the immense or incalculable threat or danger of the enemy attack
… you are beginning to feel impatient that there has been this long lull with nothing particular turning up!: you are beginning to be anxious because there has been no progress of the war in such a long quiet period!/ you are beginning to be anxious because Britain has been in too long a period of stillness without taking any particular action against the enemy!
Part II:
What is short and sharp and what is long and tough: difficulties and hardships of any kind, imminent or distant, temporary or long-lasting
Noble chance of war: impressive opportunities of war