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1、Unit Two Whos Afraid of Maths Anyway?,New Century English,Book I,郑州铁路职业技术学院公共课教学部公共外语教研室,Background Information,Liberal arts Liberal arts refer to college or university subjects such as literature,history,and political science.Examples of prevocational and preprofessional studies include programes i
2、n the health sciences,engineering,architecture,and computer programming.In the United States fewer than a third of all college students graduate with bachelors degree in liberal arts subjects.Nonetheless,liberal arts education still has passionate advocates.Defenders of the liberal arts claim that a
3、 broad-based non-specialized education prepares young people for the variety of experiences and occupations they can espect to purse over the course of a lifetime.,If you had a choice,would you choose to be a man or a woman?Why or why not?,Discussion,Some ideas,Freedom Intelligence Opportunity Preju
4、dice Strength,Questions,What kind of explanation have scientists offered as to the difference between girls and boys?What does the scientists remark suggest?,Scientists have tried to come up with biological esplanations for the difference between boys and girls.However,none were convincing enough to
5、 esplain the general picture.As one scientist points out,“There are slight genetic differences between the sexes at birth,which may influence the subjects boys and girls choose.But the difficulty is that by the time children reach school age,there are so many other influences that it is almost impos
6、sible to tell whether girls are worse at science and maths,or whether theyve been brought up to think of these subjects as boys territory.”,Examples:He came up with a new idea for increasing sales.He came up with a good excuse for being late the meeting.,come up with,find or offer(an answer,a soluti
7、on,etc.),Example:She failed to convince him of his mistake.He managed to convince the jury that he was telling the truth.,convincing,make someone believe that something is true or right;persuade.,Examples:Mary brought up her son on her own.Her parents died when she was a baby and she was brought up
8、by her aunt.,bring sb.up,raise,rear or educate sb.,Questions,What kind of explanation have scientists offered as to the difference between girls and boys?They have come up with biological explanations for the difference.What does the scientists remark suggest?Its highly questionable that biological
9、reason causes the outcome that girls are inferior to boys in science subjects.,Questions,What do statistics show about girls mathematical competence?What is still acceptable for women now according to one of the reports boys?,Statistics show that in mathematics,at least,girls are equal to boys.Arece
10、nt report suggests that girls only stop studying mathematics because of social attitudes.One of the reports authors says,“While it is socially unacceptable for people not to be able to read and write,it is still acceptable for women to say that they are hopeless at maths.Our research shows that,alth
11、ough girls get marks which are as good as the boys,they have not been encouraged to do so.”,Examples:Women demand equal pay for equal work.Your achievement is equal to his.,equal,of the same in size,number,value,etc.,Examples:Because of the rain,the sports meeting was put off till next Friday.Jane w
12、as late for work because her car broke down.,because of because,because of:followed by a noun,pronoun or verb in-ing form,meaning“as a result of”because:followed by a clause,meaning“for the reason that”,Questions,What do statistics show about girls mathematical competence?Girlsmathematical competenc
13、e is just as good as that of boys.What is still acceptable for women now according to one of the reports boys?It is still acceptable for women to show incapability in math today.,Questions,When does the difference begin to form?How does this encouragement benefit boys in their later life?,The explan
14、ation for the difference,which is apparent during the teenage years,goes as far back as early childhood experiences.From their days in nursery school,girls are not encouraged to work on their own or to complete tasks,although boys are.For example,boys and not girls,are often asked to“help”with repai
15、r work.This encouragement leads to a way of learning how to solve problems later on in life.Evidence shows that exceptional mathematicians and scientists did not have teachers who supplied answers;they had to find out for themselves.,Examples:The cause of the accident was apparent to everyone.Its qu
16、ite apparent that he would vote against the proposal.,apparent,easily seen or understood.,Examples:This festival goes back to Roman times.The history of horse racing goes back to the Olympic Games of about 600 BC.,go back(to),have ones origins in(an earlier time),Examples:Too much work and too littl
17、e rest often leads to illness.I welcome any change that will lead to something better.,lead to,result in,Examples:The exceptional tennis player won the championship.The girl has exceptional abilities as a pianist.,exceptional,unusually good,outstanding,Questions,When does the difference begin to for
18、m?It begins to form as early as the nursery school days.How does this encouragement benefit boys in their later life?They gradually learn to solve problems and find out answers for themselves.,Questions,What does the report on maths teaching reveal?What do the teachers difference expectations lead t
19、o?,A further report on maths teaching reveals that teachers seem to give more attention to boys than to girls.Most teachers who took part in the study claimed that they expect their male students to do better at mathematics and science subjects than their female students.All of this tends to encoura
20、ge boys to work harder in these subjects,and gives them confidence and convinces them that they can succeed.,Examples:What he said revealed a top secret.A glance at the clock revealed that it was almost midnight.,reveal,make known;shown,Examples:Dont claim to know what you dont know.The job applican
21、t claimed he had a college degree.,claim,state or declare something as a fact,Examples:Cigarette smokers tend to have higher death rates than nonsmokers.Plants tend to die in hot weather if you dont water them.,tend to,be likely to do something,Questions,What does the report on maths teaching reveal
22、?It reveals that teachers pay more attention to boys than to girls.What do the teachers difference expectations lead to?They lead to boys harder work,strong confidence and hence better performance in science subjects.,Questions,Why do girls avoid mathematics courses?Why dont boys stop learning math?
23、Why dont girls want to take up maths and science when they become teenagers?Why dont girls want to compete with and do better than boys?,Interestingly,both boys and girls tend to regard such“masculine”subjects like mathematics and science as difficult.Yet it has been suggested that girls avoid mathe
24、matics courses,not because they are difficult,but for social reasons.Mathematics and science are mainly masculine subjects,and therefore,as girls become teenagers,they are less likely to take them up.Girls do not seem to want to be in open competition with boys.Neither do they want to do better than
25、 boys because they are afraid to appear less feminine and so,less attractive.,regardas,think ofas,Examples:Mary regards her job as a way to pay her bills.Some people regards vegetable growing as a healthy leisure activity.,be likely to,tend to do something,Examples:Speakers who focus exclusively on
26、their notes are likely to lose their audiences.Are you likely to be in London this year?,take up,begin to do or learn,Examples:He has taken up photography as a hobby.He took up painting at the age of five.,attractive,pleasing;charming,Examples:He sounds very attractive on the phone.I find the idea o
27、f travel rather attractive.,Questions,Why do girls avoid mathematics courses?They avoid such courses mainly for social reasons rather than being afraid of the difficulty.Why dont boys stop learning math?They are strongly encouraged and punished by social attitudes to challenge the difficulty.Why don
28、t girls want to take up maths and science when they become teenagers?Because these subjects are supposed to be masculine.Why dont girls want to compete with and do better than boys?They dont want to appear masculine and so less attractive.,Summary,Since there are too many social influences on young
29、learners like boys and girls,biological scientists have found it hard to determine the reason why some girls are worse at mathematics and science than boys.Nevertheless,recent reports have suggested that even from their early nursery school days,girls are not encouraged to work independently,and in
30、contrast,boys are encouraged in schools by their teachers expectation that they do better than girl students.Another possible reason is that girls regard mathematics and science as difficult“masculine”subjects and avoid them,although both boys and girls think these subjects are difficult.,Exercises,
31、Fill in the blanks with the following words or phrases.Change the forms if necessary.,I want to know how many subjects you _ last term.He _ that he had done the work without any help from others.Parents who often punish their children seem to love them but _to have less patience and calmness.All thr
32、ough lunch he had carefully _ talking about payment.The telescope _many distant stars which we know little about.George _ a very good idea to solve this problem.Though_ in the United states,Lilly got used to Chinese food quickly.,took up,claimed,tend,avoided,has revealed,came up with,brought up,Exer
33、cises,An independent-minded person seldom lets others _ his decision.The friendly contacts between the countries _ the Tang Dynasty.I tried my best to _ him of my innocent but failed in the end.,Fill in the blanks with the following words or phrases.Change the forms if necessary.,influence,went back to,convince,Thank you!,ByeBye!,
