师: Good afternoon, classmates.
生: Good afternoon.
师: I looked at the results of the questionnaire survey on paraphrasing that everyone did a few days ago. One of the questions is, what do you think is the most difficult part of paraphrasing? Most students say there is too much information to remember. Right? Students facing similar difficulties, please raise your hand. Do you think it's necessary to write down every word you hear? What kind of words should I remember?
生: Keywords.
师: Yes, it's keywords, or key information. But what kind of information is key information? Time, place, and people, right? Let's talk about it, everyone. Although there are many expressions, these words can be seen in every article. Let's give it a try. I want to guide everyone on how to locate and extract key information before paraphrasing. are you ready?
生: I'm ready!
师: Do you have confidence in me?
Sheng: Yes!
师: Thank you. Now take out your workbook and flip to a certain page. Let's take a look at Material 1. There is an article at the beginning and two paraphrases. Please read the article and these two paraphrases, and then tell me which paraphrase you think is better. Do you have any ideas? Have you finished reading it? Which one do you think is better?
生: Most students say B is better.
师: Who can explain the reason?
生: I think it has more details.
师: The keyword is detailed information. Do you all agree with her opinion? What kind of detailed information is that? For example, how many rabbits are there and why were they caught by the police? The reason, right? What else? Okay, let's summarize this type of information. Rabbits belong to characters. Why were they caught and what did they do? These are what happened, right? This is a story. What information do you think must be included when retelling a story? Time, place, role, event, right? What happened, maybe there's an ending. These are the fundamental elements of the story. Is that clear? If we focus on the information of these elements, retelling the story may be better, right?
生: I understand now.
师: Now let's take a look at Material 2. Read quickly and then tell me, are the elements of this story helpful for us to retell this article?
生: No.
师: Why is that? Is this a story?
Sheng: No.
师: What type of article is this? Speak in Chinese.
生: Explanatory text.
师: Yes, this is an explanatory text. What are the key elements of expository writing that you have learned in Chinese class?
生: Explain the object.
师: Yes, explain the object, and what else?
生: Describe the characteristics and features of the object.
师: Yes, there may be more than one characteristic in an explanatory text. Now read Material 2 and tell me what the target audience is.
生: Computer.
师: How did you know?
生: The first sentence.
师: So we can quickly grasp the object of explanation. What are its characteristics?
生: I heard the word 'super'.
师: How did you notice it?
生: The first sentence indicates that a computer is a supercomputer.
师: This sentence, 'The computer is a supercomputer,' is called the central sentence in Chinese, right? Just like the topic sentence we mentioned. Is that enough?
生: Not enough.
师: What else is needed to explain this characteristic? What other characteristics do you have? How does the author indicate that computers are very powerful?
生: The following sentence.
师: Yes, the author will use some writing techniques to explain this characteristic to us. How many good examples did the author use here? What are they respectively?
生: (Answer examples in sequence)
师: The author gave us many examples, which we call facts. We use these facts to illustrate the characteristics of the subject matter. See? Now look at the blackboard and explain the structure of the text. First, explain the object, and then identify its characteristics. To demonstrate and explain these characteristics, we need more facts. The author may provide us with many examples and data, right? And there are other ways you have learned. Now take out your workbook, look at Task 1, fill in the blanks. We need to listen to an article, everyone, pay attention and take some notes. Of course, you need to take notes, but please try to organize them according to the structure on the blackboard. Is that clear? Let's start listening.
(Play article content: The first computers were built in the 1940s. They were bigger than cars. Since then, computers have become smaller and smaller. Desktop computers are a source of televisions. Laptops are the size of big books. Now we have poptop computers. They are small enough to play a new pocket like a form of chocolate. Other kinds of computers are so tiny that you may be unaware of them. There is probably one inside your TV, telephone or washing machine.）
师: Let's listen to it again.
(Play the article content again)
师: Don't worry now, give everyone a few minutes to discuss with the group members. Don't forget, try to organize your notes according to the structure on the blackboard. Time out. It's difficult to choose a good note. It's actually quite difficult, isn't it? Now let's learn together. Try to talk, follow me, let's sort out the structure together. What is the object of explanation?
生: It's still a computer.
师: What are its characteristics this time?
Someone said it's about size.
师: Yes, it's about size. How about the size?
生: Getting smaller and smaller.
师: How did the author show us that computers are getting smaller and smaller?
生: At first, it was bigger than a car.
师: Yes, at the beginning, computers were bigger than cars, that's the first fact. And then, what computer is there?
生: Desktop computer.
师: What about the third one?
生: Laptop computer.
师: What about the end?
生: Portable computer.
师: What else is there?
生: Other types of computers.
师: Is the structure clear now? It's different from what's in your workbook, it's okay, we need more time to practice. Now let's compare this part with the section in Material 2 where 'computers are supercomputers'. In Material 2, the factual part is easy and can be done as A, B, or C. However, in this article, we have heard long sentences, which may be a bit difficult for you at this point. What information should be remembered? Don't worry, I'll help you. Now let's take a look at Material 3. Are you familiar with the title of this article?
生: Familiar, it's about dinosaurs, from an article in "Cycloa Pedela".
师: Very good. What is the object of explanation?
Birth: Dinosaurs.
师: This time it's some dinosaurs. What are their characteristics?