Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Weaving It Together
Connecting Reading and Writing
Third Edition
Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States
Contents 3
4 To the Teacher
To the Teacher 5
Each chapter in Weaving It Together, Book 4, guide them to the main points of
follows a carefully designed sequence of the reading. (See the teaching hints
activities, which guides students through for suggested focus questions.) Set
the process of connecting reading to a time limit of about 3 minutes for
writing. Each chapter has two readings on students to find the answers quickly.
a related theme. The whole chapter takes b. Have students read the Vocabulary
approximately 3 hours of class time. in Context questions, work in
pairs to answer them, and then go
Reading 1 (45 minutes) back to the reading to check their
answers.
1. Chapter photo and What Do c. Have students work in pairs to
You Think? activity (5 minutes) answer the Vocabulary Building
questions and compare their
Use the chapter photo and pre-reading
answers as a group. Then have
questions to introduce the theme of
students work individually to write
the first reading. Activating students’
sentences for the Vocabulary in New
background knowledge of the topic
Context activity. Match students
will make the readings easier to
with a partner for peer editing. Then
understand.
elicit example sentences from pairs.
d. Have students read the general
2. Pre-Reading activity
comprehension questions (Looking
(10 minutes)
for the Main Ideas) and set a time
The pre-reading activity helps students limit of 3 minutes for a second
focus on the general theme of the reading of the passage. Then give
chapter. In Chapter 1, for example, the students 10 minutes to write the
activity is about other famous artists. answers or discuss them in pairs.
In Chapter 2, the activity focuses on Have them check the answers by
general knowledge about English referring back to the passage.
spelling. e. Give students a chance to search
for and guess the meaning of
3. Vocabulary and comprehension any unknown words. Then ask
questions (15 minutes) students to answer the detailed
To encourage rapid and effective comprehension questions
reading skills, you may wish to follow (Skimming and Scanning for
this pattern: Details) and the questions in the
section Making Inferences and
a. Ask students two or three easy
Drawing Conclusions, referring back
comprehension questions that
to the passage for the answers.
1. Content
a. Clear development of main idea 1 2 3 4 5
b. Sufficient and relevant supporting details 1 2 3 4 5
c. Original thinking about the topic 1 2 3 4 5
2. Organization
a. Correct organization of ideas into paragraphs
(or within a paragraph) 1 2 3 4 5
b. Logical sequence of ideas 1 2 3 4 5
c. Main points and supporting details clearly expressed 1 2 3 4 5
3. Vocabulary
a. Good range of vocabulary for this level 1 2 3 4 5
b. Appropriate choice of words for this level 1 2 3 4 5
4. Language Use
a. Correct use of grammar structures for this level 1 2 3 4 5
b. Few major errors (in such areas as subject-verb agreement,
word order, and tense) 1 2 3 4 5
c. Correct use of articles, nouns, and prepositions 1 2 3 4 5
d. Correct use of cohesive devices such as pronouns and
transition words 1 2 3 4 5
5. Mechanics
a. Correct spelling and use of punctuation and capitalization 1 2 3 4 5
b. Correct use of paragraph format 1 2 3 4 5
c. Good presentation (handwriting is legible; paper is neatly
prepared, with title, name, and class) 1 2 3 4 5
My Friends
CD 1
Track 1 1 Color Me Pink
The readings and activities in this unit messenger of the gods. The symbol on
describe some hidden meanings associated the top right represents poison. The
with certain colors and numbers. Some symbol on the lower left signifies peace.
of our beliefs about colors and numbers The one on the lower right signifies the
are thousands of years old. Here are some passage of time. The symbols in the
interesting facts about colors: middle refer to recycling and e-mail.
Have students think of some symbols
• The room where people wait before
that are used in their country. Then ask
appearing on TV shows is usually
students to define the word symbol. (A
painted green because studies have
symbol is something that expresses an
shown that the color green helps people
idea without using words.)
feel calm and relaxed.
• Ask students to stand up and form
• Yellow is the hardest color for the eye to
groups according to the main color of the
take in, and babies have been found to
clothing they are wearing that day. Point
cry more in rooms painted yellow.
out different parts of the room where
• Pink has been shown to tranquilize
those wearing mostly green, blue, pink,
people. Sports teams sometimes paint the
etc., can gather. Ask students to discuss
locker room used by the opposing team
among themselves how the color they
pink so that the team will lose energy.
are wearing makes them feel. After a few
minutes, invite the groups to share their
Warm-Up findings with the class.
You may start the lesson in one of these ways: • Write the following color names on the
board: black, white, green, yellow. Ask
• Have students look at the symbols different students to tell the class about
on the unit opener page. The symbol any special significance each color has
on the upper left—a rod entwined for people in their culture or for them
by a snake with a mortar and pestle personally. Compare the meanings each
and prescription symbol—signifies a color has for different cultural groups
pharmacy and medicine. The rod comes and individuals.
from the magic rod of Hermes, the Greek
16 Unit 1
Chapter 1 17
Writing Skills
Exercise B 1, p. 11
Exercise B 2, p. 12
1. c 2. a 3. a 4. c
Exercise B 3, p. 13
Answers will vary. Possible answers:
1. A person’s favorite color reveals
something about his or her personality.
2. Colors can have positive effects on
health. 3. A color wheel can help you
identify your favorite colors and their
healing aspects.
18 Unit 1
Chapter 2 19
20 Unit 1
II. Body
A. Topic sentence: 2. People believe that
they must protect themselves . . .
1. Support: 3. second sentence in
paragraph
2. Support: 4. third sentence in
paragraph
3. Support: 5. fourth sentence in
paragraph
Chapter 2 21
CD 1
Track 3 3 Thanksgiving—
Hawaiian Style
The readings and activities in Chapter 3 traditional clothes. Ask them to draw or
focus on some interesting holiday and describe clothes from their own cultures
festival customs in Hawaii and China. and traditions.
Chapter 4 presents information about • Ask each student to name her or his
some other holidays and describes a favorite holiday food. Group the students
frog-jumping contest that has become according to their choices. Have the
a California tradition. Here are some groups discuss the different ways this
interesting facts about customs around food can be prepared and present their
the world: results to the class.
• Have students make a list of facts they
• As part of the New Year celebration
know about Hawaii. Compare lists and
in Ecuador, families burn a toy figure
see if there are contradictions. Then
outside their house. The destruction of
have students write three questions
the toy figure represents getting rid of
about things they would like to know
anything bad that happened during the
about Hawaii. If no one in the class can
previous year.
answer these questions, assign them as a
• In Denmark, people save old dishes
homework task.
all year long and throw them at their
friends’ houses on New Year’s Eve. Many
broken dishes show that a family has a Reading
lot of friends. To help students get a general idea of
the information in the reading passage,
Warm-Up ask them to read the first sentence in
each paragraph. Then ask the following
You may start the lesson in one of these
questions:
ways:
Which paragraphs describe holiday
• Have students describe the clothing of
celebrations in U.S. states other than
the woman in the photo on page 30.
Hawaii? (paragraphs 1 and 2)
Ask them what they think of dressing in
22 Unit 2
Chapter 3 23
24 Unit 2
Hop to It!
CD 1
Track 4 4
Here are some interesting facts about Mark them to tell what they wanted to teach
Twain (1835–1910) and his story “The the animals to do and how successful
Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras they were.
County.” • Bring to class photos of animal
competitions, such as a horse race,
• Mark Twain grew up in Hannibal,
a dressage competition, and a dog
Missouri. His real name was Samuel
obedience show. Divide the class into
Langhorne Clemens; the name Mark
groups and give each group a picture to
Twain came from the words used by
discuss. Have one person from each group
riverboat captains as they measured the
show the picture to the rest of the class
depth of the river bottom. At various
and summarize the group’s discussion.
times in his life, he worked as a printer, a
• Bring in photos of different animals—
writer, and a riverboat pilot. He traveled
lions, elephants, horses, dogs, goats,
widely and wrote about what he saw,
cats, monkeys, parrots, fish—and discuss
usually in a humorous way.
whether or not each animal can easily
• Twain’s story “The Celebrated Jumping
be trained to help humans.
Frog of Calaveras County” made him
famous. It was first published in 1865,
when Twain was a struggling journalist Reading
in California, and it inspired a contest To help students get a general idea of
that is still held today. The Calaveras the information in the reading passage,
County Fair and Jumping Frog Contest ask them to read the first and the last
is held the third weekend of each year at paragraphs. Then ask the following
the Calaveras County Fairgrounds, better questions:
known as Frogtown.
How old is this frog-jumping contest?
Chapter 4 25
Vocabulary
Additional Discussion
A. Vocabulary in Context, p. 43
Questions 1. a 2. d 3. a 4. b 5. a 6. a 7. b
Why do you think humans are so 8. b 9. d 10. d
interested in training animals?
B. Vocabulary Building, p. 45
Do you think animals understand what
1. a. competitors b. competitive
they are doing when they perform
2. a. entry b. entrants 3. a. predict
tricks?
b. predictable
Do you think it is cruel to train animals
for human entertainment? C. Vocabulary in New Context, p. 45
Answers will vary.
Journal
For a week, note in your journal all of the
Reading Comprehension
animals you encounter in the street or on A. Looking for the Main Ideas, p. 45
television or at the movies. Describe each 1. c 2. a 3. d
animal, tell where you saw it, and report
what it was doing. B. Looking for Details, p. 46
1. The idea for the Jumping Frog
Contest came from a short story by
Culture Cue Mark Twain. 2. The contest takes place
Some people believe that it is cruel for each year. 3. Approximately 50,000
humans to train animals. Some cultures people attend the contest. 4. The entry
have taboos about touching certain types fee includes the cost of renting a frog.
of animals or keeping them as pets. 5. People can rent a frog. 6. The
“jockey” tries to make the frog jump.
7. The frog must make three jumps.
Internet Activity 8. The frogs lift weights, eat centipede
You might suggest that students compare soup, and do high dives.
customs relating to a specific event in
various societies. For example, how are C. Making Inferences and Drawing
marriage customs different in different Conclusions, p. 47
countries? Suggested keywords: the name Answers will vary. Possible answers:
of the custom (for example, marriage 1. People enjoy simple, uncomplicated
customs) followed by the name of a country ways of having fun. 2. The sponsors
(for example, India) make their money from the food, rides,
26 Unit 2
Writing Skills
Exercise B, p. 49
Possible answers:
Conclusion 2: In summary, Japan’s
elaborate rules for table manners have a
long tradition.
Conclusion 3: In summary, birthday
celebrations, though different around
the world, have the same purpose: to
symbolically celebrate a person’s life.
Weaving It Together
What Do You Think Now?
p. 52
Chapter 4 27
CD 1
Track 5 5 Personality Revealed
The readings and follow-up activities in physical movements that look like ballet
this unit focus on the interconnections while concentrating the mind deeply
among body, mind, and personality. on the process. Regular practice of tai
Chapter 5 suggests how a person’s chi is said to boost the immune system,
physical form may reveal personality decrease anxiety and depression, and
characteristics. Chapter 6 looks at how reduce asthma and allergy problems.)
pets affect our mental and physical health. • Bring in photos of different film stars
Here are some interesting facts about or personalities. Number them and put
phrenology, the study of bumps on the them up on the walls of your classroom.
head: Have students walk around and identify
each numbered photo a personality trait.
• Although phrenology is not regarded as
Then compare results on the board.
a science, it provided an important first
step toward modern medical research
into how different areas within the brain Reading
function. Before the first reading, write the words
• During the nineteenth century, some physiognomy and phrenology on the board.
people studied phrenology in an attempt Divide the class into two groups. Ask one
to find compatible marriage partners. group to read the second paragraph about
physiognomy and the other to read the
Warm-Up fourth paragraph about phrenology. Then
call on students from the two groups to
You may start the lesson in one of these
explain what the terms mean. Make notes
ways:
on the board. Then read and discuss the
• Ask students to describe what the person comprehension questions on page 58 and
in the photo on page 53 is doing. Invite have students read the text on their own,
anyone who knows to explain what tai looking for the answers.
chi is. (The person practices a set of slow
28 Unit 3
Chapter 5 29
30 Unit 3
Chapter 6 31
32 Unit 3
Exercise B 2, p. 79
1. Pet-owning children, for instance, tend
to be calmer. 2. Birds, for example, are
easy for elders to love and care for. 3. Not
all animal healing programs use dogs, for
example, the Dolphin Program. 4. Some
pets are brought into medical facilities,
such as nursing homes. 5. For instance,
some nursing homes let their residents
have cats. 6. A remedy such as pet
ownership is easy to like.
Weaving It Together
What Do You Think Now?
p. 84
Chapter 6 33
CD 1
Track 7 7 The Sherpas: Life at
10,000 Feet
This unit focuses on the lives of climb Mount Everest. Ask students to
extraordinary people. Chapter 7 describes think about ways in which their own
the Sherpas, whose lives and culture culture, or another culture they are
are adapted to living at altitudes of familiar with, has changed because of
10,000 to 14,000 feet in the Himalayan contact with people from other lands.
Mountains. Chapter 8 summarizes the List examples on the board and discuss.
accomplishments of George Washington Have students discuss if these changes
Carver, an African American who became have been for the better or worse.
famous for discovering 100 uses for • The Sherpas build homes that are
peanuts. adapted to their environment and
culture. Have students make a list of
Here are some interesting facts about the
features of a typical home in their
the Sherpas:
native country and describe how it is
• Sherpa is actually a Western suited to the environment and culture.
mispronunciation of the word Shar-wa, Suggest they consider building materials,
which means “eastern people.” structure, and design. Have volunteers
• The traditional garment of the Sherpa share their ideas with the class.
people is called a chuba, an ankle-length
wool robe, tied in the middle with a sash.
The sleeves, when unrolled, go past the
Pre-Reading Activity
fingertips, and the top portion is used as Before students read the passage, have
a pocket. them scan to find the answers to these
questions:
34 Unit 4
Chapter 7 35
36 Unit 4
Chapter 8 37
Writing Skills
Predicting, p. 99
Answers will vary. Exercise C 1, p. 108
Paragraph 2: soon after, in 1865, at age 12
Vocabulary Paragraph 3: for the next 12 years, when,
eventually, in 1890, soon
A. Vocabulary in Context, p. 102 Paragraph 4: in 1891, after
1. b 2. d 3. b 4. a 5. c 6. a 7. d Paragraph 5: one day
8. b 9. c 10. a 11. b Paragraph 6: in 1896, after a while, now
Paragraph 7: meanwhile
B. Vocabulary Building, p. 103 Paragraph 8: by the 1930s
1. a. worn b. wear 2. a. discovered Paragraph 9: in 1940, in 1943
b. discoveries 3. a. agricultural
b. agriculture Exercise C 2, p. 108
3, 1, 5, 8, 2, 4, 7, 10, 11, 13, 6, 9, 12
C. Vocabulary in New Context, p. 103
Answers will vary. Exercise C 3, p. 108
Paragraph 1: greatest scientists; quiet . . .
Reading Comprehension kind man; he . . . rich; greatest good;
greatest number
A. Looking for the Main Ideas, p. 104 Paragraph 2: last name
1. a 2. b 3. d Paragraph 3: next . . . years; he . . . black
38 Unit 4
Weaving It Together
What Do You Think Now?
p. 112
Chapter 8 39
CD 1
Track 9 9 A Taste of America
40 Unit 5
Chapter 9 41
Writing Model:
Comparison and
Contrast Essay, p. 125
Thesis statement: first sentence in
paragraph 1
Paragraph 2 topic sentence: first sentence
in paragraph
Paragraph 3 topic sentence: first sentence
in paragraph
Paragraph 4 topic sentence: first sentence
in paragraph
42 Unit 5
What’s for
Breakfast? CD 1
Track 10 10
Here are some interesting facts about • Have student volunteers share breakfast
breakfast: experiences they have had in other
countries. Ask them what they liked and
• The word cereal comes from Ceres, the
what they didn’t like.
Roman goddess of grain.
• Research indicates that skipping
breakfast makes it more difficult to lose Reading
weight. The body goes into a mode of To help students get a general idea of the
fasting and actually holds on to fat and information in the reading passage, ask
burns muscle for energy instead. them to read paragraphs 2 and 6 to find
• The world’s largest pancake breakfast the answers to these questions:
is held every year in Springfield,
Massachusetts. Hundreds of volunteers In what parts of the world do people
help with the event. In 1999, more than tend to eat a large breakfast? A smaller
71,233 servings of pancakes were served one?
to over 40,000 people. A stack of this How has modern life and globalization
many pancakes would be more than two affected what people eat for breakfast?
miles high!
Then have students read the entire passage
and make a list of all the breakfast foods
Warm-Up mentioned in the reading. Can students
think of any breakfast foods that are not
You may start the lesson in one of these
mentioned?
ways:
Chapter 10 43
44 Unit 5
Chapter 10 45
* * * * *
A man who attempts to console another by making light of his
troubles or by pretending that things are otherwise than what they
obviously are will not get very far. One might as well pretend in
January that it is June. You cannot get rid of obstacles by ignoring
them any more than you can solve problems by forgetting them. Nor
can you console sufferers by reminding them of the woes of others or
by inopportunely emphasising other things.
If a man slips on an orange peel that some moron has left on the
pavement and breaks his leg, you will not help him by saying,
“Yesterday a man fell here and broke his neck.” If a manifold father
loses one of his sons by a motor accident, you can’t help him by
saying, “Cheer up! You’ve got three sons left.”
“Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” These terrible words
were spoken not by a peevish invalid or by a bankrupt, but by the Light
of the World. He always and everywhere recognised the forces of evil
and never pretended that life was all sunshine. Religion does not
pretend that everything is easy and comfortable, for religion is not
meant to fill our minds with illusions but rather with fortitude. Our Lord
came into the world to show us how to bear the burden of life
cheerfully and bravely; life is not easy, but His yoke is.
A true optimist is one who recognises the sorrows, worries,
drawbacks, misfortunes of life, its injustice and inequalities. But while
seeing these things, the optimist believes that no matter how strong
error may be, truth in the long run will triumph, even though it may not
be our truth.
The optimist believes that in the long run virtue has superior
staying power as compared with vice; that goodness will eventually
defeat evil; that life means something; that character counts; that men
and women are of more consequence than sparrows; in short, that this
is God’s world and that the moral law is as unshakable as the law of
gravitation.
What, then, is a pessimist? A pessimist is one who believes that
the evolutionary process is the tragedy of the universe or, as Mark
Twain put it, that life is the worst practical joke ever played on man by
destiny. That from one primordial cell should have developed all
complex forms of life through the vegetable kingdom, through the
lower forms of animal existence up to man, is generally regarded as an
advance. The true pessimist regards it as an irremediable disaster, as
the worst of all possible mistakes. According to him, it would have
been better had the evolutionary march stopped with the lower forms
of animal life and never reached self-consciousness.
The fish, for example, is better off than men and women. The fish
functions perfectly. He does exactly what he was meant to do, he has
not the torture of self-conscious thought, no fear of death, and dies at
the appointed time. But man has thoughts and dreams and longings
that seem to belong to eternal life and eternal development, whereas
in reality he dies like the fish; only with all his dreams and longings
unsatisfied and with the constant fear and horror of annihilation in a
universe where, no matter how sublime or far-reaching his thoughts,
he is, in reality, of no more importance than a fish and must in the end
share the same fate.
Taking this stiff definition, are there then any genuine pessimists?
Certainly there are. Thomas Hardy was exactly such a pessimist. He
affirmed in his last volume of poems that man would have been
happier if he could have remained at the stage of lower animal
development, with no power of thought. Alfred Housman, the great
lyrical poet, says we could all be happy, if only we did not think. It is
when we think that we are overwhelmed with gloom.
The custom of congratulating others on their birthdays is really an
acquiescence in optimism. We instinctively (and I believe rightly)
regard life as an asset. But Swift believed that the worst thing that had
ever happened to him was being born. He therefore, like the honest
man he was, kept his birthdays as days of fasting and mourning. He
wore black and refused to eat.
For my part I find daily life not always joyous, but always
interesting. I have some sad days and nights, but none that are dull.
As I advance deeper into the vale of years, I live with constantly
increasing gusto and excitement. I am sure it all means something; in
the last analysis, I am an optimist because I believe in God. Those
who have no faith are quite naturally pessimists and I do not blame
them.
XXXIII
TRANSLATIONS
* * * * *
In the history of the literature of the world, there are four supremely
great poets; no one can name a fifth who is in their class. Those four,
in chronological order, are Homer, Dante, Shakespeare and Goethe.
Every reader, every lover of good books, should know something of
the work of these four mighty ones, for there is a perceptible difference
between the best and the second best. Goethe’s masterpiece is Faust,
and it so happens that we have an English translation of Faust that is
so much better than all other English translations that no comparison is
possible. This is by the American, Bayard Taylor.
It was the major work of his life; he spent many years of sedulous,
conscientious toil perfecting it. It has three admirable features—the
English style is beautiful; it is as literal as is consistent with elegance,
in this work amazingly literal; it preserves in every instance the original
metres which change so often in the German. If you wish to know how
superior Taylor is to all other translators of Faust, just read aloud the
four stanzas of the Dedication in any other English version and then try
the same experiment with Taylor’s. Those who cannot read German
and yet wish to come in contact with “the most spacious mind since
Aristotle” have the satisfaction of knowing they are very close to the
original—both in thought and in expression—in reading Taylor.
Goethe is not only one of the supreme poets of the world; he has
the distinction of being the author of the best German novel, Wilhelm
Meister. The best translation of this was written and published by
Thomas Carlyle more than one hundred years ago. In reading this
translation, therefore, one is reading in the same book the works of two
men of genius. Carlyle had had almost no opportunity to hear spoken
German; he was largely self-taught. But it was characteristic of his
honesty, industry, conscience, as well as of his literary gifts, that he
should have done his difficult work so well that no one has been able
to equal it.
In the course of the novel occurs the exquisite lyric Know’st thou
the land? The best English translation of this song was made about
fifteen years ago by the late James Elroy Flecker.
No absolutely first-rate translation of Dante into English exists. The
best plan is probably to read one in prose and one in verse; the prose
by Charles Eliot Norton, the verse by Cary.
A large number of English writers have had a try at Homer. George
Chapman, whose version inspired Keats, made a thundering
Elizabethan poem. Pope, according to his contemporary, Young, put
Achilles into petticoats, but Pope’s translation has anyhow the merit of
being steadily interesting. Butcher and Lang wrought together an
excellent prose version of the Iliad and Odyssey, while the latter poem
was artistically translated into rhythmic prose by George Herbert
Palmer.
There is an English translation of another work that stands with
Taylor’s Faust as being all but impeccable. This is Edward FitzGerald’s
version of the stanzas of Omar Khayyam. FitzGerald really wrote a
great English poem; it is only necessary to compare his version with a
literal prose translation, in Nathan Haskell Dole’s admirable Variorum
edition, to see how big is the debt we owe FitzGerald. If Omar and
Edward have met in the other world, I am sure Old Fitz has received
due acknowledgment.
The great Russian novelists, Turgeney, Dostoevski and Chekhov,
have been magnificently translated by Constance Garnett. She has
also Englished some of the novels of Tolstoi and Gogol. She has a
positive genius for translation. In the centenary year—1928—began an
entirely new version of the complete works of Tolstoi, by Aylmer
Maude. Mr. Maude knew Tolstoi intimately and is himself an admirable
writer.
XXXIV
MUSIC OF THE SPHERES