We can see that Charlie Chaplin is good at nonverbal humor; Mr. bean is famous for his mime and farce; while Mark Twain was good at tell some funny tales. Then how about Edward Lear? Do you know him?

Ss: No, we don't know.

T: Ok, he is a famous British poet. His poems are funny and they were all from daily life. Until now people also read them and enjoy them. If you want to know more about him, you can go and read about him in:

or you can read the book 《爱德华·李尔:一个漫游者的一生》which was written by Vivian Noakes.

However, we will meet the problem that it seems some English humors sound no funny at all to us because the sense of humor of English and Chinese is different. So, do you know some persons in Chinese who are good at humor? I'll show you some pictures again. See, who are they and what are they good at? Nonverbal, mime and farce, funny tales or funny poems?

Ss: The first picture is Chen Peisi. The second one is Zhao Benshan, but I don't know the third and the fourth one.

T: Do you know what are Chen Peisi and Zhao Benshan good at?

Ss: Chen Peisi is famous for his mime and farce. Zhao Benshan is famous for his Xiaopin.

T: Good. I think Zhao Benshan is famous for his mime, too. The third one is Hou Baolin, who is a famous cross talk actor. But what a pity, he has died. The last one is Liu Quanhe & Liu Quanli, both of them are good at Ya ju (哑剧). So, can you finish the column of the chart now?

The suggested answers:

English humor

Chinese humor

nonverbal

Pantomime (哑剧) 刘全和、刘全利

Mime and farce

Funny plays 陈佩斯、赵本山

Verbal jokes

Cross talk 侯宝林

Funny stories

Jokes

Funny poems

Doggerel (打油诗)

Step II Pre-reading

T: According to the column, what do you like to laugh at?

Ss: (Ask the students to talk about their opinion)

T: Ok, as you all have your own choice and you do love making jokes, right? However, do you know what humor means exactly? Does it mean all the things that make people laugh?

Ss: We think so.

T: Have you ever thought that there may be some jokes which will hurt the other person? For example: "You, stupid pig! If you keep on making mistakes, I will pick your head and beat it like a basketball." Do you think I am right to say these words?

Ss: No, it is rude.

T: That means humor is not always kind. Pay attention to your words when you want to make jokes. Then, what we are going to learn is a kind of humor that makes people laugh without using any words. How can we? Please look at the P17------ reading: Nonverbal humor

Step III Reading

T: This reading material takes Charlie Chaplin for example. It tells us what nonverbal humor means; what's Charlie Chaplin's style of acting; how he made a sad situation entertaining and so on.

At first, as I have told you to preview the text, tell me how many passages the material can be divided and the main idea of each paragraph.

Ss: We think the text is made up of four parts. The first part is the first paragraph. The second part is the second paragraph. The third and the fourth part is the third paragraph. And the last paragraph is the fourth part. The first part tells us that not all humor is kind. The second part tells us that some actors can astonish us with the deep feeling they can inspire with us for a character they are playing. The third one tells us something about Charlie Chaplin's acting style. The last one is a short biography about Charlie Chaplin.

T: Ok, it sounds reasonable. Are there any different opinions?

Ss: We think there are three parts in this text. The first paragraph is the first part. From the second to the fourth paragraph is the second part. And the last one is the last part.

T: Can you tell us your main ideas of the text?

Ss: The first and the last ones are the same with my classmate before, but I think the second part of the text is about Charlie Chaplin's humor.

T: Good. Both of you sound reasonable. A reading material can have many different understanding! Here is my idea, you can think over whether it is reasonable or not. The text can also be divided into three parts. The first and the second paragraph are the first part. It tells us that there are two kinds of humor. One is bad and the other can inspire people. The second part is the third and the fourth paragraphs. It tells us how Charlie Chaplin made a sad situation entertaining. And the last part is the same with yours. Ok, think over my idea after class.

Then, let us have a discussion about the text. Please look at the screen. These are three questions. Read the text again and find the answer to the questions.

1. What is behind fun?

2. Why did people like The Little Tramp?

3. Do you think Charlie Chaplin's eating boiled shoes funny? Why?

Three minutes later:

T: Who would like to answer the first question?

Ss: From the first paragraph, we can see that not all humor is kind. Although we also laugh when we see someone slide on a banana, it's really dangerous to those one, especially to those old people. So when we think about it we will find it is not funny.

T: Yes. That means when we are trying to play a joke, we have to think whether it will bring hurt to the others, right? Fun is to bring happiness but not sadness. How about the second question?

Ss: Because it gives people courage to overcome difficulties. / I think that people liked him best is because he was always being kind even when people were unkind to him.

T: Good. Any other opinions?

Ss: I think that people like him is because he will never tease him.

T: Ok, and how about the last question?

Ss: I think it is funny, but not very much, because I'm not hungry. / I don't think it is funny because it reminds me of the people who are in true hunger.

T: Maybe. Anyway, I think the happiest feeling needn't other people to find and to wake. Everyone can do this. We all have our own life, no matter we are poor or rich, and we should live happily.

Well, so much on today. Do you have any questions about what we have learned? (Wait for the students' response.) If there is no questions, then remember your homework:

1. Read the text again and find the language points

2. Finish the Comprehending and Learning about Language on P19

(If there are few minutes left, ask the students to read the text by themselves.)

高中是人生中的关键阶段，大家一定要好好把握高中，编辑老师为大家整理的高二英语必修4教案，希望大家喜欢。

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