《大学基础英语》课程PPT教学课件（一）Lesson 5 Angels on a Pin

Unit FiveAngels on a Pin

Unit Five Angels on a Pin

Background InformationThis article was writtenat a time whenthe wholeof the United States wasthrown into a panic over the launching ofthe first satellite (Sputnik) by theRussians, because this seemed to provethat the formerSovietUnionhad left USfar behind in science and technology

Background Information This article was written at a time when the whole of the United States was thrown into a panic over the launching of the first satellite (Sputnik) by the Russians, because this seemed to prove that the former Soviet Union had left US far behind in science and technology

Many Americans believed that there mustbe something seriously wrong with theireducationalsystem

Many Americans believed that there must be something seriously wrong with their educational system

Background InformationAngels on a Pin: Medieval scholastics were fondof debating such meaningless questions as "Howmany angels can dance on the point of a pin,""Did Adam have a navel ." The emergingsciences replaced such 'scholarly'debates withexperimentation and appeals to observable fact

Background Information Angels on a Pin: Medieval scholastics were fond of debating such meaningless questions as "How many angels can dance on the point of a pin," "Did Adam have a navel ." The emerging sciences replaced such `scholarly' debates with experimentation and appeals to observable fact

Angels on a pin is used to ridicule those people who askedmeaningless questions about the Bible in the Middle Age.It is also used ironically to describe the kind ofquestionsthatphilosophersponderInmodernusage,this questionserves as ametaphor for wasting time debating topics ofnopracticalvalue

Angels on a pin is used to ridicule those people who asked meaningless questions about the Bible in the Middle Age. It is also used ironically to describe the kind of questions that philosophers ponder. In modern usage, this question serves as a metaphor for wasting time debating topics of no practical value

Warming-up Questions1.What kind of student is depicted in this story?2.Could you use your imagination a little bit andgive a description of him?3.Give your opinion about the two professors inthe text.4.Have you ever had teachers like them?5.Do you agree with this student that there issomething wrong with the way the system works?

Warming-up Questions 1.What kind of student is depicted in this story? 2.Could you use your imagination a little bit and give a description of him? 3.Give your opinion about the two professors in the text. 4.Have you ever had teachers like them? 5.Do you agree with this student that there is something wrong with the way the system works?

Word Studybarometer n.a.an instrument that measures the airpressure and shows when the weatherisgoingto changeb.something that shows or gives anidea ofchanges that are happeningExamples:the barometer of public opinion

Word Study ❖ barometer ❖ n. a. an instrument that measures the air pressure and shows when the weather is going to change ❖ b. something that shows or gives an idea of changes that are happening ❖ Examples: the barometer of public opinion

-metera. forming nouns denotingmeasuringinstrumentsb.the basic metric unit of linear中measureExamples:thermometer,barometer,gasometerkilometer,centimeter,millimeter

❖ -meter ❖ a. forming nouns denoting measuring instruments ❖ b. the basic metric unit of linear measure ❖ Examples: thermometer, barometer, gasometer kilometer, centimeter, millimeter

competence[u]theabilityandskillneededtodo aparticularjobNo onequestionedhiscompetenceasadoctorhiscompetenceinhandling money/tohandlemoney

❖ competence ❖ [U] the ability and skill needed to do a particular job ❖ No one questioned his competence as a doctor. ❖ his competence in handling money. ❖ /to handle money