Unit 20　Humour

1.how do americans sound funny in a comedy?
2.how can clowns help people?
3.what is sketch?
(teacher goes among the students and collects the first five pieces of answers.)
t:(after all the students finish.)who can give us the first answer?
sf:they sound funny speaking with a foreign accent.
t:the second question?
sg:they can help people relax and forget their problems for at least a short moment.
t:what is sketch?
sh:comedian may act out a situation during their show and we call that a sketch.
step ⅳ.reading
t:you have done very well.now please read the text again and discuss the questions in post reading.pair work or group work.i'll ask some students to give us their answers in a minute.(teacher goes among the students and joins in the students' discussion.when all the students finish,teacher says the following.)
t:have you finished?(ss:yes.)who will give us the answers?volunteers?
sa:1.the text tells us that dating back to the qin dynasty,the traditional cross talk shows,or xiang sheng shows,have made people all over china roar with laughter for centuries.that's to say,it exists in china for more than two thousand four hundred years.
sb:2.when the writers of comedies write in order to make people laugh,they often let cross-dressing men and women appear on the stage or have characters that are stereotypes coming different countries or people doing certain jobs.they also play on words to create fun.
sc:american comedians speak with a foreign accent.
sd:3.because the words used by the comedies then have the different meaning now,so they can't be understood even by native englishmen.
se:4.aclown often appears on the stage alone or with a partner.usually they don't say anything.they make people laugh only by their clothes,make up and the movements of the body.even they walk,eat and sleep in a different way from a normal person.
sf:5.i think it is more like a comedy than the show of a clown.because the way they make people laugh is not like the show of a clown,but like the actors in a comedy.they both use word play.
sg:6.they both use the same techniques to make the audiences laugh,such as strange-dressing men or women,characters from different places the words that make people laugh,as well as their strange accents.though both western and chinese comedians use the same techniques,the techniques they use are closer to their own people,such as the style of their clothes,the food they eat,the scene in a comedy and so on.
t:you've done well.now let's have some students act how people from different countries walk,talk and behave.