Unit A. Objectives of this unit
a. Content
Eight 1. Top 5 Business Maxims that Need to Go: be critical when reading about how to
run business.
2. Discussion: creative application of book knowledge and predecessors’ experience. 3. A dialogue between a customer service agent and a customer. 4. A 20-year limited warranty.
b. Key language points
1. Negative plus comparative to emphasize.
2. Particles in phrases like on in “put the brakes on” as both an adverb and a
preposition.
3. Writing in chronological order.
c. Vocabulary
Basic requirements: 43 new words. Intermediate requirements: 18 new words. Advanced requirements: 11 new words.
d. Comprehensive skills
1. Understanding a passage of approximately 1,200 words at the advanced level of
difficulty.
2. Writing a 150-word summary of a passage of around 1,200 words at the advanced
level of difficulty.
3. Skills for surfing the Internet to collect information about how to conduct customer
satisfaction surveys.
4. Doing teamwork to complete the project of writing a mission statement.
e. Functions
1. Learning to be critical about book knowledge. 2. Getting familiar with customer satisfaction surveys.
B. Procedures and Methods
Eight teaching periods are needed to cover the present unit, among which four periods are for the module of Language Skills Development, three periods for the module of Language in Use and one mainly for the module of Enhancement of Language Abilities.
I. Part 1 Language Skills Development
1. Period One and Period Two:
? Step One: Starter A. Listen to the song San Francisco and answer the following questions. B. Listen to a passage and answer the following questions.
Before playing the tape, the instructor can ask the students to take a look at the new expressions in Mind Map first.
Then the instructor tells the students to listen to the passage and do the exercise. This step shall take up 10-15 minutes. ? Step Two: New words and expressions Go over the new words and expressions in the text (refer to Student’s Book Pages 212-214) to prepare students for the text learning.
The time for this step should not exceed 10 minutes. ? Step Three: Text teaching Start teaching the text: Top 5 Business Maxims that Need to Go
Before delving into the text, the instructor can ask the students whether they have heard of any business maxims, like “Customer is always right,” or “Efficiency is life,” etc.
After that, the text organization chart will be presented so that the students can expand each episode.
Then start the detailed study of the text and go through the text paragraph by paragraph. To help students understand the story, the instructor can explain the language points and ask students to answer the questions related to the text. This step shall not take up more than one and a half periods.
Notes to Paras. 1-3
1. Top 5 Business Maxims that Need to Go 必须废弃的5大商业警句
Top 5 business maxims means the five best-known pieces of advice or principle concerning how to conduct business.
Note that in “that need to go, ” go means “to be discarded or abolished放弃，摒弃”. e.g. All luxuries will have to go. The old sofa will have to go.
Note the eye-catching effect produced by the title. As we know, a maxim is “a rule or precept sanctioned by experience 得到经验验证的规则或教诲”. How come maxims should be abandoned? Such is the literary technique that sustains the reader’s interest.
2. Much well-known business advice is sadly obsolete but can still be found in articles,
business books, and, not least, in daily use in the workplace. 许多广为人知的商业建议早已过时，可叹的是却依然见诸各类文章和商业书籍，尤其是在工作场所经常使用。
obsolete: a. 淘汰的，过时的，废弃的
e.g. Our service is obsolete, requiring root-and-branch reform. not least: 特别，尤其
e.g. The film caused bad feeling among many people, not least among the workers whose lives it described.
Trade has been bad, not least because of increased costs.
3. It seems that some companies are still guided by thinking that is sadly out of date—if it
was ever true to begin with. 似乎有些公司仍然在受极其过时的思想指导——但首先就无法确定，这些思想是否有过正确的时候。
Meaning: It appears that some companies are still operating on ideas, principles or theories that are no longer valid—but in the first place, it is quite doubtful whether there was a time when these ideas, principles or theories were valid at all. to begin with: 1) 一开始，刚开始的时候
e.g. I didn’t like him to begin with, but now he’s one of my best friends. 2) 首先，第一点（理由）
e.g. We can’t go. To begin with, it’s too cold.
4. The worst of these old maxims are not only wrong; they’re bad for people and bad for
business. 最糟糕的那些旧警句不但不正确，而且对员工、对业务都很有害。 Meaning: The worst of these out-of-date witty business sayings or popular principles are not only incorrect and misleading, but also harmful to the employees and the company alike.
be bad for: 对……有害，对……不利 e.g. Smoking is bad for your health.
Too much rain is bad for the crops.
5. Businesses that use them are making their employees unhappy and are harming the
bottom line. 遵循这些旧警句的企业让员工感觉不到快乐，并会损害公司的业绩。 Note that the phrase bottom line means “the net profit or loss 最终盈利或亏损”. Interestingly, the phrase is no longer restricted to business, but has acquired more extensive applications, meaning “the deciding or crucial factor” or “the ultimate result or outcome”.
e.g. In radio you have to keep the listener listening. That’s the bottom line. The bottom line, however, is that he has escaped.
6. Here’s my pick of the top 5 business maxims in serious need of an update—with a
suggested replacement for each. 下面是我挑选出的亟待更新的5大商业警句，并分别给出了相对应的新警句以供参考。
应用型大学英语综合教程3 Unit 8 电子教案
