Teaching Goals and Suggested Teaching Process
Part One
Teaching Goals
Upon completion of this unit, teachers are expected to have enabled students to:
■ have a thorough understanding of the text contextually and textually;
■ build up a basic vocabulary about humanity’s dream of flight and aviation, and learn to use the key words and expressions;
■ tell the stories of Wan Hu, Howard Hughes, and Leonardo da Vinci, who are all pioneers of flight;
■ explain why these pioneers were ahead of their time and how their work relates to aviation today;
■ write a paragraph about Howard Hughes, or any other aviator, with a focus on his or her place in aviation history.
Part Two
Suggested Teaching Process
This unit is designed for four sessions of classroom activity, with each session consisting of two 45-minute periods. Each of these sessions is devoted to some specific tasks. The following is a suggested teaching plan for fulfilling those tasks. Teachers are encouraged to improvise in the light of the students’ level of attainment.

注:本单元中的主课文是由三个短篇组成的记叙文(narration),讲述了不同时代不同国家的三位飞行先驱的故事。三个故事虽然相互独立,但作者用一个主题把它们串起来。同时,通过时空转换,又将三位飞行先驱的尝试与当今航天事业联系起来。在讲解课文时建议教师启发学生思考贯穿三个故事的主题是什么,作者又用什么技巧让这三个飞行先驱的尝试与后来的航空事业相关联?如:第一个故事以21世纪初中国成功发射载人宇宙飞船开篇,但第二句便把读者带到了五百多年前万户的大胆而失败的尝试(… brought to its fulfillment a dream that probably had its roots in a much earlier time),最后又以the principles of rocket-powered spaceflight are contained in Wan Hu’s crazy dream结束。第二篇以描述“云杉鹅”的首航场面为开头,引人入胜,转而又通过云杉鹅艰难而不幸的命运展现了休斯对航空技术不惜工本精益求精的态度,并用一句话概括了这架木质巨型飞机对飞机制造业的贡献(Many of the design features of the Spruce Goose have been incorporated into modern cargo planes)。最后一个故事是达芬奇根据鸟类的解剖结构设计了飞行器,超前的构想直到五百年后才变为现实(It took almost 500 years for da Vinci’s sketches to become real)。

