OXFORD ENGLISH S2B
What is a joke ?
A joke is something you
say that causes laughter.
Can you tell us a joke ?
Joke 1
Adventures in Disneyland
Two girls were going to
Disneyland when they
came to a fork (岔口） in
the road. The sign read:
"Disneyland Left."
So they went home.
 Here the word ‘left’ means
the left side .
Joke 2
911
-“Why can’t a girl dial 911 ?”
- “She can’t find the 11.”
How can we define
“ practical jokes”
Practical jokes:
They are the jokes
you play on people. That is,
you do things to them that you
think are funny and can cause
laughter.
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On which day can
people play practical
jokes on each other
at will ?
April Fool’s Day
Have you ever played any
practical jokes on others? What
are they?
 Have you ever been a victim of
a practical joke?
 April Fool’s day is coming, whom
do you want to play a trick on?
What will you do?
II. Skimming & Scanning :
1. What is a practical joke?
It is something you do to cause laughter
2. How does the victim of a practical joke usually feel?
The victim usually feels silly and embarrassed.
3. What kind of person was Mr. Potts?
Mr. Potts was someone who regarded his colleagues
as his inferiors
4. Why did Mr. Potts`s colleagues decided to play a
joke on him?
Because this might make him feel more humble.
5. Did Mr. Potts`s colleagues buy a hat exactly like
the one he wore every day?
No. They bought a new hat larger than the old one.
6. What did Mr. Potts do to his hat before he came
to work the next day?
He had fixed some pieces of newspaper round the inside
of the hat to make it smaller before he came to work.
7. What did Mr. Potts`s colleagues do then?
They replaced his new hat with the old one and made it
smaller in the same way.
8. Why did Mr. Potts go to his doctor?
Because he thought there might something wrong
with his head.
Put the pictures in the right order
4
7
6
5
3
1
2
Retell the story
• Why did Mr Potts’s colleagues decide to play a
practical joke on him ?
• What did Mr Potts always wear to work ?
• What did Mr Potts’s colleagues buy one day ?
What did they do then?
• What happened when Mr Potts put on his hat?
• What did Mr Potts do to his hat before he came
to work the next day?
• What did Mr Potts’s colleagues do then ?
• Why did Mr Potts go to his doctor ?
Teaching strategy:
What emotions or feelings
do you have after you
reading these sentences?
(eg. humorous, ironic)
What do these sentences imply?Choose the right
meanings. Pay attention to the adjectives and verbs.
1.It was a rather unpleasant-looking green
colour.
E
This implies that ____________________
A. the hat is too big
B. the hat is too small
C. there is nothing wrong with Mr.Potts`s head
D. Mr. Potts always said goodbye at this time of the day
E. Mr. Potts has very poor taste
2. …it dropped down over his eyes.
A
This implies that_________________
A. the hat is too big
B. the hat is too small
C. there is nothing wrong with Mr.Potts`s head
D. Mr. Potts always said goodbye at this time of the
day
E. Mr. Potts has very poor taste
3.At the end of the day, Mr. Potts said,
“Good afternoon, as usual.”
D
This implies that___________________
A. the hat is too big
B. the hat is too small
C. there is nothing wrong with Mr.Potts`s head
D. Mr. Potts always said goodbye at this time of the
day
E. Mr. Potts has very poor taste
4. …it stuck right on top of his head.
B
This implies that_________________
A. the hat is too big
B. the hat is too small
C. there is nothing wrong with Mr.Potts`s head
D. Mr. Potts always said goodbye at this time of the
day
E. Mr. Potts has very poor taste
5.”Nonsense,” said the doctor.
C
This implies that____________________
A. the hat is too big
B. the hat is too small
C. there is nothing wrong with Mr.Potts`s head
D. Mr. Potts always said goodbye at this time of the
day
E. Mr. Potts has very poor taste
What is the feeling of the people
on whom we play a practical joke?
Feelings of the victims
silly
stupid
angry
disgraceful(丢脸的)
unhappy
be at ease自在的无痛苦的
embarrassed
depressed (沮丧的)
Do you think it’s good or not to
play practical jokes on other
people?
My opinions: We can learn to
appreciate the humor of a
practical joke and enjoy ourselves.
However, we shouldn’t play
practical jokes which may deeply
hurt others’ feelings.
HOMEWORK
Write down your opinion
about playing a practical
joke on others.
MORE
READING
A smile a day keeps
the doctor
away
Main idea of each paragraph
(this part can be finished while listening)
1. The ______________ of laughter to
people's health.
It is _____ to our health and may even
______ illness as _______.
It helps_______ stress and _____ blood
_______and _______ rates.
It _______the ______ system and _____
with pain.
2. Laughter is _____ for our minds.
When stressed , people can ____ funny
_____ to remove the feelings as ____, ___&
fear.
Laughter is used as a ______ in more and
more ______.
Even _____ visit some hospitals to bring
laughter.
3. A _____ to the charity ,the _____ ______
4. The hospitals would like people who
_____________________________to apply,
and contact _______________.
Is Laughter the Best Medicine?
Things get murky when researchers try to sort out the full
effects of laughter on our minds and bodies. Is laughter really
good for you? Can it actually boost your energy? Not everyone is
convinced.
"I don't mean to sound like a curmudgeon," says Provine,
"but the evidence that laughter has health benefits is iffy at
best."
He says that most studies of laughter have been small and not
well conducted. He also says too many researchers have an
obvious bias: they go into the study wanting to prove that
laughter has benefits.
Provine says that the most convincing health benefit he's seen
from laughter is its ability to dull pain. Numerous studies of
people in pain or discomfort have found that when they laugh
they report that their pain doesn't bother them as much.
But Provine believes it's not clear that comedy is
necessarily better than another distraction. "It could be
that a compelling drama would have the same effect."
One of the biggest problems with laughter research is that
it's very difficult to determine cause and effect.
For instance, a study might show that people who laugh
more are less likely to be sick. But that might be because
people who are healthy have more to laugh about. Or
researchers might find that, among a group of people with
the same disease, people who laugh more have more energy.
But that could be because the people who laugh more have
a personality that allows them to cope better.
So it becomes very hard to say if laughter is actually an
agent of change — or just a sign of a person's underlying
condition.
What`s your opinion about
the statement
‘ laughter is the best
medicine.’? What kind of
attitude should we have
towards our life?
HOMEWORK
Give a report or make a
copy of newspaper on how to
smile at our life.
Debate:
Positive
Negative
It is good to
play practical
jokes on
others
It is not good
to play
practical jokes
on others
Step II: work in groups of four.
Report your survey to the group.
For example:
I interviewed _____ .
She likes reading stories of
practical jokes. She has never played the
practical jokes on other people, but somebody
played one on her several years ago. The story
is like this…She doesn`t think it is good to
play practical jokes on others.