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The Flood (Epic of Gilgamesh)

7/24/2015

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Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:  "I will reveal to you, Gilgamesh, a thing that is hidden, a secret of the gods I will tell you! Shuruppak, a city that you surely know, situated on the banks of the Euphrates, that city was very old, and there were gods inside it. The hearts of the Great Gods moved them to inflict the Flood. Their Father Anu uttered the oath (of secrecy), Ea, the Clever Prince(?), was under oath with them so he repeated their talk to the reed house: 'Reed house, reed house! Wall, wall! O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubartutu: Tear down the house and build a boat! Abandon wealth and seek living beings! Spurn possessions and keep alive living beings! Make all living beings go up into the boat. The boat which you are to build, its dimensions must measure equal to each other: its length must correspond to its width.   

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Introductory Discussion Questions:
Have you ever seen a flood? Where? What happened?
Have you ever heard of great flood stories?
If you knew a great flood was coming, what would you do?
Who would you tell first?
If a flood came, what would be the most important thing for you to save (discuss)?

Word Puzzle
DOWN
Something that is not dead is ______?
Beijing is a _____?
How wide something is, is the _______?
ACROSS
Something that is hidden is a _______? “This is a _______; don’t tell!”
How long something is, is the _______?
Water destroying houses and things is a _______?
To go on a lake or river, you need a _____?























Synonym Matching
Reveal                                                                                  secret
Hidden                                                                                 make known
Great                                                                                    promise
Inflict                                                                                     said
Uttered                                                                                  big
Oath                                                                                      cause
Build                                                                                      reject
Spurn                                                                                    make
Wealth                                                                                 possessions

Synonym Matching (2)
Abandon                                                             alive
Living                                                                    dimensions
Measurements                                                 alike
Equal                                                                    positioned
Situated                                                               leave
 
Listening Blank Fill
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:  "I will reveal ____ you, Gilgamesh, a thing that is hidden, a ________ of the gods I will tell you! Shuruppak, ___ city that you surely know, situated on the _______ of the Euphrates, that city was very old, _____ there were gods inside it. The hearts of the _______ Gods moved them to inflict the Flood. Their ________ Anu uttered the oath (of secrecy), Ea, the ________ Prince(?), was under oath with them so he repeated _______ talk to the reed house: 'Reed house, reed _______! Wall, wall! O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubartutu: ______ down the house and build a boat! Abandon ________ and seek living beings! Spurn possessions and keep _______ living beings! Make all living beings go up ______ the boat. The boat which you are to build, _____ dimensions must measure equal to each other: its ________ must correspond to its width.

Word Bank Fill in the Blank
Utanapishtim spoke to Gilgamesh, saying:  "I will 1(    ) to you, Gilgamesh, a thing that is hidden, a 2(    ) of the gods I will tell you! Shuruppak, 3(    ) city that you surely know, situated on the 4(    ) of the Euphrates, that city was very old, and   5(    ) were gods inside it. The hearts of the Great 6(    ) moved them to inflict the Flood. Their Father Anu 7(    ) the oath (of secrecy), Ea, the Clever Prince(?), was 8(    ) oath with them so he repeated their talk to the reed house: 'Reed 9(    ), reed house! Wall, wall! O man of Shuruppak, son 10(    ) Ubartutu: Tear down the house and build a boat! 11(    ) wealth and seek living beings! Spurn possessions and keep 12(    ) living beings! Make all living beings go up into the 13(    ). The boat which you are to build, its dimensions must measure equal to each 14(    ): its length must correspond to its width.
a.       Gods
b.      Secret
c.       Abandon
d.      Boat
e.      There
f.        Reveal
g.       Other
h.      Under
i.        House
j.        Of
k.       A
l.        Alive
m.    Banks
n.      Uttered

Pair Work Discussion Questions:
A:
1.       Do you like to tell secrets?
2.       What kind of secrets should be kept secret?
3.       Should the secret of the flood have been kept?
4.       Is it better to pursue wealth or human beings? Why?
5.       Do you think a boat with equal length and width would look strange?
B:
1.       Do you like to keep secrets?
2.       Are there times when secrets should not be kept?
3.       Why do you think the gods wanted to inflict the flood?
4.       Today, do you think people pursue wealth or people more? Exlplain.
5.       What do you think the other people thought of the men building the boat?

Key Words:
Reveal  jieshi 14
Hidden  zheyan 13
Surely  dangran 12
Situated  chuyu 32 mouzhong 33 jingdi 44 de 0
Banks  he an 24
Inflict  shi 3 zaoshou 14
Flood  hongshui 23
Uttered  yong 4 kou 3 fachu 11
Oath  shiyan 42
Clever  congmingde 100
Tear down  nong dao 43
Build  jianzhu 44
Abandon  liqi 24
Seek  xunzhao 23
Living beings  huozhede 200 renlei 24
Spurn possessions  qingmiede 140 jujue 42
Dimensions  guimo 12
Measure  liang 2
Equal  xiangdeng 13
Correspond  yizhi 14

Exercise Answers:
Word Puzzle: DOWN: alive, city, width ACROSS: secret, length, flood, boat.
Synonym Matching: reveal-->make known / hidden-->secret / great-->big / inflict-->cause / uttered-->said /                 oath-->promise / build-->make / spurn-->reject / wealth-->possessions /
Synonym Matching (2): abandon-->leave / living-->alive / measurements-->dimensions / equal-->alike /                 situated-->positioned /
Listening Blank Fill: to, secret, a, banks, and, Great, Father, Clever, their, house, tear, wealth, alive, into, its, length
Word Bank Fill in the Blank: 1(f)reveal, 2(b)secret, 3(k)a, 4(m)banks, 5(e)there, 6(a)Gods, 7(n)uttered, 8(h)under, 9(i)house, 10(j)of, 11(c)abandon, 12(l)alive, 13(d)boat, 14(g)other,  

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The Raven and the Swan (Aesop's Fable)

7/7/2015

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Picture
A Raven saw a Swan and desired to secure for himself the same beautiful plumage. Supposing that the Swan’s splendid white color arose from his washing in the water in which he swam, the Raven left the altars in the neighborhood where he picked up his living, and took up residence in the lakes and pools. But cleansing his feathers as often as he would, he could not change their color, while through want of food he perished.
Change of habit cannot alter Nature.

Introductory Brainstorming
The nature or characteristics of something are difficult to change. Can you think of examples of nature? Hint: gravity
What habits can be easily changed? 

Introductory Discussion Questions
What are things that we can change about ourselves?
What are some things that we cannot change about ourselves?
Have you seen a raven or swan? If so, where? 

Synonym Matching A
desired                                                                         feathers
secure                                                                          wonderful
beautiful                                                                      pretty
plumage                                                                      wanted
splendid                                                                      came from
arose                                                                           get

Synonym Matching B
washing                                                                     go out
left                                                                              died
neighborhood                                                          home area 
living                                                                           home
residence                                                                  cleansing
perished                                                                   characteristic
habit                                                                         change
alter                                                                          job
nature                                                                      routine


Listening Gap Fill
A Raven ______ a Swan and desired to secure for himself _______ same beautiful plumage. Supposing that the Swan’s splendid ________ color arose from his washing in the water _____ which he swam, the Raven left the _________ in the neighborhood where he picked up his _________, and took up residence in the lakes and ________. But cleansing his feathers as often as he ________, he could not change their color, while through _______ of food he perished.
Change of habit cannot ________ Nature.


Word Bank Blank Fill
A Raven saw a Swan and desired to 1. (    ) for himself the same beautiful plumage. Supposing that the Swan’s splendid white color arose from his 2. (    ) in the water in which he swam, the Raven left the altars in the neighborhood where he picked up his 3. (    ), and took up residence in the lakes and 4. (    ). But cleansing his feathers as often as he would, he could not 5. (    ) their color, while through want of food he 6. (    ).
Change of habit 7. (    ) alter Nature.


a. washing
b. cannot
c. secure
d. living
e. change
f. perished
g. pools


Pair Work Discussion Questions
A
What are things you desire that seem impossible?
If you could have one impossible wish, what would it be?
When could desiring something be bad?
What was the first mistake the Raven made in its thinking? 
What advice would you give to someone wanting something impossible?

B
What habits do you wish you could change?

What habit change could be dangerous for you? 
When could desiring something be good?
What was the final mistake the Raven made? 
What advice would you give to someone who wants to change a habit? 

Writing
Rewrite this fable using different animals or humans.

Exercise Answers

Synonym Matching A: desired-->wanted, secure-->get, beautiful-->pretty,           plumage-->feathers, splendid-->wonderful, arose-->got up.
Synonym Matching B: washing-->cleansing, left-->go out, neighborhood-->home area, living-->job, residence-->home, perished-->died, habit-->routine, alter-->change, 
nature-->characteristic.   

Listening Gap Fill: and, the, white, in, altars, living, pools, would, want, alter. 
Word Bank Blank Fill: 1. b. secure, 2. a. washing, 3. d. living, 4. g. pools, 5. e. change, 6. f. perished, 7. b. cannot. 

Key Vocabulary
raven  乌鸦
swan 天鵝
desire 欲望
to secure  保险
him'self' 自己
same  一样
beautiful 美丽
plumage, feathers 羽毛
supposing   假如
splendid  灿烂
white color 白色
washing, cleansing  洗涤
swam 游泳
left  离开
altars    祭坛
neighborhood 邻里
living  营生
residence  住所
lakes 湖
pools   池
could not change, could not alter 不能改变
want of food  缺乏食物
perished 亡
habit  习惯
nature 性质

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    My name is Paul. I am from Michigan, USA. I am a perpetual language learner and teacher, trading my time between two continents. I obtained my MA in TESOL from Cornerstone University. 

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