Learn and Talk II

Lesson 76
Unhurried Pace of Life in Cuba

Content:
Part 1 Warm Up 3’
Part 2 Text 7’ Part 4 Discussion 8’
Part 3 Retell 3’ Part 5 After-Class Review

©2017 Acadsoc Limited Tutor: Please keep your greeting in 2 mins. And you can go through Part 5 if time allows.
 Part 1 - Warm Up 3 mins

What do you know about Cuba?

Do you like fast or slow pace of life?

Tutor: Please encourage the student to answer the questions and keep this part in 3 mins.

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 Part 2 - Text Unhurried Pace of Life in Cuba 7 mins Words and Expressions

In Cuba, it sometimes seems time stopped in the 1960s. Despite a succession of

sweeping changes in recent years-rapprochement with the United States, Fidel 1. … remains as languid as ever.
Castro's death - the rhythm of life on the island remains as languid as ever1.
(moving or speaking slowly with little energy,
often in an attractive way)
In Old Havana, locals still watch life go by from the balconies of their dilapidated(破
旧的) colonial buildings, as classic American cars putter down cobblestone streets E.g. She was still languid from her brief sleep
and the exhilaration of the evening.
and seemingly endless games of dominoes play out on sidewalk tables2.
2. … American cars putter down …
Tourists love the island's timelessness, which gives it the aura of a living postcard
(to move around aimlessly)
immune to change3.
E.g. An old jeep is puttering along the road.
"We live in slow motion because we're an island, because it's the Caribbean and
3. … which gives it the aura …
because of the whole legacy of socialism," says the writer Wendy Guerra, a rising
star of Cuban literature. "Time isn't money here. Very few people produce anything (a feeling or character that a person or place
seems to have)
for themselves. The country stopped producing a long time ago. People act like
they're working, and the state acts like it pays them," the 46-year-old novelist and E.g. Rows of plants and crafts adorned the
shelves, and two fireplaces added to the
poet says. romantic aura.

In her novel Everyone Leaves, Guerra's heroine ends up frozen on Havana's famous
seaside boulevard, the Malecon, "stuck in the immobility of Cuba".
Tutor: Please read or let the student read the text, and explain the underlined expressions in blue.
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 3 mins
Part 3 - Retell

Now retell the passage by yourself based on

what you’ve read.

Hints:
stop … changes … rhythm … languid
Old Havana … colonial building … putter … sidewalk
timelessness … aura
slow … legacy … produce … poet
novel … frozen … immobility

Tutor: Please encourage the student to retell the text. The

hints are NOT necessarily needed.

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 Part 4 - Discussion 8 mins Expressions may be used
(Try to talk for at least 2 minutes for each question. You are encouraged to use the 1. languid
expressions that you’ve learned today. )
Despite a succession of sweeping changes

languid / putter / aura in recent years-rapprochement with the

United States, Fidel Castro's death - the
1. Do people have a slow pace of life in the place you live? If not, rhythm of life on the island remains as
how is it like? languid as ever.

2. putter
In Old Havana, locals still watch life go by
2. Have you ever walked aimlessly in the streets? How does it feel?
from the balconies of their dilapidated
colonial buildings, as classic American cars
putter down cobblestone streets …
3. If a place attracts you, what kind of feeling should it bring you? 3. aura
Tourists love the island's timelessness,
which gives it the aura of a living postcard
Tutor: Please let the student talk freely, each question about 2 mins. Using the expressions from immune to change.
today is encouraged.

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 ₪2

After-Class
Review
Review the expressions you’ve learned today and try to use them to make some sentences.

1. languid 慢悠悠的，悠闲自在的 2. An old jeep is puttering along the road.

moving or speaking slowly with little energy, often in an attractive 3. I like to putter around in the garden.
way
E.g. 1. Despite a succession of sweeping changes in recent years- 3. aura 气氛，氛围；气息
rapprochement with the United States, Fidel Castro's death - the
a feeling or character that a person or place seems to have
rhythm of life on the island remains as languid as ever.
E.g. 1. Tourists love the island's timelessness, which gives it the aura
2. She was still languid from her brief sleep and the exhilaration
of a living postcard immune to change.
of the evening.
2. Rows of plants and crafts adorned the shelves, and two
3. His languid manner annoys me when there's work to be done.
fireplaces added to the romantic aura.
3. She always has an aura of confidence.
2. putter 闲荡，闲逛
to move around aimlessly
E.g. 1. In Old Havana, locals still watch life go by from the balconies
of their colonial buildings, as classic American cars putter down
cobblestone streets …
5
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