A Father and a Son

江蘇江陰市南菁高級中學 李現寶

Step 1感知·閱讀導航

話題導入

這是一篇由美國作家Bob Greene所寫的夾敘夾議的雜文。作者以一個旁觀者的身份，講述了一對黑人父子在周六的早晨以乘坐機場免費往返接送車為樂的故事。故事通過對父子的描寫，展現出了一個對兒子充滿著關愛，給予兒子恰當教育和適時陪伴的父親的形象。同時，這與漠然、冰冷的環境和周圍忙忙碌碌、毫無表情的乘客形成了鮮明的對比。這引發了作者對當今美國社會中存在的教育問題的思考和擔憂。但作者在眼前快樂的父子身上找到了答案，即父母的關愛和陪伴，與財富、種族和社會地位都無關，這也就是Bob Greene想通過此文向讀者傳遞的信息。全文549詞，建議用時8分鐘。

閱讀立意

閱讀時應達到以下三個目標：

1.通過對故事和作者觀點的閱讀和理解，深刻體會那對父子真正的快樂，及思考作者提出的社會問題的解決方法；

2.品讀文本語言，分析作者的寫作技巧，即通過對比的方式，凸顯父子之間的快樂、幸福、愛和相互的陪伴；

3.批判性思維的運用。

詞匯預熱

1.terminal n.（火車、公共汽車、輪船客運或貨物運輸的）集散站；終點站

2.sterile adj.刻板的；無個性的；缺乏新意的

3.impersonal adj.沒有人情味的；冷漠的;冷淡的

4.distinction n.差別；區別；對比

5.crane v.伸長（脖子）看；探頭看

6.shuttle n.（定期往返于兩地之間的）短程穿梭航班（班車/火車）

7.mock-exasperated假裝惱怒或者不耐煩的

Passing through the Atlanta airport one morning,I caught one of those trains that take travelers from the mainterminalto their boarding gates.Free,sterileandimpersonal,the trains run back and forth all day long.Not many people consider them fun,but on this Saturday I heard laughter.

At the front of the first car—looking out the window at the track that lay ahead—were a man and his son.

We had just stopped to let off passengers,and the doors were closing again. “Here we go!Hold on to me tight!”the father said.The boy,about five years old,made sounds of sheer delight.

I know we're supposed to avoid making racial distinctions these days,so I hope no one will mind if I mention that most people on the train were white,dressed for business trips or vacations—and that the father and the son were black,dressed in clothes that were just about as inexpensive as you can buy.

“Look out there! ” the father said to his son.“See that pilot?I bet he's walking to his plane.”The soncraned his neck to look.

As I got off,I remembered something I'd wanted to buy in the terminal.I was early for my flight,so I decided to go back.

I did—and just as I was about to reboard the train for my gate,I saw that the man and his son had returned too.I realized then that they hadn't been heading for a flight,but had just been riding theshuttle.

“I want to ride some more!”

“More?” the father said,mock-exasperatedbut clearly pleased.“You're not tired?”

“This is fun!”his son said.

“All right,” the father replied,and when a door opened we all got on.

There are parents who can afford to send their children to Europe or Disneyland,and the children turn out rotten.There are parents who live in million-dollar houses and give their children cars and swimming pools,yet something goes wrong.Rich and poor,black and white,so much goes wrong so often.

“Where are all these people going,Daddy?”the son asked.

“All over the world,”came the reply.The other people in the airport were leaving for distant destinations or arriving at the ends of their journeys.The father and the son,though,were just riding this shuttle together,making it exciting,sharing each other's company.

So many troubles in this country—crime,the murderous soullessness that seems to be taking over the lives of many young people,the lowering of educational standards,the increase in vile（可惡的）obscenities（淫穢的語言）in public,and the disappearance of simple civility.So many questions about what to do.Here was a father who cared about spending the day with his son and who had come up with this plan on a Saturday morning.

The answer is so simple：parents who care enough to spend time,and to pay attention and to try their best.It doesn't cost a cent,yet it is the most valuable thing in the world.

The train picked up speed,and the father pointed something out,and the boy laughed again.

Step 2 實踐·文本解讀

立意呈現

I.Grasp the main idea

What does the writer try to tell us in the story?

A.Many parents do not know how to educate their children nowadays.

B.Racial discrimination is very common in America.

C.What children really need is parents'company,care and love.

D.There are so many problems in America remaining to be solved now.

Ⅱ.Understand the story and analyze the main characters.

Part 1：Introduction （Para.1～2）

Introduction

When（1）___________

Where（2）___________

Who（3）___________

What（4）___________

Part 2：Plots(comparison)（Para.3～14）

Part 3：Feelings （Para.15～17）

1.Comments/Suggestions on what a child needs badly

2.What can you learn about the father from the underlined sentences?

(1)“Here we go!Hold on to me tight! ” the father said.The boy,about five years old,made sounds of sheer delight.

(2)“Look out there!” the father said to his son.“See that pilot?I bet he's walking to his plane.”The son craned his neck to look.

(3)“More?” the father said,mock-exasperated but clearly pleased.“You're not tired?”

“This is fun!”his son said.

“All right,” the father replied.

【點石成金】作者通過對比的方式，讓讀者更加清晰和深刻地認識到了目前美國社會中普遍存在的問題。同時，作者通過文中父親充滿關愛的陪伴，告訴讀者父母的關愛和陪伴是解決問題的最好方法。文章通過對父子之間對話的描寫，凸顯了一個體貼、有耐心、富有啟發力，懂得陪伴和關愛的好父親形象。

故事主題貫穿始終，不斷強化；結構清晰完整，首尾呼應；思想層層深入，步步升華。

Step 3 運用·讀寫整合

Read this letter from a child and write a letter to his father,offering him some suggestions.(use the story above as an example)

Dear Dad,you're doing it all wrong

Dear Dad,

You're doing it all wrong.

Eleven years ago,the doctors handed you a little newborn baby.You were 26 years old,and you walked out of the hospital entirely responsible for a brand-new human being.A whole person.As if that were a totally wise thing to let you do.It scared you.They eventually handed you two more little people.It was supposed to get a little easier each time.

It didn't.

You never got less afraid.You never got more certain about how to be a dad.So you decided to make it up along the way.You can stop feeling bad about that—it's what everybody else is doing,too.The problem is,you improvised by listening to the voices in the world around you,instead of listening to the voice coming from the world within you.You can forgive yourself for that,too.The voices around you are loud and persuasive.

They told you achievement matters most.So you stressed about school districts and kindergarten homework and guitar performances.You secretly kept scores in your head at first grade soccer game.You thought scoring goals was the goal of life.

They told you good parents give their kids great experiences.So you turned yourself into an event planner and an amateur driver.You signed them up for camps,modeled extracrricular activities,and went to every possible program and event.You went to Legoland because you thought you had to.And then you wondered why the kids were tired and bad-tempered and unhappy.

They gave you technology and told you to give it to your kids.So you threw technology at the kids,because you didn't trust it would be enough to throw a ball with them.Yet,notice how they melt down when a device is taken away from them—they want more because it leaves them hungry for the thing they truly need.

…

Yours,

Son

【嘗試寫作】

Dear XXX,

After reading your son's letter you shared with me,

Yours,

XXX

【點石成金】《父與子》故事的引用，進一步加深了對文本和主旨的理解。在解決問題的過程中，進一步鞏固了感知、理解和思考的內容，把所學知識運用到生活中具體問題的解決中，活學活用。

Step 4 提升·素養建構

批判性思維

1.What problems mentioned in the passage does America have?

2.What's wrong with the parents?

3.What kind of parents can you guess the children will be in the future?

4.If your parents were just like the other parents,who can't spare time to accompany you,what would you do?

拓展鏈接

Father and Son是英國民謠搖滾歌手Cat Stevens（凱特·斯蒂文斯）的經典溫情之作，收錄在個人第四張專輯Tea For The Tillerman（1970年）中。

歌曲意在表達年輕一輩跟老一輩因觀念差距所衍生的代溝以及描繪父子之間難以割舍的親情。歌曲曾被用于新西蘭電信廣告Keep in Touch中，講述了父親和孩子相處的整個過程，從兒時的蹣跚學步，到成年后把酒言歡，到最后只剩兒子一人的形單影只，這提醒人們出門在外，記得和家人保持聯絡。

歌曲還被用做2017年的美國電影Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2（《銀河護衛隊2》）插曲。