Laughter is good for you Reading The search for happinessStep 1: Lead-inLets enjoy a video. It can make us feel very happy and in good mood. And we can see most ordinary healthy people around us live a happy, meaningful and colourful life. We work and live with smiles every day. But how do you know disabled people stay happy in their life? Today we are going to talk about a special girl named Sang Lan, who used to be a successful gymnast. What do you know about this girl?1. Different people find happiness and fun in different things. There are certainly no criteria assessing which way of being happy is the best. Do you think Sang Lan had had a happy life before she was injured?Do you think Sang Lan has a happy life now?What would you do if you had the same problem?2. Suppose you had a chance to talk face to face with Sang Lan, what would you like most to ask her about?The following are suggested answers:- childhood and school education- things or experiences that had left her the deepest impression before the accident- reasons for learning gymnastics- things that encourage her during hard times- current physical condition- expectations for future- future career plans- attitudes towards life, success and failureStep 2: Fast reading for general ideasThe reading text is an interview from a TV programme about happiness. Dr Brain, a psychologist who studies happiness, is interviewed in a television talk show and tells a story about a brave girl called Sang Lan.Go through the passage quickly to find answers to the three questions in Part A. Answers1. Happiness2. Dr Brain.3. In Ningbo, China in 1981.Step 3: Careful-reading for detailed information1. Read the passage again and complete Part C1. Questions in Part C1 are to check your reading comprehension by making correct judgments of the statements. 2. Listen to the tape and complete C2. Questions in Part C2 are for students to note some specific information according to the time sequence. AnswersC1 1 F 2 T 3 F 4 F 5 T 6 F 7 T 8 F C2 2 b 3 f 4 e 5 a 6 d3. Ask students to describe Sang Lans personality.bravecourageousPersonality of Sang Landeterminedhard-workingoptimisticconsiderate1. More relevant information in the interview which shows Sang Lans personalityBefore going to hospital being successful in her sport when she was young being described as energetic, happy and hard-working working towards something special trying to make her parents proud While staying in hospitalbeing in good spiritsthinking about what she could do to get betterbeing proud of the things she had accomplishedfeeling happy to be alive, and lucky to have the rest of her life to learn new thingsAfter leaving hospitalstudying journalism at Beijing Universityhosting a sports show about the 2008 Beijing Olympicslooking forward to playing table tennis in the special Olympics for disabled people in 2008thinking about positive things and staying optimisticbelieving that keeping busy helps her stay positiveStep 4: Practice 1. Complete Part DFind these words and expressions in the interview. Guess their meanings from the context. Then match them with the correct definitions. Answers 1 g 2 c 3 b 4 f 5 d 6 I 7 a 8 e 9 h2. Complete Part ERead this newspaper article about Sang Lan. Complete it with the words below.Answers1dedicated 2 mistake 3 wall 4 neck 5 visitors 6 positive 7 journalism 8 programme3. Lets read the Reading strategy on page 19. Do you know what an interview means? An interview is a formal meeting at which one person asks another person a series of questions on a topic. When reading or watching an interview, you should pay attention to the topic, the opinions related to the topic, the questions asked and the answers to the questions.Step 5: Post-reading activities1. Think about the following questions again. What is happiness?What is the real value of being alive?Does being healthy and wealthy mean happiness?Does being respected and well-liked mean happiness?2. Have a debate. The topic is “Sang Lan was happier before the accident than she is now.”3. Go over Part F in pairs and continue the dialogue after the example.Step 6: Language PointsVocabularyWordsinjure, struggle, disability, psychologist, gymnast, tournament , dedicated, energetic, specialist, severe, injury, hopeless, overcome, accomplish, journalism, positive, admirable, rebuild, unbearable, disabled, optimistic useful expressionsin hospital, devote to, apart from, cheer up, in good spirits, rush sb. to, be proud of, stay positivesentence patterns1. In case some of our viewers dont know her story, can you tell us a little bit about Sang Lan and who she is?2. While she was injured and in hospital, the wor