B3U6 Fear

Xu Ke
School of Humanities
BUPT
 Learning Objectives
• Communicative Skills
– Expressing fear and the conquer of it
– Redefination
– Making lists
– Interpreting graphs
• Critical Thinking and Positive Thinking
– Getting out of comfort zone by analyzing fears
 Guess the meaning of words relevant to fear
• Autophobia • Calm
• Hemophobia • Ease
• Shake • Content
• Quake • Fearless
• Tremble • Panic
• Shiver • Alarm
• Formidable • Dread
• Fearful • Scare
• Fearsome • Fright

https://www.fearof.net
Fear in the eyes of
the great minds,
and what is it to
you?
 Speaking activity 1: risk takers
From 1 (I’m not a risk-taker at all) to 10 (I love to take risks), how much of
a risk-taker are you? Give an example from your life. It can be either a risk
y situation you’ve experienced or how you avoid the risky situation.

1 10
risk averse risk seeker!
 In class activity 2: listening for definition
• Watch the first 2min of the video “How to
Overcome Fear” and take notes to figure
out :
– What’s the speaker’s attitude toward fear?
– How did the speaker redefine fear?
– Do you find his statements convincing? What stra
tegies did he use in the redefinition?
 Words and Phrases
• Fear gets way too much airplay.
– Fear gets broadcasted/spread very extensively.
• Comedic adj. of or relating to comedy
• Contemplate v. to think carefully about and accept the possibility of sth ha
ppening 
– contemplative adj.
• Rerun v. to do sth again in a similar way
• Impulsive adj. acting suddenly without thinking carefully about what migh
t happen because of what you are doing 
Listen again for details of strategies used in redefinition

• Rhetorical questions (repetitively)

• Clarification:
– It’s not A but B/It’s B instead of A/It’s B rather than A
• Comparison:
– Using simile: As if …
– Contrasting past with present; contrasting ordinary thoughts with subj
ect knowledge
Extended Task: Make redefinitions of the following concepts

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind.

It is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees.

It is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, vigor of t

he emotions;

It is the freshness of the deep spring of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over

timidity,

of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.

-----Samuel Ullman
 Speaking activity 3: Fears of Loss
• Step 1: Listen to the video from 2:00-5:00 and think about the “fear of los
s” in you that have prevented you from improving yourself (i.e. keeping in sha
pe; developing healthy habits; exercising regularly; reading more useful books; showing your l
ove to your crush; improving your academic performance; practicing English speaking and list
ening)
• Step 2: You can rank the fears by importance and consider if you are able t
o get rid of it with your effort, and with the suggestions (thinking about gai
n) given by Burchard.
• Step 3: In a group, discuss your fear of loss and possible gains; make the lis
t; practicing thinking and talking at the same time
• Using the “What if… I would…” to start talking and thinking about your gai
ns
“Fear of loss” for Burchard to start his own business
losses gains
• 401,000 steady paycheck • Long-term freedom
• security • Greater challenges
• Predictability of career path • Do things faster
• Managers to coach • Grow faster
• Peer sight – co-workers • Earn a million
• Lunch in cafeteria • …
• ...
 Interpreting graphs and numbers
• The top fears fall into 4 majo
r categories, namely…
• A majority of Americans …;
About three quarters of …
• According to the graph/char
t/survey…; As is shown in th
e…
 Describing and Interpreting graphs and numbers
• Description What’s changing and what’s unchanged?
– A striking difference between 2016 an
d 2017-2018 has to do with the enviro
nment, with…
– …topped the list again,…on the rise/d
ecline
– The fear of … exceeded the fear of…, b
y comparison, … remained at slightly
more than…
• Interpretation:
– … suggested/indicated/displayed/exhi
bited a sentiment of …
– It’s no surprise/interesting/… that… co
nsidering…