七楼 · 第二十天
The Seventh Floor, Episode 20: The Voice on the Phone
Name: ________________ Date: ________
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 最后 | zuìhòu | finally; in the end; last; final |
| 张 | zhāng | classifier for flat objects (paper, tables, beds, faces) |
| 信 | xìn | letter |
| 先 | xiān | first; in advance |
| 可是 | kěshì | but; however |
| 久 | jiǔ | long (time) |
| 一直 | yìzhí | all along; continuously; straight (ahead) |
| 楼梯 | lóutī | stairs; staircase |
| 安静 | ānjìng | quiet; peaceful; calm |
| 终于 | zhōngyú | finally; at last |
| 接 | jiē | to receive; to accept |
| 马上 | mǎshàng | right away; immediately |
Lesson plan: 45 minutes (for the teacher)
HSK 3 · The Seventh Floor, Episode 20: The Voice on the Phone. By the end, students can read it aloud, say what it is about and use 最后 and 张 in sentences of their own.
Warm-up 5 min
Write 七楼 · 第二十天 on the board. Ask what the class thinks it is about, then give the English: “The Seventh Floor, Episode 20: The Voice on the Phone”.
Key words 10 min
Teach 最后 (zuìhòu, finally; in the end; last; final), 张 (zhāng, classifier for flat objects (paper, tables, beds, faces)), 信 (xìn, letter), 先 (xiān, first; in advance), 可是 (kěshì, but; however), 久 (jiǔ, long (time)). Say each one, the class says it back, then ask for its meaning with the word covered. The rest are in the handout’s table.
Listen 10 min
Play it read aloud from mandarinthewild.com/library/read/the-seventh-floor-episode-20-the-voice-on-the-phone: once with the text face down, once reading along. Students tap any word there for its meaning.
Read and check 10 min
Students read it alone, then tell a partner in two sentences of Chinese what it says.
Use it 10 min
In pairs, each student writes two sentences of their own, one with 最后 and one with 张, and reads one to the class.
Homework. Students read it again at home and Review its words. Put it in a free class (mandarinthewild.com/teachers/class) and you see who read it.
English (for the teacher)
Last night, up on the seventh floor, they found Zou Nainai's letters. The last one said: "Old man, if it's you who finds these letters, don't wait any longer, call the child first." Zou Yeye didn't have his granddaughter's phone number, but Qiao An had it on her phone.
She handed her phone to Zou Yeye. He looked at it for a long time, his hand shaking, but he didn't make the call.
"You call first," he said quietly. "It's been five years, and I don't know what my first words should be."
Qiao An took the phone down the little staircase and stood by the iron door. Down here she couldn't hear the rain, and it was very quiet. Ningning and Mr Luo were still upstairs with Zou Yeye.
The phone rang for a long time, and her heart was racing. At last someone answered, but said nothing.
"Please hear me out first, all right?" Qiao An said at once, "I want to tell you about the seventh floor."
"Grandpa planted all the seeds you sent. Now five of the pots have little green leaves. Tonight there's a big storm, so we carried them all into the little room, and not one leaf was damaged."
"The new chair you sent is right next to the old one. Grandpa goes up there every night to have a look."
There was still no sound from the other end. After a while, she heard a very small sound. The woman was crying.
"And we found lots of letters too, ones your grandma wrote to you. The first one says: 'Granddaughter, how have you been lately?'"
After a long time, the woman said, "I'm sorry I said 'wrong number' that day."
"Those parcels were all from me."
"When I was little, every spring I planted flowers with Grandma on the seventh floor. I was afraid that if Grandpa knew it was me, he wouldn't want them, so I didn't write my name or my phone number."
She asked, "So why did you write your number that one time?"
"I thought someone might call. But when you really did call, I got scared again."
Qiao An said, "Grandpa is just upstairs. He really wants to talk to you too."
The line suddenly went silent.
"No, not yet." The woman said, "Could you do me a favour first? But please don't tell my grandpa about it yet."
Qiao An didn't know how to answer. Just then, she heard a sound behind her. She turned around, and it was Zou Yeye. He was standing at the top of the little staircase, his eyes on her.
"Is it her?" he asked. "What did she say?"