Unit5

nullBR_MAINBR_MAINBackground InformationExtended ReadingWarm-up QuestionsFree DiscussionDetailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingBefore Reading_1.1Before Reading_1.1Warm-up Questions1. Can you find the word “Chunnel” in your dictionary? What does it mean?“Chunnel” is a blend of the two words “channel” and “tunnel”, referring to the undersea tunnel that links Britain and France under the English Channel.Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingBefore Reading_1.2Before Reading_1.22. What does the title mean? Can you spot a wordplay in the title?As an English idiom, “light at the end of the tunnel” means the prospect of success or relief after strenuous effort. “Light at the end of the Chunnel” is a parody of that English idiom, suggesting the subject matter of this article as well as the writer’s attitude toward the issue. 3. What is this article about?Warm-up QuestionsDetailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingBefore Reading_2_1.1Before Reading_2_1.1Background InformationThe English Channel Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingBefore Reading_2_1.2Before Reading_2_1.2The Chunnel Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingBefore Reading_2_1.3Before Reading_2_1.3The inaugurationDetailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingBefore Reading_2_1.4Before Reading_2_1.4A French engineer put forward a proposal for a tunnel. Extensive geological survey was carried out. Work began on the Channel Tunnel, but was soon halted because of military objections. Work started again, but political objections brought it to an end. The project began to receive serious attention. The project was again launched, but soon folded due to financial problems.Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After Reading1802 1876 1882 1922 1945 1973Before Reading_2_1.5Before Reading_2_1.51986 1987 1994Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingBritish and French governments signed a treaty to co- construct the Chunnel. Construction of the Chunnel began. Queen Elizabeth II and President Francois Mitterrand opened the Chunnel officially. Before Reading_3_1Before Reading_3_1Extended ReadingListen to the following information for a better understanding of the text. While listening, please fill in the blanks with the information you hear. Directions:■History The Channel tunnel was originally dreamed of by in . Napoleon recognized the need to build a tunnel that would connect to . But, his dream did not come true in his life. The British began digging a tunnel in 1880 only to fail. In 1973 Britain and France decided to continue the project and work began again but was cancelled in 1975. The idea of finishing the tunnel was raised and the final leg of construction was started in 1987.the British Island ______________Napoleon ________the Continent___________1802____in 1978 ______jointly _____Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingBefore Reading_3_2Before Reading_3_2■Construction The Chunnel was built from two sides, England and France. The sides would dig and then meet up in the middle. In 1990 the two sections of the tunnel met up and the tunnel became one continuous tunnel. The Chunnel held its in May of 1994. Problems Although completed, the Chunnel still problems. On November 18, 1996 around 9:45 p.m. one of the trains had a part on fire. The fire quickly spread and was not completely removed until 5 a.m. the next morning. The fire created a lot of damage but after being repaired, the Chunnel continued with its operations.independently ___________official opening_____________encountered__________Extended ReadingDetailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingBefore Reading_3_3Before Reading_3_3■Facts * The Chunnel cost $15 billion to create and runs a length of 31 miles, 23 of which are underwater. * The average of the tunnel is around 150 feet under the seabed. * The tunnels are used for both and traffic. * The three tunnels combined make up 95 miles of tunnels dug by nearly 13,000 engineers, technicians, and workers. * The volume of rubble removed from the tunnel increases the size of Britain by 90 acres. The rubble, equivalent to 68 football fields, has been made into a .depth_____freight _____passenger________park____Extended ReadingDetailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingBefore Reading_3_4Before Reading_3_4■Current Situation The Chunnel, or the Eurotunnel, connects Folkestone, England and Sangatte, France. A trip that once required a large amount of time on a ferry is now a quick 20-minute trip underground. The Chunnel is an incredible tunnel that has not only travel time, but has joined two different countries together. Tickets to ride the Chunnel are available at many locations .decreased ________online_____Extended ReadingDetailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingBefore Reading_4_1Before Reading_4_11. 2. Free DiscussionDetailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingDo you think the construction of the Chunnel was favored by the English and the French people? Why do you think so? How do the English and the French people stereotype each other?Globe Reading_mainGlobe Reading_mainPart Division of the TextFurther UnderstandingSkimmingDetailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingGlobe Reading_1_1Globe Reading_1_1Skimming1. Decide which of the following statements best sums up the text.(1) The French and the English people seemed none too happy about the Chunnel and there would be more people going to France via the Chunnel than there would be people going to Britain. In spite of the adverse sentiments expressed by the English and the French people, the Chunnel that joins Britain and France was finally completed and, looking back, the breakthrough that took place several years ago was a moving scene.Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingGlobe Reading_1_2Globe Reading_1_2 The construction of the Chunnel was an important event and large numbers of people would be using it to go across the English Channel. Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingSkimmingGlobe Reading_1_3Globe Reading_1_32. What is the profession of the writer? How do you know?From the sentence in Para.10, “I’m packed into a construction workers’ train along with several dozen other journalists”, we can infer that the writer is a journalist. Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingSkimmingGlobe Reading_1_4Globe Reading_1_43. What type of writing does the text belong to? What are the typical features of this type of writing?The text is a feature report, one type of journalistic writing. A typical journalistic feature report is an unbiased account of news events. The tone of the report is objective and straightforward. Real dates, proper nouns, direct quotations are often used to add journalistic flavor and increase validity of the account. Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingSkimmingGlobal Reading_2Global Reading_2Directions: Please divide the text into 4 parts and identify the key words and phrases of each part.Part Division of the TextMain IdeasParts 12Paras1~45~6French people’s opinion about the ChunnelBritish people’s opinion about the Chunnel347~910~23The breakthrough ceremony of the ChunnelThe significance of the ChunnelDetailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingGlobe Reading_3_1Globe Reading_3_1The author of this essay was an English tourist.Further UnderstandingFWe have reason to believe that the author was an American journalist. In Paragraph 10, the author mentioned that “I’m packed into a construction workers’ train along with several dozen other journalists”. The essay also bears distinct features of a feature report. Besides, the spelling of the text is typical of American English, such as “color” instead of “colour” in Paragraph 13.( )Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingTrue or FalseGlobe Reading_3_2Globe Reading_3_23. The Chunnel will facilitate the transport between Great Britain and other European countries. 2. The idea of linking the British Isles with Europe started in the early 20th century. Further UnderstandingF( )The cross-Channel-link scheme dates back to the 18th century.T( )Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingGlobe Reading_3_2Globe Reading_3_24. The Chunnel project was carried out in a uniform way on both British and French sides. FThe construction of the Chunnel never proceeded in the exact manner. As a matter of fact, many differences colored this joint project. For example, the French gave women’s names to their TBM machines, while their British counterparts named their machines by the numbers. ( )Further UnderstandingDetailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingGlobe Reading_3_3Globe Reading_3_3Fewer people from continental Europe would use the tunnel because Europeans generally find British food, weather and fashion uninviting. 6. The mutual feeling of dislike still existed when the tunnel was completed. T( )FBoth the French and British celebrated the breakthrough, and an Englishman said, “I might have opposed it 30 years ago, but now it’s my tunnel.”( )Further UnderstandingDetailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingArticle1_SArticle1_SIn a hotel lobby in Sandgate, England, not two miles from the soon-to-be-opened English Channel Tunnel, stiff upper lips trembled. For the first time since the last ice age, England was about to be linked to France. “I’d rather England become the 5lst state of the U.S.A. than get tied up to there,” said a retired civil servant with a complexion the color of ruby port. He nodded toward the steel gray Channel out the window, his pale blue eyes filled with foreboding. “Awful place,” added his wife, lifting a teacup to her lips. “They drink all the time, and the food is terrible. When I go to the Continent, I take my own bottle of English sauce.”Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingThe Light at the End of the ChunnelArticle2_SArticle2_S“We don’t care much for the French,” her husband concluded. “But the French ...” Here a pause, a shudder, as the gull-wing eyebrows shot upward. “The French don’t care for anybody.” On the other side of the Channel, the entente was scarcely more cordiale. In Vieux Coquelles, a village a beet field away from the French terminal near Calais, Clotaire Fournier walked into his farmhouse. “I went to England once,” he said, sinking into a chair in the dining room. “Never again! All they eat is ketchup.” A tiny explosion of air from pursed lips, then the coup de grace. “You can’t even get a decent glass of red wine!”Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingArticle3_SArticle3_SWell, by grace of one of the engineering feats of the century, for richer or poorer, better or worse, England and France are getting hitched. On May 6, 1994, Queen Elizabeth of Britain and President Francois Mitterrand of France are scheduled to inaugurate the English Channel Tunnel (“Chunnel” for short), sweeping aside 200 years of failed cross-Channel-link schemes, 1,000 years of historical rift, and 8,000 years of geographic divide. The 31-mile-long Chunnel is really three parallel tunnels: two for trains and a service tunnel. It snakes from Folkestone, England, to Coquelles, France, an average of 150 feet below the seabed. Drive onto a train at one end; stay in your car and drive off Le Shuttle at the other 35 minutes later. Later this year〔i.e., 1994〕 Eurostar passenger trains will provide through service: London to Paris in three hours; London to Brussels in three hours, ten minutes.Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingArticle4_SArticle4_SThe Chunnel rewrites geography, at least in the English psyche. The moat has been breached. Britain no longer is an island. It’s June 28, 1991, and I’m packed into a construction workers’ train along with several dozen other journalists. We’re headed out from the English side to the breakthrough ceremony for the south running tunnel — the last to be completed. The Chunnel is a work in progress. The concrete walls await final installation of the power, water, and communication lines that will turn it into a transport system. White dust fills the air. The train screeches painfully. “Makes you appreciate British Rail,” someone jokes. Finally we reach the breakthrough site. The two machines that dug this tunnel started from opposite sides of the Channel and worked toward the middle. Now we’re staring at the 30-foot-diameter face of the French tunnel boring machine (TBM), “Catherine.”Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingArticle5_SArticle5_SIn one of those vive la différence quirks that color the project, the French gave women’s names to their machines. On the British side, it’s by the numbers — like TBM No.6. Another difference: French workers wear chic, well-cut, taupe jumpsuits with red and blue racing stripes down the sleeves. The British uniform is pure grunge: baggy, bright orange. Looking up, I imagine 180 feet of Channel above my head — ferries, tankers, a Dover sole or two ... The grating of the TBM interrupts my reverie. Its cutterhead — a huge wheel with tungsten-tipped teeth — chews into the last trace of rock separating England from France. Music blares, and lights glare. Several Frenchmen scramble through. Thunderous applause erupts as dozens more follow. Strangely moving, this connecting of countries. Champagne corks pop, and French workers hug British counterparts.Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingArticle6_SArticle6_S“I might have opposed it 30 years ago, but now it’s my tunnel,” an Englishman says. French tunnelers are still climbing through. “So many,” I say, turning to a French official. “And there are 56 million more behind them,” he replies. Après le tunnel, le déluge? Eurotunnel hopes so. It predicts eight million passengers a year by 1996. The flow will be lopsided. Only 30 percent of the traffic will be headed to Britain. “The French don’t take holidays in England,” explains Jeanne Labrousse, a Eurotunnel executive. Hmmmm. Why do the French visit Britain? For the food? The weather? Fashion? Mme. Labrousse seemed thoughtful. “Of course,” she brightened, “we will work on selling the idea.”Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingFrom National Geographic, May 1994 by Cathy NewmanArticle1_WArticle1_WIn a hotel lobby in Sandgate, England, not two miles from the soon-to-be-opened English Channel Tunnel, stiff upper lips trembled. For the first time since the last ice age, England was about to be linked to France. “I’d rather England become the 5lst state of the U.S.A. than get tied up to there,” said a retired civil servant with a complexion the color of ruby port. He nodded toward the steel gray Channel out the window, his pale blue eyes filled with foreboding. “Awful place,” added his wife, lifting a teacup to her lips. “They drink all the time, and the food is terrible. When I go to the Continent, I take my own bottle of English sauce.”The Light at the End of the ChunnelDetailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingArticle2_WArticle2_W“We don’t care much for the French,” her husband concluded. “But the French ...” Here a pause, a shudder, as the gull-wing eyebrows shot upward. “The French don’t care for anybody.” On the other side of the Channel, the entente was scarcely more cordiale. In Vieux Coquelles, a village a beet field away from the French terminal near Calais, Clotaire Fournier walked into his farmhouse. “I went to England once,” he said, sinking into a chair in the dining room. “Never again! All they eat is ketchup.” A tiny explosion of air from pursed lips, then the coup de grace. “You can’t even get a decent glass of red wine!”Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingArticle3_WArticle3_WWell, by grace of one of the engineering feats of the century, for richer or poorer, better or worse, England and France are getting hitched. On May 6, 1994, Queen Elizabeth of Britain and President Francois Mitterrand of France are scheduled to inaugurate the English Channel Tunnel (“Chunnel” for short), sweeping aside 200 years of failed cross-Channel-link schemes, 1,000 years of historical rift, and 8,000 years of geographic divide. The 31-mile-long Chunnel is really three parallel tunnels: two for trains and a service tunnel. It snakes from Folkestone, England, to Coquelles, France, an average of 150 feet below the seabed. Drive onto a train at one end; stay in your car and drive off Le Shuttle at the other 35 minutes later. Later this year〔i.e., 1994〕 Eurostar passenger trains will provide through service: London to Paris in three hours; London to Brussels in three hours, ten minutes.Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingArticle4_WArticle4_WThe Chunnel rewrites geography, at least in the English psyche. The moat has been breached. Britain no longer is an island. It’s June 28, 1991, and I’m packed into a construction workers’ train along with several dozen other journalists. We’re headed out from the English side to the breakthrough ceremony for the south running tunnel — the last to be completed. The Chunnel is a work in progress. The concrete walls await final installation of the power, water, and communication lines that will turn it into a transport system. White dust fills the air. The train screeches painfully. “Makes you appreciate British Rail,” someone jokes. Finally we reach the breakthrough site. The two machines that dug this tunnel started from opposite sides of the Channel and worked toward the middle. Now we’re staring at the 30-foot-diameter face of the French tunnel boring machine (TBM), “Catherine.”Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingArticle5_WArticle5_WIn one of those vive la différence quirks that color the project, the French gave women’s names to their machines. On the British side, it’s by the numbers — like TBM No.6. Another difference: French workers wear chic, well-cut, taupe jumpsuits with red and blue racing stripes down the sleeves. The British uniform is pure grunge: baggy, bright orange. Looking up, I imagine 180 feet of Channel above my head — ferries, tankers, a Dover sole or two ... The grating of the TBM interrupts my reverie. Its cutterhead — a huge wheel with tungsten-tipped teeth — chews into the last trace of rock separating England from France. Music blares, and lights glare. Several Frenchmen scramble through. Thunderous applause erupts as dozens more follow. Strangely moving, this connecting of countries. Champagne corks pop, and French workers hug British counterparts.Detailed ReadingBefore Reading Global Reading After ReadingArticle6_WArticle6_W“I might have opposed it 30 years ago, but now it’s my tunnel,” an Englishman says. French tunnelers are still climbing through. “So many,” I say, turning to a French official. “And there are 56 million more behind them,” he replies. Après le tunnel, le déluge? Eurotunnel hopes so. It predicts eight million passengers a year by 1996. The flow will be lopsided. Only 30 percent of the traffic will be headed to Britain. “The French don’t take holidays in England,” explains Jeanne Labrousse, a Eurotunnel executive. Hmmmm. Why do the French visit Britain? For the food? The weather? Fashion? Mme. Labrousse seemed thoughtful. “Of c