新人教版高中英语必修一到五课文[精华]

必修一 Unit1 Anne’s Best Friend Do you want a friend whom you could tell everything to, like your deepest feelings and thoughts? Or are you afraid that your friend would laugh at you, or would not understand what you are going through? Anne Frank wanted the first kind, so she made her diary her best friend. Anne lived in Amsterdam in the Netherlands during World War ?. Her family was Jewish so nearly twenty-five months before they were discovered. During that time the only true friend was her diary. She said, ”I don’t want to set down a series of facts in a diary as most people do, but I want this diary itself to be my friend, and I shall call my friend Kitty.” Now read how she felt after being in the hiding place since July 1942. Thursday 15th June, 1944 Dear Kitty, I wonder if it’s because I haven’t been able to be outdoors for so long that I’ve grown so crazy about everything to do with nature. I can well remember that there was a time when a deep blue sky, the song of the birds, moonlight and flowers could never have kept me spellbound. That’s changed since I was here. …For example, one evening when it was so warm, I stayed awake on purpose until half past eleven in order to have a good look at the moon by my self. But as the moon gave far too much light, I didn’t dare open a window. Another time five months ago, I happened to be upstairs at dusk when the window was open. I didn’t go downstairs until the window bad to be shut. The dark, rainy evening, the wind, the thundering clouds held me entirely in their power; it was the first time in a year and a half that I’d seen the night face to face… …Sadly …I am only able to look at nature through dirty curtains hanging before very dusty windows. It’s no pleasure looking through these any longer because nature is one thing that really must be experienced. Yours, Anne Unit2 the Road to Modern English At the end of the 16th century, about five to seven million people spoke English. Nearly all of them lived in England. Later in the next century, people from England made voyages to conquer other parts of the world, and because of that, English began to be spoken in many other countries. Today, more people speak English as their first, second or a foreign language than ever before. Native English speakers can understand each other even if they don’t speak the same kind of English. Look at this example: British Betty: Would you like to see my flat? American Amy: Yes. I’d like to come up to you apartment. So why has English changed over time? Actually all languages change and develop when cultures meet and communicate with each other. At fist the English spoken in England between about AD 450 and 1150 was very different from the English spoken today. It was base more on German than the English we speak at present. Then gradually between about AD 500 and 1150, English became less like German because those who ruled England spoke first Danish and later French. These new settlers enriched the English language and especially its vocabulary. So by the 1600’s Shakespeare was able to make use of a wider vocabulary than ever before. In 1620 some British settlers moved to America. Later in the 18th century some British people were taken to Australia to. English began to be spoken in both countries. Finally by the 19th century the language was settled. At that time two big changes in English spelling happened: first Samuel Johnson wrote his dictionary and later Noah Webster wrote The American Dictionary of the English language. The latter gave a separate identity to American English spelling. English now is also spoken as a foreign or second language in South Asia. For example, India has a very large number of fluent English speakers because Britain ruled India from 1765 to 1947. During that time English became the language for government and education. English is also spoken in Singapore and Malaysia and countries in Africa such as South Africa. Today the number of people learning English in China is increasing rapidly. In fact, China may have the largest number of English learners. Will Chinese English develop its own identity? Only time will tell. Unit3 Journey Down the Mekong My name is Wang Kun. Ever since middle school, my sister Wang Wei and I have dreamed about taking a great bike trip. Two years ago she bought an expensive mountain bike and then she persuaded me to buy one. Last year, she visited our cousins, Dao Wei and Yu Hang at their college if Kunming. They are Dai and grew up in western Yunnan Province near the Lancang River, the Chinese part of the river that is called the Mekong River in other countries. Wang Wei soon got time interested in cycling too. After graduating from college, we finally got the chance to take a bike trip. I asked my sister, “Where are we going?” It was my sister who first had the idea to cycle along the entire Mekong River from where it begins to where it ends. Now she is planning our schedule for the trip. I am fond of my sister but she has one serious shortcoming. She can be really stubborn. Although she didn’t know the best way of getting to places, she insisted that she organize the trip properly. Now I know that the proper way is always her way. I kept asking her, “When are we leaving and when are we coming back?” I asked her whether she had looked at a map yet. Of course she hadn’t; my sister doesn’t care about details. So I told her that the source of the Mekong is in Qinghai Province. She gave me a determined look -- the kind that said she would not change her mind. When I told her that our journey would begin at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters, she seemed to be excited about it. When I told her the air would be hard to breathe and it would be very cold, she said it would be an interesting experience. I know my sister well. Once she has made up her mind, nothing can change it. Finally, I had to give in. Several months before our trip, Wang Wei and I went to the library. We found a large atlas with good maps that showed details of world geography. From the atlas we could see that the Mekong River begins in a glacier to move quickly. It becomes rapids as it passes through deep valleys, traveling across western Yunnan Province. Sometimes the river becomes a water fall and enters wide valleys. We were both surprised to learn that half of the river is in China. After it leaves China and high altitude, the Mekong becomes wide, brown and warm. As it enters Southeast Asia, its pace slows. It makes wide bends or meanders through low valleys to the plains where rice grows. At last, the river delta enters the South China Sea. Unit4 A Night the Earth didn’t Sleep Strange things were happening in the countryside of northeast Hebei. For three days the water in the village wells rose and fell, rose and fell. Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in them. A smelly gas came out of the cracks. In the farmyards, the chickens and even the pigs were too nervous to eat. Mice ran out of the fields looking for places to hide. Fish jumped out of their bowls and ponds. At about 3:00 am on July 28, 1976, some people saw bright lights in the sky. The sound of planes could be heard outside the city of Tangshan even when no planes were in the sky. In the city, the water pipes in some buildings cracked and burst. But the one million people of the city, who thought little of these events, were asleep as usual the night. At 3:42 am everything began to shake. It seemed as if the world was at an end! Eleven kilometers directly below the city the greatest earthquake of the 20th century had begun. It was felt in Beijing, which is more than two hundred kilometers away. One-third of the nation felt it. A huge crack that was eight kilometers long and thirty meters wide cut across houses, roads and canals. Steam burst from holes in the ground. Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt. In fifteen terrible seconds a large city lay in ruins. The suffering of the people was extreme. Two-thirds of them died or were injured during the earthquake. Thousands of families were killed of injured reached more than 400,000. But how could the survivors believe it was natural? Everywhere they looked nearly every thing was destroyed. All of the city’s hospitals, 75% of its factories and buildings and 90% of its homes were gone. Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves. No wind, however, could blow them away. Two dams fell and most of the bridges also fell or were not safe for traveling. The railway tracks were now useless pieces of steel. Tens of thousands of cows would never give milk again. Half a million pigs and millions of chickens were dead. Sand now filled the wells instead of water. People were shocked. Then, later that afternoon, another big quake which was almost as strong as the first one shook Tangshan. Some of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the ruins. More buildings fell down. Water, food, and electricity were hard to get. People began to wonder how long the disaster would last. All hope was not lost. Soon after the quakes, the army sent 150,000 soldiers of thousands of people were helped. The army organized teams to dig out those who were trapped and to bury the dead. To the north of the city, most of the 10,000 miners were rescued from the coal mines there. Workers built shelters for survivors whose homes had been destroyed. Fresh water was taken to the city by train, truck and plane. Slowly, the city began to breathe again. Unit5 Elias’ Story My name is Elias. I am a poor black worker in South Africa. The time when I first met Nelson Mandela was a very difficult period of my life. I was twelve years old. It was in 1952 and Mandela was the black lawyer to whom I went for advice. He offered guidance to poor black people on their legal problems. He was generous with his time, for which I was grateful. I needed his help because I had very little education. I began school at six. The school where I studied for only two years was three kilometers away. I had to leave because my family could not continue to pay the school fees and the bus fare. I could not read or write well. After trying hard, I got a job in a gold mine. However, this was a time when one had got to have a passbook to live in Johannesburg. Sadly I did not have it because I was not born there, and I worried about whether I would become out of work. The day when Nelson Mandela helped me was one of my happiest. He told me how to get the correct papers so I could stay in Johannesburg. I became more hopeful about my future. I never forgot how kind Mandela was. When he organized the ANC Youth League, I joined it as soon as I could. He said: “The last thirty years have seen the greatest number of laws stopping out rights and progress, until today we have reached a stage where we have almost no rights at all.” It was the truth. Black people could not vote or choose their leaders. They could not get the jobs they wanted. The parts of town in which they had to live were decided by white people. The places outside the towns where they were sent to live were the poorest parts of South Africa. No one could grow food there. In fact as Nelson Mandela said: “…we were put into a position in which we had either to accept we were less important or fight the government. We chose to attack the laws. We first broke the law in a way which was peaceful; when this was not allowed…only then did we decide to answer violence with violence.” As a matter of fact, I do not like violence… but in 1963 I helped him blow up some government buildings. It was very dangerous because if I was caught I could be put in prison. But I was happy to help because I knew it would help us achieve our dream of making black and white people equal. 必修二 Unit1 IN SEARCH OF THE AMBER ROOM Frederick William I, the King of Prussia, could never have imagined that his greatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history. This gift was the Amber Room, which was given this name because several tons of amber were used to make it. The amber which was selected had a beautiful yellow-brown colour like honey. The design of the room was in the fancy style popular in those days. It was also a treasure decorated with gold and jewels, which took the country's best artists about ten years to make. In fact, the room was not made to be a gift. It was designed for the palace of Frederick I. However, the next King of Prussia, Frederick William I, to whom the amber room belonged, decided not to keep it. In 1716 he gave it to Peter the Great. In return, the Czar sent him a troop of his best soldiers. So the Amber Room became part of the Czar's winter palace in St Petersburg. About four metres long, the room served as a small reception hall for important visitors. Later, Catherine II had the Amber Room moved to a palace outside St Petersburg where she spent her summers. She told her artists to add more details to it. In 1770 the room was completed the way she wanted. Almost six hundred candles lit the room, and its mirrors and pictures shone like gold. Sadly, although the Amber Room was considered one of the wonders of the world, it is now missing. In September 1941, the Nazi army was near St Petersburg. This was a time when the two countries were at war. Before the Nazis could get to the summer palace, the Russians were able to remove some furniture and small art objects from the Amber Room. However, some of the Nazis secretly stole the room itself. In less than two days 100,000 pieces were put inside twenty-seven wooden boxes. There is no doubt that the boxes were then put on a train for Konigsberg, which was at that time a German city on the Baltic Sea. After that, what happened to the Amber Room remains a mystery. Recently, the Russians and Germans have built a new Amber Room at the summer palace. By studying old photos of the former Amber Room, they have made the new one look like the old one. In 2003 it was ready for the people of St Petersburg when they celebrated the 300th birthday of their city. Unit2 THE STORY OF ATLANTA Atlanta was a Greek princess. She was very beautiful and could run faster than any man in Greece. But she was not allowed to run and win glory for herself in the Olympic Games. She was so angry that she said to her father that she would not marry anyone who could not run faster than her. Her father said that she must marry, so Atlanta made a bargain with him. She said to him, "These are my rules. When a man says he wants to marry me, I will run against him. If he cannot run as fast as me. he will be killed. No one will be pardoned." Many kings and princes wanted to marry Atlanta, but when they heard of her rules they knew it was hopeless. So many of them sadly went home, but others stayed to run the race. There was a man called Hippomenes who was amazed when he heard of Atlanta's rules, "Why are these men so foolish?" he thought. "Why will they let themselves be killed because they cannot run as fast as this princess?" However, when he saw Atlanta come out of her house to run, Hippomenes changed his mind. "I will marry Atlanta - or die!" he said. The race started and although the men ran very fast, Atlanta ran faster. As Hippomenes watched he thought, "How can I run as fast as Atlanta?" He went to ask the Greek Goddess of Love for help. She promised to help him and gave him three golden apples. She said, "Throw an apple in front of Atlanta when she is running past. When she stops to pick it up, you will be able to run past her and win." Hippomenes took the apples and went to the King. He said, "I want to marry Atlanta." The King was sad to see another man die, but Hippomenes said, "I will marry her - or die!" So the race began. Unit3 WHO AM I? Over time I have been changed quite a lot. I began as a calculating machine in France in 1642. Although I was young I could simplify difficult sums. I developed very slowly and it took nearly two hundred years before I was built as an analytical machine by Charles Babbage. After I was programmed by an operator who used cards with holes, I could "think" logically and produce an answer quicker than any person. At that time it was considered a technological revolution and the start of my "artificial intelligence". In 1936 my real father, Alan Turing, wrote a book about how I could be made to work as a "universal machine" to solve any difficult mathematical problem. From then on, I grew rapidly both in size and in brainpower. By the 1940s I had grown as large as a room, and I wondered if I would grow any larger. However, this reality also worried my designers. As time went by, I was made smaller. First as a PC (personal computer) and then as a laptop, I have been used in offices and homes since the 1970s. These changes only became possible as my memory improved. First it was stored in tubes, then on transistors and later on very small chips. As a result I totally changed my shape. As I have grown older I have also grown smaller. Over time my memory has developed so much that, like an elephant, I never forget anything I have been told! And my memory became so large that even I couldn't believe it! But I was always so lonely standing there by myself, until in the early 1960s they gave me a family connected by a network. I was able to share my knowledge with others through the World Wide Web. Since the 1970s many new applications have been found for me. I have become very important in communication, finance and trade. I have also been put into robots and used to make mobile phones as well as help with medical operations. I have even been put into space rockets and sent to explore the Moon and Mars. Anyhow, my goal is to provide humans with a life of high quality. I am now truly filled with happiness that I am a devoted friend and helper of the human race! Unit4 HOW DAISY LEARNED TO HELP WLDLIFE Daisy had always longed to help endangered species of wildlife. One day she woke up and found a flying carpet by her bed. "Where do you want to go?" it asked. Daisy responded immediately. "I'd like to see some endangered wildlife," she said. "Please take me to a distant land where I can find the animal that gave fur to make this sweater." At once the carpet flew away and took her to Tibet. There Daisy saw an antelope looking sad. It said, "We're being killed for the wool beneath our stomachs. Our fur is being used to make sweaters for people like you. As a result, we are now an endangered species." At that Daisy cried, "I'm sorry I didn't know that. I wonder what is being done to help you. Flying carpet, please show me a place where there's some wildlife protection." The flying carpet travelled so fast that next minute they were in Zimbabwe. Daisy turned around and found that she was being watched by an elephant. "Have you come to take my photo?" it asked.In relief Daisy burst into laughter. "Don't laugh,"said the elephant, "We used to be an endangered species. Farmers hunted us without mercy. They said we destroyed their farms, and money from tourists only went to the large tour companies.So the government decided to help. They allowed tourists to hunt only a certain number of animals if they paid the farmers. Now the farmers are happy and our numbers are increasing. So good things are being done here to save local wildlife." Daisy smiled. "That's good news. It shows the importance of wildlife protection, but I'd like to help as the WWF suggests." The carpet rose again and almost at once they were in a thick rainforest. A monkey watched them as it rubbed itself. "What are you doing?" asked Daisy. ” I’m protecting myself from mosquitoes," it replied. "When I find a millipede insect, I rub it over my body. It contains a powerful drug which affects mosquitoes. You should pay more attention to the rainforest where I live and appreciate how the animals live together. No rainforest, no animals, no drugs." Daisy was amazed. "Flying carpet, please take me home so I can tell WWF and we can begin producing this new drug. Monkey, please come and help." The monkey agreed. The carpet flew home. As they landed, things began to disappear. Two minutes later everything had gone - the monkey, too. So Daisy was not able to make her new drug. But what an experience! She had learned so much! And there was always WWF ... Unit5 THE BAND THAT WASN'T Have you ever wanted to be part of a band as a famous singer or musician? Have you ever dreamed of playing in front of thousands of people at a concert, at which everyone is clapping and appreciating your music? Do you sing karaoke and pretend you are a famous singer like Song Zuying or Liu Huan? To be honest, a lot of people attach great importance to becoming rich and famous. But just how do people form a band? Many musicians meet and form a band because they like to write and play their own music. They may start as a group of high-school students, for whom practicing their music in someone's house is the first step to fame. Sometimes they may play to passers-by in the street or subway so that they can earn some extra money for themselves or to pay for their instruments. Later they may give performances in pubs or clubs, for which they are paid in cash. Of course they hope to make records in a studio and sell millions of copies to become millionaires! However, there was one band that started in a different way. It was called the Monkees and began as a TV show. The musicians were to play jokes on each other as well as play music, most of which was based loosely on the Beatles. The TV organizers had planned to find four musicians who could act as well as sing. They put an advertisement in a newspaper looking for rock musicians, but they could only find one who was good enough. They had to use actors for the other three members of the band. As some of these actors could not sing well enough, they had to rely on other musicians to help them. So during the broadcasts they just pretended to sing. Anyhow their performances were humorous enough to be copied by other groups. They were so popular that their fans formed clubs in order to get more familiar with them. Each week on TV, the Monkees would play and sing songs written by other musicians. However, after a year or so in which they became more serious about their work, the Monkees started to play and sing their own songs like a real band. Then they produced their own records and started touring and playing their own music. In the USA they became even more popular than the Beatles and sold even more records. The band broke up about 1970, but happily they reunited in the mid-1980s. They produced a new record in 1996, with which they celebrated their former time as a real band. 必修3 unit1 Festivals and celebrations Festivals and celebrations of all kinds have been held everywhere since ancient times. Most ancient festivals would celebrate the end of cold weather, planting in spring and harvest in autumn. Sometimes celebrations would be held after hunters had caught animals. At that time people would starve if food was difficult to find, especially during the cold winter months. Today's festivals have many origins, some religious, some seasonal, and some for special people or events. Festivals of the Dead Some festivals are held to honour the dead or to satisfy the ancestors, who might return either to help or to do harm. For the Japanese festival Obon, people should go to clean graves and light incense in memory of their ancestors. They also light lamps and play music because they think that this will lead the ancestors back to earth. In Mexico, people celebrate the Day of the Dead in early November. On this important feast day, people eat food in the shape of skulls and cakes with "bones" on them. They offer food, flowers and gifts to the dead. The Western holiday Halloween also had its origin in old beliefs about the return of the spirits of dead people. It is now a children's festival, when they can dress up and go to their neighbours' homes to ask for sweets. If the neighbours do not give any sweets, the children might play a trick on them. Festivals to Honour People Festivals can also be held to honour famous people. The Dragon Boat Festival in China honours the famous ancient poet, Qu Yuan.In the USA, Columbus Day is in memory of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World. India has a national festival on October 2 to honour Mohandas Gandhi, the leader who helped gain India's independence from Britain. Harvest Festivals Harvest and Thanksgiving festivals can be very happy events. People are grateful because their food is gathered for the winter and the agricultural work is over. In European ountries, people will usually decorate churches and town halls with flowers and fruit, and will get together to have meals. Some people might win awards for their farm produce, like the biggest watermelon or the most handsome rooster. China and Japan have mid-autumn festivals, when people admire the moon and in China, enjoy mooncakes. Spring Festivals The most energetic and important festivals are the ones that look forward to the end of winter and to the coming of spring. At the Spring Festival in China, people eat dumplings, fish and meat and may give children lucky money in red paper. There are dragon dances and carnivals, and families celebrate the Lunar New Year together. Some Western countries have very exciting carnivals, which take place forty days before Easter, usually in February. These carnivals might include parades, dancing in the streets day and night, loud music and colourful clothing of all kinds. Easter is an important religious and social festival for Christians around the world. It celebrates the return of Jesus from the dead and the coming of spring and new life. Japan's Cherry Blossom Festival happens a little later. The country, covered with cherry tree flowers, looks as though it is covered with pink snow. People love to get together to eat, drink and have fun with each other. Festivals let us enjoy life, be proud of our customs and forget our work for a little while. Unit2 COME AND EAT HERE (1) Wang Peng sat in his empty restaurant feeling very frustrated. It had been a very strange morning. Usually he got up early and prepared his menu of barbecued mutton kebabs, roast pork, stir-flied vegetables and fried rice. Then by lunchtime they would all be sold. By now his restaurant ought to be full of people. But not today! Why was that? What could have happened? He thought of his mutton, beef and bacon cooked in the hottest, finest oil. His cola was sugary and cold, and his ice cream was made of milk, cream and delicious fruit. "Nothing could be better," he thought. Suddenly he saw his friend Li Chang hurrying by. "Hello, Lao Li," he called. "Your usual?" But Li Chang seemed not to hear. What was the matter? Something terrible must have happened if Li Chang was not coming to eat in his restaurant as he always did. Wang Peng followed Li Chang into a new small restaurant. He saw a sign in the window. Tired of all that fat? Want to lose weight? Come inside Yong Hui’s slimming restaurant. Only slimming foods served here. Make yourself thin again! Curiosity drove Wang Peng inside. It was full of people. The hostess, a very thin lady, came forward. "Welcome," she said. "My name is Yong Hui. I'll help you lose weight and be fit in two weeks if you eat here every day." Then she gave a menu to Wang Peng. There were few choices of food and drink on it: just rice, raw vegetables served in vinegar, fruit and water. Wang Peng was amazed at this and especially at the prices. It cost more than a good meal in his restaurant! He could not believe his eyes. He threw down the menu and hurried outside. On his way home he thought about his own menu. Did it make people fat? Perhaps he should go to the library and find out. He could not have Yong Hui getting away with telling people lies! He had better do some research! At the library Wang Peng was surprised to find that his restaurant served far too much fat and Yong Hui’s far too little. Even though her customers might get thin after eating Yong Hui’s food, they were not eating enough energy-giving food to keep them fit. They would become tired very quickly. Wang Peng felt more hopeful as he drove back home. Perhaps with a discount and a new sign he could win his customers back. So he wrote: Want to feel fit and energetic? Come and eat here! Discounts today! Our food gives you energy all day! The competition between the two restaurants was on! Unit3 THE MILLION POUND BANK NOTE Act I, Scene 3 NARRATOR: It is the summer of 1903. Two old and wealthy brothers,Roderick and Oliver, have made a bet. Oliver believes that with a million pound bank note a man could survive a month in London. His brother Roderick doubts it. At this moment, they see a penniless young man wandering on the pavement outside their house. It is Henry Adams, an American businessman, who is lost in London and does not know what he should do. RODERICK: Young man, would you step inside a moment, please? HENRY: Who? Me, sir? RODERICK: Yes, you. OLIVER: Through the front door on your left. HENRY: (A servant opens a door) Thanks. SERVANT: Good morning, sir. Would you please come in? Permit me to lead the way, sir. OLIVER: (Henry enters) Thank you, James. That will be all. RODERICK: How do you do, Mr ... er ...? HENRY: Adams. Henry Adams. OLIVER: Come and sit down, Mr Adams. HENRY: Thank you. RODERICK: You're an American? HENRY: That's right, from San Francisco. RODERICK: How well do you know London? HENRY: Not at all, it's my first trip here. RODERICK: I wonder, Mr Adams, if you'd mind us asking a few questions. HENRY: Not at all. Go right ahead. RODERICK: May we ask what you're doing in this country and what your plans are? HENRY: Well, I can't say that I have any plans. I'm hoping to find work. As a matter of fact, I landed in Britain by accident. OLIVER: How is that possible? HENRY: Well, you see, back home I had my own boat. About amonth ago, I was sailing out of the bay ... (his eyes stare at what is left of the brother's dinner on table) OLIVER: Well, go on. HENRY: Oh, yes. Well, towards nightfall I found myself carried out to sea by a strong wind. It was all my fault. I didn't know whether I could survive until morning. The next morning I'd just about given myself up for lost when I was spotted by a ship. OLIVER: And it was the ship that brought you to England. HENRY: Yes. The fact is that I earned my passage by working as an unpaid hand, which accounts for my appearance. I went to the American embassy to seek help, but ... (The brothers smile at each other.) RODERICK: Well, you mustn't worry about that. It's an advantage. HENRY: I'm afraid I don't quite follow you, sir. RODERICK: Tell us, Mr Adams, what sort of work did you do in America? HENRY: I worked for a mining company. Could you offer me some kind of work here? RODERICK: Patience, Mr Adams. If you don't mind, may I ask you how much money you have? HENRY: Well, to be honest, I have none. OLIVER: (happily) What luck! Brother, what luck! (claps his hands together) HENRY: Well, it may seem lucky to you but not to me! On the contrary, in fact. If this is your idea of some kind of joke, I don't think it's very funny. (Henry stands up to leave) Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll be on my way. RODERICK: Please don't go, Mr Adams~ You mustn't think we don't care about you. Oliver, give him the letter. OLIVER: Yes, the letter. (gets it from a desk and gives it to Henry like a gift) The letter. HENRY: (taking it carefully) For me? RODERICK: For you. (Henry starts to open it) Oh, no, you mustn't open it. Not yet. You can't open it until two o'clock. HENRY: Oh, this is silly. RODERICK: Not silly. There's money in it. (calls to the servant) James? HENRY: Oh, no. I don't want your charity. I just want an honest job. RODERICK: We know you're hard-working. That's why we've given you the letter. James, show Mr Adams out. OLIVER: Good luck, Mr Adams. HENRY: Well, why don't you explain what this is all about? RODERICK: You'll soon know. (looks at the clock) In exactly an hour and a half. SERVANT: This way, sir. RODERICK: Mr Adams, not until 2 o'clock. Promise? HENRY: Promise. Goodbye. Unit4 HOW LIFE BEGAN ON THE EARTH No one knows exactly how the earth began, as it happened so long ago. However, according to a widely accepted theory, the universe began with a "Big Bang" that threw matter in all directions.After that, atoms began to form and combine to create stars and other bodies. For several billion years after the "Big Bang", the earth was still just a cloud of dust. What it was to become was uncertain until between 4.5 and 3.8 billion years ago when the dust settled into a solid globe. The earth became so violent that it was not clear whether the shape would last or not. It exploded loudly with fire and rock. They were in time to produce carbon, nitrogen, water vapour and other gases, which were to make the earth's atmosphere. What is even more important is that as the earth cooled down, water began to appear on its surface. Water had also appeared on other planets like Mars but, unlike the earth, it had disappeared later. It was not immediately obvious that water was to be fundamental to the development of life. What many scientists believe is that the continued presence of water allowed the earth to dissolve harmful gases and acids into the oceans and seas. This produced a chain reaction, which made it possible for life to develop. Many millions of years later, the first extremely small plants began to appear on the surface of the water. They multiplied and filled the oceans and seas with oxygen, which encouraged the later development of early shellfish and all sorts of fish. Next, green plants began to grow on land. They were followed in time by land animals. Some were insects. Others, called amphibians, were able to live on land as well as in the water. Later when the plants grew into forests, reptiles appeared for the first time. They produced young enerally by laying eggs. After that, some huge animals, called dinosaurs, developed. They laid eggs too and existed on the earth for more than 140 million years. However, 65 million years ago the age of the dinosaurs ended. Why they suddenly disappeared still remains a mystery. This disappearance made possible the rise of mammals on the earth. These animals were different from all life forms in the past, because they gave birth to young baby animals and produced milk to feed them. Finally about 2.6 million years ago some small clever animals, now with hands and feet, appeared and spread all over the earth. Thus they have, in their turn, become the most important animals on the planet. But they are not looking after the earth very well. They are putting too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which prevents heat from escaping from the earth into space. As a result of this, many scientists believe the earth may become too hot to live on. So whether life will continue on the earth for millions of years to come will depend on whether this problem can be solved. Unit5 A TRIP ON "THE TRUE NORTH" Li Daiyu and her cousin Liu Qian were on a trip to Canada to visit their cousins in Montreal on the Atlantic coast. Rather than take the aeroplane all the way, they decided to fly to Vancouver and then take the train west to east across Canada. The thought that they could cross the whole continent was exciting. Their friend, Danny Lin, was waiting at the airport. He was going to take them and their baggage to catch "The True North", the cross-Canada train. On the way to the station, he chatted about their trip. "You're going to see some great scenery. Going eastward, you'll pass mountains and thousands of lakes and forests, as well as wide rivers and large cities. Some people have the idea that you can cross Canada in less than five days, but they forget the fact that Canada is 5,500 kilometres from coast to coast. Here in Vancouver, you're in Canada's warmest part. People say it is Canada's most beautiful city, surrounded by mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Skiing in the Rocky Mountains and sailing in the harbour make Vancouver one of Canada's most popular cities to live in. Its population is increasing rapidly. The coast north of Vancouver has some of the oldest and most beautiful forests in the world. It is so wet there that the trees are extremely tall, some measuring over 90 metres." That afternoon aboard the train, the cousins settled down in their seats. Earlier that day, when they crossed the Rocky Mountains, they managed to catch sight of some mountain goats and even a grizzly bear and an eagle. Their next stop was Calgary, which is famous for the Calgary Stampede. Cowboys from all over the world come to compete in the Stampede. Many of them have a gift for riding wild horses and can win thousands of dollars in prizes. After two days' travel, the girls began to realize that Canada is quite empty. At school, they had learned that most Canadians live within a few hundred kilometres of the USA border, and Canada's population is only slightly over thirty million, but now they were amazed to see such an empty country. They went through a wheat-growing province and saw farms that covered thousands of acres. After dinner, they were back in an urban area, the busy port city of Thunder Bay at the top of the Great Lakes. The girls were surprised at the fact that ocean ships can sail up the Great Lakes. Because of the Great Lakes, they learned, Canada has more fresh water than any other country in the world. In fact, it has one-third of the world's total fresh water, and much of it is in the Great Lakes. That night as they slept, the train rushed across the top of Lake Superior, through the great forests and southward towards Toronto. 必修四 Unit1 A STUDENT OF AFRICAN WILDLIFE It is 5:45 am and the sun is just rising over Gombe National Park in East Africa. Following Jane's way of studying chimps, our group are all going to visit them in the forest. Jane has studied these families of chimps for many years and helped people understand how much they behave like humans. Watching a family of chimps wake up is our first activity of the day. This means going back to the place where we left the family sleeping in a tree the night before. Everybody sits and waits in the shade of the trees while the family begins to wake up and move off. Then we follow as they wander into the forest. Most of the time, chimps either feed or clean each other as a way of showing love in their family. Jane warns us that our group is going to be very tired and dirty by the afternoon and she is right. However, the evening makes it all worthwhile. We watch the mother chimp and her babies play in the tree. Then we see them go to sleep together in their nest for the night. We realize that the bond between members of a chimp family is as strong as in a human family. Nobody before Jane fully understood chimp behaviour. She spent years observing and recording their daily activities. Since her childhood she had wanted to work with animals in their own environment. However, this was not easy. When she first arrived in Gombe in 1960, it was unusual for a woman to live in the forest. Only after her mother came to help her for the first few months was she allowed to begin her project. Her work changed the way people think about chimps. For example, one important thing she discovered was that chimps hunt and eat meat. Until then everyone had thought chimps ate only fruit and nuts. She actually observed chimps as a group hunting a monkey and then eating it. She also discovered how chimps communicate with each other, and her study of their body language helped her work out their social system. For forty years Jane Goodall has been outspoken about making the rest of the world understand and respect the life of these animals. She has argued that wild animals should be left in the wild and not used for entertainment or advertisements. She has helped to set up special places where they can live safely. She is leading a busy life but she says: "Once I stop, it all comes crowding in and I remember the chimps in laboratories. It's terrible. It affects me when I watch the wild chimps. I say to myself, 'Aren't they lucky?" And then I think about small chimps in cages though they have done nothing wrong. Once you have seen that you can never forget ..." She has achieved everything she wanted to do: working with animals in their own environment, gaining a doctor's degree and showing that women can live in the forest as men can. She inspires those who want to cheer the achievements of women. Unit2 A PIONEER FOR ALL PEOPLE Although he is one of China's most famous scientists, Yuan Longping considers himself a farmer, for he works the land to do his research. Indeed, his sunburnt face and arms and his slim, strong body are just like those of millions of Chinese farmers, for whom he has struggled for the past five decades. Dr Yuan Longping grows what is called super hybrid rice. In 1974, he became the first agricultural pioneer in the world to grow rice that has a high output. This special strain of rice makes it possible to produce one-third more of the crop in the same fields. Now more than 60% of the rice produced in China each year is from this hybrid strain. Born into a poor farmer's family in 1930, Dr Yuan graduated from Southwest Agricultural College in 1953. Since then, finding ways to grow more rice has been his life goal. As a young man, he saw the great need for increasing the rice output. At that time, hunger was a disturbing problem in many parts of the countryside. Dr Yuan searched for a way to increase rice harvests without expanding the area of the fields. In 1950, Chinese farmers could produce only fifty million tons of rice. In a recent harvest, however, nearly two hundred million tons of rice was produced. These increased harvests mean that 22% of the world's people are fed from just 7% of the farmland in China. Dr Yuan is now circulating his knowledge in India, Vietnam and many other less developed countries to increase their rice harvests. Thanks to his research, the UN has more tools in the battle to rid the world of hunger. Using his hybrid rice, farmers are producing harvests twice as large as before. Dr Yuan is quite satisfied with his life. However, he doesn't care about being famous. He feels it gives him less freedom to do his research. He would much rather keep time for his hobbles. He enjoys listening to violin music, playing mah-jong, swimming and reading. Spending money on himself or leading a comfortable life also means very little to him. Indeed, he believes that a person with too much money has more rather than fewer troubles. He therefore gives millions of yuan to equip others for their research in agriculture. Just dreaming for things, however, costs nothing. Long ago Dr yuan had a dream about rice plants as tall as sorghum. Each ear of rice was as big as an ear of corn and each grain of rice was as huge as a peanut. Dr Yuan awoke from his dream with the hope of producing a kind of rice that could feed more people. Now, many years later, Dr Yuan has another dream: to export his rice so that it can be grown around the globe. One dream is not always enough, especially for a person who loves and cares for his people. Unit3 A MASTER OF NONVERBAL HUMOUR As Victor Hugo once said, "Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face", and up to now nobody has been able to do this better than Charlie Chaplin. He brightened the lives of Americans and British through two world wars and the hard years in between. He made people laugh at a time when they felt depressed, so they could feel more content with their lives. Not that Charlie's own life was easy! He was born in a poor family in 1889. His parents were both poor music hall performers. You may find it astonishing that Charlie was taught to sing as soon as he could speak and dance as soon as he could walk. Such training was common in acting families at this time, especially when the family income was often uncertain. Unfortunately his father died, leaving the family even worse off, so Charlie spent his childhood looking after his sick mother and his brother. By his teens, Charlie had, through his humour, become one of the most popular child actors in England. He could mime and act the fool doing ordinary everyday tasks. No one was ever bored watching him -his subtle acting made everything entertaining. As time went by, he began making films. He grew more and more popular as his charming character, the little tramp, became known throughout the world. The tramp, a poor, homeless man with a moustache, wore large trousers, worn-out shoes and a small round black hat. He walked around stilly carrying a walking stick. This character was a social failure but was loved for his optimism and determination to overcome all difficulties. He was the underdog who was kind even when others were unkind to him. How did the little tramp make a sad situation entertaining? Here is an example from one of his most famous films, The Gold Rush. It is the mid-nineteenth century and gold has just been discovered in California. Like so many others, the little tramp and his friend have rushed there in search of gold, but without success. Instead they are hiding in a small hut on the edge of a mountain during a snowstorm with nothing to eat. They are so hungry that they try boiling a pair of leather shoes for their dinner. Charlie first picks out the laces and eats them as if they were spaghetti. Then he cuts off the leather top of the shoe as if it were the finest steak. Finally he tries cutting and chewing the bottom of the shoe. He eats each mouthful with great enjoyment. The acting is so convincing that it makes you believe that it is one of the best meals he has ever tasted! Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed and produced the films he starred in. In 1972 he was given a special Oscar for his outstanding work in films. He lived in England and the USA but spent his last years in Switzerland, where he was buried in 1977. He is loved and remembered as a great actor who could inspire people with great confidence. Unit4 COMMUNICATION: NO PROBLEM? Yesterday, another student and I, representing our university's student association, went to the Capital International Airport to meet this year's international students. They were coming to study at Beijing University. We would take them first to their dormitories and then to the student canteen. After half an hour of waiting for their flight to arrive, I saw several young people enter the waiting area looking around curiously. I stood for a minute watching them and then went to greet them. The first person to arrive was Tony Garcia from Colombia, closely followed by Julia Smith from Britain. After I met them and then introduced them to each other, I was very surprised. Tony approached Julia, touched her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek! She stepped back appearing surprised and put up her hands, as if in defence. I guessed that there was probably a major misunderstanding. Then Akira Nagata from Japan came in smiling, together with George Cook from Canada. As they were introduced, George reached his hand out to the Japanese student. Just at that moment, however, Akira bowed so his nose touched George's moving hand. They both apologized - another cultural mistake! Ahmed Aziz, another international student, was from Jordan. When we met yesterday, he moved very close to me as I introduced myself. I moved back a bit, but he came closer to ask a question and then shook my hand. When Darlene Coulon from France came dashing through the door, she recognized Tony Garcia's smiling face. They shook hands and then kissed each other twice on each cheek, since that is the French custom when adults meet people they know. Ahmed Aziz., on the contrary, simply nodded at the girls. Men from Middle Eastern and other Muslim countries will often stand quite close to other men to talk but will usually not touch women. As I get to know more international friends, I learn more about this cultural "body language". Not all cultures greet each other the same way, nor are they comfortable in the same way with touching or distance between people. In the same way that people communicate with spoken language, they also express their feelings using unspoken "language" through physical distance, actions or posture. English people, for example, do not usually stand very close to others or touch strangers as soon as they meet. However, people from places like Spain, Italy or South American countries approach others closely and are more likely to touch them. Most people around the world now greet each other by shaking hands, but some cultures use other greetings as well, such as the Japanese, who prefer to bow. These actions are not good or bad, but are simply ways in which cultures have developed. I have seen, however, that cultural customs for body language are very general - not all members of a culture behave in the same way. In general, though, studying international customs can certainly help avoid difficulties in today's world of cultural crossroads! Unit5 THEME PARKS — FUN AND MORE THAN FUN Which theme park would you like to visit? There are various kinds of theme parks, with a different park for almost everything: food, culture, science, cartoons, movies or history. Some parks are famous for having the biggest or longest roller coasters, others for showing the famous sights and sounds of a culture. Whichever and whatever you like, there is a theme park for you! The theme park you are probably most familiar with is Disneyland. It can be found in several parts of the world. It will bring you into a magical world and make your dreams come true, whether traveling through space, visiting a pirate ship or meeting your favourite fairy tale or Disney cartoon character. As you wander around the fantasy amusement park, you may see Snow White or Mickey Mouse in a parade or on the street. Of course Disneyland also has many exciting rides, from giant swinging ships to terrifying free-fall drops. With all these attractions, no wonder tourism is increasing wherever there is a Disneyland. If you want to have fun and more than fun, come to Disneyland! Dollywood, in the beautiful Smoky Mountains in the southeastern USA, is one of the most unique theme parks in the world. Dollywood shows and celebrates America's traditional southeastern culture. Although Dollywood has rides, the park's main attraction is its culture. Famous country music groups perform there all year in indoor and outdoor theatres. People come from all over America to see carpenters and other craftsmen make wood, glass and iron objects in the old-fashioned way. Visit the candy shop to try the same kind of candy that American southerners made 150 years ago, or take a ride on the only steam- engine train still working in the southeast USA. You can even see beautiful bald eagles in the world's largest bald eagle preserve. And for those who like rides, Dollywood has one of the best old wooden roller coasters, Thunderhead. It is world-famous for having the most length in the smallest space. Come to Dollywood to have fun learning all about America's historical southeastern culture! If you want to experience the ancient days and great deeds of English knights and ladies, princes and queens, then England's Camelot Park is the place for you. Every area of the park is modelled after life in the days of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In one place, you can watch magic shows with Merlin the Wizard. If you want to see fighting with swords or on horseback, then the jousting area is a good place to visit. If you do well there, King Arthur may choose you to fight in the big jousting tournament. Do you like animals? Then visit the farm area, and learn how people in ancient England ran their farms and took care of their animals. To enter a world of fantasy about ancient England, come to Camelot Park! 必修5 Unit 1 Great scientists Reading JOHH SHOW DEFEATS “KING CHOLERA” John Snow was a famous doctor in London - so expert, indeed, that he attended Queen Victoria as her personal physician. But he became inspired when he thought about helping ordinary people exposed to cholera. This was the deadly disease of its day. Neither its cause nor its cure was understood. So many thousands of terrified people died every time there was an outbreak. John Snow wanted to face the challenge and solve this problem. He knew that cholera would never be controlled until its cause was found. He became interested in two theories that possibly explained how cholera killed people. The first suggested that cholera multiplied in the air. A cloud of dangerous gas floated around until it found its victims. The second suggested that people absorbed this disease into their bodies with their meals. From the stomach the disease quickly attacked the body and soon the affected person died. John Snow suspected that the second theory was correct but he needed evidence. So when another outbreak hit London in 1854, he was ready to begin his enquiry. As the disease spread quickly through poor neighbourhoods, he began to gather information. In two particular streets, the cholera outbreak was so severe that more than 500 people died in ten days. He was determined to find out why. First he marked on a map the exact places where all the dead people had lived. This gave him a valuable clue about the cause of the disease. Many of the deaths were near the water pump in Broad Street (especially numbers 16, 37, 38 and 40). He also noticed that some houses (such as 20 and 21 Broad Street and 8 and 9 Cambridge Street) had had no deaths. He had not foreseen this, so he made further investigations. He discovered that these people worked in the pub at 7 Cambridge Street. They had been given free beer and so had not drunk the water from the pump. It seemed that the water was to blame. Next, John Snow looked into the source of the water for these two streets. He found that it came from the river polluted by the dirty water from London. He immediately told the astonished people in Broad Street to remove the handle from the pump so that it could not be used. Soon afterwards the disease slowed down. He had shown that cholera was spread by germs and not in a cloud of gas. In another part of London, he found supporting evidence from two other deaths that were linked to the Broad Street outbreak. A woman, who had moved away from Broad Street, liked the water from the pump so much that she had it delivered to her house every day. Both she and her daughter died of cholera after drinking the water. With this extra evidence John Snow was able to announce with certainty that polluted water carried the virus. To prevent this from happening again, John Snow suggested that the source of all the water supplies be examined. The water companies were instructed not to expose people to polluted water any more. Finally "King Cholera" was defeated. Using Language COPERNICUS’ REVOLUTIONRRY THEORY Nicolaus Copernicus was frightened and his mind was confused. Although he had tried to ignore them, all his mathematical calculations led to the same conclusion: that the earth was not the centre of the solar system. Only if you put the sun there did the movements of the other planets in the sky make sense. Yet he could not tell anyone about his theory as the powerful Christian Church would have punished him for even suggesting such an idea. They believed God had made the world and for that reason the earth was special and must be the centre of the solar system. The problem arose because astronomers had noticed that some planets in the sky seemed to stop, move backward and then go forward in a loop. Others appeared brighter at times and less bright at others. This was very strange if the earth was the centre of the solar system and all planets went round it. Copernicus had thought long and hard about these problems and tried to find an answer. He had collected observations of the stars and used all his mathematical knowledge to explain them. But only his new theory could do that. So between 1510 and 1514 he worked on it, gradually improving his theory until he felt it was complete. In 1514 he showed it privately to his friends. The changes he made to the old theory were revolutionary. He placed a fixed sun at the centre of the solar system with the planets going round it and only the moon still going round the earth. He also suggested that the earth was spinning as it went round the sun and this explained changes in the movement of the planets and in the brightness of the stars. His friends were enthusiastic and encouraged him to publish his ideas, but Copernicus was cautious. He did not want to be attacked by the Christian Church, so he only published it as he lay dying in 1543. Certainly he was right to be careful. The Christian Church rejected his theory, saying it was against God's idea and people who supported it would be attacked. Yet Copernicus' theory is now the basis on which all our ideas of the universe are built. His theory replaced the Christian idea of gravity, which said things fell to earth because God created the earth as the centre of the universe. Copernicus showed this was obviously wrong. Now people can see that there is a direct link between his theory and the work of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. Unit 2 The United Kingdom Reading PUZZLES IN GEOGRAPHY People may wonder why different words are used to describe these four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. You can clarify this question if you study British history. First there was England. Wales was linked to it in the thirteenth century. Now when people refer to England you find Wales included as well. Next England and Wales were joined to Scotland in the seventeenth century and the name was changed to "Great Britain". Happily this was accomplished without conflict when King James of Scotland became King of England and Wales as well. Finally the English government tried in the early twentieth century to form the United Kingdom by getting Ireland connected in the same peaceful way. However, the southern part of Ireland was unwilling and broke away to form its own government. So only Northern Ireland joined with England, Wales and Scotland to become the United Kingdom and this was shown to the world in a new flag called the Union Jack. To their credit the four countries do work together in some areas (eg, the currency and international relations), but they still have very different institutions. For example, Northern Ireland, England and Scotland have different educational and legal systems as well as different football teams for competitions like the World Cup! England is the largest of the four countries, and for convenience it is divided roughly into three zones. The zone nearest France is called the South of England, the middle zone is called the Midlands and the one nearest to Scotland is known as the North. You find most of the population settled in the south, but most of the industrial cities in the Midlands and the North of England. Although, nationwide, these cities are not as large as those in China, they have world-famous football teams and some of them even have two! It is a pity that the industrial cities built in the nineteenth century do not attract visitors. For historical architecture you have to go to older but smaller towns built by the Romans. There you will find out more about British history and culture. The greatest historical treasure of all is London with its museums, art collections, theatres, parks and buildings. It is the centre of national government and its administration. It has the oldest port built by the Romans in the first century AD, the oldest building begun by the Anglo-Saxons in the 1060s and the oldest castle constructed by later Norman rulers in 1066. There has been four sets of invaders of England. The first invaders, the Romans, left their towns and roads. The second, the Anglo-Saxons, left their language and their government. The third, the Vikings, influenced the vocabulary and place-names of the North of England, and the fourth, the Normans, left castles and introduced new words for food. If you look around the British countryside you will find evidence of all these invaders. You must keep your eyes open if you are going to make your trip to the United Kingdom enjoyable and worthwhile. Using Language SIGHTSEEING IN LONDON Worried about the time available, Zhang Pingyu had made a list of the sites she wanted to see in London. Her first delight was going to the Tower. It was built long ago by the Norman invaders of AD 1066. Fancy! This solid stone, square tower had remained standing for one thousand years.Although the buildings had expanded around it, it remained part of a royal palace and prison combined. To her great surprise, Zhang Pingyu found the Queen's jewels guarded by special royal soldiers who, on special occasions, still wore the four-hundred-year-old uniform of the time of Queen Elizabeth I. There followed St Paul's Cathedral built after the terrible fire of London in 1666. It looked splendid when first built! Westminster Abbey, too, was very interesting. It contained statues in memory of dead poets and writers, such as Shakespeare. Then just as she came out of the abbey, Pingyu heard the famous sound of the clock, Big Ben, ringing out the hour. She finished the day by looking at the outside of Buckingham Palace, the Queen's house in London. Oh, she had so much to tell her friends! The second day the girl visited Greenwich and saw its old ships and famous clock that sets the world time. What interested her most was the longitude line. It is an imaginary line dividing the eastern and western halves of the world and is very useful for navigation. It passes through Greenwich, so Pingyu had a photo taken standing on either side of the line. The last day she visited Karl Marx's statue in Highgate Cemetery. It seemed strange that the man who had developed communism should have lived and died in London. Not only that, but he had worked in the famous reading room of the Library of the British Museum. Sadly the library had moved from its original place into another building and the old reading room was gone. But she was thrilled by so many wonderful treasures from different cultures displayed in the museum. When she saw many visitors enjoying looking at the beautiful old Chinese pots and other objects on show, she felt very proud of her country. The next day Pingyu was leaving London for Windsor Castle. "Perhaps I will see the Queen?" she wondered as she fell asleep. Unit 3 Life in the future Reading FIRST IMPRESSIONS Spacemall: liqiang299A@GreatAdventureSpaceStation.com 15/11/3008 (Earthtime) Dear Mum and Dad, I still cannot believe that I am taking up this prize that I won last year. I have to remind myself constantly that I am really in AD 3008. Worried about the journey, I was unsettled for the first few days. As a result, I suffered from “Time lag”. This is similar to the “jet lag” you get from flying, but it seems you keep getting flashbacks from your previous time period. So I was very nervous and uncertain at first. However, my friend and guide, Wang Ping, was very understanding and gave me some green tablets which helped a lot. Well-known for their expertise, his parents' company, called "Future Tours", transported me safely into the future in a time capsule. I can still remember the moment when the space stewardess called us all to the capsule and we climbed in through a small opening. The seats were comfortable and after a calming drink, we felt sleepy and closed our eyes. The capsule began swinging gently sideways as we lay relaxed and dreaming. A few minutes later, the journey was completed and we had arrived. I was still on the earth but one thousand years in the future. What would I find? At first my new surroundings were difficult to tolerate. The air seemed thin, as though its combination of gases had little oxygen left. Hit by a lack of fresh air, my head ached. Just as I tried to make the necessary adjustment to this new situation, Wang Ping appeared. "Put on this mask," he advised. "It'll make you feel much better." He handed it to me and immediately hurried me through to a small room nearby for a rest. I felt better in no time. Soon I was back on my feet again and following him to collect a hovering carriage driven by computer. These carriages float above the ground and by bending or pressing down in your seat, you can move swiftly. Wang Ping fastened my safety belt and showed me how to use it. Soon I could fly as fast as him. However, I lost sight of Wang Ping when we reached what looked like a large market because of too many carriages flying by in all directions. He was swept up into the centre of them. Just at that moment I had a "time lag" flashback and saw the area again as it had been in the year AD 2008. I realized that I had been transported into the future of what was still my hometown! Then I caught sight of Wang Ping again and flew after him. Arriving at a strange-looking house, he showed me into a large, bright clean room. It had a green wall, a brown floor and soft lighting. Suddenly the wall moved - it was made of trees! I found later that their leaves provided the room with much-needed oxygen. Then Wang Ping flashed a switch on a computer screen, and a table and some chairs rose from under the floor as if by magic. "Why not sit down and eat a little?" he said. "You may find this difficult as it is your first time travel trip. Just relax, since there is nothing planned on the timetable today. Tomorrow you'll be ready for some visits." Having said this, he spread some food on the table, and produced a bed from the floor. After he left, I had a brief meal and a hot bath. Exhausted, I slid into bed and fell fast asleep. More news later from your loving son, Li Qiang Using Language I HAVE SEEN AMAZING THINGS My first visit was to a space station considered the most modem in space. Described as an enormous round plate, it spins slowly in space to imitate the pull of the earth's gravity. Inside was an exhibition of the most up-to-date inventions of the 31 st century. A guide (G) showed us around along a moveable path. G: Good morning to all our visitors from 2008. First we're going to examine one of the latest forms of communication among our space citizens. No more typists working on a typewriter or computer! No more postage or postcodes! Messages can now be sent using a "thoughtpad". You place the metal band over your head, clear your mind, press the sending button, think your message and the next instant it's sent. It's stored on the "thoughtpad" of the receiver. It's quick, efficient and environmentally friendly. The only limitation is if the user does not think his or her message clearly, an unclear message may be sent. But we cannot blame the tools for the faults of the user, can we? During the explanation I looked at the pair of small objects called "thoughtpads" on a table. They just looked like metal ribbons. So ordinary but so powerful! While I was observing them, the path moved us on. G: And now ladies and gentlemen, we are in the "environment area". People used to collect waste in dustbins. Then the rubbish was sent to be buried or burned, am I fight? (We nodded.) Well, now there's a system where the waste is disposed of using the principles of ecology. A giant machine, always greedy for more, swallows all the waste available. The rubbish is turned into several grades of useful material, such as "fertilizer" for the fields and "soil" for deserts. Nothing is wasted, and everything, even plastic bags, is recycled. A great idea, isn't' it? I stared at the moving model of the waste machine, absorbed by its efficiency. But again we moved on. G: Our third stop shows the changes that have happened to work practices. Manufacturing no longer takes place on the earth but on space stations like this one. A group of engineers programme robots to perform tasks in space. The robots produce goods such as drugs, clothes, furniture, hovering carriages, etc. There is no waste, no pollution and no environmental damage! However, the companies have to train their representatives to live and work in space settlements. They have to monitor the robots and the production. When the goods are ready they're transported by industrial spaceship back to earth. My mind began to wander. What job would I do? My motivation increased as I thought of the wonderful world of the future. Unit 4 Making the news Reading MY FIRST WORK ASSIGNMENT "Unforgettable", says new journalist Never will Zhou Yang (ZY) forget his first assignment at the office of a popular English newspaper. His discussion with his new boss, Hu Xin (HX), was to strongly influence his life as a journalist. HX: Welcome. We're delighted you're coming to work with us. Your first job here will be an assistant journalist. Do you have any questions? ZY: Can I go out on a story immediately? HX: (laughing) That' s admirable, but I' m afraid it would be unusual ! Wait till you' re more experienced. First we'll put you as an assistant to an experienced journalist. Later you can cover a story and submit the article yourself. ZY: Wonderful. What do I need to take with me? I already have a notebook and camera. HX: No need for a camera. You'll have a professional photographer with you to take photographs. You'll find your colleagues very eager to assist you, so you may be able to concentrate on photography later if you' re interested. ZY: Thank you. Not only am I interested in photography, but I took an amateur course at university to update my skills. HX: Good. ZY: What do I need to remember when I go out to cover a story? HX: You need to be curious. Only if you ask many different questions will you acquire all the information you need to know. We say a good journalist must have a good "nose" for a story. That means you must be able to assess when people are not telling the whole troth and then try to discover it. They must use research to inform themselves of the missing parts of the story. ZY: What should I keep in mind? HX: Here comes my list of dos and don'ts: don't miss your deadline, don't be rode, don't talk too much, but make sure you listen to the interviewee carefully. ZY: Why is listening so important? HX: Well, you have to listen for detailed facts. Meanwhile you have to prepare the next question depending on what the person says. ZY: But how can I listen carefully while taking notes? HX: This is a trick of the trade, If the interviewee agrees, you can use a recorder to get the facts straight. It's also useful if a person wants to challenge you. You have the evidence to support your story. ZY: I see! Have you ever had a case where someone accused your journalists of getting the wrong end of the stick? HX: Yes, but it was a long time ago. This is how the story goes. A footballer was accused of taking money for deliberately not scoring goals so as to let the other team win. We went to interview him. He denied taking money but we were sceptical. So we arranged an interview between the footballer and the man supposed to bribe him. When we saw them together we guessed from the footballer's body language that he was not telling the truth. So we wrote an article suggesting he was guilty. It was a dilemma because the footballer could have demanded damages if we were wrong. He tried to stop us publishing it but later we were proved right. ZY: Wow! That was a real "scoop". I'm looking forward to my first assignment now. Perhaps I'll get a scoop too! HX: Perhaps you will. You never know. Using Language GETTING THE "SCOOP" "Quick," said the editor. "Get that story ready. We need it in this edition to be ahead of the other newspapers. This is a scoop." Zhou Yang had just come back into the office after an interview with a famous film star. "Did he really do that?" asked someone from the International News Department. "Yes, I' m afraid he did," Zhou Yang answered. He set to work. His first task was to write his story, but he had to do it carefully. Although he realized the man had been lying, Zhou Yang knew he must not accuse him directly. He would have to be accurate. Concise too! He knew how to do that. Months of training had taught him to write with no wasted words or phrases. He sat down at his computer and began to work. The first person who saw his article was a senior editor from his department. He checked the evidence, read the article and passed it on to the copy-editor. She began to edit the piece and design the main headline and smaller heading. “This will look very good on the page,” she said. "Where is a good picture of this man?" Then as the article was going to be written in English Zhou Yang also took a copy to the native speaker employed by the newspaper to polish the style. She was also very happy with Zhou Yang's story. "You are really able to write a good front page article," she said. Zhou Yang smiled with happiness. Last of all, the chief editor read it and approved it. "Well done," he said to Zhou Yang. "But please show me your evidence so we're sure we've got our facts straight.” “I’ll bring it to you immediately," said Zhou Yang excitedly. The news desk editor took the story and began to work on all the stories and photos until all the pages were set. All the information was then ready to be processed into film negatives. This was the first stage of the printing process. They needed four negatives, as several colours were going to be used on the story. Each of the main colours had one negative sheet and when they were combined they made a coloured page for the newspaper. After one last check the page was ready to be printed. Zhou Yang waited excitedly for the first copies to be ready. "Wait 611 tonight," his friend whispered. "I expect there will be something about this on the television news. A real scoop!" Unit 5 First aid Reading FIRST AID FOR BURNS The skin is an essential part of your body and its largest organ. You have three layers of skin which act as a barrier against disease, poisons and the sun's harmful rays. The functions of your skin are also very complex: it keeps you warm or cool; it prevents your body from losing too much water; it is where you feel cold, heat or pain and it gives you your sense of touch. So as you can imagine, if your skin gets burned it can be very serious. First aid is a very important first step in the treatment of bums. Causes of burns You can get burned by a variety of things: hot liquids, steam, fire, radiation (by being close to high heat or fire, etc), the sun, electricity or chemicals. Types of burns There are three types of burns. Burns are called first, second or third degree burns, depending on which layers of the skin are burned. ◎ First degree burns These affect only the top layer of the skin. These burns are not serious and should feel better within a day or two. Examples include mild sunburn and burns caused by touching a hot pan, stove or iron for a mordent. ◎ Second degree burns These affect both the top and the second layer of the skin. These bums are serious and take a few weeks to heal. Examples include severe sunburn and bums caused by hot liquids. ◎ Third degree burns These affect all three layers of the skin and any tissue and organs under the skin. Examples include burns caused by electric shocks, burning clothes, or severe petrol fires. These burns cause very severe injuries and the victim must go to hospital at once. Characteristics of burns First degree burns ◎ dry, red and mildly swollen ◎ mildly painful ◎ turn white when pressed Second degree burns ◎ rough, red and swollen ◎ blisters ◎ watery surface ◎ extremely painful Third degree burns ◎ black and white and charred ◎ swollen; often tissue under them can be seen ◎ little or no pain if nerves are damaged; may be pain around edge of injured area. First aid treatment 1 Remove clothing using scissors if necessary unless it is stuck to the burn. Take off other clothing and jewellery near the burn. 2 Cool burns immediately with cool but not icy water. It is best to place burns under gently running water for about 10 minutes. (The cool water stops the burning process, prevents the pain becoming unbearable and reduces swelling.) Do not put cold water on third degree burns. 3 For first degree burns, place cool, clean, wet cloths on them until the pain is not so bad. For second degree burns, keep cloths cool by putting them back in a basin of cold water, squeezing them out and placing them on the burned area over and over again for about an hour until the pain is not so bad. 4 Dry the burned area gently. Do not rob, as this may break any blisters and the wound may get infected. 5 Cover the burned area with a dry, clean bandage that will not stick to the skin. Hold the bandage in place with tape. Never put butter, oil or ointment on bums as they keep the heat in the wounds and may cause infection. 6 If bums are on arms or legs, keep them higher than the heart, if possible. If bums are on the face, the victim should sit up. 7 If the injuries are second or third degree bums, it is vital to get the victim to the doctor or hospital at once. Using Language HEROIC TEENAGER RECEIVES AWARD Seventeen-year-old teenager, John Janson, was honoured at the Lifesaver Awards last night in Rivertown for giving lifesaving first aid on his neighbour after a shocking knife attack. John was presented with his award at a ceremony which recognized the bravery of ten people who had saved the life of another. John was studying in his room when he heard screaming. When he and his father rushed outside, a man ran from the scene. They discovered that Anne Slade, mother of three, had been stabbed repeatedly with a knife. She was lying in her front garden bleeding very heavily. Her hands had almost been cut off. It was John's quick action and knowledge of first aid that saved Ms Slade's life. He immediately asked a number of nearby people for bandages, but when nobody could put their hands on any, his father got some tea towels and tape from their house. John used these to treat the most severe injuries to Ms Slade's hands. He slowed the bleeding by applying pressure to the wounds until the police and ambulance arrived. "I'm proud of what I did but I was just doing what I'd been taught," John said. John had taken part in the Young Lifesaver Scheme at his high school. When congratulating John, Mr Alan Southerton, Director of the Young Lifesaver Scheme said, "There is no doubt that John's quick thinking and the first aid skills he learned at school saved Ms Slade's life. It shows that a knowledge of first aid can make a real difference." Before receiving their awards last night, John and the nine other Life Savers attended a special reception yesterday hosted by the Prime Minister.