is influenced by the customs and faith of a people. Styles inWestern art have changed many times. As there are so many differentstyles of Western art, it would be impossible to describe all ofthem in such a short text. Consequently, this text will describeonly the most important ones, starting from the sixth centuryAD.The Middle Ages (5th to the 15th century AD)During the Middle Ages, the main aim of painters was to representreligious themes. A conventional artist of this period was notinterested in showing nature and people as they really were. Atypical picture at this time was full of religious symbols, which created feeling of respect andlove for God. But it was evident that ideas were changing in the13th century when painters like Giotto di Bondone began to paintreligious scenes in a more realistic way.The Renaissance (15th to 16th century)During the Renaissance, new ideas and values graduallv replacedthose held in the Middle Ages.People began to concentrate less onreligious themes and adopt a more humanistic attitude to life. Atthe same time painters returned to classical Roman and Greek ideasabout art. They tried to paint people and nature as they reallywere. Rich people wanted to possess their own paintings, so theycould decorate their superb palaces and great houses. They paidfamous artists to paint pictures of themselves, their houses andpossessions as well as their activities and achievements. One of the most importantdiscoveries during this period was how to draw things inperspective. This technique was first used by Masaccio in 1428.When people first saw his paintings, they were convinced that theywere looking through a hole in a wall at a real scene. If the rolesof perspective had not been discovered, no one would have been ableto paint such realistic pictures. By coincidence, oil paints werealso developed at this time, which made the colours used inpaintings look richer and deeper. Without the new paints and thenew technique, we would not be able to see the many greatmasterpieces for which this period is famous.Impressionism (late 19th to early 20thcentury)the late 19th century, Europe changed a great deal. from a mostlyagricultural society to a mostly industrial one. Many people movedfrom the countryside to the new cities. There were many newinventions and social changes. Naturally, these changes also led tonew painting styles. Among the painters who broke away from thetraditional style of painting were the Impressionists, who livedand worked in Paris. The Impressionists were thefirst painters to work outdoors. They were eager to show how lightand shadow fell on objects at different times of day. However,because natural light changes so quickly, the Impressionists had topaint quickly. Their paintings were not as detailed as those ofearlier painters. At first, many people disliked this style ofpainting and became very angr about it. They said that the painterswere careless and their paintings were ridiculous.Modern Art (20th century to today)the time they were created, the Impressionist paintings werecontroversial, but today they are accepted as the beginning of whatwe call \'modem art\'. This is because the Impressionists encouragedartists to look at their environment in new ways. There are scoresof modern art styles, but without the Impressionists, many of thesepainting styles might not exist. On the one hand, some modem art isabstract; that is, the painter does not attempt to paint objects aswe see them with our eyes, but instead concentrates on certainqualities of the object, using colour, line and shape to representthem. On the other hand, some paintings of modern art are sorealistic that they look like photographs. These styles are sodifferent. Who can predict what painting styles there will be inthe future?THE BEST OF MANHATTAN’S ARTGALLERIESThe Frick Collection (5th Avenue and E.70thStreet) Many artlovers would rather visit this small art gallery than any other inNew York. Henry Clay Frick, a rich New Yorker, died in 1919,leaving his house, furniture and art collection to the Americanpeople. Frick had a preference for pre-twentieth century Westernpaintings, and these are well-represented in this excellentcollection. You can also explore Frick\'s beautiful home and gardenwhich are well worth a Visit.Guggenheim Museum(5th Avenue and 88th Street)This museum owns 5,000 superb modern paintings, sculptures anddrawings. These art works are not all displayed at the same time.The exhibition is always changing. It will appeal to those who loveImpressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings. The GuggenheimMuseum building is also world-famous. When you walk into gallery,you feel as if youwere inside a fragile, white seashell. The best way to see thepaintings is to start from the top floor and walk down to thebottom. There are no stairs just a circular path. The museum alsohas an excellent restaurant.Metropolitan Museum of Art (5th Avenue and 82nd Street)reputation of this museum lies in the variety of its artcollection. This covers more than 5,000 years of civilization frommany parts of the world, including America, Europe, China, Egypt,other African countries and South America. The museum displays morethan just the visual delights of art. It introduces you to ancientways of living. You can visit an Egyptian temple, a fragrant Minggarden, a typical room in an 18th century French house and manyother special exhibitions.Museum of Modern Art (53rd Street, between 5th and 6thAvenues) It isamazing that so many great works of art from the late 19th centuryto the 21st century are housed in the same museum. The collectionof Western art includes paintings by such famous artists as Monet,Van Gogh, Picasso and Matisse. A few words of warning: theadmission price is not cheap and the museum is often verycrowded.Whitney Museum of American Art (945 Madison Avenue, near 75thStreet) The Whitneyholds an excellent collection of contemporary American painting andsculpture. There are no permanent displays in this museum andexhibitions change all the time. Every two years, the Whitney holdsa special exhibition of new art by living artists. The museum alsoshows videos and films by contemporary videoartists.选修6 Unit 2 Poems-Reading A FEW SIMPLE FORMS OF ENGLISH POEMS There arevarious reasons why people write poetry. Some poems tell a story ordescribe something in a way that will give the reader a strongimpression. Others try to convey certain emotions. Poets use manydifferent forms of poetry to express themselves. In this text,however, we will look at a few of the simpler forms. Some of thefirst poetry a young child learns in English is nursery rhymes.These rhymes like the one on the right (A) are still a common typeof children\'s poetry. The language is concrete but imaginative, andthey delight small children because they rhyme, have strong rhythmand a lot of repetition. The poems may not make sense and even seemcontradictory, but they are easy to learn and recite. By playingwith the words in nursery rhymes, children learn aboutlanguage.A Hush, little baby, don\'t say aword, Papa\'s going to buy you a mockingbird. If that mockingbirdwon\'t sing, Papa\'s going to buy you a diamond ring. If that diamondring turns to brass, Papa\'s going to buy you a looking-glass. Ifthat looking-glass gets broke, Papa\'s going to buy you abilly-goat. If that billy-goat runs away, Papa\'s going to buy youanother today. One of thesimplest kinds of poems are those like B and C that list things.List poems have a flexible line length and repeated phrases whichgive both a pattern and a rhythm to the poem. Some rhyme (like B)while others do not (like C).B I saw a fish-portal all onfire I saw a fish-pond all on fire, I saw a house bow to asquire, I saw aperson twelve-feet high, I saw acottage in the sky, I saw aballoon made of lead, I saw acoffin drop down dead, I saw twosparrows run a race, I saw twohorses making lace, I saw ggirl just like a cat, I saw akitten wear a hat, I saw a manwho saw these too, And said thoughstrange they all were true.C Our first football match We would have won... if Jack hadscored that goal, if we\'d hadjust a few more minutes, if we hadtrained harder, if Ben hadpassed the ball to Joe, if we\'d hadthousands of fans screaming, if I hadn\'ttaken my eye off the ball, if wehadn\'t stayed up so late the night before, if wehadn\'t taken it easy, if wehadn\'t run out of energy. We would have won... if we\'dbeen better! Another simple formof poem that students can easily write is the cinquain, a poem madeup of five lines. With these, students can convey a strong picturein just a few words. Look at the examples (D and E) on the top ofthe next page.D Brother Beautiful, athletic Teasing,shouting, laughing Friend and enemy too MineE Summer Sleepy, salty Drying,drooping, dreading Week in, week out EndlessF A fallen blossom Is coming backto the branch. Look, a butterfly! ( byMoritake)G Snow having melted, The whole village isbrimful Of happy children.form of poetry that is made up of 17 syllables. It is not atraditional form of English poetry, but is very popular withEnglish writers. It is easy to write and, like the cinquain , cangive a clear picture and create a special feeling using the minimumof words. The two haiku poems (F and G) above are translations fromthe Japanese. H Where she awaits her husband Onand on the river flows. Never looking back,Transformed intostone.Day by day upon the mountain top,wind and rain revolve.Shouldthe traveller return,this stone would utter speech.,know that English speakers also enjoy other forms of Asian poetry -Tang poems from China in particular? A lot of Tang poetry has beentranslated into English. This Tang poem (H) is a translation fromthe Chinese. With somany different forms of poetry to choose from, students mayeventually want to write poems of their own. It is easier than youmight think and certainly worth a try!I\'VE SAVED THE SUMMERI\'ve saved the summerAnd I give it all to youTo hold on winter morningsWhen the snow is new.I\'ve saved some sunlightIf you should ever needA place away from darknessWhere your mind can feed.And for myself I\'ve kept your smileWhen you were but nineteen,Till you\'re older you\'ll not knowWhat brave young smiles can mean.I know no answersTo help you on your wayThe answers lie somewhereAt the bottom of the day.But if you\'ve a need for loveI\'ll give you all l ownIt might help you down the roadTill you\'ve found your own.It is a beautiful day here and I am sitting under the big tree atthe end of the garden. I have just returned from a longbike ride to an old castle. It seems amazing that at my age I amstill fit enough to cycle 20 kilometres in an afternoon.It\'s my birthday in two weeks time and I\'ll be 82 yearsold! I think my long and active life must be due to the healthylife I live. This brings me to the real reason for my letter, my dear grandson.Your mother tells me that you started smoking some time agoand now you are finding it difficult to give it up. Believe me, Iknow how easy it is to begin smoking and how tough it is to stop.You see, during adolescence I also smoked and became addicted tocigarettes.By the way, did you know that this is because you become addictedin three different ways? First, you can become physicallyaddicted to nicotine, which is one of the hundreds of chemicals incigarettes. This means that after a while your body becomesaccustomed to having nicotine in it. So when the drug leaves yourbody, you get withdrawal symptoms. I remember feeling bad-temperedand sometimes even in pain. Secondly, you become addicted throughhabit. As you know, if you do the same thing over and over again,you begin to do it automatically. Lastly, you can become mentallyaddicted. I believed I was happier and more relaxed after having acigarette, so I began to think that I could only feel good when Ismoked. I was addicted in all three ways, so it was very difficultto quit. But I did finally manage.When I was young, I didn\'t know much about the harmful effects ofsmoking. I didn\'t know, for example, that it could do terribledamage to your heart and lungs or that it was more difficult forsmoking couples to become pregnant. I certainly didn\'t know theirbabies may have a smaller birth weight or even be abnormal in someway. Neither did I know that my cigarette smoke could affect thehealth of non-smokers. However, what I did know was that mygirlfriend thought I smelt terrible. She said my breath and clothessmelt, and that the ends of my fingers were turning yellow. Shetold me that she wouldn\'t go out with me again unless I stopped! Ialso noticed that I became breathless quickly, and that I wasn\'tenjoying sport as much. When I was taken off the school footballteam because I was unfit, I knew it was time to quit smoking.I am sending you some advice I found on the Internet. It might helpyou to stop and strengthen your resolve. I do hope so because Iwant you to live as long and healthy a life as I have. Love fromGrandadReading and discussingBefore you read the poster below, discuss what youknow about HIV/AIDS with your classmates. Make a list of words thatyou might come across in this poster.HIV/AIDS:ARE YOU AT RISK? HIV is a virus. A virus is a verysmall living thing that causes disease. There are many differentviruses, for example, the flu virus or the SARS virus. HIV weakensa person\'s immune system; that is, the part of the bodythat fights disease. You can have HIV in your blood for along time, but eventually HIV will damage your immune system somuch that you body can no longer fight disease. This stage of theillness is called AIDS. If you develop AIDS, your chances ofsurvival are very small. HIV is spread through blood or thefluid that the body makes during sex. For a person tobecome infected, blood or sexual fluid that carries the virus, hasto get inside the body through broken skin or by injection. One dayscientists will find a cure for HIV/AIDS.Until that happens, you need to protect yourself. Here are somethings you can do to make sure you stay safe.If you inject drugs:do not share your needle with anyone else. Blood from anotherperson can stay on or in the needle. If a person has HIV and youuse the same needle, you could inject the virus into your ownblood.do not share anything else that a person has used while injectingdrugs.Blood could have spilt on it.If you have sex with a male or a female:use a condom. This will prevent sexual fluid passing from oneperson to another.The following statements are NOT true.A person cannot get HIV the first time they have sex.WRONG. If onesexual partner has HIV, the other partner could becomeinfected.You can tell by looking at someone whether or not they haveHIV.WRONG. Many people carrying HIV look perfectly healthy. It isonly when the disease has progressed to AIDS that a person beginsto look sick.Only homosexuals get AIDS.WRONG. Anyone who has sex with a personinfected with H1V/AIDS risks getting the virus. Women are slightlymore likely to become infected than men.If you hug, touch or kiss someone with AIDS or visit them in theirhome, you will get HIV/AIDS.WRONG.You can only get the disease fromblood or sexual fluid.Unfortunately, people with HIV sometimes losetheir friends because of prejudice.Many people are afraid that theywill get HIV/AIDS from those infected with HIV!AIDS. For the samereason, some AIDS patients cannot find anyone to look after themwhen they are sick. You can get HIV/AIDS frommosquitoes.WRONG. There is no evidence ofthis.选修6 Unit 4 Global warming-ReadingTHE EARTH IS BECOMING WARMER-BUT DOES IT MATTER? During the 20th century thetemperature of the earth rose about one degree Fahrenheit. Thatprobably does not seem much to you or me, but it is a rapidincrease when compared to other natural changes. So how has thiscome about and does it matter? Earth Care’s Sophie Armstrongexplores these questions. There is no doubt that theearth is becoming warmer (see Graph 1) and that it is humanactivitythat has caused this global warming rather than a random butnatural phenomenon. All scientistssubscribe to the view that the increase in the earth\'s temperatureis due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas andoil to produce energy. Some byproducts of this process are called\'greenhouse\' gases, the most important one of which is carbondioxide. Dr Janice Foster explains: \'There is a natural phenomenonthat scientists call the \'greenhouse effect\'. This is when smallamounts of gases in the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, methaneand water vapour, trap heat from the sun and therefore warm theearth. Without the \'greenhouse effect\', the earth would be aboutthirty-three degrees Celsius cooler than it is. So, we need thosegases. The problem begins when we add huge quantities of extracarbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It means that more heat energytends to be trapped in the atmosphere causing the globaltemperature to go up.\'know that the levels of carbon dioxide have increased greatly overthe last 100 to 150 years. It was a scientist called CharlesKeeling, who made accurate measurements of the amount of carbondioxide in the atmosphere from 1957 to 1997. He found that betweenthese years the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere went up fromaround 315 parts to around 370 parts per million(see Graph 2). All scientistsaccept this data. They also agree that it is the burning of moreand more fossilfuels that has resulted in this increase in carbon dioxide. So howhigh will the temperature increase go? Dr Janice Foster says thatover the next 100 years the amount of warming could be as low as 1to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but it could be as high as 5 degrees. However, theattitude of scientists towards this rise is completely different.On the one hand, Dr Foster thinks that the trend which increasesthe temperature by 5 degrees would be a catastrophe. She says, \'Wecan\'t predict the climate well enough to know what to expect, butit could be very serious.\' Others who agree with her think theremay be a rise of several metres in the sea level, or predict severestorms, floods, droughts, famines, the spread of diseases and thedisappearance of species. On the other hand, there are those, likeGeorge Hambley, who are opposed to this view, believe that weshould not worry about high levels of carbon dioxide in the air.They predict that any warming will be mild with few badenvironmental consequences. In fact, Hambley states, \'More carbondioxide is actually a positive thing. It will make plants growquicker; crops will produce more; it will encourage a greater rangeof animals - all of which will make life for human beingsbetter.\'Greenhouse gases continue to build up in the atmosphere. Even if westart reducing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhousegases, the climate is going to keep on warming for decades orcenturies. No one knows the effects of global warming. Does thatmean we should do nothing? Or, are the risks toogreat?WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING?Dear Earth Care,I am doing a project on behalf of my school about global warming.Sometimes I feel that individuals can have little effect on suchhuge environmental problems. However, 1 still think people shouldadvocate improvements in the way we use energy today. As I\'m notsure where to start with my project, I would appreciate anysuggestions you may have.Thank you!Ouyang GuangDear Ouyang Guang,There are many people who have a commitment like yours, but they donot believe they have the power to do anything to improve ourenvironment. That is not true. Together, individuals can make adifference. We do not have to put up with pollution.The growth of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide in the airactually comes as a result of many things we do every day. Here area few suggestions on how to reduce it. They should get you startedwith your project.1 We use a lot of energy in our houses. It is OK to leavean electrical appliance on so long as you are using it - ifnot, turn it off! Do not be casual about this. So if you are notusing the lights, the TV, the computer, and so on, turn them off.If you are cold, put on more clothes instead of turning up theheat.2 Motor vehicles use a lot of energy- so walk or ride abike if you can.3 Recycle cans, bottles, plastic bags and newspapers ifcircumstances allow you to. It takes a lot of energy to make thingsfrom new materials, so, if you can, buy things made from recycledmaterials.4 Get your parents to buy things that are economical with energy -this includes cars as well as smaller things like fridges andmicrowaves.5 Plant trees in your garden or your school yard, as they absorbcarbon dioxide from the air and refresh your spirit whenyou look at them.6 Finally and most importantly, be an educator. Talk with yourfamily and friends about global warming and tell them what you havelearned.Remember - your contribution counts!Earth Care选修6 Unit 5 The power ofnature-ReadingAN EXCITING JOB I have thegreatest job in the world. I travel to unusual places and workalongside people from all over the world. Sometimes workingoutdoors, sometimes in an office, sometimes using scientificequipment and sometimes meeting local people and tourists, I amnever bored.Although my job is occasionally dangerous, I don\'t mind becausedanger excites me and makes me feel alive. However, the mostimportant thing about my job is that I help protect ordinary people from one of the most powerful forces onearth - the volcano. I was appointed asa volcanologist working for the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO)twenty years ago. My job is collecting information for a databaseabout Mount Kilauea, which is one of the most active volcanoes inHawaii. Having collected and evaluated the information, I helpother scientists to predict where lava from the volcano will flownext and how fast. Our work has saved many lives because people inthe path of the lava can be warned to leave their houses.Unfortunately, we cannot move their homes out of the way, and manyhouses have been covered with lava or burned to the ground. When boiling rock eruptsfrom a volcano and crashes back to earth, it causes less damagethan you might imagine. This is because no one lives near the topof Mount Kilauea, where the rocks fall. The lava that flows slowlylike a wave down the mountain causes far more damage because itburies everything in its path under the molten rock. However, theeruption itself is really exciting to watch and I shall neverforget my first sight of one. It was in the second week after Iarrived in Hawaii. Having worked hard all day, I went to bed early.I was fast asleep when suddenly my bed began shaking and I heard astrange sound, like a railway train passing my window. Havingexperienced quite a few earthquakes in Hawaii already, I didn\'ttake much notice. I was about to go back to sleep when suddenly mybedroom became as bright as day. I ran out of the house into theback garden where I could see Mount Kilauea in the distance. Therehad been an eruption from the side of the mountain and red hot lavawas fountaining hundreds of metres into the air. It was anabsolutely fantastic sight. The day after this eruptionI was lucky enough to have a much closer look at it. Two otherscientists and I were driven up the mountain and dropped as closeas possible to the crater that had been formed during the eruption.Having earlier collected special clothes from the observatory, weput them on before we went any closer. All three of us looked likespacemen.We had white protective suits that covered our whole body,helmets, big boots and special gloves. It was not easy to walk inthese suits, but we slowly made our way to the edge of the craterand looked down into the red, boiling centre. The other two climbeddown into the crater to collect some lava for later study, but thisbeing my first experience, I stayed at the top and watchedthem. Today, I am just as enthusiastic about my job asthe day I first started. Having studied volcanoes now for manyyears, I am still amazed at their beauty as well as their potentialto cause great damage.THE LRKE OF HERVEN Changbaishanis in Jilin Province, Northeast China.Much of this beautiful,mountainous area is thick forest . Changbaishan is China\'s largestnature reserve and it is kept in its natural state for the peopleof China and visitors from all over the world to enjoy. The heightof the land varies from 700 metres above sea level to over 2,000metres and is home to a great diversity of rare plants and animals.Among the rare animals are cranes, black bears, leopards andtigers. Many people come to Changbaishan to study its unique plantsand animals. Others come to walk in the mountains, to see thespectacular waterfalls or to bathe in the hot water pools. However,the attraction that arouses the greatest appreciation in thereserve is Tianchi or the Lake of Heaven. Tianchi is a deep lake that hasformed in the crater of a dead volcano on top of the mountain. Thelake is 2,194 metres above sea level, and more than 200 metresdeep. In winter the surface freezes over. It takes about an hour toclimb from the end of the road to the top of the mountain. When youarrive you are rewarded not only with the sight of its clearwaters, but also by the view of the other sixteen mountain peaksthat surround Tianchi. There are many stories told aboutTianchi. The most well-known concerns three young women fromheaven. They were bathing in Tainchi when a bird flew above themand dropped a small fruit onto the dress of the youngest girl. Whenshe picked up the fruit to smell it, it flew into her mouth.Havingswallowed the fruit, the girl became pregnant and later gave birthto a handsome boy. It is said that this boy, who had a great giftfor languages and persuasion, is the father of the Manchupeople. If you are lucky enough tovisit the Lake of Heaven with your loved one, don\'t forget to dropa coin into the clear blue water to guarantee your love will be asdeep and lasting as the lake itself.选修7 Unit 1 Living well-ReadingMARTY’S STORYmy name is Marry Fielding and I guess you could say that I am \'onein a million\'. In other words, there are not many people like me.You see, I have a muscle disease which makes me very weak, so Ican\'t run or climb stairs as quickly as other people. In addition,sometimes I am very clumsy and drop things or bump into furniture.Unfortunately, the doctors don\'t know how to make me better, but Iam very outgoing and have learned to adapt to my disability. Mymotto is: live One day at a time. Until I was ten years old I was the same as everyone else.I used to climb trees, swim and play football. In fact, I used todream about playing professional football and possibly representingmy country in the World Cup. Then I started to get weaker andweaker, until I could only enjoy football from a bench at thestadium. In the end I went into hospital for medical tests. Istayed there for nearly three months. I think I had at least abillion tests, including one in which they cut out a piece ofmuscle from my leg and looked at it under a microscope. Even afterall that, no one could give my disease a name and it is difficultto know what the future holds. One problem is that I don\'t look any different from otherpeople. So sometimes some children in my primary school wouldlaugh, when I got out of breath after running a short way or had tostop and rest halfway up the stairs. Sometimes, too, I was too weakto go to school so my education suffered. Every time I returnedafter an absence, I felt stupid because I was behind theothers. My life is a lot easier at high school because my fellowstudents have accepted me. The few who cannot see the real personinside my body do not make me annoyed, and I just ignore them. Allin all I have a good life. I am happy to have found many things Ican do, like writing and computer programming. My ambition is towork for a firm that develops computer software when I grow up.Last year invented a computer football game and a big company hasdecided to buy it from me. I have a very busy life with no time tosit around feeling sorry for myself. As well as going to the moviesand football matches with my friends, I spend a lot of time with mypets. I have two rabbits, a parrot, a tank full of fish and atortoise. To look after my pets properly takes a lot of time but Ifind it worthwhile. I also have to do a lot of work, especially ifI have been away for a while. In many ways my disability has helped me grow strongerpsychologically and become more independent. I have to work hard tolive a normal life but it has been worth it. If I had a chance tosay one thing to healthy children, it would be this: having adisability does not mean your life is not satisfying. So don\'t feelsorry for the disabled or make fun of them, and don\'t ignore themeither. Just accept them for who they are, and give themencouragement to live as rich and full a life as you do.Thank you for reading my story.A LETTER TO AN ARCHITECT Look at the pictures. Discuss the problems that people withwalking difficulties might have in a cinema.Ms L Sanders read in the newspaper today that you are to be the architect forthe new Bankstown cinema.I hope you will not mind me writing to askif you have thought about the needs of disabled customers. Inparticular I wonder if you have considered the followingthings:Adequate access for wheelchairs. It would be handy to have lifts toall parts of the cinema. The buttons in the lifts should be easyfor a person in a wheelchair to reach, and the doors be wide enoughto enter. In some cinemas, the lifts are at the back of the cinemain cold, unattractive places. As disabled people have touse the lifts, this makes them feel they are not as important asother customers.Earphones for people who have trouble hearing. It would help to fitsets of earphones to all seats, not just to some of them. Thiswould allow hearing-impaired customers to enjoy the company oftheir hearing friends rather than having to sit in a specialarea.Raised seating. People who are short cannot always see the screen.So I\'d like to suggest that the seats at the back be placed higherthan those at the front so that everyone can see the screen easily.Perhaps there could be a space at the end of each row for people inwheelchairs to sit next to their friends. 4 Toilets.For disabled customers it would be more convenient to place thetoilets near the entrance to the cinema. It can be difficult if theonly disabled toilet is in the basement a long way from where thefilm is showing. And if the doors could be opened outwards,disabled customers would be very happy.Car parking. Of course, there are usually spaces specially reservedfor disabled and elderly drivers. If they are close to the cinemaentrance and/or exit, it is easier for disabled people to get tofilm in comfort.Thank you for reading my letter. I hope my suggestions will meetwith your approval. Disabled people should have the sameopportunities as able-bodied people to enjoy the cinema and to doso with dignity.I am sure many people will praise your cinema ifyou design it with good access for disabled people. It will alsomake the cinema owners happy if more people go as they will makehigher profits! SATISFACTION GURANTEEDLarry Belmont worked for a company that made robots. Recently ithad begun experimenting with a household robot. It was going to betested out by Larry\'s wife, Claire. Clairedidn\'t want the robot in her house, especially as her husband wouldbe absent for three weeks, but Larry persuaded her that the robotwouldn\'t harm her or allow her to be harmed. It would be a bonus.However, when she first saw the robot, she felt alarmed. His namewas Tony and he seemed more like a human than a machine. He wastall and handsome with smooth hair and a deep voice although hisfacial expression never changed.the second morning Tony, wearing an apron, brought her breakfastand then asked her whether she needed help dressing. She feltembarrassed and quickly told him to go. It was disturbing andfrightening that he looked so human. day, Claire mentioned that she didn\'t think she was clever. Tonysaid that she must feel very unhappy to say that. Claire thought itwas ridiculous to be offered sympathy by a robot. But she began totrust him. She told him how she was overweight and this made herfeel unhappy. Also she felt her home wasn\'t elegant enough forsomeone like Larry who wanted to improve his social position. Shewasn\'t like Gladys Claffern, one of the richest and most powerfulwomen around.a favour Tony promised to help Claire make herself smarter and herhome more elegant. So Claire borrowed a pile of books from thelibrary for him to read, or rather, scan. She looked at his fingerswith wonder as they turned each page and suddenly reached for hishand. She was amazed by his fingernails and the softness and warmthof his skin. How absurd, she thought. He was just a machine.Tony gave Claire a new haircut and changed the makeup she wore. Ashe was not allowed to accompany her to the shops, he wrote out alist of items for her. Claire went into the city and boughtcurtains, cushions, a carpet and bedding. Then she went into ajewellery shop to buy a necklace. When the clerk at the counter wasrude to her, she rang Tony up and told the clerk to speak to him.The clerk immediately changed his attitude. Claire thanked Tony,telling him that he was a \'dear\'. As she turned around, there stoodGladys Claffern. How awful to be discovered by her, Claire thought.By the amused and surprised look on her face, Claire knew thatGladys thought she was having an affair. After all, she knewClaire\'s husband\'s name was Larry, not Tony. When Claire got home, she wept with anger in herarmchair. Gladys was everything Claire wanted to be. \'You can belike her,\' Tony told her and suggested that she invite Gladys andher friends to the house the night before he was to leave and Larrywas to return. By that time, Tony expected the house to becompletely transformed. Tony worked steadily on the improvements. Claire tried tohelp once but was too clumsy.She fell off a ladder and even thoughTony was in the next room, he managed to catch her in time. He heldher firmly in his arms and she felt the warmth of his body. Shescreamed, pushed him away and ran to her room for the rest of theday. The night of the party arrived. The clock struckeight. The guests would be arriving soon and Claire told Tony to gointo another room.At that moment, Tony folded his arms around her,bending his face close to hers. She cried out \'Tony\' and then heardhim declare that he didn\'t want to leave her the next day and thathe felt more than just the desire to please her. Then the frontdoor bell rang. Tony freed her and disappeared from sight. It wasthen that Claire realized that Tony had opened the curtains of thefront window. Her guests had seen everything ! The women were impressed by Claire, the house andthe delicious cuisine. Just before they left, Claire heard Gladyswhispering to another woman that she had never seen anyone sohandsome as Tony. What a sweet victory to be envied by those women!She might not be as beautiful as them, but none of them had such ahandsome lover. Then she remembered -Tony was just a machine. Sheshouted \'Leave me alone\' and ran to her bed. She cried all night.The next morning a car drove up and took Tony away. The company was very pleased with Tony\'s report onhis three weeks with Claire. Tony had protected a human being fromharm. He had prevented Claire from harming herself through her ownsense of failure. He had opened the curtains that night so that theother women would see him and Claire, knowing that there was norisk to Claire\'s marriage. But even though Tony had been so clever,he would have to be rebuilt -you cannot have women failing in lovewith machines.A BIOGRAPHY OF ISAAC ASIMOVIsaac Asimov was an American scientist and writer who wrotearound 480 books that included mystery stories, science and historybooks, and even books about the Holy Bible and Shakespeare. But heis best known for his science fiction stories. Asimov had both anextraordinary imagination that gave him the ability to explorefuture worlds and an amazing mind with which he searched forexplanations of everything, in the present and the past. Asimov\'s life beganin Russia, where he was born on 2 January, 1920. It ended in NewYork on 6 April, 1992, when he died as a result of an HIV infectionthat he had got from a blood transfusion nine years earlier. When Asimov wasthree, he moved with his parents and his one-year-old sister to NewYork City. There his parents bought a candy store which they ranfor the next 40 or so years. At the age of nine, when his motherwas pregnant with her third child, Asimov started working part-timein the store. He helped out through his school and university yearsuntil 1942, a year after he had gained a master\'s degree inchemistry. In 1942 he joined the staff of the Philadelphia NavyYard as a junior chemist and worked there for three years. In 1948he got his PhD in chemistry. The next year he became a biochemistryteacher at Boston University School of Medicine. In 1958 he gave upteaching to become a full-time writer. It was whenAsimov was eleven years old that his talent for writing becameobvious. He had told a friend two chapters of a story he hadwritten. The friend thought he was retelling a story from a book.This really surprised Asimov and from that moment, he started totake himself seriously as a writer. Asimov began having storiespublished in science fiction magazines in 1939. In 1950 hepublished his first novel and in 1953 his first science book. Throughout hislife, Asimov received many awards, both for his science fictionbooks and his science books. Among his most famous works of sciencefiction, one for which he won an award was the Foundation trilogy(1951-1953), three novels about the death and rebirth of a greatempire in a galaxy of the future. It was loosely based on the fallof the Roman Empire but was about the future. These books arefamous because Asimov invented a theoretical framework which wasdesigned to show how ideas and thinking may develop in the future.He is also well known for his collection of short stories, I, Robot(1950), in which he developed a set of three \'laws\' for robots. Forexample, the first law states that a robot must not injure humanbeings or allow them to be injured. Some of his ideas about robotslater influenced other writers and even scientists researching intoartificial intelligence. Asimov wasmarried twice. He married his first wife in 1942 and had a son anda daughter. Their marriage lasted 31 years. Soon after his divorcein 1973, Asimov married again but he had no children with hissecond wife.选修7 Unit 3 Under the sea - ReadingOLD TOM THE KILLER WHALEI was 16 when I began work in June 1902 at the whaling station. Ihad heard of the killers that every year helped whalers catch hugewhales. I thought, at the time, that this was just a story but thenI witnessed it with my own eyes many times.the afternoon I arrived at the station, as I was I sorting out my\'accommodation, I heard a loud noise coming from the bay. We randown to the shore in time to see an enormous animal opposite usthrowing itself out of the water and then crashing down again. Itwas black and white and fish-shaped. But I knew it wasn\'t afish. \'That\'s Old Tom, the killer,\' one of the whalers,George, called out to me. \'He\'s telling us there\'s a whale outthere for us.\' Another whaler yelled out, \'Rush-oo ...rush-oo.\' This wasthe call that announced there was about to be a whale hunt.\'Come on, Clancy. To the boat,\' George said as he ran ahead of me.I had already heard that George didn\'t like being kept waiting, soeven though I didn\'t have the right clothes on, I raced afterhim.Without pausing we jumped into the boat with the other whalers andheaded out into the bay. I looked down into the water and could seeOld Tom swimming by the boat, showing us the way. A few minuteslater, there was no Tom, so George started beating the water withhis oar and there was Tom, circling back to the boat, leading us tothe hunt again.Using a telescope we could see that something was happening. As wedrew closer, I could see a whale being attacked by a pack of aboutsix other killers.\'What\'re they doing?\' I asked George.\'Well, it\'s teamwork - the killers over there are throwingthemselves on top of the whale\'s blow-hole to stop it breathing.And those others are stopping it diving or fleeing out to sea,\'George told me, pointing towards the hunt. And just at that moment,the most extraordinary thing happened. The killers started racingbetween our boat and the whale just like a pack of exciteddogs.Then the harpoon was ready and the man in the bow of the boat aimedit at the whale. He let it go and the harpoon hit the spot. Beingbadly wounded, the whale soon died. Within a moment or two, itsbody was dragged swiftly by the killers down into the depths of thesea. The men started turning the boat around to go home. \'What\'shappened?\' I asked. \'Have we lost the whale?\'no,\' Jack replied. \'We\'ll return tomorrow to bring in the body. Itwon\'t float up to the surface for around 24 hours.\' \'In themeantime, Old Tom, and the others are having a good feed on itslips and tongue,\' added Red, laughing. Although Old Tom and the other killers were fierce hunters,they, never harmed or attacked people. In fact, they protectedthem. There was one day when we were out in the bay during a huntand James was washed off the boat. \'Man overboard! Turn the boat around!\' urged George,shouting loudly. The sea was rough that day and it was difficult to handlethe boat. The waves were carrying James further and further awayfrom us. From James\'s face, I could see he was terrified of beingabandoned by us. Then suddenly I saw a shark. \'Look, there\'s a shark out there,\' Iscreamed. \'Don\'t worry, Old Tom won\'t let it near,\' Redreplied. It took over half an hour to get the boat back to James,and when we approached him, I saw James being firmly held up in thewater by Old Tom. I couldn\'t believe my eyes. There were shouts of \'Well done, Old Tom\' and \'Thank God\'as we pulled James back into the boat. And then Old Tom was off andback to the hunt where the other killers were still attacking thewhale.A NEW DIMENSION OF LIFE19th January I\'m sitting in the warmnight air with a cold drink in my hand and reflecting on the day –a day of pure magic! I went snorkelling on the reef offshore thismorning and it was the most fantastic thing I have ever done.Seeing such extraordinary beauty, I think every cell in my bodywoke up. It was like discovering a whole new dimension oflife. The first thing I became aware of was all the vivid colourssurrounding me - purples, reds, oranges, yellows, blues and greens.The corals were fantastic - they were shaped like fans, plates,brains, lace, mushrooms, the branches of trees and the horns ofdeer. And all kinds of small, neat and elegant fish were swimmingin and around the corals. The fish didn\'t seem to mind me swimmingamong them. I especially loved the little orange and white fishthat hid in the waving long thin seaweed. And I also loved thesmall fish that clean the bodies of larger fish - I even saw themget inside their mouths and clean their teeth! It seemed there wasa surprise waiting for me around every corner as I explored smallcaves, shelves and narrow passages with my underwater flashlight:the yellow and green parrotfish was hanging upside down, andsucking tiny plants off the coral with its hard bird-like mouth; ayellow-spotted red sea-slug was sliding by a blue sea-star; a largewise-looking turtle was passing so close to me that I could havetouched it. There were other creatures that I didn\'twant to get too close to - an eel with its strong sharp teeth, withonly its head showing from a hole, watching for a tasty fish (or mytasty toe!); and the giant clam halt buried in some coral waitingfor something to swim in between its thick green lips. Then therewere two grey reef sharks, each about one and a half metres long,which suddenly appeared from behind some coral. I told myself theyweren\'t dangerous but that didn\'t stop me from feeling scared todeath for a moment! The water was quite shallow but where thereef ended, there was a steep drop to the sandy ocean floor. Itmarked a boundary and I thought I was very brave when I swam overthe edge of the reef and hung there looking down into the depths ofthe ocean. My heart was beating wildly - I felt very exposed insuch deep clear water. What a wonderful, limitless world it was down there! Andwhat a tiny spot I was in this enormousworld!选修7 Unit 4 Sharing- ReadingA LETTER HOMEDear Rosemary, Thanks for your letter, which took a fortnight to arrive.It was wonderful to hear from you. I know you\'re dying to hear allabout my life here, so I\'ve included some photos which will helpyou picture the places I talk about. You asked about my high school. Well, it\'s a bush school –the classrooms are made of bamboo and the roofs of grass. It takesme only a few minutes to walk to school down a muddy track. When Ireach the school grounds there are lots of \'good mornings\' for mefrom the boys. Many of them have walked a long way, sometimes up totwo hours, to get to school.There\'s no electricity or water and even no textbooks either! l\'mstill trying to adapt to these conditions. However, one thing isfor sure, I\'ve become more imaginative in my teaching. Science ismy most challenging subject as my students have no concept ofdoing experiments. In fact there is no equipment, and if I needwater I have to carry it from my house in a bucket! The other day Iwas showing the boys the weekly chemistry experiment when, before Iknew it, the mixture was bubbling over everywhere! The boys who hadnever come across anything like this before started jumping out ofthe windows. Sometimes I wonder how relevant chemistry is to thesestudents, most of whom will be going back to their villages afterYear 8 anyway. To be honest, I doubt whether I\'m making anydifference to these boys\' lives at all. You asked whether I\'m getting to knowany local people. Well, that\'s actually quite difficult as I don\'t speak much of the local English dialect yet. But lastweekend another teacher, Jenny, and 1 did visit a village which isthe home of one of the boys, Tombe. It was my first visit to aremote village. We walked for two and a half hours to get there -first up a mountain to a ridge from where we had fantastic viewsand then down a steep path to the valley below. When we arrived atthe village, Tombe\'s mother, Kiak, who had been pulling weeds inher garden, started crying \'ieee ieee\'. We shook hands with all thevillagers. Everyone seemed to be a relative ofTombe\'s. Tombe\'s father, Mukap, ledus to his house, a low bamboo hut with grass sticking out of theroof - this shows it is a man\'s house. The huts were round, notrectangular like the school buildings. There were no windows and the doorway was just big enoughto get through. The hut was dark inside so it took time for oureyes to adjust. Fresh grass had been laid on the floor and therewas a newly made platform for Jenny and me to sleep on. UsuallyKiak would sleep in her own hut, but that night she was going toshare the platform with us. Mukap and Tombe were to sleep on smallbeds in another part of the hut. There was a fireplace in thecentre of the hut near the doorway. The only possessions I couldsee were one broom, a few tin plates and cups and a couple ofjars. Outside Mukap was building a fire.Once the fire was going, he laid stones on it. When hot, he placedthem in an empty oil drum with kau kau (sweet potato), corn andgreens. He then covered the vegetables with banana leaves and leftthem to steam. I sniffed the food; it smelled delicious. We ateinside the hut sitting round the fire. I loved listening to thefamily softly talking to each other in their language, even thoughI could not participate the conversation. Luckily, Tombe could beour interpreter. Later, I noticed a tin can standing upsidedown on the grill over the fire. After a short time Tombe threw itout of the doorway.I was puzzled. Tombe told me that the can washeated to dry out the leftover food. They believe that anyleftovers attract evil spirits in the night, so the food is driedup in the can and the can is then thrown out of the hut. Otherwisethey don\'t waste anything. We left the village the next morning aftermany goodbyes and firm handshakes. My muscles were aching and myknees shaking as we climbed down the mountain towards home. Thatevening I fell happily into bed. It was such a privilege to havespent a day with Tombe\'s family. It\'s getting late and I have to prepare tomorrow\'s lessonsand do some paperwork. Please write soon.Love THE WORLD\'S MOST USEFUL GIFT CATALOGUEWould you like to donate an unusual gift? Then this is thecatalogue for you. The gift you give is not something your lovedone keeps but a voluntary contribution towards the lives of peoplewho really need it. Choose from this catalogue a really useful giftfor some of the world\'s poorest and bring hope for a better futureto a community in need. When youpurchase an item, we will send you an attractive card for you tosend to your special person. You can use the cards for any specialoccasion-weddings ,births, birthdays,Christmas or anniversaries,etc.To……………………………………………… To let you know that I am thinking of you, Ihave purchased a gift from the World’s Most Useful Gift Cataloguefor you to give to some of the world’spoorest. This gift will train a whole village ofaround 40 families in India, Kenya, or Bangladesh in newagricultural methods, and provide seeds and simple agriculturalequipment. Just 20% more produce will mean the difference betweensickness and health, between families going hungry and familiesproviding for themselves.From…………………………………………….选修7 Unit 5 Travelling abroad- ReadingKEEP IT UP,XIE LEICHINESE STUDENGT FITTING WELLSix months ago Xie Lei said goodbye to her family and friends inChina and boarded a plane for London. It was the first time she hadever left her motherland. \'After getting my visa I was very excitedbecause I had dreamed of this day for so long. But I was also verynervous as I didn\'t know what to expect,\' Xie Lei told me when Isaw her waiting in a queue at the student cafeteria betweenlectures. Xie Lei, who is 21years old, has come to our university to study for a businessqualification. She is halfway through the preparation year, whichmost foreign students complete before applying for a degree course.Xie Lei highly recommends it. \'The preparation course is mostbeneficial,\' she said. \'Studying here is quite different fromstudying in China, so you need some preparation first.\' \'It\'s not juststudy that\'s difficult. You have to get used to a whole new way oflife, which can take up all your concentration in the beginning,\'explained Xie Lei, who had lived all her life in the same city inChina. She told me that she had had to learn almost everythingagain. \'Sometimes I felt like a child,\' she said. \'I had to learnhow to use the phone, how to pay bus fare, and how to ask ashopkeeper for things I didn\'t know the English for. When I gotlost and had to ask a passer-by for directions, I didn\'t alwaysunderstand. They don\'t talk like they do on our listening tapes,\'she said, laughing. Xie Leilives with a host family who give her lots of good advice. Althoughsome foreign students live in student accommodation or apartments,some choose to board with English families. Living with hostfamilies, in which there may be other college students, gives herthe chance to learn more about the new culture. \'When I hear anidiom that I don\'t understand, I can ask my host family for help,\'explains Xie Lei. \'Also, when I miss my family, it\'s a greatcomfort to have a substitute family to be with.\' Xie Lei\'spreparation course is helping her to get used to the academicrequirements of a Western university. \'I remember the first essay Idid for my tutor,\' she told me. \'I found an article on the Internetthat seemed to have exactly the information I needed. So I made asummary of the article, revised my draft and handed the essay in. Ithought I would get a really good mark but I got an E. I was numbwith shock! So I went to my tutor to ask the reason for hisrevision. First of all, he told me, I couldn\'t write what otherpeople had said without acknowledging them. Besides, as far as hewas concerned, what other people thought was not the most importantthing. He wanted to know what I thought, which confused me becauseI thought that the author of the article knew far more than I did.My tutor explained that I should read lots of different texts thatcontain different opinions and analyse what I read. Then, in myessay, I should give my own opinion and explain it by referring toother authors. Finally he even encouraged me to contradict theauthors I\'d read! At first I lacked confidence, but now I\'mbeginning to get the idea and my marks have improved. Moreimportantly, I am now a more autonomous learner.\' Xie Leitold me that she feels much more at home in England now, and whathad seemed very strange before now appears quite normal. \'I\'ve justgot one more thing to achieve. I have been so occupied with workthat I haven\'t had time for social activities. I think it\'simportant to have a balance between study and a social life, so I\'mgoing to join a few clubs. Hope- fully I\'ll make some newfriends.\' We will follow XieLei\'s progress in later editions of this newspaper but for now, wewish Xie Lei all the best in her new enterprise. She deserves tosucceed.PERU Peru offers avariety of experiences from ancient ruins and centuries-old Spanishvillages to thick forests, high mountains and desert coastline.TRAVEL PERU offers tours for all ages and tastes. The followingtours are based at Cuzco, the site of the ancient capital of theInca civilization.Tour 1 Experience the jungle and its diverse wildlifeclose up. During this four-day walking tour, you will be amazed bymountain scenery and the ancient ruins we pass on our hike. On thelast day, we arrive at the ruins of Machu Picchu in time to see thesunrise over the Andes. Spend the day visiting the ruins of thisancient Inca city before catching the train back toCuzco.Tour 2 A full-day trip by road from Cuzco to Puno withfantastic views of the highland countryside. From Puno, we travelby boat across Lake Titicaca, stopping on the way at the floatingislands of the Uros people. These floating islands and the UrosIndian\'s houses are made of the water plants that grow in the lake.A full-day stay with a local family gives you an opportunity tolearn more about their life. Return to Puno on the fourth day foryour flight back to Lima.Tour 3 Spend four days high in the-Andes at Cuzco. Learnabout its history and visit the museums. Admire the Spanisharchitecture, enjoy some excellent Spanish cuisine and take sometime to bargain for some souvenirs at the colourful markets. Takethe train up to Machu Picchu for a guided tour of the ruins and theroyal tomb of the Inca king.Tour 4 A short flight from Cuzco takes you fromthe Andes into the lowlands of the Amazon Jungle. From here you\'lltravel by boat to your accommodation in a forest reserve, whichholds the record for the most bird sightings in one area. From theguesthouse you can explore the jungle in the company of a localguide.选修8 Unit 1 A land of diversity-ReadingCALIFORNIACalifornia is the third largest state in the USA buthas the largest population. It also has the distinction of beingthe most multicultural state in the USA, having attracted peoplefrom all over the world. The customs and languages of theimmigrants live on in their new home. This diversity of culture isnot surprising when you know the history of California.NATIVE AMERCANS Exactly when the first people arrived inwhat we now know as California, no one really knows. However, it islikely that Native Americans were living in California at leastfifteen thousand years ago. Scientists believe that these settlerscrossed the Bering Strait in the Arctic to America by means of aland bridge which existed in prehistoric times. In the 16thcentury, after the arrival of the Europeans, the native peoplesuffered greatly. Thousands were killed or forced into slavery. Inaddition, many died from the diseases brought by the Europeans.However, some survived these terrible times, and today there aremore Native Americans living in California than in any otherstate.THE SPANISH In the 18th century California was ruled bySpain. Spanish soldiers first arrived in South America in the early16th century, when they fought against the native people and tooktheir land. Two centuries later, the Spanish had settled in mostparts of South America and along the northwest coast of what we nowcall the United States. Of the first Spanish to go to California,the majority were religious men, whose ministry was to teach theCatholic religion to the natives. In 1821, the people of Mexicogained their independence from Spain. California then became partof Mexico. In 1846 the United States declared war on Mexico, andafter the war won by the USA, Mexico had to give California to theUSA. However, there is still a strong Spanish influence in thestate. That is why today over 40 of Californians speak Spanish as afirst or second language.RUSSIANS In the early 1800s, Russian hunters, whohad originally gone to Alaska, began settling in California. Todaythere are about 25,000 Russian-Americans living in and around SanFrancisco.GOLD MINERS In 1848, not long after theAmerican-Mexican war, gold was discovered in California. The dreamof becoming rich quickly attracted people from all over the world.The nearest, and therefore the first to arrive, were SouthAmericans and people from the United States. Then adventurers fromEurope and Asia soon followed. In fact, few achieved their dream ofbecoming rich. Some died or returned home, but most remained inCalifornia to make a life for themselves despite great hardship.They settled in the new towns or on farms. By the time Californiaelected to become the thirty-first federal state of the USA in1850, it was already a multicultural society.LATER A RRIVALS Although Chinese immigrants beganto arrive during the Gold Rush Period, it was the building of therail network from the west to the east coast that brought evenlarger numbers to California in the 1860s. Today, Chinese-Americanslive in all parts of California, although a large percentage havechosen to stay in the \'Chinatowns\' of Los Angeles and SanFrancisco.Other immigrants such as Italians, mainly fishermen but also winemakers, arrived in California in the late 19th century. In 1911immigrants from Denmark established a town of their own, whichtoday still keeps up their Danish culture. By the 1920s the filmindustry was well established in Hollywood, California. Theindustry boom attracted Europeans including many Jewish people.Today California has the second largest Jewish population in theUnited States. Japanese farmers beganarriving in California at the beginning of the 20th century, andsince the 1980s a lot more have settled there. People from Africahave been living in California since the 1800s, when they movednorth from Mexico. However, even more arrived between 1942 and 1945to work in the ship and aircraft industries.MOST RECENT ARRIVALS In more recent decades,California has become home to more people from Asia, includingKoreans, Cambodians, Vietnamese and Laotians. Since its beginningin the 1970s, the computer industry has attracted Indians andPakistanis to California.THE FUTURE People from different parts of theworld, attracted by the climate and the lifestyle, still immigrateto California. It is believed that before long the mix ofnationalities will be so great that there will be no distinct majorracial or cultural groups, but simply a mixture of many races andcultures.GEORGE’S DIARY 12TH—14TH JUNE Monday 12th, June Arrived early thismorning by bus. Went straight to hotel to drop my luggage, showerand shave. Then went exploring. First thing was a ride on a cablecar. From top of the hill got a spectacular view of San FranciscoBay and the city. Built in 1873, the cable car system was inventedby Andrew Hallidie, who wanted to find a better form of transportthan horse-drawn trams. Apparently he\'d been shocked whenhe saw a terrible accident in which a tram\'s brakes failed, theconductor could not control the situation and the tram slipped downthe hill dragging the horses with it. Had a late lunch atFisherman\'s What. This is the district where Italian fishermenfirst came to San Francisco in the late 19th century and began thefishing industry. Now it\'s a tourist area with lots of shops, seafood restaurants and bakeries. It\'s also the place to catch theferry to Angel Island and other places in the Bay. Did so muchexploring at Fisherman\'s What. Am exhausted and don\'t feel likedoing anything else. Early bed tonight!Tuesday 13th, June Teamed up with acouple from my hotel (Peter and Terri) and hired a car. Spent allday driving around the city. There\'s a fascinating drive marked outfor tourists. It has blue and white signs with seagulls on them toshow the way to go. It\'s a 79km round-trip that takes in all thefamous tourist spots. Stopped many times to admire the view of thecity from different angles and take photographs. Now have a reallygood idea of what the city\'s like. In evening,went to Chinatown with Peter and Terri. Chinese immigrants settledin this area in the 1850s. The fronts of the buildings aredecorated to look like old buildings in southern China. Saw someinteresting temples here, a number of markets and a great manyrestaurants. Also art galleries and a museum containing documents,photographs and all sorts of objects about the history of Chineseimmigration, but it is closed in the evening. Will go back duringthe day. Had a delicious meal and then walked down the hill to ourhotel.Wednesday 14th, June In morning, tookferry to Angel Island from the port in San Francisco Bay. On theway had a good view of the Golden Gate Bridge. From 1882 to 1940Angel Island was a famous immigration station where many Chinesepeople applied for right to live in USA. The cells in the stationwere very small, cold and damp; some did not even have light butthe immigrants had nowhere else to go. Their miserable stay seemedto be punishment rather than justice and freedom to them. Theywrote poems on the walls about their loneliness and mourned theirformer life in China. In 1940 the civil authorities reformed thesystem so that many more Chinese people were able to grasp theopportunity of settling in the USA. Made me very thoughtful andthankful for my life today.选修8 Unit 2 Cloning-Reading CLONING: WHERE IS IT LEADINGUS? Cloning has always been with us and is here to stay. It isa way of making an exact copy of another animal or plant. Ithappens in plants when gardeners take cuttings from growing plantsto make new ones. It also happens in animals when twins identicalin sex and appearance are produced from the same original egg. Thefact is that these are both examples of natural clones. Cloning hastwo major uses. Firstly, gardeners use it all the time to producecommercial quantities of plants. Secondly, it is valuable forresearch on new plant species and for medical research on animals.Cloning plants is straightforward while cloning animals is verycomplicated. It is a difficult task to undertake. Many attempts toclone mammals failed. But at last the determination and patience ofthe scientists paid off in 1996 with a breakthrough - the cloningof Dolly the sheep. The procedure works likethis: On the one hand, the wholescientific world followed the progress of the first successfulclone, Dolly the sheep. The fact that she seemed to developnormally was very encouraging. Then came the disturbing news thatDolly had become seriously ill. Cloning scientists were cast downto find that Dolly\'s illnesses were more appropriate to a mucholder animal. Altogether Dolly lived six and a half years, half thelength of the life of the original sheep. Sadly the same arbitraryfate affected other species, such as cloned mice. The questionsthat concerned all scientists were: \'Would this be a majordifficulty for all cloned animals? Would it happen forever? Couldit be solved if corrections were made in their researchprocedure?\' On the other hand, Dolly\'s appearance raised a storm ofobjections and had a great impact on the media and publicimagination. It became controversial. It suddenly openedeverybody\'s eyes to the possibility of using cloning to cureserious illnesses and even to produce humanbeings.Although at present human egg cells and embryos needed for cloningresearch are difficult to obtain, newspapers wrote of evil leadershoping to clone themselves to attain their ambitions. Religiousleaders also raised moral questions. Governments became nervous andmore conservative. Some began to reform their legal systems andforbade research into human cloning, but other countries like Chinaand the UK, continued to accumulate evidence of the abundantmedical aid that cloning could provide. However, scientists stillwonder whether cloning will help or harm us and where it is leadingus.克隆一直在我们左右并且已经被大多数人接受。它是一种用来准确复制其他动物或者植物的方法。在植物方面，克隆就发生在园丁从正在生长的植物上切去切口用来制造新的植株的时候。在动物方面也有克隆现象，比如说两个拥有同样性别以及外貌的同卵双胞胎。这两个事实都是自然界里的克隆例子。克隆有2方面的主要用途。首先，园丁可以一直用它生产具有商业价值的植物。其次，它对于新的植物物种以及动物医药方面的研究极具价值性。植物克隆相对于动物克隆来说简单得多，而动物克隆则比较困难。动物克隆是一项难以施行的任务。许多去克隆哺乳动物的尝试都以失败告终。但是在最后，科学家们凭借着决心和耐心终于在1996年取得了突破性的成功——成功地克隆出了多利羊。这项工作的步骤如下：1.从母羊A体内取出卵细胞。2.将细胞核从该卵细胞中移除。3.该卵细胞为另一个新的细胞核准备。4.从母羊B体内取出体细胞用于克隆。该体细胞内的细胞核包含了克隆一只新的羊所需的全部基因。5.将该细胞核从体细胞中取出。6.用电激的方法将从母羊B体内取出的细胞核与从母羊A体内取出的卵细胞融合。7.重新融合的细胞在胚胎内分裂、生长。8.将胚胎植入母羊C的体内，它将成为该克隆的携带者。9.克隆出来的小羊羔体内细胞的基因来自于提供细胞核的母羊B。 THE RETURN OF THEDINOSAURS? The possibility of cloning fierce and extinct wild animalshas always excited film makers. And they are not the only ones! Thepopularity of films such as Jurassic Park, in which a scientistclones several kinds of extinct dinosaurs, proves how the ideastruck a mixture of fear and excitement into people\'s hearts. Butin fact we are a long way from being able to clone extinct animals.Scientists are still experimenting with cloning mammals. This isbecause the cloning of mammals is still a new science and its storyonly began seriously in the 1950s as this list shows: 1950s cloning of frogs From time to time people suggest that extinct animals likedinosaurs, can possibly be brought back to life through cloning.Unfortunately, with what we know now, this is either impossible orunsuitable. There are many reasons.◎ The initial requirement is that you need perfect DNA (which givesinformation for how cells are to grow).◎ All efforts of cloning an animal will be in vain if there is notenough diversity in the group to overcome illnesses. Diversity in agroup means having animals with their genesarranged in different ways. The advantage is that if there is a newillness some of these animals may die, but others will survive and pass onthe ability to resist that disease to the next generation. Thegreat drawback to cloning a group of animals is that they would all havethe same arrangement of genes and so might die of the same illness.Then none of them would be left to continue the species.◎ It would be unfair to clone any extinct animals if they were tolive in a zoo. A suitable habitat would be needed for them to leada natural life.Based on what we know now, you cannot clone animals that have beenextinct longer than 10,000 years. Actually, dinosaurs disappeared65,000,000 years ago. So the chance of dinosaurs ever returning tothe earth is merely a dream. When I called up my mother in the countryside onthe telephone she was very upset. \'There are some snakes in ourcourtyard,\' she told me. \'Snakes come near the house now and then,and they seem to have made their home here, not far from the walnuttree. Can you get rid of them please?\' I felt very proud. Here wasa chance for .me to distinguish myself by inventing somethingmerciful that would catch snakes but not harm them. I knew myparents would not like me to hurt these living creatures! The firstthing I did was to see if there were any products that might helpme, but there only seemed to be powders designed to kill snakes. Anew approach was clearly needed. I set about researching the habitsof snakes to find the easiest way to trap them. Luckily thesereptiles are small and that made the solution easier. Preparedwith some research findings, I decided on three possibleapproaches: firstly, removing their habitat; secondly, attractingthem into a trap using male or female perfume or food; and thirdlycooling them so that they would become sleepy and could be easilycaught. I decided to use the last one. I bought an ice-cream makerwhich was made of stainless steel. Between the outside and theinside walls of the bowl there is some jelly, which freezes whencooled. I put the bowl into the fridge and waited for 24 hours. Atthe same time I prepared some ice-cubes. The next morning Igot up early before the sun was hot. I placed the frozen bowl overthe snakes\' habitat and the ice-cubes on top of the bowl to keep itcool. Finally I covered the whole thing with a large bucket. Then Iwaited. After two hours I removed the bucket and the bowl. Thesnakes were less active but they were still too fast for me. Theyabruptly disappeared into a convenient hole in the wall. So I hadto adjust my plan. For thesecond attempt I froze the bowl and the ice-cubes again but placedthem over the snakes\' habitat in the evening, as the temperaturewas starting to cool. Then as before, I covered the bowl with thebucket and left everything overnight. Early the next morning Ireturned to see the result. This time with great caution I bentdown to examine the snakes and I found them very sleepy. But oncepicked up, they tried to bite me. As they were poisonous snakes, Iclearly needed to improve my design again. My third attempt repeated the second procedure. Thenext morning I carried in my hand a small net used for catchingfish. This was in the expectation that the snakes would bite again.But monitored carefully, the snakes proved to be no trouble and allwent according to plan. I collected the passive snakes and the nextday we merrily released them all back into the wild. Pressed bymy friends and relations, I decided to seize the opportunity to getrecognition formy successful idea by sending my invention to the patent office.Only after you have had thatrecognition can you say that you are truly an inventor. Thecriteria are so strict that it is difficult to get new ideasaccepted unless they are truly novel. In addition, no inventionwill get a patent if it is: ◎a discovery ◎a scientific idea or mathematicalmodel ◎literature or art ◎a game or a business ◎a computer programme ◎a new animal or plantvarietywill you receive a patent until a search has been made to find outthat your product reallyis different from everyone else\'s. There are a large number ofpatent examiners, too, whose only job is to examine whether yourclaim is valid or not. If it passes all the tests, your applicationfor a patent will be published 18 months from the date you apply.So I have filled in the form and filed my patent application withthe Patent Office. Now it\'s a matter of waiting and hoping. You\'llknow if I succeed by the size of my bank balance! Wish meluck!ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL Alexander Graham Bell was born in 1847 in Scotland,but when he was young his family moved to Boston, USA. His motherwas almost entirely deaf, so Alexander became interested in helpingdeaf people communicate and in deaf education. This interest ledhim to invent the microphone. He found that by pressing his lipsagainst his mother\'s forehead, he could make his mother understandwhat he was saying.believed that one should always be curious and his most famoussaying was:\'Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods. Everytime you do you will be certain to find something that you havenever seen before. Follow it up, explore all around it, and beforeyou know it, you will have something worth thinking about to occupyyour mind. All really big discoveries are the result ofthought.\'It was this exploring around problems and his dynamic spiritthat led to his most famous invention - the telephone in 1876. Bellnever set out to invent the telephone and what he was trying todesign was a multiple telegraph. This original telegraph sent amessage over distances using Morse code (a series of dots tappedout along a wire in a particular order). But only one message couldgo at a time. Bell wanted to improve it so that it could sendseveral messages at the same time. He designed a machine that wouldseparate different sound waves and allow different conversations tobe held at the same time. But he found the problem difficult tosolve. One day as he was experimenting with one end of a strawjoined to a deaf man\'s ear drum and the other to a piece of smokedglass, Bell noticed that when he spoke into the ear, the straw drewsound waves on the glass. Suddenly he had a flash of inspiration.If sound waves could be reproduced in a moving electrical current,they could be sent along a wire. In searching to improve thetelegraph,Bell had invented the first telephone! Bell was fully aware of the importance of his invention andwrote to his father: \'The day is coming when telegraph wires will be laid on tohouses just like water or gas – and friends will talk to each otherwithout leaving home.\' The patent was given in 1876, but it was not untilfive days later that Bell sent his first telephone message to hisassistant Watson. The words have now become famous: \'Mr Watson - come here - I want to see you.\' Alexander Graham Bell was not a man to restand he interested himself in many other areas of invention. Heexperimented with helicopter designs and flying machines. Whilesearching for a kite strong enough to carry a man into the air,Bell experimented putting triangles together and discovered thetetrahedron shape. Being very stable, it has proved invaluable inthe design of bridges. Bell was an inventor all his life. He madehis first invention at eleven and his last at seventy- five.Although he is most often associated with the invention of thetelephone, he was indeed a continuing searcher after practicalsolutions to improve the quality of everybody\'slife.选修8 Unit 4Pygmalion-ReadingPYGMALIONMAIN CHARACTERS:Eliza Doolittle (E): a poor flowergirl who is ambitious to improve herselfProfessor Higgins (H): an expert in phonetics, convincedthat the quality of a person\'s English decides his/her position insocietyColonel Pickering (CP): an officer in the army and later a friendof Higgins\' who sets him a taskAct One FATEFUL MEETINGS 11 :15 pm in London, England in 1914 outsidea theatre. It is pouring with rain and cab whistles are blowing inall directions. A man is hiding from the rain listening to people\'slanguage and watching their reactions. While watching, he makesnotes. Nearby a flower girl wearing dark garments and a woollenscarf is also sheltering from the rain. A gentleman (G) passes andhesitates for a moment.E: Come over’ere, cap’in, and buy me flowers off a poor girl.G: I\'m sorry but I haven\'t any change.E: I can giv’ou change, cap’in.G: (surprised) For a pound? I\'m afraid I\'ve got nothing less.E: (hopefully) Oah! Oh, do buy a flower off me, Captain. Take this for three pence. (holds up some deadflowers)G: (uncomfortably) Now don\'t be troublesome, there\'s a good girl.(looks in his wallet and sounds more friendly) But, wait, here\'ssome small change. Will that be of any use to you? It\'s rainingheavily now, isn\'t it? (leaves)E: (disappointed at the outcome, but thinking it is better thannothing) Thank you, sir. (sees a man taking notes and feelsworried) Hey! I ain’t done nothing wrong by speaking to thatgentleman. I\'ve a right to sell flowers, I have. I ain’t no thief.I\'m an honest girl I am! (begins to cry)H: (kindly) There! There! Who\'s hurting you, you silly girl? Whatdo you take me for? (gives her a handkerchief)E: I thought maybe you was a policeman in disguise.H: Do I look like a policeman?E: (still worried) Then why did \'ou take down my words for? How doI know whether \'ou took me down right? \'ou just show me what \'ou\'vewrote about me!H: Here you are. (hands over the paper covered in writing)E: What\'s that? That ain\'t proper writing. I can\'t read that.(pushes it back at him)H: I can. (reads imitating Eliza) \'Come over\' ere, cap\'in, and buyme flowers off a poor girl.\' (in his own voice) There you are andyou were born in Lisson Grove if I\'m notmistaken.E: (looking confused) What if I was? What\'s it to you?CP: (has been watching the girl and now speaks to Higgins) That\'squite brilliant! How did you do that, may I ask?H: Simply phonetics studied and classified from people\'s ownspeech. That\'s my profession and also my hobby. You canplace a man by just a few remarks. I can place any spokenconversation within six miles, and even within two streets inLondon sometimes.CP: Let me congratulate you! But is there an incometo be made in that?H: Yes, indeed. Quite a good one. This is the age of the newlyrich. People begin their working life in a poor neighbourhood ofLondon with 80 pounds a year and end in a rich one with 100 thousand. But they betray themselves every time they open theirmouths. Now once taught by me, she\'d become an upper class lady...CP: Is that so? Extraordinary!H: (rudely) Look at this girl with her terrible English: theEnglish that will condemn her to the gutter to the end of her days.But, sir, (proudly) once educated to speak properly, thatgirl could pass herself off in three months as a duchess at anambassador\'s garden party. Perhaps I could even find her a place asa lady\'s maid or a shop assistant, which requires betterEnglish.E: What\'s that you say? A shop assistant? Now that\'s sommat I want,that is!H: (ignores her) Can you believe that?CP: Of course! I study many Indian dialects myself and ...H: Do you indeed? Do you know Colonel Pickering?CP: Indeed I do, for that is me. Who are you?H: I\'m Henry Higgins and I was going to India to meet you.CP: And I came to England to make your acquaintance!E: What about me? How\'ll you help me?H: Oh, take that. (carelessly throws a handful of money into herbasket) We must have a celebration, my dear man. (leavetogether)E: (looking at the collected money in amazement) Well, I never. Awhole pound! A fortune! That\'ll help me, indeed it will. TomorrowI\'ll find you, Henry Higgins. Just you wait and see! All that talkof (imitates him) \'authentic English\' ... (in her own voice) I\'llsee whether you can get that for me ... (goesout)Act Two, Scene 1 11am in Henry Higgins\' house the next day. Henry Higgins andColonel Pickering are sitting deep in conversation.H: Do you want to hear any moresounds?CP: No, thank you. I rather fancied myself because I can pronouncetwenty-four distinct vowel sounds; but your one hundred and thirtybeat me. I can\'t distinguish most of them.H: (laughing) Well, that comes with practice. There is a knockand Mrs Pearce (MP), the housekeeper, comes in with cookies, ateapot, some cream and two cups.MP: (hesitating) A young girl is asking to see you.H: A young girl! What does she want?MP: Well, she\'s quite a common kind of girl with dirty nails.Ithought perhaps you wanted her to talk into your machines.H: Why? Has she got an interesting accent?We\'ll see.Show her in, Mrs Pearce.MP: (only half resigned to it) Very well, sir. (goesdownstairs)H: This is a bit of luck. I\'ll show you howI make records on wax disks ...MP: (returning) This is the young girl, sir. (Eliza comes into theroom shyly following Mrs Pearce. She is dirty and wearing a shabbydress. She curtsies to the two men.)H: (disappointed) Why! I\'ve got this girlin my records. She\'s the one we saw the other day. She\'s nouse at all. Take her away.CP: (gently to Eliza) What do you-want, young lady?E: (upset) I wanna be a lady in a flowershop \'stead o\' selling flowers in the street. But they won\'t takeme \'less I speak better. So here I am, ready to pay him. I\'m notasking for any favours - and he treats me like dirt.H: How much?E: (happier) Now yer talking. A lady friend of mine gets Frenchlessons for two shillings an hour from a real Frenchman. Youwouldn\'t have the face to ask me for the same for teaching me asyer would for French. So I won\'t give yer more than ashilling.H: (ignoring Eliza and speaking to Pickering) If you think of howmuch money this girl has - why, it\'s the best offer I\'ve had! (toEliza) But if I teach you, I\'ll be worse than a father.CP: I say, Higgins. Do you remember what you said last night? I\'llsay you\'re the greatest teacher alive if you can pass her off as alady. I\'ll be the referee for this little bet and pay for thelessons too ...E: (gratefully) Oh, yer real good, yer are. Thank you,Colonel.H: Oh, she is so deliciously low. (compromises) OK, I\'ll teach you.(to Mrs Pearce) But she\'ll need to be cleaned first. Take her away,Mrs Pearce. Wash her and burn her horrible clothes. We\'ll buy hernew ones. What\'s your name, girl?E: I\'m Eliza Doolittle and I\'m clean. My clothes went to thelaundry when I washed last week.MP: Well, Mr Higgins has a bathtub of his own and he has a bathevery morning. If these two gentlemen teach you, you\'ll have to dothe same. They won\'t like the smell of you otherwise.E: (sobbing) I can\'t. I dursn\'t. It ain\'t natural and it\'d kill me.I\'ve never had a bath in my life; not over my whole body,neither below my waist nor taking my vest off. I\'d never have comeif I\'d known about this disgusting thing you want me to do...H: Once more, take her away, Mrs Pearce, immediately. (OutsideEliza is still weeping with Mrs Pearce) You see the problem,Pickering. It\'ll be how to teach her grammar, not justpronunciation. She\'s in need of both.CP: And there\'s another problem, Higgins. What are we going to doonce the experiment is over?H: (heartily) Throw her back.CP: But you cannot overlook that! She\'ll be changed and she hasfeelings too. We must be practical, mustn\'t we?H: Well, we\'ll deal with that later. First,we must plan the best way to teach her.CP: How about beginning with the alphabet. That\'s usuallyconsidered very effective ... (fades out as they go offstagetogether)选修8 Unit 5 Meeting your ancestors-ReadingA VISIT TO THE ZHOUKOUDIAIN CAVESA group of students (S) from England has cometo the Zhoukoudian caves for a visit. An archaeologist (A) isshowing them round.A: Welcome to the Zhoukoudian caves here in China. It is agreat pleasure to meet you students from England, who areinterested in archaeology. You must be aware that it\'s here that wefound evidence of some of the earliest people who lived in thispart of the world. We\'ve been excavating here for many years and...S1: I\'m sorry to interrupt you but how could they live here? Thereare only rocks and trees.A: Good question. You are an acute observer. We have found humanand animal bones in those caves higher up the hill as well as toolsand other objects. So we think it is reasonable to assume theylived in these caves, regardless of the cold.S2: How did they keep warm? They couldn\'t have mats, blankets orquilts like we do. It must have been very uncomfortable.A: We\'ve discovered fireplaces in the centre of the caves wherethey made fires. That would have kept them warm, cooked the foodand scared wild beasts away as well. We have been excavating layersof ash almost six metres thick, which suggests that they might havekept the fire burning all winter. We haven\'t found any doors but wethink they might have hung animal skins at the cave mouth to keepout the cold during the freezing winter.S3: What wild animals were there all that time ago?A: Well, we\'ve been finding the bones of tigers and bears in thecaves, and we think these were their most dangerous enemies. Nowwhat do you think this tells us about the life of these earlypeople? (shows picture of a sewing needle)S2.: Gosh! That\'s a needle. Goodness, does that mean they repairedthings?A: What else do you think it might have been used for?S4: Let me look at it. It\'s at most three centimetres long. Ah yes,it seems to be made of bone. I wonder how they made the hole forthe ...S2: (interrupting) Do you mean that they made their own clothes?Where did they get the material?A: They didn\'t have material like we have today. Can you guess whatthey used?Sl: Wow! Did they wear clothes made entirely of animal skins? Howdid they prepare them? I\'m sure they were quite heavy tocut and sew together.A: Our evidence suggests that they did wear clothes made fromanimal skins. We continue discovering tools that were sharpenersfor other tools. It seems that they used the sharpened stone toolsto cut up animals and remove their skin. Then smaller scrapers wereprobably used to remove the fat and meat from the skin. After thatthey would rub an ample amount of salt onto the skin to make itsoft. Finally, they would cut it and sew the pieces together. Quitea difficult and messy task! Now look at this. (shows anecklace)S2:Why, it\'s a primitive necklace. Did early people really careabout their appearance like we do? It\'s lovely!A:Yes, and so well preserved. What do you think it\'s madeof?.S4:Let me see. Oh, I think some of the beads are made of animalbones but others are made of shells.A:How clever you are! One bone is actually an animal tooth and theshells are from the seaside. Can you identify any otherbones?S1:This one looks very much like a fish bone. Is thatreasonable?A:Yes, indeed, as the botanical analyses have shown us, all thefields around here used to be part of a large shallow lake.Probably there were fish in it.S3:But a lake is not the sea. We are miles from the sea, so how didthe seashells get here?A:Perhaps there was trade between early peoples or they travelledto the seaside on their journeys. We know that they moved around,following the herds of animals. They didn\'t grow their own crops,but picked fruit when it ripened and hunted animals. That\'s whythey are called hunters and gatherers. Now, why don\'t we go andvisit the caves? THE FEAST: 18,000 BC Worried about the preparations for her feast, Lalaquickly turned for home with her collection of nuts, melons andother fruit. It was the custom of family groups to separate andthen gather again at different sites for reunions as they followedthe animal herds across the grasslands. A wrinkle appeared on herforehead. If only it could be just like last year! At that time shehad been so happy when Dahu chose her as the future mother of hischildren. He was the best toolmaker in the group and it was a greathonour for her to be chosen. She remembered the blood pulsingthrough her veins. She had felt so proud as the group shoutedloudly to applaud his choice. If only she had looked ahead andplanned better this year! Then she wouldn\'t have been feeling soworried now.Having heard wolves howling in the forest, Lala accelerated herwalk up the path to the caves fearing that there might be wildbeasts lying in wait for her. She had no man with his spear toprotect her. She had almost reached her destination when adelicious smell arrested her progress and she stopped. So the menhad brought home the meat for the feast! The smell of cooking meatfilled the air surrounding her, and her senses became dizzy withhunger. She could see her mother and the older children preparingthe deer and pig meat over the fire. Her aunts were making clotheswith animal skins. Abruptly she sat down, only to be scooped up byher laughing, shouting sister, Luna. Lala smiled with relief. Itwas good to have her family around her. Just then atall man came up behind her. He had a large, square face, withstrongly pronounced eyebrows and cheekbones. Over his shoulder hecarried several fish and some pieces of wood under his arm. Lalasmiled and handed some stone scrapers over to Dahu, who smiled andwent outside the cave to begin his task. First helooked carefully at the scrapers and then went to a corner of thecave and pulled out some more tools. They were in a pile with othersharp arrowheads and stone axe-heads. He chose one large stone andbegan to use it like a hammer striking the edge of the scraper thatneeded sharpening. Now and then Dahu would stop, look at it and tryit against his hand before continuing his task. He stopped when hefelt the scrapers were sharp enough to cut up the meat and scrapethe fish. As he passed them to Lala, the first of the guests fromthe neighbouring caves began to arrive for dinner. Lala\'s spiritsrose. Yes, it was going to be just as wonderful as last year! Shesmiled to herself gaily and went out of the cave to welcome herfriends and neighbours.她担心准备盛宴,Lala迅速转过身来,用她的家、西瓜和坚果收集其他水果。这是家庭群体的习惯,然后又聚集到单独在不同的地点,由于他们要跟着兽群穿过草地。她的前额上出现了皱纹。如果只可能是和去年一样!当时她已经很开心,当Dahu选她为未来的母亲的孩子。他是最好的机床维修工、在集团是一个巨大的荣誉,她被选中。她记得她的血管里流人血的罪、脉冲通过。她感到非常的骄傲的高声地来赞赏他的选择。她要是展望,今年计划更好!然后她就不会觉得那么担心了。听见狼咆哮在森林中,Lala加速其走上了通往洞穴担心会有野兽躺在等候她。她没有人用枪来保护自己。她几乎已经到达目的地时,她的进步和芳香的气味逮捕她停了下来。所以这个男人领回家过节的肉!肉的香味,周围的空气充满了她,她的感觉变得头晕与饥饿。她能看到她的母亲和年长的孩子准备鹿和猪肉在火上。她的姑妈是用兽皮做衣服。她突然坐下来,只能由她笑筛子,妹妹,露。Lala松了一口气,笑了。很高兴有她的家人。就在这时,一个高个子男人走过来站在她身后。他有一个大的,方脸,具有强烈的明显的眉毛和颧骨。在他的肩膀,他抬几鱼和几块木头在他的胳膊。Lala笑了笑,然后递给我一些石头刮到Dahu,笑了笑,然后走出山洞开始他的任务。首先,他仔细地看着这铲运机,然后去了一个角落的洞穴,拿出一些工具。他们在一桩与其他锐利的箭头和石头把斧头。他选了一个大块石头,开始就好像用锤子敲击边缘的需要磨机。现在,然后Dahu会停下来,看看它并试着它攻击他的手继续前他的任务。他停下来的时候,他觉得被刀刮刮切肉和鱼。当他通过他们Lala,客人们从邻近的洞穴开始到吃晚饭。Lala的情绪也高涨起来。是的,它将会是与去年一样精彩!她微笑地对自己曾经、从洞里出去迎接她的朋友们和邻居们。选修9 Unit 1 Breaking records-Reading\'THE ROAD IS ALWAYS AHEAD OF YOU\'Ashrita Furman is a sportsman who likes the challenge of breakingGuinness records. Over the last 25 years, he hasbrokenapproximately 93 Guinness records. More than twenty of these hestill holds, including the record for having the most records. Butthese records are not made in any conventional sport like swimmingor soccer. Rather Ashrita attempts to break records in veryimaginative events and in very interesting places.Recently, Ashrita achieved his dream of breaking a record in allseven continents, including hula hooping in Australia, pogo stickjumping under water in South America, and performing deep kneebends in a hot air balloon in North America.While these activities might seem childish and cause laughterrather than respect, in reality they require an enormous amount ofstrength and fitness as well as determination.Think about the fine neck adjustments needed to keep a full bottleof milk on your head while you are walking. You can stop to rest oreat but the bottle has to stay on your head.While Ashrita makes standing on top of a 75 cm Swiss ball lookeasy, it is not. It takes a lot of concentration and a great senseof balance to stay on it. You have to struggle to stay on topespecially when your legs start shaking.And what about somersaulting along a road for 12 miles?Somersaulting is a tough event as you have to overcome dizziness,extreme tiredness and pain. You are permitted to rest for only fiveminutes in every hour of rolling but you are allowed to stopbriefly to vomit.Covering a mile in the fastest time while doing gymnasticallycorrect lunges is yet another event in which Ashrita isoutstanding. Lunges are extremely hard on your legs. You start bystanding and then you step forward with the fight foot whiletouching the left knee to the ground. Then you stand up again andstep forward with the left foot while touching the fight knee tothe ground. Imagine doing this for a mile!Yet this talented sportsman is not a natural athlete. As a child hewas very unfit and was not at all interested in sports. However, hewas fascinated by the Guinness Book of World Records.How Ashrita came to be a sportsman is an interesting story. As ateenager, he began searching for a deeper meaning in life. Hestudied Eastern religions and, aged 16, discovered an Indianmeditation teacher called Sri Chinmoy who lived in hisneighbourhood in New York City. Since that time in the early 1970s,Ashrita has been one of Sri Chinmoy\'s students. Sri Chinmoy saysthat it is just as important for people to develop their bodies asit is to develop their minds, hearts and spiritual selves. Hebelieves that there is no limit to people\'s physicalabilities.When Ashrita came third in a 24-hour bicycle marathon in New York\'sCentral Park in 1978, he knew that he would one day get into theGuinness Book of World Records. He had been urged by his spiritualleader to enter the marathon even though he had done no training.So, when he won third place, he came to the understanding that hisbody was just an instrument of the spirit and that he seemed to beable to use his spirit to accomplish anything. From then on,Ashrita refused to accept any physical limitation.With this new confidence, Asharita broke his first Guinness recordwith 27,000 jumping jacks in 1979. The motivation to keep trying tobreak records comes through his devotion to Sri Chinmoy. Every timeAshrita tries to break a record, he reaches a point where he feelshe cannot physically do any more. At that moment, he goes deepwithin himself and connects with his soul and his teacher.Ashrita always acknowledges his teacher in his record-breakingattempts.In fact, he often wears a T-shirt with Sri Chinmoy\'s wordson the back. The words are:\'There is only one perfect road. It is ahead of you, always aheadof you.\'FOCUS ON ...Lance ArmstrongDate of Birth: 8th September, 1971Country: USALance Armstrong\'s Guinness record for the fastest average speed atthe Tour de France was set in 1999 with an average speed of 40.27km/hr. In his teens he was a triathlete but at 16 he began toconcentrate on cycling. He was an amateur cyclist before the 1992Olympic Games but turned professional after he had competed in theGames. In the following few years, he won numerous titles, and by1996 he had become the world\'s number one. However, in October1996, he discovered he had cancer andhad to leave cycling. Successfully fighting his illness, Armstrongofficially returned to racing in 1998. In 1999 he won the Tour deFrance and in 2003 he achieved his goal of winning five Tours deFrance.Michellie JonesDate of Birth: 9th June, 1969Country: AustraliaIn 1988 Michellie Jones helped establish the multi-sport event, thetriathlon, in Australia. After completing her teachingqualifications in 1990, she concentrated on the triathlon. In 1991,she finished third at the world championships. In 1992 and 1993,she was the International Triathlon Union World Champion. Sincethen, she has never finished lower than fourth in any of the worldchampionships she has competed in. At the Sydney Olympics in 2000she won the silver medal in the Women\'s Triathlon, the first timethe event had been included in the Olympic Games. Recently, for thefirst time in 15 years, Jones was not selected as part of thenational team and therefore did not compete in the 2004 Olympics inAthens.Fu MingxiaDate of Birth: 16th August, 1978Country: ChinaFu Mingxia first stood on top of the 10-metre diving platform atthe age of nine. At 12 years old she won a Guinness Record when shebecame the youngest female to win the women\'s world title forplatform diving at the World Championships in Australia in 1991. Atthe 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, she took the gold medal in thewomen\'s 10-metre platform, becoming the youngest Olympic divingchampion of all time. This was followed by great success at the1996 Atlanta Olympic Games where she won gold for both the 10-metreplatform and the three-metre springboard. This made her the firstwoman in Olympic diving history to win three gold medals. Sheretired from diving after Atlanta and went to study economics atuniversity. While there she decided to make a comeback and went onto compete at the Sydney Olympic Games, where she won her fourthOlympic gold, again making Olympic history.Martin StrelDate of Birth: 1st October, 1954Country: SloveniaStrel was trained as a guitarist before he became a professionalmarathon swimmer in 1978. He has a passion for swimming the world\'sgreat rivers. In 2000, he was the first person ever to swim theentire length of the Danube River in Europe - a distance of 3,004kilometres in 58 days. For this, he attained his first entry in theGuinness Book of World Records. Then in 2001 he broke the Guinnessrecord for non-stop swimming - 504.5 kilometres in the Danube Riverin 84 hours and 10 minutes. Martin won his third entry in theGuinness Book of World Records in 2002 when he beat his own recordfor long distance swimming by swimming the length of theMississippi River in North America in 68 days, a total of 3,797kilometres. Then in 2003 he became the first man to have swum thewhole 1,929 kilometres of the difficult Parana River in SouthAmerica.In 2004, Strel again broke his own Guinness record byswimming the length of the dangerous Changjiang River (4,600 km),the third longest fiver in the world.选修9 Unit 2 Sailing the oceans-ReadingSRILING THE OCERNSWe may well wonder how seamen explored the oceans before latitudeand longitude made it possible to plot a ship\'s position on a map.The voyages of travellers before the 17th century show that theywere not at the mercy of the sea even though they did not havemodern navigational aids. So how did they navigate so well? Readthese pages from an encyclopedia.Page 1:Using nature to help Keeping alongside the coastlineThis seems to have been the first and most useful form ofexploration which carried the minimum amount of risk.Using celestial bodiesNorth StarAt the North Pole the North Star is at its highest position in thesky, but at the equator it is along the horizon. So accomplishednavigators were able to use it to plot their positions.SunOn a clear day especially during the summer the sailors could usethe sun overhead at midday to navigate by. They can use the heightof the sun to work out their latitude.CloudsSea captains observed the clouds over islands. There is a specialcloud formation which indicates there is land close by.Using wildlifeSeaweedSailors often saw seaweed in the sea and could tell by the colourand smell how long it had been them. If it was fresh and smelledstrongly,then the ship was close to land.BirdsSea birds could be used to show the way to land when it was nowhereto be seen. In the evening nesting birds return to land and theirnests. So seamen could follow the birds to land even if they wereoffshore and in the open sea.Using the weatherFogFog gathers at sea as well as over streams or rivers. Seamen usedit to help identify the position of a stream or river when theywere close to land.WindsWise seamen used the winds to direct their sailing. They couldaccelerate the speed, but they could also be dangerous. So theVikings would observe the winds before and during their outward orreturn journeys.Using the seaCertain tides and currents could be used by skillful sailors tocarry ships to their destination.These skills helped sailorsexplore the seas and discover new lands. They increased theirability to navigate new seas when they used instruments.Page 2:Using navigational instruments to helpFinding longitudeThere was no secure method of measuring longitude until the 17thcentury when the British solved this theoretical problem. Nobodyknew that the earth moved westwards 15 degrees every hour,but sailors did know an approximate method of calculating longitudeusing speed and time. An early method of measuring speedinvolved throwing a knotted rope tied to a log over the side of theship. The rope was tied to a log which was then thrown into thesea. As the ship advanced through the water the knots were countedas they passed through a seaman\'s hands. The number of knots thatwere counted during a fixed period of time gave the speed of theship in nautical miles per hour.Later, when seamen began to use the compass in the12th century they could calculate longitude using complicatedmathematical tables. The compass has a special magnetic pointerwhich always indicates the North Pole, so it is used to help findthe direction that the ship needs to go. In this way the ship couldset a straight course even in the middle of the ocean.Finding latitudeThe Bearing CircleIt was the first instrument to measure the sun\'s position. A seamanwould measure the sun\'s shadow and compare it with the height ofthe sun at midday. Then he could tell if he was sailing on hiscorrect rather than a random course.The astrolabe, quadrant and sextant are all connected. They aredevelopments of one another. The earliest, the astrolabe, was aspecial all-in-one tool for telling the position of the ship inrelation to the sun and various stars which covered the whole sky.This gave the seamen the local time and allowed them to find theirlatitude at sea. However, it was awkward to use as one of thepoints of reference was the moving ship itself.The QuadrantThis was a more precise and simplified version of the astrolabe. Itmeasured how high stars were above the horizon using a quartercircle rather than the full circle of the astrolabe.It was easierto handle because it was more portable. Its shortcoming was that itstill used the moving ship as one of the fixed points of reference.As the ship rose and plunged in the waves, it was extremelydifficult to be accurate with any reading.The sextantThe sextant was the updated version of the astrolabe and quadrantwhich reduced the tendency to make mistakes. It proved to be themost accurate and reliable of these early navigational instruments.It works by measuring the angle between two fixed objects outsidethe ship using two mirrors. This made the calculations more preciseand easier to do.THE GREATEST NAVIGATIONAL JOURNEY:A LESSON INSURVIVAL I am proud to have sailed with CaptainBligh on his journey of over 40 days through about 4,000miles in anopen boat across the Pacific Ocean in 1789. Our outward voyage inthe \'Bounty\' to Tahiti had been filled with the kind of incidentsthat I thought would be my stories when I returned home. But howwrong I was! On our departure from Tahiti, some of the crew tookover the ship.They deposited the captain into a small boat to lethim find his own way home. But who else was to go with him? Thoseof us on board the \'Bounty\' were caught in a dilemma. Was it betterto risk certain death by sitting close together on a small, crowdedopen boat with very little food and water? Or should one stay onthe \'Bounty\' with the crew and face certain death from the BritishNavy if caught? The drawback of staying on the ship seemed to growas I thought about how wrong it was to treat Captain Bligh in thisway. So I joined him in the small boat. As dusk fell, we seemed toface an uncertain future. We had no charts and the only instrumentsthe captain was allowed to take with him were a compass and aquadrant.Once we were at sea, our routine every day was the same. Atsunrise and sunset the captain measured our position using thequadrant and set the course using the compass. It was extremelydifficult for us to get a correct reading from the quadrant as theboat moved constantly. The captain used a system called \'deadreckoning\'. He knew there was land directly northwest of ouroriginal position. So his task was to make sure we stayed on thatcourse. As you can see from the map we kept to a straight coursepretty well. In addition, the captain kept us all busy reading thetables to work out our position. Although this took a great deal oftime, it didn\'t matter. Time was, after all, what we had a lotof! Our daily food was sharedequally among us all: one piece of bread and one cup of water. Itwas starvation quantities but the extreme lack of water was thehardest to cope with psychologically. Imagine all that water aroundyou, but none of it was safe to drink because the salt in it woulddrive you mad! All the time the captain tried to preserve our goodspirits by telling stories and talking hopefully about what wewould do when we got back to England. We only half believedhim. The tension in the boat got worseas the supply of food and water gradually disappeared. We couldforesee that we would die if we could not reach land very soon andwe sank gradually into a sleepy, half-alive state. The captain wasas weak as the rest of us, but he was determined not to give up. Hecontinued his navigational measurements every day. He kept us busyand tried to take our minds off our stomachs and our thirst. Hekept us alive. You could notimagine a more disturbing sight than what we looked like whenarriving in Timor over forty days after being set loose in oursmall boat. Our clothes were torn, we had fever and our facesshowed the hardships we had suffered. But after a rest, some goodmeals and some new clothes, everything changed. We couldn\'t stoptalking about our voyage and everybody wanted to hear about it. Wewere the heroes who had escaped the jaws of death by completing thegreatest navigational feat of all time!选修9 Unit 3 Australia-ReadingGLIMPSES OF AUSTRALIAAUSTRALIACapital: Canberra Offcial name: Commonwealth ofAustraliaArea: 7,686,850 km2 Population: 20millionHighest point: Mount Kosciuszko, 2,228 metres above sealevelLowest point: Lake Eyre, 15 metres below sea levelAustralia is the only country that is also a continent. It is thesixth largest country in the world and is in the smallest continent- Oceania. It is a mainly dry country with only a few coastal areasthat have adequate rainfall to support a large population.Approximately 80 of Australians live in the south-eastern coastalarea, which includes Australia\'s two largest cities – Melbourne andSydney. The centre of the continent, which is mainly desert and drygrassland, has few settlements. Australia is famous for itshuge, open spaces, bright sunshine, enormous number of sheep andcattle and its unusual wildlife, which include kangaroos andkoalas. Australia is a popular destination with tourists from allover the world who come to experience its unique ecology. Australia is made up of sixstates. Like the states in America, Australian states areautonomous in some areas of government. However, Australia has afederal government responsible for matters that affect people allover the country, such as defence, foreign policy and taxation. Thefederal parliament is located in Canberra. On 26 January, AustraliaDay, in over 200 locations across the nation , more than 9,000people will become Australian citizens. \'By these citizenshipceremonies we welcome those who have come from overseas from manydifferent cultural and social backgrounds into our communities andour nation,\' said the Minister for Citizenship and MulticulturalAffairs. \'Australia Day celebrations that include people from somany birthplaces are an excellent way to encourage tolerance,respect and friendship among all the people of Australia.\' Mostcitizenship ceremonies will be followed by displays of singing anddancing from many of the migrants\' homelands and the tasting offood from all over the world.Go by plane and see cloudsGo by TRAIN and see AustraliaEnjoy 3 nights on board the Indian-PacificOn this 4,352-km journey from Sydney to Perth via Adelaide you\'llview some ot Australias unique scenery from the superb BlueMountains to the treeless plains of the Nuliarbor. Along the wayyou will spot a fascinating variety of wildlife.Enjoy 2 nights on board the GhanAs you travel from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs, you\'llobserve some of Australia\'smost spectacular landscapes - from the rolling hills surroundingAdelaide to the rusty reds ofAustralia\'s centre and the tropical splendour of Darwin.For more information, timetables and fares go towww.gsr.com.au/trains.htmDear Shen Ping,I wish you could see this amazing rock. It is part of one ofAustralia\'s 14 Worm Heritage Sites andrises about 335 metres out of a vast, flat sandy plain. A tdifferent times of the day it appears tochange co/our, from grey-red at sunrise, to golden and finally toburning red at dusk. Aboriginal people have lived near Uluru forthousands of years and yout can walk around it with an Aboriainalguide to learn about their customs, art, religion and day-to-daylife. It is also possible to climb the rock, but most people don\'tdo this out of respect for the Aboriginal people who consider therock to be sacred. I’ll be back in Sydney in a fortnight becauseI\'ve made a reservation on the Indian Pacific train to Perth.love JackTours outside HobartDrive 250 km northwestwards from Hobart along the A10 highway andyou\'ll arrive at the southern end of the magnificent CradleMountain National Park and World Heritage area. This park is famousfor its mountain peaks, lakes and ancient forests. A popularattraction for active tourists is the 80-km walking track thatjoins the southern and northern ends of the park. There are also arange of short walks.Reading and discussingBefore you read the following text, read the titleand look at the pictures. Discuss with a partner what you expect toread about in the text.to more than 170 different kinds of snake and 115 of these arepoisonous. In fact, Australia has more kinds of venomous snake thanany other country in the world. Luckily, the poison of most snakescan kill or paralyze only small creatures.A few varieties, however,can kill humans, so it is just as well that snakes are very shy andusually attack only if they are disturbed and feelthreatened. There are alsoapproximately 2,000 different kinds of spider in Australia and,like snakes, most have a poisonous bite. However, the majority haveno effect on humans or cause only mild sickness.Only a few havevenom that is powerful enough to kill a human being. While a smallnumber of Australians are bitten by spiders each year, most recoverwithout any medical treatment.seas around Australia contain over 160 different kinds of shark,which vary in size from just 20 centimetres to over 14 metres.However, although they look dangerous because of their wide mouthsand sharp teeth, all but two or three kinds are harmless tohumans. Another potentially dangerous sea animal is the jellyfish.Most kinds of poisonous jellyfish can cause severe pain to anyonewho touches them but the poison of the box jellyfish can actuallykill a human, especially if that person has a weak heart. Thetiniest amount of poison from a box jellyfish can kill in less thanfive minutes and it is probably the most poisonous animal in theworld. There is one other dangerous animal in Australia worthmentioning, and that is the crocodile. Although two types ofcrocodile live in Australia, only the saltwater crocodile has beenknown to kill humans. This crocodile moves very quickly when itsees something it considers to be food, and from time to time acrocodile has snatched someone before he or she is even aware thatthe crocodile is there. You might think that with all these dangerousanimals Australia is an unsafe place to live in or visit. However,this is far from the truth. There are no more than a handful ofshark attacks each year and only three deaths have been reported inthe last five years.Similarly, in the last three years there havebeen only two reported deaths from crocodile attacks. Since 1956,when an anti-venom treatment for redback spider bites wasdeveloped, there have been no deaths from redbacks, and since 1981when a treatment was developed for funnelweb spider poison, therehave been no deaths from this spider either. Treatments forjellyfish stings and s~aakebites have also been developed and inthe last five years there have been only three deaths fromjellyfish stings and about the same number fromsnakebites.选修9 Unit 4 Exploring plants-ReadingPLANT EXPLORATION IN THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES The plantsin our gardens look so familiar that often we do not realize thatmany of them actually come from countries far away. Collecting\'exotic\' plants, as they are called, dates back to the earliesttimes. Many ancient civilisations saw the value of bringing backplants from distant lands. The first plant collecting expeditionrecorded in history was around 1500 BC when the Queen of Egypt sentships away to gather plants, animals and other goods.However, it was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuriesthat the exploration of the botanical world began on a large scale.Europe had become interested in scientific discovery and theEuropean middle classes took great interest in collecting newplants. Thisattraction to exotic plants grew as European nations, like theNetherlands, Britain and Spain, moved into other parts of the worldlike Asia and Australia. Brave young men took the opportunity ofgoing on botanical expeditions, often facing many dangers includingdisease,near-starvation, severe environments and conflicts with thelocal people. important group of collectors were Frencn Catholic missionarieswho, by the middle of the 18th century, were beginning to setthemselves up in China. One such missionary, Father d\'Incarville,was sent to Beijing in the 1740s. He collected seeds of trees andbushes including those of the Tree of Heaven. Just before he died,he sent some Tree of Heaven seeds to England. They arrived in 1751and plants from these seeds were grown throughout Europe and later,in 1784, the species was introduced in North America. Sir Joseph Bankswas a very famous British plant collector, who accompanied JamesCook on his first voyage from England to Oceania. The purpose ofthe trip for Banks was to record the plant and animal life theycame across. He and his team collected examples whenever they wentonto dry land. In 1769, Banks collected vast quantities of plantsin the land now known as Australia. None of these plants had beenrecorded by Europeans before. Cook called the bay where theEndeavour had anchored Botany Bay.Keeping plants alive during long land or sea voyages was anenormous challenge. Large numbers of seeds failed to grow afterlong sea voyages or trips across land between Asia and Europe. Oneplant explorer lost several years\' work when his plants were minedwith seawater. The world of plantexploration was completely changed with Dr Nathaniel Ward\'sinvention of a tightly sealed portable glass container. Thisinvention, called the Wardian case, allowed plants to betransported on long journeys. In 1833, Ward shipped two cases ofBritish plants to Sydney, Australia. All the plants survived thesix-month journey. In 1835, the cases made a return trip with someAustralian species that had never been successfully transportedbefore. After eight months at sea, they arrived safely inLondon.British man called Robert Fortune was one of the earliest plantcollectors to use Wardian cases. He made several trips to Chinabetween 1843 and 1859. At that time, there were restrictions on themovement of Europeans and so, in order to travel unnoticed, hedeveloped his fluency in Chinese and dressed as a Chinese man, evenshaving his head in the Chinese style. He experienced manyadventures including huge thunderstorms in the Yellow Sea andpirates on the Yangtze River. Not only did Fortune introduce over120 species of plants to Western gardens but he also shipped 20,000tea plants from Shanghai to India, where a successful tea industrywas established. The second half of thenineteenth century was a very important period of plantexploration. During this time many Catholic missionaries were sentto China from France. They valued the study of the natural sciencesand many of the missionaries knew a lot about plants and animals.Their expeditions resulted in huge plant collections, which weresent back to France. One of the collectors was Father Farges, whocollected 37 seeds from a tree that had appealed to him. This treewas later called the Dove Tree. He sent the seeds back to Francein1897 but only one seed grew. Although themissionaries collected large numbers of soecimens. there was notenough material for growing particular species in Western gardens.However, European botanists were very excited with the knowledgethat China had a vast variety of plants, so many plant collectorswere sent on collecting trips to China. One of these collectors wasE H Wilson who, in 1899, was able to collect a large quantity ofseeds of the Dove Tree that Father Farges had discovered. Wilsonand other plant collectors introduced many new plants to Westerngardens.Reading and discussingBefore you read the text on page 38, have a quickglance at it. What is the text about? What do the pictures showyou? What is the chart about?many flowering plants and their animal pollinators have evolvedtogether. The plant needs the animal to pollinate it and the animalis rewarded with food called nectar when it visits the flowers.Pollen becomes attached to the animal during its visit to a flowerand is then passed on to another plant\'s blossom on its next visit.So pollination takes place, therefore increasing the chances of thesurvival of the plant species. Throughevolution, most flowers have adapted to attract specific types ofpollinators. Bees, moths and butterflies are the mostimportantpollinators. Flies, wasps, beetles and other animals such as birdsand bats are less common. The type ofpollinator depends on the characteristics of the flower such as itscolour, shape, size and smell. For example, yellow flowers attractbees, while red flowers attract butterflies. The nectar in someflowers can only be reached by a bird with a long bill or along-tongued moth or butterfly. The chart below describes somefeatures of flowers that attract certain kinds of pollinators. Pollinator Typical flower characteristicsBees Colour: bright yellow, blue; the flower often has a specialpattern to guide the bees to the nectar inside.Shape: the petals are wide enough for bees to land on;usually thenectar is at the end of a small, narrow tube whose length is thesame as the tongue of a particular species.Smell: delicate, fragrant.Butterflies Colour: red, orange.Shape: the petals form a tube of a suitable length for butterflies.Tiny flowers are often in tight bunches that provide a place forbutterflies to land on, eg daisies.Smell: odourless.Moths Colour: white, light-coloured so moths can see them atnight.Shape: the petals form a deep tube to match the length of aspecific moth\'s tongue. The petals lie fiat or bend back so themoth can get close to the flower.Smell: strong, sweet perfume, typically only given outat night.Flies Colour: dull-coloured, brownish red.Smell: strong like rotting meat.Humming-birds Colour: brightly coloured, especially red andorange.Shape: tube-shaped; petals bent back so birds can get close.Smell: no odour.Bats Colour: white, light-coloured so bats can see them atnight.Shape: open at night; large, strong with wide mouths for longtongues.Smell: musty, fruity smell.选修9 Unit 5 Inside advertising-ReadingHOW ADVERTISINC WORKSDo you know how many advertisements you are exposed to in yourdaily life? Every day, we pass by advertisements on buses andbillboards, on trains and in train stations, in shop windows,outside restaurants and on public notice boards. At home, we seeadvertisements in magazines and newspapers and in the middle of ourfavourite television programmes. We hear advertisements on theradio and come across them on the Internet. Even some of the casualgarments we wear have brand names attached to them which turn usinto walking advertisements. With so many messages from advertisersfilling our daily lives, it is important to understand howadvertisements work. Then we can avoid being controlled bythem.What is an advertisement?An advertisement is a message or announcement that informs orinfluences people. It can use words, pictures, music or film tocommunicate its message. Adverts are not only made and paid for bybusiness, but also by individuals, organizations and associationsthat wish to inform or educate the public.How do advertisers make effectiveadvertisements?Identify your targetAdvertisers must pay the media for displaying their ads. Theirmoney would be wasted if the message didn\'t reach its targetaudience, in other words the people the advertisement intends topersuade. For example, adolescent boys are more likely to buycomputer games than any other group, so it makes sense to makecomputer game ads that appeal to this group. Having identified thetarget group, researchers find out as much as possible about thosein the target group, such as their likes and dislikes, and how theproduct would fit into their lives. This information then forms thebasis for decisions about what type of advertising techniques touse with this group.Appeal to your targetIn order to persuade people to do something, advertisements oftenappeal to our hopes and dreams or our emotions. For example, theone on the right, which advertises sports shoes, shows young peopledoing exciting things. The colours and the flames also suggestexcitement. The message it is sending is: \'Buy our shoes and you\'lllive an exciting life in the \'fast lane\'.\' The ad above, with thestar in it, is for a new radio station. It appeals to people\'sdesire to \'fit in\' and be part of the group. The message is:\'Everyone else is listening and if you want to be part of thegroup, you\'d better listen too.\' Some advertisementsappeal to people\'s desire to save money. Others are more likely tobe noticed if they are funny. Ads that feature rich and famouspeople will grab the attention of those who admire people likethat. Some adverts, like the environmental protection advertisementbelow, appeal to our conscience or our desire to be worthycitizens.Use a suitable medium As well as reaching thefight audience with the fight technique, advertisers must alsoplace their ads in the right medium. Obviously, cost will playa.big part in this decision. Television adverts are expensive tomake and to show. You have to be a big corporation with a bigbudget to afford television ads. Advertisements in newspapers, onthe other hand, are much cheaper.As well as worrying about the expense, advertisers must alsoconsider which media are most appropriate for their product andwhich their target audience is most likely to see or hear. Becausemost cars have radios, ads broadcast via radio can reach a lot ofdrivers very easily. For this reason, it would be appropriate touse radio to advertise goods and services relating to cars.However, it would be no use advertising products on radio if the adrelies on visual effects. Television adverts are great forgenerating emotional responses to a product, but magazines andnewspapers can give more detail.How effective are advertisements? However good anadvertisement is, people are unlikely to be persuaded if theproduct is unsuitable for them. For example, no matter how good anad for a car stereo system is, people who don\'t own cars areunlikely to run out and buy one. Look at the advertisements in thisunit. How many of the goods or services suit your interests orlifestyle? Would really good advertising persuade you to buyproducts and services you are not interested in or have no usefor? On the other hand, beingconstantly exposed to advertisements can help to change ouropinions over time. This is why governments all over the world paya lot of money for ads on such things as road safety. They believethese adverts will affect the way people think about their drivinghabits and will subsequently reduce the number of roadaccidents.KEEPING ADVERTISEDRSHONESTOrganizations and individuals advertise because theywant to persuade people to behave in certain ways, for example tobuy a certain brand of rice, stop speeding or see a movie at theircinema. Advertisers go, to a lot of trouble and expense to makeadverts and so they want to make sure they achieve their purpose.Unfortunately, not all advertisers are good or honest people.Unless we have ways to protect ourselves, these dishonestadvertisers will tell lies or use methods that may mislead us.Fortunately, most countries have developed ways to controladvertising and prevent false or unsuitable advertising.The lawOne way to control advertising is to make laws that preventadvertisers doing the wrong thing. Many countries have laws thatforbid ads being shown at inappropriate times or in unsuitableplaces. For example, an ad that has an adult theme cannot be shownduring children\'s television programmes. In some countriesadvertising alcoholic drinks or tobacco is banned altogether. Thereare also laws in most places that prevent advertisers making falsestatements about their products or from promoting immoral orharmful behaviour.Advertising organizationsMost advertisers are decent and honest, and they areas interested as everyone else in making sure ads areethical. For this reason,most advertisers belong to advertising organizationsthat not only educate and support their members, but alsomake rules for everyone in the organization to follow. They are called a code of ethics and include suchrules as: Advertisements must not be untruthful ormisleading; Advertisements must not say bad things about other people\'s products. If well-known people are used inadvertisements, they must be honest and truthful about productsthey advertise.Complaints organizationEven though there are laws and advertisers\' codes of conduct, somebad ads do get made. This is why many countries have a governmentorganization which examines complaints about ads. A consumer cancomplain to the organization, giving reasons for their complaint,and if the complaint is correct, the organization can make thecompany stop using the offending advertisement.The consumerYou may have heard the saying: \'Buyer Beware\'. This means that theconsumer is responsible for checking the product before buying.When it comes to advertising, consumers need to be educated abouttechniques used by advertisers so they can judge the claims forthemselves and not blindly accept everything that is said inadvertisements. As we are flooded with advertisements in our modemworld, many schools believe it is their duty to educate studentsabout advertising. 举报/Report