上課用shipsinthedesert

1、Advanced EnglishBook One,Lesson 12 Ships in the Desert Al Gore,Questions for Discussion Whats the meaning of the title? Can you imagine there are some ships in the desert rather than on the sea? What do you expect to have when you read the title? List some environmental problems we are facing now. W

2、hat can we as individuals do to prevent enviromental pollution?,Shrinking Sea in the Desert: The Aral Sea The Aral sea was the fourth largest lake in the world However, the water of the Aral Sea is currently declining rapidly, and its area is shrinking year-by-year. Around 1989, it was divided into

3、the small Aral Sea on the north side and the large Aral Sea on the south side. Moreover, the large Aral Sea is soon going to be divided into eastern and western parts.,Image 1 depicts the Aral Sea on November 16, 1996 and Image 2 depicts that of October 14, 2003. We can readily see that the outline

4、of the lake has drastically changed during the last seven years Image 1 image2,Acid Rain,Air Pollution,Hazardous Waste,Ozone Depletion,Water Pollution,Global Warming,Deforestation,Desertification,Introduction about the author,Al Gore was born in 1948 in Washington D.C., U.S. He has been a Senator (1

5、984-1992) representing the State of Tennessee, and U.S. Vice-President (1992-2000) under President Bill Clinton. He ran for the Presidency against George W. Bush Jr. but the latter won the election and has become the 43rd American President. The text is taken from Al Gores book Earth in the Balance,

6、Al Gore demonstrates that the quality of our air and water is urgently at risk. He clearly illustrates how problems that once were regional have now become global. Gore argues for a worldwide mobilization to save us from disaster. He is an eminent environmentalist and has been granted Nobel Peace Pr

7、ize in 2007.,General Introduction About the Text,“Ship in the Desert” is a phenomenon, or an image of destruction. The desert indicates the Aral Sea which was the fourth largest inland sea in the world ten years ago. But now it is disappearing because the water that used to flow into the sea has bee

8、n turned away to irrigate the land created in the desert to grow cotton. The scheme was an ill-conceived one because it failed to take into consideration the ecological effect.,General Introduction about the Text,The author , by what he saw, checked and studied the cases of destruction found out the

9、 basic causes behind the environmental problems: ecological imbalance environmental pollution rapidly increased population great changes of the weather shortage of natural resources, etc.,He wanted to call peoples attention to these social problems , and he appealed that everyone should become aware

10、 of the serious situations they are in and we should highly realize the great significance of taking an action to solve these acute problems.,General Introduction about the Text,Try our best to protect our environment from being polluted; to control the rapid increase of population; to make a good u

11、se of the natural resources ; to trap more materials or energy; to save energy ,etc. otherwise, all animals and plant life will face a new threat to their survival.,Aral Sea,Why did the writer go to the Aral Sea? What did he see there?,Aral Sea from space, August 1964,Aral Sea from space, August 198

12、5,The Aral Sea, in 2003, had shrunk to well under half of the area it had covered fifty years before.,Shrinking of the Aral Sea,1.Para. 1: Effects of environmental crises (The Aral) 2. Paras. 2-22: Causes of environmental crises A. The destruction around the world -Antarctic, the Arctic, the equator

13、, around us B. Classification of the images of destruction -Local - Regional- Strategic /global context C. The dominant cause of the change -Human civilization 3. Paras. 23: Solution A. Recognizing the starling images of destruction B. Understanding the two aspects C. Changing the view of the relati

14、onship-Educate people,Structure Analysis,Detailed Study of the Text,Comprehension questions for Para. 1 What pictures does the author create? (contrast) How different are the pictures? What caused the change? What effect does the change have on the local people?,Part 1: (Para.1) what he saw in the A

15、ral. 1. We were anchored in what used to be the most productive fishing site in all of central Asia, but as I looked out over the bow, the prospects of a good catch looked bleak: anchor: n. dreary 暗淡的和昏暗的；陰郁的 e.g.“Life in the Aran Islands has always been bleak and difficult”(John Millington Synge) “

16、艾倫群島的生活一直是困苦不堪的”(約翰米林頓辛格) 3.Cold and cutting; 寒冷和刺骨的；陰冷的： e.g.bleak winds of the North Atlantic. 北大西洋的冷風(fēng),Paraphrase:,P The spot where we stopped used to be the most productive fishing site in all of central Asia, but as I looked out over the bow, I could see there was no chance for catching a large

17、amount of fish. This is obviously an understatement because with sand all around there was no chance of catching fish, to say nothing of catching a lot of fish.,Where there should have been gentle . in all directions. Where there should have been there was The implication is that once there were gen

18、tle waves lapping against the side of the ship but there were none now. Instead, in the place of the waves there were stretches of sand. (p) At the place where one could see waves touching the side of the ship gently and hear a light sound caused by it in the past, there was only hot dry sand which

19、extended to the place as far as the eye could see now.,Divert: 1.to change the direction or purpose of something 使轉(zhuǎn)向 e.g.Traffic was diverted around the scene of the accident. 疏導(dǎo)交通繞過出事現(xiàn)場 2. To take ones thoughts or attention away from sth. 轉(zhuǎn)移注意力，使分心 美妙的音樂轉(zhuǎn)移了他繪畫的注意力。 3. To entertain someone娛樂，供消遣 The

20、 boy is easily diverted.,How could the other ships be at rest in the sand?,The other ships were also anchored in the original coast but now water had turned into sand therefore they were surrounded by sand and could not move.,Why is the Aral disappearing?,It is becoming smaller and smaller because t

21、he water that used to flow into the sea has been turned away to irrigate the land created in the desert to grow cotton. The scheme was an ill-conceived one because it failed to take into consideration the ecological effect.,Where did they get the fish for canning?,Brought not from the Aral Sea but s

22、hipped by rail through Siberia from the Pacific Ocean, more than a thousand miles away.,Comprehensive questions for Para. 2,What brought the author to the South Pole? What was the scientist doing? What was the tunnel through time? Whats the hole in the sky? Does the change of environment in a partic

23、ular country have any effect on other parts of the world? How then?,Para. 2 thesis statement:,My search for the underlying causes of the environmental crisis has let me to travel around the world to check and study cases in order to find out the basic causes behind the environmental crisis,What does

24、 it mean?,I traveled around the world because I wanted to see, check and study cases of such destruction in order to find out the basic causes behind the environmental crisis. This sentence expresses the main idea and indicating the development of a causal essay.,the sun glaring at midnight through

25、a hole in the sky,the sun shining at midnight through the ozone depletion a hole: ozone depletion 臭氧層空洞,2. I stood in the unbelievable coldness and talked with a scientist in the late fall of 1988 about the tunnel he was digging through time. P It was unbelievable cold. I stood there and talked with

26、 a scientist about the ice core he was drilling from the glacier covering the Antarctic in the late autumn of 1988.,Comprehension questions for Para. 3,What role did the industrial revolution play in improving our life and in damaging our environment? How can carbon dioxide warm the earth? What is “

27、green house effect”? What does the “steep line” indicate?,Paraphrase,3. Industry meant coal, and later oil, with its ability to trap more heat in the atmosphere and slowly warm the earth. P Industrial development meant the use of a great deal of coal and later oil as fuels to generate power. As a re

28、sult, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere grew. Because the carbon dioxide can prevent the heat in the atmosphere from going out, when the carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere reach a high level, it can slowly make the earth warm.,Why does carbon dioxide have the ability t

29、o trap more heat?,Because heat cannot easily get through carbon dioxide and go into the high altitude so carbon dioxide plays the role of a cover, keeping the heat near the earth.,Why are the engines of the plane kept running?,Because the pilot fears that if he stops the engines, the metal parts wou

30、ld be frozen solid and the engines would not be able to start again. What were scientists doing in the Antarctic region? They were watching or checking on the air several times every day to show the onward movement on an outline map. inexorable: that cannot be altered, checked,To chart the course of

31、 CO2 emission and temperature in the Antarctic,Comprehension questions for Paras. 4 -5,Where did the author go 2.5 years after his visit to the S Pole? What were the scientists doing at the time? What did the author do with the U.S. Navy? What kind of information did Gore ask the U.S. Navy to releas

32、e? Whats happening to the polar ice cap? Whats caused this? How important is the polar ice cap in the worlds weather system? What did a team of scientists report? What did scientists establish a few years ago?,Para.4 and 5,It tells us the author went to the other bottom of the earth- Arctic Ocean. H

33、e found out the temperature in the polar regions are up much more rapidly, so the north polar cap has thinned. What caused the thinning of the polar ice cap?,Paraphrase,At the other end of our planet: Antarctic as one end and Arctic as the other end. Slab: a piece that is flat, broad and fairly thic

34、k Frigid: extremely cold A hearty breakfast: a satisfying and rich breakfast Snowmobile: a kind of motor vehicle for traveling over snow, usually with steerable runners at the front and tractor treads at the rear Rendezvous point: the place where a submarine was to pick them up,Paraphrase,To secure

35、the release of previously top secret data: to ensure the making public of data which were originally classified as top secret. Submarine sonar tracks: 水下聲納系統(tǒng)探測 Eerily: mysteriously or uncannily esp. in such a way as to frighten or disturb windswept: swept by or exposed to winds With the stretch of i

36、ce field characterized by small ridges,Sentence translation,I had just negotiated an agreement between ice scientists and the U. S. Navy to secure the release of previously top secret data from submarine sonar tracks, data that could help them learn what is happening to the north polar cap. 1、此前我剛剛通

37、過談判使美國海軍方面與研究北極冰層的科學(xué)家達(dá)成協(xié)議，向他們提供由水下聲納系統(tǒng)探測得到的本來屬于最高機(jī)密的有關(guān)資料，這資料有助于他們了解北極冰層所發(fā)生的情況。 2、不久前我在美國海軍與冰川科學(xué)家之間作了些游說工作，雙方達(dá)成了協(xié)議，海軍方面同意提供由水下聲納系統(tǒng)獲取的原本屬于最高機(jī)密的有關(guān)數(shù)據(jù)，這些數(shù)據(jù)有助于冰川科學(xué)家了解北極冰帽的現(xiàn)狀。,How are these hummocks formed?,When separate layers of ice, broad in extent, strike violently against each other , ice is pushed up

38、 into ridges by the force of the collision. Pressure ridges of ice: 壓脊。冰丘之所以又有這一別稱是因?yàn)樗鼈兪怯纱蟊鶊F(tuán)相撞的沖擊力擠壓隆起形成的。 Collide: v. come into violent contact; crash; strike violently 碰撞 相碰 The car and the bus collide head-on in the heavy rain. 小轎車和公共汽車在大雨中迎面相撞。,collide, bump, clash 碰，撞 Collide 多指猛烈相撞，往往帶有毀壞性；也可指

39、嚴(yán)重的直接沖突或意見不一致。 On hearing his command, the policeman collided out that door immediately. Bump常指不小心碰到了某人或某物；也可指碰到困難或障礙。 The driver bumped the tree while reversing. Clash指有力的或帶有金屬碰擊聲的打，敲或互相撞擊；也可指兩種事物相矛盾，不協(xié)調(diào)。 The dustbins clashed as people emptied rubbish.,consequence, result, outcome 結(jié)果，后果 Consequence

40、可指簡單的因果關(guān)系，此時可與 result 換用；但在大多數(shù)情況下，該詞指消極的結(jié)果或至少是某種消極的伴隨事物，常常譯為“后果”。 Many people lost their jobs as a direct consequence of the merge. Result 是最普通的用詞，表示兩件事之間嚴(yán)格的因果關(guān)系，或指先前為某一特定的目的進(jìn)行的行為的結(jié)果。 Their discussion ended without result. Outcome 指某個存在疑問、有待解決的事情的結(jié)果。 They are confident of a successful outcome. 他們相信會

41、有一個圓滿的結(jié)果。,Why would the thinning of the polar ice cap be disastrous to the world?,Because the polar ice cap plays a crucial role in the worlds weather system, the thinning of the polar cap might cause flood in many places of the world. The sea level would be raised. As a result, some seaside cities

42、and small islands would be swallowed by the sea. Note the use of model verb. Here “could be” indicates possibility,Para. 5 Paraphrase,4. Considering such scenarios is not a purely speculative exercise. scenario 設(shè)想，方案，預(yù)測 He suggested a nightmare scenario. (戲劇或電影的)劇情梗概 P Thinking about how a series of

43、 events might take place as a consequence of the thinning of the polar cap is not just a kind of practice in speculation. It has practical significance.,Sentence translation,Considering such scenarios is not a purely speculative exercise. 1、探索這些問題并不是一種純理論性的工作。 2、對上述情景的考慮決不是一種“概念炒作”。,Comprehension qu

44、estions for Para.6,Whats happening at the equator? Whats happening to the Amazon rain forest? What harm can pasture do to the environment? What is responsible for the silencing of so many songs?,Para. 6,Where do the billowing clouds of smoke come from? Billowing : large swelling mass of They come fr

45、om the burning of the rain forest. What is meant by “now threatened” ? It means the existence of the rain forest is now in danger as a result of large-scale destruction. Acre by acre: bit by bit; 1 acre =0.405 hectare; 1 hectare = 10,000 sq. meters,Paraphrase,5. Acre by acre, the rain forest is bein

46、g burned to create fast pasture for fast-food beef P Bit by bit, the trees in the rain forest are being burnt and forest land is turned into pasture where cattle can be raised quickly and killed, so that the beef can be used in fast-food like hamburgers.,Bit by bit trees in the rain forest are felle

47、d and the land is cleared and turned into pasture where cattle can be raised quickly and slaughtered and the beef can be used in hamburgers. fast pasture for fast-food beef: alliteration,With more than one Tennessees worth of rain foresteach year,The area of rain forest burned in one year is bigger

48、than the state of Tennessee Species of birds: all kinds of birds 6. silencing thousands of songs : since miles of forest are being destroyed and the habitat for these rare birds no longer exists, thousands of birds which we have not even had a chance to see and hear them sing will become extinct. “s

49、ilencing thousands of songs” is a metonymy,Metonymy 轉(zhuǎn)喻、借代、借喻,The substitution of the name of one thing for that of another with which it is closely associated. e.g. The pen is mightier than the sword. (Here you have the instrument “pen or sword” as a name for the people wielding it.) Gray hairs shou

50、ld be respected. (the symbol “gray hair” as a name for the persons “old people” symbolized) He is too fond of bottle. (drinking; wine bottle) I have never read Li Bai. (the poems written by Li Bai ),How will the destruction of Amazon rain forest affect the earths ecological balance?,There are more d

51、ifferent species of birds in each square mile of the Amazon than exist in all of North America. The destruction of the Amazon rain forest will mean silencing thousands of songs we have never even heard. Since miles of forest are being destroyed and the habitat for these rare birds no longer exists,

52、thousands of birds which we have not even had a chance to see will become extinct.,Comprehension questions for Para. 7,Is damage to our environment being done elsewhere? What can be seen in the evening sky in high northern latitudes? Is this natural cloud? How is this kind of cloud formed? Why does

53、it shimmer after sunset? What kind of gas is methane?,Para. 7, 8,It tells us another ghostly image that signals the loss of ecological balance. The writer calls noctilucent clouds “ghosts in the sky”. How are the noctilucent clouds formed? As a result of pollution, the clouds occasionally appear whe

54、n the earth is first cloaked in the evening darkness. And they appear more often because of a huge buildup of methane gas in the atmosphere. The writer puts forward a series of sharp questions to call up peoples attention to this dangerous environmental situation in the world.,Why doesnt one have to

55、 travel around the world to witness humankinds assault on the earth?,Because typical examples showing the dangerous environmental situation in the world can be found almost anywhere. The sky alone presents another example of ill omen showing there is ecological imbalance and this kind of imbalance i

56、s developing.,Where does methane gas come from?,It is released from landfills (the disposal of garbage or rubbish by burying it under a shallow layer of ground ), from coal mines and rice paddles（糠殼）, from billions of termites (白蟻) that swarm (move in larger numbers) through the freshly cut forestla

57、nd , from the burning of biomass (the total mass or amount of living organisms in a particular area or volume 生物量)and from a variety of other human activities.,What does the writer call “ghosts in the sky”?,“noctilucent clouds” This “l(fā)uminous cloud” occasionally appears when the earth is first hidde

58、n in the evening darkness; shining unsteadily above us with a partially transparent whiteness, these clouds dont seem natural.,Comprehension questions for Para. 8,How should we feel towards this kind of strange cloud? What do people usually feel at the zoo? What is upsetting the balance between dayl

59、ight and darkness? What does the last sentence indicate?,Paraphrase (last sentence),Or have we been so accustomed to the bright electric lights that we fail to understand the threatening implication of these clouds, that it is a glaring sign of the violent clash between human activity and nature? For what they are: in their real light; the real nature of 看不出它們乃是人類文明同地球之間的激烈沖突的一種具體表現(xiàn)形式嗎？,Comprehension questions for Para. 9,How many examples does the author give to illustrate environmental damage? What are these? What does the author think of our response? In what w