Unit 3ships in the desert课文解释.docx

Unit 3ships in the desert课文解释.docx

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Unit3shipsinthedesert课文解释

Unit3:

ShipsintheDesert

byAlGor

I.AdditionalBackgroundKnowledge

1.AlGoretheauthor

2.CleanAirAct

3.TheAralSea

II.IntroductiontothePassage

1.Typeofliterature:

apieceofexposition

2.Thepurposeofapieceofexposition:

---toinformorexplain

3.Waysofdevelopingthethesisofapieceofexposition:

---comparison,contrast,analogy,identification,illustration,analysis,definition,etc.

4.Thecentralthoughtorthesis

III.EffectiveWritingSkills

1.makingeffectiveuseofspecificverbs

2.discussingthesolutiontoenvironmentalproblemsfromapolitician’spointofview,thatis,relatingthesolutiontoenvironmentaldestructiontothesolutiontoarmraces

IV.RhetoricalDevices

1.understatement

2.metaphor

V.SpecialDifficulties

1.analyzingthestructureofsomelongandcomplicatedsentences

2.understandingthescientificmattersconnectedwithecologicalenvironment

3.translatinglongandcomplicatedsentences

4.masteringtherulesofwordformation

VI.Questions

1.Howhashumancivilizationnowbecomethedominantcauseofchangeintheglobalenvironment?

2.Whatchangesintheglobalenvironmentpresentastrategicthreattohumancivilization?

Howshouldwefacethischallengeandsolvetheproblem?

3.Whatsolutionsdoesthewriterputforwardtoourecologicalproblems?

DetailedTeachingNotes:

Backgroundknowledge

Abouttheauthor:

AlGorewasbornin1948inWashingtonD.C.,U.S.HehasbeenaSenator（1984-1992）representingtheStateofTennessee,andU.S.Vice-President（1992-2000）underPresidentBillClinton.HeranforthePresidencyagainstGeorgeW.BushJr.butthelatterwonthecloselytiedelectionandhasbecomethe43rdAmericanPresident.ThetextistakenfromAlGore’sbookEarthintheBalance.

TheAralSea:

TheAralSea,locatedinUzbekistanandKazakhstan（bothcountrieswerepartoftheformerSovietUnion）,ishistoricallyasalinelake.Itisinthecentreofalarge,flatdesertbasin.TheAralSeaisaprimeexampleofadynamicenvironment.In1960itwastheworld’sfourthlargestlake,thesizeoftheentiretyofSouthernCalifornia（at26,250squaremiles,approximatelytwohundredtimeslargerthantheSaltonSea）.

America’sGreatLakes:

America’sGreatLakesrefertothegroupoffivefreshwaterlakes,centralNorthAmerica,betweentheUnitedStatesandCanada,largestbodyoffreshwaterintheworld.Fromwesttoeast,theyareLakeSuperior,LakeMichigan,LakeHuron,LakeErie,andLakeOntario.HOMEScanhelprememberthenamesofthefivelakes.HstandsforHuron,OforOntario,MforMichigan,EforErieandSforSuperior.

LakeSuperior:

LakeSuperiorisoneofthecleanestlakesintheworldbecauseofitstemperature,size,andthelackofpeoplelivingaroundit.LakeSuperior,withasurfaceareaof31,700squaremiles,isthelargestfreshwaterlakeintheworldbysurfacearea.Thisonebodyofwatercontains10%ofallthefreshwaterinallthelakesandriversintheworld.TheamountoftimeneededforthewaterinLakeSuperiortobecompletelyreplacedis191years.Thelakeisknownforitscoldtemperatures.AlmostallofLakeSuperior’swaterstaysat39degreesFahrenheit（4degreesCelsius）allyear.LakeSuperiorisoftenreferredtoas“crystalclear,”withvisibilityof50feetormore.

Antarctica:

Antarcticaisicycold.TransantarcticMountainsdivideitintotheEastAntarcticandWestAntarcticsubcontinents.Chinahassetuptwoscientificresearchstationsthere:

ZhongshanStationintheEastandGreatWallintheWest.

CleanAirAct:

AmericanCongresspassedtheCleanAirActin1970,whichisoneoftheoldestenvironmentallawsoftheU.S.aswellasthemostfar-reaching,thecostliest,andthemostcontroversial.

Rhetoricaldevices:

understatement:

theprospectsofagoodcatchlookedbleak

alliteration:

fastpastureforfast-foodbeef

metaphor:

cloak,ghosts

rhetoricalquestion:

But,withoutevenconsideringthatthreat,shouldn’titstartleusthatwehavenowputthesecloudsintheeveningskywhichglistenwithaspectrallight?

Orhaveoureyesadjustedsocompletelytothebrightlightsofcivilizationthatwecan’tseethesecloudsforwhattheyare—aphysicalmanifestationoftheviolentcollisionbetweenhumancivilizationandtheearth?

metonymy:

concrete

Preview:

What’sthemeaningofthetitle?

Whatdoyouexpecttohavewhenyoureadthetitle?

Whatkindofwritingisthetext?

Whatisthetheme?

Whatdoestheauthortrytotellusthroughhisarticle?

Howistheexpositiondeveloped?

Typicalcontentofanexposition:

Part1Aproblemispointedout（definition,phenomena,etc）

Part2Theproblemisanalyzed（causes,classification,advantages/disadvantages,etc）

Part3Howtosolveit（suggestion,etc.）

Howdoesanessay/featurearticlebegin？

What’stheeffectthewriterproduceshere?

Detailedstudy

Paragraph1

1.capableofprocessingafifty-toncatchonagoodday:

havingtheabilityofcleaningandpreparingformarketingorcanningfifty-tonsoffishonaproductiveday.

catch:

theamountofsomethingcaught;inthesentenceitreferstotheamountoffishcaught

e.g.Theboatbroughtbackabigcatchoffish.

bow:

thefrontpartofashipvsstern

2.theprospectsofagoodcatchlookedbleak:

agoodcatchdidnotlookpromising/hopeful.

Thisisobliviouslyanunderstatementbecausewithsandallaroundtherewasnochanceofcatchingfish,tosaynothingofcatchingalotoffish.

bleak:

a）Ifasituationisbleak,itisbad,andseemsunlikelytoimprove.

e.g.Hisfuturelookedbleak.

bleakprospect;thebleaknessofthepostwaryears

b）Ifaplaceisbleak,itlookscold,bare,andunattractive

e.g.thebleakcoastline

c）Whentheweatherisbleak,itiscold,dull,andunpleasant

e.g.thebleakwinters

d）Ifsomeonelooksorsoundsbleak,theyseemdepressed,hopeless,orunfriendly

e.g.hisbleakfeatures

bleaklyadv.

e.g.Hestaredbleaklyahead.

“What,”heaskedbleakly,“arethese?

”

3.waveslappingagainstthesideoftheship:

wavestouchingthesideoftheshipgentlyandmakesasoftsound

lapcanalsobeusedasanoun.

e.g.Heryoungestchildwasasleepinherlap.

Heplacedthebabyonthewoman’slap.

Inarace,whenyousaythatacompetitorhascompletedalapwhenheorshehasgoneroundthecourserace.

4.asfarasIcouldseeinalldirection:

thatextendedasfarastheeyecouldsee：

thatstretchedallthewaytothehorizon:

thatextendedtothefaroffplacewheretheskymeettheearth

5.comparable:

somethingthatiscomparabletosomethingelse

dock:

v.anchor,moor

Howmanyimagesofenvironmentaldestructionarepresentedhereinpara1?

Paragraph2.

6.Mysearchfor…theseimagesofdestruction:

ItraveledaroundtheworldbecauseIwantedtosee,checkandstudycasesofsuchdestructioninordertofindoutthebasiccausesbehindtheenvironmentalcrisis.

imagesofdestruction:

typicalexamplesofdestruction

7.thesunglaringatmidnightthroughaholeinthesky:

thesunshiningatmidnightthroughtheozonedepletion

8.aboutthetunnelhewasdiggingthroughtime:

aboutthetunnelhewasdrillingforsamplesfromtheglacier,whichestimatesthetime.Thedeeperhedrilled,thefartherthesampleintime;inotherwords,thesurfaceoftheglacierisanindicationofrecenttimewhilethedeeperpartoftheglaciertellsofsituationofamuchmoreremoteperiod.

9.Slippinghisparkabacktorevealabadlyburnedfacethatwascrackedandpeeling:

Pushinghisparkaback,herevealedabadlyburnedfacebecauseofoverexposuretodirectsunlight;onthefacetherewerelinesthatweresplitopenandpiecesofskinwerecomingdown.

parka:

n.waterproofjacketwithahoodattached（aswornforskiing,mountainclimbing,etc.）

10.Hemovedhisfingerbackintimetotheiceoftwodecadesago:

Followingthelayersoficeinthecoresample,hisfingercametotheplacewherethelayeroficewasformed20yearsago.

11.twocontinents:

SouthAmericaandAntarctica

12.emission:

theamountofpollutantsdischarged

13.leastaccessibleplaceonearth:

theplacewhichisthemostdifficulttogettointheworld

Paragraph3

14.Industrymeantcoal:

thedevelopmentofindustrymeanttheuseoflargeamountofcoalasfueltogeneratepower.

15.bringingrisinglevelsofcarbondioxide:

makingtheamountofcarbondioxideintheatmospheregrow

16.withitsabilitytotrapmoreheat…warmtheearth:

heatcannoteasilygetthroughcarbondioxideandgointothehighaltitudesocarbondioxideplaystheroleofacover,keepingtheheatneartheearth.

17.upwindfromtheicerunaway…thatinexorablechange:

upwind:

inthedirectionfromwhichthewindisblowingorusuallyblows

18.icerunway:

runwayisastripofpavedgroundforusebyairplanesintakingoffandlanding,andhereintheSouthPoletherunwayisastripoficeground

19.topreventthemetalpartsfromfreeze-lockingtogether:

tostopthemetalpartsfrombeingfrozensolid

20.monitortheair:

watchorcheckontheair

tochartthecourse:

toshowtheonwardmovementonanoutlinemap

21.inexorable:

thatcannotbechanged;unalterable

e.g.theinexorableriseinthecostofliving

Hisowncareercontinuesitsinexorableascent

他事业的上升势头锐不可当。

theinexorableriseofcrime

阻遏不了的犯罪趋势

22.graph:

usuallyamathematicaldiagram

Paragraphs4&5

23.pitch:

pitchatentmeansputupatent

e.g.Theypitchedtheirtentnearthestream.

Theypitchedtheirtentattheedgeofthefield.

24.slab:

Aslabofsomethingisathickflatpieceofit.

e.g.aslabofrock;aconcreteslab;aslabofcheese

25.frigid:

cold;icy;freezing

e.g.frigidweather

26.aheartybre