外研版必修三Reading and Cultural Corner.docx

外研版必修三Reading and Cultural Corner.docx

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外研版必修三ReadingandCulturalCorner

Module1Reading

GreatEuropeanCities

PARIS

ParisisthecapitalandlargestcityofFrance,situatedontheRiverSeine.Itisoneofthemostbeautifulcitiesintheworldandisvisitedbymorethaneightmilliontouristseveryyear.ThemostpopularplacefortouristsistheEiffelTower,thefamoussymbolofParis.Oneoftheworld'slargestartgalleries,theLouvre,isalsolocatedinParis.Thecityisalsofamousforitsrestaurants,cafésandtheatres.Abouttwo-thirdsofFrance'sartistsandwritersliveinParis.

BARCELONA

BarcelonaisthesecondlargestcityofSpainandissituatedonthenortheastcoast,aboutfivehundredkilometreseastoftheSpanishcapital,Madrid.OneofBarcelona'smostfamouslandmarksistheChurchoftheSagradaFamilia,whichwasdesignedbyanarchitectcalledAntonioGaudi.Gaudiworkedontheprojectfrom1882untilhisdeathin1926.Thechurchhasn'tbeenfinishedyet!

FLORENCE

FlorenceisanItaliancitywhichbecamefamousbecauseoftheRenaissance,agreatartisticmovementwhichbeganinthe1300sandlastedforthreehundredyears.DuringtheRenaissance,someofthegreatestpaintersofalltimelivedandworkedinFlorence.ManyofFlorence'smostbeautifulpaintingsandsculptureswereproducedbygreatartistssuchasLeonardodaVinciandMichelangelo.Florenceisvisitedeachyearbyaboutamilliontouristswhocometoseetheartgalleries,churchesandmuseums.TheUffiziPalaceisthemostfamousartgalleryinthecity.

ATHENS

Athens,thecapitalofGreece,isknownasthebirthplaceofwesterncivilisation.Twothousandfourhundredyearsago,itwastheworld'smostpowerfulcity.BuildingssuchastheParthenonontheAcropolisHillwerebuiltduringthisperiod.Greece'sbestwriterslivedinancientAthens.Theirworkshasinfluencedotherwriterseversince.

CulturalCorner

TheEuropeanUnion

WhatIstheEuropeanUnion?

TheEuropeanUnionisanorganisationofEuropeancountries.Thecountriesareindependentandaregovernedindifferentways.IntheUnitedKingdom,forexample,theheadofstateisakingorqueen.InFrance,ontheotherhand,theheadofstateisapresident.ButeachofthemsendsrepresentativestotheEuropeanParliament,whichhassomecontroloverwhathappensineachofthemembercountries.

HowDidItStart?

TheideaoftheEuropeanUnionbeganinthe1950s.ThefirstmemberswereFrance,Germany,Belgium,Luxembourg,theNetherlandsandItaly.Littlebylittle,thenumberincreasedduringthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury.Bytheyear2000,therewere15membercountries.ThenewcountrieswereAustria,Denmark,Finland,Greece,Ireland,Portugal,Spain,SwedenandtheUnitedKingdom.

HowManyCountriesBelongtoItNow?

In2004,theEuropeanUnionincreasedto25members.TheCzechRepublic,Estonia,Hungary,Latvia,Lithuania,Poland,theSlovakRepublicandSlovenia,plustheMediterraneanislandsofCyprusandMaltaallbecamemembers.TheexpandedEuropeanUnionhasapopulationofmorethanhalfabillionpeople,twiceasbigasthepopulationoftheUnitedStates.

Module2

Reading

TheHumanDevelopmentReport

Intheyear2000,147worldleadersagreedtoworktogethertoreducepovertyby2015orearlier.FromthisagreementcametheHumanDevelopmentReport.

OneofthemostimportantsectionsofthisreportisTheHumanDevelopmentIndex.Thisexaminestheachievementsof175countries.Theindexmeasuresacountry'sachievementsinthreeways:

lifeexpectancy（howlongpeopleusuallylive）,educationandincome.Theindexhassomesurprises.Norwayisatthetopofthelist,whiletheUSisatnumber7.Theothertopfivecountriesare:

Iceland

（2）,Sweden（3）,Australia（4）,theNetherlands（5）.TheUKisinthethirteenthposition,whileChinaisinthemiddleofthelist.ThebottomtencountriesareallAfricancountries,withSierraLeone（inWestAfrica）atthebottomofthelist.

Thereportdescribeseightdevelopmentgoals.Themostimportantgoalsareto:

∙reducepovertyandhunger;

∙makesurethatallchildrenhaveeducationuptotheageof11;

∙fightAIDSandotherdiseases;

∙improvetheenvironmentofpoorpeople,e.g.makesuretheyhavesafedrinkingwater;

∙encouragedevelopedcountriestogivemorehelptoothercountries.

The2003HumanDevelopmentReportgivesexamplesofsuccessfuldevelopment.Forexample,innineyears（1953–1962）,Chinaincreasedlifeexpectancyby13years.InthelasttenyearsinChina,150millionpeoplemovedoutofpoverty.However,thechallengesarestillgreat.Everyday799millionpeopleindevelopingcountriesarehungry.OverhalfoftheseareinSouthAsiaorAfrica.Althoughmorethan80%ofchildrenindevelopingcountriesgotoprimaryschool,about115millionchildrenarenotbeingeducated.Morethan1billionpeopleindevelopingcountriesdonotdrink