外研必修四英语课文精.docx

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外研必修四英语课文精

必修4

Module1LifeintheFuture

TheCityoftheFuture

Whatwillthecityofthefuturelooklike?

Nooneknowsforsure,andmakingpredictionsisariskybusiness.Butonethingiscertain—theyaregoingtogetbiggerbeforetheygetsmaller.Inthefuture,carefortheenvironmentwillbecomeveryimportantasearth’snaturalresourcesrunout.Wewilluselotsofrecycledmaterials,suchasplastic,aluminium,steel,glass,woodandpaper,andwewillwastefewernaturalresources.Wewillalsohavetorelymoreonalternativeenergy,suchassolarandwindpower.Allthisseemscertain,butthereareplentyofthingsaboutcitylifeinthefuturewhicharenotcertain.

Tofindoutwhatyoungpeoplethinkaboutthefutureofurbanlife,ateacheratauniversityinTexasintheUnitedStatesaskedhisstudentstothinkhowtheywouldrunacityof50,000peopleintheyear2025.Herearesomeoftheideastheyhad:

GarbageshipsTogetridofgarbageproblems,thecitywillloadhugespaceshipswithwastematerialsandsendthemtowardsthesun,preventinglandfillandenvironmentalproblems.BatmanNetsPolicewillarrestcriminalsbyfiringnetsinsteadofguns.

ForgetsmokingNosmokingwillbeallowedwithinafuturecity’slimits.Smokingwillbepossibleonlyoutsidecities,andoutdoors.

ForgetthemallsInthefutureallshoppingwillbedoneonline,andcatalogueswillhavevoicecommandstoplaceorders.

TelephonesforlifeEveryonewillbegivenatelephonenumberatbirththatwillneverchangenomatterwheretheylive.

RecreationAllformsofrecreation,suchascinemas,bowling,softball,concertsandothers,willbeprovidedfreeofchargebythecity.

CarsAllcarswillbepoweredbyelectricity,solarenergyorwind,anditwillbepossibletochangethecolourofcarsattheflickofaswitch.

TelesurgeryDistancesurgerywillbecomecommonasdoctorscarryoutoperationsfromthousandsofmilesaway,witheachcityhavingitsowntelesurgeryoutpatientclinic.

HolidaysathomeSeniorcitizensandpeoplewithdisabilitieswillbeabletogoanywhereintheworldusinghigh-techcamerasattachedtotheirhead.

SpacetravelTravellinginspacebyordinarycitizenswillbecommon.Eachcitywillhaveitsownspaceport.

FamousLastWords

Notallpredictionscometrue.Manyofthemarewrong,andsomeareverywrong.Herearejustafewofthebadpredictionspeoplemadeinthetwentiethcenturyaboutthe

twenty-firstcentury:

AIRPLANES

“NoflyingmachinewilleverflyfromNewYorktoParis.”

OrvilleWright,1908.

COMPUTERS

“Ithinkthereisaworldmarketformaybefivecomputers”ThomasWatson,chairmanofIBM,1943.

CLOTHES

“Thirtyyearsfromnowpeoplewillbewearingclothesmadeofpaperwhichtheywillbeabletothrowawayafterwearingthemtwoorthreetimes.”

ChangingTimesMagazine,1957.

MENONTHEMOON

“Withthefirstmooncoloniespredictedforthe1970’s,workisnowinprogressonthetypesofbuildingrequiredformentostayinwhenthey’reonthemoon.”

ArnoldB,BarachinTheChangestoCome,1962.

THEBEATLES

“Wedon’tliketheirsound,andguitarmusicisonthewayout.”

DeccaRecordingCo.rejectingtheBeatles,1962.

ROBOTSINTHEHOUSE

“Bytheyear2000,housewiveswillprobablyhavearobotshapedlikeaboxwithonelargeeyeonthetop,severalarmsandhands,andlongnarrowpadsonthesideformovingabout.”NewYorkTimes,1966.

KEYS

“Bythemid-1980’snoonewilleverneedtohideakeyunderthedoormatagain,becausetherewon’tbeanykeys.”

ComputerscientistChristopherEvans,TheMicroMillennium,1979.

Module2TrafficJam

GettingAroundinBeijing

Taxis

Taxisareonthestreets24hoursaday.Simplyraiseyourhand,andataxiappearsinnotime.Theyareusuallyred,andtheydisplaythepriceperkilometreonthewindow.Youshouldcheckthecabhasabusinesspermit,andmakesureyouaskforareceipt.

Busesandtrolleybuses

PublictransportprovidesacheapwaytogetaroundinBeijing.Thereare20,000busesandtrolleybusesinBeijing,buttheycangetverycrowded.It’sagoodideatoavoidpublictransport

duringtherushhour（6:

30am—8:

00amand5:

00pm—6:

30pm.Faresarecheap,startingat1yuan.Air-conditionedbusescostmore.

Busesnumbered1to100arelimitedtotravelwithinthecitycentre.Highernumbershavedestinationsinthesuburbs.Touristsshouldn’tmissthe103buswhichoffersoneofthemostimpressiveroutes,pasttheForbiddenCityandtheWhitePagodainBeihaiPark.Ifyougetonadouble-deckerbus,makesureyousitupstairs.You’llhaveagoodviewoftherapidlychangingcity.

Mostbusesrunfromabout5:

00amtomidnight.However,thereisalsoanightbusservice,providedbybuseswithanumberinthe200s.

Minibuses

Minibuseswithseatsfor12passengersofferanalternativetoexpensivetaxisandcrowdedpublictransportinsomeareas.Theyrunregularservicesandfollowthesameroutesaslargepublicbuses.Andinaminibusyoualwaysgetaseateveninrushhours.

Underground

TherearefourundergroundlinesinBeijing,andseverallinesareunderconstruction.Trainsarefastandconvenient,butrushhourscanbeterrible.Aone-waytripcosts3yuan.Stationnamesaremarkedinpinyin.Theundergroundisopenfrom5:

00amto11:

00pm.

Pedicabs

Touristslikethesehuman-pedalled“tricycletaxis”,buttheycanbeexpensive.Youshouldtalktothedriver,andmakesureyouknowthepricebeforeyoubeginthejourney,forexample,ifitisperperson,singleorreturn.Tricyclesareworthusingifyouwanttoexplorethenarrowalleys（hutongofoldBeijing.

TheLondonCongestionCharge

Beijingisn’ttheonlycitywithtrafficproblems.Youcangetstuckinatrafficjamanywhereintheworld.Theworstproblemsoccurincitieswhicharegrowingfast,suchasSaoPaoloinBrazilandLagosinNigeria.ButevencitiesindevelopedcountriessuchastheUSsuffer.LosAngeles,whichwasbuiltwiththemotorcarinmind,andisfamousforitssix-lanehighways,isnowtheUSA’smostcongestedcity.

InEuropemostcapitalcitieswereplannedandbuiltbeforecars,andcitycentretrafficjamshavebeenpartofdailylifeforalongtime.ThesituationincentralLondon,wheredriversspentfiftypercentoftheirtimeinqueues,becamesobadthatthelocalgovernmentdecidedtodosomethingaboutit.InFebruary2003theMayorofLondon,KenLivingstone,introduceda“congestioncharge”—ataxforcarsenteringthecentreofthecity.

Theideaissimple:

everycarcomingintothecentrehastopay￡5aday.Driverscanpaythechargeatanyof10,000paypointsinthecapitalbefore10pm.Asthecarscomeintothecentre,videocamerasrecordtheirregistrationnumbers,andthesearecheckedwithalistofdriverswhohavepaidthechargeforthatday.Peoplewhodonotpaythechargewillfaceafineof

￡80.

MostLondonersarenothappywiththeidea.TheyagreethatLondonhasatrafficproblem,butthecongestionchargeisexpensive,andlimitstheirfreedom…

Butdoesthecongestionchargework?

Asurveycarriedoutattheendof2003suggestsitdoes.Afteronlysixmonths,trafficcomingintocentralLondonwasreducedbyabout30percent,andjourneytimesby15percent.Morepeopleusedpublictransporttogettowork,andbicyclesweresuddenlyverypopular.What’smore,centralLondonshopsdidnotlosebusinesseventhoughtherewerefewercars.

Butthereareafewpeoplewhothinkthechargeshouldbemuchhigher,forexamplerichbusinessmenwhoworkinthecitycentreandcaneasilyaffordit.ThiswouldkeepevenmorecarsoutofcentralLondon,andtheroadswouldbenearlyempty.However,therearenoplanstoincreasethecharge.

Module3BodyLanguageandNon-verbalCommunicationIfyousaytheword“communication”,mostpeoplethinkofwordsandsentences.Althoughtheseareveryimportant,wecommunicatewithmorethanjustspokenandwrittenwords.Indeed,bodypositionsarepartofwhatwecall“bodylanguage”.Weseeexamplesofunconsciousbodylanguageveryoften,yetthereisalso“learned”bodylanguage,whichvariesfromculturetoculture.

Weuse“learned”bodylanguagewhenweareintroducedtostrangers.Likeotheranimals,weareonguarduntilweknowitissafetorelax.Soeveryculturehasdevelopedaformalwaytogreetstrangers,toshowthemwearenotaggressive.Traditionally,EuropeansandAmericansshakehands.Theydothiswiththerighthand—thestrongesthandformostpeople.Ifourrighthandisbusygreetingsomeone,itcannotbeholdingaweapon.Sothegestureissaying,“Itrustyou.Look,I’mnotcarryingathreateningweapon.”Ifyoushakehandswithsomeone,youshowyoutrustthem.Weshakehandswhenwemakeadeal.Itmeans,“Weagreeandwetrusteachother.”

GreetingsinAsiancountriesdonotinvolvetouchingtheotherperson,buttheyalwaysinvolvethehands.TraditionallyinChina,whenwegreetsomeone,weputtherighthandovertheleftandbowslightly.Muslimsgivea“salaam”,wheretheytouchtheirheart,mouthandforehead.Hindusjointheirhandsandbowtheirheadsinrespect.Inalloftheseexamples,thehandsarebusywiththegreetingandcannotholdaweapon.

Eventoday,whensomepeoplehaveveryinformalstylesofgreeting,theystillusetheirhandsasagestureoftrust.Americanyouthsoftengreeteachotherwiththeexpression,“Givemefive!

”Onepersonthenholdsuphishand,palmoutwardsandfivefingersspread.Theotherpersonraiseshishandandslapstheother’sopenhandabovetheheadina“highfive”.Nowadays,itisquiteacommongreeting.

Bodylanguageisfascinatingforanyonetostudy.Peoplegiveawaymuchmorebytheirgesturesthanbytheirwords.Lookatyourfriendsandfamilyandseeifyouareamindreader!

Clapping

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