北师大版高中英语课文Unit 16 StoriesWord格式文档下载.docx

1、3 One of my earliest memories is of my father running along the beach with our dog, Tess. I must have been about three years old. I remember the dog jumping up on me and knocking me over into the water.4 The man lay on the ground next to a white truck. There was no doubt. He was dead. I quickly look

2、ed in the pockets of his jacket some money, a handkerchief and a theatre ticket with a Chicago phone number written on it. Three murders in three weeks and the victims all killed in the same way.5 Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess. She was an only child and her father and mother, th

3、e king and queen, loved her very much. One day, an old woman came to the castle. When she saw the princess, she smiled and laughed in a strange and horrible way.Lesson 1 Stories from HistoryPompeii: The city that became a time capsuleAround the end of the first century AD, a Roman writer called Plin

4、y wrote about a terrible volcanic eruption that he had witnessed as a young man. The eruption had occurred on August 24th, 79 AD. The earth began to tremble and a volcano named Vesuvius, near Pompeii, Italy, erupted. Pliny described a cloud coming down the mountain, blocking out the sun and burying

5、everything in its path, including whole villages and towns.This particularly sad event left a deep impression on Pliny who had lost an uncle in the eruption. Yet, over the centuries, there was a greater loss. The people, towns and villages that had disappeared under the ashes were entirely forgotten

6、 by the world.However, more than 1,600 years later, some scientists found the lost towns that had been buried under the ashes. By 1748, they had found an awesome historical site. They had started to dig out the ancient city of Pompeii.In a way, Pompeii is like a “time capsule” preserving a frozen mo

7、ment in history. Before the eruption occurred, it had been a booming Roman city with temples, markets, restaurants and theatres. Now as you walk along the streets of the city, time rewinds. You can admire the ancient architecture, statues, decorated walls and authentic objects characteristic of the

8、time.However, much more than buildings and objects, it is the forms of the people who were caught in the disaster that have made the city a monument to human history.The bodies of people who had died in Pompeii left impressions in the ash that showed their exact shapes. As you walk, you will pass pe

9、ople gathered together for protection in their last hours of life. One person, sitting alone, looks like he is praying. Another man, lying on his side, looks as if he is trying to get up. One can only feel sorrow and deep sympathy for these once-living statues.Today, more than 250 years after scient

10、ists found the city, thousands of tourists and hundreds of scientists visit Pompeii every year to learn more about the ancient world. In this way, the city, which the world had once forgotten, lives on nearly 2,000 years after its loss.Lesson 2 Name StoriesWang Jiannan: My name is Wang Jiannan and l

11、ike many Chinese names, Jiannan doesnt have just one specific meaning. When my parents were looking for a name for me, they came across the character “Nan”. “Nan” is a type of wood that is used to hold up the roof in the construction of traditional Chinese houses.Therefore my parents chose this char

12、acter for me because they wanted me to grow up to be a “pillar of society” someone who helps to build a better future. But, as well as having meaning from the characters that are used for writing, Chinese names can also have significance according to their sounds. In my case, Jiannan sounds like “he

13、althy boy”.Some people think its abnormal to name a girl “healthy boy”, but I dont. My parents gave me this name because they wanted me to be as strong as any boys. I guess you think thats enough significance for one name but theres more. “Jiannan” sounds like another set of characters that stand fo

14、r “built in the south” and we come from the southern part of our province. So my name tells me where I am from and it tells me what to aim for!Heather Smith: My name is Heather Smith. “Smith” is one of the most common names in Britain. A smith is somebody who works with metal. Other family names wit

15、h the same origin include Smithers and Smythe. I guess there were lots of smiths in Europe in the days when horses were the fastest form of land transport and riders counted on the services of smiths for metal horse shoes. Well there are very few of them these days and no one in my family can figure

16、 out which ancestor was a smith but I suppose we must have had one sometime in the past. My first name is easier to explain. “Heather” is a purple flower that grows a lot in certain parts of the country. My mother comes from a place in northern England where heather turns whole hills a vivid purple

17、every July. But when she had me, she was living in London and although she was delighted to have a new baby girl, she was also discouraged because she missed her home in northern England, and because her mother, my grandmother, was ill at that time and couldnt come to London to see us. So my mother

18、named me Heather to remind her of home and so my grandmother would think of me every time she saw the beautiful heather covering all the hills surrounding her home. Now my mother says I look like my grandma.Isaac Evans: My name is Isaac Evans. Its a very conventional name that doesnt stand out anywh

19、ere and you wouldnt think it had a story to it, but I believe that when you dig deep enough, every name has a story to it. “Evans” is a very common Welsh name and Im not sure exactly what it means, only that there are many “Evans” in Wales and all around Britain. My grandfather left his farm in nort

20、hern Wales to look for work when he was seventeen and he ended up in Manchester. Theres a lot of industry there. He put up with a lot of hardship and suffering all his life to provide a good future for his family and Im grateful for that.“Isaac” is a fairly common boys name. You might think thatI go

21、t called “Isaac” because my parents couldnt think of anything else to call me! But youd be wrong. My parents are classical musicians and they named me after a famous violinist called Itzhak Perlman. They admired him because he was a great musician and he wasnt afraid to try out new ideas in his musi

22、c. I dont play a musical instrument, but I am a painter and I often listen to classical music when I paint. When I listen to Itzhak Perlmans music, it inspires me.Guo Jiangsheng: My name is Guo Jiangsheng. Jiangsheng means “born on the river”, and guess what? I was born on a boat! My family lives in

23、 a small mountain village. My parents needed to travel by boat to Chongqing where my mother was going to stay in a hospital for my birth. They were still on the boat outside Chongqing when suddenly my mother started to feel some pain. Then I was born. My parents got off the boat with their new baby

24、and then went to the hospital to see if everything was OK. The doctors and nurses were very surprised and said my mother and I were both very healthy. After that my parents decided I should be called Jiangsheng!Amazing But True!One day, a fisherman on the Arral Sea was sailing home after a days work

25、. It was raining and he didnt feel very happy. He hadnt had a very good day and hadnt caught very many fish. Suddenly, he heard a strange noise. A cow was flying towards his boat! The cow hit the boat and nearly destroyed it. When the fisherman got back home, people didnt believe his story. Then, so

26、me time later, the US Air Force showed that the fisherman had told the truth. While one of their transport planes was flying over the Arral Sea, a cow on the plane had gone mad and the pilot had thrown it out into the sea!Lesson 3 Life StoriesHelen KellerHelen Keller was a very special girl who need

27、ed a superb teacher. By the time she was seven years old, she still couldnt speak, read or write. This was because Helen couldnt see or hear. With these severe restrictions on her communication, Helens behaviour was often unbearable.She was stubborn and angry, and often broke things when she wasnt u

28、nderstood.Anne Sullivan was brought in to help Helen. Anne was a teacher and former student at a school for the blind in Boston. She had had eyesight problems early in life as well so she could relate to Helens difficulties. Her first goal was to stop Helens troublesome behaviour. Helen would need t

29、his valuable preparation in order to learn language. She would also need lots of love. When Anne and Helen first met, Anne gave Helen a big hug.Helen would have to learn to understand words spelled on her hand. Annes technique was simple and straightforward. She would put an object into one of Helen

30、s hands and spell the word into her other hand. She started with dolls. She would let Helen play with the doll, and then spell the letters “D-O-L-L” into her hand. Helen thought this was a game. She had a precise description of her excitement in her book, The Story of My Life: “Running downstairs to my mother, I held up my hand and made the letters for doll. I did not know that I was spelling a word or even that words existed; I was simply making my fingers go in monkey-like