Unit 3ships in the desert课文解释.docx

1、Unit 3ships in the desert课文解释Unit 3: Ships in the Desertby Al GorI . Additional Background Knowledge 1. Al Gore the author 2. Clean Air Act 3. The Aral Sea II . Introduction to the Passage 1. Type of literature: a piece of exposition 2. The purpose of a piece of exposition: - to inform or explain 3.

2、 Ways of developing the thesis of a piece of exposition: - comparison, contrast, analogy, identification, illustration, analysis, definition, etc. 4. The central thought or thesis III . Effective Writing Skills 1. making effective use of specific verbs 2. discussing the solution to environmental pro

3、blems from a politicians point of view, that is, relating the solution to environmental destruction to the solution to arm races IV . Rhetorical Devices 1. understatement 2. metaphor V . Special Difficulties 1. analyzing the structure of some long and complicated sentences 2. understanding the scien

4、tific matters connected with ecological environment 3. translating long and complicated sentences 4. mastering the rules of word formation VI . Questions 1. How has human civilization now become the dominant cause of change in the global environment? 2. What changes in the global environment present

5、 a strategic threat to human civilization? How should we face this challenge and solve the problem? 3.What solutions does the writer put forward to our ecological problems? Detailed Teaching Notes:Background knowledgeAbout the author:Al Gore was born in 1948 in Washington D.C., U.S. He has been a Se

6、nator (1984-1992) 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 closely tied election and has become the 43rd American President. The text is taken from Al Gores book

7、Earth in the Balance.The Aral Sea:The Aral Sea, located in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan (both countries were part of the former Soviet Union), is historically a saline lake. It is in the centre of a large, flat desert basin. The Aral Sea is a prime example of a dynamic environment. In 1960 it was the w

8、orlds fourth largest lake, the size of the entirety of Southern California (at 26,250 square miles, approximately two hundred times larger than the Salton Sea).Americas Great Lakes:Americas Great Lakes refer to the group of five freshwater lakes, central North America, between the United States and

9、Canada, largest body of fresh water in the world. From west to east, they are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. HOMES can help remember the names of the five lakes. H stands for Huron, O for Ontario, M for Michigan, E for Erie and S for Superior.Lake Superior:Lak

10、e Superior is one of the cleanest lakes in the world because of its temperature, size, and the lack of people living around it. Lake Superior, with a surface area of 31,700 square miles, is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. This one body of water contains 10% of all the fresh

11、water in all the lakes and rivers in the world. The amount of time needed for the water in Lake Superior to be completely replaced is 191 years. The lake is known for its cold temperatures. Almost all of Lake Superiors water stays at 39 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) all year. Lake Superior

12、is often referred to as “crystal clear,” with visibility of 50 feet or more.Antarctica:Antarctica is icy cold. Transantarctic Mountains divide it into the East Antarctic and West Antarctic subcontinents. China has set up two scientific research stations there: Zhongshan Station in the East and Great

13、 Wall in the West. Clean Air Act:American Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970, which is one of the oldest environmental laws of the U.S. as well as the most far-reaching, the costliest, and the most controversial. Rhetorical devices: understatement: the prospects of a good catch looked bleakal

14、literation: fast pasture for fast-food beefmetaphor: cloak, ghostsrhetorical question: But, without even considering that threat, shouldnt it startle us that we have now put these clouds in the evening sky which glisten with a spectral light?Or have our eyes adjusted so completely to the bright ligh

15、ts of civilization that we cant see these clouds for what they area physical manifestation of the violent collision between human civilization and the earth?metonymy: concretePreview:Whats the meaning of the title?What do you expect to have when you read the title?What kind of writing is the text?Wh

16、at is the theme? What does the author try to tell us through his article?How is the exposition developed?Typical content of an exposition: Part 1 A problem is pointed out (definition, phenomena, etc) Part 2 The problem is analyzed (causes, classification, advantages/disadvantages, etc) Part 3 How to

17、 solve it (suggestion, etc.) How does an essay / feature article begin？Whats the effect the writer produces here?Detailed studyParagraph 1 1.capable of processing a fifty-ton catch on a good day: having the ability of cleaning and preparing for marketing or canning fifty-tons of fish on a productive

18、 day.catch: the amount of something caught; in the sentence it refers to the amount of fish caughte.g. The boat brought back a big catch of fish.bow : the front part of a ship vs stern2. the prospects of a good catch looked bleak: a good catch did not look promising / hopeful.This is obliviously an

19、understatement because with sand all around there was no chance of catching fish, to say nothing of catching a lot of fish.bleak: a) If a situation is bleak, it is bad, and seems unlikely to improve.e.g. His future looked bleak.bleak prospect; the bleakness of the post war years b) If a place is ble

20、ak, it looks cold, bare, and unattractive e.g. the bleak coastlinec) When the weather is bleak, it is cold, dull, and unpleasante.g. the bleak wintersd) If someone looks or sounds bleak, they seem depressed, hopeless, or unfriendlye.g. his bleak featuresbleakly adv.e.g. He stared bleakly ahead.“What

21、,” he asked bleakly, “are these?”3. waves lapping against the side of the ship: waves touching the side of the ship gently and makes a soft soundlap can also be used as a noun.e.g. Her youngest child was asleep in her lap.He placed the baby on the womans lap.In a race, when you say that a competitor

22、 has completed a lap when he or she has gone round the course race.4. as far as I could see in all direction: that extended as far as the eye could see：that stretched all the way to the horizon: that extended to the far off place where the sky meet the earth5. comparable: something that is comparabl

23、e to something elsedock: v. anchor, moorHow many images of environmental destruction are presented here in para 1?Paragraph 2. 6. My search for these images of destruction: I traveled around the world because I wanted to see, check and study cases of such destruction in order to find out the basic c

24、auses behind the environmental crisis.images of destruction: typical examples of destruction7. the sun glaring at midnight through a hole in the sky: the sun shining at midnight through the ozone depletion8. about the tunnel he was digging through time: about the tunnel he was drilling for samples f

25、rom the glacier, which estimates the time. The deeper he drilled, the farther the sample in time; in other words, the surface of the glacier is an indication of recent time while the deeper part of the glacier tells of situation of a much more remote period.9. Slipping his parka back to reveal a bad

26、ly burned face that was cracked and peeling: Pushing his parka back, he revealed a badly burned face because of overexposure to direct sunlight; on the face there were lines that were split open and pieces of skin were coming down.parka: n. waterproof jacket with a hood attached (as worn for skiing,

27、 mountain climbing, etc.)10. He moved his finger back in time to the ice of two decades ago: Following the layers of ice in the core sample, his finger came to the place where the layer of ice was formed 20 years ago.11.two continents: South America and Antarctica12.emission: the amount of pollutant

28、s discharged13.least accessible place on earth: the place which is the most difficult to get to in the worldParagraph 3 14. Industry meant coal: the development of industry meant the use of large amount of coal as fuel to generate power.15. bringing rising levels of carbon dioxide: making the amount

29、 of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere grow 16.with its ability to trap more heatwarm the earth: 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.17.upwind from the ice runawaythat inexorable change

30、:upwind: in the direction from which the wind is blowing or usually blows 18.ice runway : runway is a strip of paved ground for use by airplanes in taking off and landing, and here in the South Pole the runway is a strip of ice ground19.to prevent the metal parts from freeze-locking together: to sto

31、p the metal parts from being frozen solid20.monitor the air: watch or check on the airto chart the course: to show the onward movement on an outline map21.inexorable: that cannot be changed; unalterablee.g. the inexorable rise in the cost of livingHis own career continues its inexorable ascent他事业的上升

32、势头锐不可当。the inexorable rise of crime 阻遏不了的犯罪趋势 22.graph: usually a mathematical diagramParagraphs 4 & 5 23.pitch: pitch a tent means put up a tente.g. They pitched their tent near the stream.They pitched their tent at the edge of the field.24.slab: A slab of something is a thick flat piece of it.e.g. a slab of rock; a concrete slab; a slab of cheese25.frigid: cold; icy; freezinge.g. frigid weather26.a hearty bre