neath进阶精读 4 unit1

Unit 1

Ocean Exploration

I. Objectives:

Students are required to be able to

1. Have a thorough understanding of the next contextually and linguistically

2. Expand their vocabulary to talk about deep sea and know how to use the key

words and expressions in context properly;

3. Talk about the importance of the oceans and ocean study, the current status of

ocean study and why it is far from satisfactory;

4. Get familiar with argumentative writing.

II. Importance and difficulties:

1. Usage: sort of/kind of

2. Analysis of some complex sentences;

3. To learn to appreciate the reading skills demonstrated in the text.

III. Teaching methods:

1. Blackboard (with detailed explanations and analysis of the text);

2. Multi-media (to display the lead-in and background information of the text);

sion (to divide students to several

groups to discuss the possible benefits

and drawbacks of ocean exploration.)

IV

. Teaching-Steps:

1. Opener (for one class)

a. Ask Ss to

Look

at

the picture on page 13

while listening to

the recording

and

then work with their partner to answer the questions that follow.

(1)According to the speaker, what does the SeaOrbiter look like?

It looks like a giant ship sinking in the sea.

(2)

What purpose will it serve?

It will be a permanent mobile exploration station for scientists to observe what is

going on under the surface of the sea.

(3)

How many such vessels will be built and launched according to the architect?

According to him, half a dozen such vessels will be built and launched.

b. Briefly explain to Ss what Shark Week is .

Shark

Week

is

an

annual,

week- long

TV

programming

block

at

the

Discovery

channel, which, usually beginning in July or early August, features shark-themed

programs.

It

was

originally

devoted

to

conservation

efforts

and

correcting

misconceptions about sharks.

《鲨鱼周》是美国有线电视探索频道一年一度、为期一周的以鲨鱼为主题的

< br>电视节目，

通常于每年

7

月或< /p>

8

月初播放。

其初衷是保护海洋、

纠正对鲨鱼

的错误观念。

c. Introduce

the Times

to the ss

The

Times is

a

British daily (Monday

to

Saturday) national

newspaper based

in

London, England. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register,

adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. The Times is the first newspaper to

have borne that name, and it is also the originator of the widely used Times New

Roman typeface.

The

Times had

an

average

daily

circulation

of

446,164

in

December 2016; An American edition of The Times has been published since 6

June

2006. It

has

been

heavily

used

by

scholars

and

researchers

because

of

its

widespread availability in libraries and its detailed index.

d. Direct Ss’ attention to the new words and expressions in opener.

Sea Orbiter

海洋探测者号

(

建造中的一艘用作海

洋探索平台的垂直船舶

)

vessel

n.

船

currently ad.

现在

set sail

扬帆起航

permanent a.

永久的

Houseboat n.

船屋

e. play the audio in Opener twice and ask Ss to answer the questions.

(1) What is the video clip about?

(2) What is the name of this kind of fish?

(3)Why do people in this documentary decide to find and observe coelacanth?

(4) Why does the documentary mention dinosaurs?

(5) What was the coelacanth called according to 1938’s newspaper titles?

(6) What do you feel after watching the video? What do you think we can find

through tracing and observing coelacanth?

f. choose some Ss to report their answers to class and then give feedback.

2. Reading & Interacting

(for two classes)

a. New words and phrases of Reading & Interacting;

b. Give a brief introduction of the general idea of the story told in the text;

This

article

sets

out

to

win

us

over

to

the

idea

that

more

resources

should

be

given to deep sea research. The writer could have simply given us a dry lecture

on the benefits. Instead he engages our interest by wrapping up his argument in a

series of contrasts. Difficulty and success are held in skilful tension throughout.

Having started by quoting an authority on how little we know about the deep sea

in

general,

he

moves

on

to

regret

how

little

we

know

about

the

giant

squid

in

particular.

It

comes

as

a

pleasant

surprise

when

the

negative

tone

set

by

these

details

of

our

ignorance

is

suddenly

shattered

in

Paragraph

Three

with

the

account of the filming of the giant squid. Having shown what can be done with

modern resources the author then returns to his theme of how much more needs

to be done. The success was, after all, “but a drop…in the ocean.” But he then

switches

back

once

again

to

a

more

positive

note,

illustrating

what

can

be

achieved

with

the

story

of

his

sinking

of

the

whale.

Even

in

his

simile

of

the

watch,

a

similar

pattern

is

present.

As

he

points

out,

while

understanding

the

ocean

depths

is

much

like

understanding

the

mechanism

of

a

watch,

unlike

a

watch the ocean depths are far more difficult to open up.

c. Ask the students to read through the text and text and then divide the passage into

several parts;

Part One

Paras. 1

–

3

Man is far from having control of the ocean. We know

very little about it, and the discoveries we have made, though monumental, are

but a drop in an ocean-sized bucket.

Part

Two

Paras.

4

–

5

The

human-ocean

connection

is

vital

to

us.

Healthy

oceans can help ease the burden of our rapidly increasing population on Earth.

Part Three

Paras. 6

–

9

It is very important to make observations of how the

ocean works. However, owing to lack of funds, compared to space exploration,

ocean exploration is lagging far behind, with the result that we know as yet little

about the deep sea.

Part Four

Paras. 10

–

12

True there are countless discoveries to be made and

lots of work to be done, but it is worth our while to do so as we might find the

key to our survival on Earth.

d. Learn the text and give specific analysis and explanations;

e. Do the exercises related to the text.

3. Reading1, Reading 2 & Integrated Skills Practicing (for two classes)

a. Ask the students to do the Reading 1 and Reading 2 before the class, and then

check the answers in class, offering necessary guides;

b.

Ask

the

students

to

work

in

a

group

of

five

to

six

people

then

role-play

the

interview.

students in the same group do online research together to learn more about the

incident.

students playing reporters brainstorm questions to ask the BP executives

4. Integrated Skills Practicing (writing) (for one class)

a. Guide Students to write an essay in support of ocean exploration under the title

My Ocean Exploration Is So Important

.

Tips:A

piece

of

argumentation

(

论说文

)

is

one

in

which

you

make

a

claim

or

argument for or against something and back it up with facts or reasons in an effort

to persuade or influence others. The argument may be stated at the beginning of the

piece, and/or at its end as a conclusion. And the reasons supporting it should be set

forth one by one. Here are some sentence patterns you can use to list your reasons:

There are som

e good reasons / two possible reasons for …

The reason lies in that …

On the one hand … On the other hand …

In the first place / First of all / For starters / To begin with …

Secondly / Furthermore / In the second place / In addition /

Besides / Also …

Finally / Last / Last but not the least …

b.

Have

students

work

in

pairs,

exchange

their

writing

and

make

comments

according to the Evaluation criteria in Writing.

Writing:

Why Ocean Exploration Is So Important

Countries,

and

the

superpowers

in

particular,

are

spending

huge

amounts

of

money on manned space exploration, which to me seems to be an incredible waste. I

believe more money should be devoted to ocean exploration instead.

The oceans cover more than two-thirds of our planet

’s surface. They cool us off,

and protect

our environment from

overheating. The oceans are also

a rich source of

food for us. Abundant in fish, plants and minerals, they can help ease the burden our

rapidly

expanding

population

is

placing

on

Earth.

Ocean

research

also

holds

the

promise of cures for an array of diseases and may help us combat cancer. In short, the

oceans hold the key to our future.

Unfortunately, we know little about the oceans of our own planet, let alone have

control

of

them.

Why

is

it

so?

The

reason

lies

in

the

great

disparity

between

the

amounts of funding for ocean exploration and space exploration. Less than one tenth

of one percent of the money for the latter is spent on the former. It is imperative that

we

increase

the

amount

of

funding

for

ocean

exploration,

and

start

to

observe

and

learn about the oceans in their entirety.

V

. Language Points:

a. New words and Expressions

1.

explore

v.

to

search or travel for the purpose of discovery

探测，考察

e.g. Management need to explore ways of improving office security.

2.

survival

n.

the state of continuing to live or exist

生存

e.g.

“Survival of the fittest” is the law of the jungle.

3.

on the heels of

following closely; keeping in step with

紧跟

…

之后

e.g.

Journalists arrived on the heels of the police for news about the accident.

4.

specimen

n.

a

portion

or

quantity

of

material

for

use

in

testing,

examination,

or

study

标本

e.g.

We have to test a specimen of your blood before you can become a donor.

5.

species

n.

(

pl.

species)

（生物学）物种

e.g.

The giant panda used to be an endangered species, but now it is reclassified as a

vulnerable species.

6.

assume

v.

to take for granted; suppose

想当然，以为

e.g.

We can safely assume that everyone in this small town has a mobile phone.

7.

from the beginning

从一开始

e.g.

Let me tell you what happened on this trip right from the beginning.