Huang gets 14 years (P2)
湖南宁乡一中  夏素钦
I. Pre-reading
You must be familiar with “Gome Electronics”, which has a lot of branches all around China. Do you know what has happened to Huang Guangyu, the former chairman of Gome Electronics?

II. Reading
A. Read the article and answer the following questions.
1. What has happened to Huang Guangyu?
2. What made Huang once the role model of many young Chinese businessmen?
3. According to Premier Wen Jiabao, whom will China make efforts to investigate in this year’s anti-corruption work?

B. Put these events in time-order.
1. Huang Guangyu was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
2. Huang opened an appliance retail business called “Gome Electronics”.
3. Huang followed his brother into business.
4. Huang collected garbage to support the family.
5. Huang was born to a poor family.
6. Huang’s company was listed on the Hong Kong stock market.
7. Huang was found guilty of bribery, insider trading and illegal business practices.
8. Huang became the richest man in China.

III. Language study
A. Find these words in the article. Guess their meanings from the context. Then match them with the correct definitions.
(  )1. fine                      a. thing that is (regarded as) more important than others
(  )2. runaway                    b. the act of chasing
(  )3. innovative             c. punish sb by demanding a sum of money
(  )4. pursuit           d. survey of public opinion by putting questions to a representative selection of people
(  )5. priority                e. happening very rapidly or easily
(  )6. poll                       f. introducing or using new ideas, techniques, etc

B. Pick out the sentences in which the underlined words are used with the same meaning as they have in the article.
1. Huang was charged with paying 4.6 million yuan in bribes to five officials and with the insider trading of Gome shares worth 1.4 billion yuan.
A. How much would you charge for repairing my CD player?
B. It usually takes one hour to get my cellphone fully charged.
C. Someone charged him with murder.
2. But this hunger for profit was at odds with society’s desire for honesty and fairness.
A. He died of hunger.
B. Tom has a hunger for adventure.
C. The prisoner is on a hunger strike.
3. At the age of 16, Huang dropped out of junior high school and followed his brother to Inner Mongolia to do business.   
A. She got a scholarship to Cambridge but dropped out a year later.
B. The group gets smaller as members move away or drop out.
C. The house dropped out of sight as we drove over the hill.

C. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the phrases from the box:

hunger for    charge… with/ accuse… of     at odds with    make efforts to       trade for     take advantage of

1. Nowadays, many government officials _______ power to act illegally.
2. The results of the study are ________ our previous findings.
3. I’ll ________ improve my English.
4. I like your model boat. May I ________ my stamp collection ____ it?
5. In my opinion, every child has ________ knowledge, and not have to made to study.
6. Huang Guangyu ____________ paying bribes to five officials.

IV. Post-reading
Discussion:
Huang Guangyu went from tycoon to prisoner.
Do you think this case is a warning to the world?
What lesson can we learn from this case?
What do you think is the most important thing on the road to success?

Billionaire’s son claims that Dad’s vast wealth
hasn’t spoiled him (P4)
湖南宁乡一中  夏素钦

I. Pre-reading

What do you know about Warren Buffett?
How do you think this billionaire investor has influenced his son?

Introduction to Warren Buffett:
Warren Buffett, born August 30, 1930, is an American investor and industrialist. He is one of the most successful investors in the world. Often called the “legendary investor Warren Buffett”, he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is consistently ranked among the world's wealthiest people and is currently the third wealthiest person in the world. Buffett is also a notable philanthropist (慈善家), having pledged to give away 85 percent of his fortune to the Gates Foundation.
Peter Buffett, the second son of Warren Buffett, is an American musician, composer, author and producer.

II. Reading

A. Read the article and answer the following questions:
1. Why does Peter Buffett think people born with a silver spoon in their mouth can fall victim to “a silver dagger in their back”?
2. In which way does Peter Buffett think his parents influenced him a lot?
3. What does Buffett think of economic prosperity and values?

B. Decide whether the following sentences are true or false.
1. Peter Buffett enjoys a hugely privileged life as the son of a billionaire.  (  )
2. Peter Buffett’s father never wanted his son to go into finance.         (  )
3. Peter Buffett cares more about wealth and fame than anything else.     (  )
4. Peter Buffett is against damaging the environment.                  (  )

III. Language study
In each sentence, judge which of the choices is closest in meaning to the underlined word.
1. The soldier deserves the award for his acts of bravery.
A. is praised for         B. is worthy of          C. gets

2. Thousand of trees have fallen victim to this disease.
A. have survived
B. have suffered from
C. have been protected from

3. I assume that the present situation is going to continue.
A. pretend                  B. undertake                   C. think

4. Economic prosperity may come and go.
A. be present for a short time and then go away
B. disappear
C. exist

What lies under the sea? (P5)
湖南宁乡一中  朱颖红
I. Pre-reading
Show the headline of the article and ask the students:
Do you know what lies under the sea?

II. Skimming
Skim the article to try to find how deep the oceans are and how much water they hold according to the scientists.

III. Scanning
 Read the article and answer the following questions.
1. What did scientists use to get the new estimates of the volume of the oceans?
2. What were the previous estimates of the oceans’ volume and depth?
3. Why is the volume of the oceans falling?
4. What do the ocean bottoms look like, according to satellite measurements?
5. Has the satellite project measured all the world’s oceans?
6. Why do the satellite numbers need “fine-tuning”?

IV. Language study
Use the correct forms of words and phrases from the box to complete the sentences.

mysterious    shortcoming   though    previous          rather turn out      figure out      take up   take…for granted   so far

1. Could you give me summaries of their ________experience?
2. He has make up his mind to overcome his _________.
3.There are many _________ stories about the Egyptian pyramids.
4. He said he would come; he didn't, _________.
5. It's not cold. ________, it's very hot indeed.
6. We must _______ how to solve the problem.
7. Research really _______ lots of time and energy.
8. We _____ it _______ that we'd be invited to the party.
9. No agreement has been reached between them __________.
10. I am sure things will ______________ all right.

3. Look at the following sentences and make a conclusion:
1. A group of scientists used satellite (卫星) measurements to get new estimates(估测) of these values, which turned out to be 1.332 billion cubic kilometers for the volume (体积) of the oceans and 3,682.2 meters for the average ocean depth.
2. Rather, it reflects a greater ability to locate undersea mountains, which take up space for water.
3. Instead, they measure the ocean surface, which reflects what lies beneath.
4. “A lot of water values are taken for granted,” said Matthew Charette, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in US, who led the new oceans project.
5. We’re measuring the sea surface that is affected by mountains, but we’re seeing only really big mountains, and in a blurry (模糊的) way.

Discussion: What are the differences between restrictive clauses and non- restrictive clauses?
1. 形式不同
限定性定语从句主句和从句之间不用逗号隔开；而非限定性定语从句与主句之间通常有逗号隔开。
2. 作用不同
限定性定语从句用于对先行词的意义进行修饰、限制和识别，如果去掉，就会造成句意不完整或概念不清；而非限定性定语从句用于对先行词起补充说明作用，如果省略，句意仍然清楚、完整：
3. 翻译不同
在翻译定语从句时，一般把限定性定语从句翻译在它所修饰的先行词之前，而把非限定性定语从句与主句分开。
4.关系词不同
关系词that和whom可用于限制性定语从句中，通常不用于非限制性定语从句；另外，在限制性定语从句中，关系词有时可以省略，而在非限制性定语从句中关系词一律不省。

Thanks a lot, Polly! (P6)
湖南宁乡一中  朱颖红
I. Reading  
True or False?
1. Charlie was a quiet and shy boy.
2. Polly got on well with the kids when she was a driver.
3. The small tin heart disappeared on the last day of school.
4. Charlie was very nervous when asked to come forward.
5. The rest of the kids asked Polly to let Charlie keep the small tin heart.
6. Polly recognized Charlie as soon as she met him in the department store.
7. Polly met Charlie 12 years after his retirement.

II. Language study
Use the correct forms of words from the box to complete the sentences.

protest   approach   delay  chance    break out    stare at

1.There is no________ that he will change his mind.
2. He delivered a verbal_______ against their cruel acts.
3. They ________ having children until their late 30s.
4. The students are excited, because their holiday is________.
5. A fire ________ in the kitchen.
6. The old woman _____ me, making me so frightened that I turned away from her

III. Post-reading 
Discussion:
What have you learnt from the story?

 

Possible answers:
Huang gets 14 years (P2)
II. Reading

1. 1. After he was found guilty of bribery, insider trading and illegal business practices, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined 600 million yuan, and another 200 million yuan worth of property was confiscated.

2. His innovative business ideas and huge personal wealth.
3. Those who trade power for money, and those who take advantage of power to act illegally in areas including urban planning, the approval of construction programs, mineral resources exploration and bidding and tendering.
B. 5,4,3,2,6,8,7,1

III. Language study

A. c, e, f, b, a, d
B. 1. C   2. B   3. A
C. 1. take advantage of   2. at odds with    3. make efforts to 
4. trade…for         5. hunger for    6. was accused of/was charged with

Billionaire’s son claims that Dad’s vast wealth
hasn’t spoiled him (P4)

II. Reading

A. 1. Because it leads to a sense of entitlement and a lack of personal achievement.
2. By teaching him the philosophy — forge your own path in life.
3. Economic prosperitymay come and go, while values can earn us the all-important rewards.
B. 1. F   2. F   3. F   4. T

III. Language study

1. B   2. B   3. C   4. A

What lies under the sea? (P5)
II. Skimming
It is estimated that the oceans are 1.332 billion cubic kilometers in volume and that 3,682.2 meters is the average ocean depth.
III. Scanning
1. Satellite measurements
2. They are inaccurate and the numbers are larger than the recent estimates.
3. Because now scientists have a greater ability to locate undersea mountains, which take up space for water.
4. They are bumpier and more mountainous than had been imagined.
5. No. Some areas of the Arctic covered with ice haven’t been measured.
6. Because there is a problem with resolution in satellite measurements. They are 15 times inferior to those of our maps of Mars and the moon.
IV. Language study
previous; shortcomings; mysterious; though; rather
figure out; takes up; took…for granted; so far; turn out

Thanks a lot, Polly! (P6)
I. Reading  
F; T; F; F; F; F, T
II. Language study
chance; protest; delayed; approaching; broke out; stared at