Enjoying cold treat (P4-5)

山东省烟台第二中学  柳力文

 

I. Warming up   

1. Have you ever shared your food with someone else? For what purpose did you share it?

2. What goals can we achieve if we give different foods as gifts?

3. Do you think food has anything to do with international relationships?

 

II. Skimming

1. What is the article mainly about?

2. If we were to divide the passage into parts, how could we do it? Can you summarize the main idea of each part respectively? 

1.What is the article mainly about?

It explores the successful use of food and drink in diplomacy.

2.  If we were to divide the passage into parts, how could we do it? Can you summarize the main idea of each part respectively?

Part 1 (para. 1-2) An introduction to the topic of the article. 

Part 2 (para. 3-7) Examples of using food in diplomacy and an exploration of the reasons behind it.

Part 3 (para. 8) Reasons why nations use food in diplomacy.

 

III. Scanning

Question: How many examples are listed to support the writer’s view? What are they?

•Two.

①Putin gave President Xi a gift of Russian ice cream during the 2016 G20 Summit;

②David Cameron treated President Xi to a beer at a pub.

 

Read para. 1-5 and answer the questions.

1.What do Napoleon Bonaparte’s words suggest? Do you agree with him? Why?

Good food may be of help in developing international diplomacy.

2.Can you guess why Putin gave President Xi a gift of Russian ice cream?

Possible reasons: 

•Putin knows President Xi is a fan of Russian ice cream;

•Russians love their ice cream very much and it represents Russian culture;

He wants to improve the relationship between them and the two nations.

 

Read para. 6-8 and answer the questions.

1.What influenced the sales of British beer in Beijing last October?

David Cameron invited President Xi to drink British beer.

2.What do pubs mean to Britons, according to the article?

Pubs are popular social places for Britons. 

3.Why do people traditionally share food?

To build social bonds.

 

IV. Scanning

Read carefully and decide whether the following statements are true.

•Russian ice cream is tasty because of its use of high-quality fresh cream and thicker chocolate crusts.

• Russians definitely love vodka more than ice cream.

• Few Russians eat ice cream in winter.

• Beer is nothing more than a drink in Britain.

Key: TFFF

 

V. Language study 

Try to complete the sentences without referring to your newspaper.

1.This year ______ a Russian ice cream craze _______ (迅速流行) in China. 

Key: saw; take off

take off: The plane took off an hour late.

       He took off his shoes and lay in bed.

2.That’s why your ice cream is _______ (特别地) delicious.

Key: particularly

particularly: especially, specially, unusually, very, exceptionally, extraordinarily, extremely …

Tips: Using appropriate adjectives or adverbs to modify your expressions is a good way to enrich your writing!

Try it out!

Use appropriate adjectives or adverbs to modify the expressions. 

1. It rained last night.

  It rained heavily last night.

2. He plays a role in the campaign.

  He plays an active role in the campaign.

3. A majority of people object to the idea.

  A vast majority of people strongly object to the idea.

4. The government has to take action to address the problem of smog.

  The government has to take immediate action to address the problem of smog.

5. The number of elephants dropped. 

  The number of elephants dropped dramatically/ significantly.

6. Because of traffic jams in big cities, bicycles are popular.

  Because of heavy traffic jams in big cities, bicycles are increasingly popular.

7. Professional experts are needed in the information era.

  Highly professional experts are badly needed in the information era. 

 

3.I particularly like Russian ice cream, as it has a       milk taste. (flavor)

Key: flavorful

flavorful: 味道浓郁/丰富的 

4.        (信不信由你), Russians love ice cream ______（不少于；多达） they love vodka. 

Key: Believe it or not; no less than

•Admit it or not, many of us tend to tell lies when we make mistakes. 

•Like it or not, Korean bands are heard everywhere.

•Russians love ice cream as much as vodka.

5.For most of British history, beer has been much ______（不仅仅是）a drink. 

Key: more than

6.That’s one reason why pubs are so important in British social history, and they are still_____                             (是…的核心) local communities today.

Key: at the heart of

7.  It is in this tradition that nations use food to      (促进合作).                                 

Key: improve cooperation

 

VI. Discussion 

Topic: 

1. What other things can we do or share to build social bonds? 

2. If you were a wise president, what would you do to better your diplomatic relationships with other nations?

 

Testing in empty cities (P5)

江苏省宿迁中学   林利

 

I. Warming up   

What do you think of this city?

 

Can you guess what is special about this city?

 

II. Skimming 

What is the general idea of this news story?

What? Where? When? How? What for?

A “ghost city” called CITE is under construction in the middle of the New Mexico desert. It is going to be a place to test the technology of the future without hurting people. 

 

III. Scanning  

1. What is CITE? What are the reasons for building CITE? 

◆It is a Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation that covers an area of 15 square miles in a desert, an area the size of a small US city;  

◆It will be a true laboratory where the latest technology can be put to the test without causing problems before putting it out on the market. 

2. What has been the response to the idea? 

◆It may seem a good idea to some people; however, there are still doubts about CITE. 

3. What has caused the doubts? 

◆Technology that works perfectly well in CITE, when introduced to a real city, may cause problems because there could be people living in the city. 

 

IV. Discussion 

Do you think CITE is a good idea or not? State your reasons.

Good idea:

▼It involves innovation, which is essential to human progress.

▼CITE provides testing data and evaluation, and this is the basis for future use of new technology. 

▼It will test new ideas without causing safety problems.

Not a good idea:

▼It makes no sense to build a ghost city only for the purposes of a test.

▼None of the tests take place in real-life surroundings. The data and evaluations will not be very reliable.

▼The experimental results might not be able to be applied directly to real life.

Learn more about CITE:

http://cite-city.com/index.html 

 

Kids grow up fast (P6)

山东省烟台第二中学  柳力文

 

I. Pre-reading   

1. Do you keep a growth chart to record your height in your house? How do you record it?

2. Are you taller than either of your parents? If so, how did you feel when you found that you were taller than him/her?

 

II. While reading

1. Why did the writer fail to recognize her son?

Because her son had grown up too fast for her to recognize.

2. What does the growth chart look like?

There are handwritten lines and the dates along the chart’s length. Two lines represent the writer and her husband. The rest belong to Marlon and his younger brother.

3. How did Marlon feel when he found out that he was taller than his mother? How did his mother feel?

He felt cheerful. His mother felt happy about his growth, and yet a bit sad while thinking about her past times and memories.

4. What messages does the last paragraph convey?

1. Kids grow up so fast that you never really know where the years have gone.

2. The chart only shows people’s heights; it doesn’t tell their stories.

 

III. Language study

Group 1

Read the sentences and find the similarity between them.

1.Pushing open our gate, I am surprised to see a strange man, back toward me, entering our house.

2.Carrying him into our house, I was surprised by how tiny he was.

3.We would be back-to-back, standing sideways in front of the mirror, and at times it looked like he had done it.  

4.Staring at the freshly inked line, I realized what other parents had told me was true.

(The words in blue are all non-infinitive verbs. In these sentences, these participles are used as adverbials.)

Group 2

Look at these sentences and figure out the difference between groups 1 and 2.

5.  The panda’s gentle nature also shows how yin and yang, when perfectly balanced, lead to peace and harmony. (Nature shows culture, Teens 1)

6.  Exhausted from having our best theories shot down, we nodded. (Learning from lies, Teens 2)

Group 1: present participle; active voice.

Group 2: past participle; passive voice.

Challenge yourself!

1.        Tom, I couldn't help thinking of his brother. (see)

2. They all walked to the playground,         . (有说有笑)

3.          the good news, they burst into cheers. (hear)

4.         in simple English, the story is easy for everyone to read. (write)

5. The old man went into the room,       by his son. (support)

6. Your own sentence:                        .

Key: Seeing; talking and laughing; Hearing; Written; supported 

 

Only when he turns around do I realize that I am looking at my 12-year-old son, Marlon.

他转过身来，我才意识到，我看到的是自己12岁的儿子马龙。(only修饰状语置于句首，句子部分倒装)

eg.

①我们只有这样才能成功。

Only by doing this can we succeed.

②直到那时他们才知道真相。 

Only then did they know the truth.

Note：只有我知道这个秘密。

Only I knew the secret. 

 

Then a few weeks short of his twelfth birthday, it happened.

short of表“离…有（某个距离）”，“还差…(多少)”。此句在语义上相当于 a few weeks before his twelfth birthday

e.g. We stopped a mile short of the top.

 

While I was happy for him, I was a bit sad too.

= Although/Though I was happy for him, I was a bit sad too.

 

IV. Post-reading

Everyone grows. Our parents often feel happy about our growth. How do you feel about your parents’ reaction to your growth?