Robots now all over TV (P1)

太原市外国语学校  王丽媛 

 

I. Warming up

Do you like robots? What can they do for human beings?

What are the similarities and differences between humans and robots?

 

II. Pre-reading   

Do you prefer people or artificial intelligence?

Watch the following video and discuss what you think this TV series is about.

Humans

 

III. Reading

Read the article and try to answer the following question: 

What is the article mainly about?

It describes two TV series about robots and discusses the questions they make us think about.

 

Try to answer the following questions:

1. What question does the British TV series Humans deal with?

It deals with the question of what happens when artificial intelligence becomes too human-like.

2. What is the world in Humans like?

It is similar to the one we are living in right now, but in that world, any busy family can buy a robot servant (a “Synth”) who can go shopping for people and take care of their children.

3. Who are more like humans, Synths or real people?

Synths can be more likeable than real people.

4. What does the author think of HBO’s Westworld?

It takes the discussion of the differences between humans and robots to another level.

5. How do viewers feel while they watch Westworld?

While watching the show, they can’t help but feel bad for the robots and disgusted at the humans.

6. What is the interesting, yet scary, thought that stays in our mind while we watch the shows?

How do we know that we are not actually Synths? Maybe our lives were designed by humans, too.

 

Try to judge whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F) according to the article you have read:

1. Season two of the British TV series Humans is going to start at the end of next month.                                   

2. Though the Synths are very lifelike, it’s easy to tell them from humans.

3. British journalist Neela Debnath believes that it’s actually humans that have been put under the microscope.

4. Compared with the British TV series Humans, in HBO’s Westworld, the differences between humans and robots are shown in a more direct way.

5. In HBO’s Westworld, human tourists are not allowed to kill robots.

6. Watching robots find their own thoughts little by little, we hope that they will stand up against the humans in the show and fight for their rights.

Key: FFTTFT

 

IV. Discussion

You can choose either Topic 1 or Topic 2:

Topic 1:

Nowadays, artificial intelligence has become more and more human-like and robots can do many things that people can do. Sometimes, they do things even better than human beings. Is that a threat to humans? What is your desired robot like? Have a discussion with your group members about this topic and try to describe your ideal robot to others.

Topic 2:

In both Humans and Westworld, it seems that robots are more human than human beings. Do you think people have started to become less and less human? Why do you think so? Share your ideas about humans’ humanity with your group members.

 

V. Writing 

Choose either Topic 1 or Topic 2 according to the discussion you have chosen.

Topic 1:

Write an article describing your ideal robots.

Topic 2:

Write an article describing your ideas about humans’ humanity.

 

Eating biggest meal (P4-5)

山东省烟台第二中学  柳力文

 

I. Warming up   

On which holiday do American people eat the biggest meal?

Thanksgiving Day

 

II. Pre-reading

Some facts you should know about Thanksgiving

•Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated in Canada and the United States. It was originally celebrated as a day of giving thanks for the blessings of the harvest (丰收) and for the preceding (之前的) year.

•Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States.

What do people eat on Thanksgiving?

 

III. Fast reading

Questions:

1. What is the article mainly about?

Some southern US dishes that are eaten for Thanksgiving dinner.

2. What are the two special dishes mentioned?

The “turducken” and “hush puppies”.

 

IV. Careful reading

Read the article and answer the following questions.

1. What is Thanksgiving, according to the article?

Thanksgiving is one of the most famous holidays that the US celebrates. It is a truly American tradition that teaches the values of family, sharing and, most American of all, eating a lot of delicious food.

2. How do people make a “turducken”? Can you guess how people made up the word?

A chicken is put inside a duck, which is then put in a turkey, all deboned (剔骨), and they are all cooked together.

The word is made up of turkey, duck and chicken.

3. Why did people name the balls of corn bread “hush puppies”?

The bread would be very chewy (有嚼劲的) and was given to the hunting dogs to make them quiet during the hunt.

4. How important is southern food, according to the writer? Why is it important?

Southern food in the US is very famous all over the world and is a very important part of the state’s cultural identity. It also reminds him of how he spent Thanksgiving with his whole family back home and the meaning of Thanksgiving.

 

V. Language focus

1. It is a truly American tradition that teaches the values of family, sharing and, most American of all, eating a lot of delicious food. 

•that teaches…是定语从句，修饰American tradition. 

•句中两个American意思是“传统/地道美国的”。

2. This year the holiday falls on Nov 24.

•fall on: to happen or take place

•e.g. My birthday falls on a Wednesday this year.

3. It is a chicken put inside a duck, which is then put in a turkey, all deboned (剔骨), and they are all cooked together.

•Note: 这是一个由and连接的并列句，其中which is then…是定语从句，先行词是duck; all deboned是独立结构，all是deboned的逻辑主语，二者是被动关系。

4. The bread would be very chewy (有嚼劲的) and keep the dogs quiet, hence the name “hush puppies”.

•hence adv. for this reason

•e.g. We suspect they are trying to hide something, hence the need for an independent inquiry.

•我们怀疑他们在企图隐瞒什么，因此有必要进行独立调查。

5. Personally, it reminds me of my whole family gathered around the table, drinking, eating and laughing together, thankful for each other.

Note: 

①gathered around the table是分词短语作后置定语，修饰my whole family；

②drinking, eating and…each other分别是分词作状语和形容词短语作伴随状语。

③personally 是副词作状语，“就我个人而言”。相当于Personally speaking,…

•eg. Personally speaking, I prefer the second option.

④remind sb. of/ about sth.使某人想起…

•Remind me to call my parents after school.

•Her gift was a reminder of our deep friendship.

 

VI. Discussion

1. What else do you know about Thanksgiving?

Who celebrated the first Thanksgiving?

What do people usually do after dinner?

……

2. What other traditional Western festivals do you know about?

 

VII. Assignment

Read more about Thanksgiving and Western festivals and choose one to write about.

 

Learning from pet (P6)

哈尔滨市第一中学 张婳

 

I. Pre-reading

Do you have a pet? Have you ever taken care of any animal?

 

II. Reading

1.Why did they decide to care for the squirrel?

The tiny squirrel was likely an orphan. He was weak and hungry. And there were no wildlife rehabilitators (复健员) in their county.

2.Who mostly took care of the squirrel ?

The oldest daughter, Kaytlin. 

3.Did it take a long time for the squirrel to go back to the wild?

No.

4.What difficulties did the squirrel meet when it was introduced to the wild?

He did not feel safe and he lacked social skills.

 

III. Vocabulary

Look at some sentences and try to figure out the meanings of the underlined words.

1.We should release (释放) him as soon as he could survive on his own.

1)幸存 He survived the earthquake.

2)生存 He can’t survive on such a small amount of money.

3)仍然存在，保存下来 Several old buildings in the town have survived for hundreds of years.

4)比(通常指亲人)活得更长 He is survived by his wife, Sue.

2.Kaytlin took on the most responsibility. 

承担

take on a new look 呈现新面貌

3.To our relief, Squirt soon began to get better. 

使我们宽慰的是

4.And that remained the pattern for a few weeks. 

继续，保持, 系动词，相当于was

 

IV. Structure

Look at the sentence and pay attention to its structure.

•My husband, Shawn, and I enjoy seeing life through the eyes of our five children.

enjoy后面接doing

Verbs that could go with v-ing form:

avoid, admit, appreciate, deny, delay, enjoy, fancy, finish, imagine, keep, mind, miss, resist, risk, practice, stand, suggest, etc 

•A goalkeeper has to be great at stopping the ball from going in.

•He couldn’t resist laughing at my clothes.

If you keep _____ English, you can improve your English.

A. practicing speak

B. practicing speaking

C. practicing to speak

D. to practice spoken

Key: B