Movies come first here (P1)

山东烟台第二中学  孔洁

I. Warming up   

Think about the following questions: 

What international film events do you know? 

What do you know about the Cannes Film Festival? 

II. Skimming

Read the passage quickly and summarize its main idea. 

What’s the article mainly about? 

Introduce the Cannes Film Festival and the French culture behind it. 

III. Scanning 

Read the article again and answer the following questions: 

1. When was the 70th Cannes Film Festival held? Which countries’ movies were hosted?

It was held from May 17 to 28; It hosted movies from France, Germany, China and the UK, but also the works of directors from smaller, poorer nations in Africa and Asia - as well as from the US. 

2. What’s the difference between Hollywood’s Oscar Awards and the Cannes Film Festival? 

The Oscar Awards is a single evening event and hands out fancy prizes. The Cannes Film Festival is a two-week event and is more about film culture than awards. 

3. What are typical features of films that win awards at the Cannes Film Film Festival?

Firstly, they focus on the day-to-day lives of ordinary people. They’re dramas about the joys and sorrows and the pleasures and pains of everyday existence. Secondly, many have a political theme. 

4. Why is French culture important to the Cannes Film Festival? 

The French are more prepared to take ideas seriously, and to make time for matters that seem to be distant from ordinary life. 

5. What can we learn about the Cannes Film Festival from the last paragraph? 

It holds a special place in the imagination of movie lovers everywhere and it is part of the mythology of cinema. 

True or False:

1.The Cannes Film Festival is a major exhibition for European movies. 

2.The Cannes Film Festival values the artistic value of movies over their profits. 

3.French people like to reflect on life. 

4.The film I, Daniel Blake shows how an unemployed man struggles with government rules. 

5.The Cannes Film Festival was the starting point of many legendary stars. 

Key：FTFTF

IV. Language focus----expressions

 

V. Discussion  

What do you think the features of a good film are? Why? Please illustrate your idea with examples.

VI. Assignment   

Introduce one of your favorite films. Briefly introduce the plot, stating its features and the reason why it attracts you. 

 

Future of drone tech (P5)

山东烟台二中赵娜娜

I. Lead-in 

Brainstorming: 

1.Do you know drones are?

2.What can drones do?

Drones 

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. The flight of UAVs may operate with various degrees of autonomy: either under remote control by a human operator or autonomously by onboard computers. 

Different functions

Can you think of other functions or improvements?

Quality

Quantity 

II. While-reading

Fast reading

Read the article quickly, and find out the two new functions of drones mentioned in the passage.

Careful reading

Read the paragraphs about the transformer drone carefully, and answer the following questions:

1. What’s the aim of the design?

Its aim is to make farmers’ work easier by letting them survey their crops from the air and to spot plant disease, manage water use and even spray pesticides in the exact place needed, reducing waste.

2. What are the advantages of this drone?

The drone can take off like a helicopter, then change its shape mid-air to fly like a plane. It can take off almost anywhere and hover during flight to get a stable view of the land below. The drone weighs just under 4 kilograms. Thanks to solar cells on its wings, it has enough power to fly nonstop during the daytime. 

Read the paragraphs about swarms carefully, and answer the following questions:

1.What makes swarms possible?

Drones are becoming increasingly smaller and cheaper to make. They can now gather in groups of hundreds to fly like a flock (群) of birds.

2. What are the benefits of swarms?

Swarms are clever. There is no leader in a swarm because it is a ___________in which each drone is equal. This allows each drone in a swarm to search an area______, or fly together without colliding. And only one ______is needed to control the whole swarm. Swarms are also tough. One _____can bring down an aircraft, but a swarm can lose dozens of members and keep going.

300 drones made by US tech company Intel formed a swarm in the shape of the American flag during Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl halftime show, lighting up the night sky.

And Chinese company EHang recently used 1,000 drones to display a map of China and the Chinese character for “blessings (福)”.

What’s the prospect of swarms?

In the long term, as researchers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute predict, small swarming drones might become as much a part of our environment as insects. Their RoboBee project is developing tiny drones smaller than a paper clip to collect weather data.

III. Post-reading

Retelling

Try to retell the passage based on the key words.

a. Solar-powered transformer drone

b. Its advantages

c. Swarms

d. Its upsides

Discussing

Discuss with your partners and find out other functions of drones.

If you owned a drone, what would you use it for?

IV. Homework

Writing:

Write an article about drones.

a. Definition

b. Functions

c. Future development

 

Balancing joys key to happiness (P6)

河北邯郸一中 王延超

I. Lead-in 

What is your impression of a farm and a farmer?

And what is your impression of a writer and scholar with a Ph.D.?

But here is a writer and a PhD holder, who’s also a farmer and homemaker. She’s called Shannon Hayes and lives with her family on Sap Bush Hollow Farm in upstate New York.

Shannon Hayes’ Narration

•I GREW UP ON SAP BUSH HOLLOW FARM, and in 1999, after getting engaged, Bob and I bought a sunny little cabin 7 miles up the road. It was the biggest move of my life. The cabin blossomed into a home where Bob and I produce handicrafts and teach our two daughters while working on the farm with my mom and dad. I also write.

•I hold a bachelor’s degree in creative writing from Binghamton University, and a masters and Ph.D. in sustainable agriculture and community development from Cornell University. My essays and articles have appeared in many regional and national publications, including The New York Times, The Boston Review, etc. My quirky lifestyle, my attempts to live a life of personal accountability and sustainability, and my research and writings about homemaking as an ecological movement have landed me and my family on the pages of the New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, etc. I’ve written six books: The Grassfed Gourmet, The Farmer and the Grill, Radical Homemakers, Long Way on a Little, Cooking Grassfed Beef, and, most recently, Homespun Mom Comes Unraveled. 

II. While Reading

After reading the passage, what do you think its main idea is?

The passage mainly tells us how the author balances competing joys in everyday life. 

These competing joys include: writing, caring for her livestock, and home-schooling.

Read the passage again and answer the following questions:

1. What are the greatest challenges in the author’s life?

The answer is always the same. The greatest challenge in her family is balancing competing joys.

2. When does the author sit at the kitchen table with her daughters?

If the author was sitting at the kitchen table with her daughters, it’s because she wants to teach them. 

3. Why does the author need a to-do list?

Livestock require constant care, kids keep learning, ideas keep flowing, people keep eating. None of it ever stops, and at any moment of the day, any of these joys may require attention. A joyous activity can soon turn into a chore, and the day suddenly requires a to-do list. 

4. What is the secret of getting it all done?

The secret to getting it all done is to remember that they are joys too. “These are the ways I have chosen to fill my life. When I’m facing a mountain of tough jobs, I must think about the fact that I have chosen to do them, and that I am where I want to be. I maintain my energy by remembering I am doing what makes me happy. ”

5. What does the author need to do right now?

“Right now, thinking all this over, I think it is time to choose a joyful rest. Today, I will choose only those tasks that enable me to breathe most deeply. ”

Now it’s time for us to have a rest by watching a video from a farm in the US: 

III. Post Reading

Read the passage carefully - twice or more - and try to fill in the blanks.

1.The greatest challenge in my family is _______ competing joys. 

2.The farm fills our table and is as _________to gaze upon as an ocean view. 

3.This is a life built _________, where dreams appear through our choices. 

4. A _____ activity can soon turn into a chore, and the day suddenly requires a to-do list. 

5. When I’m facing a mountain of ____ jobs, I must think about the fact that I have chosen to do them, and that I am where I want to be. 

佳句诵读

1. If I’m up early in the morning, it’s because I want to write. If I’m in one of the fields of my farm, it’s because I want to care for my livestock (家畜). If I’m sitting at the kitchen table with my daughters, it’s because I want to teach them. 

2. But the challenge to balance among competing joys is very real. Livestock require constant care, kids keep learning, ideas keep flowing, people keep eating. 

3. It’s August. This is the time of year when all of these joys come to an end, when the hard work of preparing for winter begins. 

4. It’s true that I don’t live this way because I have to. I live this way because I want to. 

Language Focus

1.This is a life built intentionally, where dreams appear through our choices.

⑴ 此句中，built是过去分词做定语，放在所修饰词life的后面，表示“有意识地建造的生活”

E.g.： This is a park _____ (build) last year.

⑵ where引导定语从句，先行词为a life，where在从句中做地点状语。

E.g.：They met yesterday in the park,_____there used to be a lake.

2. It’s true that I don’t live this way because I have to. I live this way because I want to.

这句话里面，包含一个主语从句，句型结构为It’s true that … 其中it是形式主语，that从句是真正的主语。

类似的结构还有：

It’s a pity that…It is important that…It’s vital that…It is essential that…It’s amazing that… 

Have a Test

很遗憾他没来。

It’s a pity that he didn’t come. 

他必须知道此事。

It is important that he should know about this.

她竟未谈及此事令人惊讶。

It’s amazing that she should have said nothing about it. 

Share It

In your daily life, are there several things that you need to balance? Please share your story with your group members, and then please come to the blackboard to share them with all of your classmates. (Time limit: 1 min)

Homework

1. Read the whole text again, and underline what you think are good sentences. Write them down in your exercise book, then try to recite the sentences.

2. If you graduated from university with a master’s degree or doctorate, would you choose to do agricultural work as your job? Why? See if you can write a composition about this.