Rise of 3-D celebrities (P4-5)
烟台第二中学 孔洁

I. Lead-in
Do you know her?
Miquela Sousa, an internet influencer, posts pictures of herself sporting fashionable looks and has just made her way into the March edition of Vogue magazine.
Anything special about her?
She isn’t real!
Do you know any other internet icons like Miquela Sousa?

II. Skimming 
Read the passage quickly and summarize its main idea.
It introduces some electronic heroes and explores the reason why they are popular.
Read the passage quickly and divide it into different parts.
Part 1 Para. 1-5 “fake” internet influencers
Part 2 Para. 6-7 the authenticity of humans
Part 3 Para. 8 the significance of Miquela’s existence

III. Scanning 
Judge whether the following statements are True/False
1. Miquela Sousa is a UK internet influencer who has just appeared in the March edition of Vogue magazine.
2. Miquela Sousa has released many albums.
3. Miquela Sousa is a computer-generated figure.

Read & answer
Are humans the best example of how to be authentic?
Not really, because most of us edit our photos before posting them online, and we tend to create a fantasy that we’re living a perfect life by letting people only see the brighter side of it.
What does Miquela’s existence represent?
Her existence in itself represents a new breed of influencer – someone who is breaking the boundaries of what is real and what is fake.

IV. Language focus
Paraphrase the following sentences.
Perhaps the reason for Miquela’s popularity lies behind the fame of a similar star, Hatsune Miku.
It seems that the reason for Miquela’s popularity is similar to that of Hatsune Miku.
Miquela is no less real to me than any other internet stranger with whom I’ve interacted.
Just like other internet strangers with whom I’ve interacted, Miquela seems real to me.

V. Learn to use
Fill the blanks with the expressions in the box.
generate   when it comes to  limitation  fame  popularity   
The program would _______ (产生) a lot of new jobs.
Despite the ________ (局限性) of the survey, it did suggest some general trends.
He claims he is not really interested in ______ (名声).
__________ (一提到) diet and exercise, we know what to do, but most of us still don’t do it.
Organic food is increasing in ________ (流行).

VI. Discussion
What’s your attitude towards so-called electronic heroes?

Expressions you can refer to
I personally think/ In my personal opinion/view, ...
From my perspective, I think ...
From my point of view, I prefer ...
I’m convinced that ...

Cleaning ocean of plastic (P6)

江苏南菁高级中学 顾梅燕

I. Lead in
Ø How much do you know about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? 
Ø How would you feel if you saw the Great Pacific Garbage Patch with your own eyes?  

II. Skimming
Read the article and analyze its structure

While reading: Part I Present situation
Scan the passage and find out some basic information about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
1.Location: It is located off the coast of California, US. 
2.Contents: It is made up of 79,000 tons of plastic waste. 
3.Size: At 1.6 million square kilometers, it’s over four times the size of Japan, or almost 100 times the size of Beijing.

Read for comprehension : word guessing 
1. But although we all realize what a serious issue plastic pollution is, it’s different when you actually see the overwhelming results of it for yourself. ( L5)
A. extremely shocking, strong and intense
B. not so serious

2. “I’ve been doing this research for a while, but it was depressing to see the patch in person,” Laurent Lebreton, lead author of the study, told the Guardian. (L14)
A. with other people
B. personally

While reading : Part II Negative influences
Read the passage carefully and find out the negative influences the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has.
This causes problems not only for sea creatures but also for humans.

Read for comprehension: sentence analyzing
The swirling (成旋涡形的) ocean currents eventually break down some of the plastic, with a lot of it ending up in the digestive (消化的) systems of fish and birds. ( L21-22)
Ø break down:
A. separate something, into smaller parts
B. get into by force

Ø Complete the sentences with proper phrases given.
break down    break up    break into   break off

•She saw the man last night trying to _______ the house.
•He asked the teacher to _________ the story into separate facts.
•Civil war will come if the country ________.
•She ________a piece of the candy bar to share with her brother.

Ø Some of the plastic is separated into small substances by the swirling ocean currents, while a lot of it is digested by fish and birds ____ ____ _____.

Key：in the end

As a result, it’s believed that plastic has worked its way up the food chain directly onto our plates -- not to mention the countless creatures that choke on plastic waste, or are poisoned by the chemicals in it.  (L23-25)

分析：本句的主句为it's believed that …，it用作形式主语，that引导的从句为真正的主语。短语work one’s way up/to意为“（通过努力）逐步达到 ”；破折号后面的成分为插入语，起补充说明的作用，not to mention (sth/doing sth)意为“更不用说……了”；第二个that引导定语从句，修饰先行词sea creatures。
释义：结果，据说这些塑料逐级进入了食物链，直接进了我们的餐盘，更不必说那数不清的因食用塑料而窒息死亡或是被化学物质毒害致死的海洋生物了。

While reading : Part III Measures
What are the measures mentioned in the passage to deal with the plastic waste problem?

Key:
1. develop technology to collect plastic waste from the ocean.
2. be more mindful of how we use the plastic rather than discourage people from using plastic altogether

Post reading: Discussion
In your opinion, what else should be done to stop plastic from entering the ocean?

Recommended measures:

It’s the government’s responsibility to approach this issue and take immediate action to strengthen the supervision. Some non-profit organizations concerning environmental protection should also donate certain money or raise funds to help clean the Pacific Ocean. As for experts and scientists, it’s important that they put their efforts into researching a creative and effective cleaning process and coming up with effective ways and solutions to fix the problem. As far as individuals are concerned, we should raise our awareness of protecting the planet and hold the firm belief that protecting the Earth means saving ourselves. Hopefully, this problem will be settled in the near future following our combined efforts.