Think deeply (P3)

I. Warming up

“Choice, happiness and spaghetti sauce” -- do you think these three things have anything to do with each other?

II. Fast reading

1. Read the article quickly and find out what Malcolm Gladwell’s view is on the relationship between choice, happiness and spaghetti Sauce.

Key: He uses spaghetti sauce as an example to argue that giving people choices makes them happy.

2. Brief introduction of Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm T. Gladwell, born September 3, 1963, is an English-Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He has written four books, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference (2000), Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), Outliers: The Story of Success (2008), and What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures (2009), a collection of his journalism. All four books were on The New York Times Best Seller list.

III. Specific reading

Choose the best answer:

1. What is the author’s main purpose in writing the article?

A. To promote Gladwell’s books.

B. To introduce why Gladwell is a great author.

C. To describe how Gladwell did the research for his books.

D. To explain why Gladwell’s books fascinate the author so much.

2. When the author listened to Gladwell’s TED talk, she _____.

A. missed some of the important statistical evidence Gladwell used

B. was deeply impressed by the way that Gladwell argued his points

C. was confused about how Pepsi and spaghetti sauce were linked with happiness

D. doubted the truth of his conclusion that giving people choices makes them happy

3. Which of the following does Gladwell probably agree with?

A. In South Korea, it isn’t considered rude for the young to argue with the old.

B. Korean Air Flight 801 crashed in 1997 mainly because of the pilots’ carelessness.

C. Asians are usually good at math because they care more about numbers.

D. In Canada, hockey players born in the first part of the year are more likely to succeed.

4. After reading Malcolm Gladwell’s work, the author ____.

A. questioned her long-held ideas more often

B. began to love doing research

C. began to take an interest in reading

D. learned how to be a happy person

Key:

1. D。本文主要分析了作者对Malcolm Gladwell的作品着迷的原因，所以答案为D。

2. B。从第二段可以看出作者在听Malcolm Gladwell演讲的时候，非常欣赏他巧妙用举例、引用数据材料等方式论述自己观点的方式，所以答案为B。

3. D。由第四段的 “since hockey players born in the beginning of the year seem older, larger and more mature than younger players, they are more likely to be given more attention in training and become elite hockey players as adults”可知D正确。由该段的“In South Korea, it’s disrespectful to contradict higher-ups even if they are doing something wrong.”可知A不对。由该段的“The disaster took place partly because the co-pilot didn’t point out mistakes that the pilot was making.”可知B不对。由该段最后一句话可知C不对。

4. A。由最后一段的“After reading Outliers: The Story of Success and other books like it, I found myself questioning my commonly-accepted beliefs much more often.”可知A为正确答案。

IV. Post reading

Watch and listen to the TED talk “Choice, Happiness, and Spaghetti Sauce” given by Malcolm Gladwell on the website http://www.ted.com/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html.

Animated life (P4-5)

I. Warming up

Ø  Do you know anything about Hayao Miyazaki?

Ø  Do you like his films? If so, which one is your favorite? Why?

Hayao Miyazaki, born January 5, 1941, is a Japanese film director, animator, manga artist, producer, and screenwriter. The success of Miyazaki's films has invited comparisons of him to American animator Walt Disney.

His most well-known films are:

Castle in the Sky 《天空之城》

My Neighbor Totoro 《龙猫》

Kiki’s Delivery Service 《魔女宅急便》

Princess Mononoke《幽灵公主》

Spirited Away《千与千寻》

II. Reading

Read the article and complete the quiz below.

Choose the best answer:

1. What is the article mainly about?

A. Miyazaki’s impact on Japanese culture

B. The characteristics of Miyazaki’s films

C. What inspired Miyazaki to create his films.

D. How Miyazaki used the water and the sky to create fantasy worlds in his works

2. How is Paragraph 5 mainly developed?

A. By analyzing cause and effect

B. By following the order of time

C. By giving explanations

D. By making comparisons

3. The underlined word “defied” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to ____.

A. replaced            B. opposed

C. taken advantage of   D. connected with

4. According to the article, Miyazaki’s films ____.

A. are always different in setting, approach and themes

B. are likely to make viewers feel confused about the future

C. are full of imagination and clearly defined good and evil characters

D. remind the audience of the importance of environmental protection

Key:

1. B。本文主要分析了Miyazaki所导演的动画片的总体特点，所以答案为B。

2. C。第五段首句为整段的中心句，接下来为了说明该中心句，作者进一步解释说明了Miyazaki在他的作品里是如何运用水和天空的，故选C。

3. B。这里的“another place where gravity is defied”是紧跟上文“His imagination seems to soar and leave the pull of gravity behind”说的，所以defied在这里的意思与“leave…behind”相关，即在他的作品里，水让地心引力不起作用，故选B， defy表示“违反，挑战”。

4. D。由最后第三段可知D为正确答案。由第四段的“there are a number of recurring (重现的) themes in them”可知A不对；B文中没有提及；由最后一段的“In his films there is no clearly defined good or evil.”可知C不对。

III. Post reading

List the characteristics of Miyazaki’s films mentioned in the article.

Possible answer:

1. They vary in setting, tone and approach but often contain recurrent themes.

2. He loves to use the water and sky to create fantasy worlds and his films often involve flying.

3. Real life is clearly reflected in these fantasy worlds, so the films make important points about world problems. The Earth’s fragility is one thing that Miyazaki often emphasizes.

4. In his films there is no clearly defined good or evil.

Egg made from the Earth (P5)

I. Making prediction

Based on the headline “Egg made from the Earth”, what do you think this article is mainly about?

II. Fast reading

Read the article quickly and check if your prediction is correct.

1. The main purpose of the article is _____.

A. to inform us about problems with normal eggs

B. to introduce a successful attempt at making chickenless eggs

C. to explain how plants work as a substitute for eggs

D. to present a new study based on the question “which came first, the chicken or the egg?”

Key:

1. B

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