New American dreams (P4)
I. Pre-reading
Discussion:
1. How would you define “America”?
Possible answers: the land of opportunity, freedom, privilege …
2. What comes to mind when you think of “dreams”?
Possible answers: ambitions, usually pleasant, emotions ...
3. Have you heard of the “American Dream”? What has it meant to Americans for generations?
Possible answers: home ownership, a good job …

II. Fast reading
As mentioned in the headline, read the article quickly and find out what the “new American dreams” mean in the article.
Key: They refer to many Millennials’ new definition of the American dream: “day-to-day control of your life”, which according to Time magazine involves “job mobility, flexible schedules, any work that is more interesting than typing, and the ability to travel”.

III. Specific reading
Choose the best answer:
1. The article is mainly about ____.
A. how American youth today are trying to realize their dreams
B. changes in American youth’s beliefs about the American dream and the reasons for them
C. how the American dream has inspired Americans to achieve success
D. why the meaning of the American dream varies from generation to generation
2. According to Time magazine, unlike their parents, many Millennials in the US now consider ____ to be the American Dream.
a. home ownership        b. travel       c. a stable job          d. self-employment        e. a flexible schedule    
A. a, b, d                  B. a, c, e         C. b, d, e             D. b, c, d
3. The underlined word “cornerstone” in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to ____.
A. basis            B. growth          C. purpose        D. balance  
4. What has changed Millennials’ views of the American Dream according to the article?
A. A lack of confidence in themselves.
B. Their dissatisfaction with their government.
C. Fierce competition in the job market.
D. The discouraging economy and unemployment.
5. Dan Kadlec thinks Millenials’ new definition of the American Dream is ____.
A. understandable     B. negative         C. troubling         D. beautiful

Key:
1. B。本文主要讲的是80后的美国年轻人对美国梦的最新定义并分析了导致这一改变的原因，故答案为B。
2. C。由第三四段可知很多80后的年轻人渴望旅游、自主创业、弹性工作制，所以C项为正确答案。
3. A。由第二段可知，以前在很多人心中美国梦意味着home ownership, a good job, retirement security等，所以可以推知房屋所有权是美国梦的核心内容之一，故cornerstone在这里意为“基石，基础”，答案为A。
4. D。由第六段可知低迷的经济状况以及失业率是导致年轻人重新定义美国梦的主要原因，所以答案为D。
5. A。由本文最后一句话可知Dan Kadlec认为年轻人对美国梦的定义更贴合社会现状，更容易实现，所以答案为A。

IV. Language study
What do the underlined words in each of the following sentences mean? Can you think of other nouns that can be used as verbs?
1. You may have heard of the “American Dream”, an ideal that has powered the hopes of Americans for generations.
Power: 作名词表示“力量，动力”，在句中用作动词，表示“供以动力”。例如：
In past years there have been plenty of working-age people. This has greatly powered China’s rapid growth.

2. They “prize job mobility (机动性), flexible schedules, any work that is more interesting than typing, and the ability to travel”, said the magazine.
Prize：作名词表示“奖品”，这里用作动词，表示“珍视，重视”。例如：
I know that you prize our friendship.

3. “Contemporary young Americans seem destined (注定的) to [face] a world stamped by ever narrowing opportunity and societal stagnation (停滞),” noted The Daily Beast.
stamp：作名词表示“邮票，特征，印象”，这里用作动词，表示“表现出……特征(show that someone has a particular quality)”。例如：
He turned to face her, his features stamped with unfriendliness.

Watch birds fly together (P5)
I. Making a prediction

1. Based on the headline -- Watch birds fly together, what do you think the article might mainly talk about? And what do you expect to read from the article?
Possible answers:
1) Why/how do birds migrate? 2) How do birds know when to migrate? 3) How do birds find their way when migrating? 4) How do birds benefit from migration? …

2. Now read the first two paragraph of the article and check whether your predictions were accurate.

3. Now, based on what you have learned so far, make new predictions. What will you read about in the rest of the article? Why do you think so?

II. While reading
Read the whole article again and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing the article?
A. To introduce how migrating birds find their way.
B. To explain how birds benefit from migration.
C. To report new findings about migrating birds’ “V” formations.
D. To inform us of some applications of migrating birds’ “V” formations.
2. According to a recent study, when birds migrate, ____.
A. they fly in “V” formations to protect themselves against enemies
B. they form the shape of a “V” to make best use of the lifting effect
C. they don’t often change their lead birds during the whole journey
D. the air they stir around makes it hard for the birds behind them to fly fast
3. What is the significance of the new study according to the article?
A. It has proven that the “V” formation can improve efficiency in many fields.
B. It led scientists to discover that birds’ heart rates go down when they fly in a “V”.
C. It shows that the best formation of fighter jets in battles would be a “V” formation.
D. It might inspire aircraft companies to think of ways to improve efficiency.

Key:
1. C。本文主要报道了科学家关于候鸟为什么以V形队列迁徙的新发现，故答案为C。
2. B。由第三段和第六段可知候鸟呈V字形飞行是了充分利用飞在它们前面的鸟生成的上升气流来节约能量，所以B项为正确答案。A项文中没有提及；由第五段可知候鸟迁徙时为了让领头的鸟不累坏，会不时换领头的鸟，所以C项不对；由第三段可知候鸟呈V字形飞行时，翅膀产生的气流有利于其后面的鸟飞行，所以D不对。
3. D。由最后一段可知这一研究有可能有助于启发飞行器公司研究如何节能提供效率，故选D。

III. Language study
Sentence understanding:    
1. Scientists found in the study that the air creates an upward-moving wave at the tip of the wings, which means that if a bird flies around the wingtips of another bird, it can get a boost (抬高) from the rising air and therefore use less energy to stay in the air.
本句中that引导的从句作found的宾语，which引导非限制性定语从句，which指代前面宾语从句所指的内容，在该定语从句中还包含that引导的宾语从句，这个宾语从句还包含if引导的条件状语从句。句意为：科学家在实验中发现，（候鸟的翅膀在空中划过时）膀尖上会产生一股上升气流，这意味着如果一只鸟围绕着另一只鸟的膀尖飞的话，它能从上升气流中获得抬升，从而节省了能量。

2. Apart from the “free ride” strategy, scientists were also surprised to observe that migrating birds timed their wing beats and adjusted their positions in a very precise way to maximize (最大限度利用) the lifting effect while avoiding areas where the air moved downward.
本句中apart from表示“除了……以外”；that引导的从句作observe的宾语，不定式短语to maximize…用作目的状语，while引导时间状语。句意为：除了运用“搭便车”策略，科学家们也惊奇地发现，当为了避免飞到空气往下流动的区域时，候鸟们会记录它们拍打翅膀的时间，并以一种很准确的方式调整自己的位置，以便最大化利用这种抬升作用。

Late for school (P6)
I. Making a prediction
Can you predict what the article is mainly about based on the headline “Late for school”?

II. Fast reading
Read the article quickly and check if your prediction was correct.
Possible answer: The article is mainly about the author’s experiences of education – she was forced to drop out when she was young but was lucky enough to have a chance to continue her education when she was a mom and she eventually received her diploma.

Notice:
Pay attention to the pun used in the headline and “I was late for school” in the last paragraph. A pun is a form of wordplay that suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical (修辞上的) effect.

    双关 (pun)
文章标题以及最后的“I was late for school”用到了双关的修辞手法。双关，表面上是一个意思，而实际上却暗含另一个意思，这种暗含的意思才是句子真正的目的所在。这里呼应文章开头的部分说“I was late for school”，字面意思是“我上学迟到了”，暗含的意思是直到老年我才完成学业拿到了文凭。又如：A cannonball took off his legs, so he laid down his arms. 一发炮弹打断了他的腿，所以他缴械投降了(arms可指手臂或者武器)。

III. Specific reading
Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions:
1. The author dropped out of school when she was a teenager because ____.
A. she couldn’t afford to go to school
B. she took little interest in schoolwork
C. she wanted to help her parents run their business
D. she was often late for school and afraid of not receiving a diploma
2. What led the author to decide to continue her studies at a night school?
A. She wished to keep her daughter company at night school.
B. The secretary at the night school kept pushing her.
C. She thought it would be a fun experiment.
D. It occurred to her that she could finally realize her dream.
3. The underlined word “thrived” in the fifth-to-last paragraph probably means ____.
A. got annoyed            B. made little progress
C. performed well      D. were completely satisfied    
4. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
A. At first, the author found it awkward to study at the same school as her daughter.
B. The author didn’t get along well with her classmates at first.
C. The author and Linda often encouraged each other when either of them felt low.
D. The author eventually received her diploma and became a professional speaker.  

Key:
1. A。由第六短的“But at 15, I had to drop out because my parents couldn’t afford tuition.”可知答案为A。
2. B。由文中的Linda was busy filling out enrollment (入学) forms when the secretary said: “Mrs Schantz, why don’t you come back to school?” I laughed: “There’s no way! I’m 55!” But he persisted, and before I knew what I had done, I was enrolled for classes in English and crafts (工艺).可以推知B项为正确答案。
3. C。作者带着试试看的心情报的夜校学习班，但是令她惊讶的是，她和Linda在夜校学习____。多年中断学习了，按照常理学习效果不会好，从To my surprise可以推知学习效果出乎作者意料之外，应该是在这里稳步发展，所以答案为C。D项有点言过其实，因为从下文看，作者一开始也遭遇过一些问题，比如感到尴尬，偶尔也会感到沮丧。
4. C。由倒数第二段可推知C项为正确答案。

IV. Post-reading
Discussion:
What can you learn from the author’s learning experience?

Quotes about learning:
1. Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. ― Henry Ford
2. The education of a man is never completed until he dies. ― Robert E. Lee