Cartoon stays popular (P4)
I. Pre-reading
Discuss the following questions with your partner.
 Have you ever seen The Simpsons?
 What is the show about?
The Simpsons is an American family animated television sitcom about an American family. It is the longest-running comedy show in the US. The main characters are a working-class family, consisting of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show makes fun of many aspects of American culture, society, politics, and history.

II. Reading
Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.
1. By saying “Now the miracle has happened”, the author intends to ____.
A. explain what The Simpsons is mainly about
B. analyze what has made The Simpsons so popular
C. show how successful The Simpsons has been
D. explain what happens to The Simpsons’ main character
2. Why is The Simpsons such a hit, according to the article?
a. It goes beyond ages, languages, and cultures.
b. Many Americans viewers feel that it’s easy to relate to.
c. It’s about miracles that happen to poor kids.
d. In the show there are many jokes making fun of popular culture, religion, politics, etc.
A. ab        B. abd  C. bcd       D. abcd
3. Which of the following statements is TRUE of The Simpsons?
A. The show is intended for children, and has a lot of hilarious dialogue and jokes.
B. The show is now in its 26th season, which means the story has finally come to an end.
C. Words used by the characters in the show have helped to shape popular culture.
D. The cultural references in the show are supposed to help children better understand American culture.

Key:
1. C。根据下文的那句话可以得此答案。
2. B。根据第三段的“The Simpsons has captured the hearts and minds of fans in a way that goes beyond ages, languages, and cultures”、第五段以及倒数第二段的可以判断abd为正确答案。
3. C。根据最后一段可知正确答案为C。文中提到这部动画片也涉及大人们喜欢的文化，还有许多有趣的关于文化、宗教、政治、家庭观念、日常生活等各个方面的对话和玩笑，所以A、D有误。根据第二段的“Now the show is in its 26th season and shows no signs of stopping.”可知B有误。

III. After reading
Find the expressions from the article that are used to describe the popularity and effects of The Simpsons.
1. Now the miracle has happened. After 25 years, the yellow-skinned, spiky-haired boy is still enjoying himself on the TV screen …
2. Since 2009, The Simpsons has been the longest-running scripted primetime show in the US. Now the show is in its 26th season and shows no signs of stopping.
3. For more than a quarter of a century, The Simpsons has captured the hearts and minds of fans in a way that goes beyond ages, languages, and cultures.
4. This groundbreaking series is one of the greatest sitcoms of our time.
5. Although the Simpsons live in a fictional world, many Americans can relate to their lives.
6. The Simpsons is said to have changed the very idea of the cartoon in Western society.
7. The show is such a hit that words used by the characters have become part of popular culture.

IV. Writing
What is your favorite movie or TV show? Write a short article to describedescribing what it is about and why you like it.

Blood helps Ebola fight (P5)
I. Pre-reading
Discuss the following questions with your partner.
The largest ever Ebola outbreak is underway in several countries in West Africa. Since the outbreak began in December 2013, more than 6,800 people have died. What else do you know about the virus?

II. Skimming
Read the article and answer the following questions.
1. Why did James Crowe look for the blood of US Ebola survivors?
He wanted to extract the proteins that helped them overcome the deadly virus from their blood that helped them overcome the deadly virus.

2. What do scientists think of the idea of using survivors’ antibodies as the most promising approach in the fight against Ebola?
Several leading scientists have supported the idea.

3. How do researchers plan to make use of antibodies to produce drugs?
Antibodies are proteins in the immune system that seek and destroy foreign invaders, such as viruses or bacteria. Researchers plan to synthesize genes from the most powerful of these antibodies and use them to produce drugs.

4. Why did milkmaids seldom catch smallpox in the late 18th century?
Because the pus from a smallpox-affected cow’s body got onto the milkmaids’ hands and protected them from the disease.

5. What conclusion did Jenner draw from his smallpox experiments on smallpox?
Being invaded by a virus makes our body produce antibodies which destroy the virus and protect us from future attacks by similar viruses. 

III. Scanning
Read the article again and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.
1. James Crowe’s trial helping to fight against Ebola seems ____, according to the article.
A. practical  
B. creative
C. unlikely to succeed
D. to be in disagreement with Edward Jenner’s idea
2. What did Edward Jenner achieve?
A. He discovered how people caught smallpox.
B. He found special proteins in smallpox viruses.
C. He synthesized genes from smallpox-affected cows’ antibodies.
D. He proved that vaccination works in the fight against viruses.
3. Which of the following shows the correct order in which James Crowe is going to test the antibodies?
a. in primates  
b. in humans
c. in Ebola virus samples
d. in mice and guinea pigs
A. a c d b  B. d a c b
C. c d a b  D. c a d b

Key:
1. A。根据文章的第六段以及倒数第二段可以得此答案。
2. D。文中提到，Edward Jenner发现挤奶女工很少得天花，他的猜想是女工在跟奶牛接触的过程中感染了病毒，因而产生了抗体，由此人们开始了接种疫苗。
3. C。根据第二段可知，James Crowe实验这个抗体的对象顺序分别是埃博拉病毒样本、老鼠和豚鼠、灵长类动物，最后才是人类。

Speedy problems (P6)
I. Pre-reading
Discuss the following questions with your partner.
 Do you have any problems with reading? If so, what is itare they?

II. Reading
Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.
1. Which of the following is TRUE about the author’s class on speed reading?
A. She was good at speed reading before she took her class.
B. She was the only teen who took part in the class.
C. She practiced speed reading for hours at a time.
D. She went to the class because there happened to be a vacancy.
2. How long did it take the author to complete reading Animal Farm?
A. An hour.   
B. Two hours.
C. 10 minutes.  
D. Her lunch break.
3. With the examples of “Auto Theft Sale”, Monster cheese and the $10,000 Fine, the author intends to prove that ____.
A. she is really a careless person
B. there is always a delay in her understanding after speed reading
C. she hasn’t achieved a high level of speed reading
D. her imagination is so poor that she has made a lot of mistakes
4. What message is the author trying to convey through this story?
A. Speed reading has helped her become a writer.
B. Everybody can succeed through hard work and practice.
C. A delay is necessary for speed reading to succeed.
D. Every coin has two sides, and so does speed reading.

Key:
1. D。从第1段可知，作者妈妈在这所大学的一个部门任职，“they were offering a class on speed reading and needed one more person to fill out the class”，由于这个课程还缺一个人，于是作者“became that one person”。
2. C。从第3段“I read Animal Farm in 10 minutes.”可知，作者读这本书，只用了不到十分钟的时间。
3. B。在作者描述这三个例子之前，作者表达了对快速阅读的看法：“As a result of all this speed-reading, I often experience a delay between what I think I read and what something actually says.”由于阅读速度快，作者当时理解的和事后的真相总是有出入。
4. D。文章分两部分，作者先描述了自己是怎么走上了快速阅读这一条路，之后又重点描写了快速阅读总是带来各种曲解，从而传递出快速阅读是有劣势的这一观点。

III. After reading
Further thinking:
How do you understand the proverb “Every coin has two sides”?

IV. Language study
 Sentence understanding:
1. Have been since I was a teen.
释义：自从十几岁以来就一直这样（指我的阅读速度很快）。
分析：该句是个省略句,完整的句子为：I have been a speed reader since I was a teen.

2. Speed reading has bitten me on the backside more than once.
释义：快速阅读不止一次地让我聪明反被聪明误。
分析：句中bite sb on the backside指“看上去好的行为却有了不好的或意料之外的后果”。

 Translate the following sentences into English.
1. 他们声称这样的延期对谁都不会造成损害。
They claimed that such athe delay wouldn’t hurt anyone. 

2. 她办事很有效率，也很可靠。
She was efficient and reliable.

3. 他开始明白那个道理。（dawn on）
The truth began/was beginning to dawn on him. 

4. 他从未暴露自己的身份。
He never revealed his identity.