Pollution is filmed (P2)
I. Pre-reading
Discuss the following questions with your partner.
Millions of Chinese people have recently watched a 104-minute documentary called Under the Dome by Chai Jing, a former CCTV news anchor. The documentary has sparked huge controversy since its release.
 Have you watched the documentary? What is it about?

II. Reading
Read the article and answer the following questions.
1. What effect has Chai Jing’s documentary Under the Dome had?
It has rapidly increased the public’s awareness about air pollution and encouraged people to join in efforts to make a difference.

2. What inspired Chai Jing to work on the documentary?
All of the work started from her “personal clashes” with smog after she gave birth to her daughter.

3. What research did Chai Jing do in order to make the film?
Over a year, she investigated polluted sites to find the sources of smog, visited the US and UK to learn about their anti-pollution experiences, and interviewed officials, scientists, and the general public.

4. What factors did Chai Jing find that largely contribute to China’s air pollution?
Chai’s research revealed that the burning of coal and oil contributes to 60 percent of PM2.5 pollutants. Loopholes in car emissions regulations are also mentioned in the film. Some of the laws have been in place for years, but have never been applied, says the documentary. It also points at China’s petroleum (石油) and steel industries as the biggest sources of air pollution.

5. What else does the author think adds to true value of the film?
Besides government efforts, Chai also lists the things ordinary people can do to help.

III. After reading
Further thinking:
What do you think of Chai Jing’s documentary?
What else do you think ordinary people can do to help improve air pollution besides the ways that Chai Jing suggests in the film?

IV. Language study
Useful expressions:
关紧窗户  seal the windows tight
查污染指数  check the air pollution index
增强人们关于空气污染的意识  increase the public’s awareness about air pollution
导致，造成  contribute to
引发一场全国范围内的讨论 start a national discussion
每个人的努力都很重要 everyone’s effort counts
引起公众极大的关注 arouse great public attention

Polite bear arrives in China (P4-5)
I. Pre-reading
Discuss the following questions with your partner.
 Which animated movie is your favorite? Why do you like it?
 Who is your favorite character from animated movies? Why do you like the character so much?

II. Reading
Read the article and answer the following questions.
1. How does Paddington Bear first meet the Brown family in the story of Paddington? What happens when they meet?
At Paddington station, the bear, who is sent to London by his family after an earthquake destroys their home in Peru, meets the Brown family. The Brown family name him Paddington, because they can’t say his Peruvian name.

2. How is Paddington Bear different from Winnie the Pooh, the best-known bear in fiction, according to The Economist?
While Winnie the Pooh reminds people of the innocence and simplicity of the past, “the well-meaning Paddington always causes chaos when he goes through cultural misunderstandings”.

3. What message does the story of Paddington convey, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer?
Released at a time when immigration is a hot topic in the UK, “Paddington has a very clear message: Welcome the other into your home”.

Read the article again and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.
1. Which of the following statements about Paddington Bear is TRUE?
A. He is saved by the Brown family from an earthquake in Peru.
B. With the help of the Brown family, he learns how to laugh and love.
C. He is traditional and prefers to greet strangers using their first names.
D. As an immigrant to the UK, he experiences many cultural misunderstandings.
2. Which of the following words best describe the qualities of Paddington Bear?
A. Kind and polite.
B. Innocent and unintelligent.
C. Humorous and optimistic.
D. Honest and straightforward.
3. We can infer from the article that ____.
A. the tales of Paddington have reminded British people to be kind to those who immigrate to the UK
B. at the time when the Paddington stories were released, immigrants were not welcomed in the UK
C. the Paddington stories once encouraged a large number of Germans to go to the UK
D. Paddington’s British habit of making “small talk” helped to enrich the German language
4. According to the last paragraph, “small talk” probably means ____.
A. polite greetings to unfamiliar people
B. conversation about unimportant things
C. conversation about other people’s private lives
D. arguments between close friends

Key:
1. D。Paddington从秘鲁来到伦敦，算是外来者，结合第三段的“the well-meaning Paddington always causes chaos when he goes through cultural misunderstandings.”可知D正确。由第四段的“The movie … tells the story of the bear, who is sent to London by his family, after an earthquake destroys their home in Peru. At Paddington station, he meets Mr Brown, Mrs Brown and their two kids.”可知A不对；由第四段的“After the fuzzy stranger enters the Browns’ home, he teaches everyone how to laugh and love.”可知B不对；由最后一段的For example, Paddington bear calls people “Mr”, “Mrs” and “Miss”, rarely using their first names.可知C错误。
2. A。根据“And Paddington bear is also a great example of the traditional politeness that British people are well known for.”可知Paddington Bear这个形象的特点就是礼貌和善，它是英国人讲究礼仪的特性的一个象征物。根据“While Winnie the Pooh reminds people of the innocence and simplicity of the past, ‘the well-meaning Paddington always causes chaos when he goes through cultural misunderstandings’.”可知B错误。
3. A。由倒数第二段可以推知A为正确选项。B、C、D都是无中生有，与文中所述不符。
4. B。原文中“It was decided that the straightforward Germans would have problems understanding why Paddington often has polite conversations about unimportant things with people like his housekeeper.”是对small talk的定义的一个具体阐释。

III. Language study
Study the following sentences.
1. The movie, described as “a total delight, as warm and welcome as a hot pair of socks on a winter morning” by The Telegraph, tells the story of the bear, who is sent to London by his family, after an earthquake destroys their home in Peru.
本句中as warm and welcome as a hot pair of socks on a winter morning通过运用比喻的修辞手法非常形象地描述了这一电影广受欢迎，如同冬天早晨里的一双热乎乎的袜子一般，暖和、受欢迎。

2. As Phoenix magazine put it, “The story shows British compassion and kindness”, as the refugee Paddington is given a new home and a loving family in London.
本句中As sb put it表示“正如……所说”，第二个as 引导原因状语从句。

Extra second is coming (P5)
I. Pre-reading
Discuss the following questions with your partner.
 What is a leap year?
A leap year consists of 366 days, as opposed to a regular year, which has 365. Nearly every four years there is a leap year in which we add an extra day on February 29. In leap years there are 29 days in February, not 28.

 Why do we have Leap Years?
Leap years are needed to keep our modern-day Gregorian calendar in time with the Earth’s movements around the sun. It takes the Earth approximately 365.242199 days – or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds – to circle once around the Sun. However, the Gregorian calendar has only 365 days in a year, so if we didn’t add a day on February 29 nearly every 4 years, we would lose almost six hours off our calendar every year. After only 100 years, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days. So every four years we have one more day, and we put it at the end of February, the shortest month of the year. Then we have a leap year.

II. Reading
Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.
1. Why do we need to add a leap second?
A. The world’s atomic clocks are set to do so.
B. The world’s atomic clocks need to keep in time with the world’s computers.
C. We need one extra second to keep atomic clocks in time with the slowing of Earth’s rotation.
D. It is needed to record the changes to astronomical time caused by climatic and geological events.
2. What happened to the website Reddit when the leap second was added in 2012?
A. It crashed because of a virus attack.
B. Its network time added two extra seconds.
C. All of the code in its Linux system went wrong.
D. One of its software systems got confused and the site broke down.
3. How do companies usually deal with the problem of the extra second?
A. By shutting down computers at the end of the day.
B. By stopping receiving emails that come in during that second.
C. By turning the clocks back by one second at the end of the day.
D. By cutting the extra second into milliseconds and then putting them into the system throughout the day.
4. What’s Christopher Pascoe’s attitude toward Google’s solution to the problem?
A. Unfavorable.  B. Approving.
C. Doubtful.  D. Cautious.

Key:
1. C。第二段段尾提到，随着地球自转速度的减慢，为了跟天文测量得出的时间保持一致，原子钟需要加上一秒钟。
2. D。根据第三、四段，2012年增加闰秒的时候，Reddit这个网站崩溃了，原因是其中的Linux系统发现了闰秒，但是无法对此做出反应。
3. C。根据第五段的“As company engineer Christopher Pascoe explains in a blog post, companies usually try to fix the problem by turning back the clocks by one second at the end of the day so that they play that second again.”可以得此答案。
4. B。倒数第二段提到针对“闰秒”问题，Google的做法是，采取“闰秒弥补（leap smear）”技术，即在当天每次增加几毫秒，最终增加到1秒钟。Pascoe的评论中用到了“Our clocks have already taken this into account …”，这时他的语气是赞同的。

III. After reading
Translate the following sentences with the given words in the brackets.
1. 不良的家庭环境会给儿童的健康成长带来负面影响。（affect）
A bad home environment can negatively affect a child’s growth.
2. 不能仅仅因为一架飞机最近坠毁了，就说明另一架飞机坠毁的可能性就增大了。（crash）
One plane is not more likely to crash just because another plane recently did.
3. 不要过分拘泥于书上所说的。（precisely）
Don't stick too precisely to what it says in the book. 
4. 新机器将会运行速度将会翻番，从而大大降低费用。（thus）
The new machine will work twice as fast, thus greatly reducing costs.
5. 在做这个试验的时候你必须考虑气温的因素。（take … into account）
You must take the temperature into account when doing this experiment.