Escaping to Europe (P2)

I. Pre-reading 

Show the students a picture of a drowned boy on a beach in Bodrum, Turkey and ask the students to discuss the following questions with their partner.

This tragic photo has been shared widely on social media around the world recently. Do you know what happened to this little boy?

Why did the boy and his family want to go to the West?

Why did the photo draw so much attention?

II. Reading 

Read the article and answer the following questions.

1. How many people drowned during their journey from Turkey to Greece at the beginning of this September?

Alan Kurdi, 3, drowned along with at least 12 Syrians including his 5-year-old brother and his mother.

2. Why did the Kurdis risk their lives to travel to Greece?

Because they wanted to flee their war-torn country and find a safe home in the West.

3. Why did Abdullah refuse the offers to give him a new home in the West after the death of his wife and sons?

Because he thought he had nothing left to live for.

4. What did Alan Kurdi’s family tragedy reflect according to The Guardian?

This family tragedy showed “the extraordinary risks refugees are taking to reach the West”.

5. What’s the difference between refugees and migrants?

Refugees are people fleeing armed conflict, while a migrant may leave his or her country for many reasons. They want to be reunited with family members, seek employment, or wish to study in another country.

6. What is Germany and France’s attitude toward refugees?

Germany and France are opening their doors to more asylum seekers. On Sept 8, Germany’s vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said his country could take in 500,000 refugees annually for the next several years. And on Sept 7 France said it would take 24,000 refugees over two years.

7. Why have some other countries been unwilling to take a share of the refugees?

Because of a variety of reasons including a slow economy and safety concerns.

III. Language study 

1. The Kurdis wanted what anyone does – what hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have been fleeing the war-torn country want – a safe home.

本句的主干为：The Kurdis wanted what anyone does。句中第一个what引导宾语从句；第二个what引导的从句用作插入语，进一步说明Kurdis一家所渴望拥有的东西也正是成千上万逃离该国战乱的的叙利亚人所渴望拥有的；a safe home用作what anyone does的同位语，指明他们渴望拥有的是什么。

2. More than 366,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe this year, of whom over 2,800 have died during the journey, CNN reported on Sept 7.

句中of whom引导非限制性定语从句，修饰先行词more than 366,000 refugees and migrants。

3. European countries are taking different approaches to deal with what The Sydney Morning Herald called “a humanitarian crisis (人权危机) and the biggest human exodus (外流) since World War II”.

本句中what引导的从句作deal with的宾语。句意为：欧洲国家正在采取不同的措施，以应对被《悉尼先驱晨报》称为人权危机以及二战以来最大的移民危机。

IV. Further thinking 

Discuss the following question with your partner.

1) Why are many Western countries making it so difficult for refugees to come?

2) What do you think about the refugee crisis? 

3) Is there anything you can do to help refugees? If so, what do you think you can do to help?

Mapping dark matter (P5)

I. Pre-reading 

Discuss the following questions with your partner.

Are you a fan of sci-fi stories? 

Have you ever read Chinese sci-fi writer Liu Cixin’s novel The Three-Body Problem?

Do you know what dark matter is? How much of the universe does dark matter make up?

II. Reading 

Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.

1. The author mentions aliens’ invasion of Earth at the beginning of the article mainly to ____.

A. show that it’s a familiar scenario in Hollywood movies and video games

B. tell the reader what Liu Cixin’s novel The Three-Body Problem is about

C. lead up to the reasons why this scenario could just be imaginative 

D. get the reader to take an interest in the universe and basic physics

2. What did Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky find out in 1933?

A. Atoms are the basis of all matter in the universe.

B. Atoms have been scattered into all corners of the universe.

C. The galaxies are spinning so fast that they have a strong gravitational pull.

D. There must be something invisible with a very strong gravitational pull in the universe.

3. How can scientists find clouds of dark matter, according to the article?

A. By studying the universe’s spinning.

B. By observing the universe through telescopes.

C. By finding clues from the “gravitational lensing” effect.

D. By picking up the light that passes through it.

4. What can we conclude from the article about the maps of dark matter?

A. Currently, scientists are trying to figure out the shapes of the dark matter.

B. Scientists still have a long way to go to work out detailed maps of dark matter.

C. The team working on the maps has already mapped out one-eighth of the universe.

D. Gary Prezeau is pessimistic about getting enough detail for the maps.

Key:

1. C。作者在开篇提到外星人侵略地球，第三段“Yet the truth is that there is a high chance that aliens would not even notice us.”话锋一转，表明这样的场景很可能不是真实的，因为宇宙之大，即使有外星人他们也很可能都不会注意到我们，所以答案为Ｃ。

2. D。由第四段的“But in 1933, Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky spotted something entirely different … He realized there must be something else there, something that he could not directly observe, but that had a strong enough gravitational pull to hold everything together.”可知D为正确答案。

3. C。由倒数第二段的“It bends the light that passes through it, just like light shining through a swimming pool. The effect is called “gravitational lensing” and can be used to find out where clouds of dark matter are. Using this technique, scientists are creating maps of the universe’s dark matter.”可知D为正确答案。

4. B。由最后两段可知，科学家们希望将来某天他们能在暗物质地图上标出宇宙八分之一的空间，到目前为止仅仅完成一小部分这方面工作，而且这些地图上还只有目前已发现的暗物质的大致位置，仍缺乏细节，但文中Gary Prezeau并没有表示出任何悲观态度，故Ｂ为正确答案，C、D都不对。A项文中没有提及。

III. Language study

Fill in the blanks with the phrases in the box.

make up in one sense give away short of

1. Don’t _____ my secret. 

2. Women officers _____ 13 percent of the police force.  

3. Her father’s illness left the family _____ money. 

4. _____, cancer is a side effect of evolution. 

Key:

1. give away 2. make up 3. short of  4. In one sense

More than talent (P6)

I. Pre-reading 

Discuss the following questions with your partner.

Have you ever read the book Rich Dad Poor Dad?

Who is the author of the book? 

What is the book mainly about?

Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 2000 book written by American businessman, author and investor Robert Kiyosaki. It advocates financial independence and building wealth through investing, real estate investing, starting and owning businesses, and increasing one’s financial intelligence to improve one’s business and financial aptitude. In the book, Kiyosaki stresses the ownership of high value assets that produce cash flow, rather than being an employee.

II. Reading 

Read the article and choose the best answer for each of the following questions.

1. The author mentions the mechanic at the beginning of the article in order to ____. 

A. show respect for talented people

B. say that everyone has talent in some field

C. attract the reader’s interest in his following idea

D. give his opinion that sometimes we all need professional help 

2. According to the business consultant, why can’t some people get rich?   

A. They don’t work hard.

B. They lack professional skills.

C. They don’t know how to manage money.

D. They don’t seek help from business consultants.

3. The underlined word “resigned” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to “_____ ”. 

A. dismissed      B. quit      C. refused   D. quarreled

4. What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?  

A. Job security leads you away from wealth.

B. Talented people do not need to struggle to make money.

C. People get rich simply by doing what they are capable of.

D. Even talented people need to learn how to make a fortune.

Key: 

1. C。本段第一句说明这世界上有很多有天才，有能力的人，但是结尾句说明光一种能力不够，不足以活得富足。下一段的最后两句，尤其是最后一句说道大多数人知道的在钱财方面的唯一技能就是努力干活，却不知道用钱来挣钱。之后两段也都是在证明这一论点，所以C正确。D错在把这个论点变窄了，就是通过找专业理财的人来帮忙。

2. C。本题和上题的线索一样，是第二段的最后两句话，所以正确答案为 C。

3. B。从这个词后面的“joined the Marine Corps to learn how to fly”可知，作者离开了那个公司，所以是辞职。

4. D。倒数第二段作者说受过良好教育的父亲希望我工作稳定，而富爸爸认为学习商业很重要，我在大学期间就从商的经历让我成长很快。最后一段通过我上课给学生关于麦当劳汉堡包的提问和回答，点明做事情做得再好，还是得要了解一些商业体系的道理（并运用于生活），才可能致富，所以D正确，而且因此可以否定BC。而A单从文章看不出，或者说，工作稳定不是唯一条件，只要你懂得理财，也同样可以致富。

III. Language study

Understand the following sentences.

1. It was this business consultant who told me, “They are one skill away from great wealth.”

释义：正是这位商务顾问告诉了我一句话：“要发大财，他们还少一项技能。”

分析：本句引申了away from表示“离……有多远（多久）”的基本含义。再如这句广告语：You are one click away from online banking. 只要敲下键盘，网络银行就可以轻松搞定。

2. All too often, they’re poor, or struggle financially, or earn less than they are capable of, not because of what they know but because of what they do not know.

释义：太多的时候，他们之所以贫穷、生活拮据或者收入与其能力不相符，不是因为他们已知的东西而是因为他们未知的东西。

分析：not … but … 连接两个并列的原因状语。

Translate the following sentences with the given words. 

1. 他决定毕业后专攻工程学。 

He decided to specialize in engineering after graduation.

2. 由于假期即将来临，大量新订单会源源不断地涌来。

As the holidays approach, lots of fresh orders will pour in.

3. 说到足球，哈利是班里踢得最好的学生。

When it comes to football, Harry is the best student in the class.

4. 并不是每个人都有鉴赏艺术的能力。

Not everyone is capable of judging art.