US loves its parks (P4-5)
湖北省襄阳市第五中学 徐颖

I. Pre-reading
Show students pictures of national parks in the US.
Acadia National Park; Channel Islands; Pinnacles; Grand Canyon; Hawai’i Volcanoes
What do you know about national parks in the US?
Guess: What will this article tell us?

II. Skimming
Activity One: Find out the topic sentence of each paragraph.
Para 1: … but the human soul still hungers for the great outdoors.
Para 2: The US… is blessed with wonderful “outdoors”.
Para 3: One reason is that the country actively protects its most breathtaking sites.
Para 4: The parks are not just pretty places to admire, but also places of spiritual togetherness.
Para 5: They fill people with patriotic pride, too …
Para 6: The parks continue to inspire artists’ words, sounds and images.
Para 7: …more travelers from China now have the opportunity to visit these natural wonders.
Activity Two: Divide the whole text into 4 parts and work out the main idea of each part.
Part 1 (Para1): Americans hunger for the great outdoors.
Part 2 (Para 2-3): The reason why the US is blessed with wonderful outdoors.
Part 3 (Para 4-5): The special relationship between Americans and the great outdoors.
Part 4 (Para 6-7): Chinese people now have more opportunities to visit American national wonders whose beauty can also be tasted through artwork.

III. Scanning
Part 1(Para 1)
The author compares buildings made of concrete, steel and glass to the great outdoors.
Part 2 (Para 2-3)
When did US national parks start being preserved by law?
In 1916.
Part 3 (Para 4-5)
1. What are the reasons for the special relationship between Americans and the great outdoors?
They are pretty places admired by Americans.
They are places of spiritual togetherness.
They bring out Americans’ patriotic feelings.
2. Why do the national parks fill people with patriotic (爱国的) pride?
They remind them how the early settlers built new lives in the wilderness.
The sites are links to homelands for native Americans who still live in areas of the parks.
Part 4 (Para 6-7)
Who was Ansel Adams?
A famous US photographer and environmentalist who took thousands of glorious (壮丽的) pictures of many national parks.
Show students some of Ansel Adams’ photographs.

IV. Post-reading
Discussion: What’s the relationship between humans and nature?
Ø Interconnected.
Ø Nature provides humans with beautiful views as well as peace of mind. It also inspires artistic creations. Thus, humans should cherish and protect nature however they can.
Inspiring words: In life, it is not the destination but the wonderful journey that counts.

Snakes not so scary (P5)
天津市第四十三中学  邵博雅

I. Wordlist
scary adj.可怕的，吓人的
dreadful adj.令人畏惧的; 讨厌的
random adj.随机的; 任意的
innate adj.天生的; 特有的
conclude vt.得出结论
evolve vi./vt.演化，发展

II. Pre-reading
In your opinion, which animal is the scariest one?

III. Fast reading
What is the article mainly about?
A. How people’s fear of snakes and spiders has evolved.
B. Whether humans are born with a fear of snakes and spiders.
C. Why snakes and spiders are considered the most dreadful animals.
D. How babies react differently from adults to snakes and spiders.

IV. Detailed reading
Read the text and answer the questions:
1. What did the study published in Psychological Science show?
It showed that snakes did have a different impact on babies.
Clue: Para 4, the first sentence
2. How did the team from Rutgers University challenge the idea that babies are born with a fear of snakes and spiders?
By measuring babies’ physiological responses.
Clue: Para 5, the second sentence
3. Why is it a good thing that humans don’t have an inborn fear of snakes?
Because it would make a young infant’s desire to explore new things less strong.
Clue: Para 8, the fourth sentence
4. True or false:
1. We are born with a fear of snakes. F
2. Babies find stuffed toys more interesting than live animals. F
3. According to recent findings, babies’ surprised responses were not bigger when watching a video of a snake. T         
4. We have evolved to slowly learn to be afraid of dangerous things. F

V. Language study
1. However, when it comes to scary animals, the answers are often more or less the same.
when it comes to … 当提到 ……
Translate: 说到开车，他们就没有什么经验了。
They are inexperienced when it comes to driving.
2. A study published in Psychological Science in 2008 seemed to show that snakes did have a different impact on babies.
have a(n) … impact on 有……的影响
Translate:没有什么会比空气污染给全球健康带来更大的危害。
Nothing has a greater impact on global health today than air pollution.
3. Because it would make a young infant’s desire to explore new things less strong.
desire n.  desire to do sth, desire for sth 渴望……
Translate: 1) 人们强烈渴望和平。2) 很多人表达了要看看这个报告的渴望。
There is a strong desire for peace among the people.
Many people have expressed a desire to see the report.
4. According to BBC, the researchers measured babies’ physiological responses as they watched videos of snakes and elephants paired with both fearful and happy voices.
pair with  使……与……配成对
Translate:实习生会和有经验的经理配成对。
The trainees will be paired with experienced managers.

Destined for flying job (P6)
天津南开中学  王立梅
I. Predicting
Can you predict the main idea of the story based on its heading?
Destined for flying job
destined: seeming certain to happen at some time in the future
e.g. She seems destined for a successful career.

II. Fast reading
Read the story quickly to check if your prediction of the main idea is correct.
1. What is this story mainly about?
A. The excitement of flying in the sky.
B. The writer’s unforgettable flights as a flight attendant.
C. How much the writer loved and was suited to her job
D. How to be a successful flight attendant.

Key: C

III. Detailed reading
Read the article again and answer the following questions.
1. What was the writer’s dream when she was young? And how do you know that?
The writer dreamed of being a flight attendant when she was young because she thought they looked cool in their navy blue uniforms. And she dreamed of being a cloud because they move and never stay the same.

2. How did the writer feel when she became a flight attendant? Why? 
She was extremely excited because she could see the world from above, bringing her great excitement.

3. Why did the lady give the writer a ripe peach? 
Because the peach was from the tree her son had planted.

4. Why did the writer check on the woman regularly?
Because the woman’s greeting was sad and the writer was worried about her.

5. How did the writer know they’d arrived at the Mall of America?
The writer was very familiar with it due to being a flight attendant.

IV. Vocabulary
•hesitation: the action of pausing before saying or doing sth
•e.g. After a slight hesitation, she began to speak. 
•regularly: at the same time each day, week, month, etc.
•e.g. It’s important to exercise regularly.
•overhear: accidentally hear what other people are saying
•e.g. I overheard their secret.
•current: happening or existing now
•e.g. If the current situation continues, house prices will increase.

V. Vocabulary exercise
Choose the best answer to fit the blank.
1.When the fire alarm rang, I ran out of the house ____.
a. without hesitation
b. in anger

2.The doctor said that I was too fat, ____.
a. so I was destined to be a fat guy
b. so I decided to do sports regularly

3. Everyone in his family is an artist,  _____.
a. so he is destined to be an artist
b. he is an artist in his current situation

4. I already knew Jim’s secret before he told me  _____.
a. because I overheard it
b. because we talk about it regularly

5. He dreams of being a captain, but ____.
a. he is currently a flight attendant
b. he flies regularly

VI. Post-reading
Further thinking:
Discuss the following questions with your partner.
Ø What is your dream job?
Ø What about it appeals to you?
Ø How do you plan to achieve your dream?