Helping to decide (P3)
北京二中  付春雨
I. Warming up
What are some political events that are taking place in your country?
What do you know about the 2016 US presidential election? (When is the election? Who are the candidates? …)

II. Pre-reading
Look at the title and predict what the article will be about.

III. While reading
Skim the article and summarize the main idea.
It shows that US high school students have become more interested in the election and reviews ways in which they can influence the election and ways for them to get involved in the election. 
According to Alain Jean, why should teenagers pay attention to the election?
Teenagers should be paying attention to the presidential election because many high school students will be of voting age by election time. Candidates have views and positions on certain topics that may affect teens’ lives.
Why do parents have to consider the views of their children when casting their votes？
According to Lucy Rimalower, a licensed marriage and family therapist (治疗专家), parents must consider whether their vote represents their household and the teens living in it.
According to Alain Jean, how can teenagers get involved in campaigns and influence the election?
She suggests that teenagers who actually believe in one of the candidates find the local headquarters (总部) for a campaign and volunteer. Campaign volunteers stuff envelopes, wave signs and go into neighborhoods to drop off literature (宣传材料) and try to get the word out.

IV. Post-Reading
Discussion
Do you think teenagers should take part in the election? Why or why not?
If you were a teenager in the US, which candidate would you support and why?

British Weather Keeps on Changing (P4-5)
中国人民大学附属中学  宋玖青
I. Warming up
What topic do you often use to start a conversation?
Which people like to talk about weather the most?
British people.

II. Pre-reading
If you were the person in the following comics, how would you feel?

III. While reading
Read the article and answer the following questions. 
1.What is one of the biggest reasons why the British talk so often about the weather?
It’s handy.
2.What is the thing about Britain that every Briton agrees on?
The unreliability of its weather.

Divide the article into three parts. Then summarize the main idea of each part.
Part I
(Para. 1-2) The writer’s own recent experience of the quickly-changing weather in the UK.
Part II
(Para. 3-4) Characteristics of the weather in Britain.
Part III
(Para. 5-6) How British people talk about the weather in Britain.

Read the article again and answer the multiple-choice questions.
1. What’s the purpose of the first two paragraphs?
A. To show the writer’s dislike of British weather.
B. To give readers some idea of the weather in Britain.
C. To explain why the weather in Britain is always changing.
D. To show how the author is troubled by the changeable weather.
2. It can be inferred from the article that the author holds a(n) ____ attitude toward the weather in Britain.
A. negative
B. critical
C. indifferent
D. positive

IV. Language study
Translate the following sentences into Chinese, paying attention to the underlined parts.
1.Go ahead with your picnic in the local park by all means, but don’t assume that because the sun is shining now, it will be when you open your pack of sandwiches; better take an umbrella, just in case.
去公园野餐当然可以，但是别觉得现在的好天气可以持续，你打开三明治袋子的时候也许就会变天了；以防万一，最好还是带把伞。

2.Even those with different opinions on everything else in the world, such as the current argument in the UK about membership of the European Union, can talk about the weather without it leading to a shouting match.
即便是那些世界上对其他任何事都各执己见的人，比如那些争论目前英国是否应继续作为欧盟成员国的人来说，也可以心平气和地讨论天气，而不会使之发展成为吵吵嚷嚷的口水战。

V. Homework
Suppose you are studying in London. Write a letter to your friend Lisa who is coming to visit Britain. Give her some information about the weather. You may include:
1) What kind of clothes she should bring.
2) Why British people like to talk about the weather.
3) …
Use the information from the article and your own research in your letter.

Totally trapped (P6)
莆田第五中学  林素钦
I. Warming up
    Do you like going on adventures? What do you think you would do if you were trapped in a dangerous situation?
Background information:
Aron Lee Ralston (born October 27, 1975) is an American outdoorsman, engineer and motivational speaker. He survived a canyoneering accident in southeastern Utah in 2003, during which he amputated (切断) his own right forearm with a dull pocketknife in order to save himself from a fallen boulder (巨石), which trapped him in Blue John Canyon for 127 hours. After he freed himself, he had to make his way through the remainder of the canyon, then rappel down (用绳索下降) a 65-foot sheer cliff face in order to reach safety.

II. Skimming
What’s the article mainly about?
It’s mainly about Aaron Ralston’s experience of being trapped in a canyon by a fallen boulder and the actions he took to save himself.

III. Scanning
Q1: How long did Aaron plan to spend in Blue John Canyon? How did he equip himself?
He planned to spend only one day there. He took the climbing gear for the canyon, food and four liters of water with him.
Q2: How did the accident happen?
The boulder that the author hung off fell down and the author’s right arm got stuck between the boulder and the wall of the canyon.
Q3: What actions did the author take to save himself?
He tried to pull his arm out from the rock, but failed. He then used his knife to dig away the rock around his hand, which was terribly slow. Later, he managed to make a kind of seat to reduce the pressure on his feet.
Q4: Why couldn’t the author sit for more than 20 minutes?
Because the blood could not flow freely as the traps were too tight.

IV. Discussion
What do you think of the author? Why?
Suggested answers:
1.He is an experienced adventurer. He equipped himself fully for the trip. And when the accident happened, he knew how to deal with it to increase his chance of survival.
2.He is calm. He didn’t panic when he was trapped. And he did not stop trying.
…