Take a Break in Space (P1)
太原市外国语学校   王丽媛

I. Warming up  
What does your dream hotel look like? Have you ever wondered how a space hotel would look?

II. Pre-reading
What are the differences between an ordinary hotel and a space hotel? What would you do at a space hotel if you were given a chance to visit one?
In your opinion, when will space hotels become a reality?
Read the article and find out.

III. While-reading
A first look
Read the article and try to find out what it is about.
What is the main idea of this article?
In this article, the author makes a brief introduction to the first hotel in space, Aurora Station.

A closer look
Read the article and answer the following questions.
1.When will the first space hotel welcome its guests?
In 2022. US startup Orion Span announced on April 6 that it planned to launch the first hotel in space in 2021. It will be ready to welcome guests the following year.

2. How many people is the space hotel capable of housing?
Six, including two crew members and four guests. 

3. What exciting things can guests do in the space hotel?
Once aboard the Aurora Station, guests can find many exciting things to do.
(1) They can enjoy the excitement of zero-gravity as they fly throughout the space hotel;
(2) They can watch 16 sunrises and sunsets every day and view the northern and southern auroras through the many windows;
(3) They can take part in research experiments like growing food, and even take it home as a souvenir;
(4) They can stay in touch with their families and friends via a high-speed internet connection.

4. What is the main purpose of Aurora Station?
Most importantly, the trip will offer a real sense of what it’s like to live in space.

5. What will Orion Span do to better prepare guests?
To better prepare guests for space travel, the company will require a health screening and provide a three-month training program that helps guests understand basic spaceflight, orbital mechanics and life in the pressurized environment of space.

IV. After-reading
 

V. Post-reading
Discussion
If you were given a chance to stay in the space hotel Aurora Station for 12 days, how would you spend your time there? What would you do on each of the 12 days? Share your ideas with your group members.

Writing task
Write a composition with the title “My 12 Days in the Space Hotel”.
Write at least 100 words based on today’s group discussion.

Different kind of fear (P4)
邯郸市第一中学 李 松

I. Warming up  
Talk about the scariest movie you have ever seen and tell your partner what scared you about it.

II. Pre-reading
Look at the pictures of the movie Annihilation and guess what it is about.

III. While-reading
Fast Reading
Read the article and divide the passage into 4 parts.
 

Close reading
Read the article and answer the following questions.
1. Who is the main character of the movie?
Lena, a biologist.

2. Why does the main character enter “the shimmer”?
To discover what has changed her husband into someone who seems like a different person, Lena enters the shimmer with a team of four female explorers.

3. What do you know about the shimmer from the article?
This is somewhere that nobody has ever returned from – except for Kane.
Plants and animals have different genes there , and even the explorers’ bodies and minds start changing once they enter the shimmer.
The shimmer is a place that’s both familiar and strange at the same time.

4. What do people feel about the shimmer when they watch the movie?
They feel a growing fear of “the unknown”.
They feel disturbed and uncertain about things in the movie.

5. What happens at the end of the movie?
The story takes an even stranger turn: Lena finally makes it back to the outside world, with no explanation about whether the shimmer has changed her, like it changed Kane.

IV. phrases
 

V. Sentence analyzing
1. To discover what changed her husband into someone who seems like a different person, Lena enters the shimmer with a team of four female explorers.
解析：1. what引导宾语从句，并且在宾语从句中作主语。
      2. who引导定语从句，修饰先行词someone，并且在从句中作主语。
译为：为了发现是什么把她的丈夫变成了与以往大不相同的一个人，莱娜带着一个由四个女探险家组成的团队进入了这个世界。

2. You can’ t defeat what you can’t understand, not even when it feels like you’ re winning.
解析： 1. what引导宾语从句，并且在宾语从句中作宾语。
       2. when引导时间状语从句。
译为：你不能击败你无法理解的东西, 甚至是在你感觉胜利在望时。

3. Even at this ending point, the movie doesn’t give a solid explanation, leaving us hanging in the air, which is even more disturbing.
解析： 1. leaving 现在分词作结果状语，状语部分意思相当于which leaves us hanging in the air.  2. which引导非限定性定语从句。
译为：即使在电影要结束的这个时候，也没有给出一个可靠的解释，让我们搞不清楚状况，这令人更加不安。

VI. Post-reading
Discussion and Debate
Discuss your opinions in groups of four. Then, share your thoughts with the class.
What do you think makes this movie creepy? What is the difference between a “scary” movie and a “creepy” movie?