Fires rage in the Amazon Rainforest (P2)

太原市外国语学校    王丽媛

 

Lead in 

Have you heard about the fires in the Amazon? 

 

 

Do you know that wildfires are also occurring in Africa? What do you want to say about these disastrous fires? 

Environmental protection is a matter of urgency. Otherwise, life on Earth will be irreparably changed for the worse. What should we do to protect our planet, in your opinion?

 

Fast reading 

1.Which of the following options are mentioned in the article?

•The Amazon is currently in danger.

•Most of the fires this year are believed to be caused by natural events, as CNN reported.

•The fires have raised concern around the world.

•  Measures have been taken to curb the fires in the Amazon Rainforest.

 

2. Match the divisions of the article to the main idea of each division.

 

 

Detailed reading 

Para.1-3

1. Why is the Amazon Rainforest nicknamed “the lungs of our planet”?

It generates about one-fifth of Earth's oxygen. Plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen.

 

2. Why is it said that the Amazon rainforest is currently in danger?

In 2019, the Amazon has seen a large number of forest fires that have lasted for several weeks. This year has seen the highest number of wildfires since 2013.

 

Para.4-5

What caused the fires of the Amazon forest this year?

During dry season, forest fires are usually caused by natural events, such as high temperatures and lightning strikes.

However, most of the fires this year are believed to be caused by farmers, who use fire as a traditional part of tropical agriculture to clear land for livestock.

 

Para.6-8

Why have the fires in the Amazon Rainforest raised concern around the world?  

 

 

Para.9-10

What has been done to combat the fires?  

 

 

Post-reading

Discussion:

“The lungs of the Earth --- the Amazon forest has been in danger. 

What caused it? 

What lessons should we learn from this disaster? 

How would you solve the current problem? 

Discussion these questions with your group members and share your ideas with them.

 

Mini-composition

In no more than 80 words, write a composition about the wildfires in the Amazon forest, according to your group’s discussion. 

 

Language focus

1. However, most of the fires this year are believed to be caused by farmers, who use it as a traditional part of tropical agriculture to clear land for plants and livestock, reported CNN. 

who引导非限制性定语从句，修饰先行词farmers。 

意为：然而，据CNN报道，今年大部分火灾被认为是由农民引起的。在传统热带农业中，农民用火来清理土地。

 

2.The Amazon rainforest is important for preventing climate change, said the BBC, absorbing millions of tons of carbon annually.  

absorbing在句中是现在分词作状语，表原因，可转换成相应的状语从句。因主语the Amazon rainforest与谓语absorb之间是主动关系，顾用现在分词形式absorbing做非谓语。 

=The Amazon rainforest is important for preventing climate change, for it absorbed millions of tons of carbon dioxide last year, said the BBC.  

意为：BBC说，亚马逊雨林对防止气候变化很重要，因为它每年吸收数百万吨的碳。

 

3.If more than 20 percent of the ecosystem is destroyed (破坏), the Amazon rainforest could reach a “tipping point (临界点)”, where the thick jungle will turn into a tropical savannah (大草原). 

If引导条件状语从句；

where引导定语从句。

意为：如果超过20%的生态系统被破坏,亚马逊雨林可以达到“临界点”。当达到“临界点”时，茂密的丛林就会变成热带大草原。

 

4.For example, Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, said he wanted to donate money and US Actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s environmental charity, Earth Alliance, created a donation fund (基金) to help deal with the crisis. 

and使前后两个分句并列起来，作为社会各界名流支援灭火的例子。 

意为：例如，苹果的首席执行官蒂姆•库克表示,他想要捐款；而美国演员莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥的环保慈善团体---地球联盟,也建立了一个捐赠基金来帮助处理危机。

 

 

Sweet scent of fear (P6)

山东省烟台第二中学 赵娜娜

 

Warming up

 What do you feel when you smell freshly-cut grass?

A sweet and sharp smell?

A smell that somehow smells exactly like the color green?

 What causes that sweet smell?

Chemically speaking, that classic lawn smell is an airborne mix of carbon-based compounds called green leaf volatiles, or GLVs. Plants often release these molecules when damaged by insects, infections or mechanical forces — like a lawn mower.

 

We are in love with the scent of fear.  

 

Reading for structure

 

 

Understanding 

Read the article quickly and answer the following questions

1.What message does the fresh, “green” scent suggest?

Plants have many different chemical defenses. That smell is one of them, grass responds to an attack, by signaling (向……示意) to the surrounding grass that danger is coming. 

 

2. How is the smell produced?

The smell is produced by a mix of chemicals called green leaf volatiles (GLVs，绿叶挥发物). When the leafy plants are injured – by animals eating them, people cutting them, or any other rough (粗鲁的) treatment – they give off GLVs into the air. 

 

3. What are the functions of GLVs for plants?

They Warn other plants! 

These GLVs are a warning to neighboring plants that their flowers might be removed. This gives them time to their move resources, like water, toward their roots and away from their flowers. Doing this reduces a plant’s potential losses and helps it to grow back later.

To help itself recover!

One chemical helps to close the wound on the damaged plant. Others act as antibiotics (抗生素) and prevent bacterial (细菌的) infections. 

 

They react with animals that eat plants!

Some GLVs may also react with animals. Some caterpillars are changed by the GLV compounds when they eat a tobacco plant. Tobacco makes caterpillars more attractive to predators (捕食者). For the tobacco plant, this is like getting your older brother to beat up your high school bully.

 

4.What do GLVs mean to humans?

We humans get treated to some great-smelling GLVs. One is a compound known as “cis-3-hexenal”. This is the same chemical that gives strawberries their sweet scent. Similar compounds are also found in apples and olives. 

 

Fill in the blanks

 

 

 

 

Post reading

Retell the passage to your partners covering the key points.

The fresh smell

GLVs and their functions

What GLVs mean to us

 

Homework

•Write a summary of the article in about 100 words.