2020-2021学年度第15期总第814期
Safe haven for seeds (P6)
石家庄二中实验学校     刘素红
Lead-in

Noah’s Ark诺亚方舟

Pre-reading
Safe haven for seeds
*haven: a place where people or animals can live peacefully

What is the writing style of the passage?
A. Fiction                    B. Argumentative
C. Expository                D. Narrative
Key: C

Reading for Structure
Task1: Skimming
Skim the passage and figure out its structure by dividing it into three parts.

Reading for detailed information
Task 2: Careful reading
Read part 1 and find the topic of the passage.

This has certainly been a tough year, and in times like this, it is good the know that the world's scientists have prepared our own Noah's Ark of sorts.
*our own Noah's Ark of sorts: our own places to protect plant seeds

Read part 2 to find the topic sentences.

Read paragraph 2 carefully and translate the following sentence.
On Nov 20, 2000, Prince Charles opened the huge seed vault (保险库) in Sussex, UK, which has now collected and stored 2.4 billion seeds, making it the largest in the world.
which引导定语从句，修饰the huge vault ;
making为现在分词作结果状语

Read paragraph 3 carefully and translate the sentence.
The seed vault has “never played such a critical role” than it does this year due to the planet's imminent (即将来临的) biodiversity crisis with two-fifths of the world's plants at risk of disappearing, according to Kew Gardens, which operates the project.
due to：因为；with：随着
均在句中作状语

critical：important 紧要的，关键的；批评的，批判的

Para 4 TS: So how does the seed bank work?

Para 5 TS: There are some exceptions, such as the monkey puzzle tree

Read paragraph 5 carefully and guess what “exception” means.

There are some exceptions, such as the monkey puzzle tree. As it cannot tolerate the drying process, the MSB had to plant hundreds of the endangered trees in Chile to conserve (保护) the species.

exception: something or someone that does not follow a rule

Para 6-7 Read paragraphs 6 and 7 carefully and then fill in the blanks with proper forms of the given words.

1. There are over 1,000 seed banks located (locate) all over the world.
2. The Svalbard International Seed Vault, also known (know) as the Doomsday Vault, opened in February 2008.
3. China also has its own Noah's Ark, which is one of the only two biological germplasm banks established (establish) based on international standards.

Para 8 Conclusion
Read part 3 carefully and figure out what is the author's attitude to the establishment of seed banks around the world.

A. Objective.                       B. Indifferent.
C. Approving.                         D. Ambiguous.
Key: C

Task 3: Think about the problem from our perspective

Scientists are devoted to protecting the Earth’s biodiversity, but it is everyone’s responsibility. What should we do?