2020-2021学年度第35期总第828期
A changing planet (P6)
邯郸市第一中学  张蕴

Ever since Earth formed roughly 4.5 billion years ago, its climate has gone through a number of incredible changes.
Lead-in

From the Jurassic Period

To an ice age

Currently, humanity is pushing Earth closer to another extreme climate event. The ecological changes are occurring rapidly.
Scanning
Organize information from the passage and complete the chart.

What’s the ecologist’s view on the changes?
Changes are occurring rapidly, which is alarming.
Critical thinking
Coral reefs are some of the most biologically rich and economically valuable ecosystems on earth. However, coral reefs and the magnificent creatures that call them home are in danger of disappearing.

Discuss with your partner what we should do to conserve coral reefs.
Language points
•The lower numbers aren’t a sign of all the sea creatures dying off though.
Though 位于句尾，常翻译为“不过，然而”
Eg. -“Did you win that game?”
   -“No. It was a great one, though.”

•Depending on the species, it can take anywhere from one generation to thousands and thousands of years to properly adapt, so the changes that have occurred in just the last 40 years are very troubling for scientists.
depending on the species 为动词-ing短语做条件状语，anywhere between A and B/anywhere from A to B 从A到B 不等
Eg. She could have been anywhere between 45 to 60 years old.
We can accommodate anywhere between 60 and 300 people.
Expression accumulation
roughly                 大约
humid jungle            潮湿的森林
highlight sth                强调某事
tropical marine zones        热带海洋区域
threaten to                威胁到，危及
in the blink of an eye        一眨眼的时间