高二教案 第849期(6版)
发布时间:2021-11-15
2021-2022学年度第12期总第849期
Is human hibernation possible? (page 6)
山东省烟台第二中学 赵娜娜
Lead-in
What are the animals doing in the picture?
hibernating
Why do animals enter hibernation in winter?
With low temperatures and a lack of food, winter is a harsh season for animals. Many animals enter hibernation to get through it.
When you feel sleepy in the winter, have you wondered whether human hibernation is possible?
Title prediction
Is human hibernation possible?
What would humans be like if we hibernated?
Is it possible?
Why or why not?
Read for main idea
Human hibernation doesn’t exist for many reasons, but chances are that we may hibernate during space travel in the future.
Read for structure
Read the text and try to work out the structure.
Part 1 (Paras. ___1 — 2 ____) animal hibernation
Part 2 (Paras. __3 — 6_____ ) reasons why humans don’t hibernate
Part 3 (Paras. __7 —8_____ ) human hibernation in the future
Read for details
Read the text carefully and answer the following questions.
1. What is hibernation?
Hibernation is when an animal goes into a state of extended inactivity in which their metabolism will slow to less than a quarter of its normal rate. This cools the creature’s body and slows its heartbeat to just a few beats per minute for up to months at a time.
2. Why don’t humans hibernate?
Our body is not designed for hibernation.
Our evolutionary ancestors were tropical animals with no history of hibernating: Humans have only migrated into temperate and subarctic latitudes in the last hundred thousand years or so. That’s not quite long enough to evolve all the metabolic adaptations we would need to be able to hibernate.
Waste management
Animals that hibernate are able to essentially stop their urination (排尿) and defecation (排便) during hibernation, sometimes through a process of reabsorption to preserve nutrients
Unfortunately, humans can’t do this
Stable body temperature
Body temperatures below 2.8 C tend to disrupt the human digestive tract and may cause pain. Cold temperatures can also suppress the immune system, making people more vulnerable to infections.
Humans don’t need to sleep through winter
We have discovered fire, clothes, shelter, hunting and agriculture, all of which are much more effective ways of surviving the cold.
3. Could humans hibernate in the future?
For long-distance space travel, it’s likely. A journey to Mars would take months using current technology. If we hope to visit another star system, even if we could travel at the speed of light, the journey would take years. Being able to hibernate would make such distances considerably less boring for the astronauts and conserve vital resources.
NASA is taking this question seriously. Beginning in 2014, the agency funded research on long-term hibernation as a way to facilitate long-term space travel.
Summary
Many animals enter hibernation to get through the __harsh____ winter season during which they go into __a state of _____ extended inactivity. But why don’t humans hibernate? Human hibernation doesn’t exist for many reasons. Our body ____ is not designed for____ hibernation. For example, waste ___management____ is a huge challenge for human hibernation. There are other challenges. Cold temperatures can also suppress____the immune system____, making people more vulnerable to____infections____. In fact, humans don’t need to sleep through winter because we have much more effective ways of ___surviving the cold_____.Could humans hibernate in the future? For long-distance space travel, it’s likely.
Language study
1. a harsh season 恶劣的季节
2. hide away from predators 躲避天敌
3. migrate 迁徙
4. waste management 废物管理
5. the immune system 免疫系统
6. conserve vital resources 保护重要资源
7. long-term space travel 长途太空旅行