大学体验英语unit 1,book 3Global warming is one of the most pressing environmental issues today. Cars and factories release large amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere each year. These gasses trap heat and make our atmosphere warmer and warmer. If we do nothing about it right now, we will suffer growing consequences such as floods and droughts, and vast coastal areas will be under water.Plastic pollution is becoming a harmful environmental problem. Plastic products, such as bags, containers, boxes, etc. have brought convenience to our life, but they have also brought disastrous problems to our environment. As it is difficult to dispose of plastic wastes, they will pile up on the earth for tens, or even hundreds of years. Besides, plastics are the cause of many deaths of animals and fish because they mistake them for food. We must find a solution to plasticpollution before our earth is covered with plastics.1.T he sandstorm is a horrible phenomenon. The clouds of dust are so heavy that you can hardly breathe. It is so dark that it may cause traffic accidents.2.D roughts result from lack of water, which is essential for plants and animals. The failure of crops leads to food shortage, and sometimes even famine.3.T he flood washes away houses, destroys fields, and causes life and property losses. People may be left homeless and suffer diseases.4.T he increase of disasters is mainly caused by human activities. With the growth of population, we need more resources from the Earth. The deforestation, over-cultivation, together with other factors, lead to the imbalance of the ecosystem. And this in turn causes more natural disasters.1．Giant pandas are a critically endangered species. Their exact number in the wild is unknown, but scientists believe there are about 1,100 remaining wild giant pandas. They live in scattered populations in central China, mostly in Sichuan Province, but also in Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces. Giant pandas specialize in eating bamboo, and so if the temperate bamboo forests in the mountains of central China are gone, there will be no room for giant pandas in the wild. 2．Flamingoes have a behavior that is as hard to explain as it is fun to watch: they dance. Posturing and signaling with their wings, bowing and bending their necks, running back and forth as a group, and then suddenly taking flight to wheel around the edges of the lake — a crowd of dancing flamingoes is one of the strangest, most breathtaking sights in the natural world. Do they do it simply for fun? No one is really sure.3．Koalas are tree-dwelling animals that live only in eastern Australian forests. Koalas in the wild face a series of threats to their continued survival mostly stemming from destruction of their habitat for humanuses and associated threats like cars, dogs and disease. Over 80% of the Koala’s natural habitat has been destroyed and of the remaining 20% almost none is protected. Humans compete with koalas for land use throughout much of the koala’s range.4．Eagles are large predatory birds that have been symbols of power, courage, and immortality since ancient times. Although once abundant, some eagles are becoming rare and face extinction. Eagles are noted for their strength and keen vision. Most eagles range from 60 to 90 cm long and have wingspans of about 180 cm. All eagles have large, heavy, hooked bills (喙) and strong, sharp claws. They prey on such small animals as fish, birds, snakes, monkeys,and rabbits. They have very sharp eyesight and hunt while soaring high in the air. The eagles swoop down at great speed to make the kill with their powerful claws.5．At the beginning of the 20th century it is estimated that there were 100,000 wild tigers, today the number is less than 8,000. Simply put, tigers are disappearing in the wild. Across all of Asia, once vast forests have fallen for timber or conversion to agriculture. Asforest space is reduced, the number of animals left in the forest is also reduced, and tigers cannot find the prey they need to survive. Even though it is illegal to kill a tiger, wild tigers are still being hunted today because their bones, furs and other body parts can be sold on the black market for a lot of money.Questions and answers (passage A)---think about itWe are nurtured by the healthy condition of Mother Earth. In humans, if the mother is ailing, the child suffers. We are the cause of the ailing planet and we are the victims.It is us human beings. We are sometimes ignorant of the disastrous consequences we are causing and driven by the greedy needs for more conveniences.We should have a correct attitude towards environment. Besides, we should develop strategies and act immediately to protect our Mother Earth.Read about it---1.The world is a whole. Nothing in it can be isolated. Everything affects and is affected by its environment. Trees are not exceptions.2.We’d better let nature develop in its own course and do notinterfere too much. Tread as lightly as you can, taking as little as possible, and putting back as much as you can.3.We are never satisfied with what we have, and always ask for more than what is necessary.4.He wants to raise readers’ awareness in different aspects of the environment problem, and urge them to act immediately to protect the environment.5.1) We should see the world as one interconnected, interrelated whole. (Aman Motwane)2) The two most pressing environmental issues are deforesting and global warming. (Walter Semkiw)3) Air and water pollution are our Number One priorities. (Leon Nacson)4) We are the cause of the ailing planet and we are the victims. (Amrit Desai)Summary of passage A----In an interview for Magazine,four specialists discuss their views on environmental issues with Dr.Mckinley. Leon is particularly worried about air and water pollution and Walter is especially concerned with deforestation and globalwarming.Aman believes that we have to realize that everything is related, and therefore that every action has a consequence and Amrit makes a link between consumption and global resources, arguing that human greed poses a serious threat to our earth.The message is that the environment is our responsibility and that we all have a part to play if we want to save our planet.I'm one of the endangered species. I do not have many relatives left in this world, and that's why people usually can only see us in the zoos. Although we are taken good care of and live comfortably there, we long for bushes in the mountains. As you know, we pandas are very critical about food. Young and fresh bamboo branches are our favorite. But sometimes bamboos would bloom and die. When this happens, many of us would have a hard time surviving and some may even die of hunger. Most people love us for what we are, but some still risk to hunt us for money andmake us even fewer in the world. Please help us. We count on you!What You Can Do About Overpopulation: CAPS Offers Nine Things to Talk About on Earth Day Today the quality of our natural environment has become animportant issue. The world population is rising so quickly that the world has become too crowded. We are using up our natural resources and at the same time polluting our environment with dangerous chemicals. If we continue to do this, life on earth cannot survive. Some people have made some progress in environmental protection. Governments of many countries have established laws to protect the air, forests and sea resources and to stop environmental pollution. Still more measures should be taken to solve environmental problems. People should be further educated to recognize the importance of the problems, to use modern methods of birth control, to conserve(保存）our natural resources and recycle（再循环） our products. We are sure that we can have a better and cleaner place in the future.Since Earth Day 2008, an estimated 80 million people have been added to the planet. That's approximately 150 people a minute, or about 6.6 million people every month. World population now is 6.8 billion. This growth in human population, coupled with unprecedented human activity, use of natural resources and rapid economic growth, is unsustainable. That's the bad news. The good news is that fertility has been declining in most countries recently. However, Africa continues to experience very high fertility, with some African countries averaging more than seven children per woman. But the bad news on top of bad news is that the high birth rates persist in countries with high poverty and illiteracy, poor health care and female inequality. More must be done to decrease high fertility rates in the less developed world. We want to bring needed focus on Earth Day to the problem of overpopulation.From wildlife habitat loss and water shortages to congested roads and suburban sprawl, overpopulation is a major negative for our quality of life. To encourage more discussion on the impacts of overpopulation, CAPS offers these suggestions on Earth Day: 1. Educate yourself about the impacts of overpopulation in your community, your country and the world. Consider how the news behind the headlines (a new housingdevelopment, an amnesty for illegal aliens, water shortages) can be traced directly to population growth. 2. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, favorite online news site or blog about the impacts of overpopulation on the environment -- educate others about how big a problem this is and why it must be addressed. 3. Initiate a discussion with friends, family and colleagues about overpopulation. You might begin by asking what they think will happen to America if the population continues to double every two or three generations. 4. Support policy changes that will have a positive impact on a sustainable country, including ending birthright citizenship and decreasing government incentives for having more than two children. Talk about the earth and the moon ---People’s activities make many waste things, the earth has been polluted .We have to do sth for taking care of the earth. Please remember Earth Day. It’s the third week of April every year.The earth and the moon was brother .one day they met and had a talk.The moon asked the earth whether he feels well and the earth said, “this day I don’t fell very well, I fell my body is worse and worse. I have heard you knew some knowledge about medicine.would you like to give me a check with my body?”“Oh! I am very sorry to hear that ,brother.” Said themoon, “Now , let me give you a check and find out what’s the matter with you .” ,“first ,I want to know why my eyes become darker and darker ?”“Let me see !” said the moon, “Oh the human make your eyes dark. They put out a lot of pollution gas because of their factory produce. The pollution gas rise to the sky and make your eyes dark .At the same time, the earth was very worried, he said , “can you give me some medicine to help me?”. Second,my skin is yellow . Can you tell me the rea son?”asked the earth.,with a worried espression on his face . The human cut down the tree for getting more resource, it makes lots of jungle destroyed and the rivers dry. So your face becomes yellow. On the other hand, humans put out the pollution water to the sea, which pollutes the sea and cause the fish dying. so it makes your skin very yellow and sometimes you will feel hot and uncomfortable. But now , the humans invent a new thing callled spaceship. they use it to fly to the space .when the spaceship fly around you ,it put out much rubbish . Now there is a lot of rubbish because more and more spaceships fly to the space. therefore , the rubbish make your skin dirtier and dirtier . I’m very concerned about your health.The moon said I’m sorry that I can’t help you. You should let the humandon’t pollute the environment.Biodiversity is the integral part of the ecological environment. It includes the diversity of ecological systems, of ecological species and of genetic genes, and concerns man's survival and the sustainable development of economy and society.Biodiversity is the basic guarantee for man's survival. It not only provides food, energy and other basic necessities for man's life and work, but also protects the environment, maintains ecological security, and especially plays a crucial role in air purification, guarantee of water quality and maintaining soil fertility. Biodiversity is our life. China has all varieties of land ecological systems, its number of species tops the northern hemisphere, its varieties of fruits rank the first in the world, and it is the biological gene banks of the northern hemisphere. Biodiversity conservation is the part of the conservation culture. It reflects the civilization level of a country or a nation. Biodiversity is the due responsibility of a responsible country. Biodiversity conservation is imperative under the situation. It is a long-term and arduous task. We must meet the needs of the economic, social and scientific development, be self-conscious in abiding by therule of nature, and try to enhance the level and effectiveness of biodiversity conservation during the exploration of the new pathway towards environmental protection in China. First, we should properly handle the relation between resource development and utilization with biodiversity conservation. The three objectives proposed by Biodiversity Convention are conservation foremost, sustained utilization and benefit sharing. Over thousands of years' development, the Chinese nation still boasts relatively complete and rich biodiversity, which are precious. We cannot afford to rely on the biological legacy of our ancestors and leave nothing to our future generations. We should ensure that biodiversity becomes one of the factors in environmental impact assessment for regions and for plans, and make clear the biodiversity conservation tasks and measures during the development and construction activities. Second, we should give priority to conservation of biodiversity in key regions. Nature reserves are the main sites for biodiversity conservation. We should establish a network for biodiversity conservation in a scientific manner, change from paying attention to the quantity of nature reserves to both their quantity and quality, and rehabilitate important ecologicalsystems. Third, we should enhance the capacity building for biodiversity conservation. We should conduct the survey on biological species and master the background of biological species in our country as soon as possible; pay close attention to setting up monitoring systems and evaluate the biodiversity; work harder to collect and store species and salvage important species concerning the long-term national interests; set standards for the collection, gathering, R&D, trading, exchange, entry and exit of biological species, and intensify the inspection on enforcement.Fourth, we should expand and deepen the international cooperation. We should seriously perform the international obligations and widely spread our policies and achievements for biodiversity conservation. We should make the conventions to be more balanced and coordinated and maximize our national interests. We should deepen the international cooperation and learn from advanced international concepts and experience.We believe that the biodiversity conservation in our country would usher in a new era, with the increasing efforts to implement the scientific outlook on development, more efforts to build conservation culture, and the successfulimplementation of China Action Plan for International Year of Biodiversity.Talking about the Olympic Games:The 2008 Beijing Olympic Torch Relay makes Olympic history as the longest torch relay ever,covering the broadest geographical area and involving the largest number of participants.The torch relay in Sichuan was scheduled to run ---,but the time was reset again though all the torchbearers were ready //Formally the relay would be held on May 10,2008,for a distance of 40km and duration of 12 hours and the relay launching ceremony was staged at the squarein Shantou Special Economic Zone..The sacred flame arrived in Beijing on---The Olympic selection is fair and every athlete has equal chance .We don’t favor anyone,an athlete just proves that he is worth a spot in the Olympic squad.Chinese athletes choose to retire after giving birth,but Dongmei(a thirty-three-year-old winner of the 52kg division at the 2004 Olympics) return to action from maternity leave and resumes training for the games,she says she likes to challenge herself and that she doesn’t want to miss the once-in-a-life-time opportunity of competing at theseOlympics on her doorstep.Miss Chen claims China’s first Olympic gold medal.The Beijing Olympic gold,silver and bronze medals differ from their predecessors as they incorporate a traditional Chinese features:jade.The jade is set into the reverse side of the medals,with white jade for the gold medal,greenish-white jade for the silver and green jade for the bronze.There are 1010 copies of each medal produced.Beijing promises to host a “green” Olympics, with all efforts to save energy, to host a human-centered Olympics, with all efforts to think for people, making all the guests feel at home, to host a scientific Olympics, with efforts to put scientific and technological products to a better use in the games.The red double-decker bus set off on a three-month journey from London to Beijing in June to celebrate the cultural and economic links between the two Olympic hosts. Leaving from Trafalgar Square, the bus arrives in Beijing before the Olympic flag is handed over to Livingstone at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Games. Eight drivers are needed from London’s various bus operators. The trip crossed Europe, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan before hitting itsfinal destination.The Beijing Paralympic Games will be held soon.Awareness Magazine is a bimonthly magazine, which came into being in 1993, and claims to devote itself to making our planet a better place to live in. For more information, please check:Communicative tasks:task 1A: So, we’ve heard that there are plans to build a massive dam in the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze.B: That’s right. In fact, they’ve already started the preliminary construction.A: But what about the environmental implications?B: What do you mean?A: Well, the damage to the eco-system … Isn’t it going to mean flooding a great big area, forcing people to re-locate and immersing the sites of special archaeological interest? B: I see what you mean, but that’s what you’ve read in the Western press …and you’ve only read half of the story.A: How’s that?B: There’s no doubt that the project does have environmental implications but on the whole the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. During the rainy season, the Yangtze often floods and it causes masses of damage, destroying homes, crops and so on. The dam will prevent this flooding and so, while it’s true that some people have to move, many people will reap the benefits. What’s more, the dam will provide hydro-electricity to many homes thereby reducing pollution from coal burning power plants.A: What about the fish?B: The fish?A: Aren’t there some breeds of fish which swim upriver to spawn（产卵）?B: We’re talking about saving human lives and livelihoods, and you’re worried about the fish! As it goes, I’ve heard of other dams where they’ve built special little gates or something like that which allow the fish to pass through. A: And China’s going to lose one of its most famous sites …B: Well, not really. Some of the sites will look grander with a higher water level. Why don’t you go and see them now while you still have the chance. You can revisit them to make a comparison after the Dam is built.Task 2A: You know, Mrs. Brady, I've been meaning to ask you something …B: Yes, dear, what's that?A: Well, why do you always keep the air-conditioning running?B: Why, would you rather swelter in the heat?A: Well, it's not that. It's true that sometimes it's really hot outside and then I'm quite happy not to suffer, but it seems to me that the air-conditioning has become a habit and you keep it on even on the days when it isn't so hot.B: We like to have a constant temperature in the house, you know.A: But it means there's always an artificial atmosphere, and never any fresh air. Why do you keep it on on cooler days rather than turning it off and opening the windows? You could reduce your power bill by quite a lot too.B: Are you trying to save me money? Am I charging you too much rent?A: Oh no, it's not that. But we were talking in class the other day about being environmentally conscious and I wasthinking that not only is the air conditioning bad for the environment, it's bad for our health AND i t's expensive…B: Well, you may be right. It's just part of our lifestyle, you know. I'll tell you what. Why don't we talk about this with the others over dinner tonight and see what they think?A: Ok, Mrs. Brady, that will be interesting. Thank you.Key to translation(passage A)1.How did the war, which brought terrible disasters to mankind, impact on such a poet?2.Mothers are sometimes blind to the faults of their beloved children, which will cause the children to make the same mistake again.3.As a new immigrant in this completely strange country, she always felt isolated.4.Acting before thinking often results in failure, so we should think before we leap.5.The time for talking is past; we must take a positive action to protect our environment.1.Quality and cost of our products are Number One priorities.2. Once we reach the point of no return, a crisis in the near future is inevitable.3. What an honor it is to have this opportunity to have you as our guest!4. Can you please share your opinion with other students and also learn something from the discussion?5. We can't just sit back and pretend it's none of our business.Passage B:Also known as tree toad, tree frog refers to a family of small to medium-sized frogs, found in temperate and tropical areas throughout the world. Most tree frogs have expanded disks on their toes that enable them to cling to surfaces. Body color ranges from brown and gray to green. They eat mainly insects. The gray tree frog is common throughout the eastern United States. Think about it:The frog was endangered by the worsening environment and came to “inform” the author of the severe situations.Man and animals are related as they live in the same environment.Summary of passage B----in this story the author who works with environmental topics is surprised when a tree frog takes up residence in his studio.Puzzled at first the frog’s apparent preference for the studio rather than a greenhouse attached to the cabin, one day the author seems to make telepathic心灵感应的 contact with the animal.At first he seems to understand that the frog is attracted by the sound of the computer that resembles the sounds made by other tree frogs, but then he starts to realize that the frog is there to remind him of his responsibility to protect the environment.Translation:1.Young people sometimes complain of not being able to communicate with their parents.2.Ever since childhood, Mary has been longing to take up residence in a Chinese village in Yunnan for a few years. Now her dream has come true.3.Domestic animals are used to depending on humans, so it is difficult for them to survive in the wild.4.He was suddenly overtaken by a fear that he would be laid off by the company because of bad economy.5.I figure he’ll be bac k soon since he promised to have dinner with me.Word strategies:Five ways to figure out the meaning of a new word Definition and restatementWords with opposite meaningWords with same or similar meaningsWriting exercise;Order: 4,2,5,2,11. DS,2. DS,3. CS,4. DS,5. TSIt's all about the size & simplicitySony's Smallest Digital Camera Cyber-shot?U10Sony has now made capturing spontaneous photographic moments possible. A mere3-3/8" x 1-3/16" x 1-5/8" in size, this digital camera is meant to go along with you where ever you go. The ultra compact size allows you to carry it in your pocket, your purse or around your neck while displaying its stylish design. Capturing spontaneity is a snap thanks to its state of the art technology and amazing ease of use. The Cyber-shot? U10, the digital camera that is always there with you.Dear Colleague / Sir / Madam,We invite you to attend an international symposium on city garbage disposal to be held in Chengdu, China, in May 2003. The Environment Institute of China and the Chengdu Municipal Government are pleased to beco-sponsors of this symposium.The disposal of city garbage is an issue of major concern for every city in the world. Thus, there is anincreasing need to discuss, exchange and develop effective ways for garbage disposal without doing any harm to the environment.The aim of this symposium is to contribute significantly to the development of healthy environment in cities. We hope that you will find the topics of your interest and we are looking forward to seeing you in Chengdu.Sincerely yours,Qian Shenli Zhang Xilai Mayor Director chengdu municipal government Environment Institute of china追加否定，含有“更不”的意思。
