高中英语人教版选修8：Unit 3 Section Ⅰ

“That one looks just like a sheep！ And look over there. That one looks like a horse！”

Do you remember lying on your back in a grassy field on a summer afternoon， discovering

the soft shapes in the clouds in the sky？ Those were the good old days when you could see

anything and everything in the clouds.,But now people look at the sky and see clouds in the

shape of a motor company's advertising logo 标识， or a message inviting them to go out

and buy a certain brand 品牌 of beer. These cloud pictures are not products of their

imaginations. Instead， they are produced by a machine. These new floating advertisements

are called Flogos； the name stands for “floating logos.” They're made from a mixture of

soapy foam 泡沫 and a lighter-than-air gas such as helium，and they can be made into

different sizes and shapes depending on the advertisement.,Flogos can last up to an hour if

weather conditions are good， and they can fly several kilometers high. Advertisers can rent

a Flogo machine for $2，500 a day. The set-up is normally performed within 1 to 2 hours，

and it will release four Flogos per minute. Advertisers can fill the air with any shape or

message they want.,Some people are worried that the Flogos might not be pollution-free 无污染的. However， the Flogo's inventor insists that the soap he uses is natural， and that a

Flogo just dissipates 消失 in the air， leaving nothing behind. Though it may be true that

Flogos are environmentally friendly， some people believe that the natural clouds in our

memory may be replaced by man-made ones. They are afraid that soon there will be

nowhere left where their imaginations can float freely.

Section_ⅠWarming Up & Reading — Pre-reading

[原文呈现][读文清障]

THE PROBLEM OF THE SNAKES

When I called up① my mother in the

countryside on the telephone she was

very upset. “There are some snakes in

our courtyard②，” she told me. “Snakes

come near the house nowand then③， and

they seem to have made their home here,

not far from④ the walnut⑤ tree. Can you

get rid of⑥ them please？” I felt very

proud. Here was a chance for me to ①call up给……打电话

②courtyard/'kɔːtjɑːd/n.院子；庭院；天井

③now and then偶尔；有时

④far from句中意为“离……远”。还可表示“远非；相差很远”，后接名词、动名词等。

⑤walnut/'wɔːlnʌt/n.胡桃；胡桃木

⑥get rid of除掉；摆脱

⑦distinguish/dIs'tIŋɡwIʃ/vi.&vt.显示……的差别；使……有所不同；辨别 distinguish⑦ myself by inventing

something merciful⑧ that would catch

snakes but not harm them⑨. I knew my

parents would not like me to hurt these

living creatures!

The first thing I did was to see if

there were any products⑩ that might help

me, but there only seemed to be powders⑪ designed to kill snakes. A new

approach was clearly needed. I set about⑫ researching the habits of snakes to

find the easiest way to trap them. Luckily

these reptiles⑬ are small and that made

the solution easier. ⑧merciful/'mɜːsIfl/adj.宽大的；仁慈的；慈悲的

⑨本句的主干结构是Here was a chance，其后的to distinguish myself ...but not harm them作后置定语，修饰chance，句中的that would ...是定语从句，修饰先行词something。

⑩product/'prɒdʌkt/n.产品

⑪powder/'paʊdə/n.粉末；火药

⑫set about开始；着手

⑬reptile n．[C]爬行动物

蛇的困扰

[第1～2段译文]

我给住在乡下的母亲打电话的时候，她感到很心烦。“我们院子里有几条蛇。”她告诉我，“蛇时不时地爬到屋子边上来，似乎是在屋子附近离胡桃树不远的地方安家了。你能不能把它们赶走？”我感到很自豪。这回我有机会来表现一下自己了。我要发明某种仁慈的东西，既可以把蛇捉住，又不会伤害它们。我知道我的父母是不会让我伤害这些生物的！

我所做的第一件事就是看看有没有现成的产品能帮助我。但是，看来只有毒死蛇的药粉。很明显，我得找一种新的方法了。于是我就着手研究蛇的习性，以便能找到最容易的方法捉住它们。好在这些爬行动物都很小，这使得问题比较容易解决。

Prepared with some research findings⑭， I

decided on⑮ three possible approaches: firstly⑯， removing their habitat；secondly, attracting

them into a trap using male or female perfume⑰ or food⑱； and thirdly cooling them so that

they would become sleepy and could be easily

caught. I decided to use the last one. I bought

an ice-cream maker which was made of ⑭过去分词短语Prepared with ...作时间状语。

⑮decide on决定；选定

⑯firstly ...，secondly ...，and

thirdly ...(用于列举)第一……，第二……，第三……

⑰perfume/'pɜːfjuːm/n.香水；香味

⑱现在分词短语using male ...作方式stainless⑲ steel. Between the outside and the

inside walls of the bowl there is some jelly⑳，

which freezes when cooled○21. I put the bowl

into the fridge and waited for 24 hours. At the

same time I prepared some ice-cubes○22.

The next morning I got up early before the

sun was hot. I placed the frozen bowl over the

snakes' habitat and the ice-cubes on top of the

bowl to keep it cool○23. Finally I covered the

whole thing with a large bucket. Then I waited.

After two hours I removed the bucket and the

bowl. The snakes were less active but they were

still to fast for me. They abruptly○24

disappeared into a convenient○25 hole in the

wall. So I had to adjust my plan. 状语。

⑲stainless/'steInləs/adj.无锈的；不锈的；没有污点的

⑳jelly/'dʒelI/n.果冻；果冻状物

○21which freezes when cooled是which引导的非限制性定语从句，补充说明jelly的作用。其中when cooled是时间状语从句的省略形式，补充完整为when it is cooled。