北师大版高中英语课文Unit 16 Stories

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b Unit 16 Stories

Warm-up

Tapescript

1 It was a dark and foggy night. We drove and drove. At midnight,

just as we thought we were lost, we saw a light behind some trees. As we

got nearer, we could see a house. It looked abandoned. We knocked on

the heavy door. It opened slowly. A tall man dressed entirely in black

stood there. “Good evening,” he said in a slow, deep voice. “I've been

expecting you.”

2 We were travelling through deep space at the speed of light.

Suddenly, the spaceship slowed down and immediately the system came

into view – a bright star with twenty or more planets. One of these would

be our new home, five light years from our own planet.

3 One of my earliest memories is of my father running along the

beach with our dog, Tess. I must have been about three years old. I

remember the dog jumping up on me and knocking me over into the

water.

4 The man lay on the ground next to a white truck. There was no

doubt. He was dead. I quickly looked in the pockets of his jacket – some

money, a handkerchief and a theatre ticket with a Chicago phone number b

b written on it. Three murders in three weeks and the victims all killed in

the same way.

5 Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess. She was an only

child and her father and mother, the king and queen, loved her very much.

One day, an old woman came to the castle. When she saw the princess,

she smiled and laughed in a strange and horrible way.

Lesson 1 Stories from History

Pompeii: The city that became a time capsule

Around the end of the first century AD, a Roman writer called Pliny

wrote about a terrible volcanic eruption that he had witnessed as a young

man. The eruption had occurred on August 24th, 79 AD. The earth began

to tremble and a volcano named Vesuvius, near Pompeii, Italy, erupted.

Pliny described a cloud coming down the mountain, blocking out the sun

and burying everything in its path, including whole villages and towns.

This particularly sad event left a deep impression on Pliny who had

lost an uncle in the eruption. Yet, over the centuries, there was a greater

loss. The people, towns and villages that had disappeared under the ashes

were entirely forgotten by the world.

However, more than 1,600 years later, some scientists found the lost

towns that had been buried under the ashes. By 1748, they had found an b

b awesome historical site. They had started to dig out the ancient city of

Pompeii.

In a way, Pompeii is like a “time capsule” preserving a frozen

moment in history. Before the eruption occurred, it had been a booming

Roman city with temples, markets, restaurants and theatres. Now as you

walk along the streets of the city, time rewinds. You can admire the

ancient architecture, statues, decorated walls and authentic objects

characteristic of the time.

However, much more than buildings and objects, it is the forms of

the people who were caught in the disaster that have made the city a

monument to human history.

The bodies of people who had died in Pompeii left impressions in the

ash that showed their exact shapes. As you walk, you will pass people

gathered together for protection in their last hours of life. One person,

sitting alone, looks like he is praying. Another man, lying on his side,

looks as if he is trying to get up. One can only feel sorrow and deep

sympathy for these once-living statues.

Today, more than 250 years after scientists found the city, thousands

of tourists and hundreds of scientists visit Pompeii every year to learn

more about the ancient world. In this way, the city, which the world had

once forgotten, lives on nearly 2,000 years after its loss.

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Lesson 2 Name Stories

Tapescript

Wang Jiannan: My name is Wang Jiannan and like many Chinese

names, Jiannan doesn't have just one specific meaning. When my parents

were looking for a name for me, they came across the character “Nan”.

“Nan” is a type of wood that is used to hold up the roof in the

construction of traditional Chinese houses.

Therefore my parents chose this character for me because they

wanted me to grow up to be a “pillar of society” – someone who helps to

build a better future. But, as well as having meaning from the characters

that are used for writing, Chinese names can also have significance

according to their sounds. In my case, Jiannan sounds like “healthy boy”.

Some people think it's abnormal to name a girl “healthy boy”, but I

don't. My parents gave me this name because they wanted me to be as

strong as any boys. I guess you think that's enough significance for one

name but there's more. “Jiannan” sounds like another set of characters