河南大学
研究生英语听说 课程教案
课次 |
11－12 |
授课方式 （请打√） |
理论课□ 讨论课□ 实验课□ 习题课□ 其他□ |
课时 安排 |
2 |
授课题目（教学章、节或主题）： Unit 6 The Nature We Live in |
教学目的、要求（分掌握、熟悉、了解三个层次）： 1、Let the students know the bilateral relationship between human beings and nature 2、Help the students get to know the vocabulary concerned with environmental damages 3、Help the students express their ideas about environmental protection |
教学重点及难点： In the English news, the causes of the acid rain as well as the damage caused by acid rain are talked about in a high speed |
教 学 基 本 内 容 |
方法及手段 |
• Warm-up • Listening for Content • Speaking for Communication • Follow-up |
理 论 课 |
作业、讨论题、思考题： Group discussion: What can we do to try to arouse the environmental awareness of the mass? |
课后小结： |
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Unit 6 The Nature We Live In
Warm-up
Listen to a speaker talking about the damage caused by ice storms. Complete the following chart with the information you hear.
Vocabulary
sugar-maple tree: sugar maple is a common tree abundant in the northeastern United States and Canada. In addition to producing sap for maple syrup, the sugar maple is a prime timber species and has been widely planted as a shade and ornamental tee. （北美）糖枫树
syrup n. sweet liquid made from sugar and water 糖浆；果子露
dump vt. to get rid of something 倒掉
Skills to practice: listen for specific information
Listen to the short passage for the first time to get to know the general idea of it.
Ice-Storm Numbers Tell Chilling Tale
In January 1998, three successive storms dropped more than 4 inches of freezing rain in areas of New England and southern Canada.
About 100,000 people had to take refuge in shelters, while the Red Cross raised more than $10 million to help the victims.
The ice brought down more than 1,000 power transmission towers and 30,000 wooden utility poles. Nearly 1.7 million customers lost their electricity, in some areas for weeks.
More than one-third of all farmland in the region was affected. Nearly 5.3 million sugar-maple trees were in the path of the storm, and it may take 30 to 40 years for maple syrup production to return to normal.
The hardest hit were dairy farmers, as nearly one-quarter of Canada’s cows were subjected to the storm. The ones that survived may never reach their previous level of production. Furthermore, 2.5 million gallons of milk, valued at more than $5 million, had to be dumped because there was no electricity.
Detailed listening, and explain the passage to the students.
Listen to the passage for a third time and then check the answers.
Discuss the following questions.
II. Listening for content
1. Listening to a conversation
The zoo, also called a zoological garden, is a place where wild animals and, in some instances, domesticated animals are exhibited in captivity.
There are different types of zoos, such as petting zoos, city zoos and rural zoos.
Petting zoos usually offer relatively tame animals for children and adults to pet and feed. These zoos are usually small in size. The animals range from cows, deer, goats and fowl. The purpose of this type of zoo is to let the public experience touching and feeding animals.
A city zoo is located in a large town on an extensive built-up area. Homes, businesses, parks and many people could surround the zoo. These zoos have animals from around the world. They have facilities with climate control and have recreated the natural habitat of the animals. They control the temperature and make their surroundings feel like home.
Rural zoos are small area zoos where animals are kept for study and public display. They are usually located in towns. Very few have facilities to support tropical or exotic animals in their own habitat.
Vocabulary
enclosure n. an area surrounded by a wall or fence 围栏；围篱
conservation n. the protection of natural things from being spoiled or destroyed 保存；保护
extinction n. the situation when a particular type of animal or plant stops existing 灭绝
Listen to the interview for the first time to get to know the general idea of it.
Lead-in questions:
What is mainly talked about in this interview?
What was the purpose of the first modern zoos?
What is the most important job for today’s zoos?
Andrew McTagger is the director of a zoo located in a large North American city. In this interview he explains the type of work that is done in today’s zoos.
Tony: I’m Tony Brown from the local newspaper. Now, what was the purpose of the first modern zoos?
Andrew: Well, those zoos were the only places where people could really see wild animals.
Tony: And today that’s changed, right?
Andrew: Well, on the one hand, zoos are still the places for people to see live wild animals up close. Seeing an animal touches people, especially young people. Most zoos today have great educational exhibits. On the other hand, now we can watch TV programmes about animals living in the wild.
Tony: Do you think zoos are good places for wild animals to live in?
Andrew: Well, in some cases, yes. You see, we can build better cages, or enclosures, for the animals. In the bear’s enclosure, for example, we recreate the forest with different kinds of plants, tree trunks, rocks, and waterfalls.
Tony: Do you think the animal feel as if it were right at home?
Andrew: No, probably not, but we try to do as much as possible. We create places where they can be private and hide away from people. We put in big rocks with spaces to crawl into, or trees to go behind.
Tony: What is the most important job for today’s zoos?
Andrew: Conservation work.
Tony: What do you mean by that, saving animals?
Andrew: Exactly. We can help animals endangered in the wild to reproduce safely in zoos. Then we can return these animals to the wild.
Tony: Is this an important job for zoos?
Andrew: It’s very important. Don’t forget it’s estimated that about 200 to 300 animals in the wild become extinct every year, and that number is increasing rapidly. I think zoos play an important part in saving animals from extinction. This is the future role of zoos.
Listen to the interview in detail, and explain the difficult sentence structures to the students.
Let the students do the exercises in part A.
Listen to the interview for a third time, and pay attention to the details related to the general idea of the conversation.
Listen to the interview for the last time, and check answers. （Key: B C D）
Listening to a passage
Vocabulary
endangered species: species that soon may no longer exist濒于灭绝的物种
community service: unpaid work that someone docs to help other people, sometimes as punishment for a crime 感化工作
traffic v. to buy and sell illegal goods （非法地）交易
profitable a. producing a profit or a useful result有赢利的
the web of life: The web of life is all the living things on our planet. The web shows how every species on Earth relies on one another. 生命之网；命运
Listen to the short passage for the first time to get to know the general idea of it.
A Law to Help Protect Endangered Species
Many species are now in danger of becoming extinct. Among the threats to endangered species are businesses that buy and sell animals for their skin and other parts. Unfortunately, people who run these businesses are not discouraged by fines. They simply see it as just another business expense. A better way to control the problem would be to force whoever is caught buying or selling products made from endangered species to perform community service. Their community service should require work that helps protect the animals they are harming.
Such a law could be quite effective. If people trafficking in illegal animal products were forced to help endangered species, they might understand how destructive their business is. Also, their community service tasks would turn them into helpers rather than destroyers. In the process of fulfilling tasks, they will see the importance of protecting the animals.
Some might argue that community service would not be an effective way to protect endangered species because it would not really convince people to abandon a profitable business. However, community service would be much more effective than fines alone. Paying a fine is as easy as writing a check, but doing community service reveals your responsibility and obligation as a citizen.
We must do whatever we can to save all species so that the complex web of life is protected. For this reason, we need stronger, more effective penalties such as the one I am proposing.
Explain the passage to the students and then check the answers while listening to the passage for a third time.
5 minutes or so are given to the students to organize their ideas and prepare to present their opinions with what they have learned from the listening material.
Listening to English News
Listen to the news about the damage from acid rain and fill in the blanks with what you hear.
Vocabulary
westerly a. a westerly wind comes from the west （风）从西面吹来的
sulfuric acid: 硫磺酸
nitric acid: 硝酸
corrosive a. a corrosive liquid such as an acid can destroy metal, plastic, etc. 腐蚀性的
nutrient n. a chemical or food that provides what is needed for plants or animals to live and grow 养料
curtail v. to reduce or limit something 减少
skills to practice: listening for selective information & exchanging information by asking and answering questions
Listen to the English news for the first time to get the general idea of it.
Acid Rain
Damage from acid rain is 1) widespread not just in eastern North America, but throughout Europe, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Is the rain that’s 2) falling on your umbrella acidic? A listener’s question on today’s “Earth and Sky”.
JB: This is “Earth and Sky”, with a question from Sandra Renee of Olive Hill, Kentucky. She asks, “How do you know when it rains that it’s not acid rain, and what 3) exactly is acid rain?”
DB: Sandra, you need a pH meter 4) to reliably measure the acidity of rain or snow. But in certain parts of the US —especially in the Northeast—you can probably 5) assume that most rain will be at least somewhat acidic. Westerly winds move 6) pollutants eastward, so the eastern US gets more acid rain.
JB: Acid rain happens when airborne acids fall down to earth in rain. 7) Electrical utility plants that burn fossil fuels emit chemicals into the atmosphere that 8) react with water and other chemicals in the air to form sulfuric acid, nitric acid—the “acid” in acid rain. You don’t have to live next door to a power plant 9) to get showered by acid rain. These acid pollutants reach high into the atmosphere and can travel 10) with wind currents for hundreds of kilometers.
DB: The acids in acid rain are corrosive chemicals that 11) leach nutrients from the soils, slow the growth of trees, poison lakes and 12) combine with other chemicals to form urban smog. The simplest way to curtail acid rain is to use less energy 13) from fossil fuels.
JB: Special thanks today to the Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation, a private foundation 14) dedicated to advancing research and education in the chemical sciences. We’re Block and Byrd for “Earth and Sky”.
Detailed listening, and explain some words and sentence structures to the students.
Listen to the news for a third time and then check the answers. (Key: C D B)
Listen to the news again and discuss the questions in part B.
III. Speaking Communication
Talking it up
A prediction: a rigorous statement forecasting what will happen under a specific situation
The present progressing tense, future tense and modal verb may can be used to show a future condition.
Listen to the short dialogue first, and then practice the dialogue with your partner. (NB: try to use words and expressions of prediction in formal scientific context)
Group work
The class should be divided into 5 or 6 groups to do pair work. The students are to practice what they have learned in Parts A and B, and they are expected to talk freely with their own established knowledge about the topic. In the end, one student is to present the results of their discussion in a set time.
Talking it through
Free discussion about the topic by making use of the information learned in Listening for Content.
Read the given information and then discuss the questions given with your group members
IV. Follow-up
1. Listening to short conversations
Listen and get the answer from the given 4 choices. (Key: D C B C D)
1)
W: Did you know that we waste hundreds of gallons of water every day, simply because people don’t turn off their taps properly?
M: The problem is that people can’t see that by turning off their taps, or switching off a light in their house, they are saving gallons of water and hundreds of trees.
Q: What is mainly talked about in this dialogue?
2)
M: I think government should do whatever is necessary to create more wild animal preserves. They should raise money through environmental awareness campaigns.
W: Maybe people could make voluntary contributions when they file their taxes.
M: That’s a good idea. That way whoever wants to contribute can, but it’s not obligatory.
Q: What does the man mean?
3)
W: I heard about the tornado on the radio in Texas.
M: Was it as bad as the one in Louisiana? W: It was much worse. A hundred people were killed.
M: That’s twice as many people.
Q: What do we know about the tornado in Louisiana?
4)
W: I sincerely feel that animals should not be used for research purpose.
M: I don’t really agree. I seriously doubt that medical research could be done without animals.
W: We seem to be in a dilemma to decide what to do, protect the environment or develop the medical science?
Q: What attitude does the man hold towards using animals for research purposes?
5)
W: Scientists say that water pollution is the biggest problem in the environment.
M: Do you believe that?
W: Well, scientists base their statements on studies, don’t they? What do you think is the biggest problem?
M: Air pollution, because they’re always talking about it in the news, aren’t they?
W: True, but can you always believe what they say in the news?
Q: What can be inferred from the conversation?
2. Listening to a longer conversation
Vocabulary
carbon monoxide: 一氧化碳
diaper n. 尿布
faucet n. a device that controls the flow of water from a pipe（连接管子的）插口，龙头
Listen to the conversation for the first time to get the general idea.
Things You Can Do to Help the Environment
Steve: Our environment is in trouble. People and industries are polluting the air, rivers, lakes and seas. It seems that we can do nothing to help. What do you think, Helen?
Helen: No. That’s not true, Steve. In fact, there are many things we can do.
Steve: For example?
Helen: We can walk, bicycle or use public transportation to work instead of driving. If it is really necessary to drive a car, drive at a steady speed, because burning gasoline is one of the biggest sources of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere.
Steve: Yes, it is believed that carbon monoxide is causing global warming. It thins the ozone layer, which protects us from the sun’s rays.
Helen: Right. I would tell the same story. The thinner ozone layer means a lot more radiation, disastrous to human beings and nature.
Steve: Then, what else can we do?
Helen: A lot. Generally, try not to use disposable products. Believe it or not, in a single year, people in the United States use enough disposable diapers to reach to the moon and back seven times.
Steve: Oh, no! That causes great damage to the forests. The shrinkage of forests adds to environmental pollution.
Helen: Definitely. So everybody should do their best to help reduce pollution in our daily life. For instance, showers use a lot of water. Have you heard that a typical American family uses as much water as a person drinks in three years!
Steve: Incredible! I’ll have to do something to cut my water usage.
Helen: Good for you. Just go and buy a special “low-flow” shower head and don’t forget to fix any leaky faucets.
Listening to a passage
Vocabulary
teeming a. full of people, animals, etc. that are all moving around 丰富的
canyon n. a deep valley with very steep sides of rocks that usually has a river running through it 峡谷
habitat n. the natural home of a plant or animal 栖息地
skyscraper n. a very tall building 摩天楼
blind n. a window shade that shuts out light 遮光物
NYC Dims Lights to Save Birds
New York City may be the very definition of a man-made environment, but the place is also teeming with nature. For example, Manhattan lies directly in the flight path of hundreds of thousands of birds as they migrate south in the autumn and north in the spring.
However, the concrete and glass canyons of New York and other cities also pose a danger to birds, especially when cloudy nights force them to fly low.
Reflection of trees in a glass building appears as a forest to birds. The birds act as if they are attempting to reach their natural habitat, so they are deceived.
Birds are usually drawn to skyscrapers in the first place because of their exterior and office lighting. They were programmed over millions of years to pick up certain cues from the environment, like the stars or the moon. That probably has to do with their navigational system. There had never been lights lighting up the skies before, so in a very short time period relative to their evolution all these new sources of light evolved. Their navigational system gets kind of confused.
That causes the birds to start circling the lights. When that happens, they start losing precious energy which they need for migration. Birds are killed by flying into glass buildings.
Efforts are being made to deal with the problem. The managers of buildings over 40 storeys high are encouraged to help the migrating birds by dimming the decorative lights on the outside of their buildings, and to dim their office lights or use blinds, so that the buildings become less reflective and prevent the birds from flying into them.
Detailed listening, and explain some words and sentence structures to the students.
Listen to the report for a third time and let the students do the True or False exercises.
Listen to the report again and check the answers. (F T T T T F F F)