Unit2. World News: Earth and Environment
Contents:
Warming up
News report
City recycling
Goals:
To train students to recognize key words and phras in listening
To develop students’ ability to identify significant information through listening
To activate students’ knowledge about environment
To cultivate students’ ability of summarizing
Teaching methods:
Students’ listening; group discussion; teacher’s instruction
Duration:
90 minutes
I.Warming up
A.
blaze(n. &v)[C] (a) bright flame or fire 火焰; 火光: Dry wood makes a good blaze. 乾木燃起夺目的火焰. (b) very large (often dangerous) fire 大火; 火灾: Five people died in the blaze. 有五人死於火灾.
Brazil ---- Rio de Janeiro（former capital of Brazil）
The new city,Brasilia, replaced Rio de Janeiro as the capital of Brazil in 1960.
Dertification is the process by which a piece of land becomes dry, empty, and unsuita
ble for growing trees or crops on. (土壤)荒漠化, 沙漠化
----- A third of Africa is under threat of dertification.
everglade n. marshland, swamp
------- wetlands region in southern Florida大沼泽地
Greenland
n. lf-governing island belonging to Denmark located between Iceland and the northeastern coastal islands of North America (largest island in the world)
Listen to some ntences about environment and supply the missing information.
Check the answers after students’ discussion.
1.New rearch on the likelyimpact of climate change suggests that damage to cropsin low-lying coastal regions could be wor than previously thought.
2.More than 2000 delegatesfrom around the world have gathered in northern Brazil for thethird United Nations Conference on Dertification.
3.Crews are working to clean up a huge oil spill off the coast ofMexico, about 50 miles south of San Diego.-----a port city in California (USA)
4.Wildfires in the FloridaEverglades have been contained after a nearlya week of blazes that consumed 65,000 hectares in the southern part of the States.
5.A. US Space Agency study finds that Greenland is melting around the edges. The loss to the world’s cond largest ice sheet---more than 50cubic kilometersper year---is enough torai global a level by 0.13 millimeters.
B.
Aerial offensive
reptile
/
ˈreptaɪl; US -tl; ˋrɛptl/ n any of the class ofcold-blooded, egg-laying animals including lizards, tortois,crocodiles, snakes, etc with relatively short legs or no legs at all 爬行动物（冷血, 卵生, 如蜥蜴﹑ 龟﹑ 鳄鱼﹑ 蛇等）; 爬虫.
‘salamander火蜥蜴
alligator短吻鳄
amphibian: 两栖动物
poppy: 罂粟
herbicide: substance ud to destroy weeds
directory: list of telephone subscribers, business firms, etc.
xeric adj. of a dry environment, suited for a dry environment
xeriscaping -----a landscaping method that employs drought-resistant plants in an effort t
o conrve resources, especially water.旱生园艺; 节水型花园----通过选择需水少的植物，进行环境美化
sawgrass ----A tall coastal or marshy dge of eastern North America, Mexico, and the West Indies, having leaves with sharp, minutely toothed margins.
锯齿草:一种产于北美东部、西哥和西印度群岛高海岸或沼生的蓑衣草,叶片具有尖利的小齿边缘.
锯草球场 ----golf cour
Preliminary listening.Listen to the items and summarize each of them.
Listen to the news items again. Focus your attention on the “wh-“ questions and try to answer them.
Discussion after the first listening.
1.What?
It attempts to balance environmental concerns and the needs of the community.
2.What?
Reptile species are in greater trouble than amphibian species.
3． What?
A new approach in the fight against the illegal drugs trade.
4. What?
One in every eight species of plants is threatened with extinction.
5. What?
A new local directory for the environmentally-aware, called the “Boulder County Green Pages.”
News items:
1. Australia is the world’s driest continent. There’s general agreement that the country
has to u water more efficiently. In many parts, supplies are in crisis. At a meeting in Canberra, the Council of Australian Governments has approved a national water plan. It attempts to balance environmental concerns and the needs of the community. The amount of watertaken from rivers for commercial u is to be cut and farmers will be compensated.
2. The disappearance and deformity of amphibians such as frogs and salamanders from rain forests and mountain lakes worldwide has attractedwide-spread scientific attention over the last decade. Now a new study says reptile species including turtles, snakes, and alligators are in even greater trouble. Twice as many reptiles as amphibians, or some 100 species, are currently listed as endangered by the World Conrvation Union. The study says habitat loss and degradation, pollution, dia, climate change, and over-collection for food, pets and drugs are the major threats to reptiles.
