Reading I
In this lesson you will practise reading for inference.
Whale Song Adventure
John: Today we are interviewing high school student Sarah Jones, who has just returned from a voyage 1 on the tall ship Whale Song. Where did you hear about this programme, Sarah?
recruit and select people 15 to 20 years old who will benefit from 12 days on a tall ship. They travel round high schools, talking about the programme and encouraging people to apply, and after they came to Westville High, I was given the opportunity to go on a voyage.
John: How were you chosen?
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Sarah: Well, the trust that administers the ship runs about 20 voyages for young people each year. They
Sarah: Well, their selection process is confidential, but I suppose that it helped that I’m a bit of an outdoors person and that I’m on the Sports Committee for the school. But, I’m certainly not a good student – I usually get terrible grades for my assignments! They make all the candidates write a letter, and I guess they 10 approved of what I wrote.
John: So, what did you write?
Sarah: Well, I talked about my aspirations to experience many different adventures in life, and my feeling that we have to grab opportunities with both hands when they are offered to us. I said I really welcomed the chance to learn new skills, especially about teamwork and communication. 15
John: So, tell us about the voyage.
Sarah: Well, there were 30 of us on the boat and we were divided into four watches over 24 hours, because you can never sleep on the open sea – someone always has to be watching for potential danger. The watches rotated so that we all got the chance to contribute to the watches and also to sleep at night sometimes! The crew on watch is responsible for navigation, sailing the boat, and hoisting and taking down 20 the sails. That’s a huge job, and you have to learn pretty fast to watch for sudden storms or changes in wind direction. Off watch, there are always chores to do on a ship; cooking, washing up, and endless maintenance. It’s all part of ensuring safety on board.
John: We have to go soon, but before we do, tell us one major highlight from the trip.
Sarah: Oh there were so many! I loved it all, but I guess the biggest thrill was the whales. We were sailing 25 along one night and it was calm so there was phosphorescence on the ocean – you know, where the sea is glowing in the moonlight, and suddenly we saw these huge graceful shapes darting around the ship, and
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1 having such fun in the water. They stayed with us for about 30 minutes before they suddenly all took off and we didn’t see them again. I think I will remember that experience for the rest of my life.
John: Well thank you Sarah, and good luck with your next adventure. (470 words)
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While Reading
Activity 1
Answer the following questions.
1. Write a letter (a–e) beside each of the following items to show the order they appear in the text. One example has been done for you.
_____ A description of the ship duties
__a__ A description of the Whale Song Trust _____ One exciting event on the voyage
_____ The contents of Sarah’s application letter
_____ The method for choosing students for the programme
2. Infer from the text the most important quality which gained Sarah a place on the ship. A. Her academic success B. Her love of the outdoors
C. Her desire for new experiences D. Her letter writing skills
3. Which of the following is NOT a reason someone needed to be on duty during the night? A. To notice changes in the weather B. To maintain the ship C. To steer the ship
D. To manage the sails
4. Find the word ‘phosphorescence’ in line 26. This word is defined inside the text. Underline the words in the text which define ‘phosphorescence’.
After Reading
Activity 2
Choose the best sentence from each pair below to show the best meaning for the bolded word. a. b. c. Option 1 I made a huge mistake on the exam and it cost me half a mark. She is very calm so she doesn’t often shout at people. My teacher encouraged me when she told me I wouldn’t do well in English this year. Option 2 I made a huge mistake in my calculations and I lost a thousand dollars. She is very calm so people trust her with money. I was encouraged by the support of my teachers d. There were three candidates in the running race. The candidate was accepted for the job after the interview. 2 初中英语
e. f. g. My mum gave me a list of chores to do so I had two I have lots of chores to do so I can’t come to the hours of free time. This CD is confidential so don’t copy it or give it to anyone. People who grab opportunities with both hands enjoy lots of exciting experiences. movies tonight. The document was confidential so I showed it to my mother. People who grab opportunities with both hands usually lead boring lives. Activity 3
Use the most appropriate phrase from Activity 3 to complete this conversation.
Xiuqin: I learned so much form my voyage on the ‘Whale Song’. I had to be 1.____________________
navigation sometimes, and that was scary, but luckily I 2.____________________.
FeiFei: Yes, you were lucky to be chosen, but you have always 3.________ opportunities ________________. XiuQin: Yes I really 4.______________________ learning to 5.____________________ the whole team so that
the ship would run smoothly. FeiFei: Well, this suits 6._____________________ like you, doesn’t it?
Reading II
In this lesson you will practise understanding the main idea and author’s opinion.
Preventing Sea Pollution
A. Approximately two thirds of our planet is covered by water, and when we look at our vast 1 oceans, we can be excused for thinking that they are too big to be affected by the actions of humans on the planet. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Sea pollution is becoming an increasing problem for our planet, and we have a responsibility to use our creativity to devise some ways to prevent this problem from getting worse. 5 B. By far the main cause of sea pollution is the oil spills from ocean going vessels. Although there are not many major oil spills each year, and although the total number of these is reducing, each one represents a huge problem for all kinds of marine life; fish, birds and other mammals, and as well each one has spin-off effects on the local human population.
the small sea creatures that they feed on become toxic and dangerous to eat, and people also lose part of their food supply as the effects of the oil spill move up the food chain. Oil spills also affect land mammals which live in coastal areas, and in any event they have a huge effect on the local fishing and tourism industries.
C. Sea birds which are exposed to oil spills become coated with oil; fish lose their food supply as 10
D. Once oil has spilled into the ocean, it is very difficult to contain it and almost impossible to 15 remove it. Our current techniques of using ships to skim the oil off the surface of the ocean, or large barriers to prevent the oil from spreading, are moderately effective, but only in calm seas, and oil often escapes from these barriers. We ought to work hard on developing new
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3 technologies to manage oil spills once they occur, but even more, we have to create effective international laws to prevent these oil spills from occurring in the first place.
E. However, oil spills are not the only case of ocean pollution. Ocean cruise liners are another major problem, as they dump rubbish and waste water into the ocean. An average cruise ship
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produces about a million gallons of waste water a week, which is poured into the ocean. Plastic rubbish can create many problems for sea life, and waste water in large quantities affects the quality of the ocean water and can poison marine creatures.
deadly effect of human activity on our oceans. We must act now, before it is too late! (430 words)
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F. We need to act urgently to raise awareness of these problems, and to try and reduce the
Activity 1
While Reading
Answer the following questions.
1. Match the descriptions below to the paragraphs in the reading text. One has been done for you as an example.
_____ The problems with cleaning up oil spills
__B__ The most important cause of pollution in the ocean
_____ The need for people to do something about sea pollution now _____ The effects of oil spills on animals
_____ The link between cruise ships and sea pollution _____ The increasing problem of sea pollution 2. What is the main idea of the text?
A. People need to be aware of and prevent sea pollution B. Water covers most of the planet
C. Oil ships are the biggest cause of sea pollution D. Oil kills fish, birds, plants and mammals 3. Where would most likely read this text?
A. A scientific textbook
B. An email to a friend
C. A newspaper
D. A story book
4. Which idea would the author NOT agree with?
A. There are different sources of ocean pollution B. Pollution is a bigger problem than before C. We have to decrease the amount of pollution D. The ocean is too big to get polluted
Activity 2 – Phrases
After Reading
Use the phrases above to fill in the gaps in these sentences.
1. People who are _______________ polluted air may get diseases, as this _______________ their lungs.
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4 2. Oil pollution has many _______________ on other creatures, especially on birds which become
_______________.
3. We need to _____________________ the problem of sea pollution by oil ships. 4. The waste that people pour into the sea is becoming an _______________. 5. Cats are higher than mice on the _______________.
6. We should try to prevent oil from being spilled _______________.
Grammar
1. 定语从句 2. 名词性从句 3. 非谓语动词 4. 虚拟语气 5. 倒装句
试讲要求：
1. 精读及语法可任选一项进行试讲，请自行携带试讲材料；
2. 精读可任选一段或课后任选一题（While-reading/ After-reading）进行讲解；语法可任选一个语法现象,如非谓
语动词的不定式做定语；
3. 精读及语法试讲都需进行导入；
4. 讲解过程中要设置课堂互动；
5. 试讲时间5-10分钟，重点突出结构鲜明。
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