外研版高中英语必修四课文文本
外研版高中英语必修四
课文文本
WTD standardization office【WTD 5AB- WTDK 08- WTD 2C】
Module 1 Reading
The City of the Future
What will the city of the future look like? No one
knows for sure, and making predictions is a
business. But one thing is certain—they are going
to get bigger before they get smaller. In the future,
care for the environment will become very
important as earth's natural resources run out. We
will use lots of recycled materials, such as plastic, aluminium, steel, glass, and paper, and we will waste fewer natural resources. We will also have to more on energy, such as and wind . All this seems certain, but there are plenty of things about city life in the future which are not certain.
To find out what young people think about the future of life, a teacher at a university in Texas in the United States asked his students to think how they would run a city of 50,000 people in the year 2025. Here are some of the ideas they had:
Garbage ships To get rid of garbage problems, the city
will waste materials and send them towards the sun,
preventing and environmental problems.
Batman Nets Police will criminals instead of guns.
Forget smoking No smoking will be allowed within a
future city's limits. Smoking will be possible only outside cities, and . Forget the malls In the future all shopping will be done , and catalogues will have to place orders.
Telephones for life Everyone will be given a telephone number at birth that will never change no matter where they .
Recreation All forms of , such as cinemas, , , concerts and others, will be provided by the city.
Cars All cars will be powered by electricity, energy or wind, and it will be possible to change the colour of cars at the of a .
Telesurgery will become common as doctors carry out operations from thousands of miles away, with each city having its own .
Holidays at home Senior citizens and people with disabilities will be able to go anywhere in the world using high-tech cameras attached to their head. Space travel Travelling in space by ordinary citizens will be common. Each city will have its own .
Cultural Corner
Famous Last Words
Not all predictions come true. Many of them are wrong, and some are very wrong. Here are just a few of the bad predictions people made in the twentieth century about the twenty-first century:
AIRPLANES
"No flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris."
, 1908.
COMPUTERS
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
, 1943.
CLOTHES
"Thirty years from now people will be wearing clothes made of paper which they will be able to throw away after wearing them two or three times."
Changing Times Magazine, 1957.
MEN ON THE MOON
"With the first moon colonies predicted for the 1970's, work is now in progress on the types of building required for men to stay in when they're on the moon."
Arnold B. Barach in The Changes to Come, 1962.
THE BEATLES
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." Decca Recording Co. rejecting the , 1962.
ROBOTS IN THE HOUSE
"By the year 2000, housewives will probably have a robot shaped like a box with one large eye on the top, several arms and hands, and long pads on the side for moving about."
New York Times, 1966.
KEYS
"By the mid-1980's no one will ever need to
hide a key under the again, because there
won't be any keys."
Computer scientist Christopher Evans,
The Micro Millennium, 1979.
Module 2 Reading
Getting Around in Beijing
Taxis
Taxis are on the streets 24 hours a day. Simply
raise your hand, and a taxi appears in no time.
They are usually red, and they the price per
kilometre on the window. You should check the has a business , and make sure you ask for a .
Buses and trolleybuses
Public transport provides a cheap way to get around in Beijing. There are 20,000 buses and trolleybuses in Beijing, but they can get very crowded.
It's a good idea to avoid public transport during the rush hour (6:30 .–8:00 . and 5:00 .–6:30 .). Fares are cheap, starting at 1 yuan. buses cost more. Buses numbered 1 to 100 are limited to travel within the city centre. Higher numbers have destinations in the suburbs. Tourists shouldn't miss the 103 bus which offers one of the most routes, past the Forbidden City and the White Pagoda in Beihai Park. If you get on a bus, make sure you sit upstairs. You'll have a good of the rapidly changing city.
Most buses run from about 5:00 . to midnight. However, there is also a night bus service, provided by buses with a number in the 200s. Minibuses
Minibuses with seats for 12 passengers offer an to expensive taxis and crowded public transport in some areas. They and follow the same routes as large public buses. And in a minibus you always get a seat even in rush hours.
Underground
There are four underground lines in Beijing, and several lines are . Trains are fast and , but rush hours can be terrible. A one-way trip costs 3 yuan. Station names are marked in pinyin. The underground is open from 5:00 . to 11:00 .
Pedicabs
Tourists like these human-pedalled " taxis", but they can be expensive. You should talk to the driver, and make sure you know the price you begin the journey, for example, if it is per person, or . Tricycles are if you want to the alleys (hutong) of old Beijing.
Cultural Corner
The London Congestion Charge
Beijing isn't the only city with traffic problems. You can get stuck in a traffic jam anywhere in the world. The worst problems occur in cities which are growing fast, such as Sao Paolo in Brazil and Lagos in Nigeria. But even cities in developed countries such as the US suffer. Los Angeles, which was built , and is famous for its six-lane highways, is now the
USA's most congested city.
In Europe most capital cities were planned and
built before cars, and city centre traffic jams have
been part of daily life for a long time. The
situation in central London, where drivers spent fifty percent of their time in queues, became so bad that the local government decided to do something about it. In February 2003 the Mayor of London, , introduced a ""—a tax for cars entering the centre of the city.
The idea is simple: every car coming into the centre has to pay ￡5 a day. Drivers can pay the at any of 10,000 in the capital before 10 . As the cars come into the centre, video cameras record their numbers, and these are checked with a list of drivers who have paid the for that day. People who do not pay the will face a fine of ￡80.
Most Londoners are not happy with the idea. They agree that London has a traffic problem, but the is expensive, and limits their freedom ...
But does the work? A survey carried out at the end of 2003 it does. After only six months, traffic coming into central London was reduced by about 30 percent, and by 15 percent. More people used public transport to get to work, and bicycles were suddenly very popular. What's more, central London shops did not lose business even though there were fewer cars. But there are a few people who think the should be much higher, for example rich businessmen who work in the city centre and can easily afford it. This would keep even more cars out of central London, and the roads would be nearly empty. However, there are no plans to increase the . Module 3 Reading
Greetings Around the World
If you say the word "", most people think of
words and sentences. Although these are very
important, we with just spoken and written
words. Indeed, body positions are part of what we
call "body language". We see examples of body
language very often, yet there is also "learned"
body language, which varies from culture to
culture.
We use "learned" body language when we are
introduced to strangers. Like other animals, we
are until we know it is safe to relax. So every culture has developed a way to greet strangers, to show them we are not . , Europeans and Americans shake hands. They do this with the right hand—the strongest hand for most people. If our right hand is busy greeting someone, it cannot be holding a . So the is saying, "I trust you. Look, I'm not carrying a ." If you shake hands with someone, you show you trust them. We shake hands when we . It means, "We agree and we trust each other."
Greetings in Asian countries do not touching the other person, but they always the hands. in China, when we greet someone, we put the right hand over the left and . Muslims give a "", where they touch their heart, mouth and . Hindus join their hands and their heads in respect. In all of these examples, the hands are busy with the greeting and cannot hold a . Even today, when some people have very styles of greeting, they still use their hands as a of trust. American youths often greet each other with the expression, "Give me five!" One person then holds up his hand, outwards and five fingers . The other person raises his hand and slaps the other's open hand above the head in a "high five". Nowadays, it is .
Body language is fascinating for anyone to study. People give away much more by their gestures than by their words. Look at your friends and family and see if you are a !
Cultural Corner
Clapping
Why do we clap? To show we like something, of course. But we don't clap at the end of a television programme or a book, however good they are. We clap at the end of a , such as a play, or a concert, to say thank you to the performers. First they give, and then we give. Without us—the audience—the would not be complete.
The custom of clapping has early beginnings. In Athens, meant and taking part. Plays were often in competition with each other, and prolonged clapping helped a play to win. The theatre was large—it could hold 14,000 people, half the adult male population of the city, which meant that the audience could make a lot of noise.
was a sign of being part of the community, and
of between actors and audience. The important
thing was to make the noise together, to add one's
own small to others. Clapping is , like laughter:
you don't very often clap or laugh out loud alone.
It is like laughter in another way, too: it is , and
spreads very quickly. Clapping at concerts and
theatres is a universal habit. But some occasions on which people clap change from one country to another. For example, in Britain people clap at a wedding, but in Italy they sometimes clap at a .
Module 4 Reading
The Student Who Asked Questions
In a hungry world rice is a food and China is the
world's largest . Rice is also grown in many other
Asian countries, and in some European countries
like Italy. In the rice-growing world, the Chinese scientist, Yuan Longping, is a .
Yuan Longping was born and in China. As a boy he was educated in many schools and was given the , "the student who asks questions".
From an early age he was interested in plants. He studied in college and as a young teacher he began experiments in crop . He thought that the key to feeding people was to have more rice and to produce it more quickly. He thought there was only one way to do this—by different of rice plant, and then he could produce a new plant which could give a higher than either
of the plants.
First Yuan Longping experimented with different types of rice. The results of his experiments were published in China in 1966. Then he began his search for a special type of rice plant. It had to be male. It had to be . Finally, in 1970 a male rice plant was discovered. This was the . Researchers were from all over China to develop the new system. The research was supported by the government.
As a result of Yuan Longping's discoveries Chinese rice in the 1990's. There were other advantages too. 50 thousand square kilometres of rice fields were converted to growing vegetables and other . Following this, Yuan Longping's rice was exported to other countries, such as Pakistan and the Philippines.
In Pakistan rice is the second most important crop after wheat and will be grown in many parts of the country. The new rice has been developed by the Yuan Longping Hightech Company of China. Its is much greater than the of other types of rice grown in Pakistan.
Cultural Corner
Rockets
Today rockets are very advanced machines which we can use to send astronauts into space. They are also used in firework displays to celebrate great events, such as the end of the Olympic Games or the beginning of the new in the year 2000.
Rockets were probably invented by accident about 2,000 years ago. The Chinese had a form of which was put in bamboo tubes and thrown into fires to make explosions during festivals. Perhaps some of the tubes
jumped out of the instead of exploding in it. The Chinese discovered that the gas escaping from the tube could lift it into the air. The idea of the was born.
The first military use of rockets was in 1232. The Song Dynasty was at war with the Mongols. During the battle of Kaifeng, the Song army shot "arrows of flying ". The tubes were attached to a long stick which helped keep the moving in a direction. Soon the Mongols learned how to make rockets themselves and it is possible that they introduced them to Europe. Between the 13th and 15th centuries there were many experiments in England, France and Italy. They were used for military purposes. One Italian scientist even invented a which could travel over the of water and hit an enemy ship.
But not everybody wanted to use rockets in battles. Wan Hu, a Chinese government official, invented a flying chair. He attached two big kites to the chair, and 47 rockets to the kites. The rockets were lit, there was a huge and clouds of thick smoke. When the smoke cleared Wan Hu and his chair had disappeared. No one knows what happened. Did Wan Hu die in the ? Or was he carried miles into space, becoming the world's first astronaut?
Module 5 Reading
A Trip Along the Three Gorges
In August 1996, Peter Hessler, a young American teacher of English, arrived in the town of Fuling on the Yangtze River. He and a two years there teaching English at a teacher training college. They were the only foreigners in the town. The first semester finished at the end of January
and they had four weeks off for the Spring Festival. They could go anywhere they wished. They decided to take a boat .
We decided to buy tickets for the Jiangyou boat. Our colleagues said, "You shouldn't go on those ships. They are very crowded. They are mainly for and people trading along the river. They don't stop at the temples and there won't be any other foreigners." That sounded fine to me. We just had to show our passports and they let us get on the boat.
We left the docks on a beautiful afternoon. The sun was shining brightly as we sailed through a region. Men rode bamboo rafts along the river's edge and coal boats went past. As the sun set we docked at Fengdu. We could see the sun setting behind the white pagoda. It was beautiful.
We slept through the first gorge, which is called the Qutang Gorge. The gorge to 350 feet as the river rushes through the two-mile-high mountains. "Oh, well," my friend said, "at least we have two more left."
At Wushan we made a up the Daning River to see some of the smaller gorges. The next day we went through the big gorges on the Yangtze River. It was a lovely morning as we went through the Wu Gorge. We passed . There was so much history along the Yangtze River. Every rock looked like a person or animal, every stream that joined the great river carried its , every hill the past.
As we came out of the third gorge, the Xiling Gorge, we sailed into the construction site of the dam. All the passengers came on . We took pictures and pointed at the site, but we weren't to get off the boat. The Chinese flag was blowing in the wind. On a mountain was a sign in 20-foot characters. "Build the Three Gorges Dam, the Yangtze River," it said. Cultural Corner
Postcards to Myself
In 50 years of travelling Colin McCorquodale has
visited every country in the world, except three.
And everywhere he goes, he sends himself a
postcard. He always chooses a postcard with a
beautiful , and sticks on an interesting stamp.
Usually he writes just a short message to himself.
His latest one, from the Malvinas islands, reads
Good fishing.
On a wall in his home in London there is a large
map of the world. There are hundreds of little red
pins stuck in it. "It's good to get a in the map," says Mr McCorquodale, "but I follow the rules. I'm allowed to stick one in only if I've been in a place for more than 24 hours." , Mr McCorquodale has his favourite places. New Zealand he describes as "wonderful". In Europe, Italy is a favourite place. "There's a saying in the travel that all
tourists are ripped off. Well, at least the Italians rip you off with a smile." Of China he says,"This is one country in the world which is completely different. There's no European influence. It's been around for 6,000 years, yet it's a country of the future."
Wherever he goes, Mr McCorquodale takes with
him a photo of his wife, a candle, a , a shirt with a
secret pocket, and a pen for writing his postcards.
So why does he do it? For the postcards or the
travel? Mr McCorquodale laughs. "I do it for the
journey," he says. "I get a kick out of travelling.
And all the planning."
Module 6 Reading
The Monster of Lake Tianchi
The " of Lake Tianchi" in the Changbai
Mountains in Jilin province, northeast China, is
after several recent sightings. The director of a local tourist office, Meng Fanying, said the , which seemed to be black in colour, was ten metres from the edge of the lake during the most recent . "It jumped out of the water like a —about 200 people on Changbai's western saw it," he said. Although no one really got a look at the , Xue Junlin, a local photographer, claimed that its head looked like a
horse.
In another recent , a group of soldiers they saw
an animal moving on the of the water. The
soldiers, who were walking along the side of the
lake, watched the swimming for about two
minutes. "It was greenish-black and had a round
head with 10-centimetre horns", one of the
soldiers said.
A third report came from Li Xiaohe, who was visiting the lake with his family. He claims to have seen a round black moving quickly through the water. After three or four hundred metres it dived into the water. Ten minutes later the appeared again and repeated the action. Mr Li Xiaohe said that he and his family were able to see the clearly because the weather was fine and the lake was .
There have been reports of monsters in Lake Tianchi since the beginning of the last century, although no one has seen one . Some photos have been taken but they are not because it was too far away. Many people think the may be a cousin of in Scotland. They also think that there might be similar creatures in other lakes around the world. Scientists, however, are .
They say that the low-temperature lake is to be able to such large living creatures.
Lake Tianchi is the highest lake in the world. It is 2,189 metres high and covers an area of about ten square kilometres. In places it is more than 370 metres deep.
Cultural Corner
The Universal Dragon
Dragons can be friendly or , they can bring good
luck or cause death and , but one thing is sure—
people talk about them almost everywhere in the
world. For a that doesn't actually , that's quite
something.
In Chinese culture, dragons are and wise,
although they can be . The dragon was closely connected to the royal family: the 's robes have a symbol of a gold dragon with five claws. Other members of the royal family were allowed to wear dragon symbols, too, but with fewer claws and of a different colour. According to popular belief, if you were born in the year of the dragon, you are intelligent, brave, and a natural leader.
But in the west, dragons had a different . The very first text in English, the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, tells the story of a Scandinavian hero, Beowulf, who fights and kills a dangerous dragon but is himself killed in the fight. However, across the in Wales, the red dragon which appears on
the Welsh flag is a symbol, indicating strength
and a sense of national .
Why should the dragon have a different character
in different parts of the world? Some experts
believe it is due to the animals the myths grew
out of. In the west, the idea of the dragon
probably came from the snake—an animal which
people hated and were afraid of.
But in China, the idea of the dragon may have come from the alligator—a shy animal which lives in rivers, but which is usually only seen when there is plenty of water—a good sign for . So the Chinese dragon was a bringer of good .