to erect a flagpole
Many factories erected during that period.
63. impact: collision, an impinging or striking esp. of one body against another, the action of one object hitting another, with great force, the force of impression of one thing on another, an impelling or compelling effect
The car hit the stone wall with great impact.
a target constructed to resist the impact of a bullet
We see the impact of modern science on our society everywhere.
The book made a great impact on its readers.
the concrete embankment built to resist the impact of floods
Notice: This word is normally used as uncountable noun but sometimes can have an indefinite article but never plural form.
64. demolish: pull down or tear down, to destroy
65. somehow: in some way not yet know or stated, by some means, for some reason that is not clear
66. belly: (infml) 'abdomen, stomach, paunch are synonyms when naming the front part of the human trunk below the chest
67. spare: to keep from harming, punishing or attacking
Take my money but spare my life.
They prayed that Allah might spare the village from starvation.
68. feel sick: vomit, upset in the stomach so as to want to throw up what is in it.
69. or else: or if not, or otherwise. This expression is basically used as a threat
He must pay 0 or else go to jail.
Do what I tell you or else!
70. commit:
a. to do, to perform sth. bad, wrong or unlawful
to commit an error / many horrible crimes
b. to order sb. to be placed under the control of another or in a mental hospital
71. humiliate: to cause to feel humble or to lose the respect of others, to hurt the pride or dignity of
He humiliated her beyond endurance.
72. encounter: to meet or be faced by sth. bad, esp. a danger or a difficulty. n. sudden or unexpected, esp. hostile meeting with
What if we should encounter a bear?
73. . on the part of: by, of
It will arouse deep suspicions on the part of our allies.
I apologize for any mistake on my part.
74. scare; a mark remaining on the skin or an organ from a wound, cut, etc.
76. victim: a person, animal or thing that suffers pain, death, harm, destruction, etc. as a result of other people's actions, of illness, bad luck, etc.
77. genetic damage: a damage, harm, illness which have been passed on / inherited and will be passed on from generation to generation
78. earthly: of this world as opposed to heaven; material worldly as opposed to spiritual
earthly care: daily life and worries, cares on the earth which is in contrast with that in heaven, in death.
Unit 3: Ships in the Desert by Al Gore
I . Additional Background Knowledge
1. Al Gore the author
2. Clean Air Act
3. The Aral Sea
II . Introduction to the Passage
1. Type of literature: a piece of exposition
2. The purpose of a piece of exposition:
--- to inform or explain
3. Ways of developing the thesis of a piece of exposition:
--- comparison, contrast, analogy, identification, illustration, analysis, definition, etc.
4. The central thought or thesis
III . Effective Writing Skills
1. making effective use of specific verbs
2. discussing the solution to environmental problems from a politician’s point of view, that is, relating the solution to environmental destruction to the solution to arm races
IV . Rhetorical Devices
1. understatement
2. metaphor
V . Special Difficulties
1. analyzing the structure of some long and complicated sentences
2. understanding the scientific matters connected with ecological environment
3. translating long and complicated sentences
4. mastering the rules of word formation
VI . Questions
1. How has human civilization now become the dominant cause of change in the global environment?
2. What changes in the global environment present a strategic threat to human civilization? How should we face this challenge and solve the problem?
3.What solutions does the writer put forward to our ecological problems?
Detailed Teaching Notes:
I. Background knowledge
1. About the author:
Al Gore was born in 1948 in Washington D.C., U.S. He has been a Senator (1984-1992) representing the State of Tennessee, and U.S. Vice-President (1992-2000) under President Bill Clinton. He ran for the Presidency against George W. Bush jr. but the latter won the closely tied election and has become the 43rd American President. The text is taken from Al Gore’s bookEarth in the Balance.
2. The Aral Sea:
The Aral Sea, located in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan (both countries were part of the former Soviet Union), is historically a saline lake. It is in the centre of a large, flat desert basin. The Aral Sea is a prime example of a dynamic environment. In 1960 it was the world’s fourth largest lake, the size of the entirety of Southern California (at 26,250 square miles, approximately two hundred times larger than the Salton Sea).
3. America’s Great Lakes:
America’s Great Lakes refer to the group of five freshwater lakes, central North America, between the United States and Canada, largest body of fresh water in the world. From west to east, they are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. HOMES can help remember the names of the five lakes. H stands for Huron, O for Ontario, M for Michigan, E for Erie and S for Superior.
4. Lake Superior:
Lake Superior is one of the cleanest lakes in the world because of its temperature, size, and the lack of people living around it. Lake Superior, with a surface area of 31,700 square miles, is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. This one body of water contains 10% of all the freshwater in all the lakes and rivers in the world. The amount of time needed for the water in Lake Superior to be completely replaced is 191 years. The lake is known for its cold temperatures. Almost all of Lake Superior’s water stays at 39 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) all year. Lake Superior is often referred to as “crystal clear,” with visibility of 50 feet or more.
5. Antarctica:
Antarctica is icy cold. Transantarctic Mountains divide it into the East Antarctic and West Antarctic subcontinents. China has set up two scientific research stations there: Zhongshan Station in the East and Great Wall in the West.
6. Clean Air Act:
American Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970, which is one of the oldest environmental laws of the U.S. as well as the most far-reaching, the costliest, and the most controversial.
II. Rhetorical devices:
1. understatement: the prospects of a good catch looked bleak
2. alliteration: fast pasture for fast-food beef
3. metaphor: cloak, ghosts
4. rhetorical question:
But, without even considering that threat, shouldn’t it startle us that we have now put these clouds in the evening sky which glisten with a spectral light?
Or have our eyes adjusted so completely to the bright lights of civilization that we can’t see these clouds for what they are—a physical manifestation of the violent collision between human civilization and the earth?
5. metonymy: concrete
III. Preview:
1. What’s the meaning of the title?
2. What do you expect to have when you read the title?
3. What kind of writing is the text?
4. What is the theme? What does the author try to tell us through his article?
5. How is the exposition developed?
6. How does the essay begin?
7. What’s the effect the writer produces here?
IV. Detailed study
Paragraph 1
1．capable of processing a fifty-ton catch on a good day: having the ability of cleaning and preparing for marketing or canning fifty-tons of fish on a productive day.
catch: the amount of something caught; in the sentence it refers to the amount of fish caught
e.g. The boat brought back a big catch of fish.
2. the prospects of a good catch looked bleak: a good catch did not look promising / hopeful.
This is obliviously an understatement because with sand all around there was no chance of catching fish, to say nothing of catching a lot of fish.
3. waves lapping against the side of the ship: waves touching the side of the ship gently and makes a soft sound
lap can also be used as a noun.
e.g. Your lap is the flat area formed by your thighs when you are sitting down.
4. as far as I could see in all direction: that extended as far as the eye could see;
5. that stretched all the way to the horizon: that extended to the far off place where the sky meet the earth
6. comparable: something that is comparable to something else
7. My search for… these images of destruction: I traveled around the world because I wanted to see, check and study cases of such destruction in order to find out the basic causes behind the environmental crisis.
images of destruction: typical examples of destruction
8. the sun glaring at midnight through a hole in the sky: the sun shining at midnight through the ozone depletion
9. about the tunnel he was digging through time: about the tunnel he was drilling for samples from the glacier, which estimates the time. The deeper he drilled, the farther the sample in time; in other words, the surface of the glacier is an indication of recent time while the deeper part of the glacier tells of situation of a much more remote period.
10. Slipping his parka back to reveal a badly burned face that was cracked and peeling: Pushing his parka back, he revealed a badly burned face because of overexposure to direct sunlight; on the face there were lines that were split open and pieces of skin were coming down.
parka: n. waterproof jacket with a hood attached (as worn for skiing, mountain climbing, etc.)
11. He moved his finger back in time to the ice of two decades ago: Following the layers of ice in the core sample, his finger came to the place where the layer of ice was formed 20 years ago.
12. two continents: South America and Antarctica
13. emission: the amount of pollutants discharged
14. least accessible place on earth: the place which is the most difficult to get to in the world
Paragraph 3
15. Industry meant coal: the development of industry meant the use of large amount of coal as fuel to generate power.
16. bringing rising levels of carbon dioxide: making the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere grow
17. with its ability to trap more heat…warm the earth: heat cannot easily get through carbon dioxide and go into the high altitude so carbon dioxide plays the role of a cover, keeping the heat near the earth.
18. upwind from the ice runaway…that inexorable change:
upwind: in the direction from which the wind is blowing or usually blows
ice runway : runway is a strip of paved ground for use by airplanes in taking off and landing, and here in the South Pole the runway is a strip of ice ground
to prevent the metal parts from freeze-locking together: to stop the metal parts from being frozen solid
monitor the air: watch or check on the air
to chart the course: to show the onward movement on an outline map
inexorable: that cannot be changed; unalterable
e.g. the inexorable rise in the cost of living
19. graph: usually a mathematical diagram
Paragraphs 4 & 5
20. pitch: pitch a tent means put up a tent
e.g. They pitched their tent near the stream.
They pitched their tent at the edge of the field.
21. slab: A slab of something is a thick flat piece of it.
e.g. a slab of rock; a concrete slab; a slab of cheese
22. frigid: cold; icy; freezing
e.g. frigid weather
23. a hearty breakfast: a satisfying and rich breakfast
24. snowmobile: a kind of motor vehicle for traveling over snow, usually with steerable runners at the front and tractor treads at the rear
25. rendezvous point: the place where a submarine was to pick them up
26. hover: to wait close by, especially in an overprotective, insistent or anxious way
When a bird or insect hovers, it stays in the same position in the air by moving its wings very quickly.
If somebody is hovering, they are waiting in one place, for example, because they cannot decide what to do.
A figure hovered uncertainly in the doorway.
27. After it crashed through…resubmerged: After it broke through the ice, picked up it new passengers, and went below the surface of water again…
28. the polar ice cap: 极地冰冠
29. to secure the release of previously top secret data: to ensure the making public of data which was originally classified as top secret .
30. from submarine sonar tracks: obtained from submarine sonar tracks
