Step by Step 3000 第1册 Unit2:Colorful Lands and Colorful People(3)

 　　Part 3. Features of the Earth

　　A. Keywords. earth,water, land area.

　　Vocabulary. bare, gulf¹, bay, isthmus², plateau³, canyon⁴, plain.

　　You are going to hear a passage about the blue planet⁵--earth.

　　While listening, fill in the blankets with the missing⁶ words and get familiar with the difference features of the earth.

　　Seen from space, our earth with water covering 70 percent of its surface, appears as the beautiful blue planet.

　　The bare land areas appear red or brown, dark green shows where there's plant cover, and white means snow.

　　Besides the 7 major land areas, called continents, there are thousands of islands.

　　Some of these are arranged in groups, and some stand alone in the great oceans.

　　Arms of the land which reach out into the water are called peninsulas⁷.

　　Seas, gulfs and bays are arms of the ocean which lie between islands and peninsulas.

　　A narrow piece of land connecting two larger land areas is an isthmus.

　　A narrow stretch of water between two land areas is called a strait or channel.

　　Water is constantly in motion⁸ on the earth.

　　Rain water runs off the mountain into valleys, it collects in lakes and rivers, which carry it back to the seas.

　　From the high altitude of mountain passes and plateaus⁹ to the canyons¹⁰ and low-lying plains, the features of the land are wonderful to see.

　　B. Keywords. the biggest cities, the top 10, developed countries, developing countries.

　　Vocabulary. complex, enormous¹¹, mere¹², in terms of, quadruple, treble, Sao Paulo,

　　Rio de Janeiro, Calcutta, Bombay, Delhi, Seoul.

　　B1. You are going to hear a conversation between an interviewer and an expert about the biggest cities in the world.

　　While listening, focus on the numbers and complete two chart below.

　　In Britain, we are often told that people are leaving the biggest cities to live in the countryside.

　　But is this the case worldwide?

　　Not at all. If you look at the biggest cities in 1950, 7 out of the top 10 were in the developed countries.

　　But by the year 2000, the developing countries will have 8 out of the top 10.

　　New York, which in 1950 was NO.1 with a population of around 12 million, will only be the sixth largest city in the world, but with extra 2 million.

　　And London? London, which was No.2, won't even be on the top 10.

　　Its population in 1950, by the way, was about 10 million.

　　And why is this happening?

　　Why are people moving to the big cities from the countries and developing countries?

　　The reasons are complex, but many are moving to look for work, and problems this creates are enormous.

　　It's estimated¹³ that 26 million people will be living in Mexico City by the year 2000.

　　With Sao Paulo in Brazil not far behind.

　　It's difficult to believe.

　　I know. Rio de Janeiro will have a population of a mere 13 million.

　　Well, just image the kinds of difficulty this is going to cause in terms of health, transport and education.

　　Yes, What about cities of Asia?

　　Will they be experiencing an similar sort of growth?

　　In some cases, yes.

　　Calcutta in India, which was NO.10 in the league in 1950, is expected to be the 4th biggest city in the world with a population of 16 million, quadrupling its size in just 50 years.

　　Bombay in Delhi, too, are expected to be in the top 10.

　　What about Japan?

　　Ah, well, Tokyo was the No.3 in 1950, and that's where it will be at the beginning of next century, although its population will trebled to about 18 million.

　　Looking at the other major cities in Asia, Shanghai and Seoul will be on the top 10 as well.

　　But perhaps surprisingly, not Beijing or Hong Kong.

　　Now if we could turn our attention to home, what about the trend of people moving out of the cities...

　　B2. Now listen to the conversation again.

　　And try to find out the other 7 cities whose population is likely to be in top 10 in 2000.

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 isthmus   

n.地峡

参考例句：

• North America is connected with South America by the Isthmus of Panama.巴拿马海峡把北美同南美连接起来。
• The north and south of the island are linked by a narrow isthmus.岛的北部和南部由一条狭窄的地峡相连。

3 plateau   

n.高原，平稳，稳定状态；vi.到达平稳阶段

参考例句：

• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。
• As the river drops from the plateau,it forms great waterfalls.河水从高原上下落时，形成了巨大的瀑布。

4 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

5 planet   

n.行星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun. 海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Rubbish, however, is only part of the problem of polluting our planet. 然而, 垃圾只是我们这个星球的污染问题的一个方面。

6 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

7 peninsulas   

n.半岛( peninsula的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Between these ocean-filled valleys, there are wooden peninsulas and islands. 海水灌满的山谷中间，有许多树木葱茏的半岛和岛屿。 来自辞典例句
• In the Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas, there are basaltic plateaus. 辽东半岛和山东半岛上，则出现玄武岩高原。 来自互联网

8 motion   

n.打手势，示意，移动，动作，提议，大便；v.运动，向...打手势，示意

参考例句：

• She could feel the rolling motion of the ship under her feet.她能感觉到脚下船在晃动。
• Don't open the door while the train is in motion.列车运行时，请勿打开车门。

9 plateaus   

n.高原( plateau的名词复数 )；平稳时期；稳定状态；停滞时期

参考例句：

• The road builders brave the wind and snow on the plateaus all the year round. 筑路工人长年奋战在风雪高原。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Plains, plateaus, and mountain ranges are major landforms. 平原、高原和山脉都是主要的地形。 来自辞典例句

10 canyons   

n.峡谷( canyon的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This mountain range has many high peaks and deep canyons. 这条山脉有许多高峰和深谷。 来自辞典例句
• Do you use canyons or do we preserve them all? 是使用峡谷呢还是全封闭保存？ 来自互联网

11 enormous   

adj.巨大的；庞大的

参考例句：

• An enormous sum of money is injected each year into teaching.每年都有大量资金投入到教学中。
• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。

12 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

13 estimated   

adj．根据估计的

参考例句：

• She estimated the breadth of the lake to be 500 metres. 她估计湖面大约有500米宽。
• The man estimated for the repair of the car. 那人估算了修理汽车的费用。