[00:01.00]Module 4 Sandstorms in Asia
[00:11.40]Reading and Vocabulary
[00:13.71]Sandstorms in Asia
[00:16.35]Sandstorms have been a major disaster
[00:20.27]for many Asian countries for centuries.
[00:22.61]Scientists have tried many ways to solve this problem
[00:26.86]and in China,
[00:28.18]a mass campaign has been started to help solve it.
[00:31.94]Sandstorms are strong, dry winds that carry sand.
[00:37.41]They are often so thick that you cannot see the sun,
[00:41.40]and the wind is sometimes strong enough to move sand dunes.
[00:46.22]The four main places in the world
[00:49.70]where there are sandstorms are Central Asia, North America,
[00:53.66]Central Africa and Australia.
[00:57.29]Ren Jianbo,from Inner Mongolia described a terrible sandstorm
[01:03.51]he experienced as a child in the desert.
[01:06.23]"To have been caught in a sandstorm was a terrible experience,"
[01:11.89]he said. "There was nothing to be done.
[01:14.98]It was the most frightening and the most dangerous situation
[01:19.43]I've ever been in.
[01:21.02]You just had to hope you'd survive.
[01:23.62]I thought I was going to disappear under the sand."
[01:27.45]Northwest China is part of the sandstorm centre in Central Asia.
[01:34.09]Sandstorms begin in desert areas.
[01:37.74]Sandstorms in China appear to have increased in recent years
[01:42.75]as a result of "desertification".
[01:44.81]This is a process that happens when land becomes desert
[01:49.38]because of climate changes
[01:51.63]and because people cut down trees and dig up grass.
[01:55.70]Sandstorms sometimes affect Beijing.
[01:59.33]Citizens wake up to an orange sky and strong wind
[02:03.59]that cover the city in a thick, brown-yellow dust.
[02:07.28]The storms sometimes continue all day
[02:10.85]and traffic moves very slowly because the thick dust makes it difficult to see.
[02:16.52]The Chinese Central Weather Station
[02:19.54]can forecast a sandstorm some weeks before it arrives in Beijing,
[02:23.71]but the strength of the storm sometimes surprises people.
[02:27.67]When a sandstorm arrives in the city,
[02:31.13]weather experts advise people not to go out.
[02:34.20]Huang Xiaomei, who lives in Beijing says,
[02:38.11]"To be cycling in a sandstorm is frightening.
[02:41.56]The winds are very strong.
[02:43.63]It's difficult to breathe and the dust makes me ill.
[02:47.75]So if you want to go out, you'd better wear a mask."
[02:52.00]The desert is only 250 kilometres away to the west of Beijing.
[02:57.59]To prevent it coming nearer, the government is planting trees.
[03:02.20]Already the government has planted more than 30 billion trees
[03:06.78]and plans to continue planting for the next five years.
[03:10.93]Listening and Vocabulary
[03:16.76]Activity 2 Listen to environental expert's speech.
[03:22.34]Put the topic below in the order you hear.
[06:30.96]Activity 3 Check the meaning of the words.
[09:51.75]Activity 4 Listen again.Complete the sentenses.
[13:06.05]Pronunciation and Function
[13:11.81]Activity 1
[13:14.07]Listen and underline the words the speaker stresses.
[13:18.20]I couldn't agree with you more.
[13:22.02]I think you're absolutely right.
[13:27.29]It's extremely serious.
[13:32.44]Activity 2
[13:39.29]Decide which words the speaker will stress.
[13:43.18]Now listen and check.
[13:47.56]Try to stress the key words and use the correct intonation.
[13:53.04]I have no idea.
[13:55.88]It couldn't be worse.
[14:00.77]It's absolutely hopeless.
[14:05.57]Cultural Corner
[14:12.00]Read the passage and answer these questions.
[14:15.21]1. How do countries in Europe try to improve the environment?
[14:21.69]2. Are there organisations in China
[14:27.14]whose aim is to protect the environment?
[14:30.01]3.What do you know about these organisations?
[14:35.81]The Green Movement
[14:39.04]Some countries are better than others at looking after the environment.
[14:44.45]In Europe, Germany and the northern European countries
[14:49.18]work very hard to improve the environment.
[14:52.63]People in countries such as Germany
[14:56.02]put their garbage into different bags-paper in one bag,
[15:00.55]plastic in another bag, etc.
[15:03.01]The garbage is then taken away and, if possible, recycled.
[15:09.46]CFCs (chlorofluro-carbons ),
[15:13.64]chemicals which are found in refrigerators and aerosol cans,
[15:17.32]are not allowed.
[15:19.20]There are laws that do not allow people to bum too much coal.
[15:23.65]In the 1970s, as people learnt more about environmental problems,
[15:30.17]the "Green" movement began and soon spread all over Europe.
[15:35.38]The "Green" movement tries to get governments to think seriously
[15:40.86]about the environment and how to look after it.
[15:44.33]It collects information about how industry is damaging the environment
[15:50.38]and gives this information to newspapers.
[15:53.99]Module 4 Word List
[16:02.64]sandstorm n.沙尘暴
[16:05.84]frightening adj.吓人的;可怕的
[16:08.00]inland adj.内地的;内陆的
[16:11.17]mass adj.大量的;大规模的
[16:14.31]campaign n.战役;活动
[16:17.29]dune n.沙丘
[16:20.46]desertification n.(土地的) 沙漠化
[16:25.12]process n. 进程;过程
[16:29.18]citizen n.公民;市民
[16:32.81]dust n.沙尘;灰尘
[16:37.11]forecast vt.预报;预告
[16:41.58]strength n.力量; 力气
[16:44.77]cycle vi.骑自行车
[16:48.47]mask n.面罩
[16:52.75]atmosphere n.大气;大气层
[16:56.41]carbon n. 碳
[16:59.59]dioxide n.二氧化物
[17:03.58]chemical n.化学药品
[17:07.17]environment n.环境
[17:12.10]garbage n.废料; 垃圾
[17:15.64]melt vi. 融化
[17:18.75]pollution n. 污染·
[17:22.81]recycle v. 重新利用;再循环
[17:28.06]coastal adj. 沿海的
[17:31.28]concerned adj.关心的;担心的
[17:35.99]evidence n.根据; 证明
[17:39.99]major adj.主要的;多数钠
[17:44.70]urgent adj.紧急的
[17:48.43]pollute vt.污染
[17:52.47]complain vi.抱怨; 发牢
[17:56.65]nutshell n.坚果壳，简单的一句话
[18:01.01]scary adj.恐怖的;吓人的
[18:04.98]absolutely adv.绝对地，完全地
[18:08.40]protection n.保护
[18:12.60]Module 5 Great People and Great Inventions of Ancient China
[18:23.43]Reading and Vocabulary
[18:25.87]Philosophers of Ancient China
[18:28.39]Ancient China was a place where states were often at war with each other.
[18:35.04]But it was also a time when there were many great philosophers.
[18:40.18]Confucius (551BC - 479BC) is the philosopher
[18:48.34]whose influence has been the greatest.
[18:50.68]He stressed the importance of kindness,duty and order in society.
[18:58.04]Chinese society was influenced by these ideas
[19:02.93]for more than 2,000 years.
[19:05.76]Mencius was a thinker whose teachings
[19:10.40]were very similar to those of Confucius.
[19:13.18]Mencius was born in 372 BC.
[19:18.60]His father died when he was young,
[19:21.95]and he was brought up by his mother.
[19:24.61]He became a student of Confucius's ideas,
[19:29.60]and was then given an important position in the government of a state.
[19:35.08]However,
[19:37.15]when he saw that the ruler was not following his advice,
[19:41.47]he resigned.
[19:42.91]For many years he travelled from state to state,
[19:47.95]teaching the principles of Confucius.
[19:51.11]He then became an adviser to another ruler.
[19:55.93]He spent his last years preparing a book of his teachings
[20:01.24]called The Book of Mencius.
[20:03.75]Mencius believed that the reason
[20:07.53]why man is different from animals is that man is good.
[20:12.64]He taught that if the government was kind,
[20:17.04]then people would be good.
[20:19.46]He believed that people were more important than rulers,
[20:25.13]and hated the state when it treated people badly.
[20:29.11]Mozi was another teacher who was very influential.
[20:35.49]Born in 476 BC, he came from a family which was very poor.
[20:42.22]He became famous for his unusual clothes and behaviour.
[20:47.31]Mozi founded the philosophy called Mohism.
[20:52.70]In some ways,his beliefs were similar to those of Confucius.
[20:57.70]For example, he considered that government was most important.
[21:03.08]As a result, he spent many years trying to find a state
[21:08.72]where people would follow his teachings.
[21:11.34]Mozi believed that all men were equal.
[21:15.86]His ideal of love was different from the Confucian idea of kindness.
[21:21.96]Mozi taught that we should love all human beings
[21:27.22]and look after those who are weaker than ourselves.
[21:30.62]He hated the idea of war. Mozi died in 390 BC.
[21:38.25]Pronounciation
[21:43.22]Listen to these pharses.
[21:45.33]Decide which sound links the words that are joined:
[21:49.45]/w/ as in we or /j/ as in you.
[21:55.61]1.Let's go out.
[21:59.75]2.Who are they?
[22:05.01]3. It was the end of the story.
[22:11.71]4.I'll buy it tomorrow.
[22:18.01]5.Please go in.
[22:23.62]6.I don't know who anybody is.
[22:29.76]7.We agreed to do it.
[22:36.38]8.My aunt is late.
[22:42.18]Now listen again and repeat the sentenses.
[22:48.59]1.Let's go out.
[22:52.33]2.Who are they?
[22:58.22]3. It was the end of the story.
[23:04.44]4.I'll buy it tomorrow.
[23:10.47]5.Please go in.
[23:16.47]6.I don't know who anybody is.
[23:22.32]7.We agreed to do it.
[23:29.25]8.My aunt is late.
[23:35.61]Listening and Vocabulary
[23:42.41]Activity 1
[23:43.79]Work in pairs.
[23:51.13]You will hear a passage about important Chinese inventions.
[23:51.34]Decide which words you think you'll hear.
[23:54.38]Now listen and check.
[26:46.90]Activity 2
[26:52.27]Listen to the passage in which five important inventions
[26:56.54]are described.Match the dates with the inventions.
[27:01.01]Now listen and check your answers
|