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Unit 1Unit 1

Is There Life on Earth?Is There Life on Earth?

About the writer Art Buchwald (1925- ):

well-known humor columnist for the Washington Post.

It is a humorous essay. But after reading it you will surely find that the author is most serious in writing it.

Why?

Contents Pre-activities: Planets in the Solar System Text Reading: What are these?

Comprehension Questions Language Learning Post-activities: Writing

Planets in the Solar System 太阳 Sol (or the Sun) 水星 Mercury 金星 Venus 地球 Terra (or the Earth) 火星 Mars 木星 Jupiter 土星 Saturn 天王星 Uranus 海王星 Neptune 冥王星 Pluto

What are these? the Venus Institute

of Technology the Venus Evening

Star Venus Beings The Grubstart zilches the flying saucer

the area of Manhattan the Consolidated

Edison Belt something that looks

like a river metal particles stalagmite projections granite formations

Manhattan: the commercial and cultural center of New York City, famous for its all buildings and theaters.

Consolidated Edison Belt: Ther is a radiation zone encircling the earth, called the Van Allen Belt. Consolidated Edison is the company that makes and supplies electricity for much of eastern New York State. They burn a lot of coal, which makes air polluted.

Grubstart: In American English there is a word “grubstake”, which means money supplied to a prospector on the condition of sharing in whatever he finds. Here the author has changed “grubstake” into “Grubstart” to mean a supposed government agency in charge of supplying funds to scientific research programs.

Zlich: zlich is a slang word meaning zero or nothing. In our text it is used as if it were a monetary unit such aas yuan or dollar. A native speaker would immediately see the humor in spending billions and billions of nothings.

Comprehension Questions: Where did the story take place? What were the people doing and talking

about? What are the questions from the reporters

and what are the answers to the questions from the scientists?

Sum up briefly the various dangers that a Venus Being might encounter if sent onto Earth.

After reading the story, is it humorous to you? What do you think is the author’s purpose of writing the story?

What will you do to help protect our environment from being seriously polluted?

This is a humorous and satirical essay, and yet the author is most serious in his intention. Art Buchwald tells us that Venusians are researching the human being and trying to explore the possibility of life on Earth. Venusian scientist have come to the conclusion, based on their satellite findings, that there is no life on Earth.

The author’s aim is to bring our attention to the fact that man has polluted the environment to such a degree that he might destroy himself in the end, unless he takes effective measures.

Reading Alound and Memorizing There was great excitement on the planet o

f Venus this week. For the first time Venusian scientists managed to land a satellite on the planet Earth, and it has been sending back signals as well as. photographs ever since.

Reading Alound and Memorizing

The satellite was directed into an area known as Manhattan (named after the great Venusian astronomer Prof. Manhattan, who first discovered it with his telescope 20,000 light years ago).

Reading Alound and Memorizing Because of excellent weather conditions an

d extremely strong signals, Venusian scientists were able to get valuable information as to the feasibility of a manned flying saucer landing on Earth. A press conference was held at the Venus Institute of Technology.

Language Learning

manage signal as well as name after as to feasibility base on compose survive as far as … be concerned originally hazard indicate unfit add to crash&smash set back proceed spend

manage (to do sth.)

succeed in handling sth. with an effort

The little boy managed to climb up on the stair. He managed not to be angry no matter what she

said.

signal n./v.

send out/back a signal a smoke/ turn (traffic)/ fire/ storm signal

v. send a signal or signals to The chairman signaled silence to the audience. Sailors signal SOS (for help) by flags. The teacher signaled us to come closer.

as well as

in addition to, besides; both … and

as well as 的中心词在前 , 译时往往先译其后的内容

He grows vegetables as well as flowers in his garden.

She is a talented writer as well as a politician.

name aftergive the same name of

The Hudson River is named after the English explorer Henry Hudson.

Our eldest son was named George after his uncle.

as toabout; concerning

I have no more suggestion as to the project. He has no complaint as to his position and salary.

as to 与 as for 用于句首时可互换，当指双方心里都明白的某事时多用 as to; 而想转入另一话题时多用 as for

As to the matter you just mentioned, we are in complete agreement.

Much of the land is under water; and as for the grain, most has been ruined.

feasibility n.

possibility of being carried out or done

The feasibility of the program is being discussed by the committee.

A feasibility study is required before the bank agrees to finance a project.

base on

build or found … on; use … as a basis for

We should always base our opinions on facts. The book is based on something that really

happened.

compose vt.

(of parts or elements of sth.) to form a whole England, Scotland and Wales compose the island

of the United Kingdom.

be composed of: be made up of 由…构成 / 组成 The water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen. The committee was mainly composed of teachers

and parents

survive v. vi. remain alive; continue to live or exist 活下来 , 幸存 According to the Theory of Evolution, only the fittest ani

mals survive. I can’t survive on 100 yuan a month. vt. 1) remain alive 幸免于 Few buildings survived the earthquake. The old lady of 80 survived the operation. 2) live long than 比…活得长 In a typical family, the wife usually survives the husband

by 5 years or longer.

as far as … be concerned

as for; in respect of As far as you are concerned, you should

put all your heart in study. As far as work is concerned, I always try

my best.

concern v./n.be of great concern

The situation is of great concern to us all.concern about/over

He was much concerned over his son.be concerned in/with

He couldn’t prove that he was not concerned with the case.concerning prep./conj.

Concerning your application letter, I’m pleased to inform you for an interview.concerned adj.

concerned look, trying to sound concerned Everyone concerned should be informed.

indicate v.

show Ancient Chinese officials would take up the

teacup to indicate that it was time for guests to leave.

Early results of the election indicate that the Prime Minister will soon lose his job.

unfit a.

be unfit to do sth.: be not suitable to do sth. She is so young that it is unfit for her to live

by herself.be unfit for sth.: be not suitable for sth./ doing

sth. He is unfit for a job as a teacher because of

his impatience. Note: It is + a. + to do sth.

add to

put sth. to sth. else to increase or strengthen

This adds to our difficulties/ information. The music added to our enjoyment. The word is added to the sentence to give

vividness.

crash & smashcrash: fall or strike suddenly, violently and noisily The fighter plane crashed to the ground after being hit by

enemy gunfire. A strong wind came and the empty vase crashed to the

floor.

smash: (cause to) break into pieces violently He was extremely angry at her words, so he smashed

everything within reach. Tom keeps smashing neighbor’s windows when he plays

football in the alley.

set back

cause to put off or get behind schedule; reverse the progress of

Bad weather set back the construction of the building by one month.

We shall set our clocks back by one hour when summer ends.

proceed vi.

continue after having stopped

He waited for the applause to die down and proceeded with his speech.

After the break, we will proceed to discuss the problem of the pollution.

spend v.

spend on sth. / in doing sth.

spend to do sth. (inf. 表目的 ) The boy doesn’t spend much time on his homewo

rk. Why are we spending such a great effort to help h

im?

Words to Drill

atmosphere deadly hazard signal

compose emit indicate smash

Words to Drill conclusion extremely originally survive conference feasibility

pollute type crash fund proceed unfit

Phrases & Expressions (be) known as : also publicly called; named name after: give the same name as as to : about, concerning base on / upon : use as a basis or fuondatio

n for ----This novel is based on a true story.

Phrases & Expressions for one thing…(for another) : in the first pl

ace…(in the second place) be composed of : have as members or parts ---Water is composed of hydrogen and oxy

gen. 对比： Water consists of hydrogen and ox

ygen.

Phrases & Expressions as far as … be concerned : to the degree that

it matters to stick up : stand upright; project ----His hair has stuck up straight with fright. give off : emit; send out set back: delay the advance or development

of

Study & Practice---Vocabulary

“notice” or “pay attention to” notice 是无意识，不刻意地“注意”；

是视觉感知 pa attention to 是有意识地留心，注意

Study & Practice---Vocabulary “notice” or “pay attention to” Eg.1 On the way home from the party Nan

cy asked her mother if she had noticed anything strange in the way the hostess behaved.

Eg.2 Obviously too much attention has been paid to the details.

Study & Practice---Vocabulary “spend” or “pay” or “cost” spend 与 pay 通常是人做主语 spend money /time… on something / some

body spend money /time… doing

Study & Practice---Vocabulary

“spend” or “pay” or “cost” pay…for something pay somebody to do something cost 常是 it 或是物做主语 cost money /time…to do something

Study & Practice---Vocabulary “spend” or “pay” or “cost” eg.1 Peter’s aunt is used to a simple way of

living. No wonder she doesn’t spend so much money on food or clothing.

eg.2 It goes without saying that everyone has to pay to get into the cinema.

eg.3 Does it cost a lot to have the recorder repaired?

Writing Skill: Coherence Coherence is one of the most important

elements in paragraph writing, which requires that each sentence in a paragraph lead naturally and logically to the next in explaining the central idea.

Writing Write a paragraph of 120-150 words about why the Venusi

an scientists conclude there is no life on Earth. Consider the following points before writing: signals and photographs sent back by the satellite the earth’s surface the atmosphere the Consolidated Edison Belt the water

Also you are required to include the given connectives: for one thing , for another also finally