英语时文泛读 Current News Articles for Extensive Reading

1. 英语时文泛读Current News Articles for Extensive Reading BOOK II

2. Paradoxes in Reality

3. I. Overview • In this unit you will get a glimpse of some paradoxes in reality and better understand the complexity of life.

4. Structure • In this unit, you will read 3 passages about various paradoxes we humans might encounter and experience in reality: having yearning for the dirtiest place while feeling a sense of loss in the cleanest place, empathetic persons being indifferent, and friendship being toxic. All these paradoxes reflect the complexity of life and human nature.

5. The Cleanest Place on Earth—and the Dirtiest The article expresses paradoxical feelings about human existence by contrasting the cleanest and dirtiest cities in the world. Text A

6. It’s about humans’ complex reactions to others’ sufferings and miseries in life. Somewhere Deep Down, We Still Care. Don’t We? Text B

7. It’s about problems friendship may bring to one’s life, and it analyzes the harm of having toxic friends. Could Friendships Be Ruining Your Life? Text C

8. Focus of this session

9. II. Text A The Cleanest Place on Earth—and the Dirtiest • Main Idea of the Text • Through contrasting the cleanest and dirtiest cities in the world, the article conveys a paradoxical feeling about the following question: which might be more important in human life—cleaner air or more human appeal?

10. Author Angela Palmer’s work, on show at the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, provides an extraordinary new take on the relationship between anatomy and art. Working from medical scans–many of her own body–her work consists of sculptures built up from line drawings or engravings on layers of glass which together form 3-D images which straddle the boundary between medical imaging and portraiture. Background Information

11. Source The Guardian It is an influential newspaper published in London and Manchester, Eng., considered one of Britain’s best papers. Founded in 1821 as the weekly Manchester Guardian, it became a daily in 1855; 100 years later “Manchester” was dropped from the name, as it had become a national daily with an international reputation. Background Information

12. Cape Grim in Tasmania “Visit Cape Grim on Woolnorth’s rugged Tasmanian west coast and breathe the cleanest air in the world. This is recorded at the Ba seline Air Pollution Station that is situated on the cliffs of the Cap e Grim coastline.” –a description on Woolnoth Tours (an Australian tourism web-set) Sea cliffs with excellent zeolites in basalts, Cape Grim is located on the far northwestern point of Tasmania. Cape Grim is part of the Van Demons Land farm. It is accessed by travelling through one of Tasmania’s largest dairy farms. The collecting spot is now difficult to access as the installation of wind turbines has restricted public access–just another blow to self collecting. It is home to the Australian government’s baseline air pollution station. Cultural Notes

13. Chernobyl is a town in Ukraine (formerly part of the Soviet Union) where in 1986 an explosion destroyed large parts of a nuclear power station in the worst accident involving nuclear power. The April 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine was the product of a flawed Soviet reactor design coupled with serious mistakes made by the plant operators in the context of a system where training was minimal. It was a direct consequence of Cold War isolation and the resulting lack of any safety culture. Cultural Notes

14. The Blacksmith Institute, founded in 1999, is a New York City based organization dedicated to supporting pollution-related environmental projects in developing countries. The mission of the Blacksmith Institute is to ensure that we provide a clean and hospitable planet to future generations. We achieve this by providing strategic, technical and financial support to local social entrepreneurs and their organizations that are committed to solving specific, pollution-related environmental issues in their communities. Cultural Notes

15. Roaring Forties is areas between latitudes 40° and 50° south in the Southern Hemisphere, where the prevailing winds blow persistently from the west. The roaring forties have strong, often gale-force, winds throughout the year. They were named by the sailors who first entered these latitudes. Tasmania is located at latitude 40 South, longitude 144 East, right in the pathway of the notorious “Roaring Forties” wind that encircles the globe. Cultural Notes

16. Language Points Key Words & Expressions • set out (see intro): • to start a journey (开始旅程) • e.g. • She set out at dawn for town. （她日出时出发去镇上。）

17. Language Points • set off (para. 7): • to start on a journey 开始旅程 • e.g. • set off for Europe （ 开始欧洲之旅）

18. Language Points • throw oneself into sth (para. 6): • to put (suddenly or forcefully) into a given condition, position, or activity 达到某种状况、位置、活动：将……（突然地或强迫地）置于某种特定的条件、位置或活动中 • e.g. • threw him into a fit of laughter; threw some supper together; threw her leg over the arm of the chair. （使他发出一阵大笑；把一些晚餐放到一起；她把一条腿搭在椅子的扶手上。）

19. Language Points Difficult Sentences • I reached Linfen to find the sun shining—darkness hadn’t descended at noon as was claimed in some reports. (para. 5) • To find the sun shining是结果状语，修饰动词reach. 破折号的作用是解释说明，相当于that is， as 是关系从句的引导词，指代darkness hadn’t descended at noon.

20. Language Points • I had hoped to document the parallel lives of people living in such different atmospheric conditions, but while my pristine clothes and air filters remained unblemished, so did the pages of my notebook. (para.8) • Parallel lives 指的是与临汾一样的充满活力的生活状态。Remained unblemished 中的unblemished 不是状语，而是my pristine clothes and air filters的补足语，描述主语的性状，即过去分词短语做主语补足语。

21. Language Points • 主语补足语，通常位于主语之前或谓语动词之后，当然放在谓语动词被动语态的过去分词之后， • (1) 主语补语位于主语之前，后有逗号 • 例：Tired and sleepy, I went to bed. • (2) 有时位于主语之后，前后皆有逗号 • 例：Chen, only 1.30 meters tall, won the first prize. • (3) 位于谓语动词之后 • 例：He died young. • He was found died. • (4) 除形容词外，名词、数词、不定式，分词，介词短语，从句也可做主语补足语。 • 例：He came home quite changed. 此处过去分词短语做主语补足语。