Unit 4 Astronomy: the science of the stars

1. Unit 4 Astronomy: the science of the stars

2. Warming up What are the names of the eight planets that circle our sun?

3. The sun 火星 Mars 金星 Venus 地球 Earth 水星 Mercury 天王星 Uranus 木星 Jupiter 土星 Saturn 海王星 Neptune

4. Do you know any questions thatastronomers are interested in? ●How did the universe begin? ● How did life begin? ● Is there life on other planets? ● Are there other life forms in the universe? ● What happened to all the matter after the “Big Bang”? ● What are “black holes”?

5. Pre-reading 1. The origin of life on earth is a question that interests astronomers. What do you know about it? ●How old is the universe?(several billion years ago) ●How old is the Earth? (between 4.5 and 3.8 billion years ago) ●Which were the first creatures or plants on Earth? (extremely small plants)…

6. 2. Each religion and culture has its own ideas about how life began on earth. What do you know? In China, we all know that Pangu separates the sky from the earth and Nvwa made humans.

7. Pangu separates the sky from the earth.

8. 中国神话传说中有盘古开天地的说法。巨人盘古用一把利斧劈开混沌, 将天地分开。死后, 他的气息化成风和云, 声音变成轰轰的雷声, 左眼化为太阳, 右眼化为月亮, 手足与四肢变成大地的四极与五方的名山, 血液化成江河,筋脉铺成道路, 肌肉形成田地, 须发成为星星, 牙齿和骨骼化为金属、珍珠、玉石, 汗水成为滋润万物生长的甘霖和雨露。

9. Nvwa made humans.

10. Other legends about the beginning of universe.

11. The Biblical Account Day 1: God spoke and separated light from darkness creating Day and Night. Day 2: God spoke and separated the water creating sky and ocean. Day 3: God spoke and created dry land.

12. Day 4: God spoke and created the sun, moon and stars. Day 5: God spoke and created living creatures in the air and sea. Day 6: God spoke and created the land animals and man. Day 7: God rested and blessed this day calling it Holy.

13. Summary How life began on the earth “Big Bang” stars ________ other bodies atoms Earth: a cloud of _____ dust

14. globe a solid _____ other 4. _____ carbon nitrogen water vapour gases the earth’s _____________ atmosphere fundamental Water: ____________ to the development of life plants extremely small _______ on the surface of the water

15. shellfish early _________ and all sorts of fish green plants on land amphibians land animals insects human beings reptiles ___________ huge animals (dinosaurs) the rise of __________ mammals

16. Comprehending 1. Read the passage carefully and analyse its structure. Write the main idea for each paragraph.

17. Para. 1 The formation (形成) of the earth. Para. 2 The importance of water for life. Para. 3 A widely accepted theory about the formation of the universe. Para. 4 The arrival of humans and their impact on the earth. Para. 5 The development of plants and animals on the earth.

18. The order of development of life The universe began with a “Big Bang”. The earth was a cloud of dust. The earth became a solid ball. Water appeared on the earth. Small plants grew on the water. Shellfish and other fish appeared.

19. Plants began to grow on dry land. Insects and amphibians appeared. Reptiles appeared. Dinosaurs appeared. Mammals appeared. Clever animals with hands and feet appeared.

20. Think about what you have read and discuss these questions in pair. 1. Why was the earth different from other planets? The water remained on the earth. 2. Why did the plants grow before the animals came? Because plants provide oxygen for animals to breathe.

21. 3. Why is it wrong in films and stories to show dinosaurs and people together? Because dinosaurs died out long before human beings developed on the earth.

22. 4. There used to be nine planets in the solar system. Recently scientists have decided that one of them can no longer be considered a planet. Do you know the name of that planet? Do you know why they removed it? Pluto. Scientists now think it is too small to be called a planet.

23. 5. What problem is caused by human beings? Human beings caused global warming.

24. Read the passage again and underline all the discourse markers and sentence connectors. Discourse markers: however, next, after that, later, finally, thus, as a result of this Sentence connectors or conjunctions: and, but, because

25. The other puzzles hidden the passage are: How did the earth’s atmosphere develop? Why did water stay on the earth but not on the other planets? How did life forms develop? Why did some life forms disappear?

26. Language points

27. system n. 系统；体系；制度 They have a warning system in the house. The legal system are quite different in these countries. solar system 太阳系 systematic adj. 有系统的；系统化的

28. 2. However, according to a widely accepted theory, the universe began with a “Big Bang” that threw matter in all directions. begin with=start with：“以……开始”. to begin with=to start with 以…为起点; 开始(做) 这两个词组都可以单独使用,表示“首先; 第一; 起初; 最初”。 在句中作时间状语。 e.g. To begin/start with, I couldn’t like him at all.

29. 3. They were in time to produce carbon,…, which were to make important is in time: 及时;最终 in time (for sth. /to do sth.): 及时；不迟 我迟早会遇见他. I’ll see him________. 她会及时回来准备晚餐. She will be back ________ to prepare dinner. 你认为我们能及时赶上火车吗? in time in time Do you think we can get there _________the train? in time for

30. 与time相关的短语: in no time 立刻, 马上 at times 有时 at a time 每次;依次 once upon a time 从前 on time 按时;准时 at one time 从前 for the time being 暂时 from time to time 不时地

31. 4. What it was to become was uncertain until between 4.5 and 3.8 billion years ago when the dust settled into a solid globe. What is even more important is that as the earth cooled down, water began to appear on its surface. [考点]以上两句均为what引导的主语从句。

32. What surprised everybody 1. ________________________（使大家吃惊的是）is that he didn’t come to the meeting. What he did 2. ________________（他所做的）added to our difficulty.

33. 5. …as the earth cooled down, water began to appear on its surface. 随着地球的冷却, 地球的表面就开始出现了水。 1) cool down 变凉, 冷却,平息, 冷静 晒了一天的太阳之后, 他喜欢在海水中凉快 一下。 After a day in the sun, he liked to __________ in the sea. 他的话平息了她的怒气。 His words _____________ her anger. cool down cooled down

34. 2) appear “出现, 似乎”是不及物动词当表示 “似乎, 好像”时是系动词, 该词无被动语态。 Our teacher appeared on TV this morning. The man who came yesterday appeared / seemed / looked an honest man.

35. 6. It was not immediately obvious that water was to be fundamental to the development of life. 水会对于生命的发展起关键作用, 这一点在当时并不太明显。 用It做形式主语是因为that引导的从句较长, 如果按照正常语序来安排的话就显得头重脚轻了。如: It is no wonder that he has passed the exam. It is quite necessary for us to learn English well.

36. 7. This produced a chain reaction, which made it possible for life to develop. Chain reaction 连锁反应 Make it possible for life to develop. 使生命的发展成为可能 make it + adj./n. for sb. /sth. to do sth. 老师让他们容易地明白那个问题。 The teacher ________________________________________________. made it easy for them to understand the question

37. 8. They produced young generally by laying eggs. lay-laid-laid-laying 放, 把......放在......; 产卵 He laid his books on the desk. 注意: lay (laid; laid; laying) 放置;产卵 lie (lay; lain; lying) 躺;位于 lie (lied; lied; lying) 说谎

38. The naughty boy ___ to me that the hen that ___ there just now had ___ two eggs the day before. A. laid; laid; laid B. laid; lay; lain C. lied; laid; lain D. lied; lay; laid D

39. 9. … they gave birth to young baby animals 1) 生（孩子） She’s just given birth to a healthy baby girl. 她刚刚生了个健康的女婴。 2) 产生 The extraordinary experience gave birth to his latest novel. 这段奇特的经历促成了他的最新的一部小说的诞生。

40. 10. They are putting too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which prevents heat from escaping from the earth into space. 他们把太多的二氧化碳释放到大气层中, 这就是使得热量不能从地球上散发到太空中去。 There was nothing to prevent her from doing so. We must prevent the water from being polluted.

41. [归纳] prevent ... from的意思是____________________________。 [拓展]近义短语有: stop ... from 阻止……干某事; keep ... from 阻止……干某事。注意: prevent和stop后的from都可以省略, 而keep ... from 中的from则不能省略，如果省略了, 其意义将发生改变。 制止、阻止、使……不做某事

42. 11….millions of years to come will depend on whether … depend on sb. 依靠,相信某人 depend on sth. 取决于某物 我们都靠你来做决定了． We’ll all _______________to make a decision. 明天是否能开校运会取决与天气． Whether to hold the sports meeting or not will _______________________. depend on you depend on the weather

43. 12.in one’s turn 轮到某人；接着 When it is in my turn, I am too excited to speak. in turn 依次；轮流 by turns 轮流 13. Unlike John, Tom dislikes playing football. 14. He didn’t work hard; thus he was fired.

44. 练习坊 I. 根据下列各句句意及所给单词的首字母或汉语提示，写出该单词的正确形式。 1. This _____ (理论) helps to explain how animals communicate with each other. 2. The final cost could be as much as one b_____ dollars. 3. 31 people have been injured in ______ (暴力的) incidents throughout the day. theory billion violent

45. globe 4. Across the g_____, sea level varies by hundreds of feet. 5. A(n) _____ (原子) is so small that we can not see it. 6. Smoking is h______ to health, but some people cannot get rid of it. 7. The best way to get that _____________ (二氧化碳) into the atmosphere is to warm the entire planet. atom harmful carbon dioxide

46. 8. The new owners have tried to give the restaurant a more family-friendly __________ (气氛). 9. O_____ is a kind of gas that is necessary for most animals and plants to live. 10. I was surprised by the _________ (出席) of so many people at the meeting. atmosphere Oxygen presence

47. II. 用括号中所给单词的适当形式填空。 1. The ship rocked _________ (violent) from side to side, causing many passengers to feel seasick. 2. There is a ___________ (fundament) difference in attitude between these two politicians. 3. It is generally accepted that smoking is _______ (harm) to our health. violently fundamental harmful

48. 4. Our problems have _________ (multiply) since last year. 5. Scientists want to know whether life ______ (exist) on other planets. 6. She listened with a _______ (puzzle) expression on her face. multiplied exists puzzled

49. Discovering useful words and expressions Answer key for exercise 1: presence uncertain unfair violence unpaid confidence difference unlike patience unkind

50. cultural artist global physicist universal chemist agricultural biologist mathematical scientist