Unit 2

Unit 2 The environment

Project Writing a report

It runs across nine provinces. As the third longest river in the world, how long is the Yangtze River? How many provinces does it run across? What are the three longest rivers in the world? It is 6,300 kilometers long. It runs across nine provinces. The Nile in Africa, the Amazon in South America and the Yangtze River in China.

the rare animals and fishes White-flag dolphin Yangtze alligator Zhonghua sturgeon

Divide the five paragraphs into several parts according to your understanding.

Answer the following questions. 1. What has caused the pollution of the Yangtze River? Rapid development and an increase in population have meant that the amount of water taken from the river is rising, and the waste being put back into the river has been increasing.

2. What do the two special government projects focus on? They focus on the problems along the Yangtze River. The water and soil preservation project is to replace the crops on the farmland with trees or grassland, and the second includes a nature reverse for white-flag dolphins.

3. Have people solved all the problems concerning the Yangtze River? No, we still have a long way to go.

Protecting the Yangtze River unsafe drinking water killing many plants and animals endangering the wild animal population Problems causes solutions rapid development; increase in population; the waste being put back into the river set up environmental organizations and projects; watch the river and stops the illegal hunting of animals; two special government projects

Discussion What will you think about when you see the title “Climate change and a low-carbon life”? What do you think causes climate change? Do you think that your way of life can change the climate? Can you give some examples to show what kind of life a low-carbon life is?

Climate change and a low-carbon life Problem: more and more carbon dioxide has been put into the atmosphere, which has brought about climate change. Cause: breathing of animals and humans; other human activities; cars and vehicles; electrical power plants

Solutions to the problem: walk or use a bike when possible; use as little energy as possible; recycle as much as possible; plant trees

The problems and causes. As a student, what you should do to Write a report about what students should do to protect the environment. Below are some hints for you to follow. Notes: The problems and causes. As a student, what you should do to protect the environment. What can you do to make others aware of the importance of protecting the Yangtze River？

Language points 1. …the health of the Yangtze River has raised concern both in China and abroad. raise本意为“举起；使……升起；使……站立；扶起”。如： He raised his left hand. 他把左手举起来。 She raised the fallen child. 她把跌倒的孩子扶起来。

raise在此处意为“引起；造成”。如： His absence raised fears about his safety.他的缺席引起人们对他安全的担心。 The use of animals in scientific tests raises some difficult ethical problems. 用动物做科学试验引起了一些棘手的道德问题。 A funny remark raises a laugh. 滑稽的话惹人发笑。

2. The special government projects are also under way. The project is now well under way. 这一项目现正顺利进行。

3. This is not good news for the people who rely on the Yangtze River for water. Nor is it good news for the wide range of fish and wildlife… rely on…for…意为“依赖……提 供……” 如： Children rely on their parents for food and clothing. 孩子们依赖父母供给衣食。

（2）第二句话以nor开头，用倒装语序。句中fish and wildlife后接一个由that引导的定语从句。 （3） range 范围，幅度，差距。这里用作名词，意为“一系列，各种各样”。如： the whole range of history 整个历史 outside the range of human knowledge 在人类知识范围之外

相关短语： beyond the range of … 超过……的范围 within the range of … 在……范围之内 e.g. It is beyond the range of my ability. 这件事超出了我的能力范围。 The work is within the range of our responsibilities. 这工作在我们的责任范围之内。

4. Although we produce carbon when we breathe, the carbon we produce is much less than that produced by a car. 句中that指代carbon，后接过去分词短语produced by a car作定语。英语中常用that来指代一个不可数名词。如： The weather here is much more pleasant than that in the north. 这里的天气比北方舒服多了。

5. Planting a small tree is cheap and easy, and two decades from now, when you look at what will have become a large tree, you will find a sense of satisfaction knowing that you did your part to help solve the problem of climate change.

本句是一个并列主从复合句，并列连词and前面是一个简单句，后面是一个主从复合句，其中when引导一个时间状语从句，look at后接一个由what引导的宾语从句，现在分词短语knowing…作状语，后接一个由that引导的宾语从句。

Group work Discuss the eight questions in Part B on page 39. You may conduct a survey first, and then list different problems with China’s environment and present a report.