新外研版高一英语必修二unit6课文

必修二unit6课文

Understandingideas.

Sharks:dangersorendangered?

1.Weseeawomanswimmingatnightinadarksea.Suddenlysheispulledandwater.Shesurfaces,criesinfear,thendisappearsforever.Thisistheopeningscenefromthe1975filmJaws,showingasharkattack.Ittellsthestoryofagreatwhitesharkthatattacksandkillsswimmers.Jawswasagreatsuccess,attractinghugeaudiencesandwinningmanyawards.Itstrengthenedpeople'slong-heldideaofthegreatwhitesharkasadangerousanimal.

2.Peoplehavealwaysbeenscaredofsharks,butJawsmadethingsworse.Itmadepeoplefrightenedofsharks,especiallyofthegreatwhiteshark.Manypeoplewhosawthefilmstartedtobelievethatsharkswerebadanimalsthatatehumans.Somepeoplestoppedswimminginthesea,afraidofthehorriblecreaturefromthefilm.Otherpeoplestartedfishingforsharks,killingasmanyastheycould.Atthattime,nobodycaredifsharkswerekilledorhowmanywerekilled?Peoplejustwantedthemkilled.

3.After1975,thenumberoflargesharksaroundAfricafellquickly,andsoonfellaroundtheworld.Thiswasnotonlyduetofearofsharks,butalsofinning.Finningisatypeoffishingwheresharksarecaughtandtheirfinscutoff.Thesharksarethrownbackintotheseawheretheydieslowlyandpainfully.Thefinsareusedinsharkfinsoup.Finningkillsmillionsofsharksayear.

4.FinningwouldhaveanunexpectedeffectuponPeterBenchley,themanwhowrotethebookthefilmJawswasbasedon.In1980Benchleywasdivingwhenhecameacrossanawfulsight.Itwasanareawherefishermenwerefinning,andtheseafloorwascoveredwithdeadsharks.Benchleysawsharksbeingkilledandthiscausedadeepchangeinhim.Hecametoseepeopleasadangertosharks,ratherthantheotherwayaround.Fromthatdayon,hefoughttoprotectsharks.Headmittedthathisbookwaswrongaboutsharksbehavior."Sharksdon'ttargethumans",hesaid.Expertshaveprovedthatsharksdonotseepeopleasfood,andtheattackusbymistake.Onlyaroundsixpeoplearekilledbysharkseveryyear.

5.Fortunately,noteveryonewhowatchedthefilmJawsbecameafraidofsharks-somebecameinterestedinunderstandingthem.Today,aswelearnmoreaboutsharks,morepeoplethaneverwanttoprotectthemfromextinction.

Developingideas.

What'sreallygreen?

Mostofusareawarethatwemusttakecareoftheenvironment,andthemajorityofustakestepstosaveenergyandreducewasteandpollution.Butrecently,some"

"greentruths"havebeenshowntobeonlyhalftrue,orevencompletelyfalse.Herearesomecommonones.Whicharereallygreen?

Papershoppingbagsarebetterthanplasticones.

Plasticbagscauselitterandareadangertowildanimals,whichmustmistakethemforfood.Ittakeshundredsofyearsforplastictobreakdown,butmuchlesstimeforpaper.Becauseofthispeoplethinkpaperbagsarethebetterenvironmentalchoice.

However,makingapaperbagusesfourtimesasmuchenergyasmakingaplasticbaganduptothreetimestheamountofwater.Theprocessalsoproducesmoregreenhousegases.

Infact,bothkindsofbagsarebadfortheenvironment.So,takeareusablebagwithyouwhenyougoshopping.

Whenyouturnoffadevice,itstopsusingpower.

Whenweturnoffadevice,suchastelevision,itgoesintostand-bymode.Devicesinthismodestillusepower,andolderdevicesinstand-bymodecanuseevenmore.Thishappensbecauseelectricitycontinuestoleakfromthedevice,evenwhenitisturned"off".Tomakesureyourapplianceisinfactoff,removedtheplugfromitspowersupply.

Eatinglocalfoodisgoodfortheenvironment.

Itseemslikecommonsense:eatinglocalfoodshouldbebetterfortheenvironment,becauseitdoesn'tneedtobetransportedlongdistancesandkeptcoldduringtransport.Unfortunately,itisnotthatsimple.Itistheproductionoffood,notitstransport,thatusesmostoftheenergyandproducesmostofthegreenhousegases.Insomecases,localproducemighthaveusedmoreenergyandproducedmoregreenhousegasesthanproducegrownalongwayaway-eventakingintoaccountitstransport.

It'sbettertotakeashowerthanabath.

Itdependsonhowlongyouspendintheshowerandhowlargeyourbathis.Ifyouspendmorethaneightminutesinashower,youwilluseasmuchwaterasinabath-about50litersofwater.Therefore,thekeyistokeepyourshorttimeasshortaspossible.

Environmentalawarenessisnowpartofdailylife.Butit'sworthcheckingcommonideasandopinionstoseewhat'sreallygreen.

Writingapersuasiveletter.

Dearfriends,

WearewritingthislettertocalloneveryonetotakepartintheClearYourPlatecampaign.Iturgespeopletosavefoodbynotwastingeverythingonthediningtable.Youmaynotknowover30%oftheworld'sfoodiswasted,whilemanypeopleinpoorareasdonothaveenoughtoeat.Inordertosavefood,wepropose:

1.Donotordermorethanyouneedintheschoolcanteen.

2.Orderlessandtakealeftoverfoodhomewhendining