1、Unit 1 Nature in the balance Reading (II) How to help readers better understand abstract figures? The Amazon rainforest is around 6 million square kilometres in area. The Amazon River, from which the rainforest gets its name, is close to 6,400 kilometres in length. With an area of around 6 million s
2、quare kilometres, the Amazon rainforest is more than half the size of China. The Amazon River, from which the rainforest gets its name, is close to 6,400 kilometres in length roughly 100 kilometres longer than the Yangtze River. The revised versions With an area of around 6 million square kilometres
3、, the Amazon rainforest is more than half the size of China. It was calculated that when its population reached its highest point, there were more than 3 billion passenger pigeonsa number equal to 24 to 40 percent of the total bird population in the United States. half the size/length of, one/two th
4、irds the size/length of fraction 1. Make comparisons with familiar things percentage They identified over 2,300 species. Thats more than twice the number of bird or ant species in North America. Paris is much older than Washington. The French city is over 2,000 years old, which is 8 times longer tha
5、n Washington. multiple the same size/length as, as large/long as, twice/three times as large/long as 1. Making comparisons with familiar things The Amazon River, from which the rainforest gets its name, is close to 6,400 kilometres in lengthroughly 100 kilometres longer than the Yangtze River. The m
6、inimum distance between the Earth and Mars is about 54.6 million kilometres, which is about 54.2 million kilometres longer than the minimum distance between the Earth and the moon. a concrete figure + more than/larger than/longer than . 1. Make comparisons with familiar things It was reported that i
7、n 2011, about 34 million people lived in the Amazon. (population of Canada: 37 million; population of Shanghai: 24 million) For 2016, the US Census Bureau said Asian Americans had the highest median annual income of all ethnic and racial groups. The median income for Asians was $81,431, about the sa
8、me as 2015. (A median income of an American is $59,039) 2. Offering reference figures With a 5 GB hard drive in the music player, you can carry 1,000 songs in your pocket. The sales have reached 700 million, which means if put together in a line, the products that have been sold can surround the Ear
9、th for two laps. 3. Creating a scenario Ways to help readers understand abstract figures using relations of mathematics to make comparisons with familiar places or objects. offering reference figures of familiar things. creating a scenario to illustrate the abstract figure. Why? The ultimate purpose
10、 is to help readers better understand and evaluate abstract figures with the help of something familiar. using fractions, percentages, multiples and difference in the two figures; offering reference figures. Make comparisons with familiar things Create a scenario to illustrate abstract figures How t
11、o make abstract figures better understood by readers? The reference should be appropriate and suitable. The reference should be similar to the talking object in nature, e.g. you cannot compare a river with a mountain. Choose the most proper way to make comparisons depending on the context. Tips on h
12、ow to choose references to make comparisons Write a short passage to introduce Singapore according to the table. Singapore Reference area 725.7 km (2019) Tongzhou District, Beijing: 906 km2 current population about 5.877 million Beijing: about 21.5 million total GDP in 2019 about $328.419 billion Th
13、e total GDP of Guangzhou in China: $365.745 billion Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, has a population of approximately 5.877 million, which is about 27% of the population in Beijing. It is the smallest nation in Southeast Asia, which covers an area of about 725.7 km2 (area of Tongzhou District, Beijing: 906 km2). Singapore is a wealthy country. In 2019, Singapores GDP was about $328.419 billion, which was close to the total GDP of Guangzhou in China.