1、Unit 3 The world online Reading () How to make “before-and-after” comparisons? The Internet has also made our lives unbelievably convenient, with all sorts of goods and services provided by electronic commerce, more commonly known as e- commerce. You can have food delivered to you using food deliver
2、y apps and sites. Gone are the days of searching shop after shop for the perfect pair of bootsyou can compare styles and prices quickly and easily in the comfort of your living room. Why wait hopelessly for a taxi in the cold rain? It is now simple and fast to order one with a taxi app. Sit back and
3、 relax indoors for a few warm minutes until the driver arrives. When you wish to go on holiday, you can make all your travel arrangements just in front of the computer. Forgot to carry cash? There is no need to worryyou can pay for almost everything on your smartphone. What is a “before-and-after” c
4、omparison? What is the purpose of using “before-and-after” comparisons? “Before-and-after” comparisons are used when we want to emphasize the differences of one thing between the past and now to persuade readers to be convinced of an argument or a statement. Sometimes, the purpose of “before-and-aft
5、er” comparisons is to show the superiority of present changes by comparing it with its past to help the readers evaluate it. “Facts speak louder than words.” I don t think kids have as much fun as they used to. When I was a child, I spent much time playing with my friends out in the street after sch
6、ool. We designed different kinds of games to have fun. But now competition keeps getting in the way. Kids nowadays have no time for leisure, let alone personal interests or hobbies. Homework alone wont be finished until very late night. When weekends come, they have piano lessons, English lessons an
7、d dance lessons that eat up all their free time. 1. Using specific facts for example to illustrate to demonstrate conjunction in particular 1. Using specific facts Tablets have successfully succeeded books. Students dont need to lug heavy stuffed backpacks around anymore. They can go beyond the boun
8、daries of a book and find the most up-to-date information in a matter of seconds. Remember the old days when you turned in your assignments on a sheet of paper? Well, gone are the days noweverything is done digitally via tablets. Students turn in their homework online and professors can grade them i
9、n a matter of minutes. specific facts Thanks to plant science and other innovations, agriculture has progressed tremendously over the past 150 years, becoming more and more efficient over time. In 1860, each US farm fed an average of 15 people. In 2010, each farm could feed over 140 people! During t
10、hat same time, the population increased 882 per cent, but the total acreage dedicated to farmland did not increase as drastically. Farmers became more efficient, using improved seeds, crop protection products, machinery and more that resulted in more yields on cultivated land. All of this occurred w
11、hile reducing the workforce involved in agriculture from nearly half of the population in 1860 to less than 1 per cent now. 2. Raising figures Tables, line graphs, bar charts, pie charts, process diagrams 2. Raising figures US AGRICULTURE 1860 2010 CHANGE Total US population 31,443,320(10.6/sq.mi )
12、308,745,540(87.4/sq.mi ) 883% Total acreage 407,213,000 921,000,000 126% Number of farms 2,044,000 2,201,000 7.7% Average acreage per farm 199 419 110% Labour force in agriculture 15,141,000 2,113,000 -86% Percentage of population in agriculture 48% 0.68% -47.3% Image: Michael Hinzes work about the
13、Berlin Wall The road was blocked by the Berlin Wall. Signs on the road, warning of “West Berlin”, used to be seen. But now it has become a busy square. A few Volkswagen vans used to be seen in the distance. But there are definitely more cars in the street. 3. Introducing images Logically support the
14、 “before-and-after” comparison Be specific and state the idea clearly Be convincing to a majority of people How can we choose suitable facts, figures or images? Write a short passage about a comparison of the life before and after smartphones were invented. Nowadays, life becomes more and more conve
15、nient and comfortable because of the smartphone. Firstly, it seems that our world is smaller than before. If we want to know how a friend in USA is going on, we can use social networking softwares in our smartphones to contact them. With our smartphones, we can know what is happening even in the oth
16、er side of the world without stepping out. Secondly, e-commerce has benefited us a lot. For example, when we are too busy to buy something like foods, clothes and so on, we can do online shopping with our smartphones in our free time. We do not need to go to the supermarket or shop, since the courier will bring the goods bought online to our home or workplaces.
