1、BOOK 3Module1 ReadingGreat European CitiesPARISParis is the capital and largest city of France, situated on the River Seine. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and is visited by more than eight million tourists every year. The most popular place for tourists is the Eiffel Tower, the
2、 famous symbol of Paris. One of the worlds largest art galleries, the Louvre, is also located in Paris. The city is also famous for its restaurants, cafes and theatres. About two third of Frances artists and writers live in Paris.BARCELONABarcelona is the second largest city of Spain and is situated
3、 on the northeast coast, about five hundred kilometres east of the Spanish capital, Madrid. One of Barcelonas most famous landmarks is the Church of the Sagrada Familia, which was designed by an architect called Antonio Gaudi. Gaudi worked on the project from 1882 until his death in 1926. The church
4、 hasnt been finished yet.FLORENCEFlorence is an Italian city which became famous because of the Renaissance, a great artistic movement which began in the 1300s and lasted for three hundred years. During the Renaissance, some of the greatest painters of all time lived and worked in Florence. Many of
5、Florences most beautiful paintings and sculptures were produced by great artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Florence is visited each year by about a million tourists who come to see the art galleries, churches and museums. The Uffizi Palace is the most famous art galleries in the ci
6、ty.ATHENSAthens, the capital of Greece, is known as the birthplace of western civilisation. Two thousand four hundred years ago, it was the worlds most powerful city. Buildings such as the Parthenon on the Acropolis Hill were built during this period. Greeces best writers lived in ancient Athens. Th
7、eir work has influenced other writers ever since.译:欧洲的大城市巴黎巴黎是法国的首都，也是法国最大的城市，坐落在塞纳河畔。它是世界上最美丽的城市之一，每年有八百多万游客前来参观。最受游客欢迎的旅游景点是埃菲尔铁塔，它是巴黎著名的象征。世界上最大的艺术博物馆之一卢浮宫也位于巴黎。这个城市也以餐馆、咖啡馆和剧院而闻名。法国约三分之二的艺术家和作家住在巴黎。巴塞罗那巴塞罗那是西班牙第二大城市，位于（西班牙的）东北海岸线上，距离首都马德里东部五百公里处。巴塞罗那最有名的标志性建筑之一是圣家大教堂，由建筑家安东尼奥高迪设计。高迪从1882年起从事这项工程
8、直至1926年逝世。至今教堂还没完工。佛罗伦萨佛罗伦萨是一座因文艺复兴而闻名的意大利城市，这场艺术运动始于14世纪并且延续了300年。在文艺复兴时期，历史上一些最伟大的画家在佛罗伦萨生活和工作。佛罗伦萨许多最美的画作和雕像都出自于莱奥纳多达芬奇和米开朗琪罗这样的艺术大师。佛罗伦萨每年大约有一百万旅游者来访，他们都是来参观艺术馆，教堂和博物馆的。其中乌飞齐美术馆最为著名。雅典希腊是希腊的首都，作为西方文明的发祥地而闻名于世。2400年前，它是世界上最强大的城市。一些诸如雅典卫城山上的巴特农神庙那样的建筑都是在这段时期建造的。希腊最为著名的作家就居住在古雅典。他们的作品影响了后世的作家。Cultu
9、ral CornerTheEuropeanUnionWhatIstheEuropeanUnion?TheEuropeanUnionisanorganisationofEuropeancountries.Thecountriesareindependentandaregovernedindifferentways.IntheUnitedKingdom,forexample,theheadofstateisakingorqueen.InFrance,ontheotherhand,theheadofstateisapresident.Buteachofthemsendsrepresentatives
10、totheEuropeanParliament,whichhassomecontroloverwhathappensineachofthemembercountries.HowDidItStart?TheideaoftheEuropeanUnionbeganinthe1950s.ThefirstmemberswereFrance,Germany,Belgium,Luxembourg,theNetherlandsandItaly.Littlebylittle,thenumberincreasedduringthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury.Bytheyear2
11、000,therewere15membercountries.ThenewcountrieswereAustria,Denmark,Finland,Greece,Ireland,Portugal,Spain,SwedenandtheUnitedKingdom.HowManyCountriesBelongtoItNow?In2004,theEuropeanUnionincreasedto25members.TheCzechRepublic,Estonia,Hungary,Latvia,Lithuania,Poland,theSlovakRepublicandSlovenia,plustheMed
12、iterraneanislandsofCyprusandMaltaallbecamemembers.TheexpandedEuropeanUnionhasapopulationofmorethanhalfabillionpeople,twiceasbigasthepopulationoftheUnitedStates.译:欧盟什么是欧盟呢？欧盟是欧洲国家的一个组织。各个国家都是独立的而且管理方式也不同。例如，在联合王国（英国），国家的首脑是国王或女王。另一方面，在法国，国家的首脑却是总统。但是每个国家都向欧洲议会驻派代表，来控制在每个成员国所发生的事情。欧盟是怎样创建的呢？创建欧盟的想法是在2
13、0世纪50年代开始的。最初的成员国为法国、德国、比利时、卢森堡、荷兰和意大利。在20世纪的下半叶，成员国逐渐增加。到2000年为止，已经有15个成员国。这些新的国家是奥地利、丹麦、芬兰、希腊、爱尔兰、葡萄牙、西班牙、瑞典和联合王国。现在有多少国家属于欧盟呢？在2004年，欧盟的成员国增加到了25个。捷克共和国、爱沙尼亚、匈牙利、拉脱维亚、立陶宛、波兰、斯洛伐克共和国和斯洛文尼亚，还有地中海的岛国塞浦路斯和马耳他都成为成员国。扩大的欧盟人口达到5亿多，是美国人口的2倍。Module2ReadingTheHumanDevelopmentReportIntheyear2000,147worldlea
14、dersagreedtoworktogethertoreducepovertyby2015orearlier.FromthisagreementcametheHumanDevelopmentReport.OneofthemostimportantsectionsofthisreportisTheHumanDevelopmentIndex.Thisexaminestheachievementsof175countries.Theindexmeasuresacountrysachievementsinthreeways:lifeexpectancy(howlongpeopleusuallylive
15、),educationandincome.Theindexhassomesurprises.Norwayisatthetopofthelist,whiletheUSisatnumber7.Theothertopfivecountriesare:Iceland(2),Sweden(3),Australia(4),theNetherlands(5).TheUKisinthethirteenthposition,whileChinaisinthemiddleofthelist.ThebottomtencountriesareallAfricancountries,withSierraLeone(in
16、WestAfrica)atthebottomofthelist.Thereportdescribeseightdevelopmentgoals.Themostimportantgoalsareto: reducepovertyandhunger;makesurethatallchildrenhaveeducationuptotheageof11;fightAIDSandotherdiseases;improvetheenvironmentofpoorpeople,e.g.makesuretheyhavesafedrinkingwater;ncouragedevelopedcountriesto
17、givemorehelptoothercountries.The2003HumanDevelopmentReportgivesexamplesofSuccessful development.For example,innineyears(19531962),Chinaincreasedlifeexpectancyby13years.InthelasttenyearsinChina,150millionpeoplemovedoutofpoverty.However,thechallengesarestillgreat.Everyday799millionpeopleindevelopingco
18、untriesarehungry.OverhalfoftheseareinSouthAsiaorAfrica.Althoughmorethan80%ofchildrenindevelopingcountriesgotoprimaryschool,about115millionchildrenarenotbeingeducated.Morethan1billionpeopleindevelopingcountriesdonotdrinksafewater.However,inotherregionsoftheworld,e.g.EasternEurope,waterisnowmostlysafe
19、todrink.Thereportshowsthatwearemakingsomeprogressbutthatweneedtomakegreaterefforts.Althoughdevelopedcountriesgivesomefinancialhelp,theyneedtogivemuchmore.Interestingly,thecountriesthatgivethemostmoneyaretheNetherlands,NorwayandSweden.Theseareamongthefiverichestcountriesintheworld,soitisrightthatthey
20、shoulddoso.译:人类发展报告在2000年，来自世界各国的147位领导人一致同意共同努力到2015年或在更早的时间减少贫困。由此产生了人类发展报告。这份报告一个最重要的部分是人类发展指标。它审阅了175个国家的发展成就。指标从三个方面衡量一个国家的成就：寿命、教育和收入。这项指标显示了一些令人意外的情况。挪威高居榜首，而美国则排在第七。位于前五位的其他国家是：冰岛（2），瑞典（3）澳大利亚（4）荷兰（5）。英国位居第十三位，而中国处于中等地位。处于末端的十个国家均是非洲国家，塞拉利昂（西非）排在最后。报告描述了八个发展目标。其中最重要的是：减少贫穷和饥饿；确保所有儿童11岁之前都能接受
21、教育；对抗艾滋病和其他疾病；改善穷苦人民的环境，例如，确保他们有安全饮用水；鼓励发达国家给予其他国家更多的帮助。2003年人类发展报告列举了一些成功发展的例子。譬如，在九年（1953-1962）的时间里，中国的人均寿命增加了13岁。过去的十年之内，中国有1.5亿人脱贫。然而，挑战仍很严峻。在发展中国家，每天有7.99亿人在挨饿。其中一半以上的人来自南亚或非洲。虽然发展中国家80%以上的儿童能上小学，但仍有1.15亿的孩子得不到教育。发展中国家里十多亿的人喝不上安全的饮用水。当然在世界的其它地方，例如东欧，现在的饮用水大多是安全的。报告显示我们正在进步，但是我们必须做出更大的努力。虽然发达国家提
22、供了一些经济援助，但是提供援助的数量应该大大增加。有趣的是，捐钱最多的国家是荷兰、挪威和瑞典。它们都属于世界上五个最富的国家，所以他们这样做是合情合理的。Module3 ReadingWhat is a Tornado?A tornado（龙卷风） is a rotating column of air from a thunderstorm to the ground. The most violent have winds of more than 400 kilometres per hour. Almost all of them occur in the US, in the are
23、a from Texas in the southeast to South Dakota in the north.Tornadoes can pick up cars, trains and even houses and put them down in the next street - or even in the next town. They can take the fur off the back of a cat and the feathers off a chicken. They can destroy houses, but leave the furniture
24、inside exactly where it was.On average, there are 800 tornadoes in the US each year, causing about 80 deaths and 1500 injuries. The worst tornado of all time occurred in 1925, affecting three US states : Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. By the time it ended, more than 700 people had been killed and 2
25、700 had been injured.What is a Hurricane?Hurricanes（飓风） are strong tropical storms, and they usually occur in the southern Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. There are violent winds of 120 kilometres per hour or more, which cause huge waves, heavy rain and floods. There are on
26、 average six Atlantic hurricanes each year and they usually affect the east coast of the US from Texas to Maine.The worst hurricane disaster of all time occurred on the 8th September 1900 in Galveston, Texas. Winds of 200 kilometres per hour and five-metre-high waves hit the city. The disaster kille
27、d 6000 people in a population of 37000 and destroyed 3600 buildings.An Extraordinary EventThis is a story about the 1900 Galveston hurricane.Charles Coghlan was a nineteenth-century Irish actor who went to live in Canada. He then moved to New York, where he became famous. By the late 1890s, he had m
28、oved to Galveston, where he died in 1899, a year before the hurricane struck. The cemetery（墓地） where Coghlan was buried was destroyed by the hurricane and Coghlans coffin（棺材） ended up in the sea. Eight years later, the coffin was found by fishermen in the sea near his home on Prince Edward Island in
29、 the east of Canada. The Gulf Stream had carried it 3000 kilometres up the eastern US coast to Prince Edward Island. Coghlan travelled back to Canada - after he had been buried in Texas!译:什么是龙卷风？龙卷风是指一个从空中的雷暴延伸到地面而生成的旋转气柱。最厉害的一次风速达到每小时400公里。几乎所有的龙卷风都发生在美国，从东南部的德克萨斯州直到北部的南达科他州。龙卷风能卷起汽车、火车甚至房子，把它们卷到旁边
30、的街道甚至能卷到邻近的城镇。龙卷风可以卷走猫背上的皮毛、鸡身上的羽毛。它们能毁掉房子，却把房内的家具留在原处。平均来说，美国每年发生800次龙卷风，造成大约80人死亡、1,500人受伤。最恶劣的一场龙卷风发生在1925年，波及到了美国的三个州：密苏里州、伊利诺斯州和印第安纳州。等到风停时，已有700多人死亡，2,700多人受伤。什么是飓风？飓风是强劲的热带风暴，通常发生在南大西洋、加勒比海和墨西哥海湾。飓风发生时，风暴速度达到每小时120公里或者更快，引发巨浪、暴雨和洪灾。每年平均有六次大西洋飓风，通常会影响到从得克萨斯州到缅因州的美国东部海岸。最恶劣的一次飓风于1900年9月8日发生在德克萨
31、斯州加尔维斯顿。时速高达200公里的狂风和五米高的巨浪袭击了加尔维斯顿城。37,000人口中有6,000人遇难，3,600幢大楼被摧毁。一个离奇的事件这是关于1900年加尔维斯顿飓风的故事。查尔斯科格伦是十九世纪一位定居加拿大的爱尔兰演员。后来他移居纽约，并在那里获得了成功。19世纪90年代后期，他迁居加尔维斯顿，直到1899年在那里去世，也就是飓风袭击的前一年。掩埋科格伦的公墓被飓风所摧毁，他的棺材最后被卷入了大海。八年后，渔民们在位于加拿大东部爱德华王子岛他家附近发现了他的棺材。墨西哥湾流沿着美国东海岸把它（棺材）一直带到爱德华王子岛，行程3,000公里。埋葬于德克萨斯州的查尔斯科格伦又回
32、到了加拿大cultural CornerEarthquakes Around the PacificAbout 400 earthquakes occur worldwide everyday, more than a hundred thousand in a year.China is situated in one of the most active earthquake regions in the world and there have been many terrible earthquakes. The most serious of these occurred in Hu
33、a County in Shaanxi Province in 1556. The earthquake affected eight provinces in Central China. It covered an area of 800 square kilometres. In some communities, 60 percent of the population were killed. In all, 830,000 people lost their lives.The California Earthquake of the 18th of April 1906 is t
34、he worst earthquake that has ever happened in the United States. It took place at 5:15 a.m., and lasted for only a minute. However, it caused the worst natural disaster in the nations history.Fires caused by the California Earthquake did the most damage. The fires burned for three days, destroying a
35、 total of 25,000 buildings. About 500 people were killed in the city of San Francisco and 250,000 were made homeless. In the whole of California, the earthquake and fires caused about 3000 deaths.The 1906 earthquake was caused by a movement on the San Andreas Fault（圣安德烈亚斯断层）. One hundred years later
36、, movements on the San Andreas Fault continue to cause problems for the whole of California译:太平洋周围的地震全世界每天大约发生400次地震，一年大约十多万次地震。中国位于世界上最活跃的一个地震带上并且那里已经发生了多次严重的地震。最严重的一次地震发生在1556年陕西省的华县。这次地震影响了中国中部的八个省，涉及了800平方千米的地区。在一些地区，60%的人口死亡。总计，有83万人丧生。1906年4月18日发生在加利福尼亚的地震是美国历史上最严重的一次地震。它在凌晨5点15分开始，仅持续了1分钟。然而，
37、它却引发了这个国家历史上最严重的自然灾害。加利福尼亚地震所引起的火灾造成了最大的破坏。这场火燃烧了3天，总共毁掉了二万五千座大楼。旧金山有大约500人死亡，25万人无家可归。在这个加利福尼亚，地震和火灾导致3,000人死亡。1906年的地震由圣安德烈亚斯断层的运动引起的。一百年后，圣安德烈亚斯断层的运动持续给整个加利福尼亚带来问题。Module4 ReadingSandstorms in AsiaSandstorms have been a major disaster for many Asian countries. Scientists have tried many years to
38、solve this problem and in China, a mass campaign has been started to help solve it.Sandstorms are strong,dry winds that carry sand. They are often so thick that you cannot see the sun, and the wind is sometimes strong enough to move and dunes. The four main places in the world where there are sandst
39、roms are Central Asia, North America, Central Africa and Australia. Ren Jianbo, from Inner Mongolia described a terrible sandstrom he experienced as a child in the desert. “ To have been caught in a sandstorm was a terrible experience,” he said. “ There was nothing to be done. It was the most fright
40、ening and the most dangerous situation Ive been in. You just had to hope youd survive. I thought I was going to disappear under the sand.”Northwest China is part of the sandstorm centre in Central Asia. Sandstorms begin in desert areas. Sandstorms in China appear to have increased in recent years as
41、 a result of “ desertification”. This is a process that happens when land becomes desert because of climate changes and because people cut down trees and dig up grass.Sandstorms sometimes affect Beijing. Citizens wake up to an orange sky and strong winds that cover the city in a thick, brown-yellow
42、dust. The storms sometimes continue all day and traffic moves very slowly because the thick dust makes it difficult to see.The Chinese Central Weather Station can forecast a sandstorm some weeks before it arrives in Beijing, but the strength of the storm sometimes surprises people. When a sandstorm
43、arrives in the city, weather experts advise people not to go out. Huang Xiaomei, who lives in Beijing says, “ To be cycling in a sandstorm is frightening. The winds are very strong. Its difficult to breathe and the dust makes us ill. So if you want to go out, youd better wear a mask.”The desert is o
44、nly 250 kilometres away to the west of Beijing. To prevent it coming nearer, the government is planting trees. Already the government has planted more than 30 billion trees and plans to continue planting for the next five years.译:亚洲的沙尘暴几百年以来，沙尘暴一直是许多亚洲国家面临的主要灾难。科学家尝试过多种方法解决这个问题，在中国，也发动了群众运动来对付沙尘暴。沙尘
45、暴是夹带沙尘的强烈而干躁的风。沙尘暴夹带的沙尘含量常常很大以致于可以遮天蔽日。风力强大时可以搬动沙丘。世界上沙尘暴发生的四个主要地区是中亚、北美、中非和澳大利亚。来自内蒙的任建波是这样来描述他小时候遭遇的一次沙尘暴的：“遇上沙尘暴是一个可怕的经历，”他说，“你一点办法也没有。那是我所遭遇过的最可怕、最危险的境况。你只能祈求会活下来。那时候我觉得我会消失在沙尘下。”中国的西北地区是中亚沙尘暴中心的一部分。沙尘暴发端于沙漠地区。因“荒漠化”越发严重，中国近年来发生沙尘暴的次数明显增加了。这是由于气候变化和人们伐树挖草，使土地变成荒漠后产生的一种作用。沙尘暴有时候会影响北京。居民醒来时，看到昏黄的天
46、空，狂风夹着黄沙在城里肆虐。暴风有时持续一整天，车辆开得很慢，因为浓浓的尘埃降低了能见度。中国中央气象站能在沙尘暴到达北京前几周预报沙尘暴，但沙尘暴的力量有时很惊人。沙尘暴到来时，气象专家建议人们不要外出。家住北京的黄小梅说：“在沙尘暴中骑车真可怕。风力很强，呼吸困难，沙尘使人难受。所以要出门，最好带上口罩。”沙漠离北京西境只有250公里。为阻止沙漠的逼近，政府已经开始植树。政府已经种了300亿棵树，并准备在未来的五年里继续种植。cultural CornerThe Green MovementSome countries are better than others at looking after the environment. In Europe, Germany and the northern European countries work very hard to improve the environment. People in countries such as Germany put their garbage into different bags - paper in one bag, plastic in anot
