1、1 必修必修 1 第一单元第一单元 ANNES BEST FRIEND Do you want a friend whom you could tell everything to, like your deepest feelings and thoughts? Or are you afraid that your friend would laugh at you, or would not understand what you are going through? Anne Frank wanted the first kind, so she made her diary her
2、best friend. Anne lived in Amsterdam in the Netherlands during World War II. Her family was Jewish so they had to hide or they would be caught by the German Nazis. She and her family hide away for two years before they were discovered. During that time the only true friend was her diary. She said, I
3、 dont want to set down a series of facts in a diary as most people do, but I want this diary itself to be my friend, and I shall call my friend Kitty. Now read how she felt after being in the hiding place since July 1942. Thursday 15, June, 1944 Dear kitty, I wonder if its because I hav
4、ent been able to be outdoors for so long that Ive grown so crazy about everything to do with nature. I can well remember that there was a time when a deep blue sky, the song of the birds, moonlight and flowers could never have kept me spellbound. Thats changed since I came here. For example, when it
5、 was so warm, I stayed awake on purpose until half past eleven one evening in order to have a good look at 2 the moon for once by myself. But as the moon gave far too much light, I didnt dare open a window. Another time some months ago, I happened to be upstairs one evening when the window was open.
6、 I didnt go downstairs until the window had to be shut. The dark, rainy evening, the wind, the thundering clouds held me entirely in their power; it was the first time in a year and a half that Id seen the night face to face SadlyI am only able to look at nature through dirty curtains hanging before
7、 very dusty windows. Its no pleasure looking through these any longer because nature is one thing that really must be experienced. Yours, Anne 第二单元第二单元 THE ROAD TO MODERN ENGLISH At the end of the 16th century, about five to seven million people spoke English. Nearly all of them lived in
8、 England. Later in the next century, people from England made voyages to conquer other parts of the world and because of that, English began to be spoken in many other countries. Today, more people speak English as their first, second or foreign language than ever before. Native English speakers can
9、 understand each other even if they dont speak the same kind of English. Look at this example: British Betty: Would you like to see my flat? American Amy: Yes, Id like to come up to your apartment. 3 So why has English changed over time? Actually all languages change and develop when cultures meet a
10、nd communicate with each other. At first the English spoken in England between about AD 450 and 1150 was very different from the English spoken today. It was based more on German than the English we speak at present. Then gradually between about AD 800 and 1150, English became less like German becau
11、se those who ruled England spoken first Danish and later French. These new settlers enriched the English language and especially its vocabulary. So by the 1600s Shakespeare was able to make use of a wider vocabulary than ever before. In 1620 some British settlers moved to America. Later in the 18th
12、century some British people were taken to Australia too. English began to be spoken in both countries. Finally by the 19th century the language was settled. At that time two big changes in English spelling happened: first Samuel Johnson wrote his dictionary and later Noah Webster wrote The American
13、Dictionary of the English Language. The latter gave a separate identity to American English spelling. English now is also spoken as a foreign or second language in South Asia. For example, India has a very large number of fluent English speakers because Britain ruled India from 1765 to 1947. During
14、that time English became the language for government and 4 education. English is also spoken in Singapore and Malaysia and countries in Africa such as South Africa. Today the number of people learning English in China is increasing rapidly. In fact, China may have the largest number of English learn
15、ers. Will Chinese English develop its own identity? Only time will tell. 三三 Travel journal JOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONG 沿湄沿湄 公河而下的旅行公河而下的旅行 PART 1 THE DREAM AND THE PLAN 梦想 计划 My name is Wang Kun. Ever since middle school, my sister Wang Wei and I have dreamed about taking a great bike trip. Two years ag
16、o she bought an expensive mountain bike and then she persuaded me to buy one. Last year, she visited our cousins, Dao Wei and Yu Hang at their college in Kunming. They are Dai and grew up in western Yunnan Province near the Lancang River, the Chinese part of the river that is called the Mekong River
17、 in other countries. Wang Wei soon got them interested in cycling too. After graduating from college.we finally got the chance to take a bike trip. I asked my sister, “Where are we going?“ It was my sister who first had the idea to cycle along the entire Mekong River from where it begins to where it
18、 ends. Now she is planning our schedule for the trip. I am fond of my sister but she has one serious shortcoming. She 5 can be really stubborn. Although she didn't know the best way of getting to places, she insisted that she organize the trip properly. Now, I know that the proper way is always
19、her way. I kept asking her, “When are we leaving and when are we coming back?“ I asked her whether she had looked at a map yet. Of course, she hadn't; my sister doesn't care about details. So I told her that the source of the Mekong is in Qinghai Province. She gave me a determined lookthe ki
20、nd that said she would not change her mind. When I told her that our journey would begin at an altitude of more than 5,000 metres, she seemed to be excited about it. When I told her the air would be hard to breathe and it would be very cold, she said it would be an interesting experience. I know my
21、sister well. Once she has made up her mind, nothing can change it. Finally, I had to give in. Several months before our trip, Wang Wei and I went to the library. We found a large atlas with good maps that showed details of world geography. From the atlas we could see that the Mekong River begins in
22、a glacier on a Tibetan mountain. At first the river is small and the water is clear and cold. Then it begins to move quickly. It becomes rapids as it passes through deep valleys, travelling across western Yunnan Province. Sometimes the river becomes a waterfall and enters wide valleys. We were both
23、6 surprised to learn that half of the river is in China. After it leaves China and the high altitude, the Mekong becomes wide， brown and warm. As it enters Southeast Asia, its pace slows. It makes wide bends or meanders through low valleys to the plains where rice grows. At last, the river delta ent
24、ers the South China Sea. Unit 4 Earthquakes A NIGHT THE EARTH DIDN'T SLEEP Strange things were happening in the countryside of northeast Hebei. For three days the water in the village wells rose and fell, rose and fell. Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in them. A smelly
25、gas came out of the cracks. In the farmyards, the chickens and even the pigs were too nervous to eat. Mice ran out of the fields looking for places to hide. Fish jumped out of their bowls and ponds. At about 3:00 am on july 28,1976,some people saw bright lights in the sky. The sound of planes could
26、be heard outside the city of Tangshan even when no planes were in the sky. In the city, the water pipes in some buildings cracked and burst. but the one million people of the city, who thought little of these events, were asleep as usual that night. At 3:42 am everything began to shake. It seemed as if the world was at an end! Eleven kilometres directly below the city the greatest earthquake of the 20th century had begun. It was fe
