1、必修 5 Unit 1JOHH SHOW DEFEATS “KING CHOLERA”John Snow was a famous doctor in London - so expert, indeed, that he attended Queen Victoria as her personal physician. But he became inspired when he thought about helping ordinary people exposed to cholera. This was the deadly disease of its day. Neither
2、its cause nor its cure was understood. So many thousands of terrified people died every time there was an outbreak. John Snow wanted to face the challenge and solve this problem. He knew that cholera would never be controlled until its cause was found.He became interested in two theories that possib
3、ly explained how cholera killed people. The first suggested that cholera multiplied in the air. A cloud of dangerous gas floated around until it found its victims. The second suggested that people absorbed this disease into their bodies with their meals. From the stomach the disease quickly attacked
4、 the body and soon the affected person died.John Snow suspected that the second theory was correct but he needed evidence. So when another outbreak hit London in 1854, he was ready to begin his enquiry. As the disease spread quickly through poor neighbourhoods, he began to gather information. In two
5、 particular streets, the cholera outbreak was so severe that more than 500 people died in ten days. He was determined to find out why.First he marked on a map the exact places where all the dead people had lived. This gave him a valuable clue about the cause of the disease. Many of the deaths were n
6、ear the water pump in Broad Street (especially numbers 16, 37, 38 and 40). He also noticed that some houses (such as 20 and 21 Broad Street and 8 and 9 Cambridge Street) had had no deaths. He had not foreseen this, so he made further investigations. He discovered that these people worked in the pub
7、at 7 Cambridge Street. They had been given free beer and so had not drunk the water from the pump. It seemed that the water was to blame.Next, John Snow looked into the source of the water for these two streets. He found that it came from the river polluted by the dirty water from London. He immedia
8、tely told the astonished people in Broad Street to remove the handle from the pump so that it could not be used. Soon afterwards the disease slowed down. He had shown that cholera was spread by germs and not in a cloud of gas.In another part of London, he found supporting evidence from two other dea
9、ths that were linked to the Broad Street outbreak. A woman, who had moved away from Broad Street, liked the water from the pump so much that she had it delivered to her house every day. Both she and her daughter died of cholera after drinking the water. With this extra evidence John Snow was able to
10、 announce with certainty that polluted water carried the virus.To prevent this from happening again, John Snow suggested that the source of all the water supplies be examined. The water companies were instructed not to expose people to polluted water any more. Finally “King Cholera“ was defeated.COP
11、ERNICUS REVOLUTIONRRY THEORYNicolaus Copernicus was frightened and his mind was confused. Although he had tried to ignore them, all his mathematical calculations led to the same conclusion: that the earth was not the centre of the solar system. Only if you put the sun there did the movements of the
12、other planets in the sky make sense. Yet he could not tell anyone about his theory as the powerful Christian Church would have punished him for even suggesting such an idea. They believed God had made the world and for that reason the earth was special and must be the centre of the solar system.The
13、problem arose because astronomers had noticed that some planets in the sky seemed to stop, move backward and then go forward in a loop. Others appeared brighter at times and less bright at others. This was very strange if the earth was the centre of the solar system and all planets went round it.Cop
14、ernicus had thought long and hard about these problems and tried to find an answer. He had collected observations of the stars and used all his mathematical knowledge to explain them. But only his new theory could do that. So between 1510 and 1514 he worked on it, gradually improving his theory unti
15、l he felt it was complete.In 1514 he showed it privately to his friends. The changes he made to the old theory were revolutionary. He placed a fixed sun at the centre of the solar system with the planets going round it and only the moon still going round the earth. He also suggested that the earth w
16、as spinning as it went round the sun and this explained changes in the movement of the planets and in the brightness of the stars. His friends were enthusiastic and encouraged him to publish his ideas, but Copernicus was cautious. He did not want to be attacked by the Christian Church, so he only pu
17、blished it as he lay dying in 1543.Certainly he was right to be careful. The Christian Church rejected his theory, saying it was against Gods idea and people who supported it would be attacked. Yet Copernicus theory is now the basis on which all our ideas of the universe are built. His theory replac
18、ed the Christian idea of gravity, which said things fell to earth because God created the earth as the centre of the universe. Copernicus showed this was obviously wrong. Now people can see that there is a direct link between his theory and the work of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawki
19、ng.必修 5 Unit 2PUZZLES IN GEOGRAPHYPeople may wonder why different words are used to describe these four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. You can clarify this question if you study British history.First there was England. Wales was linked to it in the thirteenth century. Now
20、when people refer to England you find Wales included as well. Next England and Wales were joined to Scotland in the seventeenth century and the name was changed to “Great Britain“. Happily this was accomplished without conflict when King James of Scotland became King of England and Wales as well. Fi
21、nally the English government tried in the early twentieth century to form the United Kingdom by getting Ireland connected in the same peaceful way. However, the southern part of Ireland was unwilling and broke away to form its own government. So only Northern Ireland joined with England, Wales and S
22、cotland to become the United Kingdom and this was shown to the world in a new flag called the Union Jack.To their credit the four countries do work together in some areas (eg, the currency and international relations), but they still have very different institutions. For example, Northern Ireland, E
23、ngland and Scotland have different educational and legal systems as well as different football teams for competitions like the World Cup!England is the largest of the four countries, and for convenience it is divided roughly into three zones. The zone nearest France is called the South of England, t
24、he middle zone is called the Midlands and the one nearest to Scotland is known as the North. You find most of the population settled in the south, but most of the industrial cities in the Midlands and the North of England. Although, nationwide, these cities are not as large as those in China, they h
25、ave world-famous football teams and some of them even have two! It is a pity that the industrial cities built in the nineteenth century do not attract visitors. For historical architecture you have to go to older but smaller towns built by the Romans. There you will find out more about British histo
26、ry and culture.The greatest historical treasure of all is London with its museums, art collections, theatres, parks and buildings. It is the centre of national government and its administration. It has the oldest port built by the Romans in the first century AD, the oldest building begun by the Angl
27、o-Saxons in the 1060s and the oldest castle constructed by later Norman rulers in 1066. There has been four sets of invaders of England. The first invaders, the Romans, left their towns and roads. The second, the Anglo-Saxons, left their language and their government. The third, the Vikings, influen
28、ced the vocabulary and place-names of the North of England, and the fourth, the Normans, left castles and introduced new words for food.If you look around the British countryside you will find evidence of all these invaders. You must keep your eyes open if you are going to make your trip to the Unit
29、ed Kingdom enjoyable and worthwhile.SIGHTSEEING IN LONDONWorried about the time available, Zhang Pingyu had made a list of the sites she wanted to see in London. Her first delight was going to the Tower. It was built long ago by the Norman invaders of AD 1066. Fancy! This solid stone, square tower h
30、ad remained standing for one thousand years.Although the buildings had expanded around it, it remained part of a royal palace and prison combined. To her great surprise, Zhang Pingyu found the Queens jewels guarded by special royal soldiers who, on special occasions, still wore the four-hundred-year
31、-old uniform of the time of Queen Elizabeth I.There followed St Pauls Cathedral built after the terrible fire of London in 1666. It looked splendid when first built! Westminster Abbey, too, was very interesting. It contained statues in memory of dead poets and writers, such as Shakespeare. Then just
32、 as she came out of the abbey, Pingyu heard the famous sound of the clock, Big Ben, ringing out the hour. She finished the day by looking at the outside of Buckingham Palace, the Queens house in London. Oh, she had so much to tell her friends!The second day the girl visited Greenwich and saw its old
33、 ships and famous clock that sets the world time. What interested her most was the longitude line. It is an imaginary line dividing the eastern and western halves of the world and is very useful for navigation. It passes through Greenwich, so Pingyu had a photo taken standing on either side of the l
34、ine.The last day she visited Karl Marxs statue in Highgate Cemetery. It seemed strange that the man who had developed communism should have lived and died in London. Not only that, but he had worked in the famous reading room of the Library of the British Museum. Sadly the library had moved from its
35、 original place into another building and the old reading room was gone. But she was thrilled by so many wonderful treasures from different cultures displayed in the museum. When she saw many visitors enjoying looking at the beautiful old Chinese pots and other objects on show, she felt very proud o
36、f her country.The next day Pingyu was leaving London for Windsor Castle. “Perhaps I will see the Queen?“ she wondered as she fell asleep.必修 5 Unit 3FIRST IMPRESSIONSSpacemall: liqiang299AGreatAdventureSpaceS 15/11/3008 (Earthtime)Dear Mum and Dad, I still cannot believe that I am taking up this priz
37、e that I won last year. I have to remind myself constantly that I am really in AD 3008. Worried about the journey, I was unsettled for the first few days. As a result, I suffered from “Time lag”. This is similar to the “jet lag” you get from flying, but it seems you keep getting flashbacks from your
38、 previous time period. So I was very nervous and uncertain at first. However, my friend and guide, Wang Ping, was very understanding and gave me some green tablets which helped a lot. Well-known for their expertise, his parents company, called “Future Tours“, transported me safely into the future in
39、 a time capsule.I can still remember the moment when the space stewardess called us all to the capsule and we climbed in through a small opening. The seats were comfortable and after a calming drink, we felt sleepy and closed our eyes. The capsule began swinging gently sideways as we lay relaxed and
40、 dreaming. A few minutes later, the journey was completed and we had arrived. I was still on the earth but one thousand years in the future. What would I find?At first my new surroundings were difficult to tolerate. The air seemed thin, as though its combination of gases had little oxygen left. Hit
41、by a lack of fresh air, my head ached. Just as I tried to make the necessary adjustment to this new situation, Wang Ping appeared. “Put on this mask,“ he advised. “Itll make you feel much better.“ He handed it to me and immediately hurried me through to a small room nearby for a rest. I felt better
42、in no time. Soon I was back on my feet again and following him to collect a hovering carriage driven by computer. These carriages float above the ground and by bending or pressing down in your seat, you can move swiftly. Wang Ping fastened my safety belt and showed me how to use it. Soon I could fly
43、 as fast as him. However, I lost sight of Wang Ping when we reached what looked like a large market because of too many carriages flying by in all directions. He was swept up into the centre of them. Just at that moment I had a “time lag“ flashback and saw the area again as it had been in the year A
44、D 2008. I realized that I had been transported into the future of what was still my hometown! Then I caught sight of Wang Ping again and flew after him.Arriving at a strange-looking house, he showed me into a large, bright clean room. It had a green wall, a brown floor and soft lighting. Suddenly th
45、e wall moved - it was made of trees! I found later that their leaves provided the room with much-needed oxygen. Then Wang Ping flashed a switch on a computer screen, and a table and some chairs rose from under the floor as if by magic. “Why not sit down and eat a little?“ he said. “You may find this
46、 difficult as it is your first time travel trip. Just relax, since there is nothing planned on the timetable today. Tomorrow youll be ready for some visits.“ Having said this, he spread some food on the table, and produced a bed from the floor. After he left, I had a brief meal and a hot bath. Exhau
47、sted, I slid into bed and fell fast asleep.More news later from your loving son,Li QiangI HAVE SEEN AMAZING THINGSMy first visit was to a space station considered the most modem in space. Described as an enormous round plate, it spins slowly in space to imitate the pull of the earths gravity. Inside
48、 was an exhibition of the most up-to-date inventions of the 31 st century. A guide (G) showed us around along a moveable path.G: Good morning to all our visitors from 2008. First were going to examine one of the latest forms of communication among our space citizens. No more typists working on a typ
49、ewriter or computer! No more postage or postcodes! Messages can now be sent using a “thoughtpad“. You place the metal band over your head, clear your mind, press the sending button, think your message and the next instant its sent. Its stored on the “thoughtpad“ of the receiver. Its quick, efficient and environmentally friendly. The only limitation is if the user does not think his or her message clearly, an unclear message may be sent. But we cannot blame the tools for the faults of the user, can we?During the explanation I looked at the pair of small objects call
