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1、 必修一 Unit 1 ANNE’S 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 best friend

2、. Anne lived in Amsterdam in Netherlands during Would WarⅡ.Her family was Jewish so they had to hide or they would be caught by the German Nazi .She and her family hid away for nearly twenty-five months before they were discovered. During that time the only true friend was her diary. She said ,”I

3、 don’t 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 15th June 1944 Dear Kitty, I wonder if it’s because I haven’t

4、 been able to be outdoors for so long that I’ve 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. That’s changed since I was here. …For example, one eve

5、ning when it was so warm, I stayed awake on purpose until half past eleven in order to have a good look at the moon by myself. But as the moon gave far too much light, I didn’t dare open a window. Another time five months ago, I happened to be upstairs at dusk when the window was open. I didn’t go d

6、ownstairs 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 I’d seen the night face to face…. …Sadly…I am only able to look at nature through dirty curtains hanging before very d

7、usty windows. it’s no pleasure looking through these any longer because nature is one thing that really must be experienced. Your, Anne Friday, 10 July 1942 When we arrived at Prinsengracht, we went quickly upstairs and the hiding place. We closed the door behind us and we were alone. Margot h

8、ad come faster on her bicycle and already waiting for us. All the rooms were full of boxes. They lay on the floor and the beds. The little room was filled with bedclothes. We had to start clearing up at once, if we wished to sleep in comfortable beds that night. Mummy and Margot were not able to hel

9、p. They were tired and lay down on their beds. But Daddy and I, the two “helper” of the family, started at once. The whole day we unpacked the boxes, filled the cupboards and tidied, until we were extremely tired. We did sleep in clean beds that night. We hadn’t had any warm food to eat all day,

10、 but we didn’t care. Mummy and Margot were too tired and worried to eat, and Daddy and I were too busy. FRIENDSHIP IN HAWAII Every culture has its own ways to show friendship. On the islands of Hawaii, friendship is part of the “aloha spirit”. In the language of the Hawaiians who first settled t

11、he islands long ago, aloha had a very special meaning. That is “to be with happiness”. Hawaiians believe that once somebody loves the land, they are ready to love their people or community. This is the second most import sign of friendship. It is called lokahi in Hawaiian language, which means “o

12、neness with all people”. To enjoy the land you should not be selfish. The land is for everyone who lives on it. Today many different people call Hawaii their home. Indeed, Hawaii is a place where people make one big community from many smaller communities. Each person gives kokua (help) to other peo

13、ple so that all fell stronger. It’s believed that the islands can be a paradise when the people live in peace. People are told that their actions should be as gentle as the wind that blows from the sea. When problems happen, people are asked to solve them with understanding. So when people of Hawaii

14、 talk about ohana (family), they are really talking about all those who live on the islands. Living in peace, Hawaiians have developed a third sign of friendship. This personal friendship is shown by giving leis to one another. The lie, a string of flowers, is put over a friend’s neck. Then the f

15、riend is given a kiss on cheek. Visitors to the islands are also given lies. When they hear aloha, visitors begin to feel at home. Aloha also means “goodbye”, so visitors will hear it again when they leave. It can also mean “our hearts singing together”. Perhaps this is how most visitors will rememb

16、er their new friendship. Unit 2 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 England. Later in the next century, people from England made voyages to conquer other parts of the world and because of that,

17、English begin to be spoken in many other countries. Today, more people speak English as their first, second or a foreign language than ever before. Native English speakers can understand each other even if they don't speak the same kind of English. Look at this kind of example: British Betty:

18、Would you like to see my flat? American Amy: Yes. I’d like to come up to your apartment. So why has English changed over time? Actually all languages change and develop when cultures meet and communicate with each other. At first the English spoken in England between about AD 450 and 1150 was

19、very different the English spoken today. It was based more on German than the English we speak at present. Then gradually between about AD800 to 1150, English became less like germen because those who ruled England spoke first Danish and later French. These new settlers enriched the English language

20、 and especially its vocabulary. So by the 1600’s Shakespeare was able to make use of a wider vocabulary than ever before. In 1620 some British settlers moved to American. Later in the 18th century some British people were taken to Australia too. English began to be spoken in both countries. Final

21、ly 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 Dictionary of the English Language. The latter gave a separate identity to American English spelling. Engli

22、sh 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 that time English became the language for government and education. English is also spoken in Singapore and

23、 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 learners. Will Chinese English develop its own identity? Only time will tell. STANDARD ENGLISH AND DIALECTS

24、What is standard English? Is it spoken in Britain, the US, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand? Believe it or not, there is no such thing as standard English. Many people believe the English spoken on TV and the radio is standard English. This is because in the early days of radio, those who re

25、ported the news were expected to speak excellent English. However, on TV and the radio you will hear differences in the way people speak. When people use words and expressions different from the “standard language”, it is called a dialect. American English has many dialects, especially the Midwes

26、tern, southern, African American and Spanish dialects. Even in some parts of the USA, two people from neighbouring towns speak a little differently. American English has so many dialects because people have come from all over the world. Geography also plays a part in making dialects. Some people

27、who live in the mountains of the eastern USA speak with an older kind of English dialect. When Americans moved from one place to another, they took their dialects with them. So people from the mountains in the southeastern USA speak with almost the same dialects as people in the northwestern USA. Th

28、e USA is a large country in which many different dialects are spoken. Although many Americans move a lot, they still recognize and understand each other’s dialects. THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY You may think that English dictionaries have been used for many, many centuries. The spelling of En

29、glish has always been a problem but it was more of a problem in the days before a dictionary. Then people could spell word in different ways which you might find it interesting. But it made reading English much more difficult. So dictionaries were invented to encourage everybody to spell the same. I

30、n fact, an English dictionary like the kind you use today wasn’t made until the time of the late Qing Dynasty. There men did most of the important early work on dictionaries: Samuel Johnson, Noah Webster, and James Murray. These men spent nearly all of their lives trying to collect words for their d

31、ictionaries. For them, it wasn’t only a job; it was a wonderful journey of discovery. The largest dictionary in the world is the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED for short. The idea for this dictionary came from an important meeting in Britain in 1857. Twenty-two years later, Oxford University aske

32、d James Murray to be the editor of its new dictionary. Murray had never been to college. At the age of fourteen, he left his village school in Scotland and taught himself while working in a bank. Later he became a great teacher. After Oxford gave him the job, Murray had a place built in the garde

33、n behind his house to do his work. Part of it was one meter underground. In winter it felt like a barn, he had to wear a heavy coat and put his feet in a box to keep warm. Every morning, Murray got out of bed at five o’clock and worked several hours before breakfast. Often he would work by the candl

34、e light into the evening. Murray hoped to finish the new dictionary in ten years. But after five years, he was still adding words for the letter A! then others went to work with Murray, including his two daughters. He worked on the dictionary until he was very old. Forty-four years later, in1928, ot

35、her editors finished it. It included more than 15,000 pages in twelve books. And you thought your dictionary was big! Unit 3 JOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONG PART 1 THE DREAM AND THE PLAN My name is Wang Kun. Ever since middle school, my sister Wang Wei and I have dreamed about taking a great bike tr

36、ip. Two years ago 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

37、the Mekong River 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 be

38、gins to where it ends. Now she is planning our schedule for the trip. I am fond of my sister but she has one serious shortcoming. She 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 w

39、ay is always 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 look—

40、the kind 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 kn

41、ow my 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 be

42、gins in 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 we

43、re both 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

44、 enters the South China Sea. PART2 A NIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS Although it was autumn,the snow was already beginning to fall in Tibet.Our legs were so heavy and cold that they felt like blocks of ice.Have you ever seen snowmen ride bicycles?That’s what we looked like! Along the way children dres

45、sed in long wool coats stopped to look at us.In the late afternoon we found it was so cold that our water bottles froze..However,the lakes shonelike glass in the setting sun and looked wonderful.Wangwei rode in front of me as usual.She is very reliable and I knew I didn’t need to encourage her. To

46、climb the mountains was hard work but as we looked around us, we were surprised by the view. We seemed to be able to see for miles. At one point we were so high that we found ourselves cycling through clouds. Then we began going down the hills. It was great fun especially as it gradually became much

47、 warmer. In the valleys colourful butterflies flew around us and we saw many yaks and sheep eating green grass. At this point we had to change our caps, coats,gloves and trousers for T-shirts and shorts. In the early evening we always stop to make camp.We put up our tent and then we eat. After s

48、upper Wang Wei put her head down on her pillow and went to sleep but I stayed awake. At midnight the sky became clearer and the stars grew brighter. It was so quiet. There was almost no wind—only the flames of our fire for company. As I lay beneath the stars I thought about how far we had already tr

49、avelled. We will reach Dali in Yunnan Province soon, where our cousins Dao Wei and Yu Hang will join us. We can hardly wait to see them! PART 6 THE END OF OUR JOUNEY Cambodia was in many ways similar to Laos, although it has twice the population. At another inn, we talked with a teacher who to

50、ld us that half of the people in her country couldn’t read or write. Her village couldn’t even afford to build a school, so she had to teach outside under a large tent. When we said goodbye, we all felt very lucky to have studied in college.Back on the road, we passed between many hills and forests.

51、 Then we came to the plains and entered Phnom Penh,the capital of Cambodia. In many ways it looked like Vientiane and Ho Chi Minh City; it also had wide streets with trees in rows and old French houses.Unlike Vientiane, ships could travel the Mekong River here.In the center of the city we visited t

52、he palace and a beautiful white elephant. It can only be seen outside the palace on special days. We ate an early supper and went to see a great temple with floors made of sliver. The next morning our group slept late. We were very tired from the long bike ride the day before. Cycling in the hills

53、had been diffcuilt.Now our couins had the chance to make jokes about Wangwei and me. Perhaps,they said,they were the strong ones!We had lunch at a nice outdoor cafe,then rode out of the city. Two days later we crossed the border into Vietnam. We began to see many more people,but I wasn’t surprised

54、.I read in an atlas before our trip that Vietnam has almost seven times the population of Cambodia. We met a farmer who gave us directions and told us that he grows a new rice crop four times every year so he can feed more people.He also told us that the northern part of his country has many mountai

55、ns and it is much cooler than here in the south,where it is flat.Although the flat delta made it easier for us to cycle.we got warm very quickly.So we drank lots of water and ate lots of bananas.Soon the delta separated into nine smaller rivers.Two days later,after we had passed thousands of rice fi

56、elds,we came to the sea. We were tired but also in high spirits:our dream to cycle along the Mekong River had finally come true. Unit 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DID’T SLEEP Strange things were happening in the countriside of northest HeBei.For there days the water in the village wells rose and fell

57、, rose and fell.Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in them. A smelly gas came out of the cracks. In the farmeryards,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 3:00am o

58、n July 28,1976,some people saw bright lights in the sky.The sound of the planes could be heard outside the city,who thought little of these events,were asleep as usual that night. At3:42 am everything began to shake.It seemed as if the world was at an end!Eleven kilometres directly below the cit

59、y the greast earthquake of 20th century had begun. It was felt in Beijing,which is more thantwo hundred kilometres away. One-third of the nation felt it .A huge crack that was eight kilometres long and thirty metres wide cut across houses,roads and canals.Steam burst from holes in the ground. Hard h

60、ills of rock became rivers of dirt. In fifteen terrible seconds a large lay in ruins.The suffering of the people was extreme. Tow-thirds of them died or were injured during the earthquake.Thounds of families were killed and many chidren were left without parents. The number of people who were killed

61、 or injured reached more than 400,000. But how could the survivors believe it was natural?Everywhere they looked nearly everything was destroyed. All of the city’s hospitals,75%of its factories and buildings and 90%of its homes were gone. Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves. No wind, h

62、owever,could below they away. Two dams and most of the bridges also fell or were not safe for travelling. The railway tracks were now useless pieces of steel. Tens of thousands of cows would never give milk again. Half a million pigs and millions of chickens were dead. Sand now filled the wells inst

63、ead of water. People were shocked. Then later that afternoon,another big quake which was almost as strong as the first one shook Tangshan. Some of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the ruins. More buildings fell down. Water,food, and eletricity were hard to get. People began to wongd

64、er how long the disater would last. All hope was not lost. Soon after the quakes, the army sent 150,000 soliders to Tangshan to help the rescue workers. Hundreds of thousands of people were helped. The army organized teams to dig out those were trapped and to bury the dead. To the north of the cit

65、y, most of the 10,000 miners were rescued from the coal mines there. Workers built shelters for survivors whose homes had been destroyed. Fresh water was taken to the city by train,truck and plane. Slowly, the city began to breathe again. A SAFE HOME It is sad but that people die in earthquakes

66、from falling furniture and bricks. Earthquake safety is very important and there is more to it than just keeping buildings from falling down. So if your home is in an earthquake area,you should prepare carefully before the earthquake comes. First, make sure you buy a house which is earthquake safe. All pipes should be fixed to the wall and all walls should be especially thick and strong. You also have to make sure that there are bolts underneath your house. They are one of the most important w