U2. Activation Activation _main 2 31 Video Game: Who Is to Arrive First? Theme of the Unit

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Video Game: Who Is to Arrive First?

Theme of the Unit


Name as many types of urban transport as you can.


Video Game: Who Is to Arrive First?Video Game: Who Is to Arrive First?

You are to watch three people setting off from the same starting point by three different means: bike, metro and car respectively. They are to arrive at the same destination. Who arrives first? How much does the trip cost for each?

You are to watch three people setting off from the same starting point by three different means: bike, metro and car respectively. They are to arrive at the same destination. Who arrives first? How much does the trip cost for each?

Watch the game and give your answer.

Watch the game and give your answer.


1. Who arrives first?

2. Does this game always have the same result?

The man by car arrives first. But the cost is highest of the three. (Metro: $ 2.9; bike: zero)

The man by car arrives first. But the cost is highest of the three. (Metro: $ 2.9; bike: zero)

This game might have different results if the roads were very crowded with traffic or if the destination were different.

This game might have different results if the roads were very crowded with traffic or if the destination were different.

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Note Taking

Look and Think

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Look at the pictures , What do they depict? Think of a best solution to solve the transport problem in modern metropolises as New York, Paris, London, Tokyo, Berlin, Beijing, etc.

Look and ThinkLook and Think

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Watch the video clip "Metro Service". What are the features of the New York subway?

Note TakingNote Taking

24-hour service, convenient but bewildering24-hour service, convenient but bewildering

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Does your hometown have subway? If yes, what is it like? Does it make for comfortable traveling? If no, why is there no subway? Summarize your idea with additional markers like "first, second, and then …" to make your points clear.

Questions for DiscussionQuestions for Discussion

If there is no subway, the following elements are often considered: size of the city, passenger volume, traffic on the road, municipal revenues and expenditure (if the municipal government is to finance the construction), other means to finance the construction, geological conditions (whether fit to construct a subway), cultural relics underground (Rome is a case in point), etc.

If there is no subway, the following elements are often considered: size of the city, passenger volume, traffic on the road, municipal revenues and expenditure (if the municipal government is to finance the construction), other means to finance the construction, geological conditions (whether fit to construct a subway), cultural relics underground (Rome is a case in point), etc.

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About the New York City Subway

About the Author

33 Graffiti

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About the Author Born in London in 1956, Shashi Tharoor was educated in India and the United States, completing a Ph.D. in 1978 at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. His political career began in 1978, when he joined the staff of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, and included key responsibilities in peace-keeping after the Cold War and served as a senior adviser to the Secretary-General, as well as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.

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About the New York City Subway

The first underground line of the subway opened on October 27, 1904, which became the IRT Ninth Avenue Line. The first line of the city-owned and operated Independent Subway System (IND) opened in 1932; this system was intended to compete with the private systems. In 1940, the two private systems were bought by the city.

NY subway entrance

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The New York City Transit Authority, a public authority presided by New York City, was created in 1953 to take over subway, bus, and streetcar operations from theNY subway

city, and was placed under control of the state-level Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1968. The New York City Subway is one of the most extensive public transportation systems in the world, with 468 reported passenger stations. The subway is also notable for being among the few rapid transit systems in the world to run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

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Though it is known as "the subway", implying underground operations, about 40% of the system runs on above-ground right-of-way.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

On NY subway

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GraffitiGraffiti (singular: graffito; the plural is used as a mass noun) is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property.

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Watch part of the earliest documentary about subway graffiti in New York City.

Graffiti is any type of public markings that may appear in the forms of simple written words to elaborate wall paintings. In most countries, defacing property with graffiti without the property owner's consent is considered vandalism, which is punishable by law. Sometimes graffiti is employed to communicate social and political messages. To some, it is an art form worthy of display in galleries and exhibitions; to others it is merely vandalism.

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Letter from America: Notes from the UndergroundShashi Tharoor

One of the biggest surprises of my life in America is the New York City subway. I‘ve actually come to enjoy it. When I first moved here in 1989, well-meaning friends warned me away from the already 80-year-old underground railroad, notorious among both residents and visitors as the least pleasant and most dangerous means of getting around this City That Never Sleeps. Yet it was also the fastest and the most economical means of doing so.


With that dilemma, I began my life as a New Yorker － and I've remained ambivalent ever since. The subway is the thing we love to hate. Schedules are unreliable. Trains come when they come, or not at all. Breakdowns are so frequent that women have been known to give birth, stuck in some tunnel. Staff are few and their announcements incomprehensible. The infrastructure is ancient and crumbling. From time to time, burst water pipes flood stations, paralyzing traffic. The city's homeless live on the platforms, sleeping on benches (or in the trains themselves) and heightening passengers' insecurity. Every few months the papers report the familiar horror of yet another innocent randomly pushed under the wheels of an oncoming train. Muggings, rapes and murders are not common, but they happen.


Add to this the often dirty cars and graffiti-scrawled stations, the hellish heat in summer and the arctic freeze of winter, and you have quite an indictment. A writer at The Washington Post called the New York subway "a near-unworkable mixture of the ancient, the old, the outmoded and the inefficient." And he was being sympathetic. Why, then, do New Yorkers swear by it? One reason is economic: $1.50 to travel any distance, anywhere in the city. Compare that with a $12 cab fare from, say, the United Nations to Columbia University, on the other side of Manhattan. Traveling to New York's so-called outer boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn or the Bronx － anything entailing a bridge from Manhattan － can easily cost three times as much.


The subway is also fast. A ride from midtown Manhattan to Flushing Meadows, the site of the US Open tennis tournament, can take as little as 25 minutes; the same trip is upwards of an hour by car, and then you still have to find parking. Small wonder that even millionaires (which is to say, anyone who owns a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan) carry a Metrocard. And considering just how much moving and hauling the subway does each day, you can't help but be impressed. For the subway is an enduring marvel of mass-transit engineering: trains make 6,800 trips each day over 731 miles of rail, carrying 3.7 million people.


The subway, I find, is also oddly liberating. It takes you not only to your destination, but along the way to another world. As you wait for your train, you can listen to (sometimes) talented musicians from around the globe, some merely pounding on drums, others trying out their best tunes for whatever patrons will put into their hats. Your fellow riders are a jostling microcosm of a teeming cosmopolis: men, women and children from every stratum of society, of every imaginable color, sporting all kinds of dress (or undress) and chattering in most of the languages of the planet. Romances among subway riders are not unknown; marriages have been reported between people who met as straphangers.


Of course, there is no first class. On one trip recently, I noted a Wall Street banker heading home in his business suit next to a dreadlocked Rastafarian in torn blue jeans, as a Bangladeshi waiter disapprovingly eyed a miniskirted Hispanic secretary across from him struggling with her lipstick. Above them, a public-service ad in Spanish showed cartoon characters learning the importance of AIDS prevention. If the United Nations is where the world shakes hands, the New York subway is where the world rubs shoulders.


Ambivalent I may still be. But I've come to believe something else about the subway － that it epitomizes, as nothing else can, the city's soul. New York journalist Jim Dwyer captures something of this urban spirit in his book "Subway Lives." "The subways have become the great public commons of the city," he writes. "Only in the dim warrens of the subway, cursed accomplice of daily existence, can the full spectrum of city life － with all the bewildering diversity of its pathologies and its glories － be glimpsed, felt, and at times even understood." I'm not quite so poetic, but I do know that the subway is as essential to the character of New York, to its soul and sense of itself, as the Empire State Building or Central Park. That's something many well-heeled tourists don't realize. You haven't been to New York if you've never taken the subway.


When I first moved here in 1989, well-meaning friends warned me away from the already 80-year-old underground railroad, notorious among both residents and visitors as the least pleasant and most dangerous means of getting around this City That Never Sleeps.Paraphrase the sentence. Pay attention to the italicized part.

When I first moved here in 1989, friends kindly warned me not to take the already 80-year-old underground railroad, for both New Yorkers and tourists regard it as the least pleasant and most dangerous means of moving around in this forever bustling city ("City That Never Sleeps" is its nickname).


It takes you not only to your destination, but along the way to another world.

Paraphrase the sentence. Pay attention to the italicized part.

It takes you not only to where you want to go, but gives you a glimpse of a colorful and diverse world which may have an impact on your life.


Your fellow riders are a jostling microcosm of a teeming cosmopolis: men, women and children from every stratum of society, of every imaginable color, sporting all kinds of dress (or undress) and chattering in most of the languages of the planet.


You may find all kinds of people in the subway: men, women and children of different social status, ethnical groups, dressed proudly in various colors and styles, and talking to each other in diverse languages. The subway reveals itself as a miniature of the crowded energetic cosmopolitan life.


If the United Nations is where the world shakes hands, the New York subway is where the world rubs shoulders.Paraphrase the sentence. Pay attention to the italicized part.

If the United Nations is where leaders of various nations solve problems through peaceful means, the New York subway is where people from different stratum of society spend time together in the crowded underground train.


Only in the dim warrens of the subway, cursed accomplice of daily existence, can the full spectrum of city life － with all the bewildering diversity of its pathologies and its glories － be glimpsed, felt, and at times even understood.Paraphrase the sentence. Pay attention to the italicized part.

The New York City subway is dim and very crowded, which seems to make an already unpleasant daily life even more unpleasant. Yet only in such places can all aspects of the cosmopolitan life － both the goods and the ills, so diverse that you can hardly tell which side is the real New York － be seen, felt, and sometimes even understood.


notorious: a. well known for being bad

Such a notorious person has got to the top of the company. That's more than I bargained for.Those days everyone in the town was talking about the notorious murderer and his gang.

n.b.

What adjectives do you use to describe sth / sb is well known for being good?

renowned, famous, well-known


economical: a. providing good service or value in relation to the amount of time or money spent

Such a notorious person has got to the top of the company. That's more than I bargained for.Those days everyone in the town was talking about the notorious murderer and his gang. n.b

. economical or economic? Choose the right adjective!

Unemployment causes a lot of problems.Unemployment causes a lot of problems.

economic

To refer to the economy of a country or region, don't say economical, say

economic.


dilemma: n. a situation which makes problems, often one in which you have to make a very difficult choice between things of equal importance

The President is clearly in a dilemma about / over how to tackle the crisis. She faces the dilemma of disobeying her father or losing the man she loves.


unreliable: a. that cannot be trusted or depended on

I wouldn't ask Angie to do it, she's completely unreliable. Don't be influenced by the figures, they're a bit unreliable.

n.b.

"un-": a prifix used to add the meaning of "not", "lacking" or "the opposite of'" before adjectives, adverbs, verbs and nouns. Can you give some examples?

a. ad.

v. n.

a. ad.

v. n.


breakdown: n.1. a failure to work or be successful

I had a breakdown (= my car stopped working) in the middle of the road.

2. a division of sth into smaller parts

We asked for a breakdown of the accident figures into day time and night time.

3. a typically sudden collapse in physical or mental health

a nervous breakdown


n.b.

Put the italicized words into Chinese.

谈判破裂

The breakdown in negotiations will be seen as a step backwards.The breakdown in negotiations will be seen as a step backwards.

税收的细目表

Please give me a breakdown of those income tax totals.Please give me a breakdown of those income tax totals.

神经衰弱

He suffered a nervous breakdown in his twenties. He suffered a nervous breakdown in his twenties.


infrastructure: n.the basic systems and services that are necessary for a country or an organization to run smoothly

It is a long-term task to rebuild the infrastructure of a war-torn country such as Iraq. The minister is responsible for the country's transport infrastructure.

transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons.

Name some systems and services which are relevant to infrastructure.


paralyze: v.to prevent sth from functioning normally

The drug paralyzes the nerves so that there is no feeling or movement in the legs. A sudden snowstorm paralyzed the city.

a. paralyzed

n. paralysis (plural) paralyzed


random: a. done, chosen, etc. without sb deciding in advance what is going to happen, or without any regular patternWe asked a random sample/selection of

people what they thought.

Please chose a card at random from the deck.

random: n. (at ~) without choosing intentionally, by chance


indictment: n. 1. a sign that a system, society, etc. is very bad or very wrong

This seems to me to be a damning indictment of education policy.

The charges on the indictment include murder and attempted murder.

2. [LEGAL] a formal statement of accusing sb


swear by:1. (not used in the progressive tenses) to be certain that sth is good or useful

My dad swears by these vitamin pills. He swears by his personal physician.

2. to take an oath by

He swore by all the angels and saints of heaven.


n.b.

Do you know the meaning of the phrases in italics in the following sentences?

When the taxi driver started to swear at him, he walked off. to use abusive, violent, or blasphemous language against; curse

to make a formal promise to do the duty well when taking a new public job or position

After years of addiction, he swore off drugs completely. After years of addiction, he swore off drugs completely. to make a decision to stop doing, using or being involved with sth harmful

Clinton was sworn in as President.


upwards of: more than the amount or number mentioned

Upwards of fifty thousand people assembled in the main square.

upwards : ad. towards a higher position, level or value

Buyers still outnumber sellers and are pushing prices upwards.


(it is) small wonder (that):(it is) not surprising

After five years with the company she hadn't been promoted － small wonder then that she decided to quit her job.

Her car's been broken for the past two months, so it's little / small wonder (that)

she hasn't come to visit you recently.


n.b.

Translate the following expressions into Chinese.

奇怪的是

It's a wonder that … It's a wonder that …

难得你还认得我。

It's a wonder you recognized me. It's a wonder you recognized me.

难怪他不饿，他整天都在吃糖果。

No wonder he is not hungry; he has been eating sweets all day. No wonder he is not hungry; he has been eating sweets all day.

[ 谚 ] 什么事儿都新鲜不了多久。

A wonder lasts but nine days. A wonder lasts but nine days.


epitomize: v. to be a perfect example of sth

With little equipment and unsuitable footwear, she epitomizes the inexperienced and unprepared mountain walker.

In China, the bicycle's enduring role epitomizes the country's wider transitions.


bewildering: a. confusing and difficult to understand or to make a decision about

He gave me directions to his house, but I found them utterly bewildering.

Fill in the blanks with the word "bewilder" in appropriate forms.

1. Arriving in a strange city at night, I felt alone and

. 2. As he walked through the door, she stared at

him in utter . 3. The college offers a range of

courses.

1. Arriving in a strange city at night, I felt alone and

. 2. As he walked through the door, she stared at

him in utter . 3. The college offers a range of

courses.

bewildered

bewildermentbewildering


diversity: n.a range of many people or things that are very different from each other

Does television adequately reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of the country?

There is a wide diversity of opinion on the question of unilateral disarmament.

v. diversify a. divers


glimpse: v.to see sth or sb for a very short time or only partly

I glimpsed her among the crowd.

We glimpsed the ruined station from the windows of the train.

Syn.Syn.

glance, catch sight of glance, catch sight of

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33 Top 10 Bicycle-friendly Cities

Bicycle in Big Cities

The History of Bicycle

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The History of BicycleThe History of Bicycle

The first bicycle on record was invented by Baron Karl von Drais in 1818. The vehicle did not include pedals. The Baron called his invention Laufmaschine, or running. It was the first double wheeled, human powered, steerable form of transportation. The Baron's brainchild became a fad throughout Europe and the United States, with the Laufmaschine encouraging many people to take up engineering and mechanics, inventing their own prototypes.

Laufmaschine

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Laufmaschine being a bit of a mouthful, most of the machines that followed the Laufmaschine's introduction were called velocipedes – meaning simply "fast feet." The history between 1820 and 1850 or so is a bit muddled, but what is clear is, by 1850, the two-wheeled velocipede had been eclipsed by the three- and four-wheeled versions of the Laufmaschine. These were called the tricycle and quadricycle respectively.

velocipedes

tricycle quadricycle

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Lots of experimentation with methods of powering the vehicles ensued, including pedals and hand cranks.History tells us that it wasn't until just before the American Civil War that the first pedal-powered two-wheeled bicycles we are familiar with arrived on the scene in a big way. A few years after the American Civil War, one James Starley, a British inventor, introduced the vehicle that eventually earned him the title "father of the bicycle industry." Starley's bicycle was called the Penny-Farthing because it looked like a British penny and farthing (the coins) in diagram. The front wheel was larger than the back wheel. Extracts from www.toysperiod.com/blog/toy-history/want-a-ride-a-history-of-the-bicycle

Penny-Farthing

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Bicycle in Big CitiesBicycle-friendly Copenhagen: A Model for Big Cities Nearly 40 percent of Copenhagen's population cycle to work or school on ubiquitous paved cycle paths. Many residents take to their bikes year-round, braving rain and snow through the winter in a city where the bicycles outnumber the people. Amsterdam and Beijing too are known for their bicycles, but the Danish capital is where urban planners from around the world have been looking for ways to get their people out of cars and up onto bikes, an effort known as Copenhagenisation.

Copenhagen

Amsterdam Beijing

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Top 10 Bicycle-friendly Cities With fuel costs soaring and environmental conservation in vogue, the bicycle is making a comeback in many cities, becoming a major part of urban transportation plans.

6. Portland, Oregon, US1. Amsterdam, Holland

5. Montreal, Canada

2. Copenhagen, Denmark

3. Bogota, Colombia

4. Curitiba, Brazil

10. Trondheim, Norway

7. Basel, Switzerland

8. Barcelona, Spain

9. Beijing, China

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Redesigning Cities for People

Lester R. Brown

Urban transport systems based on a combination of rail, bicycles, and pedestrian walkways offer the best of all possible worlds in providing low-cost transportation and a healthy urban environment. Large cities invariably need rail systems to provide adequate mobility. Whether cities develop underground rail systems, light-rail surface systems, or both depends in part on size. Megacities almost certainly need underground rail systems to move a large volume of passengers in a timely fashion. For cities of intermediate size, light rail might provide a better base for efficient transport.


A rail system provides the foundation on which a city‘s transportation system can be developed. Trains are a fixed service, providing a permanent means of transportation that people can count on in a location-specific manner. Once in place, the nodes on such a system become the obvious places to concentrate office buildings, high-rise apartment buildings, factories, and shops. The bicycle, a form of personal transportation, provides the versatility to complement the rail system. The bicycle's attractions are many. It cuts down congestion, lowers pollution, reduces obesity, increases physical fitness, does not emit climate-disrupting carbon dioxide, and is affordable for billions of people who cannot buy an automobile.


The bicycle can increase mobility while reducing congestion and the amount of land paved over. Six bicycles can typically fit into the road space used by one car. For parking, the advantage is even greater, with 20 bicycles occupying the space required to park one car. Few characteristics of car-centered cities are more annoying than persistent pollution, which affects both those who use the cars and those who do not. The bicycle is an ideal antidote to pollution, especially for short trips. Automobile engines burn least efficiently when they are first started. Once they are warmed up, they burn fuel more cleanly, but by that time short trips are over. Although global public attention focuses on the 885,000 auto-related fatalities each year, this figure is overshadowed by the estimated 3 million urban lives lost every year to air pollution.


The bicycle is not only a flexible means of transportation, it is an ideal way of restoring a balance between caloric intake and expenditure. Exercise has value in its own right. Regular exercise of the sort provided by cycling to work reduces cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and arthritis and strengthens the immune system. Millions of people pay a monthly fee to use a fitness center (which they often drive to), where they ride stationary bikes, trying to achieve the same benefits. Few methods of reducing carbon emissions are as effective as substituting the bicycle for the automobile on short trips. A bicycle is, from an engineering point of view, a marvel of efficiency. An automobile, which requires 1 － 2 tons of material to transport often only one person, is extraordinarily inefficient in comparison. In addition to providing mobility and helping the rider to be physically fit, the bicycle also helps stabilize climate whenever it substitutes for a car.


Cities in many parts of the world are turning back to bicycles for numerous uses. In the United States, more than 80 percent of police departments serving populations of 50,000 to 249,999 and 96 percent of those serving over 250,000 residents now have routine patrols by bicycle. Officers on bikes are more productive in cities partly because they are more mobile and can reach the scene of an accident or crime quicker. They typically make 50 percent more arrests per day than officers in squad cars. For fiscally sensitive officials, the cost of operating a bicycle is trivial compared with a car. Higher productivity at lower cost is a winning formula in the minds of many city managers. Better community relations for officers on bikes provides an additional bonus.


Urban bicycle messenger services are common in the world's larger cities. Bicycles can usually deliver small parcels in cities much more quickly and efficiently than motor vehicles can and at a much lower cost. As the information economy unfolds and as e-commerce expands, the need for quick, reliable, urban delivery services is escalating. For many competitive Internet marketing firms, quick delivery wins customers. In a city like New York, this creates an enormous potential for the use of bicycle messengers. As of 2000, an estimated 300 bicycle messenger firms were operating in New York City, competing for $700 million worth of business each year. In large cities, the bicycle is becoming an integral part of the support system for e-commerce.


The key to realizing the potential of the bicycle is to create a bicycle-friendly transport system. This means providing both bicycle trails and designated lanes on streets for bicycles. These should be designed to serve both commuters and people biking for recreation. In addition, bicycle use is enhanced by the provision of parking facilities and showers at workplaces. Among the industrial-country leaders in designing bicycle-friendly transport systems are the Dutch, the Danes, and the Germans. The Netherlands, the unquestioned leader among industrial countries, has incorporated a vision of the role of bicycles into a Bicycle Master Plan. In addition to creating bicycle lanes and trails in all its cities, the system also gives cyclists the advantage over motorists in right-of-ways and at traffic lights. Traffic signals permit cyclists to move out before cars.


Roughly 30 percent of all urban trips in the Netherlands are on bicycle. This compares with 1 percent in the United States. Both the Netherlands and Japan have made a concerted effort to integrate bicycles and rail commuter services by providing for bicycle parking at each rail station, making it easier for cyclists to commute to the station. In Japan, the use of bicycles for commuting to rail transportation has reached the point where some stations invested in vertical parking garages for bicycles, much as is often done for automobiles. The combination of rail and bicycle, and particularly their integration into a single, overall transport system, makes cities more livable than those centered around car transport systems. Noise, pollution, congestion, and frustration are all lessened. Both the people and the environment are healthier.


Megacities almost certainly need underground rail systems to move a large volume of passengers in a timely fashion.

Translate the sentence into Chinese.

大都市几乎肯定需要地铁系统以便能及时快速地运送大量乘客。


Trains are a fixed service, providing a permanent means of transportation that people can count on in a location-specific manner.


地铁提供的服务有固定的时间和地点，是一种人们可以信赖的常规出行工具。


Few characteristics of car-centered cities are more annoying than persistent pollution, which affects both those who use the cars and those who do not.


汽车城市的特征中，没有哪一点比持久污染更恼人的。持续污染不但影响那些使用汽车的人，也影响那些不使用汽车的人。


Exercise has value in its own right.


锻炼有其本身的价值。


Better community relations for officers on bikes provides an additional bonus.


对骑车的巡警来讲，此举的一个额外的收获是更融洽的社区关系 / 邻里关系。


In Japan, the use of bicycles for commuting to rail transportation has reached the point where some stations invested in vertical parking garages for bicycles, much as is often done for automobiles.


In Japan, using bicycles to commute to rail stations has become so common that some stations have invested in vertical parking garages for bicycles, just as they have done for automobiles.


mobility n. the ability to move or travel around easily

Some neck injuries cause total loss of mobility below the point of injury. I prefer the mobility of a hand-held camera.

Fill the blank with the word "mobility" in an appropriate form.

mobile phone


intermediate a. located between two places, things, states, etc.

There are three levels of difficulty in this game: low, intermediate and high.

This novel is too difficult for intermediate students of English.

How to describe one's level of a language lower and higher than intermediate?How to describe one's level of a language lower and higher than intermediate?

lower: pre-intermediate → intermediate → higher: advancedlower: pre-intermediate → intermediate → higher: advanced


permanent a. lasting for a long time or for all time in the future; existing all the time

She is looking for a permanent place to stay.

The disease can cause permanent damage to the brain.

Fill the blank with the opposite word of "permanent".

Are you looking for a temporary or a permanent job?

Fill the blank with the opposite word of "permanent".

Are you looking for a temporary or a permanent job?


versatile a.having many different uses

A leather jacket is a timeless and versatile garment that can be worn in all seasons.

He's a very versatile young actor who's as happy in horror films as he is in TV comedies.

n. versatility


fatality n.a death that is caused in an accident or a war, or by violence or disease

Britain has thousands of road fatalities every year.

The explosion accident caused several fatalities.a. fatal


overshadow v. to make sb / sth seem less important, or successful

Karen has always felt overshadowed by her famous elder sister.

My happiness was overshadowed by the bad news. (less happy)


trivial a. not important or serious; not worth considering

Sexual harassment in the workplace is not a trivial matter.

Getting computers to understand human language is not a trivial problem.


enhance v.to increase or further improve the good quality, value or status of sb / sth

Smart personnel practices enhance the value of a company and its stock.

A number of our clients want to look younger to enhance their career prospects.


vertical a. having a structure in which there are top, middle and bottom levels

This vertical section of the soil shows four basic soil layers.

She looked over the cliff and found she was standing at the edge of a vertical drop.

horizontal

On this graph, time is on the horizontal X-axis, and distance is on the vertical Y-axis.

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Costs of a Licence Plate in Shanghai

Shanghai Forever Co., Ltd

33 Cycling in Shanghai

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Shanghai Forever Co., Ltd

Founded in 1940, Shanghai

Forever Co., Ltd.

manufactures and sells

bicycles, bicycle parts, sub-

motorbikes, special vehicles,

bowling equipment, automatic

mahjong tables, and relatedproducts. Its worldwide reputation has been

established for producing traditional bicycle, children

bike, and mountain bike. The Company is based in

Shanghai, China. Since 2001 it has been a subsidiary

of Shanghai Zhonglu Group.

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Costs of a Licence Plate in Shanghai

ListeningListening

In a bid to curb traffic jams and pollution, Shanghai has restricted the number of licence plates it issues each year and has priced cars as a luxury item for the local population. Individuals and private companies in Shanghai are free to buy a car but have to go through an arduous procedure before driving off. In order to register a new car, you have to bid in an auction for a restricted number of licence plates. The "sealed bid" auctions have been held by the local government once a month since 1986, with the lofty goal of keeping the number of cars under control and curbing traffic congestion. About 5,000 licence plates are sold each month at prices averaging above 30,000 RMB. Bidders usually exceed the supply of number plates.

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Cycling in Shanghai Hundreds of people on bikes, is

one of the most enduring images of China. Cycles are extraordinarily cheap in Shanghai and, due to the large number of other cycle users and slowness of the traffic, it is really, quite safe. The government has recently introduced laws banning cycles from using main roads in Shanghai, butthe network of cycle lanes is vast. It's a little daunting

at first, especially as car driving is so erratic, but once you have your routes worked out － you'll never look back.

TIIITIII

BackgroundBackground Group AssignmentGroup AssignmentDetailed ReadingDetailed Reading ListeningListening TIIITIII

Cycles, China's Icon, Are Ubiquitous Despite Car Invasion

Elaine Kurtenbach

Shanghai, China － For a vivid insight into the clash of old and new in China, follow the bicycle. Morning rush hour in Beijing and Shanghai used to be rivers of cyclists flowing in a majestic hush down broad bike lanes. Today, many of those lanes have been taken over by cars and buses, their roar and honk drowning out the tinkle of bicycle bells. Yet despite China's leap into modernity, the bicycle is far from dead － its numbers are growing. For many Chinese, pedal power remains a mainstay － for commuting, sending children to school or making a living. And getting around the traffic jams.


As the Chinese fall in love with cars, and Westerners fall out of love with them, China is once again a winner. According to the Earth Policy Institute, a Washington-based environmental think tank, of the 130 million bikes manufactured worldwide last year, China made 90 million, and exported two-thirds of them. About nine in 10 bikes bought by Americans are made in China. In China, the bicycle's enduring role epitomizes the country's wider transitions － from countryside to city, from planned economy to market economy. Multiplying cars may be a sign of affluence, but the bike's staying power is a reminder that most of China's 1.3 billion people have yet to make it into the middle class.


In the shadows of Shanghai's skyscrapers and towering elevated highways, it is bicycle wheels that have enabled migrants like Wang Chunliang to make the great leap from countryside to the big city. Tan and sturdy, the 30-year-old hauls flowers and garden supplies from an outdoor market to upscale Shanghai homes on a three-wheeled bicycle cart called a "sanlunche". That and a little gardening earn him about $300 a month － enough to live on and support his family in rural Anhui, hundreds of kilometers away. "Compared with some jobs, this isn't too bad. And it's a decent living," says Wang, shrugging off the perils of traffic and bad weather. In Shanghai and other cities, pedal-pushing rural migrants can be seen everywhere, delivering goods, gathering waste for recycling or peddling anything from popcorn to books and baby rabbits.


For 2008 Olympics, Beijing is offering visitors 50,000 bicycles for rent, but many bike pathways in Beijing and Shanghai have been taken over by right-turn and bus-only lanes. Big offices and hotel buildings generally provide bicycle parking onsite only for employees. Shanghai's 10 million bikes are banned from many main streets. A trip from Hongqiao, in the western suburbs, to the busy Nanjing Road shopping district is an obstacle course around no-go zones and subway construction projects. The riverside bike paths so familiar in Western cities are non-existent.


All the same, Shanghai's more than 20 million people have few options. The subways and buses can handle only one-quarter of commuting volume. A modest family car costs about $6,000 and licensing it $5,000 － adding up to more than most Shanghai workers make in a year. A scooter sells for about $300. So by bicycle or scooter they wind their way through rush hour traffic, many wearing cotton masks to filter out exhaust fumes. They weave on and off sidewalks, dismount to squeeze between buses and curbs, slip haphazardly through gridlocked intersections and, sometimes, glide triumphantly past traffic jams.


Meanwhile, bike companies have been retooling. Twenty-two years ago, when Chen Haiming was first assigned to work at Shanghai Forever's rusting factory in downtown Shanghai, the company was still only turning out 18-kilogram heavy-duty bikes built to carry loads and entire families on the crossbar, handlebars and rear carrier. Today, Forever's website displays dozens of models, from high-tech mountain bikes to foldables that can squeeze into a briefcase. And Chen is already the general manager of China's biggest bicycle maker. Chen is confident that despite China's enchantment with the automobile, bicycles are here to stay. "Bicycles can help protect the environment. People need them for exercise," he says. "The bicycle will never be obsolete. No matter how well developed the automobile and aircraft market grows, the bicycle still has its purpose."


Wu Liqiang, manager for the host of a Shanghai TV show, agrees. He vividly remembers his first bicycle, in the 1970s, a chic black Forever. "The feeling I had riding that bicycle was amazing. It was just about as cool as driving a Porsche would be now," says Wu, now 50. "Girls were very glad to go out with me because they could sit on the back of my bicycle and enjoy the breeze and sunshine." He owns a bright-blue VW Polo but hardly ever drives it. "The traffic's getting worse and worse and you end up wasting hours on the road," Wu says, adding, "The bicycle is still the best vehicle for China." He commutes to work by bicycle.


Today, many of those lanes have been taken over by cars and buses, their roar and honk drowning out the tinkle of bicycle bells.


Today, cars and buses have occupied many bicycle lanes, and their roars and honk are so loud that you can't hear the tinkle of bicycle bells anymore.


In China, the bicycle's enduring role epitomizes the country's wider transitions - from countryside to city, from planned economy to market economy.


在中国，自行车持久不衰的角色集中体现了这个国家从乡村到城市，从计划经济到市场经济的广泛过渡／更为广阔的过渡。Which version is more appropriate, " 广泛过渡 " or " 更为广阔的过渡 "? How do you understand "wider transitions" in the sentence? Try to provide another version.


In the shadows of Shanghai's skyscrapers and towering elevated highways, it is bicycle wheels that have enabled migrants like Wang Chunliang to make the great leap from countryside to the big city.Translate the sentence into Chinese.

在上海摩天大楼和高耸的高架公路阴影下，是自行车轮使像王春亮这样的移民从乡村一步跨进了大城市。


…, but many bike pathways in Beijing and Shanghai have been taken over by right-turn and bus-only lanes.


… ，但在北京和上海，许多自行车道已经被右转专用道和公交车专用道侵占了。


The riverside bike paths so familiar in Western cities are non-existent.


There is no such a bike path along a river as we usually see in Western cities.


A modest family car costs about $6,000 and licensing it $5,000 － adding up to more than most Shanghai workers make in a year.


An ordinary family car costs about $6,000 and a licence plate costs $5,000 － amounting to more than most Shanghai workers' annual incomes.


They weave on and off sidewalks, dismount to squeeze between buses and curbs, slip haphazardly through gridlocked intersections and, sometimes, glide triumphantly past traffic jams.


他们在人行道上下穿梭，在汽车和路牙之间挤来挤去，在堵塞的十字路口随意地钻来钻去，不时得意洋洋地滑行过拥堵的地段。


ubiquitous: a. [usually before noun] (formal or humorous) seeming to be everywhere or in several places at the same time; very common

The Swedes are not alone in finding their language under pressure from the ubiquitous spread of English. The radio, that most ubiquitous of consumer-electronic appliances, is about to enter a new age. n.b

. Translate the italicized parts in the above sentences into Chinese.Translate the italicized parts in the above sentences into Chinese.

ubiquitous spread of English: ubiquitous spread of English: most ubiquitous of consumer-electronic appliances:

most ubiquitous of consumer-electronic appliances:

普遍传播的英语

最普遍的消费电器


drown out: (of a sound) to be louder than other sounds so that you cannot hear them

She turned up the radio to drown out the noise from next door.

The applause from the audience almost drowned out the music.


mainstay: n. [usually sing.] mainstay (of sth) is a person or thing that is the most important part of sth and enables it to exist or be successful

Cattle farming is the mainstay of the country's economy.

The white blouse will be the mainstay of your wardrobe this summer.


think tank: Can you give the definition of the expression?

a group of experts brought together, usually by a government, to develop ideas on a particular subject and to make suggestions for action


transition: n. (~ from ... to ...; ~ between ... and ...) [U, C] the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another

The health-care system is in transition at the moment.

The transition from boyhood to manhood can be a confusing period.


affluent: a. having plenty of money, nice houses, expensive things, etc.

As people become more affluent, so their standard and style of living improves.

Syn.Syn.

wealthywealthy

affluence n.

What we are seeing increasingly is a society of private affluence and public squalor (贫穷 ).

Verbs: enable, disable


enable: v.to make it possible for sb to do sth

Computerization should enable us to cut production costs by half.

Their aim is to make sure that every home and business becomes Internet-enabled in the next 10 years. disable An accident disabled him from playing football.

Syn.Syn.

allowallow

Word BuildingWord Building

Nouns : ability, disability, inability

Adjectives: able, unable, disabled

Nouns : ability, disability, inability

Adjectives: able, unable, disabled

Adverbs: ably


upscale: a. (mainly US; UK upmarket ) [usually before noun] designed for or used by people who belong to a high social class or have a lot of moneyHe turned up in well-cut clothes and upscale

felt hats.

Many garment exporters want to move upscale. downscalea downscale tabloid newspaper


shrug off: 1. to treat sth as if it is not important or not a problem The stock market shrugged off the economic

gloom and rose by 1.5%.

You're a father and you can't simply shrug off your responsibility for your children.

I hope I can shrug off this cold before I go on holiday.

The city is trying to shrug off its industrial image and promote itself as a tourist centre.

2. to get rid of sth unpleasant that you do not want

cf. shake sth off cf. shake sth off

He drove through the red lights in an attempt to shake off the police car that was chasing him.


scooter: n.

Electric_ScooterElectric_Scooter

ScooterScooter


wind: v. to have many bends and twists

The path wound down to the beach.

Then we wind through interminable streets of Edwardian terraced houses converted to flats and rooms.

past tense: wound past participle: woundpast tense: wound past participle: wound


filter out:to remove sb/sth that you do not want from a large number of people or things using a special system, device, etc.The test is used to filter out candidates who

may be unsuitable.

The software filters out Internet sites whose content is not suitable for children.

What do you call the device that filters water? What do you call the device that filters water? water filterWhat do you call the circled part?What do you call the circled part?filter tip


squeeze: to force sb / sth / yourself into or through a small spacePut an appropriate preposition into each blank.1. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the

juice

into the bowl.

2. She squeezed through the crowd and found a

seat at the front.

3. If you move forward a little, I can squeeze past.

1. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice

into the bowl.

2. She squeezed through the crowd and found a

seat at the front.

3. If you move forward a little, I can squeeze past.


enchantment: n. a feeling of great pleasure

Fill each blank with enchant in appropriate form.

1. They met in Paris one enchanted afternoon in early

autumn.

2. It's described in the guide book as "an enchanting medieval city".

3. The audience was clearly enchanted by her performance.

1. They met in Paris one enchanted afternoon in early

autumn.

2. It's described in the guide book as "an enchanting medieval city".

3. The audience was clearly enchanted by her performance.


end up:to find yourself in a place or situation that you did not intend or expect to be in

If you go on like this you'll end up in prison.

She'll end up penniless if she carries on spending like that.

[ + -ing verb ] [ + -ing verb ] After working her way around the world, she

ended up teaching English as a foreign language.


2

31

Speaking / Writing

Research

TIIITIII


Research:

Work in groups. Use search engines to locate news and reports of beneficiaries of subway construction. Pay attention that information should be factual and correct. Have group meetings and decide a specific industry that you want to focus on. Sift the information you have collected and make an outline.

TIIITIII


Speaking / Writing:

Present your research findings and comments to the class. With or without the use of slides, you should justify your views with sufficient details. Write a short paper with a brief and clear lead-in to the topic, a sentence to generalize your view, concrete figures, diagrams or examples to illustrate your points. End your presentation/paper forcefully.

TIIITIII


Watch the video clip and answer the following questions.

1. How does the new driver feel about driving on the road? How does she cope with it?

2. How related is this video clip to the ideas of Text III?

China's car number is on steady increase; China is transforming from the kingdom of bicycles into a kingdom of cars.

China's car number is on steady increase; China is transforming from the kingdom of bicycles into a kingdom of cars.

The woman is very nervous; she hires a driving coach who could guide her on the road.

The woman is very nervous; she hires a driving coach who could guide her on the road.

TIIITIII

TestingTesting Study SkillsStudy SkillsUsageUsage Writing SkillsWriting Skills

Sentence Translation

Useful Expressions

22

31331

Oral Paraphrase33


1. 每几个月 every few months

2. 满处涂鸦的车站 graffiti-scrawled station

3. 极其信赖 swear by

4. 比较 A 和 B compare A with B

5. 在城市的另一边 on the other side of the city

6. 所谓的 so-called

7. 花费是…的三倍 cost three times as much

8. 比…多，大于… upwards of …

9. 难怪… (it is) small wonder (that)

10. 典型的自私行为 behavior that epitomizes selfishness


11. 忍不住 can't help

12. 连连击鼓 pound on drums

13. 职业装 business suit

14. 和…较劲 struggle with …

15. 公益广告 public-service ads

16. 与某人有来往 rub shoulders with sb

17. 富裕的，有社会地位的 well-heeled

18. 信赖，依赖，对…有信心 count on

19. 免疫系统 the immune system

20. 减少碳排放 reduce carbon emissions


21. 成为系统不可缺的一部分 become an integral part of the system

22. 另外 in addition

23. 除…之外 in addition to

24. 使某人处于更有利的地位 give sb an advantage (over)25. 曾经是 used to be

26. 淹没 drown out

27. 跃进 leap into

28. 远非，远远不 be far from

29. 智囊团 think tank

30. 在…影子下；在…附近 in the shadow of


31. 不予理会，不屑一顾 shrug off

32. 蜿蜒穿行 wind its way through

33. 过滤 filter out

34. 生产 turn out

35. 塞入，挤入 squeeze into

36. 普遍使用，被普遍接受 be here to stay

37. 结果为…，以…为结束 end up


1. 我们的车子沿着山路蜿延前行，一路上美景不断，给我们留下深刻印象。 (wind ... way )

Our car wound its way through the mountain. Beautiful scenery was everywhere to be seen on the road; we couldn't help but be impressed.

Our car wound its way through the mountain. Beautiful scenery was everywhere to be seen on the road; we couldn't help but be impressed.

2. 北京奥运会开幕式经过精心筹备，将一场视觉盛宴呈现在世界的眼前。（ unfold ）

After elaborate arrangements, Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony unfolded a visual banquet to the world.

After elaborate arrangements, Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony unfolded a visual banquet to the world.


3. 每年组织环保的活动，其目的是恢复人与自然之间微妙的平衡。 (restore a / the balance)

The annual environment conservation campaigns aim to restore the delicate balance between man and nature.

The annual environment conservation campaigns aim to restore the delicate balance between man and nature.

4. 这篇文章分析当前粮食危机的原因，发人深省。(insight)

The article gives us a real insight into the cause of present food crisis.The article gives us a real insight into the cause of present food crisis.


5. 汶川地震的报道播出后，红十字会接到大量电话，询问捐助事宜。 (flood)

The moment Wenchuan earthquake was reported, the Red Cross was flooded with calls about donations.

The moment Wenchuan earthquake was reported, the Red Cross was flooded with calls about donations.

6. 古建筑与现代建筑交相辉映，给城市增加了一丝独特的魅力。 (add to)

The ancient architectures and the modern ones complement each other, adding a special charm to the city.

The ancient architectures and the modern ones complement each other, adding a special charm to the city.


Explain the following passage in English. Try to use the words and expressions in the texts you have learned.

越来越多的中产阶级放弃了自行车这种绿色环保﹑节省能源的交通工具，选择购买汽车。约有四百万辆的自行车与两百万辆的汽车争抢道路。看看建设中的立交桥和环形公路，不言而喻哪种出行方式已被优先考虑。由于骑车不便以及汽车给骑车者带来的危险在增加，骑自行车的人越来越少。然而，发展国家经济﹑改善交通状况和城市管理，并不意味着我们要与自行车永久地作别——仍然有人会选择这种无污染﹑小巧和绿色的交通工具。


The middle class increasingly forgoes bicycles 　－　 the environmentally friendly and energy efficient transport － in favor of the car. Some four million bikes now compete for road space with more than two million cars, and a quick glance at the newly constructed overpasses and ring roads clearly shows which means of transport has been getting priority. Fewer and fewer people are riding bikes because of the inconvenience and the increased dangers that cars bring to the road. However, the improvement in the state economy, the traffic situation and city management does not mean that we should say a final and complete farewell to the bicycle. Some people will still choose this non-polluting, small and green transport tool.

The middle class increasingly forgoes bicycles 　－　 the environmentally friendly and energy efficient transport － in favor of the car. Some four million bikes now compete for road space with more than two million cars, and a quick glance at the newly constructed overpasses and ring roads clearly shows which means of transport has been getting priority. Fewer and fewer people are riding bikes because of the inconvenience and the increased dangers that cars bring to the road. However, the improvement in the state economy, the traffic situation and city management does not mean that we should say a final and complete farewell to the bicycle. Some people will still choose this non-polluting, small and green transport tool.


Double Negation

Complete the following sentences by translating the Chinese into English, with the double negative construction.

1The business suit has long been the uniform for male office workers. Most men do not look unattractive in it（大多数男性穿上西服倒不是没有魅力） , but for some industries (like IT) it looks too serious.

2 Now her poor health is not unrelated to the fact（现在她的身体虚弱，与以下事实不无关系） that she has been on a diet for several years.


3 It was not that I didn't want to buy an apartment（我并非不想买房）， but the high price scared me away.

4 Online shopping is no longer an unusual word as it used to be（网购已不再像过去那样是一个不同寻常的字眼） . Now thousands of people buy what they need via the Internet.


Use of Dictionary1. Do you have an English dictionary? What dictionary do you have? Do you have any of these dictionaries?

Oxford Advanced

Learner's Dictionary

Longman Dictionary of

Contemporary English

Longman Lexicon of

Contemporary English

Cambridge Advanced

Learner's Dictionary


2. How to enlarge your vocabulary with the help of a dictionary?

3. Use your dictionary and find the names of horse according to age and sex.

Age / Sex Male Female

Full-grown Stallion Mare

Young Colt Filly

Very young / newborn

Foal


4. Have a practice with the following word. Make as many associations as possible.

cook (v.)


Compound Sentence 2

A compound sentence has two or more than two independent clauses, each with a subject and a verb. The clauses in a compound sentence are usually of equal importance, but one of them can be emphasized when needed.


Fill in the missing part of the following sentences, using proper concession.

1 It's easy to start a blog, but it's another to create one engaging enough to be an impactful part of your business.

2 I am not particular about what to eat, but the thought of asparagus could make my mouth water.

3 Fast economic development is good, but it is another to have it at the cost of the environment.

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