1、高中课文 高中英语必修2 高中课文 高中英语必修2 Unit1 Cultural relics 1.In Search of the Amber Room Frederick William I，the King of Prussia，could never have imagined that his greatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history This gift was the Amber Room，which was giventhis name because several tons o
2、f amber were used to make it The amber which was selected had a beautiful yellowbrown colour like honey The design of the room was in the fancy style popular in those days It was also a treasure decorated with gold and jewelswhich took the cogntrys best artists about ten years to make. In fact,the r
3、oom was not made to be a gift.It was designed for the palace of fredeick I.However, the nexl King of PrussiaFrederick William Ito whom the amber room belonged，decided not to keep it In 1716 he gave it to Peterthe GreatIn return，the Czar sent him a troop of his best soldiers So the Amber Room became
4、part of the Czars winter palace in St Petersburg .About four metres long the room served as a small reception hall for important visitors Later,Catherine II had the Amber Room moved to a palace outside St Petersburg where she spent her summers.She told her artists to add more details to it In 1770 t
5、he room was completed the way she wanted. A1most six hundred candles 1it the room，and its mirrors and pictures shone like gold .Sadly，although the Amber Room was considered one of the wonders of the world,it is now missing. In Septemberl941，the Nazi army was near St Petersburg.This was a time when t
6、he two countries were at war.Before the Nazis could get to the summer palace，the Russians were able to remove some furniture and small an objects from the Amber Room However,some of the Nazis secretly stole the room itselfIn less than two days 100，000 pieces were put inside twentyseven wooden boxes
7、There is no doubt that the boxes were then put on a train for Konigsberg，which was at that time a German city on the Baltic Sea After that，what happened to the Amber Room remains a mystery. Recently，the Russians and Germans have built a new Amber Room at the summer palace By studying old photos of t
8、he former Amber Room，they have made the new one look like the old one In 2003 it was ready for the people of St Petersburg when they celebrated the 300th birthday of their city. 2. Read this passage and think about the difference between a fact and an opinion A FACT OR AN OPINION? What is a fact? is
9、 it something that people betieve?No.A fact is anything that can be proved For exampleit can be,proved that China has more people than any other country in the world This is a fact.Then what is an opinion?An opinion is what someone believes is true but has not been proved So an opinion is not good e
10、vidence in a trial.For example,it is an opininon if you say Cats are better pets than dogs.It may be true，but it is difficult to prove Some people may not agree with this.opinion but they also cannot prove that they are right. In a tria1la iudge must declde which cvewimesses to believe and which not
11、 to believe The judge do as not consider what each eyewitness looks like or where that person lives or works. he/she only cares about whether the eyewitness has given true information，which must be facts rather than opinions.This kind of information is called evidence. Unit2 The Olympic Games 1. Pau
12、sanias，who was a Greek writer about 2，000 years ago，has come oil a magical journey on March 18th，2007 to find out about the present-day Olympic Game. He is 1tow interviewing Li Yan，a volunteer for the 2008 Olympic Games. p: My name is Pausanias I lived in what you callAncient Greeceand I used to wri
13、te about the Olympic Games a long time ago Ive come to your time to find out about the present-day Olympic Games because I know that in 2004 they were held in my homeland May I ask you some questions about the modem Olympics? L:Good heavens!Have you really comefrom solong ago?But of course you carl
14、ask any questions you like What would you like to know? p: How often do you hold your Games? L:Every four years.There are two main sets of Games-the Winter and the Summer Olympics,and both are held every four years on a regular basis.The Winter Olympics are usually held two years before the Summer G
15、amesOnly athletes who have reached the agreed standard for their event will be admitted as competitors They may come from anywhere in the world. P:WinterGames?How can the runners enjoy competing in winler?And what about the horses? L： Oh no!There are no running races or horse tiding events. Instead
16、there are competitions like skiing and ice skating which need snow advice Thats why theyre called the Winter Olympics. Its in the Summer Olympics that you have the running races，together with swimming salling and all the team sports. p:I see.Earlier you said that athletes are invited from all over t
17、he world. Do you mean the Greek world?Our Greek cities used to compete against each other just for the honour of winning.No other countries couldjoinin，nor could slaves or women! L:Nowadays any country can take part iftheir athletes are good enough There are over 250 spots and each one has its own s
18、tandard Women are not only allowed，but play a very important role in gymnastics,athletics,team sports and. P:Please wait a minute!All those events，all those countries and even women taking part!Where are all the athletes housed? L: For each Olympics，a special village is built for them t0 live in，a m
19、ain reception building，several stadiums for competitions，and a gymnasium as well. p:That sounds very expensive.Does anyone want to host the Olympic Games? L:As amatteroffact，every country wants the opportunity.Its a great responsibillty but also a great honour to be chosen Theres as much competition
20、 among countries to host the Olympics as to win Olympic medalsThe 2008 Olympics will be held in Beijing, China Did you know that? p:Oh yes!You must be very proud. L:CertainlyAnd after that the 2019 0lympics will be held in London They have already started planning for it.A new village for the athlet
21、es and all the stadiums will be built to the east of London.New medals will be designed ofcourse and. p:Did you say medals?So even the olive wreath has been replaced!Oh dear!Do you compete for prize money too? L:No，we dont Its still all about being able t0 rnn faster,jump higher and throw furtherTha
22、ts the motto of the Olympics，you know 一Swifter，Higher and Stronger. p:Well，thats good news.How interesting!Thank you so much for your time. 2.The story off Atlanta Atlanta was a Greek princess.She was very beautiful and could run faster than any man in Qreece But she was not allowed to run and win g
23、lory for herself in the Olympic Games.She was so angry that she said to her father that she would not marry anyone who could not run faster than herHer father said that she must marry，so Atlanta made a bargain with him.She said to him，These are my rules.When a man says he wants to marry me，1 will ru
24、n against him.If he cannot run as fast as me，he will be killed No one will be pardoned Many kings and princes wanted to marry Atlanta,but when they heard of her roles they knew it was hopeless So many of them sadly went home，but others stayed to run the race There was a mall called Hippomenes who wa
25、s amazed when he heard of Atlantas rulesWhy are these men so foolish?he thoughtWhy will they let themselves be killed because they cannot run as fast asthis princess?However,when he saw Aflanm come out of her house t0 run,Hippomenes changed his mind1 will marry Atlantaor die!he said. The race staaed
26、 and aithough the men ran very fast，Atlanta ran fasterAs Hippomenes watched He thoughtHow canIfull asfast asAtlanla?He went to ask the Greek Goddess of Love for help. She promised to help him and gave him three golden apples She said，Throw an apple in front of Atlanta when she is running pastWhen sh
27、e stops to pick it up，you will be able to nln past her and winHippomenes took the apples and went t0 the King.He said,1 want to marry AtlantaThe King was sad to see another mall die，but Hippomenes said，1 will malty her or die!So the race began. Unit3 Who am I? Unit4 Wildlife protection 1.Daisy had a
28、lways longed to help endangered species of wildlife.One day she woke up and found a flying carpet by herbed.where do you want to go?lt askedDaisy responded immediatelyrd like to see some endangered wildlife，she saidPlease take me to a distant land where I can find the animal that gave fur to make th
29、is sweaterAt once the carpet flew awldy and took her to Tibet There Daisy saw an antelope sad It saidWere being killed for the Wool beneath our stomachs.Our fur is being used to make sweaters for people like you.As a result，we are now an endangered species.At that Daisy cried,Im sorry I didnt know t
30、hat.I wonder what is being done to help you Flying carpet，please show me a place where theres some wildlife protection The flying carpet travelled so fast that next minute they were in Zimbabwe.Daisy turned around and found that she was being watched by all elephantHave you come to take my photo?it
31、asked In relief Daisy burst into langter.Dontlaugh,said the elephant.We used to be an endangered species.Farmers hunted us without mercy.They said we destroyed their farills，and money from tourists only went to the large tour companies .So the government decided to helpThey allowed tourists to hunt
32、only a certain number of animals if they paid the farmers.Now the farmers are happy and our numbers are increasing.So good things are being done here to save local wildlife. Daisy smiled.Thats good news.It shows the importance of wildlife protection，but Id like to help as the WWF suggests.The carpet
33、 rose again mad almost at once they were in a thick rainforest.A monkey watched them asit rnbbed itselfWhat are you doing?asked Daisy I m protecting myself from mosquitoesit repliedWhen I find a millipede insect，l rub it over my body It contains a powerful drug which affects mosquitoes.You should pay more attention tO the rainforest where I live and apprec
