1、Unit 1 ANNES BEST FRIENDDo you want a friend whom you could tell everything to, like your deepest feelings and thoughts? Or are you afraid that your friend would laugh at you, or would not understand what you are going through? Anne Frank wanted the first kind, so she made her diary her best friend.
2、Anne lived in Amsterdam in the Netherlands during World War II. Her family was Jewish so they had to hide or they would be caught by the German Nazis. She and her family hid away for nearly twenty-five months before they were discovered. During that time the only true friend was her diary. She said,
3、 “I dont want to set down a series of facts in a diary as most people do, but I want this diary itself to be my friend, and I shall call my friend Kitty.” Now read how she felt after being in the hiding place since July 1942.Thursday 15th June, 1942Dear Kitty,I wondered if it is because I havent bee
4、n able to be outdoors for so long that Ive grown so crazy about everything to do with nature. I can well remember that there was a time when a deep blue sky, the song of the birds, moonlight and flowers could never have kept me spellbound. Thats changed since I came here. For example, one evening wh
5、en 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 didnt dare to open a window. Another time five months ago, 1 happened to be upstairs at dusk when the window was open. I didnt go downsta
6、irs until the window had to be shut. The dark, rainy evening, the wind, the thundering clouds held me entirely in their power: it was the first time in a year and a half that Id seen the night face to face Sadly I am only able to look at nature through dirty curtains hanging before very dusty window
7、s. Its no pleasure looking through these any longer because nature is one thing that really must be experienced.Yours,AnneUnit 2 English around the worldThe road to modern EnglishAt the end of the 16th century, about five to seven million people spoke English. Nearly all of them lived in England. La
8、ter in the next century, people from England made voyages to conquer other parts of the world and because of that. English began to be spoken in many other countries. Today, more people speak English as their first, second or foreign language than ever before.Native English speakers can understand e
9、ach other even if they dont speak the same kind of English. Look at this example:British Betty: Would you like to see my flat?American Amy: Yes. Id like to come up to your apartment.So why has English changed over time? Actually, all languages change and develop when cultures meet and communicate wi
10、th each other. At first, the English spoken in England between about AD 450 and 1150 was very different from the English spoken today. It was based more on German than the English we speak at present. Then gradually between about AD 800 and 1150. English became less like German because those who rul
11、ed England spoke first Danish and later French. These new settlers enriched the English language and especially its vocabulary.So by the 1600s Shakespeare was able to make use of a wider vocabulary than ever before. In 1620 some British settlers moved to America. Later in the 18th century some Briti
12、sh people were taken to Australia too. English began to be spoken in both countries.Finally by the 19lh 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 America Dictionary of the En
13、glish Language. The latter gave a separate identity to American English spelling.English now is also spoken as a foreign or second language in South Asia. For example, India has a very large number of fluent English speakers because Britain ruled India from 1765 to 1947. During that time English bec
14、ame the language for government and education. English is also spoken in Singapore and Malaysia and countries in Africa such as South Africa. Today the number of people learning English in China is increasing rapidly. In fact, China may have the largest number of English learners. Will Chinese Engli
15、sh develop its own identity? Only time will tell.STANDARD ENGLISH AND DIALECTSWhat 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. This is because in the early days of radio, those who repo
16、rted 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 “standard language”, it is called a dialect. American English has many dialects, especially the midwestern, sout
17、hern, African American and Spanish dialects. Even in some parts of the USA, two people from neighboring 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 who live in the
18、 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 dialect as people in the northwestern USA. The USA is a large
19、 country in which many different dialects are spoken.Although many Americans move a lot, they still recognize and understand each others dialects.Unit 3 JOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONGPART I THE DREAM AND THE PLANMy name is Wang Kun. Ever since middle school, my sister Wang Wei and I have dreamed about taki
20、ng a great bike trip. 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 riv
21、er that is called 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 Riv
22、er from where it begins 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 didnt know the best way of getting to places, she insisted that she organize the trip properly. Now I know that
23、 the proper way 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 hadnt; my sister doesnt care about details. So I told her that the source of the Mekong is in Qinghai Province. She gave me a determ
24、ined lookthe 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 said it would be an interesting experience. I know my sister well. Once she has made up her mind, nothing can change it. Finally, I had to give in.Sev
25、eral months before our trip, Wang Wei and I went to the library. We found a large atlas with good maps that showed details of world geography. From the atlas we could see that the Mekong River begins in a glacier on a mountain in Qinghai Province. At first the river is small and the water is clear a
26、nd cold. Then it begins to move quickly. It becomes rapids as it passes through deep valleys, travelling across western Yunnan Province. Sometimes the river becomes a waterfall and enters wide valleys. We were both surprised to learn that half of the river is in China. After it leaves China and high
27、 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 enters the South China Sea.PART II ANIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINSAlthough it was autumn, the snow was
28、 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? Thats what we looked like! Along the way children dressed in long wool coats stopped to look at us. In the late afternoon we found it was so cold that our
29、 water bottles froze. However, the lakes shone like glass in the setting sun and looked wonderful. Wang Wei rode in front of me as usual. She is very reliable and I knew I didnt need to encourage her. To climb the mountains was hard work but as we looked around us, we were surprised by the view. We
30、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 warmer. In the valleys colourful butterflies flew around us and we saw many yaks and sheep eati
31、ng 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 supper Wang Wei put her head down on her pillow and went to sleep but I stayed awake. At midnight th
32、e 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 travelled.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!Unit 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DIDNT SLEEPStrange things were happening in the countryside of northeast Hebei. For three days the water in the village wells rose and fell. Farmers noticed that the well walls had deep cracks in them. A smelly gas came out of the fie
