(共39张PPT)
Unit 5
Unit 5 A delicate world
MACQUARIE ISLAND:
from Chaos to Conservation
To find out what happened to Macquarie Island
To organise information carefully and find out human actions, purposes and results on Macquarie Island
To recognise that humans must maintain awe and respect toward nature and have an awareness of living in harmony with it.
Look at the picture below and answer the questions.
1. What animals can you see in the picture
Penguins, and a bird.
1
2. What kind of changes would take place if cats, rats and rabbits were introduced to an environment like this
They would hunt the birds and eat the native vegetation, thus upsetting the local ecological balance.
Similar situation happens on Macquarie Island. What do you know about the island
Macquarie Island lies in the South-west Pacific Ocean, halfway between Australia and Antarctica. Its native inhabitants encountered challenges. Human intervention led to the erosion of the original habitat, cased chaos and destroyed the ecology dramatically.
MACQUARIE ISLAND:
from Chaos to Conservation
Read the title and look at the pictures. Predict what the passage is mainly about.
a state of total confusion with no order
the protection of the natural environment
Read the passage and find out what happened to Macquarie Island.
2
Read the topic sentences;
Link the topic sentences together to get the main idea of the passage;
Draw the outline of the passage;
Find or summarise the main idea of each paragraph.
Native inhabitants on Macquarie Island were once in perfect harmony with their natural habitat.
Rats and mice brought to the island caused harm.
过渡句
The rabbit problem resulted in parakeets' dying out.
People released a virus to kill rabbits and used traps and dogs to catch the cats.
The rat, mouse and rabbit problem made people realise that problems should be solved once and for all.
I participated in a programme to tackle this very problem.
What happened to the Macquarie Island
Non-native species introduced to Macquarie Island attacked native birds, and led to a substantial reduction of bird population and even the extinction of parakeets. In addition, non-native species ate and devastated the native vegetation. All of this played a part in upsetting the natural harmony of the island. But now the island’s ecology is on the road to recovery with human efforts.
Choose the author's purpose in writing the passage and give your reasons.
1. To analyse how Macquarie Island was saved from destruction.
2. To inform readers of the chaos caused on Macquarie Island by humans.
3. To entertain readers with a funny story about what happened on Macquarie Island.
4. To suggest ways in which an ecosystem can be protected.
3
作者根据自己的工作经验讲述了麦夸里岛是如何从19世纪初的一片混乱状态慢慢走向如今人与自然和谐共处的局面。语篇类型为记叙文。作者按照时间顺序向读者介绍了这一漫长的过程。时间顺序主要是通过正确运用时态以及时间状语、时间名词或小句形成的衔接来体现的。本文中作者在描写人类的到来给麦夸里岛造成 的负面影响时，主要使用了一般过去时。同时，文中还使用了大量的表示时间的词语，如in 1810、Meanwhile、in 1891、in the 1970s、In the 1980s、 in 2000、in 2006等。
Shape
Location
Landscape
Inhabitants
From what aspects does the writer introduce the island in para. 1
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a place on Earth that is according to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), “of outstanding universal value to humanity and as such, have been inscribed on the World Heritage List to be protected for future generations to appreciate and enjoy”. Examples of World Heritage Sites are the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur of Egypt, the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, the Taj Mahal in India, and the Great Wall of China, having significant cultural, historical, scientific or other from of significance.
Choose the best answer to each of the following questions according to the text.
1. What do we know about Macquarie Island
A. It has a round shape.
B. It is in the North-west Pacific Ocean.
C. Its ecosystem experienced a tragic story.
D. Its bad conditions discouraged possible visitors.
2. Which of the following can replace the phrase “developed an appetite for the birds” in paragraph 2
A. began to eat the birds
B. lost interest in catching the birds
C. existed in harmony with the birds
D. got into the habit of attacking the birds
3. Why was a virus released onto the island
A. To kill some penguins.
B. To control the rats and mice.
C. To decrease the population of cats.
D. To kill all the rabbits on the island.
4. What does the author come to the island for
A. Removing invading species.
B. Dropping poison from helicopters.
C. Making the island an official nature reserve.
D. Training more dogs to find invading species.
5. Where is the text probably from
A. A medical research paper.
B. A scientific journal.
C. A health magazine.
D. A company profile brochure.
Organise information from the passage and complete the flow chart.
4
Humans arrived on Macquarie Island.
To live there.
Rats and mice were brought there by accident, and ____________________________________________________________________________
they took over the island, eating the birds’ eggs and attacking baby birds.
ACTION(S)
PURPOSE(S)
RESULT(S)
To control the rats and mice.
Cats were brought to the island.
The cats developed an appetite for the birds.
Rabbits multiplied and caused soil erosion, and ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Rabbits were introduced to the island.
To provide food for humans.
the exploding rabbit population provided plentiful food for the cats. This led to more cats hunting the birds. As a result, parakeets died out in 1891.
ACTION(S)
PURPOSE(S)
RESULT(S)
A virus was released onto the island.
To remove all the rabbits from the island.
Substantial reduction of rabbit population led to cats killing more native birds.
ACTION(S)
PURPOSE(S)
RESULT(S)
Traps and dogs were used.
To catch the cats.
The departure of the cats resulted in an increasing population of rats and mice. And the rabbit population exploded once again.
Poison and dogs were used.
To remove all the remaining invading species.
The island was pest-free and its ecology is on the road to recovery.
ACTION(S)
PURPOSE(S)
RESULT(S)
Now talk about how human interference led to such severe consequences for Macquarie Island.
Fill in each blank with one proper word or the proper form of the given word.
Macquarie Island is situated in the South-west Pacific Ocean, halfway between Australia and Antarctica. Its native inhabitants existed 1. __________ perfect harmony with their natural habitat for thousands of years.
However, a tragic story 2. __________ (happen) when humans arrived on the island in 1810, bringing rats and mice 3. __________ threatened the native birds. To control them,
in
happened
which / that
cats were introduced but they also fed on the birds. To make things worse, rabbits 4. __________ (bring) as a food source for humans multiplied fast and fell prey to the cats, leading to soil erosion and a larger cat population, which in turn sped up parakeets' 5. __________ (extinct). In the 1980s, traps and dogs 6. __________ (use) to catch the cats, and the last one was 7. __________ (final) removed in 2000. However, this made the populations of rabbits, rats and mice explode again. The rabbits' digging caused some land 8. __________ (sink), killing a great many penguins. killing a great many penguins.
brought
extinction
were used
finally
to sink
This incident made 9. __________ clear that the rabbits, rats and mice had to be removed once and for all.
it
With helicopters used to drop poison and dogs trained to find every last remaining invading species without 10. __________ (harm) the native animals, Macquarie Island ultimately received a much-delayed happy ending — free from pests and its ecology recovering.
harming
1. What is your understanding of “ ... we humans owe it to the island to give it a happy ending”
2. Do you think it was right to eradicate the “pests” from Macquarie Island Give your reasons.
3. How could similar situations be avoided in the future
4. What language can you use to talk about cause and effect How would you apply it to your reading and writing
1. What is your understanding of “ ... we humans owe it to the island to give it a happy ending”
Nature has its own rules of living. But humans’ coming broke its own balance. Because of humans intervention, animals couldn’t have their own ways of living. So we should do whatever we can to make up for our mistakes and give nature back to all the living things.
2. Do you think it was right to eradicate the “pests” from Macquarie Island Give your reasons.
Yes. Cats, rabbits, rats and mice were not native; they had been introduced since the 1800s. Within a few decades they devastated unique birds and destroyed grass habitats that protected birds and soil. In the end, nearly half of the island’s endemic (地方性的，特有的) species were threatened with extinction.
3. How could similar situations be avoided in the future
To avoid similar situations in the future, we should protect the natural ecosystem and be aware of the potential impact that human activities can have on ecosystems.
4. What language can you use to talk about cause and effect How would you apply it to your reading and writing
Cause words: because, since, as, due to, owing to, thanks to, on account of, result from
Effect words: so, therefore, thus, hence, as a result, consequently, lead to, give rise to, bring about, in consequence
Others: contribute to / be a contributing factor to, have an impact / effect / influence on, the reason … is that …, which is why …
MACQUARIE ISLAND: from Chaos to Conservation
Look at the title again. What kind of figure of speech does the author use in it
Alliteration. It is the use of several words together that begin with the same sound or letter in order to make a special effect.
e.g. first and foremost（首先）
now or never（机不可失，时不再来）
Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.
Francis Bacon
Only to obey nature in order to overcome nature.
Charles Darwin
We won't have a society if we destroy the environment.
Margaret Mead
be introduced to ...
a wild and natural beauty
decrease from ... to ...
prey on
a naturally-balanced environment
the UNESCO World Heritage List
an official nature reserve
被引进到……
一种狂野和天然的美
从……减少到……
捕食
一个自然平衡的环境
联合国教科文组织的《世界遗产名录》
一个官方自然保护区
exist in perfect harmony with ...
as the saying goes
out of control
in consequence
be regarded as
on behalf of
a substantial number of
与……完美地和谐共存
正如俗话所说
失控
因而
被视作
代表
大量的
Why is ecological balance important
How can human beings keep ecological balance
Write down your answer.
