1. What do you usually do online?
2. Can you name some apps of social media?
3. Look at the online activities in the box and match them with the pictures. Then tick the pictures of the activities that you like to do when you are online.
2 . The Million Pound Bank Note
Narrator: Two rich brothers, Roderick and Oliverhave made a bet. Oliver believes that with a million-pound bank note a mancould live a month in London. His brother Roderick doubts it. They see a poor young man walking outside their house. It is Henry Adams.Roderick: Young man, would you step inside amoment, please?
Henry: Who? Me, sir?
Roderick: Yes, you.
Servant: (opening a door) Good morning, sir. Would you please come in?
(Henry enters the house.)
Roderick: How do you do, Mr ... er ...?
Henry: Adams. Henry Adams.
Oliver: Come and sit down, Mr Adams.
Henry: Thank you.
Roderick: You're an American?
Henry: That's right, from San Francisco.
Roderick: May we ask what you're doing in this country and what your plans are?
Henry: Well, I can't say that I have any plans.As a matter of fact, I landed in Britain by accident.
Oliver: How is that possible?
Henry: Well, I had my own boat. About a month ago, I was sailing, and towards night. I found myself carried out to sea by astrong wind. The next morning I was spotted by a ship.
Oliver: And it was the ship that brought you to England.
Henry: Yes, I went to the American consulate to seek help, but ... Anyway, I didn't dare to try again. (The brothers smile at eachother;)
Roderick: Well, you mustn't worry about that. It's an advantage.
Henry: I'm afraid I don't quite follow you, sir.
Roderick: Tell us, what sort of work did you do in America?
Henry: I worked for a mining company. Could you offer me work here?
Roderick: Patience. lf you don't mind, may I ask youhow much money you have?
Henry: Well, to be honest, I have none.
Oliver: (happily) What luck! Brother, what luck!
Henry:Well, it may seem lucky to you but not to me! If this is your idea of some kind of joke, I don't think it's very funny. Now if you'll excuse me, I ought to be on myway.
Roderick: Please don't go. You mustn't think we don't care about you. Oliver, give him the letter.
Oliver: Yes, I was about to go get the letter. Wait! (getting it from a desk and giving it to Henry) The letter.
Henry: (taking it carefully) For me?
Roderick: For you. (Henry starts to open it.) Oh, no, you'd better not open it. You can't open ituntil two o'clock.
Henry: Oh, this is silly.
Roderick: Not silly. There's money in it.
Henry: Oh, no. I don't want your charity. I just want a job that earns an honest income.
Roderick: We know you're hard-working. That's why we've given you the letter. (to the servant) Show Mr Adams out.
Henry: Well, why don't you explain what this is all about?
Roderick: You'll soon know. In exactly an hour and a half.
Servant: This way, sir.
Roderick: Not until 2 o'clock. Promise?
Henry: Promise. Goodbye.
1. Identify True or False
(1)Henry opened the letter before 2 o’clock.
(2)Henry felt unhappy when the two brothers gave him the letter.
(3)Roderick believed that with a million pound bank note a man could survive a month.
(4)Henry only wanted a job because he was penniless in London.
(5)The two brothers would like to offer him a job.
2. What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Two rich gentlemen made a bet on a million pound bank note. |
| B．How did Henry Adams land in London? |
| C．Henry Adams was puzzled about the note. |
| D．Why did the two rich gentlemen choose Henry Adams? |
| A．His boat sank in a storm at sea. |
| B．He was carried out to sea by a strong wind. |
| C．He was attacked by some bad men at sea. |
| D．He jumped into the sea to kill himself. |
| A．Henry Adams owned a large mining company |
| B．Henry Adams paid nothing for the trip to Britain |
| C．Henry Adams opened the letter at once |
| D．Henry Adams was an American who lived in New York |
1. Look at the characters listed in the box and the picture on the top of this page. Then predict who will appear in the film clip.
bellboy manager tailor police officer maid waiter/waitress doorman driver secretary chef |
| A．Henry Adams lost his bank note at the hotel. |
| B．Henry Adams fell in love with Portia at the hotel. |
| C．Henry Adams received a warm reception at the hotel. |
We have known the basic setting of the storyand the main characters. Adams Henry was a perfect person for the two brothers’ bet. He got anenvelope from them. Henry was a little confused. Actually, he didn’t know what to happen next. He hadn't eaten food for one or two days, so he was very hungry. He went into a restaurant. What would happen in the restaurant?
(The emotional content of the photos is the key to understanding what is going on. Focus on the characters’ emotions, and find how these emotions change from photo to photo.)
2. What are their clothes like?
3. What are they doing?
4. What are they holding in their hands?
2. What are they doing?
3. What are their clothes like?
4. What are they wearing on their heads?
1. What is diverse culture?
2. How do you understand diverse cultures or cultural diversity?
Imagine having the opportunity to sing together with hundreds of other people while you are at home alone. You can do this in a virtual choir. Virtual choir members record themselves while they perform alone on video. These videos are uploaded onto the Internet, and then they are put together into one video that you can see online—a virtual choir. Anyone can take part in a virtual choir from anywhere—all you need is a video camera and an Internet connection. You do not even need a studio. A virtual choir helps connect ordinary people together. Many people do not have close friends or contacts who have the same interest in music. Many others do not have the chance to join a local choir. A virtual choir enables them to add their voices to those of other individuals and become part of the global community. It has proved to be a positive influence on the lives of many people. As one virtual choir member said, “Music helps me to … forget my problems. With music, I become someone else.”
The virtual choir was the idea of award-winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre. Born in the USA on 2 January 1970, Whitacre began studying music at the University of Nevada in 1988. He fell in love with Mozart’s classical music when he sang for the university choir. Moved by this music, he said, “It was like seeing color for the first time.” He graduated from university in 1995, and then received a master’s degree in musical composition from the Juilliard School in New York in 1997. Over the next 10 years, Whitacre’s original compositions began to become quite popular among choirs and singers. This led to the creation of the virtual choir.
In 2009, Whitacre received a video of a girl who was singing one of his works. Inspired, he asked his fans to make videos, which he then joined together into one performance. His first virtual choir, “Lux Aurumque”, had 185 singers from 12 different countries. It has received millions of views on the Internet. Since then, the virtual choir has become a worldwide phenomenon. Whitacre’s next effort was the Virtual Youth Choir for UNICEF, which was first seen on stage on 23 July 2014 in the UK. Altogether, 2,292 young people from 80 countries joined in to sing Whitacre’s song “What If”.
The virtual choir is a wonderful way for people around the world to sing with one voice and thus make the world a better place.
1. Scan the text and find out the following information.| The man who came up with the idea for a virtual choir | |
| The place where he studied musical composition | |
| The name of his song |
Intensive reading
2. Activity 1 Read Paragraph 1 and find out the key elements of virtual choir.
3. Activity 2 Find out the differences between a virtual choir and a real choir.
| Virtual choir | Real choir | |
| Form | ||
| Place | ||
| Identity of singers | ||
| Number of singers |
5. Activity 4 Read Paragraph 2 again and answer the following questions.
(1)What can you learn from what Whitacre said?
(2)Why does the author mention Eric Whitacre’s studying experience and his achievements in music?
6. Activity 5 Read Paragraph 3 and 4 and answer the following questions.
(1)What gave him the inspiration to make his first virtual choir?
(2)Does the writer hold a positive attitude toward the virtual choir? How do you know?
Li Daiyu and her cousin Liu Qian went to Canada to visit their cousins in Halifax on the Atlantic coast. Rather than travel by commercial airline all the way, they decided to fly to Vancouver and then take the train. For both of them, the thought of crossing the whole country by rail was exciting.
Before starting out, they spent a couple of days in Vancouver, seeing the sights. During their first day, as is typical of Vancouver, it rained. Despite the weather, they were able to take a boat ride out into the bay, and later visit an island that had wonderful shops selling crafts and antiques. The next day was clear and mild, and they were pleased to see the beautiful mountains looking out over the city. Later, they took a pleasant hike in a forest just a short distance away.
The next morning, the two girls arose early to take the train to Lake Louise, passing through the Canadian Rockies. Seen from the train window, the mountains and forests of Canada looked massive. When the train arrived at the station, they took a taxi to Lake Louise, where the blue water literally took their breath away with its exceptional beauty. They spent the night, and then took a coach bound north through the Canadian Rockies to Jasper. Looking at the beautiful scenery, they both agreed that it was the most awesome journey they had ever taken. In addition to seeing spectacular mountain peaksand forests, one highlight of their trip was being able to see many different creatures, including deer, mountain goats, and even a grizzly bear and an eagle.
From Jasper, they caught the train towards Toronto. One of the train’s first stops was in Edmonton, the provincial capital of Alberta, the centre of Canada’s huge oil and gas drilling industry. Edmonton is freezing cold in winter, with daily temperatures averaging -10˚C. Since it
can be too cold to go outdoors, Edmonton is home to many shopping malls. In fact, one of thelargest shopping malls in North America is in Edmonton.
From Edmonton, the train headed southeast across the great Canadian Prairie. At school, Daiyu and Liu Qian had learnt that Canada’s population is only slightly over thirty-seven million. However, they did not anticipate seeing such an open country, and were truly amazed. They went through two wheat-growing provinces, where they saw a bunch of farms that covered a very large area.
After another day on the train, eventually they were back in an urban area, the city of Winnipeg. From there, they travelled through the night, and woke up in Ontario—a land of forests and lakes. The train thundered on, through the rolling hills. The bushes and maple trees outside their windows were red, gold, and orange, and there was frost on the ground, confirming that autumn had arrived in Canada. Night came again, and the train turned south towards Toronto. When they woke up the next morning and pulled back the curtains, they could see the wide stretch of Lake Huron—one of the four Great Lakes on Ontario’s southern border. It was not until 9:30 a.m. that they finally reached the capital of Ontario, Toronto. All in all, their trip from Vancouver to Toronto had taken a duration of four days.
2. Would you like to join an expedition like this? Why or why not?
