1 . Dark Sky Parks Around the World
Warrumbungle National Park
Situated in the central west slopes of New South Wales is Australia’s only dark sky park, Warrumbungle. The park has served as a dark sky park since July 2016. Its crystal-clear night skies and high altitude (海拔) make it a natural, educational and astronomical heritage site in the southern half of the earth. Tourists can use Australia’s largest optical telescope within the park boundaries to view the auroras (极光), the Milky Way and faint shooting stars.
Sark
Sark is a Channel Island near the coast of Normandy under the protection of the UK. It was the World’s First Dark Sky Island set up in January 2011. Its historical and cultural blend (交融) attracts over 40,000 tourists annually. With no motor vehicles and public lighting on the island, there is an exceptional view of the dark skies. A rich Milky Way is visible in the dark night skies from the shores of the island.
Pic du Midi de Bigorre
Pic du Midi de Bigorre in France was designated as a dark sky park in December 2013 making it the second largest dark sky park in the world. The park covers 3,112 square kilometres spread across the Pyrenees National Park and UNESCO’s World Heritage site, Pyrenees-Mont Perdu. The park attracts over one hundred star watchers every year. The Observatory Midi-Pyrenees, which was built in 1870,is one of the world’s highest museums at a height of 2,877 metres above sea level.
Ramon Crater/Makhtesh Ramon
Ramon Crater is a unique1,100-square-kilometre nature reserve located in the Negev Desert in Israel. In 2017, Ramon Crater became the first designated dark sky park in the Middle East. Its location, rough climate and forbidding landscape that are characteristic of the Negev have largely defeated historical attempts for human settlement, making it a great place to view the night skies. Stargazers usually camp in the desert to have an uninterrupted view of the stars, planets and the Milky Way.
1. Which was the first to be designated as a dark sky park?| A．Sark. | B．Pic du Midi de Bigorre. |
| C．Warrumbungle National Park. | D．Ramon Crater / Makhtesh Ramon. |
| A．The auroras. | B．The planets. |
| C．The Milky Way. | D．Shooting stars. |
| A．It’s a natural heritage site. | B．It covers 3,112 square kilometres. |
| C．Its geographical conditions are tough. | D．It’s a great place for humans to settle in. |
2 . Short field trips to local businesses can help English learners begin to try out their language skills. This lesson plan helps provide structure for your learners for a field trip.
Aim:
●To develop speaking skills with native speakers other than the teacher.
Activities:
●Short field trips to local businesses, government offices and other sites of interest.
Level:
●All levels except for absolute beginners.
Lesson Outline:
●Begin the lesson with a short warm-up. Take shopping for example, Ideally, share with the students your first shopping in English locally, Invite the students to tell about their own stories.
●Gather information around the theme. For example, if students look into purchasing a home theater system, one group could explore the options for TVs, one group for surround sound and another group for blue-ray players, etc.
●Have students break up into groups of three to four and each group divides their own tasks into at least four separate parts. For example, in the example of buying a home theater system, the group responsible for researching TV options might have three tasks: Which size is best for which living situation? Which cables are required? What is the best payment option?
●Circulate in the room, helping students with their questions.
●Ask each group to role play situations depending on the context, like salesperson, tourist agency representative, employment officer, etc,
Follow-up In Class:
Here are some ideas to use as homework to help review what students have leaned on their short field trips:
●Create short role-plays based on their experiences.
●Draw up vocabulary trees employing new vocabulary studied during their short field trip.
●Short writing assignments summarizing their experience.
●Group reports back to class.
1. What are the students expected to do at the beginning of the class?| A．Share their theme-related experiences. | B．Choose a field from available options. |
| C．Claim their own tasks for the field trip. | D．Come up with a theme for the field trip. |
| A．Watching the role-plays about their trip. | B．Creating drawings to summarize the trip. |
| C．Reporting their fruits of the trip by group. | D．Explaining the meanings of the new words. |
| A．A junior guide. | B．An English instructor. |
| C．A local business manager. | D．An advanced English learner. |
3 . TALENT ON PARADE
It is time for the Smithdale Student Activity Club’s yearly talent show. In the past, the club has had performers sing, dance, and play the violin, guitar, or piano. This year the show will be called “Talent on Parade”, and we are looking for performers with great new ideas. In addition, we have planned two important changes for this year’s show.
Two Shows Instead Of One
First, “Talent on Parade” will be held on two nights. Performers in the Wednesday night show will include students in Grades K-5. Performers in the Friday night show will include students in Grades 6-12.
Smithdale High School Hall Wednesday, May 11, 6:30 P.M. Friday, May 13, 7:30 P.M.
No Tryouts (预选)
The second change is that this year’s performers will be chosen in a new way. No tryouts will be held. The first twenty acts to sign up for each show will be accepted. Others will be put on a waiting list in case someone has an act that is not allowed. You’ll be told by telephone or e-mail if your act is included.
If you do not wish to perform but would enjoy helping backstage with lights or sound, print “stagehand” in large letters at the top of the permission slip (同意书).
Rules For Acts
1. Each student chosen to perform must turn in a permission slip signed by a parent or guardian(监护人).
2. All performers must be at the school one hour before the show time.
3. Performers must provide their own transportation to and from the school.
4. Each act is limited to three minutes.
5. No act may have more than five people in it.
6. Performers must provide their own music (tapes, CDs, or instruments) and costumes.
7. Singers may sing with or without musical accompaniment, but they may not sing along with a recorded voice on a CD or tape.
1. The twenty-first act to sign up will be allowed to be performed only if____.| A．a performer is unable to attend | B．a performance is shortened |
| C．the performance is original | D．the performer is approved |
| A．telephone number | B．musical recording |
| C．costume drawing | D．permission slip |
| A．Before 6:30 P.M. | B．Before 5:30 P.M. |
| C．After 6:30 P.M. | D．After 5:30 P.M. |
| A．In a city evening paper. | B．On an entertainment website. |
| C．On a school news board. | D．On the wall of a music store. |
