For thousands of years, humans also have been defacing the earth, making scars upon the land. The throngs of people who responded to the lure of gold in the Yukon totally stripped mountainsides of trees above the Yukon River to make rafts in order to sail 500 miles to Dawson. Forty percent never made it! In the populated areas of the Himalayas very few trees remain since the citizens have cut them down for cooking and heating fires. With most of the trees gone, erosion occurs on a large scale, washing away most of the topsoil, making food production difficult. Even more disturbing is the fact that, due to large-scale cutting, the famous cedars of Lebanon, mentioned in the Bible, no longer exist. Along the same lines, so much of the rain forest in Panama is being destroyed that scientists are predicting the Panama Canal could fill with silt, thus prohibiting ships from crossing the isthmus, due to the effects of deforestation.
Deforestation and erosion, along with changing weather patterns, have led to the fastest-growing regions on this planet—deserts. All the while, populations are exploding worldwide and the proliferation of deserts means there is less arable land to feed the increasing number of people. Starvation on a massive scale will run rampant, and whenever a noted ecologist or environmentalist sends out warnings about such dangers to human life, very few consider giving up any of their conveniences. For instance, they insist on using aerosols and traveling one-to-a-car, thus adding to the emissions, which cause the ozone holes to expand, leading to more cases of skin cancer—a vicious cycle, indeed.
To make matters even more critical, global warming is becoming an ever-increasing threat to the existence of humans and animals. Polar icecaps are melting, and sections, the size of the state of Rhode Island, are breaking off. Traveling toward the Temperate Zones, they begin to melt, placing an inordinate amount of fresh water into the oceans and causing an imbalance.
Humans further complicate their lives by allowing businesses to release pollutants in urban areas, in the name of profit. “Accidents” often take place at refineries where toxic fumes are released into the air that people and animals breathe. Pesticides are so widely used and pose such a threat that it is amazing all of them haven’t been banned.
Governments, anxious to appease money-hungry corporations and their stockholders, have allowed timber companies into National Forests to cut virgin-growth trees. Most of these businesses clear cut vast areas and often wait an inordinate amount of time to replant.
Burning questions never cease: When will governments—local, state, and federal—corporations, and the rest of the human race realize what is happening to this planet? When will the race for profit cease to consume them? Perhaps it will come about when there is no land left to farm and feed the burgeoning population, or there is no clean water left to drink, or wildlife to balance the ecosystem, or, more importantly, when their children start dying. By that time, however, it probably will be too late.
1.In Paragraph 1, “another nail in their coffin” is similar in meaning to______.
A.a bad luck B.going dead
C.a blessing in disguise D.going from bad to worse
2.The author purposefully capitalizes the initial letters of Mother Nature because ______.
A.the author is clearly being sarcastic and suggesting that human beings show no respect for the nature
B.the author wants to emphasize the point that nature, like our mother, provides us with nourishment
C.they are used here as a proper noun personifying the might power of nature
D.they are words of very special importance
3.The author implies that travelling one-to-a-car______.
A.is an environmentally-friendly travel option
B.should be discouraged
C.should be encouraged
D.should be punished
Transcribe the sound represented by the underlined letter(s) in the words and then describe it. (10 points)
II.语言教学知识与能力
1.单项选择题
Which of the following activities belongs in communicative practice?
A.Repeating sentences that the teacher says.
B.Doing oral grammar drills.
C.Reading aloud passages from the textbook.
D.Giving instructions so that someone can use a new machine.
2.简答题(中文作答)
(1)请辨析下列两个句子的不同点并解释原因。
Did you eat something this evening?
Did you eat anything this evening?
(2)英语教师应该如何看待并处理学生的语言错误?请举例说明。
III.教学设计
教学设计题：根据所提供的信息和语言素材进行教学设计，本题用英文作答。
请根据以下信息和语言素材进行教学设计，本题用英文作答。
设计任务：阅读以下信息和语言素材。假设你将利用此语言素材提高学生的阅读能力，请根据学生情况设计针对此素材的教学目标，以及实现该目标的课堂活动。
学生概况：本班为中等城市普通学校高中一年级的学生，班级人数为40人。多数学生已具备一定的英语语言能力。学生能够积极参与课堂活动，合作意识较强。
教学时间：45分钟。
教学设计需包括：
教学目标;
教学步骤及设计意图;
教学活动方式、具体内容及设计意图;
教学时间规划;
学习评价。
语言素材：(加粗单词为学生首次接触的词汇)
The Road to Modern English
