Unit 08 Sciencs and Us

Unit 8 Page 74 READING exercise 5 Curious minds What makes a great scientist? Maybe it's hard work or an interest in understanding how the world works? Yes, these things are important. But one thing that many scientists have in common is that they like to observe – watch – the world carefully. Whether it was Newton watching the apple fall from the tree, or Archimedes watching the water spill out from his bath, scientists like to watch things happen and then start thinking 'why?' Then they investigate a little bit more and what they discover tells us more about the world we live in. Two of the 18th century's greatest discoveries started in exactly this way. One day in 1748, 12-year-old James Watt was sitting in the kitchen, when his aunt started to heat water in a kettle. He was watching the kettle boil, when the lid began to jump up and down. He was curious about it and decided to experiment. He held the lid of the kettle down and noticed that the steam came out of the spout. When he took his hand away, the lid started moving again. James realised that the steam had great power. It was an experiment he never forgot, and years later, he used the ideas to improve the design of the first steam engine. Another scientist whose observations changed the world was Edward Jenner. Back in the late 1700s, there was a terrible disease called smallpox. It killed many people and left many others with horrible injuries. It was an awful disease and there was no cure. Jenner wanted to do something to help fight the disease. One day he was watching some women working on a farm. The women were getting milk from the cows. While he was watching the women, Jenner had an idea. He knew that fewer people caught smallpox in the countryside than in the city. He also knew that people who worked with cows often caught a disease called cowpox. Cowpox was a less serious disease than smallpox. It made people ill, but didn't kill anybody. Jenner started to wonder if getting cowpox stopped people from getting smallpox. He decided to test his ideas with the help of a very brave boy called James Phipps. He took some cowpox disease and gave it to James. James caught cowpox and was ill, but got better soon afterwards. Then, Jenner gave James smallpox. Thankfully, James never developed the disease. Jenner's discovery was very important for two reasons. First, because Jenner discovered a way of stopping the spread of smallpox, and second, because he created the world's first vaccine. Since Jenner's discovery, vaccines have been used around the world and have saved millions of lives.

第八单元 第74页 阅读练习5 好奇的头脑 是什么造就了伟大的科学家？ 也许这是一项艰苦的工作，或者是对理解世界如何运作的兴趣？ 是的，这些事情很重要。 但许多科学家的一个共同点是，他们喜欢仔细观察世界。 无论是牛顿看着苹果从树上掉下来， 或者阿基米德看着水从浴缸里溢出来， 科学家们喜欢看着事情发生，然后开始思考“为什么？” 然后他们进行了更多的调查，他们的发现告诉我们更多关于我们生活的世界。 18世纪最伟大的两项发现正是以这种方式开始的。 1748年的一天，12岁的詹姆斯·瓦特坐在厨房里， 当他的阿姨开始在水壶里烧水时。 他正看着水壶沸腾，盖子开始上下跳动。 他对此很好奇，决定做实验。 他放下壶盖，注意到蒸汽从壶嘴冒出来。 当他把手移开时，盖子又开始动了。 詹姆斯意识到蒸汽有很大的力量。 这是一个他永远不会忘记的实验，几年后， 他利用这些想法改进了第一台蒸汽机的设计。 另一位改变世界的科学家是爱德华·詹纳。 早在18世纪末，就有一种叫做天花的可怕疾病。 它造成许多人死亡，许多人受重伤。 这是一种可怕的疾病，无法治愈。 詹纳想做点什么来帮助对抗这种疾病。 一天，他看到一些女人在农场干活。 女人们正在从奶牛身上挤奶。 当詹纳看着这些女人时，他想到了一个主意。 他知道农村感染天花的人比城市少。 他还知道，与奶牛一起工作的人经常感染一种名为牛痘的疾病。 牛痘是一种不如天花严重的疾病。 它让人生病，但没有杀死任何人。 詹纳开始怀疑牛痘是否能阻止人们感染天花。 他决定在一个名叫詹姆斯·菲普斯的非常勇敢的男孩的帮助下测试他的想法。 他得了牛痘，把它给了詹姆斯。 詹姆斯得了牛痘，病了，但不久就好了。 然后，詹纳给詹姆斯接种了天花。 幸运的是，詹姆斯从未患上这种疾病。 詹纳的发现非常重要，原因有二。 首先，因为詹纳发现了一种阻止天花传播的方法， 第二，因为他发明了世界上第一种疫苗。 自詹纳发现以来，疫苗已在世界各地使用，挽救了数百万人的生命。

Page 77 LISTENING exercise 8 and 9 OK, everyone, quiet now. So, today we're going to focus on the importance of science and how it helps us challenge the way we think about the world and helps us explain how it works. Over the years science has helped change many of the things that people have wrongly believed about the world. For example, as I'm sure you all know, many people used to think that our planet was the centre of the universe. Everybody believed that the sun, the stars and all the other planets moved around the Earth. It was something they believed in places as far apart as ancient Greece and China. You can understand why they thought that by simply looking up at the night sky. We seem to be in the middle of it all. It wasn't until the sixteenth century when people like Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler discovered that the sun was the centre of our universe. OK. So, what other things did people use to believe that we now know aren't true? Yes, Jessica. Did people use to believe that the Earth was flat, too? Yes, they did. Thanks, Jessica. Sailors used to be afraid of sailing out too far into the sea. They thought they'd fall off the Earth and into space. And you can understand why when you look out to sea. One of the things that Christopher Columbus, the explorer, did was proving that the Earth was round. How did he do that? He sailed around the world and he didn't fall off into space! I mean, these things seem crazy to us today, but you have to remember, people didn't use to have all the scientific equipment we have these days. They had to make up their ideas about how things worked from what they could see around them. Paul. Have you got a question? What about alchemists? Are they another example? Yes, another very good example. Alchemists believed, among other things, that other metals could be turned into gold. It started in ancient Egypt where early scientists discovered you could take a substance, sand for example, and turn into another completely different one – glass in the case of sand. This led to people believing there was a way of changing almost anything into something else. In those days, gold was a symbol of great wealth and that's why so many people wanted the alchemists to be right. Yes, Daniel. So do you think we now know everything there is to know about the world? No, Daniel. Not at all. Our understanding of the world is changing all the time. Just because we believe something is true these days doesn't mean it definitely is. Maybe one day people will look back at the things we believed and have a good laugh about us. Page 77 PRONUNCIATION exercise 1 Hello, Stewart! How are you? You used to be one of my best students! Hello, Mrs Jones. I'm studying music and computing at university now. Music and computing! Isn't that an unusual combination? Not really, in the future I'd like to write music programs for computers. It's really new technology and very exciting. Page 77 PRONUNCIATION exercise 3 Hello, Stewart! How are you? You used to be one of my best students! Hello, Mrs Jones. I'm studying music and computing at university now. Music and computing! Isn't that an unusual combination? Not really, in the future I'd like to write music programs for computers. It's really new technology and very exciting.

第77页 听力练习8和9 好了，大家安静点。 所以，今天我们将重点介绍科学的重要性 以及它如何帮助我们挑战我们看待世界的方式，并帮助我们解释它是如何运作的。 多年来，科学帮助改变了人们对世界的许多错误看法。 例如，我相信你们都知道，许多人过去认为我们的星球是宇宙的中心。 每个人都相信太阳、恒星和所有其他行星都围绕地球运动。 在遥远的古希腊和中国，他们都相信这一点。 你可以通过简单地仰望夜空来理解他们为什么这么想。 我们似乎正处在这一切之中。 直到十六世纪，哥白尼这样的人， 伽利略和开普勒发现太阳是我们宇宙的中心。 好的。那么，人们过去还相信哪些我们现在知道不是真的事情呢？是的，杰西卡。 人们过去也相信地球是平的吗？ 是的，他们做到了。谢谢，杰西卡。 水手们过去害怕出海太远。 他们以为自己会从地球上掉到太空。 当你眺望大海时，你会明白为什么。 探险家克里斯托弗·哥伦布所做的一件事就是证明地球是圆的。 他是怎么做到的？他环游世界，没有掉进太空！ 我的意思是，今天这些事情对我们来说似乎很疯狂， 但你必须记住，人们过去没有我们现在拥有的所有科学设备。 他们必须根据周围的情况来编造他们对事物如何运作的想法。 保罗。你有问题吗？ 炼金术士呢？他们是另一个例子吗？ 是的，另一个很好的例子。 炼金术士相信，除其他外，其他金属也可以变成黄金。 它始于古埃及，早期科学家发现你可以拿一种物质，比如沙子， 然后变成另一个完全不同的东西——沙子里的玻璃。 这导致人们相信有一种方法可以将几乎任何东西变成其他东西。 在那些日子里，黄金是巨大财富的象征 这就是为什么这么多人希望炼金术士是对的。 是的，丹尼尔。那么，你认为我们现在知道关于世界的一切了吗？ 不，丹尼尔。一点也不。我们对世界的理解一直在变化。 仅仅因为我们现在相信某事是真的，并不意味着它一定是真的。 也许有一天，人们会回顾我们所相信的事情，并对我们开怀大笑。 第77页 拨款练习1 你好，斯图尔特！你好吗 你曾经是我最好的学生之一！ 你好，琼斯夫人。我现在在大学学习音乐和计算机。 音乐和电脑！这难道不是一个不同寻常的组合吗？ 不是真的，将来我想为电脑写音乐程序。 这确实是一项新技术，非常令人兴奋。 第77页 拨款练习3 你好，斯图尔特！你好吗 你曾经是我最好的学生之一！ 你好，琼斯夫人。我现在在大学学习音乐和计算机。 音乐和电脑！这难道不是一个不同寻常的组合吗？ 不是真的，将来我想为电脑写音乐程序。 这确实是一项新技术，非常令人兴奋。

Page 78 READING exercise 4 We asked you, our readers, 'What invention or discovery would make your life better?' Here are some of your answers. A clone. If I had a clone of myself, I would have so much more time. I'd send my clone to do all the boring stuff I don't like doing. He would take all my exams and he would wait in all those long boring queues for me. That would leave me more time to do the things I really want to do. Oliver I wish someone would find a way to stop me feeling tired in the mornings. It doesn't matter what time I go to bed, I never want to get out of bed the next morning, even at the weekends when I don't have to get up early for school. I'd stay in bed until the afternoon if I could. Life without an alarm clock – that would be perfect! Eve I wish I had a super-quick travel machine like they have in the Star Trek films. You know what I mean, a machine that could transport me anywhere in the world in seconds. So, imagine you're in one place. You enter some coordinates into the machine and two seconds later you're there. For example, you could have breakfast in Italy, visit the Amazon in the morning and spend the afternoon at the South Pole. If there was a machine like that, I'd visit the whole world. Matthew I want to be a scientist when I grow up, so the thing that I would like most is a huge laboratory underneath my house. A secret one that only I knew about. Down there I'd do lots of research and experiments. Then I would invent lots of different things that would make peoples' lives better, like cures for diseases. If anyone can help make my dream come true, please get in touch. Aimee

第78页 阅读练习4 我们问你们，我们的读者，“什么发明或发现会让你的生活变得更好？” 以下是你的一些答案。 克隆。如果我有一个克隆人，我会有更多的时间。 我会让我的克隆人做我不喜欢做的所有无聊的事情。 他会参加我所有的考试，他会在那些无聊的长队里等我。 这会让我有更多的时间去做我真正想做的事情。奥利弗 我希望有人能找到一种方法来阻止我早上感到疲倦。 我什么时候睡觉都没关系， 我永远不想第二天早上起床， 即使在周末，我也不必早起上学。 如果可以的话，我会一直睡到下午。 没有闹钟的生活——那太完美了！夏娃 我希望我有一台像《星际迷航》电影中那样的超快速旅行机。 你知道我的意思，一台可以在几秒钟内把我送到世界任何地方的机器。 想象一下，你在一个地方。 你在机器上输入一些坐标，两秒钟后你就到了。 例如，你可以在意大利吃早餐， 上午参观亚马逊，下午在南极度过。 如果有这样的机器，我会环游世界。马太 我长大后想成为一名科学家，所以我最想做的就是在房子下面建一个巨大的实验室。 一个只有我知道的秘密。 在那里，我会做很多研究和实验。 然后我会发明很多不同的东西，让人们的生活变得更好，比如治疗疾病。 如果有人能帮助我实现梦想，请联系我。女子名

Page 80 Culture exercise 2 AMAZING INVENTIONS FROM ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS Throughout history, humankind has progressed thanks to amazing inventions and discoveries. Some of the inventions we use in our everyday life are a lot older than you might think. Here are four of them. 1 Nanotechnology – Ancient Italy The Lycurgus Cup is a beautifully decorated glass cup that was made in Italy in the fourth century. For years, it confused scientists because it seems to change colour. When light shines through it from the front, it looks green, but when it shines from the back, it appears red. In the 1990s, scientists looked at the glass under a microscope. They discovered something amazing. Whoever had made the glass had used tiny pieces of gold and silver. Some of these pieces measured 50 nanometres across – about one – thousandth the size of a piece of salt. It is these tiny pieces that make the cup change colour. The Lycurgus Cup shows that the ancient Romans were using nanotechnology more than 1,600 years ago. 2 Earthquake detector – Ancient China More than 2,000 years ago, an inventor called Zhang Heng built the world's first earthquake detector. The machine was a large metal vase on which there were eight dragon heads. The dragons marked the eight points of a compass, and each one had a metal ball in its mouth. Below each dragon head, there was a metal frog. When the machine detected tremors in the earth, one of the dragons (facing in the direction of the tremor) would drop its ball into the mouth of the frog that sat below it. This made a loud noise that warmed people of the earthquake. The machine could detect earthquakes hundreds of kilometres away. 3 Electricity – Iraq In 1936, during some excavations in an ancient village near Baghdad, an archaeologist found some unusual clay pots. The pots were more than 2,000 years old. Hanging inside each pot was a copper cylinder and inside this cylinder was a piece of iron. Nobody knew why somebody had made these pots with metal inside, but the archaeologist thought that they could be some sort of early battery. A few years later American scientists made copies of the pots. They discovered that the original theory was right: they could make electricity. But why? What did people use this electricity for? That is the great mystery of this discovery. 4 The calendar – Ancient Scotland Very early calendars from ancient civilizations have been found in many countries around the world. But archaeologists believe that they have discovered a calendar in Scotland that is 10,000 years old. It was made by Stone Age Britons, who used it from 8000 BCE to 4000 BCE. The calendar was made of 12 pits dug into the ground. The pits represented the months of the year and were laid out in a long line that was 50 metres long. The Ancient Britons would measure time using the sun and the moon. This ancient calendar used both to keep track of the days, weeks and months of the year.

第80页 文化练习2 古代文明的惊人发明 纵观历史，人类的进步得益于惊人的发明和发现。 我们日常生活中使用的一些发明比你想象的要古老得多。 这里有四个。 1纳米技术——古代意大利 莱库格斯杯是一个装饰精美的玻璃杯，于四世纪在意大利制造。 多年来，它让科学家们感到困惑，因为它似乎会变色。 当光线从正面穿过它时，它看起来是绿色的， 但当它从背面发光时，它看起来是红色的。 在20世纪90年代，科学家们在显微镜下观察玻璃。 他们发现了一些惊人的东西。 制作玻璃的人使用了小块的金银。 其中一些碎片的直径为50纳米，大约是一块盐的千分之一。 正是这些小碎片使杯子变色。 利库格斯杯表明，古罗马人在1600多年前就使用了纳米技术。 2地震探测器——中国古代 2000多年前，一位名叫张衡的发明家建造了世界上第一台地震探测器。 这台机器是一个巨大的金属花瓶，上面有八个龙头。 龙标记了指南针的八个点，每个点嘴里都有一个金属球。 在每一个龙头下面，都有一只金属青蛙。 当机器检测到地球震动时， 其中一条龙（面向震颤的方向） 会把球掉到坐在它下面的青蛙嘴里。 这一声巨响使人们对地震感到温暖。 这台机器可以探测到数百公里外的地震。 3电力-伊拉克 1936年，在巴格达附近的一个古村落进行挖掘时，一位考古学家发现了一些不同寻常的陶罐。 这些花盆已有2000多年的历史。 每个罐子里都挂着一个铜圆柱体，圆柱体里有一块铁。 没人知道为什么有人会用金属做这些罐子， 但考古学家认为它们可能是某种早期的电池。 几年后，美国科学家复制了这些罐子。 他们发现最初的理论是正确的：他们可以发电。 但是为什么呢？人们用这些电干什么？ 这就是这一发现的最大奥秘。 4日历-古苏格兰 世界上许多国家都发现了古代文明的早期历法。 但考古学家相信，他们在苏格兰发现了一个有1万年历史的日历。 它是由石器时代的英国人制作的，他们从公元前8000年到公元前4000年使用它。 日历是由12个挖在地上的坑组成的。 这些坑代表了一年中的几个月，排列成一条50米长的长线。 古代英国人会用太阳和月亮来测量时间。 这个古老的日历用来记录一年中的日、周和月。

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