高中课文 高中英语必修2

高中课文 高中英语必修2 Unit1 Cultural relics 1.In Search of the Amber Room Frederick William I，the King of Prussia，could never have imagined that his greatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history This gift was the Amber Room，which was giventhis name because several tons of amber were used to make it The amber which was selected had a beautiful yellow—brown colour like honey The design of the room was in the fancy style popular in those days It was also a treasure decorated with gold and jewels(which took the cogntry's best artists about ten years to make. In fact,the room was not made to be a gift.It was designed for the palace of fredeick I.However, the nexl King of Prussia(Frederick William I(to whom the amber room belonged，decided not to keep it In 1716 he gave it to Peterthe Great(In return，the Czar sent him a troop of his best soldiers So the Amber Room became part of the Czar?s winter palace in St Petersburg .About four metres long the room served as a small reception hall for important visitors Later,Catherine II had the Amber Room moved to a palace outside St Petersburg where she spent her summers.She told her artists to add more details to it In 1770 the room was completed the way she wanted. A1most six hundred candles 1it the room，and its mirrors and pictures shone like gold .Sadly，although the Amber Room was considered one of the wonders of the world,it is now missing. In Septemberl941，the Nazi army was near St Petersburg.This was a time when the two countries were at war.Before the Nazis could get to the summer palace，the Russians were able to remove some furniture and small an objects from the Amber Room However,some of the Nazis secretly stole the— room itself(In less than two days 100，000 pieces were put inside twenty— seven wooden boxes There is no doubt that the boxes were then put on a train for Konigsberg， which was at that time a German city on the Baltic Sea After that，what happened to the Amber Room remains a mystery. Recently，the Russians and Germans have built a new Amber Room at the summer palace By studying old photos of the former Amber Room，they have made the new one look like the old one In 2003 it was ready for the people of St Petersburg when they celebrated the 300th birthday of their city. 2. Read this passage and think about the difference between a fact and an opinion( A FACT OR AN OPINION? What is a fact? is it something that people betieve?No.A fact is anything that can be proved For example(it can be,proved that China has more people than any other country in the world This is a fact..Then what is an opinion?An opinion is what someone believes is true but has not been proved So an opinion is not good evidence in a trial.For example,it is an opininon if you say "Cats are better pets than dogs".It may be true，but it is difficult to prove Some people may not agree with this.opinion but they also cannot prove that they are right. In a tria1l(a iudge must declde which cvewimesses to believe and which not to believe The judge do as not consider what each eyewitness looks like or where that person lives or works. he/she only cares about whether the eyewitness has given true information，which must be facts rather than opinions.This kind of information is called evidence. Unit2 The Olympic Games 1. Pausanias，who was a Greek writer about 2，000 years ago，has come oil a magical journey on March 18th，2007 to find out about the present-day Olympic Game. He is 1tow interviewing Li Yan，a volunteer for the 2008 Olympic Games. p: My name is Pausanias I lived in what you call„'Ancient Greece”and I used to write about the Olympic Games a long time ago I?ve come to your time to find out about the present-day Olympic Games because I know that in 2004 they were held in my homeland May I ask you some questions about the modem Olympics? L:Good heavens!Have you really comefrom solong ago?But of course you carl ask any questions you like What would you like to know? p: How often do you hold your Games? L:Every four years.There are two main sets of Games-the Winter and the Summer Olympics,and both are held every four years on a regular basis.The Winter Olympics are usually held two years before the Summer Games(Only athletes who have reached the agreed standard for their event will be admitted as competitors They may come from anywhere in the world. P:WinterGames?How can the runners enjoy competing in winler?And what about the horses? L:Oh no!There are no running races or horse tiding events. Instead there are competitions like skiing and ice skating which need snow advice That?s why they?re called the Winter Olympics. It?s in the Summer Olympics that you have the running races，together with swimming salling and all the team sports. p:I see.Earlier you said that athletes are invited from all over the world. Do you mean the Greek world?Our Greek cities used to compete against each other just for the honour of winning.No other countries couldjoinin，nor could slaves or women! L:Nowadays any country can take part iftheir athletes are good enough There are over 250 spots and each one has its own standard Women are not only allowed，but play a very important role in gymnastics,athletics,team sports and... P:Please wait a minute!All those events，all those countries and even women taking part!Where are all the athletes housed? L: For each Olympics，a special village is built for them t0 live in，a main reception building， several stadiums for competitions，and a gymnasium as well. p:That sounds very expensive.Does anyone want to host the Olympic Games? L:As amatteroffact，every country wants the opportunity.It?s a great responsibillty but also a great honour to be chosen There?s as much competition among countries to host the Olympics as to win Olympic medals(The 2008 Olympics will be held in Beijing, China Did you know that? p:Oh yes!You must be very proud. L:Certainly(And after that the 2012 0lympics will be held in London They have already started planning for it.A new village for the athletes and all the stadiums will be built to the east of London.New medals will be designed ofcourse and... p:Did you say medals?So even the olive wreath has been replaced!Oh dear!Do you compete for prize money too? L:No，we don’t It’s still all about being able t0 rnn faster,jump higher and throw further(That’ s the motto of the Olympics，you know一“Swifter，Higher and Stronger”. p:Well，that's good news.How interesting!Thank you so much for your time. 2.The story off Atlanta Atlanta was a Greek princess.She was very beautiful and could run faster than any man in Qreece But she was not allowed to run and win glory for herself in the Olympic Games.She was so angry that she said to her father that she would not marry anyone who could not run faster than her(Her father said that she must marry，so Atlanta made a bargain with him.She said to him，“These are my rules.When a man says he wants to marry me，1 will run against him.If he cannot run as fast as me，he will be killed No one will be pardoned” Many kings and princes wanted to marry Atlanta,but when they heard of her roles they knew it was hopeless So many of them sadly went home，but others stayed to run the race There was a mall called Hippomenes who was amazed when he heard of Atlanta’s rules‘'Why are these men so foolish?’he thought(“Why will they let themselves be killed because they cannot run as fast asthis princess?”However,when he saw Aflanm come out of her house t0 run,Hippomenes changed his mind“1 will marry Atlanta—or die!”he said. The race staaed and aithough the men ran very fast，Atlanta ran faster(As Hippomenes watched He thought(“How canIfull asfast asAtlanla?”He went to ask the Greek Goddess of Love for help. She promised to help him and gave him three golden apples She said，“Throw an apple in front of Atlanta when she is running past(When she stops to pick it up，you will be able to nln past her and win”Hippomenes took the apples and went t0 the King.He said,“1 want to marry Atlanta”The King was sad to see another mall die，but Hippomenes said，“1 will malty her or die!”So the race began. Unit3 Who am I? Unit4 Wildlife protection 1.Daisy had always longed to help endangered species of wildlife.One day she woke up and found a flying carpet by herbed."where do you want to go?"lt asked(Daisy responded immediately“rd like to see some endangered wildlife，”she said“Please take me to a distant land where I can find the animal that gave fur to make this sweater(”At once the carpet flew awldy and took her to Tibet There Daisy saw an antelope sad It said(“We're being killed for the Wool beneath our stomachs.Our fur is being used to make sweaters for people like you.As a result，we are now an endangered species”.At that Daisy cried,"I'm sorry I didn't know that.I wonder what is being done to help you Flying carpet，please show me a place where there’s some wildlife protection(” The flying carpet travelled so fast that next minute they were in Zimbabwe.Daisy turned around and found that she was being watched by all elephant“Have you come to take my photo?”it asked? In relief Daisy burst into langter."Don?tlaugh,"said the elephant."We used to be an endangered species.Farmers hunted us without mercy.They said we destroyed their farills，and money from tourists only went to the large tour companies .So the government decided to help(They allowed tourists to hunt only a certain number of animals if they paid the farmers.Now the farmers are happy and our numbers are increasing.So good things are being done here to save local wildlife”. Daisy smiled."That’s good news.It shows the importance of wildlife protection，but I’d like to help as the WWF suggests.”The carpet rose again mad almost at once they were in a thick rainforest.A monkey watched them asit rnbbed itself("What are you doing?”asked Daisy" I m protecting myself from mosquitoes(”it replied“When I find a millipede insect，l rub it over my body It contains a powerful drug which affects mosquitoes.You should pay more attention tO the rainforest where I live and appreciate how the animals live together .No rainforest no animals(” Daisy was amazed“Flying carpet(please take me home so 1 can tell WWF and we can begin producing this new drug Monkey,please come and help”The monkey agreed(The carpet flew home As they landed，things began to disappear Two minutes later everything had gone-the monkey，too So Daisy was not able to make her new drug But what an experience!She had learned somuch!And there was always WWF… 2. Many animals have disappeared during the long history of the earth.The most famous of these animals are dinosaurs.They lived on the earth tens of mllions of years ago，long before humans came into being and their future seemed secure at that time nere weFe many different kinds of dinosaur and a nnmber of them used to live in China The eggs of twenty—five species have been found in Xixia County，Nanyang，Henan Province.Not long ago a rare new species of bird—like dinosaur was discovered in Chaoyang County Liaoning Province.When scientists insneeted the bones(they were surprised to find that these dinosaurs could not only run like the others but also climb trees.They learned this from the Way the bones were j0ined together( Dinosaurs died out suddenly about 65 million years ago Some scientists think it came after an unexpected incident when a huge rock from space hit he earth and put too much dust into the air. Others fhink the earth got too hot for the dlnosaurs t0 live on any more Nobody knows for sure WhyAnd how dinosaurs disappeared from the earth in such a short time. We know many other wild plants,animals,insects andbirdshavediedoutmore recently(According to N report,some 844 animals and plants have disappeared in the last 500 years.The dodo is one of them.It lived on the Island of Maurititus and was a very friendly animal.Please listen to a story of the dodo and how it disappeared from the earth. Unit5 Music 1. The band that wasn’t Have you ever wanted to be part of a band as a famous singer or musician? Have you ever dreamed of playing.In front of thousands of people at a concert，at which everyone is clapping and appreciating your music?Do you sing karaoke and pretend you are a famous singer like Song Zuying or Liu Huan?To be honest，a lot of people attach great importance to becoming rich and famous.But iust how do people get to form a band? Many musicians meet and form a band because they like to write and play their own music.They may start as agroup of high-school students,for whom practising their music in someone's house is the first step to fame.Sometimes they may play to passers-by in the street or subway so that they can eam some extra money for themselves or to pay for their instruments.Later they may give performanees in pubs or clubs，for which they are paidin cash.Of course they hope to make records in a studio and seIl millions of copies to become millionaires! However, there was one band that started in a different way(It was called the Monkees and began as a TV show(The musicians were to play jokes on each other as well as play music，most of which was based loosely on the Beatles(The TV organizers had planned to find four musicians who could act as well as sing They put all advertisement in a newspaper looking for rock musicians，but they could only find one who was good enough.They had to use actors for the other three members of the band. As some of these actors could not sing well enough，they had to rely on other musicians to help them.So during the broadcasts they just pretended to sing Anyhow their performances were humorous enough to be copied by other groups.They were so popular that their fans formed clubs in order to get more familiar with them Each week on TV,the Monkees would play and sing songs written by other musicians However,after a year or so in which they became more serious about their work，the Monkees started to play and sing their own songs like a real band Then they produced their own records and started touring and playing their own music In the USA they became even more popular than the Beatles and sold even more records.The band broke up about 1970,but happily they reunited in the mid一1980s.They produced a new record in 1996，with which they celebrated their former time as a real band.