Unit Ten: The Fantastic Spurt in Technology

1
Unit Ten The Fantastic Spurt in Technology

• Before we study the text, please think about the
  following questions
• What does technology mean to you?
• What changes have been brought into life with
  technology?
• How much do you know about the development of
  technology?

2
Warm-up activity

• Please read the background information on the
  CD-ROM.
• Go over the first two paragraphs quickly and
  answer the following questions
• What images does the term technology conjure up
  to most people?
• What is the classic symbol of technology?
• How does the author think of this symbol?
• Why does the author think that way?
• What does Toffler think technology includes?
• What would be the new symbols for the technology
  today?
• Whats the main idea of these two paragraphs?

3
While-reading exercises

• Read through the text again and do comprehension
  exercise on P53.
• Please think about the following questions
• What links Henry Ford and Charlie Chaplin
  together?
• Whats the authors purpose in giving a brief
  account of the progress in transportation?
• Why does the author put distances traveled,
  altitudes reached, or minerals mined together?
  What does he really want to say?
• How does technology feed on itself and form a
  self-reinforcing cycle?
• How do you understand 90 percent of all the
  scientists who ever lived are now alive?
• What is implied by the statement that the time
  between idea and application has been radically
  reduced?

4
While-reading exercises

• 3. What is the style of the text? Is it
  well-organized? Why?
• Part I (para1-2) old symbols of technology are
  changed to catch up with the quickening changes
  in technology.
• a old symbols (inadequate and misleading) ---
  smoky mills noisy machines assembly lines
• b acceleration of technology
• Part II (para3-6) an example in transportation
  --- accelerative trend
• From the camel caravan (8mph) to steam locomotive
  (13mph) millions of years
• From advanced steam locom (100mph) to airplane
  (400mph) 58 years
• From rocket planes (4000mph) to space capsules
  (18000mph) 20 years (a fantastic spurt forward
  in our times)
• Part III (para7-11) reasons --- technology feeds
  on itself (the whole cycle is accelerating
  further because the time between each step is
  shortened.)

5
While-reading exercises

• 4. Please find the corresponding English
  expressions.
• 5. Language points

6

• English
• A fantastic spurt
• Conjure up
• Classic representation
• Major changes
• Agricultural methods
• Technological progress
• Breed fish
• Plant forest
• Space technology
• Carry out simple repetitive functions
• Be outdated
• Catch up with the quickening changes
• It is pointed out that
• The maximum / top speed
• Exceed the limits / bursting of the limits
• Flick of time
• Self-reinforcing cycle
• Diffusion / sweep through the society

• Chinese
• ?????????
• ???
• ????
• ????
• ????
• ????
• ??
• ????
• ????
• ?????????
• ??
• ?????????
• ????
• ????
• ????
• ????
• ???????
• ??????

7

• Chinese
• ???
• ????
• ?????
• ?????
• ???????
• ??????
• ????
• ???
• ?????
• ????
• ????
• ???
• ????
• ?????????
• ????
• ????
• ?????
• ?????

• English
• In turn
• As frequently noted
• Bring to the market
• Put the new ideas to work
• With the passage of time
• All sorts of social devices
• Peak production
• Show business
• A brief account of
• Attain the record
• Space capsules
• Explosive power
• Statistical series
• A striking difference between
• Technological innovation
• Practical application
• Embody the new idea
• Generate some new idea

8
Language points

• Apply bring or put into use
• ?????????????,?????????????????
• By getting the students involved in a variety of
  activities, the English teachers expect them to
  apply and improve their language skills.
• Trans.6
• If you apply for a job, you should be ready for
  an interview in which you often have to answer
  some difficult questions.

9
characteristictypical showing a persons or
things usual feature

• Do you believe that greed and dishonesty are
  characteristic of all businessmen?
• ?????????????????
• The wide use of computers is characteristic of
  the Information Age.
• Useful collocations
• be of sb. / sth. ?????
• It is of sb. to do sth. ???????
• a/an distinctive/marked/outstanding ?????
• a unique ???????
• facial / physical / national ??/??/????

10
accounta written or spoken report description

• He gave us a detailed / an oral account of what
  had happened a week before.
• Trans.1
• In fact, there are different accounts of the
  shipwreck in the newspaper.
• Useful collocations
• give an of sth. ??,??
• a detailed/full/first-hand ??/?????????
• eyewitness/ newspaper ???/???????
• keep / collect ?????
• open / close an ???/??
• a current / deposit ??/????
• take sth. into ??
• on of ??
• on no ??

11
averageadjective noun verb

• covering eight miles per hour on the average
• with an average of eight miles per hour
• covering an average of eight miles per hour
• ???80??,?????????????4???
• Though nearly 80, the artist still averages 4
  hours of work a day.
• still works an average of 4 hours a day.
• still works 4 hours a day on the average.
• ???????????19??
• The average age of the students in this class is
  19.
• Useful collocations
• above / below average
• on (the / an) average

12
feed on

• 1) take as food
• Cows feed on grass but what they produce is
  milk.
• 2) get support from
• Technology feeds on itself.
• ???????????
• Rumor feeds on ignorance and superstition.

13
embodyexpress represent

• Dr. Browns latest book embodies all his new
  ideas on education.
• ????????????????????
• The artist embodies his love of nature in his
  work.
• Trans.4
• Kong Fansen embodies all the fine qualities of a
  communist.

14
accelerate(cause to) move faster

• ???????????????????
• The government has taken effective measures to
  accelerate the rate of economic growth.
• Please look for its synonyms in the text
• quicken hasten

15
Vocabulary File

• 1. speed
• full / maximum / top / astonishing / slow /
  steady / moderate / high
• raise / exceed / reach / approach / keep to /
  double the
• 2. Transportation
• air / bus / ground / surface / mass / public
• 3. Peak
• year / hours / output / production
• 4. Cycle
• an economic / a life / a business / a normal / a
  vicious

16

• Old words/expressions
• unbelievable / incredible
• Raise
• Quick progress / advance
• Remind of
• Use (n.)
• Use (v.)
• Typical over time
• Sign
• Old-fashioned
• Not enough
• Misguiding
• Speed up
• Take place happen
• Description
• Accessible
• Largest, most
• Go beyond
• Progress slowly

• New words/expressions
• Fantastic
• Breed
• Spurt
• Conjure up
• Function
• Apply / put to work
• Classic
• Symbol
• Outdated
• Inadequate
• Misleading
• Accelerate / hasten / quicken
• Occur
• Account
• Available
• Maximum
• Exceed
• Labor along

17

• New words/expressions
• Altitude
• Feed on
• Feasible
• Self-reinforcing
• Diffusion
• Loop
• Embody
• Generate
• Evidence
• Merely
• Striking
• Sweep through
• Peak
• Show business
• Likewise
• Astonishing
• Essential
• reduce

• Old words/expressions
• height
• Get support from, give support
• Practicable
• Self-strengthening
• Spread
• Circle
• Express
• Produce
• Proof
• Only
• Impressing
• Spread quickly over
• Highest point
• The entertainment industry
• In the same way
• Surprising, amazing
• Necessary
• Make less

18
Writing

• Title My View on High-tech
• 1.?????????
• 2???????????
• 3?????

19
Sample

• Nowadays anything of our world cannot work
  without high technology? But different people
  have different opinions on high-tech?
• Some people welcome any kind of high technology
  because they think technology can make our life
  more wonderful? People can build new machines
  that help people to do many things? Those
  machines can save manpower, can save out time,
  and make our work easier to perform? Also,
  high-tech can make our life more interesting? We
  can enjoy playing video and audio CDs, we can
  play computer games and we can have many other
  kinds of entertainment that come with high
  technology? In a word, high tech can bring us a
  new life?
• Other people hesitate to acknowledge the idea of
  high-tech because they think high-tech brings us
  not only wonderful life, but also many new
  problems? People build new arms that kill more
  people than before? Hackers steal secret
  information from the government through Internet
  and even modify it? Computers and Internet make
  many people stay in front of computers all days
  and not communicate with others in the world.
  Like all other things, though high-tech has many
  advantages, it has many shortcomings.
• My view is that we must welcome high-tech. We
  cant develop without it. But at the same time,
  we have to limit its disadvantages to the lowest
  level. We must make full use of its advantages
  and not be harmed by its disadvantages.