Is There Life on Earth?

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Unit 1

• Is There Life on Earth?

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About the writer

• Art Buchwald (1925- ) well-known humor
  columnist for the Washington Post.

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• It is a humorous essay. But after reading it you
  will surely find that the author is most serious
  in writing it.
• Why?

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Contents

• Pre-activities Planets in the Solar System
• Text Reading What are these?
• Comprehension Questions
• Language Learning
• Post-activities Writing

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Planets in the Solar System

• ?? Sol (or the Sun)
• ?? Mercury
• ?? Venus
• ?? Terra (or the Earth)
• ?? Mars
• ?? Jupiter
• ?? Saturn
• ??? Uranus
• ??? Neptune
• ??? Pluto

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What are these?

• the Venus Institute of Technology
• the Venus Evening Star
• Venus Beings
• The Grubstart
• zilches
• the flying saucer

• the area of Manhattan
• the Consolidated Edison Belt
• something that looks like a river
• metal particles
• stalagmite projections
• granite formations

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• Manhattan the commercial and cultural center of
  New York City, famous for its all buildings and
  theaters.

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• Consolidated Edison Belt Ther is a radiation
  zone encircling the earth, called the Van Allen
  Belt. Consolidated Edison is the company that
  makes and supplies electricity for much of
  eastern New York State. They burn a lot of coal,
  which makes air polluted.

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• Grubstart In American English there is a word
  grubstake, which means money supplied to a
  prospector on the condition of sharing in
  whatever he finds. Here the author has changed
  grubstake into Grubstart to mean a supposed
  government agency in charge of supplying funds to
  scientific research programs.

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• Zlich zlich is a slang word meaning zero or
  nothing. In our text it is used as if it were a
  monetary unit such aas yuan or dollar. A native
  speaker would immediately see the humor in
  spending billions and billions of nothings.

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Comprehension Questions

• Where did the story take place?
• What were the people doing and talking about?
• What are the questions from the reporters and
  what are the answers to the questions from the
  scientists?

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• Sum up briefly the various dangers that a Venus
  Being might encounter if sent onto Earth.
• After reading the story, is it humorous to you?
  What do you think is the authors purpose of
  writing the story?
• What will you do to help protect our environment
  from being seriously polluted?

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• This is a humorous and satirical essay, and yet
  the author is most serious in his intention. Art
  Buchwald tells us that Venusians are researching
  the human being and trying to explore the
  possibility of life on Earth. Venusian scientist
  have come to the conclusion, based on their
  satellite findings, that there is no life on
  Earth.

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• The authors aim is to bring our attention to the
  fact that man has polluted the environment to
  such a degree that he might destroy himself in
  the end, unless he takes effective measures.

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Reading Alound and Memorizing

• There was great excitement on the planet of Venus
  this week. For the first time Venusian scientists
  managed to land a satellite on the planet Earth,
  and it has been sending back signals as well as.
  photographs ever since.

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Reading Alound and Memorizing

• The satellite was directed into an area known as
  Manhattan (named after the great Venusian
  astronomer Prof. Manhattan, who first discovered
  it with his telescope 20,000 light years ago).

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Reading Alound and Memorizing

• Because of excellent weather conditions and
  extremely strong signals, Venusian scientists
  were able to get valuable information as to the
  feasibility of a manned flying saucer landing on
  Earth. A press conference was held at the Venus
  Institute of Technology.

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Language Learning

• manage signal as well as
• name after as to feasibility
• base on compose survive
• as far as be concerned
• originally hazard indicate
• unfit add to crashsmash
• set back proceed spend

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manage (to do sth.)

• succeed in handling sth. with an effort
• The little boy managed to climb up on the stair.
• He managed not to be angry no matter what she
  said.

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signal n./v.

• send out/back a signal
• a smoke/ turn (traffic)/ fire/ storm signal
• v. send a signal or signals to
• The chairman signaled silence to the audience.
• Sailors signal SOS (for help) by flags.
• The teacher signaled us to come closer.

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as well as

• in addition to, besides both and
• as well as??????,???????????
• He grows vegetables as well as flowers in his
  garden.
• She is a talented writer as well as a politician.

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name after

• give the same name of
• The Hudson River is named after the English
  explorer Henry Hudson.
• Our eldest son was named George after his uncle.

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as to

• about concerning
• I have no more suggestion as to the project.
• He has no complaint as to his position and
  salary.
• as to ?as for ????????,???????????????as
  to ??????????? as for
• As to the matter you just mentioned, we are in
  complete agreement.
• Much of the land is under water and as for the
  grain, most has been ruined.

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feasibility n.

• possibility of being carried out or done
• The feasibility of the program is being discussed
  by the committee.
• A feasibility study is required before the bank
  agrees to finance a project.

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base on

• build or found on use as a basis for
• We should always base our opinions on facts.
• The book is based on something that really
  happened.

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compose vt.

• (of parts or elements of sth.) to form a whole
• England, Scotland and Wales compose the island of
  the United Kingdom.
• be composed of be made up of ???/??
• The water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen.
• The committee was mainly composed of teachers and
  parents

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survive v.

• vi. remain alive continue to live or exist
  ???,??
• According to the Theory of Evolution, only the
  fittest animals survive.
• I cant survive on 100 yuan a month.
• vt. 1) remain alive ???
• Few buildings survived the earthquake.
• The old lady of 80 survived the operation.
• 2) live long than ????
• In a typical family, the wife usually survives
  the husband by 5 years or longer.

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as far as be concerned

• as for in respect of
• As far as you are concerned, you should put all
  your heart in study.
• As far as work is concerned, I always try my best.

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concern v./n.

• be of great concern
• The situation is of great concern to us all.
• concern about/over
• He was much concerned over his son.
• be concerned in/with
• He couldnt prove that he was not concerned with
  the case.
• concerning prep./conj.
• Concerning your application letter, Im pleased
  to inform you for an interview.
• concerned adj.
• concerned look, trying to sound concerned
• Everyone concerned should be informed.

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indicate v.

• show
• Ancient Chinese officials would take up the
  teacup to indicate that it was time for guests to
  leave.
• Early results of the election indicate that the
  Prime Minister will soon lose his job.

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unfit a.

• be unfit to do sth. be not suitable to do sth.
  
• She is so young that it is unfit for her to live
  by herself.
• be unfit for sth. be not suitable for sth./
  doing sth.
• He is unfit for a job as a teacher because of his
  impatience.
• Note It is a. to do sth.

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add to

• put sth. to sth. else to increase or strengthen
• This adds to our difficulties/ information.
• The music added to our enjoyment.
• The word is added to the sentence to give
  vividness.

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crash smash

• crash fall or strike suddenly, violently and
  noisily
• The fighter plane crashed to the ground after
  being hit by enemy gunfire.
• A strong wind came and the empty vase crashed to
  the floor.
• smash (cause to) break into pieces violently
• He was extremely angry at her words, so he
  smashed everything within reach.
• Tom keeps smashing neighbors windows when he
  plays football in the alley.

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set back

• cause to put off or get behind schedule reverse
  the progress of
• Bad weather set back the construction of the
  building by one month.
• We shall set our clocks back by one hour when
  summer ends.

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proceed vi.

• continue after having stopped
• He waited for the applause to die down and
  proceeded with his speech.
• After the break, we will proceed to discuss the
  problem of the pollution.

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spend v.

• spend on sth. / in doing sth.
• spend to do sth. (inf.???)
• The boy doesnt spend much time on his homework.
• Why are we spending such a great effort to help
  him?

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Words to Drill

• atmosphere
• deadly
• hazard
• signal

• compose
• emit
• indicate
• smash

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Words to Drill

• conclusion
• extremely
• originally
• survive
• conference
• feasibility

• pollute
• type
• crash
• fund
• proceed
• unfit

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Phrases Expressions

• (be) known as also publicly called named
• name after give the same name as
• as to about, concerning
• base on / upon use as a basis or fuondation for
• ----This novel is based on a true story.

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Phrases Expressions

• for one thing(for another) in the first
  place(in the second place)
• be composed of have as members or parts
• ---Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen.
• ??Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen.

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Phrases Expressions

• as far as be concerned to the degree that it
  matters to
• stick up stand upright project
• ----His hair has stuck up straight with fright.
• give off emit send out
• set back delay the advance or development of

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Study Practice---Vocabulary

• notice or pay attention to
• notice ????,???????????
• pa attention to ???????,??

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Study Practice---Vocabulary

• notice or pay attention to
• Eg.1 On the way home from the party Nancy asked
  her mother if she had noticed anything strange in
  the way the hostess behaved.
• Eg.2 Obviously too much attention has been paid
  to the details.

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Study Practice---Vocabulary

• spend or pay or cost
• spend ? pay ???????
• spend money /time on something / somebody
• spend money /time doing

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Study Practice---Vocabulary

• spend or pay or cost
• payfor something
• pay somebody to do something
• cost ?? it ??????
• cost money /timeto do something

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Study Practice---Vocabulary

• spend or pay or cost
• eg.1 Peters aunt is used to a simple way of
  living. No wonder she doesnt spend so much money
  on food or clothing.
• eg.2 It goes without saying that everyone has to
  pay to get into the cinema.
• eg.3 Does it cost a lot to have the recorder
  repaired?

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Writing

• Skill Coherence
• Coherence is one of the most important elements
  in paragraph writing, which requires that each
  sentence in a paragraph lead naturally and
  logically to the next in explaining the central
  idea.

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Writing

• Write a paragraph of 120-150 words about why the
  Venusian scientists conclude there is no life on
  Earth. Consider the following points before
  writing
• signals and photographs sent back by the
  satellite
• the earths surface
• the atmosphere
• the Consolidated Edison Belt
• the water
• Also you are required to include the given
  connectives
• for one thing , for another also finally