Unit6TheEnvironment

1 Worksheet 1 How to Be Comfortable Around Strangers Feeling uncomfortable being around people Can t stop being nervous Strange conversations shaky hands and being unable to look someone in the eye are all parts of feeling uncomfortable around strangers It s totally normal to be nervous around new people but it doesn t have to be Here are some tips for you Make a move Sometimes the hardest part is breaking the ice Then the rest is smooth sailing For example attempt to shake someone s hand first say hello to someone first or go up to someone and introduce yourself Smile Smiling helps break any nervousness between you and the person you re talking to Smiling with a twinkle in your eyes allows you to appear open and welcoming When you feel nervous smile and tell yourself it ll be okay Introduce yourself While going up to someone on the subway and introducing yourself may be a bit strange introducing yourself to someone at a party business or networking event is completely proper When you introduce yourself give a little information about yourself that is proper on that occasion For instance if you re at a party introduce yourself and say who you know If you re at a business or networking event introduce yourself and say what company or specialty you are in Express praise Generally people love to receive praise If you want to break the ice and make someone feel good you can express praise Keep your praise sincere and not fake in order to impress someone If you want to start a conversation you can follow up on your praise such as I really like your jacket Where did you get it or That s a great painting Did you paint it Problem Solutions Practice 1 Ways to Be More Efficient 2 Not all tasks of the day are inspiring fun or exciting But you still have to wash those dishes and take care of those routine tasks at work or in school So what can you do not to get lost in procrastination 拖延 I ll share how I do it how I get some motivation and find more pleasure in what may seem to be a boring task Instead of focusing your mind on how boring a task may feel focus your thoughts on why you are doing this and how good it will feel when you are done with it If needed sit down for a few minutes close your eyes and see in your mind Then go to work with that motivation and those positive feelings in your body Do it attentively When you sort papers do the laundry or do the dishes be fully there Focus 100 on just the work with all your senses how it feels looks and smells as you are scrubbing it and nothing else Don t get lost in daydreams If you are just there I have found that even such a simple task becomes more enjoyable and something that can bring inner calm rather than distress Make a deal with yourself and set a timer for 10 minutes It is often easier to do tasks like these in small bursts So make a deal with yourself to just spend 10 minutes on your reading or cleaning the house Set a kitchen timer and say to yourself that you only have to do this work for 10 minutes When the timer rings you can continue doing it if you feel like it this often happens to me because getting started is the hard part Or you can stop and go do something more interesting instead Create a pleasurable distraction If possible try to listen to the radio your favorite songs an audio book or watch a movie or TV episode while doing your boring task You don t always have to do just one thing at a time in silence I often listen to music or watch an episode of the Simpsons while doing the dishes or other routine work at home When you are done with your task then reward yourself Take a walk in the sun Move on to a more fun or creative task at work or in school Have a tasty treat This habit can make it easier to get started and to keep going each day Because you know that you can look forward to not just being done and the long term payoff from that but also your immediate reward right after you are finished 虹口区二模六选四 Graphic Organizer 3 2 The Washington Post printed a great article saying recycling is getting more expensive Although recycling companies used to earn big profits from their businesses most of them are currently operating at a loss What s changed Here are three big reasons that have made recycling more expensive The rates for recyclables are down Recycling companies used to make a good amount of profit by selling recycled goods The demand for these products has shrunk however as have the prices Paper for example sold to China for 1 000 per ton five years ago China is only willing to pay 400 for the same amount now There s no need to sort In the early days of recycling Americans had to divide their recycling I can remember my mother setting out separate containers for newspapers cans and plastics Nowadays however I m able to throw all of those things into my one recycling bin The bin is too large Over the years the bin also has grown significantly larger Again recycling companies correctly figured they d get more recyclables However with all that extra space boxes and the like fit easily into the bin without the effort Unfortunately that means the recycling companies need more labor adding to their costs It s worth noting that these downsides are all about the immediate financial hardships on recycling companies Considering the bigger picture recycling is still a smart investment in the environment Cause 1 Effect Cause 2 Cause 3 Practice 2 Now another American education icon may be disappearing the hardbound textbook More and more school districts are replacing traditional textbooks with electronic ones Electronic textbooks are usually accessed either through an online server or are downloaded to student laptops 4 In North Texas Plano and Irving schools are introducing e books into a few classrooms and Lancaster school officials also are considering them But no local district appears to be going as far as Forney The district most likely would be the first in the state to use e books in every classroom for grades five to twelve Officials point out several reasons for turning to e books For one they are easier to update Thus the publishers are able to find ways to do online textbooks and they can go back and change information Using e books will better prepare students for college and the workplace Rapid district growth is another reason The number of the students in the district is expected to double within five years It s difficult to know textbook needs in advance and some students wait months for their books But e books can be uploaded onto a blank laptop in a few hours Cost may eventually be a deciding cause for choosing e books but there are no big savings yet Even if they get it electronically they still have to pay for the book because they re buying the instructional material That may change as more and more districts move toward e books Today students have little trouble adjusting to laptops and e books said Connie Cooley who has taught at the Academy of Irving ISD for five years But she said it could worry teachers It s harder for people who are right around my age and older said Ms Cooley 36 I m laptop savvy so I was ready for it but those that aren t are a little worrying 松江区一模阅读理解题 Graphic Organizer 3 There are some distinct similarities between fast food and home cooked meals The first similarity is that they both provide a variety of choices There are a number of selections available in restaurants salads burgers sandwiches and more Similarly if the ingredients are available anything can be cooked in your own kitchen Another similarity is that each can be relatively inexpensive Fast food can be very cheap since many meals are under five dollars In the same way home cooked meals also can be reasonable especially if ingredients are carefully considered for the cost Thirdly both fast food and home cooked meals can be delicious We know that many people enjoy the taste of fast food because it is popular around the world Likewise home cooked meals can certainly be yummy if they are prepared just as you like them 5 Although there are a number of similarities there are several differences between fast food and home cooked meals The first difference is that fast food is generally more fattening since oil is frequently used in the cooking process In contrast the fat content can be controlled in home cooking Another important difference is the amount of time that each takes Fast food is obviously quick since menus are limited and a number of staff are involved in the preparation and cooking process However home cooked meals take longer to complete since one person is usually responsible for the entire meal The third difference is convenience Fast food is ready made and always available while home cooked meals are not instant Compare and Contrast Theme Similarities Differences Practice 3 Eating is an activity that we as humans do at least twice a day We decide what we are about to eat and how it will affect our bodies The purpose of this article is to compare the difference between eating fresh foods and eating canned foods The most notable difference between these two kinds of foods is their flavor Fresh foods have great flavor and taste because they keep all their natural conditions Canned foods however lack a lot of its flavor characteristics because there are some other chemical products added to the natural foods It is logical that the fresh foods will have a greater taste and flavor when consumed just because of the time in which they have been prepared Comparing both types of foods we notice another difference There is a health factor that affects both of them Canned foods lose some of the original fresh food nutrients when stored and also it has to be tinned with many conservatives and chemical factors that prolong the shelf life and apparent freshness of the food but could only become toxic when consumed too often Another difference is the cost Canned foods are much more expensive than fresh foods Here the benefit of buying tinned foods is that they are easier to find for example in a supermarket instead of market like the fresh foods and they require less work to prepare than fresh foods just open and serve 6 Whether to buy canned foods or fresh foods is a personal choice based on the time each person has the money and importance he she gives to nutrition and health Therefore it is important that you consider your possibilities and choose the best type of foods for your convenience and lifestyle Graphic Organizer Further Practice I Read the passage carefully Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box Each sentence can be used only once Note that there are two more sentences than you need A Women do many B The brain can think in the same time C Women ignore their advantages D Women take a less direct path to find a solution E Male brains have more connections on one side of the brain F She also gets a bottle of wine for drinks with friends A man enters a store to buy milk He walks out of the store with milk That is all milk At the same time a woman enters the same grocery store also to buy milk She buys it But she also buys chicken and lemons to make dinner that night Then she remembers to buy food for her son to eat at school 1 And that is the difference between the female and male brains simply explained in a grocery store Generally speaking men do one thing at a time 2 Doing many things at one time is often called multi tasking a very popular word these days Now scientific research supports this theory about male and female brains A recent study has confirmed what we have known all along men and women think differently 7 Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania studied brain images of 949 people aged from 8 to 22 years old 3 In the female brain they found more activity and connections between the right and left sides of the brain The left side of the brain is known as the side of reason The right side is known as the creative side Regina Verma is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania She co wrote the report She says when women are asked to do something difficult they might use different parts of the brain Men she adds generally use just one side of the brain As a result men generally deal directly with a problem There is a strong connection between the understanding and the action parts of their brains Women however might include other parts of the brain like the part connected with reason and the part connected with sensitivity when solving a problem 4 II Summarize the main idea and the main points of the passage in no more than 60 words Use your own words as far as possible Oceans under Threat People use oceans for trade travel tourism and recreation We also take food and resources from oceans All these activities can have harmful effects on the oceans and the creatures that live in them Overfishing and pollution are the most common problems Oceans link countries all over the world seawater circulates around the globe so what we do in one part of the ocean can affect another Overfishing In parts of the world fishing boats with huge nets sometimes take too many of the same species of fish from a small area causing some ocean waters to be overfished As a result there are not enough fish left to breed in these areas This affects other fish in the food chain and it affects people because there eventually may not be enough fish left to eat In some parts of the world limits have been set for the number of fish to be caught at one time Threats to Marine Life Some species of marine creatures are now rare because too many have been killed for food or sport Tropical islands and coasts with coral reefs also attract large numbers of tourists every year Indeed this helps people develop an understanding of marine life However coral and shellfish can be destroyed by heavy boats Divers who stay under water just for fun or to hunt for souvenirs are disturbing the natural cycles of marine life Pollution One of the biggest threats to oceans is pollution from industry Most pollution happens in coastal areas In fact many coastal cities and ports are reported to have long been polluted by chemicals and other harmful things from heavy industries The industries dump these materials into the nearby rivers which then wash them into the sea Once they settle on a continental shelf pollutants pile up We do not know a great deal about the long term effects of pollution However we do know that the North and Black Seas in Europe have been polluted so much that the marine life is poisoned and may never recover 8 Possible Solutions All countries of the world need to work together to share ocean resources fairly Laws are to be made and regulations are to be enforced to prevent overfishing and pollution It is often difficult to agree on the best way of doing this It is also hard to make people obey laws when our oceans are so vast and difficult to patrol However we should all learn to understand how important it is to manage the world s oceans now and in the future Graphic Organizer optional 9 Assignment Summarize the main idea and the main points of the passage in no more than 60 words Use your own words as far as possible It s a common sight to see food delivery workers riding electric bikes through big cities in China Most of them s