(
课件网) Unit 6 Nature in Words Silent Spring Learning objectives To get the message conveyed in Silent Spring and the influence of the book; To figure out the basic structure of a book review; To draw a mind map of the passage and retell it; To think about human activities’ negative influence on nature and what can we do to live in harmony with nature. Predict what will be mentioned in the passage. Read the book review and check your prediction. There was a strange stillness. The birds, for example – where had they gone Many people spoke of them, puzzled and disturbed. The feeding stations in the backyards were deserted. The few birds seen anywhere were moribund; they trembled violently and could not fly. It was a spring without voices. On the mornings that had once throbbed with the dawn chorus of robins (知更鸟), catbirds (北美猫鸟), doves (鸽子), jays (松鸦), wrens (鹪鹩), and scores of other bird voices there was now no sound; only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh. desert v. 舍弃，抛弃 Para. 1 Excerpt Why How What Rachel Carson was a scientist by profession, but these lines from the opening chapter of her 1962 book Silent Spring, “A Fable for Tomorrow”, show her talent as a writer. By imagining a world without birds, she aimed to alert not only the scientific community but also the general public to the damaging effects of human activity on natural ecosystems – in particular, to the harmful use of pesticides, such as DDT. She believed that the chemical industry was knowingly causing harm to plants, animals and even humans, and wished to see pesticides used in a more responsible, limited and carefully monitored way. Para. 2 Author： Year of publication: Purposes: Why DDT Rachel Carson, writer, scientist, and ecologist. Rachel Carson wrote four books, but each of them in some measure changed the way we thought about ourselves and our world. DDT,a chemical compound that was originally developed as an insecticide. It has no colour, taste or odour (气味). After World War II, it was used extensively in agriculture and health care, and played a great role. Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Muller won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1948. For dozens of years, human beings have paid a heavy price for it : a large number of birds have died out ; Germ cells have been damaged ; Various chronic diseases have appeared… 几十年来，人类为此付出了沉重的代价：大量鸟类灭绝，生殖细胞受损，出现各种慢性疾病…… Pesticides were yesterday’s gospel, but today’s disaster. 农药是昨天的福音，今天的灾难 Para. 3 Carson urged people to make themselves aware of the facts and do something about the situation. Silent Spring contains a lot of scientific research and case studies. The book details the gypsy moth eradication programme, which killed birds, in addition to gypsy moths. Another case study was the fire-ant programme that killed cows, but not fire ants. The book also gives dozens of other examples ... ...
