选修 8 马林霞

Listening on Page 62 Read these questions before listening and discuss them in pairs. 1. What functions are already included on a mobile phone? 2. Which ones do you find useful? 3. What else do you expect a mobile phone to do for you?

□ a mobile that “think” □ a mobile that spends your money □ a mobile that can teach you English □ a mobile that chooses your holiday Listen to the tape and tick the descriptions you have heard.

□ a mobile that makes tea □ a mobile that is a computer □ a mobile that wakes you up □ a mobile that orders your food

Listen to the tape again and answer these questions. 1.Which mobile does Mary think she will buy and why? Mary wants to buy the mobile that turns itself on when it receives important calls. She missed three yesterday when her mobile was switched/turned off.

2. What extra applications do mobiles have now? Mobiles can take photographs and act as a computer now.

3. What extra applications will they have with the 3-G mobiles? They will be able to monitor how you use your phone. They will book holidays, choose the airline, hotel and an appropriate place to stay. They will authorize paying for them too.

4. Why is Mary worried? Mary is worried because it might spend her money.

5. What advantages do the 3G mobiles offer? The advantages are that it helps people who are busy at work to order goods at the cheapest price or book holidays, air tickets, etc. 6. What do you think might go wrong?

Listening text WHICH ONE SHOULD I CHOOSE? Mary Brown is asking her friend, Zhang Jie, for advice. MB: Hallo, is that Zhang Jie? This is Mary. I’m thinking of buying a new mobile phone. What do you suggest?

ZJ: Hallo Mary. I’m happy to help. It’s lucky you could get through. I’ve been having some trouble with the line and I keep getting cut off. If the line goes dead, ring me back immediately on my mobile and it should be OK. Now what do you want your mobile to do?

MB: Well, I’ve heard about mobiles that are computers and can take photographs as well. Do you think they’re a good idea? ZJ: Mmm. Yes, they’re useful. I can use the Internet even when I’m on the train.

MB: So you suggest one like that then? ZJ: Not necessarily. It seems there’ll be some new mobile phones coming on the market next year. They’re going to be even more powerful than the ones on the market now.

MB: What are they going to do? ZJ: Oh, you’ve no idea what they’re planning! These new phones will be able to organize your life. They’re called 3G phones because they’re the third generation of mobile phones. They “think” for you.

MB: How can they do that? ZJ: Well, they’ll be able to monitor how you use your phone. When you plan a holiday, the phone will know which airline you like to fly with, and will book the seats and the hotel. Then it’ll pay for you.

MB: Wow! I’m not sure I’d be happy with that! I don’t like the idea of a machine spending my money. ZJ: Well, many businesses already use mobile phones to buy goods. They leave them to order goods when they are at their cheapest.

MB: Do they really? Well, I never! What I need is a mobile to stop me missing important calls. I missed three yesterday because my mobile was switched off.

ZJ: You can have that too. There’s a new mobile coming out soon that will turn itself on when important calls come through.

MB: Are you sure? If that’s the case, that’s the one for me! Thank you, Zhang Jie, I think I’ll wait for that one. Goodbye. ZJ: Goodbye.

Look at these Chinese inventions on P68 in pairs and discuss what you know about them.

Think about what they were used for and the date they were invented. Collect the information by doing some research. Fill in the chart and prepare to talk about one of the inventions to the class.

What was its possible use? Why? When and where did it appear in Europe? 1 An abacus is used to calculate mathematical problems including equations. It is more efficient than using the brain alone. It was never used in the West, but it is closest in function to a modern personal calculator.

What was its possible use? Why? When and where did it appear in Europe? 2 The printing press was used to print messages from the Emperor to the people. It helped the efficiency of government. Gutenburg( )began to print books on his press about 1450AD in Germany.

What was its possible use? Why? When and where did it appear in Europe? 3 A water-powered clock was used to measure the position and movement of the stars in the sky. It dates back to the Northern Song Dynasty. The West did not even discover the sun was the centre of the universe until Copernicus in the fifteenth century AD.

You have been asked to write an entry for an encyclopedia about one of these three Chinese inventions. Choose one and prepare to write your report. You will include a photograph or drawing, but you must explain some important points in your report: Writing

a description of the object what it was used for how it was used when it was invented

Make sure that each point is a new paragraph. Make the first sentence of each paragraph a topic sentence and then add all the information. Finish the report by station when it was produced in China and when it was found in Western countries.

A sample version: The abacus is typically constructed of various types of hardwoods and comes in various sizes. The frame of the abacus has a series of vertical rods on which a number of wooden beads are allowed to slide freely. A horizontal beam separates the frame

into two sections, known as the upper deck and the lower deck. The standard abacus can be used to perform addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. The abacus can also be used to extract square-roots and cubic roots.

The abacus is prepared for use by placing it flat on table or one’s lap and pushing all the beads on both the upper and lower decks away from the beam. The heads are manipulated with either the index finger or the thumb of one hand. Each head in the

upper deck has a value of 5; each beads in the lower deck has a value of 1. Beads are considered counted, when moved towards the beam that separates the two decks. After 5 heads are counted in the lower deck, the result is carried to the upper deck; after both heads in the upper deck are counted, the result 10 is

then carried to the left-most adjacent column and so on. Floating point calculations are performed by designating a space between 2 columns as the decimal-point and all the rows to the right of that space represent fractional portions while all the rows to the left represent whole number digits.

The abacus is one of many counting devices invented to help count large numbers. The earliest counting device was the human hand and its fingers. Then, as larger quantities (larger than ten human fingers could represent) were counted, various natural items like pebbles and twigs were used to help count.

Merchants who traded goods not only needed a way to count goods they bought and sold, but also to calculate the cost of those goods. Until numbers were invented, counting devices were used to make everyday calculations.