 The Lecturer:  Shen Kailai  In Qingyuan  Apr. 19, 2004

Welcome to my class

Unit 19 Modern Agriculture

Pre-reading Presentation Reading Homework

Task 1 Pre-reading B. Look at the pictures at p.45 and compare traditional and modern farming. 1. What can you see in the pictures? 2. What are the advantages and disadvan- tages of each way? A. What is farming like in your hometown?

In the first picture: A chicken / A hen. In the second picture: A farmer feeding chickens. In the third picture: A modern chicken farm. What are the differences? Compare the old and the modern ways of raising chickens. Old wayModern way A farmer can only keep a few chickens. A factory can keep thou- sands of chickens. It cost only a little money. It cost a lot to start a factory. don’t have many problemsif ill, many die or are killed The eggs and meat are tasty. They don’t taste so delicious. The chickens are free. not free, can sit in small cages

In the first picture: A pile of animal shit (manure) In the second picture: A bag of chemical fertilizer. What are the differences? Compare the old and the modern ways of feeding the crops. Natural FertilizerChemical Fertilizer It is free or cost very little. It is easy to be put into the fields. It usually has a bad smell. It takes little place to store. It is difficult to carry and move. It is expensive to buy. It needs lots of work to be made. It usually has no smell. It needs a lot of place to store. It is easy to transport.

In the first picture: *Patches of farm fields. In the second picture: *A farmer is ploughing the field with an animal. In the third picture: *Farmers use the tractor to work the land. What are the differences? Compare the old and the modern ways of ploughing the fields. Using AnimalsUsing Machines cheap to own and to keepexpensive to buy and to use They result in pollution. They can be used in dif- ferent places They don’t need rest too often. They can be food when they are old. They do not pollute the air. They can only be used on flat and dry land. They need rest now and then. They can be sold to steel factories when broken.

Terrace Drought Irrigated land Greenhouse

In the first picture: * Terraced fields. In the second picture: * Dry barren farmland. In the third picture: * Irrigated farmland. In the fourth picture: * Greenhouses. What are the differences? Compare the old and the modern ways of irrigation. Natural ClimateControlled Climate in bad weather, crops lost climate controlled, less damage The landscape loses its natural beauty. Only arable land can grow crops. Greenhouses can be built almost everywhere. The landscape is more beautiful. If there is a power failure, you may lose crops.

Task 2 Reading—Scanning **Divide the text into 4 parts and find the main idea of each part: The 1st part — the first paragraph The 2st part — the second paragraph The 3st part — the third paragraph The 4st part — the fourth, fifth and sixth paragraphs.

Paragraph 1:Traditional agriculture in China. Paragraph 2: The development of agriculture before the 1980s. Paragraph 3: New techniques to protect environ- ment as well as increasing produs- tion from the 1990s. Paragraph 4: Ways to solve the problem of the shortage of arable land. What are the ways? 1. Grow vegetables in greenhouses. 2. Use GM to create plants that produce more and bigger and better crops.

TASK 3 Listen to the tape and do Exercise 1—Page 46 Post-reading

1. D 2. A 3. C 4. C 5. C 1. (para. 1) Only 7% of the land can be used for farming. 2. (para. 2) Farms have used fertilisation to make their land produce more. 3. (para. 3) New techniques should increase pro- duction but also be friendly to the environment. Give your reasons with a sentence in the text. 4. (para. 4) Many vegetables are not grown in gardens but in greenhouses where they are pro- tected from the wind, rain and insects. 5. (para. 5) In other words, the way tomatoes grow from a natural seed is changed.

TASK 4 Careful Reading True or False

1. China has only about 67,000 sq. km of arable land. 2. Which of the following ways did the farmer make use of to increase farm production before the 1980s? A. the use of machines, eg. tractors ( ) B. the use of electric pumps ( ) C. the use of chemical fertilizers ( ) D. the use of GM ( ) E. the use of insect killers ( ) F. the use of special seedbeds ( ) G. more than one crop is planted each year wherever possible ( ) 3. No advanced technical information was brought in from abroad before Scientists have always tried to increase farming production without harming the environment since the early 1990s.

5. Traditional methods of farming have no advantages so they won’t be used in future agriculture. 6. The average arable land for each Chinese is much less than that of the world. 7. Growing vegetables in green houses has so many advantages that it can reduce losses caused by bad weather and that it can partly settle the problem of the shortage of arable land. 8. GM is a new technique that can make a plant quite different from what it used to be, bigger and healthier and with no diseases, but it takes longer time to grow. 9. The GM technique can only be used on plants, but not on animals at the present time.

1. China has only about 67,000 sq. km of arable land. 2. Which of the following ways did the farmer make use of to increase farm production before the 1980s? A. the use of machines, eg. tractors ( ) B. the use of electric pumps ( ) C. the use of chemical fertilizers ( ) D. the use of GM ( ) E. the use of insect killers ( ) F. the use of special seedbeds ( ) G. more than one crop is planted each year wherever possible ( ) 3. No advanced technical information was brought in from abroad before Scientists have always tried to increase farming production without harming the environment since the early 1990s. T T T TF TT T F T

5. Traditional methods of farming have no advantages so they won’t be used in future agriculture. 6. The average arable land for each Chinese is much less than that of the world. 7. Growing vegetables in green houses has so many advantages that it can reduce losses caused by bad weather and that it can partly settle the problem of the shortage of arable land. 8. GM is a new technique that can make a plant quite different from what it used to be, bigger and healthier and with no diseases, but it takes longer time to grow. 9. The GM technique can only be used on plants, but not on animals at the present time. F T T F F

TASK 5 Summary of the text

7% of arable land to feed 1.3 billion people AGRICULTURE Traditional agricultureModern agricultureFuture agriculture one family business chemical fertilization high technology fertilization, irrigation electric pump and traditional methods not harmful to the environment harmful to the environment take care of the environment green houses GM technique the roots hang in water containing nutrients protected from wind, rain and insects computer controls the temperature a natural seed is changed need much less time without danger from disease fruits are bigger and healthier

Home work 1. Go over the “ Reading ” and find out the useful expressions in it. 2. Exx 1, 2, 3 — pp — Vocabulary — Practising 3. Rewrite the text with about ten sentences, 100 words.

Thank you. The End