资源简介

(共22张PPT)
Unit 6
Nature in words
Developing ideas Reading
Learning objective
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 of eradication programmes that did nothing to reduce the problems they were originally designed to solve. The 50 or so pages at the end of the book list Carson’s sources, showing how thorough and precise she was as a scientist.
Feature
Writing technique？
Para. 4
Carson’s message was very alarming, causing a great increase in environmental awareness. Its impact was immediate and far-reaching: the use of DDT was banned and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in the US. Silent Spring was therefore regarded as a milestone in the launch of the green movement in the Western world. It also earned Carson a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom and put her face on the 17-cent US stamp.
posthumous：死后的
Positive Influence
immediate
far-reaching
Para. 5
Silent Spring was not, however, received positively by everyone. Though Carson’s research was strong and was supported by most scientists who reviewed her work, the book quickly became a target for critics in the pesticide industry. They said that Carson did not understand the science behind her arguments because she was a marine biologist rather than a chemist. Some also said that her work was more emotional than scientific. These were attempts to damage Carson’s reputation and stop her work from influencing public policy, but she remained determined to stand by her research. Carson appeared in public and on television to defend her claims – and today, more than 50 years after it was published, the voice of Silent Spring is still ringing loud and clear.
Opposing
Voice
What
Why
How
financial
profit
Personally, I enjoy Carson’s book. She made a crucial but potentially difficult-to-understand subject interesting and accessible to millions of people. This is not so much because of the quality of her arguments, strong though they are, but because of the beauty and elegance of her writing. Her book not only changed the world; half a century later it remains a book that deserves to be reread today, so that we can once again feel ourselves warm to the fire of its passionate message. For unless we do listen to Rachel Carson’s warning, one day we may wake up to the strange and quiet horror of another silent spring.
Para. 6
Comment
Attitude
Appeal
Organise information from the passage and complete the notes about Silent Spring.
Author: Rachel Carson
Year of publication: 1 ______
Purpose: Carson aimed to alert people to 2 ____________________ _____________ on natural ecosystems.
She wished to see pesticides used in a 3__________________ _____________________________ way.
Feature of the book: Carson wrote a lot of 4 ______________________________
____________ in the book.
The arguments are strong and the language is
5 ____________________.
1962
the damaging effects of
human activity
scientific information, examples
more responsible,
and research
limited and carefully monitored
beautiful and elegant
Organise information from the passage and complete the notes about Silent Spring.
Organise information from the passage and complete the notes about Silent Spring.
Opposing voices: 6 ___________________ said that Carson’s research is not precise. Carson appeared in public and on television to 7________________.
Influence of the book: 8______________ was banned and the EPA was established in the US.
Carson earned a posthumous 9________________________.
The book changed the world by increasing people’s
10________________________.
The pesticide industry
defend her claims
The use of DDT
Presidential Medal of Freedom
environmental awareness
Think Share
Q1. What is the moral lesson behind “A Fable for Tomorrow”
Q2. What made Silent Spring so successful
Q3. What kind of person do you think Carson is
Human activities have a profound impact on ecosystem.
Financial profit should not come at the cost of the environment and the creatures living in it.
Q1. What is the moral lesson behind “A Fable for Tomorrow”
Think Share
The quality of her argument
The beauty and elegance of her writing
Her thorough and precise attitude
Her special writing technique
Making the essential but potentially difficult-to-understand subject interesting and accessible to millions of people
Q2. What made Silent Spring so successful
Think Share
an precise scientist,
a talented writer,
a nature-loving observer,
a responsible citizen,
a determined person
a passionate person
Q3. What kind of person do you think Carson is
Think Share
Draw a mind map based on the passage.
Mind map
Search the Internet to read more about Rachel Carson and Silent Spring.
Sort out the text information,vocabulary and phrases learned in this lesson.
Homework
For unless we listen to Rachel Carson’s warning, one day we may wake up to the strange and quiet horror of another silent spring.
Financial profit should not come at the cost of the environment and the creatures living in it.

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