大学英语教案

Less is more

Unit 4 Section A Achieving sustainable environmentalism

1. Warming-up activities

(1)Ask students to work in pairs, and discuss the following questions, and then

share their answers with the whole class.

①What do the following pictures remind you of in terms of the environmental

issues

②What do you think of the relationship between man and nature

(2)Since it is a consensus around the world that it is high time to take immediate

actions to protect the environment now, in your opinion, what policy should human beings should take to revert the worsening environmental situation as soon as possible Share your opinions.

2. Background information

(1) Environmentalism

Environmentalism refers to the concern about the environment, or the consciousness about the intricate human-nature relation, which mainly advocates the preservation, restoration and / or improvement of the natural environment by social and political movements.

(2) Protagoras

Protagoras is a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher and one of the several fifth century . Greek thinkers collectively known as the Older Sophists (诡辩家).

Protagoras is known primarily for three claims:

1) Man is the measure of all things; 2) He could make the worse (or weaker) argument appear the better (or stronger); 3) One could not tell if the gods existed or not.

(3) Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

It is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States, and the largest protected wilderness region in the country. The refuge supports a wide variety of plant and animal life including caribou, polar bears, grizzly bears, wolves, migratory birds, fish, dense shrubs, and rare groves of poplar trees .

1.Structure analysis

Part I: Introduction :

Part II: Body.

The author establishes and validates his criterion for making environmental choices by providing explanations and presenting a rebuttal to a counter-argument. (Paras. 5-9)

Part III: Conclusion: The writer restates his central argument: Human interests should be given priority over those of nature.

environmentalism: n. [U] an interest in or the study of the environment, in order to protect it from damage by human activities 环境保护主义

Green represents life, vitality, nature, and of course, environmentalism.

绿色代表着生命、活力、自然，当然还有环境保护主义

（2）Environmental sensitivity is now as required an attitude in polite society as is, say, belief in democracy or disapproval of plastic surgery.(Para. 1)

Meaning: Sharp concern for environmental protection, similar to the belief in democracy or the opposition to plastic surgery, is a necessary attitude to people in the upper class world.

Note："Polite society" is a euphemism (委婉语) for the upper class.

democracy: n. [U] a system of government in which people vote in elections to choose the people who will govern them 民主，民主体制、t

this was a historic moment, after which the country has been moving toward democracy.

这是一个历史性时刻，此后该国一直朝着民主前进。

a system of running a business or organization in which everyone can vote andshare in making decisions民主管理

Without the ability to think critically and to defend their ideas, young people will not

beable to fully participate in democracy.有能力进行批判思维，没有能力捍卫自己的思想，年轻人就不能充分参与民主管理。

（3）First, differentiate between environmental luxuries and environmental necessities.

Luxuries are those things that would be nice to have if costless. Necessities are those things we must have regardless. (Para. 2)

Meaning: First, we must distinguish between environmental luxuries and environmental necessities. Luxuries refer to those things that we find nice to have, especially if they would not cost us anything. Necessities refer to those things that we must have no matter what cost we have to pay.

differentiate: v. recognize or express the difference between things or people else 区分，区别

She has learned to differentiate the two kinds of roses.