1、 Talking pointTalking pointWarming uWarming up pSkimmingSkimmingDiggingDiggingCritical thinkingCritical thinkingLanguage in useLanguage in useUnfamiliar wordsUnfamiliar wordsInterpretingInterpretingCan bad luck be explained?第1页Warming up Read the reflections made by great scientists through the ages
2、.Then work in pairs and explain what the quotations mean.1This only is certain,that there is nothing certain.PlinytheElder,1st-centuryRomannaturalistTheonlythingweknowisdefinitelytrueisthatweare not sure about anything.Pliny is taking apositionofscepticism.第2页Warming up2Experimental science is the q
3、ueen of sciences and the goal of all speculation.RogerBacon,13th-centuryEnglishphilosopherandscientistBaconlivedatatimewhenpeoplethoughtitmoreimportanttoreasonandapproachproblemsthroughtheoryandlogicthanthroughexperiment.Baconisdaringly turning this around and announcing thatfinding out the facts is
4、 far more important thantheorizing.第3页Warming up3 I do not know what I may appear to the world;but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore,and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary,whilst the great ocean of truth la
5、y all undiscovered before me.Sir Isaac Newton,17th-century English physicist andmathematician,whodiscoveredthelawsofgravityNewton is acclaimed as a great genius who has opened upunderstandingofnature,buthehumblypointsouthowverylittlehedoesactuallyknowespeciallywhencomparedwithallthatthereistoknow.Ne
6、wtonwasveryreligiousaswellasagreatmathematician so he would have been referring to greatmysteriesaswellasunderstandingofthecosmos.第4页Warming up4The most incomprehensible thing about our universe is that it can be comprehended.AlbertEinstein,perhapsthegreatestscientisttheworldhaseverknown Einsteinthi
7、nksthatthegreatestwonderisthattheuniversedoesoperateonmathematicallawswhichoneofitsby-productsuscanunderstandalittle.第5页Warming up Work in pairs and discuss the questions.1Howwouldyoudefinescience?Science is the study and knowledge of thephysicalworldanditsbehaviourthatisbasedonexperimentsandfactsth
8、atcanbeproved,andisorganizedintoasystem.第6页Warming up2Shouldsciencebeacompulsorysubjectuntilthelastyearatschool?Yes,itissoimportanttoourmodernworld.Itisalsoawayofthinkingthatweneedtodevelopinpeople.Iamnotsureeveryoneneedstoknowsomuchscience.Different people have different skills;perhaps some could s
9、pend more time on artssubjects.第7页Warming up3Inwhatareasofcontemporarylifeisscientificresearchmostimportant?Frankly,it is important for almost everything:medicine,developing new energy sources,dealingwithpollution,newmaterials,agriculture,informationtechnology,transport,defence,andevenmore.第8页Warmin
10、g up4Issomescientificresearchuseless?Yesandnoitmaynothaveanyuseatthetimeitiscarriedout,butitissurprisinghowthingscan later turn out to be useful.The researchjoinsthegreatdatabaseofhumanknowledgeandmayonedayprovevaluable.第9页Warming up Look at the title of the passage and answer the questions.1Isitpos
11、sibletodefinebadluck?Badluckreferstothingshappeninginwaysyoudonotwant.Aneventinitselfisnotbadluck,butbadlucktosomeone.Mylosingmoneymaybesomeoneelsesgoodluck.2Doesbadluckleadtomorebadluck?Iguessitcan.Onceyouhavelostyourjob,yourfamilymaybreakupandyoumightfallillfromstressandsoondownwards.第10页Warming u
12、p3Isbadluckmorecommonthangoodluck?It certainly feels like it at times,but I guess ifmissingthebusisbadluck,catchingitisgoodluck.But I think we regard things going smoothly asnormalsowedontcallitgoodluck.Wehaveahigherstandardforgoodthanbadluck.4Canbadluckbeexplainedbyscience?Idontreallyseehow.Theresn
13、oreasonwhyonepersontakesaplanethatcrashes,andsomeoneelsetakesanotherandissafe.第11页SkimmingBrowse the passage within 8 minutes to get a rough idea about it.Answer the questions of Activity 2 and 3 on page 147.TaskTask第12页SkimmingChoose the best way to complete the sentences.1MurphysLawis_.(a)apopular
14、belief(b)ascientificlaw(c)aclassicaltheory(d)astatisticalcalculation2Badluck_.(a)canbeexplainedbyscience(b)canbepartlyblamedonstrangecoincidences(c)onlyreallyexistsinpeoplesminds(d)isimpossibletoexplainab第13页Skimming3“Badluck”isaproblematicconceptbecause_.(a)itisrelative;somethingsaremore“bad”thanot
15、hers(b)itsuggestsaconnectionbetweenscienceandmorality(c)luckcantbydefinitionbe“good”or“bad”(d)itencouragespeoplenottotakeresponsibilityfortheirownactionsa第14页Skimming4Unluckyeventsseemtocomeinthreesbecause_.(a)threeisanunluckynumberinmostcultures(b)themindwantstomakeaconnectionbetweenevents(c)wedont
16、noticesingleunluckyevents(d)wecantremembermorethanthreeconnectedeventsb第15页Skimming5Forsomepeople,unluckyeventsareconnectedbecause_.(a)theyarepsychologicallyweakerthanotherpeople(b)theyhavebettermemoriesthanotherpeople(c)theydefinebadluckdifferentlyfromotherpeople(d)thefirstunluckyeventhasaneffecton
17、themwhichmakesthesecondeventmorelikelyd第16页Skimming6Thewritersaysmapreadingisfrustratingbecause_.(a)thedestinationwilloftenbemarkedveryneartheedgeofthemap(b)itisdifficulttoconsultastreetatlaswhenyouareinacar(c)thedestinationisunlikelytobeinthemiddleofthemap(d)modernroadmapshavenotbeenwelldesigneda第1
18、7页Skimming7Thewritersayswebelievethetrafficlightsarealwaysredwhenwereinahurrybecause_.(a)trafficlightsspendmoretimeonredthanongreen(b)wehardlynoticewhenthelightsaregreen(c)redlightsareasourceofstress(d)redlightsappearmoreoftenwhenadriverisinahurryb第18页Skimming8Theexamplesofmapreadingandtrafficlights
19、showthat_.(a)weareoftentooreadytointerpretaneventas“bad”(b)ifweareinahurry,somethingbadwillusuallyhappen(c)journeysneedtobecarefullyplannedsothatthingswillnotgowrong(d)badluckisadirectresultofstressandanxietya第19页SkimmingWork in pairs and match the examples with the types of events.1aburstwaterpipe2
20、atrainwhichislate3buseswhicharrivethreeatatime4losingyourweddingring5droppingavase(a)somethingwhichmighthappenbecauseyouarefeelingdepressedorunwell(b)anextremelymemorableandunfortunateevent(c)thesortofeventwhichconfirmsthe“badlucktheory”(d)astrangecoincidencewhichmanypeopleclaimtonotice(e)aneventwhi
21、chcouldbebadornotbad,dependingonthecontextbedca第20页Can bad luck be explained?译文译文DiggingBackgroundinformation1 Toastalwayslandsbuttersidedown.Italwaysrainsonbank holidays.Youneverwinthelottery,butotherpeopleyouknowseemto.Doyouevergettheimpressionthatyouwerebornunlucky?Eventhemostrationalpersoncanbec
22、onvincedattimesthatthereisaforceouttheremakingmishapsoccurattheworstpossibletime.WeallliketobelievethatMurphysLawistrue(“ifitcangowrong,itwill”).第21页Digging2 Partoftheexplanationforbadluckismathematical,butpartispsychological.Indeedthereisaverycloseconnectionbetweenpeoplesperceptionofbadluckandinter
23、estingcoincidences.第22页译文译文Digging3 Forexample,takethebeliefthat“badthingsalwayshappeninthrees”(justlikebuses.!)Thispopularnotionwouldbeunlikelytostandthescrutinyofanyscientificstudy,butitmusthavesomebasisinexperience,otherwisethephrasewouldneverhaveariseninthefirstplace.Whatmightbetherationalexplan
24、ation?第23页译文译文Digging4Thefirstquestionis“whatisbad?”5 Somethingsareonlymarginallybad,forexamplethetrainarrivingfiveminuteslate.Someareextremelybad,suchasfailinganexamorbeingsacked.Sobadnessismuchbetterrepresentedasbeingonaspectrumratherthansomethingwhichisthereornotthere.第24页译文译文Digging6 Aparticular
25、eventmayonlybeamisfortunebecauseofthecircumstancesaroundit.Thetrainarrivingfiveminuteslateisaneutraleventifyouareinnohurryandreadinganinterestingnewspaperarticlewhileyouwait.Itisbadifyouarelateforanimportantmeeting.第25页译文译文Digging7 Whenitcomestobadthingshappeninginthrees,whatmaybemostimportantofalli
26、sthedurationandmemorabilityofthefirstevent.Takeaburstpipewhileyouareawayonholiday,forexample.Itmaytakelessthananhourtofloodthehouse,butthisonebadeventcanremainalive and kickingformanymonths,withthecleaningupoperationandthedebatewithyourinsurersactingasconstantremindersoftheoriginalevent.第26页译文译文Digg
27、ing8 Thelongerthefirstbadeventsticksinthefrontofyourmind,themoreopportunitiesyouwillhavetoexperiencetwomorebadevents.Amonthlatersomeonebumpstheback of your car and a week after that you lose yourweddingring.Themindwhichisalreadyonalowfromthefirst event will quickly leap to connect the subsequentmisf
28、ortunesaspartoftheseries.Itwouldntmatterthatthere could be a two-month timescale over whicheverythinghappened.Bythetimeyouhaverecoveredfromthewaterdamageyouareactivelylookingoutforthenextdisaster.The timescale has been extended as long as isnecessarytoconfirmtheoriginalprophecy.第27页译文译文Digging9 Aswi
29、thcoincidences,inbadluckthereisatendencytolookfortheexampleswhichconfirmthetheory,andignorethosewhichdont(becausetheyarelessinteresting).Singlebadeventshappenallthetime.Thataloneshouldbeenoughtodisprovethetheory.Badthingsalsocomeintwos.Butitismorelikelythatafriendwilltellyou“threebadthingshavehappen
30、edtome,isntthattypical”than“onlytwobadthingshavehappenedtome,whichjustprovesthatthetheorydoesntwork”.Afterall,thelatteristemptingfate!第28页译文译文Digging10Thereis,however,atleastonerationalreasonwhybadeventsmightclustertogether.Itisrelatedtoprobabilityandindependence.Unluckyeventsarenotalwaysindependent
31、ofeachother.Anybodywhoismaderedundantisboundtosuffersomedepression.Thatwilllowerthebodysdefences,makingthepersonvulnerabletoillness,andalsomakingthemlessalertandresponsive(sotheymaybemorelikelytodropapreciousvase,forexample).Sowhiletheprobabilityofbeingmaderedundantonanyparticulardayandtheprobabilit
32、yofbeingsickmaybothbesmall,thechanceofbothoccurringisalmostcertainlyhigherthantheproductofthetwoprobabilities.第29页译文译文DiggingMap reading misfortunes11Somuchforthegeneralincidentsofbadluckwhichcrop upinlife.Letsgetontoaspecificonethateveryonehasencountered.第30页译文译文Digging12 Youareofftovisitafriendwho
33、livesattheotherend of the city.You look up the road in the streetatlas,anddiscoverthatitisrightontheedgeofthepage.Thismeansthatfindingpreciseroutebecomesachoreofflickingbackwards and forwardsfromonepagetothenext.Eithertheroadishalfononepageandhalfontheother,oritsspreadacrossthefoldinthemiddleofthebo
34、ok.Andifitsanordnancesurveymap,thenyourdestinationisatjustthepointwhereyoufoldedthemapover.第31页译文译文Digging13Itdoesntseemfair.Afterallamaponlyhasatiny bit of“edge”but plenty of“middle”in whichyourdestinationcouldbesituated.Orhasit?Infactthechanceofpickingadestinationwhichisclosetotheedgeofthemapisalo
35、thigherthanyoumightexpect.Takealookatthemapinthediagram.第32页译文译文Digging14Youwillhaveaproblemifyourdestinationisanywhereintheshadedareamarkedonthemap.Thisshadedareaisjust 1 cm into the page all the way around.It looksinsignificant.However,theshadedareaaddsupto56cm2.Thatrepresents28percentoftheareaoft
36、hewholepageofthemap,whichmeansthatanyspecificpointthatyouareseekingonthismaphasa28percentchance(thatsnearlyoneinthree)ofbeinginanawkwardpositionwithin1cmoftheedgeofthepage.Andifyouregardwithin2cmoftheedgeofthepageasbeingawkward,thechanceofill-fortuneclimbsto52percent.Inotherwords,youmightexpect this
37、 misfortune to occur on almost every otherjourney.第33页译文译文Digging15Asinmostbadluckstories,youforgetaboutthe number of times the road doesnt landawkwardlyandrememberthetimesitdoes,andinthiscasethechanceofabadresultissohighthatbefore long you are bound to be cursing yourmisfortune,or the maps printer,
38、or both.This,incidentally,iswhymanymodernroadmapsallowsignificantoverlapsbetweenadjacentmappages.Inagoodroadatlas,atleast30percentofthepageisduplicatedelsewhere.第34页译文译文DiggingThe lights are always red when Im in a hurry16Oneofthebestexamplesofselectivememorywhereanunfaircomparisonismadebetweengooda
39、ndbadisintherelativefrequencyofredandgreenlightsonajourney.Foronce,theperceptionof“IalwaysseemtogetredlightswhenIminahurry”istrueandverifiable.Tosimplifythesituation,thinkofatrafficlightasbeingliketossingacoin,witha50percentchanceofbeingred,and50percentofbeinggreen.(Infactmosttrafficlightsspendmoret
40、imeonred.)Ifyouencountersixtrafficlightsonajourney,thenyouarenomorelikelytoescapearedlightthanyouaretotosssixconsecutiveheads,thechanceofwhichis1in64.第35页译文译文Digging17Redlightscomeupjustasoftenwhenthedriverisnotina hurry;its just that thedisadvantage of theredlight isconsiderablylessiftimeisnotcriti
41、cal.Thefalsepartoftheperceptionisthatredlightshappenmorethangreenlights.Thereasonforthisissimplythatadriverhasmoretimetothinkaboutaredlightthanagreenlight,becausewhilethelatterisgoneinsecondsandindeedisanexperiencenodifferentfromjustdrivingalongtheopenroadtheredlightforcesachangeofbehaviour,amomento
42、fexertionandstress,andthenadeprivationoffreedomforaminuteorso.Redlightsstickinthemind,whilegreenlightsareinstantlyforgotten.Main idea of the text第36页1.Toast always lands butter side down.(Line 1,Para 1)Themessybutteredsidewillhitthefloor.Thesentencemeanstheworstoftwooptionsalwayshappens.Difficult se
43、ntences 第37页Difficult sentences 2.that there is a force out there making mishaps occur at the worst possible time.(Line 7,Para 1)“Thereisforceoutthere”heremeansthereissomepowerinexistence,likeanevilspirit.第38页Difficult sentences 3.Part of the explanation for bad luck is mathematical,but part is psyc
44、hological.(Line 1,Para 2)Badluckisnotonlyamatteroftheoddsfororagainstsomethinghappening,butofourmemoriesandattitudes.第39页Difficult sentences 4.Some things are only marginally bad,(Line 1,Para 5)Here“marginallybad”meansslightlybad.第40页Difficult sentences 5.So badness is much better represented as bei
45、ng on a spectrum rather than something which is there or not there.(Line 4,Para 5)Badnessisnotaneither/orquality,butamatterofdegree,anditexistsonacontinuum.第41页Difficult sentences 6.When it comes to bad things happening in threes,what may be most important of all is the duration and memorability of
46、the first event.(Line 1,Para 7)Theimpactofthefirstunpleasanteventandthelengthoftimewerememberitisthecriticalfactorintheoriginofthecommonideathatthreebadeventsoftenoccurtogether.第42页Difficult sentences alive and kicking:Itmeansthememoryremainsactiveanddoesnotfadeaway.7.but this one bad event can rema
47、in alive and kicking for many months (Line 6,Para 7)第43页Difficult sentences 8.The longer the first bad event sticks in the front of your mind,the more opportunities you will have to experience two more bad events.(Line 1,Para 8)Ifyourememberabadeventforalongtimethereisplentyofopportunityforyoutoexpe
48、riencetwomoreunpleasantevents.(Ifthethreebadeventshaveamonthtohappenintheyaremorelikelytohappenthaniftheyonlyhaveaweek;italldependsonourmemories.)第44页Difficult sentences 9.The timescale has been extended as long as is necessary to confirm the original prophecy.(Line 13,Para 8)Theideabehindthesentenc
49、eisthatafteronebadevent,peoplepredicttwomoreandwillwaitalongtimeifnecessaryforthemtohappenandsotoprovetheprediction.第45页Difficult sentences 10.But it is more likely that than“only two bad things have happened to me,which just proves that the theory doesnt work”.(Line 7,Para 9)Sometimesafterthesecond
50、badevent,nothinghappensforalongtime.Wecouldtellpeoplethatourexperienceshowsthattheideathatbadluckcomesinthreesiswrong.Butwedonot.Insteadwewaitforthethirdeventandthensaytheoldtheoryhasbeenprovedyetagain.第46页Difficult sentences 11.After all,the latter is tempting fate!(Line 11,Para 9)Ifweclaimthreebad