冀教版九年级英语上册第四单元单元话题拓展阅读

单元话题阅读
Passage 1
Once there was a man traveling in a faraway village.As he was passing the elephants,he suddenly stopped.He found that these huge elephants were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg.No chains(锁链),no cages.It was clear that the elephants could,at any time, break away from their ropes but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and didn’t try to get away.“Well”, the trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them.As they grow up, they still believe they cannot break away.They believe the rope can hold them, so they never try to break free.”
How could it be? These animals could at any time break free from their ropes.But because they were always stuck right where they were, they believed they
couldn’t.
Just like the elephants, how many of us go through life believing that we cannot do something, just because we failed at it once before?
In a word, we should never give up the struggle in life.
Passage 2
To write a great news story, you have to make sure it is correct, relevant (相关的) and fresh.
For a start, all the information in a story must be correct.Not only the spelling and grammar, but also the facts.
Any mistakes that appear (出现) in a story can get a newspaper into big trouble.
For example, if a newspaper said that Yang Liwei was the first man to go into space, it would be wrong.He wasn’t the first.The newspaper would probably lose lots of readers because of that mistake.
A news story is not only correct,but also relevant to its readers.People are mostly interested in news that happens near to them.That is why you care more about what happens at your school than at American schools.It is also why newspapers in Beijing don ’t t alk about much news in Shanghai or Hong Kong.
Finally, news must always be fresh.When you pick up your evening newspaper, you want to read about news that happened that day.You don’t want to read about news from last week!
So, now you know what makes a good news story.Have a good look
at our newspaper and see if it is full of good news!You can try writing a news story for our newspaper like a real reporter.
Passage 3
Long ago there was a poor farmer called Fred.Fred and his wife, Doris lived happily together in their small old house.One winter night, the Luck Fairy (仙女) visited them.
“Fred, you’re a good farmer.I’d like to give you a wish,” said the Luck Fairy.
“A wish?” said Fred.
Fred and Doris smiled at each other.Then Fred said, “Thank you, Luck Fairy.We’re very healthy and happy.”
“Though we’re old, we still work in the field every day,” said Doris.
“You work very hard but you make very little money. Would you like some gold coins?” asked the Luck Fairy.
“Oh no, my dear Luck Fairy.We’re poor. But we have enough food to eat.” replied Fred.
“You can use the gold coin to buy some clothes.The winter here is very cold,” said Luck Fairy.
“Though we haven’t got many clothes, we’ve got enough,” said
Doris.
“Well, what about a nice new house?” asked Luck Fairy.
“Thank you, but I love my small old house very much.I’ve lived here since I was born.I don’t need a new house,” said Fred.
“You’re quite different from other people.I like you very much,” said the Luck Fairy.“I wish you happiness and luck forever.” Then the Luck Fairy disappeared and never came back.
Passage 4
One day a huge rock fell from a mountain.The rock rolled down and stopped in the middle of a road in a village.It was like a big ball.Some of the strongest men in the village tried to lift the rock.But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t move it away.They tried to push it, they tried to roll it, they tried to pull it with ropes but nothing worked.“Well”, they agreed.“There’s nothing we can do about it.We’ll have to buil d another road.”All the time a young boy about 12 years old was standing by.“Excuse me,sir,” he said, “but I think I can help you move the rock.”
“You?” they shouted, “What are you talking about? All of us have just tried, and even together we can’t move it at all.” The men all laughed at the boy.
The next morning some people came into the street.One of them shouted, “The rock is gone.It’s gone.” More people ran out into the street to see.In fact, no one could see the rock anywhere.
“This is impossible,” they said,“Where has it gone?” The twelve-year-old boy stood out, smiling.“I moved it last night,” he said, “I dug a deep hole next to the rock and the rock rolled down into the hole by itself.Then I covered it with earth.”
Passage 5
When we think about writing poems or understanding poetry, we often think that it’s hard to do. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Are you a fan of the latest pop group? Do you like to listen to music? Did your mother ever sing a song to you as she tried to get you to sleep? Songs are just poems set to music. They have both the wonderful words of poetry and the sweet sound of music to go along with.
Writing poems is not really all that hard. Through writing poems, you learn how to use a language well. You have to use your imagination. You have to choose the best word to describe exactly how you feel or what you see. You might be trying to describe a beautiful sunset. You think that the words “melting in the distance” or “dropping quietly against th e sea” would be a good way to describe it. You have to decide which would be better. Would you like to write a poem? Go ahead. It’s really not that difficult.。