高级英语第三课Ships in the Desert

Some Proper Names


Arctic Circle:北极圈 Mid-night sun: 午夜太阳 (see Note 8) Ozone depletion: 臭氧层空洞 (see Note 16) Ozone is an unstable, pale-blue gas, O3 with a penetrating odor. Depletion means the gradual using up or destruction of capital asserts esp. of natural resources . The polar region: 南北极地区 at the very bottom of the earth; at the other end of our planet; Antarctic as one end and Arctic as the other end.

What does the writer call “ghosts in the sky”?
“noctilucent clouds” This “luminous cloud” occasionally appears when the earth is first hidden in the evening darkness; shining unsteadily above us with a partially transparent whiteness, these clouds don’t seem natural.

Al Gore's profound analysis of where humanity has gone wrong ranges across history, politics, science, economics, psychology, philosophy, and religion.
Chlorofluorocarbons: CFC 氟里昂


Chlorine 氯
Chlorocarbon 氯碳化合物 Fluorine: 氟 Chlorofluorocarbon : any of a series of gaseous or low-boiling, inert, nonflammable derivatives of methane or ethane, used as refrigerants and solvents and as propellants in aerosol products
NOAA=national oceanic and aeronautic administration 国家 海洋和大气局
China has set up two scientific research stations at Trans-Antarctic Mountains : Zhongshan Station in the East and Great Wall in the West.
Some Proper Names



Clear Air Act: 净化空气法案 (see Note 5) one of the oldest environmental laws of the US as well as the most far-reaching, the costliest (the most valuable), and the most controversial,. It was passed in 1970. The glacier: 冰河、冰川 n. a slowly moving river or mass of ice and snow that forms in areas where the rate of snowfall constantly exceeds the rate at which the snow melts. The polar ice cap：极地冰帽 Submarine sonar tracks: 水下声纳系统探测 Noctilucent cloud: 夜光云彩 Translucent: adj. Partially transparent , as frosted glass

Gore demonstrates that the quality of our air and water is urgently at risk. He clearly illustrates how problems that once were regional have now become global. Gore argues for a worldwide mobilization to save us from disaster.

ultra-: beyond e.g. ultrared （红外线的）, ultrashort （超短波的）, ultrasonic （超音波 的）, ultramodern（极其现代化的）



Axiom: n. a statement, esp. one that is short, that is generally accepted as true and doesn’t need to be proved. It is an axiom that if equals are added to equals the result will be equal. 等量加等量和相等，这是一条公理。 Cf. maxim: n. a rule for good and sensible behavior, esp. when expressed in a short wellknown saying 格言，箴言 , 例如：Time and tide waits for no man.



Dessert: n. [di ‘zə:t] course of fruit, etc. at the end of a meal; (U.S.A) any sweet dish (e.g. pie, pudding, ice-cream) served at the end of a meal; (Gr. Brit.) the sweet
Amazon rain forest
The Brazilian Amazon contains about a third of the Earth‘s remaining tropical forest and a very high portion of its biological diversity. One hectare 公顷(2.47 acres) of Amazonian moist forest contains more plant species than all of Europe. Yet still it is being destroyed just like other rainforests around the world.
Lesson Three Ships in the Desert
Compare the following:

Desert : n. [‘dezət] wildness; waste land; waterless and treeless, often sand covered; Desert : v. [di ‘zə:t] abandon; give up; go away from Deserts: n. [di ‘zə:ts] (usu.pl.) what sb. deserves
For examples


The Sahara Desert The streets were deserted. He deserted his wife and children and went abroad. They are rewarded (punished) according to their deserts. Some people failed to get their deserts. He is a man of deserts. Dessert fork \ knife \ spoon \ wine
Why did the writer go to the Aral Sea? What did he see there?
Some Proper Names





The Aral Sea:咸海 (see Note 2) Great Lakes: 五大湖 (see Note 3) Trans-Antarctic Mountains : 南极山脉 (see Note 4) Four Oceans: the Atlantic\ Pacific \ Indian \ Arctic Ocean Seven Continents: Asia; North America; Africa; Europe; Australia; Antarctica; South America Antarctic Peninsula: 南极半岛 ，又名 Graham Land 旧名为 Palmer Peninsula
ultraviolet:
(of light) that is beyond the purple end of the range of colors (spectrum) that make up light that can be seen by human beings

ultraviolet rays: 紫外线
Some Proper Names



Βιβλιοθήκη Baidu
Latitude: 纬度 In high northern latitudes 在北纬高纬度地区（距离赤道 很远的地区） High latitudes; low latitudes：低纬度地区（距离赤道很近的地区）
Warm \ cold latitudes; south \ north latitude Equator: 赤道 Equatorial: of or near the equator Longitude：经度 Altitude: height , esp. above sea-level. Cf. attitude: the position or manner of standing of the body; a manner of feeling and behaving
1. Introduction about the author
Al Gore was born in 1948 in Washington D.C., U.S. He has been a Senator (1984-1992) representing the State of Tennessee, and U.S. Vice-President (1992-2000) under President Bill Clinton. He ran for the Presidency against George W. Bush jr. but the latter won the closely tied election and has become the 43rd American President. The text is taken from Al Gore’s book Earth in the Balance
the sun glaring at midnight through a hole in the sky
the sun shining at midnight through the
ozone depletion a hole: ozone depletion 臭氧层空洞
To chart the course of CO2 emission and temperature in the Antarctic