Unit12 Fact and fantasy

(two students stand up and act out their dialogue. )
step 2  lead-in and pre-reading
show the following pictures on the multimedia.
here are three great inventions. who can say when the inventions in the pic¬tures were made?
s1 : electric railway was invented in the early years of the 20th century.
s2: thomas edison invented the light bulb in 1879.
s3: steam-powered boat was made in 1807,
teacher shows the following on the screen.
1. when was electricity discovered?
2. how was it used in the following two hundred years?
3. in the early 19th century, people had no idea what the inside of the earth might look like. can you explain what we know about it today?
work in groups of four to discuss the questions. choose one of you to act as the leader of your group. record the re¬sults of your discussion. a few minutes later, the leader will be asked to report the result.
step 3  reading
read the passage quickly to see whether you've grasped the brief meaning of it. then, re-read the passage carefully to further understand it. then answer the questions on the screen. (show the following on the multime¬dia.)
1. to make a living, what did jules verne have to do?
2. what will many of the instruments in his novels remind the readers of?
3. how did verne lay the foundation of modern science fiction?
4. in his novel "20 000 leagues under the sea", what kind of person is captain nemo?
5. how does the story "journey to the centre of the earth" begin and end up?
 (a few minutes later, teacher asks some of them to answer the questions one by one.)
suggested answers:
1. to make a living, jules verne had to write and sell stories.
2. they will remind the readers of dr benjamin franklin's experiment with electricity.
3. by taking the scientific developments of his day one step further.
4.he is someone you will neither like nor dislike. he is very cruel because he keeps aronnax and others as prisoners and destroys ships. but at other moments, he is gentle and weak be¬cause he cries about the lost lives of people drowned in ships that have sunk.
5. the story begins with the discovery of an ancient document and ends up with them being shot out of a volcano in southern italy with ever increasing speed and temperature.
step 4  language points
show the following on the multimedia.
1. make a living ( = earn one's living)
e. g. she made a living by singing in a nightclub,
2. lay the foundation of
e. g. four-year college life laid solid foundations of his career.
3. come true