I. Understanding the Text

1. Text Organization

2.Comprehension Check

2.1 Focusingon the main ideas

    Iam an aide to Premier Li Keqiang. This morning, he was scheduled to meet MarciaMcNutt, Editor-in-Chiefof Science for 30 minutes. Before themeeting, the Premier instructed me to collect data to demonstrate China’s efforts inaddressing environmentalproblems. Dr. McNutt arrived early. They had tea atthe reception hall. The discussion went so well that neither realized time hadrun out. At onepoint, I had to interrupt them with an urgent notefor the Premier. He dismissed me.Dr. McNutt was clearly impressed. And the national media coverage of thismeeting impressed her even more. She later commented that all these sentstrong signals asto how China sees science ascritical to its future well-being.

2.2 Digginginto detail

1.She was indisbelief, because she thought Premier Li had too many pressing issues ofnational and international concern to attend to than to meet her.

2.Current/present.

3.The meetingwould be one-on-one and U.S. reporters were not allowed. The meeting would last30 minutes. They would discuss science and the economy, not politics. Sometopics were off limits for the Premier, being suggested as more appropriate forconversations between her and President Bai Chunli of the Chinese Academy ofSciences.

4.Three. Theyare: returning farmland to forest; the value of China’s energy-saving andenvironmental industries; and clean drinking water for rural Chinese people.

5.The importanceof training more brilliant scientists for China, including extending trainingopportunities to rural students.

6.To show thatscientific research is highly respected/has a high status in China.

2.3Understanding difficult sentences

·        1) B

·        2) A

·        3) A

·        4) B

II. Focusing on Language inContext

1. Key Words& Expressions

1.1

1.His career asa soldier ended with injury to both eyes.

2.Hot money flowsaround the world looking for investments that will yield highreturns.

3.The PrimeMinister’s speech sent out a signal that his government isready for peace negotiations.

4.This morningMicrosoft CEO Satya Nadella published a report on his vision forthe company’s future.

5.New China hasbeen promoting closer cooperation withother countries for world peace since its founding in 1949.

6.Oil prices inChina now follow global trends.

7.The actressdecided to take advantage of her recent fame to launch her own fashion brand.

8.Chinadidn’t attain its2012 foreign trade goal due to the debt crisis in Europe.

9.In the earlydays of his career, he headed a team to attract overseas Chinesescientists to his university.

10.Do you thinkcollege graduation, wedding and giving birth to babies are significant eventsin your life?

1.2

·        1) off limits

·        2) At first

·        3) previous

·        4) thanks to

·        5) appropriate

1.3

1.The onlyreal solution to China’spollution problems, scientists claim, is to cut emissions (排放) from powerplants, factories and cars.

2.The Chinesegovernment has officially declared war on the globalgambling industry, which makes it likely that Chinese citizens will be gamblingmuch less in China, its neighboring countries, and the US.

3.A big proportion of tigersdie of human demand for their bones.

4.We are workingwith computer experts toensure that such accidents do not happen again.

5.This shelfholds 80 pairs of shoes with prices ranging from $120 to $150 each.

2. Usage

1.

1)The YangtzeRiver is five times longer than the Dadu River.

2)The YangtzeRiver is six times as long as the Dadu River.

3)The YangtzeRiver is six times the length of the Dadu River.

2.

1)Despitecompetition, prices of our products have increased by 10 per cent sincelast year.

2)In the event ofa 1% fall in the market rate, the return on the stock is expected to decrease by less than 1per cent.

3)Mr Baker,General Manager of the company, saw his salary increase from £130,000 to £400,000 whilehis workers had to settle for a 5.5 per cent wage rise.

4)In the UnitedStates, the average stay in hospital for a patient aged 65 decreased from 13 days in1967 to 8.8 days in 1986.

3. SentencePatterns

1.

1)Politiciansdepend on experts for advice as to foreign policies.

2)I’m notabsolutely certain, you see, as to whether I should say it.

3)By 3 pm, theMayor demanded a timetable as to when the power would be back on.

4)As to how to go to ShanghaiMuseum by bus, I’m not sure about it because I have justmoved to Shanghai.

2.

1)What caused theplane crash remains unknown.

2)What you toldme this morning is amazing.

3)What isimportant to the beginning of life is that as the earth cooled down, waterbegan to appear on its surface.

4)Whatever we sayor do at home may have an influence on our children.

4.Comprehensive Practice

1. A:As thegovernment’s spokesperson, what can you tell us about America’s employmentsituation in June?

    B:Amongthe major worker groups, unemployment rates ranged from 21% forteenagers to 5.3%for adult women. The unemployment rates for adult women and blacks declined,while the rate increased for teenagers. As to the rates for adult men,whites, and Asians, they didn’t show any significant change.

2. A:When I haveto stand up to speak to a crowd, I tend to be lost for words. Then when I canfinally talk more smoothly, I notice people whisper to each other or look attheir phone. What can I do to get them to listen?

    B:Manyspeakers quickly lose control during the most critical time — the firstfive minutes. A good introduction to your topic can impress your listeners greatly.Ask questions or tell a personal story to ensure that the crowd doesn’tlose interest in you.

3. A:How did youbecome a diplomat?

    B:WhenI began my career Ithought I would become a university professor. Then my roommate sent my CV tothe Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with some of my publishedpapers todemonstrate my understanding of foreign affairs. I dismissed his action asa joke. But you know what? A few months later, I found myself working at theMinistry of Foreign Affairs!

4. A:What isChinese government’s position on IPR (intellectual property rights) protection?

    B:Ournational leaders have avision of innovation-driven growth. IPR protection iskey to innovation. We’ve decided on a level of IPR protection appropriate for ournational situation. Major progress has been made in this area in China over thepast years thanksto efforts made by people from all walks of life. We arealso keen on learning the best practices through cooperation with other countries.

Reading 1

1.Comprehension Check for Reading 1

·        1) F

·        2) T

·        3) F

·        4) T

·        5) T

·        6) T

·        7) F

·        8) T

·        9) F

·        10) T

2.Translation

1.因为挺身主张自由，他被全世界赞为传奇，但更令人惊异的是，他没有因为遭遇非人待遇而变成铁石心肠。

2.我最怕的莫过于早上醒来，却没有什么计划能帮我为那些没有资源、贫困交加、不识字不会写、身患绝症的人送去一点欢乐。

3.我们出狱时会脱胎换骨，我们甚至可以带着两个学位出狱。自学是一个途径，它赋予我们争取自由的最强大的武器。

4.我出狱时比我入狱时更有见识。你越有见识，你就越不会傲慢、越不会那么咄咄逼人。

Reading 2

ComprehensionCheck for Reading 2

1.On the onehand, he was confident because the British military forces concentrated inBritain were stronger than ever. On the other hand, home defense still neededstrengthening, as Britain must fight back and fight overseas, which would drawtroops away from Britain.

2.Enemy aliensand suspicious characters of other nationalities, British subjects who maybecome a danger or a nuisance should the war be transported to the UnitedKingdom, and the Fifth Column.

3.It could neverbe ruled out that a chance combination of factors favorable to an invasionmight come together (the blockading fleet mentioned was the British navy, whichwas keeping much of the French fleet penned up in port).

4.A long one.Because he said the war might last for years, the enemy was powerful and hadlots of new ways of fighting, and the British people might have to fight beachby beach, hill by hill…