1.1　Environmental Impact

Text（课文）

Modern society relies heavily on fossil fuel-based transportation for economic and social development freely-moving goods and people.The issues related to this trend become evident because transportation relies heavily on oil.Not only are the oil resources on Earth limited，but also the emissions from burning oil products have led to climate change，poor urban air quality and political conflict.Thus，global energy system and environmental problems have emerged，which can be attributed to a large extent on personal transportation.

Personal transportation offers people the freedom to go wherever and whenever they want.However，this freedom of choice creates a conflict，leading to growing concerns about the environment and concerns about the sustainability of human use of natural resources.The large number of automobiles in use around the world has caused and continues to cause serious problems for environment and human life.Air pollution，global warming，and the rapid depletion of the Earth's petroleum resources are now problems of paramount concern.

New words and expressions（单词和短语）

1.New words（单词）

2.Expressions（短语）

Notes to the text（难点解析）

★1.Modern society relies heavily on fossil fuel-based transportation for economic and social development freely moving goods and people.在现代社会，交通运输便捷地运送货物和人员，促进了经济和社会的发展，但它却极大地依赖于化石燃料。

★2.The large number of automobiles in use around the world has caused and continues to cause serious problems for environment and human life.全世界大量汽车的应用，已经产生并正在继续引发严重的环境与人类生存问题。

Exercises（练习）

◆1.Translate the following passages（expressions）into Chinese（英译汉）

（1）Personal transportation offers people the freedom to go wherever and whenever they want.

（2）Global energy system and environmental problems have emerged，which can be attributed to a large extent on personal transportation.

（3）fossil fuel

◆2.Translate the following passages（expressions）into English（汉译英）

（1）石油资源

（2）空气污染

（3）这种自由的选择引发了一些冲突，使人们越来越担心环境问题和自然资源的可持续使用问题。

◆3.Fill in the blanks with the suitable words according to the text

Not only are the______on Earth limited，but also the______from burning oil products have led to______，poor urban air quality，and political conflict.Thus，global energy system and environmental problems have emerged，which can be attributed to a large extent on______.

◆4.Directions:Answer the following questions briefly according to the text

（1）What are now problems of paramount concern？

Reading material（阅读材料）

There are about 800 million cars in the world and about 250 million motor vehicles on the road in the United States according to the US Department of Transportation's estimate.In 2009，China overtook the United States to become the world's largest auto maker and auto market，with output and sales respectively hitting 13.79 and 13.64 million units in that year.With further urbanization，industrialization，and globalization，the trend of rapid increase in the number of personal automobiles worldwide is inevitable.