主题语境十八：自然

四川双流中学 蒋建平（特级教师）

感知·素养解读

在人类活动中，热爱大自然、探索自然界的奥秘、保护大自然等都是我们永恒的主题，而学会了珍爱自然，也就学会了珍爱我们人类自己。 “自然”主题包括人与自然的和谐相处、人在自然界的生存、动植物保护、生态保护、自然灾害以及环境污染和保护等方面。

“自然”主题的写作通常有小说、科普文章、说明文、议论文和应用文等写作形式，常用时态包括现在时、过去时与将来时等。 写作中常用被动语态和虚拟语气。

关于“自然”主题的写作常有以下几个命题角度：

1. 介绍某地特殊自然现象；

2. 人与自然和谐相处话题；

3. 介绍飓风的基本知识；

4. 介绍台风的基本知识；

5. 描述某一濒危动物的现状及呼吁人们关注；

6. 全球变暖问题；

7. 介绍某次大地震的破坏、影响等；

8. 介绍某次水灾的破坏、影响等。

探究·语库构建

语境串记

Cool koalas

When you think of a cute, furry wild animal, you often picture a koala. These adorable creatures appear docile and friendly, so it's no wonder people are concerned about the future of the species after the devastating bushfires that destroyed parts of Australia earlier this year. 1._______（lucky）, many survived, which gives us a chance to continue to learn more about these marsupials.

Australia's native and unique wildlife such as kangaroos, platypus and koalas, are 2.______constant threat from human activity and natural disasters. It's thought at least a billion animals lost their lives as a result of this year's bushfires. Recently, drones and thermal imaging technology 3.________（use） to track their movements to help them keep safe. Protecting these unique species is important because it is estimated that there are now possibly as few as 43,000 koalas in the wild.

So, what is so special about koalas and what makes them so “cool”? Maybe we envy their ability 4.________（sleep） for up to 22 hours a day! Or it could be their laid-back appearance due to the fact 5.______they are herbivores and mainly feed on juicy eucalyptus leaves, which take a lot of time and energy to digest.

What is amazing is that they often live in a dry and hot environment, and drink very little water.So, how do they survive? Well, scientists have discovered that these wild mammals lick 6.________（run） water off the smooth surface of a tree trunk when it is raining. This phenomenon is called “stemflow”. Behavioural 7.______（observation） in the wild are very important to establish what is normal and what is unusual, and to 8.________（true） understand what animals need. If we watch them carefully, they will tell us.

So, 9._______the word “koala” meaning “no drink” or “no water” in the Aboriginal language, it seems that even these 10.________（sleep） creatures do need a drink sometimes. And if we're to encourage them to flourish, we need to conserve their habitat.

萌酷的树袋熊

当你想到一只可爱的、毛茸茸的野生动物时，你常常会想到一只树袋熊。 这些可爱的动物看起来温顺、友好，因此今年早些时候，毁灭性森林大火摧毁了澳大利亚部分地区后，人们会担心这个物种的未来。 幸运的是，许多有袋类动物幸存了下来，这给了我们一个继续了解这些有袋类动物的机会。

澳大利亚本土独特的野生动物，如袋鼠、鸭嘴兽和树袋熊，不断受到人类活动和自然灾害的威胁。 据估计，在今年的森林大火中，至少有10亿只动物丧生。 最近，无人机和热成像技术被用来跟踪它们的行动，以帮助它们保持安全。 保护这些独特的物种非常重要，因为据估计，现在野生的树袋熊可能只有43,000只。

那么，树袋熊有什么特别之处，又是什么让它们如此“酷”呢？ 也许是我们羡慕它们每天能睡22个小时！ 也可能是因为它们是食草动物，主要以多汁的桉树树叶为食，而这些叶子需要大量的时间和精力才能被消化，由此造就了它们慵懒的外表。

令人惊奇的是，它们经常生活在干燥、炎热的环境中，且很少喝水。那么，它们如何生存？好吧， 科学家发现这些野生哺乳动物在下雨时会舔树干光滑表面的流水。 这种现象被称为“茎流”。 野外的行为观察对于确定什么是正常的，什么是不寻常的，以及真正了解动物需要什么是非常重要的。 如果我们仔细观察，它们会告诉我们的。

因此，尽管“树袋熊”这个词在澳大利亚土著语言中的意思是“不喝”或“不喝水”，但似乎即使是这些困倦的生物有时也需要喝一杯。 如果我们要鼓励它们繁衍生息，我们需要保护它们的栖息地。

素材积累

（一）阅读词汇整合（明其义）

【核心单词】

1. decrease 减少

2. destroy 毁灭

3. rescue 拯救

4. spoil 破坏

5. erupt v. 爆发

eruption n. 爆发

6. creature 生物

7. victim 受害人

8. endanger 危害；使遭危险

9. strike/hit （灾害）袭击；发生

10. abundant 丰富的

【高频短语】

1. die out 灭绝

2. keep the balance of nature 保持生态平衡

3. dig into 探寻；探究

4. escape from 从……逃出

5. go against nature 违背自然规律

6. come out 出来；长出

7. cut off the power/electricity 电力中断

8. recover from the disaster 从灾难中恢复过来

9. live in harmony with nature 与自然和谐相处

【主题整合】

自然景观

1. plain 平原

2. plateau 高原

3. mountain 山脉

4. stream 小河；小溪

5. waterfall 瀑布

6. gulf 海湾

7. island 岛；岛屿

8. rainforest 雨林

天气

1. sunny 阳光充足的；晴朗的

2. rainy 下雨的；多雨的

3. windy 有风的；多风的

4. cloudy 阴天的；阴云密布的

5. stormy 有暴风雨的

6. snowy 下雪的；多雪的

7. cool 凉的；凉爽的

8. mild 温和的；和煦的

自然灾害

1. flood 水灾

2. drought 干旱

3. landslide 塌方

4. tsunami 海啸

5. typhoon 台风

6. hurricane 飓风

7. snowstorm 暴风雪

8. thunderstorm 雷雨；雷暴

9. tornado 龙卷风

10. lava 熔岩；火山岩

11. volcano 火山

12. earthquake 地震

13. sandstorm 沙暴；沙尘暴

14. homeless 无家可归的

15. fall down/collapse （房屋等）倒塌

16. be trapped in the ruins 被困在废墟中

17. trigger landslides and other disasters 引发塌方及其他灾害

18. cause great damage 造成巨大损失

（二）写作词汇运用（悉其用）

根据汉语提示或用所给单词的正确形式完成句子。

1. In spite of all this, the government_______________（号召） the whole nation to support the places hit by the worst disaster.

2. The city government took effective measures to protect______________（珍稀动物）.

3. Nowadays, natural disasters have been more widespread and more frequent, becoming very rapidly an increasing______________（威胁） to development.

4. In this activity, students have______________（增强意识） of environmental protection.

5. With the help of the_______________（救援队）, people who were trapped in the flood were saved.

6. It was a cool autumn night when the earthquake happened. A large number of buildings_______________（倒塌） and roads were destroyed.

7. The whole city was______________（成为一片废墟） after the earthquake.

8. In the past few hundred years, there have been frequent natural disasters, such as floods,_______________（干旱）, earthquakes, and new deserts.

9. A terrible earthquake hit my hometown yesterday,______________（cause）great damages.

10. Luckily, the soldiers came to help look for the_______________（幸存者） and dig out some people who were trapped in ruins and bury the dead.

（三）核心句型表达（精于表）

根据要求翻译下列句子。

1. 至于我们的紧急物资，我们建议随时保持手头有足够三天的水和食物、一台收音机等。

译法一：（简单句）

译法二：（含宾语从句）

译法三：（含主语从句）

2. 在过去的四十年里，最强大的地震引发的一次海啸在昨日撞向亚洲的海岸线，使印度尼西亚、印度、泰国、马来西亚以及至少其他四个国家的6,500多人丧生。

译法一：（简单句）

译法二：（并列句）

译法三：（含现在分词作结果状语）

译法四：（含非限制性定语从句）

3. 鸡甚至猪都紧张得不能吃东西，狗也拒绝进入建筑物内。

译法一：（用too...to...句型）

译法二：（用so...that...句型）

4. 这仿佛世界末日即将来临!

译法一：（简单句）

译法二：（用as if引导虚拟语气）

实践·主题测评

知识维度诊断评价

Ⅰ. 单句填空

1. If the disaster cannot defeat a person, it will help him succeed,_________fortune and misfortune are always closely linked. As for what you'll get, it depends on whether you keep standing.

2. Fishermen, tourists, hotels, homes, and cars__________（sweep） away by huge waves caused by the strong earthquake that reached a magnitude of 9.0.

3. The undersea quake_________（strike）around 7：00 am, Sunday off the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island.

4. I was having breakfast with my three children_________water started filling my home.

5. The energy_________（spread） into the rocks, so they begin to shake and we have an earthquake!

6. Earthquakes happen without warning,and they can happen any time of a day, at any point during the year, but don't worry because most are so weak that they cannot________（feel）.

7. These old people have experienced all kinds of_________(suffer)in their difficult times.

8.__________(bury) under the ruins, the little girl was rather frightened.

9. A lot of houses and roads were destroyed,leaving a great many people_________（home）.

10. Many social organizations and people volunteered__________（donate） money to the earthquake-stricken area.

Ⅱ. 情境写作

假定你是校报英语专栏的一名小记者。你校举办了一场关于地震自救知识的讲座。请你用英语为校报写一篇新闻报道，内容包括：

1. 讲座简介；2. 收获或感想。注意：

1. 词数100左右；

2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。