Unit 4
Earthquake

Using language
Reading and speaking
Look at the pictures and
discuss what happened.
Tang shan’s new look
Here is a letter of invitation. Read it carefully and answer the following questions.
1. Who write the letter?
2. Who will receive the letter?
People who have won the student’s
high school speaking competition
about new Tangshan.
Zhang Sha.
3. What was the park built for?

4. When will the student speak to
the park visitor?
To honour those who died in the terrible disaster and those who helped the survivors.
On July 28 at 11:00 am.
1. invitation n. 邀请
invite v.
a letter of invitation 一封邀请信
2. give a speech 作报告/演讲
3. Office of the City Government 市政府办公室
Words &. Expressions
4. be pleased to do sth

愿意／高兴／乐于做某事
5. the speaking competition
演讲比赛
= be glad / happy to do
6. judge n. 评委、裁判员、法官
He was a poor judge of man.
他看人的能力很差。
The prisoner was taken to the judge.
他被带到了法官那儿。
v. 断定、判断、判决
A blind man cannot judge colors.
盲人不能判断颜色。
翻译: 不要以貌取人。
Don’t judge a man by his appearance.
7. be proud of you 以……而感自豪
　I am proud of you.
8. honour n./v. 荣誉、尊敬、敬意、
纪念
我们应该尊敬父母。
We should honour our parents.
= We should show honour to our
parents.
honour sb. / sth. 尊重某人/事
show honour to sb. / sth.
in honour of 为了纪念
这纪念碑是为纪念在战争中死去的战士
而立的。
The monument was built in honor of
the dead in the war.
9. have sb. do sth (主动)
have sb. doing sth (主动/持续)
have sth/sb done (被动)
I won’t have you say such words.
He had us laughing all through lunch.
I will have my hair cut tomorrow.
10. as you know 如你所知
11. on that special day 在那个特殊的日子
9. write an article for… 为……写文章
10. write an outline 写提纲
11. disaster-hit areas 受灾区

12. frighten, frightened , frightening
a. They were trying to __________the
public to give in.
b. She seemed to be ___________of the
interview.
c. The speed of the car was ____________
frighten
frightened
frightening
Now in pairs prepare a short speech.
Thank Mr Zhang Sha and the
government for inviting you to speak.
Thank those who helped the survivors
and list what they did after the quake.
Thank those who worked hard to
build a new city.
Encourage the people to be always
proud of their city.
Describe your feelings about the city,
which is known as the “Brave City of
China”.
Thank the visitors for listening to
your speech.
I would like to express my thanks to … who ….; Here, I wish to express my thanks to the great efforts …
I’d also like to thank …
No words are strong enough to express our …; It was terrible when …
It seemed as if …
I remember … I felt …
Not long after that … Luckily, …
One possible speech:
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. It’s my great honor to be given the chance to give the speech.
Thank Mr Zhang and the city government for inviting me to speak. And thank all of you to attend this activity.
Everybody knows that this park will be open to honor those who died in the terrible disaster on this day 33 years ago. We should say that all of you are very lucky to have survived. But never can we forget those who helped you do the rescue work. They dug out those who had been trapped and buried the dead.
They also helped build the new city.
They built new homes and offices in
only seven years. For this work, many
workers and soldiers lost their lives. We
should show our greatest honor to them.
When I first arrived in the city yesterday,
I came to understand why Tangshan
was called “Brave City of China”.
What you have done made the whole world surprised. Look at the tall buildings and the beautiful environment. How brave you are! I think you should always be proud of the city.
Thank you for listening to my speech.
Look at the stamps of new Tangshan and discuss what had to be done to rebuild a city after an earthquake.
Sample discussion:
S1: Let’s look at the stamps. They seem to show new houses, a new city center, new factories, schools, hospitals and a new port.
S2: That shows how strong the earthquake must have been and how much damage there was if so much of Tangshan had to be replaced.
S1: Yes, indeed. The people of Tangshan must have had a terrible time while the earthquake was happening.
S2: Yes. I wonder how long they had to live in temporary accommodation?
S1: Well, the United Nations praised the people of Tangshan for rebuilding their city so quickly. It only took seven years.
S2: There must have been so much to do: clear the site of ruined buildings; design new ones that would withstand another earthquake; bring in new building materials, bring in the workers to build the factories, homes etc. Such a lot of work!
S1: Yes, and meanwhile the people had to live in tents. They must have worried a lot about how they would pay for food and clothes. Poor things!
S2: Indeed, we owe them a lot. And they made everyone aware of the dangers of earthquakes and how to prepare for another one. They themselves were survivors in more ways than one!
Listening
1 How would you feel if your home was suddenly destroyed without warning? In pairs make a list of useful adjectives to express your feelings.
Useful adjectives:
very shocked, frightened, very upset, unable to understand what was happening, confused, panic-stricken ….
2 Listen to the tape and then tell
whether they are true or false.
1. The man was sleeping downstairs when the earthquake happened.
2. Many huge buildings were shaking –bricks were falling.
F
T
3. A lot of people were buried under
the ruins.
4. Some cows were killed in the fire.
5. He felt safer because he go away
easily.
T
F
F
1. When did the earthquake begin?

2. What did the speaker do after he woke up?
Listen to the tape again and in
groups discuss these questions.
Around 5 o’clock in the morning.
He rushed outside as soon as
he woke up.
3. What did he see and hear outside?
When he got outside he thought the world had come to an end. He heard people crying and shouting. He saw people running everywhere and bricks falling down from buildings. There were big fires too.
4. What happened to the man next to him?
5. How did he get away from the city?

6. Which of your adjectives describe the man’s feelings most closely?
He was killed by bricks falling from a nearby building.
He got away from the city by boat.
Very shocked, devastated.
1 I asked a man standing nex(t) to me wha(t) happened.
2 Some of them ha(d) broken their legs and others were climbing
upon each other to get out.
4 Read the sentences below and pay
attention to liaison and incomplete
explosion.
R: What was the first thing you
remember?
Listening text
A report is asking a man to describe his experience in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
R=reporter M=man
M: Oh, my goodness. It was about 5 o’clock in the morning. I remember, I woke up when I was thrown out of the bed. When I tried to walk, the floor shook so that I fell. I felt terrified and rushed downstairs.
R: What did you see outside?
M: Oh, I saw things I never want to see again. It seemed as if the end of the
world came. People were crying, shouting and running everywhere. bricks were falling down from some buildings while big ones were shaking… Lots of people were getting buried under bricks. There were great fires around us. It was terrible!
R: Did you realize what was happening?
M: No. I asked a man standing next to
me what happened. Before he could answer, some bricks fell on him and he was killed.
R: That sounds frightening. Did you know where to find a safer place?
M: Oh, no. Luckily I met a man who knew the way to a boat.
R: So…you got away easily?
M: No, we didn’t. It was difficult because the streets had deep cracks. As we were carefully picking our way, some frightened cows rushed up Market Street and dropped into one of them. I’ll never forget the noise they made. Some of them had broken their legs and others were climbing upon each other to get out. Horrible!
R: How did you feel once you’d left the city?
M: Umm. I felt safer because we were being cared for. The soldiers saved us. They brought us water and food. Thanks to them many of us are still alive!
Reading and writing
You are going to write an article for a
newspaper about a special event that
happened in your hometown. Before
you start, you should write an outline.
It will help you organize your ideas.
A newspaper outline usually includes:
a headline, a list of main ideas and a list
of important details.
An interesting title that tells the reader what your topic is.
Headline
Main ideas
Details
Do you know what an outline is?
outline
1. Why an outline is important?
Because an outline will prepare
you to write a better story.
2. What should an outline conclude?
A good outline should have a
headline, a list of main idea and
a list of important details.
Discuss with your partners the following questions.
3. Why a headline is important?
A headline can tell the reader what
the topic is, so it can attract the
reader’s attention since the reader
may not have bought the newspaper
before they read the headline.
4. What are the steps to finish a
newspaper story?
First, organize the main ideas. Next,
put some details into each paragraph.
5. What is the feature of the newspaper
story?
A newspaper story gives the most
important news first and the least
important news last.
Now write your outline. Before you write it, ask yourself these questions: What happened? When did it happen? Where? Who took part? Why?
Sample
China leads world in traffic death
Experts say that road traffic accidents are on the rise and China ranks first in the world in traffic death tolls. Worldwide Statistics show that the global traffic accident death toll amounted to 500, 000 in 2003,
with the largest sh