Unit 10 Agriculture

1. New College English (Book One, Second Edition) Unit 10 Agriculture

2. Contents Preparation 1 2 In-class Reading 3 Further Development

3. PREPARATION

4. Word Association Work in groups to categorize the following words. Then add as many words as possible to each category. wheat cattle cucumber processing turkey sickle weeding cat pumpkin goose tractor strawberry tilling pepper irrigation fork goat duck spade

5. Word Association 1) crops (grains, fruits, vegetables, etc.): ____________________________________ 2) farm animals: ____________________________________ 3) farming tools: ____________________________________ 4) Farming methods: ____________________________________

6. Happy Farming If you inherited a farm now, it was empty. You only owned the field and one set of village house. How would you want to establish your farm? What would it be?

7. Assignment 1. Remember the words we talked about in class. 2. Preview the words and text.

8. In-class reading • Background information • Language points • Text structure • Homework

9. Background Information • Agriculture is so important to human societies that it is easy to forget how the techniques and technology of agriculture have changed over the years. • It is quite certain that the first agriculture was a natural extension ( 延伸，外延 ) of the hunting and gathering activities of man in several different geographical areas. Most archeologists ( 考古学家 ) and agricultural historians agree that grain ( 谷类 ) plants were the first plants to be cultivated ( 耕种 ).

10. Background Information • Possibly the first grain to be cultivated was a primitive type of wheat which had probably been gathered from the wild grasses of the Middle East in Europe. By about 12,000 years ago, people had begun living in the earliest cities, and wheat was harvested in the areas surrounding these cities. At about the same time, animals such as dogs, cattle, and goats were being domesticated by raising them in pens ( 牛、羊等的圈 ) in these cities.

11. Background Information Green Revolution • Concerns about agriculture and food supply are not new. They are as old as agriculture itself. In the past, short-term food scarcity caused by temporary natural disasters such as droughts and floods, rather than long-term sustainability threatened by activity of man, was the primary concern. This has changed with the onset of the Green Revolution that has taken place both in developed as well as in developing countries, with the largest impact being felt in West Europe, North America and in Asia.

12. Background Information • The hot discussion about sustainable agriculture has largely come up as a result of reasonably good temporary global food security resulting from the post-war green revolution in the industrialized countries and the more recent green revolution in Asia. Not quite surprisingly, the loudest debate about sustainable agriculture has emerged in the highly developed industrialized countries , that for decades have now been burdened by surplus agricultural production rather than by scarcity of food.

13. Language Points 1.enormous • n. a way of working, organizing , or doing something which follows a fixed plan or set of rules解答 , 解决办法 , 溶解 , 溶液；解决方案 • e.g. The effective solution to the problem of air pollution is not available. • 还没有解决空气污染问题的有效方法。 • He finally came up with a solution. • 他最终想出了解决办法。

14. Language Points 2. destructive • adj. causing damage to people or things • 破坏 ( 性 ) 的 • e.g. We must abandon the policy that is destructive to the economy. • 我们必须摒弃这个危害经济的政策。 • Jealousy is very destructive. • 嫉妒是具有毁灭性的。

15. Language Points 3. erosion • n. the process of eroding or the condition of being eroded腐蚀 , 侵蚀 • e.g. The erosion of the shoreline ruined the beach. • 海岸线的腐蚀完全破坏了沙滩。 • Soil erosion by rain and wind is a serious problem here. • 雨水和风造成的腐蚀在这是严重的问题

16. Language Points 4. product • n. Something produced by human or mechanical effort or by a natural process.产品 , 产物 , • e.g. Is history the product of impersonal social and economic forces? • 历史是非人力的社会和经济力量的产物吗 ? • Try to get the best product at the lowest price. • 试着用最少的钱买到最好的产品

17. Language Points 5. efficient • adj. Acting directly to produce an effect( 直接 ) 生效的 , 有效率的 , 能干的 • e.g. This new method proves to be quite efficient. • 这种新方法证明是很有效的。 • The diesel engine is highly efficient. • 这种柴油机是很高效的。

18. Language Points 6. local • adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a particular place • 地方的 , 当地的 , 局部的 , 乡土的 n. 当地居民 • e.g. He has quite used to the local customs. • 他已经相当习惯当地风俗了。 • The local newspaper focuses on neighborhood news. • 当地的报纸重点报道当地新闻

19. Language Points 7. reform • n. A change for the better; an improvement改革 , 改善 , 改良运动 • e.g. This educational reform proved to be quite successful. • 这次宗教改革证明是相当成功的。 • Some reforms to the system will be necessary. • 一些针对该系统的改革是必须的。

20. Language Points 8. industrialized • adj.工业化的 • e.g. Some industrialized countries control most the world's petroleum production. • 一些工业化国家控制了世界绝大多数的石油生产。 • The region is getting more and more industrialized. • 这一地区变得愈来愈工业化了。

21. Language Points 9. Bring about • v. give rise to; lead to 使发生 , 致使 • e.g. Overdosing the medicine brought about his drowsiness. • 吃药吃多了导致了他发困。 • His having too much fatty food brought about his overweight. • 他吃了太多的高脂肪食物导致了他发胖。

22. Language Points 10. diary • n. A commercial establishment for processing or selling milk and milk products • 牛奶场 , 奶品场 , 售牛奶 , 奶油 • e.g. Dairy produce is milk, cream , butter and cheese. • 乳制品包括牛奶，奶油，黄油和奶酪。 • Dairy products are quite nutritious. • 乳制品十分有营养。

23. Language Points 11. Throw away • v. get rid of ; abandon扔掉 , 丢弃 • e.g. I threw away yesterday's newspaper. • 我扔掉了昨天的报纸。 • He threw away a chance to make a fortune. • 他丧失赚大钱的机会。

24. Language Points 12. transportation • n. The act or an instance of transporting运输 , 运送 • e.g. The boxes were ready for transportation. • 这些盒子即将被运走。 • Subways and buses are forms of public transportation. • 地铁和公车是公众交通运输的形式。

25. Language Points 13. agricultural ◆adj. of or relating to agriculture农业的 , 农艺的 ◆e.g. Many agricultural areas must be irrigated every year. ◆许多农业地区需要每年被灌溉。 ◆The city of Benxi is famous for its agricultural products. ◆本溪市因农产品而闻名。

26. Language Points 14. sustainable • adj. being able to sustain可以忍受的 , 足可支撑的 , 养得起的 • e.g. Sustainable development plays an indispensable role to China's national economy. • 可持续性发展对中国的经济扮演十分重要的角色。 • The government should do more to promote sustainable agriculture. • 政府应该更努力推进可持续性农业。

27. Language Points 15. consumer • n. One that consumes, especially one that acquires goods or services for direct use or ownership rather than for resale or use in production and manufacturing消费者 • e.g. The new telephone rates will affect all consumers. • 新的电话资费将会影响所有的消费者。 • Trying to attract as many consumers is what I need to do right now. • 试着去吸引尽可能多的消费者是我当前要做的。

28. Text Structure 1) Problems: poverty, hunger, and destruction of the earth’s resources. (para. 1) 2) Solutions that lie in how we think about agriculture, food and our planet: A. The development of farming methods that are less ____________________. (para. 2-3) B. The saving of __________________.(para.4) C. Less-developed countries: land and economic reform.(para.5)

29. Text Structure D. Industrialized countries: changes in __________ and _________. (para. 6) 3. Conclusion: The ideal agricultural system would be __________. (para.7)

30. Assignment 1) Finish the exercises after the text. 2) Review what we have learned today.

31. Further development

32. Further Development • The earliest tools for cultivation were crude sticks to loosen the earth and remove weeds from the grain plantings. Harvesting tools constructed with wood and sharp-edged stones were common within all agricultural centers by about 8,000 years ago. Also, by that time domesticated animals were being used as a source of milk as well as meat.

33. Further Development • The milk had to be used fresh, or it spoiled; but observant ( 有洞察力的 ) people found that fermentation ( 发酵 ) could be controlled to produce dairy products such as items which resembled yogurt ( 酸奶 ) and cheeses. In areas where cool water and ice formed naturally, we know that meat and milk were cooled to improve their quality and storage.

34. Further Development • Many types of tools and containers were found in early communities, but it was not until an early type of plow was pulled by cattle or horses that the agricultural revolution began its great progress.

35. Further Development • Harvesting tools such as sickles ( 镰刀 ), scythes ( 大镰刀 ), knives and wheeled carts were improved during the Bronze Age (6,000 to 7,000 years ago) and iron was used extensively by about 3,000 years ago to make plow points, knives, sickles, and so on.

36. Further Development • Steady improvements in farming methods, technology and use of irrigation and fertilization, as well as careful selection of productive types of animals and plants, took place until about the 18th century when there was an explosive ( 爆炸性的 ) growth which utilized ( 利用 ) steel implements ( 工具 ), more efficient plows, and larger tracts of cultivated land.

37. Further Development • By the latter part of 19th century, the development of gasoline-driven engines and of improved harvesting, cultivating, and planting implements was widespread in the West, and this technology was quickly adapted elsewhere. Innovations gave rise to our tractors, combines ( 联合收割机 ), cultivation, irrigation and fertilizer-spreading implements.

38. Further Development • However, even more important was the possibility that a single family, or a group of neighbors, could own huge areas of land which could be prepared by them for the intensive agriculture now known around the world.

39. Further Development • In the 20th century, applications of genetics ( 基因学 ) and biology gave a solid scientific understanding of plant and animal breeding, more precise ( 精确的 ) selection of desired crop characteristics like high yields, cold and heat resistant ( 抵抗的 ) varieties of crops, and the formation of special companies for growing and preparing seed for distribution to farmers.

40. Further Development • With these supports, some farmers owned and harvested crops from thousands of acres. It was possible to use six or more plows for preparing the soil, or more than ten self-propelled combines or "pickers" moving side by side over huge fields to harvest the wheat, or corn, or rice.

41. Further Development • Can you imagine the shock it would be if the earliest farmers could see our modern agricultural methods and technology? Do you think there will be more improvements in agriculture in the future? The answer seems almost certainly to be yes, and wouldn't it be fun to return and see farming in another 1,000 years?

42. Thank You !