课标人教实验版高三 Module 9

Unit 4

Listening

1. How would you describe each plant?

What do you think is unusual about eac

h plant?

2. One of the pictures shows pitcher plan

ts and another shows “living stones”. W

hich picture shows which plant? The na

me of the plant in the other picture is Ra

fflesia.

Listening on P36

Look carefully at the photos of the

plants and answer the questions.

living stone

Rafflesia

pitcher plants

Pitcher plant

Now listen to Mark, Gordon and Andrea telling their class about these plants. Which student talks about which plant?

Plant A B C

Student’s name

Name of the plant

Mark

Pitcher

plant

Living stones or Lithops

Gordon

Rafflesia arnoldii

Andrea

Listen to the other students’ reactions to Mark, Gordon and Andrea’s descriptions of the plants. Write down the expressions they use.

Expressions of wonder:That’s amazing!What fantastic plants!Wow! How interesting!I think it’s fantastic!

Expressions of disgust:

Oh, yuck!

That’s disgusting!

UNUSUAL PLANT

TH: Today Mark, Gordon and Andrea are

going to tell us about some unusual

plants. Mark, do you want to go first?

M: Sure. Today, I want to talk about an

insect-eating plant called a pitcher

plant.

Listening text

Here’s a photo of it. Look at this part

here. It’s shaped like a pitcher. It’s

actually a leaf even though it looks like

a flower. It’s really clever---the insects

are attracted by the sweet smell coming

from what they think is a flower. But

it’s a trap.

Once an insect goes down into the pitc

her, it can’t get out as there are small

hard hairs pointing downwards that p

revent it from escaping. In the end, th

e insect falls down into a pool of liquid

at the bottom of the pitcher and gets d

igested by the plant.

S1: That’s amazing!

S2: What fantastic plants!

TH: Gordon.

G: These are the plants I’m going to talk

about. They’re often called “living st

ones”, but even though they do look a

bit like stones, they are in fact plants.

S3: Wow!

S4: How interesting!

G: Their scientific name is Lithops and t

hey come from South Africa and Na

mbia. The body of a lithops is actuall

y a pair of leaves that have become r

ounded like a stone. This is because t

his plant lives in very

hot and dry places. When the leaves are s

haped like this, not much water is lost fr

om the plant. Another interesting thing a

bout these strange plants is that they’re t

he same colour and appearance of the soi

l and stones around it. This makes them l

ess obvious to animal looking for food.

TH: Thanks, Gordon. Andrea.

A: I’m going to tell you about Rafflesia a

rnoldii, a plant that has a flower abou

t one metre wide. In fact, it’s the large

st flower in the world. Rafflesia arnol

dii doesn’t have any leaves, stems or r

oots. It doesn’t need them as it’s a par

asite. It gets this food by

living on another plant. You might t

hink that this flower should smell w

onderful but it actually looks and s

mells like rotting meat!

S2: Oh, yuck!

S1: That’s disgusting!

S3: I think it’s fantastic!

A: Me too. Anyway, it attracts insects th

at eat dead animals but instead of gett

ing a feed, the insects pick up its polle

n and spread it to other Rafflesias, Ra

fflesia arnoldii grows in the jungles in

Indonesia but as the forests are being

cut down, it’s becoming very rare.

TH: Thanks Andrea and thanks

everyone. Those plants are certainly

fascinating.

Listening on P75

Pre-listening

1. In which parts of the word would

you find tropical rainforests?

Tropical rainforests occur in three

major regions: Asia, Africa and

Central and South America.

2. Why do you think rainforests are

being cut down?

As populations increase, people

need more land to live on. There

are also mining companies which

destroy forests in their search for

minerals.

3. Why do you think tropical rainforests

are important to the world?

Because there are about 10 million

species of plant and animal in the

world. More than half of these live in

the tropical rainforests. The rainforest

could provide us with cures for

diseases.

Also, rainforests absorb a lot of rain

so that there’s a constant supply of

clean water running into rivers and

lakes.

Number the topics below in the

order in which you hear about them.

□the area of the earth’s land covered by

tropical rainforest

□ reasons why rainforests are being destroyed

□ the rate of rainforest destruction

□ some consequences of rainforests being

destroyed

□ the best way to make money from rainforests

1

3

2

5

4

Are these statements true or false?

Correct the false statements.

1. Rainforests cover 14% of the earth’s

land surface.

2. More than half of the rainforests

have disappeared.

F 6%

T

3. 150 acres of rainforest are destroyed

every day.

4. In 40 years’ time we might not have

any rainforests left on earth.

5. People can make more money from

harvesting rainforest plants than from

cutting down the rainforests.

F Over 150 acres of

rainforest are destroyed every minute..

T

T

THE DESTRUCTION OF

TROPICAL RAINFORESTS

Ed Walker (E) is interviewing Dr

Anne Butler (A) about the destruction

of tropical rainforests.

LISTENING TEXT

E: Anne, we hear a lot these days

about how quickly tropical

rainforests are disappearing.

A: Yes, that's right. Rainforests now

cover only 6% of the earth's land

surface. They used to cover about

14%, so more than half of the

world's tropical rainforests have

been destroyed, and that's in less

than 50 years. Over 150 acres of

rainforest is lost every minute in

Asia, Africa, Central and South

American.

E: That's unbelievable.

A: Yes, it's frightening. The last

remaining rainforests could be gone

in less than 40 years.

E: But why is this happening?

A: Well, there are a number of reasons.

As populations increase, people need

more land to live on. Forests are cut

down to plant crops or to start farms.

The wood is sold for firewood or building

materials, furniture and paper, for

example. And there are also mining

companies which destroy the forests in

their search for minerals.

E: I suppose people have to make a living.

A: Yes, but you know, people can make more money by harvesting things like fruits, nuts and oils, as well as plants that can be used in medicine than by cutting down the forests.

E: Oh really? I didn't know that. Now, could you outline some of the reasons why it’s not a good idea to destroy rainforests?

A: Sure. You must have heard about the rich animal and plant life in tropical rainforests. Well, there are about 10 million species of plants and animals in the world. More than half of these live in the tropical rainforests. So, destroying rainforests means that thousands of these species are dying out before we’ve even realized it.

E: I’ve heard too that the rainforest

could provide us with cures for

diseases.

A: Yes, there are certainly many new

drugs waiting to be discovered.

Another problem is that the

destruction of forests contributes

to global warming.

Also, rainforests absorb a lot of rain so

that there's a constant supply of clean

water running into rivers and lakes. If

the trees are cut down, the rain isn't a

bsorbed and there is flooding.

E: So, what can individuals do to help

slow down the destruction?

A: That's a good question ... Wade out)