Unit 2
Smart Cars
Objectives
Students will be able to:
1. grasp the main idea and structure of the text;
2. learn some techniques in expository writing (definition, quotes, a mixture of
facts and opinions, etc.);
3. grasp the key language points and grammatical structures in the text;
4. conduct a series of reading, listening, speaking and writing activities related to
the theme of the unit.
Time Allotment
1st period:
2nd period:
3rd period:
4th period:
5th period:
6th period:
Pre-reading Tasks and Warm-up Activities (20 minutes);
While-reading (Text Organization; Part I) (30 minutes).
While-reading (Part II ~ Part III) (50 minutes).
Post-reading:
Check on students’ recitation (8 minutes); Dictate 5 sentences (10
minutes); Deal with Text Analysis (12 minutes);
Do Vocabulary Exercises I (20 minutes).
Post-reading:
Vocabulary Exercises II-III (25 minutes); Structure (10 minutes);
Cloze (15 minutes).
Post-reading:
Check on Translation exercise (15 minutes);
Deal with Text B (35 minutes).
Acting out a play. (30 minutes); Essay writing (20 minutes).
Pre-reading Tasks
1. Lecture Time.
2. T asks Ss the following questions on the song:
1) According to the song, will the world be a better or a worse place in a hundred
years’ time? (a worse place)
2) According to the song, what are some of the effects of modern science and
technology on man in the future? Do you agree? (Thoughts and feelings will
be shaped by drugs; bodies will waste away; family life will be gone, babies
will be born artificially; man may no longer exist.)
Warm-up Activities
1. Main Parts of a Car and Some Useful Expressions:
windshield
wiper
sunroof
hood
tire
headlight
parking light
fog light
reverse light
turn signal
tail light
brake light
steering wheel seat belt
horn
ignition
rear-view mirror
protection gasbag
dashboard:
fuel gauge
temperature gauge (水温计量器)
speedometer
odometer (里程表)
clutch,
accelerator
gear shift
brake
gear box
auto show
go for a drive take a ride
drive/take sb. somewhere
shift gear (AmE.) change gear (BrE.)
run/jump the red light
head-on collision chain collision U turn
backing
yielding
brake failure
car sick
When I reversed my car, I scraped the side of the car, and dented the back of it.
When I slammed on my brake, the truck behind me swerved, skidded and crashed
into another car running from the opposite.
Famous Car Brands
Benz
BMW
Fiat
Renault Toyota
Nissan
Volkswagen
Volvo Buick
Audi
Ford
Citroen
Lincoln
Rolls-Royce
汽车词汇大全（All Kinds of Cars）
跑车 sports car
赛车 racer (racing car)
越 野 车 off-road/cross-country
vehicle
吉普车 jeep
多用途客车 multipurpose vehicle
出租车 taxi; taxicab; cab
公共汽车、客车
bus
大客车、长途公共汽车 coach
微型客车 minibus
旅游客 sightseeing bus
校车
school bus
无轨客车 trolley bus
双层客车 double-decker
货车、卡车 truck; lorry
小型货车、皮卡 pick-up
厢式货车 van
垃圾车 dust car (refuse collector)
冷藏车 refrigerated van
邮车 mail van
警车 police car
囚车 prison van
灵车 hearse
运油车 fuel tanker
罐式汽车 tanker
救护车 ambulance
餐车
mobile canteen
电视转播车 TV relaying vehicle
电视录像车 video recording vehicle
除雪车 snow sweeper
洒水车 sprinkler
消防车 fire engine
拖拉机 tractor
防弹车 bullet-proof car
铁甲车 armoured car
拖车、活动房屋 trailer
运动多功能汽车 SUV (Sport Utility
Vehicle)
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缩略词：
ABS： Anti-lock Brake System 刹车系统
EBD： Electric Brake-force Distribution 电子制动分配系统
ESP： Electric Stability Program 电子稳定程序
GPS:
Global Positioning System 全球卫星定位系统
(GPS is a satellite-based navigation system, consisting of 24 satellites
and ground support. GPS provides users with accurate information about
their position and velocity, as well as the time, anywhere in the world
and in all weather conditions.)
ITS:
Intelligent Transportation System 智能交通系统
4S 店： 指集整车销售(sale)、零配件(spare part)、售后服务(service)、信息反
馈(survey) 四位一体的汽车销售模式
Warnings:
禁喇叭
No horn.
禁闯红灯
No jaywalking.
禁止越线
Keep in lane.
禁止汽车
Auto Not Permitted.
不准回转
No Turn
不准入内
No Entry.
不准停车
No parking.
不准等候
No Waiting.
不准左转 Keep Right.
不准右转 Keep Left.
不准超车 No overtaking.
不准掉头 No Turns.
禁止鸣笛 No tooting.
禁止通行
No passing. /No Through
Traffic.
2. Discussion:
1) What hopes do you have for the future of smart cars?
2) If you were asked to help design a smart car, what suggestions would you
make?
2) Would you like to drive a smart car? Why or why not?
Introduction of Text A
Some scientists and engineers have come up with the idea of a “smart car”. Let’s
read to find out what this “smart car” can do.
Text A
Smart Cars
Text Organization
Part One (Paras. 1-3):
The computer revolution will have a dramatic impact on
cars and highways in the 21st century.
Part Two (Paras. 4-9):
With the aid of advanced technology, smart cars will be
designed that they can help eliminate traffic accidents,
determine their own precise locations and warn of traffic
jams.
Part Three (Paras. 10-13): GPS and telematics will make it possible to build smart
highways which will benefit us in more than one way.
Mean Idea
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The passage is mainly about the great change in the automobile industry that will
take place in future. The automobile industry will be influenced by the computer
revolution and be revolutionized in the 21st century. Computerization continues to
play a major part on auto design and manufacturing. Computers will help the smart
cars running at the computerized highway greatly reduce the car accidents, and partly
avoid getting lost and getting stuck in the traffic. Due to the reduced price of
microchips, GPS will be widely applied. Thus the “smart cars” as well as the roads in
future can see, hear, feel, smell and talk, which helps us solve many traffic problems.
Language Study
New Words and Expressions:
1. turn sth into/become a reality:
His dream of being a college student has turned into a reality.
2. lucrative: profitable
We made a lucrative business deal with the American company on rice imports.
3. eliminate: get rid of
Can we eliminate hunger/poverty from the world?
This team was ~ed from the competition.
4. in the air: in the earth's atmosphere; uncertain, not decided
There is a peculiar smell in the air.
Our plans are still in the air.
5. alert: v. warn (~ sb. to sth.)
He alerted the boy to the danger of swimming in the river.
6. monotonous: dull, unchanging (~ task)
7. hazard: n. danger (full of ~)
v. put … in danger
Don’t ~ your reputation by supporting that crook.
8. erratic: irregular
~ economic policies; ~ clock; ~ person (难以捉摸之人)
His movements were ~. 他行踪不定。
9. get / be stuck in (sth.) : be unable to move or to be moved
I was stuck in the traffic yesterday. That’s why I missed the plane.
I was stuck at home with flu.
10. frequency: 频率；频繁
My computer broke down with increasing frequency.
The frequency of accidents on that road forced the drivers to lower the speed.
11. convert: change
conversion n.
convertible adj. 可改变的
12. correlate: connect
I find it hard to ~ the two things.
A mother’s smoking in pregnancy correlates with low birth weight in her baby.
It is interesting to ~ the history of the 19th century with its literature.
13. application: 应用; 申请 v. apply adj. applicable 适用的, 适合的
14. highway = highroad (BrE): a main road that leads cities and towns
cf. freeway
15. mount: fix sth. in position for use, display or study; climb
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16. as well: too
She wants to produce the play and direct it as well.
17. pollution: the noun of pollute
One of the great challenges caused by air pollution is global warming.
18. expansion: the process of becoming greater in size, extent or importance
Under heat the medal undergoes considerable expansion.
19. take control of: control
The new manager didn't know how to take control of his company.
Difficult Sentences:
1. Should you make a serious driving mistake (e.g., change lanes when there is a car
in your “blind spot”) the computer would sound an immediate warning. (Lines
26-28)
本句为与将来事实相反的虚拟语气倒装结构。省略 if，were, had 或 should 提
前。
2. The monotonous, almost hypnotic process … life threatening hazard. (Lines
31-33)
the center divider：（路上的）中央分道带
长时间盯着中央分道带这一单调的几乎能使你昏昏欲睡的过程是人们经常低
估的影响人们生命的隐患。
3. To eliminate this, a tiny camera … face and eyes. (Lines 33-34)
train … on: 将……对准、瞄准 ( train the gun on the enemy )
4. On an eight-mile stretch of Interstate 15 ten miles north of San Diego, …
在圣地亚哥以北 10 英里的 15 号洲际公路一段 8 英里长的路面上，……
5. Cars will be bunched into groups of … controlled by computer. (Lines 61-63)
车辆会按 10 到 12 辆分组，车距仅六英尺，在计算机的控制下一起行驶。
6. By 2010, telematics may well be incorporated into one of the major highways in
the United States.
到 2010 年，远程信息技术很可能应用于美国的一条主要公路。
7. This could prove to be an environmental boon as well, saving fuel, reducing
traffic jams, decreasing air pollution, and serving as an alternative to highway
expansion.
这对环保也会很有利，能节省燃油，减轻空气污染，还可用作公路扩建的替
代办法。
Text Analysis
What jumps out first at a browser of this text may be those terms in quotation
arks or with capitalized first letters – “blind spot”, GPS, “atomic clocks”, “telematics”
and “automated driver”. What do they mean? How do we find out?
An efficient reader knows. He can make a guess based on knowledge of
word-formation or knowledge of the world or the context.
For example, when the reader comes across “Should you make a serious driving
mistake (e.g., change lanes when there is a car in your “blind spot”) the computer
would sound an immediate warning”, he can guess from the context that a blind spot
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must be a portion of the road behind a car, which a driver cannot observe from the
rear-view mirror.
What is the Global Positioning System? From the sentence containing this term
(“We already have twenty-four Navstar satellites orbiting the earth, making up what is
called the Global Positioning System.”), we know it is a service linked with a satellite.
From the following sentence we know its function. (“They make it possible to
determine your location on the earth to within about a hundred feet.”)
What is an atomic clock? The answer is found in exactly the same sentence. It
vibrates at a precise frequency, according to the laws of the quantum theory.
We can guess the meaning of “telematics” from its word formation. The prefix
“tele-” means “distant”, the suffix “-matics” may be the end part of “informatics”.
Then the sentence in the text – “GPS is actually but part of a large movement, called
‘telematics’” – tells us more about it.
What is an automated driver? Sentences directly following the term give a
detailed explanation – “The plan calls for computers, aided by thousands of three-inch
magnetic spikes buried in the highway, to take complete control of the driving of cars
on heavily trafficked roads. Cars will be bunched into groups of ten to twelve vehicles,
only six feet apart, travelling in union, and controlled by computer.”
Dictation
Translate the following 5 sentences into English:
1. 医生警告我要注意睡眠不足的危险性。
The doctor alerted me to the danger of not getting enough sleep.
2. 他仔细检查自己的作文，以消灭所有的错误。
He went over his composition carefully to eliminate all errors from it.
3. 把你的历史知识与地理知识联系起来。
Correlate your knowledge of history with your knowledge of geography.
4. 在 21 世纪计算机革命对汽车和公路会有引人注目的影响。
The computer revolution will have a dramatic impact on cars and highways in the
21st century.
5. 这家汽车公司准备发起新的广告活动。
The automobile company is poised to launch its new advertising campaign.
Word Formation
Abbreviations（缩略词）
1. 缩略词分为：
1) 首字母缩略词(initialism)：一组词的首字母单独发音。重音通常在最后一
个字母上。如：
BBC /bi: bi: 'si:/ = British Broadcasting Corporation （英国广播公司）
USA /ju: es 'ei/ = United States of America （美利坚合众国）
2) 词首字母缩略词(acronym)：一组词的首字母按一个词发音。如：
Nato /'nei tou/ = North Atlantic Treaty Organization（北大西洋公约组织）
3) 缩短词(clipping / shortening)：一个词部分被去掉。如：
Tues. = Tuesday
kilo = kilogram
doc. = doctor
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4) 合成词 (blending)：两个词各去掉一部分组成一个词。如：
smog = smoke and fog
5) 缩约词(contraction)：一个词的中间字母省略。如：Dr = Doctor
2. 首字母缩略词和词首字母缩略词后可加 s 构成复数，通常不需加撇号：
He knows how to repair TVs (或 TV’s).
3. 许多缩短词（如 kilo）被当作完整的词来看待。这些词后没有句号，像普通
词一样形成复数：We need 3 kilos of apples.
4. 缩略词前加不定冠词时，根据音标的第一个音节加 a 或 an：
She became an MEP. /ən em i: 'pi:/ 她成了一名工程物理学硕士。
They have violated a UN resolution. /ə ju: en/ 他们违背了一项联合国决议。
Assignments
After the 1st and 2nd periods:
1. Memorize Paragraphs 1-3.
2. Memorize all the new words.
3. Do vocabulary, word formation, usage, structure and cloze exercises.
4. Begin to prepare the role-play on pages 65-66.
After the 3rd and 4th periods:
1. Do translation exercise.
2. Read Text B (Intelligent Vehicles) and do the required exercises.
3. Remind the students of the role-play next period.
After the 5th and 6th periods:
1. Writing:
Write a résumé setting forth pertinent facts of yourself. Pay special attention to
the Writing Strategy on Page 69.
2. Preview Unit 3 and find 3 or 4 partners to prepare a role-play (an interview with
the résumé they’ve written).
Benefits and Negatives Aspects of Using and Owning a Car
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