Unit 8

The Missing Monarch

Expressing excitement

• Wow!

• Great!

• I’m too excited to go to sleep.

• I’m wild with joy.

• I’m really very enthusiastic about this.

• I can’t believe it.

•  Nothing could be more wonderful.

• I’ve never been this happy as I am now.

• I’m walking on air.

• This is too good to be true.

• I’m on top of the world.

Expressing surprise

• 1. What a surprise. • 2. My God! • 3. Incredible. • 4. That’s extraordinary. • 5. Fancy that. • 6. It’s hard to believe. • 7.  You are pulling my leg, aren’t you? • 8. I can’t believe my eyes. • 9. It can’t be. • 10. Who can have thought of it? • 11. The news comes as a surprise. 

Listen and speak

Try to speak more: Con 1

• What brand is yours?• Hold on, please.

• How late are you open?• We are open until 6:00 p.m.

• How much do I owe you?

• What?! Are you sure?• I can’t believe it.

• It’s an easy mistake.

Make your own dialogue

• What’s going on?

• Have they? Of course they have!

• Are you serious? No way! You’re kidding! You’re fooling me. You know I can’t stand the thought of our team losing another game.

• We’ve waited for this victory for so long.

Pair work:

plan a surprise for your friend

Text:

The Missing Monarch

Monarch butterfly

• The Monarch’s wingspan ranges from 8.9–10.2 cm (3½–4 in.). The upper side of the wings is tawny-orange, the veins and margins are black, and in the margins are two series of small white spots. The fore wings also have a few orange spots near the tip. The underside is similar but the tip of the fore wing and hind wing are yellow-brown instead of tawny-orange and the white spots are larger.

• Like all insects the Monarch has six legs, however it uses only four of its legs as it carries its two front legs against its body.

• In North America, the Monarch ranges from southern Canada to northern South America.

Monarch butterfly

• Monarchs are especially noted for their lengthy annual migration. In North America they make massive southward migrations starting in August until the first frost. A northward migration takes place in the spring. The monarch is the only butterfly that migrates both north and south as the birds do on a regular basis. But no single individual makes the entire round trip. Female monarchs deposit eggs for the next generation during these migrations.

• It is thought that the overwinter population of those east of the Rockies may reach as far north as Texas and Oklahoma during the spring migration. It is the second, third and fourth generations that return to their northern locations in the United States and Canada in the spring.

Listen and read

• 1. Describe some important features of the monarch butterflies.

• 2. Describe their winter home.

• 3. What did Mr. White do to track down the mystious insect?

• 4. Who helped him later and how?

• 5. List the major events in Mr. White’s search for the missing monarchs.

Par. 1

• The monarch butterfly has rich orange-gold wings outlined in black and decorated with small dots of white.

• outline: the line that appears to bound an object

• She drew the outline with a sure hand.

• 她笔力雄健地画出了轮廓。• The flower was clearly outlined in the light of the lam

p.

• 花朵在阳光下清晰地显现出轮廓。

Par. 1

• It looks like a stained-glass window that has come alive as it flutters through the summer sunshine.

• come alive: stop sleeping • Sound and movement make information come alive. • 声音和活动画面使信息变得活灵活现。

• flutter: the act of moving back and forth • She fluttered her handkerchief from the train window

as a good-bye. • 她从火车窗口里伸出手挥动手帕道别。• Banners fluttered in the breeze. • 旗帜在微风中飘扬。

Stained-glass window

Par. 2

• sip: n. a small drink; v. drink in sips

• He paused to take a sip of water, and then went on (with his story).

• 他停下来呷了一口水，然後继续讲 ( 他的事 ).

• I sipped at the coffee.

• 我啜饮咖啡。

• fade: become less clearly visible or distinguishable; disappear gradually or seemingly

• Flowers soon faded when they have been cut.

Par. 3

• coat: put a coat on; cover the surface of; furnish with a surface

• coating: a thin layer covering something

• He finished it up by coating the surface with paint.

• 他在其表面涂上一层漆，作品即告完成。• The chocolate coating has all been licked off the crea

m buns.

• 奶油小面包外面的一层巧克力都被舔光了。

Par. 5

• It took a long time to find a way to attach tags so the tag would stay in place and the butterfly could still fly.

• attach: 附上 , 系上 , 贴上 , 使依恋 • This middle school is attached to a teachers' college.

• He attached a label to his baggage.

• We are much attached to each other.

• in place: in the original or natural place or site

• I like to have everything in place.

• 我喜欢把一切东西都在适当的位置。

Par. 5

• bore a code

• bear: have

• The ice is too thin to bear your weight.

• A message also asked anyone who found the tagged butterfly to send the information on the tag to an address in Toronto, Canada, where it would reach the scientist.

• Thus, the tags were to serve as the scientist’s clues.

• These philosophical views serve as a guide in life.

• 这些哲学观点可以作为处世指南。

Par. 6

• pay off: yield a profit or result

• John studied hard before the examination, and it paid off. He made an A.

• They are usually paid off at weekends.

• These seemingly fragile creatures have been known to cover eighty miles in a single day!

• They covered thirty-five kilometers yesterday.

Par. 6

• clock: measure the time or duration of an event or action or the person who performs an action in a certain period of time （计时）

• He clocked 9.8 seconds for the 100 metres.

• trace: follow or discover the course of development of something

• Her fear of water can be traced back to a childhood accident.

• trail: a track or mark left by something that has passed

• The tired children trailed along behind their parents.

• The dogs found the trail of the rabbit.

Par. 7

• hideaway: a hiding place; usually a remote place used by outlaws

• come upon: find unexpectedly

• I come upon a group of children playing in the street.

• 我遇到一群孩子在街上玩耍。• Fear came upon her as she walked along the empty stree

t.

• 她走在空荡荡的街上，突然产生一种恐惧。

Retell the text using the key words on P125

Facts about the monarch

butterfly

Language work