精彩导读

人类对环境的污染，正以不知不觉的方式进行。人类可能将面临一个没有鸟、蜜蜂和蝴蝶的寂静世界。本文节选自《寂静的春天》，以寓言开头向我们描绘了一个美丽村庄的突变，并从植物到地区到人类自身，全方位地揭示了化学农药的危害。作者借此向世人发出警告，要人们立即认识到可能会面临的巨大灾难，并采取行动保护环境。Pre-reading

Spring is a time when everything thrives.It is a lively and hopeful season.What does the author mean by describing it to be silent？

There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings.The town lay in the midst of prosperous farms， where， in spring， white clouds of flowers above the green fields.In autumn，oak and maple and birch（桦树）set up a blaze （火焰）of color that flamed and flickered（闪烁）across a background of pines.Then foxes barked in the hills and deer silently crossed the fields.

Along the roads，wildflowers delighted the traveler's eye through much of the year.Even in winter the roadsides were places of beauty，where countless birds came to feed on the berries and on the seed heads of the dried weeds rising above the snow.The countryside was， in fact， famous for the abundance and variety of its bird life，and when the flood of migrants was pouring through in spring and fall people traveled from great distances to observe them.Others came to fish the streams，which flowed clear and cold out of the hills and contained shady（成荫的）pools where trout （鲑鱼）lay.So it had been from the days many years ago when the first settlers raised their houses， sank their wells， and built their barns（谷仓）.

Then some evil spells（符咒）settled on the community:mysteriousdiseasessweptthe flockso chickens;the cattle and sheep sickened and died.In the town the doctors were more and more puzzled b new kinds of sickness appearing among their patients.There had been several sudden and unexplained deaths，not only among adults but even among children.

There was a strange stillness.The birds，for example—where had they gone?The feeding stations in the backyards were deserted.The few birds seen anywhere trembled violently and could not fly.It was a spring without voices;there was now no sound only silence lay over the fields and woods and marsh.

The roadsides， once so attractive， were now lined with browned and withered （枯萎的）plant as though swept by fire.There deserted by all living things， it,too， was silent.Even the streams were now lifeless.Anglers（钓鱼者）no longer visited them，for all the fish had died.

Some weeks before,a white powder had fallen like snow upon the roofs and the lawns，the fields and streams.

No witchcraft（魔法），no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this,in this stricken world.The people had done it themselves.

This town does not actually exist.I know of no community that has experienced all the misfortunes describe.Yet every one of these disasters has actually happened somewhere，and many real communities have already suffered a substantial number o them，and this imagined tragedy may easily become a harsh reality we all shall know.

立意呈现

Read the passage and complete the form.One word for each blank.

【点石成金】对比手法在科普性说明文章中有着广泛的运用，对比包括数据的对比，观点和看法的对比，和不同现象的对比等。在本文中，作者采用小镇被污染前和被污染后呈现的植物、动物和人的巨大改变对比描述，有效地传递了作者要强调的信息，突出了人类滥用化学药品的巨大危害，使文章具有一种强大的震撼力量。同学们应该学会提炼这样的变化特点，感受污染的巨大危害性和环保的重要性。

阅读扫障

Ⅰ.熟词生义

Ⅱ.热词积累

Vocabulary

1.prosperous adj.booming;promising； （of plants）growing well繁荣的

2.delight v.give pleasure to or be pleasing to使高兴

3.abundance n.the property of a more than adequate quantity or supply充足；丰富

4.raise v.to cause，produce，raise建立；修建

5.sweep v.spread rapidly在……迅速传播

6.tremble v.shake slightly because of fright or cold发抖；打颤；担心；恐惧

7.misfortune n.something unpleasant or unlucky that happens to someone不幸；灾难；灾祸

8.suffer v.undergo or be subjected to遭受；经历

Phrases

1.in the heart of在……中央

2.in harmony with与……和谐相处

3.set up建立；修建

4.feed on以……为食；以……为能源

5.pour though流入；涌入

6.settle on停歇在；栖于

7.be puzzled by被……所困惑；被……所迷惑

8.as though好像；仿佛

9.a substantial number of多种

10.a harsh reality残酷的现实

Ⅲ.难句分析

1.There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings.The town lay in the midst of prosperous farms， where， in spring， white clouds of flowers above the green fields.从前，在美国中部有一个城镇，这里的一切生物看来与其周围环境生活得很和谐。这个城镇坐落在繁荣的农场中央。春天，繁花像白色的云朵点缀在绿色的原野上。

本句是There be句型，其中包含where引导的两个定语从句，分别修饰“a town”和“The town”。