英 文

素養命題

講師：白玉璽老師/麗山高中 蔡宛臻老師/文德女中

英 文

課程講義

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The pictures on the right side are some common street dance moves. Put the number of each picture in the box that bears the correct name.

□windmill*

□handglide*

□applejack*

□headspin*

2

3 4

1

81

5

5

Despite the cold January weather in Taipei, things are getting hot in the

underground

² mall between two MRT stations. Bodies and

limbs

³ are

whirling

⁴ about in a

frenzy

^* of windmills, headspins and handglides. It may sound like a street fight, but there’s nothing violent about the thing that is happening here. The

combatants

⁵ are

actually

⁶ taking part in a street dance competition.

Street dance

has its roots in

American

hip hop

^* culture, which

emphasizes

⁷ the expression of the self and the courage to try new things. It began as a way for African Americans to express themselves and their

frustrations through dance. The

trend

⁸

found its way to

Taiwan in the mid-1980s and has been growing in popularity

ever since

.

10

1. free·dom ['frid m]

* wind·mill ['w nd m l]

* hand·glide ['hænd'gla d]

* apple·jack ['æpl d æk]

* head·spin ['h d sp n]

2. un·der·ground [' nd gra nd] 3. limb [l m] 4. whirl [hw l]

* fren·zy ['fr nz] 5. com·bat·ant

['k mb t nt]

6. ac·tu·al·ly ['ækt l]

* hip hop ['h p 'h p] 7. em·pha·size

[' mf sa z] 8. trend [tr nd]

83

Lesson 5 Street Dance: The Style of Freedom

5

25 15

From Taipei to Hualien, more and more young people in Taiwan have discovered the

liberation

^*and the freedom of expression through street dance. It is a welcome

escape

⁹ from the relative

rigidity

^* of other dance forms, such as

ballet

^*or

ballroom

^*dancing. There are no set rules in street dance. Instead, it’s about testing the body’s limits. When doing the windmill, a

male

¹⁰dancer

rotates

^*on his upper body with his legs

spinning

¹¹ around in the air. The headspin is one of the most

visually

¹²

stunning

¹³moves, where the dancer spins on his head. From a headspin or a windmill, dancers can change into a handglide, in which they support their

entire

¹⁴ body weight with just one hand while spinning. This move gets high marks for its degree of difficulty.

In addition to taking the human body to its

absolute

¹⁵ physical limits, street dance moves also test the limits of one’s

creativity

¹⁶. That’s why more and more battle-style competitions are

popping up

. There are more than 30 such

contests

¹⁷ in the hottest time of the year for street dance.

* lib·^er·^a·^tion [l b 're n]

9. es·^cape[ 'skep]

* ri·^gid·ⁱ·^ty[r 'd d t]

* bal·^let['bæle]

* ball·^room['b l rum]

10. male[mel]

* ro·^tate['rotet]

11. spin[sp n]

12. vis·^u·^al·^ly['v l]

13. stun·^ning['st n ]

14. en·^tire[n'ta r]

15. ab·^so·^lute['æbs lut]

16. cre·^a·^tiv·ⁱ·^ty [krie't v t]

17. con·^{test ['k nt st}]

20

5

30 In these competitions, two combatants from any two dance groups, also

known as

crews, stand

face to face

. One will

pull off

a move and the other has to follow; if the

latter

¹⁸

succeeds

¹⁹, he will perform his own move for the former to follow. The first one that is unable to match his

opponent’s

²⁰move loses. To win their battles, crews will practice for weeks in

preparation

²¹for a competition.

Street dance has little

prestige

^* enjoyed by other forms of dance;

however, street dancers take

pride

²² in the things that they’re doing. For many of them, this dance style represents something more than just

movement

²³. As a famous dancer with 17 years of experience puts it,

“Dance is my only way of reaching out and communicating with the world.”

The young dance crews that have followed in this

veteran’s

^* footsteps agree. It is they who will take this

underdog

^* of the dance world to new

heights

²⁴.

─Adaptedfrom JoeHenley/ThisarticlefirstappearedinEnglish Digest,January2008©AMCInc.

18. lat·^ter['læt ]

19. suc·^ceed[s k'sid]

20. op·^po·^nent[ 'pon nt]

21. prep·^a·^ra·^tion [pr p 're n]

* pres·^tige[pr s't d ]

22. pride[pra d]

23. move·^ment ['muvm nt]

* vet·^er·^an['v t r n]

* under·^dog [' nd d g]

24. height[ha t]

35

40

45

NOTES:

D E

B

C A

On the left is a world map showing the five biggest islands in the world. Match each island with its name and fill in the blanks with the correct information.

Letter Name Location Country Area (km²)

1 2 North America ³ 2,130,800

4 New Guinea Asia/Oceania

West:

5

East:

Papua New Guinea 785,753

6 Borneo Asia North:

Malaysia/Brunei South:

Indonesia

748,168

7 8 Africa Madagascar 587,713

9 Baffin Island North America ¹⁰ 507,451

149

8

5

Sometimes it may seem that few surprises are left for travelers. We seem to have already seen everything everywhere.

But there is still at least one place where few tourists go^—Madagascar, an

outlying

¹

island of great beauty and

diversity

² off the

coast

³ of Africa.

A

French

^*

colony

⁴ since 1642, Madagascar gained independence as the

Malagasy Republic

^* in 1960, and was renamed Madagascar in 1975.

Located in

the Indian Ocean

^* off the southeast coast of Africa, Madagascar is the fourth biggest island in the world, and its area is slightly bigger than that of its former colonial ruler. People first arrived there about 2,000 years ago. They traveled by

canoe

⁵from places like India,

Indonesia

^*, Africa, and

Arabia

^*. Chinese groups came

10

* Mad·^a·^gas·^car [mæd 'gæsk ]

1.out·^lying['a t la ]

2.di·^ver·^si·^ty[da 'v s t]

* French[fr nt ]

4.col·^o·^ny['k l n]

* Mal·^a·^gas·^{y Re}·^pub·^lic [mæl 'gæs r 'p bl k]

5. ca·^noe[k 'nu]

* In·^do·^ne·^sia [ ndo'ni ]

* A·^ra·^bi·^a[ 'reb ]

15

151

Lesson 8 The Magic of Madagascar

8

25

rather late, around the end of the 19^th century. But there were traces of Chinese people as early as the early 15^th century. Legend has it that the Chinese explorer

Zheng He

^*from the Ming

dynasty

⁶traveled to this land.

It is even said that some Chinese

Madagascan

^* families are

descended

⁷ from Zheng’s

mariners

⁸! While Madagascar has great

ethnic

⁹diversity, its residents today exist as one culture.

Scientists sometimes call Madagascar the eighth continent. This is because a large

portion

¹⁰ of the animal and plant life here can’t be found anywhere else. For example, the cat-like

fossa

^*is a rare animal. There are as few as 2,500 fossas left even in Madagascar. This massive island is also home to nine-tenths of the

world’s

lemurs

^*, a monkey-like mammal. Some larger species can jump over nine meters from branch to branch, while smaller species are only the size of a mouse. Above Madagascar’s rain forests fly

roller birds

^*. They have green

* Zheng He ['d 'h ]

6. dy·nas·ty ['da n st]

* Mad·a·gas·can [mæd 'gæsk n]

7. de·scend [d 's nd] 8. mar·i·ner ['mær n ] 9. eth·nic [' n k] 10. por·tion ['p r n]

* fos·sa ['f s ]

* le·mur ['lim ]

* roll·er bird ['rol b d]

20

30

8

heads and white

chins

¹¹. Their bodies are green and blue, and their wings purple, like paintings that have

come alive

. Over 1,000 kinds of

orchids

¹²

thrive

¹³along the forest floor, and the rarest of all has beautiful white petals.

The forests are also home to

Madagascar hissing cockroaches

^*. These special bugs are named for the distinctive sound they make. It is thought that no other roaches in the world are capable of making a sound like this.

Aside from the natural

outlook

¹⁴, tombs for the

burial

¹⁵ of the dead can also be seen all over the island. The

deceased

¹⁶ are sometimes described as “gods on earth” and are commonly

perceived

¹⁷ as the

11. chin[t n]

12. or·^chid[' rk d]

13. thrive[ ra v]

* Mad·^a·^gas·^car

his·^{sing cock}·^roach [mæd 'gæsk

'h s 'k k rot ]

14. out·^look['a t'l k]

15. bur·ⁱ·^al['b r l]

16. de·^ceased[d 'sist]

17. per·^ceive[p 'siv]

35

40

153

Lesson 8 The Magic of Madagascar

8

mediums

¹⁸between a

supreme

¹⁹God and

humankind

²⁰. They are thought to be able to influence the fate of their living descendants. People

treasure

²¹ their close

ties

²² with the deceased, and the privileged position of the dead is evident in the beautiful tombs. These are built with great care and

expense

²³, and are often much

sturdier

²⁴ and more

costly

²⁵ than houses built for the living. The tombs around Madagascar vary in form; some are solid stone structures, while others are

made of concrete with glass windows and

decorations

²⁶. No matter what kind of tomb they build, the builders’ common purpose is to preserve their bonds with the dead.

Because of Madagascar’s unique sights and traditions, a traveler

in search of

some

unconventional

²⁷ fun may find it fascinating. Next time you want to go to someplace exotic, try Madagascar, a land full of surprises!

─Adapted from The Magic of Madagascar/This article first appeared in^{English 4U}, July 2008 © AMC Inc.

18. me·^di·^um['mid m]

19. su·^preme[s 'prim]

20. hu·^man·^kind ['hjum n ka nd]

21. trea·^sure['tr ]

22. tie[ta]

23. ex·^pense[k'sp ns]

24. stur·^dy['st d]

25. cost·^ly['k stl]

26. dec·^o·^ra·^tion [d k 're n]

27. un·^con·^ven·^tion·^al [ nk n'v n nl]

45

50

55

58

NOTES:

NOTES: