Unit 7 The Age of Miracle Chips. Teaching Objectives Get to know some background knowledge about the development of science and technology Grasp the.

Unit 7

The Age of Miracle Chips

Teaching Objectives

Get to know some background knowledge about the development of science and technology

Grasp the main idea and the theme of this passage

Learn to use some terms and expressions connected with computer

Appreciate the writing skills of the passage

Teaching Points

I. Background informationII. Text analysisIII. Detailed study of the textIV. Rhetorical devicesV. Questions for discussion

II. Text Analysis Type of literature: -- a piece of exposition Thesis: New microtechnology will transform society.This inert fleck has astonishing powers that are already

transforming society.

II. Text analysis

1. making effective use of specific verbs and adjectives

2. employing various methods to make the science writing understandable and interesting

II. Text analysis

1st Part: Section 1: What it is like, the outlook,

the appearance of the miracle chip. Section 2: Its uses, the advantages /

superiority of microcomputer over the old type of computers.

Section 3: The significance of this miracle chip.

II. Text analysis 2nd Part: Section 1. (Paras. 1. It is 7:30. 2. After her husband. 3.

Wellsian fantasy?) The matutinal scenario of Mr. Aladdin's family, an ord

inary family in latter-day American society when equipped with computers.

Section 2. (Paras. from "The microelectronic revolution promises..." to "beyond the ken of many educators") The many uses of this microelectronic revolution.

Section 3. Conclusion: the computer revolution is... to a higher order of existence.

III. Detailed Study

fleck: a small mark or spot

brown cloth with flecks of red

a fleck of milk on the baby's chin

powers: general natural abilities

calculating capability: the ability of processing

complex mathematics problems in large

amounts

Detailed Study hulking: massive and clumsy, heavy and

awkward Caliban of vacuum tubes his tyrant of a father her doll of a daughter a giant of a soldier a palace of a house

Detailed Study

read-out: the information removed from a computer and displayed (here, on the screen)

Detailed Study

commandeer: to place an order, to seize sth. (esp. private property) for esp. military use

The policeman commandeered a taxi to chase the robbers.

During the battle, all the houses along the river bank were commandeered.

Detailed Study

terminal: an apparatus by which a user can give instructions to and get information from a computer. Here a controlling board

recipe: a set of instructions for making sth. from various ingredientsa recipe for moon cakes

Detailed Study

Byzantine art and architecture include not only works done in the city of Byzantium after it became the capital of the Roman Empire (A.D.330), but also work done under Byzantine influence, as in Italy, Syria, Greece, Russia, and other Eastern countries.

Detailed Study conjugation: the way verbs change their

forms in accordance with number, person, mood, voice and tenseverb conjugation: the different inflectional (inflexional) forms of verbs, such as do, does, did, done & etc.

47. groovy: (sl.) very good, pleasing, deeply satisfying

Detailed Study

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946), the son of a gardener and a lady’s maid, He went to the Normal School of Science in London and studied biology under Professor Thomas Henry Huxley, the principal exponent in England of Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

Detailed Study By 1895, he had published The Time

Machine, the Wonderful Visit and a volume of short stories. These made Wells the pioneer of science fiction in the world.

Among his works, besides the above mentioned, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon and The War in the Air are outstanding.

Detailed Study

With this microelectronic revolution, it

becomes certain that life will be more

comfortable, that the quality of life

will be improved, and that life will be

much simpler.

Detailed Study

enrich: to make rich, to improve by adding sth.

The discovery of the gold mine will enrich the district.

dreary: dull, uninteresting, tedious, depressing, cheerless

Detailed Study

capricious: tending to change abruptly and without apparent reason

A spoiled child is often capricious.

We can't go camping while the weather is so capricious.

The capricious woman bought and exchanged three dresses in a week.

Detailed Study

virtually: almost, very nearlyThis word is very close in meaning to

practically, and actually.With the boss out sick, the secretary is

virtually in charge.The king was so much under the

influence of his wife that she was the virtual ruler of the country.

Detailed Study

The computer will be as much a part of the home as….

The household computer will be a part of the home as much as the kitchen sink.

He is as much an important a member of our team as the captain.

IV . Rhetorical Devices

1. antonomasia 2. metaphor 3. alliteration

V. Questions for Discussion 1. What does a miracle chip look like?

What is it made of? 2. What is the significance of the computer

revolution? 3. Is the computer a humanizing or

dehumanizing factor? 4. The author tries to make his science

writing interesting and popular. What are some of the methods he employs to achieve this?