1、届人教版版高中英语电子课本必修2必修 2 unit1 IN SEARCH OF THE AMBER ROOMFrederick William ，the King of Prussia , could never have imagined that hisgreatest gift to the Russian people would have such an amazing history . This giftwas the Amber Room , which was given this name because several tons of amberwere used to
2、make it . The amber which was selected had a beautiful yellow-brown colour like honey . The design of the room was in the fancy style popular in those days . It was also a treasure decorated with gold and jewels , which took the countrys best artists about ten years to make .In fact , the room was n
3、ot made to be a gift . It was designed for the palaceof Frederick . However, the next King of Prussia , Frederick William ,to whomthe amber room belonged, decided not to keep it. In 1716 he gave it to Peter theGreat. In return , the Czar sent him a troop of his best soldiers. So the Amber Room becau
4、se part of the Czars winter palace in St Petersburg.About four metres long, the room served as a small reception hall for important visitors .Later,Catherine had the Amber Room moved to a palace outside St Petersburg where she spent her summers. She told her artists to add more details to it .In 177
5、0 the room was completed the way she wanted . Almost six hundred candleslit the room ,and its mirrors and pictures shone like gold. Sadly , although the Amber Room was considered one of the wonders of the world , it is now missing .In September 1941, the Nazi army was near St Petersburg . This was a
6、 timewhen the two countries were at war . Before the Nazis could get to the summer palace , the Russians were able to remove some furniture and small art objects from the Amber Room . However , some of the Nazis secretly stole the room itself .In less than two days 100,000 pieces were put inside twe
7、nty-seven woooden boxs1. There is no doubt that the boxs were then put on a train for Konigsberg, whichwas at that time a German city on the Baltic Sea . After that, what happened to the Amber Room remains a mystery .Recently , the Russians and Germans have built a new Amber Room at the summer palac
8、e . By studying old photos of the former Amber Room , they have made the new one look like the old one .In 2003 it was ready for the people of St P etersburg when they celebrated the 300th birthday of their city .A FACT OR AN OPINION?What is a fact? Is it something that people believe? No. A fact is
9、 anything that can be proved. For example, it can be proved that China has more people than any other country in the world. This is a fact.Then what is an opinion? An opinion is what someone believes is true but hasnot been proved. So an opinion is not good evidence in a trial. For example, it isan
10、opinion if you say “Cats are better pets than dogs”. It may be true, but it is difficult to prove. Some people may not agree with this opinion but they also cannot prove that they are right.In a trial, a judge must decide which eyewitnesses to believe and which not tobelieve. The judge does not cons
11、ider what each eyewitness looks like or where that person lives or works. He/she only cares about whether the eyewitness has given true information, which must be facts rather than opinions. This kind of informatio n is called evidence.Unit 2 AN INTERVIEW2Pausanias, who was a Greek writer about 2,00
12、0 years ago, has come on a magical journey on March 18th 2007 to find out about the present-day Olympic Gam es. He is now interviewing Li Yan, a volunteer for the 2008 Olympic Games.P: My name is Pausanias. I lived in what you call “Ancient Greece” and I used to write about the Olympic Games a long
13、time ago. Ive come to your time to find out about the present-day Olympic Games because I know that in 2004 they were held in my homeland. May I ask you some questions about the modern Olymp ics?L: Good heavens! Have you really come from so long ago? But of course you can ask any questions you like.
14、 What would you like to know?P: How often do you hold your Games?L: Every four years. There are two main sets of Games-the Winter and Summer Olympics, and both are held every four years on a regular basis. The Winter Olympics are usually held two years before the Summer Games. Only athletes who have
15、 reached the agreed standard for their event will be admitted as competitors. T hey may come from anywhere in the world.P: Winter Games? How can the runners enjoy competing in winter? And what about the horses?L: Oh no! There are no running races or horse riding events. Instead there are competition
16、s like skiing and ice skating which need snow and ice. Th ats why theyre called the Winter Olympics. Its in the Summer Olympics that you have the ru nning races, together with swimming, sailing and all the team sports.3P: I see. Earlier you said that athletes are invited from all over the world. Doy
17、ou mean the Greek world? Our Greek cities used to compete against each otherjust for the honour of winning. No other countries could join in, nor could slaves or women!L: Nowadays any country can take part if their athletes are good enough. There are over 250 sports and each on has its own standard.
18、 Women are not only allowed, but play a very important role in gymnastics, athletics, team sports and P: Please wait a minute! All those events, all those countries and even women taking part! Where are all the athletes housed?L: For each Olympics, a special village is built for them to live in, a m
19、ain rece ption building, several stadiums for competitions, and a gymnasium as well.P: That sounds very expensive. Does anyone want to host the Olympic Game s?L: As a matter of fact, every country wants the opportunity. Its a great responsibility but also a great honour to be chosen. Theres as much
20、competition amongcountries to host the Olympics as to win Olympic medals. The 2008 Olympics will be held in Beijing, China. Did you know that?P: Oh yes! You must be very proud.L: Certainly. And after that the 2012 Olympics will be held in London. They have already started planning for it. A new vill
21、age for the athletes and all the stadiums will be built to the east of London. New medals will be designed of course and 4P: Did you say medals? So even the olive wreath has been replaced! Oh dear! Do you compete for prize money too?L: No, we dont. its still all about being able to run faster, jump
22、higher and th row further. Thats the motto of the Olympics, you know-“Swifter, Higher and Strong er.”P: Well, thats good news. How interesting! Thank you so much for your time.THE STORY OF ATLANTAAtlanta was a Greek princess. She was very beautiful and could run faster than any man in Greece. But sh
23、e was not allowed to run and win glory for herself inthe Olympic Games. She was so angry that she said to her father that she wouldnot marry anyone who could not run faster than her. Her father said that she must marry, so Atlanta made a bargain with him. She said to him,These are my rules. When a m
24、an says he wants to marry me, I will run against him. If he cannot ru n as fast as me, he will be killed. No one will be pardoned.Many kings and princes wanted to marry Atlanta, but when they heard of rulesthey knew it was hopeless. So many of them sadly went home, but others stayedto run the race.
25、There was a man called Hippomenes who was amazed when heheard of Atlantas rules,Why are these men so foolish? he thought. Why will they let themselves be killed because they cannot run as fast as this princess? However, when she saw Atlanta come out of her house to run, Hippomenes changed h is mind.
26、I will marry Atlanta-or die! he said.The race started and although the man ran very fast, Atlanta ran faster. As Hippomenes watched he thought, How can I run as fast as Atlanta? He went to as5k the Greek Godness of Love for help. She promised to help him and gave him three golden apples. She said, T
27、hrow an apple in front of Atlanta when she is running past. When she stops to pick it up, you will be able to run past her and win.Hippomenes took the apples and went to the King. He said, I want to marryAtlanta . The King was sad to see another man die, but Hippomenes said, I will marry her-or die!
28、 So the race beganUnit 3 WHO AM I?Over time I have been changed quite a lot. I began as a calculating machine in France in 1642. Although I was young I could simplify difficult sums. I developedvery slowly and it took nearly two hundred years before I was built as an analytical machine by Charles Ba
29、bbage. After I was programmed by an operator who used cards with holes, I could “think” logically and produce an answer quicker than any person. At that time it was considered a technological revolution and the start ofmy “artificial intelligence”. In 1936 my real father, Alan Turing, wrote a book a
30、bouthow I could be made to work as a “universal machine” to solve any difficult mathematical problem. From then on, I grew rapidly both in size and in brainpower. Bythe 1949s I had grown as large as a room, and I wondered if I would grow any larger. However, this reality also worried my designers. A
31、s time went by, as was make smaller. First as a PC(personal computer) and then as a laptop, I have been u sed in offices and homes since the 1970s.These changes only became possible as my memory improved. First it was stored in tubes, then on transistors and later on very small chips. As a result I
32、totally changed my shape. As I have grown older I have also grown smaller. Over timemy memory has developed so much that, like an elephant, I never forget anything6I have been told! And my memory became so large that even I couldnt believe it!But I was always so lonely standing there by myself, until in early 1960s they gave me a family connected by a network. I was able to share my knowledge wit
