Learning about Language国家优质课一等奖

What Happened to the Amber Room Part A: Hans Braun’s story Hello. I’m Hans Braun, an old German sailor. During the war my ship was at Konigsberg. One night I was told to help our soldiers put some big wooden boxes onto my ship. They were very heavy and the soldiers said they were full of treasure. The ship went out to sea. On our voyage, our ship was attacked and sank. Almost everyone died. I had to swim three kilometers before I was saved by a German ship. Nobody had time to save the boxes. They must still be buried in the sand. Now a group of people who are searching for the Amber Room have asked me to help them find the ship. Part B: Anna Petrov’s story Hello, my name is Anna Petrov. I was a maid at the castle in Konigsberg between 1940 and 1945. One night in 1941 many trucks came to the castle with large boxes. The German soldiers took the boxes into the castle. Later we heard that a special art treasure in the castle was shown to important visitors. Perhaps it was the Amber Room but I never saw it. Then at the end of August, 1944, I heard something explode. When I looked outside I saw that the castle was on fire. The next morning I found some melted pieces of something that looked liked honey. Russian soldiers later told me it was amber and it could have come from the Amber Room.

How Abu Simbel was Saved? Part A The Aswan High Dam in Egypt is one of the biggest dams in the world. It provides half of Egypt’s electricity. However, it caused problems while it was being built. There were many temples along the River Nile. It was clear that when the dam was finished many of them would be covered by water. One of the most important of these temples is Abu Simbel, which was built in the 13th century BC. It is made of rock and at the entrance there are four large stone persons, each twenty metres high. Nobody wanted the beautiful temple of Abu Simbel to disappear but they needed the dam. Finally, the engineers of UNESCO studied the problem and found a way to rescue the temple. Part B The engineers agreed to move Abu Simbel temple stone by stone and build it again above the waters of the dam. It took 1900 workers four years to rebuild the temple in the 1960s. it cost more than seventy million US dollars. However, it was worth it. The Aswan High Dam was finished in 1966. Ever since then Abu Simbel has been one of the most beautiful temples in Egypt. It is still in a quiet and beautiful place which visitors are glad to visit.

Visiting the Forbidden City Wen Hui is going to take her friend, Sally Jones, to visit the Forbidden City in Beijing. (Sally Jones=S;

Wen Hui=W) Part A S: Oh, Wen Hui, I’ve always wanted to see the Forbidden City. It sounds so exciting. I wonder why it’s called that! W: It was because ordinary people like us were never allowed into the Palace while the emperors ruled China. S: So who was allowed in? W: Well, the emperor’s family, high state officials, and servants of the emperor. S: Mmm, I’ve heard that it’s one of the largest palaces in the world. How big is it? W: Well, there were 9999 rooms when it was built. S: 9999 rooms! That’s so strange! Why not 10000? W: There are two reasons. First, nine is a special number in Chinese culture. Second, it’s said that the Emperor in Heaven has 10000 rooms so the Emperor on Earth can not have so many. It wouldn’t show respect. S: Oh, I see. Part B S: How many Emperors lived there altogether? W: Fourteen Emperors from the Ming Dynasty and ten from the Qing

Dynasty. They lived in it for about 500 years till the last emperor left it in 1924. S: So I think it was built in the fifteenth century. W: Oh yes. After it was finished, the capital of China moved to Beijing. S: Mmm, I read in the newspaper that the Palace is repaired and redecorated very often. W: Yes, there is now a programme of repairs going on. It will last until 2020. S: Goodness! Oh, is that because the palace is made of wood? You know, we also repair our castle in England, but they don’t take so long because the castles are made of stone. W: Yes, I suppose so. Wooden structures need more work to protect them. S: But that’s one of the reasons why it’s so special I’ve heard that it’s made of wood without even one nail. W: Yes, it’s a great example of ancient Chinese architecture and it’s now a national museum. It is also called the Palace Museum.