Unit 9

The Risks of Life

I. Warm-up Activities

1. Talk about 3 things that people can do to keep fit or live longer.

2. Talk about your living habits and what you think of them.

II. Key points in the text1. risk

Vt. take the chance of (losing…)

risk sth (e.g. one’s life/one’s health)

risk doing sth.

e.g. She risked her life trying to save the drowning child.

By criticizing the boss he risked losing his job.

n. There is a risk / some risk of … (sb) be at risk (= in danger) take / run risks run the risk of (doing) sth… (=take th

e chance of) at one’s own risk 自担风险地，自

负全责地e.g. Anyone swimming in the lake do

es so at his own risk.

2. for better or (for) worse

whatever happens; whatever you may think of it; whether one likes it or not 无论发生什么；不管是好是坏

e.g. It’s been done, and, for better or worse, we can’t change it now.

Translation:

不管是好是坏，计算机已经主宰了我们的生活。

For better or worse, the computer has taken control of our lives.

Compare: for the better / worse

e.g. There’s been a change for the better (= an improvement) in his health.

3. alter Vt. & Vi. to make or become different,

but without changing into something else 改动，更动

e.g. She has to have her clothes altered after losing weight.

alteration n. [C, U] My new coat needs alteration. There have been a few alterations to

the timetable.

4. anticipate

Vt.

1) expect 预期，期望We anticipate (meeting) some difficul

ties in our project.

We all anticipate the 2008 Olympics.

We anticipate that we will meet some difficulties in our project.

2) To guess or imagine in advance and prepare for it. 预料到…而做好准备，预防

e.g. In business, you’ve got to anticipate how your competitor will act. ( 事先估计… )

anticipation n.

e.g. We waited at the station in (eager) anticipation of her arrival.

5. make sense

1) to have a clear meaning 有意义，有道理，讲得通

e.g. This sentence doesn’t make (any) sense (to me).

Your whole account of these accidents doesn’t make sense.

2) to be a wise course of action 有道理，明智的，

e.g. It makes sense to take care of your health.

Does it make sense to allow little children play computer games?

make sense (out) of sth: to understand

理解，懂得，了解…的意义e.g. Can you make sense of what he

is talking about?

The letter was so badly written that I couldn’t make any sense of it.

6. evident

adj. plain, esp. to the senses; clear because of evidence 明白的，明显的

e.g. It is evident that their plan has failed.

She looked at the pretty girl with evident jealousy.

evidently adv.

evidence n.

7. assume

Vt. 1) suppose 假定，假设e.g. We will start out at 8 am --- assu

ming that everyone comes on time.

We can’t just assume her guilt / that she is guilty before we get sufficient evidence.

2) take or claim for oneself (sometimes without the right to do so) 开始承担，开始担任，开始掌 ( 权 )

assume power / control / duty / responsibility …

The army has assumed control of the government.

军队夺取了政府的控制权。

3) begin to have (a quality or appearance) 呈现出，显出，

e.g. Don’t let the matter assume too much importance for you.

4) pretend to have 假装e.g. He assumes a look of surprise / i

nnocence.

He wrote under an assumed name.

assumption n. 假定，设想；担任，承担；装出…的样子

e.g. They bought several apartments on the assumption that the housing prices would rise.

His assumption of his father’s debts is admirable.

He opened the door with an assumption of surprise.

8. alike

adj. the same; like one another

一个样子，模样相同 ( 仅作表语 )

be / look alike

I believe the two brothers are alike in character.

All music are alike to him.

adv. the same or similar 同样地，一视同仁地

treat sb. alike

be dressed alike

walk alike

Great minds think alike.

9. monitor

1) Vt. to make continuous observation of… 监控，监视，监听

to monitor a patient’s pulse / heartbeats / blood pressure …

2) n. a devise used to observe 监护仪；监视器；监控装置

e.g. a heart monitor 3) n. 班长

10. guarantee

n. 1) a formal written promise by a manufacturer to repair or replace an article that becomes faulty, within a stated period of time

保修期，保证书，保证The radio has / carries a two-year gu

arantee. We will repair it free of charge while it

is still under guarantee.

2) a promise of any kind, or a reason to believe that something will certainly happen 保证

I can give you my guarantee that I will finish the work on time.

Wealth is no guarantee of happiness.

Vt. 1) give a guarantee 保证，担保 They guarantee the watch for three

years. Our products are guaranteed to last

for years. 我们的产品保证经久耐用。2) to promise (that sth will certainly b

e so) 保证Buying a train ticket doesn’t guarante

e you a seat.No one can guarantee that he will get

a good job after college graduation.

Word formation in the text: infect ---- infectious ---- infection gene --- genetic ---- genetically constitute ---- constitution inherit ---- inheritance frequent ---- frequency ( infrequent

--- infrequency) regular ---- regularity prevent ---- preventive --- prevention

III. Post-reading activities:

1. Discuss the following questions:1) What are the health risks that we are

born with2) What can people do to avoid the

health risks?3) If we can’t change our genes, then

what can we do to keep fit?4) How do you understand ‘individual

variation’ in keeping fit?

2. For or Against?

Your friend has the following arguments regarding the relationship between health and diet. Are you for or against them? Give your own arguments.

1) An old man is happily smoking on his 87th birthday. He also drinks a lot every day.

2) Medical science is still not clear about how diet affects our health.

3) Diet may have something to do with health, but a good diet has to be developed early in life. I’m well ov

er 20 and it’s too late to start a new lifestyle.

3. Written work and presentation:

Choose to study how one of the following factors may contribute to health risks, write a a passage and make a presentation in class:

smoking, overweight, pollution, chemical exposure, drug abuse, playing videogames, using cell-phone…

IV. Read more: “Healthy Eating”

Key Points:

1 be aware of

2 there has been a growing interest in…

3 be rich / poor in…

4 compared with

5 rather than

6 little better than