Unit 2 Life stories

Text A: Zheng He, the great ancient Chinese explorer

课文预习视频：

视频制作内容：

1.介绍所讲的句子在第几段

2.单词、短语讲解，句子翻译；（加分项：句子改写）

3.围绕所讲知识点制作1个考题，题型可以是单选题、填空题、连线题、翻译题等等。

注意：不允许使用软件自带的合成语音，否则我不知道你自己读音是否有问题。另外，不允许直接使用预习视频里的画面和素材 。

示范视频：

知识点概览：

绿色标记的是这一课重点生词、短语，必须对照New words和Phrases and expressions内容详细讲解。该句中其他词汇，自己感觉必要的可以拓展，课上我会提问。

Para 1 (建议加入与内容中土著人等相关的图片或视频等素材)

句1 There, in a village of stone huts set amongst dense trees, the journalist met a number of elderly men who told him that they were descendants of Chinese sailors, shipwrecked on Pate several centuries ago. 

句2 Their ancestors had traded with the local Africans, who had given them giraffes to take back to China; then their boat was driven onto the nearby reef.

句3 He noted many clues that seemed to confirm the islanders’ tale, including their vaguely Asian appearance, the antique porcelain heirlooms in their homes, and the porcelain shards on the beaches.

句4 Evidently, this remote African village retains an echo of one of history’s most astonishing episodes of maritime exploration.

Para 2 (建议加入与内容中航行路线、船型等相关的图片或视频等素材)

句5 About six centuries ago, a mighty fleet of Chinese ships ventured west to the Indian Ocean, reaching Ceylon, Arabia, and East Africa. 

句6 The fleet included giant nine-masted junks escorted by dozens of supply ships, water tankers, transports for cavalry horses, and patrol boats.

Para 3 (建议加入与内容中航行路线、船型等相关的图片或视频等素材)

句7 Seven times, from 1405 to 1433, the Chinese fleet set off for the unknown.

句8 These great expeditions took place about half a century before the first Europeans, rounding the tip of Africa in frail Portuguese caravels, “discovered” the Indian Ocean.

Para 4 

句9 Later when he served in the royal court, he received military training and became a trusted assistant and adviser to the emperor.

句10 He was also in charge of palace construction and repairs, learned more about weapons, and became more knowledgeable in ship construction.

Para 5 (注意culture notes内容, 建议加入与内容中船型等相关的图片或视频等素材)

句11 Both the treasure ships and the support vessels – battleships and boats carrying grain and horses – featured divided hulls with several watertight compartments. 

句12 This engineering innovation had roots in early Chinese seafaring.

句13 It allowed mariners to take unprecedented amounts of drinking water on long voyages, while also adding much-needed ballast, balance, and stability.

Para 6 (可以拓展中西贸易货物的不同，以及英文表达)

句14 In 1405, the emperor appointed Zheng He to head a massive fleet of more than 200 junks with a royal order to establish ties with rulers all around the Indian Ocean.

句15 The junks, loaded with Chinese silk, porcelain, and lacquerware, visited ports around the Indian Ocean, where Zheng He exchanged the goods for spices, ivory, medicines, rare wood, pearls, and exotic animals, sought by the Ming court.

Para 7 (建议加入与内容中航行路线、途经国家等相关的图片或视频等素材)

句16 During his career as a naval commander, Zheng He negotiated trade pacts, fought pirates, and brought back gifts to China. 

句17 He and his crew traveled and traded not only with the cities in what are now Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and India, but also with the Arabian ports of modern-day Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

句18 The rulers he encountered there were impressed by his diplomatic skills and the elaborate gifts he brought them. They agreed to send ambassadors to the Ming court.

Para 9

句19 Zheng He had helped spread the culture and influence of China over a vast realm. 

句20 But the war in the north then drew military investment away from the maintenance of the fleet and the royal court turned its focus to the construction and expansion of the Great Wall.

句21 Inevitably, the navy shrank and all the larger classes of ships were destroyed. This contributed to the end of the epic time of the Ming Dynasty sea voyages.

Para 10

句22 His seven expeditions challenged what humans could do at sea, pushing the limits of their boats’ size, complexity, and capacity for long-distance travel.

句23 They were also essential to the spread of two Chinese technologies that helped build our modern world: gunpowder and the compass. 

Para 11

句24 Today, whether people view Zheng He as an emblem of Chinese diplomacy or as a symbol of the country’s spirit of adventure and bravery, one thing is for certain: Zheng He remains one of the greatest explorers in world history, and the voyages he led stand among the great wonders in the history of ocean navigation, contributing significantly to the progress of human civilization. 

任务分解：

每个任务由1位同学负责（包括视频内容讲解和课上问题回答），根据视频内容和回答表现得1-6分。负责人可以临时邀请1位同学作为技术支持（包括视频制作、ppt制作等），被邀请的同学最多参与2位同学的任务，每参与1个任务固定加2分。

T1: 句1-4

T2: 句5-8

T3: 句9-13

T4: 句14-16

T5: 句17-20

T6: 句21-24

视频制作技术请参考：