Unit 1 Living Green
Reading & Interacting
I. Understanding the Text
1. Text Organization
Parts
Paragraphs
Main Ideas
Part One
Paras. 1-4
The writer and her family wanted to slow things down and decided tomove to a property that was off the grid.
Part Two
Paras. 5-10
react to中文
Living off the grid, the writer’s family had to deal with a lot of big challenges,and yet meanwhile gained many benefits.
Part Three
Para. 11
Conclusion: Going off the grid was a great experience for the writer’sfamily.
2. Comprehension Check
2.1 Focusing on the main ideas
Key: the countryside, off the grid, utilities, generating, hauling, the adjustment, the importance of conservation, how to live green
2.2 Digging into detail 
1. Her daughter wanted a horse. Her husband wanted property. Her son wanted a dirt bike. Thewriter herself wanted her family to be more self-sufficient.
2. The property was off the grid. It was actually not connected to any utilities —power, water or a sewer system.
3. They generated electricity by wind and solar power, and stored it in 16 golf cart batteries. Waterhad to be hauled in from a nearby town and stored in two tanks located on the property.
4. In her view, one of the greatest benefits was teaching her children the importance of conservation.
5. Other changes included reducing the amount of trash by recycling and composting, growing theirown organic vegetables and reusing things that they would normally toss away.
2.3 Understanding difficult sentences
 1. A     2. B     3. B     4. A     5. B
II. Focusing on Language in Context
1. Key Words & Epressions
1.
Key:
1. whatsoever
2. available
3. slow down
4. is familiar with
5. put in
6. organic
7. Self-sufficient
8. set about
9. agent
10. utilities
11. system
12. learned of 
13. ins and outs
14. accomplish
1.2
1. consist of   2. tossed   3. overall 4. hauling 5. went out 6. in use
1.3
1. If you’re in business long enough, it’s inevitable you will meet with/face/encounter setbacks.
2. Hydroelectric power plants generate electricity in a much cleaner way than coal-fired ones.
3. Knowing the proper way to do laundry will help you avoid shrinking your sweaters and dyeing your white socks pink.
4. We really appreciate the invitationto your party, but my elderly mother lives with us and wedon’t like to leave her alone in the evenings.
5. The hotel is OK but could make some adjustments to live up to its 5-star rating.
6. Most of us take electricity for granted. But do you know that about 1.5 billion people in this worldhave no access to electrical power?
2. Usage
3. Sentence Patterns
3.1
1. It was the day before yesterday that they set out. / It was they that set out theday beforeyesterday.
2. It was by the roadside that I found the lost wallet. / It was I that/who found the lost wallet by theroadside. /It was the lost wallet that I found by the roadside.
3. It was not until he got everything ready for the eperiment that Xiao Wang left the lab.
3.2 
1. It took my parents half an hour to finally find their way back to the hotel. / It took half an hourfor my parents to finally find their way back to the hotel.
2. It took us almost two hours to work out this difficult math problem. / It took almost two hoursfor us to work out this difficult math problem.
3. It will take us more than three months to accomplish this art project. / It will take more thanthree months for us to accomplish this art project.
4. Comprehensive Practice
4.1 Cloze
4.2 Translation
1. Jack is so diligent a student that he never goes anywhere without a book.
2. This is an outline of my paper; any of your suggestions will be truly appreciated.
3. Whether you’re buying or renting, you’ll need to be fully aware what kind of property best suitsyou and your lifestyle.
4. It is dangerous to ride a bicycle on an icy road, so we have to use the brake to slow it down.
5. If we put all our energy and effort into this project, we will definitely accomplish it in a few moremonths.
6. I am thinking about moving to a three-bedroom house located near the town center. In addition,it is within walking distance to the train station.
7. A lot of the things we take for granted as trash, such as newspapers, magazines, old computersand cellphones, can actually be recycled or reused in one way or another.