附上外版高中英语教学材料：
选择性必修一第四单元 Reading B
2050
My lights turn on automatically.
It’s 6:50 am and the house is waking me up. Still sleepy, I find my uniform in the wardrobe and put it on. It had been washed, ironed, and hung up the night before by Lina X15 — my family’s housekeeper. When I was younger, she was my nanny. She’s been with me all my life. My parents didn’t have time for children then and Lina, advertised as a reliable helper, looked after me. That’s why my parents bought her. Almost everyone has an X15 today.
I enter the kitchen. My breakfast sits there, waiting for me. Always the same. Planned, with a controlled quantity. The government says our planet can’t deal with overpopulation. Food is grown in laboratories, and every house receives just enough food — no more, no less. Mum always talks about the old days when people had vegetable gardens and could go to the market to buy food. Animals actually lived in the wild and not in carefully controlled zoos. It’s all I’ve ever known.
Robots are everywhere now; they are usually referred to as “zoids.” When they first came on the market in 2030, everyone wanted one. Now, twenty years later, they’ve taken over. They do almost everything. They work in labs and factories, fix teeth and perform surgeries. My dad used to be a surgeon before they found that “zoids” could do surgery better than humans. Less room for error, I guess.
I walk to the window and look out over the landscape. All I see are buildings and interconnecting tunnels. Grey skyscrapers, all identical. I can spot my school — it is just over to the right, but it looks the same as every other building. Today we are having a lecturer from Los Angeles speak to us about the extinction of different species of animals, like the polar bear and the elephant. I find it strange that even with all our technology, we couldn’t save them.
I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around.
“It’s time for school,” Lina says, her metallic voice echoing around the room, “Don’t be late.”
“On my way,” I reply. “I’ll be back by 6 pm.”
I rush out the door and go down 60 floors to join the other children in my building. We’ve always walked through the tunnels to get to school. We’ve always breathed recycled air. We are children who have never been outside. I wonder what it’s like. Perhaps Lina can explain it to me.
选择性必修二第三单元Reading B
Pay It Forward
Every fast-food employee knows that the drive-through window is the worst position. A fierce wind spits in your face as you sit at the frost-covered glass. You press the headset closer to your ear and repeat the order perfectly only to be greeted with a harsh “That’s not what I want!” I glared at my supervisor every time she handed me the headset. I loved my job. But I hated that drive-through window.
It was a freezing Tuesday afternoon when everything changed.
Every once in a while the sub-zero temperatures of northern Alberta seal a vehicle’s windows shut. Drivers don’t exactly enjoy having to stand outside in the cold and screaming their orders into a speaker box, when they had expected to drive through on their heated leather seats. In such cases, most customers tend to take out their annoyance on the employees.
This woman was different.
“I’ll get the next car’s order as well,” she said as she came up to the window to pay. She stood outside, gathering snowflakes on her hair and eyelashes. Though she was obviously freezing, her bright smile lit up her face like a fire.
“You can’t take their drinks” I said, confused and tired. My breath turned into a thick fog around my face.
The lady laughed, her cheeks turning red with cold. “No, but I’ll buy them,” she said. “Pay it forward and all that.”
Completely shocked. I charged her as requested, and when the next customer arrived at the window I explained what had just happened. I watched as his facial expression changed like a succession of photographs on a slideshow — first disturbed to be out in the cold, then surprised at the random act of kindness and finally, delighted by his luck.
“I suppose I’ll pay for the next order then,” he replied, nodding and waving at the impatient driver behind him. He handed over the cash and received his pre-paid drink.
The trend continued throughout the entire rush hour. Customers arrived annoyed and stressed, only to leave humbled and calm. No one had any idea how many drinks they would have to purchase. Some customers spent much more than they had expected, while others ended up receiving their order for less than half the price.
Five cars passed, and then ten, then twenty. No one refused to pay. Customers stood at my window emptying a handful of change to buy coffee for a complete stranger. Cars rounded the bend as they drove off, honking and waving their gratitude, knowing that they would be unlikely to see each other again.
Every fast-food employee knows that the drive-through window is the worst position. The window sticks with constant ice, the roar of engines hurts your ears and your words are lost in the roaring wind. But it only takes one customer, one person, to change the entire flow of traffic. It only takes one moment, one smile, to warm up even the coldest days.
选择性必修三第二单元 Reading A
With One Small Gesture
One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home from school. He seemed to be carrying all of his books. His name was Kyle. I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?” Then I saw a bunch of kids running toward him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, landing in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. I jogged over to him. As he crawled around looking for his glasses, I saw a tear in his eye.
As I handed him his glasses, he looked at me and said, “Thanks!” There was a big smile on his face, showing real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books and asked him where he lived. He turned out to live near me. We talked all the way home, and I carried his books. He was a pretty cool kid and I asked him if he wanted to play football with me and my friends on Saturday. He said yes. We hung out all that weekend. The more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. And my friends thought the same of him.
Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, “You are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books every day!” He just laughed. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we began to think about college, Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke.
Graduation day came and Kyle was selected as the speaker at the graduation ceremony. I was so glad it was he who got up there and spoke. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I patted him on the back and said, “Hey, big guy, you’ll be great!” He looked at me with one of his really grateful looks and smiled, “Thanks!”
When it came to his turn, he cleared his throat and began. “Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you through those tough moments. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings ... but mostly your friends. I am going to tell you a story ...” I just looked at my friend in disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to drop out of school because of loneliness and sadness at the new place. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so he would never come back. He looked at me and gave me a little smile. “Thankfully, it was my friend who helped me out.” I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.
I saw his mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realise its depth. Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person’s life.
——END——