Unit 1
Key words Objective Methods used Laypeople, radiation, understanding To investigate young students? knowledge of radiation phenomena and risk Questionnaires and interviews 1. 2. 3. 4.
Although respondents were aware of the harmful health effects of radiation, but had a little understanding of the concept of radiation.
There is a big proportion of respondents who support to continue the production of nuclear power. Mass media plays a very important role in the misunderstanding of radiation.
A school program should be designed to analyzing everyday conceptions about radiation
No. Main Ideas The investigation has been conducted for three reasons Teachers and mass media are a big source of people?s knowledge of radiation The objective is to study the general people?s understanding of radiation. 270 Freshmen are chosen for two reasons 6-10 Most people, especially women, answered the questions Most questions were open-ended with real-life examples.
The answers were categorized and coded. A point system was developed to measure the respondents? level of understanding. Most respondents knew the radiation types but fail to know radioactive decay and absorption of radiation. 11-15 Respondents had difficulty distinguishing between radiation and radioactive materials. There was general misunderstanding about the concept of the half- life There was confusion about the source of radiation among respondents Respondents were aware of the effect of radiation on health. 16-20 Men and women had same knowledge of radiation. Para. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 1-5 Radiation has been viewed as a serious threat to health and hence a source of fear. There was a lack of knowledge about “absorption of radiation” among respondents 13 Although respondents knew the harmful health effects of radiation, but had a little 17 understanding of the concept of radiation, Respondents feared the exposure of radiation from nuclear power and nuclear 18 submarines. There was a big proportion of respondents who support to continue the production 19 of nuclear power. Fear of radiation from nuclear power was still popular in Norwegians. 20 21 22 23 20-25 Most respondents feared the contamination of nuclear waste Women were more worried than men about radiation and nuclear power. Mass media tends to influence people?s judgment and everyday conception. Everyday conceptions are more determined than school education Mass media plays a very important role in the misunderstanding of radiation. 26-28 24 25 Analyzing everyday conceptions about radiation in school courses may improve 26 the public understanding of such phenomena. Sufficient knowledge of radiation may influence one?s political
considerations and 27 judgments. A course “Science, Technology and Society” may be developed to take the lay 28 conceptions into account.
Task paraphrase
1. 2. 3.
The answer reveals that the respondents fail to understand that a new nucleus will be produced if a radioactive atom is broken.
According to the view of constructivists, a person?s ideas will survive school education and form an important basis for learning new things.
The solution is to take lay ideas into consideration and combine factual knowledge with practical or political factors.
Task 6 Summarize the main idea of the following paragraph, using one sentence only. Read the model carefully.
Different types of radiation will produce different health effects, based on characteristics of each type.
Task 7 Write a paragraph about 120 words to summarize the main idea of Text 1.
It may be argued that the population should have sufficient understanding of radiation phenomena to secure individual safety as well as democratic decisions. To attain this, it is necessary for the communicators of radiation information to be familiar with the lay person?s perceptions of these phenomena. A questionnaire survey was conducted to examine non-experts? conceptions of radiation phenomena. The survey revealed incomplete understanding of concepts such as radioactive decay, half-life and absorption of radiation and a lack of differentiation of between radiation and radioactive material. Many respondents did not distinguish between sources of ionizing radiation and other environmental hazards. Nuclear power plants and submarines were the most feared sources of radiation. There are indications that the lay understanding of radiation phenomena and risk is to a large extent formed by mass media and that “school knowledge” of these phenomena is not applied in situations belonging to the ?real world?. To resolve this problem, new teaching and information procedures are needed. These should take into account the learners? perceptions and should integrate “school knowledge” with considerations belonging to the “real world”.
2. Enhancing language ability
Task 2 Replace the underlined words or phrases with academic words in the above box. Change their forms where necessary.
1. betrays, conception 2. (administrated, renders) 3. (exemplified, perception )
4. (prevalent, secure) 5. (prior to, considerable) 6. (proportion, attempt, gloomy) 7. (is indicative, alternatives) 8. (characterized, constitutes, hazard) 9. (From the standpoint of the doctors, ranks) 10. (external, prerequisite)
Task 3 Group the words in the box according to the meanings of the first words. Discuss the variety of words in writing.
1. include: contain, embrace, encompass, comprise, be composed of, consist of
2.valid: powerful, convincing, sensible, rational, viable, credible, plausible, weighty, well-founded, cogent, well-grounded
3.basic: underlying, fundamental, essential, root, prime, primary
4.danger: hazard, risk, threat, menace, peril, jeopardy, hazardous, endanger, jeopardize 5. describe: depict, portray, characterize, narrate, outline, represent
6.different: discrepant,contrary, conflicting, contradictory, inconsistent, incompatible, incongruous, various, diverse
7.cause: prompt, move, inspire, stimulate, urge, spur, motivate, induce, evoke,
instigate, impel 8.explain: account for, justify, clarify, illuminate, clear up, rationalize, elucidate ,explicate
9.emphasize: highlight, stress, accent, feature, underline, spotlight, accentuate, give prominence to, attach importance to, give priority to, underscore
10. factor: component, item, element, ingredient, constituent, contributor
3. Critical thinking (asking questions) 4. Doing research projects Lecture 1
1. What agents are mentioned in text that could attack the DNA?
Solvent, pesticide, smoke combustion, viral aggressions, ultrared radiation and ionizing radiation
2. How do the cells repair themselves after the DNA damage?
Cells could identify the DNA damage, remove the damaged part and re-synthesis to repair the DNA.
3. What is the difference between Determinist effects and Stochastic effects?
The Stochastic effects are not systematic to each person being exposed. Their development could not be predicted at the scale of individual which is opposite
from the determinist effect.
4. Why could the radiotherapy cause the second cancer ?
The healthy surroundings may be exposed to radiation during the treatment.
5. What principle is the radiation precaution based on?
Radiation dose should be kept as low as possible.
New words
chromosome n.染色体 molecule n. 分子; 微小颗粒 complementary adj.互补的,补充的 strand n.（绳子的）股
hereditary adj. 遗传的; 世袭的 protein n. 蛋白质 mino acid n. 氨基酸 solvent n. 溶剂，溶媒
viral adj.病毒的，病毒引起的 ultrared adj.红外（线）的 ionizing radiation电离辐射 radical n.根基
mutation n. 突变; 变异 transform v. 改变 dose n. 剂量
deterministic adj.确定性的 severity n.严重
stochastic adj.随机的
epidemiologic adj.流行病学的 epidemiology 传染病学 uranium n.[化学]铀
radiotherapy n.放射疗法 validity n.有效，合法性 chromosome 染色体 guanine 鸟嘌呤 cytosine 胞嘧啶 thymine 胸腺嘧啶 adenine 腺嘌呤 nausea 恶心 dose 剂量
Academic Writing
1. Understanding a research report or research article (RA) 2. Deciding on a topic
Task 2. Narrow down the following topics step by step and tell the feasibility of each topic. The first one has been done for you.
1) Genetically Engineering The Impact of Genetically Engineering The Impact of Genetically Engineering on agricultural practice/ food shortage 2) Breast-feeding Practice Breast-feeding Practice in Chinese Big Cities The Impact of Urbanization on Breast-feeding Practice in Chinese Big Cities 3) Internet Technology The General Impact of Internet Technology on Education The Positive Impacts of Internet Technology on Teaching Methodology 3. Formulating research questions
Task 1 Turn the following topics into more specific ones by asking yourself
some wh-questions such Why? What? How? Who? Then share yours with your partner. The first one has been done for you.
1. Nuclear Waste
1) 2) 3) 4)
What is nuclear waste?
Why is it difficult to dispose of nuclear waste?
What harmful effects if nuclear waste is not appropriately disposed of? How to dispose of nuclear waste safely and economically?
2. Threats of Artificial Intelligence
1) What are the present threats? 2) What are the future threats?
3) How can human beings control those threats?
3. Global Warming and Its Effects 1) What is Global warming? 2) How does it affect agriculture? 3) How does it affect our environment? 4) How does it affect our health?
4. Genetically Modified Food
1) What are advantages and disadvantages of GMF
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