Unit 4 Focusing on culture课件 2025-2026学年英语沪教版（2024）八年级上册

Wheel 轮子 Printing 印刷术 Gunpowder 火药 Compass 指南针 Telephone 电话 Light bulb 电灯 What are some great inventions in history? They are the four great inventions of ancient China. What do you know about them? Papermaking 造纸术 Who? When? How? What  impact? … Why? The famous four great inventions of ancient China have had a huge impact on the whole world. Let's learn about one of them. Read the story about Jane's encounter with a great inventor from ancient China. Movable type: a dream come true It was nearly ten o'clock at night. Jane was in bed. She was reading a book about the history of printing when she fell asleep. Suddenly, Jane found herself inside a big room. She could see an open fire and a big desk with lots of strange tools. There was a man by the desk, and he was working with clay. He was so busy that he didn't notice her. “Excuse me, what are you doing?” asked Jane. “I'm going to print a book, so I'm making type,” the man replied. “Type? What is it? Could you tell me more about it?” asked Jane. “Sure. First, I cut characters into pieces of clay. Then I bake them with fire to make them hard. These ones are ready now—look, each character is a single piece of type. I need to make thousands of these before I can print the book,” said the man. “Could you show me how to print with them?” asked Jane. “First, spread out a mixture of pine gum (松脂), wax and paper ash (n. 灰；灰烬) on a metal plate. Next, put each piece of type on the plate and fix them with a frame (n. (图画、门、 玻璃等的)框架). After that, heat it up so that the mixture will melt. Then press down on the clay characters with a board to make sure the surface is even. Finally, brush the characters with ink (n. 油墨；墨水)—now, it's ready to print,” he explained. “Oh, you must be Bi Sheng (毕昇),” Jane said. “I learnt about you in the book! You invented movable type. You know what, the German craftsman (n. 工匠) Gutenberg improved your invention and introduced metal movable type to Europe about 400 years later.” Bi Sheng smiled. At that moment Jane woke up. It was only a dream …! She looked at the book in her hands and smiled. Task 1 What type of writing is this story? A. Narration (记叙文). B. Exposition (说明文). C. Practical writing (应用文). D. Argumentation (议论文). 记叙文是以记人、叙事、写景、状物为主，以写人物的经历和事物发展变化为主要内容的一种文体。它通过生动的叙述和描写，让读者了解事件的来龙去脉、人物的情感变化等，具有较强的故事性和感染力。 Read the story and then divide it into four parts. Beginning Climax Development Ending Task 2 记叙文的叙事结构是组织故事内容、推动情节发展的核心框架，经典的 “开头、发展、高潮、结尾” 结构能让故事逻辑清晰、节奏分明。 2. What was she doing before falling asleep? Read part 1 and answer the questions. 1. Who started the story? The story was started by Jane. She was reading a book about the history of printing. Task 3 It made her have a dream related to printing. What happened in her dream? Read part 2 and answer the questions. 1. Where did Jane find herself in the dream? What did she see there? Task 4 2. What was the man doing with clay? • She found herself inside a big room. • She could see an open fire, a big desk with lots of strange tools, and a man by the desk working with clay. 3. Why did he make the type? He was making movable type with clay. He made the type to print a book. How did he print a book with movable type? Describe the steps of printing a book with movable type with the information from the story on page 62. Task 5 Step 1: Cut characters into pieces of clay. Step 2: (1)________________________________________________ Step 3: (2)________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Step 4: (3)________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Step 5: (4)________________________________________________ Step 6: (5)________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Step 7: (6)________________________________________________ P63 2 Bake them with fire to make them hard. Spread out a mixture of pine gum, wax and paper ash on a metal plate. Put each piece of type on the plate and fix them with a frame. Heat it up so that the mixture will melt. Press down on the clay characters with a board to make sure the surface is even. Brush the characters with ink. Suddenly, Jane found herself inside a big room. She could see an open fire and a big desk with lots of strange tools. There was a man by the desk, and he was working with clay. He was so busy that he didn't notice her. “Excuse me, what are you doing?” asked Jane. “I'm going to print a book, so I'm making type,” the man replied. “Type? What is it? Could you tell me more about it?” asked Jane. “Sure. First, I cut characters into pieces of clay. Then I bake them with fire to make them hard. These ones are ready now—look, each character is a single piece of type. I need to make thousands of these before I can print the book,” said the man. “Could you show me how to print with them?” asked Jane. “First, spread out a mixture of pine gum (松脂), wax and paper ash (n. 灰；灰烬) on a metal plate. Next, put each piece of type on the plate and fix them with a frame (n. (图画、门、 玻璃等的)框架). After that, heat it up so that the mixture will melt. Then press down on the clay characters with a board to make sure the surface is even. Finally, brush the characters with ink (n. 油墨；墨水)—now, it's ready to print,” he explained. Underline the steps in the passage. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 文章使用了清晰的过渡词 (first→next→after that→then→ finally) 来表明步骤的顺序，使整个过程条理清晰、易于理解。 Analyse the language used in the steps. Task 6 Read part 3 and answer the questions. 1. Who does Jane think the man is and what did the man invent according to Jane? Bi Sheng invented movable type. 2. What did Gutenberg introduce to Europe and when? He introduced metal movable type to Europe about 400 years later. Bi Sheng was a craftsman (工匠) and engineer (工程师) in the Song dynasty. Sometime between 1039 and 1048, he invented movable-type printing technique. It is one of the four great inventions of ancient China. Notes Task 7 In the end, we find that the story is just Jane's dream. Why did the writer tell the story like this? Possible answer: The story uses a “dream” as a carrier to connect the historical figure Bi Sheng with the modern reader Jane. This not only makes historical knowledge feel less distant but also makes the plot more lively. Movable type: a dream come true It was nearly ten o'clock at night. Jane was in bed. She was reading a book about the history of printing when she fell asleep. Suddenly, Jane found herself inside a big room. She could see an open fire and a big desk with lots of strange tools. There was a man by the desk, and he was working with clay. He was so busy that he didn't notice her. “Excuse me, what are you doing?” asked Jane. “I'm going to print a book, so I'm making type,” the man replied. “Type? What is it? Could you tell me more about it?” asked Jane. “Sure. First, I cut characters into pieces of clay. Then I bake them with fire to make them hard. These ones are ready now—look, each character is a single piece of type. I need to make thousands of these before I can print the book,” said the man. “Could you show me how to print with them?” asked Jane. “First, spread out a mixture of pine gum, wax and paper ash on a metal plate. Next, put each piece of type on the plate and fix them with a frame. After that, heat it up so that the mixture will melt. Then press down on the clay characters with a board to make sure the surface is even. Finally, brush the characters with ink —now, it's ready to print,” he explained. “Oh, you must be Bi Sheng,” Jane said. “I learnt about you in the book! You invented movable type. You know what, the German craftsman Gutenberg improved your invention and introduced metal movable type to Europe about 400 years later.” Bi Sheng smiled. At that moment Jane woke up. It was only a dream …! She looked at the book in her hands and smiled. 梦想成真 入睡 发现自己在一个大房间里面 用黏土工作 把字符刻在泥块上 铺开，摊开，涂抹均匀 用框架固定它们 heat … up 加热…… 压下 确保表面平整 准备好印刷，可以印刷 将金属活字引入欧洲 wake up 醒来 成千上万的 活字印刷 Pay attention to the key expressions. 明火炉灶 就在那一刻 了解 bake … with fire 用火烘烤…… so… that… 如此……以至于…… 为了；以便 Translate the following expressions into English. 1. 梦想成真 2. 入睡 3. 发现自己在一个大房间里面 4. 明火炉灶 5. 用黏土工作 6. 把字符刻在泥块上 7. 如此……以至于…… 8. 用火烘烤…… 9. 成千上万的 10. 铺开，摊开，涂抹均匀 ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ a dream come true fall asleep find oneself inside a big room work with clay cut characters into pieces of clay thousands of Task 8 an open fire bake … with fire so… that… spread out 11. 用框架固定它们 12. 加热…… 13. 为了；以便 14. 压下 15. 确保表面平整 16. 准备好印刷，可以印刷 17. 了解 18. 活字印刷 19. 将金属活字引入欧洲 20. 就在那一刻 21. 醒来 __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ __________________________ press down make sure the surface is even be ready to print movable type introduce metal movable type to Europe wake up heat … up at that moment learn about fix them with a frame so that (1) Bi Sheng was focusing on his work, so he didn't _________ the girl standing there. (2) When Jane saw Bi Sheng, he was making _________ from clay. (3) We can _________ the clay down to make it flat. (4) It's quicker to ________ up the food in the microwave. (5) Gold, iron and silver are all different types of _________. P63 3 3 Complete the sentences with the words below. Change the form if necessary. heat metal notice press type notice type press heat metal Jane: Excuse me, what are you doing? Bi Sheng: I'm making clay type to print a book. Jane: What's “type”? Bi Sheng: They're small clay pieces with characters. I cut characters into clay, bake them to make them hard. Jane: Can you show me how to print with them? Bi Sheng: Sure! First, I spread a mixture on a metal plate…, then… Jane: Oh, you must be Bi Sheng! I read about your movable type invention. Bi Sheng: … Characters: Jane and Bi Sheng ... ... Your ideas Why is the invention of printing important in history? • Spread knowledge quickly and widely; • Made education and learning much easier for everyone; • Printed books were easier to store and preserve than hand-copied ones; • … What do you know about other great inventions of ancient China? (1) When was Xuan paper invented? (2) Why is Xuan paper called the “Paper of the Ages”? Watch the video Xuan paper: a witness to Chinese history and answer the questions. Because Xuan paper does not change much over time. If the paper is preserved well, it can last for more than 2,000 years. Xuan paper was invented more than 1,500 years ago. Xuan paper (宣纸) is another important invention of ancient China. What do you know about it? Xuan paper: a witness to Chinese history Papermaking is one of the four great inventions of ancient China, along with printing, gunpowder and the compass. Xuan paper holds an important place in the history of writing. Thanks to this invention, a large number of ancient documents and artworks have survived until today. Xuan paper was invented more than l,500 years ago. In 2009, this traditional craft was added to UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. For over a millennium (一千年), Xuan paper has been a source of pride for Chinese people. It is an important part of Chinese culture, and it has played an important role in recording the country's history. Most of the 30 million ancient books in the National Library of China are made with Xuan paper. This type of paper is kown as the “Paper of the Ages” because it does not change much over time. If the paper is preserved well, it can last for more than 2,000 years. The ink and colour on it remain fresh and bright. Xuan paper was named after Xuanzhou, present-day Anhui province. Today, top-quality Xuan paper is still produced in the area thanks to the mild (温和的) climate, rich rainfall and clear rivers. Find more online. 优秀的发明会超越地域，推动人类共同进步。 1. What do you know about the four great inventions of ancient China? 2. What do you know about Bi Sheng? Do you know how to print a book with movable type? 3. What do you know about Xuan paper? 4. Have you realized the importance of inventions to the society? What are some great inventions in history? Search for more information about other great inventions of ancient China. $