2. Learning aims: 1. Learn something about the origin and development of life on the earth. 2. Get some information about the passage by skimming and scanning. 3. Rewrite the passage in brief using the key words in it.

3. Task1: Skimming Read the text quickly and quietly and choose the main idea for each paragraph.(5’) Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3 Paragraph 4 Paragraph 5 A.The arrival of humans and their effect on the earth. B. The formation of the earth. C. The development of plants and animals on the earth. D. A widely accepted theory about the formation of the universe. E.The importance of water for life.

4. Task2: Scanning Read the text carefully and choose the best answers to the following questions.(6’)

5. 1 ． What is the correct order according to the text? ① The clever animals with hands and feet appeared and spread all over the earth. ② The“ Big Bang” ． ③ Small plants began to appear on the surface of the water. ④ 65 million years ago ， the age of the dinosaurs ended. A. ②－①－③－④ B. ④－③－①－② C. ②－④－③－① D. ②－③－④－① 2 ． How did the atmosphere on the earth appear? A. It came from space. B. It came from the explosion. C. It came from the oceans. D. It came from the forests 3 ． In our solar system ， why does life only exist on the earth? A. Because it is very warm on the earth. B. Because it is cool enough on the earth. C. Because there is plenty of water on the earth. D. Because it is big enough..

6. 4. What problem is caused by human beings? A. They exist everywhere on the earth B. They cause global warming C. They find new methods of growing crops D. They enjoy hunting and fishing 5. According to the passage we can know________. A. only the earth has life on it in space B. oxygen in the atmosphere on the earth came from the “Big Bang” C. humans are the cleverest animals of the earth D. plants played an important part in the appearance of animals 6. Why did plants appear earlier than animals? A. Because plants could produce oxygen ， which was important for animals. B. Because plants were more advanced than animals. C. Because animals needed more water. D. Because plants needed more water

7. II. Put the order of development of life into a timeline according to the passage.( work in pairs) ·1 Insects and amphibians appeared. ·2 Dinosaurs appeared. ·3 The earth became a solid ball. ·4 Small plants grew on the water. ·5 Reptiles appeared. ·6 Plants began to grow on dry land. ·7 The earth was a cloud of dust. ·8 Water appeared on the earth. ·9 Shellfish and other fish appeared. ·10 The universe began with a “Big Bang” ． ·11 Clever animals with hands and feet appeared. ·12 Mammals appeared. Order: 10 7 3 8 4 9 6 1 5 2 12 11

8. 1. Why was the earth different from the other planets? 2. Why did the plants grow before the animals came? 3. Why is it wrong to show films with dinosaurs and people together? 4. What problem is caused by human beings? Task3: Think about what you have read and discuss these questions in groups.

9. 1.Why was the earth different from the other planets? 2. Why did the plants grow before the animals came? 3. Why is it wrong to show films with dinosaurs and people together? 4. What problem is caused by human beings? Because the water remained on the earth. Because plants supplied oxygen to animals to breathe. Because dinosaurs died out long before human beings developed on the earth. Human beings have caused global warming.

10. Big Bang A solid ball The earth Task 4 Summary The Evolution of Life on the Earth

11. water Plants in the water Shellfish and fish Plants on land

12. Insects and amphibians Reptiles Dinosaurs Mammals

13. Man came from apes.

14. Task 5 Test After the “Big Bang” ， the earth was still just a cloud of 1 ， it 2 loudly with fire and rock ， which were in time to produce 3 ， water vapor and other gases. Then 4 began to appeared on the earth. The small plants in water are considered to be the 5 lives on the earth. The O 2 they supplied 6 the lives of shellfish and fish. Slowly green plants grew on land ， which were followed by 7 animals like insects and amphibians. When the plants grew into 8 ， 9 appeared. The 10 developed but disappeared later ， which made the rise of a totally different animal ， 11 ， possible ， and finally12 spread all over the world. keys ： 1.dust 2.exploded 3.carbon 4.water 5.earliest 6.encouraged 7.land 8.forests 9.reptiles 10.dinosaurs 11.mammal 12.humans

15. Please read the passage more and more after class and try to understand the difficult sentences in it.