Step 1 Lead in
1.How many kinds of natural disasters do you know?
2. Do you know any volcanoes in Asia?
3. How does a volcano work？
Step 2 Pre-reading
Look at some pictures of Pompeii and volcano and describe how things could happen.
Step 3 Fast reading
Task 1. Skimming
when where What disaster who The end
Task 2 Decide whether the following sentences are true or false.
1. A volcano erupted on the 24th of August in 79 BC in southern Italy. （ ）
2. My uncle planned to save his friend’s wife Rectina. （ ）
3. My uncle went to rescue Pompy after saving Rectina. （ ）
4. The flames came from the homes of farmers who had left in a panic with the kitchen fires still on. （ ）
5. They decided to try the open air instead of staying in the house. （ ）
6. It was night when the volcano erupted. （ ）
Step 4 Careful reading
Task 1 Scan the text & fill in the following form.
Date What happened:
First
Next
Then
Finally
Task 2 Arrange the following statements according to the right order.
1. He decided to rescue his friend Pompy.
2. Some people watched an unusual cloud rising from a mountain.
3. Rectina begged him to save her.
4. He ordered a boat made ready.
5. Two slaves helped him stand up and immediately he fell down dead.
6. He bathed and had dinner.
7. A rain of rocks was coming down.
（ ）--（ ）--（ ）--（ ）--（ ）--（ ）--（ ）
Task 3 Listen to the tape and explain what the words in bold refer to.
it:
the one:
the other:
their:
They:
Step 5 Post reading
Task 1 Suppose you are Pliny the Elder, tell us your adventure into erupted area to save his friends, using the information in the chart.
Task 2 Further understanding
1. From the text, we can learn that Tacitus _____ .
A. was a history writer B. worked for the local police
C. was a close friend of Pliny D. did research into volcanoes and earthquakes
2. Who first paid attention to a cloud of unusual size and shape?
A. Tacitus. B. Young Pliny’s mother.
C. Young Pliny. D. Uncle Pliny.
3. How did Uncle Pliny do to make Pompy calm down?
A. He gave Pompy hug and courage. B. He bathed and had dinner.
C. After dinner, he wanted to sleep.
D. After he hugged Pompy, he stayed there and bathed, had dinner and even wanted to sleep there.
4. What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. To tell sth. about Volcano happening in 79AD.
B. To tell sth. about the death of Uncle Pliny
C. To help Tacitus to recall what happened to Uncle Pliny.
D. To be in memory of Uncle Pliny.
5. We can infer from Passage that _________.
A. Uncle Pliny was a seismologist
B. Tacitus was Uncle Pliny’s friend
C. Tacitus would copy the whole story to the public
D. Pompy also died in the earthquake
Task 3 Was his uncle afraid of what was happening? How do you know? Give three examples that show he had no fear.
Homework:
1. 洗澡；浴缸n._________________ 2.洗澡v. _________________
3.看着某人/某物正在升起_________________ 4.平静/镇定下来_________________
5.在手边，即将来到的_________________ 6.吸引某人的注意力_________________
7.极力主张做某事_________________ 8.一到就_________________
9.just the other way_________________ 10.in (a) panic_________________
11.at a distance_________________ 12.call for_________________
13.与其说死了，还不如说更像睡着了_________________________________