Before the War戰(zhàn)前

陳志強(qiáng)

Step 1? ?感知·閱讀導(dǎo)航

[話題導(dǎo)入]

《大戰(zhàn)火星人》（The War of the Worlds）又名《星際戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)》，是英國著名科幻小說作家赫伯特·喬治·威爾斯的作品。小說描寫了火星人入侵地球的過程。小說故事發(fā)生在大英帝國建立了龐大殖民地、稱霸世界的19世紀(jì)末期，火星人從天而降，在倫敦附近著陸，拉開了征服地球戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的序幕。人類以機(jī)槍大炮面對(duì)火星人的先進(jìn)武器——“熱光”和“黑煙”。幾十個(gè)火星人以雷霆萬鈞之勢(shì)，所向披靡，在短短幾天時(shí)間里就打得英國軍隊(duì)落花流水，致使政府、制度、社會(huì)土崩瓦解。然而，火星人尚未徹底征服地球，滅頂之災(zāi)就悄然向它們襲來。令人啼笑皆非的是，它們的克星竟是地球上最卑微、最渺小的生物——細(xì)菌。通過這次教訓(xùn)，人類不再相信自己是這個(gè)宇宙中唯一的智慧生靈。

《大戰(zhàn)火星人》不僅以超前的思想“創(chuàng)造”了激光和機(jī)器人等尖端機(jī)器，還通過該作品暗中極大地批評(píng)英國等列強(qiáng)通過對(duì)弱國進(jìn)行侵略來實(shí)現(xiàn)殖民主義的無恥暴行。

本節(jié)講述的是戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)前夕的故事。全文731詞，建議用時(shí)13分鐘。

[閱讀目標(biāo)]

1. 了解小說的三要素：人物、情節(jié)和環(huán)境。理解環(huán)境描寫在小說中的多重作用。

2. 掌握小說情節(jié)的起因、發(fā)展、高潮和結(jié)局;了解小說推進(jìn)故事情節(jié)的方法并理解小說情節(jié)對(duì)刻畫人物形象所起的作用。

3. 掌握小說的寫作手法，把握小說的語言風(fēng)格，并理解二者與小說主題的關(guān)系。

4. 探究小說的主題意義，并對(duì)人類的局限性進(jìn)行反思，培養(yǎng)批判性思維能力。

It would have seemed impossible to anyone living at the end of the nineteenth century to think that the earth was being scientifically observed by highly intelligent creatures on another planet. At that time， men went about their days as usual， thinking themselves completely safe and in control. The chances of other life existing on nearby planets were thought extremely small; and it was popularly believed that， if such life did exist， it would probably be less intelligent than man. Yet， soon， man would awaken from this false dream， for the beings that lived on Mars， otherwise known as Martians， wanted the earth for themselves and were making preparations to take it.

The planet Mars is much older than the earth. Although we know little about the planet， we do know that most of its natural resources are nearly gone. Its oceans are disappearing， its air is without oxygen， and its temperatures are extremely low. Those living on Mars have been forced to do what people on earth would do if they were in the same situation： look for a new home.

How attractive the earth must then look to them with all of its oceans and greenery; and how stupid and simple we humans must seem. When you consider the importance of survival to all living beings， from man to the lowest form of life， it can be understood that the Martians had no choice but to attack our planet and take it from us. Yet， today， when people look back on the Martian attack， six years ago， many still think of the Martians as evil. But have humans not done the same kinds of things to animals and even to other human beings？ If one were to consider how the natives of New Zealand were almost all killed by the Europeans， it would not seem so beyond human understanding.

For years， the Martians made their preparations right under the noses of our scientists， who， although constantly observing， could not see Mars clearly enough through their instruments. In 1894， an observatory reported seeing a flash of light on the red planet. Looking back at that， I can only guess that that was the time they put their huge gun in place. Then， just six years ago， a scientist in Java reported that a large burst of fiery gas had been released from Mars and was coming towards earth. Very few people， however， paid much atten?tion to the discovery. One of the people who did was my friend， Ogilvy. He was so excited by the news that he invited me to join him in his observa?tory the next evening.

I remember looking through his telescope and thinking about how much space was out there be?tween the stars and planets. Just between the earth and Mars lay tens of millions of miles. The red planet looked so small， like the head of a pen. Then I caught sight of something， a flash of light. I told Ogilvy， and he took my place at the telescope. It was another burst of fire from Mars. He explained that it was probably large pieces of rock from space hitting the surface of the planet. I， of course， had no idea what it was and just remember wishing I had a cigarette to smoke. The night was so quiet and peaceful. No one had any idea of the terrible danger that was coming straight for them in the nights silence.

Over the next ten days， a burst occurred each day at midnight. Soon， the newspapers started to take more interest in the volcanoes of Mars. No one was willing to believe the idea that it might be someone or something trying to communicate with us from another planet. Ogilvy was even completely against the idea.

It is almost humorous and wonderful to re?member how man carried out his daily life just be?fore the Martians arrived. I， for example， was learning how to ride a bicycle and was writing some philosophical papers on“right and wrong in the modern world”. I remember taking a walk with my wife and teaching her about the different patterns of stars in the sky. I even showed her which planet was Mars. There was a group of young people playing the guitar and singing. The sound of the nearby train could be heard， which was slowly moving along its tracks. The world felt very calm and peaceful.

Step 2 理解·文本解讀

[目標(biāo)呈現(xiàn)]

Ⅰ.? Fast?reading

1. For the main idea

What does the passage mainly talk about？

A. Why man thought nothing of the Martians.

B. What the author experienced before the war.

C. Why the Martians decided to invade the earth.

D. What happened before the war between the Martians and man.

2. For the key information

3. For the structure

Ⅱ.? Careful?reading

1. For the settings of the war

（1）What did man on the earth think of the creatures beyond the earth？

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（2）What situation were the Martians faced with before the war？ And what would they do？

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（3）What did the Martians think of the earth？

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（4）What was the fundamental reason for the Martians to attack and occupy the earth？

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2. For the plot of the novel

【點(diǎn)石成金】閱讀小說時(shí)，應(yīng)充分關(guān)注小說中的“LOCK系統(tǒng)”。“LOCK系統(tǒng)”的各個(gè)要素分別為：L代表主角（Lead），O代表目標(biāo)（Objective），C代表沖突（Confrontation），而K代表沖擊結(jié)尾（Knockout）。這可以概括為一個(gè)公式：故事情節(jié)=主角+目標(biāo)+沖突+沖擊結(jié)尾。閱讀本章節(jié)時(shí)應(yīng)時(shí)時(shí)關(guān)注小說中兩大沖突主角的行為，即火星人和地球人的行為。關(guān)注小說以時(shí)間為順序進(jìn)行敘述，推進(jìn)故事情節(jié)的手法。在把握故事情節(jié)的過程中，還應(yīng)注意將兩者的行為進(jìn)行對(duì)比，為推測(cè)小說的后續(xù)情節(jié)做好鋪墊，從而明白小說的結(jié)局，即火星人戰(zhàn)勝地球人具有其必然性。

3. For the information about “Ⅰ”

【點(diǎn)石成金】小說以第一人稱推進(jìn)故事發(fā)展，使得情節(jié)的敘述更加真實(shí)。小說中的“我”是星際戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的見證者、親歷者和反思者。把握“我”的行為，有助于理解小說的主題意義，推動(dòng)學(xué)生批判性思維能力的形成。通過對(duì)“我”的行為的掌握，學(xué)生可以為后續(xù)的縮寫進(jìn)行有效鋪墊。

Ⅲ.? Post?reading

1. For the characteristics of the Martians and man

2. For role experience

（1）Suppose you are man on the earth， what would you think of the Martians？ What would you say to man？And what would you do to man？ Why？

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（2）Suppose you are Martian， what would you do before the war？ Would you persuade your race to give up the war against the earth？ And what would you say to man？

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3. For critical thinking

（1）What did the novelist think of the war against man from the Martians？ Find out the clues in the novel.

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（2）What is your opinion about the war against man from the Martians？ Share it with your classmates.

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Step 3 運(yùn)用·讀寫整合

Summary writing

Write a summary of the novel in the first person. Your summary should be about 60 words. The following key words may be helpful to you：

[the Martians man war the Mars the earth preparations ]

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【點(diǎn)石成金】小說的概要寫作應(yīng)抓住三要素：人物、情節(jié)和環(huán)境。在敘述小說的情節(jié)時(shí)，應(yīng)考慮敘述的順序，凸顯小說情節(jié)的起因、發(fā)展、高潮和結(jié)局。同時(shí)，還應(yīng)注意，在縮寫時(shí)語言要高度概括，不要穿插小說中的細(xì)節(jié)和不重要的情節(jié)。

Step 4 提升·素養(yǎng)建構(gòu)

Writing techniques

1. 旁敲側(cè)擊的satire（諷刺）

satire（諷刺）意為 “a way of criticizing people or ideas in a humorous way， or a piece of writing or play that uses this style”（Cambridge Dictionary）。諷刺常用委婉的詞語來論述、評(píng)價(jià)事物或人物，或采用拐彎抹角、旁敲側(cè)擊、含沙射影的說法去暗示某人，或某些有損榮譽(yù)的事，以免引起諷刺對(duì)象的傷感與不快。satire（諷刺）旨在嘲弄，以求達(dá)到一種生動(dòng)活潑、幽默風(fēng)趣的語言效果。

2. 豐富多樣的description（描寫）

【點(diǎn)石成金】小說中的描寫可以分為語言描寫、行為描寫、肖像描寫，以及環(huán)境描寫（包括自然環(huán)境描寫和社會(huì)環(huán)境描寫）等。小說中語言描寫和行為描寫可以折射出小說人物的特征，而環(huán)境描寫則可以起到交代故事背景、渲染氣氛、烘托心情、推動(dòng)情節(jié)發(fā)展、深化主題等多種作用。描寫是小說的重要表現(xiàn)手法之一。同學(xué)們?cè)谄綍r(shí)的閱讀中要強(qiáng)化對(duì)小說中描寫語言的積累，以便為讀后續(xù)寫積累必要的語料，并學(xué)會(huì)在小說中嫻熟地運(yùn)用描寫手法。