（单词翻译:单击）
难度：中低级★★★
The price of gold went past the $1,900 per ounce mark for the first time ever on Monday. The record rise is because of growing concerns about a possible recession in the global economy. Two main factors are driving fears of a worldwide economic slowdown – the faltering（步履蹒跚的） U.S. economy and the debt crisis in Europe. Investors have traditionally put their money in gold during times of financial uncertainty. They see it as a safe investment. This saw the price of gold rise to $1,913 an ounce in Singapore before settling down to $1,897 an ounce at the close of trading. Industry experts believe gold prices could rise even further as more economic gloom makes investors increasingly nervous.
Analysts say that speculation（炒作，投机买卖） that the US government may announce new stimulus measures is also increasing the price of gold. America’s Federal Reserve may have to print more money to boost America’s economy, which could see the US currency weaken. A weakened dollar drives up gold prices. Analyst Colin Whitehead explained: "The underlying（潜在的，根本的） driver of gold prices is the depreciating US dollar value, so the more money they print, the stronger gold gets." Another economist, Peter Richardson of Morgan Stanley, suggested market factors had little impact on gold. He said: “Gold has continued to blast ahead even with a relatively strengthening U.S. dollar, strongly performing treasuries and other safe havens.”
课前热身：
1. GOLD: Walk around the class and talk to other students about gold. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
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the price of gold / growing concerns / recession / financial uncertainty / gloom / speculation / weakened dollar / market factors / depreciating / treasuries / safe haven |
Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. SAFE HAVENS: Where’s safest to leave your money? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.
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Pros |
Cons |
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Under the bed |
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In gold |
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In the bank |
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As Japanese Yen |
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Wine |
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Stocks and shares |
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4. DEBT: Students A strongly believe the Euro debt crisis will soon be over; Students B strongly believe it won’t. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
5. MONEY: What’s best to do with it? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.
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6. RECESSION: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘recession’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.
课后练习：
1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).
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a. |
The price of gold almost reached $1,900. |
T / F |
|
b. |
The record prices are because of the fall in silver prices. |
T / F |
|
c. |
The price of gold finished at a lower price at the close of trade. |
T / F |
|
d. |
The article says the economists believe the future will not be rosy. |
T / F |
|
e. |
Speculation of more dollars being printed might raise the price of gold. |
T / F |
|
f. |
A weaker dollar means the price of gold also goes down. |
T / F |
|
g. |
An economist cast doubt on whether the dollar affected gold prices. |
T / F |
|
h. |
The economist said the dollar was a safe haven in troubled times. |
T / F |
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.
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1. |
ever |
a. |
weakening |
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2 |
concerns |
b. |
more and more |
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3. |
faltering |
c. |
misery |
|
4. |
gloom |
d. |
experts |
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5. |
increasingly |
e. |
effect |
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6. |
analysts |
f. |
shelters |
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7. |
boost |
g. |
in history |
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8. |
impact |
h. |
comparatively |
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9. |
relatively |
i. |
worries |
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10. |
safe havens |
j. |
strengthen |
3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)
|
1. |
The price of gold went past the |
a. |
havens |
|
2 |
growing concerns about a |
b. |
economic slowdown |
|
3. |
fears of a worldwide |
c. |
measures |
|
4. |
debt |
d. |
factors |
|
5. |
more economic |
e. |
$1,900 per ounce mark |
|
6. |
announce new stimulus |
f. |
up gold prices |
|
7. |
print more money to |
g. |
possible recession |
|
8. |
A weakened dollar drives |
h. |
gloom |
|
9. |
market |
i. |
crisis |
|
10. |
safe |
j. |
boost America’s economy |
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The price of gold went (1) ____________ the $1,900 per ounce mark for the first time ever on Monday. The record rise is because of growing (2) ____________ about a possible recession in the global economy. Two main factors are driving fears of a worldwide economic (3) ____________ – the faltering U.S. economy and the debt (4) ____________ in Europe. Investors have traditionally put their money in gold during times of financial uncertainty. They see it as a (5) ____________ investment. This saw the price of gold rise to $1,913 an ounce in Singapore before (6) ____________ down to $1,897 an ounce at the close of trading. Industry experts believe gold prices could (7) ____________ even further as more economic (8) ____________ makes investors increasingly nervous.
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|
settling |
|
Analysts say that (9) ____________ that the US government may announce new stimulus measures is also increasing the price of gold. America’s Federal Reserve may have to (10) ____________ more money to boost America’s economy, which could see the US currency (11) ____________. A weakened dollar drives up gold prices. Analyst Colin Whitehead explained: "The underlying (12) ____________ of gold prices is the depreciating US dollar value, so the more money they print, the stronger gold gets." Another (13) ____________, Peter Richardson of Morgan Stanley, suggested market (14) ____________ had little impact on gold. He said: “Gold has continued to blast ahead even with a (15) ____________ strengthening U.S. dollar, strongly performing treasuries and other safe (16) ____________.” |
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economist |
GOLD DISCUSSION
STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
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a) |
What did you think when you read the headline? |
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b) |
What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘gold’? |
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c) |
What do you think of gold? |
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d) |
Do you have any interest in gold prices? |
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e) |
What do you think of gold reaching record prices? |
|
f) |
Would you invest in gold? |
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g) |
Are you affected by the global economic slowdown? |
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h) |
Where do you think the Euro debt crisis will go? |
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i) |
How much debt has there been in your life? |
|
j) |
What makes you nervous about the future? |
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STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
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a) |
Did you like reading this article? |
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b) |
What do you know about a government introducing stimulus measures in an economy? |
|
c) |
Are you worried about your government’s economy? |
|
d) |
What happens if a government prints more money? |
|
e) |
Have you ever invested in anything? |
|
f) |
Do you think economists really know what they’re doing? |
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g) |
What do / will you do to protect your money? |
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h) |
Do you have any gold? |
|
i) |
What do you think the global economy will be like in 20 years? |
|
j) |
What questions would you like to ask an expert in gold prices? |
LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE
The price of gold went past the $1,900 per ounce (1) ___ for the first time ever on Monday. The record rise is because of (2) ___ concerns about a possible recession in the global economy. Two main factors are (3) ___ fears of a worldwide economic slowdown – the faltering U.S. economy and the debt crisis in Europe. Investors have traditionally put their money (4) ___ gold during times of financial uncertainty. They see it as a safe investment. This saw the price of gold rise to $1,913 an ounce in Singapore before settling (5) ___ to $1,897 an ounce at the close of trading. Industry experts believe gold prices could rise even further as more economic gloom makes investors (6) ___ nervous.
Analysts say that speculation that the US government may announce new (7) ___ measures is also increasing the price of gold. America’s Federal Reserve may have to print more money to (8) ___ America’s economy, which could see the US currency (9) ___. A weakened dollar drives up gold prices. Analyst Colin Whitehead explained: "The underlying driver of gold prices is the depreciating US dollar value, so the more money they print, the stronger gold (10) ___." Another economist, Peter Richardson of Morgan Stanley, suggested market factors had little (11) ___ on gold. He said: “Gold has continued to blast ahead even with a relatively strengthening U.S. dollar, strongly performing treasuries and other safe (12) ___.”
Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.
|
1. |
(a) |
marked |
(b) |
market |
(c) |
marketing |
(d) |
mark |
|
2. |
(a) |
grown |
(b) |
growing |
(c) |
growth |
(d) |
grows |
|
3. |
(a) |
driving |
(b) |
surfing |
(c) |
cycling |
(d) |
flying |
|
4. |
(a) |
up |
(b) |
of |
(c) |
in |
(d) |
at |
|
5. |
(a) |
up |
(b) |
over |
(c) |
down |
(d) |
around |
|
6. |
(a) |
increased |
(b) |
increasingly |
(c) |
increases |
(d) |
increase |
|
7. |
(a) |
stimulus |
(b) |
simultaneous |
(c) |
simpleton |
(d) |
strenuous |
|
8. |
(a) |
roost |
(b) |
joust |
(c) |
boast |
(d) |
boost |
|
9. |
(a) |
weak |
(b) |
weaken |
(c) |
weakest |
(d) |
weekend |
|
10. |
(a) |
gives |
(b) |
agrees |
(c) |
gains |
(d) |
gets |
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11. |
(a) |
compact |
(b) |
imprint |
(c) |
impact |
(d) |
compartment |
|
12. |
(a) |
havens |
(b) |
heavens |
(c) |
heathens |
(d) |
hovels |
WRITING
Write about gold for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
答案：
TRUE / FALSE:
|
a. |
F |
b. |
F |
c. |
T |
d. |
T |
e. |
T |
f. |
F |
g. |
T |
h. |
F |
SYNONYM MATCH:
|
1. |
ever |
a. |
in history |
|
2 |
concerns |
b. |
worries |
|
3. |
faltering |
c. |
weakening |
|
4. |
gloom |
d. |
misery |
|
5. |
increasingly |
e. |
more and more |
|
6. |
analysts |
f. |
experts |
|
7. |
boost |
g. |
strengthen |
|
8. |
impact |
h. |
effect |
|
9. |
relatively |
i. |
comparatively |
|
10. |
safe havens |
j. |
shelters |
PHRASE MATCH:
|
1. |
The price of gold went past the |
a. |
$1,900 per ounce mark |
|
2 |
growing concerns about a |
b. |
possible recession |
|
3. |
fears of a worldwide |
c. |
economic slowdown |
|
4. |
debt |
d. |
crisis |
|
5. |
more economic |
e. |
gloom |
|
6. |
announce new stimulus |
f. |
measures |
|
7. |
print more money to |
g. |
boost America’s economy |
|
8. |
A weakened dollar drives |
h. |
up gold prices |
|
9. |
market |
i. |
factors |
|
10. |
safe |
j. |
havens |
GAP FILL:
The price of gold went (1) past the $1,900 per ounce mark for the first time ever on Monday. The record rise is because of growing (2) concerns about a possible recession in the global economy. Two main factors are driving fears of a worldwide economic (3) slowdown – the faltering U.S. economy and the debt (4) crisis in Europe. Investors have traditionally put their money in gold during times of financial uncertainty. They see it as a (5) safe investment. This saw the price of gold rise to $1,913 an ounce in Singapore before (6) settling down to $1,897 an ounce at the close of trading. Industry experts believe gold prices could (7) rise even further as more economic (8) gloom makes investors increasingly nervous.
Analysts say that (9) speculation that the US government may announce new stimulus measures is also increasing the price of gold. America’s Federal Reserve may have to (10) print more money to boost America’s economy, which could see the US currency (11) weaken. A weakened dollar drives up gold prices. Analyst Colin Whitehead explained: "The underlying (12) driver of gold prices is the depreciating US dollar value, so the more money they print, the stronger gold gets." Another (13) economist, Peter Richardson of Morgan Stanley, suggested market (14) factors had little impact on gold. He said: “Gold has continued to blast ahead even with a (15) relatively strengthening U.S. dollar, strongly performing treasuries and other safe (16) havens.”
LANGUAGE WORK
