Ⅰ. Background Information 1. Richard Wagner (1813-1883), the greatest composer of German opera, made a major addition to the nature of opera through his writings about and the creation of music drama. Music drama combines singing, orchestra, verse, story, drama and spectacle. Wagner's works include the \The Ring of the Nibelung\ (1853-1874), a set of four operas based on historical German stories. For an introduction to Wagner as well as other resources on the Internet, please visit

The Futurist http://www.wfs.org/futurist.htm, a bi￾monthly magazine of predictions, trends and ideas published since 1967, takes no position on what the future will or should be but acts simply as a clearing house for ideas

Pre-reading activity: (20ms) Ⅰ. Background Information Robert Schuller, a Christian minister known worldwide for his church, the Crystal Cathedral (http://www.crystalcathedral.org) made of glass and steel, and the Hour of Power (http://www.hourofpower.org) church

Guess the meaning of the italicised term in each sentence according to the context and your own experiences. The government has budgeted for two bridges in the city

Group work: What do you know aboutthe environmental protection in the world?

Group work: –What’s your opinion on themarriage across the nations? Isit possible for you to fall in loveand get married to a foreigner? Why or why not? Give yourreasons

Group work: What’s your opinion on studying abroad? If you have a chance to decide whether to study in a famous university in China such as Qinghua and Beijing University or in an ordinary university in Britain or the USA, what would you choose? Why? Give your reasons

Group work: What’s your opinion on smoking? Is it a good or bad thing? Why or why not?

Group work: Is there any relationshipbetween the name and the character? What does the title ofthe text mean? How doyou explain it?

Group work: Do you usually feel stressful in your study? What do you think of stress? How do you solve your stress?