What will the title remind you of?

The sea which covers 70% percent of the earth is the origin of life.

The sea plays an important part in human’s life.

The sea provides various seafood for us.

Sea transport

Seashore traveling

A lot of energy resources

The sea sometimes brings us the damage and disasters.

The biggest tsunami happening in the south and southeast Asia during the recent 10 years has cost tens of thousands lives.

Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. He was best known for his tales of mystery.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849)

A Descent into the Maelström is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. In the tale, a man recounts how he survived a shipwreck and a whirlpool. It has been grouped with Poe's tales of ratiocination and also labeled an early form of science fiction.

Read the sentences and understand the italicized words.

1. The beer comes out of the barrel under pressure.

2. The child dropped into the whirlpool from the ship.

3. A small fishing boat was carried miles out to sea by the powerful fish as it pulled on the line.

Make sentences with cloud, fisherman, moon and wave.

Read the text quickly and put the paragraph A, B and C in the correct order.

B A C

Read the story again and answer these questions.

1. Why did the writer’s younger brother fall into the sea?

2. Why did the boat go towards the whirlpool?

An enormous wave covered their boat.

The wind and waves were taking it there.

3. Why did the writer tie himself to a barrel?

4. Why didn’t his brother do the same? 5. Why did his old companions not recognize

him?

Because heavier objects went down into the whirlpool quickly and the barrel was lighter.

Because he was terrified.

Because his hair was white, not black.

Answer the true or false questions. 1. The writer is very old.2. An enormous wave covered our boat and my elder brother fell overboard. 3. The wind and the waves made our boat move to the whirlpool.4. The writer’s brother understood that it is useful to tie the barrel to himself.5. The writer’s brother sank into the bottom of the whirlpool with the boat.

F

F

T

F

T

6. The writer felt calmer when they were

moving towards the whirlpool than

when they were on the edge of the whirlpool.

7. The writer thought that most of the people believe him.

F

F

Complete the sentence below with these words from the text.

afterwards, in the end, one day, suddenly, then, when

(1)________ in 1964, Robert Le Serrec was sailing near the cost of Pacific Islands of Oceania (2)_____he decided to stop near an island. (3)_________ he saw a huge creature resting beside his boat. He took a photograph, and (4)_______ the creature swam away.(5)________ he showed the photograph to scientists, but (6)_________, nobody believed him.

One day

whenSuddenly

then Afterwards

in the end

Language points1. …, but he was terrified and stayed in the heavy boat.

terrify vt. 使害怕 , 使恐怖The thunderstorm terrified the child. The girl was terrified out of her wits. It terrified me to think about the consequence of your action.

terrifying adj. 可怕的 terrified adj. 恐惧的，受惊吓的

alarm, frighten, startle, terrify, scare 这些动词均有“惊吓、惊恐”之意。alarm: 着重指某人意识到危险而突然产生的惊恐。frighten: 普通用词，使用广泛，指产生突然、短暂的惊慌、恐怖感。startle: 强调突然使人惊骇或震惊。terrify: 语气最强，指惊骇得六神无主，魂飞魄散。scare: 可与 frighten 换用，但语气较重，侧重人受惊吓后立即停下正在干的事或跑掉。

We were much alarmed by the fire in the forest.

森林失火使我们大为惊慌。You'll find that I don't frighten easily.

你会发现我不是轻易就会害怕的。We do not want to alarm the guest.

我们不想让客人受到惊吓。

The little baby was frightened by the fierce dog.

那个小孩被恶狗吓坏了。He was startled by the news.

这消息使他大吃一惊。 Let's hide ourselves behind the door and startle her.

藏在门后面，咱们吓她一下。

He was terrified of heights.

他过去恐高。Flying terrifies him.

坐飞机让他非常害怕。The dog scared the thief away.

狗把小偷吓走了。 His threats scared them out of carrying out the plan.

他的威胁迫使他们不敢实行该计划。

2. moment after moment “ 单数名词 +after + 单数名词” , 表示“一个接一个地 , 接连地”。他一次又一次地犯错误。 He made mistake after mistake.他们一次又一次地失败 , 但仍然坚持着干 , 最后成功了。 They met with failure after failure, but they persisted, and finally succeeded.我等了一天又一天 , 但没有得到答复。 I waited day after day, but no reply came.

3. Our boat survived, and I was trying to recover when my elder brother …

survive v. 幸免于难，艰难度过Only two passengers survived the air-crash. If the industry doesn't modernize, it will not survive. Few survived after the flood.

when 在这里相当于 at that time 。I was about to swim in the river when the guide told me there was man-eating fish in it.

recover v. 恢复；使恢复原状；挽回Jennie made a great effort to recover herself.

She has recovered her health. It took a long time for him to recover from a bad cold. It's hard to recover lost time.The police recovered the stolen jewellery. recovery n. 恢复 , 痊愈 , 复原 , 重获

4. I did escape. I will bring my story to a conclusion. I did escape. 是个强调句。英语中如果需要强调谓语时，用助动词 do ， does 或 did 。    He did write to you last week.     Do be careful when you cross the street. bring … to a conclusion 使结束，终止I’m sorry that I have not been able to bring your business to a more successful conclusion. In the 19th century, a novelist would bring his story to a conclusion by presenting his readers with a series of coincidences.

5. …, but they were unable to recognize me. recognize vt. 认出，认可，承认，意识到 He walked along in the shadows hoping no one would recognize him. The policeman recognized her as a pickpocket. He recognized that he was not qualified for the post.I recognized that I had made a mistake.

identify: 指辨别、确定人的身份或物品的归属等。 recognize: 指所辨认的人或物多是以前所熟悉的。

Retell the story and fill in the blanks.

One day three years ago, something _______ happened to me. My two brothers and I were coming back ______an enormous wave _______ our boat. My younger brother_______ the sea. Minutes later, my elder brother and I were on the edge of the whirlpool. Suddenly, we went over the edge and we were ______________ in circles

terrible when

coveredfell into

going round

_____________. Fortunately, I ____ myself to a barrel to help me float. I tried to make my brother understand, but he was _________and stayed in the heavy boat. As you can see, I did ______, but my two brothers died.

at great speed tied

terrifiedescape

Voice your opinion

Imagine you’ll experience a

whirlpool, what should you do, and

what can you learn from the text?

Discussion What important parts does the sea play in our life?

What disasters does the sea bring to us human beings?

How can we benefit from the sea?