UNIT 5 The light at the end of the tunnel I. General understanding of the text. The text is a feature report which introduces one of the significant transport construction prefects in the modern history of European architecture. This report includes different opinions toward the Chunnel, the opinions of local residents of both sides of the English Channel, as well as the comments of the construction tunnellers. The tone of the report is one of objectivity. Throughout this English feature article, occasional French words are used to show that the author was unbiased when reporting this monumental construction project of bicultural character. Different foods, dresses, ways of naming and real dates are used to give the article and unmistakable journalistic flavor. On top of that, real-life, real-time personal experience is included to increase the validity of the account. The text follows the organization of a typical journalistic feature report: 1. A short opening paragraph sets the scene, in which the thesis is stated in the second sentence: “For the first time since the last ice age, England was about to be linked to France.” 2. immediately following the opening paragraph is the unbiased presentation of the opinions of both English and French local residents across the English Channel. 3. The text then proceeds with the reporting of the officially scheduled Chunnel inauguration to show the determination and initiative endeavour of the British and French Governments to connect Britain with the rest of Europe, in order to emphasize the significance of the project. 4. After the intentional delay to create suspense, the author introduces the tunnel proper and the historical contributions and benefits of this tunnel thoroughfare. 5. Much of the report, then, is devoted to the real-time account of the exciting work at the breakthrough site of the Chunnel, an account based on the author’s personal experience and first-hand information. 6. The report ends up with revealing the business worries on the part of the Chunnel authorities, who were concerned with, but not without hope, the business of the tunnel transport: promotion work was expected to facilitate the effective use of the Chunnel on the part of the French population. II. Duration of Time: Six periods III. Objectives On completion of the unit, students are expected to understand the technique of feature report, or journalistic style. The students are expected to make use of this unbiased reporting. IV. Difficult Points 1. how the writer achieves the tone of objectivity. 2. elements of this feature report (1) setting the scene (2) unbiased presentation of the opinions of both English and French local residents (3) creation of suspense 3. the use of French words or phrases ( similar to direct speech which is employed to show the writer’s objective or unbiased tone in reporting the respective opinions on the part of the British and French) V. Teaching Procedures A. Bring out the topic of the Tunnel by asking students about some background information about the gigantic project. 1. How did the English and the French people look at the Chunnel, joyously or resentfully? Why do you think so? 2. How do you visualize the breakthrough ceremony? B. Some necessary background information for the Chunnel and the long-lasting Anglo-French Conflict. 1. The English Channel Commonly called the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean separating the southern coast of England from the northern coast of France, and connecting the Atlantic in the west with the North Sea on the east via the Strait of Dover. It is 34 to 240 km. wide and 560 km. long. The channel is at its narrowest between Dover in England and Cape Gris-Nez, near Calais, in France, it being 34 km. wide. Its average depth decreases from 120 to 45 meters. 2. The long-lasting Anglo-French Conflict In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, France, conquered England and became King William I of England. After the Norman Conquest, French manners and culture predominated among the English nobles. In 1154 King Henry II recovered the English Throne. Thereafter the holdings of English kings in France were greatly increased. At one time, France assisted Scotland, over which the English kings attempted to dominate. These sources of friction led to intermittent fighting between the two countries from 1294 to 1337. In 1337, Edward III of England took the title of King of France. This step began the Hundred Years’ War which continued on and off until 1453. Early in the conflict the English crushed the French, but by the end of Edward’s reign the French had reconquered almost all the territory Edward had won. Fighting between the two countries continued in the fourteenth and the fifteenth century. During King Henry VIII’s reign, England again invaded France and expanded its holding around Calais. From 1689 to 1815 there was a series of conflicts between Britain and France for domination of the North American continent. The principal objective of the British government was to drive the French out of North America once and for all. The maritime and colonial struggle between Britain and France for world empire and trade, which began in 1689, lasted until the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. It was about this time that the long duel between Britain and France was over. 3. The Channel Tunnel Project Channel Tunnel, tunnel 50.4 km (32 mi) long, carrying a rail link under the English Channel between Cheriton, near Folkestone, Kent, and Coquelles, near Calais. The tunnel, one of the greatest civil engineering projects of the 20th century, has an ultimate design capacity of 600 trains per day each way. Drive-on/drive-off shuttle trains, operated by the Eurotunnel company, carry cars and lorries. The journey takes 35 minutes. Each shuttle travels at 130 km/h (80 mph) when under the sea, is 800 m (2,625 ft) long, and carries up to 180 cars, or 120 cars together with 12 coaches. Freight shuttles can carry 28 lorries. There are actually three tunnels: trains travel in two running tunnels 7.6 m (24.9 ft) wide, one on each side of a service tunnel 4.8 m (15.7 ft) wide. The undersea section is 39 km (24 mi) long. There is 195 km (120 mi) of track in all, including 45 km (28 mi) in the United Kingdom terminal and 50 km (31 mi) in the French terminal. Maintenance and emergency services use the central tunnel, and, if necessary, passengers could escape into it on foot in the event of an emergency on board a train. Eurotunnel has a concession from the British and French governments to run the tunnel until 2052, charging railway operators for access. Through-trains for foot passengers are operated by Eurostar, a joint venture of the British, French, and Belgian national railways. Eurostar trains travel at up to 140 km/h (87 mph) in the tunnel and take three hours to travel between London and Paris. The French mining engineer Albert Mathieu-Favier is credited with first suggesting a tunnel under the Channel, in 1802. Numerous other schemes emerged over the years. In 1875 the Channel Tunnel Company set up by the British engineer John Hawkshaw was given authority to build a tunnel by the governments of both Britain and France. In 1881 a new Act gave powers to a rival scheme promoted by Hawkshaw's former colleague William Low. Trial tunnelling started but soon stopped because of concerns about military defence. Between 1882 and 1950 the British Parliament rejected ten Channel Tunnel bills, mostly for national security reasons. Tunnelling was revived in 1922 but soon abandoned again. The present tunnel is based on a scheme, projected to cost ￡112 million, drawn up in 1960 by the Channel Tunnel Study Group, an alliance of British and French companies, Technical Studies, Inc., of the United States, and the Suez Canal Company. In 1966 the British and French governments announced that rail tunnels would be bored, at a cost of ￡365 million. But the project fell victim to British political volatility in the early 1970s, and to concern about the ￡373-million cost of a rail link to London, which the state would need to provide. Work stopped in January 1975, after two access tunnels 740 m (2,430 ft) long had been dug. In the 1980s the construction company Tarmac took over from RTZ as prime mover behind the project. In November 1984 the two governments decided to support a resumption and in April 1985 potential promoters were asked to submit schemes. Other proposals included a bridge, but in January 1986 the tunnel scheme of Transmanche Link (TML), designed by Mott Hay & Anderson, was selected. TML was a consortium of the British construction firms Tarmac, Wimpey, Costain, Balfour Beatty, and Taylor Woodrow (Translink Contractors), with the French firms Bouygues, Dumez, Spie Batignolles, SAE, and SGE (Transmanche Construction). In October 1987, Eurotunnel, the company created by TML and its banks, was floated on the stock market. Eurotunnel became the client and TML its contractor. Construction of the tunnels began in September 1987. Boring machines drove from the French and British coasts, both inland towards the terminals and out to sea. The two sections of the service tunnel were the first to link up, breaking through in December 1990. The tunnelling companies were Graham Fagg of the United Kingdom and Philippe Cozette of France, and they achieved a tunnelling rate of 426 m (1,398 ft) in one week. A total of 7 million tonnes of spoil was removed. At the peak of activity, 15,000 construction workers were on site. The tunnel was originally projected to cost ￡4.8 billion; its actual cost was ￡10.5 billion, provided by private funding. It officially opened on May 6, 1994, a year late, but teething troubles delayed full operation until December 1994. V. Teaching Procedures C. Ask students to guess the main idea of the text, then tell them to go over the text rapidly once without worrying about the new words and phrases. The suggested time limit is 5 minutes. D. Questions for the students. (1) What did an English couple say about the French people, and what did a Frenchman say about the English people? Why do you think they showed a mutual feeling of dislike? (2) Please explain the following with the help of the above-mentioned background information: “…200 years of failed cross-Channel-link schemes…” “…1,000 years of historical rift.” (3) How will the Chunnel facilitate the transport between Great Britain and France, or rather, between Great Britain and other European countries? (4) How do you understand the sentence “The Chunnel rewrites geography, at least in the English psyche”? (5) How did the author of the article get the opportunity of witnessing the breakthrough ceremony for the south running tunnel? (6) Why did one of the visitors say “Makes you appreciate British Rail? (7) What did the author refer to when she spoke of “those vive la difference quirks? (8) How deep is the Chunnel under the ocean at the breakthrough site? (9) Describe the breakthrough scene in your own words. (10) Did the mutual feeling of dislike still exist when the tunnel was completed? Then do comprehension exercise in Workbook. E. Do the vocabulary exercise on pages 53 and 54. Section A:Key: Section A: d. e. b. a. f. c. Section B: 1. uncomfortable shaking; 2. sauce made from tomato juice; 3. something difficult that is skillfully; 4. fastened to a hook, connected to each other; 5. plan; 6. continuing / going at the same distance from another; 7. mentally; 8. deep wide ditch filled with water around a castle as a defense; 9. fixing in position for use; 10. telephone, telegraph, data lines; 11. peculiar behavior; 12. stylish, fashionable F. Details of the text. (1) lobby: wide hall or passage leading from the entrance to the rooms (2) stiff: rigid, hard, not easily bent (3) complexion: color of the skin (4) ruby: dark red (5) port: sweet dark wine (6) sauce: thick cooked liquid put on food (7) shot: move quickly and suddenly (8) terminal: station at the end of the journey (9) ketchup: sauce made from tomato juice (10) pursed lips: protruded lips (11) by grace of: by the favor of, due to (12) decent: very good (13) feat: impressive & difficult achievement (14) sweep aside: refuse to pay attention to, ignore, dismiss (15) rift: split, disagreement (16) divide: n. difference (17) snake: wind, turn from side to side (18) through: adj. allowing a continuous i.e. through train / road (19) breach: break (20) head out: set off (21) screech: make a high sharp sound, shriek (22) face: front (23) boring: bore v. make a round hole or passage in something (24) quirk: peculiar behavior (25) chic: fashionable (26) jump suit: one piece garment combining top & trousers (27) taupe: brownish grey (28) grate: make a sharp sound (29) ferry: boat going across river or sea (30) reverie: daydream, pleasant thinking (31) blare: produce loud sound (32) glare: shine brightly (33) scramble: move or climb (34) thunderous: loud (35) applause: clapping of hands (36) erupt: explode suddenly (37) moving: causing strong feeling of sympathy, pity (38) cork: something fixing into the bottle (39) pop: make a short sharp explosive sound like a bottle being opened (40) counterpart: a person or thing doing the same job / purpose in different systems VI. Oral Work A. Role-play: A Trip to China Situation: Zhou goes to the airport to meet his / her American friend Jenny / Mike. It is the first time they have met each other, although they have been pen pals for many years. Jenny / Mike has only five days to spend in China, so she / he asks Zhou’s opinion as to how to make the best use of the time. B. Interaction Activities: The New Construction Project in our City / Town Every city or town in China has been developing by leaps and bounds. Roads, motorways /expressways / freeways, underground railways, bridges, tunnels, airports, railways, docks, etc. are being built. Such constructions as these will all facilitate transport. What construction project is being undertaken in your city /town? VII. Exercises in Workbook.