Before the War战前

陈志强

Step 1   感知·阅读导航

[话题导入]

《大战火星人》（The War of the Worlds）又名《星际战争》，是英国著名科幻小说作家赫伯特·乔治·威尔斯的作品。小说描写了火星人入侵地球的过程。小说故事发生在大英帝国建立了庞大殖民地、称霸世界的19世纪末期，火星人从天而降，在伦敦附近着陆，拉开了征服地球战争的序幕。人类以机枪大炮面对火星人的先进武器——“热光”和“黑烟”。几十个火星人以雷霆万钧之势，所向披靡，在短短几天时间里就打得英国军队落花流水，致使政府、制度、社会土崩瓦解。然而，火星人尚未彻底征服地球，灭顶之灾就悄然向它们袭来。令人啼笑皆非的是，它们的克星竟是地球上最卑微、最渺小的生物——细菌。通过这次教训，人类不再相信自己是这个宇宙中唯一的智慧生灵。

《大战火星人》不仅以超前的思想“创造”了激光和机器人等尖端机器，还通过该作品暗中极大地批评英国等列强通过对弱国进行侵略来实现殖民主义的无耻暴行。

本节讲述的是战争前夕的故事。全文731词，建议用时13分钟。

[阅读目标]

1. 了解小说的三要素：人物、情节和环境。理解环境描写在小说中的多重作用。

2. 掌握小说情节的起因、发展、高潮和结局;了解小说推进故事情节的方法并理解小说情节对刻画人物形象所起的作用。

3. 掌握小说的写作手法，把握小说的语言风格，并理解二者与小说主题的关系。

4. 探究小说的主题意义，并对人类的局限性进行反思，培养批判性思维能力。

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

[目标呈现]

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

【点石成金】阅读小说时，应充分关注小说中的“LOCK系统”。“LOCK系统”的各个要素分别为：L代表主角（Lead），O代表目标（Objective），C代表冲突（Confrontation），而K代表冲击结尾（Knockout）。这可以概括为一个公式：故事情节=主角+目标+冲突+冲击结尾。阅读本章节时应时时关注小说中两大冲突主角的行为，即火星人和地球人的行为。关注小说以时间为顺序进行叙述，推进故事情节的手法。在把握故事情节的过程中，还应注意将两者的行为进行对比，为推测小说的后续情节做好铺垫，从而明白小说的结局，即火星人战胜地球人具有其必然性。

3. For the information about “Ⅰ”

【点石成金】小说以第一人称推进故事发展，使得情节的叙述更加真实。小说中的“我”是星际战争的见证者、亲历者和反思者。把握“我”的行为，有助于理解小说的主题意义，推动学生批判性思维能力的形成。通过对“我”的行为的掌握，学生可以为后续的缩写进行有效铺垫。

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 運用·读写整合

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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【点石成金】小说的概要写作应抓住三要素：人物、情节和环境。在叙述小说的情节时，应考虑叙述的顺序，凸显小说情节的起因、发展、高潮和结局。同时，还应注意，在缩写时语言要高度概括，不要穿插小说中的细节和不重要的情节。

Step 4 提升·素养建构

Writing techniques

1. 旁敲侧击的satire（讽刺）

satire（讽刺）意为 “a way of criticizing people or ideas in a humorous way， or a piece of writing or play that uses this style”（Cambridge Dictionary）。讽刺常用委婉的词语来论述、评价事物或人物，或采用拐弯抹角、旁敲侧击、含沙射影的说法去暗示某人，或某些有损荣誉的事，以免引起讽刺对象的伤感与不快。satire（讽刺）旨在嘲弄，以求达到一种生动活泼、幽默风趣的语言效果。

2. 丰富多样的description（描写）

【点石成金】小说中的描写可以分为语言描写、行为描写、肖像描写，以及环境描写（包括自然环境描写和社会环境描写）等。小说中语言描写和行为描写可以折射出小说人物的特征，而环境描写则可以起到交代故事背景、渲染气氛、烘托心情、推动情节发展、深化主题等多种作用。描写是小说的重要表现手法之一。同学们在平时的阅读中要强化对小说中描写语言的积累，以便为读后续写积累必要的语料，并学会在小说中娴熟地运用描写手法。