Unit 3 Bards of the Internet.docVIP

Unit 3 Bards of the Internet By Phillip Elmer-Dewitt I. Teaching Aims: 1. Get the students familiar with the main idea of the text, thus helping them develop their ability to discuss and form their own judgments on a specific matter. 2. Help the students master the language points in text II. Teaching Difficulties: the proper nouns, the long sentences. III. Time Allotment: 4 periods for the text and 2 periods for the exercises IV. Background Information about the author Philip Elmer-DeWitt has been covering science and technology for Time Magazine since he reported a cover story on computer Whiz Kids in 1982. He became a staff writer in 1983, a senior writer in 1993, a senior editor in 1994 and an assistant managing editor in 1997. He started two new sections in the magazine-Computers (1982) and Technology (1987)-and in 1994 helped launch Time Online (now T), Americas first interactive weekly newsmagazine. In January 2002 he was promoted to sciences editor, directing Times coverage of science, medicine, space and the environment. As a Time writer, he produced more than 500 news and feature stories on subjects ranging from in-vitro fertilization to computer sex. His cover stories include Computer Viruses (1988), Curing Infertility (1991), The Rio Earth Summit (1992), Cyberpunk (1993), Sex In America (1994), Girth of a Nation (1995), Bill Gates (1995) and Cyberporn (1995). Since 1995, he has edited more than 150 cover stories, including the issue that named AIDS researcher Dr. David Ho Times 1996 Man of the Year and Albert Einstein Person of the Century, and run Time-sponsored conferences on the Future of Life (2003) and Obesity (2004) and Global Health (2005). Elmer-DeWitt has made dozens of radio and television appearances and produced several 10-minute television features for PBSs News Hour with Jim Lehrer and CNN Time (formerly CNN Impact). Born in Boston and raised in Lexington, Massachusetts, he was graduated summa cum laude in English from Oberlin College