1. 学习目标
In this unit, you will
● discuss the relationship between nature and nurture;
● talk about twins;
● make a list of the genetic characteristics you inherited from your parents or grandparents;
● debate with your partner which has stronger influence, heredity or environment;
● write a composition on the topic: “Which Has Had More Influence on You, Heredity or Environment?”

2. 语言精要

重点单词 (24)：
adopt, exhibit, identical, isolate, liable, polish, potential, relative, resume, coincidence, combine, dedicate, define, exert, inherit, invade, abuse, assert, contend, extensive, initial, yield, subsist, intellectual

重点词组 (13)
be responsible for, bring up, cone to an end, make the most of, respond to, a mountain of, be bound to do, excel in/at, show up, devote to, expose to, focus on, result in

重点句型
● According to Bouchard, the genes you were born with have a lot to do with whether you are confident, cheerful, and optimistic, or whether you have a negative view of the world.
● But of all the scientists, perhaps the ones doing the most important — and most controversial — work are those who study nature and nurture, that age-old question of how we come to be the kind of people we are.

重要语法
● what引导的名词从句
● It is + adj. + to do sth.
● 在引导的让步状语从句中, adj.或adv.可移至句首

3．课文主题
The text tells us that genes and environment play equally important rules in the development of individual. The study of identical twins threw light on it. With the same genes, identical twins when raised in the same environment will respond to it in much the same way and develop similarly; while when they are brought up in contrasting environment, they will show different behavioral characteristics. In short, important as they are, genes alone are never absolutely responsible for any trait. What we can do is set by the genes, but what we actually do is largely determined by the environment.

4．佳句背诵
● The potentials which a person is born with determine in some way what he will do in life.
● Important as they are, genes alone are never absolutely responsible for any trait. What we can do is set by the genes, but what we actually do is largely determined by the environment.
● Why are some of us good at math, or writing, while others excel at art or basketball? What cause the differences in our intelligence, talents, and tastes? Are they largely determined by the genes we inherit from our parents(nature)? How much do our experiences in life (nurture) — the social environment we grow up in — have to do with it?

5．专家建议 — 很好利用主题句进行有效阅读
In-Class Reading共9段。在一开头，作者就提出问题：“Heredity or environment: which is stronger?” 从第2 --- 8自然段作者开始从实验的结果来论证这个问题。在最后的第9自然段作者得出全篇的结论：我们能做什么由基因注定，而我们真正做了什么则主要由环境决定。希望同学们很好利用主题句进行有效阅读。