1、UNIT 10 CONNECTIONSUNIT 10 CONNECTIONSLESSON 1LESSON 1HOW CLOSELY HOW CLOSELY CONNECTED ARE WE?CONNECTED ARE WE?To read and talk about the“Six Degrees of Separation”theoryTo read for deep understandingTo read for specific information and make inferences To write a report 1.How many of you use social
2、 media?2.Which social media do you have a personal account?3.How many contacts do you have on social media?How many people do you regularly communicate with?Have you heard of the theory“Six Degrees Separation”?(六度分离理论六度分离理论)?Six degrees of separation is a well-known idea that any two people on this
3、planet can be connected via an average number of six steps.Having succeeded in the real world,the theory even directly or indirectly motivated the invention of online societies.Here is a short video about it.Read the article quickly and find out the main idea.This article introduces what the theory
4、of“Six Degrees Separation”is and how it develops.Read the first two paragraphs of the article on the theory“Six Degrees of Separation”.What does it mean and who invented this theory?It states that any person on Earth can be connected to any other person through a chain of no more than five other peo
5、ple.The theory was first introduced by Hungarian author Frigyes Karinthy,in the early 20th century.Read the rest of the article.Find out about the development of the theory.Take notes in the table below.1967Mid-1990sWhoHow Findings/resultsStanley MilgramHe chose a random sample of people in the midd
6、le of America and asked them to send package to a stranger in the state of Massachusettes.It only took between five and seven people to get the parcels delivered.Two college students in the USThey invented a game.The idea of the game was to link any actor to Kevin Bacon,a famous American actor and m
7、usician,through no more than six links.The game was being played in universities across the United States.20032011WhoHow Findings/resultsColumbia University“Columbia Small-world Project”:Columbia University tried to recreate Milgrams experiment on the Internet.The experiment involved 24,163 email ch
8、ains with 18 target people in 13 different countries.The results confirmed that the average number of links in the chain was six.the University of MilanThe experiment analysed the relationship between 721 million social media users.92%were connected by only four stages.Talk about how the theory deve
9、loped based on your notes.1920s1967Stanley MilgramMid-1990sTwo college students in the US2003Columbia University2011The University of MilanFrigyes KarinthyFind out how the author organises the passage.作者作者采用采用时间时间顺序顺序来来向读者介绍了著名的向读者介绍了著名的“六度六度分隔分隔”理论的发展史。作者通过正确运用时态以及时间理论的发展史。作者通过正确运用时态以及时间状语、时间状语、时间名
10、词等来按照名词等来按照客观事件客观事件的先后顺序的先后顺序进行进行叙述。叙述。本文本文中作者在介绍中作者在介绍“六度分隔六度分隔”理论的发展理论的发展时时，主要主要使用了一般过去时使用了一般过去时。TEXTUAL KNOWLEDGE同时，文中还有大量的表示时间的表达，如同时，文中还有大量的表示时间的表达，如in the 1920s、in 1929、In the 1950s、after twenty years、in 1967、In the last few decades、In the mid-1990s、In 2003、in 2011 等等。此外此外，作者对，作者对“六度分隔六度分隔”理论发
11、展的细节进行了理论发展的细节进行了大量详尽的描述，大量详尽的描述，并对并对相关实验过程进行了细致的描写，相关实验过程进行了细致的描写，同时还通过举例子的方式向读者同时还通过举例子的方式向读者展示展示了这一理论的影响了这一理论的影响，让读者让读者能对该理论有一个全面的了解。能对该理论有一个全面的了解。Read the article again.Take turns to explain the“Six Degrees of Separation”theory.Use the diagram to help you.“Six Degrees of Separation”What does it
12、mean?When did the term first appear?What happened in the 1950s?What did Stanley Milgram do?How many people did it take for the parcel to reach the right person in Milgrams experiment?How did it influence the entertainment industry?What is the“Columbia Small-world Project”?What was the result of the
13、University of Milans research?Decide whether the following statements are true(T)or false(F).1.Kevin Bacon is a famous Hungarian actor and musician.()2.Stanley Milgram tried to prove the“Six Degrees of Separation”mathematically.()3.Stanley Milgram found a sample of people who he had known before the
14、 experiment.()4.The Oscar-winning TV series Babel is based on the concept of“Six Degrees of Separation”.()5.Almost all the characters in Lost had randomly met each other or had met someone the other characters knew before the plane crash.()6.The“Columbia Small-world Project”involved 24,163 email cha
15、ins with 18 target people in 15 different countries.()Why does the writer ask the question“How might you be connected to the driver of the bus you regularly take or the person who delivers your parcels?”in the last paragraph?A.To help readers recall the development of“Six Degrees of Separation”.B.To
16、 make readers relate themselves to the theory of“Six Degrees of Separation”.C.To persuade readers to agree with his/her opinions on“Six Degrees of Separation”1 Why did Milgram and Columbia University both label their experiments“Small world”?Because they believed that any person on Earth could be co
17、nnected to any other person through a chain of no more than five other person.In this sense the world is small.2 Why do you think people study how people are connected?Probably people want to study the structures of human society,the rules of human social activities,and how people are connected with
18、 each other.Complete the sentences with the correct form of the words.1.In 1967,a _ Stanley Milgram did an experiment to find out how many degrees of separation there were between strangers in different parts of American.2.All of the _ in Milgrams experiment were delivered to the right people after
19、passing through the hands of between five and seven people.packagessociologistrandom sociologist network publish package chain3.The results of Milgrams experiment _ in the magazine Psychology Today.4.The result of the“Columbia Small-world Project”confirmed that the average number of links in the _ w
20、as six.5.People doing experiments into“Six Degrees of Separation”usually choose a _ sample of people to take part to make the results more reliable.6.Recently,creating and growing your social _ has become more important than ever before due to the growth of social media.chainwere publishedrandomnetw
21、orkrandom sociologist network publish package chainDiscuss and decide what experiment you can carry out to find out how many degrees of separation there are between people who dont know each other.Consider:how many people will participate in the experiment?what will the participants do?how will you find out the results of the experiment?Search online and find details about the“small-world problem”,“Columbia Small-world Project”or other experiments related to the theory.Write a short report on your findings.
