Comparing cities (P4-5)

I. Pre-reading

If you were given the chance to travel, which of these cities would you choose?

 

II. Reading

1. Which city was voted the world’s greatest city, according to PwC?

London.  

2. Why do Paris and London often look down upon each other? 

France and Britain are separated only by the English Channel. For hundreds of years, they fought over land. 

3. What does the author think of the argument between London and Paris over which is better? Why?

The author thinks it is meaningless, because London and Paris are very similar and they are as good as each other.

 

III. Vocabulary

France and Britain are separated only by the English Channel.

[5sepEreit] v. 分开(两个独立的主体)

[5sepErIt]  adj. 单独的

They live in separate rooms.

近义词：divide: v. (把一个整体)分开

The cake is divided into 8 parts.

For hundreds of years, they fought over land. 

Fought为fight的过去式

 

IV. Structure

Which city would you prefer to visit, London or Paris? 

“更喜欢”的表达方法

prefer to do, prefer doing

prefer A to B 

prefer to do rather than do

would rather do than do 

I prefer starting as early as possible. 

I prefer swimming to skating.

He preferred being honest to breaking the law. 

I prefer to watching TV to going out. 

Some of my classmates ___ cartoons ___ documentaries. 

A. would rather … than

B. like … better

C. prefer … to

D. prefer … than

She prefers eating outside to ___ at home. 

A. cooking

B. cook

C. to cook

D. cooks

 

First time exploring Inner Mongolia (P4-5)

山东省烟台第二中学  柳力文

 

I. Warming up   

Brainstorm:

When you think of Inner Mongolia, could you list the things that first come to your mind?

Music and dance;

Grasslands and forests;

Horses, cows, goats;

Genghis Khan (成吉思汗);

Mongolian yurts;

Boiled mutton, milk tea, beef jerky (牛肉干)

 

Let’s take a look at some pictures of Inner Mongolia!

The Great Wall in Inner Mongolia 

Genghis Khan Mausoleum Gate 

Genghis Khan Mausoleum 

Tomb of Wang Zhaojun (born c. 50 BC) in Hohhot. 

Jade dragon from the Hongshan culture (4700 BC-2900 BC) found in Ongniud, Chifeng. 

Fresco from the Liao Dynasty (907-1125) (壁画) 

If you had the chance to explore Inner Mongolia, where would you go and what would you do?

Let’s read and see whether the writer enjoyed his adventure there!

 

II. Skimming

1. What type of writing is the article?

A. Narration   B. Exposition   C. Argument   D. Description

Key: A

2. In what order does the writer write about the events in the article? Can you find some expressions that show the order?

In the order in which they happened.

As soon as, before long, in the evening, afterward, in the end, then, and the next day.

 

III. Careful reading 

1. Can you find the information of “who, what, where, and how” in the article?

who: the writer and his girlfriend 

what: they explored Inner Mongolia 

where: the Inner Mongolia grasslands

how: by car

2. How did the writer feel before and after the trip?

Before the trip, the writer was interested, but felt a little nervous and worried at the same time.

After the trip, he felt tired, but he was satisfied and not regretful.

3. What did the writer and his girlfriend do in Inner Mongolia?

On the grasslands:

They ate steaming bowls of hearty Mongolian noodles, took a walk around the grasslands, went horse riding, ate delicious roast lamb, collected cow dung to make a fire and chatted with strangers around the campfire.

In Hohhot:

They took a shower in a nice hotel room to wash the dirt off and had a good night’s sleep there.

 

IV. Recall the article 

Try to retell the story with the key words below!

1.arrive   five-hour journey   Mongolian noodles   walk   beauty   strong wind

2.horse riding   worried   beginners   easy

3.evening  toast lamb  collect cow dung  campfire music share stories                  sleep   yurt   temperature

4.next day   tired   Hohhot   hotel  shower

 

V. Sentence understanding 

1. As soon as we arrived in the grasslands after our long five-hour journey by car, we were greeted with steaming bowls of hearty Mongolian noodles – just what we needed to get us in the mood (心情) to explore.

as soon as: immediately/the moment

be greeted with: to be the first thing you see or hear when you arrive somewhere

a hearty meal: a large, satisfying meal

漫长的五小时车程后，我们一到草原，一碗碗热气腾腾的蒙古面条便映入眼帘——这让我们一下子有了探索的心情。 

2. I was worried because it was the first time I had ever ridden a horse.

Compare:

This is the first time I have been so angry at you.

Now do you understand the sentence pattern?

This/That/ It is the first/second… time (that) sb has done…

This/That/ It was the first/second… time (that) sb had done…

Note： 

This is the last time that I shall/will teach you a lesson.

这将是我最后一次给你们上课。 

More examples:

This is the first time that she has been to Beijing.

That was the first time I had ever argued with my English teacher.

This is the first time that I am going to our school’s English Corner. 

3. Because we were in the grasslands, the temperature dropped sharply (急剧地) at night to around zero, so we felt cold throughout (自始至终) the night despite the fact that six other people were sleeping with us.

drop: decrease, go down, become lower

despite the fact that: although

 e.g. Despite the fact that she is very short, she is an excellent basketball player. 

我们在大草原上，晚上温度急剧下降，大概降到了零度左右。所以尽管还有六个人跟我们俩睡在一个蒙古包里，我们还是一整夜都觉得冷。 

4. The next day we woke up, still feeling tired, and headed back to Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

still feeling tired: 现在分词作状语，描述我们起床时的状态 

capital of …作Hohhot的同位语 

head (or be headed) for/toward/across etc.: to go in a particular direction 朝某地行进 

e.g. I headed for the three men and handed out the socks.

It’s time to head back home.

 

VI. Discussion 

Share with your partner the story of your first adventure or trip to a remote place.

What aspects can you talk about?

•Who you went with

•Brief introduction to the place

•Scenery

•Food

•Local people

•Animals

•Activities

•Your feelings …

 

VII. Assignment 

Write about your adventure or trip in about 100 words.

 

Building kids’ fun (P6)

山东烟台经济技术开发区高级中学  唐福珍

 

I. Warming up

What do you know about these characters?

Where can you find all these characters?

•The Disneyland park 

背景知识： 

美国的加利福尼亚州和佛罗里达州、法国的巴黎、日本的东京、中国的上海、香港6处地方建有迪斯尼乐园。

 

II. Skimming 

Read the passage and decide what the main idea of the passage is.

A grandfather built a theme park in his backyard.

 

III. Scanning 

Read the passage and answer the following questions.

1. Why did grandfather Steve Dobbs want to build a theme park in his backyard?

Because his grandchildren got bored easily and he wanted to create something so fun in his own backyard that his grandkids would always want to visit it and spend time with him.

2. What contributed to the possibility of building the park?

The fact that he happened to be an amazing aerospace engineer.

3. Is the park similar to the actual Disneyland park?

Yes. The mini theme park is full of the same kinds of princesses, castles, trains and tunnels you can see at the actual Disneyland park.

4. What do people around Dobbs think of the theme park?

The park is miniature in size but it’s huge in the hearts of their family and friends.

 

IV. Sentence structure

1. A Fullerton, California grandfather was inspired to create something so fun in his own backyard that his grandkids would always want to visit.

句中so---that---引导的是结果状语从句，意思是“如此……以致于……”。

2. Steve Dobbs, 68, said his grandchildren got easily bored with a toy train that he got them to play with in his backyard.  

句中that引导定语从句，修饰先行词a toy train。

 

V. Vocabulary

1. Lucky for them, he happened to be an amazing aerospace engineer. 

happen to : 碰巧 

基本句式为： 

•sb.+ happen+to do  

•it +happen+that+sb.+do 

eg. I happened to meet him yesterday. 

= It happened that I met him yesterday.

昨天我碰巧遇见了他.

2. “My younger grandkids are nuts about Disneyland,” Dobbs told The Orange County Register website.

be nuts about: be crazy about  美国俚语，意为“迷恋，着迷”。

3. All in all, the theme park has cost him about $6,500 (43,470 yuan) but it’s well worth it. 

It’s well worth it. 那是很值得的。

 

VI. Study further sentences

1. Every kid dreams of the day they’ll get to visit these famous characters, and, most important of all, the magical world of a Disney theme park. 

2. I wanted to give them a reason to come over to my house to spend time with me, and Disneyland is tough to compete with.

3. But to his family, it’s so much more than that.

4. Dobbsland might be miniature (微型的) in size, but it’s huge in the hearts of our family and friends.

 

VII. Discussion

If you had a house with a backyard, what would you put in it?