Curriculum focus
Language skills: detailed reading
Language knowledge: word formation

Pre-reading:

1. Please close your eyes, and imagine you are walking by the big blue sea.
   What image comes into your mind when we mention the sea?
2. This passage mentions Zheng He, the famous Chinese sailor. The following passage is about him. Please fill in the blanks with the given words.
   establish; charge; reached; advanced; successfully; satisfy; set sail
   In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, China was an ____ country in the world. July, 1405 saw a vast fleet ____ from Liujia Harbour on a long voyage. The purpose was to ____ relations with foreign countries, to expand trade contacts and to look for treasure to ____ the emperor's desire for luxuries. The man who was put in ____ of the fleet was Zheng He. The fleet ____ such places as Java and Sri Lanka and ____ returned to the home port in 1407.
   Key: advanced; set sail; establish; satisfy; charge; reached; successfully;

While reading:

1. Prediction:
   Read the title and look at the picture and then guess what the passage is about.
2. Read the passage and decide if these sentences are true(T) or false(F).
   1.) Suolangduojie paid a visit to the Beijing Aquarium when he came to Beijing.
   2.) It was the first time he had seen live dolphins performing.
   3.) He knows about the world outside his hometown through TV or Internet.
   4.) The purpose of the contest is to make students aware of the importance of Zheng He and what he did.
   5.) He had more time to surf the Internet, so he could get the award.
   Key: F T T T F
3. What is the correct order according to the passage?
   a. Suolangduojie visited the Beijing Aquarium.
   b. Suolangduojie left Tibet for the first time.
   c. Suolangduojie entered the first round of the national quiz on the ancient Chinese navigator Zheng He.
   d. Suolangduojie attended the award ceremony.
   e. Suolangduojie spent most of his spare time researching the explorer.
   Key: e; c; b; d; a

Post-reading:

1. Complete the chart with the suitable words from the passage.
   

   Noun Verb Adjective nation / organizer / / aware adventure / / curious successful confidence /

   Key: national; organize; awareness; adventurous; curiosity; success/ succeed; confident
2. Complete these sentences. Use a suitable form of each word in the chart.
   21st Century is a kind of ____ weekly newspaper.
   In the end we all decided to ____ a concert for Easter.
   Smokers are well ____ of the dangers to their health.
   I set off for a new ____ in the United States on the first day of the New Year.
   Steve was ____ about the world I came from. He was busy asking me a lot of questions.
   I am looking forward to a long and ____ partnership with him.
   I am ____ that everything will come out fine in time.
   Key: national; organize; aware; adventure; curious; successful; confident
3. Writing task:
   What kind of adventure do you want to have in the future? Describe this kind of adventure and why it attracts you so much.