Reading

Read the text then answer some questions.

1 When did we decide to move to another place? 1845,10

2 How long did the journey last? About a year

3 What is our first destination? India Greek in Kansas

4 Is the journey hard? Can you make some examples about it?

Yes, it is hard. You can make many examples.

Listening

Listen to the tape carefully then do these exercises.

Post-reading

Exercise1. True or False

1 We traveled alone. (F with many other families)

6 When a young man in our group suggested that I stay behind with the children and wait for help, I agreed. (F I didn’t agree.)

( )7 When the animals smelt the water, they all ran.

Exercise 2

Choose the best answers

1.The reason why my father wanted to go to California is that . 答案：C

A. California was in desert B. California was far away

C. California was a wonderful land described in a book

D. California was the largest state in the USA

2.People moving to the west would meet in . 答案：A

A. Kansas B. California C. Salt Lake Valley D. Salt Lake Desert

3.On which day did the author enter the Salt Lake Desert? 答案：B

A. April 12. B. November 4. C. October 15. D. December 25.

4.Why did the travelers call their ninety-mile drive through the Salt Lake Desert the “Long Drive”? 答案：D

A Because the landscape was dry and barren. B. Because water was salty and not drinkable.

C. Because their water supply was so low. D. All of the above.

5.After the travelers burnt their wagons, they had to go on their feet with another miles to go. B

A.2 500 B.500 C.90 D.45

6.Why didn’t the author stay behind with the children and wait for help? A

A. Because that meant he/she would die.

B. Because he/she knew that children were tiresome.

C. Because he/she knew that there was a wagon waiting for him/her.

D. Because he/she felt he/she could get a prize by his/her father.

7.The animals almost ran when the travelers reached the edge of the desert, why? 答案：C

A. Because they were tired and weak. B. Because they had no burden.

C. Because they must have smelt the water. D. Because they went back to their home.

8.How long did the author spend finishing the journey? 答案：A

A. More than 40 months. B. About 2 months.

C. About a year. D. About a year and a month.

9.From the text, we can infer . 答案：D

A. the author and the travelers had to go all day and all night long

B. there was no oxen left when the travelers reached California

C. many travelers died when their days of hardship came to an end

D .it’s a long way to travel from the author’s hometown to California

10.The best title of the text is . 答案：B

A.A Journey To California B. Long Drive

C. The Salt Lake Desert D. Enjoy Your Life

Questions:

1 Where in the text do you find evidence that the wagons were not he most suitable means of transport? You can find your answers in paragraph 3.

2 Why did the travelers call their ninety mile-drive through the Salt Lake Desert the “long drive”?

We had to travel long without water or grass for the animals to eat. It was hard.

3 What can you learn from this reading passage? What impresses you most?

1)After suffering from many difficulties, we can live a better life. Facing the hardship, never give up, etc.

2)The courage of the people impresses me most.

1.believe in 信任;信耐

2.stand for 代表;代替

3.adapt to 適宜

4.lose heart 灰心;泄氣

5.be cast away (被)拋棄

6.give up 放棄

7.less than 少于;不足

8.set off for 開始(旅程;賽跑);出發

9.move on 繼續前進

10.take the way 出發;首途

11.lose one’s way 迷路

12.hang out 伸出

13.in desperate need of 在極度需要的(時候)

14.on our feet=on foot 步行

15.be accustomed to doing sth. (通常用于被動語態)習慣于

16.suffer from 患病;遭受……之苦

17.hurry on to (with) 趕緊辦理;急急忙忙地去做某事

18.stop to do sth. 停下來去做某事

19.start doing sth. 開始做某事

20.go on all fours 用四肢

21.(at)the edge of of (在)……邊緣

22.stare at 瞪視; 凝視

23.come to an end 結束;終止

24.a race against time 與時間賽跑

25.save…from 挽救……免于

26.take up to 占用(時間;空間)

27.at stake 在危險中;關系重大

28.risk one’s life to 冒險去做某事

29.apply…to… 運用;應用

30.add up (兩個或兩個以上的數量或量)加起來

31.take it easy 別緊張;放松點

32.keep up 維持;保持;使某事處于高水平

33.common sense 常識;情理

34.leave behind 忘帶;留下

35. live through sth. 經歷某事物而幸存

36.tie up 系;拴;捆

37.go for 為……去;努力獲取

Unit 7

Step one . Answer the following questions.

1.When does the story happen ?

2.Who is Ebenezer Scrooge ? Which word is he always to comment everything ?

3.Who is Bob Cratchit ? What does he want to do ?

4.What does the gentleman want to do ? Has he Promised ? What happened to Scrooge ?

Step2.Judge the following sentences True or false

1.It was cold in scrooge’s office and Bob had to warm himself over the candles. T

2. Scrooge was willing to let Bob have a day off because it would be Christmas the next day. F

3. Scrooge was invited by his niece and he accepted happily. F

4. A gentleman arrived at Scrooge’s office because he wanted to collected money for the poor. T

5. Scrooge didn’t want to give the poor any money because he was poor himself. F

6. According to the dialogue, in Scrooge’s dream he met his old friend ------Jacob Marley. F

Step three : Fill in the blanks according the passage

It was the day before Christmas and the weather was terrible . Bob wanted to have a day off in order to have a good Christmas dinner but his boss , Scrooge, who was cold , mean and only interested in making money didn’t allow him to do so at first. Scrooge’s nephew--- Fred wanted to invite Scrooge to attend their Christmas dinner but he was refused . A gentleman who wanted bo connect some money for the poor was also turned down by Scrooge. At last when all the others left Scrooge had a dream , in which he Santa Claus

Integrating Skills

Divide the play into 3 parts. Try to find out what caused Scrooge to turn over a new leaf.

Find out something about the firs scene

Place:_ The place where Scrooge live once lived

The time when Scrooge was young.

Time: Young scrooge and his girlfriend

The girl wanted to be separated from Scrooge

Characters: Scrooge cared nothing except money

Event: He felt very uneasy.

In the second scene, Scrooge saw the Christmas party held in Bob Cratchit’s houses. Judge the following sentences True of False .

1.In the dream it was Christmas Eve and the Cratchits were having a Christmas dinner. 2. In the dream Tiny was ill but his father couldn’t afford the medicine for him.

3. These things really happened to the Cratchits. F

4. On seeing the scene Scrooge wanted to change his life.

5. Scrooge ordered a big Christmas tree for the cratchits’. F

Scene 3

From here we say the Scrooge turned over a new leaf. How did Bob Cratchit feel when he saw Scrooge and his turkey ? D

A. Satisfied B. Interested C. Angry D. Surprised

He hadn’t expected that Scrooge would be so generous

Choose the best answers

1.Christmas is traditionally celebrated on . 答案：B

A. December 24 B. December 25 C. December 30 D. December 31

2.Which of the following is not true according to the dialogue? 答案：A

A. The business is now owned by Scrooge and his partner, Marley.

B. Marley died on December 24th.

C. The gentleman tried to persuade Mr Scrooge to do something good for the poor.

D .Many thousands of people don’t have enough money to keep themselves warm.

3.Ebenezer Scrooge is . 答案：D

A. a warm-hearted boss B. a lazy kind boss

C. a hospitable boss D. a greedy ungenerous boss

4.According to the dialogue,which of the following sentences is right? 答案：C

A. Nothing happened when the clock struck one.

B. Scrooge’s eyes were wet because he had a cold.

C. The girl who used to love Scrooge has married another man.

D. Scrooge,a kind old man is always commenting on everything by saying “Humbug”.

5.In the sentence,“He is cold, mean and selfish old man ”,“mean” is . 答案：D

A.有技巧的 B.心情不好的 C.普通的 D.吝嗇的

6.From the dialogue, we can infer . 答案：C

A. Fred helps Scrooge become a helpful man

B. everyone does wish Ebenzer Scrooge a merry Christmas

C. Ebenzer scrooge corrects his mistakes and makes a fresh start

D. Scrooge’s partner, Marley died at Christmas

7.The main factor that makes Mr Scrooge change his mind is that . 答案：A

A. he feels afraid the bad thing will happen to him in the future

B. he regrets what he did in the past

C. he is moved by what Santa Claus says

D. he loses his fortune and becomes a poor man himself

8.What can’t be concluded from the passage? 答案：D

A. People usually have turkey for Christmas.

B. The place they live in is cold in winter.

C. Bob is quite astonished Scrooge’s generousness.

D. All the poor people can enjoy a merry Christmas now.

9.According to Fred,Christmas is the day of the year when people . 答案：D

A. think of the past and look forward to the future

B. put valuable things in their pockets

C. have dinner together

D. show kindness to people and help others

10.Mr Scrooge is reluctant to open his heart to the poor because . 答案：D

A. there are plenty of prisons in the world B. he is poor himself

C. the union work houses can help the poor

D. he only cares about his own business and never shows kindness to others

Phrases

1.care for 喜愛；照顧

2.in the race to do sth. 在做某事的競賽中

3.put on 穿上

4.so far 至此

5.in want of 需要

6.at this festive season of the year 在一年中喜慶的季節

7.close up （尤指暫時）關閉；使靠近

8.leave alone 不管；隨…去

9.toast to 干杯

10.date back to 追溯到（過去的某個時間）

11.on the contrary 相反

12.have an eye for 關注；能判斷；能欣賞

Unit 8

Fast reading

1 What is the most puzzling question in learning our mother tongue?

2 If we develop our study skills and way of learning, is learning foreign language twice as hard or as easy?

Careful reading

Tell the sentences true or false

1 Although experts don’t agree each other, they all share a common opinion :Life is a very successful language school. T

2 We study our mother tongue all day long for about 5 years before we master it. But we only spend a few hours a week and in a few years’ time we can speak a foreign language. T

3.Successful language learners usually step away from the academic challenges. F

4The less anxious and more relaxed the learner, the worse their language acquisition.F

Choose the best answers

1.Most children have mastered their mother tongue . 答案：C

A. at the age of five B. by the age of eight C. before they are five D. since they were five

2.Successful language learners do share the following characteristics except . 答案：A

A. the ability to memorize the words B. an interest in understanding their own thinking

C. willingness to take chances D. confidence in their ability

3.The best option for the exchange students is . 答案：A

A. living with local people B. living in the dormitory

C. choosing exchange programmes at various academic levels at a reasonable cost

D. making friends with the other students

4.The disadvantage of studying abroad is . 答案：B

A. language and culture B. cost and safety C. custom and culture D. exchange programme

5.Visiting students do the following things except . 答案：C

A. staying in the host family’s house B. eating in the host family’s house

C. becoming a member of the family D. keeping in touch with the host family afterwards

6.Before going out to study in a foreign country,you should not . 答案：C

A. care much about the money that may cost you B. collect as much information as possible

C. plan a long course to study D. discuss every detail with your family

7.The sentence “Life is a very successful language school” means . 答案：B

A. we are equipped with a special ability to learn language

B. the key to learn the language well is to communicate with the people around us

C. parents can give children language lessons

D. people can learn the language by themselves

8.What makes it easier to study abroad nowadays? 答案：D

A. The cost has become reasonable. B. There are programmes for all levels.

C. Students can find “home-stay” service and live with the host family.

D. All the above.

9.The greatest value of an exchange student studying abroad is . 答案：C

A. to learn the language B. to widen one’s views and understand the culture of other country

C. to get better idea of yourself and your own culture D. to learn to be independent of oneself

10.What’s the purpose of writing this article? 答案：C

A. Learning a foreign language is twice as hard as learning our mother tongue.

B. Learning a foreign language is more important than learning our mother tongue.

C. Learning a foreign language is twice as easy if we develop our study skills.

D. In fact,the number of people learning a foreign language has increased with years.

Decide which language ( mother tongue or foreign language) each of the sentences below

A We learn quite fast.

B We are not taught but learn anyway. M

C Some people think that we are born with an ability to learn this. M

D We can learn faster if we develop study skills.

E Most people have mastered this by the age of five. M

F We learn this in a special place where we can get help.

G It takes longer to learn this. M

H We Learn this by communicating with others. M

Main idea of each paragragh .

1. The environmental factor of learning mother tongue.

2. Different opinions of language experts.

3. The difference between learning mother and learning a foreign language.

4. The characteristics of successful language learners.

5.Different learning ways of successful language learners

6. The importance of the purpose of learning.

The purpose of writing the passage to tell us that learning a foreign language does not have to be twice as hard as learning our mother tongue.

Integrating Skills

What is the best way to learn a language ? Why ?

I think the best way to do this is to go to a country where the language is spoken.

We can use the language at any places at any time . It’s good for language learning.

2. Is it possible for you to study abroad ? Yes, it is.

3. What should you do before you go abroad?

We should find out as much as possible about different programmes, including the cost and length of our stay.

4. Can you list the advantages and the disadvantages of studying abroad ?

Advantages of studying abroad

1). become fluent in the new language

2). make friends with people from different background.

3). Understand another culture

4). broaden your horizons and improve your understanding of the world

5). learn about yourself and what your culture is really like

6). learn to depend on yourself

Disadvantages of studying abroad

1). Some of them may fall behind in their studies when studying abroad.

2).They may not be able to take classes at the same level as at home.

3). Parents worry about the safety of their children and may also be concerned about the cost.

Choose the main idea of each paragraph

Para. 1 It is possible for a student of any level to study a foreign language in a country where the language is spoken.

Para. 2 Advantages of studying abroad.

Para. 3 disadvantages of studying abroad.

Para.4 What should you do in order studying abroad ?

Phrases

1.make progress 前進；進步

2.make sense of 弄懂…的意思

3.in other words 換句話說；換言之

4.take risks/a risk 冒險

5.experiment with 進行試驗；進行實驗

6.piles of 一大堆；一大批；一大團

7.knock down 擊倒；撞倒

8.that is to say 也就是說

9.fall behind 落后