1 Reading Why don’t you learn to sing English songs?

2 1. Do you like music? 2. How many English songs can you think of? What are your favorites?

3 How can singing English songs help your English? 1. We can learn some new words. 2. We can become more interested in English. 3. We can improve the ability of listening and speaking. Make a list …

4 Why don’t you learn to sing English songs?

5 What is the passage mainly about? First reading: Singing English songs is a good way to improve our English.

6 Second reading: Are these statements true, false, or not mentioned in the reading? StatementsTrueFalse Not mentioned Three good ways of improving English are mentioned. The winners both agreed that they were the best singers. Studying English helped Jiang Mei win the prize. Singing songs doesn’t mean you can speak English well. Reading English books is a better way of learning English than watching movies.

7 1. Some singers were able to sing English songs as well as native speakers. 2. The singers came from all over the world. 3. The winner of the men’s competition was a 19-year-old boy. T F F

8 4. The two winners thought they were better than the other singers. 5. The spokesperson from the Olympic Committee said we needn’t learn English well because the next Olympics would hold in China. 6. Singing English songs is the only fun way to learn English. F F F

9 1. Which country will be the host for the 2008 Olympics? 2. How many singers entered the contest? 3. How old were the singers? China 24 They came from all age groups.

10 4. Where was the winner of the men’s competition from? 5. Who was the winner of the women’s competition? 6. Why did Jiang Mei win? He is from Xi’an. She is a 19-year-old girl from Dalian. Because she studied English hard. Singing English songs help her improve her English.

11 7. Did the winners think they were better than the other singers? 8. What does Beijing Speaks English suggest? 9.How many fun ways to learn English are there in the text? What are they? No, they didn’t. It suggests ways for Beijongers to take an interest in learning English. 4 Sing English songs, watch English movies, reading English books, make friends with a native speaker of English.

12 Find out the new words in the passage.

13 China will be the host for the 2008 Olympics, and so many Chinese people try to improve their English in different ways. For example, twenty-four young singers from across China entered a contest by singing popular English songs. Nearly all the singers sang very clearly, and looked comfortable on stage. Some of these singers were able to sing English songs just as well as native speakers. The Olympics=the Olympic Games 奥林匹克运动会 enter v. 参加；进入 nearly adv. 几乎 sing—sang clearly adv. 明朗地；明显地 stage n. 舞台 native adj. 本地的；本国的 from across China=from all over China 来自全中国 by + 名词 / 动词 -ing 通过；以 as + 形容词或副词原形 + as 像 … 一样

14 The singers really came from all age groups, and from all over China. The winner of the men’s competition was a 40-year-old man from Xi’an, and the winner of the women’s competition was a 19-year-old girl from Dalian. Both winners were very modest, and said that they didn’t think they were better than the other singers. Jiang Mei, the winner of the women’s competition, said studying English helped her win the prize. Six months earlier, she felt her English was not good enough, so she had to study hard. She also said that singing English songs made her more interested in learning English. winner n. 胜利者 modest adj. 谦虚的；谦让的 earlier adj. 早的；初期的 interested adj. 感兴趣的

15 This kind of contest encourages people in China to speak English. “Chinese people should try to speak English more. We should try to make progress before the Olympics,” said a spokesperson from the Olympic Committee. He agrees that it is a good idea to have fun with English. encourage v. 鼓励 encourage sb. to do sth. 鼓励某人做某事 progress n. 进步；前进 make progress 取得进步 spokesperson n. 发言人；代言人 the Olympic Committee 奥委会 It’s + 名词 + to do sth. 做某事是怎样 have fun with sth. 在 … 中获得乐趣

16 Have you ever heard of the Beijing Speaks English program? If not, why don’t you find out about it? It suggests ways for Beijingers to take an interest in learning English. Besides singing English songs, there are many other fun ways to learn English. What about watching English movies, or reading English books? Maybe you could even make friends with a native speaker of English. If you look hard enough, you’ll find a good way to learn English better. hear of 听说 suggest v. 提议；建议 take an interested in 对 … 感兴趣 besides prep. 而且；除 … 之外 make friends with 与 … 交友 find out 找出；发现

17 Discuss in Groups: What other ways can you think of to improve your English?

18 3c Close your books. Write a summary of the reading using no more than 100 words.

19 Because China will be the host for the 2008 Olympics, many Chinese people are trying to improve their English in different ways. Singing English songs is one way. Singers from across China entered a contest by singing English songs. Some of them were able to sing English songs just as well as native speakers. A winner said singing English songs made her more interested in learning English. So this kind of contest encourages people in China to speak English. And it is a good idea to have fun with English. Besides singing English songs, there are many other fun ways to learn English, like watching English movies and reading English books.