Pre-reading Reading Post-reading Unit 17 Famous women Pre-reading Reading Post-reading

Home Lead in Skimming Oral practice Pre-reading Skipping Discussion Pair work Listening Language points Background Post-reading Exercises

Lead-in Imagine you are travelling alone to the South Pole. What will you take with you? why? cap compass boot alpenstock

gloves Sleeping bag Cotton clothes dark sunglasses rope

Pre-reading Do you know which animals live on the North Pole? And which on the South Pole? seal moose penguin polar wolfs polar bears

Why do polar bears never eat penguins? reindeer snow fox walrus whale Why do polar bears never eat penguins?

Pair work ★Describe the extreme weather conditions in South Pole and how they threaten human existence at the South Pole. What are the dangers and risks? extremely cold; not any food; not any person; plenty of snow;

Background Helen Thayer is a Explorer, Author, International Athlete, First Woman to Travel Alone to the North Pole. Helen Thayer, the author of the best-selling book, Polar Dream, is the first woman to travel alone to the magnetic North Pole. In 1988 at the age of 50, she walked there pulling her own sled without resupply or support of dog teams or snowmobiles.

Skimming ★ Read the text carefully and answer the following question: When did Helen Thayer begin to travel alone to the North Pole? She travelled alone to the North Pole on November 1st, 1997.

Skipping F T F Finish the following exercises after reading the text. True (T)or false (F) 1. Antarctica is another name for the North Pole. ( ) 2. The sun does not go down in Antarctica, so Helen’s workdays were usually more than12 hours. ( ) 3. Helen Thayer was born on 22 November 1947. ( ) F T F

4. On the 22nd day of the expedition Helen Thayer had an accident 4. On the 22nd day of the expedition Helen Thayer had an accident. She fell into a hole that was a few hundred feet deep. ( ) 5. Helen made a decision to give up and went back home after the accident. ( ) F T

Listening Listen to the passage and discuss the following questions: Helen Thayer did not complete her journey to the South Pole. She had an accident after which she decided to give up. Whether do you think of that as a failure? How did Helen Thayer reach her decision?

Post-reading What kind of woman is Helen Thayer? Describe her in a few sentences. Helen is a special woman. To go on such difficult an dangerous journeys at her age proves that Helen Thayer has a brave and very active. She also knows that the people in her life, such as her family, are more important than her personal achievement.

Oral practice Do you admire Helen Thayer? Why? Useful expressions I think that …brave woman. It is unusual for women of her age to …. She is a….woman because/ because of… She is a responsible person. She stop the trip in order to … She is an honest woman because

Discussion What does Helen Thayer’s story show us? Helen Thayer shows us that no matter whether we are men or women and no matter what age, we can set ourselves goals and work hard to achieve them.

Language points Be about to so much that … within increase to none of Die down at the top of my voice be in good health make a decision within think of I do so without regret. in an extreme climate It is an experience I shall never forget and shall value for the rest of my life.

Exercises Translate the following sentences into Chinese. 1.An optimistic person is always hopeful about the future. 2. Do you dare meet the challenges of extreme sports? 3. It doesn’t bother me what I look like. 4. He is a man who values friendship beyond all things. 5. If you can’t overcome certain difficulties, you will have to come to terms with them.

Keys: 1、乐观的人重视对未来充满希望。 2、你敢与挑战极限运动吗？ 3、我一点也不在乎自己的长相。 4、他是一个重友谊胜过一切的人。 5、如果不能战胜某些困难，就学会忍受困难。

中央电教馆资源中心制作 2004. 2