Listening and speaking Before you listen, read the exercises below and try to predict what the listening is about.

chatting with the passers-by see some beautiful sceneries Can you imagine what happened when Wang Kun and Wang Wei travelled down the Mekong river? chatting with the passers-by ……. see some beautiful sceneries What happened? meet some things dangerous get lost

Laos

Listen to the tape and tick the statement which tells the main idea of the dialogue. A girl from Laos told Wang Kun about how Laotians use the Mekong River. A girl told Wang Kun about what they would see along the Mekong River. A girl from Laos told Wang Kun about how important and beautiful the Mekong is. C

Listen again and complete the passage below. The Mekong is the most important river in Laos. It even ________ on the national ____ of the country. Laotian people use the river for ________, _______ and ____________ goods and people around the country. appears flag washing fishing transporting

They call the Mekong “the ___ of Laos”, but in Tibet people call it “the water of the _____”. If you follow the river in Laos, you can visit temples, caves and a _________. At night, you can sleep in some small _________ by the river. sea rocks waterfall villages

Listen and answer the questions: Which country does the girl come from? She is from Laos. 2. Can people sleep by the Mekong River? Yes, they can. 3. What is the Mekong river called in Vietnam? It’s called “the sea of Laos”

Listening Text Part 3 CHATTING WITH A GIRL The next day the travellers see a girl (G) walking along the road. Wan Kun (WK) speaks to her. WK: Hello! G: Hello! Are you travelers?

WK: Yes. We’re travelling along the Mekong River WK: Yes. We’re travelling along the Mekong River. We’ve been all through China and now we are going to follow the river through Laos.

G: I’m Laotian. The Mekong’s our most important river. Do you know that it even appears on our national flag? WK: Really? G: Yes. We use the river for washing, fishing and transporting things around the country.

We would be lost without it. It’s better than a road. WK: Well, no wonder I’ve seen boats going up and down - they’re transporting goods and people. G: Yes. We call it “the sea of Laos” although we are not near the sea. It is because the water is as useful to us as the see.

WK: How interesting! In Tibet the river’s called “The water of the rocks”. Both names tell us a lot about the river, don’t they?

G: Yes, they do. Watch out for the temples, caves and a waterfall along the river. WK: Can we sleep by the river? G: Yes, of course you can. They are many small villages along the river. You can stay there if you wish. WK: Thanks a lot.

4 Pair work Have a nice/good time. Have a nice/good trip. Take care. Have fun. Good luck on your journey. Write to me. Say hello to .... Give my love / best wishes to .... Best wishes.

Sample dialogue: WK: What’s the food like in Laos? G: It’s delicious. There are many fish dishes and a special fish soup. The fishermen catch the fish and then cook it. You should try that. WK: I love to try new food. What will we see along the riverbank?

G: Well there are thick forests and mountains in the north of Laos and many interesting plants, birds and animals in the south of Laos. It’s so beautiful by the river that the scenery will take your breath away.

WK: That sounds wonderful. I cannot wait to get going WK: That sounds wonderful. I cannot wait to get going. Thank you for telling us so many things. Take care. G: Have a nice time on your journey. Keep in touch and write to me if you have time. Goodbye. Wk: I will. Goodbye.

Writing Imagine that you are a friend of Wang Kun. Write a short email asking about Laos. In pairs brainstorm some questions. What is the food like in Laos? What do you think of the country?

Choose two or three questions and use each as a new paragraph. How was your trip? What did you do when ...? Have you met ...? When did you get back? What kind of things did you see? Could you give me more details about ...? Could you tell me about ...?

Instructions for writing 1. Use correct tenses and sentence structures. 2. Pay attention to punctuations. 3. Creative writing is encouraged. 4. Try to use as many as possible the words and phrases we have recently learned. 5. Words limit: about 60 words.

Sample writing My dear brave Wang Kun, How I worry about you and Wang Wei. Are you having a good time? Where are you now? Are you still in Laos? Can you tell me something about people’s life there? When are you getting to Vietnam?

Please send me some photos with your next letter Please send me some photos with your next letter! Well , have a nice trip and take care. Don’t forget to write to me! Give me best wishes to Wang Kun and your cousins. Good luck on your journey. Your friend, Hu Lin

Homework Follow the tape to read the passages again and pay attention to the rising and falling tone of each sense group and sentence.