PAIRWORK How many English songs can you think of? Which are your favorites?

PAIRWORK How can singing English songs help your English? Make a list. We can learn some new words. We can improve the oral English.

Reading strategy: To understand the important ideas from the text, we must “summarize”. Do this by answering “who, what, where, why” questions as you read. 理解文章的重点，必须对文章加以提炼、总结。一般 需要回答是谁、干什么、在哪里和为什么这些问题。

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 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. √ √ √ √ √

Read it again. Try to ask questions and anwer them by yourselves.

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. 参加 通过唱英文流行歌曲 在台上看起来很舒服 和本国人一样好 提高英语 用不同的方式 几乎所有的歌手都唱得很清晰

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. 两个赢家都很谦虚，说他们不认为他们唱得比其他歌手好。 唱英文歌让她对英语学习更感兴趣。

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. 鼓励 奥委会 取得进步

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. 北京说英语 它给北京人提供很多对英语感兴趣的方法。 交朋友 足够努力

Have you ever tried improving your English using any of the ways mentioned in the reading? What other ways can you think of to improve your English? Join a English club. Listen to English news. Read English novels. Use flash cards. Why don’t you… Why not… How /What about… You had better… You should…

Many people want to learn to speak English better. Some people decided to enter to a “sing English songs” contest, and the contestants were very successful. The winner of the women’s competition said that singing in English made learning interesting and fun. Ann Olympic spokesperson said that everybody should have fun learning English. We can find a way to learn letter if we look.