Culture BackgroundBackground

四川省大竹中学 罗芬

Activity 1. About Australia Step 1. Look at the pictures. Do you know what and where they are? Sydney the map of Australia the national flag Alice Springs Ghan (Afghanistan) train ⑴ ⑵ ⑶⑷ ⑸

1. Where do you think most of the people live, in the central part of the country or on the coast? 2. What do you think the central part of the country is like? Australia On the east coast and the southeast coast Desert

abandoned camels cassette clouds colourful desert diamonds distance experts famous farms fields food government law meal midnight passengers products recently sand scenery shine shoot soil supply weather journey trained Step 1. Pick out the words that you have already learned. Activity 2. Vocabulary Learning

abandoned camels cassette diamonds experts fields products scenery soil supply journey Step 2. Look at the pictures and try to match the pictures with the right words in the box. camelscassettediamonds fields soil

abandoned experts products scenery supply (supplies) journey Step 3.Let’s try to understand these words according to the context ( 上下文 )after we finish reading the text. And let’s check your understanding in the post reading part later.

a child visiting her grandmother Step 1. What is the passage about? a train ride to Sydney taking the train to Australia travelling to the central part of Australia Activity 3. Skimming

Step 2. Talk about the Structure: 1.How many parts can we divide the passage into? Part 1- Part 2- … Para. 1 Para. 2-3 Part 3 - Para. 4-6

Part 1 (Para. 1) Part 2 (Para. 2-3) Part3 (Para. 4-6) Alice/The writer________ Alice/The writer________ Alice/The writer________ A. the origin( 起 源 )of the Ghan train and the means of transport for traveling a long distance in the past. B. when and where their travel took place. C.the scenery all the journey. tells describes explains 2.Then what is each part about ? 3. Now fill in the blanks with tells, describes or explains.

Step 1. Read the passage again carefully and pay more attention to “Six Wh-words” (who, when, where, what, how and why) and fill in the blanks. _____________, an 18 –year –old Australian girl, _______made her first long-distance _____ride with a friend. They got on in _______ and got off in____________. They ___meals cooked by experts. They ____colourful scenery, fields, dark red soil, desert and abandoned farms built over 100 years ago. On the train, Alice ________other passengers, _____books and _________ Chinese cassettes to study. She _______ the night sky and found stars, which shone like diamonds. Why is the train called the Ghan? It is short for ___________. The Afghans trained the _______ to carry food and supplies. They did this _____________, when the government built______________. recently Sydney saw talked to readlistened to Afghanistan camels until the 1920s a new railway line Alice Springs watched ate Alice Thompson train Activity 4. Scanning

Exercise 1. Try to guess the meanings of the following words according to the context( 上下文 ) and then choose the best answers that can explain the underlined words well. 1. … We ate great meals cooked by experts. … A. people who love eating delicious food B. people who serve food in the restaurants C. people who have a special skill of a subject D. people who eat and comment( 评价 ) the dishes Para.2 Line 3 abandoned experts products scenery soil supply (supplies) journey Step 2. Post-reading

2. … For the first few hundred kilometers of the journey, the scenery was very colourful. … A. a long trip, sights B. distance, sights C. a long trip, pictures D. distance, pictures Para.2 Line 4

3. … We saw abandoned farms which were built more than a hundred years ago. … A. destroyed B. newly-built C. no longer used D. unknown Para.2 Line 10(the last sentence)

4. … For many years, trained camels carried food and other supplies, and returned with wool and other products. … 1) supplies A. things prepared for travelling B. things necessary for daily life C. things carried only by camels D. things got from far away Para.5 Line 4

4. … For many years, trained camels carried food and other supplies, and returned with wool and other products. … 2) products A. things made to be carried by camels B. things made from a long distance C. things made by hand in someone’s home D. things made in a factory or from nature Para.5 Line 5

abandoned camels cassette clouds colourful desert diamonds distance experts famous farms fields food government law meal midnight passengers products recently sand scenery shine shoot soil supply weather journey trained Now read these words aloud.

1. Alice tells 2. Alice describes 3. Alice explains Activity 5. Retell the text: Alice’s First Ride on a Train more than 4000 kms away ⑴ get off in the middle of … 2 days & nights wonderful great cooked by experts For the first few hundred kms the scenery colourful fields soils red desert shine no wind no clouds Suddenly look like from another time more than 100 years ago comfortable nice during the day sit look out of sometimes talk to read listen to one night at about midnight watch shine diamonds be short for ⑵ ⑶ ⑷ ⑸⑹⑺ ⑻ ⑼ ⑽ ⑾ ⑿

1. Retell the text. 2. Choose one of these topics to talk about. 1) My first family holiday 2) The most unusual journey I’ve made 3) My first train ride 4) The best journey of my life 3. Then write a paragraph of the topic.