The First Period Reading

Teaching goals 教學(xué)目標(biāo)

1. Target language目標(biāo)語言

a. 重點(diǎn)詞匯和短語

unite, kingdom, consist, divide, puzzle, clarify, relation, legal, convenience, attraction, collection, construct, influence, consist of, divide ... into, break away (from), leave out

b. 重點(diǎn)句式

1. Now when people refer to England you find Wales included as well.  

2. However, the southern part of Ireland was unwilling and broke away to form its own government.  

3. You must keep your eyes open if you are going to make your trip to the United Kingdom worthwhile!  

2. Ability goals能力目標(biāo)

Enable the students to learn about the United Kingdom (the UK).

3. Learning ability goals 學(xué)能目標(biāo)

Enable the students to know the UK in geography and history.

Teaching important & difficult points

教學(xué)重難點(diǎn) How to understand the geographic puzzle of the UK.

Teaching methods 教學(xué)方法

Skimming and task-based activities.

Teaching aids 教具準(zhǔn)備

A recorder, a computer and a projector.

Teaching procedures & ways教學(xué)過程與方式

Step ⅠWarming up

Task 1: Free talk about the topic: The United Kingdom.

Reference topic:

1. Have you ever been to the UK? If you have, can you tell us something about it or can you tell us something about your visit(s) there? Or what is your impression of the UK? If you haven’t, where can you get the information about it?

2. What is the capital of the UK? And what is the language?

3. Does England, Britain or the Great Britain mean the same as the UK? If not, tell the difference between them.

4. What is the money used there? And what is the largest banknote? What are the other denominations (幣值單位) of banknotes? What is the coin with the largest value? And what are the other denominations of coins?

5. What else do you know about the UK?

Task 2: Ask the students to do the quiz on page 9 and then check the answers.

T: In this unit, we are going to learn something about the United Kingdom. Now let’s work in pairs, do the quiz in the Warming Up and find out how much you know about the UK. There are five questions with three choices A, B and C for each one. Now please look them through quickly and choose the answers. You may discuss these questions with your partners.

Step II Pre-reading

T: Next let’s talk about the three questions in the Pre-reading. First of all, I’d like to ask you one more question before we deal with the Pre-reading questions. What’s the official or full name of the UK?

S: The United Kingdom of the Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

T: Now who’d like to answer the first question in the Pre-reading?

S: Well. London is the capital city of the UK and also the capital of England. Cardiff is the capital of Wales, Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland.

I’d like to tell you something about Glasgow, a city in Scotland,  where my cousin has been studying in the University of Glasgow for 3 years. He often writes to tell me something about the city and the University. Glasgow is a city with a population of 620,000. It lies 68 miles of west central Scotland along both banks of the River Clyde. The city occupies much of the lower Clyde valley combining suburbs — with an overall population of 1.4 million — which extend into surrounding districts. Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and its industrial centre; it has an excellent harbour with modern port facilities.

T: Very good. Now the next question is a little bit more challenging. Who’d like to have a try?

S: England can be divided into the following three main areas: North England, Midlands and South England.

T: Great! Is there anyone else who’d like to have a try?

S: Yes. I’d like to tell you something about a city in the south of England. Can you guess which city it is? Yes, It is Dover, where many people have been trying again and again to swim across the English Channel. It is a port city in the far southeast of England. It has a long history. People have lived in what is now called Dover since the Stone Age. The first settlements in Dover were made around 6,000 years ago by Stone Age people. So it is one of the oldest cities in the world. There are a lot of cultural relics in Dover. So few other towns or cities can boast such a unique collection of relics and monuments dating back from the Bronze Age, the Roman Empire, the Saxon era, and in fact every other important historic periods. While modern developments have seen many of Dover’s important historical buildings swept away, there are still many important sites that must be preserved for future generations. The story of Dover is as old as civilization itself.

Step III While-reading

Task 1: Ask the students to describe briefly the UK according to the following map.

 

A sample description:

We can see from the map that the UK is surrounded by water in all sides. On the west of the Great Britain lies the Irish Sea, which is on the east of Ireland. On the south of England lies the English Channel, through which the Allies landed the continent during the World War II. On the northeast, lies the North Sea. And on the north is the North Atlantic Ocean.

Task 2: Ask the students to talk about the different flags of the countries of the UK.  

                

Cross of St George (England)       Cross of St Patrick (Ireland)   Union Jack

A sample description:

The flag of England is a cross, the flag of Scotland and Ireland are both like a fork. The flag of the Union Jack is the flag of the UK, which is the combination of the three flags. That is to say, the UK is a combination of the three countries: Scotland, England and Ireland.

Task 3: Scanning

1. Look through the passage as fast as possible;

2. Try to find the answers to the questions given in the Comprehending.

Sample answers:

S1: Wales, for we can’t find any pattern of flag of Wales and it is usually assumed to be part of England.

S2: It represents England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

S3: The Vikings. They only influenced the vocabulary and the place names of the North.

Task 4: Skimming

T: Please skim the passage to get the general idea of the whole passage. While reading, please try to divide the whole passage into proper parts and find out the main idea of each part (helping the students fulfill the task if necessary).

Sample answers:

Part 1 (Para. 1-2): What England includes; about Great Britain; the UK.

Part 2 (Paras. 3-4): The geographic division of England into zones, their similarities and differences.

Part 3 (Para. 5-6): The cultural importance of London.

T: Then how do you understand the title of the text Puzzles in Geography? Are there really any puzzles in geography of the UK? If so, what are they? If not, why does the writer use “Puzzles in Geography” as the title? Get the students to discuss about it in pairs.

Then ask the students to fill in the following form.

Countries / Capital of UK	Information from the text
England
Wales
Great Britain
Northern Ireland
London
Ireland

Sample answers:

Countries / Capital of UK	Information from the text
England	The first country people think of when speaking of the UK and the largest of the four countries. It is roughly divided into three zones: the South of England, Midlands and the North.
Wales	The first country that was linked to England in the 13th century and it is included when people refer to England.
Great Britain	The name given and used when England, Wales and Scotland were joined together, which took place in 1603, when Scotland King James became King of England and Wales.
Northern Ireland	The Northern part of Ireland that was joined to the Great Britain to become the United Kingdom, which was shown to the world in the flag called Union Jack.
London	The capital of the UK and England as well. It contains the greatest historical treasures of all, with its museums, art collections, theatres, parks and buildings. It has the oldest port, building and castle and it has been influenced by some invaders of London.
Ireland	The southern part of that country — Ireland or Southern Ireland, which broke away to form its own government and a country independent of Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.

T: Now let’s do “Comprehending” Exercise 3. Look at the map of England and Wales. Divide it into three parts. Draw lines across the zones of the South, Midlands and the North of England. Put each town or city into its correct zone.

 

Sample answers:

North:  York, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester

Midlands: Coventry, Birmingham

South: Reading, London, Brighton, Plymouth

Step Ⅳ Post-reading

Task 1: Ask the students to write down a short summary of the passage.

The passage mainly clarifies how the UK developed as an administrative union and shows how England is divided into different zones according to its geographical position. It also explains how London was influenced by some invaders and turned out to be the cultural capital of England as well as the UK.

Task 2: Ask the students to paraphrase the following sentences.

1. Now when people refer to England you find Wales included as well.

2. The greatest historical treasure of all is London with its museums, art collections, theatres and buildings.

Sample answers:

1. Now when people mention or talk of England, Wales is included in it, too.

2. London includes the greatest historical treasure of all, with its museums, art collections, theatres and buildings. If you want to make the most of your trip to the United Kingdom and know more about it, you should be very alert.

Task 3: Ask the students to answer the following questions.

Show the following on the screen.

1. How did the UK come about?

2. What is the relationship between the Republic of Ireland and the Northern Ireland?

3. Why is London the capital of England, Great Britain and the UK as well?

4. What else do you know about London?

5. How do the four countries of the UK work together and how do they differ?

6. What does the Union Jack show to you?

7. What is the typical geographical feature of England?

8. Where can you find more about British history and culture?

Sample answers:

1. First, there was England and then Wales joined to England in the 13th century AD. Later on in 1603 when King James of Scotland became the King of England and Wales as well, Great Britain was formed peacefully including the three countries. Then they tried to get Ireland connected to form the United Kingdom but the southern part of Ireland broke away to form its own government. That was how the UK came about.

2. At first the Republic of Ireland and the Northern Ireland were of the same country. But when the UK intended to get the country included into the union, the southern part broke away and formed its own government. So now the Republic of Ireland is an independent country while the Northern Ireland is part of the UK.

3. London was first the capital of England and then the capital of Great Britain and finally of the United Kingdom, because it embodied the greatest historical treasure of all.

4. Three out of four invaders or conquerors have influenced the city, making it the largest city of all as well as the historical, cultural, political and economic center. It has the oldest port built by Romans in the 1st century AD, the oldest building begun by the Anglo-Saxons in the 1060s and the oldest castle constructed by later Norman rulers in 1066.

5. The four countries work together in some areas, for example, in international relations, with the same money system and so on, but they are still different. For instance, England, North Ireland and Scotland have developed different educational and legal systems as well as different football teams for competitions like the World Cup.

6. The Union Jack shows the combination of the flags of three different countries: Cross of St George of England, Cross of St Andrew of Scotland and Cross of St Patrick of Ireland.

7. England, the largest of the four countries, is divided roughly into three zones: the south of England, which is the zone nearest France, the Midlands, which is in the middle, and the North of England, which is the zone nearest Scotland. Most of the population settles in the south while most of the large industrial cities lie in the Midlands and the North of England.

8. We can find out more about British history and culture in older but smaller towns first built by the Romans.

Task 4: Ask the students to analyze the text.

1. Ask the students to fill in the following chart.

Country	When it joined with or separated from each other
England
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland

Sample answers:

Country	When it joined with or separated from each other
England	First
Wales	Linked to England in the 13th century AD
Scotland	Connected with England and Wales to form Great Britain in 1603
Northern Ireland	Connected with Great Britain to form the UK later on
Republic of Ireland	Separated from the UK as a result of uprising for independence in 1916

2. Ask some of the students to retell the text.

A sample version:

When people speak of the UK, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are often used. England and Wales were linked together first, which happened in the 13th century AD. Then James, Scotland King, united the three countries to form Great Britain in 1603 peacefully. Later on, the three countries intended to get Ireland connected to found the UK. However, the southern part broke away and formed its own government. So only Northern Ireland became part of the UK. The four countries, of which England is the largest, work together as a whole but they have developed different educational and legal systems.

England can be roughly divided into three zones, the South of England, which is nearest to France, the Midland and the North, which is nearest to Scotland. Most of the population settles in the south while most of the large industrial cities lie in the Midlands and the North of England.

London, the capital city of the UK, includes the greatest historical treasure of all with lots of museums, art collections, theatres, parks and buildings. Some early invaders have influenced it a lot from roads, towns, castles, language, and so on to government. Visitors will find the evidence here and there around London if they keep their eyes open.

3. Ask the students to analyze the writing techniques of the text: What is the writing style? What is the main idea of the text?

Sample answers:

1. Writing style

The text is written in narrative style, which introduces to the learners how the UK was formed geographically and historically, mainly dealing with England and the other three countries, which not only work together as a union in many aspects but also develop their own administrative systems. It also introduces the four invaders who influenced the UK language, place-names, vocabulary and system of government.

2. Main idea

The text mainly explains to the learners how the four countries, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland formed the UK, and how they work together and how they are different. It also introduces how England can be divided into three different zones geographically and how London was influenced by some of the four invaders culturally and historically and how the evidence of the invasions can be found around the countryside of Great Britain.

Step Ⅴ Exercises

I. 根據(jù)提示寫出單詞的正確形式。

1. Could you c________ the first point please? I don't understand it completely.

2. These flowers are brightly colored in order to a________ butterflies.

3. The c_________ is land which is away from towns and cities.

4. The students a___________ the difficult task in less than ten minutes, which made me surprised.

5. The bank can supply you with foreign ________ (貨幣).

6. The rising number of car crimes is a(n) __________ (全國范圍的) problem.

7. It was one of the richest towns in the ________ (王國).

8. The policy was unpopular and caused lots of _______ (矛盾) within the party.

II. 選用合適的單詞并用其正確形式填空。

willing, collect, convenient, enjoy, rough

1. Ready meals sell well because of their __________.

2. The lady was unable, or ________, to give me any further details.

3. The Art Gallery has the world's largest ________ of sculptures by Henry Moore.

4. There has been an increase of _______ 2.25 million.

5. We spent a(n) _________ evening talking about old times.

III. 根據(jù)括號(hào)內(nèi)的漢語提示補(bǔ)全下面句子。

1. As is known, the Chinese nation _______________________ (由……組成) 56 nationalities.

2. __________________ (留心看) if you want to find the boy in red sweater.

3. ____________ (值得贊揚(yáng)的是), Emma passed such a difficult examination.

4. The class _________________ ( 被分成) three groups as usual.

5. Mary tried to _______________ (掙脫) the cruel man.

6. The word is wrongly spelt; you’ve _______ (遺漏) a letter.

7. _________ (很遺憾) that David didn’t remember to give me the message.

Keys:

I. clarify, attract, countryside, accomplished, currency, nationwide, kingdom, conflicts

II. convenience, unwilling, collection, roughly, enjoyable,

III. consists of / is made up of, Keep your eyes open, To her credit, is / was divided into, break away from, left out, It’s a pity

Step Ⅵ Homework

Ask the students to:

1. Get ready to retell the text in your own words.

2. Go over “Learning about Language” 1, 2 and 3 on pages 12.

3. Do “Discovering useful structures” 1 and 2 on pages 13.