pare their answers with another pair. Give them the correct answers and see how many students got 80% or better.
→Step 2 Pre-reading
1. Let students discuss the following questions:
1)What is the longest trip you have ever taken?
2)If you take a trip to Canada, what do you think you might see there?
3)What three words would you use to describe Canada?
3. Have students turn to Page 34 of the text book, look at the title of the reading passage and the pictures and predict what the passage is about. Then have them read the passage quickly to see if they are right.
→Step 3 Reading
1. Fast reading
Ask students to skim the reading passage and then answer the following questions:
1)What is the passage mainly about?
2)What is “The True North”?
3)How many cities are mentioned in the text? What are they?
Three minutes later, check the answers with the whole class.
Suggested answers:
1)The passage is about a trip of two girls, and it tells us some information about Canada.
2)“The True North” is the train that goes across Canada/the cross-Canada train.
3)Five. They are Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Thunder Bay and Toronto.
2. Intensive reading
Allow students to read the passage carefully this time to understand the main ideas of each paragraph and get the important details, and then finish the following:
1)Choose the best answer to each question according to the text.
(1)As you go eastward, you can see the following things except ______________.
A. mountains
B. thousands of lakes
C. forests and wide rivers
D. cows
(2)Who will take part in the Calgary Stampede?
A. Cowboys from Stampede.
B. People from Canada.
C. Anyone who has a gift for riding.
D. Cowboys from all over the world.
(3)Which of the following statements is true?
A. One can cross Canada in less than five days by train.
B. Many people think Calgary is the most beautiful city in Canada.
C. In fact, the population of Canada is more than thirty million.
D. Ocean ships cannot reach Thunder Bay.
(4)Which of the following shows the right route of the cousin’s travel?
A. Toronto→Calgary→Vancouver→Thunder Bay
B. Vancouver→Calgary→Thunder Bay→Toronto
C. Vancouver→Thunder Bay→Calgary→Toronto
D. Toronto→Thunder Bay→Calgary→Vancouver
Suggested answers: (1)D (2)D (3)C (4)B
2)Use the information from the reading passage to fill in the table below.
Basic Facts about Canada
Distance from east to west coast
Oceans on the east and the west coast
Population
Where most Canadians live
Location of the largest fresh water supply
Key points about Vancouver
Key points about Calgary
Key points about Thunder Bay
3)Answer the following questions in complete sentences.
(1)Which continent were the cousins crossing?
(2)Why were they not flying directly to the Atlantic coast?
(3)Why is the population of Vancouver growing so rapidly?
(4)What happens at the Calgary Stampede?
(5)How are ocean ships able to reach the center of Canada?
(6)What are some of Canada’s greatest natural resources?
3. Reading and discussing
Read the passage a third time and then work in pairs to discuss these questions.
1)Which part of the reading passage interests you most?
2)If someday you go to Canada, where will you go? Why?
(Let students have enough time to read the passage carefully and discuss the questions with their partners. Encourage them to expand their answers according to their own experiences. )
4. Dealing with language points
Help students analyze some difficult, long and complex sentences and guess the meanings of some new words and expressions. Encourage them to try to deal with the language points in the context. Give them explanations if necessary.
5. Listening and reading aloud
Ask students to read the passage aloud to the tape and let them pay attention to the pronunciation of each new word and the pauses within each sentence. Tell them to pick out all the useful expressions or collocations from the passage while reading and copy them to the notebook after class as homework. Read them aloud and try to learn them by heart.
Collocations: be on a trip to, rather than, take the aeroplane, all the way, take the train, at the airport, on the way to, chat about, as well as, less than, aboard the train, settle down, manage to do, catch sight of, be famous for, have a gift for, thousands of, in prizes, be amazed to do, at the top of, be surprised at, because of, fresh water
→Step 4 Consolidation
Give students 10 minutes or so and let them do the following:
1. Work in pairs and fill in the table about the type of writing and summary of the idea.
A TRIP ON “THE TRUE NORTH”
Type of writing
Main idea of the passage
Main idea of Paragraph 1
Main idea of Paragraph 2
Main idea of Paragraph 3
Main idea of Paragraph 4
Main idea of Paragraph 5
Suggested answers:
A TRIP ON “THE TRUE NORTH”
Type of writingThis is a piece of narrative writing.
Main idea of the passageLi Daiyu and her cousin Liu Qian went on a trip to Canada, visiting their cousins and enjoying the beautiful scenery across the whole continent of Canada from west to east.
Main idea of Paragraph 1Li Daiyu and her cousin Liu Qian were on a trip to Canada.
Main idea of Paragraph 2Having arrived in Vancouver, the most beautiful city in Canada, they were to be taken to catch “The True North”, the cross-Canada train.
Main idea of Paragraph 3Settling down in their seats in the train, they enjoyed the wild scenery while crossing the Rocky Mountains to Calgary.
Main idea of Paragraph 4While arriving at Thunder Bay, they learn more about Canada, its population, resources, etc.
Main idea of Paragraph 5The train rushed towards Toronto while they were sleeping.
2. Complete the summary of the story with one word in each blank and then retell the whole story.
Li Daiyu and Liu Qian were on a ______________ across Canada. Instead of taking the aeroplane ______________ the way, they would cross the whole continent of Canada in a ______________ after arriving Vancouver by air.
Danny Lin waited ______________ them at the airport and gave them a brief ______________ about Canada, the second ______________ country in the world and Vancouver, the most beautiful city of the country, while taking them to ______________ the train, “The True North”.
Having settled ______________ in the seats, they looked out of the window ______________ the wild scenery, the mountain goats, and grizzly bears. They went by the city of Calgary and ______________ in Thunder Bay, a city at the ______________ of the Great Lakes, learning more about Canada of its population resources and so ______________. Their last stop is Toronto, one of the southernmost cities in Canada.
Keys: trip; all; train; for; introduction; biggest; catch; down; at; arrived; top; on
→Step 5 Homework
1. Learn the useful new words and expressions in this part by heart.
2. Read the reading passage again and try to retell the passage.
教学反思：本次课，课堂气氛还比较好，但是学生还是不怎么敢用英语表达，讨论的时候部分学生没有很活跃，在今后的课堂中还应该积极的引导学生运用口语的能力，而且要给以一些提示，让学生有话可说，不是去学习英语的信心。