Unit 5 The English Countryside

• P1 Listening and Speaking Activities

• P2 Reading Comprehension and language Activities

• P3 Extended Activities

P1 Listening and Speaking Activities

• 1.introduction of the functions • Discuss the topic: Life in the city and in the• village.• Learn the following structural point

Asking for opinion: Giving opinion:a. What do you think of…?

b. Do you like…?

c. Which do you prefer…?

d. What’s your opinion of John?

a. I think…

b. I guess…

c. I prefer…

d. In my opinion…

e. According to John, life is better in the countryside

Try to speak more

Note:

1. Either say, According to someone or In someone’s opinion. Don’t say according to someone’s opinion.

2. Opinion is often used as a count noun when it means personal ideas or beliefs about a particular subject/matter/ person.

3. break one’s back (to do sth.): work very hard (to achieve sth.)

Make a similar conversation

A What about life in the country? B like itA ask why.B peaceful and quiet.A yes but not convenient: fewer services, little entertainment.B so it’s very cheap to live thereA Other advantages?B Country scenery is beautiful,No pollution.

A Hi, B What do you think of life in the country? Are you happy to be a country dweller?B Well, yes. I prefer to live in the countryA Can you tell me why?B Because life in the country is peacefuland quiet. It’s very different from the citywhich is too crowed.A Yes that’s true. But people say the country is not convenient. There are nobuses, no supermarkets, no banks, noparks. no theatre…B Well, I don’t think this is completelydisadvantage. with fewer services, andLittle entertainment, it’s very cheap to live there.A Are there any other advantages?B Yes , besides country scenery is beautifulYou know, the blue sky, he fresh air the clean water. there is no pollution.

A Agree. Any other advantages?B Country people friendlyA Agree. people know each other in village.B country life simple and natural

A yes you are right. Any advantages?B Yes I like country life also because of the people there .they are friendly.A That’s true . For example, People know each other in village.B Exactly. Country life is simple .And it’s good to be close to the nature.

Try to speak more

Note:

1. Either say, According to someone or In someone’s opinion. Don’t say according to someone’s opinion.

2. Opinion is often used as a count noun when it means personal ideas or beliefs about a particular subject/matter/ person.

3. break one’s back (to do sth.): work very hard (to achieve sth.)

What are they for?

Key: 1.d 2.b 3.g 4.f 5.c 6.e

If you want to learn more

Key: a.2 b.1 c.7 d.6 e.3 f.4 g.5

Part II Reading Comprehension and Language Activities

• Pre-reading Tasks

• Notes

• Translation

• Comprehension work

• Language work (A, B, C)

Nowadays urbanization is developing rapidly in many countries and it reflects human efforts to transform a world of cruel natural elements in favor of a modern, urban human living environment. While we are ameliorating the living conditions with many facilities, we are also losing many things. Look at the following picture and comment on what human beings have gained and lost in the process of modernization? Complete the following tasks in preparation for group discussion. Describe the rural lifestyle before the coming of locomotives and the factories. 2. With the introduction of locomotives running through the countryside and the construction of factories, what has been irreversibly changed?

Complete the following tasks in preparation for group discussion. 1. Describe the rural lifestyle before the coming of locomotives and the

factories.

2. With the introduction of locomotives running through the countryside and the construction of factories, what has been irreversibly changed?

Work in small groups to identify important ingredients which constitute the typical English countryside as shown in the pictures below. You may use the words and expressions in the pre-reading task in the student’s book.

Typical English Rural Landscape: Yorkshire English Rural Landscape in the early 20th Century

A

Traditional English Rural Landscape in the 18th Century

Traditional English Rural Landscape in the 19th Century From the picture find out answers to the following questions: What are the elements of the landscape in the background? What are the elements in the center of the painting and picture? What are the elements in the foreground? What do you think people are doing?

e.g.

1. If only I were rich.

但愿我很富有。

2. If only it would stop raining.

真希望雨能停。

3. If only I had gone by taxi.

假若我是乘计程车去的就好了。

if only: 1) used to express a wish with reference to present or future time; 2) used to express a wish that past events had been different

e.g.

1. Make yourself at home!

不要拘束。

2. After a while we began to feel at home with each other.

过了一会儿，我们互相之间就无拘无束了。

feel/be at home in/with: to feel comfortable in a place or with a person

e.g.

1. The little boy stretched out his arm to take the candies on the top of the shelf.

这个小男孩伸出手臂去拿放在架子最上面的糖果。

2. She stretched her neck up to find her lost sister in the crowd.

她伸长脖子去寻找她走失在人群中的妹妹。

stretch out: to put out your hand, foot etc in order to reach something

e.g.

1. For the most part, she is a well-behaved child.

她在大多数情况下是个很乖的孩子。

2. For the most part, people seemed pretty friendly.

大多数情况下，人们似乎很友好。

for the most part: usually; in general; used to say that something is generally true but not completely true

e.g.

1. The situation does not permit of delay.

情势刻不容缓。

permit of: (esp. in negative sentences) admit sth. as possible

e.g.

1. The library is a favorite haunt of college students.

图书馆是大学生们常去的地方。

2. a haunt of criminals

罪犯的老窝

haunt: n. a place that someone likes to go to often

如果只考虑这个岛国的自然地势，绝大多数英国人感到生活在低地比生活在高地要舒适得多。人们心中喜爱的英国乡村是在山谷里，从山上可以俯瞰它的全貌，并簇拥在古代的教堂周围；同样，这个国家的人们对农场的普遍概念也是山谷地里宽敞的家园，绿树成荫。广阔的田野延伸开去，就像张开的双手接受阳光普照，不远处还有潺潺流水的小溪。在英格兰，周边总有小河流淌；按照欧洲大陆的标准，我们的河流多半小得不起眼，但就因为如此，人们才对它们感到亲切。当然，它们不像莱茵河、多瑙河、伏尔加河那样，有许多民歌为之歌唱，但至少它们能供孩子嬉水，能让农夫时常在那儿抓鲑鱼。人们还能在这儿找到家常的活计，诸如打捞水田芥，种柳枝编篮子；虽说那些曾经靠他们而转动磨坊车轮如今已沉静且布满野草，人们仍旧在夏日的傍晚倾靠在拦河坝上观望燕子在桥下掠过清澈的河水。这些河流虽不起眼，却在不经意地而又切切实实地影响着周围居民的生活。

英国乡村

有一段时间我住在科斯伍德西部的一间茅草房里。我花园前面的牧场，春天就是一个长满黄花九轮草的花园，夏天则是对叶兰和其它青草被割之后的长居之地。它一直延伸到塞汶河谷。站在家门口，越过低地我可以欣赏那一边是莫尔文山，另一边是威尔士山脉的果园和牧场。远处那绿色的山脊时常为云雾所遮盖，但那小河流向宽阔、多泥的河口， 我总是能够看得清清楚楚。日子年复一年，塞汶河已成为我赏景的一部分，甚至是我意识中的一部分。

英国乡村

Comprehension work (Questions for discussion )

1. Where do the majority of Englishmen prefer to live?

2. What is the popular idea of an English village?

3. What is the general conception of an English farm?

4. Compare with rivers on the Continent, what are the English rivers like?

Comprehension work (Questions for discussion )

5. How do these rivers influence the lives of people who live near them?

6. Where did the writer once live?

7. What could he see from his doorway?

8. Why couldn’t he see the mountains in the distance?

9. Could he always follow the course of the Severn with his eyes?

10. What effect did the Severn produce on the writer?

Language work (A, p. 66)

1. subjects, course, ample

2. stretch out, overlook, lowland

3. valley, clustered, occupations

4. homestead, sheltered

5. farm-hands, haunt

6. influenced, subtle, consciousness

Language work (B, p.66)1. When we lived in the country, we had a

commodious house.

2. Each individual's contribution to the fund seemed insignificant, but the total sum was very large indeed.

3. Many women in the countryside still carry on such homely crafts as making jam and weaving baskets.

4. I could not fully understand the lecture because the speaker made a number of subtle distinctions.

Language work (B, p.66)5. A poet often has the ability to convey to his

readers his own sensuous experiences.

6. When the birds were set free, they flew out of the cage and looked very much at home in the trees.

7. The rainforest in this tropical area is for the most part dark and wet.

8. The new software permits faster processing of data by the computer.

Language work (C, p.67)

1. a. She was born in the US, but she is essentially more Chinese than American.

b. Richard is essentially a soft, caring person, although he looks quite tough.

c. John is essentially more a scholar than a politician.

Language work (C, p.67)2. a. After the accident, she became more or

less handicapped, and lost her job in the factory.

b. The new student seems more or less familiar with the subject, so let him join the discussion.

c. The children in the mountainous village grow up more or less in freedom.

Language work (C, p.67)

3. a. Judged by national standards, the so-called "Great Hotel” is only a small inn.

b. Judged by modern moral standards, Songjiang's reconciliation with the government is sensible in some aspects.

c. Judged by Chinese standards, these rivers are only small creeks.

Language work (C, p.67)

4. a. Some new scientific advances may have unpleasant side effects, as in the case of the nuclear radioactivity.

b. Some big rivers are often regarded as the origins of human civilization, as in the case of the Huanghe River and the Nile.

c. Many scientific discoveries come out in dreams, as in the case of the sewing machine.

Language work (C, p.67)

5. a. Walking down the road, we can see sharply contrasting views, tall and new buildings on the one hand, old and shabby houses on the other.

b. Looking out of the window, you can see snowy mountains on the one hand and an icy river on the other.

c. Going through the students writing, the teacher discovered how creative the students were on the one hand, but how poor their basic writing skills were on the other.

Language work (C, p.67)

6. a. Nobody would mind the lecture being interrupted with interesting questions from time to time.

b. We would stop and ask for directions from time to time, as we were in a new city.

c. The white sails of the fishing boats are obscured from time to time by mist and cloud.

Part III Extended Activities

• Dictation

• Read more

• Grammar work

• Word formation

• Vocabulary work

• Translation

Dictation• Script of the Dictation

There is no place like the English countryside for those who love it: its firm yet gentle lines of hills and valleys, its ordered confusion of features, its parks and lowland, its ancient castles and houses, its cottages and churches, its farms and trees, its pools and ponds and shining rivers – all present a peaceful and lovely sight. Much of the countryside is of course farmland but there are often paths through the fields, called public footpaths, which you can walk along. It is good for people to walk through such a land, forgetting for a time all the worries of the world, and become just happy wanderers in a world of pleasant breezes and song-birds and shady trees.

Read more• Choose the best answer

1.b 2. b 3.c 4.a 5.c

• Topic for discussion

1. What is the nature of a true village?

2. What causes the change of the nature of the village?

3. Is the change for the better or worse in your opinion?

Word formation

• Answers:

1. fascinating

2. determined 3. boring, amused

4. embarrassed, telling

5. worried

Vocabulary work• Answers for reference

Towns The countryside

Historic, magnificent, lively, elegant, beautiful, packed, crowded, filthy, bustling, shabby, run-down, deserted, picturesque

Picturesque, hilly, pastoral, rural, beautiful, quiet, tranquil, rustic, spacious, deserted, shabby, historic, lively, magnificent

Translation 1. Her bedroom has large windows overlooking a beautiful lake.

2. He collapsed into the armchair, stretching out his legs in front of him.

3. I simply could not live there; it rained day in and day out when I went there on holiday.

4. A dry warehouse is important especially in the case of these medicines.

5. The people in this village, for the most part, are quiet and well behaved.

6. We tend to get cold winters and warm, dry summers in this part of the country.

7. It’s a simple dish to prepare, consisting mainly of beef and vegetable.