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

constantly, remind, vehicle, carriage, bathroom, temple, private, settlement, impression, constant, jet, previous, tablet, capsule, opening, surrounding, lack, ache, mask, bend, press, swift, swiftly, master, sight, flash, switch, optimistic, length, take up, lack of, lose sight of, sweep up, catch sight of

b. 重點(diǎn)句式

This is similar to ..., but it means ... P17

Well-known for ..., his parents’ company，called “Future Tour”, transported me safely into the future in a time capsule.. P18

He handed it to me and immediately hurried me through to a small room nearby for a  rest. P18

2. Ability goals 能力目標(biāo)

Enable the Ss to talk about the life in the past, at present and in the future.

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

Help the Ss learn how to describe the life in the past, at present and in the future.

Teaching important ＆ difficult points 教學(xué)重難點(diǎn)

Compare life in the past, at present and in the future.

What is life in the future like? What changes will take place?

Teaching methods 教學(xué)方法

Fast and careful reading; asking and answering activity; individual, pair or group work.

Teaching aids 教具準(zhǔn)備

A computer and a projector.

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

Step I Warming Up

Show some pictures of life in the past, at present and in the future to the Ss, period by period. First show the pictures of life in China in AD 1005.

T: Do these pictures describe our daily life?

Ss: No, perhaps they describe life of many many years ago.

T: Good. Then can you tell me what life was like one thousand years ago? For example, life in AD 3008.

S: Let me try. People living at that time didn’t have cars or planes. They rode horses or took carriages.

S: They didn’t have electricity.

S: They didn’t live in tall buildings.

...

Show the pictures of life at present.

T: Good! What about our life at present? What is it like?

S: Our life at present is convenient. We live in various kinds of buildings, and we have lots of entertainments. We travel by many modern transportations, such as cars, buses, planes and etc.

Show the pictures of life in the future.

T: Every day we can come across passages about life in the future in magazines, newspapers and so on. Please look at these pictures and try your best to describe what life in the future will be like.

S: Let me have a try. I think in the future we can travel the whole space in a spaceship freely. And perhaps we can communicate with aliens.

S: At that time, I think the earth will have been polluted so heavily that no one can live on it. We perhaps will have to move to other planets to live. ...

Then set a scene for the Ss — A special tour guide.

T: Now imagine you are working in a tour company which has just promoted a new kind of travel — time travel. Your company can transport people in AD 2008 to the past, also it can transport people in the past to your cities. You are chosen to be a guide for 5 people who want to go back to the China in AD 1005, and also 4 people in that year want to visit the China in AD 2008. How will you organize your trip? What kind of things will you introduce to those people?

Give the Ss 2 minutes to discuss.

T: OK. Time’s up. Volunteer?

S: If I am the tour guide who will take people back to the past, I will introduce them the houses, the way people lived and their clothing. Because these are quite different from ours today, I think people will be very interested in them.

S: If the company gives me the chance to take people living in the past to our city at present, I will try my best to provide them an impressive trip. I will introduce something which is different from things in the past to them, for example, transportation, TV, computer and business. Because these have changed greatly as time goes by.

T: OK. You have done a good job. Now open your books and turn to page 17. Please work in pairs to discuss the items in the chart. When you finished, complete the chart.

Give the Ss ten minutes, and after that, check the answers.

Step Ⅱ Pre-reading

Get the Ss to discuss the problems that human beings are facing today (such as pollution, all kinds of shortages). Make a prediction about the future: which problems may be solved, and which will still be there. This part will prepare the Ss for the text. T: We all know that as our society develops, we have got much benefit. But at the same time, we have to face lots of problems. Can you find out what kind of problems human beings are facing?

S: Pollution.

S: Population is becoming larger and larger.

S: The shortage of resources.

T: Yes! Then can you predict which problems can be solved in the future? And which ones will still be there?

S: I think the problem of population will be solved in the future, because now more and more countries have begun to control the birth rate.

S: I think the problems of pollution and shortage of resources will still be there, and will even get worse.

S: I don’t think so. Now scientists all over the world are trying their best to develop new resources that human beings can make use of, such as solar energy. In my opinion, the problems can be solved one by one.

Step Ⅲ Reading

T: Now please open your books and turn to page 17. Let’s read the passage First Impressions. Read it quickly and then tell me what it is about.

Several minutes later.

T: Well, have you finished reading the passage?

Ss: Yes.

T: OK. Who would like to tell me what the text is about?

S: It’s an e-mail written by a man who has taken up a trip to the future.

T: Good. Then look at the following sentences. They are in wrong order. Anyone can tell me the correct order of these sentences?

A. We were transported into the future by a comfortable time capsule.

B. I arrived at Wang Ping’s home and everything in his house made me surprised.

C. I won a travel to the year AD 3008.

D. I have my first try to master a hovering carriage.

S: C-A-D-B.

T: Very good! Let’s go through the first two paragraphs together and get the general idea of Li Qiang’s trip to the future. Then answer the questions on the screen.

Show these checking questions on the screen.

1. Why did I have the chance to travel to the year AD 3008?

2. What is a “time lag”?

3. How did I feel when I was in the capsule?

4. Who guides my trip?

5. Why did my guide give me some tablets?

6. Who transported us to the future?

A few minutes later, check the answers.

Sample answers:

1. He took up the prize he won the year before.

2. “Time lag” means a person gets flashbacks from his previous time period.

3. The seats in the capsule are very comfortable.

4. My friend Wang Ping is my guide to the future.

5. The tablets could help me feel less nervous and uncertain.

6. Wang Ping’s parents’ company transported us to the future.

T: Wonderful. Do you want to know more about his trip? Now please go through the third paragraph to get some details on the environment in the future. When you finish, please answer the following questions.

Show these three questions on the screen.

1. How did I feel as soon as I was transported to the future?

2. How did Wang Ping solve this problem?

3. What do you think has caused this kind of problem?

Give the Ss 1 or 2 minutes to think and they can discuss with their partners. Then check the answers.

Sample answers:

1. After the writer was transported to the future, he was hit by the lack of fresh air.

2. Wang Ping gave a mask to the writer and hurried him through to a small room nearby to have a rest.

3. Now we are causing more and more pollution to the nature, this will cause serious problems to life in the future. This may be the cause of the lack of fresh air in the future.

T: What will transportation in the future be like? Are there any differences between transportation in the future and that at present? Now please read the fourth and fifth paragraphs and find out something about both transportation and daily life in the future.

After the Ss read the paragraphs, ask them the following questions.

1. What did Wang Ping’s house look like?

2. What was the green wall made of? What’s the purpose of building this kind of green wall?

3. How can you produce a TV set in Wang Ping’s house?

Sample answers:

1. His house is a large bright, clean room. It had a green wall, a brown floor and soft lighting.

2. The green wall was made of trees. The leaves of the trees will provide much-needed oxygen to the house.

3. You can just flash a switch on the computer screen and a TV set will rise from the floor.

T: So we can see life in the future is much more convenient and much easier than our present life.

Step Ⅳ Follow-up Activity

Get the Ss to compare life at present and in the future. Find out the changes on several items. Try to distinguish which changes are good and which are not good and give reasons.

T: Now let’s make a prediction about future and see what will be changed in the future. I will give you 3 minutes to discuss in pairs, and after your discussion please finish the following chart.

Sample answers:

Then let the Ss do Exx. 2 ＆ 3 on page 19. A few minutes later, check the answers.

Sample answer to Ex. 3:

I think the writer has an optimistic view of the future. He was very excited when he traveled to the year AD 3008 and couldn’t believe it was true. From this, we can see he is eager to go to the future. Though he was hit by the lack of fresh air, the problem was immediately solved by putting on a mask. And he tells us the transport in the future is convenient. When he arrived Wang Ping’s home, he found there were many trees after the wall moved, and these trees provided the house with much-needed oxygen. Finally he described the automatic equipment in Wang Ping’s house. All the above has shown his view of the future.

Step Ⅴ Homework

Review the key sentences in the text.