Were you lucky enough to travel on National Day? Share your story with the class:

1) Where I have been?

2) How I went there?

3) Anything special?

means of transport

on foot by bike by motor

by bus

at the bus stop

by jeep by car

by train

by spaceship

Unusual transportation

by maglev( 磁浮列车 )

by air balloon

by time machine

by ship / boat / sea

at the port / harbor

by plane / air

at the airport

travel down a river?

The world has many great rivers.

The Yellow River 黄河

Brahmaputra 雅鲁藏布江(Yarlung Zangbu River)

Yangtze River 长江(The Changjiang River)

Rhein（莱茵河） in Germany

The Nile River

The Amazon River

Seine（塞纳河） in France

Thames（泰晤士河） in England

The Lancang River 澜沧江

MYANMAR

Southeast Asia

Lancang River

Mekong River

①②

③④

⑤ ⑥

China

Laos

Myanmar (Burma)

Thailand

Cambodia

Vietnam

Reading

JOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONG

Part 1 The dream and the plan

• Who are the main characters in the passage?

• Who are Dao Wei and Yu Hang?

• What are they going to do?

Wang Kun and Wang Wei.

They are Wang Kun’s cousins who are college students.

Skimming

They are going to cycling along the Mekong river.

• Para. 1

• Para. 2• Para. 3

• The passage tells us

Wang Kun and Wang Wei’s dream

Wang Wei is stubborn.

Preparing for their trip

some background information about the Mekong River as well as Wang Kun and Wang Wei’s plan about the bike trip.

Find me the home----Main idea of each paragraph

Para. 1

True or false1. Wang Kun and Wang Wei had the chance to take a bik

e trip when they graduated from middle school.2. Wang Wei’s cousins, Dao Wei and Yu Hang, are Dai a

nd they grew up in eastern Yunnan province.

1. What was Wang Kun and Wang Wei’s idea of a good trip?

Their idea was to take a long bike trip.

Wang Wei planned the trip.

2. Who planned the trip to the Mekong?

Para. 2

True or false

1. Where is the source of the Mekong and which sea does it enter?The source of the river is in Qinghai Province and it enters the South China Sea.

2. What difficult did Wang Kun and Wang Wei find about their journey?

1. Finally Wang Kun agreed with his sister to cycle with her.

The journey will begin at an altitude of more than 5,000metres, where it is hard to breathe and very cold.

Para. 3

True or false

1. They found few atlas and books about the Mekong River in library.

2. All parts of the Mekong River are in China.3. There are no waterfalls in the Mekong River.

1. What can you see when you travel along the Mekong?

You can see glacier, rapids, hills, valleys, waterfalls, plains and deltas.

Their dream

Wang Wei’s idea about the trip

Cycling along the ___________

From _________________to ___________

Their preparations

Both of them bought ________________, got their cousins interested in traveling and turned to _________ in the library.

Taking a great bike trip.

the entire Mekong River

expensive bikes

the atlas

Where it begins

Where it ends

Why excited

Their journey will begin at _______________________________.

The description of Mekong River

It begins in a _______ on a Tibetan mountain. ______the river is small and the water is clear and cold. _____it begins to moves quickly and passes through ___________. ______ the river becomes a waterfall and enters wide valley.Half of it is in China. It enters the _________. Then its pace slows , making wide _____ or _____ through hills and low valleys and plains, _ ____ it enters __________________.

an altitude of more than 5000 meters

glacier

deep valleys

Southeast Asia

the South China Sea

At first

Then

Sometimes

At last

bends meanders

An attitude is what a person thinks about something. Make lists of Wang Wei’s and Wang Kun’s similar and

different attitudes about the trip.Similar attitudes about the trip

Difference attitudes about the trip

Both Wang Wei and Wang Kun think…

1.

2.

Wang Wei believes…1.

2.

Wang Kun believes..1.

2.

taking this trip is a dream

that comes true.that they will enjoy this trip a lot.

It is very exciting to start the travel at an altitude of more than 5000 meters.

that it would be an interesting experience.

it is too cold and high to start

in Qinghai.

that using an atlas is very

important.

DiscussionWhat do you think about Wang Kun and Wang Wei?• Wang Kun’s character:• Wang Wei’s character:

enthusiastic, critical, sensible imaginative, organized,

eager, persistent, stubborn, risk-taking

JOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONG

Part 2 A night in the mountains

P 22

1. What items did Wang Kun and Wang Wei carry with

them?

2. How does Wang Kun feel about the trip now?

3. What do you think has changed his attitude?

4. Did Wang Kun feel lonely? Why or why not?

A tent, a cooker and food, pillows, water bottles.

He is starting to like / enjoy the trip.

Seeing how beautiful the land is has changed his attitude.

No. Beautiful scene, the clear sky, the bright stars and the fire accompany him. Besides, their cousins are waiting for him. They will meet soon. So he doesn’t feel lonely.

place wearing

in the mountain

in the valley

caps, coats, gloves and trousers

T-shirts and shorts

JOURNEY DOWN THE MEKONG

P 23Part 3 Chatting with a girl

The Mekong is the most important river in Laos. It even ________ on the national ____ of the country. Laotian people use the river for ________, _______ and ___________ goods and people around the country. They call the Mekong “the ____ of Laos”, because the water is as ______ as the sea; but in Tibet people call it “the water of the _____”. If you follow the river in Laos, you can visit temples, caves and a ________. At night, you can sleep in some small _______ by the river.Main idea of the listening text:A. A girl from Laos told Wang Kun about how Laotians use the

Mekong River.B. A girl told Wang Kun about what they would see along the

Mekong River.C. A girl from Laos told Wang Kun about how important and

beautiful the Mekong is.

appearsflag

washing fishing transportingsea

rockswaterfall

villages

useful

persuade

determinedTake me home

is fond of

cares about

prefer

organized

fare; gave in

cycle

12

34

56 7

8

glacier

valleyTake me home

waterfal

rapids

plain

delta

12 3

45

6