LESSON NINEThe Ninth LessonDRILLS
AA: What are you doing?
B: I'm reading "Snow-white and Rose-red".
A: How many pages have you read?
B: Five.
A: What are you doing?
B: I'm doing my geography exercises.
A: How many exercises have you done?
B: Five.
A: What are you doing?
B: I'm making paper flowers.
A: How many flowers have you made?
B: Five.
BA: Has the plane arrived?
B: Yes, it has.
A: When did it arrive?
B: Half an hour ago.
A: Has the ship left?
B: Yes, it has.
A: When did it leave?
B: Half an hour ago.
A: Has the train gone?
B: Yes, it has.
A: When did it go?
B: Half an hour ago.
༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻TEXT
I HAVE SUNG ALREADYOnce a rich woman invited Martin Brown, a famous singer, to her house. She wanted him to sing for her friends. But she didn't invite him to have dinner with them. She told him to eat downstairs with the servants.
The singer was surprised. But he said nothing and went downstairs.
After the meal he stood up and said to the servants:
"Now, my good friends, I shall sing for you."
Of course, the servants were quite pleased. He sang them several songs. There was no piano in the room, but he didn't mind. When they asked for more, he sang more.
At nine o'clock the rich woman asked the singer to come up to the sitting-room. When he came in, the guests were all seated and waiting for the concert.
"We are ready now, Mr Brown," said the woman, "you may begin."
"Ready for what?" asked the singer.
"For your songs of course," she answered.
"But I have sung already," said Mr Brown, "and I can't sing twice in one evening."
"You have sung already!" said the rich woman in surprise. "But when? and where did you sing?"
"Just now, downstairs."
"Impossible!" she cried.
"But it's quite true, madam," said the singer. "I sang for the people after I had supper with them, you know."
And with a polite "Good night", he left the rich woman's house.
At page 83, 84, 85, 86, Book 4, The English Textbooks Series for Junior Secondary School(The 1st Edition, Published by the People's Educations Press, May 1983)
LESSON TENThe Tenth LessonDRILLS
AA: When did you get to know Jack?
B: The year before last.
A: Then you've known each other for about two years.
B: That's right.
A: When did you begin to learn English?
B: The year before last.
A: Then you've learned English for about two years.
B: That' right.
A: When did you come to this school?
B: The year before last.
A: Then you've been here for about two years.
B: That's right.
BA: How long has your uncle taught in that village?
B: He's taught there since 1965.
A: How long has your uncle lived in that street?
B: He's lived there since he came to this city.
A: How long has your uncle worked on that farm?
B: He's worked there since he left the army.
༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻TEXT
AN AUSTRALIAN BOY IN BEIJING 809 West Chang'an Street
Beijing, China
December 21st, 1983
Dear Peter,
I've been here in Beijing for half a year now. Beijing is in the north of China, so it's quite cold in winter. It has just snowed twice here. I'm going to have the first "White Christmas" in my life! It's hard to believe, isn't --- so warm in Australia and so cold here?
Thank you for the wonderful stamp! I've collected over three hundred Chinese stamps since I came here. I'm sending some Monkey King stamps to you. I think you will like them.
Now to answer some of your questions. Yes, I'm learning Chinese. Chinese is quite a difficult language for me. Last time Mum asked for some quilts in a shop. They showed her some cups. Dad and I had a good laugh over that. I've learned about five hundred Chinese words. I can even write a little Chinese now. Have you looked at the words on the Christmas card? I wrote them myself!
No, I'm not swimming. Instead, I'm learning to skate on real ice! I've had so many falls that I'm black and blue all over. But I'm learning fast.
I've travelled to several places in South China with Mum and Dad since we came to China. I've seen a lot of interesting things. I've made quite a few good friends, too.
I have to finish this letter now. Ask Uncle John and Aunt Alice to bring you, too, when they come in August. We'll have a good time together then.
Yours,
Mike
At page 93, 94, 95, 96, Book 4, The English Textbooks Series for Junior Secondary School(The 1st Edition, Published by the People's Educations Press, May 1983)
LESSON ELEVENThe Eleventh LessonDRILLS
AA: Your brother is a soldier, isn't he?
B: Yes, he is.
A: How long has he been a soldier?
B: For about two months.
A: Your brother is a League member, isn't he?
B: Yes, he is.
A: How long has he been a League member?
B: For about two months.
A: Your brother is in Guangzhou, isn't he?
B: Yes, he is.
A: How long has he been there?
B: For about two months.
A: Your brother is in England, isn't he?
B: Yes, he is.
A: How long has he been there?
B: For about two months.
BA: Have you ever been to the Great Wall?
B: No, never. What about you?
A: Yes, I have.
B: How many times have you been there?
A: Only once.
A: Have you ever been to Xi'an?
B: No, never. What about you?
A: Yes, I have.
B: How many times have you been there?
A: Only once.
A: Have you ever been to England?
B: No, never. What about you?
A: Yes, I have.
B: How many times have you been there?
A: Only once.
༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻TEXT
THE PIANO CONCERTA young woman in a small German town was going to give a piano concert. Her posters said she was a pupil of Franz Liszt, the great Hungarian pianist.
This was not true.
One day the woman learned that Liszt himself was in town. Now people would find out and she would never be able to give a concert again. What should she do?
Finally she went to see the famous man himself. She told him everything. Her parents were dead and she was alone. She had to make a living. She decided to give piano lessons to rich children. But who would send their children to an unknown young woman? So she told people Franz Liszt was her teacher.
"I believe you," Liszt said. "You've done wrong, but I can see you are truly sorry about it. That's enough. Now let me hear you play."
The young woman was shy at first. But then she saw Liszt smiling. It made her feel better. Now she wasn't afraid any more. She started playing. She put her heart into it and she played wonderfully. Liszt was quite pleased.
When she finished, she turned to look at Liszt. There was a smile on his face. She could see he was pleased. Then Liszt gave her some advice. After he finished, he said, "Now you really are my pupil. Go ahead with your concert. And you can add a note to the posters. Say that your teacher himself will be there. He will play the last piece."
At page 105, 106, 107, 108, Book 4, The English Textbooks Series for Junior Secondary School
(The 1st Edition, Published by the People's Educations Press, May 1983)
LESSON TWELVEThe Twelfth LessonDRILLS
AA: Where have you been?
B: I've just been to the library. Did anybody ask for me?
A: Yes, Li Ping did. He wanted his book back.
A: Where have you been?
B: I've just been to the League office. Did anybody ask for me?
A: Yes, Li Ping did. He wanted his book back.
A: Where have you been?
B: I've just been to the reading-room. Did anybody ask for me?
A: Yes, Li Ping did. He wanted his book back.
BA: Where's Wei Fang?
B: She's gone to the shop.
A: Please tell her to come to the teacher's office as soon as she comes back.
B: All right. I'll do that.
A: Where's Wei Fang?
B: She's gone to the post office.
A: Please tell her to come to the teacher's office as soon as she comes back.
B: All right. I'll do that.
A: Where's Wei Fang?
B: She's gone to the playground.
A: Please tell her to come to the teacher's office as soon as she comes back.
B: All right. I'll do that.
༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻༺༻TEXT
THE UNIVERSE AND MAN-MADE SATELLITESWhen we talk about the universe, we mean not only the earth, the sun, the moon and the stars, but also all the things too far away to see.
In the past fifty years or so, scientists have been able to "see" farther and farther into the sky. They have found many "new" stars. Those stars are not really new. They have been there million of years.
Of all the stars the sun is the nearest to the earth. Millions of other stars are even bigger and brighter than the sun. They look small only because they are much farther away. You can't see them in the daytime. But if you go out at night, you'll be able to see thousands of them.
The earth is one of the sun's planets, and the moon is our satellite. It is our nearest neighbour in space, and men have visited it already. No man has travelled farther than the moon, but spaceships without people have reached other planets.
Many countries have sent up man-made satellites to circle the earth. With their help, people have done much research in many fields of science.
Our country sometimes uses man-made satellites to send and receive TV programmes. This has helped the people of China and other countries to understand each other better.
At page 115, 116, 117, 118, Book 4, The English Textbooks Series for Junior Secondary School(The 1st Edition, Published by the People's Educations Press, May 1983)
LESSON THIRTEENThe Thirteenth LessonTEXT
MISS EVANSHave you ever heard the story about Miss Evans? It is a true story. Maybe many people have read about it.
One afternoon in April 1912, a new ship set off from England to America on its first trip. It was one of the largest and finest ships at that time and on it were over 2200 people.
It was cold, but the trip was pleasant and people were enjoying themselves. The next day was even colder. People could see icebergs here and there.
It was night. Suddenly the man on watch shouted, "Look out! Iceberg! Iceberg ahead!"
Its was too late. The ship hit the iceberg and came to a stop. There was a very big hole in the ship and water began to come inside. Slowly the ship started to go down.
People had to leave the ship. Women and children were the first to get into the lifeboats. Suddenly a woman shouted, "Please make room for me. My childrn are in that boat. I must go with them! Please!"
"There's no more room here," someone shouted back. The children heard their mother and began to cry.
A young woman was sitting near the poor children. She stood up. "Here," she shouted. "Take my place! I'm not married and I have no children."
She got out and the thankful mother joined her children in the lifeboat.
Soon after that, the ship went down. More than 1500 people lost their lives. Among those was the young woman.
Who was she? Her name was Miss Evans and she was going home to Boston. But nobody knew more about her than that.
At page 126, 127, 128, Book 4, The English Textbooks Series for Junior Secondary School(The 1st Edition, Published by the People's Educations Press, May 1983)
A STORY
Cao Chong Weighs the ElephantThis happened about one thousand and seven hundred years ago. One day somebody sent Cao Cao, King of Wei, an elephant. Cao Cao wanted to know its weight. "Who can think of a way to weigh it?" he asked. But nobody knew what to do, because there was nothing big enough to weigh it.
Then Cao Chong, one of the king's young sons, came up and said, "Father, I've got an idea. Let me have a big boat and a lot of heavy stones, and I'll be able to find out the weight of the elephant."
Cao Cao was surprised, but he told his men to do as the boy asked.
When the boat was ready, the boy told a man to lead the elephant down into it. The elephant was very heavy, and the water came up very high along the boat's sides. Cao Chong made a mark along the water line.
After that the man drove the elephant onto the bank. Cao Chong then told the men to put heavy stones into the boat until the water again came up to the line.
Cao Chong then told the men to take the stones off the boat and weigh them one by one. He wrote down the weight of each stone and then added up all the weights. In this way he got the weight of the elephant.
At page 139, 140, Book 4, The English Textbooks Series for Junior Secondary School(The 1st Edition, Published by the People's Educations Press, May 1983)
Supplementary Readings1. Standing Room OnlyLook at your watch for just one minute. During that time, 239 babies were born in the world. Perhaps you think that isn't much. In the next hour, over 14000 more babies will be born on the earth. So it goes, hour after hour. In one day people have to feed about 340000 mouths more. Just think how many more there will be in one year! What will happen in a hundred years?
The population problem may be the greatest one of the world today. Two thousand years ago, there were only 250 million people on the earth. Four hundred years ago, the figure was over 500 million. By the beginning of this century, however, the world's population was about 1700 million. In 1970, this figure was over 3600 million. People say that by the year 2000, it may be 8000 million. According to a UN report, in about 600 years there will be standing room only on the earth.
At page 156, 157, Book 4, The English Textbooks Series for Junior Secondary School(The 1st Edition, Published by the People's Educations Press, May 1983)
Supplementary Readings2. "What a Fool I Was!"On April 1, Mike decided to play a joke on his friends. At lunch-time he said to Tom, "I think we're going to have a science test this afternoon."
"A test?" said Tom. "Really?"
"Yes, it's quite true," said Mike. "When I was passing by Mr Hill's room, he was talking with another teacher about a test. I think there will be a science test this afternoon. Tell Paul and Kathy about it."
Later, Tom told Paul and Kathy about the test. Soon, almost all the students in Mr Hill's scienceclass knew about it. They quickly went into the classroom and began to study.
But not Mike. He was laughing to himself at his classmates. "What fools!" he thought. "April fools."
When class began, Mr Hill said to the students, "Class, we're going to have a test today."
Mike was surprised. He could not believe his ears. When Mr Hill handed out the papers, the students began to write. But not Mike. He had to think and think and think. As soon as class was over, the students gathered around Mike. All of them were very grateful to him. But he could only smile. "What a fool I was!" he thought.
Its really was April Fools' Day for Mike.
At page 158, 159, Book 4, The English Textbooks Series for Junior Secondary School(The 1st Edition, Published by the People's Educations Press, May 1983)
Supplementary Readings3. Dolphin LanguageOne day Mr Green, the science teacher, asked his class, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"I want to be a dolphin trainer like my uncle," Mike answered.
"Why do you want to be a dolphin trainer?" asked Mr Green.
"Because I'm interested in dolphin language."
"Dolphin language? Tell us more."
"All right," answered Mike. "My uncle tells me that dolphins are very clever. One day my uncle saw a sick dolphin in the pool. It couldn't come up for air. So it whistled to the other dolphins for help. They came to their friend and made some strange sounds. They looked sad. Then together they pushed the sick dolphin's head up above the water. Soon it got well."
Mike went on with his story.
"Some scientists once said to my uncle, 'if you live with a dolphin and talk to it all day, maybe you can teach it some words.' My uncle decided to do that. He lived with a dolphin. The dolphin loved to play ball so he decided to teach the word 'ball' first. He threw a ball to the dolphin and said the word 'ball' many times. Soon the dolphin started to say the word."
When Mike finished, John asked, "Can dolphins learn to speak Chinese, too?"
Mike said, "I think so. They're like children. Children learn their first words in the language of their parents. Maybe a Chinese can teach a dolphin its first words in Chinese."
Kate asked, "How do they make sounds?"
Mike didn't know.
"They make sounds through blowholes in their heads," said Mr Green. "Scientists know a little about dolphin language, but they have a lot more to learn."
"That's why I want to be a dolphin trainer," said Mike.
At page 160, 161, 162, Book 4, The English Textbooks Series for Junior Secondary School(The 1st Edition, Published by the People's Educations Press, May 1983)
Supplementary Readings4. The Arab and the CamelOnce an Arab was travelling on his camel. When the sun started to go down, he stopped and set up his tent. Then he made a fire, ate his meal and lay down to sleep.
Suddenly it began to blow. It became colder and colder. The camel put his head inside the tent. "Master, could you let me put my head in the tent?" It's so cold outside."
The Arab was a kind man. "Why, yes," he said. "Put your head in and get warm."
Then he went back to sleep. But before long, the camel woke him. "My head is quite warm now, but my neck is cold. Could I bring it inside, too?
"All right," the Arab said. And the camel put his neck in.
There wasn't much room in the tent now, as the camel had a long neck.
Again the Arab went back to sleep, but again the camel woke him up. "Master, I really must ask you to move over a bit. I've warmed my head and neck, but I'd like to bring my front legs inside and warm them up, too."
The Arab moved over. He had to sit up now, for there wasn't enough room for him to lie down and sleep.
"What next?" he wondered. Just then the camel said: "This tent is really too small for both of us. Besides, my other two legs are still out in the cold. Why don't you go out and leave the tent to me?"
And with that, the camel kicked the poor man out.
Give a greedy person an inch and he will take a foot.
At page 163, 164, Book 4, The English Textbooks Series for Junior Secondary School(The 1st Edition, Published by the People's Educations Press, May 1983)