Unit 1 School life

School life in the UK

Lead-in

Reading strategy

Detailed-reading

Post-reading

Homework

What is your What is your

dream school dream school

life like?life like?

Beautiful school campus with modern

school facilities.

Providing selective courses (drop some

of the subjects that you do not prefer).

A great variety of school activities

involved.

More free style is welcomed with fewer

rules and regulations.

Higher requirement of students academic

ability, relatively higher burden.

Being at ease with teachers.

Offering more chances of connecting

society, concentrating on the form of life

abilities.

Sincere friends and classmates

whenever you can turn to.

Read the Reading strategy on page 3

and answer two questions below:

1. Why do we skim a text?

How do we do it?

2. Why do we scan a text?

How do we do it?

Skimming How to get a general idea?

Read the text “ School life in the UK”

quickly and answer the following

questions.

1.What did Wei Hua think of her life in U

K?She thought it was a very enjoyable

and exciting experience.

2. What subjects did Wei Hua study in th

e past year?

3. Which British city did Wei Hua go to?

English, History, English literature,

Computer Science, Maths, Science,

P.E., Art, Cooking and French.

Manchester.

Topics mentioned in the text:

□teachers □ students□ friends □ subjects □ homework □ grades □ festivals □ timetable□ activities □ host family□ food □ hobbies □ school rules □school hours□school assembly □Art class

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We skim a text when we want to get a

general idea of what it is about.

We focus on the title, the first and last

sentences of each paragraph.

Read the sentences below and

decide which ones are true and

which ones are false according to

the article you have just read.

1. Wei Hua’s favorite teacher was

Mr. Heywood. FMiss Burke

2. Most British classes have fewer than

thirty students.

3. Wei Hua had more homework in her

school in China.

4. It was very expensive for Wei Hua to

communicate with her parents.

T

T

F

free

5. In the UK, students can choose to

stop studying any subject.

6. The cake made by Wei Hua did not

taste good.

F

F

some

We scan the text when we want to find

certain information in a text quickly.

We focus on: key words and phrases

dates, numbers.

Scanning

to get certain information

1. According to the headmaster, what sho

uld the students spend much time on?

2. Why was it a struggle for Wei Hua to re

member the names of her classmates?

They should devote themselves to study.

Because there were different students in

some classes.

3. Why did Wei Hua find her homework

difficult at first?

4. Who gave Wei Hua a lot of support in

her studies?

Because all the homework was in

English.

The teachers gave her much

encouragement.

5. How did Wei Hua manage to improve

her English?

6. What do the British like eating at the

end of dinner?

Dessert.

She used English everyday and spent

an hour each day reading English books

in the library.

Read the text again and choose

the best answers to the

questions below.

A. What the headmaster told them sounded

like what she used to hear in China.

B. She used to get up at 8 am. in China.

C. She was such a good cook that she

liked cooking British food.

D. She didn’t like History or Art, so she

chose cooking.

1. Which of the statements is true?

2. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Her English improved a lot as she used

English every day.

B. School life in the UK is busy and bitter.

C. She had a wonderful experience in

a British school.

D. She was happy with the British school

hours.

3. Which of the following has the closest

meaning to “I could send e-mails to my

family and friends back home for free”?

A. I could e-mail my family and friends

back home without paying money.

B. I could e-mail my family and friends

back home freely.

C. I could e-mail my family and friends in

my free time.

D. I could be free to e-mail my family and

friends back home.

4. The writer’s purpose of writing the

passage is to ______.

A. tell us that she doesn’t like school life

in Britain

B. excite more students to study abroad

C. improve her English

D. introduce her exciting and happy

school life in Britain

5. The writer felt lucky because _______.

A. she could get up an hour later than usual

B. the headmaster told them to earn respect

by working hard and achieving high

grades

C. she had been given a golden opportunity

to study in Britain and met helpful and

friendly teachers and students

D. she improved her English

General ideasGeneral ideas

Parts Paragraphs Main idea

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Para. 1

Paras. 2-7

Para. 8

Wei Hua’s feeling about

staying in a British high

school for one years

Different aspects of

school life in the UK

Wei Hua’s hope

D Find these new words in the

article and match the words

with the correct definitions.

Words Meanings

enjoyable

earn

devote

get something because you

have done something good

give most of your time and

energy to something

giving pleasure

Words Meanings

average

challenging

extra

satisfaction

usual or common

difficult in an interesting

way that tests your ability

more than usual

the good feeling you have

when you get what you want

E Complete the letter to Wei Hua.

Answers :

1.___________ 2.___________

3.___________ 4.___________

5.___________ 6.___________

7.________________

experienced

Literaturestruggle

encouragement

fond

dessertrespect

Work in pairs.Work in pairs.

1. Should students study more

languages?

2. What subjects would you like to take

if you could choose? Why?

Nowadays, more and more young

students are going abroad to study.

What effects will the new school life

have on them?

Debate

Advantages:1. widen their view2. improve their English3. learn to be independent and cooperate

with others4. learn about foreign customs and culture 5. let the foreigners learn about China

and attract them to invest in China6. learn advanced technology

Disadvantages:1. cost of money and cause a heavy

burden to their parents

2. feel homesick

3. form bad habits

4. stay in a foreign country and refuse to

come back

Read the text carefully again and

try to find out the language points.