This section consists of a series of activities which provide you with an opportunity to practice your listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. The task is divided into three steps and each step is preceded with a skills building activity. Through the three steps, you will learn how to listen to instructions, how to find out different information and how to give reasons for your choices. You are expected to apply what you learn in the skills building sections to write an e-mail to give information about the travel to Dalian.

Skills building 1: listen to instructions

In this part, you will learn how to listen to instructions.

T: What sentence structures are often used to give instructions?

S: You should …/ You will need to…/ You will have to…

Quite good. Now let’s read the guidelines and the key structures in this part. You will know what you should focus on when listening to instructions.

Step 1: taking notes for future action

Part A

T: If you are going somewhere for holiday, what do you need to plan?

S: Where to go, when to go there, how to go there, how much money to spend, who to go with, what to do there and so on.

T: Let’s come to the context of Part A. Two families are planning their May Day holiday trip to Dalian. Read the notes before you listen to the recording and make sure that you know what you should listen for.

Tapescript

Mother: As you know, we are going to visit Mr. An in Dalian with your cousin’s family during the May Day holiday. We will meet your cousin’s family in Beijing and travel tighter to Dalian. Mr. An was your father and uncle’s childhood friend. He moved to Dalian five years ago and they haven’t seen him since.

Father: We’d like you to arrange our trip to Dalian. We know this will be a big job for you, but we thought that you would enjoy finding some information about Dalian.

Mother: Yes. So why don’t you write down what information you need to find? The first thing will be for you to decide how we should get there. Before you decide on the means of transport we should take, your should phone Mr. An and ask if he can give you some suggestions. Also, have a look on the Internet to see if there is any information there that can help you arrange our trip. We plan to spend no more than two thousand and two hundred Yuan on transport for both the families, which is three people traveling from Nanjing to Beijing and six people traveling from Beijing to Dalian. Once you have decided on the means of transport, you need to go the ticket office and find out about the timetable for the means of transport you have chosen. Then you can decide what time we should leave. Is that all clear?

Father: I’d like you to do one more thing after that. Please send your uncle an e-mail to tell him about the arrangements. You’d better write everything down as he always forgets about things. Remember to tell him what you have decided about how we shall get there and why, and what time we shall be leaving. Also, remind him not to be late to meet us. Otherwise, he will miss the train!

Now I’ll check the answers with you.

Answers

A 1 how to get there 2 Phone 3 Internet 4 method 5 2,200; 6

6 ticket office; timetable 7 leave 8 Send an e–mail; remind

Part B

Now let’s listen to the conversation in Part B and find out advantages and disadvantages of taking different means of transport. Find out why they do not choose to go by aetoplane.

Tapescript

Student: Good afternoon, is that Mr. An?

Mr. An: Yes, it is.

Student: My father and his brother were your childhood friends. He wrote to you to say we are all coming to see you during the May Day holiday.

MR. An: Oh, yes. You know I am so looking forward to seeing him and you again after all this time.

Student: Do you remember me, Mr. An?

Mr. An: Of course I do. You were twelve when I left Nanjing.

Student: That’s right. My parents asked me to call you about our trip to Dalian. I’ve got some questions to ask you. Is that OK?

Mr. An: OK. What are your questions?

Student: My parents asked me to find out the best way to travel from Nanjing to Beijing, and then from Beijing to Dalian. They said that you might have some suggestion.

Mr. An: I’m not sure which one is the best, but there are four ways. As I know, you can’t fly because your mother hates flying. The other three ways are by ship, coach and train, but there are advantages and disadvantages for each one. If you come by ship, it will take a long time and I remember that your father does not like ships. If you come by coach, it takes sixteen hours just to get to Beijing. If you take the train, there are several to choose from leaving at different times. Trains can be crowded, but I do think it will be the most convenient way for you to travel. Anyway, why don’t you look on the Internet to help you decide?

Student: Thanks. That gives me a good start. In fact, Mum told me to look on the Internet too. Anyway, thanks again for your help and we will see you soon. Bye.

Mr. An: Bye, and say hello to your father for me. See you soon.

Now let’s check our answers.

Answers

B

Means of transport Disadvantages Advantages

Ship takes a long time;

father dies not like boats

Coach it takes sixteen hours just get to Beijing

Train very crowded There are several to choose from leaving at different times; quickest and most convenient

Part C

Let’s read the information on the web page about Dalian in Part C on page 59. Compare the information about different means of transport and to complete the notes below the passage.

Answers

C

Won’t choose

by air because Mum hates flying

by road because the storms washed away the road and it is still under repair

by ferry because sometimes the slow ferries are not very punctual so they are not reliable. There is no guarantee that you can get the particular ferry you want

Will choose by train because a new service has just opened between Beijing and Dalian, so we can first take a train to Beijing and then change a train to Dalian.

Skills building 2: finding out different information

T: If you are going somewhere, what information should you know before you go on the trip?

S1: which way to travel

S2: the timetable for the transport

S3: travel time

S4: travel cost

S5: the number of changes needed

……

Read the guideline in this part first. Then read the questions and the information in the chart. If the question is not complete, you should complete the question first.

Step 2: buying tickets

Now you have decided to go to Beijing and then Dalian by train, and you are going to buy the tickets for the fastest train. Work in pairs, with one person selling tickets and the other as the person who wants to buy the tickets. The student who is going to buy the tickets should ask the ticket seller some questions to decide which train should be taken. Remember to choose the fastest train within the budget. Do you still remember how much money can be spent on the tickets for you all?

Work in pairs to make up a dialogue. Some of you will be asked to present your dialogue to the whole class.

Sample answers

S1: Do you have trains that go from Nanjing to Beijing and trains that go from Beijing to Dalian?

S2: Yes, we do.

S1: Is the train from Beijing to Dalian a fast train? We want to get to Dalian as quickly as possible.

S2: Let’s see. There are two trains from Beijing to Dalian. Train T225 leaves Beijing at 18:00 and arrives at Dalian at 6:00 the next morning. Train T81 leaves at 21:21 and arrives at 6:58.

S1: There isn’t much difference between the two arrival times. But we should choose a proper train to go from Nanjing to Beijing, so it will be convenient for us to catch one of the two trains to Dalian. Which one do you suggest we take?

S2: There are trains to go from Nanjing to Beijing. The fastest line is T66.

S1: How long does it take to get to Beijing on that train?

S2: Nearly 11 hours. That’s 10 hours 54 minutes. But the arrival time is at 9:24 in the morning. Since the departure time of the two trains to Dalian is at 18:00 and 21:21, you will stay in Beijing for about or more than 9 hours.

S1: What about the arrival times of the other three trains?

S2: You can take either 1426 or K102. They arrive at Beijing at 14:34 and 14:10. And you’ll have enough time to change the train there.

S1: Good! How much does it cost to buy a hard sleeper ticket?

S2: 216 yuan one ticket for 1426 and 265 yuan for K102. As to Dalian, 257 yuan for T225 and 222 yuan for T81.

S1: Hm…I can spend at most 2,200 yuan on the tickets. So I’ll buy 3 hard sleeper tickets of 1426 to Beijing and 6 of T225 to Dalian.

Now complete the notes below the timetable.

Answers

Tickets

From Nanjing to Beijing

Train No.: 1426

From Beijing to Dalian

Train No.: T225

Total travel time: 27 hr 26 min

Total cost for two families: 2,190 yuan

Skills building 3: giving reasons for your choices

Boys and girls, you are asked to write an e-mail to explain the reason why you have made the decision. Do you know what you should explain and how to explain your decisions? Now read the guidelines in this part.

Step 3: writing an e-mail to your uncle

1. First discuss what you should write in the e-mail according to the information gathered in steps 1 and 2. You can write an outline to organize your reasons in the e-mail to help you write it well. You can take the following as an example.

What to write

the decision: travel by train

the reasons: why to travel by train;

why not to travel by boat or by coach or by plane

the decision: which trains to take

the reasons: why to take the chosen trains, considering travel time and travel allowance

2. Now begin to write your e-mail. Then some of you will be asked to present your e-mails to the class. If you have some difficulties, you can discuss in pairs.

Possible example

Dear Uncle,

We’ve decided to go Dalian by train after comparing different means of transport. Dalian is a port city and it is convenient to get there by ferry, but we’ll have to go to shanghai first. The problem is, during the peak travel season the slow ferries are not very punctual, and there is no guarantee that we can get the particular ferry we want. Besides, we can’t go there by air because Mum is afraid of flying and the air tickets would be very expensive. The travel allowance for this trip is only 2,200 yuan. Concerning the above matters, we decided to take trains and meet you in Beijing. First, my parents and I will take Train 1426 that leaves for Beijing at 23:08 on the 30th, and we will arrive at 14:34 on May 1st. We’ll meet you and take T225 to Dalian. The departure time is 18:00. We’ll get to Dalian at 6:00 on May 2nd. The ticket for 1426 is 216 yuan and for T225 257 yuan for one person. So we’ll spend 2190 yuan on the train tickets altogether. We’ll meet at the Beijing Train station. Remember the departure time and don’t be late for the train.

Best wishes,

(Your own name)

Step 4: Practice:

A. Read the passage about the importance of transportation and fill in the chart.

Have you ever thought about how important transportation is to the world? Without transportation modern life could not exist. We have come to depend on the availability (可用性) of three principal kinds of transportation.

Automobiles, railroads, trucks, and pipelines are the principal means of land transportation. Ships, barges, and submarines (潛水艇) form the chief means of water transportation. Without our principal means of air transportation, the airplane, we would have to slow down our lives and commerce. Nearly every major city in the world provides some form of public transportation. The most common form of transportation is the bus. Buses have been in use in major cities since approximately 1900. They provide transportation service on innumerable (無數的) routes from the city center to the suburbs and even to outlying rural areas that surround the city. Subways are mostly found in larger cities, such as New York, London, Beijing, Paris, Sydney, and Tokyo. The subway is an underground system of high speed trains. The world’s first system was built in London, and trains have been operating there since 1890. Subway trains move more quickly and efficiently than buses. They, too, are inexpensive and help solve city traffic problems. The one drawback of subway trains is that they are often crowded and noisy. Taxicabs are more expensive than buses or subways, but they deliver you to the exact location you want in the shortest time possible. Taxis are convenient if you are in a hurry or if you are taking along a number of suitcases or packages. And as an added attraction, many cab drivers will tell you stories about their adventures as taxicab drivers or even the details of their life stories. If you ever visit a major city in another country, you probably have no trouble getting around. You will quickly find out about city bus routes and schedules, and about crowds on subway trains. Like many people, of course, you may come to the conclusion that the most inexpensive and reliable form of transportation will be your own two legs.

Three principal kinds of transportation

The advantage(s) of cars

Subways Advantage(s)

Disadvantage(s)

Taxicab (taxis) Advantage(s)

Disadvantage(s)

The most inexpensive and reliable form of transportation

B. Tom is writing a letter to a newspaper editor, telling him his opinion about what he saw this morning. Please complete the letter by filling each blank with one proper word.

Dear Editor,

This morning, I saw many cars (1) ____________ for the traffic lights at the (2) ____________ road when a large number of people came to the cars. Some of them were selling newspapers while others were (3) ____________ drinks and brushes. One woman was rushing to the cars with some magazines. Another girl was running as fast as she (4) ____________ to the cars, carrying some other things. Even one beggar was (5) ____________ at the windows of the cars to ask for money!

As a (6) ____________, the road looked very messy and the drivers felt so uncomfortable and frightened that they couldn’t drive even though the lights had turned (7) ____________.

In my opinion, this is very bad for (8) ____________ and the environment. What’s worse, it’s very (9) ____________ for the people selling those things. Some (10) ____________ should be taken to stop it.

Yours,

Tom

Answers

A.

Three principal kinds of transportation Land, sea and air

The advantage(s) of cars innumerable routes to almost everywhere in and out of the city;

Subways Advantage(s) move more quickly and efficiently; inexpensive; to help solve city traffic problems;

Disadvantage(s) often crowded and noisy

Taxicab Advantage(s) to the exact location; convenient if you are in a hurry or with a number of suitcases or packages; drivers’ stories.

Disadvantage(s) more expensive

The most inexpensive and reliable form of transportation

walking

B.

(1) waiting (2) crossing (3) selling (4) could (5) knocking

(6) result (7) green (8) traffic (9) dangerous (10) measures

Step 5: Homework:

1. Read the passage in Part A on page 133 of the workbook.

2. Finish the writing exercise in Part B.