UNIT 33 TOURIST ATTRACTION Lesson 65 PartⅠ

UNIT 33 TOURIST ATTRACTION

Lesson  65

PartⅠWarming-up Exercises

Numbers: Superlative World Geographical Statistics

Training Focus:

Identifying numbers with four to eight digits

Directions: This drill is for practice in writing numbers.

Listen carefully. Write down the numbers as rapidly as you can.

Key:

The biggest continent in the world is Asia. It covers 16, 998, 000 square miles.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean with 64,186,300 square miles.

Which is the biggest island ? It's Greenland. It occupies an area of 840, 000 square miles.

The Arabia Peninsula is the largest peninsula and has an area of 1, 000, 000 square miles.

Do you know which is the largest desert? Yes, it's the Sahara Desert in North Africa. It covers 3, 320, 000 square miles.

The biggest salty water lake is the Caspian Sea, which is 143, 244 square miles large.

Lake Superior is the biggest fresh water lake and it covers a total area of 32, 483 square miles.

The smallest continent is Oceania, with an area of 2,966,000 square miles, and the smallest ocean is the Arctic Ocean with 5,105, 700 square miles.

You all know the world's highest peak, don't you ? Mt. Qomolangma (Everest) is 29, 028 feet above sea level. In contrast, the lowest altitude in the world is the Dead Sea, 1, 312 feet below sea level, or you can say -1, 312 feet.

The deepest lake is Baykal in the U.S.S.R. The depth is 5, 315 feet.

Mariana Trench near the Philippines is the deepest trench, with a depth of 36,198 feet.

The longest river in the world is the Nile in Africa, It is 4,145 miles long.

Lesson 65 PartⅡ

Lesson  65

Ex.Ⅰ

Directions: Fill in the blanks with the information you hear on the tape.

Key: (see tapescript)

Ex.Ⅱ

Directions: Fill in the blanks with the adjectives you hear that describe the institutions and facilities of the town the speaker lives in.

Key: (see tapescript)

Tapescript:

Brazil  (1′5″)

I live in Brazil. As you know, that's one of the South American countries. We speak Portuguese in my country.

Brazil is a large country. It's the largest country in South America. There are a lot of industries there. Our textile plants manufacture cotton, linen and silk products. There are also large steel mills and rubber plants.

We have many important agricultural products. We grow coffee, corn, cotton and cocoa. We also produce wheat, rice, beans and bananas.

There are many large cities in Brazil. There are also several long rivers. The Amazon is the longest and the most famous.

I live in a town in southeastern Brazil. It's not a verylarge city, but it's not a small one, either. We have a good clinic, a fine hospital and many modern buildings. Our bus system is not very good, but we have a beautiful new airport. We have a very good school system. I'm a law student. I attend the university. It's excellent.

Lesson 65 Part Ⅲ

Lesson  65

Ex.

Directions: Fill in the blanks with the words you hear on the tape.

Key (see tapescript)

Tapescript:

The River Sea ----The Amazon  (2′56″)

“Do you think you'll have time to come with me on my next trip up the river ?” Louis' father asked suddenly one evening. Louis almost jumped out of his shoes. “Dad, are you serious ? I have been waiting all my life for this. When do we go ?”

“Your first trip on the Amazon ?” an old man asked.

“Yes,” said Louis, “I got on the boat with my father. He travels the river often on business. But this is my first trip.”

“Well, what do you think of the river ?”

“It's hard to believe. Now I know why they call it the river sea. I haven't seen any land all day.”

“Yes, it's the largest river in the world. Right here is more than a hundred feet deep. And the jungle of the Amazon is as interesting as the river.”

“Look ! I can see land now. How green and thick the trees are !”

“More than 8,000 kinds of trees grow in these forests,” said the old man, “and things grow very fast here.”

“A farmer told me that the bamboo grows as much as a foot a day. Everything is bigger in the Amazon, my father says.”

“He's right. Not only are the trees and plants big, but the snakes and insects and birds are, too. The world's longest snake, the anaconda, lives here. It's 25 to 30 feet long. It can swallow a deer, they tell me. The wings of the fruit bat are three feet across. Even the ants are huge.”

“Have you ever seen the army ants ?”

“Ah, yes, I have watched them for hours. They march through the jungle eating everything----animals, birds, snakes, plants.”

“The piranha isn't very big, is it ?”

“No, but those fish travel in very large schools. With their very sharp teeth, they can eat a big animal in two or three minutes.”

“I have been looking for them all day.”

“Oh, you'll see them. Just don't fall down in the middle of them.”

“Oh, here's my father. Dad, I have been hearing lots of things about the Amazon.”

“Well, there's lots to learn. I have been traveling on this river for many years, and I learn something new every trip I make.”

“That's true,” said the old man. “The Amazon has many secrets and many stories to tell.”

Louis looked at the water and thought of all the adventures to come. And the Amazon River rolled on.