Project Making a display about national culture
ⅠGeneral induction
The project in this unit is designed to help you learn and use English practically. The reading material is a magazine article about one aspect of Australian culture. You ate expected to think about whether sport is a distinctive cultural feature of Australia.
Part A: Reading
1. In Australia, there’re many world-famous athletes, among whom Ian Thorpe , as far as I am concerned, is the best one. Let’s enjoy a video of him. Could you please say something about him?
Australian swimmer. He is known to be poised, confident, modest and calm. Swimming from the time he was eight years old, he keeps up practice with about 20 hours a week in the water. He broke a world record at the world short-course championships in Hong Kong in 1999. Thorpe had a very difficult four months in early 2000. He had to deal with a broken ankle and was accused by a German swimming coach of being a drug cheat when his drug test was botched in Berlin. In early 2000, there was a swim suit controversy when he featured, in cheeky TV ads for one of his sponsors, one of their black body-length "seal suits," alongside some real seals on the starting blocks of a swimming pool. Thorpe declared that he will wear a full-length body swim suit in his Olympic swimming races. The bodysuit (which has also been called the "frogsuit," and "Mr. Condom") has proven controversial, with some people claiming they add buoyancy and other advantages to swimmers. Full-body suits were cleared for use in the Olympics by the International Amateur Swimming Federation (FINA) in late 1999. In 2003 Thorpe had became the first swimmer in history to win three consecutive world titles in the one event, the 400m freestyle, and he finished the Barcelona championships with three gold, a silver and a bronze. Then added another string to his swimming bow in 2003 by twice breaking the Commonwealth record in the 200m individual medley. He has now won 18 National titles and has broken 13 long course world records. In 2002, firstly in Manchester at the Commonwealth Games, he won the 100m, 200m, 400m freestyle, as well as playing a part in all three relay victories. Then, in Yokohama at the Pan Pacs, he once again won the 100m, 200m and 400m trifecta and was in the 4x100m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay wins. He broke his own 400m world record in Manchester. He is an Olympic, World, Commonwealth and Pan Pacific champion, plus multiple World Record holder in the middle distance freestyle events, the winner of six gold medals at the 2001 World Championships; three gold at the 2000 Olympic Games and four gold at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Personal Best Times : 100m freestyle: 48.71 - 2nd fastest Australian all-time 200m freestyle: 1:44.06 - World Record 400m freestyle: 3:40.08 - World Record 800m freestyle: 7:39.16 - World Record 100m backstroke: 55.38 -3rd fastest Australian all-time
2. Read the article and find out as much information as possible about Australia. Answer the following questions:
When we talk about Australian people, what would you think of?
What sports are popular in Australia?
Why are they so popular?
3. Read the article again and fill in the following chart.
Sport
Examples
Why popular
Water sport
swimming; surfing; sailing
● most of the population live near the coast
● the sun shines most of the time
● a long coastline full of beaches
● a two-day weekend to enjoy the outdoors
Ball games
tennis; cricket; rugby; soccer; footy
● well-equipped facilities
● after-school lessons are given
● encouragement from parents and teachers
Others
horse racing
● long history
● a sport to watch
● almost everyone involved
4.Discussion: Do you agree that Australia is a sporting nation? Why or why not?
5. Finish Parts B1 and B2 on page 103.
Part B1 (page 103)
1 patience patient 3 week weakness 5 equipped equipment
2 devotion devoted 4 per cent percentage 6 climate weather
Part B2 (page 103)
1 a He is unable to grasp how to pronounce the word though he has practiced a lot.
b He grasped the doctor’s hand and shook it.
2 a The export of live animals is forbidden.
b American music is exported all around the word.
3 a The building is unfit for people to live in.
b The athlete is unfit and will miss tonight’s game.
4 a She was (not) content after receiving an apology.
b He threw the contents of the bin outside.
6. Let’s turn to Parts D1 and D2 on page 105 of the Workbook.
Part D1 (page 105)
1 seemingly 3 alongside 5 bay 7 recreational 9 exporting
2 approximately 4 sheet 6 fond 8 abundant 10 bound
Part D2 (page 105)
1 Owing to lack of money, the project will not continue next year.
2 You must admit you have a preference for sweet food.
3 John is content to just sit in front of the television all day.
4 He said he would equip his children with some special skills, such as drawing, singing and dancing.
5 He is now running his own advertising company in addition to his job at the university.
6 With the improvement of people’s living standards, TV programmes must cater to many different tastes.
7 In this area the percentage of school-leavers going to university is about seventy.
8 The teacher hopes that everyone in the class will participate in this discussion.
Part B:
1. Read the reading passage in Part A again and ask questions about the parts they you don/t understand.
2. Work in pairs to discuss the questions in Part B.
3. Present your project to the class.
Homework:
Read Part A on page 109 of the workbook.
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