Unit 1

How can we become good

learners?

To read, write, listen and speak about your problems in learning English

To learn new words: pronounce, increase, speed, ability, …

What’s your problems in learning English?How do you solve them?

I have difficulties in learning English.

Can you help me?

The difficulties he has in learning English

• New words: can’t pronounce some of the words /spell some English words

• Speaking: be afraid to speak• Listening: can’t understand spoken

English• Writing: can’t make complete

sentences• Reading: read very slowly• Grammar: make mistakes

I can’t pronounce some of the words.

I can’t understand spoken English.

I don’t know how to increase my reading speed.

I can’t spell some English words.

I often make mistakes in grammar.

1a Learning English can be difficult.

What things are difficult for you? Read

the list. Check ( ) the statements that ✔

are true for you.

don’t know enough words to write well.can’t get the pronunciation rightbe afraid people might laugh at mecan’t always make complete sentencesforget a lot of new wordscan’t understand when people speak too quicklydon’t get much writing practicecan’t understand the words in magazines

What other things are difficult for you? Make a list. (1b)

1c Paul finds it difficult to learn English. Listen and complete the learning challenges he talks about.

1. He can’t get the______________ right.

2. He___________ a lot of new words.

3. He can’t always__________ when people

talk to him.

4. He doesn’t get much___________ practice.

pronunciation

forgets

understand

writing

1d Listen again. Complete the solutions.

1. ________________ can help.

2.He can always_____________________ in

his notebook and study them at home.

3.He can________________________

to practice speaking.

4.He should find a_______ to practice writing.

Listening

write the new words

join an English language club

pen pal

1e Role-play conversations using the

information in 1c and 1d.

A: I don’t have a partner to practice English with.B: Maybe you should join an English club.

A: I can’t get the pronunciation right.B: Maybe you should listen tapes.

A: I can’t always understand when people talk to me.B: Maybe you should join an English language club to practice speaking.

A: I forget a lot of new words.B: Maybe you should write the new words in your notebook and study them at home.

Pair work

mistake vt. 弄错 , 误解I mistook the number and went to the wrong room. 我记错号码 , 走错了房间。 n. 错误 ; 过失Tom didn’t make a single spelling mistake in his composition. 汤姆在这篇作文里一个字也没拼错。make mistakes 犯错 ; 出错

Language points

challenge n. 挑战He wants a career that offers a challenge.

他想要一份有挑战性的事业。 vt. 向 ...... 挑战 ; 对 ...... 提出异议I challenged him to show his proof.

我要他拿出证据。 He challenged my view on that matter.

他就我对那件事的看法提出异议。

solution n. ( 问题、疑难等的 ) 解决 ; 解答It may take a long time to find a solution

to the problem.

也许要花很长时间才能找到解决这个问题的办法。 The solution of the problem requires a lot

of time.

解决这个问题需要很多时间。

2a What good learning habits can you

think of? Make a list and discuss them

with your partner.

2b Read the passage quickly and check if any of the habits you listed in 2a are mentioned. Which four habits of successful learners can you find from the passage?

USING DICTIONARIES

This can help you find the definition that

matches the context of the word in the text.

How Can You Become a Successful Learner?

Everyone is born with the ability to learn. But whether or not you can do this well depends on your learning habits. Research shows that successful learners have some good habits in common.

Creating an interest in what they learnStudies show that if you are interested in something, your brain is more active and

it is also easier for you to pay attention to it for a long time. Good learners often connect what they need to learn with something interesting. For example, if they need to learn English and they like music or sports, they can listen to English songs or watch sports programs in English. This way they will not get bored.

Practicing and learning from mistakesGood learners think about what they are good

at and what they need to practice more.

Remember, “use it or lose it”! Even if you learn

something well, you will forget it unless you use

it. “Practice makes perfect.” Good learners will

keep practicing what they have learned, and

they are not afraid of making mistakes.

Alexander Graham Bell did not invent the

telephone overnight. He succeeded by trying

many times and learning from his mistakes.

Developing their study skills

It is not enough to just study hard. Good

learners know the best ways they can study. For

example, they may take notes by writing down

key words or by drawing mind maps. They also

look for ways to review what they have learned.

They may do this by reading their notes every

day or by explaining the information to another

student.

Asking questionsGood learners often ask questions during or after class. They even ask each other and try to find out the answers. Knowledge comes from questioning.

Learning is a lifelong journey because every day brings something new. Everything thatyou learn becomes a part of you and changes you, so learn wisely and learn well.

Language Points

1. Everyone is born with the ability to learn. But whether or not you can do this well depends on your learning habits. (1)Be born 意为“天生，出生”为被动语态，

be 动词通常用 was 或 were ， born 为bear 的过去式。 E.g. I was born in a small village.

我出生在一个小山村。 He was born to succeed in life. 他生来注定会成功。

(2) ability 在此处为不可数名词，意为“能力”常构成短语 have the ability to do sth. (

有能力做某事 ) ， 而不用 “ have the ability

of doing sth” 结构。 Man has the ability to speak.

人类有说话的能力。(3) whether or not 意为“是否” whether 引

导主语从句，不能与 if 替换。 whether she will come or not is still a

problem. 她是否会来还是个问题。

(4) Depend on 意为“ 视……而定，取决于；依靠；依赖 。后接名词，代词或动名词。既不能用于进行时态也不能用于被动语态。We depend on the newspaper for daily news.

我们得靠报纸得知每天的消息。You may depend on his coming.

你可以相信他会来。

2. Studies show that if you are interested in

something, your brain is more active and it

is also easier for you to pay attention to it

for a long time.

(1) Active –adj, “ 活跃的，积极的” 可作表语

或定语。常用短语： take an active part in,

意为“积极参加”Although he is over 80, he is still very active.

他虽然年过八十，但是仍很活跃。

We all take a part in the sports meeting.

我们都积极参加运动会。(2) pay attention to “意为 注意，关注”，其中 to 为介词，其后可接名词、代词或动词 -

ing 形式。You’d better pay attention to this word in the

English exam last time.

你最好注意一下上次英语考试中的这个单词。

3. Good learners often connect what they need

to learn with something they are interested in.

(1) connect…with… 意为“ 把……和……联系起来” 其中 connect 为及物动词，意为“（使）连接；与…有联系”，其名词形式为connection ，意为“连接；关系”Please don’t connect this lesson with that

person. 请不要把这个人和那个人联系在一起。

(2) need 在此处为及物动词，意为“需要” 其后跟名词、代词、动词不定式或动词 -ing

形式。 need 作实义动词时，既可用于肯定句，也可用于否定句和疑问句，构成否定和疑问句时要借助助动词 do/ does/ did.

I need a lot of money now.

我现在很需要钱。You need to take good care of your mother.

你要好好照顾你妈妈。

4. Good learners think about what they are

good at and what they need to practice more.

(1)Think about 意为“考虑”其后接名词、代词、动词 -ing 形式或宾语从句。

They are thinking about a serious problem.

他们正在考虑一个严肃的问题。(2) Be good at “ 擅长” 同义于 do well in “ 在

某方面做得好”He is good at English.= he does well in English.

5. Even if you learn something well, you will

forget it unless you use it.

（ 1 ） Even if “意为 即使，尽管”，用于引导让步状语从句，有退一步设想的意味，同义于“ even though”

I’ll help you, even if I must stay up the

whole night. 即使熬夜一整晚我也要帮助你。（ 2 ） forget 后直接跟名词、代词、动词不

定式或动词 -ing 形式，但两者意义完全不同。

Forget to do sth 和 forget doing sth.

Forget to do sth: 忘记去做某事forget doing sth. 忘记做过某事e.g. I forget to turn off the light.

我忘记关灯了。 I forget turning off the light.

我忘记已经关灯了。

6. They also look for ways to review what they

have learned.

（ 1 ） look for 意为“寻找” 后跟名词或代词作宾语。

E.g. they are looking for the missing child.

他们在寻找失踪的孩子。 比较： look for, find 与 find out

Look for: 寻找，强调寻找的动作和过程，是 有目的的寻找。

find: 找到，发现，通常指找到或发现具体的东西，也可指偶然发现某物或某种情况，强调结果。

Find out: 弄清，查明，多指通过调查、询问、研究后搞清楚、弄明白，含经过困难、曲折的意味。

2c Read the passage again and answer

the questions.

1.Does the writer think that everyone is born

with the ability to learn well? Do you agree?

Why or why not?No. No, I don’t. Because whether or not youcan learn well depends on your learning habits.

2. Why is it a good idea to connect something

you need to learn with something you are

interested in?Because if you are interested something, your

Brain is more active and it is also easier for

You to pay attention to it for a long time.

3. What do the sayings “use it or lose it” and

“practice makes perfect” mean? Do you

agree with them?We should keep practicing what we have

learned. Even if we learn something well, we

will forget it until we use it. Yes, I do.

4. Do good learners learn from mistakes or

are they afraid of making mistakes?

Good learners learn from mistakes.

6. Do you agree that learning is a lifelong

journey? Why or why not?

5. What study skills does the writer talk

about? Do you have those study skills?

Creating an interest in what you learn,

practicing and leaning from mistakes,

developing study skills and asking questions.

Yes, I do./ No, I don’t.

Yes, I do. Because every day brings something new.

2d Look up the following words from thepassage in the dictionary. Then write a sentence for each word.

brain n. connect v. overnight adv.

attention n. review v. knowledge n.ability n. active adj. wisely adv.

e.g. brain: A good way to train the brain is to do some math exercises every day.

2e Do you think you are a good learner? What learning habits do you think are useful? Discuss with your group and share your ideas with the class.

Can you think of other ways to become a successful learner? Discuss with your group and share your ideas with the class.

A: I think another way to become a successful

learner is by trying to think about the

same thing in different ways.

B: I agree. I believe that ...

3a Your friend wants to improve his/her English and asks you for help. What are the three best ways to learn and why? Make some notes in the chart.

Best ways to learn

Reasons

1.Being interested in what you do

If you are interested in something, your brain will be more active and…

2.

3.  

Examples

If you like music, you can learn English by listening to English songs.

 

Use the following expressions to help you:

There are three good ways to …

I think you should ...

If you do this, you will ...

It is also a good idea to ... because ...

You could try to improve your English by ...

This will help you to ...

3b Write a letter to your friend. Give him/her some advice about the best ways to learn English. Use your notes in 3a.

Dear Mary,

There are three good ways to help you learn

English.

The first way is being interested in what you

do. Because if you are interested in something,

your brain will be more active and smart. For

example, if you like music, you can lean English

by listening to English songs. The second way is…

Write a letter telling a friend how to be a good learner.

Dear Li Lei,

I know it isn’t easy to learn English

well, but I have some ideas that may

help. You said you couldn’t

understand people who talked fast.

Well, you can try to listen for the most

important words, not every word.

Sample writing

You can also do lots of listening practice.

I think it’s one of the secrets to becoming

a good learner. Another thing that I think

important is English grammar. In order

to learn it well, you have to take a lot of

grammar notes in every class. You can

write English sentences using the

grammar you are learning. You can

also read more English books. Reading

is as important as listening for us to

learn English well. If you do so, I

believe that you can learn English very

well later on.

Yours,

Meimei

根据提示内容写一篇题为“ How to be a good

learner” 的作文。要求：1.必须用上提示内容，语句通顺，书写规范。2. 词数 80左右。提示： habit, way; get ready, listen;

go over, homework; study in groups, help each

other; work hard, do sports…

How to be a good learner

As a good leaner, we should have good

habits and ways of learning. We need to get

ready for our lessons before class and always

listen carefully in class. After class, we must go

over the lessons and finish our homework on

time. It’s good to study in groups and help each

other. As a student, working hard is important

but don’t forget to do sports and keep healthy.

We should do more reading in our free time. If

we have any problems, we’d better ask others

for help.

I hope all these will be helpful to us.

自我练习

1.We should read aloud to practice our p_____________.2.As teachers, we must be p_______ with our students.3. He is careless, so he always makes many m________ in his homework.4. Listening to the teacher carefully is the s_______ to becoming a good language learner.5. I’ve learned a lot of k__________ from his report.

根据句意及首字母提示完成单词。

ronunciationatient

istakes

ecretnowledge

1. Are you _______ (害怕的 ) of snakes?2. My teacher reads the article _________ (慢慢地 ).3. He _________ ( 意识到 ) he had left his bag at home.4. We should help the people in _________ (困难 ).5. My mother doesn’t know our ________ (秘密 ) plan.

根据汉语提示完成单词。afraid

slowly

trouble

realized

secret

从方框中选择适当的词汇完成句子。 spoken, difficult, quickly, favorite

1. It’s very _________ to work out this problem.2. This girl can’t understand _________ English.3. My father spoke very _________, so I couldn’t hear him clearly.4. What’s your ________ way to learn math?

difficult

spoken

quickly

favorite

根据汉语提示完成句子，每空一词。1. 我姐姐从不犯语法错误。 My sister has never ______ _________ ___ __________.2. 上周琳达加入了语言俱乐部。 Last week Linda ______ the _________ _____.3. 他哥哥总是在家里学习新单词。 His brother always ______ ____ _______ ___ ______.at home

made mistakes

in grammar

joined

club

language

studies new words

Translate and write them down.

1. 令我吃惊的是，我发现自己和这个陌生人之间有很多共同之处。

2. 天气若不很冷，我总是开着窗户睡觉。

To my surprise, I found I had a lot in common with this stranger.

I sleep with the window open unless it’s really cold.

3. 你能依靠她来应付 (deal with) 这种局面。

4. 请注意你的字迹。

5. 他对小说 (fiction)感兴趣。

You can depend upon her to deal with this situation.

Please pay attention to your handwriting.

He was interested in fictions.

(2013 •重庆） You can improve your

English _______ practicing more.

A. by B. with C. of D. in

(2013 •南京） Linda’s father hates waiting

in long lines. I think he’s just not

very_____.

A. patient B. talented

C. popular D. powerful

A

A

(2013 •金华）— Tommy, you can never let

others know what I have told you today.

—Don’t worry. I will keep the ______

A.secret B. money

C. address D. grade

（ 2013 •云南 )You don’t have to ____every

new word in the dictionary while reading.

A look for B. look up

C. look at D. look after

A

B

(2013•呼和浩特 )When you visit a museum

you should ______the instructions and

don’t be against them.

A. compare with B. look forward to

C. pay attention to D. try out

(2013 •泰安 )—_______ you’ve tasted it, you

can’t imagine how delicious the dishes are.

A.Because B. Although

C. When D. Unless

C

D

What good learning habits can you

think of? Discuss them with your

partner.

Homework