Module 1 Amazing things
Unit 2 Numbers
╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮
Reading
The king and the rice
A long time ago, there was a king in India. The king's favourite game was chess.
One day, a wise old man came to the palace and the king challenged him to a game. The king promised the old man, "You can have any prize if you win the game."
The old man said, "If I win the game, I'd like one grain of rice for the first square of the chessboard, two for the second, four for the third, and then double the amount for each of the rest of the squares."
"Is that all?" asked the king. "Wouldn't you like gold or silver instead?"
"No, just rice," replied the old man.
The king and the old man played the game for a long time. Finally, the old man won. So the king ordered his men to collect a bag of rice. He put one grain on the first square, two on the second, and so on. The king quickly realized the problem—even with all the rice in the country, he would still not have enough rice to put on all the squares!
╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮
Listening
A quiz about numbers
Top tip
We can express numbers in different ways:
0.25 (zero) point two five
17.17 seventeen point one seven
27% twenty-seven per cent
11 Dec. 2008 the eleventh of December, two thousand and eight
1:15 one fifteen/(a) quarter past one
341 2205 three four one, double two zero five/three four one, two two o five
Listen to a quiz about numbers and circle the correct answers.
Good morning, kids. It's quiz time. You'll hear eight short conversations. Please circle the correct answer to each question.
1 W:The king was sixty-three years old two years ago.
M:How old is the king now?
2 W:What time is it now?
M:It's twelve thirty.
3 W:What's today's date?
M:It's the eleventh of October.
4 W:What's your phone number?
M:My phone number is five six two, two double eight one.
5 W:How tall are you?
M:I'm one hundred and sixty-five point five centimetres tall.
6 W:How much is this computer?
M:It's four thousand seven hundred yuan.
7 W:How much of the air is oxygen?
M:About twenty-one per cent of the air is oxygen.
8 W:How many students take part in after-school activities?
M:There are thirty-three students in the class. Two thirds of them take part in after-school activities.
1 a 65; b 36; c 33
2 a 12:13; b 12:30; c 12:40
3 a 11 October; b 10 November; c 11 November
4 a 565 3881; b 566 2881; c 562 2881
5 a 165.5 cm; b 135 cm; c 116.5 cm
6 a ¥4,700; b ¥7,400; c ¥4,070
7 a 11%; b 31%; c 21%
8 a 33; b 22; c 32
╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮
Speaking
A Talk time
Strong and weak forms
Some words have both a strong form and a weak form.
| |
a |
an |
for |
of |
to |
| Strong form |
/eɪ/ |
/æn/ |
/fɔː(r)/ |
/ɒv/ |
/tuː/ |
| Weak form |
/ə/ |
/ən/ |
/fə/ |
/əv/ |
/tə,tu/ |
| |
the |
and |
can |
have |
he |
do |
| Strong form |
/ðiː/ |
/ænd/ |
/kæn/ |
/hæv/ |
/hiː/ |
/duː/ |
| Weak form |
/ði,ðə/ |
/ən(d),n/ |
/kən/ |
/həv,əv/ |
/hi/ |
/də,du/ |
In most sentences, we use the weak forms of these words.
He went to the hospital and visited a friend.
/hi went tə ðə ˈhɒspɪtl ən ˈvɪzɪtɪd ə frend/
Sometimes we use the strong forms for emphasis.
S1: You can't dance.
/ju kɑːnt dɑːns/
S2: Yes, I can.
/jes aɪ kæn/
Listen to the conversation below. Pay attention to the pronunciation of the words in blue. Then practise it in pairs.
May: What's your favourite subject, Ben?
Ben: Maths. Our Maths teacher uses a lot of games to help us learn. He makes the class really interesting. Also, I like to work with numbers.
May: OK. Do you know the number of students in your class?
Ben: Yes, I do. There are 35 students in my class—18 boys and 17 girls. I can remember all their birthdays!
May: You're amazing!
B Speak up
Mandy did not copy her homework correctly, so she called Joyce. In pairs, check the Maths problems in Mandy's exercise book. Follow the example.
Joyce: Hello, this is Joyce speaking.
Mandy: Hello, Joyce. It's Mandy.
Joyce: Hi, Mandy. What can I do for you?
Mandy: I don't think I copied down the Maths problems correctly. Can I check them with you?
Joyce: OK.
Mandy: Number 1. Is it seventy-two plus twenty-seven?
Joyce: No. It should be seventy-two plus two hundred and seventy-two.
...
╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮╰★╮╰☆╮
的图标>>英汉双语释义
