SGK Tiếng Anh 12 - Unit 9: DESERTS

address. 
A. READING
Before voii read HiH
AUSTRALIA
• Simpson Dcscn
• SYDNEY
MELBOURNE
• Work in pairs. Ask and answer the following questions.
What do you know about deserts?
What kinds of plants and animals live in a desert?
Name some of the countries which have deserts.
It' you rood
Read the passage and do the tasks that follow.
Three great stretches of sandy desert almost circle the centre of Australia. To the north of Nullabor Plain stretches the Great Victoria Desert. In the west, the Gibbon, Great Sandy, and Tanami Deserts comprise an enormous sandy area. North of Lake Eyre lies the Simpson Desert, the last part of Australia to be explored.
The Simpson Desert lies between Lake Eyre in the south, the Macdonnel Ranges in the north, the Mulligan and the Diamantina Rivers in the east, and the Macumba and Finke Rivers in the west. The first European entered the Simpson Desert in 1845. But the desert remained a mystery until Madigan made an aerial survey in 1929. He named the desert after Simpson, President of the South Australian Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australia.
In 1936, Colson and an Australian Aborigine took camels across the desert. They travelled along the border of South Australia and the Northern Territory. Three years later Madigan led a scientific expedition across the sand dunes on a more northerly route. Colson and Madigan both travelled eastward across the Simpson Desert.
In the Simpson Desert there are different types of dunes. In the western part of the desert, there is a network of short dunes, mostly less than 10 metres high. Hummock grasses grow in loose sand on the crest and spinifex grows in the corridors between dunes and on the more stable slopes. .
In the northern part of the desert, the dunes are parallel and separated by corridors of low, open shrubland. Spinifex grows on the slopes of the dunes. These dunes are deep red-brown, but the sand is pale in the area where Queensland, South Australia and Northern Territory meet. Dry salt lakes up to 70 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide lie between long dunes with crests 20 metres high.
phrases.
stretch	 6.	dune	
sandy	7.	sloping	
aerial survey	 8.	steep	
Royal Geographical Society	9.	hummock	
of Australia	10. crest	
Australian Aborigine	11. spinifex	
Decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F).
According to the passage, there are three great deserts in Australia.
The Simpson Desert is the largest one in Australia.
The desert was named after Simpson in 1929.
Colson and Madigan travelled across the Simpson Desert in 1936.
There are more dunes in the western part of the desert.
Dry salt lakes are in the northern part of the desert.
Answer the following questions.
What are the names of the three great stretches of sandy desert which circle the centre of Australia?
Where is the Simpson Desert?
When did the first European enter the desert?
Who was Simpson?
How did E. A. Colson and an Australian Aborigine travel across the desert?
What are the dunes like in the western and northern parts of the desert?
How many kinds of grass grow in the Simpson Desert? What are they?
Read this stoiy and answer the questions that follow.
At a restaurant, a Vietnamese interpreter was having dinner with an American businessman. It was a delicious dinner and both of them enjoyed it enormously. Before the dinner was over, the interpreter asked the American businessman: “What would you like for your desert?” After a pause, the American businessman answered: “Trees and water”.
Is the story funny?
Where is the fun?
B. SPEAKING
Work in pairs. Check the trees and animals that you think might exist in a desert. Explain your choice.
banana
crocodile
eucalyptus
camel
cactus
fox
date palm
dog
grass
lizard
frog
rabbit
horse
goat
buffalo
sheep
Work in pairs. Find out as many natural features of a desert as possible. Then compare your notes with other pairs. Use the cues below.
climate	- plants/trees	- soil
rainfall	- animals	- seasons
Work in groups. You are going on an expedition across a desert with some of your friends. Discuss and choose the five most important things you should bring along with you. Explain your choice.
a knife	- a	gun	- a horse	- food
a box of match	- a	car	- a camel	- a blanket
water	- a	mosquito	net	- a cell phone	- a Walkman
c. LISTENING
Before you listen
Work in pairs. Ask and answer the following questions.
What is a desert?
How is a desert formed?
Can human beings make a desert? Why/Why not?
Listen and repeat.
frightening speed	Sahara	petroleum
Australia	firewood	Mauritania
While you listen
n
n
1 1
1 J
u
u
T F
L-IT Task You will hear an expert talking about deserts, what they are and how they are formed. Listen to his talk and decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F).
In a desert, everything is hard.
Only trees with hard needles can grow in deserts.
Space seems to have no limit in the desert.
Nature causes the change in the size and location of the world’s deserts.
Rabbits are one of the agents that help make deserts in Australia.
’ w Task 2. Listen again and answer the following questions.
What central theme does the talk examine?
What is a desert?
What causes the growing of the world’s deserts?
In what way do rabbits contribute to the growing of deserts in Australia?
ISsT Task 3. Listen to part of the expert’s talk again and fill in the missing word(s).
In developing countries, (1)	of the people use wood for
cooking and heat. They cut down trees for firewood. But trees are important. They cool the land under them and keep the sun off
(2)	. When leaves fall from a tree, they make the land
richer. When the trees are gone, the smaller plants die and the land becomes desert.
Humans can make deserts, but humans can also (3)	their
growth. Algeria planted a green wall of trees across the edge of the
Sahara to stop the desert sand from (4) 	. Mauritania
planted a similar wall around its (5)	. Iran puts a thin
covering of petroleum on sandy areas and plant trees. Other countries build long (6)	to bring water to the desert areas.
After you listen
Work in groups. Summarise the main ideas of the expert s talk. Use the following suggestions:
What is a desert?
What causes the growth of a desert?
What should humans do to prevent the growth of deserts?
D. WRITING
THE SAHARA DESERT
Study the information in the table below and write a composition about the Sahara Desert.
General information
Location
largest desert in the world
in northern Africa
extends from the Atlantic Ocean eastward past the Red Sea to Iraq
lies largely in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Sudan
Area
total area: more than 9,065,000 sq km
1,610 km wide and about 5,150 km long from east to west
Natural
features
arid land, dry climate (moisture is almost totally absent), very hot in summer and very cold in winter
few oases exist
sandy land and large dunes of sand
tableland with an average elevation from 400 to 500 m
Trees and
animals
few forms of animal and vegetable life
main trees: cactus, the date palm, and a form of acacia
main animals: gazelle, antelope, fox, jackal, camel
E. LANGUAGE FOCUS
Pronunciation: Full and contracted forms of auxiliaries
Grammar: So, but, however and therefore
• Read the following phrases. Pay attention to how the full and contracted forms of the auxiliaries are pronounced.
Full forms
Contracted forms
"A.
Full forms
Contracted forms
I am
I’m
I shall/will
I’ll
you are
you’re
you will
you’ll
he is
he’s
he will
he’ll
she is
she’s
she will
she’ll
it is
it’s
it will
it’ll
we are
we’re
we shall/will
we’ll
they are
they’re
they will
they’ll
• Practise reading these sentences.
I think I’ll buy a motorbike.
You’ll notice that there’s a girl coming. It’ll be much better if you could do it. We’ll have to talk to her.
She’s feeling much better now.
They’re students.
He’ll be 17 next month.
Exercise 1. Add so or but and a comma where appropriate. Examples:
It began to rain, so I opened my umbrella.
It began to rain, but he didn’t open his umbrella.
I didn’t have an umbrella	I got wet.
I didn’t have an umbrella	I didn’t get wet because
I was wearing a raincoat.
The water was cold	I didn’t go swimming.
The water was cold	I went swimming anyway.
Luan’s directions to his house weren’t clear	Binh
got lost.
The directions weren’t clear	Binh found Luan’s house
anyway.
Her friend lied to her	she still likes and trusts him.
Her friend lied to her	she doesn’t trust him anymore.
Exercise 2. Underline the correct alternative in the following sentences.
Dan didn’t study for the exam, however/but Lan did.
You could fly via Vienna; but/however it isn’t the only way.
They have lived next door to US for years, yet/however we hardly ever see them.
My friend and I were tired, so/however we went home early.
We had wanted to stay until the end of the game, but/however it got too late for US.
I understand your point of view. However/Although I don’t agree with it.
The normal pulse for an adult is between 60 and 80 beats per minute, so/but/however excitement will make a pulse much faster.
The food didn’t look appetizing, but/however many people started eating.
Exercise 3. Add so, therefore or however where appropriate. Example: It began to get dark, so I turned on the light.
I think, therefore I am.
He worked hard,	he could earn much money.
The shrimp was only 2 dollars a kilo this week,	I bought
three kilos.
He’s been studying really hard, 	 he can pass the
exams.
She is still not good at Maths.	she cannot be the best
student in her class.
OK, you can take Chemistry as your major. 	you
should remember that it is not easy to leam Chemistry.
The boy has chosen to do an MBA programme in Australia. 	I think you should let him go.
It was already 6 p.m.,	we closed the office and
went home.
Advertisers often say that their products are the best.	-
the real quality is not as good as it is advertised.