T: Yes, you're right, we may change it like this: 

Recently Alice traveled on a long-distance train.

 Step 5 Careful Reading

1. Play the tape again and tell the students to listen carefully then answer the following questions: 

(The teacher shows them on the screen.)

1. What's Alice's destination?

2. Was the scenery the same during the whole journey?

3. What did she do while she was on the train?

4. What did the Australians use to travel to the central part of the country?

5. They don't use camels to deliver goods now, do they? 2. Ask the students to listen and read it carefully, then ask the questions in pairs or individually work.

Suggested answers: 

1. Her destination was the central part of Australia.

2. No, it wasn't.

3. She read books and listened to her Chinese cassettes while she was on the train.

4. The Australia used camels to travel to the central part of the country.

5. No, they don't.

 Step 6 Language Points

T: Now you've known the main idea of the passage. Now listen to the tape paragraph by paragraph. Meanwhile, find out the important phrases and difficult sentence.

(After a while.) 

Teacher asks three students to point them out in each paragraph, teacher writes them on the blackboard.

have one's first ride

on a long-distance train

What a ride!

get on　get off　get into　get out of　spend...on...　look like　more than　during  the day　look out of　at midnight　try doing　be short of　more than the 1920s　not...any more　allow sb. to do... 1. We spend two days and nights on the train.

2. What a ride!

3. We ate great meals cooked by experts!

4. The Afghans and their camels did this until the 1920s.

5. They didn't need the camels any more.

 Step 7 Practice

T: Now put the phrases into Chinese and try to make a sentence with each of them.

(The teacher asks the students to make sentences before the class and gives the examples on the screen.)

1.Recently I had my first ride on a long-distance train.

不久前，我第一次坐了长途火车。

（1）recently 最近，近来，通常与过去时、现在完成时连用。

I haven't seen her recently.

我最近不曾遇到她。

The accident happened quite recently.

那次意外不久前才发生。

He has been ill until recently.

他最近一直生病。

(2)long-distance 是复合词（合成词），其他复合词表达法还有:

①复合形容词

duty-free, kind-hearted, absent-minded, good-looking, fast-paced

②复合动词

baby-sit, aped-read, house-keep, about-turn, window-shop

③复合名词

birth-control, tug-of-war, speed-reading, daughter-in-law, air-raid

2. And what a ride!

一次多么美妙的乘车旅行！

本句为感叹句，主谓语被省略。全句为:

What a (beautiful) ride it was!

很多感叹句是由 what 或how引起的。

what修饰名词；how修饰形容词、副词和动词。how后面所接的副词、形容词有时被省略。即（how +adj.(adv.)+名词+动词）

(1)What a lovely day(it is)!

多么好的天气！

(2)What beautiful flowers they are!

这些花多么漂亮！

(3)What a pity you can't go!

你不能去真可惜！

(4)What a nice voice he has!

他的嗓音多么甜润！

(5)What wonders those students have done!

How:

(1)How fast he speaks!

(2)How good of you!

(3)How heavily it's snowing! 多么大的雪！

(4)How I wish I were young again! 我多么希望再年轻一次！

(5)How beautiful (the ring is)!

（这个戒指）多么漂亮啊！

(6)How high the kite is flying!

那风筝飞得多么高啊！

有时候，感叹句可以由一些单词或词组组成。

Dear me!

A good idea!

3. Suddenly, it looks like a place from another time.

突然间，时空好像发生了转变。

(1)look like (vt.)看起来像

She looks so much like her mother.

她看起来很像她的母亲。

(2) 好像要

Look at that dark cloud, it looks like rain.

看看那乌云，好像要下雨。

(3)看起来似乎=look as if(as though)

4. I sat and looked out of the window.

我坐在那儿看着窗外。

look out (1) 查出；找出 (2) 当心；注意

You must look it out in the dictionary.

look out of (1) 当心；提防（2）寻找；注意（某人的出现）；留心找（某物）（3）美国人口语中有时表示"照顾"。

英语中用法很活，其中要意思和用法如下:

look 作动词，看、望、瞧（vi.）

(1)单独使用

Look before you leap (proverb).

He looked but saw nothing.

I wasn't looking (at you ).

Look and see how clever he is!

(2)和介词连用

The artist looked at her with scorn.

Look at the camera, please.

The doctor looked at his injured hand.

She look out her silver watch to look at the time.

I've got some picture books for you to look at.

When George arrived home, his sister was looking at TV.

Look at the boy run!

5．We got on in Sydney and we got off in Alice Springs, right in the middle of Australia.

我们在悉尼上车，在澳大利亚中部的艾丽斯普林斯下车。

get on 上（车，船等）

get off(从汽车，船，马等)下来

get out of 下（车）；从......出去（不可用被动语态）

get into 上车；进入；坐进（轿车，出租车）

get...out off 从......出去

Get out of here! 滚出去（滚开）！

get a car out of the garage 把车从车库开出

I got off(the bus) at the next bus stop.

我在下一个公共汽车站下车。

get...off(可分开用)使人由......下来

6. They tried riding horses, but the horses didn't like the hot weather and sand.

他们试着骑马，但那些马不喜欢炎热的天气和沙漠。

try to do (努力去做......试行......）(try one's best to do)

try doing 试着做某事/尝试；是想知道结果而尝试着做做看。

e. g. I will try to learn Japanese.

我要设法学会日语。

He tried cleaning the spot with alcohol.

他试着用酒精擦拭那污迹。

They tried to catch the bus, but they didn't.

The students tried doing the experiment some other way.

7. The Afghans and their camels did this until the 1920s.

直到20世纪20年代，阿富汗和我们的骆驼还在做着这样的工作。

(1）the 1920s　20世纪20年代

the 1830s　　　19世纪30年代

the 60s　　　　　60 年代

in his 80s　　　在他八十多岁的时候

(2）until的不同用法:

①注意用在否定句中，"到 ......为止；直到......才......"，常与表示瞬间性动作的动词连用。（before）

The noise of the street didn't stop until midnight.

街上的噪音一直到午夜才停止。

It was not until today that it was made public.(用于强调句)

那件事直到今天才被公布出来。

②表程度，直到......程度；终于

He practiced batting until he was tired out.

他练习（棒球）打击直到疲劳为止。

比较下列句子:

(1)It was not until he told me that I knew me.

直到他告诉我，我才知道。

(2)The children won't come home until it was dark.

孩子们不到天黑不回家。

8.So they didn't need the camels any more.(他们不再需要骆驼了)

not...any more=no more

not....any longer=no longer

这几个短语可通用，但注意它们在句中的位置变化。

He is no longer/no more a child.

=He is not a child any longer/more 

=He is not any longer/more a child.

值得注意的是:表示某个动作和状态因为某种因素而突然不再延续时，应用no longer或not any longer。

高考例题:

（1）-Excuse me, is this Brown's office?

-I'm sorry, but Mr Brown __________works here. He left about three weeks ago.

A. not now　　　

B. no more

C. not still

D. no longer

(2)-Will you give this message to Mr white, please?

-Sorry, I can't, he__________.

A. doesn't any more work here

B. doesn't any longer here work

C. doesn't work any more here 

D. doesn't work here any longer

解析:1.D　2.D.以上两题空格所表示的动作均出乎主人公意料，只能用no longer或not any longer。

9. In 1925, they passed a law which allowed people to shoot the animals if they were a problem.

在1925年，他们通过了一项法律允许人们去射击野兽。

其中 which allowed people to shoot the animals...是定语从句，修饰先行词allow且句中which不可省略。

再如:He lives in the room which faces to south.