Ss: Good morning/ afternoon, Mr. /Ms...

T: Class begins. What class are we having?

Ss: An English class.

T: How many English classes do we have every week?

Ss: Five.

T: That is to say English is a very important subject at school. Yesterday we learned that around 400 million speakers of English as a first language. How many people speak English as a second language?

Ss: Many more millions.

T: What about as a foreign language?

Ss: English is the most widely studied foreign language in the world.

......

T: Then why do so many people learn English? Do you think learning English is important for your future?

Step II Before you start

Discuss the two questions in Before you start.

T: Ok, discuss the two questions in Before you start on page 6. Work in groups please.

While students are discussing the two questions, Teacher should walk around the classroom and give necessary help when needed.

Several minutes later, ask students to present their answers. Show the suggested answers on the PowerPoint.

Suggested answers to Ex1 on page 6

1. Various reasons can be acceptable. Yes, Learning English well will help me to be admitted by a famous university. /Yes. I would like to work in an international company. There are many international companies in China. If you want to work in an international company, English is a must. / Yes. Because I am fond of traveling and I would like to travel around the world and English is a world language. So I must learn English well.

2. Various answers can be acceptable. Yes, it is very difficult to learn English well. Because we don't have many chances to use what we learned in class. As time goes