Superior Mississippi Washington,

New York,

Los Angeles,

Chicago,

Houston,

Philadelphia,

Miami, Atlanta,

San Francisco

Pacific Atlantic Canada Mexico Cascade,

Coast,

Brook,

Alaska,

Rocky Appalachian

Ask students to complete the passage about what they have learned about America.

The USA lies in _________________, bordering both the ________ Ocean and

the _______ Ocean, between ________ and ________. There are _____ states in

the US. Forty-eight of them are in the single region, while _______ and _______

are not contiguous with any of the other states.

Keys: the North American, Atlantic, Pacific, Canada, Mexico, fifty, Alaska, Hawaii

Step Ⅲ Pre-reading

1. Ask students if they have a chance to go to the USA, where they prefer to visit, California or Washington DC or other cities and the reason.

2. Show students some beautiful pictures of California.

3. Introduce some knowledge about California to students.

It has an area of 411,000 square kilometers. And it is one of the American states of the largest population, with the most developed economy.

California is amazing. The pleasant weather, long beach and graceful natural landscape make the tourism prosperous.

4. Show students three pictures on page 2, 3 and ask them to think about "How is each picture relevant to the history of California?"

Native Americans- one of the first people to live in California.

Gold miners - the discovery of gold in California created a gold rush which brought people from all over the world to California.

A building in Chinatown, San Francisco - Many Chinese have settled in California and many of them live in Chinatown in San Francisco.

5. Ask students to finish the quiz about California.

1 California is the ____ largest state in the USA.

A. third B. second C. fourth D. fifth

2 California, a state in the western USA, borders _____.

A. the Pacific Ocean B. the Indian Ocean C. the Atlantic Ocean D. the Arctic Ocean

3 _____ is California's largest and the nation's second largest city.

A. Sacramento B. Los Angeles

C. San Diego D. San Francisco