Unit 3 Listening

Unit 3 Listening

Listening P23

□ canyons

□ forests

□ valleys

□ mountains

□ fish

□ waterfalls

□ floods

□ horses

□ Laos

□ Thailand

□ Tibet

□ Dali

Listening Text

On the way to meet their cousins, the tw

o travellers see a girl (G) walking along

the road. Wan Kun (WK) stops to speak

to her.

WK: Hello!

G: Hello! Are you travelers?

Where are you going?

WK: Yes, we are. We’re following

the Mekong River from its

start to where it joins the

sea. We’ve been all through

China and now we are going

to follow the river in Laos.

G: I come from Laos. That’s our most

important river. Do you know that it

even appears on our national flag.

WK: Really?

G: Yes. We use the river for everything

including washing, fishing and

moving things around the country.

We would be lost without it. It’s

better than a road.

WK: Well, I suppose that’s why

I’ve seen boats going up and

down- they’re transporting

goods and people.

G: Yes. We call it “the sea of Laos”

because it is so useful and we

are not close to the see.

WK: How interesting! In Tibet the

river was called “The water

of the rocks” and in Vietnam

it is known as “the river of

the nine dragons”. Those

names sound so beautiful.

G: Well, the Mekong River is very

beautiful, especially when it

enters Laos from Tibet. It goes

through so many lovely places

with mountains and thick

forests. The scenery can take

you breath away.

WK: I never realized that! In Tibet

it was all waterfalls and

rapids.

G: There are other beautiful sights

along the Mekong River in our

country. They include temples,

caves and a waterfall. It is a

protected area so you know it’s

very special.

WK: Can we sleep by the river?

G: Yes, of course you can. They

are many small villages along

the river. You can stay there if

you wish. They fish in the river

and you can eat some

wonderful soup there.

WK: We’ve already seen many

different kinds of

animals, plants and birds

along the riverbank. We

were happy

to see them.

G: Well, there are many other

things to discover about the

Mekong River in Laos.

WK: Thank you so much for

telling us so many things.

Goodbye.

G: Goodbye.

Listening P55

□ Dali

□ Cambodia

□ moonlight

□ mountains

□ yaks

□ cows

□ Laos

□ coats

□ border

□ ducks

□ floods

□ Africa

Listening Text

We met Dao Wei and Yu Hang in Dali.

They were glad to join us for the secon

d week of our journey down the great

river. Before we set out, we went to a s

mall outdoor cafe and told them about

what we had seen in Tibet.

Along the way, children dressed in

long wool coats stopped to look at us.

I told them how it was so cold in the

late evening that the water in our

bottles froze. The lakes shone like

glass in the moonlight. Few trees

could be seen.

I said we were so high in the mountains

that we cycled through clouds. In the

valleys, colorful butterflies flew around

us. We saw many yaks and sheep eating

green grass. That night we were too

tired to make camp, so we slept in an

inn for truck drivers.

They told us many wonderful stories

about life in this part of China.

The next day we went across the

border into Laos. Most of its western

border is made by the Mekong River.

Laos, we learned, has the smallest

number of people of any country in

Southeast Asia.

Much of the world knows little about it. As we cycled across the plains where rice grew, we could see many low mountains covered in trees. We had planned our trip well. We were told that autumn was the best time to be traveling here and it was true. It was cool and dry so there was no need to worry about floods along the river.

Listening Task P58

1. In the village the cyclists saw_____.

A. electric lights B. candle lights

C. Kerosene lights (油灯 )

2. After lunch they went to Vientiane, t

he capital city of Laos by_____. A.

bike B. bus C. truck

3. They greeted an old man by ____.

A. putting their hands together

B. moving their hands

C. waving their arms

4. In Vientiane, they saw____.

A. trucks, buses and bicycles

B. cars, motorbikes and buses

C. trucks, buses, jeeps and motorbikes

5. The Mekong River is very rich

in____.

A. gold B. pearls C. fish

Listening Text

On our third night in Laos, we

slept in a village on little pieces of wood.

The village had no lights. In a few

houses, however, we could see candles.

On the small road near the village, we

heard only one truck all night.

The river was also quiet, like a man

singing in a low voice from a boat as it

slowly passed us. The next morning we

made an early start and traveled quite

far before lunch. Along the way, strang

e buses called tuk-tuks passed us. For l

unch we ate a special noodle soup.

After lunch we were tired, so we put our bikes next to many other bikes on a bus and we were driven to Vientiane. A cage of chickens sang for us all the way! The capital city of Laos was very busy. Trucks, buses, jeeps and motorbikes filled the streets. We got on our bikes again and went to see a famous Buddhist temple.

Early that evening we cycled south

of the city and followed the river to a

big waterfall. As it got dark, a bright o

range moon appeared in the sky. The

next morning we stopped to talk to an

old man fishing on the Mekong. We gr

eeted him with our hands put together,

in the way of his people.

He smiled and moved his head down a

bit. He told us that during the rainy

season the river became much larger.

But, he said, the river is always rich in

fish life. Indeed, he said, it has more

different kinds of fish than any other

river in Asia. He also told us about the

changes on the river he had seen over

the years. For him, the river was part

of the only way of life he had ever

known. Later that afternoon we cycled

faster and farther, hoping to reach the

border with Cambodia in two days.