Unit 7 What's the highest mountain in the world?

Section A

1b Listen and complete the sentences.

Yesterday, we learned some important geographical facts.

I hope you all still remember them.

I'm going to test you now by asking a few questions.

First, what's the highest mountain in the world?

Qomolangma! It's higher than any other mountain in the world.

That's right.

And who can tell me what the Sahara is?

The Sahara is the biggest desert in the world.

Very good. And which is the deepest salt lake in the world?

The Caspian Sea is the deepest of all the salt lakes.

You're all so smart!

Now, for the last question, which is the longest river in the world?

I know! The Nile is the longest river in the world.

And the Amazon is the second longest river in the world.

It seems that you know the answers to all my questions.

Good job!

2a Listen and number the facts  in the order you hear them.

Hi, I'm Mike. I'm from the United States.

Welcome to our class, Mike.

We're happy to meet you.

Can you tell me a bit more about China?

Sure! Did you know that China is one of the oldest countries in the world?

It's over 5, 000 years old.

Yes, I did.

It's much older than my country—

in fact, the United States is one of the youngest countries in the world.

It's not even 300 years old.

And China has the biggest population, too.

It's a lot bigger than the population of the United States.

But China is about the same size as the US, right?

Yes, and it's the biggest country in Asia.

We also have some famous rivers.

The Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia.

It's about 6, 300 kilometers long.

Wow! I didn't know that.

I thought the Yellow River was longer.

No, the Yellow River is 5, 464 kilometers long.

But both rivers are very important to China.

2b Listen again and fill in the blanks in 2a with the numbers in the box.

Hi, I'm Mike. I'm from the United States.

Welcome to our class, Mike.

We're happy to meet you.

Can you tell me a bit more about China?

Sure! Did you know that China is one of the oldest countries in the world?

It's over 5, 000 years old.

Yes, I did.

It's much older than my country?

in fact, the United States is one of the youngest countries in the world.

It's not even 300 years old.

And China has the biggest population, too.

It's a lot bigger than the population of the United States.

But China is about the same size as the US, right?

Yes, and it's the biggest country in Asia.

We also have some famous rivers.

The Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia.

It's about 6, 300 kilometers long.

Wow! I didn't know that.

I thought the Yellow River was longer.

No, the Yellow River is 5, 464 kilometers long.

But both rivers are very important to China.

2d Role-play the conversation.

Feel free to ask me anything on today's Great Wall tour.

How long is the wall?

Ah, the most popular question!

If we're only talking about the parts from the Ming Dynasty, it's about 8, 850 kilometers long.

This makes it the longest wall in the world.

Wow, that's amazing!

Why did the ancient emperors build the wall?

The main reason was to protect their part of the country.

As you can see, it's quite tall and wide.

As far as I know, there are no man-made objects as big as this.

Is Badaling part of the Ming Great Wall?

Yes, it's the most famous part.

3a Read the article and match each paragraph with the main ideas.

Qomolangma—the Most Dangerous Mountain in the World?

One of the world's most dangerous sports is mountain climbing, and one of the most popular places for this is the Himalayas. The Himalayas run along the southwestern part of China. Of all the mountains, Qomolangma rises the highest and is the most famous. It is 8, 844. 43 meters high and so is very dangerous to climb. Thick clouds cover the top and snow can fall very hard. Even more serious difficulties include freezing weather conditions and heavy storms. It is also very hard to take in air as you get near the top. 

The first people to reach the top were Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary on May 29, 1953. The first Chinese team did so in 1960, while the first woman to succeed was Junko Tabei from Japan in 1975.

Why do so many climbers risk their lives? One of the main reasons is because people want to challenge themselves in the face of difficulties. The spirit of these climbers shows us that we should never give up trying to achieve our dreams. It also shows that humans can sometimes be stronger than the forces of nature.