教学目标
1. 掌握且能运用有关询问某人身体状况的日常用语，能述说健康状况以及谈论病情和给出建议或要求的日常交际用语。
2. 掌握本单元的词汇和习惯用语，特别是短语make up one’s mind, as if, at least等的用法。
3. 进一步学习动词不定式，学习用it 来充当形式主语的用法，有时还用it 来充当形式宾语，而真正的主语或宾语后置句末。如：I found it difficult to learn English well.
4. 认真学习”The man who loved dogs”和”Cody saves the baby”，体会人与动物自然、友好相处的和谐。
本单元词汇、短语及习惯用语
一、本单元所出现的词组和短语
make up one’s mind 下决心
regard…as … 把……当作……；当作
as if 好像
at sea 在大海上
just as… 正象；恰与……相同
mobile phone 可移动电话
half an hour 半小时
at all 根本；全然
at least 至少；起码
a doctor for animals 兽医
wag its tail, or put its ears straight up 摇尾巴或把耳朵竖起来
To help animals is helping people. 帮助动物就是帮助人类。
make sb. do sth. 使某人做某事
find something about him on the internet 在网上找到有关他的资料
a pet dog named Don 一条被叫做Don的爱犬
no matter 不管
before long 不久
work on 从事于……工作
be on the safe side 万无一失
to speak well of everyone 说别人好话
to complain too often 报怨太多
二、交际用语和句型
交际用语
表示肯定和不肯定 Expressing certainty and uncertainty
We can find ….我们能找到……。
喜好和厌恶 Like and dislikes
I like …. 我喜欢……。
I really love …. 我真的喜欢……。
I like to work with …. 我喜欢和……工作。
Do you like being …? 你愿意成为……吗？
请求允许和应答 Asking for permission and responses
— Can I ask you some questions? 我能问您一些问题吗？
— Sure. 当然可以。
主要句型
a. 陈述句
It is interesting to play with pets. 和宠物玩是有趣的。
To do the job well is not easy. 做好这项工作是不容易的。
It’s better to give than to receive. 奉献总比索取好。
To make a mistake is human. 犯错误是人之常情。
b. 疑问句
Is it easy to heal children? 给孩子治病容易吗？
But isn’t it more important to help people than animals? 但是难到帮助人类不比帮助动物更重要吗？
c. 否定句
It is not easy to learn maths well. 学好数学是不容易的。
教学建议（一）
教材内容分析
本单元主要学习询问身体健康状况、谈论身体状况以及对身体健康方面的一些忠告或建议、要求等的日常交际用语，还学习了一些常用语及部分同义或近义词的用法。在学习对话的同时，复习归纳了现在完成时时态，强调现在完成时态不能使用过去的时间状语。进一步学习了动词不定式，学习用it 来充当形式主语的用法。 通过对课文The man who loved dogs和Cody saves the baby的学习， 来体会人与动物友好相处的和谐。 同时要掌握本单元的短语和习惯用语。
关于阅读训练的教学建议
第15单元第58课与60课都是以叙事的方式，讲述关于狗的故事。The man who loved dogs讲述的是James Herriot做为兽医的艰苦历程和他对职业的奉献精神。Cody saves the baby讲述的是一只狗在地震时救了小主人的经过。两篇文章内容除了一些生词外，没有出现较难的语法项目。对于这样的语篇，可以通过教学设计，提高学生的阅读技巧和阅读速度。并在课堂练习或课后练习时，再阅读其他小短文，演练一下所学的方法，进而达到学会读大意，抓主题的快速阅读的目的。
让学生先对生词和短语进行熟悉，先看课后的习题或相关练习。再开始在限定的时间内通读全文，找出答案。再读课文，将事件的经过用几句话总结一下。并找几个同学试着复述课文，经过几次复述，对课文有个整体的掌握。教师应在此时引导学生注意阅读技巧，让学生反思有哪些问题可以通过改变阅读方式来解决。每篇文章都有重要的主题句，和一条或几条线索，抓住了主线，其他的内容都是作为辅助和注解出现的。根据此种阅读方法，提供另外篇阅读短文，进行课堂练习。
dolphin
Long ago, dogs and horses were tamed to become man's helpers on land. Today some people believe that dolphins may become man's helpers in the sea Proof that a dolphin can be trained to assist man appeared in 1965. The U.S. Navy used the services of a seven-foot dolphin, Tuffy.
Tuffy worked with divers at the Navy's Man-in-the-Sea station off the coast of California. He acted as messenger to a ten-man team whose underwater home was Sealab II, 205 feet deep.
Wearing a plastic harness, Tuffy carried letters in a waterproof tube. He also carried tools for the undersea workers. Tuffy learned to answer calls for help. Pretending to be lost, an aquanaut
would sound a buzzer. Another aquanaut would fasten one end of a line to Tuffy's harness .Tuffy would speed to the rescue.
More and more , it seems likely that old tales of dolphins' willingness to help man are closer to truth than to fiction .
1. The land animals dolphins are compared to are
A. oxen and horses B. dogs and cats
C. dogs and horses D. None of the above
2. The name of the trained dolphin was
A. Toughy B. Tuffy C. Tufty D. None of the above
3. The services of the dolphin were used by the
A. Government of California B. U.S. Army
C. U.S. Navy D. Scripps Institution of Oceanography
4. The article does not say that
A. the station was named Sealab II B. the station's depth was 205 feet
C. ten men were in the underwater team D. the men spent fifteen days at the station
5. For all his chores, the dolphin
A. wore a plastic harness B. carried a waterproof tube
C. carried a line D. carried tools
6. The signal for the dolphin's rescue chore was a
A. shout B. bell C. buzzer D. whistle
7. The purpose of the line the dolphin took was to
A. save the aquanaut from drowning B. lead the aquanaut back to the others
C. help the aquanaut to guide the dolphin D. carry a light to the aquanaut
8. The author suggests that this modern example makes old tales about dolphins seem
A. more truth than fiction B. more fiction than truth
C. half truth and half fiction D. entirely fiction
参考答案：
1. C 2. B 3. C 4. D 5. A 6. C 7. B 8. A
Swallows
简介
(1) 本文简单介绍了燕子的生活习性。
(2) 对小动物的介绍一般都是从细节到它的生活习性。
There are different kinds of swallows. Some swallows make their homes in the sand; others build their nests under the roofs. They make their nests of earth and grass.
It takes them several days to build a nest. They have to work in the early morning. The swallow lays five or six eggs at a time. The mother bird sits on them, and the father bird watches by her side and gives some food to her.
You must not think that when swallows fly over your head, they aren't working. No! Life is work to them. The young swallows eat a lot and they are busy catching the insects for them. So they have to work from early morning till late at night. At last the young birds can fly well, but the old ones can't rest. They began to think about their second family, for they have two broods every season.
When the second brood can fly, too, it's time to think about going to the warmer countries, and when spring comes, they'll return.
1．注解
(1) swallow n. 燕子
(2) nest n. 巢
(3) roof n. 屋顶
(4) lay v. 产（卵）
(5) insect n. 昆虫
(6) brood n. 一窝所孵的幼雏
2．．思考题
(1) Can you see swallows easily now? Why?
(2) In what way can we protect (保护) this kind of animal?