UNIT 2 LIFE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
Listen and read.
Nguyen: Nguyen speaking.
Nick: Hi Nguyen, how`s your stay there?
Nguyen: Nick, hi! Well, it`s more exciting than I expected.
Nick: What are you doing?
Nguyen: Lots of things. It`s harvest time, so we help load the rice onto buffalo-drawn carts, ride it home and dry it. Have you ever ridden a cart?
Nick: No, but I`d like to.
Nguyen: And sometimes I go herding the buffalo with the boys.
Nick: You`ve made new friends?
Nguyen: Yeah “right on my first day. They came and took me to the paddy fields to fly kites.
Nick: Where can you buy a kite in the countryside?
Nguyen: The people here don`t buy kites - then make them. My grandfather`s made me the largest, most colorful kite I`ve ever had. It looks great up there in the sky.
Nick: Oh, I’m so envious!
Nguyen: Ha...ha... I guess. I live more happily herf . and there`s still a lot more to explore.
Nick: Sounds great!
Nguyen: And everything seems to move more slowly here than in the city.
Nick: i wish I could join ...
Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?
Nguyen didn`t think country life could be so interesting.
Nguyen never joins the boys in herding the buffaloes.
Rice is transported home on trucks.
Nick would like to visit the countryside at harvest time.
Nguyen thinks life in the City is faster than that in the countryside.
b. Answer the following questions.
Where is Nguyen now?
When was he able to make new friends?
What is Nguyen`s kite like?
Who is Nguyen probably staying with?
What does Nick mean when he says I’m so envious?
c. Complete the sentences with the words in the box.

buffalo-drawn cart colorful
herding move slowly
harvest time paddy field
When a thing has lots of bright colours, it is ………..
When people are not in a hurry, they ………..
A busy time when people collect their crops is called………..
A place where rice grows is called a ………..
My brother is taking his buffaloes out to feed them. He`s………..them.
Rice is loaded onto a………..to transport it home.
In groups, discuss and final how Nguyen feels about his stay in the countryside. Tick (√) the appropriate box. Look for expressions from the conversation to support your ideas.
He likes it.
He doesn`t mind it.
He doesn`t like it.
2 Match the activities with the pictures
1. flying a kite
2. herding the buffalo
3. riding a horse
4. collecting water
5. drying the rice
6. loading the rice
3. Can you think of some more things tha children do in the countryside? Make a list
They climb trees.
They go swimming in the river.
Share your list with the class.
4 GAME: COUNTRYSIDE CHARADES
Play charades in two teams using the class list of countryside activities from 3. The teacher whispers an activity to one person from Team 1. This person mimes the activity for their team to guess. If their team guesses incorrectly, Team 2 can try. The teams take turns until all the activities have been mimed. The team with the most points wins.

A CLOSER LOOK 1
VOCABULARY
Listen and repeat the words.
slow boring
colorful inconvenient
friendly vast
hard peaceful
2 Put the words in 1 into the appropriate category. Some words can be used in more than one category.
people
life
scenery
3. Match the nouns/ noun phrases in the wIth each verb.
hay a pole wild flowers
water a camel the buffaloes
a horse apples
a tent the cattle
ride put up collect herd pick
4 Use the words from 1 and 3 to complete the sentences. Remember to use the correct for of the verbs.
When summer comes, we enjoy …………………… blackberries.
2. Our village has no running water, which …………………… We have to help our parents …………………… water from the river.
3. In the countryside, children learn to ……………………the cattle when they are small.
4. Have you ever …………………… a horse? I think you have to be ………………… to do it.
5. You can relax in the countryside. It`s so ……………………
6. ……………………life is hard because people have move a lot.
7. The sky is……………………here in the countryside. There are no buildings to block the view.
8. Wẹ worked together to ……………………. this term. It’s was…………………… work.