Unit 9. Deserts

Unit 9: DESERTS
READING
Before you read
Work in pairs.
Ask and answer the following questions.
What do you know about deserts?
What kinds of plants and animals live in a desert?
Name some of the countries which have deserts.

Stretch (n/ v) [stret∫]
Sandy ( adj) [`sændi]
Aerial survey ( n) [`eəriəl `sə:vei]
Royal Geographical Society of Australia ( n) [`rɔiəl dʒiə`græfikəl sə`saiəti əv ɔs`treiljə]
Australian Aborigine ( n) [ɔs`treiljən ,æbə`ridʒini:z]
Dune ( n) [dju:n]
Sloping ( adj) [`sloupiη]
Steep [sti:p]
Hummock ( n) [`hʌmək]
Crest ( n) [krest]
Spinifex ( n) [`spainəfeks]
Dải đất/ kéo căng
Có cát
Trắc lượng trên không
Hội Địa lý Hoàng gia úc
Thổ dân úc
Cồn cát
Dốc thoai thoải
Dốc đứng
Gò, đống
Đỉnh ( gò, đống)
Cỏ lá nhọn
TASK 1
Give the Vietnamese equivalents to the following words or phrases

Aerial survey
Australian aborigines
dunes
Spinifex
TASK 2
Decide whether the statements are True ( T), False ( F) or No Information ( N.I)

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Paragraph 1
Three great stretches of sandy desert almost circle the centre of Australia. To the north of Nullabor Plain stretches the Great Victoria Desert. In the west, the Gibbon, Great Sandy, and Tanami Deserts comprise an enormous sandy area. North of Lake Eyre lies the Simpson Desert, the last part of Australia to be explored
Paragraph 2
The Simpson desert lies between Lake Eyre in the south, the Macdonnel Ranges in the north, the Mulligan and the Diamantina Rivers in the east, and the Macumba and Finke Rivers in the west. The first European entered the Simpson Desert in 1845. But the desert remained a mystery until Madigan made an aerial survey in 1929. He named the desert after Simpson, President of the South Australian Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australia.
Paragraph 3
In 1936, Colson and an Australian Aborigine took camels across the desert. They travelled along the border of South Australia and the Northern Territory. Three years later Madigan led a scientific expedition across the sand dunes on a mote northerly route. Colson and Madigan both travelled eastward across the Simpson Desert.
Paragraph 4
In the Simpson Desert there are different types of dunes. In the western part of the desert, there is a network of short dunes, mostly less than 10 metres high. Hummock grasses grow in loose sand on the crest and spinifex grows in the corridors between dunes and on the more stable slopes.
Paragraph 5
In the northern part of the desert, the dunes are parallel and separated by corridors of low, open shrubland. Spinifex grows on the slopes of the dunes. These dunes are deep red – brown, but the sand is pale in the area where Queensland, South Australia and Northern Territory meet. Dry salt lakes up to 70kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide lie between long dunes with crests 20 metres high.
TASK 3
Answer the following questions
1. What are the names of the three great stretches of sandy deserts which circle the centre of Australia?
2. Where is the Simpson Desert?
3. When did the first European enter the desert?
4. Who was Simpson?
5. How did E.A Colson and an Australian aborigine travel across the desert?
6. What are the dunes like in the western and northern parts of the desert?
7. How many kinds of grass grow in the Simpson Desert? What are they?
Card game

Choose the card you like.
There are three kinds of cards.
"Bonus" cards will give you 2 points without any questions and you can choose another more card .
"Sorry", unlucky cards will pass your turn to others.
With other cards, you will get 1 point if you have a right answer to the questions.

Question
Bonus
Sorry!
Question
Bonus
Question
Question
Question
Question
Choose the card you like
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Question
1
What are the names of the three great stretches of sandy deserts which circle the centre of Australia?

They are the Great Victoria Desert, the Gibbon, Great Sandy and Tanami Deserts and the Simpson Desert.
It lies between Lake Eyre in the south, the Macdonnel Ranges in the north, the Mulligan and the Diamantina Rivers in the east, and the Macumba and Finke Rivers in the west.
2
Where is the Simpson Desert?
The first European entered the desert in 1845.
3
When did the first European enter the desert?

He was the president of the South Australia Branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australia.
4
Who was Simpson?
They took camels across the desert.
5
How did E.A Colson and an Australian aborigine travel across the desert?

In the western part, they are short, mostly less than 10 metres high, and in the northern part, they are parallel and are up to 20 metres high.
6
What are the dunes like in the western and northern parts of the desert?

Two kinds of grass grow in the Simpson Desert. They are hummock grass and spinifex.
7
How many kinds of grass grow in the Simpson Desert? What are they?

Homework
Learn the new words and phrase
Read the funny story in textbook page 99
Prepare for the next lesson : Unit 9 Deserts - Speaking
Thank you