01 Picnics

NCR 阅读II 001

Unit 1 Picnics

Pre-reading activity.

1. How often do you go on a picnic? 3. Where do you go on your picnic?

2. What do you like to eat when you go on a picnic?

Most people like having a picnic. But what does the word mean? Where does it come from? What is a picnic? For most people a picnic is a meal they eat outside the home, usually in a park, by a river, or even sitting in a car if the weather is cold and wet. At one time, however, people had picnics at home at their own dinner tables. The word picnic comes from the French words piquer - which means ‘to pick’ or ‘take’ - and pique-nique - which means ‘a small coin’. Everyone who came to a picnic brought something to eat. They brought it on plates from which everyone took some food. They took - or picked - small pieces of food from each plate. They had a pique-nique. This kind of meal was popular in Britain. The British used the French words for it but changed the letters to make ‘picnic’. This is the way we write it today. In some countries there are big picnics on special days. Lots of people go to parks on these picnics. For most people, however, a picnic is a family party. The family puts some food and drink in a basket, gets in the car and goes off to a nice place in the country or by the sea.

New words

picnic It's a fine day. Let's get some food and have a picnic in the park.

park We went to the park and played with our friends.

party I had a party with lots of my friends for my birthday.

Vocabulary

1. Join the matching words and phrases.

a. dinner

b. usually

c. brought

d. the way

( ) often ( ) took with them ( ) the biggest meal of the day ( ) how

2. Write the word that completes the sentence.

a. Many people like picnics. They are very .

b. People often have picnics on days.

c. The French word pique-nique means a

d. At picnics people usually eat their food from

3. Choose and write the correct word.

a. Children like to play in a . park / meal

b. Doctors say that we should eat three a day. meals / picnics

c. This cake is lovely. Try a . coin / piece

d. I went to a great last night. We danced till midnight. party / basket

Main idea Circle the correct answer.

( ) The story is about . 3. coins and money. 4. English and French food. 5. cooking.

1. the French language.

2. small meals that we have outside our homes. Looking for detail Circle the correct answer.

( ) 1. The word ‘picnic' comes from .

a. French

b. English

c. American

d. Spanish

e. many places. ( ) 2. At one time picnics took place .

a. outside

b. inside

c. in cars

d. by the fiver

e. in the park ( ) 3. In the past, everyone who came to a picnic . a. paid for their food b. sat in the car

c. brought a small coin

d. went to a park

e. brought food ( ) 4. Today people usually have picnics . a. at a restaurant b. in France

c. on special days

d. at the dinner table

e. in a big tree Summary

Write each letter against the correct word in the box.

We get our word for picnics the French word piquer which means ‘to pick’. Also, the French word pique-nique means ‘a small ’, and the first picnics had small pieces of like coins on plates for everyone to eat. The first picnics were people's homes, but today we go for picnics. The family takes a of food and and goes to a park or a river or the sea.

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