Page 4 - Book V Unit 4

From Edmonton, the train headed southeast across the great Canadian Prairie. At school, Daiyu

and Liu Qian had learnt that Canada’s population is only slightly over thirty-seven million. However,
they did not anticipate seeing such an open country, and were truly amazed. They went through
two wheat-growing provinces, where they saw a bunch of farms that covered a very large area.

After another day on the train, eventually they were back in an urban area, the city of Winnipeg.
From there, they travelled through the night, and woke up in Ontario—a land of forests and
lakes. The train thundered on, through the rolling hills. The bushes and maple trees outside
their windows were red, gold, and orange, and there was frost on the ground, confirming that
autumn had arrived in Canada. Night came again, and the train turned south towards Toronto.
When they woke up the next morning and pulled back the curtains, they could see the wide
stretch of Lake Huron—one of the four Great Lakes on Ontario’s southern border. It was not

until 9:30 a.m. that they finally reached the capital of Ontario, Toronto. All in all, their trip from
Vancouver to Toronto had taken a duration of four days.

3 Complete the table below with information from the article.

Place Information

often rains; a harbour; beautiful mountains looking out over the
city; a forest just a short distance away

the Canadian Rockies

centre of Canada’s huge oil and gas industry; cold in winter, with
daily temperatures averaging -10˚C; home to one of the largest
shopping malls in North America

the Canadian Prairie

a land of forests, lakes, and rolling hills; four Great Lakes on its
southern border; capital is Toronto

4 Read the article again. Match each of these discourse markers with the
correct purpose.
1 however A to add something
2 since B to show contrast
3 when C to explain a reason
4 in addition to D to show an end point in time
5 in fact E to show time
6 later F to emphasise
7 eventually G to describe the order of events

5 Discuss the questions in groups.

1 Would you be interested in taking the same trip as Li Daiyu and Liu Qian? Why or why not?
2 How is a rail journey different from other forms of travel, such as by plane or car?

UNIT 4 JOURNEY ACROSS A VAST LAND 39