外研版新标准英语九年级上册M1U2单元的核心内容围绕作者亲身游览美国科罗拉多大峡谷的见闻展开，详细描绘了大峡谷令人震撼的自然风光。通过深入研读课文，学生不仅能够体会到作者在空间布局上由远及近、时间跨度上从黎明前至日出时、感官体验上由朦胧到清晰的写作层次感，还能掌握通过参照物对比等修辞手法来增强景物表现力的写作技巧。
U2重点句型解析
1.When I arrived, it was early morning and it was raining.我抵达时正值清晨时分，天空正下着雨。（1）arrive作为动词使用时表示抵达，需注意arrive in用于大地点，arrive at用于小地点，且arrive后可省略具体地点信息；例句：We arrived by plane yesterday。（2）early morning特指黎明前后的大清早时段
2.I looked to the east–the sky was becoming grey.我望向东方，只见天空逐渐泛起灰蒙蒙的色调。（1）look to在此处意为朝特定方向观察（2）become grey表示颜色渐变的过程，注意become作为系动词后需接形容词或名词构成系表结构
3.I got out of the car，went through a gate and walked along a dark path.我从车中下来，穿过一道门，沿着幽暗的小径前行。（1）get out of the car是固定搭配，意为下车（2）go through强调穿过物体内部的空间转换（3）walk along表示沿着特定路线行走
4.There was nothing to see, but I knew it was there.尽管眼前一片虚无，但我确信目标就在前方。（1）nothing to see构成固定表达，意为”什么也看不见”（2）knew it was there体现心理预期与客观现实的对比
5.“Yes,”he replied,“you’ll get there in five minutes.”“是的，”他回应道：”五分钟后即可抵达目的地。”（1）reply作为正式答复用语，区别于answer的日常性；reply to需跟宾语（2）get there是到达固定用法，省略了介词to（3）in five minutes表示五分钟后的时间点，注意与how soon提问方式的区别
6.I looked over them，but it was silent and there was no sign of it.我俯瞰那些岩石，四周寂静无声，仍无踪迹可寻。（1）over在此作介词，表示从上方观察（2）no sign of…构成否定结构，表示缺乏某种迹象
7.Far below me, the ground fell away and down to a river.在我下方遥远的视野里，大地向下延展，最终汇入河床。（1）far below me强调空间距离感（2）fall away and down to…描述立体空间中的向下延伸过程
8.I was looking across one of the wonders of the natural world–The Grand Canyon.我正凝视着这自然奇观之一——科罗拉多大峡谷。（1）look across体现远距离眺望的动作（2）one of +最高级+名词复数表示”其中之一”的限定关系（3）natural world指代自然界范畴
9.I looked down to the Colorado River, a silver stream nearly one mile below me.我俯视着下方约一英里处的科罗拉多河，它如银带般蜿蜒流淌。（1）look down to强调垂直视角（2）nearly作为副词修饰名词时，可表达接近但未达成的程度，也可用于限定词前
10.If you put the two tallest buildings in the world on top of each other at the bottom of the canyon, they still would not reach the top.即便将全球最高的两座建筑叠放在峡谷底部，其顶端仍无法触及谷顶。（1）on top of each other表示垂直堆叠（2）at the bottom of…为固定介词短语（3）reach作为动词时，reach sp.等同于get to sp.或arrive at/in sp.
11.Then I looked across to the other side of the canyon.接着，我转向眺望峡谷的对岸。（on）the other side of…构成方位短语，表示相对位置
12.Finally, I looked to my left and to my right, and on both sides the canyon went far away for more than 200 miles.最终我环顾左右，发现大峡谷向两侧无限延伸，绵延超过两百英里。（1）look to one’s left/right是观察左右两侧的规范表达（2）on both sides强调双向空间延展（3）go far away表示远距离延伸（4）more than等于over，表示程度超出
13.I remained by the canyon for about half an hour, and I asked myself,“Is the Grand Canyon the greatest wonder of the natural world?”我在峡谷旁驻足约半小时，自问道：”大峡谷堪称自然世界最伟大的奇迹吗？”（1）remain作为动词时表示停留（2）half an hour是固定时间单位（3）wonder of the natural world属于特定概念表述
14.What do you think?您有何高见？该句可通过What do you think of…?句式进行扩展，如What do you think of the film last night?