Big Grammar Book 3 - Photocopiabrill
Big Grammar Book 3 - Photocopiabrill
Big Grammar Book 3 - Photocopiabrill
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by Matt Purland
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PHOTOCOPIA BRILL!
Introduction
Hi there . . . !
The worksheets cover a wide range of skills, from grammar, vocabulary, and reading,
to speaking and listening, pronunciation, and writing. There’s loads of useful material
here, including practice with tenses, conditionals, adjectives, quantifiers, and
much more! There is an extensive section about word groups, including homonyms,
homophones, antonyms, and minimal pairs, while the speaking and listening
material features lots of useful discussion questions on interesting topics like social
networks, graffiti, laughter, and, of course, breakfast! This book also features
some terrific infographics, which will be sure to inspire discussion, for example
Fight or Flight on p.102.
Most of this material is taken from the PurlandTraining.com website and has been
collected together in book form (with answers) for the first time in this volume.
As usual, thanks to all my students who have tried out various drafts of this material
and given feedback. If you have any comments or questions, I’d love to hear from
you. Pease contact me via the website: PurlandTraining.com. If you do visit the site,
be sure to check out the Free Books page, where you can download free PDF copies
of all my previous books. This is my 27th resource book, but I feel like I’m just getting
started! I’m absolutely delighted to still be able to produce new material for you after
all these years!
4
PHOTOCOPIA BRILL!
Contents
4 Introduction
5 Contents
Grammar
9 This, That, These, Those 1
10 This, That, These, Those 2
11 When to Use Present Simple and Present Continuous 1
12 When to Use Present Simple and Present Continuous 2
13 When to Use Present Simple and Present Continuous – Writing Activity
14 Future Simple and Future Continuous – Multiple Choice Quiz
15 Using Future Perfect Continuous – Info Page
16 Using Future Perfect Continuous – Activity
17 Get to Know... the Conditional Family 1
18 Get to Know... the Conditional Family 2
19 Get to Know... the Conditional Family 3
20 Get to Know... the Conditional Family 4
21 Get to Know... the Conditional Family – Your Ideas
22 Create Maths Problems with Zero Conditional Question Forms
23 There is / There are – Info Page
24 There is / There are – Exercises
25 Countable and Uncountable Nouns – Info Page
26 Countable and Uncountable Nouns – Exercises
27 Adjectives – Info Page
28 Adjectives – Exercises
29 100 Adjective + Preposition Collocations (A-Z List)
30 100 Adjective + Preposition Collocations (A-Z List – Gap Fill)
31 100 Words You Didn’t Know Were Adverbs – Ordered by Type
32 When Do We Use All and Whole in English?
33 Mega-List of Quantifiers in English
34 26 Past, Present, and Future Uses of Would
35 26 Past, Present, and Future Uses of Would – Activities
36 Understanding Ellipsis – Info Page
37 Understanding Ellipsis 1
38 Understanding Ellipsis 2
39 Causative Verbs – Have / Get 1
40 Causative Verbs – Have / Get 2
41 20 Common Errors that English Students Make – Part 1
42 20 Common Errors that English Students Make – Part 2
43 20 English Phrasal Verbs with RUN
Vocabulary
45 Telling the Time – Info Page
46 Telling the Time – Exercises
47 Describing People – Info Page
48 Describing People – Exercises
49 6 Important Word Groups in English
50 6 Important Word Groups in English (Gap-Fill)
51 100 Common English Homonyms
5
PHOTOCOPIA BRILL!
Contents
Reading
74 The Businessman and the Fisherman (Gap-Fill)
75 The Businessman and the Fisherman (Discussion Questions)
76 The Ultimate Tardigrade Quiz – 50 Questions!
6
PHOTOCOPIA BRILL!
Contents
Pronunciation
105 Silent Letters – Info Page
106 Silent Letters – Exercises
107 Glottal Stops – Info Page
108 Glottal Stops – Exercises
109 Intonation – Info Page (1)
110 Intonation – Info Page (2)
111 Intonation – Exercises
112 How to Say the English Alphabet
Writing
114 Story Planning – My Life Without…
7
PurlandTraining.com
grammar
Grammar Demonstratives
This, that, these, and those are called demonstratives. They can be either determiners (before a
noun) or pronouns (before a verb). We use them to show the distance in space or time between the
speaker/writer and the noun:
a) Complete each sentence with this, that, these, or those. b) Write D for determiner and P for
pronoun. c) Discuss with a partner: which words in each sentence helped you to find the answer?
9
Grammar Demonstratives
This, that, these, and those are called demonstratives. They can be either determiners (before a
noun) or pronouns (before a verb). We use them to show the distance in space or time between the
speaker/writer and the noun:
a) Complete each sentence with this, that, these, or those. b) Write D for determiner and P for
pronoun. c) Discuss with a partner: which words in each sentence helped you to find the answer?
10
Grammar Tenses
a) Study the information below about when to use Present Simple and Present Continuous tenses.
Note that both tenses can be used in four different times: General Time, Present, Past, and Future.
b) Match each sentence to one of the tenses and uses, e.g. 1. = PrS C. Write the code on the line.
11
Grammar Tenses
a) Study the information below about when to use Present Simple and Present Continuous tenses.
Note that both tenses can be used in four different times: General Time, Present, Past, and Future.
b) Match each sentence to one of the tenses and uses, e.g. 1. = PrC J. Write the code on the line.
12
Grammar Tenses
a) Study the information below about when to use Present Simple and Present Continuous tenses.
Note that both tenses can be used in four different times: General Time, Present, Past, and Future.
b) Write one sentence to demonstrate each use.
1. PrS A ____________________________________________________________________________
2. PrS B ____________________________________________________________________________
3. PrS C ____________________________________________________________________________
4. PrS D ____________________________________________________________________________
5. PrS E ____________________________________________________________________________
6. PrS F ____________________________________________________________________________
7. PrS G ____________________________________________________________________________
8. PrS H ____________________________________________________________________________
9. PrS I ____________________________________________________________________________
13
Grammar Future Forms
12. Put this Future Simple question in order: taxi will this a you getting home evening be
a) Will you a taxi be getting home this evening? b) Will you this evening be getting a taxi home?
c) Will you be getting a taxi this home evening? d) Will you be getting a taxi home this evening?
14. What is the correct answer to this question in Future Simple: Will you fly to Madrid tomorrow?
a) Yes, I won’t. b) Yes, I’ll. c) Yes, I will fly. d) Yes, I will.
14
Grammar Future Forms
Positive form: subject / will / (adverb) / have / been / ing form I will (probably) have been reading
Negative form: subject / (adverb) / will / not / have / been / ing form I (probably) will not (won’t) have been reading
Yes / no questions: will / subject / (adverb) / have / been / ing form? Will he (probably) have been reading? / Yes, he (a) will (have). / No, he (a) won’t (have).
Wh- questions: wh- / will / subject / (adverb) / have / been / ing form? What will he (probably) have been reading? / A book.
TIME (BY / BEFORE / ON / AT / IN / /WHEN) [unless the time is known] + FPC phrase + FOR + NUMBER or TIME
Future:
Time Phrase: Example:
BY + TIME By the end of August we will have been living here for three years.
BY THE TIME + ACTION TIME IS By the time you get here, I will have been reading for two hours.
BEFORE + ACTION STATED Before you get here, I will have been reading for two hours.
ON + DAY / DATE On January 18th we will have been living here for three years.
AT + CLOCK TIME At 3pm I will have been reading for two hours.
IN + MONTH / SEASON In January we will have been living here for three years.
WHEN + ACTION When you get here I will have been reading for two hours. FOR + NUMBER
AS OF + TIME As of Friday we will have been living here for three years. or TIME
TIME Tomorrow afternoon I will have been reading for two hours.
MIXED CONDITIONAL: If you get here at 3pm I will have been reading for two hours.
If + PRESENT SIMPLE + TIME / FPC
AT THAT TIME At that time [previously mentioned] we will have been living here for three years.
BY THEN TIME IS By then I will have been reading for two hours.
BY THAT POINT / STAGE KNOWN By that point we will have been living here for three years.
TIME IS KNOWN I will have been reading for two hours.
TIME IS IMPLIED I will have been reading for the whole / entire day.
Past:
Time Phrase: Example:
TIME Yesterday Bill will have been reading (for two hours). FOR IS OPTIONAL
TIME IS KNOWN I will have been reading (for the last / past two hours).
15
Grammar Future Forms
Complete the sentences using the sentence prompts below. Say which use you intended from the following options. Try to vary subjects, main verbs, and uses:
FUTURE: PAST:
1. To predict the duration of a future action By noon I will have been teaching for an hour. 4. To speculate about a past action I suppose Sarah will’ve been playing golf yesterday.
2. To mark an anniversary On Friday I will’ve been living here for ten years. PAST & FUTURE:
3. To mark how long sby has been waiting In a minute Bob will’ve been waiting for half an hour. 5. To demonstrate cause and effect [P] Ian will’ve been cooking all day, so I bet he was tired.
[F] Ian will’ve been cooking all day, so he will be tired.
Example: Use:
1. By + time ____________________ _______________ will have been _______________ for _______________. _______________
2. By the time + action ____________________ _______________ will have been _______________ for _______________. _______________
3. By then ____________________ _______________ will have been _______________ for _______________. _______________
4. By that point / stage ____________________ _______________ will have been _______________ for _______________. _______________
5. Before + action ____________________ _______________ will have been _______________ for _______________. _______________
6. On + day / date ____________________ _______________ will have been _______________ for _______________. _______________
7. At + clock time ____________________ _______________ will have been _______________ for _______________. _______________
8. In + month / season ____________________ _______________ will have been _______________ for _______________. _______________
9. When + action ____________________ _______________ will have been _______________ for _______________. _______________
10. If + action + time ____________________ _______________ will have been _______________ for _______________. _______________
11. Time ____________________ _______________ will have been _______________ for _______________. _______________
12. Time is known ____________________ _______________ will have been _______________ for _______________. _______________
16
Grammar Conditionals
To remember conditionals, it can be helpful to think of them as members of a family. This enables us
to understand the different mood of each conditional and when to use them:
Complete each gap using one of these verbs in the correct form:
LOSE | REVISE | BOIL | LOVE | CRASH | HAVE | BE | LOOK | FALL | DRINK | FAIL
Ferne Conditional (42) Mother and office manager; focused on the short-term real future. She is:
• Practical: If you 1.__________ home from work early, we’ll go to the supermarket.
• Caring: If I don’t iron your shirt, you’ll 2.__________ really scruffy.
• Nagging: If you don’t 3.__________ for your exams, you won’t get good marks.
• Organising: If the weather is nice tomorrow, we’ll 4.__________ to the beach.
• Realistic: If you don’t 5.__________, you’ll miss your bus!
Becca Conditional (18) Daughter and student: focused on a hypothetical or distant future. She is:
• Introspective: If I 6.__________ two kilos by next month, I would look OK in that dress.
• Unrealistic: I would be a complete mess if I 7.__________ David Beckham!
• Planning ahead: If I 8.__________ to study in Glasgow, I could live with my best friend.
• Giving advice: If you paid for my driving lessons, I could 9.__________ you a lift to work.
• Cautiously optimistic: If I 10.__________ my German exam, I could probably retake it.
Herb Conditional (48) Father and IT boss; focused on a hypothetical past and unhappy present. He is:
• Depressed: If I’d 11.__________ harder at school, I might have had a better career.
• Regretful: If I hadn’t married Ferne, my life might have 12.__________ more fun.
• Relieved: If I hadn’t ordered the cake last week, we wouldn’t have 13._________ it in
time for Ferne’s birthday party.
• Nostalgic: If I hadn’t 14._________ my dad’s car, I wouldn’t have had to leave home at
eighteen and find a job.
• Hopeless: If I’d 15._________ more cash, I could’ve had a takeaway on the way home.
Nero Conditional (10) Son and schoolboy; focused on things that are always true, e.g. facts. He is:
17
Grammar Conditionals
To remember conditionals, it can be helpful to think of them as members of a family. This enables us
to understand the different mood of each conditional and when to use them:
Complete each gap using one of these verbs in the correct form:
Ferne Conditional (42) Mother and office manager; focused on the short-term real future. She is:
• Practical: If you want to 1.__________ a sandwich for lunch, I’ll give you a fiver.
• Caring: If the rash doesn’t clear up, I’ll 2.__________ you to the doctor’s.
• Nagging: I will be very cross if you 3.__________ home later than eleven o’clock!
• Organising: If the bus is late, I’ll 4.__________ you in town next to the post office.
• Realistic: You won’t get a pay rise if you don’t 5.__________ your boss.
Becca Conditional (18) Daughter and student: focused on a hypothetical or distant future. She is:
• Introspective: If I 6.__________ more like my mate Debbie, boys would like me more.
• Unrealistic: If I won the Nobel Prize for Physics, I would 7.__________ rich and famous.
• Planning ahead: If I worked during the summer, I’d 8.__________ enough money for a car.
• Giving advice: If we advertised in the paper, more people would 9.__________ our team.
• Cautiously optimistic: If I got a new bike for my birthday, I’d 10.__________ to uni every day.
Herb Conditional (48) Father and IT boss; focused on a hypothetical past and unhappy present. He is:
• Depressed: If I had 11.__________ the shower, the family wouldn’t have been annoyed.
• Regretful: I would have 12.__________ a promotion if I hadn’t been rude to my boss.
• Relieved: If I hadn’t 13.__________ that boiled egg, I would have been hungry all day.
• Nostalgic: If Betty hadn’t 14.__________ to Leek, we would’ve probably got married.
• Hopeless: If I’d been more careful, I wouldn’t have 15.______ Ferne’s brother’s Rolex.
Nero Conditional (10) Son and schoolboy; focused on things that are always true, e.g. facts. He is:
• Enthusiastic: If uncle Gaz takes us to the cinema, we can 16._______ right at the back.
• Realistic: If I don’t 17._______ my homework, my parents get cross.
• Positive: If I wake up early, I 18._______ stuff with my LEGO.
• Factual: If you 19._______ a dirty coin in some cola, it comes out really shiny.
• Funny: If it 20._______, we make a big snowman and stick in a carrot for his nose.
18
Grammar Conditionals
To remember conditionals, it can be helpful to think of them as members of a family. This enables us
to understand the different mood of each conditional and when to use them:
Complete each sentence by adding appropriate main verbs in the correct form:
Ferne Conditional (42) Mother and office manager; focused on the short-term real future. She is:
Becca Conditional (18) Daughter and student: focused on a hypothetical or distant future. She is:
Herb Conditional (48) Father and IT boss; focused on a hypothetical past and unhappy present. He is:
Nero Conditional (10) Son and schoolboy; focused on things that are always true, e.g. facts. He is:
• Enthusiastic: If I 31. _____ any new football stickers, I 32._____ them to school to swap.
• Realistic: If I 33.________ late, I usually 34.________ tired for the rest of the day.
• Positive: If the circus 35.________ in town, we usually 36.________.
• Factual: If you 37.________ there are any penguins at the North Pole, you
38.________ absolutely wrong!
• Funny: Dad 39.________ shouting if he can’t 40.________ his car keys.
19
Grammar Conditionals
To remember conditionals, it can be helpful to think of them as members of a family. This enables us
to understand the different mood of each conditional and when to use them:
Complete each sentence by adding appropriate main verbs in the correct form:
Ferne Conditional (42) Mother and office manager; focused on the short-term real future. She is:
• Practical: If you 1._______ the grass this morning, I’ll 2._______ the garden table and
chairs.
• Caring: If you 3._______ any help, you should 4._______ me on my work phone.
• Nagging: If you don’t 5._______, you’ll 6._______ late for school, Nero!
• Organising: I’ll 7._______ my brother if the plumber can’t 8._______ the sink.
• Realistic: If we don’t 9._______ this bill on time, they will 10._______ the gas!
Becca Conditional (18) Daughter and student: focused on a hypothetical or distant future. She is:
Herb Conditional (48) Father and IT boss; focused on a hypothetical past and unhappy present. He is:
Nero Conditional (10) Son and schoolboy; focused on things that are always true, e.g. facts. He is:
20
Grammar Conditionals
To remember conditionals, it can be helpful to think of them as members of a family. This enables us
to understand the different mood of each conditional and when to use them:
Write five sentences for each person using the relevant conditional form:
Ferne Conditional (42) Mother and office manager; focused on the short-term real future:
1. ___________________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________________________________
Becca Conditional (18) Daughter and student: focused on a hypothetical or distant future:
6. ___________________________________________________________________________
7. ___________________________________________________________________________
8. ___________________________________________________________________________
9. ___________________________________________________________________________
10. ___________________________________________________________________________
Herb Conditional (48) Father and IT boss; focused on a hypothetical past and unhappy present:
11. ___________________________________________________________________________
12. ___________________________________________________________________________
13. ___________________________________________________________________________
14. ___________________________________________________________________________
15. ___________________________________________________________________________
Nero Conditional (10) Son and schoolboy; focused on things that are always true, e.g. facts:
16. ___________________________________________________________________________
17. ___________________________________________________________________________
18. ___________________________________________________________________________
19. ___________________________________________________________________________
20. ___________________________________________________________________________
21
Grammar Conditionals
Change a boring sum into an imaginative maths problem using zero conditional question forms –
the funnier the better! Zero conditional is formed by using: If + present simple + present simple.
For example: Boring: 2 + 5 - 4 = 3. Imaginative: ‘If I have two bottles of Coke and I buy five more, but
then my cousin steals four of them, how many bottles of Coke do I have in my fridge?’ Answer: 3.
1. 1 + 4 - 3 = 2. If _______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2. 8 + 2 - 5 = 5. If _______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
3. 16 - 8 + 4 = 12. If _____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
4. 14 - 6 + 18 = 26. If ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
6. 44 + 4 ÷ 8 = 6. If ______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
8. 22 - 7 x 4 = 60. If _____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
9. 18 ÷ 6 + 17 = 20. If ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
22
Grammar Sentence Building
1. We usually use there is and there are in the opening sentence when describing a place, e.g. “I’m at school
but there is nobody here.” “Because it’s Saturday!”
We use there is / there to say what there is or is not – what exists or what does not. We also use it to talk about
numbers/quantities (There are a lot of people here.); events (There’s a meeting later.) and the weather (There
is rain forecast.). After there is we can use the pronouns: something/everything/nothing, and
somebody/everybody/nobody. After there is not we use: anything/anybody.
2. We use verb to be, so there is and there are can transformed into different tenses, e.g.
...and so on. Note that we don’t use be with continuous tenses because it is a state verb, so not:
There is being... / are being... etc. We can also combine there is/are with modal verbs, e.g. there must be, there
can be, there used to be, there might have been, etc.
3. Collocation: after there is / there are we can use the following type of phrases:
We can also make the sentence more interesting by using adjectives with the nouns:
There is a bag on the table. > There is a small blue bag on the kitchen table.
It is better to combine information to make a longer sentence, not use several short sentences, e.g.
Not: There is a bike. It is in my yard. It is great. I like it. but: There is a great bike in my yard, which I like.
4. Pronunciation: when we are speaking we use reduced forms rather than long vowel sounds, e.g.
• “There’s a film on TV.” We say thz not theirz. The phrase “There’s a...” is pronounced th z. The article
“a” is far more likely to follow “There is” than “the”, because it forms an opening sentence (first mention).
• “There are two people here.” We say th r, not their rar
5. Avoid confusion with it: It is a book on the table. “There” is not a subject, while “it” is. “There” is a false
subject. It introduces the thing that will become the subject – usually in the following sentence.
23
Grammar Sentence Building
a) There is two trees in the garden. f) There’s anything I want to tell you.
b) It’s a good programme on TV. g) There are some meat in the fridge.
c) There are too much information. h) It is a new printer in the office.
d) There’re a lot of people here. i) There must being a bigger plate.
e) There is being a lot of traffic today. j) There aren’t anything to do here.
b) There will be a vacancy. It will be in personnel. It is the place where you want to work.
__________________________________________________________________________
c) There are some sweets. They are in the cupboard. The cupboard is in the kitchen.
__________________________________________________________________________
24
Grammar Word Classes
• Some English nouns are countable. We can count them using numbers: one, two, three, etc.
They have plural forms, with -s or –es. They are individual items. Almost everything that you
can see around you is a countable noun. For example: chair, table, book, pen, desk, door,
wall, bag, etc. Countable nouns are far more common than uncountable nouns.
• Some English nouns are uncountable. We cannot count them using numbers. They are not
individual items, but items which have no fixed shape or size. They are sometimes called
mass nouns or uncount nouns. They have only one form. They do not have plural forms.
They are substances which are made up of many smaller parts, for example:
food: pasta, pizza, cheese, rice, butter, meat, beef, lamb, chocolate, gum
liquid: water, juice, wine, beer, vinegar
material: wood, paper, metal, iron, plastic, fabric, cotton
sports: football, rugby, tennis, racing, swimming, basketball
weather: rain, snow, sun, wind, thunder, lightning,
Many abstract nouns are uncountable. Abstract nouns are things that we cannot see or
touch; which do not have a physical form, for example: accommodation, advice, happiness,
information, progress, etc. However, not all abstract nouns are uncountable. Some are
countable, for example: date, favourite, journey, mortgage, programme, etc. On the other
hand, some common everyday things are uncountable, e.g. furniture, money, work,
homework, luggage, etc. Activities with gerunds are uncountable, e.g. reading, writing,
swimming, shopping, walking, sailing, etc.
• Some English nouns can be countable or uncountable, depending on the context. The
meaning changes, depending on whether the noun is countable or uncountable. We need to
learn them. For example:
• We can make uncountable nouns countable by using quantity words in front of them, e.g.
These words are called partitives. For example:
• It is important to know whether nouns are countable or uncountable, so that we use articles
and determiners correctly. There must be an article (a, an, or the) or a determiner before
singular countable nouns; there can be an article (the) before uncountable nouns if the
context is specific, e.g. ... If not, we don’t use an article before uncountable nouns, or if
there is a certain amount we use some, e.g. ...
• A singular verb follows uncountable nouns, e.g. the meat was, not the meat were.
25
Grammar Word Classes
road, power, cotton, sand, chocolate, pizza, pepper, rule, hat, butter, hamburger, football
There is _______ book on the table. There is _________ apple in the basket.
There is _______ music on the radio. There is _________ milk in that glass.
There isn’t _______ cheese in the fridge. There’s _______ programme about fish.
There’s _______ money in my purse. Is there _________ snow outside?
a) The gum were stuck to the desk. c) Printer paper cost a lot.
b) Dinner is ready. d) The rice are coming to the boil.
8. Complete the gaps in the story using a little, any, a few, many, and much:
Yesterday was our day off, so we had a)__________ free time. We did b)__________
shopping, then drove to the hills. There wasn’t c)__________ traffic – just d)__________
cars – so we arrived at the picnic place quickly. We were so glad that Tina made
e)__________ sandwiches but unfortunately we had forgotten to pack f)__________ plates!
26
Grammar Word Classes
Adjectives
1. An adjective is a content word that describes a noun. Adjectives are the third largest word group in
English, after nouns and verbs. An adjective usually goes before a noun but after an article, e.g.
a big fork, a green taxi, an old house, etc. The extra information makes the noun more interesting to
the listener or reader, because it makes it more specific and therefore easier to imagine. Specific is
interesting while general is boring. Consider which is more interesting:
General: “The man wore a t-shirt.” Specific: “The tall athletic man wore a blue striped t-shirt.”
We often find adjectives after verb be, e.g. It is a big fork. / There was an empty taxi. Here are some of
the most common adjectives with their opposite adjectives:
It is possible to use many adjectives before a noun, e.g. “a large long white wooden Hawaiian
surfboard”, but it is better to limit the number of adjectives to two or three at the most, e.g. “a large white
Hawaiian surfboard”.
2. There is a particular order for different types of adjective. For example, we can say: “I met an old
Italian man”, but not “I met an Italian old man.” The correct order is:
opinion | size / length | shape | age | colour | origin | material | purpose | noun
3. Adjectives have three forms: normal, comparative (for comparing one noun with another), and
superlative (for saying that one thing is the most x). If an adjective has one syllable, we usually add
-er suffix + than to make comparative form and the + -est suffix to make superlative form:
If an adjective has two or more syllables, we usually use more [adjective] than to make comparative
form, and the most [adjective] to make superlative form. For example:
Some longer adjectives do not fit this pattern, e.g. tasty (two syllables) > tastier > tastiest, while a few
common adjectives have irregular forms which we need to learn, for example:
4. Adjectives, verbs, nouns, and adverbs can belong to word families. They look like they belong
together, although they may have different suffixes, e.g.
There is an important group of adjectives which have both -ing and -ed endings, for example:
amazing/amazed, boring/bored, etc. In general, we use -ing adjectives to describe things and -ed
adjectives to describe how people feel, e.g. “He was bored.” / “The party was boring.” We can use so,
very, or another intensifier to make the adjective stronger, e.g. “He was so bored.” / “The party was
very boring.” / “I felt absolutely amazed!” / “The concert was too long.” etc.
5. Adjectives can be strong or weak (sometimes called base). Strong adjectives are more interesting than
weak adjectives, because they are more expressive – so it is better to use them when we can, e.g.
Remember that English is a rich language and many adjectives have synonyms (words that mean the
same), e.g. the concert could be great, wonderful, fantastic, fabulous, terrific, magnificent, pleasing, and
brilliant! Begin by learning weak adjectives, then their strong equivalents, then other synonyms.
27
Grammar Word Classes
Adjectives – Exercises
5. Match the weak adjectives below with the following strong adjectives:
28
Grammar Word Classes
29
Grammar Word Classes
30
Grammar Word Classes
We usually think of adverbs as words that end in -ly, like quickly and happily, but there are lots of
everyday adverbs that don’t end in -ly. Here are 100 of the most common, ordered by type:
31
Grammar Quantifiers
32
Grammar Quantifiers
C Quantifiers used only with countable nouns because they signify numbers:
33
Grammar Modal Verbs
Would is used:
1. as the past form of will (see 7 sentences labelled P below)
2. to describe hypothetical situations (see 12 sentences labelled H below)
3. to create a formal or polite sentence (see 7 sentences labelled F below)
Connected:
a) past intentions/expectations It was clear that they would phone back again. (P)
b) reported speech (past of will) He said he would see me at work the following day. (P)
1. Past: c) used to They would walk home by the river every Friday. (P)
d) insistence He would keep (on) begging me to go, but I couldn’t. (P)
e) 3rd conditional If I hadn’t met her, we wouldn’t have become friends. (H)
f) would + have (did not happen) I would have gone to the match, but I didn’t have time. (H)
g) past possibility I needed to find somebody who would listen to me. (P)
h) future in the past #1 (result) Emily would go on to win first prize in the contest. (P)
i) future in the past #2 (prediction) I thought/knew/believed/was sure you would buy that car. (P)
a) 2nd conditional – unreal future If I had enough money, I’d climb Mount Kilimanjaro. (H)
b) advice: If I were you/him/her/them If I were you, I wouldn’t go to the gig next week. (H)
3. Future: c) imaginary/hypothetical plans It would be good to have a walk this evening. (F)
d) preferences I would prefer not to/rather not go to the auction. (F)
e) predictions/probability I’d think/imagine/guess it would probably rain later. (H)
f) I wish / If only + would I wish it would snow tomorrow. (H)
g) would that (formal/literary; Would that they would/could change their ways. /
strong wish/regret) Would that I were healthier/richer/stronger, etc. (H)
Fact file:
• would is a modal auxiliary verb. It only has one form, so cannot be conjugated.
• After would there must be a verb infinitive without to. The negative form is: would not / wouldn’t.
• The contraction is ’d, e.g. She would like to get a job. / She’d like to get a job. Avoid confusion with
the past form contraction of had: She had got a job. / She’d got a job.
• It is pronounced Wuud. It is a homophone with the material “wood”. They both sound exactly the
same but have different spellings and meanings. The weak form is wd.
• would dates back to the 14th century. It was first recorded c.1300 as the Old English word wolde,
which was the past form of wyllen, which we know today as will.
34
Grammar Modal Verbs
Fact file:
• would is a modal auxiliary verb. It only has one form, so cannot be conjugated.
• After would there must be a verb infinitive without to. The negative form is: would not / wouldn’t.
• The contraction is ’d, e.g. She would like to get a job. / She’d like to get a job. Avoid confusion with
the past form contraction of had: She had got a job. / She’d got a job.
• It is pronounced Wuud. It is a homophone with the material “wood”. They both sound exactly the
same but have different spellings and meanings. The weak form is wd.
• would dates back to the 14th century. It was first recorded c.1300 as the Old English word wolde,
which was the past form of wyllen, which we know today as will.
35
Grammar Sentence Building
Understanding Ellipsis
Ellipsis occurs when we leave out unnecessary words from a sentence. The omitted words are
unnecessary for working out the meaning, because they do not affect the meaning, e.g.
This is the book I like. NOT This is the book that I like.
In this way, ellipsis ‘tidies up’ the sentence by making it more streamlined or ‘word-efficient’. In
English, it is not necessary to repeat words and phrases in the same sentence, for example: “The
twins bought ice creams for the twins themselves.” This creates redundancy.
We can also use ellipsis when we know the listener or reader is aware of the meaning from the
context, e.g.
Two friends walk into their work canteen and one goes towards the kettle.
He says to his colleague: “Tea?” instead of “Would you like a cup of tea?”
Native speakers use ellipsis all the time, and are quite proficient with it. They know what is missing
and why it does not matter to the meaning. However, learners of English may realise that part of the
sentence is missing, but struggle to guess the missing part. They find they don’t get the meaning of
the sentence, because “something is missing” – which is the definition of ellipsis. However, sometimes
we don’t use ellipsis when we want to sound more formal, e.g. “It is the book that I like.” is more formal
than “It’s the book I like.”
There are many kinds of ellipsis, some of which are listed below. We can use one or more of them in
the same sentence:
Type of ellipsis: Example with ellipsis: The full sentence without ellipsis:
1. contractions We’ll go for a meal. We will go for a meal.
2. relative pronoun (or clause) missing The bike I bought yesterday... The bike that I bought yesterday...
3. verb phrase missing before gerund While driving, I thought of you. While I was driving, I thought of you.
4. verb phrase missing after verb + to We can leave, if you want to. We can leave, if you want to leave.
5. pronoun replaces a noun phrase That bike was the one I borrowed. That bike was the bike that I borrowed.
6. imperative form replaces modal Go with us tomorrow. You could go with us tomorrow.
Type of ellipsis: Example with ellipsis: The full sentence without ellipsis:
7. a word or two replace a sentence Football? Do you want to go and play football?
8. auxiliary verb(s) (or be) missing You watching the match later? Are you watching the match later?
9. short answer instead of full “Did you take the call?” “Yes, I did.” “Yes, I did take the call.”
Type of ellipsis: Example with ellipsis: The full sentence without ellipsis:
10. news headline, title of book/film, Tories deliver killer blow at election. The Conservative Party (nicknamed the
etc., slogan – assumes reader’s prior Tories = slang) wins decisively (delivers
knowledge killer blow = slang) at the General Election.
Type of ellipsis: Example with ellipsis: The full text without ellipsis:
11. note form, e.g. diary entry, Got up, had breakfast, went out, I got up and had breakfast, then I went out
shopping list, note to self, etc. met Philip, walked to South Bank, and met Philip. We walked to the South
then Tate M. Bank, then we went to Tate Modern.
36
Grammar Sentence Building
Understanding Ellipsis 1
Ellipsis occurs when we leave out unnecessary words from a sentence. Write each sentence again
without ellipsis, and add numbers to show which kind of ellipsis was in each sentence:
No.
1. Take a book if you need to.
_________________________________________________________________________
3. The last science-fiction film I saw was the one with blue people in it.
_________________________________________________________________________
6. After reading the report, Jody concluded it’d been a waste of time for her.
_________________________________________________________________________
9. Tea?
_________________________________________________________________________
37
Grammar Sentence Building
Understanding Ellipsis 2
Ellipsis occurs when we leave out unnecessary words from a sentence. Write each sentence again
without ellipsis, and add numbers to show which kind of ellipsis was in each sentence:
No.
1. He’s going to finish watering the plants later.
_________________________________________________________________________
2. Put the vase on the table where the kids can’t break it.
_________________________________________________________________________
4. Break?
_________________________________________________________________________
11. Contact the other players and tell them about the match.
_________________________________________________________________________
15. Leave work by 2, quick change, race to mum’s, home before dark.
_________________________________________________________________________
38
Grammar Verb Forms
1. have / get + object + past participle I had / got my tyres changed (by the mechanic).
We do not know who did the action, or it is not important. The subject can take credit for something they do not do!
2. have + person + infinitive + object I had the mechanic change my tyres. TIP! have / get act as
We say who did the action for us state verbs, so no
continuous tenses, apart
3. get + person + to + infinitive + object I got the mechanic to change my tyres. from present continuous
We say who did the action for us for future
1. Write five sentences with have / get + object + past participle and the given tense:
Ex. pa/sim living room We had our living room decorated (by Frank) last week.
2. Write five sentences with have + person + infinitive + object and the given tense:
Ex. pr/sim dentist I have the dentist look at my teeth fairly regularly.
3. Write five sentences with get + person + to + infinitive + object and the given tense:
Ex. pa/perf waiter We’d got the waiter to bring us a jug of water before our meal arrived.
39
Grammar Verb Forms
1. have / get + object + past participle I had / got my tyres changed (by the mechanic).
We do not know who did the action, or it is not important. The subject can take credit for something they do not do!
2. have + person + infinitive + object I had the mechanic change my tyres. TIP! have / get act as
We say who did the action for us state verbs, so no
continuous tenses, apart
3. get + person + to + infinitive + object I got the mechanic to change my tyres. from present continuous
We say who did the action for us for future
1. Write five sentences with have / get + object + past participle and the given tense:
Ex. pa/sim duvet I had my duvet dry cleaned (by the dry cleaner) yesterday.
2. Write five sentences with have + person + infinitive + object and the given tense:
Ex. pr/sim refuse collector Gerald often has refuse collectors take away large items of rubbish.
3. Write five sentences with get + person + to + infinitive + object and the given tense:
Ex. pa/perf postman They’d got the postman to deliver mail to her mum, instead of to me.
40
PurlandTraining.com
vocabulary
Vocabulary Essential Skills
There are two ways of telling the time in English: saying two numbers together (10.40 =
It’s ten forty), or using past and to (10.40 = It’s twenty to eleven). The easiest method is
to say two numbers. We use past when the time is between 01 and 30, and to when the
time is between 31 and 59. We only use o’clock when the time is on the hour: It’s ten
o’clock. We count time on a clock in intervals of 5 minutes.
If the number of minutes past or to is odd, e.g. 6 or 19, we say minutes, e.g. 2:19 =
It’s nineteen minutes past two. If the time is between 01 and 09 minutes past, we use
the word oh, e.g. 7.08 = seven oh eight. Or we could say: It’s about / around /
nearly ten past seven.
We don’t use the 24-hour clock in everyday speech or writing, e.g. it's fourteen
o’clock, but we may need to read it when we look at a bus, train, plane timetable.
However, we can use am (night & morning: 12.00am – 11.59am) and pm (afternoon,
evening & night: 12.00pm – 11.50pm) to state which time period we mean. Usually
the context makes am and pm redundant, e.g. ‘Your next lesson is at 3 o’clock on
Tuesday.’ It is very unlikely for the lesson to be at 3am! 12pm = midday while 12am
= midnight.
A second is the smallest common unit of time. There are 60 seconds in a minute; 60
minutes in an hour; 24 hours in a day; 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) in a weekend;
7 days in a week; 2 weeks in a fortnight; 28, 29, 30, or 31 days in a month; 3
months in a quarter; 12 months or 365 days in a year; 366 days in a leap year; 10
years in a decade; 25 years in a generation; 100 years in a century; and 1,000
years in a millennium.
Time and prepositions: we say on + day (on Monday), in + month or year (in June;
in 2016), and at for specific times (at 4 o’clock) and time periods (at the weekend).
Here are some common idioms connected with time: I can be on time for my
lesson; spend time with a friend; kill time doing something trivial while waiting; have
time for an activity; have a whale of a time or have the time of my life at an
amazing party. That’s because time flies when you’re having fun – it goes quickly
when you are not aware of it – but drags when you are clockwatching – counting
the time until something boring ends.
45
Vocabulary Essential Skills
a) It’s fifty past twelve. ______________________ e) It’s thirty before ten. _____________________
b) It’s qarter past three. _____________________ f) It’s ten oh five o’clock. ____________________
c) It’s four past eight. ______________________ g) It’s forty past second. ____________________
d) It’s ten. ______________________________ h) It’s thirty two minutes to eight. _____________
4. Put the time periods in order of size from shortest to longest. Mark them 1-15:
5. Match the idioms on the left with their meanings on the right:
6. Complete each gap using an appropriate word or phrase from this unit:
Tina: ‘Let’s meet a)________ five b)________ c)________ Sunday. I’ll try to d)________, but I can’t guarantee it
because my bus is often late. It will be great to e)________ time with you! I will get the bus home f)________ Tuesday
morning g)________ five h)________ eleven. I hope we will i)________ time to visit the leisure centre. Last time we went
I had j)________. It was fantastic! Life here is so boring. I’ve been k)________ time every day, just playing on my phone.
I don’t like l)________ time, so it will be good to see you next m)________ and do something fun!’
46
Vocabulary Essential Skills
Describing People
We can describe a person by talking about... Note: x = he (male), she (female),
they (singular), or a person’s name
Examples of Vocabulary:
1. Personal Details:
Try to combine information into one longer sentence, rather than several short sentences, e.g.
“Bob is my brother. He is 28. He is British.” “My brother Bob is a 28 year old British man.”
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
• What you think of them? What do they think of themselves? (interview them, if possible!)
• personality positive/negative, open, friendly, quiet, shy/outgoing, moody, funny
• character honest/dishonest, hard-working/lazy, generous/selfish, reliable, brave
• opinions mainstream/left-field, opinionated, has strong opinions, right/left wing
• prejudiced towards a specific... race, gender, class, social group / tolerant, fair, easy-going
4. Preferences – what they like and don’t like, e.g. music, books, TV, film, culture, food, travel
_________________________________________________________________________________
• regularly (present simple) “x plays football every Saturday...” e.g. habits, routines, regular activities
• now (present continuous) “x is (probably) driving home from work at the moment...”
• past (past simple) “x went to the gym yesterday...”
• past up to now (present perfect) life experience and achievements, e.g. “x has been to Pisa twice...”
• future (future simple) “x will buy some new shoes tomorrow...”
47
Vocabulary Essential Skills
2. i) Look at the pictures below and write three sentences to describe each person.
ii) Write three negative sentences to describe each person, e.g. “Sarah is not an old woman.”
ii) Look at the pictures and say whether each statement is true, false, or we don’t know:
3. i) Say whether each adjective describes personality or character. Write (P) or (C):
Paul plays football a)____. b)____ he went skiing in Switzerland. He has lived in Manchester
c)____. d)____ he is going to start secondary school. He had an open day there e)____.
48
Vocabulary Word Groups
Homonyms: same sounds and spelling but different meanings; cause problems with reading:
Homophones: same sounds but different spellings and meanings; cause problems with spelling:
Homographs: same spelling but different sounds and meanings; cause problems with pronunciation:
Using synonyms helps to make our writing more interesting and raise the level:
Learning words and their antonyms together allows us to increase our vocabulary twice as fast:
A minimal pair is a set of two words that have the same sounds apart from one different sound:
Vowel Sound (Middle): Initial Con. Sound: Middle Con. Sound: Final Con. Sound:
ball bowl bed head eaten even card cars
get got feet meat hobby hockey gate gave
mat met fun done meaning meeting made make
ship shop learn burn pedal petal rice right
will wool rose toes simple symbol yes yet
49
Vocabulary Word Groups
Homonyms: same sounds and spelling but different meanings; cause problems with reading:
Homophones: same sounds but different spellings and meanings; cause problems with spelling:
Homographs: same spelling but different sounds and meanings; cause problems with pronunciation:
Using synonyms helps to make our writing more interesting and raise the level:
Learning words and their antonyms together allows us to increase our vocabulary twice as fast:
A minimal pair is a set of two words that have the same sounds apart from one different sound:
Vowel Sound (Middle): Initial Con Sound: Middle Con. Sound: Final Con. Sound:
ball bowl bed eaten card
get feet hobby gate
mat fun meaning made
ship learn pedal rice
will rose simple yes
50
Vocabulary Word Groups
Homonyms are words which have the same sounds and spelling, but different meanings, for example,
‘bat’ (cricket) and ‘bat’ (animal). It is good to be aware that the same word can have two or more meanings.
‘Homonym’ comes from the Greek words homos (same) + ónoma (name).
51
Vocabulary Word Groups
Homonyms are words which have the same sounds and spelling, but different meanings, for example,
‘bat’ (cricket) and ‘bat’ (animal). It is good to be aware that the same word can have two or more meanings.
‘Homonym’ comes from the Greek words homos (same) + ónoma (name).
52
Vocabulary Word Groups
Homophones are words which have the same sounds, but different spellings and meanings, for example,
‘beat’ (hit) and ‘beet’ (vegetable). It is good to be aware that words can sound the same but be different.
‘Homophone’ comes from the Greek words homos (same) + phono (sound).
53
Vocabulary Word Groups
Homophones are words which have the same sounds, but different spellings and meanings, for example,
‘beat’ (hit) and ‘beet’ (vegetable). It is good to be aware that words can sound the same but be different.
‘Homophone’ comes from the Greek words homos (same) + phono (sound).
54
Vocabulary Word Groups
Homographs are words which have the same spelling, but different sounds and meanings, for example,
‘live’ (on TV) and ‘live’ (reside). ‘Homograph’ comes from the Greek words homos (same) + graph (writing).
Group A: nouns (stress on 1st syllable), verbs (stress on 2nd syllable). Group B are general homographs:
Group A
Homograph: Noun: Verb: Homograph: Noun: Verb:
accent speaking highlight project assignment protrude
ally friend work with protest rally complain
combat fight prevent rebel dissenter protest
combine machinery mix recall memory remember
commune collective pray recap summary review
compost fertiliser break down record vinyl disc note down
compound bunker combine refill top-up replenish
compress bandage flatten refund repayment repay
conduct behaviour e.g. orchestra refuse rubbish decline
conflict war clash relapse deterioration deteriorate
conscript new recruit recruit remake new version re-create
consort companion accompany reprint reissue republish
construct theory build research study investigate
content matter feel happy retake exam recapture
contract agreement reduce second ordinal no. transfer
contrast difference compare segment section divide
convert new believer change subject topic endanger
convict prisoner find guilty survey enquiry measure
decrease reduction reduce suspect defendant presume
default standard evade torment annoyance annoy
defect fault change sides transplant e.g. heart relocate
desert wilderness abandon transport vehicle move
digest publication process update news inform
discharge emission dismiss uplift support raise
discount price reduction disregard upset shock annoy
entrance way in captivate Group B
escort companion accompany Homograph: Meaning 1: Meaning 2:
essay homework attempt bass n. instrument n. fish
exploit adventure make use of bow n. violin n. ribbon
export goods distribute close adj. near v. shut
extract excerpt remove does n. female deer v. 3rd form: do
finance funding provide money excuse n. reason v. overlook
impact effect hit house n. building v. action
implant transplant insert frequent adj. regular v. visit often
import introduction bring in intimate n. close friend v. suggest
incense e.g. candle anger lead n. metal v. direct
incline slope slant live adj. broadcast v. exist
increase growth enlarge minute n. 60 seconds adj. very small
insert leaflet include moped n. vehicle v. past / mope
insult abuse offend perfect adj. flawless v. refine
intrigue conspiracy interest putting n. golf skill v. placing
invite invitation request read v. infinitive v. 3rd form
object thing complain resume n. CV v. restart
perfume bottle action row n. spreadsheet v. argue
permit licence allow separate adj. detached v. disconnect
pervert deviant corrupt sewer n. cesspit n. seamstress
present gift award sows n. female pigs v. seeds
proceeds profits continues tear n. crying v. rip
process procedure walk use n. e.g. single v. expend
produce food make wind n. breeze v. coil
progress headway advance wound n. cut v. past of wind
55
Vocabulary Word Groups
Homographs are words which have the same spelling, but different sounds and meanings, for example,
‘live’ (on TV) and ‘live’ (reside). ‘Homograph’ comes from the Greek words homos (same) + graph (writing).
Group A: nouns (stress on 1st syllable), verbs (stress on 2nd syllable). Group B are general homographs:
Group A
Homograph: Noun: Verb: Homograph: Noun: Verb:
accent speaking highlight project
ally protest
combat rebel
combine recall
commune recap
compost record
compound refill
compress refund
conduct refuse
conflict relapse
conscript remake
consort reprint
construct research
content retake
contract second
contrast segment
convert subject
convict survey
decrease suspect
default torment
defect transplant
desert transport
digest update
discharge uplift
discount upset
entrance Group B
escort Homograph: Meaning 1: Meaning 2:
essay bass n. instrument n. fish
exploit bow
export close
extract does
finance excuse
impact house
implant frequent
import intimate
incense lead
incline live
increase minute
insert moped
insult perfect
intrigue putting
invite read
object resume
perfume row
permit separate
pervert sewer
present sows
proceeds tear
process use
produce wind
progress wound
56
Vocabulary Word Groups
Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings, for example ‘yes’ and ‘no’. We often think of adjectives as
words that have opposites, but many other kinds of words also have antonyms, e.g. ‘this’ and ‘that’.
‘Antonym’ comes from the Greek words anti (against) + ónoma (name).
57
Vocabulary Word Groups
Antonyms are words that have opposite meanings, for example ‘yes’ and ‘no’. We often think of adjectives as
words that have opposites, but many other kinds of words also have antonyms, e.g. ‘this’ and ‘that’.
‘Antonym’ comes from the Greek words anti (against) + ónoma (name).
58
Vocabulary Word Groups
The term minimal pair describes two words that have the same sounds apart from one sound.
The different sound can be a vowel sound (middle) or a consonant sound in the initial (first), middle, or final
position:
59
Vocabulary Word Groups
The term minimal pair describes two words that have the same sounds apart from one sound.
The different sound can be a vowel sound (middle) or a consonant sound in the initial (first), middle, or final
position:
60
Vocabulary New Words
How many of these words do you know? Learn new words by studying the -ous words and their ‘easy’ synonyms:
61
Vocabulary New Words
Learn 100 New Words with the Suffix -ous (Part 1) – Research
Use the internet or a thesaurus to find an ‘easy’ synonym for each of the -ous words below:
62
Vocabulary New Words
Learn 100 New Words with the Suffix -ous (Part 1) – Gap-Fill
egregi capaci fatu lugubri pernici homogen injudici autonom salaci incongru
copi tumultu nebul vivaci acrimoni surreptiti precoci speci supercili rambuncti
1. The boys were so __________ on the coach on the way home after the football match.
2. We’re not looking for a lot of variety, so we want the jobs to be fairly __________.
3. The tent was really __________, which meant we all had plenty of room.
4. Our daughter is incredibly __________ for her age, what with dancing, singing, music…
6. I don’t understand the point you are trying to make; your writing is completely __________.
7. The defendant continued his __________ behaviour by launching a one-man crime wave.
8. I hope you are all taking __________ notes. I will be asking questions after this presentation.
9. Their divorce became __________ when they failed to agree on the custody of their children.
10. Have you got any __________ gossip for me from the party?
11. His __________ decision to drive down the motorway at 4 mph may have cost him his licence.
12. It was such a __________ atmosphere, with grandpa in tears and Leo checking his watch.
13. That new boy is so __________. He’s always looking down his nose at the other students.
14. Emilia is such a lovely __________ girl – always so lively, and she never stops!
15. ‘My brother could have written a better story – and he’s two.’ ‘What a __________ remark!’
16. ‘Do you think we’ll all be travelling around in __________ cars by 2025?’ ‘No.’
17. Kami’s teenage years were __________ as she went from jailbird to number one hockey star.
18. Your __________ proposal can never become law, because it is based upon a falsehood.
19. Rejecting your own son as heir will be an __________ mistake, sir!
20. Petra leaned below her seat and gave the dog a cake in as __________ a way as possible.
63
Vocabulary New Words
How many of these words do you know? Learn new words by studying the -ous words and their ‘easy’ synonyms:
64
Vocabulary New Words
Learn 100 New Words with the Suffix -ous (Part 2) – Research
Use the internet or a thesaurus to find an ‘easy’ synonym for each of the -ous words below:
65
Vocabulary New Words
Learn 100 New Words with the Suffix -ous (Part 2) – Gap-Fill
efficaci salubri cantanker impetu sagaci hazard anomal meretrici contigu parl
obsequi pugnaci tortu perfidi splendifer disingenu parsimoni ludicr bumpti garrul
1. My teacher described it as a __________ piece of writing that was more style than substance.
2. Your tone of voice is rather __________, so I would appreciate it if you could tone it down.
3. I wouldn’t say that Todd was a __________ person; in fact I’ve hardly heard him say a word.
4. She shouldn’t have reacted so quickly, but unfortunately she was just far too __________.
5. Dangling from a cliff with a storm swirling around him, Jeff was in a __________ situation.
6. There’s a __________ old man who lives near me, who is always moaning about my kids.
7. Oh, the roller coaster ride was __________! I can’t describe how utterly fabulous it was!
8. His brother is ingratiating – he’s so __________; clearly making sure that he’s in the will.
9. The two countries of Niger and Sudan are not __________, because Chad lies between them.
10. Take three spoons of this medicine and I believe you will find it to be perfectly __________.
11. Thank you for your __________ advice, O Wise One. I am determined to put it into practice.
12. The prices in the hotel restaurant were absolutely __________! Forty-five pounds for a starter!
13. Some of the figures on this spreadsheet you gave me are rather __________.
14. What she did was pretty __________, because she filmed him at work without his permission.
15. Deluded Alan and Pam believe they’re the best couple in the village; they’re so __________.
16. It’s such a __________ place to live – right on the coast, with a fresh sea breeze.
17. I don’t know whether to trust Fay. Arthur told me that she is a little bit __________.
18. We got lost because the satnav broke and we ended up following a __________ route.
19. There was plenty of ice on the road, which made my drive home rather __________.
20. Why doesn’t Mr. Roland ever pay for a round of drinks? He’s such a __________ old man.
66
Vocabulary Loanwords
Loanwords are words that we borrow from other languages. Here are 300 common loanwords that we use in English:
a cappella (IT) cocoa (SP) jaguar (POR) paprika (HU) sporran (SG)
abacus (HE) coffee (AR) jasmine (AR) parliament (FR) spritzer (GE)
abseil (GE) commando (POR) jeans (IT) pasta (IT) stampede (SP)
ad hoc (GR) concerto (IT) Jesuit (HE) pasteurisation (FR) strudel (GE)
ad nauseam (GR) cosmonaut (RU) jodhpurs (HI) perestroika (RU) sudoku (JA)
aficionado (SP) cotton (AR) John (HE) pet (SG) sugar (AR)
aide-memoire (FR) crag (SG) jubilee (HE) pharaoh (HE) sumo (JA)
aikido (JA) credit (IT) judo (JA) pharisee (HE) sushi (JA)
alchemy (GR) croissant (FR) juggernaut (HI) phoenix (FR) syrup (AR)
alcohol (AR) cushy (HI) kamikaze (JA) physics (GR) talc (AR)
alligator (SP) dachshund (GE) kangaroo (AA) piano (IT) tangerine (AR)
ambiance (FR) delicatessen (GE) karaoke (JA) piazza (IT) tapioca (POR)
angst (GE) dingo (AA) karate (JA) piccolo (IT) taverna (GR)
art nouveau (FR) diva (IT) khaki (HI) pierogi (POL) telephone (GR)
avatar (HI) dodo (POR) kimono (JA) pizza (IT) television (FR)
baguette (IT) dollar (GE) kindergarten (GE) pizzeria (IT) theatre (GR)
balaclava (RU) doppelgänger (GE) koala (AA) poodle (GE) tomato (SP)
balcony (IT) drongo (AA) kookaburra (AA) potato (POR) topic (GR)
banana (SP) duet (IT) kosher (HE) pretzel (GE) tourist (SP)
bandanna (HI) dungaree (HI) Labrador (POR) prima ballerina (IT) traffic (AR)
bandicoot (AA) edelweiss (GE) lacquer (AR) ptarmigan (SG) trio (IT)
bank (IT) elixir (AR) lager (GE) putsch (GE) trousers (SG)
bar mitzvah (HE) embarrass (POR) lemming (NO) pyjamas (HI) tsar (RU)
bard (SG) emoji (JA) lemon (AR) quarantine (IT) tsunami (JA)
baritone (IT) emu (POR) leviathan (HE) quartet (IT) turquoise (FR)
behemoth (HE) encyclopaedia (GR) lieutenant (FR) quartz (POL) tycoon (JA)
bigos (POL) espresso (IT) limousine (FR) rabbi (HE) type (GR)
billabong (AA) et cetera (etc.) (GR) llama (SP) realpolitik (GE) typhoon (AR)
biro (HU) eureka (GR) loch (SG) ream (AR) umbrella (IT)
biscuit (IT) falsetto (IT) lottery (IT) restaurant (FR) utopia (GR)
bog (SG) fascism (IT) mackintosh (SG) rhumba (SP) vamoose (SP)
bonsai (JA) feta (GR) maestro (IT) rickshaw (JA) vanilla (SP)
boomerang (AA) finale (IT) magazine (AR) ruble (RU) veranda (HI)
brouhaha (HE) fjord (NO) mammoth (RU) rutabaga (SW) vindaloo (POR)
buccaneer (POR) flamingo (POR) manga (JA) sabre (HU) viola (IT)
bungalow (HI) frankfurter (GE) mango (POR) sake (JA) violin (IT)
bureaucracy (FR) futon (JA) marmalade (POR) salsa (SP) virtuoso (IT)
cabal (HE) gateau (FR) mattress (AR) samurai (JA) vodka (RU)
café (FR) gauntlet SW) mayor (FR) satsuma (JA) wallaby (AA)
cafeteria (SP) geisha (JA) mea culpa (GR) schadenfreude (GE) wasabi (JA)
cairn (SG) gherkin (POL) merchandise (IT) schmooze (HE) whisky (SG)
candy (AR) giraffe (AR) messiah (HE) schnapps (GE) wombat (AA)
canoe (SP) glockenspiel (GE) modus operandi (GR) schwa (HE) wonga (AA)
carat (GR) goulash (HU) monsoon (AR) seltzer (GE) wunderkind (GE)
caricature (IT) government (FR) moped (SW) sequin (AR) yoga (HI)
cashew (POR) graffiti (IT) mosquito (SP) serendipity (AR) zebra (POR)
cauliflower (IT) grotesque (IT) moussaka (GR) sergeant (FR) zeitgeist (GE)
ceilidh (SG) guarana (POR) mozzarella (IT) shampoo (HI) zen (JA)
cello (IT) guerrilla (SP) muesli (GE) sheikh (AR) zenith (AR)
chauffeur (FR) gymkhana (HI) nacho (SP) shindig (SG) zero (AR)
cheetah (HI) haiku (JA) nadir (AR) ski (NO) zombie (POR)
chef (FR) hallelujah (HE) Neanderthal (GE) slalom (NO) zoology (GR)
chemistry (AR) hamburger (GE) ninja (JA) slogan (SG)
cherub (HE) hamster (GE) oboe (IT) smashing (SG)
chocolate (SP) hoi polloi (GR) ombudsman (SW) smorgasbord (SW)
choir (GR) honcho (JA) opera (IT) sofa (AR)
chutzpah (HE) hosanna (HE) orange (AR) solo (IT)
ciao (IT) hotel (FR) orienteering (SW) sonnet (IT)
cider (HE) hummus (AR) origami (JA) soprano (IT)
clan (SG) hurricane (SP) ouzo (GR) sorbet (IT)
coach (HU) iguana (SP) paella (SP) sovereignty (FR)
cobra (POR) intelligentsia (RU) paparazzi (IT) spaghetti (IT)
Key: AA (Australian Aboriginal), AR (Arabic), FR (French), GE (German), GR (Greek), HE (Hebrew), HI (Hindi), HU (Hungarian),
IT (Italian), JA (Japanese), NO (Norwegian), POL (Polish), POR (Portuguese), RU (Russian), SG (Scottish Gaelic), SP (Spanish),
SW (Swedish)
67
Vocabulary Idioms
Raw Materials
A. Match an English idiom on the left with a literal translation on the right:
1. ‘Only when the last tree has been cut a) Do not waste resources because they
down, the last fish been caught, and may not be easily replaced.
the last stream poisoned, will we
realise we cannot eat money.’
Cree Native American prophecy
2. To cost / charge the earth. b) To feel like your contribution makes little
or no difference.
B. Write a sentence with each idiom. Say it aloud, then change the idiom for the literal phrase
(above). Which sounds more natural?
1. ___________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________________________
6. ___________________________________________________________________
7. ___________________________________________________________________
8. ___________________________________________________________________
9. ___________________________________________________________________
10. ___________________________________________________________________
68
Vocabulary Word Search Puzzles
69
PurlandTraining.com
reading
Reading Gap-Fill
2. Work with a partner. Read the text, fill in the gaps, put the parts in the right order, then discuss the questions on
the following page:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A well-dressed businessman – a tourist – was at the a) _______________ of a b) _______________ village
when a small boat with just one c) _______________ fisherman appeared. Inside the small boat were several
large tuna. The businessman d) _______________ the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked him how
long it had taken to catch them. The fisherman replied, “Not long.” The businessman then asked him
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish, to which the fisherman replied, “I have e) _______________
to support my family’s f) _______________.” The businessman then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of
your time?” The fisherman said, “I sleep late,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
fish a little, play with my children, rest with my wife, then g) _______________ into the village each evening
where I have a glass of wine and play guitar with my friends. I have a full and h) _______________ life.” The
businessman looked i) _______________ and told him, “I’m a very successful businessman and may be able to
help you. You
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
should spend more time fishing, and with the extra money buy a bigger boat. With the j) _______________ from
the bigger boat you could buy several boats, and k) _______________ you would have a whole
l) _______________ of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a m) _______________
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
you would sell directly to the n) _______________, and finally open your own factory. You would control the
product, processing, and o) _______________. Of course, you would need to leave this village and move to the
big city, then possibly even a different country,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
where you would run your growing business p) _______________.” The fisherman asked, “But how long would
all this take?” The businessman replied, “Fifteen to twenty years, I guess.” “But what then?” asked the fisherman,
q) _______________ on the warm sand. The businessman laughed and said, “That’s the best part!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the time is right you could launch your company on the stock market and become very rich. I feel sure you
would make millions!” “Millions?” said the fisherman, “And then what?” The businessman wiped the
r) _______________ from his forehead and smiled, “Then you would s) _______________. Move to a small
coastal fishing village
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, rest with your wife, then wander into the village each
evening and have a glass of wine and play guitar with your friends.” “But I’m doing that now,” said the fisherman,
and the businessman walked away t) _______________.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
74
Reading Discussion Questions
Read the story on p.74 and discuss the following questions with a partner or small group:
2. What is the moral of the story? What lesson does the author want the reader to take away
from it?
3. Who is right, in your opinion? Who do you identify with the most – the businessman or the
fisherman? Why?
4. How did you react to the ending of the story? Were you surprised or moved, for example?
Why? / Why not?
5. What are the pros and cons of each man’s point of view? Compare each man’s position.
6. Would this story be the same if both characters were women? If not, how would it be different?
7. Is the fisherman saying that it is wrong to plan for the future? Isn’t he being irresponsible?
What about when he is too old to work? What about his family?
8. Should we be happy with what we have, or have ambition and strive for more / a better life?
9. Is it wrong to take pleasure in our achievements – setting a goal; striving for it; and achieving
it?
10. Is the story biased in favour of either person? How does the narrative achieve this?
11. Can money buy happiness? What is the relationship between money and happiness?
12. What does the story mean to you? Does it make you want to change your way of life? How
could you do this? Do you want to?
14. Are you happy to accept the rat race: learn, earn, rest, then die? Can you imagine a different,
more fulfilling way of life? Describe it. If not, why not?
15. Do you live in the moment, like the fisherman? What does it mean to do this? Have you ever
tried it? How can we do this? What are the benefits/drawbacks of this?
75
Reading True, False, or Opinion?
The tardigrade must be one of the most fascinating animals on the planet – and off it too! Work with a
partner or small group and test your knowledge of tardigrades with our fun quiz. (Prior research is highly
recommended!)
Print this page onto card, cut up the cards, then lay them face down on a table and mix them up. Take
turns to draw one, read it out loud, and say whether the statement is TRUE, FALSE, or OPINION. If you
get it right, keep your card. The one with the most cards at the end is the winner! Or work alone and sort
the cards into the three groups, then check the answers.
1. Tardigrades are also known as moss piglets. 26. They are among the most interesting animals.
2. There are more than 1,100 species of Tardigrade. 27. They can live for up to two months.
3. Tardigrades have two arms and two legs. 28. Some people like to dress up as tardigrades.
5. They are a type of micro-animal. 30. Tardigrades are harmless if you eat them.
7. They have been found almost everywhere. 32. You have probably eaten a few on a fresh salad.
9. They were discovered in 1846 by van der Groot. 34. Tardigrades do not live on humans or animals.
10. They can withstand extreme temperatures. 35. They can survive being eaten by humans.
11. They will be the last species left alive on earth. 36. They’re called water bears due to how they move.
12. The word ‘tardigrade’ means ‘water bear’. 37. Like insects, they have six legs.
13. They can live in the vacuum of outer space. 38. You’re probably around ten metres from one now.
14. They can survive dehydration and starvation. 39. They are like real life (miniature) gummy bears.
15. Tardigrades are also known as water pigs. 40. No tardigrade fossils have been found.
16. Tardigrades are responsible for global warming. 41. Tardigrades live in water.
17. Tardigrades do not have eyes. 42. They are about 0.02mm long when fully grown.
18. They can withstand very high doses of radiation. 43. They are incredibly resilient.
19. A person who studies tardigrades is a Tardist. 44. They have two claws on the end of each leg.
20. They can suspend their metabolism for years. 45. Tardigrades always reproduce asexually.
21. They cannot be seen under a normal microscope. 46. Tardigrades are the best species on the planet.
22. Tardigrades have unpleasant features. 47. Some tardigrades are cannibals.
23. They live in damp places, like mosses and soil. 48. Tardigrades are mostly brown.
24. A tardigrade is not able to change its basic shape. 49. Scientists do not use tardigrades for research.
25. They have telescopic mouths which spiral out. 50. Tardigrades are impossibly cute.
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PurlandTraining.com
Work with a partner or small group. Both of you choose a different object that you would like to discuss.
It can be something real from where you are – a book, a stapler, a board eraser – something that you’ve
brought in from home – a cushion, a coffee mug, a shopping bag – or something from a catalogue, book,
or newspaper. In fact, any real object that you can think of or imagine!
Then…
• present simple
• present continuous
• past simple
• present perfect
• future simple
and so on! See how many sentences you can make before you run out of tenses!
• Discuss at least 5 advantages and 5 disadvantages of your partner’s object, then swap over.
• Try to sell your object to your partner.
• Imagine your partner is a shopkeeper who sold you your object. Try to get a refund.
• Imagine your item is alive. Imagine:
a) its name
b) it’s life history to date
c) what it does in a typical day
d) how it feels about you – and humans in general
• Write or tell the official biography of your object in no more than 200 words.
• Describe how it is made / grown / produced, etc. What was its journey from the moment of its
creation to this moment in your hands?
• Tell a weird / funny / sad, etc. story about your object.
• Make up a song about it – in different genres: pop, rock, country, rap, reggae, etc.
• Create a role play / short movie on your phone about your object.
• List at least six ways in which your object could be improved.
• How could you transform your object into something else or use it for another purpose?
Think of at least four examples.
• Describe your object for at least a minute, but as if it is something else and not the object at all.
• Create a board game, card game, or puzzle based on your object.
• Write a quiz about your object, or create an app or mobile game based on your object.
• Write a social media post about your object and tag four friends.
Tip: to keep the class moving, each mini-game could be given a fixed time, e.g. 5 minutes. When a bell
rings, students move on to the next game (and new partner) – or randomise the games by cutting up
the list and putting the pieces on the walls around the classroom. Students choose their next game.
78
Speaking and Listening Opinions
Collocations with opinion: agree with, ask, disagree with, find out, get, give, have, hold, know, offer,
receive, say, state, trust, value
3. Agreeing and disagreeing: we can say simply “yes” (“yeah” – informal) or “no” (“nah” – informal). Here are
some more phrases to choose from:
Agreeing: Disagreeing:
I (totally) agree (with sth or sby). / Me too. / So/Neither do I. I (completely) disagree (with sth or sby). / No way!
Yes, of course. / Quite right! / Absolutely! / That’s a good point. That’s / You’re (absolutely) wrong!
That’s (absolutely) right. / That’s true. / You’re not (far) wrong. That’s not true / untrue / false.
I have a different opinion / view.
I respect your opinion, but... (formal)
If you can’t agree: I’m afraid I have to (respectfully) disagree. (formal)
(What a load of) rubbish! (informal)
We’re not going to agree (on this), so let’s agree to disagree / Don’t be ridiculous! (informal)
change the subject. / You don’t have to agree with me, but... You must be joking / kidding! (informal)
4. Our opinion is subjective, not factual. When giving our opinion we add an introductory phrase which acts as a
kind of disclaimer, letting the listener know that this is what we think, feel, or believe, rather than a fact:
I think / feel / believe / guess / reckon... Giving a general opinion: I’ve never thought about it before.
It is my (personal / strong) opinion that... Most / some people think / feel (that)... To state unrequested negative opinions:
In my opinion / view... / As far as I know... It is (widely) thought that.. Don’t take this the wrong way, but...
For me... / To be honest... When you don’t have an opinion: I’m not being funny, but...
If you ask me... / If you want my opinion I don’t know. / I’ve got no idea. [rude / negative opinion] Just sayin’!
After making our first statement we should back it up with reasons and examples. This model of speaking
enables us to talk continuously, because the examples are themselves statements, which lead to further reasons
and examples – and so on: statement -> reason -> example(s) -> statement, -> reason, etc.
5. We can use verbs and adjectives graded from positive to negative to give an opinion:
hate / can’t stand really dislike dislike don’t mind / like / enjoy really like love / adore
negative - don’t like can put up with positive +
0%______________l_______________l_______________50%_______________l_______________l______________100%
Adjectives: It is ______.
terrible / awful really bad bad / poor OK / so-so / not bad good great / super fantastic / brilliant
negative - positive +
0%______________l_______________l_______________50%_______________l_______________l______________100%
79
Speaking and Listening Opinions
1. Write three things that you could give your opinion about in each category:
3. i) Put the parts together and write three sentences with statement -> reason -> example:
for example, on The Guardian website. the style was really modern. You shouldn’t buy that dress,
and you’ll look terrible! because most news is free online – She recommended her hairdresser
’cause she did a great job – I don’t like buying newspapers, because it’s so old-fashioned
ii) Write five sentences using the statement -> reason -> example model:
statement: reason: example:
e.g. I don’t eat meat because I’m a vegetarian, but I love salads, pasta, and rice.
not bad | hate | fantastic | don’t mind | really bad | really dislike
i) Verbs:
ii) Adjectives:
80
Speaking and Listening Discussion
a) Work with a partner. Discuss each pair below and make notes in the space provided. One of
you argues that one of the things is better, while the other person argues the opposite – that the
other thing is better. Think of at least four advantages / disadvantages for each thing:
81
Speaking and Listening Discussion
When something unpleasant happens to you, there is always a friend or family member who advises
you to ‘Just forget it!’ – as in, do not take any further action about the matter.
Discuss the situations below with a partner or small group and say whether you would ‘just forget it’
or take further action. If you would take further action, to what level would you take it? For example:
1. You are passed over for a promotion at work – unfairly in your opinion.
2. You witness a dog owner allowing their dog to poop on the pavement, then fail to pick it up
and bag it.
3. Your flight is delayed by six hours, causing inconvenience but no real extra expense.
4. You are short-changed in a bakery by ninety-five pence.
5. Your good friend does not invite you to their upcoming wedding.
6. Your nursery teacher has overlooked your very talented child for the best parts in the school
play – again – meaning that they have to play a tree.
7. The bus fails to stop, making you twenty minutes late for work.
8. Your pizza at a nice restaurant arrives cold.
9. Your new lawnmower breaks down and needs a serious repair after using it only twice.
10. Somebody spills your pint in a nightclub – all over your partner’s new white coat.
11. Somebody eats the last slice of cake from the fridge when you had reserved it.
12. Somebody backs into your car in a car park, causing minor damage.
13. A group of teenagers are laughing and eating noisily behind you at the cinema – then start
shouting out what happens next.
14. You find out your partner of two years has been having an affair.
15. You ask your child to clean up the house. They do it, but really badly.
16. On a long-haul flight the person in front of you reclines their seat.
17. The police stop you on suspicion of speeding, but you are adamant that you always obey the
speed limit.
18. Your father is wrongly diagnosed by his GP, which leads to his untimely death.
19. Your insurance company refuses to pay out for a damaged mobile phone, worth over £1,000.
20. Your best friend refuses to lend you his car while he’s away on holiday.
82
Speaking and Listening Discussion
When something unpleasant happens to you, there is always a friend or family member who advises
you to ‘Just forget it!’ – as in, do not take any further action about the matter.
Discuss the situations below with a partner or small group and say whether you would ‘just forget it’
or take further action. If you would take further action, to what level would you take it? For example:
1. The owner of the B&B where you stayed for a week charges you for damage to the room,
which you know had been there when you arrived.
2. You book tickets to see your favourite actress live in a West End musical, only to find that on
the day you go it is her day off and her part is being played by an understudy.
3. The launderette shrinks your favourite blouse.
4. You send your brother £100 in cash in the post, but it doesn’t arrive.
5. You are fired from your job after a few weeks for reasons that you feel are unfair.
6. Somebody insults you on social media.
7. Somebody blocks your parking space at work.
8. Your train is cancelled three days in a row, meaning that you have to take the bus.
9. A cyclist cuts in front of you when leaving the traffic lights, then gives you the finger.
10. Another child has been bullying your child at school for a few months.
11. You buy some clothes online, but they do not fit. The online retailer refuses to give a refund.
12. At your child’s school sports day another parent insults your child’s weight.
13. Your father borrows one of your books and returns it damaged.
14. A funeral business uses one of your Facebook photos in an advert without asking you.
15. You write a letter to HMRC to complain about overpayment of tax but they do not reply.
16. You go on holiday abroad but find the hotel is nothing like what they advertised.
17. You agree to let your friends stay in your house while you are on holiday, as long as they don’t
smoke there. You arrive home to find that the house stinks of smoke.
18. You go for a massage which should last one hour, but the massage therapist finishes the
session after 50 minutes without comment.
19. You have a haircut, but afterwards you feel very unhappy about how it looks.
20. Twelve years ago your mother behaved in a manner which really upset you. You still feel hurt.
83
Speaking and Listening Discussion
When something unpleasant happens to you, there is always a friend or family member who advises
you to ‘Just forget it!’ – as in, do not take any further action about the matter.
Discuss the situations below with a partner or small group and say whether you would ‘just forget it’
or take further action. If you would take further action, to what level would you take it? For example:
84
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Complete the information about a song, and present it to the rest of the class:
Title: Artist:
Writer(s): Country:
Genre: Instrument(s):
Melody: Hooks:
Lyrics:
My favourite line:
• •
• •
• •
• •
• •
85
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Work with a partner or small group. Write the source (e.g. online store) and the price of each plastic item
below. Then search for an equivalent item which is biodegradable. Write the source and the price.
Compare the items and prices. Discuss the pros and cons and how easy it was to find a non-plastic
alternative. If there is no alternative invent one.
games console
tablet
children’s toy
fan heater
box of juice
bin bags
fridge freezer
lunch box
washing machine
baby wipes
bottle of bleach
86
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Work with a partner or small group. Write the source (e.g. online store) and the price of each plastic item
below. Then search for an equivalent item which is biodegradable. Write the source and the price.
Compare the items and prices. Discuss the pros and cons and how easy it was to find a non-plastic
alternative. If there is no alternative invent one.
headphones
alarm clock
reading glasses
fitness ball
printer
A4 plastic wallet
modem
sticky tape
rucksack
vacuum cleaner
debit card
iron
87
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Work with a partner or small group. Write down three rooms and five plastic items found in each one.
Write the source (e.g. online store) and the price of each item. Then search for an equivalent item which
is biodegradable. Write the source and the price. Compare the items and prices. Discuss the pros and
cons and how easy it was to find a non-plastic alternative. If there is no alternative invent one.
88
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Discuss the following questions about restaurants with a partner or small group:
1. What is your favourite restaurant? Why do you like it? How often do you go there?
Who do you usually go with?
2. What do you like to order at a restaurant? Do you always order the same thing?
3. Do you leave a tip for the waiter/waitress when you pay? If yes, how much do you leave?
If not, why not?
4. Have you ever worked in a restaurant? Would you like to? Why? / Why not?
Imagine what a normal shift would be like.
5. Are you an easy customer or a difficult customer? Give examples.
6. Has anything funny or surprising ever happened to you in a restaurant? Tell me about it.
7. Would you like to own a restaurant? Do you think it would be a good investment?
Why? / Why not? Why do people set up or buy restaurant businesses?
8. Is restaurant food better than home-cooked food? Are you a good cook?
Do you prefer home-cooked food? Why?
9. Have you ever had food poisoning or felt sick after visiting a restaurant? What happened?
Tell me about it.
10. Do you like to visit different restaurants while on holiday, or do you stick to the hotel
restaurant?
11. Why do we need restaurants? What social / cultural functions do they have?
12. What would happen if there were no more restaurants from next week?
13. Do you prefer small and cosy restaurants to large busy ones? Why? Give reasons.
14. Have you ever complained about the food or service at a restaurant? Tell me about it.
15. If you could have a meal at a restaurant with five famous people (alive or dead), who would
you choose and where would you dine? What do you think you would you talk about?
Who would be the most fun? Who would refuse to pay the bill? Why?
16. Is it better to work in a restaurant than a shop? Why?
17. Can you guess what my favourite restaurant is?
18. Do you think restaurants should play background music or have a quiet ambience? Why?
19. What is the oddest smell you have ever experienced at a restaurant?
20. Have you ever popped into a restaurant just to use the toilet? Why? Did you get caught?
What other funny or forbidden things have you done at a restaurant?
89
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Discuss the following questions about social networks with a partner or small group:
1. Which social networks do you use? What do you use them for?
2. What is your favourite social network? Why? What is unique about it?
3. What is the definition of a social network? What makes something a social network?
What essential qualities does it have to have?
4. Does peer pressure fuel the growth of social networks?
5. Which social networks are the coolest? What makes them cool? Which social networks are
uncool? What makes them uncool?
6. Do you prefer to access social networks on a laptop, tablet, or mobile phone? Why?
7. How many social networks do you belong to? What was the first social network you joined?
What was the last social network you joined? Why did you sign up for it?
8. Which social network has the most useful functions? Have you ever sold anything on a social
network? Have you ever bought ads? How satisfied were you with the results?
9. Which social network is the most fun? Why? Which social networks are boring? Why?
10. If you could keep only three social networks and the rest disappeared, which ones would you
choose and why? If you could keep only one, which would you choose and why?
11. Can you remember a time before social networks? How did you... a) make new friends online?
b) Have fun online? c) Discover the news online? d) Share photos and videos online?
12. How did people keep in touch with friends in the past, before social networks came along?
Would you like to go back to those days? Why? Why not?
13. Which social network is best for… a) sharing photos with friends, b) making new friends,
c) listening to music, d) watching films, e) finding new work contacts, f) learning, g) making
calls, h) texting, i) selling your belongings. Give reasons for your choices.
14. Are social networks essential, or an unnecessary distraction? Can you imagine a world
without social networks? Give reasons for your answers.
15. What dangers do social networks pose? Are you happy to trade your privacy in order to get
free access to a social network? Why? / Why not? Would you pay monthly to get more privacy
on a social network? Why? / Why not?
16. Have you ever had a problem using a social network? Tell me about it.
17. What do you do when you see something you don’t like, or don’t agree with online?
18. Do you think that children should be allowed to register for social networks? Why? / Why not?
19. Is the number of friends or followers that you have on social networks important to you?
Why? / Why not? How many friends have you got on Facebook? How many of them are real
friends? What about on other social networks?
20. Do you rely on social networks to get… a) local news, b) national news, c) international news?
How reliable do you think the news sources are?
90
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Selfish people really are a uniquely gifted kind of human being. It takes a lot of skill to do what they
do – i.e. to do whatever they want to do, without worrying about how their actions affect the rest of us!
A. Below is a list of some of the things that selfish people do on a regular basis. Discuss each
one with a partner or small group. Say why they are annoying and how much they annoy you
on a scale of 1 (OK) to 5 (very annoying).
B. You could also talk about what action you would take in each situation – if any. If you wouldn’t
take any action, why not?
Level:
C. Imagine if you were selfish and did all these things on a regular basis. How would your life
be different? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of having the gift of being
a selfish person?
91
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Selfish people really are a uniquely gifted kind of human being. It takes a lot of skill to do what they
do – i.e. to do whatever they want to do, without worrying about how their actions affect the rest of us!
A. Below is a list of some of the things that selfish people do on a regular basis. Discuss each
one with a partner or small group. Say why they are annoying and how much they annoy you
on a scale of 1 (OK) to 5 (very annoying).
B. You could also talk about what action you would take in each situation – if any. If you wouldn’t
take any action, why not?
Level:
C. Imagine if you were selfish and did all these things on a regular basis. How would your life
be different? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of having the gift of being
a selfish person?
92
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Discuss the following questions about graffiti and street art with a partner or small group:
93
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Discuss the following questions about raw materials with a partner or small group:
1. Which raw materials do we need to make... a) a mobile phone, b) a pen, c) a Sunday roast,
d) an ironing board, e) a guitar, f) a spoon, g) a carpet, etc.?
2. Which raw material could you... a) easily live without, b) live without but it would be hard,
c) not live without? Why?
3. Which materials do we waste the most? Why? How could we better save, manage, reuse, and
recycle these materials, e.g. reuse old scrap paper as notebooks?
4. Why are some raw materials more expensive than others? Which raw materials are the
cheapest? Which are the most valuable? Why?
5. Which raw material is the most used? List the top five most used raw materials in the world
today. Discuss why they are the most useful. Which are the least useful?
6. Should we use sentient beings (e.g. animals) as raw materials for food, clothing, shoes,
entertainment, sport, etc.? Would you be happy to catch, kill, cook, and eat your own meals?
Why? If no, why not?
7. Should we use animals for our entertainment, e.g. bullfighting, cock fighting, dog fighting, in
circuses, etc.
8. What things can you do from scratch? Can you... a) build a fire outdoors, b) catch, kill, and
cook your own food, c) make clothes, d) knit a jumper, e) make furniture, f) write and perform
an entertaining show, g) build a car from a kit, etc.? What would you like to be able to do that
you can’t do at the moment?
9. How often do you think about the raw materials in the products that you buy? Do you ever
wonder how many thousands of miles the materials in your hand have travelled to be there?
Does it make any difference to your life? Why? / Why not?
10. Which raw materials have been used to make the things around you where you are now?
Are they natural or processed? How have they been processed?
11. How important is recycling to you? Do you recycle regularly? Why do other people want us to
recycle materials? Is it a good idea? Why? / Why not? What can we make from recycled...
a) paper and card, b) plastic, c) glass, d) metal, e) fabric, etc.?
12. Can you make something useful or beautiful out of... a) wood, b) metal, c) glass, d) paper,
e) fabric, f) wool, g) clay? If not, why not? Would you like to learn one or more of these crafts?
How could you learn them?
13. How does intensive mining for raw materials affect local communities around the planet?
Does it affect your community? If yes, how? If no, how would you feel if it did?
14. What are the raw materials of your life? What is your life made up of, e.g. friendship, love,
work, etc. What are the raw materials of... a) a successful life, b) a happy life, c) a happy
marriage, d) a happy family, e) a good friendship, f) a great career?
94
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Discuss the following questions about raw materials with a partner or small group:
1. Do we need to continually buy new ‘must-have’ gadgets? How often do you upgrade your…
a) mobile phone, b) laptop, c) tablet, d) car? Do you need to upgrade them so often?
What happens to your old devices and gadgets? Can they be fully recycled?
2. Why is the earth so rich in useful natural resources? Have you ever held in your hand…
a) raw gold, b) wool from a freshly shorn sheep, c) fresh rainwater, d) fresh milk from an
udder, e) newly fallen snow, f) natural cotton, g) a fossil, h) coal?
3. Will the planet’s raw materials ever run out? Which raw materials have already run out?
Which are close to running out? What will happen when all the raw materials have been used?
Which raw materials used for fuel are running out? Should we be concerned?
Which raw materials are infinite, if any?
4. Could you live in the wild? Could you gather raw materials? How and where? Do you agree
with the hypothesis that mankind is the only species that is not naturally adapted to life on
earth. For example, we need clothes, tools, heating etc. while other species do not.
How do we make life more comfortable for ourselves?
5. Would you like to work as a... a) miner, b) sheep shearer, c) fisherman, d) metalworker,
e) butcher, f) lumberjack? g) cotton picker, h) JCB driver? Why? / Why not? Are they well paid
jobs? Is the work easy and comfortable? Imagine a typical day in the life of one or more of
these people.
6. Why are people who collect raw materials often so badly paid? Why can it be so difficult to
collect the fruits of the earth? How do you feel about child labour being used to bring us raw
materials... a) in the past, b) today?
7. How long have you had your mobile phone? How long will you keep it for? How long could it
potentially last? How will you get rid of it? What will happen to it? What is its life cycle?
How could you possibly extend it?
8. Could you live on only natural medication, i.e. homeopathic remedies? Why? / Why not?
Since mankind has existed for more than two hundred thousand years without modern
medicine, why couldn't you? What raw materials are humans made of?
9. Why do we rely on plastic to make so many products? Could we ever get rid of plastic
completely? Will plastic end when the oil runs out? Since plastic is in the food chain due to
plastic waste in our oceans, are we part-plastic?
10. Research then describe to your partner: find out how to make... a) paper, b) glass, c) steel,
d) leather, e) honey, f) a diamond, g) a tin can, h) a beef burger, i) wine.
11. Which countries do raw materials come from? Why are countries which are so rich in raw
materials often among the poorest on earth?
12. Compare two different materials, e.g. wood and glass. What is different / similar about them,
their uses, how they are harvested and then changed in production?
95
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Discuss the following questions about laughter with a partner or small group:
1. What is laughter? Can you spell it? Can you pronounce it? How do you write laughter in your
language, e.g. ‘ha ha!’ in English, but ‘Jajajajaja!’ in Spanish?
2. When did you last laugh? Who or what made you laugh? How often do you laugh?
What would I need to do to make you laugh right now?
3. Do you like laughing? What is the difference between laughing and smiling?
4. How do we laugh? What happens to our bodies, especially: a) mouth, b) eyes, c) chest,
d) diaphragm, e) heart, f) breath? What does laughter: a) sound like, b) look like, c) feel like?
5. Where do you usually laugh? Why? What effect would laughter have on the atmosphere:
a) at a party, b) at a business meeting, c) in church, d) at a comedy club, e) at a funeral,
f) in an exam, g) at a family dinner, h) at the doctor’s?
6. Are you self-conscious about laughing in front of: a) friends, b) family, c) strangers? Why?
7. Is it easier to laugh in a big group e.g. at a comedy club or at the theatre? Would you laugh as
much if you were the only person in the audience? If no, why not?
8. Is laughter ever wrong? When is laughter inappropriate? Can it be illegal to laugh?
9. How would you feel if you couldn’t stop laughing? Is it possible to die laughing?
10. What is the point of laughter? Is there any evolutionary advantage? Does laughter send out
useful signals, e.g. that the one laughing is not a threat?
11. Do animals laugh? Do animals find things funny? If not, why not – and why do we?
12. Can robots laugh? Do you think machines will enjoy our sense of humour in the future?
13. Have you ever laughed till you cried? Have you ever laughed until you couldn’t breathe and
thought you might black out, i.e. uncontrollable laughter? What were you laughing at?
Do you like that sensation? Why? / Why not?
14. Can laughter be subversive? Can it be used as a weapon? Does satire make you laugh?
15. Do you prefer to laugh on your own or with friends? Do you laugh at the same things as your
friends and family? Do you believe that laughter is infectious? Why? / Why not?
16. Is there anything that you wouldn’t laugh at? What? Is it possible to laugh even though you
don’t really find something funny?
17. Do you know anybody who doesn’t laugh very often – or who never laughs? Why is that?
18. Are you good at making people laugh? What are the best ways to make other people laugh?
How do you feel when a group of people are laughing: a) because of you, b) at you?
19. What are the benefits of laughter? Is laughter ‘the best medicine’, for example?
20. How would you describe your laugh? Are you a loud, moderate, or quiet laugher?
21. Describe the difference(s) between these different kinds of laughter: a) chuckle, b) giggle,
c) cackle, d) guffaw, e) snigger, f) sneer, g) chortle, h) hoot, i) titter, j) snicker, k) roar, l) snort,
m) howl, n) fall about laughing? Do you laugh in all these different ways? In what situations
would you laugh like that? Can you give an example of each kind of laughter now?
22. Do you know the meaning of these idioms about laughter? a) to have a laugh, b) to have the
last laugh, c) to get the giggles, d) laughter is the best medicine, e) to be laugh-a-minute,
f) he who laughs last laughs longest, g) to laugh your head off, h) to burst out laughing?
23. Do adults laugh at different things to children? Do women laugh at different things to men?
24. Do you agree that ‘the couple who laugh together, stay together? Is it important for married
couples to have the same sense of humour? Why? / Why not?
25. Do optimistic people laugh more than pessimistic people? If yes, why?
26. Is it possible to change your mood from angry to happy by forcing yourself to laugh, thus
releasing the feel-good chemicals endorphins in the brain?
27. Do you ever say something immediately after laughing, like ‘Oh no!’ or ‘Oh dear?’ If yes, why?
28. Do the things you laugh at change as you get older, or remain broadly the same? Why?
29. How would you feel if you were walking down the street and heard the following people laugh?
a) a baby, b) a group of women, c) a group of teenage boys, d) a lone man, e) a lone woman,
f) a lone child? Why? What would be the difference?
30. Do you agree with this quotation from the famous poem ‘Solitude’ by Ella Wheeler:
‘Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone’? What does it mean?
96
Speaking and Listening Discussion
Discuss the following questions about your country with a partner or small group:
Discuss the following questions about breakfast with a partner or small group:
1. What do you usually have for breakfast? What time do you usually have breakfast?
2. What is your favourite breakfast cereal?
3. What does the word ‘breakfast’ mean?
4. What did you have for breakfast this morning?
5. Where do you usually eat breakfast? Do you ever eat breakfast ‘on the go’?
6. Do you prefer a quick breakfast or a leisurely breakfast?
7. What is the most you would pay for breakfast in a restaurant?
8. Can you describe a full English breakfast? Have you ever tried it? Do you like it?
9. Has anybody ever made you breakfast in bed? How did you feel about it?
10. Do you know how to make traditional porridge?
11. Could you manage without breakfast each morning?
12. Peanut butter, honey, jam, or Marmite on toast? Why?
13. Some people call breakfast the most important meal of the day. Do you agree?
Why? / Why not?
14. What do you think I like to eat for breakfast?
97
Speaking and Listening Discussion
a) Draw a line to show when you can legally do each thing in the UK.
b) Discuss the differences and similarities between the UK and your country.
98
Follow-up
Speaking and Listening Discussion
questions:
Why not?
What?
• What is…? Tell me about… • Have you ever…? Do you ever…? When?
• Why do we have…? What do you know about…? • Can you…?
Which?
• What do you think of when you hear the word… / see…? • What do you usually do when…?
• Have you ever considered…? • What happens when / if…? How?
• What are the main problems with…? • When was the last time you…?
• What are the three most important facts about…? • What experience do you have of…?
• What different kinds of… are there? • What is / are… like in other countries, e.g. …?
Opinion: Hypothetical:
• Do you agree or disagree with this quotation…? • How would your life be different if…?
• Do you believe that…? • If you were… what would you be?
• How important is… to you? • If you could be… for one day, what would you do?
• What are the advantages / disadvantages of…? • What would life be like without…?
• What is your favourite / least favourite…? • What would the world be like if…?
• What do you like / dislike the most about…? • What would happen if…? What would you do if…?
• What do you think about…? • How would you convince somebody who…?
• Would you support a proposal to…? • If money were no object…?
• Would you like to…? • Invent your own…
100
PurlandTraining.com
pronunciation
Pronunciation Spelling and Sounds
Silent Letters
1. Silent letters are letters in words which are not pronounced, e.g. b in lamb and n in autumn. English is
not a phonetic language – we do not speak as we write English. There are 48 different sounds in
English but only 26 letters in the alphabet, which means that there isn’t one letter to represent each
sound. This means that we often need to use digraphs – two letters together which represent either
individual vowel or consonant sounds, e.g.
We could call a in coat or h in what silent letters, because they are not pronounced. However, they are
part of recognised spelling patterns (digraphs), which we can learn, so they are not true silent letters.
Similarly, words with double letters – such as butter, illness, gorilla, and apple – could be said to
contain silent letters. One letter in each is certainly redundant – e.g. the second t in butter – but double
consonant letters help us to know how to pronounce words. Double letters usually make the first vowel
letter short. For example, compare the pronunciation of biter (long ai sound) and bitter (short i sound).
2. There are also words which have vowel letters that are not pronounced, because they are changed to
schwa sounds (weak vowel sounds). For example, the first a in amazing is not pronounced as short a
but rather as a schwa sound: uh: uh Mei zing. This is due to English word stress. In cinema we
pronounce the first vowel letter i as strong short i, while the other two vowel letters become schwa
sounds: cinema = Si n m. Does this make the e and a in cinema silent letters? They are still pronounced
– just not as you might expect. So, maybe not.
3. True silent letters are letters which appear in words but do not have any connection with them. Below are
some good examples. It is worth learning the spellings of these words and practising saying them out
loud as you write them (sounding them out):
Silent Letter: Example(s):
b bomb, climb, comb, dumb, lamb, numb, plumb, thumb; plumber; debt, doubt, subtle
d grandson, handkerchief (nd changes to ng sound = assimilation), handsome; Wednesday
h honest, honour, hour
l chalk, talk, walk; calf, half; folk, yolk; almond, calm; salmon; could, should, would
n autumn, column, solemn; hymn; government
p cupboard, raspberry, receipt
s aisle, Isla, island, isle; chamois, debris
t listen, often, soften; ballet, duvet, haricot; Christmas, mortgage; tsunami
There is a special case with silent e at the end of a word, e.g. time, pale, role, etc. This is called the
magic e rule, where the existence of vowel + consonant + e (or another vowel letter) causes the first
vowel to be long. So while this e is a silent letter, it has a useful function. This applies to lots of words.
4. Silent letters are caused by two main factors. English is an old language dating back to C5th AD and it is
rich in vocabulary with over 1m words. As new words have been added over time, the spellings have
become fixed by writing and printing them, while pronunciation evolved in a different direction, causing
separation of written and spoken English. In the case of many words with silent letters the spelling
shows how the word used to be pronounced in the past, when the English language was far more
phonetic. For example, In the Middle Ages knight had two syllables and was pronounced with every
letter sounded: k Neehht. As new words have been added to English from other languages, the spelling
was often retained but the pronunciation was altered to fit our vowel sounds and stress rules. In
American English there have been attempts to rationalise the spelling by deleting redundant letters, e.g.
letters are dropped from the end of various words: omelette > omelet, programme > program, etc.
5. Other silent letters are also useful because they provide a way of telling the difference between
homophones – words that have the same pronunciation, but different meanings and spellings, e.g.
105
Pronunciation Spelling and Sounds
a) l i s _ e n d) l a m _ g) a u t u m _
b) _ o n e s t e) b e _ h) i _ l a n d
c) r a s _ b e r r y f) a _ m o n d i) a b o v _
2. Underline the letter(s) in each word which are pronounced as schwa sounds:
3. Put the following words into categories and circle the silent letter(s) in each word:
cheese rain bottle file guild redder know doubt question grandma
fought psychic honest apple weight hotter seat why comb add
Silent letter is part of a consonant digraph: Silent letter is part of a vowel digraph:
Silent letter is part of a pair of double letters: True silent letter not connected to the word:
• How phonetic is your first language? Are there silent letters? How did you learn to spell it?
• How difficult is English spelling? Do you feel confident with it? How can you improve?
• Why doesn’t anybody reform English spelling so that it makes sense? What would you do first?
What would happen if English were written phonetically – as we speak it?
5. Read the story and cross out the incorrect homophone in each pair:
106
Pronunciation Phonemic Alphabet
Glottal Stops
We make a glottal stop when we want to remove difficult cc sound connections from our speech. A
cc sound connection occurs when the final sound of one syllable is consonant and the next sound,
from the beginning of the next syllable, is also consonant. For example, “hot day”. We often use a
glottal stop after elision. It is important to remember that we do not need to pronounce every letter in
English when we speak. Elision occurs when we automatically delete a consonant sound (especially t)
from the end of a syllable to make the sound connection easier. For example, in the phrase “a cat was
playing”. the t sound in “cat” is automatically deleted by the speaker and replaced with a glottal stop:
uh Ka_ w Splei ying. By replacing a consonant sound with a glottal stop, we stop the friction that
would have occurred by the meeting of the two consonant sounds. Why can’t we just use elision and
not a glottal stop...? It is our habit... If you use only elision without a glottal stop it will sound very odd,
e.g. uh Ka w Splei ying. The rule: if vowel sound + t + con. sound use elision & glottal stop.
It occurs when vowel + t meets another consonant sound, i.e. not when t follows a consonant, e.g. in
fast car. In this situation, t is deleted (elision) and s moves forward (FCL): Far Skar. But see also
paint pot = Pain_ Pot.There are many common words which will create cc connections when followed
by a consonant sound, meaning that you are likely to hear glottal stops quite often:
• common function words that end with t : not, at, that, what, it just, out
• contracted negative auxiliary verbs with not: don’t, didn’t, haven’t, won’t, can’t, wouldn’t, etc.
• common verbs and associated phrasal verbs: get, put, sit, etc.
• common one-syllable content words that end with t : white, hot, want, wait, etc.
Apart from using glottal stops with elision, we sometimes also use them when we move consonant sounds
forward (FCL – Forward Consonant Linking), for example in the phrase “Let’s go”, we move forward s but we
are still left with a cc connection, so we delete t and replace it with a glottal stop: Le_ Sgeu.
If you do not use glottal stops, your spoken English will not sound as natural and smooth as it could,
because you are pronouncing too many consonant sounds, especially t and d. This will slow down your speech
and mess up the stress pattern and the sound spine. Making a glottal stop is a physical action which can be
learned, just like any physical action, e.g. clicking your fingers. Unfortunately, the glottal stop can’t be avoided if
you want to speak like a native speaker. It must – and can – be learned and mastered.
Note: in some accents of English, e.g. Estuary English, some people will use a glottal stop even when they don’t
need to, e.g. late night = Lei_ Nai_ bottle = Bo_ uhl and better = Be_ uh There is no following consonant
sound, but the speaker still uses a glottal stop.
107
Pronunciation Phonemic Alphabet
1. Delete the unnecessary consonant sound (elision) in each phrase and underline the place
where a glottal stop will occur. Practise saying each phrase out loud using a glottal stop, then
say them without glottal stops. What is the difference?
a) Were you aware of the glottal stop in English before this lesson?
b) Do you use the glottal stop in your language? What are the similarities and differences in how you use it,
compared with English?
c) Do you feel confident about using glottal stops in English? If not, why not? How can you improve your
glottal stop technique? Are you prepared to practise the technique repeatedly until you have completely
mastered it? If not, why not?
5. Translate these phrases from Clear Alphabet to the English alphabet. Each one includes one
or more glottal stops. Practise saying each phrase out loud with a glottal stop:
6. Delete the unnecessary consonant sound(s) (elision) in each sentence and underline the
place where a glottal stop will occur. Practise saying each sentence out loud using glottal
stops where necessary. Say them without glottal stops. What is the difference?
a) Our cat got put down. e) We ate out late last night.
b) Can you vote for me? f) The boat house needs a paint job.
c) Kate wrote a short note. g) It’s Pat’s mate’s pet dog Pete, dad.
d) Bart bought some light wheat. h) No, it’s not Pat’s mate’s pet!
7. a) Find twenty one-syllable words ending in t (sound) in the word search. b) Write five
sentences with the words and practise saying them out loud, including glottal stops:
t n o t h w a i t u p o
e t t t i a o a t e h t
e e h a w h a t t c e h
m t a e f o o t e a a g
t i t m i g h t i t r u
p k e t g e t a o b t o
t e l w h i t e t e g b
108
Pronunciation Speaking Skills
Intonation
1. In short, intonation means the ups and downs of the voice in a sentence. Good pronunciation involves three
elements: sentence stress (the sound spine), connected speech (connecting syllables, not speaking word by
word), and intonation. Varied intonation is more interesting than robotic, monotonous speech, and therefore
easier and more appealing to listen to. For example, when reading aloud we should aim to “lift the words from the
page” using intonation, rather than reading in a flat boring voice.
Stress is non-negotiable – the sound spine must be heard clearly – and connected speech is a must if you want to
sound natural. But stress and connected speech are not enough – we need to use intonation. For example, we
could have correct stress and connected speech, but still sound flat, dull, and emotionless. Without hearing
emotion we cannot be sure of the speaker’s intention. English intonation is more familiar to speakers of some
languages than others, e.g. European students of English may find English intonation patterns more familiar than
speakers from the Middle East or the Far East. However, many non-English speakers of English would agree that
English intonation (and stress) seem “too much” – too exaggerated – when compared with their language.
2. Let’s say that we are clear about the sound spine of our sentence and we are using connected speech. What
about intonation? Standard (neutral) intonation in a statement (not a question) usually involves going on a
journey: up the mountain and back down again. We usually go up around the middle of the sentence, and back
down at the end. We must have closure. Let’s take an example of a short sentence. We go up in the middle,
either:
I met my friend in the park. (“friend” is the key concept word – it is the main point of the sentence)
In a longer sentence, or a list, there will be more ups and downs. We have to decide which specific words or
phrases are the most important in our communication. By “going up” on them we give them emphasis, e.g.
a) For yes/no questions – we go up at the end (rising intonation). The listener feels compelled to answer,
because we need closure. For example,
b) For wh- questions (what, where, when, etc.) – we go down at the end (falling intonation). For example:
c) When the speaker uses a question tag, they can go up if they want to check some information, e.g.
d) ...and down if they are making a general statement and believe that the listener will agree, e.g.
We can add extra emphasis when replying to questions, depending on what part of the sentence the speaker
asked about. In the sentence below there are seven possible wh- questions that could be asked.
John rode his bike to the city lake quickly yesterday, because he was late.
who what – action what – object where, which how when why
For example, if somebody asked: “Who rode their bike to the city lake?” you could put extra emphasis on the
name in the answer, by going up on the word “John”: John rode his bike to the city lake. or John did.
109
Pronunciation Speaking Skills
• Rising intonation at the end of a statement when we want to continue without being interrupted, e.g.
I wanted to get some rice at the supermarket. You know, the one on the corner. And it was closed, so...
Jennifer bought a pencil, a pencil sharpener, some pens, a ruler, and a new bag for school.
Function words are usually unstressed in standard English pronunciation, but we can use intonation to give
them extra emphasis – to make our point. Each function word has a strong form and a weak form, so we can
use the strong form if we want to emphasise that word. For example, the weak form of the auxiliary verb “have” is
uhv, while the strong form is Hav – i.e. we hear the strong vowel sound a in the strong form, but in the weak
form it is reduced to a schwa sound. Here is a sentence with neutral (normal, standard) intonation:
I’ve finished doing my homework. (general statement – note the normal rise and fall)
I have finished doing my homework. (I’m confirming the news that my homework is finished – stop nagging!)
4. Another important use of intonation is to show mood, which helps to express intention and meaning. There are
several invaluable tools in the intonation toolbox and each one is adjusted to convey mood, for example:
...and so on. An emotion like anger is a high-energy emotion and the speaker demands that the listener hears
them clearly. The intonation toolbox enables this. On the other hand, sadness is a low-energy emotion and the
speaker may be less focused on whether anybody is listening. The intonation tools used reflects this intention.
Of course, tone also depends on the personality of the individual person. For example, each person will “sound
upset” in a different way. Furthermore, some people – typically men – will have a lower pitch range than others –
typically women and children.
5. There are a number of short words and sounds that change their meanings completely depending on the
intonation. If we do not use intonation, or use the wrong kind, our meaning might not be clear and communication
may fail. For example:
110
Pronunciation Speaking Skills
Intonation – Exercises
1. What is... a) sentence stress, b) connected speech, c) intonation?
2. Draw the clause break in each sentence and draw intonation arrows in each:
a) I left early because I didn’t like the film. c) Jim bought some cornflakes and a pie.
b) It was past ten o’clock, so we had to go. d) The book was good at first, then boring.
3. Listen* to four sentences and underline the key concept word or phrase in each one:
a) I got the tube to work today. c) There are three biscuits left.
b) She left her brother at home. d) I can’t find the remote control.
a) Do you like raw fish? c) This is the right bus, isn’t it?
b) We both enjoyed the gig, didn’t we? d) What’s the date today?
6. Write the tools in the intonation toolbox from the first letters:
a) t _ of v _ c) e _ e _ e) p_ g) v_
b) r_ d) p_ for e_ f) s_
7. Listen* to the sentence read with different moods. Match each version to a mood below:
8. Complete the table to show what happens with four different moods. Write and read your own sentences
out loud using the different moods:
9. Read each sentence out loud with neutral intonation, then in different moods, e.g. happy, sad, nervous,
etc. Which tools from the intonation toolbox did you use to make each mood?
a) I’ve gone to the shops. c) There are two sausages left in the oven.
b) He lived in Birmingham all his life. d) The garden needs watering.
10. i) Listen* and match each short sound or word with a meaning below:
ii) Create a role play using only short sounds, intonation, and mime.
11. Discussion: How does your language compare to English when it comes to stress and intonation? Do
you think there is too much of this in English? What short sounds do you use in your language, and what
do they mean? List ones which are the same as in English. List ones which are different.
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PurlandTraining.com
writing
Writing Creative Writing
1. Choose a profession, a thing that starts with the first letter of that profession, and a time
period, then fill in the gaps in the sentence below:
For example: The teacher who lived without tyres for a year.
2. Plan your story by answering the following questions. You can write in the first person (about
yourself) or third person (about somebody else). Use this page to make notes, then write your
story on the next page:
WHO? _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
WHERE? _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
WHEN? _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
WHY? _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
HOW? _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
EVENTS: 1. _______________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________
3. When you have finished your text, check it for errors and make corrections.
4. Write ten comprehension questions based on your story, with answers, e.g. ‘Where did x
live?’ ‘In Ely.’ Share your quiz with another student. Check their work*.
5. Write ten true / false / don’t know statements based on your story, with answers, e.g. ‘Jo
lived in Ely.’ ‘True.’ Share your quiz with another student. Check their work*.
6. Work with another student to produce a short role play based on one – or both – of your
stories. Perform it for the rest of the class.
*Another option: students all put their finished stories in a box and each takes out a different story, writes the questions as in 4.
and 5., then gives the text and quizzes to another student (not the original author).
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PurlandTraining.com
answers to worksheets
and notes for use
Answers to Worksheets and Notes for Use
Grammar
9 Look at those beautiful mountains. (D) Example of words that helped: ‘Look’ means that I’m
pointing something out; ‘mountains’ – if you can see mountains, plural, they are not near, so we use
‘those’. 2. this (P). 3. this (D), that (P). 4. that (P). 5. That (D). 6. this (D), that (D). 7. These (P),
those (P). 8. this (P), this (P). 9. this (D). 10. that (P). 11. those (D). 12. those (P). 13. This (P).
14. these (D). 15. This (P). 16. these (D), those (P). 17. this (D). 18. That (P). 19. that (P). 20. That
(P).
10 Those classes (D) began two months ago. Example of words that helped: ‘began two months
ago’ – the time is not near; it is finished time (past simple), and ‘classes’ is plural, so we use ‘those’.
2. That (P). 3. This (P). 4. this (D). 5. these (D). 6. this (D). 7. This (P). 8. Those (D). 9. that (D).
10. that (P). 11. this (D). 12. That (P). 13. this (D). 14. That (D). 15. These (D). 16. These (P).
17. Those (P). 18. that (D). 19. These (P). 20. These (D).
14 1. a). 2. b). 3. a). 4. b). 5. b). 6. a), b), c). 7. b). 8. a). 9. a), b). 10. d). 11. a), c). 12. d).
13. c). 14. d). 15. d).
16 Answers will vary. Sample answers: 1. By four o’clock Tim will have been working for four hours.
(Use 1.) 2. By the time I retire I will have been living here for twenty years. (Use 2.) 3. By then Betty
will have been running for forty minutes, so she will be tired. (Use 5.) 4. By that point our parents will
have been driving for five hours. (Use 1.) 5. Before you get there, I’m sure Mary will have been
watching TV all afternoon. (Use 4.) 6. On Monday he will have been representing our company for
five years. (Use 2.) 7. At ten pm he will have been waiting on hold for more than half an hour. (Use 3.)
8. In May Billie will have been working here for two years, which means she should get a pay rise.
(Use 5.) 9. When the bell rings, we will have been studying for an hour. (Use 1.) 10. If the bus doesn’t
arrive in the next five minutes, we will have been standing here for fifteen minutes. (Use 3.)
11. Yesterday I reckon Michael will have been cooking for about an hour. (Use 4.) 12. We will have
been waiting at the bar for ten minutes. (Use 3.)
17 1. get. 2. look. 3. revise. 4. go. 5. hurry up. 6. lost. 7. met. 8. applied. 9. give. 10. failed.
11. worked. 12. been. 13. had. 14. crashed. 15. brought. 16. love. 17. fall. 18. mess about.
19. boils. 20. drink.
18 1. buy. 2. take. 3. come. 4. drop. 5. ask. 6. was / were. 7. become. 8. earn. 9. join. 10. ride.
11. fixed. 12. got. 13. eaten. 14. moved. 15. lost. 16. sit. 17. do. 18. build. 19. leave. 20. snows.
19 Answers will vary. Sample answers: 1. check in. 2. save. 3. want. 4. watch. 5. put. 6. wash.
7. go. 8. get. 9. sell. 10. put. 11. get. 12. liked. 13. travel. 14. go. 15. gave. 16. go. 17. were.
116
Answers to Worksheets and Notes for Use
18. wear. 19. broke up. 20. go out. 21. followed. 22. been. 23. looked after. 24. quit. 25. come.
26. missed. 27. worn. 28. had. 29. had. 30. looked. 31. get. 32. take. 33. wake up. 34. feel.
35. is. 36. go. 37. think. 38. are. 39. starts. 40. find.
20 Answers will vary. Sample answers: 1. cut. 2. put out. 3. need. 4. call. 5. get up. 6. be. 7. call.
8. mend. 9. pay. 10. cut off. 11. had. 12. join. 13. was / were. 14. live. 15. went. 16. talk. 17. tried.
18. be. 19. invited. 20. give. 21. broken. 22. been. 23. felt. 24. had. 25. scored. 26. reached.
27. loved. 28. been. 29. remembered. 30. paid. 31. comes. 32. play. 33. brush. 34. feel. 35. is.
36. ask. 37. tidied. 38. gets. 39. make. 40. sing.
1. 1 + 4 - 3 = 2. If my son invites four of his mates to join his Simply Red tribute band, but after
two weeks three of them quit due to ‘musical differences’, how many go on tour?
2. 8 + 2 - 5 = 5. If eight apples fall from a tree in our garden, followed by two more, but then a
roaming goat eats five of them, how many apples are in my fruit bowl?
24 1. a) There are two trees in the garden. b) There’s a good programme on TV. c) There is too
much information. d) There is a lot of people here. e) There is a lot of traffic today. f) There’s
something I want to tell you. g) There is some meat in the fridge. h) There is a new printer in the
office. i) There must be a bigger plate. j) There isn’t anything to do here.
2. a) was. b) will not / won’t. c) Are / Were. d) are, was. e) Is, Was. f) have been.
3. i) a) There aren’t many biscuits left in the jar. b) There has been a lot of bad weather lately.
c) There’ll be an important meeting tomorrow. d) Is there any reason why you are late today?
There are two pencils in the pencil case, but they are not mine.
26 1. countable nouns: road, hat, hamburger; uncountable nouns: cotton, sand, butter; both: power,
chocolate, pizza, pepper, rule, football.
3. There is a book on th table. There is some music on the radio. There isn’t any cheese in the
fridge. There’s some money in my purse. There is an apple in the basket. There is some milk in that
glass. There’s a programme about fish. Is there any snow outside?
117
Answers to Worksheets and Notes for Use
5. a) a slice of bread. b) 2 tubs of ice cream. c) 2 pieces / packs / sticks of gum. d) a piece of cake.
e) a jar of coffee. f) 3 jars of honey. g) a bag of sugar. h) a tin of beans.
7. a) The gum was stuck to the desk. b) Correct. c) Correct (past simple). d) The rice is coming to
the boil.
2. a) a beautiful wooden doll. b) an old blue car. c) a priceless Swedish clock. d) an expensive
Australian cricket bat. e) smelly round yellow cheeses. f) a tall middle-aged woman. g) my favourite
brown jacket. h) a huge square leather folder.
3. a) My dog is bigger than yours. b) No, my dog is bigger / the biggest. c) But mine is the most
beautiful. d) No, mine is more beautiful that yours. e) Your dog is worse / the worst. f) No, mine is
better / the best. g) OK, let’s say mine is nice / the nicest. h) And mine is the strongest / stronger than
yours.
4. i)
Ex. 1: 1. I want all the cakes. (2.) 2. I waited all morning. (2.) 3. Everybody is very busy. (3.) 4. We
ate all three apples. (1.) 5. Everybody is very busy. (3.) 6. It has been raining all morning. (1 & 2.) 7. I
waited all my life. (2.) 8. He ate a whole apple. (4.) 9. I waited the whole morning. (1.) 10. He listened
to all the music. (1.)
Ex. 2: 1. I waited my whole life. (1.) 2. It’s been raining all day. (4.) 3. A whole day went by as I
waited for her text. (4.) 4. We ate three whole apples. (2.) 5. I waited all my life. (1.) 6. The whole
apple has gone. (2.) 7. It has been raining the whole day. (1 & 2.) 8. We ate three whole apples. (2.)
9. I have eaten all the spaghetti. (2.) 10. We put everything in the car. (2.)
Ex 3: 1. Everybody is very busy. (3.) 2. She has drunk the whole bottle of juice. (5.) 3. He has eaten
two whole apples. (Correct.) 4. I ate the whole cake. (1.) 5. It rained all day on Friday. (Correct.)
6. We watched the whole concert. (Correct.) 7. I waited my whole life. (1 & 2.) 8. We all missed the
bus. (Correct.) 9. I want all the cakes. (1.) 10. Everybody finished work and went home. (Correct.)
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Answers to Worksheets and Notes for Use
Ex. 4: 1. I ate all the cakes. (Correct.) 2. I cooked all the pasta. (1.) 3. I’ve lived in Bournemouth all
my life. (Correct.) 4. I have waited for this moment my whole life. (4.) 5. I ate all of the / my cake. (1 &
2.) 6. We ate three whole apples. (4.) 7. I ate the whole cake. (Correct.) 8. I have waited for this
moment my whole life. (1.) 9. We went to England for three whole days. (Correct.) 10. We had three
whole puddings. (Correct.)
35 Answers will vary. For sample answers, see p.34 and also below:
1. Past:
+ They would walk home by the river every Friday.
- They would not (wouldn’t) walk home by the river every Friday.
c) used to ? Would they walk home by the river every Friday?
37 1. You can take a book if you need to take a book. (6, 4.) 2. I have never been to Peru. (2.)
3. The last science-fiction film that I saw was the science fiction film with the blue people in the
science fiction film. (2, 5, 5.) 4. Can we talk later? Will that be OK? (6, 7.) 5. The agreement that
we reached was unacceptable. (2.) 6. After Jody had spent time reading the report, Jody concluded
that reading the report had been a waste of time for Jody. (3, 5, 1, 5.) 7. I did not want to attend
the meeting, but Jack forced me to attend the meeting. (1, 4, 4.) 8. I must wash my hair, get
dressed, then eat breakfast and leave by 8 o’clock. (11.) 9. Would you like a cup of tea, Natalie?
(7.) 10. The main character of the novel is called The Amazing Sombrero. (10.) 11. Dan saw a fox
when Dan was out running. (5, 3.) 12. Did you find the car keys? (8.) 13. “Has the bus gone?” “Yes,
the bus has just gone.” (8, 7.) 14. Talks to find a new deal for the manager of City Football Club
have failed. (10.) 15. The book that I needed was not available. (2, 1.)
38 1. He is going to finish watering the plants later. (1.) 2. Would you put the vase on the table
where the kids cannot break the vase. (6, 1, 5.) 3. The map which we have been using is the wrong
map. (2, 1, 5.) 4. Do you want a break? (7.) 5. Are you coming with us? (8.) 6. When I am out
shopping, I always look for bargains. (3.) 7. Fears about the giraffe that has got lost in Chicago
have increased. (10.) 8. The hotel room is ready to use when you want to use the hotel room. (4.)
9. Mike said that he was busy, so I did not invite Mike. (2, 1, 5.) 10. A new striker called Mark
Collins has signed a two-year contract with Bradley City Football Club. (10.) 11. You ought to
contact the other players and tell the other players about the match. (6, 5.) 12. “Hi, my name is
Dave.” “Hello, my name is Paul.” “It is nice to meet you.” (7, 7, 8.) 13. “Was she late?” “No, she was
not late.” (9.) 14. You ought to try the anchovies. Mmm! The anchovies are so divine. (6, 5, 8.)
15. Tomorrow I will have to leave work by 2 o’clock, have a quick change, then race to my mum’s
house, and try to be home before it gets dark. (11.)
1. a) We have our carpet cleaned (by a specialist) once a month. b) I’m getting my tax return done (by
my accountant) next week. c) Jane had her portrait painted (by an artist) yesterday. d) They were
having their piano tuned (by a piano tuner) earlier on. e) I’m going to get my package delivered (by
courier) tomorrow.
2. f) They have had a designer create the wedding dress just for them. g) We can have the doctor
make an appointment at the hospital for you. h) Have the plumber fix that leaky tap immediately! i) If
we have the electrician check our boiler, it will be much safer! j) If I had a dietician create an eating
plan, I might lose more weight!
3. k) I might get the bakery to make Terry’s birthday cake. l) We’d got the builder to fix the wall, but
then the roof collapsed. m) If I’d got the vet to look at my rabbit earlier, he might’ve saved him. n) If we
get our neighbour’s gardener to cut the grass, he always does a really good job. o) Jan will have got
the mechanic to fix her car by the end of the day.
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Answers to Worksheets and Notes for Use
1. a) We always have our bouquets made professionally (by the florist). b) I’m having my hair cut (by
the hairdresser) tomorrow morning. c) We had our house valued (by the estate agent). d) Ivan was
having his essay checked (by his tutor). e) I’m going to get my sports injury treated (by a
physiotherapist).
2. f) We have had lawyers consider his case on a number of occasions. g) I could have the tattooist
create a floral pattern on your arm. h) Have the window cleaner do all the windows please! i) If I have
the car wash guys clean my car, will it be worth paying £8? j) If I had my neighbour look after my
parakeet I could go on holiday.
3. k) You should get the chiropodist to examine your feet. l) I’d got that pizza place to reserve a table
for us at 8pm. m) If I’d got the travel agent to book the tickets, I would have saved time. n) If we get
Alan to organise the meeting, it always goes wrong! o) She must have got the beautician to paint her
nails by now!
Vocabulary
46 1. a) It’s eleven forty. / It’s twenty to twelve. b) It’s ten fifteen. / It’s quarter past ten. c) It’s seven
fifty-five. / It’s five to eight. d) It’s three twelve. / It’s twelve minutes past three. e) It’s nine forty. / It’s
twenty to ten. f) It’s one fifty-five. / It’s five to two. g) It’s twelve o’clock / midday / midnight. h) It’s four
oh four. / It’s four minutes past four.
3. Answers will vary. Sample answers: a) It’s ten to one. b) It’s quarter past three. c) It’s four minutes
past eight. d) It’s ten o’clock. e) It’s half past nine. f) It’s five past ten. g) It’s two forty. h) It’s twenty-
eight minutes past seven.
6. a) at. b) o’clock. c) on. d) be on time. e) spend. f) on. g) at. h) to / past. i) have. j) a whale of a time.
k) killing. l) wasting. m) weekend / Sunday.
7. a) in. b) on. c) in. d) at. e) on. f) on. g) in. h) on. i) at. j) at. k) at. l) in.
8. a) ten to six. b) seven o’clock. c) two eighteen. d) four fifteen. e) quarter to one. f) eleven oh four.
g) three am. h) half past eight.
48 1. i) a) My brother’s name is Adam. b) He’s six years old. c) Sarah is a teacher. d) Paul is a 26
year-old vet. e) My mum is called Theresa. f) Brian is a Belgian soldier. g) He lives in Nepal. h) She
works at the town hall.
2. i) Answers will vary. ii) Answers will vary. iii) a) False. b) We don’t know. c) We don’t know.
d) False. e) True. f) False. g) False. h) False. i) True. j) True.
3. i) brave (C) generous (C) dishonest (C) moody (P) positive (P) reliable (C) quiet (P) open (P)
friendly (P). ii) Answers will vary. Sample answers: a) every day. b) Last month. c) for five years.
d) Next week. e) two months ago.
120
Answers to Worksheets and Notes for Use
69
71 Players: 11. commit a foul. 14. defend your area. 18. kick the ball. 22. pass the ball. 26. save
a goal. 27. score a goal. 33. sprint a hundred metres. 35. tackle an opponent. 36. take a penalty.
39. warm up before going on.
Referees: 4. award a penalty. 5. blow a whistle. 13. confer with other officials. 15. enforce the
rules. 16. examine the VAR footage. 23. penalise a player. 24. preside over a game. 29. send off
a player. 30. show a yellow or red card. 38. toss a coin.
Supporters: 1. advise the manager on tactics. 3. attend matches. 7. buy a season ticket. 8. cause
trouble with rival fans. 9. check match results. 10. cheer on the players. 12. complain about
everything. 32. sing football chants. 34. support their team. 40. watch a match on TV.
Clubs: 2. appoint a new manager. 6. bring out a new team strip. 17. fire a manager. 19. loan out a
player. 20. maintain the ground. 21. organise matches. 25. run the football club. 28. sell tickets
and merchandise. 31. sign a new player. 37. talk to the media.
121
Answers to Worksheets and Notes for Use
Reading
74 a) pier. b) seaside. c) badly-dressed. d) congratulated. e) enough. f) immediate needs.
g) wander. h) rewarding. i) concerned. j) profit. k) eventually. l) fleet. m) middleman. n) processor.
o) distribution. p) centrally. q) resting. r) sweat. s) retire. t) deep in thought.
1. Here are some of the themes that can be found in the story:
• The fisherman may be saying to the businessman, “Why don’t you rest now, when your
ultimate goal is to be able to make enough money to retire, i.e. to rest?” This paradox dates
back to Parallel Lives by Plutarch, written in the late 1st century AD.
• Quality time spent with family vs. time spent at work.
• The fisherman lives in the moment, while the businessman lives in the future.
• Both characters are polar extremes; we need to find balance in our lives between both
positions; the dream could be to live on the beach, but with a nice modern home, clean
clothes, and MONEY; there could be a third character who represents a third more moderate
position – a middle-way. Can we compromise? e.g. a four-day working week.
5. The reader can get a negative impression of the businessman from the story (see below).
Here are some arguments in favour of the businessman’s point of view:
• He creates jobs for many people, not only his family; the fisherman only looks after his own
family.
• The fisherman is a stereotype of the anti-materialist who is happy with his poor lot – but
poverty is not fun.
• Human beings have higher needs than only food and subsistence, see for example Maslow's
hierarchy of needs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs
10. The story can be seen to be biased in favour of the fisherman’s point of view because:
• The businessman is shown as enquiring, while the fisherman has a fixed position that remains
unchallenged.
• The ending shows the businessman’s position to be untenable, but without examining the
fisherman’s position. He appears to be living a life without money, but where does he live, for
example? How does he pay the bills? We don’t know his living conditions. How does he
manage for heat, light, water, electricity, healthcare, hygiene (e.g. cleaning clothes, home,
etc), entertainment, and so on?
• What happens when disaster strikes – his boat is stolen, the fish supply dries up/is poisoned,
etc. There is no mention of insurance!
• There is a lack of variety: “Fish for dinner again, dear?” …and for every meal? The
fisherman’s family’s immediate needs are met – but the family will be hungry again soon, and
human beings crave variety in everyday life.
76 1. True. 2. True. 3. False. They have four pairs of legs. 4. Opinion. 5. True. 6.False. They eat
plant cells, algae, and other small invertebrates. 7. True. 8. Opinion. 9. False. They were first
discovered by a German zoologist called Goeze in 1777. 10. True. They can withstand temperatures
between −272 °C (−458 °F) up to 151 °C (304 °F). 11. Opinion. 12. False. Tardigrade means ‘slowly
stepping’, from the Latin: tardus (‘slow’) + gradior (‘step, walk’). 13. True. 14. True. 15. False. They
are also known as water bears. 16. Opinion. 17. False. They have very simple single-celled eyes.
18. True. 19. False. They are known as Tardigradologists. 20. True. When their environment
becomes untenable they enter a ‘tun’ state, where they can suspend their metabolism – even for ten
years. 21. False. They can. 22. Opinion. 23. True. 24. False. They do not have a stable three-
dimensional form, which means they are able to alter their basic shape. 25. True. Once the mouth is
extended sharp teeth are revealed. 26. Opinion. 27. False. They can live for up to two and a half
122
Answers to Worksheets and Notes for Use
years under normal conditions. 28. True. Search for ‘tardigrade costumes’. 29. False. They are
invertebrates. 30. True. 31. False. They can, since they live in water. 32. True. 33. Opinion.
34. True. 35. False. They cannot. Our digestive system would kill them. 36. True. 37. False. They
have eight legs. 38. True. 39. Opinion. 40. False. There are tardigrade fossils dating from 530 million
years ago. 41. True. 42. False. They are usually 0.3-0.5mm long when fully grown. 43. True.
44. False. There are usually four to eight claws on the end of each leg. 45. False. Some are male,
some female, and some are asexual. 46. Opinion. 47. True. 48. False. They are almost translucent.
49. False. Tardigrades are being used by scientists for research, including research into vaccines and
space travel. 50. Opinion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade
https://www.livescience.com/61974-why-tardigrades-are-awesome.html
2. Answers will vary. Sample answers: a) did. b) really. c) What. d) Do. e) think. f) opinion.
g) about. h) idea. i) honest. j) wrong. k) think. l) appreciate.
3. i) You shouldn’t buy that dress, because it’s so old fashioned and you’ll look terrible!
I don’t like buying newspapers, because most news is free online – for example, on The Guardian
website. She recommended her hairdresser ’cause she did a great job – the style was really modern.
4.
i) Verbs:
a) hate b) really dislike c) dislike d) don’t mind e) like f) really like g) love
negative - positive +
0%______________l_______________l_______________50%_______________l_______________l______________100%
ii) Adjectives:
98 Answers correct at time of publication. 1. 16. 2. 13. 3. 18. 4. 18. 5. 18 (England only.) 6. 18.
7. 18. 8. 16. 9. 16. 10. 18. 11. 16. 12. no limit. 13. 18. 14. 16. 15. 18. 16. 14. 17. 18. 18. 16.
19. 17. 20. 16. 21. 16. 22. 16. 23. 18. 24. 18. 25. 21. 26. 17. 27. 16. 28. 18. (England only.)
29. 16. 30. 17.
https://fullfact.org/law/legal-age-limits/
123
Answers to Worksheets and Notes for Use
https://www.gov.uk/know-when-you-can-leave-school
http://www.themix.org.uk/crime-and-safety/your-rights/what-age-can-i-9102.html
http://www.themix.org.uk/housing/housing-problems/im-16-can-i-legally-move-out-of-my-parents-
8069.html
http://www.deedpoll.org.uk/WhoCanApply.html
https://www.caa.co.uk/General-aviation/Learning-to-fly/So-you-want-to-learn-to-fly-/
101 – 103 You could use this material as the basis for discussion and/or role playing.
Pronunciation
106 1. i)
a) climb d) should g) mortgage
b) cupboard e) government h) talk
c) handsome f) two i) page
ii)
a) l i s t e n d) l a m b g) a u t u m n
b) h o n e s t e) b e e h) i s l a n d
c) r a s p b e r r y f) a l m o n d i) a b o v e
2.
a) teacher e) popular i) particular
b) amazing f) cinema j) current
c) another g) problem k) nature
d) computer h) internet l) physical
3.
Silent letter is part of a consonant digraph: Silent letter is part of a vowel digraph:
know rain
psychic guild
why fought
weight
seat
Silent letter is part of a pair of double letters: True silent letter not connected to the word:
bottle cheese
redder file
apple doubt
hotter question
add grandma
honest
comb
5. The correct homophones are: a) read. b) Finnish. c) hour. d) inn. e) knows. f) too. g) be. h) no.
i) way. j) I. k) knew. l) would. m) find. n) so. o) hold. p) told. q) not. r) buy. s) one. t) high.
108 1.
124
Answers to Worksheets and Notes for Use
3. a) It is part of our larynx, in the neck. b) i) protect us from choking; ii) regulate airflow; iii) produce
sounds when we speak. c) We can breathe. d) We can eat and speak.
5. a) pet cat was… b) hot date. c) sit down. d) not today. e) night, night, John. f) I won’t go.
6.
a) Our ca_ go_ pu_ down.
b) Can you vo_ for me?
c) Ka_ wro_ a sho_ note*.
d) Bar_ bough_ some ligh_ wheat*.
e) We a_ ou_ la_ last** night.
f) The boa_ house needs a pain_ job.
g) It’s Pa_’s ma_’s pe_ dog Pe_, dad.
h) No, it’s no_ Pa_’s ma_’s pet*!
7. a) 11 across: not, wait, put, ate, what, foot, might, let, white, hit, get. 7 down: meet, kite (or kit),
hate, meat, cat, heart, bought. 2 diagonal: hot, hat.
t n o t h w a i t u p o
e t t t i a o a t e h t
e e h a w h a t t c e h
m t a e f o o t e a a g
t i t m i g h t i t r u
p k e t g e t a o b t o
t e l w h i t e t e g b
111 Note: you can access the recordings you need for these exercises here:
https://purlandtraining.com/free-lessons/elementary-english-course/unit-3-0-health-and-the-human-
body/lesson-3-3-intonation/
1. a) Sentence stress is the sequence of stressed and unstressed syllables in a spoken sentence.
b) Connected speech is the group of techniques we use to connect syllables in a sentence in spoken
English. c) Intonation is the way we put emphasis on different parts of a sentence, using varied pitch,
volume, rhythm, etc.
125
Answers to Worksheets and Notes for Use
2.
4.
6. a) tone of voice. b) rhythm. c) extra emphasis. d) pausing for effect. e) pitch. f) speed.
g) volume.
126
Answers to Worksheets and Notes for Use
112 Listen to a recording of how to say the English alphabet here. Why not listen and repeat?
https://purlandtraining.com/free-lessons/elementary-english-course/unit-1-0-learning-english/lesson-1-
1-alphabet/
127
Speaking and Listening Discussion
1986 4:48
Mid-tempo D G Bm A D
Lyrics:
“The lyrics deal with the singer’s “My grandma bought the CD; I played
thoughts during a road trip with his it a lot. I got into Paul Simon again in
son to Graceland (the legendary 1988 when we moved to Dorset and I
home of Elvis) after the breakup of his started college... Walking through the
marriage to actress and author Carrie passageway; playing guitar with my
Fisher…” friends…”
My favourite line: “And she said losing love is like a window in your heart…”
128
101 photocopiable worksheets
for effective English lessons!
grammar
vocabulary
reading
speaking and listening
pronunciation
writing
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