1 Uses

Start here 1 Think of some tools or devices you use. Discuss why they are useful with a
partner.

Reading 2 Read these advertisements and match the objects with their descriptions.
1 Use the X~beam wrench for loosening tight and rusty old bolts
without hurting your hand. The ends are at ninety degrees to each
other, so you always grip a wide, flat surface, not a narrow edge.

2 What do you do if your car battery goes flat in a storm, and you
don't have jump leads or roadside assistance? The Black &
Pecker Simple Start allows you to start your car without getting
wet It plugs into the 12"volt socket in your car, and it's designed to
restart your car in ten minutes.

3 This is designed to jump, dive, roll and move over and under water
at 30 mph using a 175~hp engine. Innespace Sea Breacher is a
two~seat, 5~metre long, underwater vehicle, shaped like a dolphin.
It acts as a jetski and as a fast submarine.

4 Have you forgotten where you put your keys? Use this smart
device tofinel them. Simply attach the electronic tag to your keys.
Then, if you can't find them later, switch on Locator, and it will
point in the right direction - not 'only left or right, but up or down
too. It will shoW you where your keys are. At the same time, the
tag on your keys will emit a beeping sound.

Speaking 3 Discuss the objects in 2 with a partner. What do you think of them? Are they
useful for you?

Listening 4 • • • Listen to these inventors answering questions about their inventions.

Identify the inventions.
a) Invention number _ _
b) Invention number _ _
c) Invention number _ _
5 Listen again and complete the dialogues.
A: So, tell me about your invention. What's it for?
B: It's (1) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A: QI<. Amlwhat about this device. What's it used for?
B: It's (2) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
A: Tell me about this invention. What can it be used for?
B: You (3) _ _ _ _ _ _ __

II Descriptions
 Present simple What does the carburettor do? It mixes air and petrol.

What's this tool for? It's for hammering in nails. What's this machine used
for + verb -ing
for? It's used for producing drinking water.

You use this machine to charge batteries. This device is designed to find
to+ verb
lost oBjects .
... --_ ................. -..-------_ ................ .

aetas + noun The fan of a hovercraft acts as a propeller

Speaking 6 Work in pairs. Make questions and answers about the uses of the devices in 2.
A: What's this device used for?
B: It's used for turning nuts and bolts without hurting your hand.
7 What do you think these devices are used for? Discuss them with your partner.
o

Vocabulary Many nouns end in -er or -or. These are often agent nouns. An
the person or thing that does an action, e.g. A calculator
calculates (vb.) sums.
Note these changes of spelling when you add -er/-or.
• double the final consonant after a short vowel. J:,xarrWl19L.lJroVel
• delete the final-e. Example: receive -7 receiver

8 Find the agent nouns for the verbs in the box. Use a dictionary if necessary.
calculate conduct contain generate receive stabilise transmit

9 Fill in the blanks. Use nouns from the list in 8.

1 The number pad on a computer can be used as a ______
2 Your body can act as a of electricity in a thunderstorm.
3 A car engine functions as a when it recharges the battery.
4 The antenna on a mobile phone operates as a and as a
______ of radio signals.

Task 10 Work in small groups. Choose one of these objects with your group.
a tin can, a belt, a brick, a tyre, a water pipe
• brainstorm as many unusual uses for them as you can
• write down your best ideas
• present your group's best ideas to the class
Examples: A tin can - You can use it to store pencils. You can put flowers in it.
You can use it as a cup. Two or three cans together can act as a door bell, etc.

Descriptions II
nz
 2 Appearance

Start here 1 Do you know where these buildings are?

(Answers on page 115)

2 Choose one of the bUildings. Don't tell your partner which one. Describe its
appearance. Can your partner identify it from your description?

Reading 3 Read these newspaper cuttings. Match the descriptions with the buildings.

D T~i~ building looks like a huge ship, an ocean liner, II The skyscraper is shaped like a giant sail. The sail is
saIlmg up the river. Onepartof the building is
standing on a short surfboard in the sea.
shaped like three hulls. The otherpartIooks like the
decks and the bridge.

This building is in three parts. In the centre there's

II The building looks like a TV transmitter. It has three a tall H-shaped building. On the left there's the top
spherical structures. The bottom twbare connected part of a dome. It looks like an upside-down plate.
by a structure which is shaped like a ladder. It On the right there's the bottom part of a dome, like
looks like three onionS ona skewer! The foot of the a soup bowl.
building has legs, like a tripod.

II
II It's triangular at the base, I:>ut thin and rectangular Itconsists of three L- h
'. s aped structures attached to
at the top. It looks like a huge chisel, with an empty each other. It l()oks like a square link in ~chain.
space in the middle ofthe blade.

the shape or appearance of something u •.. "u.,~,,~

L~UULLULIL~ looks like a TV transmitter.
hf! btll/dltlf! is shaped like a dome. It's a
is in the shape of an L. It's an
rn,eSCH~e"!lS in the shape of a circle. It's a cll~etfl(j!,.:~~el1~eJ'k·

4 Describe the buildings in the photos in 2. Cover up the texts in 3.

II Descriptions
Vocabulary 5 Match the nouns to the shapes.
circle cone cube cylinder hemisphere rectangle
semicircle sphere square triangle

6 Write an adjective for each noun.

Example: cylinder - cylindrical
7 Underline the stressed syllable in each word.
1 tri ang Ie 3 eir cu lar S tri ang u lar 7 rect ang Ie
2 rect ang u lar 4 cy lin der 6 eirc Ie 8 cy lind ric al
8 • •,- Listen and check your answers to 7.
9 Underline the correct words.
1 A surfboard sail is roughly triangle/triangular in shape, with one curved
side.
2 A food tin (or can) is basically a metal cylinder/cylindrical.
3 TVs and computers normally have rectangle/rectangular screens.
4 Don't cut that wood with the hand saw. It's quicker to use the circle/
circular saw.
S My bass amplifier is the new cube/cubic model. It's exactly 30 x 30 x 30 cm.
6 The Earth is not a perfect sphere/spherical. It is flatter at the poles.
7 The spaceship's re,.entry capsule is in the shape of a cone/conical.
8 A protractor is a semi-circle/semi-circular instrument for measuring angles.
10 Match the names of the objects in the box with their pictures.
A-frame E-clip G-clamp G-clip T-junction U-bend U-bolt V-engine

Task 11 Work in pairs, A and B. Play twenty questions.

Student A: Think of an everyday object. It could be a vehicle, a tool, a
measuring instrument or a useful device. Don't tell your partner what it is.
Answer your partner's questions.
Student B: Ask a maximum of 20 questions and try to guess Student Ns object.
You can't ask directly What is it? But you can ask questions like these:
• appearance: What does it look like? What colour is it? What shape is it?
• use: Whats it for? Whats it used for? What does it do?
• materials: Whats it made of?
• dimensions: How long is it? How wide is it?
• properties: Is it flexible? Is it water-resistant?
When you have finished, change roles.

Descriptions ..
 3 Definitions

Start here 1 Here are some ideas for devices that appeared on a TV programme for
inventors and entrepreneurs. Which ideas do you think were successful?
Discuss with a partner.
(Answers on page 113)

Explain your idea to a team

experts ... the.Dragons. Try to
invElstthElir money in YOllr idEla.HerEl
idel;ls from previous programmes:
1 An electrclnic device for boiling Elggs
without using water•.
2 Abol;ltalarm.system .for finding an MOQ
(man overboard).
3 Amusic website for downloading and
mixing dance music.
4 A se<itbelt adjuster for.protecting chiidrElIl

.
in car booster seats.

Listening 2 .*'~ The four inventors in 1 are making their opening statements. Listen
and complete the sentences with which, who or that.
1 My invention is an electronic device (1) can boil eggs without
using water.
2 lifeGuard is an alarm system (2) can find someone (3) _ _ __
has fallen off a boat.
3 This is a music website (4) ____ allows you to download and mix
dance music.
4 It's a seat belt adjuster (5) ____ protects children in car booster seats.

Defining relative clause

Type
Function
an alarm system can find an MOB.
a website downloads dance music.
people

is used with things

1/.1£11.<.. ""

is used with people

that can replace which or who

II Descriptions ,".
 Vocabulary 3 Fill in the blanks with the most suitable 'type' noun in the box.
device instrument system technician tool vehicle

1 A solar panel is a/an _ _ _ _~. It converts sunlight into electricity.

2 The hovercraft is a/an . It carries people over land and sea.
3 A lab assistan(is a/an . He or she maintains the equipment in a
laboratory.
4 A torque wrench is a/an _____ . It tightens nuts and bolts.
5 GPS is a satellite . It gives the location of objects on the ground.
6 An ammeter is a/an . It measures electric current.
4 Combine each pair of sentences in 3 into a single sentence in the form of a
definition. Use which, who or that.
Example: I A solar panel is a device which converts sunlight into electricity.

Reading 5 Read this advertisement and answer the questions below.

This digital-sonar alarm system transmits a

Signal to your boat crew if you fall overboard
into the water. It consists of three devices: the
alarm pod, the hydrophone and the display.
The alarm pod is an egg-shaped device, worn by each crew
member, which transmits a digital-sonar coded signal when it is
submerged in water.
The hydrophone is a transducer, attached to the inside of the
Alarm pods boat hull, that listens for signals from the alarm pod.
The display is a control unit, attached to the dashboard of the
boat, which shows information from the hydrophone by means of
LEOs and digital displays.
When the MOB (man overboard) hits the water, the alarm pod
is submerged. The alarm pod has two pins. If these pins are in
contact with water for one second, and the contact is constant
across the two pins, the pod is activated. It then sends a signal
under the water. This signal is picked up by the hydrophone,
which relays it to the display.
Four things then happen immediately:
• Bright LEOs in the display show a visible alarm.
Hydrophone • Speakers on the boat sound an audible alarm.
• The MOB's location is shown on the display via the internal
GPS system.
• Red and green LEOs navigate the boat to the MOB's location.

1 Which device acts as (a) the transmitter (b) the receiver (c) the controller?
2 Which device is fixed (a) inside the hull (b) on the crew's body (c) on the
deck?
3 What happens if drops of rain fall on the pins on the alarm pod? Does the
alarm sound? Why/Why not?
Display 4 Does the signal travel from the pod to the display unit (a) directly (b) via
the hydrophone (c) via GPS (satellite)?
5 Which word in the text means (a) able to be seen (b) able to be heard?

Task 6 Work in small groups. Decide on an idea for a new invention. In a single
sentence, give the definition of your device. Then, in a few sentences, explain
how it works.

Descriptions II
•