UNIT 8

ON BOARD

INTERACTIVE EXERCISES

Objectives:

. Learn to make people descriptions

. Revise the Past Simple tense

. Narrate events.

. Improve writing skills.

. Value the importance of foreign cultures.

Contents:

.Language Awareness:

.Past Simple Tense

.Use of adjectives

.Linkers used to narrate events.

.Sociocultural Aspects:

.Interest in History.

.Interest in using new technologies to look for information.

.Learning about the equality of sexes.

.Learning about jobs.

Communicative Aspects:

.Inferring meaning from written texts

.Using scanning and skimming techniques

.Contrasting word position in the sentences

.Learning through mistakes

ACTIVITY 1

Look at these pictures:

What do these people do for a living?

Fill in the blanks:

1. Brat Pitt is an ..................

2. The woman with a red cap is a ..................

3. I'd like to be a ................ in the future.

ACTIVITY 2

Think about the advantages and disadvantages of being a:

teacher
..............

..............

..............

waiter
..............

..............

..............

firefighter
..............

..............

..............

baker
..............

..............

..............

Write a definition for the following jobs: (See the example)

A carpenter is a person who makes furniture.

A lawyer is ...........................................

A singer is ............................................

An architest is ......................................

A pilot is .............................................

A sailor is ............................................

DESCRIBING PEOPLE

When we want to report someone what a person looks like we usually think of:

Age Height Build Hair eyes

Example: She has got straight, blonde hair and blue eyes.

But also, we can think about:

Clothes

Example: She often wears a T-shirt and blue jeans.

And finally, we can say things about his/her

Personality

She is very kind and likes helping people.

A more complete report would be like that:

Peter is seventeen years old. He has got curly, dark hair and brown eyes. He is tall and slim. He usually wears expensive clothes. He likes wearing a leather jacket, trendy jeans and black shoes. He is really conceited and he thinks he is the best student in the class. He is also very vain.

ACTIVITY 3

Look at the table. Choose among these words and make a description of one of your class-mates.

You can add some other words you need to make your description better.

short	tracksuit	easy-going
well-built	trainers	sincere
medium-length	jeans	hard-working
wavy	coat	quiet
brown	skirt	funny
blue	shirt	angry
straight	trousers	moody

ACTIVITY 4 (clic here)

LANGUAGE LEARNING

PAST SIMPLE

We use past simple to talk about past events. Read the following text:

I came to the Green Lion most evenings because it was a nice place. A lot of people I knew used to go there as well. One day, Steve, my best friend, got drunk at that pub and the owner called the police. His wife got really angry when he was arrested. It was not a surprise because Steve was a taxi-driver and he wanted to drive his car home although he could hardly find his car keys.

ACTIVITY 5

Answer these questions:

Who was Steve?

When did the narrator use to go to the Green Lion?

Why was Steve arrested?

What did Steve do for a living?

REMEMBER!

We use did to make interrogative sentences, and we use didn't in negative sentences.

Examples: Martin sent a letter to his parents

Martin didn't send a letter to his parents

Did Martin send a letter to his parents?

NARRATING EVENTS

When a biography is written, the use of past tenses is unavoidable.

Read this text:

John Lennon was born in Liverpool in the autumn of 1940.

John’s early years were certainly not easy. His father worked away for long periods on a ship, and essentially he was raised by his aunt. Subsequently his father emigrated to New Zealand, depriving his son of guidance in his formative years. It is perhaps understandable that John Lennon became disruptive at school. The turning point in his life though came when he developed a strong interest in skiffle, a type of rock and roll music, whilst in his teenage years.

It was while playing for a skiffle band he had formed at school that he met Paul McCartney. The two struck up an immediate friendship, and developed a fine partnership, writing and composing songs. After performing under several band names the pair, along with George Harrison and Pete Best, settled on calling themselves The Beatles. They played eight-hour shifts at various nightclubs in Hamburg, and were popular at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. The drummer, Pete Best, was not particularly good though and held them back. The decision was made to replace him with Ringo Starr, and soon afterwards The Beatles were signed by George Martin for EMI records.

The band began churning out hit after hit, with numerous number ones. Lennon and McCartney were the creative force behind the group, and the amount of quality material they produced was amazing. They began touring the world and were hugely popular, especially in the US. This all changed however, when at a press conference, John Lennon claimed the band were more popular than Jesus, provoking outrage throughout America. Collectively, they all agreed to put an end to the tours and returned home in 1966.

Around this time, Lennon met Yoko Ono. Although the couple were immediately attracted to each other, John was married to Cynthia Powell and they had a child. It soon became clear to her though, where John’s affections lie, and she filed for divorce. John and Yoko subsequently married in 1969. In those early years together, they devoured a fair quantity of psychedelics such as LSD, and stories of violence towards one another were rife in the press.

In 1970, Paul McCartney quit the Beatles, causing tension between himself and John. A year later Lennon released the hugely popular ‘Imagine’ album. Together he and Yoko campaigned for world peace. Calling for an end to the Vietnam War offended the American government deeply, and he nearly lost his green card as a result.

From 1975 to 1979, John Lennon produced no music of any real quality, preferring to stay at home with his young son Sean, whom Yoko had borne. If he had known what was to follow it is highly likely that he would have stuck with that peaceful lifestyle.

Unable to repress the musical genius inside himself, he wrote the excellent album ‘Double Fantasy’. On December 8, 1980, he was accosted by a young man outside his plush apartment in New York and asked to sign a copy of the album. Thinking nothing of it Lennon went about his business. Upon returning to the apartment later that day, that young man, the addled and demented Mark Chapman, shot and killed John Lennon.

Chapman was to receive a life sentence for his lunacy, but the rest of the world was deprived of yet more musical brilliance from the former Beatle. Lets all be glad at least, that he gave us a taste of his magic.

Look at the words printed in red. What are they for?

a) to give extra information b) to contrast facts or ideas

c) to put the events in order

Write briefly about an important event in your life. You can use sequencing and time words like the ones in the text or the following given below:

while suddenly finally at once eventually at the same time

..............................................................................................................

FINAL TASK. Writing a biography.

Write a short biography about a well-known person or someone close to you. The following procedure can help you.

1.-Select a person you care about.

2.-Be objective. Tell the truth based on your findings.

3.-Be as accurate as possible.

4.-Tell a good story.

5.-Ask Questions. Brainstorm a list of questions about this person. Here are a few examples to help get you started:

	Where was this person born? In what year?
	Where did this person grow up?
	What does/did this person do for a living?
	Why is this person famous? What did/does this person do to become famous?
	How has this person made an impact on others' lives?

6. Find Answers
Use a variety of sources to find answers to your questions. You may use the Internet, books, an encyclopedia, newspaper and magazine articles, interviews, documentaries, or other sources.