1. Work in groups and arrange the sentences into two stories, in the order you expect to hear them. Procedure:1) There are three sentences for each story. The sentences

do not tell the whole story, so a certain amount of guess work is needed.

2) You’d better use lexical clues (her car / the car; stolen / the thief) and grammatical ones

(A man… / The man …).3) Make up a story on the basis of the three sentences and share it with your group members. The group selects the best story to share with the class.

Arrange the sentences in order

☐ The police asked the driver if he’d realized he had a passenger.

☐ A woman reported that her car had been stolen. ☐ So they arranged to meet and the thief was arrested. ☐ The man was unhurt because his seat belt had stopped

him falling out. ☐ A man in a wheelchair was crossing the road in front

of a lorry. ☐ The policeman suggested calling the mobile left in the car.

Now watch Conversation 1 and check your answers.

Story A

Story B

1)A man in a wheelchair was crossing the road in front of a lorry.

2)The man was unhurt because his seat belt had stopped him falling out.

3)The police asked the driver if he’d realized he had a passenger.

1)A woman reported that her car had been stolen.

2)The policeman suggested calling the mobile left in the car.

3)So they arranged to meet and the thief was arrested.

2. Watch Conversation 1 again and correct the sentences according to the conversation.

1 The wheelchair got stuck on the back of the lorry.

2 The driver drove for 50 miles before he stopped.3 The driver stopped because he realized he had a passenger.4 The policeman told the woman he was

answering an ad in the paper.5 The thief agreed to buy the car.

On the front

______________

____________

several miles_______

didn’t realize_______

thief ____

sell

1) Thank goodness. Can you find any other phrases to express the same meaning?

2) --the thief agreed to sell it. --He didn’t. Can you find a Chinese equivalent for the underlined part?

Thank God! Thank heavens! (For those who don’t believe in God, they tend to use “Thank goodness”) to express relief.

不会吧！怎么可能！In colloquial English, negation is sometimes used to show the speaker’s surprise.

Language Tips

3. Work in pairs. Make predictions about Mark, Kate and Janet according to your understanding of them in the previous conversation. Then check (✓) your answers in the table.

Mark Janet Kate1 Who downloads podcasts?

2 Who watches the news on telly?

3 Who reads newspapers in the JCR?4 Who reads news online?

5 Who spends too much time watching soaps?6 Who listens to the news on radio?

✓✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

4. Watch Conversation 2 and retell the main idea of the conversation with the help of the following words. Then answer the questions on the next page.

accelerate watch damage news addict knowledgeable stimulating missing

Answer the following questions.

1 What have tornadoes done?

2 What has happened to company director Alan Marsden?

3 What do scientists claim?

4 Why does Janet read news online?

5 What does Kate say Mark is?

6 What does Mark think students reading PPE have to be?

7 What does Janet ask Kate?

Tornadoes have damaged homes in Northern England.

He is still missing.

Global warming is accelerating.

There are lots of different views and it is very stimulating.

A news addict.

They have to be knowledgeable about current affairs.

Whether she is going to watch Friends with her later.

5 Watch Conversation 2 again and complete the sentences.

There is still no news ofScientists claim that

mostly get my news

Voice on radio The news at one o’clock.Tornadoes have damaged homes in Northern England.(1) ____________________ missing company director, Alan Marsden. (2)___________________ global warming is accelerating.There are reports coming in of more fighting in …Mark Do you mind if I turn it off?Janet It’s fine, I wasn’t listening.Mark Do you follow the news?Janet Yeah, I do. But I don’t often listen to the radio, I (3) _______________________ online. Kate Do you?Janet Yes, I read articles from different papers. >>>

Kate My dad does that.Mark Well, (4) ______________ reading real newspapers.Janet You should try reading the news online. You get lots of different views, it’s very stimulating. Mark True, it is stimulating. But (5) ______________________

reading the papers in the JCR – in a comfortable armchair, with lots of black coffee.Kate Don’t either of you listen to the radio? It’s a great way to

wake up.Mark Yeah, I do that. And I download podcasts. And I watch the news on telly. Kate You’re a news addict. We all know that. >>>

I’ve got used to

I’ve got into the habit of

Mark You have to be if you read PPE. You have to be really knowledgeable about current affairs.Janet You are. Kate Well, I’m a TV addict. (6) ____________________ watching the soaps. I love British TV.Janet We’ve noticed, Kate. Are you going to watch Friends with me tonight?Kate You bet!

I spend too much time

Everyday English

Thank goodness.He had no idea at all.Go on!on tellynews addictYou bet!

News addict!

Answers1 (b) 2 (a) 3 (b) 4 (b) 5 (b)6 (a)

Activity Work in pairs and prepare your own mini-dialogues, where all the 6 words and phrases should be used. Forexample:

Student A: By the way, I now know Henry’s big secret. (pause)Student B: Go on!

Try to make your dialogue meaningful and interesting.

Volunteers will be invited to the front to perform your dialogue.

Language and culture (1): JCR

In some universities in the United Kingdom — particularly collegiate universities (a university whose functions are divided between the central administration of the university and a number of constituent colleges ) such as Oxford, Cambridge and Durham — students and the academic body are organized into common rooms. These groups exist to provide representation in the organization of college or residential hall life, to operate certain services within these institutions such as laundry or recreation, and to provide opportunities for socializing.

Language and culture (1): JCR

Typically, though there are variations based on institutional tradition and needs, the following common rooms will exist in the a college or hall. Can you guess what may be the difference among them.

A Junior Common Room (JCR) –

A Middle Common Room (MCR) –

A Senior Common Room (SCR) -

for the undergraduate population

for the postgraduate population

for academics

Language and culture (2): soap operaListening to the audio file and try to answer the following questions.

1. What do soap operas usually depict?

2. When were soap operas often shown in

the early days?

3. What were most of these daytime

dramas aimed at?

4. How did soap opera get its name?

5. What are the three most popular

soap operas in UK?

Language and culture (2): soap opera

1. What do soap operas usually depict?

2. When were soap operas often shown in the early days?

3. What were most of these daytime dramas aimed at?

They were often shown during the days.

Based in one neighbourhood, soap operas try to depict ordinary life in the UK.

They were aimed at entertaining the housewives who would traditionally be at home.

Language and culture (2): soap opera

4. How did soap opera get its name?

5. What are the three main popular soap operas in UK?

These dramas were originally sponsored by companies selling washing powder, Hence the word ‘soap’. And these dramas are often an exaggeration of real life, hence the word “opera”.

They are ‘Coronation Street’ , ‘Eastenders’ and ‘Emmerdale’.

Language and culture (3): podcast

A podcast is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically (分期播出的 ) and downloaded through web syndication (联合组织 ).

Researchers at the Center for Journalism and Communication Research at the University of Texas at Austin in the USA are proposing a four-part definition of a podcast: A podcast is a digital audio or video file that is episodic; downloadable; programme- driven, mainly with a host and/or theme; and convenient, usually via an automated feed with computer software.

7. Work in pairs and act out the conversation.

Work in pairs. Look through the cues and functional expressions in the box on Page 41.

Plan your events. (try to be imaginative while making up the new story )

One volunteer pairs will perform the example conversation to the class. Pay attention to the pronunciation and intonation.

In pairs, you work out and perform your own version.

One or two pairs of you will perform your dialogues to the rest of the class.

Example answerStudent A Hey, I read a really funny news

story this morning.Student B Go on then, tell it. I have a

moment to spare.Student A Well, there was this German who

had no driving license and had drunk too much. He was driving home when he got a flat tyre.

Student B It doesn’t sound very funny yet.Student A No, but it gets better. He decided to telephone a

breakdown service for help, but as he was rather drunk and confused, he called the police instead. He told them where he was and asked them to come quickly as he would be in big trouble if the police knew he was driving illegally after drinking too much.

Example answer

Student B Yes, that is kind of funny.Student A The last bit is the best. The police

said they went quickly just as he had asked them to!

Student B Well, he got what he deserved. Where do you get your news?

Student A I go to a couple of websites. What about you?Student B I’m pretty old-fashioned. I like to buy a newspaper

and read it over breakfast or lunch.