Basic English _Fisrt year_Булатова -31-10-11

To complain – to criticize someone‟s actions

A complaint – criticism, displeasure about something

21. Listen to conversation between the roommates and decide if the following sentences True or False.

1.Sasha has no job now.

2.Jim understands now why Sasha had problems with her roommate before.

3.Sasha didn‘t notice bad marks on the floor.

4.Jim doesn‘t want Sasha to use another cleaner anymore.

5.Someone who lives close to Jim has complained about the type of music she listens to.

6.Sasha will work in the kitchen tonight.

22.Do you think that Sasha is a good or bad roommate?

Reading: Roommate complaints

23.Who is the person you can complain to about your roommate?

24.Read the complaint below and an advice by an expert. Do you agree with an expert? What other advice can you give to Bill?

Dear Suzy,

I have a question about a roommate problem. Joe is a great guy, I didn‘t have any problems at all with him since the first day we live together. He washes the dishes, cleans the house, he even helps with my cat. But there‘s one thing that he does that just makes me mad. He snores. I don‘t mean like normal snoring, it is the loudest snoring. I can hear it through the walls, it wakes up the neighbors. I feel bad for the guy and as I said, he‘s great to share room with but I just can‘t take it anymore. It‘s been about three months now and I haven‘t got a full night sleep since first day.

Thanks,

Sleepless Bill.

Dear Sleepless Bill,

Don‟t leave yet because it is possible to stop this problem. Snoring is usually a result of being overweight, smoking, allergies, illness or too much tiredness. When you are alone with your roommate, tell Joe that you have something that worries you that you want to talk about. Tell him you‟ve done some research and know what the reason of snoring is. Give him a chance to react and try to change his habits, such as smoking less or getting more sleep. Be grateful for your roommate because he looks like a great guy. Remember that nobody is perfect!

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Suzy.

25.Read another complaint.

Dear Suzy,

My roommate is a pig. She eats like mad. Potato chips in the seats of MY sofa. Ice cream marks on the carpet. The kitchen is a mess. I tried to ask her nicely to clean up after herself but she says that she pays half the rent too. It‘s getting worse because I found many ants in the corner of the cupboard the other day. HELP!!

Megan.

26.Imagine that you are Suzy and write a letter giving advice to Megan. Read out all the letters in class and decide whose advice is the best.

27.Which is better: living with parents or living with friends? Why? Grammar: Comparatives and superlatives

28.What is the meaning of underlined words in the sentence?

Change habits, such as smoking less or getting more sleep.

It‟s getting worse.

29. Complete the sentences with an adjective from the box.

difficult ▪ busy ▪ large ▪ expensive ▪ slow ▪ cheap ▪ dry ▪ bad ▪ beautiful

1.A bus is slower than a plane.

2.Australia is ______________________________________________ Germany.

3.Life in a town is __________________________________________ life in a village.

4.Wine is __________________________________________________ champagne.

5.Chinese is _______________________________________________ English.

6.Hamburg is _____________________________________________ Düsseldorf.

7.A Mercedes is ___________________________________________ a Golf.

8.The weather in Africa is _________________________________ in Europe.

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As…as is used to compare two people/things etc

Rome is as expensive as Paris.

30.Complete the sentences with the words in brackets. Use as … as or not as

…as.

1.Mozart / Beethoven (famous) Mozart is as famous as Beethoven.

2.A church / a cathedral (not big) A church is not as big as a cathedral.

3.January / February (cold)

4.Spain / Portugal (hot)

5.A cat / a dog (not friendly)

6.Italian food / French food (delicious)

7.A bike / a motorbike (not fast)

8.Greek wine / Australian wine (not good)

31.Correct these sentences.

Berlin is more bigger than Dresden.

Fruit is more better for you than chocolate.

A plane ticket is expensiver than a bus ticket.

The weather in winter is worser then in autumn.

Germany is not so hot as Portugal.

The River Rhine is longer as the River Elbe.

Istanbul is more warm than Frankfurt.

The weather in Australia is sunnyer than in Germany

32.In pairs, discuss the questions.

What is the most dangerous situation you have ever been to? What happened? What is the most interesting place you have been to?

Who is your best friend? Why is he/she your best friend?

Who is the most famous person you have ever met or known?

Writing: Paragraph

Think about what you have in your home, and answer the following questions.

1. What kind of home do you live in?

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2.What is the most expensive thing in your home?

3.What do you value most in your home?

4.Is the most expensive thing in your home the same as the thing you value the most?

Look at the pictures below and say what objects you see.

What can you say about people living in these rooms? How do the objects in the rooms characterize them?

What are the similarties and differences between the rooms and their owners? Make a list.

Write a paragraph comparing and contrasting two rooms and their owners using the following expressions:

Communication

Answer the questions below about you:

Go around the class and ask the same questions to 6 students. Present the results of your survey to the class.

Independent assignment

1.Take a picture of your room and bring it to the next class. Exchange with other students without telling whose room it is. Students describe the room and characterize the owner and guess who it is.

2.Work in groups of 4. Make a list of 10 -15 household chores and ask students of other groups which chores they do and which don‘t. Present the results in the form of a diagram to the class.

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1.Work in small groups. Answer the questions.

Have you ever been homesick?

Why are homes important? Do we need them? Why?

How do people benefit from having a house?

Vocabulary

House describes a particular type of building.

Home is the place where you live and feel that you belong to.

2.Complete the following sentences with House or Home.

Most people in Britain live in semi-detached ____.

We‘re going to buy Anya a doll‘s ____for Christmas.

The ____ of Parliament in London are visited by 50,000 people each year.

I‘ve enjoyed living abroad for the last six years, but it‘s time for me to go back ____

now!

We were at ____ in bed when our car was stolen from outside the _____. These children need a good _____ and we are in a position to give them one.

3. What is the difference in meaning and use between 'houseproud',

'housework' and 'homework', 'homesick' and 'homeless'? Complete the

sentences.

I did my _____ (i.e. cleaning the house) this morning and my ______ (work given to me by my school to do at home) this afternoon.

People say that I‘m _____ because I spend so much time cleaning the house so that others will admire it.

She said that she was missing her home and family so much. She sounded really

_____.

I am _____. I have no home to go to.

Speaking

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4. Work in pairs. You and your partner are talking about a photograph of a similar topic. One of you will describe photograph A and the other will describe photograph B. Take turns to tell each other about your photograph.

Advice:

a What will you talk about?

b What will, you say if you don't know the English word for something? Don't worry if you don't know what is happening in the photograph. Just describe what you can see.

c How long will you try to speak for?

In pairs list some reasons why people become homeless.

Listening

5. Listen to the text about reasons for being homeless. Complete the sentences.

The three main reasons for losing a home are:_____________________

An official study found that the reasons most frequently given for being on the streets were:__________________________________________

Do you agree that

- homelessness normally cannot happen because of one single reason? Why? Why not?

- family conflict is the most common starting point for homelessness?

Reading

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6.Read the texts and match them with the correct titles.

a.I experienced homelessness

b.Drug abuse

c.Friends and people who really love you

d.Truth about homelessness

e.Many problems at once

1.________________________________________________________

Some people believe that the reason people become homeless is because they are lazy. This is a myth. Many people who become homeless are working or had been working for a long time until something caused them to lose their employment.

Sometimes people have injuries and are not able to do the kind of work they‘re trained to do. Sometimes they lose a job because of cutbacks. Working hard doesn‘t always guarantee financial security.

2._________________________________________________

While there are many reasons why people become homeless, everyone has their own story. Some reasons of becoming homeless include: lack of education, lack of housing, lack of job skills, addictions, and mental illness. It‘s important to remember that these issues, by themselves, usually don‘t cause homelessness.

Usually several of these issues lead to a person‘s homelessness.

3.__________________________________________________

As someone who has been homeless, I can tell you that loss of employment is one reason people, even whole families, become homeless. This occurs when there is only one wage earner in the family. This is especially true if you have no friends or family to turn to for help.

4.______________________________________________________

The main reason homelessness happens in someone‘s life is a lack of a social network in their life. For various reasons people who become homeless no longer have a "safety net" of relationships in their life to help them when their crisis comes. Be thankful today that YOU probably DO have that close people in your life that will be ready to help you when you need it!

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5._____________________________________________________

Some people try to forget about their poverty and troubles by using alcohol or

drugs. If they become addicted to them, they will spend a great deal of money on

their habit but not on rent or house payments. Alcohol and drugs also make people

act differently. Their families, friends, and jobs become less important to them, and

they find new friends instead. Soon, they lose their job and have very little interest

in taking care of their lives.

7.Answer the questions

Does the text have similar ideas of the text you have listened to? What is your personal opinion about the reasons of homelessness?

Which reasons do you think are: -most serious? -most frequent in your country?

Grammar: Indirect questions

Remember:

Yes/no questions + if or whether

Do you know my address? I asked her if she knew my adress.

Do you have a receipt for the apple pie?

Mom asked me whether I had a receipt for the apple pie.

Whquestions:

Where are you going?

I asked where she was going.

Which house did you buy?

They asked which house I had bought.

8. Write down the exact question the people asked. What change do you

need to make? (See Grammar Reference)

a She asked me if I am buying a country cottage.

Are you buying a country cottage?

b She asked me if I'd paid for the rent.

_________________________________

c She asked me if I would come to the housewarming party with her.

_____________________________________________________

d The friend asked me how long I'd been in this neighbourhood.

_____________________________________________________

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e I asked what was going on.

______________________________________________________

f He asked me whether I had a receipt for the pie.

________________________________________________________

g They asked which client I had served.

_________________________________________________________

h Then the detective asked the neighbors jf they called the police.

9. Teddy wants to buy a house. He asked Mr. Black, the owner of the house,

questions about the house.

How old is the house?

How many bedrooms does it have?

Does it need any improvements?

Is it far from the centre?

Does it have a central heating?

Is the neighborhood safe?

Are the neighbours friendly?

What is the size of a living room?

Where is the nearest shop?

10.When Mr.Black came home his wife asked him what Teddy wanted to know about the house. Turn the questions from Direct into Reported speech.

1.Teddy asked me how old the house was.

2.________________________________

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