Talking points

Dialogue A.

Read, learn and act.

-Who do you work for at the moment, Ms Mann?

-Um, I work for BBC World Service.

-Ah, and how long have you worked for the BBC?

-I’ve been for the BBC for five years. Yes, exactly five years.

-And how long have you been their German correspondent?

-For two years.

-And what did you do before the BBC?

-I worked as an interpreter for the EU.

-As you know , this job is based in Geneva. Have you ever lived abroad before?

-Oh yes, yes I have.

-And when did you live abroad?

-Well, in fact, I was born in Argentina and I lived there until I was eleven. Also, I lived and worked in Brussels for two years when I was working for the EU.

-Mmm … That’s interesting. Have you travelled much?

-Oh yes, yes indeed. I’ve travelled all over western and eastern Europe, and I’ve also been to many parts of South America.

-Mmm … And why did you go to these places?

-Well, mostly for pleasure, but three years ago I went back to Argentina to cover various political stories in Buenos Aires for the BBC.

Dialogue B.

Read, learn and act.

-My French exchange visitor came yesterday.

-What’s her name?

-Marie-Ange.

-What a pretty name! What’s she like?

-She’s really nice. I’m sure we’ll get on really well. We seem to have a lot in common.

-Why do you say that? What does she like doing?

-Well, she likes dancing, and so do I. And we both like tennis and listening to music.

-That sounds great. I saw you with someone this morning. Was it Marie-Ange? What does she look like?

-She’s quite tall, and she’s got long, dark hair.

-No, it wasn’t her, then. Now, we’re all going out tomorrow, aren’t we? Shall we go for a pizza, or shall we go to the cinema? What would she like to do?

-Um, I’ll ask her tonight and tell you tomorrow.

UNIT 21

Grammar: Reported Questions. Reported Commands, Requests,Suggestions. Topic: My Future Profession Reading: Text. Living by the Sword Talking Points

Grammar

1.Reported Questions.

Reported Questions are introduced with ask, wonder, inquire, want to know etc. We use affirmative word order and the question mark becomes a full stop. Inverted commas are omitted.

To report a special question we use:

ask + ?/W (who, where, which, when, how, etc.)

e.g. “How can I ever thank you?” she asked.  She asked how she could ever thank me.

To report a general question we use:

ask ­+ if/whether

e.g. “Could you tell me how to open the cupboard?” he asked.  He asked if I could tell him how to open the cupboard.

Tenses, personal pronouns, possessive adjectives, time words, etc. change as in statements.

2.Reported Commands, Requests, Suggestions.

Reported commands, requests, suggestions are introduced with a special introductory verb (advice, ask, beg, suggest, etc.) followed by a to V, an Ving or that-clause depending on the introductory verb.

e.g. “Bring me the newspaper!” James shouted.  James told me to bring him the newspaper.

“You destroyed the computer.”  He accused me of destroying the computer.

“You’d better stay home and rest,” the doctor said.  The doctor suggested that I (should) stay home and rest.