Grammar revision

Ex.1. GRAMMAR TENSES MIX: Fill the gaps with verbs in correct tenses.

1. I (learn) _____ English for seven years now.

2. But last year I (not / work)_____ hard enough for English, that's why my marks (not / be) _____ really that good then.

3. As I (pass / want) _____ my English exam successfully next year, I (study) _____ harder this term.

4. During my last summer holidays, my parents (send) _____ me on a language course to London.

5. It (be) _____ great and I (think) _____ I (learn) _____ a lot.

6. Before I (go) _____ to London, I (not / enjoy) _____ learning English.

7. But while I (do)______ the language course, I (meet)_____ lots of young people from all over the world.

8. There I (notice) ____ how important it (be) _____to speak foreign languages nowadays.

9. Now I (have) _____ much more fun learning English than I (have) _____ before the course.

10. At the moment I (revise) _____ English grammar.

11. And I (begin / already) _____ to read the texts in my English textbooks again.

12. I (think) _____ I (do) _____ one unit every week.

13. My exam (be)__________ on 15 May, so there (not / be) ________ any time to be lost.

14. If I (pass) _____ my exams successfully, I (start) _____an apprenticeship in September.

15. And after my apprenticeship, maybe I (go) _____ back to London to work there for a while.

16. As you (see / can) _____ , I (become) _____ a real London fan already.

Working on the article Anti-tobacco treaty begins (from: www. Breakingnewsenglish.Com)

The world's first anti-tobacco treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, went into effect yesterday with 167 countries signed up to it and 57 countries ratifying it. The United States and China are still yet to ratify it, which raises fears the overall effectiveness of the treaty may be weakened. Ratifying it means the Framework is legally binding and countries must follow strict regulations for tobacco products, including banning advertising and controlling smoking in public places. It is hoped that the treaty will greatly reduce the number of deaths from smoking worldwide. Adults will be persuaded to kick the habit and children will be dissuaded from starting it. The World Health Organization believes smoking accounts for five million deaths a year. It is the second leading cause of preventable deaths.

The WHO's coordinator of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, Douglas Bettcher, says the treaty could do much to reduce global passion for smoking, "It is an historical moment and we are very confident that this treaty is going to save lives. ... It has already started off a powerful process globally and we are very confident that it is going to continue to do so and it is going to prove itself as a very effective public health tool to really curb this unacceptable burden of disease and death."

Tasks for the article

Ex.1. CHAT:  Talk in pairs or groups about cigarettes / cigars / smoking / Marlboro / tobacco advertising / …

Ex.2. CIGARETTE BRAINSTORM: Spend one minute writing down all the words you associate with the word ‘cigarette'. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

Ex.3. DEBATES: Students face each other in pairs and engage in the following debates:

a. Smoking should not be banned in public places vs. It should.

1. Smokers have rights vs. They don’t.

2. Passive smoking doesn’t kill people vs. It does.

3. Smoking doesn’t kill you; vs. It does.

4. You can’t ban smoking in pubs and bars vs. You can.

5. This treaty will not work. vs. It will.

6. Smoking will completely disappear one day. vs. It won’t.

7. This treaty isn’t fair on smokers. vs. Tough.

Ex.4. 'FILTHY' HABIT DISCUSSION: Talk about other ‘filthy’ / bad / unsociable / unhealthy habits. Compare the following with smoking:

1. drinking (alcohol)

1. spitting in the street

2. graffiti

3. showing gum as you chew it

4. peeing (urinating) in the street

5. littering

6. using a loud Walkman on the train

7. wearing strong perfume in a crowded area

8. talking loudly on a mobile phone

9. using bad language

Ex.5. WRITING: SMOKERS I KNOW: Write down the names of three smokers you know. Tell each other about these smokers.

Ex.6. WORD SEARCH: Students look in their dictionaries / computer to find collocations, other meanings, information, synonyms … of the words ‘anti’ and ‘tobacco’.

Ex.7. TRUE / FALSE: Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a. Every country in the world has signed up to an anti-tobacco treaty.  T / F

b. The United States of America has signed up to an anti-tobacco treaty.  T / F

3. The treaty means it will become law in the countries that ratify it.  T / F

4. The treaty outlines strict controls on smoking in public places.  T / F

5. Adults will be persuaded to kick the habit.  T / F

6. Smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the world..  T / F

7. Fifty million people a year die because of smoking.  T / F

8. The World Health Organization is confident that this treaty is going to save lives.

 T / F

Ex.8. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

(a)	treaty	quit
(b)	ratify	harness
(c)	overall	talked out of
(d)	legally binding	rubber stamp
(e)	regulations	millstone
(f)	kick the habit	controls
(g)	dissuaded	agreement
(h)	preventable	stoppable
(i)	curb	general
(j)	burden	the law

Ex.9. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases based on the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

(a)	went into	effectiveness
(b)	The US and China are still	for five million deaths a year
(c)	raises	yet to ratify it
(d)	overall	habit
(e)	legally	deaths
(f)	kick the	to do so
(g)	smoking accounts	effect yesterday
(h)	preventable	moment
(i)	It is an historical	binding
(j)	it is going to continue	fears

 

Ex.10. GAP-FILL:  Fill in the gaps in the text using the words on the right.