Unit 1

Teenagers today

Can you think of a synonym for the word teenager?

Where can you find synonyms?

Thesaurus

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/teenager

Adolescent noun

a boy or girl who is changing into a young man or woman. The physical

changes that take place at this time are known as puberty. An adolescent

between the ages of 13 and 19 is called a teenager

Teen topics

Topic synonyms: issue, subject, theme.

Talk with your partner and decide which are the hottest teen topics

nowadays?

Which ones matter to you the most? Why?

School Vocab

Yr 11 School subjects: Compulsory and optional

Biology

Physics

Business studies

Chemistry

History

ICT Information and communication Technology

Design and Technology

Citizenship

MFL Modern foreign language English/French

Spanish language and literature

MathematicsMaths

Physical education (PE)

Religious studies

Music

Art and design

Drama

Words connected with school

Autumn, spring, summer Term

timetable

mark/grade

essay/composition

homework/assignment/coursework

extracurricular activities

fail/pass

cheat

resit an exam/ to do a resit

sit for an exam/ take an exam

mark an exam

assess

continuous assessment

peer assessment

self-assessment

notes

certificate

university degree

school fees

grant/scholarship

Work with your partner and design your ideal timetable for one day of the week.

Explain the reasons for your choices.

Complete the sentences with these words

1. Last week in history I wrote an…..

2. 9 out of 10 is a really good …………

3. I didn’t do the exam very good so next week I’m going to……..

4. I don’t know what lessons we have now because I didn’t bring my………

5. Usually you need to get more than 50% in an exam to……..

6. When you don’t get more than 50% in an exam you usually…….

7. Usually the school year is divided into three……….

8. When I finished my English course they gave me a……

9. The teachers watch us during our exams so we can’t…..

10. The teachers evaluate us by looking at our exams and the work we do all

year, our……

Reading: Blog

Should schools teach boys and girls in separate classes?

Idiom: To sit on the fence

Meaning: When a person does not take sides in an argument or is hesitant to

choose between two sides in a dispute (in order to remain neutral).

Example: You can’t sit on the fence any longer - you must choose whose side you

are on.

Reading: Blog

Grammar reference

Helping good causes. Vocabulary

Reading: Blog

Royal Navy helps in mass rescue.

Write on your notebook the words that you don’t understand. Try to

guess their meaning.

Speaking: Expressing opinions

Writing:

How to write an informal email

Think how well you know the other person. How informal can you be?

To start/end emails to close friends or family members: Hi, Hiya, Hey (US); Bye,

See you , love. Mention your last contact.

To start/end emails to people you don’t know so well: Dear....;Best wishes,

Yours... . Use love with close friends and family.

Continue with expressions like I’m writing to..., Apart from that,..... One

other/last thing.... .

Use by the way to introduce new information.

Use Anyway,... or Well,... to start saying goodbye.

Use contractions, informal expressions, phrasal verbs and idioms.

Ask direct questions. Encourage a response from the other person.

Emphasise your ideas with strong adverbs and adjectives like completely and

amazing.

Gerunds and infinitives

We use the gerund

1. As the subject of a sentence. Studying is hard but interesting.

2. After prepositions. I’m interested in studying history.

3. After verbs of liking or disliking: Like, love, enjoy, can’t stand, don’t mind, hate.

I enjoy watching TV.

4. With go to talk about physical activities: Go, running, swimming, shopping,

fishing…. I go cycling once a week.

5. After certain verbs like: Admit, avoid, consider, involve, risk, suggest. I suggest

studying this book.

We use the infinitive

1. To explain why somebody does something. Why did he go to university? To

study languages.

2. Immediately after adjectives. It’s good to revise with other people.

3. After: too, enough, the first, the last. She was the first to leave the party.

4. After certain verbs, such as, want, learn, agree, decide, expect, hope, seem,

try, would like, appear, arrange, ask, attempt, encourage, force, manage, help,

need, promise. I want to work for a newspaper.

Verbs before gerund or infinitive

1. Some verbs can go before the gerund or the infinitive with no difference in

meaning.: Begin, can’t bear, can’t stand, continue, love, prefer…

She started to work here in 2009.

She started working here in 2009.

With other verbs before the gerund or infinitive, there is an important

difference in meaning, eg,

Stop to do You stop one activity because you want or need to do another activity. On the way home he stopped to visit his family.

Stop doing You are doing something and then you stop. Stop making such a noise.

Remember to do You remember you need to do something and then you do it. When you go out, remember to buy the newspaper.

Remember doing You do something and then you remember it later.

I remember going to France every summer when I was a kid.

Forget to do You don’t do something that you intended to do. I forgot to buy the stamps.

Forget doing You did something but now you don’t remember. Has he forgotten watching the film?

Like to do You do something because you think it’s a good idea. I like to revise before an exam.

Like doing You do something because you enjoy doing it. I like playing football once a week.

Homework

1. Complete the sentences with the gerund or infinitive form of the verbs given.

1. Plan your time at the start to make sure that you have enough

time…………..(finish) the exam.

2. ……………………..(start) the exam before you have read all the questions can be a

bad idea.

3. We suggest…………………..(take) more than one pen or pencil into the exam.

4. Don’t write too fast or carelessly. You risk ………………….(create) a bad

impression.

5. Think about ……………………..(leave) yourself time…………………….(check) your

work before hand it in.

6. Avoid……………..(write) your opinion unless the question specifically asks for it.

7. When a question involves…………………(answer) two or more different parts,

make sure you answer them all.

8. Check that you know how many questions you need………………(complete)

because sometimes not all the questions are obligatory.

9. Attempt …………………………..(answer) all the questions that are obligatory.

2. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first

sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. Use between two

and five words.

1. Don’t do that because there’s a chance you’ll fail. Risk

Don’t do that because you ……….

2. He loves to ride his bike at the weekend. Go

He loves to………….at the weekend.

3. I think it’s terrible to get up early. Stand

I…………………………early.

4. I think it’s essential to have a valid passport. Passport

I think……………..is essential.

5. Please think about joining our club. Consider

Please………….our club.

6. Nobody finished the exam before Sarah. First

Sarah was………..the exam.

7. It would be great to see him in concert next week. Love

I………………..him in concert next week.

3. Complete the sentences with the gerund or infinitive form of the verbs given.

1. Can you remember……………(switch)off the light when you leave?

2. She really likes ………………(dance). It’s her favourite hobby.

3. We stopped………………(write) when the exam finished.

4. Don’t forget………..(go) to the meeting room.

5. I know Harry was at school yesterday because I remember …………(see) him.

6. I like……….(do) my homework on Friday evening so that I’m free at the

weekend.

7. The musicians stopped…………(play) because they’d already been playing for

two hours.