Unit 9, Lesson 7, Ex.3 I thought that my friend Jenny was the most talkative girl in town – she can be on the phone for hours. But I’ve learnt that she’s got a mate – Jill by name – who can talk from morning till night. She does everything by phone – invites her friends to her birthday party, buys things (she’s got a smart phone with internet access), apologises for being late and texts a great deal. She prefers talking on the phone to communicating with people in person. On the one hand, it’s not bad because it means that Jill is a very friendly girl. On the other hand, it’s really awful, because her phone bills are huge! The other day she went to bed at 2a.m. She had to talk in a low voice as everybody in the house was sleeping. However, she woke up her Mum. She got into a fury and started screaming. As a result, Jill is grounded now – she is not allowed to go to the cinema today – it’s out of the question. It’s a pity.
Unit 9, Lesson 8, Ex.2b) My name is Tony. I don’t really know you so I guess I should probably start off by telling you a little about me. I’m a student at Halifax West High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I’m sixteen years old, so I’m graduating next year. What year are you in? I’m in the IB* programme, which in case you don’t know is a really hard school programme. I’m beginning to regret choosing it – I don’t want my marks to drop. Are you enjoying school? I’m looking forward to attending university. I haven’t decided yet what university I will be going to, but I’m thinking of going to Dalhousie University and not living at home. Do you live with your parents?
My parents are divorced so I have two separate houses. One is in Brookside, which is a little community outside the city. My other house is in the city. I have two brothers and one sister, all younger than me. I also have a dog and two cats at my Brookside house and two cats in my city house. I play a lot of sports but my favourite is skiing. I do competitive skiing so I’m very busy. I ski around 15 hours during the week and sometimes more if there is a competition at the weekend. Do you do any sports? Are you on any of your school’s sports teams? What sports do you like to participate in or watch? I enjoy watching hockey on television. My favourite team is Montreal Canadians. Do you have a favourite hockey team? By the way, Halifax is also home of the Halifax Mooseheads – a junior hockey team. Their games are usually exciting and they are a great event for people in the city.
Halifax is a port city; actually it is the second biggest port in the world. It’s a pretty busy place, especially in summer. The city does not have a very large population but it is not too small either, which is great because it’s still fun but there’s not a lot of traffic all the time. It’ not a big city, but it’s not too boring either. There are lots of high schools and five universities in Halifax. There are also lots of interesting things you can do learn. The downtown area is a very historic place where much of Halifax’ history begins. The waterfront is a very nice area of Halifax in the summer and it attracts a lot of tourists. However, one of my favourite cities is Montreal. It has awesome shopping and is not very far away from Halifax, a long drive, but a short plane ride.
I’ve also been to lots of different places in the world. I’ve visited France twice, Greece, Scotland, Ireland and some parts of the United States. Greece is my favourite place that I’ve visited. The country is beautiful and it was an amazing experience visiting Greece. I hope I can go back there some day.
Talking about skiing, there are not many ski hills here and they’re really small. But luckily, it snows a lot so it makes up for the lack of mountains. I also water ski in summer, but I like snow skiing better. Do you like the snow? I don’t mind it when it snows all night and it is cleaned up in the morning so I can carry on with my usual routines, but when it snows during the day and it is so bad that I have to stay at home I do not like it. Sometimes if I’m tired or have homework that I did not do or a test I am not ready for, I am glad when there’s a big storm overnight and I wake up to a white winter wonderland. This is because school is cancelled due to the weather. Canada has crazy winters weather wise but it is all a part of living here even though it gets annoying especially after winter has been here for five months. Does it often snow where you live?
When I come home after skiing, I’m usually starving so I have my supper and talk to my family a little while, before I start doing my homework. After my homework is done I usually go on my computer and talk to my friends on Facebook or phone. Sometimes I read or watch television until I go to bed. Does it sound like a typical day for you? What is a normal day like for you? I’m also into making movies and taking pictures. I’ve just got my driving licence and it is awesome – I love driving! When I first started learning I hated it because I found it hard. Now I love it because with practice it became easy. Do you drive? Do you like it?
Anyway, I hope you can write me back and tell me a little about yourself and your life as well.
Tony.
Unit 9, Lesson 10, Ex. 4 1) telling good news: Guess what! Have you heard? I’ve got some good news.
2) telling bad news: It’s bad news, I’m afraid. I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news
3) reacting to bad news: How sad! How awful! That’s too bad. That’s a pity. That’s terrible. You must be very sad. I’m really sorry. You must be fed up.
4) reacting to good news: Well don! You must be really pleased. Congratulations!