Vocabulary
Nationalities
British and American English
There are quite a lot of
differences between American and British English which goes from vocabulary,
to spelling, to pronunciation and even to grammar.
• As regards vocabulary, I can mention a few examples: cell phone
(used by Americans) - mobile phone (used by British) / garbage - rubbish /
cookie - biscuit / drug-store - chemist's shop / closet - wardrobe /
truck - lorry / sidewalk - pavement / fall - autumn / elevator - lift /
windshield - windscreen / pants - trousers / apartment - flat / soccer -
football / yard - garden. Besides these words, it is worth noting the different
ways of saying the date. Americans say “February 21st”, whereas British say
“21st of February”.
• Spelling, on the other hand, also differs in the varieties of
English. Generally, words ending in “or” as in the words color, neighbor, humor
belong to American English, whereas their British counterparts end in “our”.
The same happens with words ending in consonant followed by “re” which belong
to British English. On the contrary, those that end in “er” represent American
English. Some examples are: centre, litre, metre, etc.
• As for pronunciation, one of the most common differences we
often hear about is the pronunciation of “schwa” in final position. Thus,
British people, especially those who use the standard accent described as RP,
pronounce /mʌðə/, while Americans pronounce /mʌðər/.
• Finally, grammar is also different. One of many instances
of this difference can be seen in collective nouns, which in British English
they take either singular or plural verb forms, according to whether the
emphasis is on the body as a whole or on the individual members respectively.
In American English, collective nouns are almost always singular. As a way of
an example, in British English the sentence “The Rolling Stones are an English
rock band” is possible, but in American English it’s right to say “The Rolling
Stones is an English rock band”.
Discussion
Immigrants and emigration
When we start off reading
the book, one of the first things we come across is the idea of "The
American dream" which is immediately linked with the "Ellis
Island" - a symbol of America's heritage and immigration. It's
recorded that during the peak immigration years, an average of 5,000 people
were processed per day. Today, one third of Americans can trace their ancestry
to the immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island. Then the book goes into the
tales of three immigrants: one young woman from Russia, a German boy, and a
Polish mother with her newborn baby.
The Russian girl was an attractive young woman, who arrived in New York with the hopes
of getting married to an old countryman acquaintance, but he didn't show up.
Obviously, the poor girl felt abandoned and was in quite a critical situation
since her entrance was at a standstill until things cleared up. As it turned
out, the groom-to-be had changed his mind before the girl went to New York.
The next story concerns a
13-year-old German boy and his family. He was already living in the US
when his mother wanted to enter the country. Therefore, in order to be
accepted, she first had to take a test on reading because the commissioners
questioned people on literacy. This requirement represented a major threat to
her because she didn't know how to read, so this is when the boy stepped in
quickly memorizing the passage of the book that his mother was supposed to
read, and then when she finally sat across the table from the commissioners,
the boy got underneath and said the words softly and she said them aloud while
looking at the book. In the end, the plan worked out and she was granted the
opportunity to get in the US.
As for the Polish girl,
she came across a rather complex situation when she returned to the states
after having visited her father, who was seriously sick. As it happened, the
Polish lady was hurrying back because she was about to give birth, but as the
ship arrived late, her baby was born on board. This case was brought to a
good-nature commissioner who wanted the baby to be recognized as a British
citizen as it was born in a British ship; however, the British quota had
exhausted the day before, as well as the Polish and Belgian ones. But
fortunately, the commissioner came up with a fine solution and ruled that since
the baby was intended to be born in America, it must be recognized as a
native-born American citizen.
Then the book goes on with
the story of the two brothers from Kenya, Vijay and Bhikhu:
Vijay and Bhikhu lived in a quaint little town in Kenya, and although life was difficult
in some respects, their mother managed to bring them up properly. At the age of
seventeen, Bhikhu set off for London and a year later Vijay followed him. Even
though they arrived to London with a few pounds, they saw London as a land of
opportunity because they knew they could educate themselves as well as work.
Bhikhu wanted to be an architect so he went to the University of Bristol, and
Vijay studied pharmacy so as to be able to go into the business.
After some years, Bhikhu
gave up being an architect and joined his brother in the pharmacy business.
They complemented each other really well, so while Vijay made wealth, Bhikhu
looked after it. With such a successful enterprise, they were nominated as the
entrepreneurs of the year.
Nationality stereotypes
This part of the book I think is related to stereotypes and testing the skills to describe nationalities. From my point of view, I think stereotypes exist
for a reason: they help us form opinions about people without bothering to
getting to know them.
As far as the book is
concerned, people may think Canadians live in a big, frozen land of ice.
But what they may not know is that Canada is a bilingual country as 40% of the
population has French as a mother tongue. According to what it's said in the
book, Canadians are mixed up with Americans which is something that annoys Canadian People.
Scots are thought to be miserable, dour and unhappy as well as not to be very
used to enjoy sunny days. All the same, in the book, a girl argues that as
opposed to Londoners most people in Scotland are generous.
As for Americans,
Rosemary says the British consider them loud and arrogant. She also says
British people have a kind of discontent because America was once a colony of
Britain and so, they treat Americans as if they're the rebellious children.
As
far as my country, I believe foreigners see us as being quite arrogant, especially
the people from neighbor countries. And I think that’s true. I can’t tell what
exactly makes Argentinians behave that way, but it’s like we have a
complex of superiority in relation to countries such as
Paraguay, Chile, Bolivia, etc. The same happens when we, ourselves, compare
with Spaniards, as we tend to think of us as being better than them, more intelligent than
them, which I hardly think it’s true either.
Unit 2: Never Lost for Words
Language focus: Tense review: Simple / Continuous, Perfect / Non-perfect, Active / Passive
Vocabulary: Phrasal verbs: literal and metaphorical
Discussion: Finding out about Iris Murdoch
Language
Focus
Tense review
When reviewing tenses in
English we have to bear in mind that they have two elements of meaning: time
and aspect. Time indicates if the verb action takes
place in the past, present of future, and aspect adds further
information to the verb action as it answers questions such as is the action
completed or in progress? does it have a result to a later time?
Aspect is divided into, let's say, four branches.
Simple and Continuous
• The simple aspect
usually refers to actions that happen all the time: "The sun
rises in the east." or actions that are completed: "I've read the book." Also, habits as in "He
used to like terror movies" or actions completed in the past: "He
wrote the book in 1990."
• The continuous
aspect focuses on the duration of an activity, which is not permanent
but limited. It is usually used to express a temporary action, for
example "She is living overseas." In this particular case, the
continuous aspect reduces the duration of a verb that lasts long such as to
live, and makes it temporary. Additionally, the
continuous aspect conveys the meaning of progression as in "The
year is coming to its end." And empathizes the duration of an action: "I've
been waiting for you three hours."
Perfect and Non-perfect
The perfect aspect
expresses two ideas:
• An action completed
before another time:
"I've been to
Europe." (sometime before now)
"I'll have lost weight
by the end of the year."
• An action producing a
result to a later situation:
"She's studied the
papers from top to bottom." (she will pass the exam
easily)
"I've read his latests
book." (I know the story now)
Active and Passive Voice
Active voice is the "natural", so to speak, and normal voice used in English. By this I mean that it
is the one which we use most of the time, and the one we were most likely to
learn first. In active voice the attention is on the subject of the action. For
example: "Birds eat worms."
Passive voice, on the other hand, moves the focus of attention to the object. The
subject is either preserved or left out, and this depending on what the speaker
intends to convey. When the subject is omitted it is because it is unknown,
unimportant or understood. For example: "Worms are eaten by birds"
Vocabulary
Phrasal verbs: literal and metaphorical
Phrasal verbs are semantic
units composed of different particles. They frequently have several meanings,
some of which are literal and some metaphorical. It is common that phrasal
verbs change and adopt new meanings during the course of time, which is what
usually leads a phrasal verb with literal meaning to adopt a metaphoric
meaning.
There are four types of phrasal verbs:
1. Verb
+ adverb
•
Literal: "He went
off."
•
Metaphorical: "The fire has gone off."
2. Verb + adverb + object
•
Literal: "Blow up a balloon."
•
Metaphorical: "The building has been browned
up."
3. Verb
+ preposition + object
•
Literal: "I ran into an old
friend."
•
Metaphorical: "The bus ran into
a car."
4. Verb + adverb + preposition + object. The meanings of this
type are almost always metaphorical.
"I'm looking forward to it."
"I'll go along with you on everything
except that." (agree)
Some Phrasal Verbs
• tuck away: 1) eat 2) store, esp in a place difficult to find
• head off: leave somewhere
to go to another place
• give away: 1) give something that you do not
want or need to someone, without asking them to pay it 2) reveal something secret, often accidentally
• give up: 1) surrender 2) stop doing sth that you did
regularly 3) stop trying to
do something, esp because it is too difficult
• work out: 1) find a solution "I can't
- how to star this machine" 2)
do physical exercises 3)
formulate or develop "- a plan" 4) develop in a successful way "things have
- quite well for us"
• work up: 1) to gradually get excited,
angry or anxious "she's - herself up"; "he seemed to
be very worked up about something" 2) increase one's skill, responsibility, efficiency
"he - to a manager" 3)
make you feel in a particular way by mental or physical effort "running
works me up an appetite"
• put down: 1) write down 2) bring to an end "the
police - the rebellion" 3)
humiliate; make remarks that makes other people feel silly "he
has a way of always put me down, and I feel so foolish"
• put up: 1) put sth in a higher position 2) accommodate someone
temporarily 3) raise or
increase sth "- the prices" 4) suggest a candidate for sth; nominate "the
party hopes to - more candidates in the next elections"
• get on with: 1) if people get on, they have a
good relationship 2)
continue or start doing sth "she told us to - our work"
• get up to: 1) do sth naughty or bad "Those
children must be got up to some mischief" 2) reach a particular point "we - the final
chapter"
• go in for: 1) make a career choice 2) like; have an interest in "he
- classic music" 3)
support, advocate "I don't - logging"
• go down with: 1) get ill 2) get a good or bad reaction
from someone "The movie didn't go down well with the critics"
Discussion
Finding out about Iris Murdoch
Iris Murdoch was a prolific
novelist and philosopher who was born in 1919 in Dublin, Ireland. She is best
known for her novel Under the Net, as well as other works such as The
Sea the Sea, The Bell and Jackson's Dilemma.
She grew up in London but
always had an Irish background. She studied at Oxford University and later
worked there as a teacher of Philosophy. There she met John Bayley, a fellow
professor in the same institution to whom she married. They had a long happy
relationship but no children.
Jackson's Dilemma is Iris' 26th and last novel and it was published in 1995, four years
before her death. Strangely enough, she wrote it while suffering from the
beginnings of Alzheimer, a disease that caused her to go through a writer's
block. She died in 1999 in England.
Unit 3: Big Business
Language focus: Adverb collocations, Adverbs with two forms
Vocabulary: Describing trends, Comparing statistics
Discussion: Planning an advertising campaign, The role of advertising
Language Focus
Adverb
collocations
In the majority of the cases,
adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. However, this does not mean that an adverb
can occur interchangeably with any verb or any adjective. Some adverbs
collocate specifically with certain verbs or adjectives, and this is so because
there is a semantic link between them. For example, the adverb desperately collocates with the
adjective anxious but not
with happy. The reason why
the first two can occur together is because they covey a more or less equal
notion, but little relation is there between desperately and happy
(though desperately can
collocate with unhappy).
Some commonly used collocations are:
• severely affected/disabled/criticized/damaged.
• eagerly awaited; it also used with
verbs such as to seek, to look for, etc.
• try/want/need sth desperately.
• highly can collocate with a large set of adjectives,
such as recommended, skilled, successful, unlikely, educated, among
others, or verbs as in speak highly of someone or think highly of
someone.
• sorely tempted/missed.
• deeply is used many times with emotions, as they can
be deep. Therefore, it is accurate to say deeply regret or affected. And also,
deeply held conviction or believe.
Adverbs
with two forms
Some adverbs have two forms, each
one, of course, with a different meaning. There are adverbs that end in -ly
and others that don't. To illustrate their differences in meaning we can point
out a few examples:
hard vs hardly
In the sentence he works hard,
hard is an adverb of manner that expresses effort. However, the
adverb hardly in the sentence he hardly works is an adverb of
degree that expresses how much or how often the verbs is
performed.
fine vs finely
To do sth fine means to do
sth well. "Finely", on the other hand, has several
meanings. In chop finely, for example, it means into very small
pieces.
most vs mostly
In the sentence what do you like
most?, most is an adverb of degree which expresses the greatest
degree. However, mostly means mainly or generally as
in she eats mainly vegetables.
wide vs widely
Wide as an adverb is usually used to say how
open sth is. Therefore, we can often hear that the door is wide open.
Widely, on the other hand, means by a lot of people or in or
to many places as for example the sentence this book is widely read
and English is widely spoken all around the world.
wrong vs wrongly
In the sentence It all went wrong,
wrong is an adverb of manner that expresses that something happened
in a bad way, and wrongly means by mistake as in I wrongly
accused him of having cheated.
Vocabulary
Describing
trends
Well, when it comes to describing trends, it's a foremost conclusion that if one wants to
describe trends, and more if they are business trends, one must at least be familiar
with some vocabulary expressing the ups and downs of figures as well as when
they get steady.
UP
• leap: V N upward motion
• soar: V rise or fly upwards
• pick up: V improve in condition or activity
• shoot up: V increase dramatically in amount
DOWN
• slump: V N decline suddenly; collapse
• tumble: V N collapse, fall off
• plummet: V decline suddenly and steeply
• plunge: V N decrease dramatically
Stop moving
• peak: V bring to a maximum of value, intensity
• level out: V move toward stability or
consistency
• even out: V become even, as by the removal
of bumps, inequalities
• bottom out: V descend to the lowest point
possible
To start off, I'm going to describe
the web search interest on the word Ipad, from January 2010 up to
date. In other words, I'm going to explain the trend that represents the
popularity of that word, taking into account how much the Google search box
was used to look for it. This graph represents the web search
interest I'm talking about:
In the vertical column of the graph
the number 100 represents the peak, the maximum level of popularity, although
the exact number of times the word was searched is not displayed.
1. In
the beginning of the time line, in January of 2010, the popularity of the Ipad starts
off soaring pretty high, and this is because in this particular time the Ipad
I was announced. However, it immediately tumbles to the bottom, reaching
the lowest point during this period. Then again, when the Ipad is released the
interest picks up sharply again.
2. In
the segment represented by the number two, there is a slight rise after the
novelty had faded away. Nevertheless, later the interest evens out until
December when it gradually goes up, drops a little, and then
closes up the year of 2010 taking a nice leap.
3. In
the segment 3, the Ipad II is released and tops its elder
sibling's popularity. In this way, it enjoys a very high but brief moment
of glory because after a short time it plummets substantially until it finds
a steady path and levels out. But then again, as the the next Ipad is
announced in the early 2012, googlers make the Ipad's popularity shoot up once again.
4. In
March of 2012, Apples' popularity with the Ipad shows off it maximum peak as the
mighty Ipad III is released. However, short afterwards the imminent downfall
arrives but it's worth saying that the trend levels out higher the
previous steady stages.
Comparing
statistics
The statistic chart in the book
shows John and David's salary figures as well as their expenditure per month.
John earns €3,000 per month, though
it falls short of David's salary, which goes up to €8,000. Thanks to his bigger
salary which is almost three times as much as John's, David can indulge himself
where John might not. Accordingly, David's accommodation costs twice the price
as John's, and his bills are four time the amount John pays for.
However, the one single department
where David gets edged out is clothes. John spends €300 a month, while David
only 200. But when it comes to going out, John is still behind David as they
spend 315 and 400 respectively.
Furthermore, John's transport
expenditure reaches €500 per month, while David uses, once again, almost three
times as much as John does; and that is €1400. Finally, John picks up 250 in
food. David, however, tops that figure as he spends €500.
Discussion
Planning
an advertising campaign
There's this company called StayWell
which is having some financial difficulties. Its chief product is a drink
called Sogood, but the problem is that it's getting a bit outdated.
Costumers are mostly people of advanced age who are passing away little by
little. Therefore, the sales are decreasing accordingly.
Well, this topic needs a kind of
role playing, and my job is to relaunch the drink but not without some major
changes that will guarantee its newfound success.
First off, I believe the bottle
needs to be completely redesigned. To this end, we're going to get rid of the
old-fashioned dark brown glass bottle, and taking its place, a nice-looking clear
bottle made up of plastic (which is more economic) will be launched.
Additionally, instead of the traditional screwing cap, the new bottle will
feature a much more practical one, which will only need the flick of a thumb to
be open or closed.
Second, the new design will be
accompanied by a strong advertising campaign, indented both to gain new
customers and to keep the old ones. This is so because I'm inclined to believe the new look will
most likely confuse the longtime customers, so the approach of the advertisements
will be partly meant to solve this problem.
Additionally, there will also be a
new formula with more vitamins and a green coloring, which, by the way, is the
reason of the transparent bottle. We need to show off a bright eye-catching
color to be able to keep up with competitors
Finally, the distribution will no
longer be pharmacy exclusive since it will be available in Supermarkets which
means that sales will pick up, so it won't be necessary to increase the
price of Sogood.
The
role of advertising
From my point of view, advertising
is a very important and necessary link in the economy of nowadays. However, although it has its pros, cons are
never absent. Most of the time, cons have to do with the fact that advertising has a
social cost as it tends to exert a psychological pressure on potential customers.
On the other hand, even though ads
inform us of what is available, the primary aim is almost always to suggest,
persuade and sometimes even pressure us. At the same time, advertising seems to
have the power to constantly create new needs, which in my opinion has a
positive effect in the long term because it makes technology to keep its
progress.
Said
this, I believe advertising is as whole a positive phenomenon. However, it's
also true that sometimes when one watches, hears or reads an advertisement, one
can't help but to feel a bit irritated because of the way they intend to fool
people, which sometimes is outrageously obvious.
Unit 4: Celebrity
Language focus: Discourse markers, Tags and replies
Vocabulary: Synonyms and antonyms
Discussion: Maze: how to become a A-list celebrity
Language
Focus
Discourse markers
Discourse markers are
expressions that help to
develop ideas and relate them to one another. They give the
speaker the means to steer the dialogue however he or she wants.
The functions of discourse
markers are diverse, and are often related to tasks such as: to initiate the
discourse, to serve as a filler or delaying tactic, to change the subject, to clarify, to persuade, etc. They also show the speaker's
attitude to what has been said or what he or she is saying.
Words like actually,
so, OK, right? and anyway all function as discourse
markers as they help the speaker to build the conversation.
For learners of English as a second language some discourse markers may be of rather difficult comprehension as there's sometimes no exact correlation between the expressions of the different languages. To illustrate, a few
examples of discourse markers that may be rather obscure are:
•
Admittedly,
which expresses that something cannot be denied or that it has to be
admitted, and therefore, its use weakens what is being said. An example to
this is the sentence: "The Big Bang is only a theory, admittedly,
but then again, so is gravity and I don't see anyone jumping off
buildings."
•
Surely is
another discourse marker whose meaning might be rather difficult to
understand. When used with a negative or in questions, it shows that
something surprises you and you don't want to believe it. For example:
"Surely, you don't believe that" and "surely it's
obvious?"
•
After all, on
the other hand, means nevertheless, or ultimately. It emphasizes something
to be considered: "after all, she's your boss, so invite
her."
•
Mind you is
a phrase introducing something that should be taken into consideration.
For example: "I like him. Mind you, he's not behaving well."
•
Finally, the expression so to speak
means that something is said in a certain way, even though the words are
not exactly accurate. For example: "He always stands
up for me. He's my lawyer, so to speak."
Question tags are special constructions that function as mini-questions at the end of sentences.
One of their uses is for
asking the listener to reply to what we have just said and thus keep the
conversation going. In this case, we pronounce the question tag with a falling
intonation.
This town has a beautiful weather, doesn't it
However, when we really
want to know something, we pronounce with a rising intonation.
She didn't lie, did she?
It's worth pointing out
that if a statement is positive, the question tag after it is framed with a
negative auxiliary. If the statement is negative, then the question tag is
positive.
However, there are some
instances where these rules aren't applied. Same way tags precede
affirmative sentences, yet they're positive. These tags are used to express interest,
surprise, concern, or some other reaction.
So you're her mother, are you? She's my teacher.
Finally, reinforcement
tags are used to show that the speaker knows what he/she is talking about.
She's a clever girl, she is.
Vocabulary
Synonyms and antonyms
One of the points of the unit 4 deals with is synonyms and antonyms and
some of the words that are either compared (synonyms) or contrasted (antonyms)
are the following:
• Reverence
synonyms: admiration, adoration, worship, praise
antonyms: contempt, scorn
• Mercy
synonyms: sympathy, clemency, compassion, forgiveness, pity
antonyms: brutality, cruelty, harshness, inhumanity
• Contempt
synonyms: disdain, hatred
antonyms: admiration, esteem, honor, respect
• Bestow:
synonyms: award, confer, give
antonyms: acquire, attain, earn
Discussion
Maze- how to become an A-list celebrity
This part of the program is
related to a game in which you use a set cards describing different situations,
and then choose between different options and so on. However, it's not possible
to play the game individually, so if you let me I'll talk about the main text in
the unit N° 4 which is entitled the Cult of Celebrity.
The text begins talking about how fame takes you from a private life to
a place where you are in the public eye, and where you become the object of
different kinds of sentiments such as criticism, admiration, ridicule, spite
and such things as that. It defines fame as something we build up and later we
knock down.
Then, the text goes further
and poses the question of why fame is so desirable, which emerges from the
amazement arose by the readiness of people to allow themselves to be filmed on
the most undignified situations in shows like, for example, a fly-on-the-wall
documentary. A popular answer provided by a group of 10-year-olds is that they want to be famous no matter for what, just famous.
The American writer Norman Mailer said that part of the obsession of being famous comes from the desire to get to immortality, or to be a sort of God because in a society with no faith in an afterlife, celebrities are the new Gods.
Unit 5: Love is...?
Language focus: Ways of adding emphasis
Vocabulary: Proverbs and poetry
Discussion: Do you believe in fate?
Language
Focus
Ways of adding emphasis
• Cleft
sentences
Cleft sentences are
structures used to emphasize a part of a sentence. They are particularly useful
in writing where we cannot use intonation for the purpose of emphasis, but they
are also frequently used in formal speech.
From the sentence "Lucy
moved to London" we can frame a set of different sentences emphasizing
different words:
"What Lucy did was move to London."
"Where Lucy moved to was London."
"Why Lucy moved to London was because..."
To
emphasize the person who did the action we use preparatory it:
"It was Lucy who moved
to London."
However, preparatory it
is also used to highlight different elements of a sentence as in:
"It was London where
Lucy moved to."
Besides using wh-words,
we can use structures such as the reason why, the thing that, the
person/people who, the place where as in the sentence:
"The place where Lucy
moved to was London."
• Negative
inversion
Negative inversion is the
altered use of the standard pattern subject+auxiliary+main verb of positive
sentences. It is a construction where the auxiliary is placed before the
subject for the purpose of making a sentence more emphatic or dramatic.
Before the inverted pattern a negation such as not, no, never, nothing,
etc. or a word implying negation such as only, hardly, scarcely, seldom,
rarely, etc is placed. Phrases containing one of the negative adverbials not
until, no sooner, in no way, nowhere are also used in negative inversion.
For example:
"Never had he
ran so fast."
"Only then did
I understand the problem."
"Rarely does she get
bored."
"No sooner had
winter began, than she caught a cold."
• Pronunciation
In spoken English
pronunciation is the most important way of adding emphasis. This is performed
by stressing individual words to make them stand out from the rest. For
example:
"John likes the brown shoes."
"John likes the brown shoes."
"John likes the brown shoes."
"John likes the brown shoes."
• Emphatic do,
does, did
They give emphasis in
positive statements in the present and past simple, and also in the imperative.
For example:
"He does seem to have fallen in love with Lucy."
"She does care for their pets."
"I did go to visit my relatives."
"Do take some days off."
Vocabulary
Proverbs
In the book there are some
proverbs such as
1. Love is blind.
2. The course of true love never did run smooth.
3. All the world loves a lover.
4. Cold hands, warm heart.
5. All's fair in love and war.
6. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
7. The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.
8. Marry in haste, repent at leisure.
9. Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
10. A little of what you fancy does you good.
11. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
12. Familiarity breeds contempt.
Discussion
Do you believe in fate?
No, I don't. I don't
believe that everything that happens is, as they say, written or preordained. What
I believe is that you steer your own destiny which, at the same time, is highly
influenced by your surrounding as well as by a wide range of different
coincidences which can be either beneficial or detrimental to you.
Other than that, I'd
like to believe fate doesn't exist as I'm not fond of the feeling that
everything that's going to happen to me and to everything is already determined
by some superior power, and thereby I'm just like an automatic piece of
machinery.
Therefore, my opinion is that
one's future is ruled by every single action you do, and to some extend by
actions you receive from others. In such cases spontaneousness play an important role.
Unit 6: Newspeak
Language focus: Distancing the facts: Passive constructions, Seem and appear
Vocabulary: Nouns formed from phrasal verbs
Discussion: How television reports the news
Language
Focus
Passive constructions
Passive voice is used to
put a certain distance between the writer or speaker and the facts. In
newspapers this structure is very commonly used because it allows the writer to
give information without stating it to be categorically true. In newspaper articles
there are some verbs that are particularly used for reporting. For example, allege,
announce, say, report, understand, believe,
etc.
One passive voice pattern
is framed with it + passive verb + that clause or
alternatively to infinitive. For example:
"It is expected
that the president will return from Europe tomorrow morning."
"It has been decided to relocate the venue for the
concert."
Another pattern is framed with subject + passive voice + to
infinitive. For example:
"They have been warned not to break the rules again."
"Will is believed to be who stole the money yesterday."
Seem and appear are used in passive
constructions to state something but without being completely certain about it.
The two patterns already mentioned are applied here as well.
"It seems that the weather outlook wasn't right."
"She appears to have gone completely crazy."
Nouns formed from phrasal
verbs
The versatility of English allows us to form nouns from many phrasal
verbs. Therefore, from the verb break down and one of its meanings which
is to divide into parts for analysis, the noun breakdown
expresses the action, so we can say "break down the theory"
and "the theory breakdown". Some other nouns formed from
phrasal verbs are:
takeaway: food you buy to eat at home
downpour: heavy rain
shakeup: a situation in which a lot of changes are
made
outfit: a set of clothes worn together
downfall: failure after success
setback: a problem that delays or stops progress
outbreak: sudden star of a disease or of violence
backlash: extreme reaction to an event
upkeep: maintenance
slip-up: a careless mistake
showdown: argument or fight
upturn: improvement
outburst: a sudden expression of strong feelings
Discussion
How television reports the news
Television reports the news
in a very dynamic way. They focus on one story, develop it and then they go on
to the next one with words such as "in other news". However, when
there's a major story or something that's worth devoting more time, especially
when it is a dramatic felony, they usually take several days to develop it
thoroughly. Therefore, it's not their intention to quickly cut to the chase,
but to elaborate on the story by taking into account all minor details such as
the involved people's background, what witnesses or testimonies have to say,
the clues police might come up with, etc. Besides that, it is also common that
they make a short dramatic film where they describe the story with the
intention of getting people engaged.
On the other hand, when it
comes to minor news that seem to be worth reporting only the same day they take
place, television tends to favor those that happened to be filmed whether by
some casual passer-by, a surveillance camera, etc. Therefore, as opposed to
something that wasn't filmed, an accident that was indeed filmed is more likely
to have a spot on the TV news as it is more appealing the audience.
Unit 7: Words of Wisdom
Language focus: Modal auxiliary verbs: Present, Future and Past
Vocabulary: Rhyme and reason: choosing the right words for a poem
Discussion: Prediction game: Dilemma! How well do you know your classmates?
Language Focus
Modal auxiliary verbs
• Present and
Future
Will is used to talk about something certain or
factual that will happen in the future.
“I won’t travel on vacation, so I will spend the free time reading some
books.”
Will is also used to express that we strongly believe that
something is true in the present.
“She will be studying now because tomorrow she has an exam.”
Must and Can’t: Must is used to
assert what we infer to be the most logical assumption of a situation.
“They look alike, they must be brothers.”
Can’t is the negative form of must when expressing with this sense.
“She can’t know the truth, I didn’t tell anybody.”
Should expresses what we expect to happen and it
also carries the meaning that we want whatever is predicted to happen,
therefore it is not used to express negative ideas.
“We should arrive before dark.”
May expresses the possibility that something will happen or is already
happening.
“That may or may not be true.”
Might, like may, expresses possibility but
suggest a smaller chance.
“If you sleep well, you might feel better tomorrow.”
Could is used in a similar way to might.
“It could rain, but I doubt it.”
But the negative form of could does not express possibility.
Instead, might not is used with this meaning.
“It looks like it could rain, but It might not.”
Can is used to express what is generally true and logically possible.
“Cycling can be dangerous.”
Can cannot be used to predict future possibility. We have use will be
possible or will be able to instead.
“In the future it will be possible for people to travel to the moon.”
• Past
All the modal verbs that I mentioned form their past form with a construction
consisting of the verb itself plus “have” plus “past participle”.
• Other uses of modal verbs
Obligation
Must is used to express a strong obligation (the
past form is had to). Should is used to express a mild
obligation: “You must/should rest.”
Permission
Can and may are used to ask permission, but may is more
formal: “Can/May I ask you a question?”
Ability
Can is used to express a general ability; the past form is could: "She
can swim."
But when we want to express a particular ability in the past, we
generally use was able to: “Last time, I was able to pass the exam.”
Willingness
Won’t expresses a refusal, by either things or
people. The past is wouldn’t: “She said she wouldn’t lend me any
money.”
Characteristic behavior
Will is used to express characteristic behavior;
the past is would: "He will listen to music, alone in his room,
for hours."
Vocabulary
Rhyme and reason: choosing
the right words for a poem
Discussion
Prediction game: Dilemma! How well do you know your classmates?
Well, although this is a
group work activity, I think I can manage to do it by myself.
When we were assigned to
develop this unit, the number 7, to put it in the wikispace we considered that
we, I mean our group, have been classmates and friends for almost two years,
ever since we started university. We can safely say that we know each
other. However, It is most likely that we do not know each other as much as we
might know other friends of ours we have grown up with, or known for a longer
period of time.
Dilemma! is a game that will test, ideally, each one of the group members, but
in this especial occasion, it only tests me on how much I actually know my
classmates.
The game consists of
several cards with hypothetical situations, so we get one and then we guess
what one of our classmates would do if said situation were real. Then, they say
if what the other says is true or not.
- Situation 1: Mica have been to a party with a
friend, who is supposed to be driving her home. It is late at night and
time to go home, but she thinks her friend has had too much to drink, even
though he insists that he can drive all right.
I think Mica wouldn't let this friend drive her home because
she is well aware of the risks it would mean. However, It is very likely she
dares to drive the car herself, even though she hasn't yet completely mastered
how to drive.
- Situation 2: Tania is looking for a house to
buy. She finds a beautiful one which is really quite cheap. Then she
learns that it is supposed to be haunted.
I might be wrong but I don't think Tania would be brave enough to
move in a haunted house. I wouldn't go so far as to say she's superstitious,
but the mere idea of some spooky thing wandering around home would make her
hesitate and ultimately turn her back to it.
- Situation 3: Carli is having a dinner party at
her house. A husband and wife that she has invited suddenly begin to have
a violent argument.
To tell you the truth, I've
seen Carli entangled in this sort of situation quite a few times.
Therefore, from my experience I can tell that she would most likely say
something like "why don't we talk about how wonderful this night
is", or maybe she would tell a silly joke or throw one of her
antics in order to put the argument to an end.
- Situation 4: Evan has just had a meal in an
expensive restaurant. The bill comes, and you realize you have no money
and no credit cards on you.
Well, as far as Evan I believe he would wait until the waiter is
busy and/or far-off, make sure there are no surveillance cameras and go away
and never come back.
Unit 8: Altered Images
Language focus: Real and unreal tense usage, Past tenses to express unreality
Vocabulary: Metaphors and idioms
Discussion: Appreciating art, My favorite work of art
Language
Focus
Real and unreal tense usage
– Past tenses to express unreality
English tense can be used
to refer to fact and to non-fact. Fact is what is considered to
be real or quite possible; non-fact is what is supposed or wished for, which is
either unreal or improbable.
Tenses used to refer to
fact are related to real time, which means that a past verb form refers to the
past. Tenses used to refer to non-fact are not related to real time; thus, this
unreality is expressed by shifting the verb form backwards even though what's
being expressed refers to the present.
This distinction between
fact and non-fact is closely related to the use of conditionals.
Type 1 conditional sentences are based on fact in real time. They express a possible
condition and its probable result: "If you don't harry up, they
will leave without you."
> In the condition
clause, will is sometimes used to express willingness or insistence and won't
refusal.
"If you'll save little money every month, when you're old
you'll have lots of it"
"If the dog won't stop barking all night, I'll get it inside."
"If he will misbehave at work, he'll get suspended." (insistence: will is stressed and not contracted.)
> Should and happen to make the possibility of an event
seem unlikely.
"If you should/happen to see her, could you ask her to call
me?"
> There are several other words that can perform the function of if,
such as provided that, supposing, unless, etc.
Type 2 conditional sentences are not based on fact. They express a hypothetical
condition and its probable result. This unreality is shown by a tense shift
backwards. By using a past verb form in this this type of conditionals, the
speaker suggests that the situation is less probable, impossible, or imaginary.
"I gas were for
free, I would drive up to Alaska."
> This conditional type
can make a suggestion more polite.
"Would you mind if I
opened the window slightly?"
> Would is the past form of will in type 1 which in
type 2 also expresses willingness.
Type 3 conditional sentences, like type 2, are not based on fact. They express
a situation which is contrary to reality in the past. This unreality is again
shown by a tense shift backwards.
"If I had known
she was an spy, I wouldn't have fallen into the trap."
It is possible for each of
the two clauses in a conditional sentence to have a different time reference,
and the result is a mixed conditional.
"If I had started to
like English when I was 12, I would speak better by now."
If I had started to like
English when I was 12 didn't happen in the past,
so it is contrary to a past fact. I would speak better by now is
contrary to a present fact.
> When the type 2
conditional refers to the future, it is "unmixed" which means that both
clauses have to be framed with the same tense. Hence, the conditional
sentence "I would go on vacation next January If I hadn't bought a new
cell phone" is more properly framed "I would have gone on
vacation next January If I hadn't bought a new cell phone".
Vocabulary
Metaphors and idioms
In the vocabulary part, the
unit 8 focuses on metaphors and idioms. A metaphor is a figure of speech
in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to
designate another, thus making an implicit comparison. An idiom is a
semantic expression that consists of a group of words whose meaning cannot be
deduced from their individual components, but from the unit as a whole.
Some metaphors and idioms displayed in the book are:
time flies: times goes so fast
slave away: working extremely hard
be tied up: very busy
bit off more than we can
chew: try to do something which is too difficult or more that one can manage
to do
Furthermore, some more metaphors are sorted out into different
categories.
Metaphors that have to do with the body
point the finger at someone: put the blame on
Metaphors to do with light
be overshadowed: appearing inferior in
comparison to someone or something else
Metaphors involving nature
blossom: develop successfully
Metaphors that have to do with movement
reach a crossroad: reach a point in life
when an important choice has to be made
Other metaphors and idioms are:
snowed under: have a lot of work to do
keeping our heads above water: manage
to survive, especially financially / keep up with one's work
tighten one's belt: make a lot of economies
pick up: improve
sleepy: where not much happens
must dash: must go
have a few hiccups: have a few small problems
broke his heart: hurt him very deeply
take one's breath away: leave you stunned and
unable to speak
come to one in a flash: it suddenly occurred to
me
glowing with pride: visibly very, very proud
sparked my interest: awakened my interest
it dawned on me: I realized
stormy relationship: a relationship in which
people row a lot
blazing rows: very angry rows with lots
of shouting
in floods of tears: crying a lot
the root of: the fundamental cause of
haven't the foggiest idea: really don't know or
understand
followed in his father's footsteps: did
what his father did
rambling speech: long-winded and
poorly-planned speech
going round in circles: making no progress at all
great strides: very significant and
rapid progress
Discussion
Appreciating art – My favorite work of art
Art is such a complex
concept, if it actually can be restricted to be boundaries laid by the very
word concept. After taking the time to muse on the idea of art and also to
research about it, I realized that it is not an easy task to materialize art
through language because it refuses to give in to definition, reason, and
explanation.
I believe that the ability
to appreciate art lies on the innermost reasoning of human beings, which is
sometimes so deep beneath the surface of our thinking that we tend to disregard
the beauty that everyday is set right before our eyes. However, at the
beginning of our lives when we're yet uncorrupted art appreciation blossoms.
During our first years we learn language through songs, we enjoy drawing
without restraint, we just give free rein to our own art.
As far as my favorite works
of art, what I enjoy the most is the stimulation that evokes from words and
music. I like literature, stories, the art of writing to express the most
complex ideas and feelings. However, poetry is something that I find utterly boring.
Other form of art that I do enjoy is music, the kind of music that takes you
from this world to a surreal environment. There are some songs that I feel are
a mixture of both these two forms of art, the art of expressing feelings
through well-written songs and music. That is, a good rhythmic pattern and awesome
lyrics.
8680 words
