UNIT 1

1.1.
VOCABULARY (conversation)

- Have a row - Put your foot in it

- Put someone at ease - Make small talk
- Listen enthusiastically - Make a good impression
- Establish shared interests - Tell an entertaining story
- Ask appropriate questions - Offend someone
- Have a misunderstanding - Dominate the conversation
- Have someone awkward silences - Hit it off with someone

GRAMMAR (using different question types)

a. Subject questions: When who, what or whose is the subject/part of the subject, we don’t use auxiliaries do or
did in a question.
e.g. Who said that?, Which of these nationalities speaks the loudest?, Who didn’t receive the email?

b. Indirect questions: If we begin a question with an expression like Do you think or Do you know, what follows
keeps normal word order – the subject goes before the verb.
e.g. Do you think you’ll come to the party?, Do you know where Dariusz works?, Have you any idea where Alex
is?, Do you know where he comes from?

c. Question with prepositions: When a Wh- word is the object of a preposition, the preposition usually comes
at the end of the question.
e.g. What are you talking about?, What are you looking at?, How long did you wait for?

e.g.
- What makes you laugh?
- What’s your favourite book about?
- What keeps you awake at night?
- Do you think you will go out tonight?
- Who are you most similar to in your family?/ Who in your family are you most similar to?
- Do you know why your parents choose your name?
- What kind of music do you listen to?
- What are you learning English for?
- Which school/ What kind of school do you go to?
- How many people do you live with?
- What does your perfect evening consist of?
- What are you looking forward to?
1.2.
VOCABULARY (written communication)

- Confidential - Emoticon - In tray

- Copy somebody in/cc - Handwriting - Texting
somebody into - Handwritten - Postage stamp
- Cross out - Inbox - Punctuation
- Delete - Instant - Stationery

GRAMMAR (present perfect simple and continuous)

We use the present perfect to talk about something that started in the past and is continuing now, or is repeated
up to now, when how long is mentioned in the sentence, or when how long is clear from the situation.

a. We can often use either the present perfect simple or the present perfect continuous when we use since or
for to talk about actions that are still going on.
e.g. He has worked/has been working at the post office since 1987.
 b. We usually use the present perfect continuous for actions continuing or repeated for a short time up to the
present, e.g. with phrases like all day and recently.
e.g. You’ve been working on that letter all morning – isn’t it good enough now?

c. We usually use the present perfect simple to talk about states rather than actions, with verbs like be, have
and know.
e.g. Writing has been much easier since spellcheckers were invented.

d. We use the present perfect simple to talk about something that happened once, or more than once, at an
unspecified time in the past, when there is a link to the present.
e.g. Researchers have found that texting can improve children’s spelling.

e.g.
- I’ve never been to Africa.
- It’s been raining since 10 o’clock this morning.
- We’ve lived/’ve been living here for about a year now.
- I’ve listened/’ve been listening to the new album a lot since I got it.
- I’ve been sending emails all morning.
- What have you been doing recently?
- I’ve finished the assignment at last!
- Have you heard? Tom’s lost his job.
1.3.
VOCABULARY (verbs + prepositions)

- Some verbs are usually followed by a particular preposition. These are followed by a noun, pronoun or
verb + ing.
- Verb + preposition + object: Have you heard of Silbo Gomero?
- Verb + object + preposition + object: It’s easy to confuse Silbo with birdsong.
- … an attempt to prevent the language from becoming extinct.

Preposition Verb
of hear, consist, disapprove
on depend, bring
to adapt, contribute, lead
with confuse
from prevent, ban
in communicate, result
1.4.
VOCABULARY (dealing with problems on the phone)

Getting rid of unwanted callers Dealing with distractions

- I don’t take sales calls. - Just bear with me a moment.
- Would you remove my name from your - I’m afraid you’ve caught me at a bad time.
database? - Could you just hold the line?
Ending a conversation politely Dealing with a bad phone line
- It’s been great talking to you. - The coverage isn’t too good here.
- I’d better get off the phone. - You’re breaking up…
- I’ll let you get on. - I’m losing you again.
- I’ve got a ton of work to do. - Could you call me back on my landline
- I won’t take up any more of your time.
UNIT 2
2.1.
VOCABULARY (talking about travel and adventure)

Wildlife Weather Appeal Soak up

Scenery Physical activity Remote Stunning
Personal challenge Architecture Roughing it Touristy
Atmosphere Adventurous Season Wander
 GRAMMAR (talking about past events)

a. We use the past simple to describe the main events of the story.
e.g. In 1983, she sailed to modern-day Sierra Leone.

b. We use the past perfect to show that a past action or situation took place before another past action.
e.g. She decided to travel to West Africa, a place she had always dreamt of visiting.

c. We use the past continuous to talk about a) an action or situation that was in progress at the time of the
main events or b) two actions in progress at the same time.
e.g. … while she was canoeing along the river, she had an encounter with a crocodile.

e.g.
- Mary Kingsley decided to travel to Africa, a place she had always dreamt of visiting.
- She had two missions to complete while she was travelling the continent.
- Her father’s friends had warned her of the dangers, but she ignored them.
- She encountered animals and sights she hadn’t seen before.
- I looked out of the window and saw the Taj Mahal for the first time.
- I was waiting for them to arrive when I heard the news.
- We were drinking coffee and Haruki was doing some shopping.
- We’d been driving all day and were totally exhausted.
- The hotel was not as nice as we had expected.
2.2.
GRAMMAR (past perfect forms)

a. We use the past perfect when we are already talking about the past and want to talk about an earlier past time.
b. We use the past perfect continuous to talk about actions that continued for a period of time up to the moment
we are talking about.
e.g. His body hurt because he had been sitting in the same position for hours.

c. We use the past perfect simple to talk about actions that were completed before the moment we are talking
about.
e.g. He’d asked for her master’s permission before they got married.

d. When we are talking about states, rather than actions, for example with verbs like be, like, have, know, we use
the past perfect simple.
e.g. They hadn’t been together long before his wife was sold to another owner.

e.g.
- I hadn’t set the alarm, so I got to work late.
- By the time Nicola called, Anna had left for the station.
- Sara hadn’t been working there long when she was promoted.
- They’d been painting the room for nearly an hour when they realized they’d been using the wrong colour.
- They play had started when he got to the theatre.
- They hadn’t met before.
- It had been raining for hours.
- I hadn’t been feeling well for a few days.
- Francis had left when we arrived.
- Had the meeting started by the time you got there?
- I’d been living in Italy for three years when we first met.
- When I woke up, I saw that it had been raining.
- We’d known each other for about five years before we became friends.

VOCABULARY (adjectives of feeling

Happy: delighted, relieved, satisfied Angry: bitter, furious
Sad: down, hurt, miserable Nervous: anxious, tense
Frightened: petrified, terrified Confused: disorientated, puzzled
2.3.
VOCABULARY (North American English)

Vacations – Holidays Line – Queue Truck – Lorry

Fall – Autumn Restroom – Toilet One-way – Single
Baggage – Luggage Gas – Petrol Round-trip – Return
Trunk – Boot Subway – Underground Travel trailer - Caravan
Garbage – Rubbish Downtown – Central
Sidewalk – Pavement Freeway – Motorway

2.4.
SPEAKING (telling and reacting to a story)

- I’m not surprised! - You’re kidding!

- You must have been so embarrassed! - That is hilarious!
- I bet you were furious! - You can’t be serious!

Introducing the story Ending the story/part of the story

Have I ever told you about…? In the end…
Did you hear about…? We ended up…
Giving a time context Reacting to a story
This happened … ago. I’m not surprised.
This was in the days before… You can’t be serious!
Adding emphasis You’re kidding!
You’ll never guess… I bet you were furious/petrified, etc.!
But that wasn’t the end of the story… That is hilarious!
And then, to make matters worse, …
You’re not going to believe this…

LANGUAGE FOR WRITING (writing an email of complaint)

Explaining the reason for writing

I am writing to complain about/express my dissatisfaction with…
Describing the incident
We were told that…
We had been informed that…
I discovered that…
Clearly…
I am extremely annoyed/dissatisfied/upset about…
Requesting action
I suggest/trust/would ask that you investigate/look into the situation.
I am therefore requesting compensation for…
Closing the email
I look forward to your reply...

- Got back – Returned

- Stay on the plane – Remain on board
- Asked us to – Requested that we
- Get the seats ready – Prepare the seats
- Make sure – Ensure
- Cleaners – Cleaning staff
- Something that happened – An incident which occurred
- I would like my money back – I am therefore requesting compensation
- Somebody had told us – We had been informed