Grammartest 3

Grammartest

Dear pupil,

Welcome back!
You are about to start the fourth theme: Contacts.
It is about communication and different ways people can be in touch (= contact).

How are you going to practise?
You are going to practise your writing, reading, listening and speaking skills.
You will visit websites, play games, do exercises and listen to stories.

What are you going to do?
You are going to read, listen, speak and write about 'contacts'.
By practising a lot your English will improve!

Need help?
Use the toolbox if you need help. Here you will find (new) words and expressions. You will also find help for grammar and pronunciation.

Have fun!

Zo werkt het
Je bent begonnen aan het thema Contacts.
Het thema bestaat uit verschillende onderdelen.
In ieder onderdeel vind je teksten, afbeeldingen en video's. 

Je gaat ook zelf aan de slag. 
Op de meeste pagina's staan doe-opdrachten. 
Die opdrachten doe je alleen of met een klasgenoot. 
De antwoorden bespreek je met elkaar of in de klas. 

Er zijn ook oefeningen. 
Zo'n oefening bestaat uit vragen die door de computer worden nagekeken.

Bij 'Xtra'-onderdelen zie je één of meer sterren staan.
Het aantal sterren zegt iets over de moeilijkheid van de opdracht.
Hoe meer sterren, hoe moeilijker de opdracht.

Start
Before starting to work in this theme, check with a classmate how much you know about 'contacts' already.
To do so:

  1. For yourself, make a list of ways you can contact other people.
    Then compare your list to that of a classmate.
  2. Together, answer the following questions:
    1. How did people communicate a long time ago?
      What ways of communication existed?
      What ways of communication didn't exist?
    2. How do people communicate nowadays (= tegenwoordig)?
    3. How do you communicate with friends and family?
      Is your way of communication with friends and family different to the way you communicate with people who are not your family or friends? How?
    4. Think of five English words that have to do with communication.

To do
At the end of this theme you:

But you don't have to be able to do this right away!
If you take the following steps you'll find out what you need to know!

Work plan
There are many exercises in each theme. It is important to know which exercises you have done and which exercises you haven't done. To help you, there is a work plan. On this work plan you can tick the exercises you've done.

Click here to download the Work plan Contacts

Ieder thema bestaat uit een groot aantal opdrachten/oefeningen.
Het is belangrijk dat je goed bijhoudt welke opdrachten je gedaan hebt. Om je te helpen hebben we een werkplan gemaakt. Op dat werkplan kun je bijhouden welke onderdelen je al gedaan hebt.

Download hier het
Werkplan Contacts

Introduction
In this part you will practise your listening skills.
There are different listenings, but they all have to do with 'contacts' in some way or another.
There are listenings on:

Good luck!

Before you begin, read these tips:

Before you start listening:

While you are listening:

Have fun!

Telephone expressions
You are going to listen to different telephone expressions.
They are mentioned separately.
In the first exercise you put the sentences in the order you hear them.

Exercise 1:
Listen to the audio and write the numbers of the sentences in the order you hear the sentences in your notebook.



Listen to the audio again.


The sentences will not be shown any more (it is a listening exercise!).
Choose a correct answer for each of the expressions.

  1. Practise the expressions and answers with a classmate.
  2. One of you plays the caller, the other one the receiver.
  3. Use your own data (e.g. your telephone number, your name, etc.) whenever possible.
  4. Change roles and practise again.


Tip: Go to languageguide.org if you want to know how to spell your name in English.
Click on the different letters to hear how they are spelled.
Don't forget to write your score in your notebook or on your workplan!

Is your dad home?
You are now going to listen to a conversation on the phone.


The first time you listen, answer the following questions:

  1. Who is calling?
  2. Why is the caller calling?
  3. Who picks up the phone?


You are now going to answer some questions.
Before you answer these, listen to the recording again.

Don't forget to write your score down in your notebook or on your workplan!

Don't forget to write your score down in your notebook or on your workplan!

Listen to the audio, read the text and put the words to the right place.

Also study the extra questions on telephone language in English.

  1. How do the people in the phonecall say the following things:
    1. How do the people introduce themselves on the phone?
    2. How does the caller ask to speak to Nick?
    3. How does the caller ask about leaving a message for Nick?
    4. How does the oldest daughter say it is not a good idea to tell her name?
    5. How do the people say goodbye?
  2. Look on the internet for one more sentence for each situation in 1.

Snail mail versus email
Have a look at the image.

In English, post that is delivered by the postman is sometimes called snail mail.

Before you start listening discuss with a classmate:


  1. How often do you write letters?
  2. How much does a stamp cost in the Netherlands? And for letters to Europe? And for letters outside Europe?
  3. Where do you go if you want to post a letter?
  4. Do you ever receive post?

Now you are going to listen to Laura who talks about post in her life in Hong Kong. The first time you listen, answer the questions.

 

You are going to listen to Laura again.


Now do the following exercise.

 

Discuss:
What do you think the future of post is?
Is there a future for real post?

Don't forget to write your score in your notebook or on your workplan!

Text on your phone
You are going to listen to Lindsay and Jake speaking about phone calls and text messages.

Discuss with a partner



Now listen and answer the following questions. When you answer a question, move on to the next one! Listen as many times as you want.

911
In the Netherlands and many other countries in Europe we call 112 when there is an emergency. In America they call 911.

You are going to listen to a person calling a 911 operator.
Listen to their conversation and answer the following questions.

Xtra: Frank Mills ***
Je gaat luisteren naar een liedje uit de musical “Hair”.

1
Lees de vragen en luister naar het liedje.
Geef antwoord op de vragen.

2
Luister opnieuw naar het liedje en maak vervolgens de sleepoefening.

 

Ken je de betekenis van alle 'sleep'-woorden?
Zoek ze op als dat nodig is.


3
Bekijk de karaoke versie van het liedje “Frank Mills”.


Have fun.

Xtra: Emergency ***
Je gaat kijken naar twee video’s uit de comedy “The IT crowd”.

1
In de eerste video die je gaat bekijken krijg je informatie over een alarmnummer. Herhaal voordat je de video bekijkt de getallen 0 t/m 9 in het Engels.
- Kun je alle getallen schrijven?
- Hoe spreek je het getal 0 uit in telefoonnummers?

Kijk naar de video en schrijf het alarmnummer in letters.


Vergelijk het nummer dat jij hebt opgeschreven met het nummer van een klasgenoot. Hebben jullie hetzelfde nummer?

2
Read the Questions.

Bekijk de tweede video en beantwoord de vragen.


Xtra: Emergency ****
You are going to watch two videos from the comedy “The IT crowd”.

1
The first video gives you information about a new emergency number. First revise the numbers 0 to 9.
- Can you spell them correctly?
- What is special about the number 0?

Watch the video and write the emergency number in full text.


Vergelijk het nummer dat jij hebt opgeschreven met het nummer van een klasgenoot. Hebben jullie hetzelfde nummer?

2
Read the Questions.

Watch the second video and answer the questions.


Introduction
In this part you will practise your reading skills.
You are going to read texts on:

By reading a lot in English (and doing many exercises) you will improve your reading skills!

We wish you pleasant reading!

Before you start reading:
Don’t start reading straight away.
First look at the title, the picture and highlighted words.
These can help you understand what the text is about.
Read the introduction.
Read the questions before you start reading the text.
If you see multiple-choice questions, look at the options and try to see what the differences are.

While reading:
It will be very very difficult to understand everything you are going to read.
If you see a word you do not know, it is very important to ask yourself if this word is important to understand the text.
If you understand the text without knowing the word, there is no need to use
a dictionary. If the word is important to understand the text (and / or to answer questions) go ahead and use your dictionary! Just make sure you don’t use the dictionary all the time!

Discuss with a classmate
Do you remember your first (mobile) phone?
What did it look like?
What features (=eigenschappen/functies) did it have?

You are going to read a text about phones.
After that you are going to answer the following questions.

Now read the text and do the exercise.

Telephones are a major part of our lives these days. When I was growing up,
I perhaps used the phone once a week. It was almost a big event when it rang. Everyone rushed into the living room to find out who was calling. Of course, it was an old-style phone – the size of a football. And you had to leave it on the table because it was plugged into the wall.

Today, however, is a totally different matter. Everyone has a phone.
Some people I know have several. They change them every six months when the latest models come out. Today’s phones aren’t really phones. They are like personal entertainment devices that have a phone. I’m waiting for the watch phone. I’m sure it’ll be here soon.

 

Textmessages
What do you prefer? Texting or calling someone?
Read the text to find out if you are a typical teenager or not.

Teens text more than they talk
Young people now text so much they hardly ever talk to each other.
Children and teenagers are much more likely to tap out a text than actually pick up their phone and call someone, research has shown. Texting has more than doubled since March 2002, and it's still rising. Some of the most common reasons to text someone are to send a greeting or flirt. More than eight out of 10 young people admitted they preferred texting to actually speaking to friends and family. But only 14 per cent of people over the age of 55 said they chose texting over speaking.

Bron: CBBC Newsround

 

How would you translate these sentences?

Discuss with a classmate
Do you think the article is true?
Why? Why not?

Any idea what these text expressions mean? 
If not, look them up on the internet. 
When you know all of them, write a text message to a classmate. 
Can your classmate read it?

 

1

E-mail
You are going to read a small text of someone's experience with e-mail.
Before reading, make a list of advantages and disadvantages of e-mail.
Then compare it to a classmate. Read the text.

E-mail certainly keeps me busy. I never wrote as many letters as I do now.
In the good old days before computers, we wrote real letters, with paper and envelopes.
I wrote one or two letters a week. But now, with e-mail, my in-box is never empty.
There’s always someone mailing me. I would like just one day where I’m free of e-mail.

The sad thing is, very few mails I get are interesting.
I get loads of spam – junk mail trying to sell me things I don’t want.
I also get lots of mail from people asking me to do stuff.
Do this, do that, reply ASAP. It’s too much sometimes.

The one good thing about e-mail is that you can get things done quickly.
I can e-mail a company in another country and they can mail me back in two minutes.


Now read the text again and match the words to their definitions.

Answer the following questions.
Are they true or false?

How many words from the text do you remember?
Try to solve the following anagrams.

 

 

Pen pals
Do you know what a pen pal is? Do you have one or have you ever had one? Read about Emma. She has pen pals and tells about her experience.

Two pals are better than one
Most people would be content with having one pen pal - but not Emma.
She's got two friends that she loves writing to.
In her report she tells us why it's pair-fect!
"I have two pen pals. One is called Alana.
Alana was my friend until she moved away.
The other is Ophelie, the pen pal that my school gave me.
She lives in France. I usually write letters to Alana as she doesn't live as far away.
But most of the time I e-mail Ophelie, as it takes so long if I don't!
I write to my pen pals about once a month.

Learning
I really look forward to getting letters or e-mails from my pen pals because I learn a lot about France or what my friends enjoy doing.  
I learn about their lives and it gives me something to look forward to.
Having two pen pals also really improves my writing skills.
I write about hobbies, family, school and what I've been doing over the last few weeks.

Visits
I think one of the best parts of having pen pals is when they come over to stay.
I have never had a visit from Ophelie, but I am really looking forward to her visit with her school in June.
The worst thing about having pen pals is the wait for a reply, and when letters get stuck in the post!
My auntie is 40 and she still writes to her French pen pal that she got at school.

Juggling
I never get bored with my pen pals.
It's not hard juggling two because they rarely write at the same time and I enjoy writing.
I would strongly recommend getting a pen pal to those who don't have one. I've got two!"

Emma, 9, Dumfries and Galloway

Bron: CBBC Newsround

 

How would you translate the following sentences from the text?

New friends in space
Do you believe in aliens? Why or why not?
You are now going to read (and listen to) a story about contacts between an alien and someone living on the earth.
The story is called ´The cold planet´.

Before you read, write down:
Now read and listen to The cold planet (British Council).
Click on ´Start´ to read the story.
After reading, write down:

Introduction
The toolbox is a kind of treasure chest!
In the toolbox you will find:

First you are going to study a couple of grammar items.
Make sure you understand them.

After that you are going to practise vocabulary and pronunciation.
Words and sentences are one the most important parts of a language!
To finish the toolbox you can even play some games!

Good luck!

Grammar
To be able to read, listen, speak and write better, you will need to know your grammar! this theme you are going to learn about:

For each grammar item, there is an explanation and there are exercises.
Try to do as many exercises as possible!

Good luck!