Lesson 1: Communication I

Expressions
VocabularyCommunicationinthepresent
ListeningandSpeaking
The topic
UseofEnglish
ListeningTheDawnoftheNet
Writing
Reading
Howtocreateaneffectivepodcast
Readingcomprehensiontest
Grammar
A.Confusablewords
B.Collocations
Phonetics
Extra information
Culturalfocus
Games
Additionalmaterial









U
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B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Expressions

Vocabulary Communication in the present

Listen to the following expressions and repeat them:

o It's not what you know but who you know that makes the difference.
o More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet
no MBA courses are given on the subject.
o The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate,
Joseph Priestley.
o It seemed rather incongruous that in a society of supersophisticated
communication, we often suffer from a shortage of listeners, Erma Bombeck.
o Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return, Suzie Wagner.

The listening is available in the virtual classroom


Choose the correct definition of the previous expressions:

o It's not what you know but who you know that makes the difference:
a) What you studied only matters when you go out with the right people.
b) Your list of contacts is more important than your qualifications.
c) Be careful with Lord Voldemorts name.

o More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet
no MBA courses are given on the subject:
a) Hopefully a new MBA course on this subject will be created by UNIR next year.
b) Real business is made during social events.
c) This is not true for breakfasts!

B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
o The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate,
Joseph Priestley:
a) There is less need to communicate when the means of communication are
more sophisticated.
b) When you use the most advanced means of communication, do not forget that
face-to-face communication is more important and efficient.
c) An automated answering machine is a perfect counterexample of improved
communication.

o It seemed rather incongruous that in a society of supersophisticated
communication, we often suffer from a shortage of listeners, Erma Bombeck:
a) A super-sophisticated society is an ageing population, so there are less people
and consequently less listeners.
b) Rather incongruous means almost incompatible. Therefore, a super-
sophisticated society is not that incompatible with less communication.
c) Incongruous means incompatible. Therefore, a super-sophisticated society is
strangely incompatible with a great number of good listeners.

o Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return Suzie Wagner:
a) Read Matthew 4-10 and apply it by rebooting your computer.
b) Read Matthew 19-14 and ask your eldest son to fix the problem for you.
c) The best way to solve any computing problem is to turn off and start again.

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


Listening and Speaking

Listen and repeat the following anonymous quote: A picture is worth a
thousand words but it takes 3,000 times the disk space.

The listening is available in the virtual classroom

B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
o Do you agree? Explain your point of view about the quote and record yourself.
The recording must be at least one minute.
B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
The topic

Use of English

Match the following phrasal verbs with their appropriate definitions.

A. To pick up 1. to distribute, to dispatch
B. To look for 2. to search
C. To deal with 3. to take up, to lift, to take a person in a car or ship
D. To send out 4. to be concerned with, take action on, do business with
E. To let in 5. to admit, to involve a person

Definitions from: http://dictionary.reference.com/

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


Listening The Dawn of the Net

Listen to the video on the way the Internet works. Write down all the
vocabulary you can understand connected to the world of internet.

The video is available at:
http://youtu.be/mn6A0Y5aroc

B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Listen to each of the following four expressions and then repeat them
again at the same time as the presenter pronounces them.

o People and machinery are working together (minute 1:04).
o They are going against traffic as usual (minute 3:13).
o Well have none of that (minute 6:04).
o For those who make it, its on the road again (minute 6:06).


Have a look at the following words, expressions and phrasal verbs that
appear in the video and use the dictionary to look up the meanings.

Vocabulary Expressions Phrasal Verbs
Dawn
Depending upon whether or
not
To travel down
Mail-room The chicken catchitory
To go out onto the
internet
Seemingly
To lift a packet onto another
network
To head for
Uncaring To work together To pick up
Deftly To bring together To look for
Thoroughly To meet with
Dubious To deal with
Blissfully To send out
World Wide Web To place on
To lessen a load To let in
To span To ride off
To lurk


Drop



B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Writing

Answer the following questions using full sentences. Write your answers
and compare them with the suggested ones.

o What is the video about?
o What does the proxy do?
o Why is the world wide web (www) sometimes called world wide wait?

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


Whats your opinion on the massive use of Internet? Remember to use the
vocabulary you have been learning during the lessons and the linking words. Write
between 130-150 words and send it to your teacher.

To help you organize your writing, lets see some basic rules:

Organization of an opinion essay

Paragraph 1 Introduction: State the topic and your opinion about it.
Paragraph 2 Body: State examples, facts and reasons for your opinion. Present
clear arguments. This is the most important part of your writing. It may be 1 or 2
paragraphs
Paragraph 3 Conclusion, Express: re-state your opinion and give any possible
solution.
B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Reading

How to create an effective podcast

Adapted from: http://www.mcelhearn.com/2011/07/26/kirks-eight-rules-of-
effective-podcasting/

Seven Rules of Effective Podcasting

Not everyone listens to podcasts, and many people check out a few and
cast them aside. Some podcasts do things very wrong, and, after listening
for a few minutes, listeners simply switch to something else. Here are a
few rules that should help podcasters get people interested in listening to
their creations.

1. Have something to say. If you make a podcast just to provide the drivel thats on your blog,
dont bother; stick to text. Itll save you time, and its easier to find out what you have to say.

2. Be prepared. Make notes before you start talking; few people can really improvise for more
than a few minutes. If youre interviewing someone, prepare questions in advance. However,
dont let notes or questions keep you from diverging if you find something better to say.

3. Be short and simple. Too many podcasts try and fill an hour with whatever it takes to fill that
time. You will be much more likely to get listeners to try out your podcasts if they are short. If
listeners like the shortcasts, then theyll stick around for any longcast.

4. Be clear. Use good recording equipment; listeners are used to radio-quality broadcasts, and if
it sounds like you recorded your podcast in the bathroom, they wont stay long. Learn how to
record, edit, and produce your podcast. If youre interviewing someone, dont interrupt. You can
edit later.

5. Be yourself. Dont try using that radio voice, and dont try to talk about things you dont
know about.

6. Be unique. The best podcasts are the ones that are unique or original. Podcasting, like writing,
is creative.

B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
7. Dont stick in music just to fill time, or to punctuate your show. If you have music in the show,
use it as music, not filler. Choose the license type non-commercial and agree to the terms of
the Creative Commons license.

To sum up, creating a good podcast is like creating any type of quality content, be it music,
words or audio. With a fair amount of intention, originality and creativity, you can share your
thoughts with others through podcasts. But only the good survive; so if you want to reach an
audience, do your best to make sure that people come back for more.


Reading comprehension test

Answer the questions using full sentences:

o What is a podcast?
o What does drivel mean?
o What is a shortcast/longcast?
o How can you capture your audiences interest?

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


Write a brief summary of the text in your own words (no more than 50
words) and compare it with the suggested one. Remember to use the
vocabulary you have learnt from this unit.

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


Correct the following mistakes in green with the appropriate word:

Always remind, to make a well podcast you have to be clear and to-the-point; always
have something to say; be interested! If you make a podcast just to provide the bored
stuff thats on your blog, dont bother; always stick to a script, itll save you time, and
its easier to find out what you have to tell.

Check your answers in the Key Booklet
B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Have a look at the following words, expressions and phrasal verbs that
appear in the text and use the dictionary to look up the meanings.

Vocabulary Expressions Phrasal Verbs
Drivel To do things wrong To listen to
Likely Dont bother! To check out
Filler To be prepared To cast aside
To share something
with someone
In advance To switch to
To get someone
interested in ing
To come back for more To stick around
To try out
To stick in
To sum up
To come back


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1

Grammar

A. Confusable words

When we are learning a language, we tend to confuse pair of words because the
meaning is apparently the same or because they are pronounced similarly. However,
there may be lots of differences among words: spelling, pronunciation, structure and
use.

In this part we are going to give some pair of words which are easily confused by non-
native speakers.

Take/bring: we use bring when we want to express movement to the position
where the listener or speaker is whereas take is used to express movements to other
places.
A: Ill be back in 15 minutes. Im going to the supermarket.
B: Ok, please, br i ng me some magazines.

Can you take my passport from my desk, please?

Allow/permit/let: allow and permit are similar in meaning and use. However,
permit is more formal. Both, allow and permit, can be followed by object + to-
infinitive and when there is no object, they are followed by a verb in ing form.
My parents do not allow/ per mi t smoking at home.
My parents do not allow me to smoke at home.

When we want to use the impersonal passive structure It, permit is the only
alternative.
It is allowed to bring dogs.
It is per mi tted to use mobile phones in this room.

B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Let is the least formal of the three. It is followed by an infinitive without to. It cant
be used in the passive form.
Lets go to the beach this weekend.
Let me go to the disco, please!

Lend/Borrow: borrow is used when we want to express to take and use something
for a time and later return it to the owner. If we express the person we take the
object from, we use from.
Can I bor r ow your car? I need to go to the supermarket.
You can bor r ow money from Mark. He is a millionaire.

Lend means to give something to somebody or allow somebody to use something
that they have to return it later to the owner.
Can you lend me your car?
The bank didnt want to lend us the money for the mortgage.

Say/Tell: we use both for indirect speech, although say is more common than tell in
direct speech. However, tell is only used when the meaning is inform or instruct.
We dont use tell with exclamations, greetings or questions.
He sai d Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
He told them Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Say is often used without a personal object. If we want to use it, we need to use to:
She sai d she would come this afternoon.
She sai d to Laura she would come this afternoon.

After tell, we dont use to:
He told me he was travelling to Africa next summer.

o Expressions with tell: tell the truth, tell a joke, tell a lie, tell the time, tell a
story.
o Expressions with say: say a word, say a sentence, say a name.

B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
See/watch/look: see means to become aware of something by using the eyes,
whether or not paying special attention to something. Look involves paying attention
to something. If we mention the object, we need to use the preposition at. Watch is
similar to look but involves that something is taking place or is in progress.
I couldnt see anything because it was very dark.
Look at those people! They are playing drums.
My plan for tonight is to watch TV.
I didnt see/ watch the movies last night.

Been/gone: been is used to describe a visit that has been completed. If you have
been to Canada you have travelled there and back. You are not currently there. If you
have gone to Canada, you have not yet returned, you are still there.

Aloud/allowed: You can say a thought out loud in a distinguishable voice so
others can hear you, and this is considered thinking aloud. Allowed on the other
hand refers to obtaining permission in order to do something. As you can see they
are homophones, i.e., they are pronounced in the same way but the meaning is
completely different.

Definitions based on Oxford Learners Thesaurus and Michael Swans Practical English
Usage.


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Exercises

Choose the correct word in each sentence in the following exercise:
o Could you take/bring me two aspirins please?
o Mikey usually takes/brings his dog when he goes camping.
o We were asked to bring/take a dessert to the dinner.
o Joe asked his Grandpa: Can you lend/borrow me the car tonight please?
o All students can borrow/lend software from the computer lab.
o Could you lend/borrow me a warmer jacket? It got cold so suddenly.
o Can you please say/tell me how to get to 7th Avenue?
o Tommy didnt say/tell a word to anyone about the secret.
o He told/said his name was Oscar.
o In this thick fog it is difficult to see/look/watch very far.
o At the movie premiere the star looked /watched/ saw fantastic.
o Did they watch/see/look the Betis match last night?
o Look/see/watch out for fast cars when you ride your bike in the street.
o Can she see/watch/look where her toddler is playing?
o Look/watch/see you next week!

B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
B. Collocations

A collocation is a pair of words that are often used together; in other words, they are
conventional word combinations. It is important to know them and to use them for our
English to sound more natural.
A heavy smoker
To get sick
To fall ill

Lets compare the following words in bold:

Im going to the post offi ce to buy
stamps
Compound noun
I love taki ng photos in spring.
Everything is so beautiful
Collocation
Wow, Its r ai ni ng cats and dogs
Idiom

Some collocations are fixed expressions because there is no other word in English to
express the meaning of take a photo. Compound nouns are often confused with
collocations but compound nouns are units which are formed with two or more and
their meaning can be guessed by the sum of the isolated words (post office). On the
other hand, idioms are group of words whose meaning cannot be guessed by the sum of
the individual words (rain cats and dogs = raining a lot).

Learning collocations is not an easy job but it is an integral part of learning a language
because it gives us more fluency and our language will sound more natural.

In this lesson we are going to learn some of the collocations or fixed expressions related
to very common and useful verbs:

MAKE
Make a choice
Make an effort
Make progress
Make a phone call
Make an excuse
Make a comment
B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Make a decision
Make a contribution to
DO
Do your best
Do an experiment
Do exercises
Do your homework
Do a favour
Do harm
Do business (with)
Do a job

TAKE
Take a seat
Take a chance
Take a break
Take a risk
Take a bus
Take a trip
Take advantage of
Take a shower


Exercises

Use the appropriate verb for the following collocations. Use a dictionary
for the expressions you do not know.

Make Pay Hold
a compliment a conversation talks an attempt a call
discussions attention changes a visit a choice




B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Give Take Do
a performance a rest a break the cooking
a party a concert the housework the ironing
a trip attention a seat the shopping


Use the appropriate verb do/make:

o I'm an engineer. What do you ______?
o I'll be late back. I'm going to ______ the shopping.
o I just cannot find the time to ______ the accounts. I'm way behind with my
work, and its time to do the tax declaration.
o I'd like you to ______ more of an effort.
o I'm going to night school to study English. I really want to ______ something of
myself.
o Do you like this skirt? I ______ it myself.
o I didn't win the judo competition but I ______ my best.
o I'm ______ enquiries about flights to Liverpool.
o I know you want to help but you are ______ more harm than good.
o Could you ______ me a favour?
o I was really frightened. He was ______ more than 200 km/h. That's about 125
mph!
o I'll ______ my best.
o Is there anywhere I could ______ a phone call?
o Don't tell them about it. It's not worth ______ a fuss.
o Gabi doesn't see how she can ______ a profit in the gallery.
o I've ______ all the necessary arrangements.
o Someone has to ______ a decision.
o What shall we ______ now?
o I don't usually go to parties but in this case I will ______ an exception.

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Phonetics

Like in Spanish, if a word has more than one syllable, the stress falls on one syllable.
Word stress patterns vary in English as different words have different stress.
. morning
. today

Stress patterns help us hear the difference between similar words, for example.
Thirty .
Thirteen .

You should get used to looking at the word stress (shown by in the dictionary) and
pronunciation when you look up a new word in the dictionary.
Record . noun, the stress is on the first syllable
Record . verb, the stress is on the second syllable

Two-syllable word stress

Many two-syllable words come from one syllable word. Generally, the stress of the two-
syllable word remains on the syllable of the original word.
Drive . driver .

Two-syllable nouns and adjectives usually have the stress on the first syllable, even
if they do not come from an original one-syllable word.
Purple .
Forest .
Daughter .

Exceptions: mistake, campaign, etc.

B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Most two-syllable verbs have the stress on the second syllable.
Destroy .
Promote .
Forget .

Exceptions: cancel, listen, answer, etc.

When verbs and nouns have the same form, the only way to differentiate them is
through the stress.
Import . noun, the stress on the first syllable
Import . verb, the stress on the second syllable

Long words stress

In any language, we have suffixes and prefixes linked to a base form in order to create
more words. Usually, this doesnt change the stress of the syllable. For example:
Fortune .
Fortunate . .
Unfortunate . . .
Unfortunately . . . .

However, the suffixes ion, ian and ic make the stress move to the syllable before
the ending. For instance:
Public . Publication . . .
Investigate . . . Investigation . . . .


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Exercises

Listen to the following list of words and put them in the corresponding
column according to their stress patterns:

destroy victim condition racism healthy
poverty promote employment sickness disorder
campaign homelessness recession desperate
disaster economic financial

. . . . . . . . .





Check your answers in the Key Booklet


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Extra information

Cultural focus

Watch the following video entitled The 10 Commandments of
Computer Ethics:


The video is available at:
http://youtu.be/bzpBdeL2zjw


Write down the 10 commandments of computer ethics suggested in the
video with your own words.


Have a look at the following words, expressions and phrasal verbs that
appear in the video and use the dictionary to look up the meanings.

Vocabulary Expressions Phrasal Verbs
Commandment To get in the way To interfere with
Thou shalt not Out there To snoop around
Hurtful/Harmful Bear false witness To put out
Usage Fellow humans To go into
To pay a fine To make sure To break into
To avoid To get into trouble To belong to
To fake To play for
Truthful
Proprietary software
Appropriate

Output

Plagiarism


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Games

Watch the following video entitled How to make a good presentation:

The video is available at:
http://youtu.be/N01LgIC5i2E


Cite the five memorable keys of the video and explain each of them with
one sentence.


Additional material

Grammar

Theory and more examples of confusable words in English:
o http://www.ict.griffith.edu.au/marilyn/wrsk/confusable.pdf
o http://www.learnenglish.de/mistakes/CommonMistakes.htm


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 1
Listening

Here is the second part of the video The dawn of the net. Watch it!:

The video is available at:
http://youtu.be/H2GkIrWhZeQ


To practice pronunciation: http://www.howjsay.com/ and http://www.merriam-
webster.com/home.htm