Lesson 2: Communication II

Expressions
VocabularyCommunicationinthepast
ListeningandSpeaking
The topic
UseofEnglish
Listening
Writing
Reading
Pigeonsasmessengers
Readingcomprehensiontest
Grammar
ReportedspeechStatements
Phonetics
Thepronunciationofy
Thepronunciationofch
Extra information
Culturalfocus
Games
Additionalmaterial









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B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
Expressions

Vocabulary Communication in the past

Listen to the following expressions and repeat them:

o Information is giving out. Communication is getting through.
o A person who can speak many languages is not necessarily more valuable than a
person who can listen in one.
o Knowledge speaks, wisdom listens.
o Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you
hear them speak.
o When a man gets up to speak, people listen, then look. When a woman gets up,
people look; then, if they like what they see, they listen.

The listening is available in the virtual classroom


Choose the correct definition of the previous expressions:

o Information is giving out. Communication is getting through:
a) You have to give all the information to be able to communicate.
b) One thing is giving people information, another thing is making them
understand.
c) Communication is giving information.

o A person who can speak many languages is not necessarily more valuable than a
person who can listen in one:
a) It is more important to listen to people than to be able to speak to everyone in
any language.
b) The most important thing is to speak a lot of languages.
c) It is of greater value to speak than to listen.

B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
o Knowledge speaks, wisdom listens :
a) If you know a lot you speak a lot.
b) You have to be wise and you have to listen.
c) You should only speak about what you really know.

o Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you
hear them speak:
a) The way someone speaks can spoil the impression you have of them.
b) First impressions can be sometimes wrong.
c) Dont judge a book by its cover.
d) All of the above.

o When a man gets up to speak, people listen, then look. When a woman gets up,
people look; then, if they like what they see, they listen:
a) We live in a male chauvinist world!
b) Men like to look at women.
c) People never to listen to women unless they are beautiful.
d) a and c.


Check your answers in the Key Booklet


Listening and Speaking

Listen and repeat the quote by Mignon McLaughlin: In the arithmetic of
love, one plus one equals everything, and two minus one equals
nothing.

The listening is available in the virtual classroom


o Do you agree? Can you explain this quote? Record yourself. The recording must
be at least one minute.
B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
The topic

Use of English

Match the following nouns with another word from the same family:

A. Depth
B. Width
C. Height
D. Strength
E. Death
F. Belief
G. Breath
H. Freely
I. Purely
1. purity
2. high
3. dead
4. strong
5. freedom
6. believe
7. deep
8. wide
9. breathe

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


Listening

How Do I Love Thee?

The following video is about the famous poem written by Robert Browning for his wife
Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Listen to the video once before we start to work with it:

The video is available at:
http://youtu.be/qS4Dz4ORua8
B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2

Listen to the video again and read the poem at the same time:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's.
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.


Listen to each of the following four expressions and then repeat them
again at the same time as the presenter pronounces them.

o I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach when
feeling out of sight.
o by sun and candle light.
o I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears of all my life.


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
Have a look at the following words, expressions and phrasal verbs, and
use the dictionary to look up the meanings.

Words Expressions Phrasal Verbs
Thee Out of sight To strive for
Depth By sun and candle-light To turn from
Breadth To put to use
Height
Soul
Grief
Faith


Writing

Answer the following questions using full sentences. Write your answer
and compare it with the suggested one.

o What is the poem about?

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
Reading

Pigeons as messengers

The earliest large scale communication network using pigeons as messengers was established in
Syria and Persia about 5th Century BC. Much later in the 12th Century AD the city of Baghdad
and all the main towns and cities in Syria and Egypt were linked by messages carried by
pigeons. This was the sole source of communication. In Roman times the pigeon was used to
carry results of sporting events such as the Olympic Games and this is why white doves are
released at the start of the Olympic Games today. In England, prior to the days of telegraphs,
pigeons were often taken to soccer matches and released to carry
home the result of the game. Their use as a messenger in war time
resulted in many pigeons being awarded honors by both the British
and French Governments. Incredibly, the last pigeon post service
was abandoned in India in 2004 with the birds being retired to live
out the rest of their days in peace.

Famous pigeons

During the First World War a pigeon named Cher Ami (Dear friend) saved the lives of many
French soldiers by carrying a message across enemy lines in the heat of battle. Cher Ami was
shot in the chest and the leg, losing most of the leg to which the message was attached, but
continued the 25 minute flight avoiding shrapnel and poison gas to get the message home. Cher
Ami was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for heroic service. Another heroic pigeon named
G.I. Joe saved the lives of a thousand soldiers in World War 2 after British troops had
established a position within an Italian town that was due to be bombed by allied planes.
Communication equipment was down and the only means of stopping the raid was to attach a
hastily written message to G.I. Joe and send him to the HQ. G.I. Joe flew 20 miles in 20
minutes arriving at the air base whilst the planes were taxiing on the runway. Disaster was
averted with 5 minutes to spare. G.I. Joe received the Dickin medal for his bravery.


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
Reading comprehension test

Find words or expressions in the text which mean the following:

o Hurriedly
o Connected
o Ammunition
o Prevented

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


Correct the following mistakes in green with the appropriate word:

During the First World War a pidgin named Cher Ami (Dear friend) saved the lifes of
many French soldiers by bringing a massage across enemy lines in the heat of battle.
Cher Ami was shot in the chest and the leg, loosing most of the leg to which the
message was attached, but continued the 25 minute flight avoiding shrapnel and poison
gas to get the message home. Cher Ami was awarded the French Croix de Guerre for
heroic service.

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


Write a brief summary of the text in your own words and compare it
with the suggested one.

Check your answers in the Key Booklet



B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
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
Shrapnel Large scale Link by
HW Prior to To live out
To taxi The heat of battle To be down
Runway Five minutes to spare

B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
Grammar

Reported speech Statements

When we recount what another person has said, we can do it in two ways:

Saying the exact words that were said Direct speech. However, it is not typical to
use that persons exact words.
Reporting what someone said Indirect speech or reported speech.

Compare the following sentences:

Type Example
Direct speech I watch French films.
Reported speech In general

She says (that) she watches French films.
Reported speech In the past

She sai d (that) she watched French films.

The word that can be left out as long as we can clearly understand the sentence without
it and it is not the subject of the second clause.


Use of tell and say

We use tell if we mention the listener (it is also possible to use say). However, when we
dont mention the listener, say is the only possibility. Lets see the following examples:

She told me she wanted to leave abroad.
She sai d to me she wanted to leave abroad.
She sai d she wanted to leave abroad.
She told she wanted to leave abroad.
B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
Statements

When we report what someone said, we need to take into account that the place and
time may have changed and it can be reported to a third person. Therefore, we need to
change the following items in the sentence:

Pronouns and determiners
Place and time expressions
Tenses

Pronouns and determiners It is important to clarify who is listening, who is
talking to and the object we refer to.

Direct speech Reported speech
my her/his
we they
this that
these those

She says, My aunt cant come over tonight.
She says (that) her aunt cant come over that night.

Mark said, I bought this hat in London
Mark said he had bought that hat in London


Place and time expressions If the reported sentence contains an expression of
time or place, you need to change it to fit in with the time of reporting.

Direct speech Reported speech
last night the night before
tonight that night
yesterday the day before
now then
today that day/yesterday
B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
this
morning/week/evening
that morning/week /evening
these days those days
tomorrow the next/following day
next week, next year
the following week, the year
after
here there
ago before, previously


Tenses As a rule, when you report something someone has said, you go back a
tense. This is called backshift. It takes one step back into the past.

Direct speech Reported speech
Present simple Past simple
Present continuous Past continuous
Past simple Past perfect
Past continuous Past perfect continuous
Present perfect Past perfect
Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
Future Simple conditional
Future perfect Simple conditional perfect

She said, I am bored.
She said (that) she was bored.

Jeff said, I saw Sarah in the parking lot today.
Jeff said (that) he had seen Sarah in the parking lot yesterday.


Important to remember In the present tense, we can sometimes choose whether
to backshift or not. It depends if both the original speaker and reporter share the same
present. It occurs especially in the Present.

She says, I watch French films.
She says (that) she watches French films.
B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2

Tense change in modal verbs:

Direct speech Reported speech
Can Could
May Might
Will Would
Must Had to

She said, I cant go to India next month
She said (that) she couldnt go to India the following month


Exercises

Make the necessary changes to rewrite the following sentences into
reported speech:

o They said, "This is our car."
They said .
o He said, "I went to the library last week."
He said .
o He said, "I am practising with Kim tomorrow."
He said .
o You said, "I wont go there for him."
You said .
o She said, "I am not happy now."
She said .
o They said, "We have never been tried this food before."
They said .
o She said, "I was at the beach last week."
She said .
o He said, "I will have eaten this cake by tomorrow."
He said .
o He said,"They will come back."
He said .
B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
o She said, "It is not so peaceful here."
She said .

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


Write the following sentences using reported speech. At times it will be
necessary to change the pronouns and time expressions.

o Sally said, "I went to bed early."
Sally said (that) .
o Herman said, "I will try and pick you up at the airport."
Herman said (that) .
o My nephews said, "We have just finished."
My nephews said (that) .
o He said, "I will wash the dirty clothes."
He said (that) .
o She said, "I did not do that."
She said (that) .
o She said, "I don't know where my shoes are."
She said (that) .
o Humberto said, "I won't stay up late."
Humberto said (that) .
o Valerie said, "I am running."
She said (that) .
o The kids said, "We are hungry."
The kids said (that) .
o Guillermo said, "I know a better hotel"
The kids said (that) .

Check your answers in the Key Booklet

B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
Phonetics

The pronunciation of y

There is no specific rule to study about this pronunciation point. The following are a
few examples of the use of the letter y in English:

Y at the end of a word:
[i] pretty, funny, naughty, cloudy, fifty, fairy, scary

Y as a vowel:
[] crystal, gym, mystery
Note: The [a] sound is employed, when the y is preceded by ps: psychologist,
psychotherapy and psychopathical.

Y used instead of a vowel at the end of the word:
[a] by, why, sty, fry, my, spy, buy

Y at the beginning of a word:
[j] yacht, yak, yes, young, yearn, year, yellow


The pronunciation of ch

The pronunciation of the ch morpheme has evolved over time:

The typical sound of this graph is /t/ as in chair, church, chocolate, watch and
fetch.
English words with Greek or German roots are usually pronounced as a /k/, as in
seen in stomach, headache, chemistry, and archeology.
English words that have French roots, the ch graph is often pronounced // as in
champagne, brochure and machine.


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
Extra information

Cultural focus


http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1681485_1482015,00.html

Caught in the Middle

Riot police scuffle with Belarus opposition supporters in Minsk, on March 25, 2006.
Thousands of police faced off with thousands of protestors amid post-election tensions

You can also look at the following collection of riot photographs:
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1681485,00.html#ixzz1dn5NnmFg

Give an explanation of the riot in no more than 5 lines (looking for
information on the net) and give a description of the photograph. You
can compare your answer with the suggested one.

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
Games

Letters from Queen Victoria to Prince Albert

A note folded in billet form, to be taken by hand. Addressed:
"HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE.
"THE QUEEN."

This was the day of their marriage at the Chapel Royal. After the wedding breakfast at
Buckingham Palace they drove to Windsor, and on the 14th they returned to London.

10th February 1840.

Dearest,... How are you to-day, and have you slept well? I have
rested very well, and feel very comfortable to-day. What weather! I
believe, however, the rain will cease.
Send one word when you, my most dearly loved bridegroom, will be
ready. Thy ever-faithful,
Victoria R


Use Reported Speech to convey the message in this letter from Queen
Victoria to Prince Albert. Then, compare it with the suggested one.

Check your answers in the Key Booklet


Read Prince Alberts quote when he received a letter from Queen
Victorias hand: [accepting his letter from Victoria]:
As a matter of interest, will a time come when I read them first?
o What do you think this sentence means?


B2 English Course
UNIT 2 Lesson 2
Additional material

Grammar

More exercises on Reported Speech:
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/nounclause4.html


Listening

Pronunciation: http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm#chart