Ingls

B2

B2.3 Unit 1

Warm up video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOVmLlunvFg

Transcripcin:
Hey guys, welcome to Ideas Made Easy. Every week we share with you creative business ideas
that you can use to revolutionize your company.
Do you want to learn what it takes to start a conversation with anyone in a business
environment?
Well today we're gonna share with you two examples of exactly how to get noticed at a
conference, at a trade show or in a meeting.
When it comes to networking, it's important that you start that conversation with the person
well before the event. Here's an example.
So I told the guy, with friends like these who needs enemies. Excuse me, I just saw your panel
and I thought it was phenomenal.
I just wanted to introduce myself, my name is Dan and my company's just starting up.
It's, I... sorry I really just don't have time to talk right now but it's really nice to meet you Dave.
It's... it's Dan. Oh, hey
Emily. Do you have a minute to speak? For you? Of course! I said the exact same thing and she
totally blew me off. How do they even know each other? Now I'm just standing here
awkwardly. What can I do with my hands? Quick, I'll take a sip from this coffee. That's mine.
Here you go, sorry. You can keep it. Anyway,
It was really nice to meet you. I'm really looking forward to your next blog post. Same here.
Take care. You too. Dude, how did you do that? How did you get to know someone so
influential? Well, I'm connected to her on LinkedIn, we keep up to date on each others blog
posts so we discuss on that forum plus also, I wouldn't steal her coffee.
Always set a game plan and make sure every interaction you make is one of quality. Watch this
and you'll see. Hi, I just started following you on Twitter. You post some really engaging stuff.
Uh yeah, I'm actually tweeting right now. What's your Twitter handle? Um it's @Emily.
Ok, cool. In Atlanta with @Emily #havingablast #catchingup done. Catching up? We don't even
know each other. #itdoesntreallymatter. Dude, this is harder than I thought. Going up to
people is not easy. It's better if we do it together. #letsdoit. Guys, what are you doing?
Don't you remember the game plan? Dan, your job is to hook the people. Bring them to the
table and get their info. Jake carries forward the tweets, posts and emails then I bring it home

and close the deal. Let's make the switch. Jake, you take the point and I'll follow up. Got it? Got
it. Break! So what's been your favorite session so far at the conference?
Uh it was definitely the HR panel, it was very informative. The speaker was great. She talked
about the different. *Sneeze* Thank you? #noproblem. #itsnothing.

AT / ON / IN TIME

At + clock time
In + part of the day
On + particular day
At + weekend, public holiday
In + long period

1.Clock times: at

I usually get up at six oclock.

Ill meet you at 4.15.

Phone me at lunch time.

At is usually left out in an informal style:

What time does your train leave?

2.Parts of the day: in

I work best in the morning.
We usually go out in the evening!
*Note the difference between in the night (mostly used to mean during one particular
night) and at night(during any night). Compare:

I had to get up in the night.

I often work at night.

*In an informal style, we usually use plurals (days, etc.) with no prepositions.
Would you rather work days or nights?
*We use on if we say which morning / afternoon etc. we are talking about, or if we
describe the morning / afternoon etc.

See you on Monday morning.

We met on a cold afternoon in early spring!

3.Days: on

Ill ring you on Tuesday!

My birthdays on March, 21st.

Theyre having a party on Christmas day!

*In an informal style, we sometimes leave out on

Im seeing her Sunday morning.

4.Public holidays and weekends: at

We use at to talk about the whole of a holidays at Christmas, New Year, Easter and
Thanksgiving.
-Were having the roof repaired at Easter.
-But we use on to talk about one day of the holiday.
-Come and see us on Christmas day!
-What are you doing on Easter Monday?

*British people say at the weekend, Americans say on.

5.Longer periods: in

-It happened in the week after Christmas.

-I was born in March.
-Our house was built in the 15th century!
-Kent is beautiful in spring!
-He died in 2010.

6.Other uses of in
In can also be used to say how soon something will happen and to say how long
something takes to happen.

Ask me in three or four days!

I can run 200 meters in about 30 seconds.

The expression ins time is used to say how soon something will happen, not
how long something takes. Compare:

Ill see you again in a months time.

He wrote the book in a month. (NOT: ..in

a months time)

BEGIN VS. START

1.meaning: formality
Begin and start can both be used with the same meaning.

I began / stated teaching when I was 24 years old.

If Sheila doesnt come soon, lets begin / start without her.

We generally prefer begin when we are using a more formal style. Compare:

We will begin the meeting with a message from the President.

Damn! Its starting to rain!

2.cases where begin is not possible

Start(but not begin) is used to mean:

a)start a journey

I think we ought to start at six, while the roads are empty!

b)start working (for machines)

The car wont start.

c)make something start

How do you start the washing machine?

The Presidents wife, fired the gun to start the race.

EXERCISE 1:
1.I ......... my car to make sure it worked about ten minutes before I drove to work.
a)began
b)started
c)begin
d)start
2.My car very rarely ......... first time when the weather is really cold.
a)begins
b)beginning
c)starting
d)starts
3.We ......... off early on the first day of summer so that we could see the sun rise.
a)began
b)started
c)starting
d)beggining
4. I read the ......... of that book but I couldn't possibly read the whole story
a)starting
b)start
c)beggining
d)begin
5. I can't ......... to understand why anyone would want to be cruel to animals.
a)start
b)begin

c)starts
d)begins
6. He ......... off at me again simply because I had forgotten to lock the back door after I
came home.
a)started
b)began
c)begun
d)starts
7. I won a lot of money by betting on that horse but it was simply a case of ......... luck.
a)starts
b)starters
c)beginners
d)beginnings
8. As far as I was concerned when the accident happened, it was the ......... of the end.
a)start
b)begin
c)starting
d)beginning
9. Who would like to ......... off the debate?
a)begin
b)start
c)begins
d)starting
10. I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't ......... up that old argument again.
a)start
b)begin
c)starts
d)begins

Reciprocal pronouns: each other and one another

We use the reciprocal pronouns each other and one another when two or more
people do the same thing. Traditionally, each other refers to two people and one
another refers to more than two people, but this distinction is disappearing in modern
English.

Peter and Mary helped one another.

= Peter helped Mary and Mary helped Peter.
We sent each other Christmas cards.
= We sent them a Christmas card and they sent us a Christmas card.
They didnt look at one another.
= He didn't look at her and she didn't look at him.

We also use the possessive forms each others and one anothers:
They helped to look after each others children.
We often stayed in one anothers houses.
NOTE: We do not use reciprocal pronouns as the subject of a clause.

EXERCISE:
Complete the sentences with 'each other' or 'one another' so that they mean the
same as the first sentence. You should use the distinction that was traditionally used.

1.She looked at them and they looked at her.

They looked at ...............

2. Paula sent Paul text messages and Paul sent her back text messages.
They sent ............... text messages.

3. We gave them a present and they gave us a present.

We gave ............... presents.

4. I didn't speak to you, Jack, and you didn't speak to me.

We didn't speak to ...............

5. He wore his brother's clothes and his brother wore his clothes.
They wore ...............'s clothes.

6. My brother and I drove you mad and you drove us mad.

We drove ............... mad.

VOCABULARY

DEADLINES

Your projects deadline is getting closer and closer. You are on time (up to date) on
some of the aspects but you are falling behind on some others. Your boss wants you
to catch up on all of themIN ENGLISH!
So, youd better start learning the vocabulary below:

Fecha tope

Deadline

Cumplir con fecha tope

Meet a deadline

No cumplir una fecha

Miss a deadline

Ponerse a da

Catch up

Quedarse atrs

Fall behind

Mantener el ritmo

Keep up

Estar al da

Be up to date

Atrasado

Behind schedule

En fecha

On schedule

Antes de lo previsto

Ahead of schedule

NOTE: ON is the preposition you need for these verbs: to fall behind on, to catch up
on, etc.

EXERCISE
You are the project manager of your company (Eres el director de proyectos de tu
empresa). One of your responsibilities is to keep your boss up to date every Monday
morning. As your boss is English all the meetings are held in English. One of the
employees has just given you the report, but as he is Spanish, everything comes in
Spanish, of course, and you need to translate it on the spot (en el acto). Dont get
nervous, you now know all the vocabulary you need!
The first one has been done for you:

Were not going to meet the deadline / Were going to miss the deadline on Project C.
Were catching up on Project A.

Were ahead of schedule on Project B.

1 No vamos a cumplir la fecha tope en el Proyecto C. Nos estamos

poniendo al da en el Proyecto A. Vamos antes de lo previsto en el Proyecto B.
2
Proyecto
3

Estamos en fecha en el proyecto B. Nos estamos quedando atrs en el

A. No estamos al da en el Proyecto C.
Estamos preocupados por la fecha tope del Proyecto C.

Tenemos que mantener el ritmo en el Proyecto B. Vamos atrasados con el Proyecto

A.
4
El equipo no est al da con el Proyecto A. No hemos cumplido la fecha
tope del Proyecto B. Estamos en fecha con el Proyecto C.
5

Vamos antes de lo previsto con el Proyecto B.

No podemos mantener el ritmo en el proyecto A.

Tenemos que ponernos al da en el Proyecto C.

POLITENESS

Politeness 1: asking questions

1.Requests: Could you.?

We usually ask people to do things for us asking yes/no questions. (This suggests that
the hearer can choose whether to agree or not)

Could you tell me the time please? (Much more polite than: Please tell me the
time!)

Some other typical structures used in requests:

Could you possibly tell me the way to the station? (very polite)

Would you mind switching on the TV?

Would you like to help me for a few minutes?

You couldnt lend me some money, could you? (informal)

Indirect yes/no questions are also used in polite requests:

I wonder if you could (possibly) help me for a few minutes.

2.Other structures: telling people to do things

If we use other structures (for example imperatives, should, had better), we are not
asking people to do things, but telling or advising them to do things. These structures
can therefore seem rude if we use them in requests. , especially in conversations with
strangers or people we do not know well. Please makes an order or a request a bit
more polite, but does not turn it into a request. The following structures can be used
perfectly correctly to give orders, instructions or advice, but they are not polite ways of
asking people to do things.

Please help me for a few minutes.

Help me, would you?

Carry this for me, please.

You ought to tell me your plans.

You should shut the door.

You had better help me.

3.Shops, restaurants, etc

Requests in shops, restaurants, etc. are usually more direct and are not always
expressed as questions.
Typical expressions:

Can I have one of those, please?

Could I have a look at the red ones, please?

Id like to see the wine list, please.

I would prefer a small one.

Give me.please and I want..please are not normally considered polite.

But in places where only a few kinds of things are being sold and not much needs to be
said, it is enough just to say what is wanted and add please.

The Times, please!

Black coffee, please!

Two cheeseburgers, please!

Return to Lancaster, please!

4.Negative questions
Negative questions are not used in polite requests.
Could you give me a light? (NOT: Couldnt you give me a light? this sounds like a
complaint)

But negative statements with question tags are used in informal requests.

You couldnt give me a light, could you?

I dont suppose you could give me a light, could you? (very polite)

5.Expressions of opinion
Expressions of opinion can be made less direct by turning them into questions.
Compare:

It would be better to paint it green. (direct expression of opinion)

Wouldnt it be better to paint it green? (less direct: negative question asking for
agreement)

Would it be better to paint it green? (open question very direct)