Practical Engli A difficult celebrity

VIDEO
R O B ’S IN T E R V IE W 2 ■ < G IV IN G O P IN IO N S
a 2 29))) Watch or listen to the conversation at lunch. W hat do they
disagree about?

b Watch or listen again. Answer the questions.

1 What does Kerri think about...?
a the waiters in New York City compared to London
b people in New' York City compared to London
2 Who agrees with Kerri? Who disagrees? What do they think?
3 Who calls Rob? What about?

a 2 28))) Watch or listen to Rob interviewing

Kerri. W hat is she happy / not happy to talk
about?

b Watch or listen again. Mark the sentences

T (true) or F (false). Correct the F sentences.
1 Kerri’s song is about love.
2 Kerri plays in a band.
3 She used to go out with a member of
the band.
4 Only one o f her parents was a musician.
5 Kerri started playing the guitar when she
was six.
6 Her new album is very different from the
previous ones.
7 She’s been recording and touring recently.
8 She’s going to give a big concert in
New York City.

32
c 2 30))) Look at some extracts from the 3 ■ < A S U R P R IS E FO R K ER R I
conversation. Can you remember any o f the
a 2 3 2 ))) Watch or listen to the end o f the lunch.
missing words? Watch or listen and check.
Why is Kerri surprised?
1 Kerri ________ , I th in k people in London
are a lo t more easygoing. London’s
ju s t n o t as h ectic as New York.
Don Sure, we all like peace and quiet.
But in m y _________, New York is
possibly... well, no, is d e fin ite ly th e
g re a te s t c ity in th e world.
Don’t y o u _________?
Kerri To b e _________ , I d e fin ite ly prefer
London.
Don Come on, Rob. You've lived in both.
W hat do y o u _________ ?

2 Don OK, I _________ , London has its

own peculiar charm. B ut if y o u _____
me, nothing com pares w ith a c ity
like New York. The whole w orld is
here!
Kerri But th a t’s th e problem. It’s too
big. There are to o many people.
Everybody’s so stressed out. And
nobody has any tim e fo r you.
Jenny I don’t th in k th a t’s _________ , Kerri.
New Yorkers are very friendly.
Kerri O h _________ , th e y can sound
frie n dly w ith all th a t “Have a nice
day” s tu ff. O American and British English
cell phone = Am erican English
d 2 3 1 ))) Watch or listen and repeat the mobile phone = B ritish English
highlighted phrases. Copy the rhythm and
intonation. b Watch or listen again and complete the information.
1 Kerri thinks the waitress is friendly when they leave because
e Practice the dialogues in c with a partner.
Don...
f mmi In small groups, practice giving 2 Jenny is worried because she thinks R ob...
opinions. Discuss the following sentences. 3 Kerri thinks that the taxi driver is very...
- The best place to live is in a big city. c Look at the S o cial En glish ph rases. Can you remember any o f
- Riding a bike is the most practical way to the missing words?
get around big cities.
Social English phrases
- You only get good service in expensive
restaurants. Jenny Did y o u _______ w h a t you said in th e re staurant, Rob?
Jenny It’s _______ that... you seemed hom esick in there.
- It’s irritating when people in stores or
Rob O h,_______ on a m inute.
restaurants say Have a nice day!
Rob Our ta x i’s c o m e _______ .
Kerri That was s o _______ o f him!

d 2 33))) Watch or listen and complete the phrases.

e Watch or listen again and repeat the phrases. How do you say
them in your language?

^ Can you...?
interview someone or be interview ed
[ give your opinion a b o u t som ething
agree or disagree w ith o th e r people’s opinions

Online Practice 33
 G can, could, be able to
V -ed / -ing adjectives Can you
speak French? No, I’ve
P sentence stress never been able
l to learn a foreign

4A Failure and success

language.

1 G R A M M A R can, could, be able to

a I f at first y o u d o n ’t succeed, try, try, try again is a

b
well-known saying. W hat does it mean?

M ore recently other people

have invented different ways
o f continuing the saying.
ibeen
ve never
able to...
W hich one do you like best?
If at firs t you don’t succeed,
...give up
...blame your parents
...destroy all th e evidence th a t you tried
...do it th e way your m o th e r to ld you to
...skydiving is n o t fo r you

c Look at the definition o f b e able to. W hat other verb is

it sim ilar to?

be able to (do something) to have the ability, opportunity, time,

etc., to do something: Willyou be able to come to the meeting next week?

d Read about three people who have tried (but failed) to

learn something, and complete the texts with A -G .
A I was able to
B Not being able to
C I just wasn’t able to
D I will never be able to
E I would suddenly be able to really wanted to learn. Maybe it was because of that
F I've always wanted to be able to
G we would never be able to I scene in one of the very first James Bond movies, where a
beautiful actress comes out of the ocean looking fabulous,
with oxygen tanks on her back - I could see myself looking
e Read the article again. W hy did they have problems? just like her. So, two years ago I booked a vacation that
Have they completely given up trying? Have you ever included a week-long intensive course. On the first day of
tried to learn something and given up? Why? the course, I was incredibly excited. First, we had two hours
of theory, and then we went into the ocean to put it into
f Look at phrases A - G again. W hat tense or form is practice. But as soon as I went under the water, I discovered
b e a b le to in each one? W hat tenses or forms does that I suffered from claustrophobia. 1_________ do it. After
can have? about half an hour I gave up. Every evening for the rest of
my vacation I had to listen to my scuba-diving classmates
g >• p.138 Grammar Bank 4A . Learn more about can, talking about all the wonderful things they had seen that
could, and be able to, and practice them. day on their diving excursions. 2_________ join in the
conversation was very frustrating.
h > - C om m unication Guess th e sentence A p.105
B p.109. I still love swimming and snorkeling, but I think that I have to
accept that3_________ scuba dive.

Bea, the US

4_________________ dance salsa, and when I was w orking in
Ecuador there were free classes, so I joined. But the art o f salsa
is to keep your arms still and move your hips, and I just couldn't
do it. When I hear music my arms start moving, but my hips
don't. After about ten hours o f classes 5_________________ do
the basic steps, but I was dancing like a robot! I d id n't give up,
but soon everyone in the class was dancing, and I was just
slowly moving from side to side and counting out loud “ one,
two, three, four.” It was a little embarrassing. I was sure that one
d a y 6_________________ do it - but that never happened. I can
still remember the first tw o steps, and I still try to dance when I
hear a salsa tune - as long as nobody is watching!
Sean, Canada
...speak Japanese
love manga - Japanese comics - and I tried to learn Japanese,
but I found it incredibly difficult, and I gave up after two years.
I think Asian languages, which have symbols instead o f words,
are extrem ely hard to learn for people w ho are more used to
Roman letters. Also my teacher, a Japanese woman, didn't speak
Spanish very well, which d id n't help! She was a very charming
woman, but she was a little disappointed with us, and you could
see that she thought th a t7_________________ learn. However,
one day she invited us to dinner and gave us some delicious
traditional Japanese food, and since then I often go to Japanese
restaurants. So I learned to love the food, if not to speak the
language!
Joaquin, Argentina
2 P R O N U N C IA T IO N sentence stress
a 2 36))) Listen and repeat the sentences. Copy the
rhythm.
ı idlove to b e able t o ski.
2 w e won’t b e able t o come.
3 i v e never b e e n able t o dance.
4 s h e hates not b e in g able t o drive.
b 2 37))) Listen again. Make new sentences with the
verbs or verb phrases you hear.
))) I’d love to be able to ski Ride a horse
I'd love to be able to ride a horse.
We won’t be able to come. Park
We won't be able to park.
3 S P E A K IN G
a Look at the topics. Choose two or three and think
about what you could say for them.
Som ething you’ve trie d to learn, b u t have never been
able to do well.
Som ething you learned to do a fte r a lo t o f e ffo rt.
Som ething you can do, b u t you'd like to be able to
do better.
Som ething new th a t you would like to be able to do.
Som ething you are learning to do and th a t you hope you’ll
soon be able to do well.
Som ething you th in k all young people should be able to do
before th e y leave school.
b Work with a partner. Tell him / her about the things
you chose in a . Give reasons or explanations for
each one.
/’ve never been able to ski and now I don't think lit ever learn.
I always wanted to learn, but I don't live near mountains...
Online Practice 4A 35
 4A
can, could, be able to (ability and possibility) Could you open the door
for me, please?
c a n / c o u ld

I can sp e a k th ree langu ag es flu e n tly. 2 34)))

Jenny can’t co m e to n ig h t. S h e's sick.
M y c o u s in could p la y the v io lin w h e n she w as three.
T h e y couldn’t w a it because th e y w ere in a h u rry .
Could y o u o p e n the d o o r fo r m e, please?

• can is a m o d a l verb. It o n ly ha s a p re se n t fo rm (w h ic h can be used w ith

fu tu re m e a n in g ) an d a past o r c o n d itio n a l fo rm (could).
• F o r a ll o th e r tenses an d fo rm s , w e use be able to + base fo rm .

b e a b le t o + b a s e fo rm
1 L u k e has been able to s w im sin ce he w as th re e .
I'd lik e to be able to sk i.
I lo ve being able to stay in b e d la te o n S u n d a y m o rn in g .
Y o u ’ l l be able to p ra c tic e y o u r E n g lis h in the U S .
2 F o rtu n a te ly , I am a b le to a ccep t y o u r in v ita tio n .
M y co lle a g u e s weren’t able to co m e to yesterday's m ee tin g .
1 W e use be able to + base fo rm fo r a b ilit y and
2 35)))
p o s s ib ility , e s p e c ia lly w here th ere is n o fo r m o f
can, e.g., fu tu re , p re se n t p e rfe ct, in fin it iv e and
g e ru n d , etc.
2 W e s o m e tim e s use be able to in the presen t and
past (in ste ad o f can / could), u s u a lly i f w e w a n t to
be m o re fo rm a l.

a C o m p le t e w it h th e c o r r e c t f o r m o f be able to ( 0 , E L b ( C ir c le ) th e c o r r e c t f o r m . C h e c k / i f b o t h a r e p o s s ib le .
or[?]).

I ’ve n e v e r been able to s c u b a d iv e .

1 H e r c e ll p h o n e h a s b e e n tu r n e d o f f a ll m o r n in g , s o I
t a lk to h e r vet.
2 I d o n 't lik e n o is y re s ta u ra n ts . I l i k e _________________
ha ve a c o n v e r s a tio n w it h o u t s h o u tin g .
3 I _________________le a v e h o m e w h e n I get a job .
4 W e 'r e h a v in g a p a r t y n e x t S a tu r d a y ._________________ can /(be a b le lcjid a n ce sa lsa .
I ’v e a lw a y s w a n te d to
y o u _________________c o m e ?
1 M y lit t le b o y couldn't / wasn’t able to s p e a k u n t il he w a s
5 Y o u n e e d ________________ s w im b e fo re y o u c a n g o in a a lm o s t t w o y e a rs o ld .
ca n o e .
can /
2 S h e ’s m u c h b e tte r a fte r h e r o p e r a tio n . S h e ’ l l
6 I'm g o in g to F ra n c e n e x t w e e k , b u t I d o n 't s p e a k be able to w a lk a g a in in a fe w m o n th s .
F re n c h . I h a t e _________________c o m m u n ic a t e w it h
3 H e h a s n 't could / been able to f i x m y b ik e yet. H e ’ ll d o it
p e o p le .
to m o r r o w .
7 F o r t u n a te ly , f ir e f ig h t e r s _________________re s c u e a ll o f
4 I t’s th e w e e k e n d a t la st! I lo v e can / being able to g o o u t
th e p e o p le tr a p p e d in s id e th e b u r n in g h o u s e .
w it h m y frie n d s .
8 I ’m v e r y s o r r y , b u t w e _________________g o to y o u r
5 W h e n w e liv e d o n th e c o a s t, w e u se d to can / be able to
w e d d in g n e x t m o n th . W e 'll be o n v a c a tio n .
g o to th e b e a ch e v e ry day.
9 I'm fe e lin g a lit t le w o r s e ._________________y o u
6 I c a n ’t / ’m not able to se n d a n y e m a ils r ig h t n o w .
_________________c o n ta c t th e d o c t o r yet?
M y c o m p u te r is n ’t w o r k in g .
10 T h e m a n a g e r ________________ see y o u r ig h t n o w
7 I could I was able to re a d b e fo re I s ta rte d s c h o o l.
b e c a u se h e 's in a m e e tin g .
8 W e w o n ’t can / be able to g o o n v a c a tio n t h is y e a r
b e c a u s e w e n e e d to s p e n d a lo t o f m o n e y o n th e h o u s e .
9 L in d a hasn't been able to / couldiih f in d a job .
10 A le x can / is able to s p e a k K o r e a n f lu e n t ly a fte r liv in g
in S e o u l f o r te n y e a rs.

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