6. ACCOMMODATION, HANDLING QUESTIONS 1. Have a short talk with your partner. Form questions. Ask your partner: a) where he / she is from b) where he / she stays now c) what his / her room looks like d) his / her flatmates e) where he / she takes meals f) advantages and disadvantages of living in a big city g) if he / she finds the accommodation comfortable h) where he / she would you like to live and why 2. Where do you stay? Match the types of houses with their definitions and then describe the house you live in. Block of flats GB Apartment block US a house, often built on the edge of a town, either standing by itself or joined to another and usually having a garden Flat Apartment US very tall city building Cottage a small house, especially in the country Town house set of rooms especially on one floor, including a kitchen and bathroom; usually one of many such sets in a building or block Skyscraper dormitory for university students Halls of residence A large building divided into separate parts (flats or offices), office block 3. Listen to the recording. What are the three areas the presenter is going to talk about? 4. Read the first part of the text (written in italics) and underline the typical phrases indicating presentations. 5. Look at the text and try to fill in the gaps. Then compare it with your neighbour. Then check it with the recording.^1 Hello / well I’ve been asked to talk about the course that you’re about to embark upon from the perspective of having done the same course last year / so I thought I’d look at three areas that were important for the students on the course last year/ obviously I won’t cover everything / so do please feel free to add any comments you might have or ask any questions at the end / The three areas I wanted to look at were first of all problems related to adjusting to student life / then the day-to-day workload of the course / and thirdly written assignments the problem of written assignments. First of all then / adjusting to student life / I don’t think anybody should underestimate the importance of getting good (1) ……………………… it’s very important I think to make yourself as comfortable as you can / as quickly as possible / because the course only lasts a year / it’s not long enough to get a cheap flat and decorate and do the necessary (2) ……………………… / so most people tended to live in student (3) ……………………… or in university accommodation / halls of (4) ……………………… where you could have your own room and you had the option of eating meals in college or opting out of that and / making other arrangements for food / perhaps eating at the students‘ (5) ………………………or cooking your own meals / in fact I think some of the people on the course last year who did initially live a little way out of the city / came in / they changed their accommodation and tried to get a room in one of the halls of residence / because they felt happier and more (6) ………………………/ and with the heavy commitment that this course does involve it’s important to feel relatively free of other worries so you can (7) ………………………on the work / also I think it was / quite difficult for some of us who had been working for a number of years to (8) ………………………to being a student again / and I think this / is also something that you need to consider if you’ve had your own (9) ……………………… perhaps your own flat / you’ve been working / to suddenly adjust to being in an academic (10) ………………………as a student again does take some time / so all these things need consideration and I think it’s important as I said to get accommmodation that is the best that you can (11) ………………………so that you’re relatively (12) ………………………and comfortable as quickly as possible. PRESENTATIONS – COMMUNICATION SKILLS 6. Discuss these questions in small groups: a) AUDIENCE AWARENESS: What are the signals of a bored audience? How can you tell that you have the audience´s attention? How can you engage the audience? b) TIMING: Why is timing important? How can you plan your timing? How will you check your time during a presentation? c) MANAGING NERVES: What are some strategies of managing nerves? d) SURVIVAL TACTICS: What do you do when you have difficulties? Do you tend to say the expression in Czech, say “nevím, jak se to řekne anglicky“, say “ehm”, pause for a long time or ask the others for help? e) HUMOUR – Do you think you have sense of humour? Is it a good idea to tell jokes during a presentation? f) HANDLING QUESTIONS – How can you prepare for a discussion or handling questions? Is it better to answer questions during your speech or leave the question time to the end of the presentation? 7. Put the following responses to good-difficult-unnecessary-irrelevant questions into four groups. Then repeat the phrases until you feel comfortable saying them. 1. I’m afraid I don’t see the connection. 2. I don’t know that off the top of my head. 3. I think I answered that earlier. 4. Interesting. What do you think? 5. I’m glad you asked that. 6. To be honest, I think that raises a different issue. 7. I’m afraid I don’t have that information with me. 8. Sorry, I don’t follow you. 9. Good point. 10. Well, as I mentioned earlier, ... 11. That’s a very good question 12. Well, as I said ... GOOD Thank people for them DIFFICULT Ask the audience what they think, say you don’t know UNNECESSARY You’ve already given the information, answer briefly IRRELEVANT Try not to sound rude 8. Fill in the balloons with the following items: a) direct questions d) checking the questioner is satisfied b) clarifying a question, e) avoiding giving an answer c) polite questions Obláček: Zaoblený obdélník: What is the cause of …? Where do you plan to …? Does that answer your question? Is that clear? May we go on? 9. Prepare a short talk on a specific subject. Then think of possible questions that may come up from the audience. Prepare answers. § Present your speech to other students. During the talk, the others should prepare different types of question to ask you. – irrelevant, difficult (asking for precise facts), interesting, controversial. § In the end, ask and answer questions. Deal with each type of question as politely as you can. 10. HOMEWORK: SLOVESNÉ ČASY (TENSES) PRESENT SIMPLE – čas přítomný prostý (I go, he goes) - mluvíme o tom, co se děje či platí opakovaně, či co je obecně platné, popř.co je trvalá situace.; nejčastěji používaný čas chem. literatuře - typické výrazy: usually, often, every week I usually go away at weekends. / The Earth goes around the sun. / Where do your parents live? Obvykle jezdím v sobotu a v neděli pryč. / Země se otáčí kolem slunce. / Kde bydlí tví rodiče? PRESENT CONTINUOUS – čas přítomný průběhový (I am reading, you are reading, he is reading) - užití v případě, že děj probíhá právě teď, popř. k vyjádření širší přítomnosti a dočasné situace - typické výrazy: right now, at the moment, today, this week I am reading a book at the moment. / Is Susan working this week? – No, she isn´t, she is on holiday. Zrovna čtu knihu. / Dělá Zuzana tento týden? – Ne, nedělá, je na dovolené. PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE – čas předpřítomný prostý (I have done, he has done) - vyjadřuje děj minulý, který však souvisí s přítomností, a to buď svými následky, nebo trváním; ovlivňuje či zahrnuje přítomnost - typické výrazy: just, already, yet, never, ever, recently, so far Somebody has broken the window. / He has just left. / Have you ever been to France? Někdo rozbil okno. / Právě odešel. / Byl jsi někdy ve Francii? PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS – čas předpřítomný průběhový (I have been running, he has been running) - užíváme pro činnost, která začala v minulosti a stále trvá, či která právě nebo před nedávnem skončila - důraz na průběh činnosti (Jak dlouho? trvání od - do); typické výrazy: since yesterday, for 5 years You´re out of breath. Have you been running? / It has been raining for two hours. Sotva popadáš dech. Běžel jsi? / Prší už dvě hodiny. PAST SIMPLE – čas minulý prostý (I jumped, I went) - vyjadřuje jednorázový prostý děj skončený v minulosti. - typické výrazy: yesterday, last week Yesterday I went to the cinema. / When I was young, I had a cat. Včera jsem šel do kina. / Když jsem byl mladý, měl jsem kočku. PAST CONTINUOUS – čas minulý průběhový (I was reading, you were reading) - vyjadřuje děj, který probíhal v přesně určené minulé době, popř. v situaci, kdy se jeden minulý děj stal v rámci jiného minulého děje - typické výrazy: at 10 o´clock last night, this time yesterday At 10 o´clock last night I was watching TV. / When I came home, Jane was reading a book. Včera večer v 10 hodin jsem se díval na televizi. / Když jsem přišel domů, Jane zrovna četla knihu. FUTURE SIMPLE – čas budoucí prostý (I will go) - vyjádření prostého děje děje budoucího, např.když se o činnosti rozhodneme v momentě mluvení; k vyjádření budoucnosti slouží i jiné prostředky (I´m going to, čas přítomný ap.) - typické výrazy: tomorrow, next week What would you like to drink? – I´ll have an orange juice, please. Co si dáte k pití? Dám si pomerančový džus. past simple present simple future simple děj prostý, jednorázový, ↓ ↓ ↓ pravidelný past continuous ↔ past perfect → simple past perfect continuous ↔ present continuous↔ present perfect → present perfect continuous ↔ future continuous ↔ future perfect → simple future perfect continuous ↔ děj probíhající v přesně určeném bodě (at the moment), důraz na průběh děj probíhající před jiným dějem, důraz na výsledek děj probíhající před jiným dějěm, důraz na průběh, trvání (od-do) Exercises^2: 1. Use the right tense: a) I …………………. (know) Professor Brown since 1989. We …………. (meet) at a conference in New York. b) What you ……………………. (do) now? I …………………..(look) for a textbook. I …………………… (look) for it since yesterday. – You probably …………... (leave) it at school. c) Peter …………….. (be) my best friend. I ……………….. (get to know) him well during my time at university. We …………………. (be) friends ever since. d) She ………………… (work) at the Institute of Biology. She ………………. (start) to work there in 1985. She ……………………. (work) there for over ten years. e) Scientists …………………….. (investigate) the problem of sleep for more than 50 years, but they still …………………. (not know) exactly why sleep is so important. f) You ever ……………….. (be) to English speaking countries? No, I …….. (not be). But next year I ………………….. (go) to Canada. g) When I …………………….. (enroll) at this university the courses were full and so I …………………. (find) accomodation at my aunt´s. h) He ………………………… (do) well in all his exams up to now. i) While I ……………..…….. (study) hard yesterday, Fred ……..………….. (watch) TV. j) I´m sure he …………….……. (win) the scholarship next year. k) We ……………….… (see) Phil as he ………………….. (come) out of the examination room a while ago. l) She ……………….. (obtain) her Master´s Degree at Masaryk University in 2009. m) Last night Richard ……….………. (tell) me about his plan. He ………………. (fly) from London to Washington on business tomorrow. n) When you ……………………. (visit) your friends in Spain again? o) Where is Tom? He just ……….……………(go) to bed. p) After everybody ……………………….(go) to bed, the house got very quiet. q) At 10 o´clock last night I ……………………….... (study) for my biochemistry exam. 2. Put the verbs in the correct form Interest in undiscovered human-like creatures continues to be widespread. Everyone (1) ............................. (hear) of the Yetti, but since the last century there (2) .............................. (be) reports of the existence in Australia of another, less famous creature – the Yahoo. In 1912, a Sydney newspaper (3) ............................. (print) an account by Charles Harper of a strange, large animal he observed by the light of his campfire. „Its body, legs and arms (4) .............................. (cover) with long, red-brownish hair, but what struck me most (5)............. ................... (be) its shape, which was human in some ways. Yet, the body was enormous, the arms (6) .............................. (be) extremely long and muscular. Harper continued: „All this observation (7) .............................. (last) a few minutes while the creature (8) .............................. (stand) there as if frightened by the firelight. After a few growls and beating his breast, he (9) .............................. (set off). What could Harper (10) .............................. (see) ? Such a creature (11) .............................. (mention) in south-eastern Australia in the 1800, but no specimen (12) ................................ (obtain) for scientific purposes so far. Sources: ^1 Tony Lynch. Study Speaking. CUP. ^2 Based on: Charlotte Doubravová et al. Angličtina pro posuchače VŠCHT. Praha 1999. Lesson adapted from Hana Němcová and Milada Pavlovová