Speaking Exam schedule

14 December Room 445

9:30 - 9:50
Panxo
Conny
Carolina E.

9:50 - 10:10
Soledad
Alejandra
Melissa

10:10 - 10:30
Gillermo
Francisco O.
Pier

10:30 - 10:50
Fernanda
Daniela
Alicia

10:50 - 11:10
Natalia
Jeannette
Carolina V.

11:10 - 11:30
Ayleen
Paulina F.

11:30 - 11:50
Paty
Paulina B.
Nelson

11:50 - 12:10
Myriam
Katia
Gisselle

12:10 - 12:30
Paula M.
Carolina C.
Carrie

If you are not on the list contact me ASAP

Writing assignment 7: A Report

This will be our last writing assignment of the year.

Today in class we looked at the features of a report. Here are some tips and an example

The director of the place where you study English wants to set up a new common room for student to use when they are not in class. You have been asked to write a report saying which room in the school should be chosen for the common room, and make suggestions for how it could be made comfortable and attractive.

Write your report in 120 - 180 words.

Final Exams & Answers Unit 11 Review

Final Exam schedule:

Listening - 02 December 11:00 room 431
Reading - 03 December 8:00 room 423
Writing - 03 December 9:30 Lab 3 (this will be a handwritten paper exam)
Use of English - 09 December 9:30 room 461
Speaking - 14 December 9:30 - 12:20 room 445 (I will send round a sign up sheet)

Answers Unit 11 Review

A. Weather
1. light rain/wind/showers
2. heavy rain/storm/showers
3. strong wind

1. gentle breeze
2. angry-looking clouds
3. rough sea
4. torrential rain
5. scattered showers
6. brilliant sunshine
7. overcast sky
8. tidal wave
9. violent storm
10. gale-force wind

B. Put
1. down
2. out
3. up
4. on
5. in
6. off

Conditional sentences
1. stays, 'll probably
2. had known, could have prepared
3. wouldn't do, paid
4. had taken, wouldn't be
5. do, 'll make
6. would have done, hadn't helped
7. am, always watch
8. would go, had

Transformations
1. if it wasn't/was not/weren't/were not so/too
2. if I hadn't/had not spoken
3. I would not have written
4. not help you unless you
5. I had/'d remembered to take
6. give up smoking you put
7. to put up with
8. is being put at
9. provided it is
10. as long as you give

Crime and Environment review

As a review I've set up some links where you can read more about the two topics.

Here's a link for the yahoo directory of crime and click on some of the links for information. Comment on your blog about what you found out and your opinions about some of the crimes.

Have a look at National Geographic's environment website. Check out their galleries, videos, interactive stuff and articles.

Catch up

Today in class we are going to finish up unit 11, so in the lab class I'm going to give you an opportunity to catch up.

Have a look at this video of the speaking exam Do you think the students in the video got a good grade? Let me know if you have any questions about this.

Also, go ahead and do the unit 11 review on pages 144 & 145. We will go over it during class later.

Homework Answers

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post these up on my blog.

Passives (p. 127/128)
1.
1. are, 2. have 3. are, 4. was, 5. had, 6. was, 7. had, 8. is/has been, 9. to be, 10. are, 11. are, 12. will, 13. being, 14. be, 15. was
2.
Present simple : is raised, are recorded
Present continuous: is someone being paid
Present perfect: they have been hired
past simple: he was told
past continuous: if your phone was being bugged
past perfect: he had been spied on
future simple: will teenagers be spied on
infinitive: ought to be properly regulated
gerund: the risk of being investigated

Practice (p128)
1.must not be taken
2. is known to have broken
3. is not thought to be
4. will be made to (note use of to with make in the passive)
5. must have been tapped
6. has not been contacted by

Further practice (128)
1. letting/ he let
2. was found
3. will send/sends
4. have been found
5. put
6. are fined
7. caught
8. do not clean
9. was told
10. was invited
11. being followed/having been followed
12. being ordered

Unit 10 Review

The passive
1. has been robbed
2. were arrested
3. be made
4. being burgled
5. are (being) smuggled
6. will be given / is going to be given
7. are currently being looked
8. had never been told

Error correction
1. been
2. by
3. being
4. nearly
5. more
6. is
7. correct
8. for
9. correct
10. them
11. they
12. any
13. the
14. correct
15. taken

Phrasal Verbs
A
1. c 2. a 3. e 4. b 5. f 6. d
B
1. c 2. f 3. a 4. b 5. d 6. e
Crimes
1. burgled 2. stole from 3. robbed of

Writing assignment 6 : Formal transactional letter

Today's assignment is a formal transactional letter. As you may remember we have already done a couple this semester i.e. assignment #1 as well as part 1 of the mid-term written exam.

Have a look at page 145 for the task.

Be sure to:

• read the instructions carefully
• include all the information
• write it in an appropriate style
• check your writing for spelling and grammar mistakes when you finish
  

Here's an explanation of what a 'transactional letter' is. Here are some suggestions and examples

The end of semester is near

I've come to realize that with all the breaks we've had this semester we will not be able to do unit 12. So, I have decided to finish up unit 11 this week and then spend the rest of the few weeks that we have left of the semester doing some revision in preparation for the final exam. Also, because the FCE is a long exam, our last few classes of the semester will be part of the exam:

25 November = Reading & vocabulary test from units 10 & 11
02 December = Listening final
03 December = Writing and Reading finals
December exam session = Use of English and Speaking finals

For today's lab lesson I've got some activities looking at conditionals, phrasal verbs with 'put' and some listening activities about weather and the environment.

first conditional

second conditional

third conditional & another one

mixed conditionals

phrasal verbs with put

Listening

Saving the Earth

Friday's Weather Report

A Greener World

Environmental Survey

Today you are going to work in pairs and create an environmental survey for your classmates. Your survey should be a minimum of 10 questions focused on your classmates' opinion on a variety of environmental subjects as well as what action they think should be taken. Once you have finished your questions, go to other blogs and answer the survey in the comment.

Our next topic is about the Earth and environment. Today we are going start by looking at some vocabulary, quizzes and exercises connected to this topic.

Directions: Match the vocabulary words on the left with the definitions on the right.

1. lightning	a) natural electricity produced in thunderstorm clouds and appearing as a bright flash or streak of light in the sky.
2. precipitation	b) pellets of frozen rain or a storm of such pellets.
3. tide	c) a frozen form of precipitation that falls as ice crystals formed into flakes.
4. erosion	d) the force by which a planet or other such body tends to draw objects toward its center.
5. snow	e) a brief electrical storm usu. accompanied by heavy rain and high winds.
6. tornado	f) water vapor in the atmosphere that condenses and falls from the sky to earth.
7. hail	g) the process by which material from the earth's surface is worn away by forces such as glaciers, wind, and waves.
8. hurricane	h) the state of the atmosphere at a particular place and time as characterized by sunshine, moisture, temperature, precipitation, and other variables.
9. pressure	i) snow, rain, or the like, or the amount of such matter to fall on a given area in a given amount of time.
10. thunderstorm	j) a very destructive but short-lived windstorm in the form of a funnel-shaped cloud that moves close to the ground destroying whatever is in its path.
11. gravity	k) the applying of constant force upon a surface.
12. rain	l) a powerful cyclonic storm that originates in the West Indian region of the Atlantic Ocean and that has heavy rains and winds exceeding seventy-three miles, or 119 kilometers, per hour.
13. weather	m) the periodic change, occurring about every twelve hours, in the height of the surface of oceans and bodies of water near or feeding into them, caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. On your blog write a paragraph about an experience you have had during some kind of weather or natural disaster (It can be as simple as walking in the rain). Describe the experience with as much detail as possible. Here's a vocabulary quiz about the Environment and climate change Here's a link to a quiz about what the future will be like Here's a link to a personal quiz and some vocabulary exercises. Do only exercises A - C. How green are you.