NC BOOK 3 U11

GETTING READY Words from Down Under The exchange student says, “I’m glad to be soaking up new knowledge in uni here!” What does she mean?. GETTING READY Words from Down Under It’s Friday

UNIT 11

Task I

Listen to the audio and check how advanced your Australian English is.

GETTING READY

Words from Down Under

The exchange student says, “I’m glad to be soaking up new knowledge

in uni here!” What does she mean?

a She is happy to be a unique member of the class.

b She loves wearing her school uniform.

c She enjoys attending university here.

1

2 A new acquaintance asks you, “How are you going?” What is his

question?

a Where are you going?

b How are you doing?

c Do you have a map?

Task I

Listen to the audio and check how advanced your Australian English is.

GETTING READY

Words from Down Under

It’s Friday night, and your Australian friend suggests you two go into

the big smoke What is he recommending?

a That you go downtown

b That you go outside for a smoke

c That you set off fireworks

3

4

A shopper asks you what aisle the dead horses are in She wants to

know

a where the frozen foods are.

b where the ketchup is.

c where the meat section is.

Audio Transcripts:

Blake: Hey, Joey How was your semester in Australia? I’ve heard the Australian dialect is very distinct

Joey: That’s true Soaking it up was like acquiring a new language!

Blake: How so?

Joey: I stumbled over the terminology used there For example, “barbie” means

“barbeque” and “uni” stands for “university.” Once, someone asked me, “How are you going?” It sounded odd to me, but she was just asking me how I was

Another guy requested that I pass him “the dead horse.” I was confused, so

I mumbled I didn’t have one Then he said, “The ketchup, mate.”

Blake: Sounds complicated

Joey: Exactly! And when people talk about big cities, they say “big smoke,”

which comes from one of their aboriginal languages

Blake: That seems overwhelming

Joey: It was! I was reserved for the first few days because I was worried that I’d nervously stammer if I opened my mouth

Blake: After a few days though, I bet you were chattering away

GETTING READY

Task II

Replace the words in bold with the choices in the box Change the forms of the words if necessary.

GETTING READY

dialect terminology aboriginal overwhelming reserved

1 The journal is difficult to read because it contains scientific words and expressions ( ).

2 The book depicts the story of the native ( ) tribes in

Canada’s northern region

3 Even though English is the native language of both countries, the

local speech ( ) in America and the UK are

overwhelming

Task III

The verbs in bold describe different ways of speaking Match each

word or phrase with its definition.

GETTING READY

to speak with pauses and repetitions to make a mistake when speaking

to speak quietly and unclearly to talk with another person casually

a

b

c

d

口 The actress looked embarrassed when she stumbled over the name of

her movie character

口 The man mumbled a few words, but no one heard what he was saying.

口 He started to stammer after witnessing the car crash He must have

been really shocked

口 They chattered away happily all night long, as they hadn’t seen each

VOCABULARY DRILL

A Listen Up

Help the school admissions office finish the questionnaire with words from the audio.

Incoming Students’ Language Assessment

Rate your language level.

How would you describe language learning?

If you were to select a career that utilizes your language skills, what would you choose?

a) Beginner Able to participate in everyday interactions with other speakers.

b) Intermediate Can accurately 1 a e one’s meaning.

c) Advanced Has no difficulty conversing 2 f y with native speakers.

a) Overwhelming and terrifying b) Exciting and satisfying c) Tiring and 3 t s

a) 4 l r You wish to connect those who would otherwise be unable to

VOCABULARY DRILL

Audio Transcripts:

Principal: Mr Baker, it’s a pleasure to have you visiting today.

Mr Baker: I’m interested in sending my daughter to this school But first, I’d like to hear about

your curriculum

Principal: In today’s globally connected world, we believe that language acquisition is key for

building relationships overseas, both professional and personal ones.

Mr Baker: I agree.

Principal: We’re known for producing proficient speakers who can clearly articulate

themselves using foreign languages We aim to have every student fluently

speaking at least two languages other than their mother tongue upon graduation

Mr Baker: How do you motivate the students to achieve such goals?

Principal: Through perseverance and hard work Our methods have been proven successful

Out of our graduates, 86 percent go on to language-related professions, such as

interpreters, ambassadors, and linguists.

Mr Baker: Learning a new language is tiring How do you keep it from becoming too tedious?

Principal: Our teachers have students take many short breaks We also play interactive games

during class to keep learning entertaining.

Mr Baker: That sounds reasonable I’ll enroll my daughter immediately!

VOCABULARY DRILL

B Word Focus: Language Vocabulary

Look at the excerpt of an interpreter’s résumé Circle the appropriate words.

Objective:

To work in a challenging position as a(n) 1 interactive / bilingual

Spanish and English interpreter in the Immigration Department

Skills & Qualifications:

◎ 2 Proficient / Intermediate in conveying information between

Spanish and English speakers

◎ Able to 3 soak up / articulate everything from day-to-day needs

to complicated political views

◎ High 4 acquisition / fluency rate of new terminology

VOCABULARY DRILL

C Speak Out Loud

People learn languages for many different reasons Pair up with a classmate and discuss your own language-learning experience.

Bilingual Celebrities

Listening to an Olympic announcerbroadcast in French inspired Bradley

Cooper to learn the language of love.

Gwyneth Paltrow has always been

fascinated by Spanish culture, andnow she speaks Spanish fluently

CONVERSATION CORNER

CONVERSATION CORNER—REVIEW

A Complete the Passage

Fill in the blanks with words from the conversation.

When a person has been 1 d d with alcoholism, it’s

important that he or she starts treatment immediately However, it can be

difficult to 2 i t the desire to drink, especially since alcohol

affects one’s judgment Many alcoholics find joining an Alcoholics

Anonymous program to be 3 p e when kicking the habit For one thing, it helps make recovery a 4 p y in their lives, as they are required to 5 d e adequate time and effort to the

program Recovering alcoholics often say that the program works because it

makes them feel more 6 a e for their progress While they do

have people to talk to, they must rely on themselves in order to truly

CONVERSATION CORNER—REVIEW

B Use the Phrases

Circle the answers

1 To polish up his composition skills, .

a Dan attended an additional writing course

b Dan submitted his paper for publication

2 If all you’re going to do is burn daylight, .

a you may want to put on more sunscreen

b we’ll never get anything done today

3 Rigorous training will pay dividends .

a if you break your ankle

b at the championships later this year

CONVERSATION CORNER—REVIEW

B Use the Phrases

Circle the answers

4 When Maggie finally got the hang of knitting,

a she made her mom a beautiful scarf

b she still hadn’t learned how to do it properly

5 Even though it was difficult, Ross plugged away at

his piano lessons

a because he was going to quit next week

b because he hoped to be proficient someday

CONVERSATION CORNER—REVIEW

C True or False

Select if the statements are true or false.

1 T  F  Kathy’s professor doesn’t believe that she is a very

productive student

2 T  F  Kathy and Rick agree that switching between

languages in a conversation decreases one’s concentration abilities

3 T  F  Bilingual people have a lower chance of developing

mental diseases

4 T  F  Rick plans to gain fluency in another language.

5 T  F  Kathy thinks that studying languages is a pleasant and

effortless experience

EXPRESSION PLAZA

A Wasting Time

• burn daylight

• fool / hang / mess around

• idle (time) away

• goof off

Work with a classmate and discuss how you waste time with

the expressions above Use the dialogue model to help you.

A: I feel like I’m always burning daylight When I intend to

all this messing around

EXPRESSION PLAZA

Learning

• get the hang of (something)

• get it down pat

• catch on to (something)

Reviewing • bone up on (something)

• brush up on (something)

B Studying Something

Fill in the appropriate expressions There may be more than one possible answer.

1 I haven’t figured out the technique of ice-skating yet, but I plan to

_

2 I can’t go out tonight I need to _ medieval

history for my exam tomorrow

3 Meg is usually great at science, so she’ll _

get the hang of it

bone up on

catch on to

EXPRESSION PLAZA

• plug away (at something)

• press on (with something)

• hold on (to something)

• stay on course

• give up

• get cold feet

• throw in the towel

• back out

C Persevering and Quitting

Practice giving responses to the following statements with the expressions above.

1 He completes all of his assignments on time, even when they seem

impossible to do

2 I don’t think I will apply to graduate school I won’t get accepted

anywhere

3 I know I said I’d learn Italian, but it’s too challenging

That he always plugs away really impresses me I would have given up

EXPRESSION PRACTICE

A Complete the Handout

Fill in the blanks with words or expressions from the audio There may

be more than one possible answer.

Special Presentation: Workplace Efficiency Speaker: Jamie GlassOverview: To help improve your 1 , there are some

2 that should be followed First, you can be a more efficient worker by setting goals to 3 and not just

4 _ when you should be figuring out what to do next Then, we will discuss the most common ways people 5

at work For example, the top 6 include cell phones and

7 e-mails Finally, you will learn how 8 _

in the workplace could cost you your job

productivity guidelines

achieve / accomplish

goof offdistractions

fooling around

Audio Transcripts:

I define wasting time at work as participating in activities that don’t help you

in achieving your job’s objectives Having the right attitude at work is important for maintaining high productivity A good method of keeping yourself from

fooling around is to make lists of the goals you hope to accomplish each day

Otherwise, you could waste half your time at work by messing around, trying to figure out what to do next Once your plan is set, make sure you stick to it If you

find yourself tempted to goof off at work, get rid of the distractions! Personal

e-mail accounts, cell phones, and the like should be shut off If your coworkers come over to your desk to hang around, inform them politely that you are quite

busy Additionally, to avoid burning daylight while searching for an e-mail that

you need, keep your inbox organized Delete messages as soon as you read

them, unless you need them for later use Implementing guidelines like these

will save you from idling away the work day!

EXPRESSION PRACTICE

EXPRESSION PRACTICE

B Fill Out the Chart

Decide which speaker could answer each question (Natalie or

Kendra) and give your reasons.

Natalie has already got the hang of popular culture

Kendra knows about the natural world and just needs to do a little brushing up

It would be easier for Natalie to catch on to the arts

Natalie will dedicate some time

to boning up on her geography

EXPRESSION PRACTICE

Audio Transcripts:

Natalie: The annual Trivia Game is coming up! We have to win this year

Kendra: I know, Natalie! It’s so irritating to never get the trophy

Natalie: I think we should brush up on typical trivia questions

Kendra: Good idea Do you know what the categories will be?

Natalie: Yup—the natural world, history, the arts, geography, and popular

culture

Kendra: Since you read People magazine every week, you must have got

popular culture down pat

Natalie: Yeah I’m ready to take on any other team!

Kendra: Perfect I just need to bone up on my natural world knowledge a bit

Natalie: So that leaves history, the arts, and geography I don’t think we will have

enough time to prepare for those

Kendra: But we should at least try! I’m sure that I’ll never get the hang of the arts

though I can’t tell Michelangelo’s work from Picatto’s

Natalie: Kendra! His name is Picasso

Kendra: You sound like you could catch on to it So I’ll browse through some

books on history then

EXPRESSION PRACTICE

C Finish the Letter

Fill in the blanks with words or expressions from the audio There may

be more than one possible answer.

Dear Danny,

I can’t believe you’re seriously thinking about 1.

on your stay in Taiwan You definitely should 2 with your Chinese studies After all, this is an amazing opportunity to learn how to acquire a high level of 3. in the language

as long as you keep 4. at it I know you are

suffering from 5. , but don’t 6. now

7. a new culture can be tough, but try to look on the bright side You’re being exposed to not only the Chinese

language, but also the stunning scenery of Taiwan Please think about

homesickness get cold feet Soaking up

staying on course

EXPRESSION PRACTICE

Audio Transcripts:

Kang: Hey, Danny Is everything OK?

Danny: Not really I’m homesick.

Kang: Well, you’ve been studying here for approximately six weeks That’s when

homesickness usually sets in for overseas students

Danny: I had initially intended to soak up the culture of Taiwan for a year, but now I’m

getting cold feet.

Kang: Don’t back out so easily! What specifically are you struggling with?

Danny: I keep holding on, trying to make new friends here But other than you, I haven’t

gotten acquainted with many people.

Kang: It’s hard to meet people when you aren’t fluent in the local language How is

learning Chinese going?

Danny: It seems like I will never learn it! I know I must stay on course, but I want to give

up

Kang: You should keep plugging away at it By studying here you can get daily exposure

to the language That’s the most efficient way to achieve proficiency in Chinese

Danny: That’s true And I do love Taiwan The gorgeous scenery and delicious cuisine

make me think pressing on is worthwhile

Kang: So you won’t throw in the towel yet, right?

Danny: Right

GRAMMAR CHECKPOINT

A Types

Statements usually introduced by

verbs like say, tell, admit, and suggest

• Research suggests that bilingual fluency helps prevent mental diseases that appear during old age

Questions wh- questions • My professor asked me how I was

able to be so efficient

yes / no questions • She wondered if / whether I had

completed my assignment

Requests /

Commands affirmative • The conductor signaled the band members to march

negative • Mom warned us not to chat with

strangers

Indirect Speech