NC BOOK 4 UNIT 4

Are you going play on our school’s basketball team this year?. I can aggressively try to steal the ball when the other team is shooting 3 , and I get the chance to score 4 when game play

New Connection—Book 4

to own things that are promoted by their favorite sports stars? Are

there some items that you would be willing to pay more for if a celebrity athlete recommended them? What if that athlete also used them?

home team pitcher

1 Once you hear the _ it will be halftime, and then everyone will

be leaving their seats to grab some food (equipment that makes a loud

noise)

2 Players with a position in the _ have to cover a lot of space, but not too many balls make it out that far (baseball playing area outside the diamond)

3 A typical baseball game will have nine innings, but a basketball game will only have four _ (the periods a game is divided into)

4 The batter stood next to the _ waiting for the pitch to come (a piece of plastic or rubber players touch or stand on in baseball)

5 Usually a _ is easily caught because it doesn’t travel a great distance (a type of hit in baseball where the ball goes straight up in the air)

6 The coach was required to announce the starting _ at least

three hours prior to the game (the list of players)

lineup

outfield 7 This could be a home run folks! Oh, spoke too soon Caught by the

center fielder 8, and the batter is out

No 2.

Broadcaster: And that’s the buzzer 9 to end the third quarter Looks like the coach

of the home team is making some changes to the lineup 10 He’s taken out the

starting center and is going to replace him with rookie 11 Dave Smith Smith is

well-known for his jump shot 12, which could be the reason behind the change The other team has been having quite an easy time blocking all efforts to score We’re getting ready to start the fourth quarter now All right, Smith is receiving a

pass from the point guard 13 And in it goes Two more points for the home team!

WORD POWER

Audio Transcripts:

Donald: Hey, Ralph Are you going play on our school’s basketball team this

year?

Ralph: I hope so I can’t wait for tryouts 1 to start!

Donald: Which position do you usually play?

Ralph: I like playing small forward 2 because then I get to do a bit of everything I can aggressively try to steal the ball when the other team

is shooting 3 , and I get the chance to score 4 when game play moves to

the other net I especially enjoy pushing past everyone to slam dunk 5

the ball What about you?

Donald: Directing game play by dribbling 6 the ball up and down the court and

passing it to other players is a lot of fun for me, so I usually play point

guard

Ralph: I could never play that position I like scoring too much!

Donald: I like to score, too, but my jump shot isn’t that good

Ralph: Maybe I can help you with that Last year, I had the highest

free throw 7 percentage on the team

Donald: That would be great Thanks! If you could give me some advice on my

layups 8, that would be cool, too

Ralph: Sure In fact, maybe I should hold a session to help lots of people!

WORD POWER

B Word Focus: Sports Necessities

Match the sports below with the things associated with them.

a goalie, cleats, field, shin guard

b pad, goalpost, helmet, yard line

c bow, arrow, target, arm guard

d racket, court, ball, net

e tee, club, caddie, fairway

f bar, ring, leotard, vault

WORD POWER

C Speak Out Loud

What are your opinions about the facts below? Talk about them with a classmate

In 1992, America sent a team of professional NBA players

to the summer Olympics for the first time This “Dream

Team,” which included players like Michael Jordan and

Magic Johnson, dominated the games and easily won gold

Sports players don’t compete just because they love to

play; they want money, too! According to Forbes, the UEFA

Champions League gives out the largest prizes In 2012,

tournament winning English team Chelsea received $77

million!

CONVERSATION ZONE

（（（（（（（

Ryan and Ted are talking about their favorite American baseball team.

Ryan: Did you watch yesterday’s game? The ① _1 team was ruthless 2

Ted: Yeah Despite the Red Sox’s frantic 3 last-minute efforts to score, they

got whipped again!

Ryan: To tell you the truth, I’m filled with 4 apprehension 5 that they might be on

the verge of 6 another losing ② _7 Their last one continued for over 80 years!

Ted: Why did everyone have a leg up on the Sox for so long?

Ryan: You haven’t heard of the Curse of the Bambino?

Ryan: The Bambino That was the nickname of baseball legend Babe Ruth He

originally 8 played for the Red Sox but was sold to the Yankees

Ted: Talk about bad ③ _! Don’t a lot of people consider him

to be the greatest player of all time?

judgment

Ryan: Absolutely He pulled out all the stops whenever he played With his help, the

Yankees beat the pants off everyone, winning the league

④ _9 seven times and the World Series four times

Ted: It sounds like no other team was on par with them I guess

everyone

⑤ 10 that the Red Sox would have done better with Ruth,

huh?

Ryan: Yeah It’s believed that trading him caused the curse and condemned 11 the

team to fail For years, they hoped that they would win the World Series again, and it finally happened in 2004

Ted: That’s a pretty good story, but I don’t believe in ⑥ _12

stuff I bet the Sox’s bad luck ensued 13 because they always chickened out

and didn’t strive to win hard enough

Ryan: Maybe you’re right, but even if it’s not ⑦ _14, I like believing in the

curse

CONVERSATION ZONE

championship acknowledges

superstitious

rational

CONVERSATION ZONE—REVIEW

A Complete the Sentences

Fill in the blanks with words from the conversation Use the hints to

help you

1 Unless you can that you caused a serious problem for me, I

won’t accept your apology (recognize)

2 The athlete had such a terrible _ of bad luck that no one thought

he would ever win a game again (series)

3 A person who neglects his or her education is often _ to working

in fields that don’t pay well (doomed)

4 I think Martha’s fear of cats is pretty _ considering that she got bit

by one as a child (logical)

5 The candidate’s _ campaigning right before the election didn’t

help him gain enough votes to win (hurried)

6 Many college students have feelings of about their futures

because the economy has been doing poorly (anxiety)

7 Kim’s _ treatment of her employees was the reason why she lost

her managerial position at the company (without mercy)

acknowledge

streak

condemned rational

frantic

apprehension ruthless

_ 5 pull out all the stops

_ 6 beat the pants off

g have similar ability or success

h to feel something strongly

CONVERSATION ZONE—REVIEW

C True, False, or Unknown

Select if the statements are true (T) or false (F)

1 T ■ F ■ U ■ The opposing team played fiercely against the Red

4 T ■ F ■ U ■ Babe Ruth was originally sold to the Yankees to

break the curse on the Red Sox.

5 T ■ F ■ U ■ The Red Sox won the 2004 World Series after

Babe Ruth returned to the team.

6 T ■ F ■ U ■ Since the ending of the curse, the Red Sox have

won most of their championships.

1 Tamara was the first girl to finish all the pies in the pie eating

contest She _!

2 Ian’s soccer team has only been playing for a week, so I’m not

surprised that they _ at the game yesterday.

Fill in the appropriate expressions

EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT

A Paying Attention

• beat the pants/socks off (someone)

• win hands down

• get the better of (someone)

• be/get whipped

• blow it

• be beaten down

won hands down

got whipped / blew it / were beaten down

EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT

B Comparing Ability

Rewrite the parts in bold with the expressions above.

Being Similar in Skill • neck and neck

• in a dead heat

• on par with (someone)

• on a level playing field

Having an Advantage • a leg up on (somebody)

• (have) an ace up (one’s) sleeve

1 My school’s football team isn’t worried about the upcoming game because they have a new player who is going to give them an advantage

→

2 Jeremy may be at the top of his class now, but there are many other

students who have similar abilities to him

→

My school’s football team isn’t worried about the upcoming game because

they have an ace up their sleeve.

Jeremy may be at the top of his class now, but there are many other students

who are on par with him.

With a partner, create short dialogues with the expressions above and the situations provided.

EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT

C Making an Effort or Giving Up

1 give a presentation 2 do a school project

3 hold a meeting 4 play in a sports game

5 learn an instrument

Example:

• pull out all the stops

• go for broke

• move heaven and earth

• put/pour (one’s) blood, sweat, and tears into

(something)

• chicken out

• run out of gas/steam

• lose (one’s) nerve

• give up the ghost

A: Whenever I’m asked to give a presentation by my boss, I pour my

blood, sweat, and tears into it.

B: That’s impressive I would just chicken out and not do it!

EXPRESSION PRACTICE

A Check the Correct Answers

Listen to the audio Check the correct statements about each sports fan

Pat: Really? How did they do?

Casey: Well, the beginning of the game was pretty terrible The Tigers

were doing poorly, and the other team was really beating them

down

Pat: Did you stop watching?

Casey: I thought about it, but I decided to stand by my team It was a

good thing I did because in the last inning, the Tigers got the

better of the Blues.

Pat: I’m glad not both of our teams got whipped!

1 is as popular among student voters at this moment

as Alana is.

2 had to do many things in order to be regarded as

highly as the other candidate.

3 had an advantage by being a part of a group that

earns lots of attention from others.

4 has been working with one of the candidates to help

that person win.

5 is interested in the tactics that will be used to outdo

the other person in the debate.

6 knows something that could damage the other

candidate’s chance of winning.

EXPRESSION PRACTICE

B Listen for Details

Listen and write the person’s name (Paul, Alana, or Roger) next to the matching statement

EXPRESSION PRACTICE

Audio Transcripts:

Paul: Alana, isn’t the final debate before the student election taking place tonight?

Alana: Yup And I’m all set.

Paul: I hope so because you and Roger are still neck and

neck Whoever wins this debate could end up being our class

president.

Alana: You’re right, Paul I’m glad that we’re in a dead heat now It took

a lot of effort for me to gain as much support as he had in the

beginning.

Paul: Being on the school’s winning football team certainly

gave him a leg up on you in terms of popularity You’re lucky that

I dedicated so much of my time helping out your campaign

Alana: That’s true If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be on par with Roger

now

Paul: So, how are you going to win the debate?

Alana: I have an ace up my sleeve that will really make Roger sweat,

but I can’t tell you what it is yet I want it to shock everybody!

Paul: All right Good luck tonight!

EXPRESSION PRACTICE

C Fill out the Chart

Judy and Rex manage a dating agency Listen to their conversation

and fill out the information about the clients

Client Will be set up

again?

Reason Dylan

Yes

He poured his blood, sweat, and tears into the date.

She lost her nerve and never showed up.

Although she had some problems, she tried

and didn’t chicken out.

He can’t stop talking about his ex However,

if he can pull out all the stops and get over

her, he’ll be reconsidered

She went for broke and confessed how

she really felt in an e-mail The agency owners liked her dedication

Judy: Well, that’s an easy one to accept Who’s next?

Rex: Candie It looks like she chickened out and didn’t show up.

Judy: She’ll have to find herself another agency then Do you have any

information about Holly yet? She’s a good friend of mine

Rex: Yes, her date said he had an alright time Everything started

out fine, but then Holly ran out of steam

Judy: At least she didn’t lose her nerve completely She should get another

chance

Rex: Of course Man, look at Hank’s report! His date said that he is incapable of talking about anything except his ex-girlfriend

Judy: I wonder why he can’t give up the ghost We’ll have to pass on his

business until he can Anyone else?

Rex: One more Her name is Abby, and I think she really enjoyed

her date because she poured her blood, sweat, and tears into an e-mail

explaining why we should keep her

Judy: I like that Let’s set her up again soon

GRAMMAR ESSENTIALS

Infinitives

An infinitive is a verb form in which the base form of a verb is

preceded by the word “to”

A Usage

Guidelines Examples Sentences

1 Certain verbs are

always paired with

an infinitive when

they are used with

another verb

strive, afford, decline, long, hurry, fail

• I bet they didn’t strive to win

hard enough (I bet they didn’t

strive winning hard enough.)

2 Some verbs can be

GRAMMAR ESSENTIALS

Guidelines Examples Sentences

3 There are certain verbs

that must be followed by

a noun or pronoun

before an infinitive is

used In the passive

voice, the noun or

pronoun is moved

condemn, advise, compel, forbid, invite, remind

• It’s believed that trading him

condemned the team to fail = It’s believed that the team

was condemned to fail

4 Some verbs are often

followed by an object

and then the infinitive

form of a stative verb

consider, acknowledge, estimate,

prove, imagine

• Don’t people consider him to

be the greatest player of all time?

5 Sometimes the infinitive

can be replaced with a

that clause.

hope, agree, promise, demand, decide

• For years, they hoped to win

the World Series again

= For years, they hoped that they would win the World Series again

• To tell you the truth, I’m filled with apprehension that they might be on the verge of another losing streak.

• to begin with when you are

giving the most important detail

or the first thing

to be considered

• To begin with, Roger shouldn’t have been hired if it was known he had no experience

• to make a long

story short when you want to notify the listener

that you will only share the main point(s)

• To make a long story short, I was just unaware that I was doing

something I wasn’t supposed to

1 The employee was forbidden / forbid to speak to the press about the incident, but he did it anyway

2 I’m sorry, but to make a long story short / to be honest , I suspect

Randal will be offered the promotion over you

3 Brandy usually prefers to ask her mom / her mom to ask for advice,

so I was surprised when she wanted my help

4 Since everyone in the class failed to answer / to fail answering the question correctly, the teacher assigned extra homework

5 Ancient scientists the world was estimated / estimated the world to

be much smaller than it actually is.

GRAMMAR WORKOUT

A Circle the Answers

Choose the correct usages