b2.3 unit 3

8/10/2019 B2.3 Unit 3

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8/10/2019 B2.3 Unit 3


B2.3 Unit 3

Warm up video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqg6RO8c_W0

Transcripción:

Picture this: your friend and you are watching a sitcom and a sassy sidekick walks into a room,

carrying a four-tiered wedding cake.

He trips, falls, and face-plants into the cake.

Your friend doubles oer with laughter and says,

!"t#s so ridiculous$ %o ironic$!

&ell, 'uick, what do you do(

)o you laugh along with the laugh track and let this grieous misinterpretation of irony go(

*r, do you throw caution to the wind and e+plain the true meaning of irony(

"f you#re me, you choose the latter.

nfortunately, irony has been completely misunderstood. &e tend to throw out that term

wheneer we see something funny or coincidental. nd while many e+amples of true irony can

be funny, that is not the driing factor of being ironic.

situation is only ironic if what happens is the e+act opposite of what was e+pected. "f you

e+pect , but get , then you hae irony.

/et#s take the slap-stick cake situation as an e+ample. &hen someone walks in precariously

balancing something that shouldn#t be carried alone, trips, falls, and makes a mess,

"t is funny, but it#s not ironic.

"n fact, you probably e+pect someone who is single-handedly carrying a huge cake to trip.

&hen he does, reality aligns with e+pectations, and so that is 0i1not02i1 irony.

ut what if the sassy sidekick walked in wearing a gold medal that he#d won at the cake

walking eent at the tlanta *lympics in 3445(

&hat if that sidekick was a professional cake carrier( Then, maybe there would hae been a

reasonable e+pectation that he would hae been more skilled when carrying a ridiculously

large cake.

Then, when that reasonable e+pectation was not met by the tripping sidekick, irony wouldhae been e+emplified.

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nother e+ample. senior citi6en te+ting and blogging. The common and reasonable

e+pectation of more mature men and women is that they don#t like or know technology, that

they hae a hard time turning on a computer, or that they hae the old brick cell phones from

the 3478s.

*ne should not e+pect them to be connected, high-tech, or say enough to te+t or to beblogging, which must seem like some sort of newfangled thing that !back in my day,! they

neer had. %o when 9ranny pulls out her smart phone to post pictures of her dentures or her

grandkids, irony ensues.

easonable e+pectations of the situation are not met. That is irony.

%o while the cake dropper might not be ironic, there are all kinds of situations in life that are.

9o out, and find those true e+amples of irony.

GRAMMAR

Common problems with count/uncount nouns

1: Uncount nouns used as count nouns

Although substances are usually uncount nouns...

Would you like some cheese?Coffee keeps me awake at night.Wine makes me sleep.

... they can be also used as count nouns:

I’d like a coffee please. = I’d like a [cup of] coffee.

May I have a white wine. = May I have a [glass of] white wine.

They sell a lot of coffees. = They sell a lot of [different kinds of] coffee.

I prefer white wines to red. = I prefer [different kinds of] white wine to red.

They had over twenty cheeses on

sale.=

They had over twenty [types of] cheese on

sale.

This is an excellent soft cheese. = This [kind of] soft cheese is excellent.

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2: Some nouns have both a count and an uncount form:

We should always have hope.George had hopes of promotion.Travel is a great teacher.Where did you go on your travels?

3: Nouns with two meanings

Some nouns have two meanings, one count and the other non count:

His life was in danger.There is a serious danger of fire.

Linguistics is the study of language.

Is English a difficult language?

It’s made of paper.The Times is an excellent paper.

Other words like this are:

business death industry marriage power property

tax time victory use work

4: Uncount nouns that end in -s

Some uncount nouns end in -s so they look like plurals even though they are singularnouns.

These nouns generally refer to:

Subjects of study: mathematics, physics, economics, etc.

Activities: gymnastics, athletics, etc.

Games: cards, darts, billiards, etc.

Diseases: mumps, measles, rabies, etc.

Economics is a very difficult subject.Billiards is easier than pool or snooker.

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5: Group nouns

Some nouns, like army , refer to groups of people, animals or things, and we can usethem either as singular nouns or as plural nouns.

army audience committee company crew enemy

family flock gang government group herd

media public regiment staff team

We can use these group nouns either as singular nouns or as plural nouns:

• My family is very dear to me.I have a large family. They are very dear to me. (= The members of my

family…)• The government is very unpopular.

The government are always changing their minds.

Sometimes we think of the group as a single thing:

• The audience always enjoys the show.• The group consists of two men and three women.

Sometimes we think of the group as several individuals;

• The audience clapped their hands.• The largest group are the boys.

The names of many organisations and teams are also group nouns, but they areusually plural in spoken English:

• Barcelona are winning 2-0.• The United Oil Company are putting prices up by 12%.

6: Two-part nouns

A few plural nouns, like binoculars, refer to things that have two parts.

glasses jeans knickers pincers pants pliers

pyjamas scissors shorts spectacles tights trainers

trousers tweezers

These binoculars were very expensive

Those trousers are too long.

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To make it clear we are talking about one of these items, we use a pair of …

I need a new pair of spectacles.I’ve bought a pair of blue jeans.

If we want to talk about more than one, we use pairs of … :

We’ve got three pairs of scissors, but they are all blunt.I always carry two pairs of binoculars.

EXERCISE 1

Choose the correct sentence.

1.

a)Tea is grown in Sri Lanka.

b)A tea is grown in Sri Lanka.

2.

a)Do you eat a cheese before or after your meal?

b)Do you eat cheese before or after your meal?

3.

a)It was difficult marriage.

b)It was a difficult marriage.

4.

a)That´s very interesting property. How much is it?

b)That´s a very interesting property. How much is it?

5.

a)It´s not easy to run a business and raise a family.

b)It´s not easy to run business and raise a family!

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6.

a)Physics are not my best subject.

b)Physics is not my best subject.

7.

a)Can you lend me some scissors?

b)Can you lend me a scissors?

8.

a)I need to buy a new trousers.

b)I need to buy some new trousers.

VOCABULARY

Situational language: fixed expressions

The expressions that used in typical situations are often idiomatic in the same sense.

Some examples:

• Could you check the oil? (More natural than ¨Could you inspect the oil?¨

or¨Could you see how much oil there is in the engine¨)

• Is it a direct flight or do I have to change? (More natural than ¨Does the

plane go straight there or do I have to get another one?)

• Sorry I kept you waiting! (More natural than ¨Sorry I made you wait)

• Could I book a table for three for eight o´clock. (More natural than ¨Could

you keep me a table for three people for eight o´clock?¨)

• Yummi…..those cookies look delicious! – Please, help yourself! (¡Sírvete!)

Other fixed expressions are used as parts of sentences – useful introductions,conclusions or frames for the things that people want to say:

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• Let me know when/where/what/how

• The best thing would be to…….

• The point is………

• I wouldn´t be surprised if………

Here are some more expressions and some idioms as well:

• left, right and center (por un tubo)

• To spoon feed someone - To provide (another) with knowledge or information

in an oversimplified way. (Should a teacher spoon feed his/her students?)

• no-brainer (Something so simple or easy as to require no thought) – StudyingEnglish is a no-brainer for me.

• Don´t get your hopes up ! (¡No te hagas ilusiones!)

• A horse of a different colour (harina de otro costal)

• Come off it! (¡Venga ya!)

b2.3 unit 3

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