Unit 2 Fun with Language

Part A                           

Communicative Function

Opening and Closing a Conversation

       In everyday life, we often have to open and close a conversation. This exercise focuses on how people perform these communicative functions.

Listen to the recording and decide if the first sentence of each short dialogue you hear begins the opening or the closing of a conversation. Choose “a. Opening” or “b. Closing”.

Example:        --Would you mind closing the window? It's cold in here.

                     --Of course not.                           

                           a. Opening          b. Closing

1.  a. Opening          b. Closing

2.  a. Opening          b. Closing

3.  a. Opening          b. Closing

4.  a. Opening          b. Closing

5.  a. Opening          b. Closing

6.  a. Opening          b. Closing

Script:   

1.       --It’s been a really wonderful evening. Thank you very much for inviting us.

--I’m glad you enjoyed it.

--Maybe we could get together sometime at my home.

--Sounds nice.

2.       --Great party, isn’t it?

--Yeah, really.

--You look familiar to me. Have we met before?

       --I'm afraid not.

3.    --I'm afraid I have to go now. 

       --So soon? Well, I enjoyed our talk together.

       --Me too.

4.    --Excuse me, could you tell me the time?

       --It's half past 5 by my watch.

       --Thank you very much.

       --You're welcome.                            

5.    --Is this seat taken?

       --Oh, let me move my stuff.

       --Aren't you Jack Brown? I'm Bill, Bill Stone.

       --Oh, hello, Bill. Fancy meeting you here!

6.    --Hi, Jack. So good to see you. 

--Oh, hi, Andy. It's been quite a while since we saw each other last. How're things with you?

       --Just fine. What've you been doing these years?

       --Well, I've been studying for my Ph.D degree here at the university.

       --That's wonderful.

Useful Expressions for Opening and Closing a Conversation

Opening a Conversation

l  Beautiful day, isn’t it?

l  Terrible weather, don’t you think so?

l  Excuse me, is anybody sitting here / is this seat taken?

l  I wonder if you can do me a favor.

l  You look familiar to me, aren't you …?

l  Excuse me, haven't we met somewhere before?

l  Excuse me, have you got any stamps?

l  Excuse me, could you tell me the time?

l  Excuse me, is this the way to the library?

l  Sorry, I couldn't help overhearing—did you mention something about...?

l  Er, do you have a minute? I'm not quite sure what this word means. 

Closing a Conversation      

l  It was nice talking to you / to see you again.

l  It was great seeing you.

l  See you again sometime / See you tomorrow.

l  Have a good day / a nice weekend / trip.

l  Thanks very much for inviting us to your wonderful party.

l  I hope to see you again soon. Let’s have lunch together sometime.

l  I'm afraid I have to get back to my office.  I'm expecting a phone call.

l  It’s been great seeing you again. Gee, look at the time. I’ve got to run. Talk to you later.

l  Well, thanks for talking to us today.    

l  I’ve got to be going. I’ll be in touch.

l  Well, the time has come for us to say goodbye.

l  Keep in touch. Remember to give me a ring / send me an e-mail sometime.

Notes

"Have a good day" is an informal expression used when people part from each other. Similar expressions are "Have a good weekend / trip / evening."

Listening Strategy

                     Distinguishing between Similar Sounds

It is important to distinguish between similar sounds while listening. Names like Jean and Jane, figures like 18 and 80 can sound quite alike. Titles like Mrs and Miss can also be confusing.

Listen to the recording and underline the letter beside the word you hear in the sentence.

1.   a. Miss                        b. Mrs

2.   a. 1913                        b. 1930

3.   a. can                          b. can't

4.     a. 20th               b. 28th

5.     a. Mary             b. married

6.     a. Black             b. Blake

7.     a. is                b. isn't

8.     a. said               b. sad

9.     a. bill               b. beer

10.  a. Ann                b. Anna

Script:

1.       May I introduce Miss Jones to you?

2.       John Davis was born in California in 1930.

3.       I can’t agree with you more.

4.       My birthday is on June 20th.

5.       Paul, is your sister married?

6.       Look, here comes Mr. Black, our sales manager.

7.       Bob isn't in the library right now.

8.       Mr. Taylor is said to be leaving for South Africa soon.

9.       Pass me the beer, please.

10.   I was wondering if you could help Anna with her music lessons. 

Part  B

Pre-listening Task 

Questions for Discussion   

You are going to talk about English conversation skills. Read the following questions and discuss them with your partner.

1.       You have learned English for several years, but do you often speak English with your classmates and friends?

2.       Are you afraid of making mistakes?

3.       How can you improve your English conversation skills?

4.       If you want to talk to a native speaker of English you meet for the first time, what topics are appropriate?

5.       How would you start and close a conversation?

Demo:

2.    Are you afraid of making mistakes?

     Yes, I fear to talk in English, especially with strangers. I'm not very good at speaking and I think I tend to make more mistakes when talking to my teachers and fewer mistakes with native speakers. I know mistakes are ok and helpful in our learning process, but still I just want to avoid making mistakes, especially on some formal occasions.

5. How would you start and close a conversation?

    Well, there are many ways to start and close a conversation. It depends on whether the conversation is formal or informal. If you are talking with a close friend, you can use any sentence to open or close a conversation. If you are talking with a stranger, you'd better be formal and polite. For example, you can open a conversation: "Excuse me, do you have a minute?" "Can I ask you a favor?" For closing a conversation, you can say: "Nice talking to you. Bye bye!"

Language Focus

Here are some useful sentences and structures that you might find handy in discussing the above questions: 

l  I often speak English to / with my friends.

l  To tell the truth, I seldom speak English.

l  I make mistakes whenever I open my mouth to speak English.

l  Mistakes are probably unavoidable when we try to speak a foreign language.

l  No mistakes, no progress.

l  I'm afraid of making mistakes because I don't want to lose face, so sometimes I just give up.

l  I think the best way to improve our oral English is to speak as much as possible.

l  We learn to speak by speaking.

l  Practice makes perfect.

l  Reading more and listening more helps to improving oral English.

l  No input, no output.

l  Topics like the weather, places, trips, hobbies, films, books...tend to be safe.

l  Personal questions should be avoided, I think. 

Listening Tasks

A Passage       How to Improve Your Conversation Skills

Word Bank

 appropriate      a.  suitable, proper  恰当的，合适的

 smoothly        ad.  easily, without difficulty  顺利地，无困难地

 half the battle       the thing that counts most in successfully carrying through a difficult task  成功的重要条件

Script

How  to  Improve  Your  Conversation  Skills

To speak to people in a foreign language requires courage and a willingness to make errors. Some people are so afraid of making mistakes that they never open their mouths. And that’s the biggest mistakes of all. Now if you have courage and are ready to make a few errors, what do you say?

First of all, you have to open the conversation. Finding an appropriate topic is half the battle. Some topics, such as the weather and news, work well. But others, such as age, money or people’s appearance do not. The following are some good ways to open a conversation.

Weather—It sure is cold today, isn’t it?

News—-Did you hear about that terrible forest fire?

A conversation in a foreign language doesn’t always go smoothly. Sometimes your partner talks too fast and you find it difficult to follow. Not to worry, though. You can always ask your partner to repeat what he has said or to speak more slowly. For example, “Excuse me, but could you say that again? I didn’t catch it.” Or “Could you speak more slowly, please?”

At the end of a conversation you need to find a way to close it in a polite way. “Well, I really need to be going” or “It was nice talking to you” are frequently used by people to end a conversation.

Language and Culture Notes

Background information   Language is closely related to culture. There are cultural differences between China and the English-speaking countries. In Chinese, questions like “Have you had your breakfast?” or “where are you going?” are often used to greet a person or to initiate a conversation. However, to native speakers of English, the question about the meal would suggest an invitation and therefore may cause misunderstanding. Similarly, the question “Where are you going?” in English is normally a request for information and only used by someone in authority or between very close friends. Therefore, in conversations with native speakers of English, we have to guard against inappropriate topics. In the West, directly asking adults, especially women, their age is generally regarded as impolite. “How much do you earn?” is also an embarrassing question, Income is considered as an extremely personal and private affair, and even within a family, one may not know the exact salary of another family member. Asking native speakers of English directly how much they paid for something is also regarded as an invasion of their privacy. If you really want to get information about the above-mentioned matters, you should use indirect ways. For example, instead of “How much did it cost?” you can say “Is it very expensive?” This gives your partner a choice of reply. In addition, do not give them advice, such as “Put on more clothes” and “Drink plenty of water”. Such remarks seem to them to be rather too parental. In a word, we have to make our English not only grammatically correct but also socially acceptable. In other words, we should be developing a cross-cultural perspective in learning English.

There are also similarities in the two cultures, despite the differences. Appropriate topic can be jobs, hobbies, housing, holidays and outings, films, TV programs, and other forms of entertainment.

Exercise 1:    Listening for general understanding

Listen to the recording once and then do the following.

1. Rearrange the order of the following sentences according to the passage you hear.

  a. Use some strategies to carry on the conversation.

  b. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, which are unavoidable.

  c. Choose an appropriate topic to start a conversation.

  Key: 1) b   2) c  3) a

2. Which of the following does the speaker intend to convey to the listeners?

  a. Courage and a willingness will definitely result in errors.

  b. Starting a conversation is more difficult than closing it.

  c. Choose an appropriate topic and the conversation will be a success.

  d. Mistakes are unavoidable when you learn to speak a foreign language.

Exercise 2:  Listening for details    

Listen to the recording once again and complete the answers to the following questions.

1. What are inappropriate topics to open an English conversation according to the passage?

       a. age    b. money       c. people's appearance

2. If your partner speaks too fast for you to follow, what can you say?

       a. Excuse me, but could you say that again? I didn't catch it.

       b. Could you speak more slowly, please?

3. How do you close a conversation politely?

       a. Well, I really need to be going.

       b. It was nice talking to you.

Speaking Tasks

Pair Work

Listen to the conversations and repeat after the recording. Practise the conversations with your partner, playing the role of A or B. Then work with your partner to create your own conversations by replacing the underlined parts with your own words.

Conversation 1

A:    Excuse me, Jack, 1) do you have a minute?

B:  Yes.  2) What can I do for you?

A:    Well, 3) I wonder if you could tell me how I could improve my oral English.        

B:  Mm.  Do you often speak English with your friends?

A:   I wanted to, but 4) every time I open my mouth I seem to make errors, so sometimes I just give up.

B:    I guess speaking in a foreign language isn’t easy. 5) You must be willing to make some errors at the beginning.

A:    You mean 6) I shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes.

B:  That's right.

A:    And I should 7) try to speak English as much as I can.

B:  8) Exactly.

A:  Thanks for the advice. 

B:  Any time.

Conversation  2

(On the way to class)

A:    1) Cold this morning, isn't it?

B:    Yes, and it's supposed to 2) get even colder.

A:    I hope it 3) won't get as cold as last night.

B:  Speaking of last night, did you attend the English Speech Contest?

A:    Yeah, I did. It was 4) terrific. 5) That guy who won the first prize speaks really fluent English. I do admire him.

B:    Me, too. We'll just have to work harder. Maybe one of us can win the next English contest.

A:  Yeah, maybe.  Who knows?

B:    Well, I have to run now. 6) I have an appointment with the dean.  Bye.

A:  Bye.

Part C    Additional Listening

A Passage    Smile When You Read This

Listen to the passage and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F). Correct the ones that are false.

1. The smiling students could remember more of the happy article than the frowning students.      (T)

2.         The smiling students could also remember more of the angry article than the frowning students. 

(F)   

(The frowning students remembered the angry article better.)

3. According to the speaker, facial expressions might affect a person’s memory.                  (T)

4. Nowadays the specialists understand why facial expressions can help to improve memory.           (F)      

(The specialists still don’t know why facial expressions help memory.)

Script

Smile When You Read This

How good is your memory? Answer these four questions: What did you have for breakfast yesterday? What clothes did you wear last Friday? Who did you talk to yesterday? Where did you go last Saturday? If you can answer all the four questions, your memory is very good.

Education specialists in England have been looking into ways to improve our memory of what we read. The specialists found something to help: facial expressions. They gave ten students a happy article to read. Five of the students read the happy article while smiling. Five students read the happy article while frowning. Then they answered comprehension questions. The smiling students remembered more of the happy article than the frowning students.

Then the specialists gave ten students another article to read. It was an angry letter to the editor of a newspaper. Five students read the angry article while smiling, and five students read the angry article while frowning. Which group remembered better? You’re right. The frowning students.

The specialists don’t know why facial expressions help memory. They are continuing to study the relationship between the mind and the body. Until they find the answer, keep smiling (or frowning?)!

Movie Time

Watch a video clip. After watching it, choose the right answer to each of the following questions.

Word Bank

Saturn               n.   [天]土星

approval             n.  赞成，同意

galaxy               n.  星系

factor in             v.  包括，把…计算在内

orbit                v.  绕轨道运行；在…轨道上运行

mature              a.   成熟的

evolve              v.  进化

consume             v. 消耗；大吃，大喝

vegetarian            n.  素食者

anniversary           n.  周年纪念

Script

Father and Son

Son:   What is it?

Father:  Saturn's rings await your approval.

Son:    Has anyone found life on other planets?

Father:  Not yet. Guess it's just us for now.

Son:    Okay. Then how many that might have life?

Father:  Well, if you count the number of stars similar to our sun in this galaxy, then you factor in the probability that they have Earth-like planets orbiting them ...

Son:   There are 10 million possible worlds with four million mature enough for life to evolve.

Father:  Why do you even ask?

Son:    Just making sure if you're listening.

Father:  Where (are) you going?

Son:    To watch that Discovery program.

Father:  But it's Dad's famous Sunday night, hot dogs on the run ... time.

Son:    I can't consume that. I've decided to become a vegetarian.

Father:  Well, when were you planning on telling the guy who buys the groceries around here?

Son:   Are you deaf? I just told you now, Dad.

Man on TV:  Six months old and bounding with energy, but, any parent knows, this is also a mixed blessing.

Father:  Off.

Son:    No, it's almost over.

Father:  You're not gonna be able to concentrate in class tomorrow.

Son:    I don't have class tomorrow. It's the 50th anniversary, remember?

Father:  I remember. Caleb, when I said it was just us out there, you know I was talking about space, right? I didn't mean heaven, or anything. I'm sure wherever Mom is ...

Son:    Dad, you don't even believe in heaven.

Father:  I never said that, Caleb. I just said we can't know for sure, that's all.

        If you want to believe, you go ahead and believe, okay?

Okay. Bedtime. Hey, you and me, together forever.

Son:    Forever.

Father:  I love you.

Son:    I love you, too.

Exercise

1. What was the boy interested in?

a.         The hotdogs.

b.         The evening party.

c.         The camp fire.

d.         The outer space and planets.

2. What did they observe through the telescope?

a.         Many Earth-like planets.

b.         A new galaxy.

c.         A planet orbiting the sun.

d.         The Moon.

3. Why didn’t the boy want the hotdogs?

a.         He’d decided to be a vegetarian.

b.         He was too tired to eat.

c.         He was unhappy.

d.         He’d already had his meal.

4. What did the father and son pledge?

a.         They would not argue any more.

b.         They would go to school together tomorrow.

c.         They would not part from each other forever.

d.         They would finish the job.

Time to Talk

Look at these pictures of university students and describe them one by one. Use your imagination as much as possible.