Unit 9
n. currency ? $ ? = different kinds of money n. bill / note
Q. What currency is used in your country?
Q. What currency is used in this country?
Q. Where can we change currency?
Q. What different kinds of bills do we have to pay?
Q. How much was your last telephone bill?
Q. How often do you get an electricity bill?
v. to go up v. to go down
If something goes up, it gets more expensive or bigger.
Prices, currencies and bills can all go up or down.
eg. Cigarettes have gone up recently.
My gas bill goes down by ?50 during the summer.
Q. Has your telephone bill gone up recently? Q. Are prices going up at the moment?
Q. Do electricity bills usually go up or down in summer?
Q. Would you be surprised if your rent went down?
adj. high adj. low
We can use the adjectives high and low to describe prices and bills.
Q. If your gas bill is high, is it cheap or expensive?
Q. Are prices usually high or low in a market / department store?
Q. What is the highest price you would pay for a:
a. good bottle of wine? b. pair of shoes? C. computer game?
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Q. Do you think your rent is too high?
n. unemployment adj. unemployed
Q. Is unemployment a big problem in your country?
Q. Is unemployment going up or down in your country?
Q. Do you think unemployed people get enough help from your government?
Q. How can people find work if they are unemployed?
v. to measure n. measurement n. distance
n. ruler n. tape measure
If you want to know how long, tall or high something is, it is necessary to measure it.
We measure distance in centimetres (cm), metres (m) and kilometres (km).
American English = centimeter, meter, kilometer.
1 mile = 1.6 km
eg. It’s about 200 miles from London to Manchester.
My father is 1.7m tall.
The classroom is about 4m long.
Q. How tall are you?
Q. About how high is the wall?
Q. About how long is the classroom?
Q. How far do you live from the school / company?
Q. What (units) do we use to measure distance?
Q. What distances do people run in the Olympic Games?
Q. How fast can you run a 100 metres?
A. I can run the 100 metres in … seconds.
n. weight v. to weigh
n. scales (plural) n. gram (g) n. kilogram (kg)
n. tonne = 1,000kg
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Q. What (units) do we use to measure weight?
Q. About how much does a baby weigh?
Q. What kind of scales do we use to weigh:
a. food? b. ourselves?
Q. Can you think of any animals that weigh more than a tonne?
n. temperature n. degree n. centigrade / fahrenheit n. ice
Q. What units do we use to measure temperature?
Q. At what temperature does:
a. water boil? b. water become ice?
Q. In what countries does the temperature often go above 40 degrees?
Q. In what countries does the temperature often go below zero?
Q. Why do some people put ice in their drinks?
v. to guess
Q. Do you know how tall I am?
Q. Guess!
Q. Can you guess how much a car weighs?
Q. Guess how many students there are at this school / in your company.
Q. Do you ever guess the answer in an exam?
Q. Guess what the temperature is today.
n. litre (l) (Am. Eng. liter) n. pint
We can measure water, beer, milk etc. in litres and pints.
Q. Do we use litres to measure petrol in your / this country?
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Q. How much is a litre of petrol?
Q. Is the price going up?
Q. How do you ask for beer in an English pub?
Q. Is a pint more than a litre?
Q. How many pints are there in a litre? 1 litre = 1.76 pints
v. to earn n. salary
earnt / earned
earnt / earned
Q. What kind of people can earn a lot of money?
Q. Does your company pay your salary every month?
Q. Has your salary gone up recently?
Q. Do people who don’t earn much money get help from your government?
n. tax % = per cent n. percentage
We can measure unemployment and tax as a percentage (%).
eg. Unemployment has gone up to 8%.
People pay 25% tax in the UK.
Q. How much tax do you pay in your country?
Q. Do you think rich people should pay more tax than other people?
Q. What percentage of the class are men / women?
Q. Is unemployment higher than 10% in your country?
Q. Do you think your taxes are too high?
measurements for buying clothes
collar-size / neck-size shoe-size
chest-size / bust-size waist-size
v. to fit
If clothes fit you, they are the right size.
NB. For shoes we say: I take size seven.
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Q. Can you guess what size shoes he / she takes?
Q. Would my shoes fit you?
Q. Are they too big or too small?
Q. When a man buys a formal shirt, what measurements does he need to know?
Q. Are you the same size as anyone in your family? Q. Do you borrow each other’s clothes?
adj. tight adj. loose
Q. Are tight jeans in fashion?
Q. Are loose clothes in fashion?
Q. Are tight shoes comfortable?
Q. Why do people often wear loose clothes in summer?
Q. Do you prefer wearing loose or tight clothes?
v. to suit adj. colourful (Am. Eng. colorful) adj. bright / dark
Colourful clothes are full of different colours.
When clothes or colours suit you, it means you look good when you wear them.
Q. Is red wine bright red or dark red?
Q. Why are post-boxes painted bright colours?
Q. Do bright colours suit you?
Q. Which colours really don’t suit you?
Q. Do you like colourful clothes?
Q. Would you wear colourful clothes to:
a. a job interview? b. a party? c. a wedding?
n. tie n. belt
Q. What do people wear if their trousers are a bit loose?
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Q. What are belts usually made of?
Q. Do you like colourful ties?
Q. When do men usually wear ties?
mod v. may mod v. might
May and might express the possibility that something will happen in the future.
eg. I may be late for the meeting because I’m very busy.
(I’m not sure, but it’s possible I will be late.)
The President said that unemployment might go down next year.
(The President doesn’t know, but it’s possible unemployment will go down.)
Q. Do you think there might be life on other planets?
Q. Do you think the price of petrol might go up next year?
Q. Do you think you might take an English exam in the future?
NB. We don’t usually use may or might in questions.
Q. What are you going to do next week?
A. I think I might……………………, or I might………………… .
Q. Who do you think will still be at this school in a year’s time?
Q. What do you think the weather will be like next week?
v. to insure n. insurance
n. medical insurance n. car insurance
n. house insurance n. travel insurance
v. to cover adj. covered to be covered
We get insurance because something bad might happen in the future, like an accident or
a fire.
We often say we are covered by different kinds of insurance we have bought.
Q. Why do people buy insurance?
Q. Do you have medical insurance?
Q. Do you think people should get travel insurance when they go abroad?
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Q. It is illegal for people to drive without car insurance in your country?
Q. Do you think it is important to have house (contents) insurance?
Q. What kind of people insure their legs?
passive voice (1) active and passive
Most sentences in English are active.
eg. Helen found the keys.
subject + verb + object
Some sentences in English are passive.
eg. The keys were found by Helen.
Subject + to be + past participle + by + object
We use the passive voice when the object of the sentence is more important or
more interesting than the subject.
A dog bit me (active voice)
The subject of this sentence is a dog and the object is me.
But, because I am more important than the dog, we can say:
I was bitten by a dog. (passive voice)
The subject of this sentence is I and the object is a dog.
NB. In an active sentence the verb changes the tense.
In a passive sentence the verb to be changes the tense.
past simple
active Shakespeare wrote ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
passive ‘Romeo and Juliet’ was written by Shakespeare.
future
active The President will open the new museum.
passive The new museum will be opened by the President.
exercise
Change these active sentences to the passive. (Remember: We use the same tense in the passive as in the active.)
1. John hid the money under my bed.
The money……………………………………………………………..
2. The shop sells gold watches.
Gold watches…………………………………………………………..
3. My brother ironed my shirt.
My shirt………………………………………………………………..
4. Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.
The Mona Lisa………………………………………………………….
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5. Everyone will use computers in 10 years’ time.
Computers……………………………………………………………..
6. A million people read this magazine every week.
This magazine…………………………………………………………..
Q. Who were the Pyramids built by?
Q. Who was Romeo and Juliet written by?
Q. Who was the famous painting Sunflowers painted by?
Q. Who was the song Imagine / Hotel California / Yesterday Once More sung by?
v. to arrest n. crime = an action that breaks the law
n. criminal = someone who breaks the law
adj. criminal
We often use the verb to arrest in the passive voice.
eg. He was arrested by the police.
Q. Why are people arrested?
Q. Do you know anyone who has been arrested? Q. What for?
Q. Have you ever been arrested?
Q. What for?
Q. Is it a crime to drink and drive in your country?
Q. Has anyone famous ever been arrested in your country?
Q. Can you think of any famous criminals? Q. What did they do?
Q. Do you like crime novels?
v. to steal v. to rob
stole
stolen
To steal and to rob have a similar meaning, but we say:
to steal something from someone – (single or double object)
to rob somewhere – (single object only)
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eg. They stole some money from the bank.
They robbed the bank.
Q. Would you steal food from a shop if you had no money?
Q. What would you do if you saw someone robbing a bank?
Q. Have you ever been robbed in the street?
Q. Has anyone ever stolen a famous painting from a museum?
Q. Did you use to steal sweets or chocolate when you were a child?
n. prison / jail adj. guilty adj. innocent
Q. Give me an example of a famous prison / prisoner.
Q. Do you think all criminals should go to prison if they are guilty?
Q. Do innocent people ever go to prison?
v. to feel guilty (about something)
Q. Do you feel guilty when you tell lies?
Q. Could you steal something without feeling guilty?
n. lawyer
A lawyer works with the law.
If you are arrested, you need a lawyer.
Q. If you wanted to be a lawyer, what subject would you need to study?
Q. Do you think that lawyers are paid too much?
Q. If you were arrested, who would you call?
v. to trust = believe that someone is honest and keeps their promises
Q. Can you always trust a lawyer?
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Q. Can you trust anyone who doesn’t belong to your family?
Q. Who do you trust with your secrets?
Q. Would you trust someone again if they broke a promise?
v. to agree / disagree (with someone about something)
Q. What is the most difficult thing to learn in English?
Q. Do you agree?
Q. What do people do when they disagree with each other?
Q. Did you always agree with your parents when you were a teenager? Q. What kind of things did you disagree about?
v. to agree to + infinitive
Q. Would you agree to pay more tax if your government spent more money on health and
education?
Q. Would you agree to pay more for your lessons if the teacher spoke your language?
passive voice (2)
Sometimes we use the passive voice without by + object because we don’t know or it
is not important who did the action.
eg. My car was stolen last night. – The person who stole my car is not known.
This book was written in 1997. – it is not important who wrote the book.
My shoes were made in Italy. – It is not important who made my shoes.
Q. In which countries is English spoken?
Q. Where were your shoes made?
Q. Do you know when your house was built?
Q. In what century was the Titanic built?
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