Unit 1 : Education
I. Introduction:
Education:
Education helps to provide knowledge, develop a logical attitude and enhance the capability of an individual. A
country with educated citizens will always have people with logical thinking and views
Some factors that affect education:
Family – school – community – technology – books, magazines etc..
II. Vocabulary:
School buildings School subjects School activities Teaching/learning materials
· Schoolyard · Maths · Exams-tests ·Blackboards
· Classroom · Physics/chemistry · Scientific experiments · Whiteboard
· Dormitory · Biology/geology · Homework -assignment · Desks and tables
· Boarding school · Literature · Break time · Maps and posters
· Laboratory · History/geography · Oral presentations · Overhead projectors
· Sports fields · Islamic studies · Extra activities · Video players
· Auditorium · Physical education · Open days · Tablets
· Multimedia room · Foreign languages · Holidays · Smart Phones
· Library · Arabic · Field trips · TV set
· Cafeteria · Philosophy · Exhibitions · Bookshelves
· Restrooms/toilets · Technology · lessons · Laptops and desktops
· Internet connection
III. Functions:
a. Expressing opinion:
Asking about opinions Expressing opinions
What do you think about…. I think/ guess/ believe ..…
In your opinion, …? As far as I am concerned, …
What’s your opinion….? To my mind, …
Any initial thoughts on …? According to me, …
Do you have any particular views on …? Some people may disagree with me,
Are you for or against…..? but …
Do you think that …..? As I see it, …
If I asked your opinion about ......... , It seems to me that…
what would you say? In my point of view / my opinion,…
How do you feel about …? From my point of view…
Do you share the view that …? To the best of my knowledge, …
Please tell me your opinion on … To my mind / To my way of thinking, …
Would you agree that …? I have come to the conclusion that …
Personally speaking / Speaking for
myself, …
I’m no expert (on this), but …
I take the view that. ..
My personal view is that…
In my experience…
As far as I understand / can see/see it,…
b. Expressing agreement and disagreement:
Agreeing Disagreeing
I agree with you / I do agree I don’t agree with you
You’re definitely right. I totally disagree with you
I share the same view I think you’re wrong
We seem to be on the same wave length. I don’t share the same view
It’s so nice to meet someone who thinksthat I can see a hole in that argument.
way too. That’s not the way I see it.
I can’t argue with that. Sorry, but I am not convinced.
(I have) No doubt about it It is quite old-fashioned to say that.
That is a more convincing argument, I must Sorry but I am not convinced!
admit. That does not seem logical to me.
That’s a good point. That does not sound true to me.
I see your point. I have different point of view/ opinion.
(That) makes sense (to me).
That is logical.
Examples:
Alex: What do you think about single-sex schools, Suzy?
Suzy: Well, I think that they will perform better in mixed schools Alex: I do not share
the same point of view.
Bob: Any initial thoughts on studying English at university? Quinn: That
sounds a good idea.
IV. Grammar.
a. Past simples:
We use the Simple past tense to talk about a completedaction in the past:
There are two types of forms for the simple past tense: REGULAR and IRREGULAR:
Affirmative form
Regular verbs Irregular verbs
The verb changes
Examples:
· Be = (Singular=was) / (Plural=were)
Verb + ed · Go = went
Examples: · Have = had
· work = worked · Take = took
· (consonant + y) Study = studied · See = saw
· (vowel + y) play = played · Make = made
· Stop = stopped · Break = broke
· Calculate = calculated · Do = did
· Drive = drove
· Put = put
Past time expressions: Last – yesterday – ago – past dates (1999, 2000…)
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
S + verb + ed
(regular)
S + did not + verb Did + s + verb
Singular S + verb
I did not go.. Did he make…?
(irregular verbs
changes)
S + verb + ed
(regular)
S + did not + verb Did + s + verb
Plural S + verb
They did not play.. Did you study…?
(irregular verbs
changes)
Verb to be (past simple)
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
Singular S+ Was S + was not Was + s
Plural S + Were S + Were not Were + s
Examples:
1. I ……………………………. (be) at a party last week.
2. We ………………………. (be /not) at school yesterday.
3. ………………. (be) karima present last Monday ?
4. I ………………..(go) to Meknes two days ago.
5. The teacher …………………. (be /not) at school last week.
6. We …………………………(play/ not) football yesterday.
7. ………………. You ………………….. (take) the trash out last night?
8. I……………………… (see) three films last month!
b. Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are words that finish with either -self or -selves. They are used when the subject and the object of a
sentence are the same.
Personal Pronouns Reflexive Pronouns
I Myself Examples:
You (singular) Yourself - Jamal thinks of himself
He Himself - I did the exercise myself. No one helped me.
She Herself - Jamal and Jad blamed themselves for the accident.
It Itself Notice:
We Ourselves reflexive pronouns cannot be used after: Feel, relax,
You (plural) Yourselves concentrate, meet.
They Themselves Sami is upset, he can’t relax (not relax himself)
I need to concentrate (not concentrate myself)
V. Writing:
Paragraph:
A good paragraph should have these elements:
A topic sentence
Supporting sentences
Concluding sentence
Linking words (and, also, Furthermore, because, first, finally, to sum up, etc)
Punctuation
Example:
Write a paragraph about your school.
I am going to talk about the place which I like most, my
school Ibn Battouta. I have been there for 2 years. To begin
with, our school has a library, two laboratories, a schoolyard
and of course classrooms. Furthermore, our teachers are nice
and helpful but some of them overload us with exercises and
homeworks. I know it is for our benefit, but we get tired. We
also study different subjects,some of them are Maths,
Physics/chemistry, Biology, History/geography, Islamic studies,
Physical education, and Foreign languages. I live near my
school, so it takes me only few minutes to get there. To sum up,
I really like my school.
1. The topic sentence of the paragraph is a sentence that expresses the main idea of the paragraph.
2. Supporting sentences are used to explain and give evidence for the idea expressed in the topic sentence.
3. The concluding sentence in the paragraph is the last sentence in the paragraph, it summarizes the main idea of the paragraph
I can’t argue with that. I think you’re wrong
(I have) No doubt about it I can see a hole in that argument.
That is a more convincing argument, I must That’s not the way I see it.
admit. Sorry, but I am not convinced.
That’s a good point. It is quite old-fashioned to say that.
I see your point.
(That) makes sense (to me).