LESSON 02

LISTENING & SPEAKING

GROWING UP
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PREPARATION

I. VOCABULARY

Exercise 1 Scan the text below and underline these words:

rewarding sibling relate accommodating

adolescence interaction nurture

Study links early friendships with high-quality sibling relationships

Children who experience a rewarding friendship before the birth of a sibling are likely to have
a better relationship with that brother or sister that endures throughout their childhood, said
Laurie Kramer in a University of Illinois study published in December’s Journal of Family Psy-
chology.

‘When early friendships are successful, young children get the chance to master sophisticated
social and emotional skills, even more than they do with a parent. When parents relate to a
child, they do a lot of the work, figuring out what the child needs and then accommodating
those needs,’ says Kramer. However, this is not usually the case when two children are inter-
acting.

The research showed that the benefits of early friends are long-lasting. Children who had a
positive relationship with a best friend before the birth of a sibling ultimately had a good rela-
tionship with their sibling that lasted throughout adolescence, Kramer said. And children who
as preschoolers were able to coordinate play with a friend, manage conflicts, and keep an
interaction positive in tone were most likely as teenagers to avoid the negative sibling interac-
tion that can sometimes launch children on a path of anti-social behavior, she added. ‘From
birth, parents can nurture and help develop these social competencies (or skills) by making eye
contact with their babies, offering toys and playing with them,’ she said.

Exercise 2 Read the text and match the words you have underlined to the following defini-
tions.
nurture
1. help someone/something develop and grow .......................
2. agreeing to a demand .......................
accommodating
3. brother or sister .......................
sibling
4. respond to somebody .......................
relate

5. the stage between childhood and adulthood .......................

adolescence

6. giving a lot of pleasure .......................

rewarding

7. communication .......................
interaction

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VOCABULARY NOTE

Look for familiar words in longer words to work out their meaning, e.g. correlation
(one thing is linked with another); interrelated (the relationship between two or more
things). NB The prefix co-, (correlation or cooperate) often means with or together.
The prefix inter- (interact or intercity) often means between.

Exercise 3 Read the text again and say whether these sentences are TRUE (T) or FALSE (F).
Underline the part of the text that gave you your answer.
1. If young children have good friends then they will have a good relationship with their brother
or sister. ........
T
2. Parents help their children develop more social and emotional skills than friends do. .......
T

3. Friends will give you what you want more often than your parents do. F.......
4. Teenagers who fight with their brothers or sisters may behave in a way that is socially unac-
ceptable. T........
5. If parents play with their children more then they will learn how to be more sociable. .......
T

Exercise 4 A lot of words connected with families and relationships can also be used in a
different context. Complete the sentences with a word from the box.

adopt nurture relationship

conflict related relative
family relation

1. The wolf is a member of the dog Error warning

..................................
family Note the following common errors: l am writ-
2. The company decided to..........................
adopt a ing in relation to/with your job advertisement.
new approach to staff recruitment. NOT in relation of... . My relationship with my
3. The study found a strong.............................
relationship parents is very strong. NOT My relation with
between a lack of friends and sibling rivalry. my parents ...
4. Whether you think the price of goods is
high is .................................
conflict to the amount of Vocabulary note
money you earn. Note these collocations with the word rela-
5. Studies have shown that stress in adult- tionship. Verbs: build a relationship, develop
hood can be ..........................................
related to an a relationship, establish a relationship, form a
unhappy childhood. relationship, have a relationship
6. Good teachers identify the talents of their Adjectives: a close relationship, a long-stand-
students and ..................................
nurture them. ing relationship, a working relationship, a suc-
7. This evidence seems to ................................
relative cessful relationship
with the findings from previous studies. Prepositions: a relationship with someone,
8. I am writing in ...............................
relation to the job a relationship between two things or people
advertisement in yesterday’s paper. (NOT relationship to someone)

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VOCABULARY NOTE

Group together words that are similar in meaning or form, e.g. adulthood, brother-
hood, fatherhood. NB hood is used to form a noun and shows something belonging to
a particular group or has reached a particular stage (adulthood = the stage of being
an adult).

II. GRAMMAR

1. Adjectives
Adjectives describe nouns.
How adjectives are used
We can use adjectives
• before nouns:
There are so many historical buildings.
It was well worth the trip, especially if you like local crafts.
• after the following verbs: be, become, get, seem, appear, look, smell, taste, feel
The mosques in particular are very beautiful.
They always seem pleased to see you.
• after find/make/keep + object:
Work hard on your research if you want to make your trip enjoyable and rewarding.
I found the insects rather frightening.
• with other adjectives or with other nouns to describe a noun:
a long, tiring boat ride (adjective + adjective + noun + noun)

The order of adjectives

When we use adjectives together, we put words which express opinion before words which
describe the characteristics or type of what we are talking about:
a beautiful Turkish carpet (beautiful = opinion + Turkish = type: not a Turkish beautiful carpet)

We often use nouns as adjectives to add information about type:

the Gujarati Textile Museum

When we use more than one adjective to describe characteristics or type, they usually follow
this order:
size temperature age shape colour nationality material type
Indian silk embroidery small mountain villages
hot black coffee a beautiful old round table

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When there are two or more adjectives after a verb or noun, we use and between the last two:
The people are very welcoming and friendly towards visitors.

We use and between two colours:

vivid blue and green feathers

Adjectives ending in -ed and -ing

Some adjectives connected with feelings are formed from verbs and have two possible forms,
usually -ed or -ing e.g. tired / tiring. We use -ed forms to talk about how we feel:
I was fascinated to see the extraordinary range of patterns.
I was amazed at the variety of wonderful animals.

We use -ing forms to describe the things or people that cause the feelings:
It’s an absolutely amazing city to visit.
India is a fascinating country.

2. Adverbs
Adverbs give information about verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. Adverbs tell us how (man-
ner), where (place), when (time), how often (frequency), or how much (intensity) something hap-
pens or is done. An adverb can be a single word (sometimes) or a phrase (from time to time).

How adverbs are used

Adverbs which tell us about
• manner are often formed by adding -ly to the adjective form:
careful carefully happy happily

They usually come after the verb (and object, if there is one):
I plan my trips very carefully. (not I plan very carefully my trips)

• place usually come after the verb:

It was the first time I had been there.
Try to stay near the old part of the city.

• time such as today, tomorrow, now, since 2003, for three minutes can go at the beginning or
the end of a clause:
I had a very memorable trip last year. (or Last year I had a very memorable trip.)

• frequency usually come before the verb but after be or an auxiliary verb:
I often travel for my joh.
I have always enjoyed my visits there.
He’s never late.

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• intensity affect the strength of adjectives or adverbs:

fairly, quite, very, extremely, absolutely,
rather, pretty highly, really completely, totally
WEAKER STRONGER

The adverbs at the stronger end of the scale (absolutely, completely, totally) can only be used
with some adjectives. These tend to be ‘extreme’ adjectives that suggest a limit in their mean-
ing (e.g. terrifying, excellent, exhausted). Other ‘non-extreme’ adjectives (e.g. frightened, good,
tired) never collocate with these stronger adverbs. Compare:
There are some absolutely stunning examples of Indian silk embroidery. (not fairly stunning)
The people are very friendly. (not absolutely friendly)

Really collocates with most adjectives.

We cannot intensify adjectives or nouns which describe type (not a very Textile Museum).

The order of adverbs

When two or more adverbs are used together at the end of a clause the order is usually
manner place time:
I’ll meet you outside the station at six o’clock. (outside the station = place, at six o’clock = time)

Irregular adverbs
Some adverbs of manner look the same as the adjective form (e.g. hard, fast, straight, late,
early):
Work hard on your research. (adverb)
This is a hard exercise. (adjective)

Hard is an adjective and an adverb, and hardly is an adverb meaning very little:
He hardly had time to say hello. (= he had very little time to say hello)

Good is an adjective, and well is the adverb:

He spoke very good English. (describes English)
He spoke English very well. (describes how he spoke)

However, well can also be an adjective when talking about health:

She’s not well - she’s got a cold.

Grammar extra: Adjectives

Some adjectives can be followed by to + infinitive to add to their meaning (e.g. able, likely, right,
wrong, lucky) and some adjectives describing feelings (eg. surprised, afraid, happy, delighted)
I’ll be happy to answer questions.
I was fascinated to see the extraordinary range of patterns.

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Some adjectives can be followed by a preposition + -ing:

People are tired of hearing politicians’ promises. (not tired to hear)
I am not very good at taking photographs. (not good to take photographs)

Exercise 1 Read the test task and the students’ responses. Some of the adjectives they used
are underlined. If they are used correctly, put a tick (v). If they are wrong, write the correct
answer.

Describe a favourite place.

You should say:
• where it is
• what kind of place it is
• what makes it special
and explain why you like it so much.

My favourite place is a (1) quiet little wood near my home town in

Indonesia. I like it because it is a (2) green peaceful place. It is full 1. ...v...
of (3) old tall trees and there are lots of (4) wild interesting animals. 2. ...peaceful green...
3. .......................
tall old

I’m going to tell you about my bedroom. I love it because it is full of 4. .......................
interesting wild

my things. The walls are painted with (5) blue yellow stripes, and 5. .......................
v

there is a (6) wooden dark floor. There is a (7) lovely old photo of 6. .......................
dark wooden

my family by my bed, and all my precious books are on the shelves. 7. .......................
v

8. .......................
beautiful ruined ancient
My favourite place is the town I grew up in. It has (8) an ancient 9. .......................
old historical
beautiful ruined castle and lots of (9) historical old buildings. The 10. .......................
winding narrow
streets are (10) narrow winding, and there are lots of good shops. 11. .......................
busily noisy

It is (11) busy noisy, but I like that. I feel good there because I have 12. .......................
happily childhood

so many (12) childhood happy memories.

Exercise 2 Write the missing adjectives and adverbs.

impressively
dramatic - dramatically impressive - ................... slight - ...................
slightly
steady - ...................
steadily sharp - ...................
sharply steeply - ...................
steep

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Now use the words to fill in the gaps on the next activity. Use one pair of words for each
question.

1.
a. Sales of coffee showed a ......slight...... increase between
2004 and 2006.
b. Sales of coffee increased ......slightly...... between 2004
and 2006.

2.
a. The domestic car market showed an ........................
steeply growth
of 50% for three consecutive years from 2001 to 2003.
b. The domestic car market grew ........................
steep by 50% for
three consecutive years from 2001 to 2003.

3.
impressively
a. The world population grew ........................ between 1950
and 2005.
b. The world population experienced a ........................
impressive growth
between 1950 and 2005.

4.
a. The number of British households using their own shop-
ping bags when shopping fell ........................
steadily between 1965
and 2005.
steady
b. There was a ........................ fall in the number of British
households using their own shopping bags when shopping
between 1965 and 2005.

5.
a. House prices climbed ........................
dramatically during the first half

of the year before falling ........................

sharply in August.
b. There was a ........................
dramatic climb in house prices during
the first half of the year before a ........................
sharp fall in August.

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HOMEWORK

Exercise 1 Match the beginnings (1-8) and the endings (a-h) of the sentences. Join them by
adding a suitable ed or -ing adjective formed from one of the verbs in the box. Use each verb
once.

excite frighten interest please relax surprise tire satisfy

1. I was really ...pleased...c... a. adventure I’ve ever had. I can’t

2. Martin’s excellent exam results were ........................ wait to go back!
very ........................ b. as he hardly had time to study.
3. The jungle was full of strange noises ........................ c. when I opened my present be-
and I felt ........................ cause it was just what I wanted.
4. After so much hard work, it was a very ........................ d. after exercise.
5. Paula wasn’t ........................ e. moment when I finally finished
6. Having a warm bath can be very ........................ the project.
7. My trip through the jungle was the f. so I had a warm bath.
most g. during the whole trip.
8. After walking so far I felt very ... h. in the lecture so she fell asleep.

Exercise 2 Underline the correct words.

Environmentalists and conservationists tell us that there are ways that each of us can help to
(1) very reduce / greatly reduce our impact on the planet. We can (2) work hard / hardly work
to conserve energy and we can invest in equipment to help us create our own power. People
(3) say often / often say that they want to save the planet, but the only way to do this is to
(4) take immediately action / take action immediately.

It is (5) really important / important really for individuals to (6) responsibly act / act responsibly
and try to reduce their contribution to greenhouse gases. There are several ways we can do
this. For example there are mini wind turbines that you (7) can install easily / easily can install
on your roof as well as very efficient solar panels that (8) work good / work well all year round
to provide electricity.

But if this is all too expensive, there are other ways to conserve energy that actually save you
money. In cooler weather, simply keep the heat (9) inside safely / safely inside by closing doors
after you so that the warmth doesn’t escape. It is (10) absolutely essential / very essential that
we all take this seriously and do our best to lead a more sustainable life.

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Exercise 3 (Track 2.1) Listen to four people talking about the topics above. Write the num-
ber of the topic (1-4) from the list above and the person/people the speakers say they would
talk to about this. Write the words that helped you decide.

Topic Person/ people they would

Speaker Words that helped you
(1-4) talk to

A 4 movies, latest releases classmates

Exercise 4 (Track 2.1) Listen again and decide which of the speakers (A-D) the sentences
apply to.
1. The relationship between my brother and me is very close. ...c...
2. I have a lot more in common with my friends than with my family. ........
3. I have established a close connection with an older member of my family. ........
4. The relationship between my parents and me has broken down. ........

Exercise 5 COLLOCATION Use words and phrases from the recording and the statements in
Exercise 4 to complete the sentences.
1. My sister and I have totally different tastes. In fact we don’t have much .................................
at all.
2. There is a very close ........................ between a mother and a newborn baby.
3. It is important to ......................... a good working relationship .............................. your work
colleagues.
4. A relationship can easily ......................... if you don’t work at it.
5. I really admire the relationship...................................... my mother and my grandmother.
6. There can be a lot of......................... between teenagers and their parents.

Exercise 6

PART 1 (Track 2.8)

Questions 1-5
Complete the sentences.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Example
Peter consumes far too much soft drink
Peter and Mary’s diet will be both sensible and (1) ...............................
Every two months, they can eat (2) ...............................

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On Saturdays, they will go (3) ...............................

This coming Saturday, they will go to (4) ...............................
In every meal, there will be (5) ...............................

Questions 6-10
Choose the correct letter, C, I, or B.
Peter’s opinion Mary’s opinion
Tuesdays B (6) ...............................
Thursdays (7) ............................... (8) ...............................
Sundays (9) ............................... (10) ...............................

C. Chocolate
I. Ice cream
B. Biscuits

PART 2 (Track 2.9)

Questions 11 – 16
Complete the table.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Advantages of Stanfield Childcare Centre
Detail Another Detail

1 Walls are (11) ....................... includes the (12) .......................

2 Teachers are able to teach a (13) .............. There are many special (14) ...................

procedures to limit the spread of

3 They (15) ....................... Surfaces daily.
(16) .......................

Questions 17-20
Choose the correct letter, A, B, or C.
NB You may use a letter more than once.
A. Andrea
B. Bella
C. Cathy

Which childcare worker:

17. has her own children?
18. often sleeps at the center?
19. is good with shy children?
20. is a good cook?

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Exercise 7 Record your answer and hand in your recordings.

PART 1:
Public Transport
1. Do you often travel on public transports? (Why/Why not?)
2. Did you use public transport when you were a child? (Why/Why not?)
3. Do many people use public transport in…/your country? (Why/Why not?)

Sharing
1. Do you have anything to share with others recently?
2. Did your parents teach you to share when you were a child?
3. What kind of things do you like to share with others?

PART 2:

Describe a person who you are happy to know

You should say:
• Who this person is
• How long you have known this person
• What you do when you are with this person
And explain why you are happy to know this person

PART 3: Happiness in children

- (identify) things that often make children happy?
- (consider) any differences in the things that make children and adults happy?
- (evaluate) whether children are generally happier now than they were in the past?

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