SINTEZA LIMBA ENGLEZĂ ANUL I IF An universitar 2016-2017 · introduce myself?” “I’m...

UNIVERSITATEA SPIRU HARET

FACULTATEA DE ȘTIINȚE ECONOMICE

SPECIALIZAREA MARKETING

SINTEZA LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

ANUL I IF

An universitar 2016-2017

Titular: lect. univ. dr. Raluca Burcea

Obiectivele cursului

îmbogăţirea vocabularului cotidian în limba engleză.

însuşirea şi aprofundarea formelor şi structurilor gramaticale de bază ale limbii engleze

dezvoltarea competenţelor lingvistice: citire, ascultare, exprimare orală şi scrisă

Competenţe conferite

La sfârşitul cursului studenţii vor fi capabili:

să înţeleagă sensul global al unui mesaj scris sau ascultat în limba engleză;

să folosească un limbaj adecvat pentru a descrie activităţi cotidiene;

să participe activ la interacțiuni verbale bazate pe limbaj cotidian;

să redacteze diferite tipuri de texte

să îşi exprime opiniile personale asupra unor subiecte cu caracter general sau semi-specializat

(aspecte de civilizaţie britanică / europeană);

să identifice timpurile verbale şi să le utilizeze în contexte adecvate.

Bibliografie obligatorie:

Barbu A.M., Chirimbu S., English Practice for Daily Use, Editura Fundaţiei România de Mâine,

Bucureşti, 2007.

Bondrea E., Mihăilă R. (Coord.), Aspecte ale civilizaţiilor europene, Editura Fundaţiei România de

Mâine, Bucureşti, 2009.

Bibliografie facultativă:

Leviţchi, L., Gramatica Limbii Engleze, Editura Teora, București, 1994.

Wellman, G., Wordbuilder, Heinemann Series. Oxford: Macmillan, 1992.

Lott, H., Real English Grammar, Marshall Cavendish Education, 2005.

Structura cursului

Unit 1: IDENTIFICATION. MEETING NEW PEOPLE.

Unit 2: EDUCATION. CAREER.

Unit 3: HOME. ENVIRONMENT.

Unit 4: TRAVELLING. ACCOMODATION.

Unit 5: THE HUMAN BODY. HEALTH.

Unit 6: GOING SHOPPING. MONEY.

Unit 7: FOOD. EATING OUT.

Unit 8: ENTERTAINMENT. SPORTS AND HOBBIES.

Unit 9: MEDIA. COMMUNICATION.

Unit 10: INTRODUCTION TO THE EUROPEAN UNION.

Notă: Vor fi exploatate din punct de vedere lingvistic, gramatical, funcţii ale limbii, traducerii textele

aferente unităților 1-10.

Prezentarea unităților de învățare

UNIT 1 IDENTIFICATION. MEETING NEW PEOPLE.

1. Identify yourself using the following questions:

a) What is your name?

b) When and where were you born?

c) Where do you live? Where are you living now?

d) Who do you live with?

e) What are your hobbies?

f) Which zodiacal sign were you born under? Do you know any of its main characteristics?

g) Do you have a job? If the answer is positive describe it in a few words.

2. Reading objective

Ten minutes to 8. I am going to the office. In front of the elevator door, my neighbour greets

me: “Morning”. “Morning”, I reply absent-minted.

After 9 hours I meet his uncle in the very place I’ve met him this morning. “Afternoon”, I say.

“Afternoon”, he answers.

7 o’clock p.m. I’d like to watch the news. But grandpa has a terrible headache.

“Have to go to the chemist’s to buy some pills for him”, I say to myself.

“Good evening”, I say. The chemist asks me smilingly:

“Good evening. What can I do for you?”

“I need something against a terrible headache”, I answer. She gives me a plastic bottle with

some pills.

“Twenty lei”, she adds.

“Here you are. Thank you. Good night”.

“Good night”, she says.

Our entire social life is marked by greetings. People’s greetings are connected with either

certain moments of the day or with certain events.




The greetings we utter in our everyday life are:

▪ 6-12 a.m. : “Good morning” to which we reply “Good morning”. In the informal speech

we use the short form “Morning”.

▪ 12-6 p.m. : “Good afternoon”, which will be answered the same way.

▪ After 6 p.m. : “Good evening” and “Good night”.

▪ No matter the hour we can say “Hello” when we meet somebody and “Goodbye” when

we leave a place or, more informally, “Hi” and “Bye”

What do you say if you meet someone you’ve never met before? You’ll have to introduce

yourself to the person whom is sitting next to you at a workshop/symposium or conference.

You will say your name and surname “My name is Elizabeth Parker”.

You may be introduced to an unknown person by one of your acquaintances: “Robert, this is

Elizabeth Parker.” Robert will say “Hello, Elizabeth”. You can answer: “Hello, Robert”. The interest

shown by the speaker is obvious in the question “How are you?”, which is generally answered “Very

well, thank you”, “Fine”, “Not bad”.

A polite person says: “Nice to meet you” if you see that person for the first time or “Nice to see

you”, if you know the speaker well.

If you arrive at a company for an appointment, your introduction will be more official. You’ll

be expected to say not only your full name, i.e. name and surname – Elizabeth Parker– but also the

reason why you are there.

“My name’s Elizabeth Parker. I have an appointment with Mr. Smith at 8.30 a.m.”, or “Can I

introduce myself?” “I’m Elizabeth Parker from the University”.

If a person who knows both speakers is there he will say: “I don’t think you know each other,

do you? Elizabeth, this is Robert White, our new marketing assistant manager. Robert, this is

Elizabeth, the English trainer I’ve told you about”.

If you introduce a person who is visiting your organization, be it school, college or office, to

your colleagues, you’ll say: “Mr. White, may I introduce my colleague, Daniel Green to you. Daniel,

this is Mr. White”.

After saying your name clearly, you add: “How do you do?”, sentence which has no particular

meaning, it’s simply a greeting.

If you are welcoming a visitor, you’ll be more polite than when welcoming an old friend:

“Mr. Green? How do you do?”

“How do you do, Miss Parker?”

“Do come into my office. I’m very pleased to meet you again”

Compare the above conversation, which is polite, formal with the following quite informal one:

“Hi, you must be Laura”.

“Oh, no, Liz, I haven’t seen you for ages!”

“Since we graduated. In the 1996. Makes 17 years ago.”

“How are things going?”

Reading comprehension:

a. According to the text, what are the greetings we utter every day?

b. What can we say when we meet somebody for the first time?

When meeting foreigners you may want to ask them about their country/ nationality or

you may be asked where you come from. The most usual questions are “Where are you from?”

or “Where do you come from?” (SUGGESTION: look over the grammar section of this unit

in order not to mistake this question for “Where are you coming from?”)

PRACTICE: Fill in the following table:

I COME FROM… I’M ... I SPEAK…

The United Kingdom

France

Spain

Portugal

The Netherlands (Holland)

Belgium

Germany

Italy

Poland

The Czech Republic

Slovakia

Croatia

Slovenia

Bosnia – Herzegovina

Greece

Romania

Hungary

Ukraine

Latvia

Lithuania

Russia

Switzerland

Austria

Iceland

The Republic of Ireland

Serbia

Montenegro

Macedonia (FYROM)




Albania

Canada

The United States of America

Mexico

Bolivia

Ecuador

Venezuela

Chile

Peru

Uruguay

Paraguay

The Argentine

Brazil

Australia

Iran

Iraq

Turkey

Pakistan

India

Afghanistan

Thailand

Indonesia

Philippines

China

Japan

North/South Korea

Syria

Lebanon

Israel

Egypt

Algeria

Morocco

Tunis

Tanzania

Angola

Zimbabwe

Zambia

The South-African Republic

The Congo

REMEMBER! THE NAMES OF NATIONALITIES AND LANGUAGES START WITH A

CAPITAL LETTER

Correct the mistakes in the following newspaper headlines:

a) Madonna to Marry a French? Hollywood Sensation! _________________

b) Iraqian Delegation Meets Pakistanian President ___________________

c) Vietnamian Refugees Leave Hong Kong Camps ____________________

d) Britains Have Highest Tax Rate in EU ____________________

e) Police Arrest Danish on Smuggling Charge __________________

FAMILY AND KINSHIP TERMS.

Try to concentrate for a few minutes and draw your family tree. On the first level you should

place your grandparents, then your parents, uncles, aunts and on the third line place yourself in

the diagram, as well as your sisters, brothers, cousins. Don’t forget their spouses. If you like, you

can also mention your great-grandparents, great uncles / aunts and in a separate diagram your

godparents.

GRAMMAR FOCUS: THE ENGLISH TENSES: PRESENT SIMPLE

1. Read the following sentences and in pairs try to find an explanation for the use of the

Present Simple:

a) There are nine planets in the solar system. Dogs bark. Both English and Romanian are

Indo-European languages.

The Present Simple is used _____________________________________

_____________________________________________________.

b) I go to church on Sundays. She usually goes on holiday twice a year. How often do you

visit your grandparents?


_____________________________________________________.

This use of the Present Simple is related to time expressions such as: _____

_____________________________________________________.

c) The plane leaves London at 9 am and reaches Bucharest three hours later. The press

conference starts in an hour. The president arrives at 2 pm.


_____________________________________________________.

d) As soon as the semester ends I’ll go to the mountains. If I have time I’ll visit you when I

come to Bucharest.


_____________________________________________________.




2. Read the following sentences and then complete the rules:

I smoke. He smokeS, too.

What time DO you usually get up on weekends?

DOES he love you?

Unfortunately we DON’T have enough money to buy a new car.

If she DOESN’T stop smoking she will become very ill.

In the Present Simple positive we add ___ to the verb with he, she, it, but not with I, you, we and

they.

For I, you, we and they the question starts with ____ and the negative is ____ + infinitive.

For he, she and it the question starts with ____ and the negative is ____ + infinitive.

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE

1. Read the following sentences and in pairs try to find an explanation for the use of the

Present Progressive:

a) We are having an English lesson now. I’m solving an exercise about the Present

Progressive at the moment.

The Present Progressive is used _________________________________

_______________________________________________________.

b) We’re studying English this year. My desk mate is taking driving lessons this month.

According to statistics, sales of durable goods are improving.


_______________________________________________________.

c) He’s such a nice guy, he’s always buying me flowers! Try to avoid him, he’s always asking

people for money. Please be more punctual, you’re never coming on time!


_______________________________________________________.

d) I’m seeing my friends tonight. Are you doing anything tomorrow evening? Yes, John is

taking me to a film.


_______________________________________________________.

e) Read the following sentences and then complete the rules:

ARE you having a good time? What IS he doing?

The baby ISN’T sleeping, I can hear him crying. I’M NOT eating sweets this week, I’m on a

slimming diet.

Questions in the Present Progressive are formed _____________________

__________________ while in the negative we add __________________

__________________.

Verbs not normally used in the progressive form

There are verbs which , because of their meaning, cannot be used in the progressive form. Such

verbs are:

- verbs expressing feelings: love, hate, like, dislike, envy, etc

- verbs expressing activities of the mind: think, believe, agree, forget, remember, remind,

know, intend, understand, realize, etc

- verbs expressing the activities of the senses: see, smell, hear, taste, feel.

- verbs expressing a momentary action: start, begin, stop, end.

- other verbs: be, have, own, owe, cost, consist of, contain, belong, weigh, matter, resemble)

- modal verbs (see Unit 7 and Unit 8)

However, there are exceptions from this rule. Read the following pairs of sentences and decide

why the progressive form is used in one sentence of each pair:

a) I think / believe you are right. I’m thinking about you. __________________________

b) I see very well with these glasses. I’m seeing my friends tonight. __________________

c) I’m smelling the cake. It smells great. ________________________________________

d) She is tasting the soup. It tastes a little salty. ___________________________________

e) I have a yellow car. I’m having dinner now. ___________________________________

f.) He is a very rude child. Why are you being so rude to him? _______________________

UNIT 2 EDUCATION. CAREER.

SECTION I. EDUCATION

LEAD IN

Before reading the text of this learning unit let’s answer a few questions connected to the topic:

1. Do you remember which was your favorite subject in school?

2. What about the subject you liked the least?

3. What would you appreciate at a teacher? What attitudes/ behavior of the teacher might

prevent you from learning?

4. What useful things do you expect to learn in the next three years?

5. Why is it important for you to learn English / a foreign language in general?

READING OBJECTIVE

OXFORD SCHOLARSHIPS OFFERED TO WIDEN UNDERGRADUATE ACCESS

Oxford University and its undergraduate colleges are launching a new scholarships scheme

and a major fundraising campaign to assist the process of widening participation. The Oxford

Scholarships will be the most comprehensive scheme of this kind to be offered by any UK

university and, when fully operational, will distribute almost £ 1million a year.

Undergraduates whose tuition fees are paid in full by their local authority will be eligible

to apply for Oxford Scholarships of at least £ 2,000. The scheme will be introduced for UK and

EU undergraduate students taking up places at Oxford every autumn; it is estimated that around

400 students will be eligible for a scholarship every year. Each scholarship will be worth £ 1,000

monthly in a student’s first year and $ 500 monthly in each subsequent year of the course.




Launching the scheme Dr. Colin Lucas, Vice-Chancellor, said : “Oxford is a world class

centre of learning. To maintain this standard, it needs to attract the brightest and best students,

whoever they are and wherever they live. The University wants to do all it can to remove barriers

which might prevent students with potential from applying for a place at Oxford.

SECONDARY EDUCATION. WHERE TO?

Secondary education is vitally important for young people. School plays an essential role

in preparing them for adulthood. However, there are a number of problems associated with

secondary education and the situation could be greatly improved if these problems were solved.

First of all, it is frequently reported that classrooms are overcrowded, with as many as forty

students per class. The result is that it is difficult for the students to follow what is going on in

the lesson. A maximum number of twenty-five per class would assure a more suitable

environment in the classroom and the students would be able to concentrate better and learn

more.

Secondly, a frequent complaint heard from school students is that their lessons are boring.

Although some teachers might say that it is the students’ fault rather than the teacher’s, it is

logical that not everyone will be equally interested in all school subjects. One solution would be

to allow students to exercise a certain amount of choice regarding their lessons. Since they

choose to attend a subject, the students will pay more attention in class.

Finally, too many young people leave school without the necessary qualifications to find

a job. The authorities in education should make sure that the subjects taught in schools are of

value in the outside world. It means that schools should place greater emphasis on vocational

skills which could be adapted for use in a job. This way people will still be educated and at the

same time their qualifications would be suitable to allow them to embark on a career.

To sum up, there are a number of ways to improve the standards of secondary education.

No system is ever perfect but such measures would help young people benefit from the best

educational opportunities.

Reading comprehension

1. Which is the reason why Oxford University officials have decided to initiate the

scholarships programme presented in the first text?

2. Who would benefit from the scholarships programme and what would the university itself

gain?

3. Which are the main problems secondary education has to face, according to the second

text?

4. Which are the possible solutions to each problem mentioned by the writer of the same text?

VOCABULARY: EDUCATION

▪ Match the two halves of these expressions to make some questions about education. Then

you can answer the questions orally.

a) In which school subjects did you always use to get 1.university?

b) When was the last time you failed an 2.low marks?

c) How easy is it to get a 3. in a foreign language?

d) Have you ever taken a course 4. on to further education?

e) What qualifications do you need if you want to go 5. exam?

f) What sort of things do you think it is best to learn 6. grant?

g)What time of day do you find it hardest to pay 7. by heart?

h) How do you apply for a place at 8. attention in class?

▪ What do the following abbreviations stand for?

BA ________________________ BSc ______________________

MA _______________________ MBA _____________________

PhD _______________________

GRAMMAR FOCUS : FUTURE SIMPLE

1. Read the sentences and fill in the blanks: a) I will become an economist. I’ll call you as soon as I get home. Grandma will be 80 next month.

Future Simple is formed by adding _______ in front of _________ .

b) Will you go to their party? I hope it won’t rain tomorrow.

A question in the Future Simple is formed by ____________________ while the negative form is

obtained by ____________________________ . (______ is the contracted form).

c) Future Simple is used to express ___________________________ . Some time expression that may

occur together with verbs in the Future Simple are:

________________________________________________ .

2. Write a short paragraph about how you imagine yourself 10 years from now on. Use verbs in the

Future Tense Simple. ____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

3. Read the following sentences and their translation into Romanian; then fill in the blanks. I will visit you when I have time. / Te voi vizita cand voi avea timp.

We’ll go inside as soon as the rain starts. / Vom intra in casa imediat ce va incepe ploaia.

If she invites me to the party I’’ have to buy a present. / Daca ma va invita la petrecere va trebui sa

cumpar un cadou.

Future tense is NOT used after ____________________________________________ . The

______________________ is used instead.

FUTURE PROGRESSIVE

1. Read the following sentences below and fill in the blanks:

We are having an English lesson now. We will be having an English lesson next week at this

time, too.

The teacher is explaining and the students are writing. Next Monday at this time the teacher will

be explaining and the teacher will be listening, too.

As it is weekend I think I will be still sleeping tomorrow at 9 am.

I’m sure it will be a great party, we’ll be dancing all night.

___________________________________________________________ are all verbs in the

Future Progressive. They refer to ____________________________

________________________________________________________________ .




▪ Say what you will be doing: a) today at 9 p.m.; b) tomorrow at this time; c) on Sunday

between 9 and 11 p.m..

SECTION II. CAREER

LEAD IN

1. How do you feel about working and being a student at the same time?

2. What kind of job would you like to have as a student?

3. Have you ever been to an interview? Why do you think you were / were not successful?

4. When applying for a job, the first step is usually to send an Application Letter (or Covering Letter)

and a Curriculum Vitae. What are the role and function of each?

READING OBJECTIVE

TELEWORKING

Would you like to be a teleworker? Teleworkers are people who work for companies but not in

companies. They do company work at home, usually on computers.

Teleworkers communicate with their supervisors by telephone, fax or e-mail. They usually

transfer information from their own computer to the office computer by electronic means.

Teleworking is becoming more and more popular in Britain and the USA; (in the USA it is called

telecommuting). At the moment, about 15% of the working population employed by companies

work at home, but experts estimate that this will rise to more than 20% in the next ten years.

There are many reasons for this increase. The biggest advantage for companies is that

teleworking reduces their running costs. Fewer employees at work mean less office space. Also,

computers are now quicker and easier to use, and the price has fallen sharply. For a company

which needs more manpower, one of the cheapest solutions can be to train employees in

computer skills and to give them a personal computer to use at home. More than that, fewer

people going to the office in the morning mean less traffic jams which is very important in large

crowded cities.

But before you apply for a job as a teleworker, you should ask yourself if it is really the best

situation for you. One employee who works for a big paper recycling company, hasn’t enjoyed

at all his last three months at home. “I often fall asleep in front of the computer because I don’t

have anybody to talk to”, he says. “So, at lunchtimes, I often go to the nearest fast food restaurant

which is just at the end of my road, and then the afternoon is gone!”. Next week he’s starting a

new job in a company where there are five people in one small office. “I can’t wait!” he says.


1. What is the new job of each of the four persons presented in the first text? What does their

previous experience consist of?

2. What do the four people in the first text have in common?

3. How does the second text define teleworking?

4. What are the advantages and disadvantages the text mentions for teleworking? Can you think

of other positive aspects and shortcomings?

5. Would you like to be a teleworker or would you rather go to the office every morning?

Build sentences using the following expressions:

a) to work in shifts ____________________________________________________

b) to be on flexi-time __________________________________________________

c) to work nine-to-five _________________________________________________

d) to go / be on strike __________________________________________________

e) to be fired / dismissed ________________________________________________

f) to be made redundant ________________________________________________

g) to be hired _________________________________________________________

h) to be on maternity leave ______________________________________________

i) to be on sick leave ___________________________________________________

j) to be a workaholic ___________________________________________________

k) to be promoted _____________________________________________________

l) to apply for a job ____________________________________________________

m) to be shortlisted ____________________________________________________

n) to make a living ____________________________________________________

o) to take on a job _____________________________________________________

GRAMMAR FOCUS: OTHER MEANS OF REFERRING TO THE FUTURE

1. Until now you have learnt four different ways of expressing the future. Which are they and

when can you use them? The following sentences will help you remember:

I will speak English more fluently if I spend a month in London.

_____________________________________________________________.

She will be resting this afternoon between 4 and 6

pm._________________________________________________________ .

The train for Budapest leaves at 6 am. _______________________________

_________________________________________________________ .

We are throwing a party next weekend, would you like to come?

_____________________________________________________________ .

2. Two more ways of referring to the future are TO BE GOING TO + VERB and WILL HAVE + PAST

PARTICIPLE (called Future Perfect). Read the sentences below and try to guess when you can use these

two expressions:

a) Hurry up, I’m not going to wait for you all day long! They are going to launch a new product next

month. Look at the sky, it’s going to rain! You’re going to catch a cold if you walk in the rain without

an umbrella.

TO BE GOING TO + VERB can be used to express ____________________

_____________________________________________________________ .

b) The lesson will have finished by 10 o’clock. We’ll have got home before 10 pm. Let’s hope the rain

will have stopped before we leave the faculty!

WILL HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE (Future Perfect) is used to express ______

_____________________________________________________________ .




LANGUAGE IN USE

The Curriculum Vitae and the Application/ Covering Letter

When you have decided to find a job, the first step is to read the ads for vacancies in different

newspapers, magazines, on specialised internet sites or to contact a recruitment agency. Then,

after you have selected some position that might suit your wishes and experience you need to

write an Application Letter and a Curriculum Vitae.

Read the following model of application letter and decide what its main communicative

functions are. The letter is written by a student of marketing who graduated an economic college

and also worked for eight months as a market research trainee for a company in Bucharest.

Advertisement: BEST FASHION Ltd, a multinational company providing expertise, human

resources and equipment for the clothing industry requires Assistant Manager (Ref. 095MK) for

its Marketing Department. Applications are accepted from students and recent graduates of

marketing and / or related fields. Applicants should be reliable and enthusiastic, willing to work

in teams and able to meet deadlines. Fluent English is a must while knowledge of French or

German would be a plus. E-mail or fax your covering letter and CV to Mr. Paul Densfield,

Human Resources Manager, tel./fax 021 3113030, e-mail [email protected]. Only

shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

APPLICATION LETTER

Attn. of : Mr. Paul Densfield

Human Resources Manager

Best Fashion Ltd.

Dear Mr. Densfield,

Ref. : 095MK (Assistant Manager Vacancy)

I am writing to apply for the position of Assistant Manager that you advertised in “Romania Libera”

newspaper on 15 June 2006 as I believe it offers the career challenge which I am seeking

As you will see from my Curriculum Vitae, I currently study marketing at “Spiru Haret” University and

last year I graduated from an economic college, which offered me a strong background in the field.

I would like to highlight the following skills which I believe would add value to your organisation:

- basic practical marketing skills and team work abilities developed by working

for a market research company as well as theoretical marketing knowledge acquired as a student of

marketing;

- ability to meet deadlines and to work under pressure developed as a market

research trainee;

- fluency in English acquired by attending an intensive Business English Course

and working in an English speaking environment for almost a year.

I have a genuine interest in marketing and I would appreciate the opportunity of an interview to discuss

why I believe I am an eligible and suitable candidate for the vacancy you advertised.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Andrei Popescu

Tel. 021 222 2020, 0720304050

E-mail: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:andrei_popescu@yahoo

UNIT 3. HOME. ENVIRONMENT.

SECTION I. HOME

LEAD IN

1. What do you think makes a city/ town/ village a good place to live in?

2. Are cities becoming more or less popular places to live in our country? Why?

3. If you were asked to choose a photograph to promote your town, city, region, what

image would you choose?

4. What are the first images that come to your mind when you think of the following

cities: New York, Paris, London, Sydney, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Moscow, Sao Paulo?

5. In a few words describe your home. Are there any specific reasons why you like/

don’t like it?

6. How does the ideal home look like for you?

READING OBJECTIVE

A FAMOUS PALACE

There are two addresses in London that the whole world knows. One is 10, Downing Street,

where the Prime Minister lives. The other is Buckingham Palace. This famous royal residence,

first built in 1703, is in the very centre of London.

The palace is two places, not one; it is a family house, where children play and grow up; a place

that survived many fires and that King George VI refused to leave during the second World War,

even after it had been bombed. It is also an official place where presidents, kings and politicians

go to meet the Queen.

Buckingham Palace is like a small town, with a police station, two post offices, a hospital, a bar,

two sports clubs, a disco, a cinema and a swimming pool. There are 600 rooms and three miles

of red carpet. Two men work full time to look after the 300 clocks. About 700 people work in

the Palace.

When the Queen gets up in the morning, seven people look after her. One starts her bath, one

prepares her clothes and one feeds the Royal dogs. She has eight or nine dogs and they sleep in

their own bedroom near the Queen’s bedroom. Two people bring her breakfast. She usually has

coffee from Harrods, toast, ham and eggs. Everyday for fifteen minutes, a piper plays Scottish

music outside her room and the Queen reads The Times. Every Tuesday evening, she meets the

Prime Minister. They talk about world news and have a drink.

When the Queen invites a lot of people for dinner, it takes three days to prepare the table and

three days to do the washing-up. Everybody has five glasses: one for red wine, one for white

wine, one for water, one for port and one for liqueur. During the first and second courses, the

Queen speaks to the person on her left and then she speaks to the person on her right for the rest

of the meal. When the queen finishes her food, everybody finishes, and it is time for the next

course.

Reading Comprehension

1. Why is Buckingham Palace two places, not one?

2. How old is Buckingham Palace?




3. Why is it like a small town?

4. How does the Queen begin her day?

5. What sort of music does the piper play? Do you happen to know which is the national

Scottish clothing?

6. How long do the employees at the palace work for an official dinner ?

7. Who does the Queen speak to during a meal?

8. Are the following sentences true or false ?

The Palace is more than five hundred years old.

It is famous because it is in the centre of London.

The dogs sleep in the Queen’s bedroom.

Every day the Queen listens to a Welsh music concert while she reads the Daily Mirror.

The Queen and the Prime Minister go out for a drink every weekend.

In a house, where would you find the following:

cutlery _________________________________

power-point and plug _______________________________

mop ______________________________

corkscrew ________________________________

towels _______________________________

attic / loft _________________________________

pantry _______________________________

peg _______________________________

GRAMMAR FOCUS: PAST TENSE SIMPLE

1. Study the following verb forms that you can find in an appendix of a grammar book:

WORK – WORKED – WORKED, DEVELOP – DEVELOPED – DEVELOPED, GO –

WENT – GONE, BREAK – BROKE – BROKEN. You can notice two different patterns:

a) verbs that form their Past and past Participle by simply adding _____ to the infinitive

(See Appendix II for spelling rules!) these are called regular verbs.

b) Verbs that have _____________ for the Past and Past Participle and therefore have to

be learnt by heart. In fact this is your homework for next week! (See Irregular Verbs

Appendix)

2. Study the following sentences and fill in the blanks:

We went on a trip last weekend. Did you stay at home last weekend? No, actually we went on a

trip.

We spent our summer on a Greek island. Where did you spend your summer? Oh, we didn’t

spend it in the countryside as we had first planned, we went to a Greek island.

Questions in the Past Simple contain the auxiliary ______ followed by the ______ and the

________ form of the main verb.

Negatives are formed by adding ________ in front of the ________ form of the main verb.

Complete these sentences using one of these verbs in the past.

I. sell, visit, buy, send, see, meet, get, ring, stand, lose, pass

a) He ___________ his car last year.

b) She ___________ us about a month ago.

c) The poor widow _____________ her small house last week.

d) I ___________ my answer by e-mail.

e) My brother ____________ you at the doctor’s yesterday.

f) She _____________ him on the bus.

g) They ______________ off the bus ten minutes ago.

h) He ____________ the bell and ____________ in front of the door.

i) When (you) _____________ your pencil?

j) (Helen) _____________ her exam?

II. sell, pay, eat, fly, go, wear, have, think, throw, write

k) They _____________ their house last year.

l) He ______________ all his debts last week.

m) John _____________a big breakfast this morning.

n) She _____________ two letters this morning.

o) The airplane ______________ over our house.

p) Harry _____________ to school by bus yesterday.

q) She ______________ her new dress last Sunday.

r) He _____________ about it for ten minutes.

s) Tom ___________ the stone at the bird.

t) (you) ____________ a big breakfast this morning?

PAST PROGRESSIVE

Study the following sentences:

Last week at this time I was studying the Future Progressive. I was climbing on a mountain

when I fell and I broke my leg. They were lying on the beach while the children were swimming.

___________________________________________________________ are all verbs in the

Past Progressive. They refer to ____________________________

________________________________________________________________ .

Say what you were doing: a) today at 9 a.m.; b) yesterday at this time; c) on Sunday

between 9 and 11 p.m.

LANGUAGE IN USE

Asking for / giving directions. Checking understanding.

If you go to a foreign country you may need to ask people for directions if you are not sure how

to get somewhere. The opposite situation is also possible: you may be stopped in the street by a

foreigner and asked for directions. In both cases understanding and using phrases such as: go

straight, turn right / left, take the second street right, take bus 90 for three stops, take tram 21

for five stops, get on / off the bus, etc is very useful.

Now read the following conversation between a stranger and a resident and underline with a

simple line the sentences used to ask for directions and information and with a double line the

sentences used to give directions / information.

Stranger: Excuse me.

Resident: Yes?

Stranger: I … I was wondering if you could help me.




Resident: Well, I’ll try.

Stranger: I need to find out where the town centre is. Now I see there’s a sign up there that

points to the left.

Resident: Ah well, let me see … er … it all depends if you’re on foot or going by car.

Stranger: Ah no, I’m walking.

Resident: Well, you turn to the right and then carry straight on.

Stranger: Ah, right, thanks! Er … I wonder if you could tell me if there’s a good hotel in

town that I can use.

Resident: Oh, let me think a moment … um … yes, there are two hotels – they’re in the

High Street one on each side of the road.

Stranger: Right, well, I expect I’ll manage to find one of those. I wonder if you could tell

me anything about the castle in town, where it is, I mean

Resident: Um, well, it’s actually further on … er … down the High Street and then you

cross over the bridge and it’s on the other side of the river.

Stranger: I see, I see. Could you tell me a bit more about it? Is it interesting? Is it old?

Resident: I’m not really sure. I’ve never actually been there myself. It … yes, I think it’s

quite old, I think it’s about … um … 500 years old – something like that.

Stranger: Worth … worth visiting, you think?

Resident: Well, it’s one of the tourist attractions of the town .

Stranger: I see, I see.

Resident: I’ve no idea, I’m afraid. As I say, I’ve never been there.

Stranger: I see. Do you happen to know when it’s open?

Resident: I’m not really sure. I think it depends on what time of year you go.

Stranger: Well, right, thank you, thank you.

Resident: Er, excuse me, I hope you don’t mind my asking, but where you come from?

Your English is very good.

Stranger: Oh, I come from Romania.

Resident: What a coincidence! I and my family are visiting your country next month!

Question techniques

A conversation often depends on question to keep it going in the direction you want it to go. The

one who asks the questions in a conversation usually controls the conversation. Various

techniques may be necessary to get different sorts of information from different people. Most

people are very polite in the way they ask a stranger about something – if you are more direct,

you may appear to be very rude!

Anyway, personal questions have to be expressed tactfully. Here are some useful opening

expressions you can use to lead up to questions:

I was wondering if you could help me. I’d like to know …

I wonder if you could tell me …

This may sound a stupid question, but I’d like to know …

Excuse me, do you happen to know …

Would you mind telling me …

I hope you don’t mind my asking, but I’d like to know …

Something else I’d like to know is …

Decide when such expression might be appropriate. They are also useful as ‘hesitation devices’

to give you time to prepare your thoughts!

Answering techniques You may often need to delay answering a question while you think for a moment or check on

your facts. Here are some useful techniques for delaying your answer in order to think of the best

answer:

Well, let me see …

Well now …

Oh, let me think for a moment …

I’m not sure, I’ll just have to find out …

That’s very interesting question …

Or you may want to avoid answering altogether, using expressions like these:

I’m not really sure.

I can’t tell you off-hand, I’m afraid.

I’m terribly sorry, I really don’t know.

I’ve no idea, I’m afraid.

I can’t answer that one, but I’ll tell you where you can find out.

I’d rather not answer that, if you don’t mind.

Decide when you might use these expressions. Think of some situations when they would be

appropriate.

GRAMMAR

1. Past Simple or Past Progressive? Underline the correct alternative.

a) She (was breaking / broke) her leg while she was playing.

b) You were sleeping when they (were leaving / left).

c) He (was smoking / smoked) a lot three years ago.

d) Betty got angry because we (were making / made) a lot of mistakes.

e) They (were spending / spent) their holidays in Malta when she was born.

f) As he (was trying / tired) to fix the antenna he hurt his head.

g) (Did she stop / Was she stopping) crying when you told her the news?

h) We (were lying / lay) on the beach while she was swimming.

THE ARTICLE

4. How do you call the underlined words in the following sentences? What about the blanks

indicated in the final two sentences?

a) She’s the girl I was telling you about. The chimpanzee is a species of monkey.

_____________________________

b) There’s a man waiting for you outside. Let’s have a rest.

____________________________

c) __Love and __ hatred are opposite feelings. ___ Humans are mortal.

____________________________




THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

5. Can you write the underlined articles phonetically? What do you notice?

The boy ________; the hour _______; the idea______ .

________________________________________________________________ .

6. The following examples will help you discover when you are supposed to use a definite article:

a) Close the door, please! The teacher has got into the classroom.

________________________________________________________________ .

b) We shall have dinner with the Jonsons.

________________________________________________________________ .

c) He always wants to be the first. This is the fifth year when I study English.

________________________________________________________________ .

d) He is the best friend I’ve ever had. Bill Gates is the richest person in the world.

________________________________________________________________ .

e) There are 20 students in the classroom. I’ll be waiting for you in front of the faculty.

BUT: He was sent to __ prison. / The prison was visited by some officials.

Pupils go to __ school every day./ There’s a fir tree in front of the school.

I go to __ church every Sunday. / The church we visited is very old.

The injured man was taken __ to hospital. / They live close to the hospital.

It’s time to go to __ bed. The cat is under the bed.

___________________________________________________________________

f) The English are a proud people. The old should be treated with respect by the young. The poor

benefit from many social security programmes in this country.

_________________________________________________________________ .

g) A compass always indicates the North.

_________________________________________________________________ .

h) The Alps, the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Lake, the Thames, the United

Kingdom are all geographical names.

__________________________________________________________________ .

i) By the way, how old are you? On the one hand I know smoking is a bad habit but on the other

hand it is so difficult to give it up.

__________________________________________________________________ .

Other expressions containing the definite article: ____________________________

__________________________________________________________________ .

LANGUAGE IN USE

Narrating. When coming back from holiday people usually share their experience with friends

and relatives. This activity of talking about past events is called narrating.

You can start narrating by using expressions such as:

Did I ever tell you about …

You’ll never guess what happened to me ……

That reminds me of the time I ……

Funny you should mention that because something similar happened to me once …….

If you want to stop a digression you can say:

As I was saying….

To get back to the story ……

And when you want to speed up the end of a story you may say:

To cut a long story short …….

Anyway, what happened in the end was …….

Remembering. Different sorts of questions can help people remember things that happened. If

you want specific information you need to use questions like these:

What happened next?

Had you already …?

Were you going to …?

What were you doing while …?

Then what did you do?

Why didn’t you …?

How did you feel when …?

Did you think of …?

Here are also some expressions that are often used to answer specific questions:

As far as I can remember …

I remember quite clearly that …

After that …

Before that …

While that was happening …

The next thing I did was to …

UNIT 4 TRAVELLING. ACCOMODATION

SECTION I. TRAVELLING

LEAD IN

1. How do you travel to and from the faculty? Is it time consuming?

2. How do you usually travel when you go on holiday?

3. Do you like flying or are you afraid of it? Say why.

4. What was your most/ least enjoyable way of travelling? Where were you going?

5. If you wanted to know a region/ a country better how would you travel?

6. Think of at least two positive and two negative aspects of travelling a) by land; b) by air;

c) by water. Tell them to the rest of the class.




READING OBJECTIVE

THE GREATEST ENGINEERING PROJECT EVER

The Channel Tunnel (or, in short, the Chunnel) is not just one tunnel; it consists of three

tunnels, each thirty miles (about 50 km) long. It is the second largest tunnel in the world. The

longest is the Seikan Tunnel in Japan, but the Channel Tunnel has a longer under-sea section.

Fifteen thousand workers participated in the construction (ten died in accidents) and 1,200

companies supplied equipment. It cost ten billion pounds to build.

One team began drilling in France and the other in England. The biggest problem for the

builders was ensuring that the tunnels met at exactly the same place under the sea in the middle

of the Channel. The drilling machines were the heaviest ever made, each weighing up to 575

tons. In the opinion of Roger Dobson, Director general of the Institute of Civil engineers in the

period when the Tunnel was built, it is “the greatest engineering project ever”.

The tunnel itself is an average of 45 m below the sea-bed and has 220 km of railway track.

It has the most sophisticated railway control system in the world, and is the busiest railway track

in Europe, with one train every three minutes.


1. According to the text, why is the Channel Tunnel so special?

2. Why was it so important for the builders that the two tunnels met at exactly the same place

under the sea?

3. How much did the building of the Channel tunnel cost?

4. What do you learn from the text about the railway in the tunnel?

VOCABULARY: How can you travel if you want to go to:

New York –by ____________

The Island of Crete – by ____________

The castles on the Loire – by _____________

Your grandparents in the countryside – by ______________

The supermarket – by _____________

An unknown place in an unknown city ________________

Place the following words in the right cell of the table below:

Words: petrol station, express train, cockpit, coach. duty-free shop, lorry, chopper, quay, van,

deck, air traffic controller, ticket collector, freight train, check-in desk, tanker, car, liner, sleeping

car, oar, rudder, captain, ferry, garage, runway, departure lounge, gears, fuselage, driver,

steering-wheel, yacht, steward, flight attendant.

Transport type Vehicles Parts of vehicle Staff Associated

facilities

Road

Rail

Sea

Air

Circle the most appropriate variant:

a) Rotterdam is a major European port / harbour.

b) The children were taken on a(n) journey / excursion by their teacher.

c) The irrigation channels / canals kept the land fertile in spite of the drought.

d) Several boats lay at anchor in the port / harbour.

e) I sailed both across the English Canal / Channel and the Suez Channel / Canal.

f) A century ago a voyage / trip from Europe to America could last for a few months.

g) The novels are based on his excursions / travels to India.

h) A trip / journey is any act of travelling.

i) The secretary told me that he was gone to London on a business voyage / trip.

GRAMMAR: PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

I have known her for 10 years = O cunosc de 10 ani.

He has just left. = Tocmai a plecat. It has been raining for a few hours. = Ploua de cateva ore.

1. Study the first two sentences above. What do the underlined verb forms consist of?

______________________________________________________________ .

2. Now read the following sentences and discover when you can use the Present Perfect Simple.

(The sentences in the Past Simple will help you compare different situations.)

a) I have seen that movie. / I saw it last weekend.

They have been to Greece three times. / They first went there on their honeymoon.

Have you met my cousin John? Actually we have. We met each yesterday at the office.

___________________________________________________________.

b) Oh, I can’t move, I think I’ve broken my leg!

I must stay in bed as I’ve caught a cold.

He’s lost his key and now he cannot enter the house.

________________________________________________________________ .

c) It has rained a lot this year. / It rained a lot last year.

I haven’t seen her this morning (It’s 11 a.m.) / I didn’t see her this morning. (It’s 5 p.m.)

________________________________________________________________ .

d) The clock has just rung. We have already studied the article. The English class hasn’t ended

yet. I have worked a lot lately/ recently. I’ve been a student for two months/ since October. We

quarrelled last week and he hasn’t talked to me ever since/ since then. I have always wanted to

spend my holiday on a tropical island. Have you ever seen an alien? I have never eaten seafood.

________________________________________________________________ .




In the following sentences put the verb in brackets in the correct form and complete them with

the words below. There may be more than one correct answers in some cases.

just, already, yet, since, for

a) The children (not-come) ______________ back from school _____________ .

b) Our neighbour (be) _______________ill ______________ several months.

c) We (see) ______________________________that film twice.

d) They (have)_______________ this house ____________1980.

e) He (return) _____________________________ from work.

f) I (not-see) him _______________________________ a week.

g) The game (not-finish )__________________________________ .

h) He (not-have)________________ any trouble with the car______________ he bought it.

i) Someone _____________________ (ring) .

j) My parents (not be) __________________abroad ________ Christmas.

k) (you have) ____________________breakfast ______________?

l) His son (be ill) _______________________six months.

m) Peter (come) _________________________ in.

n) Nobody (live) _____________________ in this house ____________a long time.

o) “Will you write to him?” “I (write) ________________________ him six letters”.

p) It (not-rain)__________________ at all _______________ last summer.

q) We (drive) _________________________________ two hours!

r) The Hawthornes (be married) ___________________________ not more than two years.

s) She (not-do) ___________________the washing_______________ .

t) She (not-make) _____________________ any progress ____________.March.

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

The underlined verb forms in the sentences a) The teacher has been talking for a few

minutes. and b) I have been living in Bucharest since I became a student. are called

______________ .

They are used to express: a) ______________________________

___________________________________________________; b)______________

___________________________________________________________________.

The time expressions used in combination with Present Perfect Progressive are most often

introduced by _______ and _______.

Read the situation and respond to it using the words in brackets.

Richard is all wet. (he / walk / in the rain)

He has been walking in the rain.

a) I’ve got a headache. (I / work hard / all day)

______________________________________________________________

b) You got here fast. (I / run)

______________________________________________________________

c) The room is full of smoke. (David / smoke)

______________________________________________________________

d) What’s that nice smell? (Chris / bake a cake)

______________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE IN USE

In an airport. Read the following conversations and together with your desk mate decide where

they might take place: a) passport control; b) baggage claim; c) the check in desk; d) the plane;

e) the arrival hall; f) the departure lounge.

Conversation 1: _________________________

A: Ah!…. MA 348 to Madrid. That’s our flight.

B: Was it gate 6 or 16?

A: I couldn’t hear well either. I think it was 6.

B: Listen, there it is again. It is gate 6.

A: OK, come on!

Conversation 2: ________________________

A: Can I see your passport please?

B: Yes, of course. Here you are.

A: Where are you travelling?

B: To London, I’m attending a two-day seminar on market research.

A: It’s OK, Sir. Thank you very much.

Conversation 3: ________________________

A: Can I have your ticket please?

B: Yes, of course. Here you are.

A: Do you have just one suitcase? This bag is hand luggage.

B: That’s fine. Smoking or non-smoking?

A: Non-smoking, please.

B: OK, madam. Here is your boarding pass. Have a nice flight.

Conversation 4: ________________________

A: Can I have your tray, madam?

B: Yes, here you are.

A: Thank you. And can you fasten your seat belt? We land in ten minutes.

B: Yes, of course.

Conversation 5: ________________________

A: Excuse me, I think that’s my suitcase.

B: I’m sorry, my suitcase is red too.

A: Maybe that one is yours?

A: Yes, it is. Thank you very much.

Conversation 6: ________________________

A: Hello! Are you Mihai Ionescu from Romania?

B: Yes, I am. And I suppose you are Mr. Smithson from Best Fashion Ltd, aren’t you?

A: Yes, I am. You’re right. Welcome to England, Mr. Ionescu. Was your flight good?

A: Yes, it was, thank you for asking.

B: Let’s go, I’ll see you off at your hotel. The company car is waiting for us outside.




GRAMMAR: THE COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

Read the sentences below and then fill in the blanks:

Adjective: HIGH. Kilimanjaro is a HIGH mountain. The Alps are HIGHER THAN the Carpathians.

Everest is THE HIGHEST mountain in the world. This tree is almost AS HIGH AS our house. As far

as I know, Mount Omu is LESS HIGH THAN Mount Everest.

Adjective: LARGE. The Balaton is a __________ lake in Hungary. An ocean is ________ than a sea.

The Pacific is ________ ocean in the world. My room is ________my brother’s; in fact they are

identical. Usually, a bedroom is _________ a living-room.

Adjective: RICH. This is a district for _____ people. The writer J.K. Rowling is ________ the queen

of England. In fact she is _________ person in the UK. I wish we were _______ Bill Gates! He is

_______ his brother because he hates work.

Adjective: IMPORTANT. This is an IMPORTANT issue. Is English MORE IMPORTANT THAN

other languages? Some people claim it is THE MOST IMPORTANT language in the world. In this

company being loyal is AS IMPORTANT AS working hard. Is Physical Education LESS

IMPORTANT THAN other school subjects?

Adjective: INTERESTING. Meeting new people is really ___________. Studying marketing is

______________ than I expected. He is ______________ person I have ever met. The critics say his

new book is _____________ the previous one. The Economics course is ____________ than the

Accounting one; maybe because it’s too theoretical.

Adjective: BEAUTIFUL. Everybody considers her a ___________ woman. This dress is

_____________ than the one you bought. She won the beauty contest although she was not

_______________ participant. She is ___________ her mother. Sorry, you look ____________ with

this new haircut.

The following adjectives have irregular comparison:

good – better – the best

bad – worse – the worst

far – farther / further – the farthest / the furthest

much / many – more – the most

little – less – the least

near – nearer – the nearest / the next

old – older / elder – the oldest / the eldest

LANGUAGE IN USE

At the reception desk. Checking in / out. Complaining.

Unscramble the lines below to obtain a conversation at the Reception Desk of a hotel.

____ Certainly. A single room or a double?

____ Just this one bag.

____ Yes, sure. Do you want my address, too?

____ Here is your key. Your room number is 213.I hope you’ll enjoy your stay.

____ Single, please.

____ Good evening. Can I help you?

____ A shower. How much is the room?

____ Yes, please. Could I have a room for the night?

____ No, thanks. Just breakfast. Can I pay by credit card?

____ No, just a signature. Do you have any luggage?

____ Yes, Visa and access. Could you sign the register, please?

____ Would you like a room with a shower or a bath?

____ $59 for the room and breakfast. Would you like an evening meal as well?

____ Thank you.

Complaints. A direct complaint in English often sounds very rude indeed. To be polite we usually “break it

gently” and use expressions like these before we actually come to the point:

I wonder if you could help me …

Look, I’m sorry to trouble you, but …

I’ve got a bit of a problem here, you see …

I’m sorry to have to say this, but …

It is usually better to break it gently like this than to say, for example:

Look here! I don’t like my room, it’s noisy and dirty.

OR I’ve just about had enough of the food in your hotel.

It is often not enough to just say “Sorry” and promise it won’t happen again. You may need to

apologise more profusely, like this:

Oh dear, I’m most awfully sorry.

I can’t tell you how sorry I am.

I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise.

I just don’t know what to say.

I’m ever so sorry.

UNIT 5 THE HUMAN BODY. HEALTH

LEAD IN

1. How do you feel about growing older?

2. With which age(s) would you associate the following: wrinkles, nappies, baldness, a

mortgage, expecting a baby, being promoted, grades and exams.

3. Complete the following sentence and explain your answer: “I wish I could look like…..”

4. How have beauty canons changed over the centuries?

5. How would you describe the latest fashion for men/ women?

6. How would you get dressed in the following circumstances: a family picnic, a job

interview, an ordinary day at the faculty, a wedding reception, an evening out with your new

boyfriend/ girlfriend.




READING OBJECTIVE

IS BEAUTY IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER?

Is there such thing as the perfect face? Is beauty something you can measure?

Recent scientific evidence suggests that the answer is ‘yes’. A new science, the science of

attraction, has come to the conclusion that beauty is objective and quantifiable and not, as the

romantics believe, in the eye of the beholder.

For more than a century it was believed that a beautiful face was appealing because it was

a collection of average features. Using a computer system, scientists have challenged the theory.

In a key experiment, photographs of women were ranked for their attractiveness by a number of

volunteers. Two composite pictures were then created: one, the average of all pictures; the other

made from those considered most attractive. Although the faces looked very similar at first

glance, a significant number said they preferred the composite of most attractive faces.

The conclusion was that the most attractive shape was not average. If you look at famous

film stars and supermodels, most of them have ideal features – larger than normal eyes, higher

arched eyebrows, slightly smaller noses, cheekbones are a little more prominent. Even popular

cartoon characters such as Betty Boop, Yasmin from “Aladdin” and Bambi have big eyes, small

turned-up noses, big mouths and small chins. And if these features are exaggerated , the

attractiveness rating goes up even more. Julia Roberts is a good example of this.

But what have scientists discovered about men’s faces? Do men with large eyes, high

cheekbones and a small chin have the same irresistible appeal? Researchers were a bit shocked

at the result of their experiment. They expected the most attractive male face to have the classic

square jaw and strong cheekbones, but instead, women seem to prefer men with gentle faces.

Although there is more pressure on females to be perfect, research suggests that men and women

look for the same things, for example expressive features such as arched eyebrows and a big

smile were associated with attractiveness in men. Scientists have thought of an evolutionary

reason to explain why so many women now prefer baby faced stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio

or Tom Cruise. Women like a man with a feminine face because he is more likely to have higher

levels of the female hormone oestrogen and therefore to make a kinder and more trustworthy

husband and father.

Do these ideals of beauty cross cultural boundaries? In some cultures scars and tatoos or a

fatter than average body are considered to be attractive. Scientists found out that there are only

subtle differences between ethnic groups. For example Asians tend to prefer faces that are

slightly less mature and slightly less expressive, whereas blacks preferred faces that were a little

more plump. In other words, although there might be a little truth in the old saying that beauty

is in the eye of the beholder, on the whole we all seem to be attracted to the same things.


Decide whether the following assertions are true or false according to the text. Correct the false

ones.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Beauty can be explained.

There is more pressure on men to be perfect that there is on women.

Most film stars and supermodels don’t have ideal features.

People tend to like the same features, no matter the ethnic group.

VOCABULARY The dictionary entry for compounds formed with the word head contains the

words enumerated below. Find the compounds under hair, eye and finger. Write sentences with

those that are new to you.

HEAD HAIR

Headache

Headband

Headline

Headstone

Headquarters

Headphones

Headmaster / mistress

EYE FINGER

GRAMMAR FOCUS: PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

1. Read the following sentences and try to place the actions expressed by the underlined verb

forms on the time axes:

When we arrived at the hospital the doctor had already examined him.

________________________________________

By the time we reached the airport the plane had already landed.

________________________________________

She had got dressed and then she left.

2. What do you notice about the Past Perfect Simple?

a) What does it consist of? _____________________________________________ .

b) What does it express? ______________________________________________ .

c) What time expressions does it go with? _________________________________ .

PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

3. Now do the same two exercises for the following sentences:

It had been raining for a few days when it finally stopped.

________________________________________

As he had been working since morning he was exhausted.

________________________________________

They had been training for years when they finally obtained their first gold medal.

________________________________________

Past perfect Progressive consists of ____________________________________ .




It refers to __________________________________________________________ .

The time expressions most frequently used together with the Past Perfect Progressive are

introduced by _______ and _______ .

LANGUAGE IN USE

1. Describing people. Sometimes it is necessary to have a few clues about a person you haven’t

met yet ( e.g. if you are waiting for that person in an airport, if you are supposed to meet

somebody and you want to be certain you are going to recognise him / her). The most common

question you can ask when you need to know how a person looks like is What do you look like?

2. Answer these remarks with the opposite description.

Example: A: I thought he was the short round-faced one.

B: No, quite the opposite, he’s the tall, thin faced one.

a) A: So, tell us about the new colleague; good looking?

B: No, I’m afraid not; rather ___________________

b) A: I’ve heard she’s always quite well dressed.

B: What! Who told you that? Every time I see her, she’s ___________________

c) A: Was that his brother, the dark-skinned, wavy-haired one?

B: No, quite the opposite, his brother’s _____________________

d) A: I expected the tour guide to be middle aged or elderly.

B: No, apparently she’s only _________________________

e) A: So, Janet is that rather plump, fair-haired woman, isn’t she?

B: No, You’re looking at Mary. Janet is ________________________

HEALTH: VOCABULARY Match the diseases with their symptoms:

Flu swollen glands in front of ear, earache or pain when eating

Pneumonia burning pain in abdomen, pain after eating

Rheumatism rash on your skin, slightly raised temperature

Smallpox dry cough, high fever, chest pain, rapid breathing

Mumps headache, fever, cough, sneezing, running nose

Ulcer swollen, painful joints, stiffness, limited movement

What medical problems might you have if:

You stay too long in the sun _______________________________________

You run too fast after a bus _______________________________________

You smoke a lot ________________________________________________

You eat too fast _________________________________________________

You wear shoes that rub __________________________________________

You eat food you’re allergic to _____________________________________

You get wet on a cold day _________________________________________

You think you’re ill all the time _____________________________________

You cannot stay for too long in a closed space _________________________

You put things on fire _____________________________________________

You steal people’s things _________________________________________

Translate into English: Am racit. Ma doare in gat. Am febra. Ma doare stomacul. Mi-e rau. Am o vanataie pe picior. Ma simt

ametit. Ma simt deprimat. Ma simt obosit tot timpul. Nu am pofta de mancare.

GRAMMAR: THE PLURAL OF NOUNS

1. The plural of nouns is definitely one of the first grammar topics you studied when you started

learning English. At least the first two of the following sets of examples should be familiar to

you. Try to generate rules for them as well as for the other pairs of singular-plural nouns that

follow.

a) Book Books ________________________________________

Course Courses

b) Box Boxes ________________________________________

Match Matches

Brush Brushes

Cross Crosses

Buzz Buzzes

c) Potato Potatoes ________________________________________

Tomato Tomatoes

BUT: piano Pianos ________________________________________

d) Leaf Leaves ________________________________________

Wife Wives

BUT: dwarf Dwarfs ________________________________________

e) Boy Boys ________________________________________

Day Days

Party Parties ________________________________________

Country Countries

f) Deer Deer ________________________________________

Fish Fish

Sheep Sheep

Fruit Fruit

g) A piece of Information Information _______________________________

A piece of Advice Advice

A piece of Furniture Furniture

A piece of

A piece of

Luggage

News

Luggage

News

NOTE: the nouns information, advice, furniture, luggage, news have a singular form and a plural

meaning. They are followed by a verb in the singular.

2. The following nouns have irregular plurals. Which are these?

Man _____________

Woman _____________

Child _____________

Foot _____________

Tooth _____________

Louse _____________

Mouse _____________

Goose _____________

Ox _____________




3. Write the plural of the following nouns:

Bus __________ lady __________

Radio __________ joy __________

Knife __________ half __________

Class __________ fireman __________

Wolf __________ chair __________

Volcano __________ buffalo __________

Deer __________ cry __________

Handkerchief __________ basis __________

Gulf __________ datum __________

Shelf __________ ray, __________

Roof __________ Bridge __________

Fly __________ Cross __________

4. The following nouns, which you may use in business reports and presentations come from

Greek or Latin; their plural is different from the usual one in English. Look at the model and fill

in the blanks:

Datum Data Axis Axes

Addendum _________ Crisis _________

Symposium _________ Basis _________

Phenomenon Phenomena Analysis _________

Criterion _________ Hypothesis _________

Don’t forget to write down the translation of the new words above.

5.Choose the correct verb:

The information (is, are) correct.

The furniture in the castle (is, are) very old.

The news on the radio (was, were) quite worrying.

Where (is, are) the scissors?

The sanatoria in this region (is, are) specialised in lung diseases.

UNIT 6: GOING SHOPPING. MONEY

LEAD IN

1. How frequently do you go shopping? What do you buy most often?

2. Do you prefer super/hypermarkets or small shops? Explain your answer.

3. Which is the most extravagant thing you have ever bought?

4. Which is the most expensive thing you have ever bought?

5. How important is it for you to buy branded products? Which are your reasons for (not)

buying no name products?

6. Can you define FMCG, durables, white goods, brown goods?

7. How much does advertising influence your buying choice?

READING OBJECTIVE

A FAMOUS BRAND

Marks &Spencer, the British food and clothes company is the most famous British shop in

the world. At the moment there a few hundreds M&S shops in Britain and other shops in France,

Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and more recently, in many East European countries.

In North America, the company owns Brook Brothers and there are about fifty stores in Canada.

More and more, people from Hong Kong to Lisbon are buying their clothes and food from M&S.

The company employs about 50,000 people worldwide. Sales have increased by 80% over

the last ten years mainly due to expansion overseas. Many of the shops abroad are franchises.

Owners of franchises buy all their stock from Marks & Spencer and pay the company a

percentage of their turnover.

The clothes vary from country to country. In Thailand, for example, M&S sell more short-

sleeved shirts because of the climate. In Japan, they sell smaller sizes because of the average size

of the population. In Austria they stock very large clothes. Food departments sell typically British

food: tea, cake, biscuits, etc., and the shops in Paris are very popular at lunchtime for the sale of

sandwiches.

Why is Marks and Spencer so successful? The standards of quality are very high. All

suppliers have regular inspections. All customers can return any item which they think is

unsatisfactory. Stocks are limited. Shelf lives are short. This means that items only stay in the

shop for six to seven weeks. Eighty per cent of the suppliers are British; in fact, M&S buys

twenty per cent of the total cloth produced in Britain. Prices are high but so is the quality. In

Britain one man in five buys his suit at M&S, and one woman in three buys her underwear there.

What is the future? At the moment the company is expanding in Central and Eastern Europe

where it has opened shops in almost all the capital cities, Bucharest included. Asia is another

new market for Marks & Spencer. It is possible that in about ten years one Chinese in five will

wear Marks & Spencer suits. That’s a lot of suits!


1. How does Marks&Spencer customize their offer from country to country?

2. Why is the brand so famous all over the world?

3. What are the company’s plans for the future?

Here are some words used to describe materials. What clothes can you make of them?

Silk _________________________________________________________________

Cotton ______________________________________________________________

Lace ________________________________________________________________

Velvet _______________________________________________________________

Denim ______________________________________________________________

Leather ______________________________________________________________

Wool _______________________________________________________________

Cloth _______________________________________________________________

Fill in the blanks with one of the verbs match, suit, fit:

That green dress _______________ the girl with the blonde hair.

The green of her dress ________________ the green of her eyes.

The green dress _______________ her properly now as she’s lost some weight.




Here are some adjectives for describing people’s clothing. Appearance: well-dressed,

badly-dressed, fashionable, old-fashioned; Style: long / short-sleeved, V-neck, round-

neck; How things fit: baggy, loose, tight; general: elegant, smart, trendy, scruffy.

Now try to describe in as much detail as you can a) yourself; b) a famous person you can see in

a picture (in a magazine).

When you go shopping you don’t only buy clothes. You may also need to buy food or

other products. If you go to the supermarket what are you going to find in each of the

following departments:

Grocery _____________________________________________________________

Market/ greengrocery __________________________________________________

Dairy _______________________________________________________________

Bakery _____________________________________________________________

Confectionery ________________________________________________________

Beverages ___________________________________________________________

Butcher’s _________________________________________________________

Clothing _____________________________________________________________

Cosmetics ___________________________________________________________

Non- food ___________________________________________________________

What can you buy in :

a bottle ______________________________________________________________

a box ________________________________________________________________

a can ________________________________________________________________

a carton _____________________________________________________________

a jar _________________________________________________________________

a tin ________________________________________________________________

a tube _______________________________________________________________

a packet _____________________________________________________________

a crate _______________________________________________________________

Now try to complete the following shopping list:

A ___________ of vanilla biscuits

3 ___________ of beans

a ___________ of honey

4 ___________ of coke

2 ___________ of low-fat milk

2 ___________ of cigarettes

a few __________ of matches.

GRAMMAR

1. Fill in the blanks with the Past Tense or Present Perfect of the verb in brackets:

THE BODY SHOP

The first branch of The Body Shop ___________ (open) in 1976 in Brighton, England. Since

then, it __________ (grow) into a worldwide organization with more than 1000 stores and it

__________ (remain) committed to activities that help communities on both a local and global

scale.

Employees of the Body Shop are encouraged to take a half day’s paid leave each month to

participate in activities beneficial for their local communities. The company even __________

(win) the UK Award for Employee Volunteering a few times.

Until now, the company __________ (run) many different campaigns, ranging from “Stop the

Burning”, to protest about the destruction of Brazilian rainforests, to human rights campaigns,

run in association with Amnesty International. In 1990, 2.6 million people ____________ the

Body Shop petitions against animal testing. And one year later in the Refill Recycle campaign,

customers ___________ (bring) over 560,000 bottles back to the company’s shops in the UK for

refilling.

The company also ___________(support) the launch of a newspaper, sold by homeless people

who __________ (keep) a proportion of the newspaper’s price. On the first day it __________

(sell) 10,000 copies and in time it __________ (progress) from a monthly to a weekly newspaper,

with a circulation of 135,000 copies per week.

The company’s expansion in Central and Eastern Europe was welcomed by the new customers,

but it didn’t only mean the opening of shops. In 1990 The Body Shop __________ (start) a

Romanian Relief Drive Programme to help abandoned children. In that period the project

___________________________ (renovate and refurbish) more orphanages and ___________

(begin) care programmes to improve the quality of the children’s lives. Since the start the

company ____________ (take care) to involve local people in their efforts and the British teams

of volunteers ___________ (work) together with Romanian staff. Now more than fifteen years

___________ (pass) since Body Shop __________ (become) a familiar presence in Romania

and the company will continue its activity here.

NOUNS (2)

2. In the previous unit you have learnt about the plural of nouns. Now we are going to study

some other nouns which only have a singular or a plural form. Read the following enumeration

and try to generalize which nouns fall into these categories:

a) economics, mathematics, politics, informatics (+ verb in the singular)

_________________________________________________

b) chocolate, gold, sand, sugar, oil, meat (+ verb in the singular)

_________________________________________________

c) trousers, jeans, shorts, overalls (+ verb in the plural)

_________________________________________________

d) scissors, compasses, glasses, binoculars, spectacles (+ verb in the plural)

_________________________________________________

e) information, luggage, advice, furniture, news, money, business, knowledge, merchandise(+

verb in the singular)

_________________________________________________




3. The nouns in (b) and some of the nouns in (e) above can be individualized. Translate the

following syntagms:

O informatie ______________ Un sapun _______________

O piesa de mobilier ______________ Un tunet _______________

O ciocolata ______________ Un fulger _______________

O paine ______________ Un bagaj _______________

O felie de paine ______________ O veste/stire _______________

4. Nouns such as: family, crew, police, audience, government, herd, class are called collective

nouns because they refer to a group of people/ animals/ objects. They are followed by a verb in

the singular if we refer to them as compact entities, as a whole and by a plural verb if we refer

to their members.

Ex. My family consists of four members. / My family are at the seaside.

An audience is a group of people watching a show. / The audience were delighted.

Now try to choose the correct verb form:

a) The crowd (is, are) cheering the speaker.

b) The gang of robbers (was, were) arrested last night.

c) The play will begin after the audience (settle, settles) itself/ themselves.

d) This class (is, are) the best in the school.

e) His family (is, are) very angry with him.

f) My favourite football team (play, plays) tonight.

g) The cattle (is, are) entering the farm yard.

h) Our group (consist, consists) of 25 students.

5. Translate into English:

O multime de oameni ____________________________

Un buchet de flori ____________________________

O serie de evenimente ____________________________

O echipa de specialisti ____________________________

O banda de hoti ____________________________

Un lant de munti ____________________________

6. Complete the sentences with is, are, was, or were.

a) The news ________ not very good last night.

b) Physics _______ more difficult that I thought.

c) Darts_______ a popular game in pubs.

d) The scissors _______ not very sharp.

e) Three thousand pounds _______ stolen in the robbery.

f) What time _______ the news on T.V.?

g) Her clothes _______ terribly wet when she came.

h) Politics _______ their favorite topic of discussion.

i) The stairs ________right in front of you. Can’t you see them?

j) Do you think measles ________ dangerous?

7. Underline the correct alternative.

a) He’s given me (an advice / a piece of advice).

b) We’ve had (such good weather / such a good weather).

c) He wants to read something. Buy him (a paper / some paper).

d) How many (pieces of furniture / furniture) will they bring?

e) The information (doesn’t seem / don’t seem) to be correct.

f) Have you got (many / much) luggage?

g) He hasn’t made (much / many) progress.

h) Why (is / are) the police here?

i) There (is / are) a lot of people in the square.

j) I bought a (pair of trousers / trousers) last week.

k) Your English (have / has) improved.

l) (Her hair is / Her hairs are) beautiful! She needn’t go to a hairdresser’s.

LANGUAGE IN USE

Asking for / giving suggestions, opinions.

1. When you go shopping you might want to ask for suggestions / opinions or offer suggestions

/ opinions to the person(s) accompanying you. Here are some useful opening expressions graded

according to how formal they are:

INFORMAL If you ask me …

You know what I think, I think that …

I’d say that …

The point is …

Wouldn’t you say that …

Don’t you agree that …

As I see it …

I’d just like to say that I think that …

FORMAL I’d like to point out that …

Decide when the different expressions would be appropriate. Do you agree with the order

they have been put in? Can you suggest more expressions?

There are many ways of trying to get people to do things for their own good. The expressions

you use depend on:

a) how difficult or unpleasant the course of action you suggest is.

b) Who you are and who you are talking to – the roles you are playing and

your relationship.

2. In this list below the expressions are in order of tentativeness:

TENTATIVE I was wondering if you’d ever thought of …

Might it be an idea to …

Have you ever thought of …

Don’t you think it might be an idea to …

You could always …

If I were you I’d …

Why don’t you …

DIRECT You’d better …




LANGUAGE IN USE

Paying and bargaining. If a product you want to buy has no price label you may ask : How

much is it ? or How much does it cost ? The shop assistant can ask you : What method of payment

do you you prefer : cash, by cheque or by credit card ?

If you go shopping in an ellegant boutique in the centre of a large city it is quite probable that

bargaining is not accepted. But if you go to small shops, to bazaars in Greece, Turkey or the

Middle East the shopkeepers will be happy to haggle and most of the speak English.

If you don’ agree to their price you can say something like : I’ll buy this for … (sum) . or : How

much is that if I buy two ? , I’ll buy a T-shirt as well if you give me the jeans for 10 euros.

Stating preferences. When you go shopping ( and not only) you may need to express your

preferences.

Comparing things often involves making a choice. If we are comparing different cars, items of

clothing, etc for example, we often state our preferences at the same time. Here are some useful

ways of stating what you prefer:

As far as I’m concerned, the best …

From my point of view, the best …

I’d go for this one because …

I’d much prefer that one because …

This one is preferable because …

I’d rather have that one because …

UNIT 7. FOOD. EATING OUT

LEAD IN

1. Name two or three things that you eat/ drink almost every day. Are they healthy?

2. Name two or three things that you never eat/ that you eat very rarely. Is it a good choice?

Should you eat these things more often?

3. How often do you eat out? Who accompanies you?

4. Do you have a favourite restaurant? Which are the reasons why you go there?

5. Have you ever tried to eat exotic food/ sea food?

6. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?

READING OBJECTIVE

EATING IN BRITAIN

A traditional English breakfast is a very big meal – sausages, bacon, eggs, tomatoes,

mushrooms. But nowadays many people just have cereal with milk and sugar, or toast with

marmalade, jam, or honey. Marmalade and jam are not the same! Marmalade is made from

oranges and jam is made from other fruit. The traditional breakfast drink is tea, which people

have with cold milk. Some people have coffee, often instant coffee, which is made with just hot

water. Many visitors to Britain find this coffee disgusting!

For many people lunch is a quick meal. In cities there are a lot of sandwich bars where

office workers can choose the kind of bread they want – brown, white or a roll – and then all

sorts of salad and meat or fish to go in the sandwich. Pubs often serve good, cheap food, both

hot and cold. School children can have a hot meal at school, but many just take a snack from

home – a sandwich, a drink, some fruit, and perhaps some crisps.

“Tea” means two things. It is a drink and a meal. Some people have afternoon tea, with

sandwiches, cakes, and, of course, a cup of tea. Cream teas are popular. You can have scones (a

kind of cake) with cream and jam.

The evening meal is the main meal of the day for many people. They usually have it quite

early, between 6.00 and 8.00 p.m. and often the whole family eat together.

On Sundays many families have a traditional lunch. They have roast meat, either beef,

lamb, chicken, or pork, with potatoes, vegetables and a sauce.

The British like food from other countries, too, especially Italian, French, Chinese and

Indian. People often get take-away meals – you buy the food at the restaurant and then bring it

home to eat. Eating in Britain is quite international!


Are the following sentences true or false? Correct the false ones.

Many British people skip breakfast.

Marmalade is different from jam.

People drink tea with hot milk.

Many foreign visitors love instant coffee.

Sunday lunch is a special meal.

All British people eat dinner late in the evening.

Pubs are good places to go for lunch.

When you get a take-away meal, you eat it at home.

British people eat dinner late in the evening.

People often have cereal or toast for dinner.

VOCABULARY.

a) What do we call the meat of the following animals?

Sheep __________________

Cow ___________________

Deer ___________________

Pig ____________________

b) Which of the following are herbs and which are spices: oregano, cinnamon, parsley, curry,

vanilla, pepper, rosemary, ginger, dill.

Spices: _______________________________________________________

Herbs: _______________________________________________________

GRAMMAR FOCUS: MODAL VERBS (1)

CAN / COULD, MUST, MAY / MIGHT

1. Compare the following sentences and discover how the modals differ from other verbs. You

can work in pairs.

a) To study is a verb and so is Can.




_________________________________________________________________ .

b) He plays tennis very well. / He can play tennis very well.

_________________________________________________________________ .

c) I want to eat something, I’m rather hungry. / I can speak French fluently.

_________________________________________________________________ .

d) Do you come here often? / Can you come a little, please?

_________________________________________________________________ .

e) I don’t like him at all. / I’m sorry I cannot help you, I’m quite busy these days.

_________________________________________________________________ .

f) Present: They study a lot. / They can come with us. I must leave now.

Past: They studied a lot. / They could come.They were able to come. I had to leave.

Future: They will study a lot. / They will be able to come. I will have to leave.

_________________________________________________________________ .

2. What do the underlined verbs express? Use the following terms in your answers: obligation,

ability, permission, certainty, interdiction, lack of obligation, possibility, probability,

impossibility.

a) I can speak two foreign languages fluently. ______________

Can you swim? ______________

Can I leave now? _______________

He can be at home, I haven’t seen him at the faculty. ________________

He cannot have said such a thing, he’s a very polite man! _______________

b) May I come in, sir? _______________

You may not smoke inside public buildings. ________________

He may be studying as he has a test tomorrow. ________________

c) Students must pass all their exams in order to get a diploma. _______________

You must be John’s brother as you resemble him very much. _______________

Must we go to bed so early, mum? No, this time you needn’t. It’s Sunday tomorrow.

______________________

3. As you have already learned from ex. 1, modals do not have all the tenses and moods. Ability

CAN is replaced by TO BE ABLE TO, permission MAY is replaced by TO BE ALLOWED

TO or TO BE PERMITTED TO and obligation MUST by TO HAVE TO. Use these four

expressions in the sentences below:

a) I (can – future tense) ____________speak Japanese if I spend one year in Japan.

b) They (must – past tense) ___________ wake up early to catch the plane.

c) The students (may – future tense) ____________ to speak during the test.

d) She never (can – present perfect tense) __________ to understand her daughter.

e) We (must – future tense)____________ finish our project by the end of the month.

LANGUAGE IN USE

Inviting. Accepting / refusing an invitation. Apologising .

Depending on the addressee, an invitation can be more or less formal. Read the following

possible invitations and rank them according to their degree of formality.

a) We’re going to the theatre on Sunday evening and we were wondering if you’d like to join

us. _____

b) If you’re free tonight, why not come round for a drink ? _____

c) If you don’t have any plans for the weekend I’d be happy to show you the old town and

some museums. I’m sure you’ll love it. _____

d) Hello, sir. Andreea Popescu speaking, Mr. Howard’s assistant manager. He would like to

invite you to dinner tomorrow evening. Woud that be possible for you ? _____

e) It gives me great pleasure to invite you to the hotel’s inauguration ceremony , on the 20th

next month. ______

f) We would be honoured if you accepted to have supper with the members of our department

at the company club on Friday evening. _____

g) How about going to a movie on Saturday ? _____

VOCABULARY

Food can be salty, sweet, bitter, sour hot or tasteless. How do the following items taste like:

tonic water ______________, sea water, ______________, pudding _______________ , rice with curry

______________, strong black coffee _______________, an unripe apple _____________, crisps

_______________, lemon _________________ .

GRAMMAR: THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE

1. Why do the following indefinite articles differ from each other: a house, a student / an idea, an ocean?

__________________________________________________ .

2. Read the following sentences and find out when you can use the Indefinite Article:

a) A person has called and asked for you.

__________________________________________________________________ .

b) I’m a student and I will become an economist.

__________________________________________________________________ .

c) I have a brother and two sisters.

__________________________________________________________________ .

d) I have few/ a few friends. I have managed to save little/ a little money.

__________________________________________________________________ .

e) What a pity! He’s such a good man. He works as an accountant.

__________________________________________________________________ .

f) You have to take this medicine twice a day. How much are the apples?£0.99 a kilo.

__________________________________________________________________ .

g) Why did you keep it a secret? It will be difficult to keep a slimming diet as I have a sweet tooth. Take

a seat, please!

__________________________________________________________________ .

Other expressions containing the indefinite article: ___________________________

__________________________________________________________________ .

THE ZERO ARTICLE

There are cases when no article is necessary in front of a noun. Language scientists have called this

situation the Zero Article.

4. The following examples will help you understand when you should use the Zero Article. Together with

your desk mate write down the rules as well as some examples of your own.

a) Children like sweets. Sometimes students cut classes.

__________________________________________________________________ .

b) Love and happiness are what everybody wants.

__________________________________________________________________ .




c) Romania lies in the South-East of Europe. Adina is the author of this book. BUT: The Argentine, the

Sudan, the Congo, the Hague, the United Kingdom, the USA.

__________________________________________________________________ .

d) Is English a difficult language? Maths and Economics were my favourite subjects in school and tennis

was my favourite sport.

__________________________________________________________________ .

e) I’m going to the dentist’s on Monday. My birthday is in October.

__________________________________________________________________ .

f) We usually have dinner at about 8 p.m. / The dinner you prepared was delicious.

__________________________________________________________________ .

g) They were walking arm in arm. She looked at me from head to foot. Things were getting better day by

day. I don’t know all my students by name. He is in debt.

__________________________________________________________________ .

Other expressions containing the Zero Article:______________________________

__________________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE IN USE

Ordering food. Talking to the waiter.

If you go abroad you may want to eat out, so it would be useful to know a few words coonected

to ordering food. Read the following short dialogues between a guest and a waiter and then build

your own dialogues.

a) A : Hello, sir !

B : Hello. Can I have a have sandwich, please ?

A : Yes, of course. Here you are. Anything else ?

B : No, thanks.

A : Fifty nine cents, please.

B : Thanks. Keep the change.

A : Thank you, sir.

b) A : Hello, I’m John Howard. I have booked a table for six for 9p.m. tonight.

B : Hello, sir. Just a moment to check your booking…. You’re right, table for six, near the

window, 9 p.m.. The waiter will see you off at your table.

C : Hello, ladies and gentlemen, follow me. This way, please… this is your table… and here are

the menus. Enjoy your evening.

c) A : Are you ready to order, madam ?

B : Yes, I’d like two tuna salads, two chocolate icecreams and a white coffe for my friend.

A : Sure, madam. Anything else ?

B : A glass of still water for me, please.

A : OK, madam.

B. Thank you.

d) A : Yes, sir ?

B : A coffee, please.

A : Black or white ?

B : Sorry ?

A : Black or white ? Milk ?

B : Ah ! Black please. No milk.

A : Sixty pence, sir.

B : Thanks.

UNIT 8. ENTERTAINMENT. SPORTS AND HOBBIES

LEAD IN

1. What’s your favourite pastime? How do you relax?

2. How can you spend your free time in the city/ town/village where you live?

3. How would you entertain a foreigner whose host you are for a weekend?

4. What do you understand by active entertainment?

5. Tell the rest of the class about your favourite indoor/ outdoor activity.

6. What is the entertainment industry?

7. Extra question: when did you last laugh until you cried? Share the experience with your mates.

READING OBJECTIVE

MATERIAL GIRL

Her look is ever changing. The white-painted face, with lips like a strawberry is framed by

a straight curtain of dark glossy hair. So it is difficult to believe that this is Madonna, the woman

who sums up the idea of independence in the post-feminist era, posing as a silent, submissive

girl.

But to take Madonna at face value is to misunderstand one of the most complex and clever

female stars of the past two decades.

She is the mistress of reinvention; and behind every change of image – always total, always

perfect down to the last detail – is a carefully thought strategy to get the attention that she wants.

From the moment the Detroit convent girl left for New York more than twenty years ago

with a burning ambition to be the world’s most famous woman, she has shown an amazing talent

for transformation.

She was named the new face of Max Factor make up – quite an achievement at the age of

forty. She desperately wanted the role of Eva Peron in the film Evita, so she showed director

Alan Parker she was the perfect choice by adopting an uncanny resemblance to the Argentinian

president’s wife.

Her life has been a perpetual amazement to her fans. She was married to the actor Sean

Penn for a short period and the had numerous affairs to more or less famous men. When she

finally decided to settle down she married British director Guy Ritchie and has become a genuine

English lady.

All her albums were a success and fans of all ages still fill the world’s largest stadiums

when she has concerts.


1. Why does the author of the text consider Madonna an amazing person?

2. What is she famous for?

3. How has her life changed in time?




4. In your opinion, how has the entertainment industry contributed to making Madonna a famous

person all over the world?

VOCABULARY What musical instruments would you expect to see / hear at :

a) a rock concert ___________________________________________________

b) a jazz concert ___________________________________________________

c) a classical music concert ___________________________________________

What sort of TV programmes do you think these would be:

- Last Week in Parliament _________________________________

- The $ 10,000 Question __________________________________

- World Cup Special _____________________________________

- The Amazing Underwater World __________________________

- Rambo III ____________________________

- La Povre Maria ____________________________

GRAMMAR: MODAL VERBS (2)

SHALL, SHOULD, WILL, WOULD, OUGHT TO, NEED, NEEDN’T,

What do the underlined verbs express? Use the following terms in your answers: advice,

suggestion, obligation, lack of obligation, invitation, offer, interdiction, determination, typical

behaviour, refusal to act, promise, possibility.

a) You should learn more. ___________________

b) How should I know that? __________________

c) They should be brothers as they have the same surname. ______________

d) Now that she’s ill you should visit your grandma more often. ______________

e) Parents ought not to quarrel in the presence of their children. ______________

f) Need / must I learn all the modal verbs? _______________

g) Of course you need / must, they are very important. ________________

h) No, you needn’t, for the time being. _______________

i) Shall we dance? ________________

j) Shall I help you? ________________

k) The parties shall comply with the provisions of the present contract. ___________

l) “You shalt not kill”, says one of the ten biblical commandments. ______________

m) Let him do what he will. ______________

n) Boys will be boys. _______________

o) My car won’t start on very cold weather. _______________

p) He tried the whole morning to fix the car but it wouldn’t start. ______________

q) I tried to persuade him but he will not listen. ______________

r) You will be punished if you do that, said mother. _______________

s) I will be there, she promised.

Having in mind that should / shall may express:

- obligation: E.g.: You should do as I tell you.

- advice E.g.: You should see a doctor. You shouldn’t drink so much.

- Probability E.g.: They should be at school by now.

- criticism: should have E.g.: You shouldn’t have drunk so much.

- Suggestion E.g.: Shall we go to the cinema?

- Offer E.g.: Shall I clean the table?

Read the following sentences any say what should expresses in each case:

a) You shouldn’t stay up late. _____________

b) Why should I do it? _____________

c) Shall I help you finish your homework? _____________

d) He shouldn’t have been so rude. _____________

e) You should tidy your room. If you don’t, I won’t let you go out. _____________

f) Manchester should beat Leeds in the Sunday match. _____________

g) Shall we visit your parents this evening? _____________

h) You should try to study much more than you do now. _____________

Taking into consideration that these two modal verbs may refer to:

- requests E.g.: Will you give me a hand with this?

- polite requests E.g.: Would you help me finish this exercise? Would you mind opening the

window, please?

- Offers E.g.: Would you like another cup of tea?

- Intention E.g.: I’ll phone you as soon as I can. We won’t stay more than we have to.

a) write what you would say to somebody who …

is smoking in the baby’s room __________________________________________

is playing the radio loudly __________________________________________

has left the door open __________________________________________

is making noise in the library ________________________________________

b) Ask your friend to :

help you with a problem at school. ________________________________________

lend you a book ________________________________________

Remember that need expresses :

- Necessity E.g.: “I need to clean the windows.” “Yes, I agree; they definitely need cleaning.”

- Lack of necessity E.g.: You needn’t take your umbrella (or You don’t need to take your

umbrella). It’s not going to rain. You needn’t have taken your umbrella. The weather is fine and

now you have to carry it. I didn’t need to take my umbrella, so I didn’t take it.

Now complete the following sentences using need, needn’t, needn’t have, didn’t need.

a) You _____________ (take a taxi) otherwise you’ll be late.

b) She _____________ (come so early). There is plenty of time before the show. However,

since she is here she can help with the costumes. They ___________ (iron).

c) What kind of suit do you want to buy? Something expensive? Well, it___________ (be

expensive) – that’s not important.

d) I had enough food in the fridge. You ___________ (go shopping). Where am I going to put

all that food now?

e) Thank God, I _____________ (go to work yesterday). I had a terrible headache.

f) I ___________ (sell my car). My father could have given me the money for the trip.




Ought to is used to express:

- Obligation E.g.:You ought to do as I tell you.

- Advice E.g.: You ought to see a doctor about it. You ought not to drink so much.

- probability / expectation E.g.: They ought to be home by now.

- criticism: ought to have E.g.:He ought to have listened to my advice. He ought not to have

drunk so much.

Now read the following sentences and say what ought to expresses in each case.

a) You really ought not to stay out so late. _____________

b) Do I really ought to do it? _____________

c) You ought to try doing some more work. _____________

d) He ought to have told me about it. _____________

e) He ought to be at school by now. _____________

Complete the following sentences with must or needn’t (= don’t have to).

a) I’m not feeling well. I _____________ go home.

b) She _____________wear a coat. It’s very cold.

c) He is almost blind. He _____________ wear glasses.

d) We _____________ drive very fast. We have plenty of time.

e) You _____________write to him. He is coming here tomorrow.

f) We _____________make any sandwiches. Nobody is hungry.

g) I’m sorry doctor, you _____________ come. My son is very ill.

h) You _____________do any shopping today. We’ve got plenty of food.

i) We _____________either swim or jump; there is no other means of crossing the stream.

j) We _____________hurry. There’s not much time left.

k) She _____________look for a hotel. She’s got no place to stay.

l) You _____________call a taxi. I can give you a lift.

LANGUAGE IN USE

Asking permission

When talking to other people, especially in an official environment you may need to ask for

permission to do things. The words you choose depend on:

a) The type of task you want to do and the trouble you may have getting permission to do it.

b) Who you are and who you are talking to – the role you are playing and your relationship.

Here are some useful ways of asking permission. The expressions get more and more polite as

you go down the list:

I’m going to …

I thought I might …

I’d like to …

Alright if I …?

Anyone mind if I …?

Would you mind if I …?

Is it alright if I …?

Would it be alright if I …?

Would you mind if I …?

I wonder if I could possibly …?

I hope you don’t mind, but would it be at all possible for me to …?

▪ We tend to give permission in just a short phrase, like:

OK.

Yes, go ahead.

Yes, I suppose so.

Oh well, alright.

▪ And we refuse permission like this:

That’s not a very good idea.

No, please don’t.

I’d rather you didn’t if you don’t mind.

I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.

VOCABULARY: SPORTS/HOBBIES

▪ Write play or go in front of the following:

football iceskating

swimming windsurfing

golf baseball

ice hockey sailing

fishing tennis

walking dancing

volleyball skiing

▪ Jobs in football. Talk about what these people do using the prompts to help you.

Players:

Goalkeeper ___________________________________________________

Defender ____________________________________________________

Midfielder ___________________________________________________

Striker _______________________________________________________

Substitute ____________________________________________________

Officials:

Referee _____________________________________________________

Linesman _____________________________________________________

Managerial staff:

Manager _____________________________________________________

Physiotherapist ________________________________________________

Scout ________________________________________________________

Others:

Sponsor _____________________________________________________

Commentator _________________________________________________

Groundsman __________________________________________________

Prompts:

- support / club / financially / exchange / advertising

- finish off / attacking move

- help / referee / decide

- pass / ball / scoring position




- monitor / condition / ground

- ensure / fair-play

- try / stop / opposition / scoring

- replace / injured / out of form player

- responsible / player / physical condition / help / injured players / rehabilitate

- search / talented / player

- pick / team / arrange / transfers / supervise / training

- describe / progress / match

▪ Fill in the gaps with one of the following words, then translate the sentences into

Romanian: supporters, hooligans, viewers, spectators, contestant, rivals, opponent, tournament,

group, league.

a) Once again the Russians were the best in the international chess __________________ .

_________________________________________________________________________

b) Arsenal are playing against their London __________________ on the 7th of April.

_________________________________________________________________________

c) The last ______________ did not appear at the line-up, so the race started with seven

runners instead of eight.

_________________________________________________________________________

d) There must be a match tonight, the train was full of Manchester United ______________

_________________________________________________________________________

e) Everyone thought the German would win with ease but the Romanian proved to be a

formidable ______________

_________________________________________________________________________

f) It is estimated that the World Cup final was watched by over 500 million ______________

.

_________________________________________________________________________

g) Police blame football ________________ for the vandalism.

_________________________________________________________________________

h) After a string of unlucky results, our team was relegated to a lower _________________ .

_________________________________________________________________________

i) England have been drowned in the same _________________ as Switzerland, Romania

and Latvia.

_________________________________________________________________________

j) Olympic Games require locations capable of seating a large number of ______________ .

_________________________________________________________________________

GRAMMAR: DETERMINERS

1. Read the sentences below and find out with what kinds of nouns you can use much / many

and (a) little / (a) few.

There’s not much bread left, we should buy some. There’s too much furniture in this room. He

must earn very much money as he buys many expensive things. There aren’t too many students

in the classroom. There’s a little coffee left, drink it if you want. He’s so shy, he has very little

confidence in himself. We had been waiting for a few minutes when he came. Very few students

were interested in that course.

a) Much, little, a little are used before ______________________________ nouns.

b) Many, few, a few are used before ______________________________ nouns.

2. Choose the correct determiner:

a) There is (little, few) mineral water in the fridge.

b) I don’t usually eat too (much, many) fruit.

c) We have received (much, many) valuable information.

d) She made (little, few) mistakes in her homework.

e) I have only (little, a little) money left, I can’t buy those shoes now.

f) I have (few, a few) things to do before leaving.

3. When we say every person we usually mean all the persons while an expression such as each

person refers to individuals taken separately. In the same way, every exercise refers to all the

exercises while each exercise refers to the exercises taken separately, one by one. This

information should help you fill in the blanks correctly, with EACH or EVERY.

a) _________ student must prepare for the examination.

b) _________ man has his faults.

c) I understand __________ word in this text.

d) She wrote __________ word with a different coloured pencil.

e) _________ time we meet he is very kind to me.

f) The teacher gave a different task to __________ student.

a) ________ book you read makes you wiser.

SOME / ANY / NO AND COMPOUNDS

4. Complete the following conversation with some, any or no.

FRANK: Now, Mary, you want me to buy _________ fruit, anything else?

MARY: Let me think. Ah yes, I haven’t got __________cheese for the cheese pie.

FRANK: How much shall I buy?

MARY: Half a kilo. And don’t forget to buy _________ wine.

FRANK: How about milk? There isn’t ________ left, and jam, there is some but…

MARY: I don’t want _______ jam. Milk, yes, buy four bottles. Of, look! There is

_________ coffee left. Buy half a kilo this time.

FRANK: And there are _________ eggs. I’ll get a dozen.

MARY: Write down spaghetti, too. There is __________ but not enough.

FRANK: Do you want me to buy __________ potatoes as well?

MARY: Yes, and tomatoes, as usual. That’s all. Off you go now!

FRANK: How about flour for the pie? Don’t you need_________?

MUCH / MANY / LITTLE / FEW

5. Complete the following sentences using a lot (of), much, little, a little, few, a few (with or

without very).

a) John has ______________friends here.

b) He eats_____________ meat.

c) Mary does not eat ______________ apples.

d) Does John eat ________________ fruit?

e) John was here ______________ days ago.

f) He doesn’t spend _______________ money on books.

g) Mary spends________________ time on her homework.

h) How ________________ times a week do you take English lessons?

i) I have seen him ________________ times.

j) My father smokes _________________ .




k) He smokes ________________ cigars.

l) She has _______________ money with her.

m) She does not drink _______________ coffee but she eats ______________ cakes.

n) How _______________ time do you spend on your English?

o) Mr. Side has _______________ good books.

p) Do you have __________________ friends in our school?

q) Pam does not do ________________ reading.

r) She hasn’t got _________________ books.

s) John also has very ________________ books.

t) He does not work _________________

u) John never has _________________ money with him.

v) I never seem to have _________________ money.

w) ______________ Romanians speak English well.

x) In England they drink _____________ tea.

y) I only saw _______________ good films during the holidays.

z)

LANGUAGE IN USE

Agreeing and disagreeing Here are some useful ways of agreeing or disagreeing with someone’s opinion. Notice that you

need to be very polite when disagreeing with someone in English – even someone you know

quite well.

AGREEMENT I couldn’t agree more.

That’s just what I was thinking.

You know, that’s exactly what I think.

I agree entirely.

That’s a good point.

DISAGREEMENT Yes, that’s quite true, but …

I’m not sure I quite agree …

Well, you have a point there, but …

Perhaps, but don’t you think that …

I see what you mean, but …

If you know someone very well you can disagree more directly using expressions like these:

I can’t agree with you there.

You can’t be serious!

Come off it!

Don’t be so silly!

UNIT 9 THE MEDIA. COMMUNICATION

LEAD IN

1. How is communication different now from what it was a) 20 years ago; b) 50 years ago; c)

150 years ago; d) 1000 years ago?

2. What new communication devices do you think will be invented in the next 25 years?

3. The Internet is among the most important inventions of the 20th century. What are its main

uses? What do you, as a student, use it for?

4. However there is no such thing as perfection. Can you think of some negative aspects of the

Internet?

READING OBJECTIVE

IN SEARCH OF THE REAL GOOGLE

It’s time to make some big decisions, so the Google guys are putting on their white lab

coats that they wear whenever they talk with their employees about new products. Google paid

crazy money to attract top talents and this is the recruits’ chance to show the investments were

worth it. For a few hours teams of engineers will come forward with their best ideas, hoping to

impress the most powerful men in Sillicon valley.

After eight years in the spotlight running a company that Wall Street values at more than

$100 billion, Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are still in their early 30s.

Page, 33 has a Muppet’s voice and a rocket scientist’s brain. He grew up in Michigan,

obsessed with inventing things. In college he built a functioning ink-jet printer out of lego pieces.

Page’s father was a computer science professor and his mother taught computer programming.

When he isn’t working, Page spends his time staying fit (his latest passion is windsurfing) and

playing with his gadgets. Born in Russia and raised in Washington, Brin 32, is no less clever. He

has also been precocious all his life. His father teaches applied probability and statistics at the

University of Maryland; his mother works for NASA. Besides computers, Brin’s other love is

gymnastics, and he studied flying trapeze at a circus school in San Francisco.

Brin and Page meant to name their creation Googol (the mathematical term for the number

1 followed by 100 zeroes) but someone misspelled the word as Google. They raised money from

professors and venture capitalists, and moved off campus to turn Google into a business. Perhaps

their biggest stroke of luck came when they tried to license their technology to other search

engines, but no one met their price, and they built it up on their own.

Spending a day at the Google headquarters in Mountain View , California is a unique

experience. Set up in 1998in a Silicon Valley garage Google developed in an amazing rhythm.

Google’s search engine – devised by Brin and Page when they were Ph.D candidates at Stanford

– was better than the rest and, without any marketing, spread by word of mouth. Search became

Google; google became a verb. The world fell in love with the fun, effective, fast technology

and its boy-wizard founders. Ultimately, the company even found a business model – advertising

– and last year made a profit of nearly $1.5 billion on revenue of $6.1 billion.

Can Google cope with the huge success? Its biggest challenge seems to be itself and the

handling of the huge communication empire it has become. Only the future will give us an

answer.





1. How was Google born ?

2. Where does the name ‘Google’ come from ?

3. How does the text describe the two Google founders ?

4. Which is the main source of income for Google ?

VOCABULARY. What is the job of the following people involved in the media?

- a foreign correspondent _____________________________________________

- an editor _________________________________________________________

- a publisher _______________________________________________________

- a columnist ______________________________________________________

- a critic __________________________________________________________

- a reporter _______________________________________________________

- a camera operator _________________________________________________

GRAMMAR FOCUS: THE PASSIVE

1. How do the sentences in the following pairs differ:

a) in terms of form? __________________________________________________ .

b) in terms of meaning? _______________________________________________ .

The Liberal Party won the elections. / The elections were won by the Liberal Party.

A group of students will carry out the project. / The project will be carried out by a group of

students.

Nobody has lived in that country house for years. That country house hasn’t been lived in for

years.

2. The second sentence in each pair above is in the Passive. What does the underlined structures

consist of? Can you generalise?

___________________________________________________________________

3. Change these sentences into passive voice.

Ex.: They are building a bridge near here.

A bridge is being built near here.

a) Someone left a note on the desk.

_________________________________________________________________________

b) They didn’t send the telegram.

_________________________________________________________________________

c) Some people saw him walking down the hill.

_________________________________________________________________________

d) Someone was repairing your car this morning.

_________________________________________________________________________

e) Where did they see him for the last time?

_________________________________________________________________________

f) How many times did he shoot the President?

_________________________________________________________________________

g) They performed “Hamlet” at the National Theatre.

_________________________________________________________________________

h) Someone took him to hospital.

_________________________________________________________________________

i) Nobody has used this room for years.

_________________________________________________________________________

j) Can you do it by next Tuesday?

_________________________________________________________________________

k) Where did they take John?

_________________________________________________________________________

l) When will they sign the contract?

_________________________________________________________________________

m) We heard nothing about it for years.

_________________________________________________________________________

n) They found the lock broken.

_________________________________________________________________________

o) Someone warned him not to swim.

_________________________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE IN USE

Describing things

You may often have to describe an object, or a piece of equipment or a machine or gadget to

people. You may need to do this because your listener is unfamiliar with the object, or because

you cannot think of the name for it.

In describing an object we often have to answer question like these:

What size is it?

What shape is it?

What colour is it?

What’s it made of?

What does it look like?

What’s it used for?

How does it work?

Telephoning. Making and changing arrangements.

1. Complete the following conversations with phrases from the list below:

Dialogue 1:

A: _______________________

B: Good morning! Could I speak to Ms. Reynolds, please?

Dialogue 2:

A: I need Mr. Stevens’ number, please.

B: ______________________________

Dialogue 3:

A: _____________________________

B: Yes, hold the line one moment and I’ll put you through.




Dialogue 4:

A: I’m afraid he’s in a meeting at the moment.

B: ______________________________

Dialogue 5:

A: ___________________________

B: Mihai Ionescu from Flamingo electronics.

a) OK. I’ll call back later. Thank you.

b) Hello, RB Advertising. Can I help you?

c) Just a moment, sir. I’ll look it up for you.

d)Hello. Extension 4521, please.

e) Who’s calling, please?

2. Unscramble the sentences below so as to obtain three coherent telephone conversations:

Dialogue 1:

____ A: Oh, good morning, Miss Smith!

____ B: Mr. Hartley? Good morning!

____ A: Good. See you the. Good bye.

____ B: I’m ringing to remind you about the meeting tomorrow. 10 a.m., at your office as

arranged?

A: 10a.m., that’s right.

Dialogue 2:

____ A: Right. I’m looking forward to seeing you. goodbye.

____ B: Oh, hello, Mr. Williams, nice to hear from you!

____ B: I’m afraid I can’t today. What about tomorrow?

____ A: Hello! Ms. Lester? This is Tom Williams speaking, from RB Advertising.

____ A: I called to see if we can discuss a business proposition that our company wishes to make.

____ B: Yes, 1 p..m. is OK. See you tomorrow.

____ A: Actually I hoped we could meet and talk about it. How about me coming to your office

later today?

____ B: I see. Could you be more specific?

____ A: Tomorrow will be fine. Let’s say 1 p.m., if it’s suitable for you, too.

Dialogue 3:

____ A: Would it be possible for you to meet us on Tuesday afternoon instead?

____ B: Hello, John Andrews speaking, from Durham Building.

____ A: Hello, Mr. Andrews.

____ A: I’m calling on behalf of my boss. He is very sorry he won’t be able to meet you this

afternoon.

____ B: OK, I’ll be waiting for your call. Good bye, then.

____ B: Let me check my diary… I’m afraid I can’t. What about Wednesday morning?

____ B: Oh, I see.

____ A: Wednesday morning is all right. However I’ll call you back later on to confirm.

____ A: Thank you. Goodbye.

UNIT 10 INTRODUCTION TO THE EUROPEAN UNION

SECTION I. EU HISTORY. TREATIES. FOUNDATIONS AND SYMBOLS

LEAD IN

1. How would you define the European Union?

2. Do you happen to know how many countries have joined the European Union so far?

3. Everybody is talking about the community acquis? Can you tell what it is?

4. Together with your desk mate think of some advantages/risks generated by or connected

to the European membership.

READING OBJECTIVE

INTRODUCTION TO THE EUROPEAN UNION

Historic Steps

The idea of a united Europe was at first just a dream in the minds of philosophers and

visionaries. Victor Hugo, for example, imagined a peaceful “United States of Europe” inspired

by humanistic ideals.

After World War II a few courageous statesmen (Konrad Adenauer, Winston Churchill,

Alcide de Gasperi, Robert Schuman) decided to put an end to international hatred and rivalry in

Europe and to build a long lasting peace.

Robert Schuman (French Foreign Affairs Minister) took up an idea originally conceived

by Jean Monnet and on 9 May 1950 proposed setting up a European Coal and Steel Community

(ECSC), which was a big success. It was the start of an extraordinary and ever tighter cooperation

among European states.

Today’s European Union is the result of half a century hard work. In no other region of the

world have sovereign countries pooled their sovereignty to this extent and in so many areas of

crucial importance to their citizens. The EU has created a single market in which people,

services, goods and capital move around freely.

Founding Treaties

The ground rules of the European Union are set out in a series of treaties:

The Treaty of Paris, which set up the above mentioned European Coal and Steel

Community (ECSC) in 1951, signed by six European states: France, The Federal Republic of

Germany, Italy, Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg, considered the EU founding

members.

The Treaties of Rome, which set up the European Economic Community (EEC), replacing

the former ECSC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) in 1957. The EEC

came as a natural continuation of ECSC, as the six member states decided to enlarge and deepen

their cooperation. The EEC was based on a common market in awide range of goods and

services. Customs duties between the six countries were completely removed on 1 July 1968 and

common policies – notably on trade and agriculture – were also set up during the 1960.

The founding treaties were subsequently followed by the Single European Act (1986)

signed in Luxembourg and The Hague, by the Treaty on European Union (Maastricht, 1992)

which makes the name “European Union” official, the Treaty of Amsterdam and the Treaty of

Nice. All of these treaties have created very strong legal ties between the EU’s member states

and have offered a legal frame for important European matters such as EU institutions

functioning procedures , the rights of European citizens, trade, defence policies, the European

Currency Unit, etc.




Enlargement

So successful was the EEC initiated by France The Federal Republic of Germany, The

Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg that Denmark, Ireland and The United Kingdom

decided to join the Community. This first enlargement from six to nine members took place in

1973. New social, regional and environmental policies were introduced and the European

Regional Development Fund (ERDF) was set up in 1975. In 1981 Greece joined the Community,

followed by Spain and Portugal in 1986. The future European Union was thus being built little

by little. Three more countries, Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the EU on 1 January 1995.

The Union now had 15 members and was on the way for its most spectacular achievement yet –

replacing its national currencies with a single European currency, the euro. On 1 January 2002,

euro notes and coins came into circulation in 12 EU countries (‘euro area’). The euro is now a

major world currency, having a similar status to the US dollar.

Soon after the European Union grew to 15 members another 12 countries began knocking

at its door. The EU welcomed this opportunity to help stabilise the European continent and to

extend the benefits of European unification to the young democracies in Central and South-

Eastern Europe. For ten of the candidate countries negociations were completed in Copenhagen,

at the end of 2002 and starting from may 2004 the EU enlarged to 25 members, by welcoming

the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus

and Malta as full members.

Romania and Bulgaria are to become EU members on 1 January 2007, after the

implementation of all the 31 chapters of the Community Acquis.

The European Union’s Symbols

The idea of a “citizens’s Europe” is very new. Making it a reality means, among other

things, obtaining popular support for symbols that represent shared European identity. That is

why the European Union has a very special anthem – Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, from Symphony

9, a Celebration Day – 9 May and a flag (a circle of 12 golden stars on a blue background).

Things like the introduction of the euro, the European model of passport (in use since

1985) and the EU model driving licences also contribute to the creation of a sense of belonging

to a common space.

“We are not bringing together states, we are uniting people” said Jean Monnet back in

1952.

More than half a century of integration has had an enormous impact on the history of

Europe and on the mentality of Europeans. The member state governments, whatever their

political colour know that only by joining forces and pursuing a shared destiny can their ancient

nations continue to make economic and social progress and maintain their influence in the world.


1. Who were the initiators of the European Union?

2. Name, in chronological order, the main treaties that have forged the identity of the European

Union.

3. When was the European single currency introduced?

4. Which European countries joined the Union in :

- 1951: ____________________________________________________________

- 1973: ____________________________________________________________

- 1981: ____________________________________________________________

- 1986: ____________________________________________________________

- 1995: ____________________________________________________________

- 2004: ____________________________________________________________

- 2007: ____________________________________________________________

5. Which are the main areas of cooperation between members states?

6. Which are the EU’s symbols?

Appendix 1

BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH

It is widely known that there are differences between American and British English, but it is

also important to remember that there are differences between American English and, well, American

English.

The English language was introduced to the Americans through British colonization in the early

17th century and it spread to many parts of the world because of the strength of the British empire.

Over the years, English spoken in the United States and in Britain started diverging from each other

in various aspects. This led to two dialects in the form of the American English and the British

English.

Prior to the Revolutionary War and American independence from the British in 1776, American

and British accents were similar. Both were rhotic i.e. speakers pronounced the letter R in hard. Since

1776, the accents diverged but English accent in America has changed less drastically than accents

in Britain. Towards the end of the 18th century, non-rhotic speech took off in southern England,

especially among the upper class; this "prestige" non-rhotic speech was standardized, and has been

spreading in Britain ever since.

To be fair, both American and British English have several types of accents and there is no one

true American or British accent. In British English the present perfect is used to express an action that

has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment. For example: I've misplaced

my pen. Can you help me find it? In American English, the use of the past tense is also permissible: I

misplaced my pen. Can you help me find it? In British English, however, using the past tense in this

example would be considered incorrect.

Other differences involving the use of the present perfect in British English and simple past in

American English include the words already, just and yet. British English: I've just had food. Have

you finished your homework yet? American English: I just had food. OR I've just had food. I've

already seen that film. OR I already saw that film.

While some words may mean something in British English, the same word might be something

else in American English and vice versa. For example, Athlete in British English is one who

participates in track and field events whereas Athlete in American English is one who participates in

sports in general. There are also some words like AC, Airplane, bro, catsup, cell phone etc. which

are common in American English and not used very often in British English. Some words widely

used in British English and seldom in American English are advert, anti clockwise, barrister, cat's

eye.




A majority of the spelling differences between American and British English fall into the

following categories:

• Latin-derived spellings o -our (British) and -or (American). e.g. colour vs color o -re

(British) and -er (American). e.g. centre vs center o -ce (British) and -se (American). e.g. defence vs

defense

• Greek-derived spellings

o -ise (British) and -ize (American). e.g. centralise vs centralize o -yse (British) and -yze

(American). e.g. analyse vs analyze o -ogue (British) and -og (American). e.g. dialogue vs dialog

o Simplification of ae and oe in American English. e.g. gynaecology vs gynecology

There are also a few differences between British and American English in the use of

prepositions. For example: While the British would play in a team, Americans would play on a team.

Another example: While the British would go out at the weekend, Americans would go out on the

weekend. Both languages have a slightly different structure of telling the time. While the British

would say quarter past ten to denote 10:15, it is not uncommon in America to say quarter after or

even a quarter after ten. Thirty minutes after the hour is commonly called half past in both languages.

Americans always write digital times with a colon, thus 6:00, whereas Britons often use a point,

6.00.

While the British would write Mr, Mrs, Dr, the Americans would write Mr., Mrs., Dr.

Engleza Britanica Engleza Americana Traducerea

Aerial Antenna Antena

Autumn Fall Toamna

Biscuit cookie Fursec

Bonnet hood Capota

Boot trunk Portbagaj

Braces suspenders Bretele

chemist's drugstore farmacie

the cinema the movies cinematograf

Cotton thread Aţa

crossroads intersection intersecţie

curtains drapes Perdele

dust-bin trashcan căldare de gunoi

Engine motor Motor

Film movie Film

Flat apartment apartament

Ground floor first floor parter

handbag purse poşeta

Holiday vacation vacanţa

Ill sick Bolnav

Jug pitcher container cu lichid, ulcior

Lift elevator Lift

Lorry truck camion

luggage baggage Valiza

Maize corn porumb

Nappy diaper Scutec

pavement sidewalk trotuar

to peep to peek a trage cu ochiul

Petrol gasoline benzina

postman maiman Postas

Pub bar Bar

Queue line Coada

Rubber eraser Guma de sters

Sweet desert Desert

timetable schedule Orar

Tin can conserva

Torch flashlight lanterna

trousers pants pantaloni

waistcoat vest Vesta

wardrobe closet şifonier

Zip zipper fermoar

Appendix II

LIST OF IRREGULAR VERBS

BASE FORM PAST SIMPLE PAST

PARTICIPLE

TRANSLATION

Arise Arose Arisen A se ridica, a răsări

Be Was, were Been A fi

Bear Bore Born A (se) naşte

Beat Beat Beaten A bate

Become Became Become A deveni

Begin Began Begun A începe




Bend Bent Bent A îndoi

Bet Bet Bet A paria

Bind Bound Bound A lega

Bite Bit Bitten / bit A muşca

Bleed Bled Bled A sângera

Blow Blew Blown A bate (despre vânt)

Break Broke Broken A rupe, a sparge

Breed Bred Bred A creşte (animale)

Bring Brought Brought A aduce

Broadcast Broadcast Broadcast A transmite

Build Built Built A construi

Burn Burnt / burned Burnt / burned A arde

Burst Burst Burst A izbucni

Buy Bought Bought A cumpăra

Catch Caught Caught A prinde

Choose Chose Chosen A alege

Come Came Come A veni

Cost Cost Cost A costa

Creep Crept Crept A se târî

Cut Cut Cut A tăia

Deal Dealt Dealt A se ocupa de

Dig Dug Dug A săpa

Do Did Done A face

Draw Drew Drawn A desena

Dream Dreamt / dreamed Dreamt / dreamed A visa

Drink Drank Drunk A bea

Drive Drove Driven A şofa

Eat Ate Eaten A mânca

Fall Fell Fallen A cădea

Feed Fed Fed A hrăni

Feel Felt Felt A simţi

Fight Fought Fought A se lupta

Find Found Found A găsi

Fly Flew Flown A zbura

Forbid Forbade Forbidden A interzice

Forget Forgot Forgotten A uita

Forgive Forgave Forgiven A ierta

Freeze Froze Frozen A îngheţa

Get Got Got A obţine

Give Gave Given A da

Go Went Gone A merge

Grind Ground Ground A măcina

Grow Grew Grown A creşte

Hang Hung Hung A atârna

Have Had Had A avea

Hear Heard Heard A auzi

Hide Hid Hid A ascunde

Hit Hit Hit A lovi

Hold Held Held A ţine

Hurt Hurt Hurt A răni

Keep Kept Kept A ţine

Kneel Knelt Knelt A îngenunchea

Know Knew Known A şti

Lay Laid Laid A întinde

Lead Led Led A conduce

Lean Leant / leaned Leant / leaned A (se) sprijini

Learn Learnt / learned Learnt / learned A învăţa

Leave Left Left A pleca

Lend Lent Lent A da cu împrumut

Let Let Let A lăsa

Lie Lay Lain A (se)întinde

Light Lit Lit A aprinde

Lose Lost Lost A pierde

Make Made Made A face

Mean Meant Meant A însemna

Meet Met Met A (se) întâlni

Pay Paid Paid A plăti

Put Put Put A pune

Read Read Read A citi

Ride Rode Ridden A călări, a merge cu

bicicleta




Ring Rang Rung A suna

Rise Rose Risen A se ridica, a răsări

Run Ran Run A alerga

Say Said Said A spune

See Saw Seen A vedea

Seek Sought Sought A căuta

Sell Sold Sold A vinde

Send Sent Sent A trimite

Set Set Set A apune

Shake Shake Shaken A scutura

Shine Shine Shone A străluci

Shoot Shot Shot A împuşca

Show Showed Shown A arăta

Shrink Shrank Shrunk A (se) micşora

Shut Shut Shut A închide

Sing Sang Sung A cânta

Sit Sat Sat A sta jos, a se aşeza

Sleep Slept Slept A dormi

Slide Slid Slid A aluneca

Smell Smelt Smelt A mirosi

Speak Spoke Spoken A vorbi

Speed Sped Sped A se grăbi, a merge

cu viteză

Spell Spelt Spelt A ortografia

Spend Spent Spent A petrece (timp), a

cheltui (bani)

Spill Spilt Spilt A vărsa (un lichid)

Spin Spun Spun A se roti

Split Split Split A despica

Spoil Spoilt / spoiled Spoilt / spoiled A strica, a răsfăţa

Spread Spread Spread A (se) împrăştia

Stand Stood Stood A sta în picioare

Steal Stole Stolen A fura

Stick Stuck Stuck A lipi

Sting Stung Stung A înţepa

Strike Struck

Stroke

Struck Stricken A bate (despre

ceas), A lovi

Swear Swore Sworn A jura

Sweep Swept Swept A mătura

Swim Swam Swum A înota

Swing Swung Swung A (se) legăna

Take Took Taken A lua

Teach Taught Taught A preda

Tear Tore Torn A sfâşia

Tell Told Told A spune

Think Thought Thought A se gândi

Throw Threw Thrown A arunca

Understand Understood Understood A înţelege

Wake Woke Woken A (se) trezi

Wear Wore Worn A purta

Win Won Won A câştiga

Appendix III

SPELLING RULES

A. Doubling of consonants

Final consonants (except x) are doubled before ending beginning with a vowel letter when the

vowel before it is stressed and spelled with a single letter.

Permit, permitting, permitted

Hot, hotter, hottest

There is no doubling when the vowel is unstressed or written with two letters.

enter, entering, entered

dread, dreading, dreaded

Exceptions:

i. Words ending in certain consonants are doubled also after single unstressed vowels:

-g -gg- -c ck- humbug humbugging, humbugged

traffic, trafficking, trafficked




ii. British English breaks the rule as regards certain other consonants as well:

-l -ll- -m -mm- -p -pp-

signal, signalling, signalled (BrE) signaling, signaled (AmB)

travel, travelling, travelled (BrE) traveling, traveled (AmE)

programme, programming, programmed (BrE) program programming, programmed (AmE)

worship, worshipping, worshipped (BrE) worshiping, worshiped (AmE)

Most verbs ending in –p, however, have the regular spellings in both BrE and AmE, eg:

develop, envelop, gallop, gossip.

B. Treatment of –y

i. -y changes to –ie before –s

lady ladies carry carries

ii. -y changes to –i before -ed

carry carried

iii. -y changes to –i before –er and -est easy easier, easiest

iv. -y changes to –i before -ly

heavy heavily

v. -y does not change before -ing

carry carrying

vi. -y does not change if the word ends in vowel + y play plays, played boy boys

Exceptions: day daily

pay paid lay laid say said

C. Treatment of –e

i. Final –e is regularly dropped before –ing and -ed shave shaving, shaved

ii. Verbs ending in –ie change –ie to –y before -ing

die dying

iii. Verbs with ending in –ee, -ye, -oe, and often –ge, are exceptions to the rule in that they do

not drop the –e before –ing; but they do drop it before –ed.

agree agreeing, agreed

dye dyeing, dyed

hoe hoeing, hoed

sing singing, singed

Appendix IV

USEFUL EXPRESSIONS WITH PREPOSITIONS

AT

at a loss / a profit at a time (when) at all costs at Christmas / Easter at church / the

hairdresser’s / school at ease

at first (sight) at hand at home / the office

at last at least at lunch at this / any rate at night at once at peace / war at present at sea at the

end (place) at the same time (as) at the weekend at times at work

BY

by accident

by air / bus / car / plane / sea / ship / train (and other means of transport) by all means by

chance by day / night by far by mistake by post by sight by surprise

by yourself (alone)

FOR

for a while / time for ever for goodness’ sake for heaven’s sake

once and for all

FROM

from A to Z from beginning to end from head to toe from morning to night

from time of time

IN

in a hurry in a loud voice in a sense in a way in all in any case in bed in common in danger in

debt in difficulties in fact in general in half in ink / pencil in love in my opinion in other words in

particular in prison in private in public in secret in sight in spite of in stock in tears in the end

(time) in the morning in time in turn

OF

ahead of by means of dozens of hundreds of in case of in front of instead of on account of on

behalf of

OFF

off duty off limits off work

ON

on business on duty on foot on holiday on purpose on sale on the other hand on the whole on

time




OUT OF

out of breath out of control out of danger out of date out of order out of practice out of reach

out of stock out of the question

out of work

TO

according to due to in addition to

owing to

UNDER

under control under oath (in a court of law)

under orders

UP

up-to-date (modern)

ups and downs (good times and bad ones)

WITH / WITHOUT

(what’s) wrong with (?) green with envy with / without difficulty with best wishes with love

with pleasure without any fuss

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