THEO NEEDS SOME FRIENDS
Prepare
Work in pairs. Ask and answer the questions.
- Would you like to live and study in another country for a year? Why, or why not?
- What problems do people have when they live in another country?
Reading
1Read the text and the conversation. Why is Claire going to school on the bus?
1
Meet Claire Donald. She's from Leeds, in the north of England. She's nearly sixteen, and she's studying hard this year for her GCSEs*. She's studying Maths, French, English, Science, History, Art and Italian. She's very good at languages!
Claire lives with her parents. Her brother Barney is a student at York University. He's living in York at the moment, but he lives at home in the holidays.
Claire usually walks to school, but today she's going by bus because it's raining.
* GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education
2
Theo Excuse me. Does this bus go to Morton Hill School?
Claire Yes, it does. That's my school. Why? Are you going there?
Theo Yes, I am. I'm Theo, by the way. I come from Holland.
Claire Oh, really? I'm Claire. What year are you joining at school?
Theo Year Eleven*. What year are you in?
Claire I'm in Year Eleven, too.
Theo Great. Nice to meet you, Claire.
Claire Nice to meet you, too.
*A level = Advanced level
**British students take GCSEs when they're sixteen and a levels when they're eighteen.
2 Read about Theo. Why is he in England?
3
Meet Theo Meyer. He's sixteen years old. He's Dutch, but he's living in England for a year. His dad's working for a British company in Leeds. Theo loves music. He plays the saxophone and he's got a very big CD collection. Theo is hard-working student, and he speaks English very well, but he's quite nervous about his first day an English school. He need some friends...
3 Answer the questions
1 How many GCSE subjects Claire doing?
2 Where is her brother living at the moment?
3 How does Claire usually go to school?
4 Where does Theo come from?
5 What year is he joining?
6 Why is he living in Leeds?
7 Why is Theo nervous?
4 Practise the conversation.
Get the grammar!
Present Simple and Present Continuous
Czasu present simple używamy, mówiąc o czynnościach rutynowych, przyzwyczajeniach i niezmiennych stanach rzeczy.
Claire lives in Leeds.
She doesn't live in London.
Does Theo live in England?
Czasu present continuous używamy, mówiąc o tym, co dzieje się teraz, oraz o sytuacjach tymczasowych.
Are you studying music this term?
I'm not walking to school today because it's raining.
Czasowników statycznych (stative verbs), wyrażających stany i uczucia, używamy zazwyczaj w czasie present simple: like, love, hate, feel, know, need, think, understand, want etc.
Theo likes Leeds, but he needs some friends.
5 Which tense do we use these words and phrases with? Present Simple or Present Continuous?
now, usually, every day, today, on Mondays, at the moment, once a month, sometimes, this week, often
6 Complete the texts about Claire's friends using the present simple or present continuous.
Meet Ryan Swan. He's nearly sixteen. He ___ (live) in Leeds with his parents. Ryan ___ (study) six GCSE subjects this year. He ___ (love) playing football, and he's good at it, too. He ___ (practise) hard at the moment because he ___ (want) to get into the Leeds United junior football team.
Meet Abi Mitchell. She's fifteen and a half. She ___ (be) from Dublin. This year, she ___ (live) in Leeds with her aunt and uncle because her parents ___ (work) in Africa. She usually ___ (walk) to school with her best friend, Claire. But she ___ (stay) at home today because she's got flu.
Speaking and writing
7 Work in pairs. Make questions and ask and answer them. Write notes about your partner's answers.
where/you/live
who/you/live/with
how/you/usually/get/to school
what/subjects/you/study/this year
you/like/school
8 Write about your partner. Use the texts about Claire, Theo, Ryan and Abi to help you.
Alina is nearly sixteen years old. She's...
MINI PROJECT
- Talk to two people in your class about their favourite school subjects.
- Ask why they like them.
- Find or draw pictures to illustrate the subjects.
- Write about your classmate's likes and dislikes.
WHAT'S WRONG?
1 I live with my grandparents this year.
2 We're usually walking to school.
3 Is he play volleyball once a week?
4 They study in Year Eleven now.
5 Are you konwing his name?
6 She's wanting to be a doctor when she leaves school.
