UNIT

Things happen
Can

In this unit, you learn how to . . .

Do!

Lesson A

Lesson B

Tell anecdotes about

things that went wrong
using the past
continuous and simple
past

Talk about accidents

(e.g., I broke my arm.)
using the past
continuous and
myself, yourself, etc.

Lesson C
React to show interest with
expressions like Oh, no!
Use I bet to show youre
sure or that you
understand

Lesson D

Read anecdotes in an
article
Write an anecdote
using when and while

Before you begin . . .

Look at the pictures. Think about a time when one of these things happened
to you. Tell the class about a time when you . . .
broke something.

lost something.

forgot something.

damaged something.

85

When things go wrong . . .

Lesson A

Are you having a BAD week?

Actually, yes. I was going to
work on the train Monday
morning, and I was talking to
this woman. I guess I wasnt
paying attention, and I missed
my stop. I was half an hour late
for a meeting with my new boss.
Sean Davis

Definitely! My friend accidentally

deleted all my music files when
she was using my computer.
Actually, she was trying to help
me she was downloading stuff
from my phone, and something
went wrong. I spent hours on
the phone with tech support.
Julia Chen

Yeah, kind of. A couple of days

ago, a friend and I were trying to
look cool in front of some girls at
the mall. We werent looking,
and we walked right into a glass
door. I was so embarrassed.

Roberto Moreno

1 Getting started
A Look at the illustrations above. What do you think happened to each person?
Do these kinds of things ever happen to you? Tell the class.

3.23

Listen and read. Were your guesses about the people correct?

C Can you choose the correct verb forms? Use the interviews above to help you.
Then compare with a partner.
1. Sean missed / was missing his stop because he talked / was talking to a woman on the train.
2. Julias friend deleted / was deleting all Julias music files when she using / was using her computer.
3. Roberto and his friend tried / were trying to look cool when they walked / were walking into a
glass door.
86

2 Grammar

Things happen

Past continuous statements

3.24

Extra practice

UNIT 9

p. 148

Use the past continuous to set the background for a story or tell about events in
progress in the past. Use the simple past for completed actions in the past.
I was talking to a woman, and I missed my stop. I wasnt paying attention.
We were trying to look cool, and we walked into a glass door. We werent looking.
A friend of mine deleted all my music files when she was using my computer.
When my friend was using my computer, she deleted all my music files.
In conversation
Complete the anecdotes with the past continuous or simple past.
Then close your book. Take turns retelling the anecdotes to a partner.
1. I was having
accidentally
he
I

(have) lunch in a caf yesterday when the server

(spill) tomato sauce on my shirt. I guess
(not / pay) attention. I was upset, but
(got) my lunch for free.

2. My friend and I were at a barbecue last week. When we

(walk) around the yard, she
(fall) into the pond.
and
3. I
I
me, and I

The most common verbs in the

past continuous are talk, do,
go, say, try, get, and tell.

(trip)

(damage) my parents car last week.

(try) to park, and my friend
(talk) to
(hit) a wall. Now I have to pay for the repairs.

4. I was in a chemistry class recently, and a classmate and

(do) an experiment when something
I
(go) wrong. I
(burn) my hand.
5. Last week I was on the bus, and I
(talk) to my girlfriend
(have) a long
on my cell phone. Well, actually, we
(not / get along) at the time. When
argument. We
(end) the call, I realized that everyone on the bus
I
(listen). How embarrassing!

3 Speaking naturally

Fall-rise intonation

I was running for a bus last week, and I fell.

When I was going home yesterday, I ran into an old friend.

A
B

Listen and repeat the sentences above. Notice that the intonation falls and then rises
slightly at the end of the first part of each sentence. This sets the background.
3.25

3.26

Listen and complete the sentences. Then listen again and repeat.

1. I was reading a book

, and I missed my stop.

2. Last night when I was washing

3. I was texting
4. Yesterday when I was using
About
you

, I broke a glass.

, and I tripped and fell on the street.

, it suddenly crashed.

C Pair work Think of things that happened to you this week. Tell each other your anecdotes.
87

Accidents happen.

Lesson B

1 Building vocabulary
A

3.27

Listen and say the words and sentences. Which words and expressions do you already know?
eye

hand

nose

shoulder

head

thumb

face

I broke my arm.

neck
wrist

finger

I got a black eye.

arm

elbow
chest

back

hip

I sprained my ankle.

leg
knee

I cut my finger.

ankle
foot

Word
sort

I hurt my back.

toe

B Make true sentences about accidents that happened to you or people you know.
Use the vocabulary above and add other words you know.

break

I broke my leg when I was a kid.

sprain
cut
hurt
other
About
you

88

My sister got a black eye . . .

C Pair work Take turns telling about the accidents in your chart.

Vocabulary notebook

p. 94

Things happen

2 Building language
A

UNIT 9

3.28 Listen. What happened to George? What was he doing

when it happened? Practice the conversation.

Nikki
George
Nikki
George
Nikki
George
Nikki
George

So, how was your ski trip? Did you have a good time?
Yeah, I guess. I sort of had an accident.
Oh, really? What happened? Did you hurt yourself?
Yeah, I broke my leg.
Oh, no! How did it happen? I mean, what were you doing?
Well, actually, I was talking on my cell phone. . . .
While you were skiing? Thats kind of dangerous.
Yeah, I know. But I was by myself, so I was lucky I had my cell to call for help.

B Complete the questions Georges other friends asked. Use the conversation above to help you.
1. What were / did you doing?

3. Did you hurt yourself / you?

2. How did it happen / was it happening?

4. I dont enjoy skiing by / with myself. Do you?

3 Grammar

Past continuous questions; reflexive pronouns

Past continuous
Were you skiing with a friend?
No, I wasnt. I was by myself.
What were you doing (when you fell)?
I was talking on my cell phone.

Simple past
Did you hurt yourself?
Yes, I did.
What did you do?
I called for help.

3.29

Extra practice

p. 148

Reflexive pronouns
I
myself.
You
yourself.
He
himself.
hurt
She
herself.
We
ourselves.
They
themselves.
In conversation

A Complete the conversations with reflexive pronouns and

the simple past or past continuous of the verbs given.
1. A Whats wrong with your finger? Did you cut

B Yeah, I accidentally cut

A Oh,

with a knife.

you

(make) dinner?

2. A My father hurt

at the gym.

B Thats too bad.

he

A Yeah. A lot of people hurt

3. A Hey, where

you

(lift) weights?
on weight machines, I guess.

10% of uses of yourself are in the

question How about yourself?
Almost 10% of uses of myself are
in the expression by myself.

Common errors
Dont use an object pronoun
when the subject and object
of the verb refer to the same
person.
My father hurt himself.
(NOT My father hurt him.)

(get) that black eye?

B Oh, my mom and I had a car accident. But shes OK.

A Well, thats good. Uh, so who

(drive)?

last weekend, and she broke

4. A My sister was hiking by
her ankle. She was in the middle of nowhere.

B Oh, no! So, how

I mean,

she
anyone else

(get) help?
(hike) on the trail?

Sounds right

B Pair work Practice the conversations above. Continue them with your own ideas.

p. 139

89

Lesson C

Conversation
strategies

Thats hilarious.

1 Conversation strategy

Reacting to a story

A Look at some words from a funny story. Can you guess what happened?
curry

3.30

phone

burnt pan

hide

hilarious

Listen. What happened to Hugo? How did he solve his problem?

Hugo I was at my friends house one time. We

were making Thai curry for a bunch of
people . . .
Olivia Oh, I love Thai food.
Hugo And he left me in the kitchen to watch the
curry. Well, my phone rang and I got
talking . . .
Olivia Uh-oh.
Hugo . . . and it all stuck to the bottom of the
pan and burned.
Olivia Oh, no!
Hugo Yeah. It didnt taste too good. I freaked.
Olivia I bet.
Hugo So I poured the curry into another pan
and added some chili peppers. Then I hid
the burnt pan under the sink.
Olivia Oh, thats hilarious. I bet no one even
noticed.
Hugo I dont know. No one said anything, but
they drank a lot of water.

C Notice how Olivia reacts to Hugos story. She makes

brief comments on the things he says to show she is
listening and interested. Find examples in the
conversation.

It all stuck to the bottom of

the pan and burned.
Oh, no!

D Read the story below and the comments on the right. For each part of the story, choose a comment. Practice telling the story and commenting with a partner.
1. I was working as a server at Pierres last year.

90

a. Oh, no! I bet he was upset.

2. Yeah, its very fancy with cool art and everything.

b. Well, that was lucky.

3. Well, its not cheap. Anyway, I was serving coffee to this guy,
and I spilled it all over his suit!

c. Oh, Pierres is nice,

I heard.

4. Yeah but wait. I found out it was Pierre himself!

d. Expensive, huh?

5. Yeah, and he was pretty mad. But he didnt fire me!

e. Youre kidding, the owner?

2 Strategy plus

Things happen

UNIT 9

I bet . . .

You can start a statement

with I bet . . . when you
are pretty sure about
something.

You can also use

I bet as a response to
show you understand
a situation.

A I freaked!
B I bet.

I hid the burned pan

under the sink.

I bet no one even noticed.

Read the stories and guess the responses. Then listen

and write the responses you hear. Practice with a partner.
3.31

In conversation
Bet is one of the top 600
words. Over 60% of its uses
are in the expression I bet . . .

1. A A friend of mine was staying at a hotel one time, and she

was walking back to her room in the dark, and she fell in the pool.
Everyone at the pool caf saw her!

B Oh, no! I bet

2. A One time I fell asleep on the subway, and when I woke up,
the train was at the end of the line. It took an hour to get
back to my stop.

B Oh, I bet

3. A I was on vacation in London with my parents a few years

ago, and we were flying home. Anyway, we got to the airport,
and I realized my passport was still in the hotel safe.

B Oh, no. I bet

3 Listening and strategies

A

About
you

A funny story

Listen to the story. Choose the best response each time you hear a pause.
Check () a or b.
3.32

1. a.

Thats awful.

b.

Oh, I bet.

2. a.

I bet.

b.

Nice.

3. a.

Its easy to do.

b.

Thats good.

4. a.

I bet.

b.

Thank goodness.

5. a.

I bet he was pretty upset.

b.

Good.

3.32

Listen to the story again. Write your own comments or responses when you hear the pauses.

1.

4.

2.

5.

3.

C Pair work Take turns retelling the story you just heard, or tell your own story. React with short
comments and respond using I bet.
91

Happy endings

Lesson D

1 Reading
A Brainstorm! Make a list of any good things that happened recently. Tell the class.
I passed my final math test.
My friend gave me a ticket to a concert.

Reading tip

B Read the article. What bad thing happened to each person?

Did their stories have happy endings?

As you read a story, pay attention to the

time expressions like ten years later, or
last month. They help you follow events.

Every cloud has a silver lining . . .

Gemma Russo, California

Sometimes when things go

wrong, they just go wrong.
But occasionally something
really positive comes out of
a bad situation. Last month, while I was hiking
in a state park, I took a photo of an amazing
sunset over a lake. It was so beautiful that I
decided to text it to my friend Charley right
then and there. Anyway, when I was taking
more photos of the lake, I slipped and dropped
my cell phone in the water. Disaster! I lost all
my photos, and I sprained my ankle. They
couldnt fix my phone, either. Well, apparently,
Charley secretly sent in my sunset photo to the
local TV station. Today, they chose it for
Photo of the Month, and I won a brand new camera!
Maybe every cloud does have a silver lining, after all!
Elena, Texas

Ten years ago, my scooter broke

down when I was riding to
school. I couldnt afford to fix it,
so that semester I had to get up
at 5:00 a.m. every day to take
the bus. One cold, wet morning,
I was feeling really tired and grumpy. But while I was
waiting for the bus, this guy started talking to me, and he
actually made me laugh! It turned out that he was
studying at the same college. We exchanged phone
numbers, and the rest is history. Ten years later, were
married with two children. Oh, and a new scooter!
92

Chin-ho, Daegu

A couple of weeks ago,

I was helping a friend
move his things into my
apartment. He was out
of work and needed a
place to stay. While we
were carrying some heavy boxes up the stairs,
I hurt my back. It was really bad, so I had to
go to the emergency room. Anyway, while I
was waiting to see the doctor, I saw an
advertisement for a computer technician at the
hospital. I called my friend, he got the job, and
I got a prescription for painkillers! At least his
cloud had a silver lining! Though I do have my
apartment all to myself again.

Things happen

UNIT 9

C Read the article on page 92 again. Are the sentences true or false?
Check ( ) True (T) or False (F). Correct the false sentences.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

occasionally

Gemma believes that something good always comes out of a bad situation.
Gemma won a new camera because she sent her photo to a local TV station.
Elena had to take the bus to class because she didnt have the money to fix her scooter.
Elena liked the guy at the bus stop because he was funny.
Chin-ho hurt himself when he was trying to help a friend.
Chin-hos friend moved to a new place when he got the job at the hospital.

2 Listening and speaking

Happy endings?

3.33

Listen to Garys and Pams stories. Who lost something? Who got lost?

3.33

Listen to the stories again. Answer the questions.

Garys story
1. Where was Gary? What was he doing?

Pams story
1. Where was Pam going?

2. Who did he meet?

2. What was her problem?

3. Why did he forget his briefcase?

3. How did she get help?

4. What did he do when he got to work?

4. How did the woman offer to help?

5. Does this story have a happy ending?

Why or why not?

5. Does this story have a happy ending?

Why or why not?

C Pair work Student A: Choose one of the stories above, and retell it to a partner.
Student B: Listen. Did your partner leave out any important details?

3 Writing

Free talk

pp. 134 and 136

Anecdotes

A Think of a time something went wrong. Write 10 to 12 sentences about it. Make sure your
sentences are in order.

I was walking to work last week.

It started to rain.
I didnt have an umbrella.
I put a newspaper over my head and ran.
I got to the corner.
About
you

The light changed.

I had to wait for a really long time.
A young man came up to me.
He offered to share his umbrella.
He walked with me all the way to work!

B Read the Help note and the anecdote. What events do the words when and while link?
Then use your notes from above to write your own anecdote.

Last week, I was walking to work when it started to

rain. I didnt have an umbrella, so I put a newspaper
over my head and ran. When I got to the corner, the
light changed, and I had to wait for a really long
time. While I was waiting, a young man came up to
me and offered to share his umbrella. He walked
with me all the way to work! It was so nice of him.

Help note
Linking ideas with when and while.
You can use when or while to link a longer background event
and another action.
While emphasizes the length of time an action or event takes.
When also shows events that happen one after another.

C Group work Read your classmates anecdotes. Which ones show every cloud has a silver lining?
93

Vocabulary notebook

From head to toe

In conversation

Learning tip Sketches

Take my hand

Draw and label pictures to help you remember new vocabulary.

The top ten body parts

people talk about are:

1 Label the sketch. Use the words in the box.

eye
nose
head
face
neck
shoulder

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

hand
eye
head
face
leg

6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

arm
mouth
ear
back
knee

2 Now make a sketch of a body from head to toe. How many parts of the body can you label?

On your own
Before you go to sleep each night, think
of the name for each part of your body.
Start at your head, and work toward your
toes. Can you think of each word in
English before you fall asleep?

Can

Do! Now I can . . .

I can . . .

? I need to review how to . . .

tell anecdotes about things that went wrong.

94

talk about accidents and what happened.

understand people telling anecdotes and

respond.

react with expressions like Oh, no! to show

Im listening to a story.

understand the details of a story.

read anecdotes in an article.

use I bet to show Im sure or as a response

to show I understand.

write an anecdote about something that

went wrong.