SPEAKING

SPEAKING BEGINNER
Picture Perfect ....................................................................................... 3
Who Do You Trust ....................................................................................7
Welcome To Perfect City ................................................................... 10
Do The Right Thing ............................................................................ 15
Tell Me No Lies ................................................................................... 21
Trend Setters ....................................................................................... 25
Free To Make Mistakes ...................................................................... 29
Time Savers ......................................................................................... 33
Love It Or Hate It ............................................................................... 36
Making A Plan .................................................................................... 39
 3

PICTURE PERFECT

VOCABULARY

1A Look at the photographic portraits. What do you think makes

a good photo portrait?
B Read the text. Does it mention your ideas? What does Bailey
feel is important when taking a photo portrait?
4

C Work in pairs. Check you understand the meaning of the

words/expressions in bold. Can you use other words to
explain them?
Captures the beauty – shows you how beautiful something is

Speculating
Use the following phrases to speculate about people or situations.
I suppose/guess/reckon There is something ... about him/her.
he’s/she’s around ... He/She gives the impression of being ...
I’d say he’s/she’s ... He/She could be/could have been ...
I wonder what he/she ... It seems like he/she .../it seems to me
I’d hazard a guess (that) ... .../It looks to me as if he/she
If I had to make a guess, I’d It makes me think (that) maybe he/she ...
say (that) ...
I’m pretty sure he/she ... It might suggest (that) ...

LEARN TO
USE VAGUE LANGUAGE
Why do people use vague language? Does it sound formal or
casual?
Vague nouns: thing, stuff, bit
There’s something in her eyes.

Quantifiers: one or two, a few, a

couple of, a lot of, plenty of, loads of,
a bit (of)
There’s a bit of flour.
Vague numbers : around, about fifty,
 5
more or less, fifty or so
He’s about forty-ish.
Generalisers: sort of, kind of, you
know
He looks sort of creative.
List completers: and stuff, and so on,
or something (like that)
She could be a model, or something
like that.

InterTips
To sound fluent in English, avoid long pauses in your speech by
using fillers like er and erm. Vague language (sort of/kind of/you
know) and hedges (I’d say/I reckon/I suppose) are also used as fillers.

A Correct the mistakes in the sentences.

1 I’ll be there soon. I just have a couple things to do.
2 Why don’t we meet at exactly eight-ish?
3 I left a lot of stuffs at the hotel, but I can pick it up later.
4 Don’s worry. We’ve got a plenty of time.
5 We’ve sort finished the accounts.
6 There’ll be about forty and so people attending.
B Mark the links between words in the following examples. Try
saying the phrases.
1 It looks as if he’s got a lot of work to do.
2 She looks about fifty or so.
3 It’s a bit dark, isn’t it?
4 I’ve got a couple of things to ask.
6
SPEAKING
A Work in pairs. Describe and discuss the potraits below. Use the
following questions to help you.
• What can you say about the person’s job or character from the
picture?
• How do you think he/she is feeling? Why do you think this
might be?
B If you had a photograph potrait taken of you, where would you
be? What kind of potrait would you like to have? Compare
your ideas with other students.
 7

WHO DO YOU TRUST

SPEAKING
1A Read about three real cases of untrustworthy behavior at
work. If you were the boss in these cases, what would you do?
What would it depend on? Think of some ideas and make notes.

B Compare your ideas with other students. If you were the boss,
what opinions would you have? Debate the issues.

C What do you think the bosses really did? Do you think they
did the right thing?

VOCABULARY
8
IDIOMS OF OPINION
A Work in pairs. Underline two idioms in the article and check
you understand them.

In a recent UK poll to find the most trustworthy professions,

doctors came first. Ninety-two percent of people trust them.
Other highly trusted professions included teachers, judges and
clergy. Near the bottom of the list were business leaders and
journalists, but politicians came last. Only thirteen percent of
people trust them.
Three of the most trusted professions gave us their comments.

Dr David Bailey, doctor

‘I qualified when I was twenty-three years old. I’ve every
intention of working until I’m sixty-five, so I’ve got a real
vested interest in making sure that my patients think I am
trustworthy. You do that by the way you behave towards
people’
Mary Davis, teacher
‘We make every effort to get to know each individual
pupil and we also try very hard to be part of the
community. As well as knowing the pupils, we get to
know their families.’
Professor Justin Lewis, University Professor
‘We don’t have an axe to grind. Our business is doing
research; teaching. In good faith, we try and produce
things that are of value to society in general.

B Work in pairs. Underline the idioms in sentences 1-4 and

choose the best definition, a) or b).
 9
1. I’m going to play devil’s advocate. Let’s imagine the
company goes bankrupt. What happens to the employees?
a) give a very negative opinion about someone or something
b) take a deliberately contrary position in an argument to
force people to justify their opinions
2. I’m going to speak my mind. I think this situation is
absolutely terrible and we have to find a solution.
a) change your opinion after reconsidering something
b) say what you really believe
3 If you have to make a decision, it’s no use sitting on the
fence. You must choose one or the other.
a) being unable to commit yourself to one opinion or one side
b) asking lots of people to help you make a difficult decision
4 Let’s not beat about the bush. You have committed a serious
crime, and now you must pay for it.
a) give an opinion based on false evidence
b) talk a lot, but avoid directly addressing the most important
point

C Which idioms in Exercise B can be used to introduce

opinions or knowledge?
Introducing opinions
Use the following phrases to introduce opinions or knowledge.
If you want my honest opinion, ... Look at it this way.
According to (the statistics), ... The reality is, .../in reality, ...
To my knowledge, ... As far as I’m concerned, ...
Quite frankly, ... If you ask me, ...
From what I can gather, ...
1

WELCOME TO PERFECT CITY

VOCABULARY

CITY LIFE
1A Work in groups and discuss the questions.
1 Have you been to any of the cities in the photos?
2 What do you think might be good about living in them? What
problems might there be?
3 What is good and bad about the city or town where you live?
4 What other problems connected with urban living can you
think of?
 11
B Read the article. Does it mention any of the issues you
discussed?
Welcome to Perfect City
Environmental psychology looks at the ways in which we are affected
by our surroundings. Almost every aspect of the built environment,
from the colour of hospital walls to the type of grass used in parks,
can have a dramatic impact on crime, health, education, commerce
and happinness. BBC Focus magazine reports on how psychologists
are teaming up with designers to build safer and healthier spaces.
Classic trick
In the mind-nineties in Montreal, it was discovered that playing
classical music through the public address system would drive away
crowds of loitering teenagers and cut crime. The idea soon caught on.
Now, classical music is played in over 60 London underground
Stop signs
Sometimes less is more – towns such as Bohmte in Germany have
found that the best way to slow traffic is to remove all road signs and
markings. Without these guides, drivers have to slow down and
negotiate rights of way with other drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
Dipping distractions
Researchers in Manchester found that pickpockets took
advantage of pedestrians distracted by confusing environments.
With visual clutter removed and spaces made easier to navigate,
pedestrians are more aware of their surroundings and less likely
to become crime victims.

Delays stress
A study of rail commuters found the highest levels of the stress
hormone cortisol among those who perceived their journey as
unpredictable. Real-time transport updates, such as a text message
letting you know exactly when the next bus will arrive, have been
found to reduce stress.
1
2A Look at the words connected to city life. Which do you know?
work with other students to complete sentences 1-4.

Amenities infrastructure congestion

Abandonment tolls regeneration
1 The best thing to do with loitering teenagers is to give them
such as sports facilities.
2 The city can’t host a major international event because it
doesn’t have the . The transport is poor.
3 The of run-down old buildings used to be a real problem
where I live, but the area has undergone urban , so now
it’s full of nice shops and houses.
4 There’s always traffic . We should have , so
people pay to drive in the city.

B Which three words in the box contain suffixes that turn them
into nouns? What are the nouns’ root words?

Making a proposal
introducing your proposal
Just to give a bit of background information, ...
To start with, I’m going to talk briefly about, ...
stating the purpose
The aim of the project is to ...
The main goal/objective of our proposal is to ...
describing your idea
What we plan to do is ...
We’re going to build/develop/come up with ...
 13
justifying your idea
This solution will help us to ... This idea is feasible because ...
listing the benefits
In the first instance, this would mean ...
The short-term/long-term benefits include ...
summarising your proposal
So, basically, what we’re proposing (to do) is to ...
To sum up, we’re proposing ...
soliciting questions
Does anyone have any questions?
Is there anything that needs clarification?

LEARN TO
SUGGEST MODIFICATIONS
Look at phrases a) - f) which are used to suggest modifications or
changes to a proposal. Answer questions 1-4.
a) I’d like to propose a compromise.
b) Let’s try to come up with a solution.
c) Let’s look at it another way.
d) How about if we combine our ideas?
e) Is there any way we can reduce the costs?
f) Is there any leeway regarding the schedule?

1 Which two expressions mean we should put separate ideas

together?
2 Which two expressions ask if there is flexibility to change a
plan?
3 Which expressions means we should think of an answer to a
problem?
4 Which expressions asks to rethink a problem?
1
SPEAKING
A Work in groups. Think of an area you know, for example part
of your city, and make notes on the questions below.
1 What problems does the are have? Think about:
• Buildings
• User-friendliness
• Facilities
• Safety
• Appearance
• Noise levels
2 How could the area be improved?
3 What would be the benefits for the community?
B Your group is applying for a €1 million grant to improve the
area. Plan a proposal, decide who will say which part and
practise the proposal.
C Present your proposal to the class. Which idea do you think
should win the grant?

PERFECT CITY
 15
DO THE RIGHT THING

VOCABULARY
1A Match the phrases 1-4 with phrases a)-d) which have similar
meanings.
1 To take all these things into consideration
2 Spent some time thinking in through
3 (be) faced with a dilemma
4 Weighed up the pros and cons

a) (be) in a predicament
b) Considered the benefits and drawbacks
c) To bear these points in mind
d) Assessed the situation

B Use phrases a-d from Exercise 1A to complete the text below.

1
C What would you do in this situation? Tell other students.
D Discuss. What difficult decisions/dilemmas might the people
below face?
• Scientist
• Financial investor
• Soldier
• Teacher
• Doctor
• Parent
expressing hypothetical preferences
Use the following phrases to express hypothetical preferences.
hypothetical preferences
If it was up to me, I’d .../I’d have Far better to ... than ...
(+ past participle) This would be by far the best
I’d sooner (+ infinitive) option.
I’d just as soon (+ infinitive) ... as My preference would be to ...
Given the choice, I’d ... Without a shadow of a doubt, I’d ...
If ever found myself in this/that No way would I (+ infinitive).
situation, I’d ...

LEARN TO
Look at expressions a)-e) from this extract audio :
M = Man W = Woman

M: So did you see that thing on the news about that er, seventy-year
old grandmother who um, who stopped the jewel thieves?
W: Oh, the the one yeah, who knocked one of them off their bike, off
their motorbike?
M: Yeah.
W: That was amazing.
 17
M: Wasn’t it extraordinary? And they were robbing this jewel store
and smashing the windows.
W: Yeah, yeah, yeah, and she just came up and completely ...
M: And nobody was doing anything about it.
W: ... hit them straight over the head with her massive great handbag.
M: With her shopping bag.
W: Shopping bag or something.
M: Full of, I don’t know, beans or something.
W: Cans of beans, yeah!
M: But, I mean, would you do that, in that situation?
W: Oh I, I, if it was up to me, I think I would probably be too
cowardly and I’d end up just calling the police, I’m afraid to say.
M: I know, it’s interesting, isn’t it? I mean, you know, if, if I ever
found myself in that situation, I would like to think that I would
be, you know, a have-a-go-hero as well but come, you know,
push come to shove, whether or not you actually do it or not is
another question, isn’t it?
W: Yeah, yeah, I mean.
M: I mean the fact is that it’s dangerous.
W: How many ... were there six of them she took on?
M: Something like that, yeah.
W: That really is ...
M: And she knocked one of them off their scooter and then ... and it
was only then that all the other passers-by came and, you know,
landed on him, yeah.
W: Oh yeah, jumped on the bandwagon, yes.
M: But she’d done, done the whole thing.
W: No you have to ... I completely take my my hat off ... hat off to
her for that because that is truly heroic to just charge in there, but
no way would I do that. I just can’t see my er, yes I, I own up to
cowardice. I would be ringing someone.
M: Well, a friend of mine said that he thought it was absolutely, you
know, completely stupid, totally wrong thing to do. I said no, I
1
thought that if more people, you know, were like that, you’d
have a better society.
W: Yeah. The thing is, as you said before, I don’t know, I think it has
to be one of those instantaneous reactions. You either don’t think
about the consequesnces and you, you pile in and you, you do
what you can, or it’s, I mean as soon as you hesitate I think
you’re lost really.
M: Yeah.
W: And er ...
M: I think to be absolutely honest, if it was up to me, in the same
situation, I’d probably leg it.
W: Really? Yes, well I, I think I’d probably do my bit by calling the
police.
Put them under the correct headings below.
a) It was totally wrong.
b) The fact is ...
c) The thing is ...
d) To be absolutely honest ...
e) It was completely stupid ...

Adverbs for emphasis

1.
2.
3.

Fronting: expressions before the main verb

What you have to remember is ...
4.
5.

Other expressions
That’s out of the question.
No chance.
Not on your life.
 19

InterTips
When we write, we can emphasise words by using italics or
underlining. When we speak, we use intonation to emphasise the
same words. The pitch is higher and we sometimes make the vowel
sounds longer. When you hear people arguing, persuading or getting
excited, listen to the way they pronounce key words.

SPEAKING
A Read the dillemas below. Think about what you would do and
complete the notes for each situation.
My first reaction is ...
On the other hand, ...
It depends on ...
The best opinion ...
1. Your friend’s husband is supposed to be working late, but you
see him in a bar talking in a friendly manner with another
woman. You do not know the other woman. She could be a work
colleague. Do you tell your friend what you saw?
2
2. You are in a hurry. You need to send a package urgently but the
post office will close in two minutes. There are no parking
spaces except in the Disabled section of the cark park. You are
not disabled. You think you will only be there five minutes. Do
you park in the Disabled section?

3. A friend of yours stole something. You promise never to reveal

this. Soon afterwards, an innocent person is accused of the crime.
You tell your friend that she has to own up. She refuses and
reminds you of your promise. It is possible that an innocent
person will go to jail. Do you reveal the truth?

B Work in groups and compare your ideas.

 21
TELL ME NO LIES

VOCABULARY
1A Work in pairs. What do you know about the website
WikiLeaks? Answer the questions.
1 What kind of information is published on the website?
2 Who sends the information?
3 What effect does it have on governments and large organisations?
B Read the article to check your ideas.
2
making a point
making a point clarifying a point
There are several reasons why I What I’m basically saying is ...
think that ... The point I’m trying to make is
The reason (why) I say that is ... that ...
The facts suggest .../the evidence Actually, .../In fact, ...
shows ... Let me put in this way ...
After all, ... I think you’ll find that ...
The point is ...
If you think about it, ...

challenging a point
Do you think that’s always the case?
Can you be sure about that?
Is there any way/evidence to prove that?
But that’s not the point.
I don’t see how you can say that.
But that doesn’t take account of the fact that ...

LEARN TO
MANAGE A CONVERSATION
A Work in groups. Do any of the following things happen to you
when you are discussing an issue in English?
1. You struggle to find the right words in time.
2. People keep going off the topic, so you find it hard to follow.
3. Some people are reluctant to contribute to the conversation.
4. One or two people tend to dominate the conversation.
5. You pause to collect your thoughts and someone interrupts so
you can’t finish what you wanted to say.
 23
B Look at the different ways to manage a conversation. Put the
phrases in the box under the correct headings below.
Sorry, and another thing ... Getting back to the point, which is ...
Where do you stand on this? I suppose, if you think about it ...

Encouraging someone else to contribute

So what do you think about ... ?/But don’t you think ...?
How do you feel about this?
1

Keeping your turn

Hold on a minute. I wanted to say that ...
There are a couple of things I’d like to say about ...
2

Giving you thinking time

That’s an interesting question to consider.
That’s something which we should consider carefully.
It’s not something I’ve thought much about before.
3

Staying on (original) topic

Going back to what you were saying abuot ...
I’m not sure what that’s got to do with ...
4
2
SPEAKING
A Write down your answers to two or three of the questions
below. Think of ideas to justify your position.

Has the internet changed the nature of

journalism for the better or the worse?

Is it justifiable to obtain information by phone or email tapping?

Does the public have a right to know about the private

lives of people in positions of power?

Should goverments/the police/big organisations

be allowed to keep information secret?

B Work in groups and discuss the questions.

 25

TREND SETTERS

VOCABULARY
TRENDS
A Discuss the questions.
1. How would you describe the people and things in the photos?
2. Do any of the images look out-of-date?
3. How do trends start and spread?
B Read the text about how trends spread. What is the main idea
of the text? What is your answer to the question at the end of
the text?

The best way to understand how trends take off might be to

think of them as epidemics. How is it that unknown books
suddenly become bestsellers, TV programmes become
instant classics, toys that were adored by generations
suddenly lose their appeal? The answer is that trends
spread like viruses. Somehow they capture the imagination
and strike a chord with the public. Take the rise of the shoe
brand, Hush Puppies. Sales of Hush Puppies had stagnated
to just 30,000 pairs a year. Suddenly, the shoes became the
latest thing in Manhattan clubs and stylists began to use
them as accessories in fashion photo shoots. It turned out
to be more than just a passing trend. In 1995, 1,700,000
pairs. Or look at the technology revolution led by Apple
Inc. The number of Apple users has risen dramatically in
the last ten years. How do these changes happen? Some
say it’s a combination of word of mouth and pure luck,
while marketers think it’s something we can control. Who
is right?
2

A Read the text again and find the words that complete the
phrases in bold.
1 When trends suddenly become popular, they take ...
2 When a product goes out of fashion, it has lost its ...
3 One way that fashions spread is they capture the ...
4 When people identify with something, it strikes a ...
5 When a product or trend is suddenly popular, we say it
becomes the latest ...
6 When something is popular for just a short time, we say it’s
just a passing ...
7 When there is more of something now than before, we say the
number has ...
8 When something becomes trendy because people tell each
other about it, it spreads by word of ...
B Work in pairs. Think of examples of:
• Something that was a passing trend.
• Something that has captured the public imagination.
• Something that has taken off recently.

describing cause and effect

Cause
informal and neutral formal
It all started ... It has its origins/roots in ...
It originated in/from ... It can be traced back/attributed to ...
It’s because of ... It seems from ...
 27
Effect
informal and neutral formal
It led to ... It resulted in ...
It has caused ... It gave rise to ...
Because of this, ... It brought about ...
LEARN TO

SUMMARISE YOUR VIEWS

Look at the expressions in the box. When do you think we
usually use these expressions? What is their purpose?
So overall, ... To sum up, .... All in all, ... Basically, ....
In conclusion, ... So what I’m really saying is, ...

InterTips
When summarising, we use different expressions depending on how
formal the situation is. To sum up is formal. Which other expression
do you think is formal?

A Complete the sentences in any way you choose.

1 People now expect to download music for free and CD sales
are at their lowes ebb. Basically, ...
2 We saw some great presentations at the conference. The hotel
was wonderful and we loved the food. So overall, ...
3 Bloggers take news from reporters and write comments. They
don’t do much reporting. So what I’m really saying is ...
4 Sales of the game soared in May, jumped again July and rose
dramatically in December. To sum up, ...
5 The report says young people believe in openness. They like
sharing their private lives online. In conclusion, ...
2
6 We had developed a great product, so logically it should have
been a success. However, we had technical problems. Then a
competitor stole the idea. All in all, ...
B Compare your answers in pairs.

SPEAKING
A Prepare a two-minute presentation: What has a changed in
your lifetime in your country? Think about trends in fashion,
cost of living, free time, etc. Choose one issue. Note the causes
and effects of the changes.
B Work in groups and give your presentation. Did any of you
have similar ideas?
 29
FREE TO MAKE MISTAKES

VOCABULARY
RISK
Work in pairs and answer the questions.
1 What risks do you think take in your daily life?
2 Do you think that, as a society, we have become afraid to take
risks? Why/Why not?
3 When is it OK to break the rules (at work, driving, at school,
etc.)?
A Read the article and answer the questions.

1 What did the journalist let her son do?

2 What was her reason for doing this?
3 What kinds of reactions did she receive when she wrote about
the experience?
4 What does Ms Skenazy think is the problem with protecting
children too much?
3
B What do you think the words/phrases in bold in the article
mean? Use some of them to complete the sentences below. You
may need to use just part of the phrase, or adapt it to fit the
context.
1 It’s a good idea to get children to cook for themselves from an
early age, because it encourages .
2 If parents their children by indulging them all the
time, the children will never learn to look after themselves.
3 No rational parent would try to their child to
unnecessary danger.
4 Children should be encouraged to take , like
learning how to use sharp knives. This way, they will learn to
do things .
5 The problem with parents is that the child doesn’t
learn to deal with problems they will face in the real world.
6 The fact that your coffee cup is labelled ‘Caution: contents
hot’ shows that we are living in a society.

exchanging opinions
agreeing agreeing in part
That’s absolutely right. I agree with you up to a point.
I couldn’t agree more. I suppose you’ve got a point, but ...
Absolutely! I’m with you 100
percent on that

questioning someone’s opinion

Oh, come on you must be joking. Surely you
don’t think that ...
That goes against my better judgment because ...
How can you say that? Where’s the logic in that?
You can’t honestly think that ...
 31
strongly disagreeing
It just doesn’t make sense to me. Oh, that’s
ridiculous!

InterTips
In order to disagree politely, ask questions, for example: Do you
really think so? Don’t you think it’s a bit long? Isn’t that rather
extreme? To make your disagreement seem less forceful, use Well,
Right, or Yes, but at the start of the sentence.

LEARN TO
Use the prompts in brackets to write responses which try to
change A’s opinion.
1 A: Everyone should be a vegetarian.
B: ?
(surely/think/people/never/eat/meat)

2 A: Children shouldn’t be allowed to hold knives.

B: .
(all/say/children/need/learn/some stage)

3 A: Nobody should have to take exams.

B: .
(point/exams/useful way/measure progress)

4 A: Young drivers shouldn’t be allowed to drive with other

youngsters in the car.
B: !
(come/not make sense)
3
SPEAKING
A Look at the situations below. Who do you think should decide
in each case? Why? Think of arguments to support your case.
B Work in groups and discuss the situations. Try to convince
others of your opinion.

The state versus the individual

Who should decide:

• Whether you are allowed to smoke in a public place?

• Whether you should be allowed to ear junk food?
• How much exercise an individual should do?
• Whether you should be allowed to keep a gun in your
house?
• The age at which a child should go to school?
• How often you use your car or how fast you can drive
in certain areas?
• The minimum age that someone can start work?
 33
TIME SAVERS

VOCABULARY
1 Work in groups. Think about your life. Which activities are the
biggest time-waters?
2A Complete the expressions in bold below with the words in the
box. What do the expressions mean?
In pushed the to world spare hands

1 What would you do if you had all the time in the world?
2 Are you ever for time? When?
3 When did you last have lost of time on your ?
4 Do you wish you had more time yourself?
5 When you’re bored, how do you pass time?
6 In your work/studies, do you usually finish tasks just time
or with time to ?
B Discuss questions 1-6 with other students.

discussing ideas
acknowledging an idea
Right. OK. That’s a good idea. Sure. I know what you mean.
Definitely. That’s interesting. I never thought of that.
That makes (perfect) sense. Yes, it’s true/That’s true
Exactly. I’m with you there.

introducing an alternative
Having said that, ...
But looking at it another way/But I’m looking at, ...
But on the other hand. Yes and no. Mind you, ...
But you could argue that Alternatively, ...
3
LEARN TO

SOLICIT MORE INFORMATION

A Here are five more expressions for soliciting information.
Which words do you think are missing?
1 What ?
2 Can you tell us ?
3 Anything to ?
4 Is there anything we’ve ?
5 Anyone managed to up with other ideas?

B The asnwers are below but in the wrong order. Complete the
expressions.
Add missed more come else

InterTips
We use expressions with any: any ideas, anything, anyone, etc/.
When we don’t want to be specific. It means that it doesn’t matter
which or who. Which word beginning with any could be replaced by
anybody?

Put the words in the correct order to make questions. Add

capital letters.
1 A: tell / more / us / you / can / ?
B: Well, for example, we could put a ‘to do’ list on the wall.
2 A: you / go / detail / can / more / into / ?
B: Yes. Every Wednesday, we could discuss the issue.
3 A: missed / there / is / we’ve / anything / ?
B: No, I think that’s everything.
 35
4 A: else / of / think / can / anything / you / ?
B: Yes, we haven’t mentioned homework.
5 A: ideas / come / anyone / with / to / managed / other / up / ?
B: Sorry, nothing else from me.

SPEAKING
A Work alone. Think of as many ways as possible to save time
while working, studying, travelling or doing housework.
B Work in groups and follow the instructions.
1 Choose one facilitator to lead the discussion, solicit ideas and
make sure everyone has a chance to speak.
2 Choose one scribe to write down all the ideas.
3 Share your ideas.
4 Divide the ideas into: a) really good, b) interesting but not
always practical, c) too difficult to implement.
5 Present your group’s best ideas to the class. Which ideas
would you like to try?
3

LOVE IT OR HATE IT

VOCABULARY
A Read the website extract and discuss the questions.
1 What kind of website does it talk about?
2 What can you read about on this site?
3 Do you know of any other websites like this?
4 Do you think they are a good idea? Why/Why not?
B What do you think the following words/phrases from the
extract mean?
1 Rave (v, n)
2 Rant (v, n)
3 Crave a fresh perspective
4 Speak their mind
5 Let your feelings fly
6 A piece of your mind

Complete the sentences with the correct form of words/ phrases

in above.
1 Everything I read in the newspaper is the same. I really
.
2 He went on a about the evils of modern society.
3 That’s not acceptable. You should give the manager .
4 Don’t tell him he is wrong all the time. Let him .
5 I’ve never seen you so animated before. You really .
6 Rick loves to about how wonderful life is in
Australia.
 37
ranting/raving
Raving
It was the most wonderful/amazing/awesome ...
It was absolutely fantastic/incredible. It’s really the best (show)
ever.
There’s (absolutely) nothing better than ...
(It was) one of the most spectacular (sunsets) I’ve ever seen.
I couldn’t believe my luck when ... It was idyllic. It’s an all-time
classic

Ranting
If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s ...
It drives me up the wall.
It was absolutely horrendous.
It was a total waste of money.
It’s not my style/kind of thing/cup of tea at all.

LEARN TO
USE COMMENT ADVERBIALS

InterTips
Listen out for comment adverbials (absolutely, definitely, abviously,
totally, simply, undoubtedly, completely,suprisingly, incredibly, etc.)
to help you understand someone’s viewpoint. Also, when you are
talking, comment adverbials which come at the beginning of the
sentences can give you thingking time (Honestly, Basically,
Seriously, etc.).
3
Choose the correct alternatives.
1. Honestly/ Undoubtedly, I have no idea where you could
possibly find more delicious chocolates!
2. Incredibly/ Basically, he’s just lazy.
3. Clearly/ Completely, this was one of the more luxurious
hotels.
4. Not clearly/ suprisingly, with high unemployment young
people are struggling to find jobs.
5. It’s quite basically/simply the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever
heard.
6. Undoubtedly/ Completely, this is one of the top bands of the
moment.

SPEAKING
A Choose two or three topics from the list below. Prepare to rant
or rave about each topic. Make notes and try to use comment
adverbials.
• A restaurant you’ve enjoyed/been disappointed by
• a spectacular/ugly place you have visited
• an item of clothing you love/hate
• an actor or film you love/hate
• a piece of music/album you love/hate
• something you bought recently which was a success/disaster.

B Work groups. Take turns to talk about your topics. Do you

agree with the other students? If not, offer your own opinion
 39
MAKING A PLAN

VOCABULARY
1 Think about the questions. Then discuss them in groups.
1 Why might the people in the photos need to negotiate?
2 What negotiations do you think the following people sometimes
have? What experience do you have of the types of negotiations?
• Parents and children
• Bosses and employees
• Companies and customers
3 What do you think makes a good negotiator?

2A Read seven tips for negotiating. Which three are the most
important for you?

B Can you think of any other tips for negotiating?

4
C Which words/expressions in bold in the text can be replaced by
definitions a) – g)
a) Let the other person have something in order to reach an
agreement
b) Careful about what you say so that you don’t upset or
embarrass anyone
c) Pretend something in order to achieve what you want
d) Delay (until a later date)
e) Accept less than what you originally wanted in order to reach
an agreement
f) Find out what you both want
g) Arguing to agree on the price of something

negotiating
naming your objectives
We want to sort this out as soon as possible.
By the end of the day, we want to resolve this.
exploring positions
What do you have in mind? Can you go into more detail?
making conditional offers
If you do ... for me, I’ll do ... for you.
What if we supported your idea?

refusing an offer
That would be difficult for me because of ...
I’m not sure I can do that because ...
accepting an offer
Good. That sounds acceptable to me. Great. We’ve got a deal.
following up the deal
Let me know if you have any queries.
Get in touch if anything needs clarifying.
 41

LEARN TO
STALL FOR TIME
The speaker mentions ‘stalling for time’. What do you think this
means? Read the expressions below. Which one is not used to
stall for time?
1 I’d like to think about it.
2 I’ll have to ask about that.
3 I need more time to consider it.
4 I can give you an answer to that right now.
5 Can I get back to you on that?

SPEAKING

A Read some notes about a plan to hold an International Film

Festival at your school. Which unresolved issues are the most
important?

• Name of event: International Film Festival

• Who for: all students at the school
• Place: at school
• Films: ?
• Dates: ?
• Times: 5.30 first film, 8.00 second film
• Cost: ?
• Food and drink: ?
• Advertising the event: ?
4
B Work in groups. Read your roles. Think about the answers to
questions 1-3 below.
Group A
You are the school administrators.
• Your budget is €800 (for renting films, buying food and
paying staff for overtime).
• You think students should pay €5 per evening (two films).
• You want to serve snacks only.
• You think the festival should last three days.
• You think the school administrators should choose the films
because you need to make sure they are approriate.
• You want the student Film Festival Committee to develop a
web page about the festival to go on the shcool’s website.
You think this will attract students to the shcool.
• You want the festival to take place next term so there is time
to arrange it properly.

1 What is your main objective in this negotiation?

2 What do you think the other team’s objective is?
3 What are your other objectives? Which of there are quite
important? Which are not so important?

Group B
You are the student Film Festival Committee.
• You think the event will cost €1500 (for renting films and
buying food).
• You think students should pay €10 and be allowed to attend
all films (two per day).
• You want to serve international food to match the films (e.g.
during a Brazilian film, you will serve Brazilian food).
• You think festival should last five days (Monday – Friday).
 43
• You think the student Film Festival Committee should choose
the films because you know what students like.
• You want to create a promotional leaflet to hand out to all
students.
• You want the festival to take place this term because
everyone is enthusiastic about it.

C Work with a student from the other group. Negotiate a deal.

D Tell the class what you decided.