Gramatica inglesa, Apuntes de Idioma Inglés

¡Descarga Gramatica inglesa y más Apuntes en PDF de Idioma Inglés solo en Docsity! English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 1 English Grammar through Stories Table of Contents 1. Present simple tense or «It never gets you anywhere» ........... 2 2. Present continuous or «What a performance!» ...................... 5 3. Future tense or «Jealousy» ................................................. 7 4. Articles in English or «Charlie the Brave» .............................. 9 5. Progressive forms or «Going, going, gone!» ........................ 12 6. Passive voice or «Haunted»............................................... 15 7. Relative pronoun ............................................................. 17 8. Usage of pronouns or «One thing or another» ..................... 21 9. Prepositions or «How I got that job» .................................. 22 10. Spot the preposition ......................................................... 24 11. English adverb or «High hopes» ......................................... 25 12. Types of adverbs ............................................................. 27 13. Indirect speech or «Say it again» ....................................... 30 14. Conjunctions or «Joined up writing» ................................... 32 15. Conditionals or «On condition» .......................................... 33 16. Subjunctive or «Wishful thinking» ...................................... 35 17. Reflections ...................................................................... 37 18. Start or begin? ................................................................ 39 19. Make or do? or «Doing time» ............................................ 41 20. Phrasal verb break or «Breaking up» .................................. 45 21. Expressions with break or «Have a break!» ......................... 47 22. Phrasal verb bring or «Upbringing» .................................... 49 23. Phrasal verb hold or «Hold on» .......................................... 55 24. Phrasal verb take or «Take on» ......................................... 58 25. Phrasal verb look or «Look out!» ....................................... 65 26. Phrasal verb go or «Going on» .......................................... 68 27. Phrasal verb run or «A Christmas postman» ........................ 71 28. Phrasal verb fall ............................................................... 73 29. Phrasal verb get .............................................................. 75 30. Word story: Health........................................................... 77 31. Word story: Jokes ............................................................ 78 32. Word story: Dictionary ..................................................... 79 33. Word story: Search engines .............................................. 80 34. Word story: Weather ........................................................ 81 35. Saying it twice or «Save our animals» ................................ 82 36. Colour idioms or «A silver lining» ....................................... 84 37. Cool expressions or «From one extreme to the other» .......... 86 38. Book expressions or «Have you seen this book?»................. 88 39. Greeting expressions or «Well, hello!» ................................ 90 40. Sea expressions............................................................... 92 41. Head expressions ............................................................. 93 42. Expressions with the word order or «Order into chaos» ........ 95 43. Expressions with the word name or «The name of the game» 97 44. Usage of the word chip or «Potatoes» ................................. 99 45. Usage of the word learn or «Learning to learn?» ................. 101 46. Usage of the word turn or «My turn» ................................. 103 47. Usage of the word talk or «Small talk» .............................. 105 English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 2 1. Present simple tense or «It never gets you anywhere» In this story you will find many examples of how the Present Simple Tense can be used. As you know we use the present simple for things that are true in general, or for things that happen sometimes or all the time:  She likes black tea.  I start work at 9 o'clock and finish at 5:30.  Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.  We usually visit our friends on the weekend. You probably remember that after he/she/it an «s» is added to the verb as in these examples:  She speaks excellent French.  He sometimes calls her «my darling».  It makes perfect sense to me. When we want to make a negative sentence we use the following structure: subject (I/you/we/they) + auxiliary verb (don't) + main verb (infinitive) subject (he/she/it) + auxiliary verb (doesn't) + main verb (infinitive) Examples:  I don't speak Chinese.  You don't work very hard  She doesn't call me every day. When we want to make a question we also use don't after I/you/we/they and doesn't after he/she/it:  Do you speak Chinese?  Does she work here?  What do you do for a living?  How do you usually get to work? Now enjoy the following story and find the present simple in italics. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 5 2. Present continuous or «What a performance!» One of the features of the English language is that there are two sides to every tense: a simple one or a continuous one (also known as progressive). The question is when do you use one and not the other? We’re looking at the Progressive Forms in general in the story entitled: Going, going, gone! and at the Present Simple in particular in the story called: ―It never gets you anywhere― and now it's the turn of the Present Continuous/Progressive and this is called: What a Performance! Which has a double meaning because it can describe a performance in the theatre and it can also describe a long and complicated process. I only hope when you are reading it, that you don't find it too complicated. «What a Performance!» I can't myself. Well, I just couldn't get up on the stage and take part in a play. Some people are always doing that. They do it for a hobby and are never happier than when they are declaiming other people's lines in front of a live audience. They are living in a realm of fantasy. They belong to that select world called amateur dramatics, a world that once a year invades the town where I live. Just when the weather is getting warmer the festival of amateur drama comes to our local theatre. For one entire week three separate groups are performing one play each every evening. In one mad moment a few years ago I agreed to buy a season ticket to see the different productions for all six nights and ever since then each year I get this very correctly written letter beginning: 'I am writing to inform you that the Summer Festival of Drama is taking place….' Yesterday was the last night. Today I am resting. I am being perfectly serious. Although each play is around 35 minutes long, there have been 18 of them in all – tragedies, farces, melodramas, theatre of the absurd, of the ridiculous and of the 'How much longer is this going on?' The last category is my own personal classification for the really boring ones. And there was one play that could have won a prize for that category. When the curtain goes back, three people are sitting in deck chairs and eating ice creams. For about ten minutes nobody says a word. The audience is feeling a little embarrassed by this time and then suddenly one of the three starts shouting at the audience: 'Why are you all sitting there and staring at us?' This is a question I asked myself several times during the week! Of course nobody knows what to say. More questions followed, which were not answered. Then there was another pause, then more questions and then they went back to eating their ice creams and that was the end. The old lady next to me was utterly confused. 'Excuse me, she said. 'my deaf aid isn't working properly tonight and I'm hoping to buy a new one soon. Consequently I'm not hearing very well at the moment. Did I miss anything? I laughed and assured her that she hadn't. But then I suppose I am being a little over critical. There were some really good performances as well – the ones that make you forget that you are sitting in the theatre. The one I liked best was a English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 6 comedy. The play opens in a park. A couple are sitting on a bench and they are having an argument. He is trying to persuade her that he is right and she is doing her best to make him believe that he is wrong. It doesn't sound all that funny but the dialogue was so clever and the two performers are so obviously relishing their roles that the whole audience couldn't stop laughing. But then of course if you get bored with the play, you can always turn your attention to the audience. And with a season ticket you keep sitting next to the same people, which is how I got into trouble on the last night. You have to imagine it is 8 o'clock. Everyone is sitting quietly and waiting for the curtain to go up. The old lady in the next seat is adjusting her hearing aid. The fanfare is playing and then – nothing happens. Ten minutes go by. The audience is becoming distinctly uncomfortable. Comments like: 'What on earth is going on?' 'Are we seeing another play?' and 'Is anybody doing anything about it?' The fanfare is playing again. I get the impression that someone is tapping my knees but then I realise that it's the woman in front who is fidgeting. Again there is silence and then the curtains open at last to reveal a worried looking manager who is standing in the middle of the stage. 'Ladies and gentleman', he began 'I regret to tell you that the Sanderson Players are not performing tonight. There will now be a short intermission.' It was then I said to my elderly neighbour in I suppose a rather loud voice (but you must remember she is having a problem with her hearing): 'Thank goodness! That's one less to worry about.' At that the woman in front who I thought had been fidgeting and had in fact been crying, turned round and addressed me in a hysterical way: 'Do you know who you are talking to and who you are talking about?' I pleaded ignorant to both questions. 'They are my entire family – husband, son and two daughter and they are all suffering the other side of that curtain.' I was impressed with her delivery and thought what a performance she could give as a Shakespearean heroine. I made apologetic noises and decided not to probe further. The rest of the evening passed off without incident and the prizes were distributed. So after the long week and the little bit of drama in row K I hope you can understand why I am now relaxing. I'm not attending next year's festival. I've decided. I'm doing something a little more dynamic like bungee jumping or white water rafting. Incidentally in case you are wondering what the woman in front was on about, I'll explain. The whole family in the Sanderson Players had begged mother not to come to the theatre because she always put them off. She had insisted on coming and so they had refused to perform. If you're wanting to know what the play was about, you must guess it from the title: Mother knows best. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 7 3. Future tense or «Jealousy» There is a common belief that the only way to express the future in English is to use the two little modal auxiliaries «will» and «shall». Sure they play a major part in this function but there are other ways too of expressing the future. Below you will see 6 ways of expressing the future. I won't call it the «future tense» because that restricts your thinking about how to talk or write about something that is not now but next: going to This way you can express a personal intention or make a prediction about what you know/feel/see as in these sentences: I am going to stop smoking this year. The sea is going to be very rough this afternoon, so don't go swimming. Future Simple Back to «will» and «shall». With these two words plus the infinitive of a verb you can express: a future fact, a sudden decision, an offer, a threat, a promise, an opinion about the future, a probability especially after think, suppose, expect, doubt if. Here are a few examples: Tomorrow will be my birthday. It's all right I'll get the shopping. I will take you in the car if you like. I'll stand by you whatever happens. I suppose we'll manage without the car. Present Continuous This is almost the same as «going to« but it's not quite as personal. Look at this: The Government is thinking about introducing a new law. Present Simple We use this when we are thinking of the certain future, something already arranged as in a timetable or programme: Your train leaves in ten minutes. Is to/Are to These are used to express an instruction or something arranged officially. Here is an example: The finance ministers are to meet next month to discuss the crisis. About to/Due to We use these when we want to describe actions that are expected to happen, usually fairly soon. An example: The 100 metre race is about to start any minute now. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 10  Before names of meals except when preceded by an adjective. «We had a late breakfast and decided to miss lunch.» Definite — the Uses  Before nouns of which there is only one. «The earth is round.»  Before a noun which has become definite as a result of being mentioned a second time. «We saw a good film last night. It was the film you recommended.»  Before a noun made definite by the addition of a phrase or clause. «The woman dressed in black.»  Before a noun which, by reason of locality, can represent only one particular thing. «There’s a bee in the kitchen.»  Before superlatives and «first», «second» and «only» «The longest river in the world.»  Before singular nouns used to represent a class of objects. «The donkey is a very obstinate animal.»  Before an adjective used to represent a class of persons. «That tax hurts the rich.»  Before names of seas, rivers, chains of mountains, groups of islands and plural names of countries. «the Pacific Ocean, the Thames, the Andes, the West Indies, the Netherlands»  Before musical instruments. «She plays the piano» Not Used  Before countries, towns, proper names. «Charlie lived in Chicago in America»  Before abstract nouns. «Jealousy can be dangerous.»  Before parts of the body and articles of clothing — these normally prefer a possessive adjective. «Lift your left arm.» «He removed his hat.» English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 11 «Charlie the Brave» Charlie is a teacher and his wife, Maria is an artist. One of the main differences between the two is that Charlie has no imagination well perhaps a little whereas Maria has the most vivid imagination you could think of. Now — imagination is an essential quality if you’re an artist but sometimes it can lead to — problems. Take the night before last, for example. It was a fine summer night and you could see the moon and the stars quite clearly, it was shortly before the longest day of the year. Charlie was sitting in a deckchair enjoying the warm summer air when he felt something touch his shoulder; it was Maria’s hand and he could tell immediately she was a little worried about something. He had noticed this sensation a hundred times before. He asked her what the matter was and she replied that there was a strange thing on the jacket that was hanging in the bedroom. Now you must remember that they had both lived in the West Indies and had seen a lot of strange creatures in their house before. But now they were living in — England and so Charlie just laughed and said he would have a look at the «thing». He left the garden and made his way to the bedroom. He could see a jacket hanging in the bedroom and went up to it to have a closer look at the«thing». The moment he touched it, the thing sprang into— life. Now Charlie experiences — fear like the rest of us but when this creatures opened its wings, he jumped out of his skin and ran screaming from the room like a small child doing about 100 miles an hour. What a fuss you may say and the brave among you may well regard such behaviour as pathetic but — bats (for this thing was a bat) bring out the worst in many people. For a moment the next-door neighbours thought that Charlie was murdering his wife because of the noise they could hear. In fact the bat was the one that was frightened and it fluttered its wings and flew from one side of the bedroom to the other. Eventually Charlie managed to trap the bat in a box and went out into the front garden clutching the box as if it had a bomb inside it, took off the lid and the bat, obviously delighted to be free, flew away into the dark. Eventually Maria, who had been playing the guitar while Charlie was upstairs, asked Charlie if he had found out what the thing was. «Oh, nothing to worry about«, he said casually hoping that the terror could not be seen in his eyes, «it was just a bat.» English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 12 5. Progressive forms or «Going, going, gone!» In this story you will see many examples of Progressive Verb Forms (also known as Continuous Forms). Here is the structure of the Progressive Forms: subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (gerund) Sometimes a modal verb can be used before the auxiliary verb: subject + modal verb (could/would/should) + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (gerund) There are other structures such as the Present Perfect Continous: subject + auxiliary verb (have) + past participle (been) + main verb (gerund) We use the progressive from when:  we want to describe an action that is happing right now  we want to describe an action that will be happening in the future  we want to describe an activity or process that started in the past and is still going on Here are some examples:  We are reading an interesting story right now.  My wife is flying to Madrid tomorrow.  My wife would be flying to Madrid tomorrow if she had a holiday.  Our partners have been working with us for 10 years now. Now enjoy the following story and find the progressive forms in italics. «Going Going Gone!» Andrew and Daisy Marvell were going to spend another holiday in Majorca. Everyone knew that — the postman knew it, the dustman knew it and their next door neighbours also knew they would be going there. The simple reason was that they had been going there for their summer holiday for the last twenty-five years. Most people in Britain are subjected to an endless bombardment of advertisements on television just after Christmas inviting them to book for their summer holiday. The adverts are constantly telling viewers that if they book early, they will save enormous amounts of English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 15 6. Passive voice or «Haunted» In this story you will see many examples of how the Passive Voice can be used. Here is the structure of the Passive Voice: subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle) Sometimes a modal verb can be used before the auxiliary verb: subject + modal verb (could)+ auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle) We use the passive when:  we want to make the active object more important  we do not know the active subject Now read the short story and try to work out what the constructions in italics mean. «Haunted» The house was built in the middle of the 18th century and some signs could still be found that it had once been a famous meeting place for people who liked playing card games. By the time it was bought by my aunt and uncle some two hundred years later it had been owned by a long list of different people whose names are recorded on the title deeds. As it is situated by the sea, it became a favourite place for various members of the family to visit. It also had an added attraction — it was haunted, at least so my uncle said. To this day of course it never had been proved. The story according to my uncle was that at certain times of the day, incidentally at all times when the house was only occupied by him, a small figure appeared at the bottom of the stairs in the shape of an old lady and held firmly in her hands what appeared to be a walking stick. She waited a moment, looked up the stairs, climbed a few steps to check as if she was being watched and then suddenly she could no longer be seen. At this stage in the story it must be pointed out that my uncle was a man blessed with a vivid imagination. Once he even convinced his wife shortly after they got married that he was hypnotized when they visited the theatre. This turned out to be his excuse for falling asleep because he was bored. She could not be persuaded. But he was quite definite about the little old lady. «You just wait» he used to say «till you see her. Then you will be convinced. » The trouble with the younger generation is that they refuse to believe anything unless it it is presented to them on a plate. He claimed that he was endowed with special psychic powers because he was the seventh son of a seventh son. That was a fact that couldn't be disputed. Personally, I didn't believe a word about this so-called ghost. But then when you are invited to someone's house you have to be polite. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 16 I had just finished at university and had a couple of weeks holiday before I started my first full-time job when I was invited by my aunt and uncle to stay for a few days at the famous haunted house. «You are given freedom of the house while you're here», my uncle had said, «and you can carry out any investigations you like concerning our «house ghost» — that was how the old lady was referred to because I want you of all people to to be convinced of the authenticity of this apparition.» Somehow I was a highly respected member of the family and my uncle firmly believed that my word was accepted. The first two days, no sign was given of the «ghostly» old lady. On the third day my aunt and uncle asked me if I wanted to come on a lengthy shopping expedition because their supplies now had been exhausted and they had to travel some twenty miles to the nearest town that had a supermarket. This ritual regularly was carried out once a month. I declined the offer as I had decided it was time for me to go for a swim in the sea. Before they left, meaningful glances were exchanged between my aunt and uncle as if they both expected to hear some news from me when they got back. As they left, my uncle turned and said, «You will be suprised at what happens, while we are away.» I went for my swim but the sea was very rough and I constantly was pushed onto the beach by the waves. I gave up in the end and made my way back to the house, got washed and dressed, had a bite to eat and sat on the most comfortable chair to watch television. After what seemed like a few minutes, I was aware of an unusual sound as if pieces of material were rubbed together. I got up from the chair and walked into the hall. I was quite taken aback with what confronted me. There, at the bottom of the stairs was the celebrated little old lady carrying her walking stick and holding a pack of cards. For some strange reason I wasn't frightened at all by this apparition. I went up to her and quite calmly asked her, «Will you come in and join me in the sitting room.» She too showed no sign of being disturbed by my casual invitation. «I should be delighted» she replied «and perhaps you could be persuaded to join me in a game of cards.» We got on like a house on fire but strange as it may seem, the subject of ghosts or haunting not wasn't mentioned and we played one game of cards after the other as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I think I was dealt some terrible cards because I kept on losing and in the end my guest was obviously getting bored by the lack of competition. A little later she complained of tiredness and left the room. When they returned, I told my uncle that the little old lady had made an appearance but I didn't go into the card games and our little chat. He was overwhelmed by the news. It changed his life. Till his dying day he regaled all visitors with the story of the ghostly lady and then added with a broad grin, «It is not just me, you know, the story was verified by my nephew.» Well, I did spend a lovely holiday there, they were both very kind to me and no harm no harm was done. You see it depended on the way «made an appearance» is interpreted. After my vigorous swim I'd sat down in front of the television and fallen asleep and well — I have to confess — I simply dreamt the whole thing. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 17 7. Relative pronoun The story I am about to tell you contains lots of examples of the «Relative Pronoun». Before you read it, look through the following notes: General 1. Relative pronouns do two jobs at once: a. acting as subject or object of a verb b. joining two clauses together 2. The most common are: who, whom, which and that — who and whom for people and which for things. 3. Whom is not used much in conversation and refers to an object of a verb or a preposition. 4. That can often replace whom, who and which. 5. After nouns referring to times and places, when and where can be used to mean at which or in which and why can be used to mean for which. 6. Whose is a possessive relative word, referring to people and things. Particular 1. Defining and non-defining relative clauses Compare: «George, who lives next door, always watches television.» «The couple who live next door always watch television.» 2. That a. For people and things and in conversation. b. After the following: all, everything, something, anything, nothing, none, little, few, much. c. After superlatives. 3. In defining relative clauses the relative pronoun is often left out if it is the object of the verb. 4. Prepositions can come before the relative pronoun or at the end of the clause but you cannot use that or who after a preposition. 5. In a non-defining relative clause that cannot be used and object relative pronouns cannot be left out. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 20 away but unfortunately she had fallen asleep, missed the station she wanted and didn't wake up until the train came to the end of the line, which happened to be the very port where we had met her some weeks before. She decided there and then that she would not put up with any more of the jokes which had haunted her all her life and booked a passage on the next ship never finding the courage with which to explain the reason for her departure. What you might call a RELATIVELY simple explanation. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 21 8. Usage of pronouns or «One thing or another» The ONE thing that the boss couldn’t stand was a hint of dishonesty. SOME people believed if you closed a deal by whatever means, then that was acceptable. OTHERS thought that you should always be ethical and play according to the rules. And that’s what the boss, Andrew thought. He realised that OTHER people thought he was too traditional and believed he should see the OTHER person’s point of view. But Andrew wasn’t having ANY of that. If you didn’t like his way of working, you could do the OTHER thing and in his mind without ANY doubt that meant you had to leave. And then ONE fine day Andrew was faced with a challenge. ONE of his newly recruited staff had just clinched an amazing deal and she did this all on her own, without ANY help from ANYONE. He had always wanted someone to do something like this. Andrew was delighted until SOMEBODY told him SOMETHING that made him think. The new member of staff hadn’t done ANYTHING wrong but she had, as it were, bent the rules. NOBODY knew exactly what she had done but NOBODY doubted that she was very attractive and maybe that had had SOMETHING to do with the deal. Andrew was in a difficult position because without ANY doubt the deal had gone SOME way to rescuing the firm from financial problems in the future. The staff were divided. SOME were on her side, THE OTHERS on his side. Clearly SOMETHING had to be done. Andrew had SOME holiday time, which he hadn’t used and he decided this was ONE way out for the moment. Off he went on his holiday not ANYWHERE in particular just SOMEWHERE to get away from it all. By the time he got back he hadn’t made ANY decision. Members of staff watched his face each day to see if there was ANY sign – SOMETHING that showed he had made up his mind. As the days went past, NO ONE knew what to say to the woman who was at the heart of the matter. Then one morning it looked as of SOMETHING had happened. There was SOME sort of smile on Andrew’s face, which wasn’t like ANYTHING ANYONE had seen before. Andrew had made his mind up and was going to get married to SOMEONE. And the SOMEONE was NONE OTHER than the new member of staff. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 22 9. Prepositions or «How I got that job» In this story will find a lot of expressions with Prepositions. It is best for you to learn these phrases within a context so you will memorize them more quickly. Each preposition can be used in a lot of different combinations forming many different meanings. Take a look at these examples with the prepostion about:  «I think it's about time for us to leave.»  «Our new boss is probably about 40.»  «May I ask you a question about your family?»  «What's this noise all about?»  «How about going to the cinema tonight?»  «What are you going to do about this situation?» As you can see the preposition about doesn't make any sense without the context it is used in. That's why you should always learn complete expressions instead of separate words. Now read the short story and try to work out what the expressions in italics mean. (There are a 147 prepositions in the text and only a part of them is in Italics to make the story easier to read.) «How I got that Job» At the time I was living in a small village about 25 miles from London. That was the advantage of living there because you could get to London in under half an hour. That was by train of course. If you went by car it would take about three times as long and you would sit in your stationary car for ages before you got anywhere especially if you travelled in the morning rush hour. The reason why I am giving you this travel information in detail is because I had to make a choice between the car and the train. I had seen an advertisement in a national newspaper, which had asked for someone who had some knowledge of computing, had worked at least for two years in car sales and finally was not afraid of travelling up and down the motorway to London every day from a place not far from where I lived. It seemed interesting work and was quite different from the job I had at the time. The interview was to take place at 10 am on a Monday morning in January. Throughout the weekend I could not make up my mind whether to travel by car or by train. At the end of Sunday I had decided it was going to be the car. In the end I had convinced myself that this was the best choice because after all the job was to do with cars. On the day of the interview I got up at 6 a.m. as I was terrified of being late. I usually woke up early because the noise of the traffic as it rattled past my bedroom window was very loud first thing in the morning. On this particular morning everything seemed strangely silent. I looked out of the window and realized why: There was a thick blanket of snow on the road and it was still snowing heavily. I panicked. All my resolution had disappeared. Clearly now I would English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 25 11. English adverb or «High hopes» In this story you will see many examples of how adverbs can be used. As you know most adverbs have the ending «ly». For example:  quickly  really  fairly We use an adverb when we want to describe an activity as in this example:  They speak English too quickly for me. Please be aware that there are quite a number of adverbs that don't have the ending «ly». Here are some examples:  fast  well  often As with any grammar rule there are a lot of exceptions and it's really best for you to simply read stories and find the adverbs in italics. So without futher ado, let's get straight to the point. «High Hopes» I had a nightmare the other night. I dreamt I was bungee jumping, that's when you throw yourself off a bridge and your feet are attached to an elasticated rope that pulls you back again. I didn't do the jump properly, in fact, I did it extremely badly because I fell only a few metres and was dangling dangerously just below the bridge for ages. Then I woke up and thanked my lucky stars enthusiastically that it had been only a dream. I lay quietly in bed the following morning and wondered how I had come to have such a terrible dream. Never would I contemplate the idea of jumping off a bridge with or without an elasticated cord. Then I remembered I had seen a film on the television the night before showing some students bungee jumping. The funny thing about this strange sport is that you often see people jumping off but you never see them come back. As I said, in no circumstances could I be persuaded to do it for the simple reason that I am terrified of heights. I remember once sitting petrified at my desk at work listening to a colleague describing how he had jumped out of a plane by parachute on one occasion in order to raise some money for charity, I can recall how I almost fell off my chair in fear. No sooner had he finished telling his story than I had to get up and go and lie down quietly in a darkened room. I can still remember one incident that illustrates my fear of heights — I haven't got over it yet and it's still very vivid in my mind. I never have to find an excuse to go the seaside. I always agree to it English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 26 when someone suggests going to the coast. I never can resist the sight and smell of the sea. A trip had been planned for the weekend. I always used to pack the night before one of these trips and invariably I rarely slept in anticipation of the event. That's what comes of working in a large city day in day out. We set off early and reached our destination quite quickly at about 11 a.m. Hardly had we finished our morning coffee in a small cafe when it started to rain really heavily. Then we decided to drive around to the front and watch the sea as it pounded violently against the beach. We were just going to abandon the whole idea of staying there any longer when the sun made an appearance suddenly. As quickly as the rain had started equally as speedily it stopped. We all got out of the car and walked slowly up the cliff at the end of the town. Usually you get a magnificent view of the bay at the top but on this particular afternoon rarely had I seen so much mist. And that, in a manner of speaking, was my down fall. Although I knew this particular piece of land quite well, the fog had obscured the edge of the cliff and although I was walking very slowly as I always do on high ground, I stepped on a piece of grass which I thought was solid but soon discovered was anything but. I slipped immediately and began to descend almost as if I was nearly doing a slow motion bungee jump only this time I was the right way up. With a jolt I stopped abruptly and realized I was going nowhere. Only then did I start to panic. I could hear the sea but I didn't dare look down and I started to yell as loud as I could. I waited patiently on my little edge for at least half an hour while I was being assured that help would come soon. Eventually a rope was dropped down to me and I gradually hoisted myself up to the top of the cliff. By now the mist had cleared completely and I took a quick look down to discover that I had only been about half a metre from the beach. But I thought I'd conceal that information subtly. After all, it would have spoilt the hero's welcome I received. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 27 12. Types of adverbs There are several types of adverb: manner - place - time - frequency - degree. There are different places where you can put the adverb. ADVERBS OF MANNER - these answer the question how? This adverb usually comes after the direct object or if there is no direct object, after the verb: She speaks Italian beautifully. He works well. You must drive your car carefully. Eat quietly. ADVERBS OF PLACE - these answer the question where? This adverb usually comes after the object, otherwise after the verb: We saw you there. We were sitting here. We looked everywhere. Note: somewhere, anywhere, follow the same rules as some and any: Have you seen my glasses anywhere? I'm sure I left them somewhere. I can't find them anywhere. ADVERBS OF TIME - these answer the question when? This adverb usually comes either at the very beginning of the sentence or at the end. Afterwards we decided to go by car. I've done that journey before. Note: yet and still: yet should be placed at the end of the sentence. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 30 13. Indirect speech or «Say it again» Indirect Speech (also known as Reported Speech) refers to a sentence reporting what someone has said. It is almost always used in spoken English. If the reporting verb (i.e. said) is in the past, the reported clause will be in a past form. This form is usually one step back into the past from the original. For example:  She said her job was interesting.  She said she went to the library each day.  Our new colleague said he spoke French every day. If simple present, present perfect or the future is used in the reporting verb (i.e. says) the tense is retained. For example:  She says that her job is interesting.  She says that she goes to the library each day.  Our new colleague will say that he speaks French every day. If reporting a general truth the present tense will be retained or even the future tensed can be used. For example:  She said that her country is very beautiful.  They said that trust is vital for any business.  My wife said that she will always love me no matter what. Now read the following story and find the indirect speech expressions in italics. «Say it again» «I'm just popping out to put the car away in the garage. I've left it in the road.» — I told my wife that I just was popping out to put the car away in the garage as I had left it in the road. «You be careful. Remember you've had a lot to drink and the police are having a particular purge at the moment in drink driving.» — She told me to be careful and reminded me that I had a lot to drink and that the police have a particular purge at the time on drink driving. She is very law-abiding, my wife. I shut the front door and as I walked down the garden path, I noticed someone standing by the car. It was a policeman. «Very pleasant weather for the time of year.» — He pointed out the English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 31 pleasantness of the weather for the time of year. «Oh er - yes. Absolutely». I hesitated and agreed wholeheartedly. «Is this your car, sir». — He asked me whether it was my car. «Yes, indeed» I affirmed confidently. «Don't see many of this particular make often. I've sometimes thought of buying one myself.» — He reckoned that you did not often see many of that particular make. He sometimes thought of buying one himself. «Oh, really». I expressed interest in his comment. «What is this man up to? Is he trying to lure me into starting up the car so that he can then breathalze me?» — I asked myself what that man was up to and wondered whether he was trying to lure me into starting up the car so that he could then breathalyze me. «But then I doubt I could afford it. Cost a fair amount, I expect?» — Then he doubted whether he could afford it and conjectured that it it had to cost a fair amount. «I picked it up quite cheaply actually. It has done a lot of miles, you see.» — I explained that I had it picked up quite cheaply because it had done a lot of miles. The man was beginning to get on my nerves. Why didn't he just arrest me for intent to drive a motor car while under the influence of drink? The next question seemed a bit fatuous as I was clutching my car keys at the time. «Going for a spin, sir?» — He asked me whether I was going for a spin and I didn't like the way he emphasized the word spin. «No, I'm just going to put the car in the garage.» — I denied this and pointed out that I was just going to put the car in the garage. «Don't let me hold you up. I'm just waiting around to catch the odd speeding motorist and anyone who's had a bit too many, ha ha.» — He told me not to let him hold me up and went on to say that he was just waiting around to catch the odd speeding motorist and then added with a chuckle anyone who had had too much to drink. I couldn't hesitate any longer and got into the car and switched on the engine. «Just a minute, sir.» — The policeman asked me politely to stop for a minute. The voice of my conscience spoke: «He's got you now and you've fallen right into the trap.» — He had got me now and I had fallen right into the trap. «What's the matter?» — I asked what the matter was. «Let me just see that the road's clear for you.» — He asked me to let him see the road was clear. It was and so was I. I breathed a sight of relief, drove the car into the garage and shut the door. As I turned to go into the house, I was aware of the policeman. He put his hand into his pocket. I assumed that the moment of truth had arrived. Out came his handkerchief, after all even policemen have to blow their noses. «What does he want, now?» — I asked myself what he was going to do next. «It is my duty to point out to you, sir» — it was his duty to point out to me that I drove a car under the influence? No. He just wanted to point out that one of my brake lights had gone and suggested I put it right as soon as possible. I needed a drink. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 32 14. Conjunctions or «Joined up writing» If you want to be rude about somebody’s ability to express themselves and indicate that they can’t say more than one complete sentence at a time, then you could say: they can’t even string two sentences together. Now, string together is a sort of knitting expression suggesting that different parts of a material you’re making are attached one to the other. Mind you, there’s nothing wrong with short simple sentences all in a row. They can be appealing but sometimes you want to expand your ideas and that’s when you make use of the joining words, called «conjunctions». They come in different shapes and sizes with of course different meanings and uses. They start small like «and», «but» and «as» growing into the larger varieties like «though» and «although». Now about 600 years before the birth of Jesus Christ a man called Aesop was born in Greece. He started life in very poor circumstances but because he was very clever and could often see answers to problems that other people couldn’t solve, he became a sort of adviser to the ruler and in his spare time dashed off some very memorable fables. The stories often depict animals as the main characters and they all have a moral purpose. Let’s take the one called The Ant and the Dove. In the story I’m going to use conjunctions, which I shall write in CAPITAL letters: One day an ant was strolling beside a river AND he was feeling very thirsty BECAUSE it was very hot. He was sure that there was a river nearby AS he had been in this place before. ALTHOUGH his legs were very small he ran as fast as he could UNTIL he reached the riverbank. He raced up to the edge of the water BUT in his haste he went too quickly AND fell into the water. SINCE his mother had never taught him to swim, he was in great danger of drowning. WHILE this drama with our friend was taking place, a dove was sitting on a branch over the river. The dove realised that UNLESS he did something quickly, the ant would not survive. EVEN IF he tried, the dove knew he couldn’t dive in and save the ant. Suddenly he did something brilliant IN ORDER THAT the ant could escape. He picked a leaf from the tree AND dropped it into the water SO THAT the ant could climb on to it AND float to safety. WHEN the ant was next in the area some days later, he saw a man with a net, who wanted to catch his friend, the dove. AFTER the ant had thought about how to help the dove, he decided to take immediate action. IN SITE OF THE FACT that the ant was very small, he was able to give someone a nasty bite. The ant thought he could bite the man in the hand BUT that meant a long journey OR he could bite his foot. IF he did that immediately, his plan might work SO he gave the man a really good bite. The man let out a scream AND dropped the net. WHEREAS the man had tried to be quiet in catching the bird, the noise he made warned the dove who flew away to safety. The moral of the story is: IF you help someone, they will also help you. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 35 16. Subjunctive or «Wishful thinking» What on earth is the «Subjunctive»? In many languages all the verb endings change and you have to learn them as if you are using a completely different tense. Now in English you'll be pleased to know that we've simplified it to such an extent that it has almost disappeared. Take the Present Subjunctive. You only really notice it in the 3rd person singular and it is used in expressions of wishing, hoping and praying. So we say «Long live the Queen«! which means in effect that we wish that the Queen will live a long time and the word «live», technically is the 3rd person singular of the Present Subjunctive and has no «s». But if I say «I hope you live to be 100 years old», that is the 2nd person singular of the Present Subjunctive but it is exactly the same in appearance as the 2nd person singular of the Present Simple. So, who says English is difficult! Then again you'd hardly notice the Past Subjunctive because it's the same in form as the Past Simple and you find it most often in conditional sentences like this: «If I won the lottery, I'd buy a big house.» «Won» is technically here the Past Subjunctive but surprise, surprise, it's the same as the Past Simple — wonderful. The only time you can spot it is in the verb «be» in expressions like: «If I were you …» But today people are beginning to say as well: «If I was you» There is also occasional use of the Present Subjunctive of the verb «be» and the word is «be» in a sentence like «If this be true.» but again you're more likely to hear/read: «If this is true.» As I say we like to keep things simple. Another example of the Past Subjunctive is in expressions like: «It's high time we left.« which means in effect: «The time has come when we should leave.» Incidentally you can show off that you know the subjunctive and also use a very convenient expression when you want to leave someone's house because either you're bored or you simply want to go home. Everyone will be so impressed with your knowledge of idiomatic English, that they can't possibly be offended. So that's the subjunctive in a nutshell. What I say is: «Long live English!» Now I want you to read a little story I wrote and I would like you to try and find as many examples of the subjunctive as you can: «Wishful Thinking» Heaven help him, I thought when I saw the news item in my local paper that a young man in the area had won millions on the national lottery. It wasn't envy. I honestly felt sorry for him. To win thousands would be fine, but millions could be too much to handle. If need be, I supposed he could give it all way but then that would probably be worse than never having won the money in the first place. If only something like that were to happen to me, I said to English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 36 myself. Now, I should have the maturity to know precisely what to do. It was high time I had a piece of luck. With these philosophical thoughts turning round in my mind I picked up my daily newspaper. They too ran a sort of lottery and if you had a scratch card with two sums of money the same as the one in the paper, then you won that amount. «Saints preserve us!», I yelled at the top of my voice, although I was alone at the time. Yes, you've guessed it. I had won £250,00. I went cold and found myself quoting Shakespeare: «If this be error and upon me proved …» I forgot the rest of the line. I was too excited. Naturally I phoned everyone up and told them the news and I received plenty of advice. Someone suggested a financial plan should be drawn up to assess the different possible investments. Another proposed that I went straight to the bank for advice. A third insisted I did nothing until he had had time to consider what to do. I was seriously beginning to wonder who had won the money. The best advice came from the person who recommended that I should go out and enjoy myself. The trouble was that everyone reacted as if they knew everything about money and I hadn't the least idea. It seemed to me that I was being treated as if I were a complete fool. Meanwhile I had to be sensible and take some practical steps in order to get hold of the money. It was time I stopped daydreaming and read the rules on the back of my scratch card. Either they would send you the cheque for the amount after you had sent them the appropriate card or you could actually go round to their main office and do the paperwork there. I thought I would sooner go round to the office. I felt I would rather get the matter sorted out at the headquarters. The first thing you were instructed to do was to ring a certain telephone number. I tried and the number was engaged. Throughout the rest of that Wednesday I tried phoning again and again and the number was either engaged or nobody answered. It was as if they knew about me and didn't want to part with the money. I just wished they had picked up the phone. I knew that the office closed at 5.30 and so I made one last desperate phone call at 5.15. A young woman answered who sounded as though she knew what she was talking about. I tried hard to sound as if I were in charge of the situation and as if winning £250,000 was the sort of thing that happened every day. My throat was very dry and she asked me to repeat what I had just said. I explained that the amounts on the Wednesday's scratch card were the same as that day's paper and I claimed that sum. There was a long pause and then as politely as she could she suggested I looked at the day on today's paper. «Heaven help me», I cried, «it's Thursday.» English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 37 17. Reflections In Greek mythology Narcissus looked into the water of the pool and saw his own reflection. In other words he saw himself — he saw a reflection of himself. Both those words that I have highlighted are called reflexive pronouns and in both cases the subject and the object are the same just like the reflection of Narcissus. But we'll come back to that later. Let's do some more reflecting or thinking. A reflection, apart from being another picture of someone or something as in the case of our Greek friend, who incidentally died gazing at his reflection in the pool, is also another word for a considered thought or coming back to think about something again. If you are writing an account of your childhood for example and you are thinking back to that time, you could call this description; «Reflections of my childhood.» Again if you think that crime occurs because of the type of society in which people live, you could say that «The increase in crime in cities is a sad reflection of the poor conditions in which some people live.» In these examples you can see that one thing is a sort of representation of another. In fact the older spelling of «reflection» was «reflexion» and we also find «reflective» and «reflexive». The former means «thinking seriously about» — you can be described as «in a reflective mood« when you are deep in thought about has happened. The latter of course brings us back to the pronoun. Let me show the forms of the reflexive pronoun in tabular form using the same sentence:  I saw myself on the TV news last night.  You saw yourself on the TV news last night.  He saw himself on the TV news last night.  She saw herself on the TV news last night.  It saw itself on the TV news last night. (Let's imagine the «it» here refers to the dog!)  We saw ourselves on the TV news last night.  You saw yourselves (plural) on the TV news last night.  They saw themselves on the TV news last night. Two points to note in particular: «you» as a personal pronoun does not change when it becomes plural but it does in the reflexive pronoun: the spelling of the third person plural — themselves. Take a look at these two sentences, both of which contain the word «himself» but in each sentence the word has a different meaning: Narcissus himself saw it in the water. Narcissus saw himself in the water. In the second sentence the meaning is that Narcissus saw a English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 40 describe start as «impetuous, decisive and efficient». Begin can perhaps be described as «relaxed, unhurried and good-natured». And that's probably where I'll have to finish or should I say «end»? Now there's yet another irritating pair that I'll have to go into another time… English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 41 19. Make or do? or «Doing time» In this story you will see many examples of how the two Phrasal Verbs make. and do can be used. Both verbs are often confused as they can be very similar in meaning. Please compare the following two sentences: «They do a very good lunch at this restaurant.» — «Have you made dinner yet, darling?» The first sentence describes an activity that takes place on a regular basis: «They do (offer) a good lunch every day in this restaurant.» The second sentence focuses on a one time situation: «Have you made dinner yet?» Make and do are Phrasal Verbs which means they can have a great variety of meanings and often you simply have to learn these phrases. Now read the short story and try to work out what the expression in italics mean. «Doing Time» There is nothing worse than making a mistake in public. If you make one in private, that's not so bad. Unfortunately I did it in public, made a mistake I mean. And it all had to do both with my car and also with my very bad sense of direction. I just do not remember which direction I have taken before I go into a building. When I come out, I make a complete fool of myself because I am not sure whether to turn right or left. In the end I make the best of it and do what I can without making a fuss and just keep walking. A situation like this of course doesn't do any harm to anyone and with a bit of luck I make it back to the place where I started from before the day is done. But then there are other times when you make the wrong decision and then you run the risk of doing time for your actions. You can easily make someone angry if you don't do the right thing. Take what happened last week. I really did it that day. It was a beautifully sunny morning and I had been doing about 60-70 miles an hour on the motorway on my way to buy a desk at a special shop where they did special designs and made wonderful pieces of furniture. Fortunately there was a large car park. The difficulty for me was that it was enormous and there did not seem to be any room left so I had to make for the back, which was a long way from the shop. By the time I had reached the entrance, I felt quite exhausted and as they did a good lunch there, I decided to eat first and at the same time do my homework and look through the catalogue in order to make the English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 42 right choice. The man who owned the shop and the adjoining small factory had once designed a piece of furniture for a member of the Royal Family and that had made him. He did a fair price nevertheless and once I had seen the display of all the desks available, I quickly made my mind up and chose the one that I thought would do for my small study. As it happened, this particular model was available to take away then and there and in no time at all I had done the necessary and was pushing my new desk back to the car park on a large trolley. Finding the car park was the easy bit. The problem was to try and recall where I had left the car, a large green estate that badly needed a wash. It was very hard work negotiating up and down the rows of cars and I made a face at one driver who seemed determined to do for me but then to be honest I hadn't made it easy for him because I wasn't visible behind the desk. At long last I saw my big dusty green car waiting patiently by the hedge where I had left it. As I came closer, I was surprised to see a man with very long hair walking round the car and, I thought, making an attempt to break into it. I decided not to panic, slowed right down and made as little noise as possible. Within a few feet of the car I shouted out, «What do you think you're doing?» but my words could not really be made out above the noise of the desk sliding off the trolley and stopping within inches of the car. As I bent down to rescue it, I caught sight of the number plate and realized I had done it again. It wasn't my car and the «car thief» turned out to be the actual furniture designer himself. I made my apologies and explained that I had mistaken his car for mine. Fortunately, Mike, as he asked me to call him, thought the whole thing was a good joke and made light of the matter. He insisted I come back to the workroom in order that he could make good the damage that had been done to the desk when it fell off the trolley. By the time Mike's staff had done the necessary repairs, it was quite late and that's what made finding the car easy. You see, mine was the only one left in the car park. Vocabulary Explanations  making a mistake If you make a mistake you do something wrong.  make a complete fool of myself If you make a fool of yourself you do something stupid so that other people laugh at you and ridicule you.  make the best of it If you make the best of something you do everything to exploit the situation to your best advantage.  making a fuss You make a fuss about something if you are dissatisfied with a situation and you complain about it. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 45 20. Phrasal verb break or «Breaking up» As you already know, phrasal verbs are an essential part of the language. They are also and I don't really need to tell you this, very difficult to guess the meaning of. Occasionally the same phrasal verb can have two different meanings. Take the verb break and the two meanings of break into. Someone who breaks into your house is called a burglar but you could also say: It's very difficult to break into journalism, meaning it is very difficult to get into a career in journalism. The same is true of break up. It can mean make into small pieces as in break up a bar of chocolate to give a piece to several people. And it can also mean that people especially a couple are no longer together if they are described as having broken up. And it's on that theme I have written a short story about two young lovers who apparently have decided to break up and not get married. Read the story and see what happens and also all the other phrasal verbs you can make from break: «Breaking up» Locally they were known as Romeo and Juliet in the small village where they had lived all their lives. Actually they were Dave Owen and Maggie Stevens. It was generally assumed they would get married as they had been inseparable since they were children. When therefore the news broke out in the local pub, appropriately called the Lovers Arms, that they were breaking up, nobody could believe it. After all they had been engaged for five years. Old Mrs. Swenderbin, the celebrated cake maker who had been commissioned to make the wedding cake, broke down and wept openly when she heard about it. No-one was quite sure whether this was through sadness or at the thought of losing the cake commission. Everyone was talking about it wherever you went in the village, the pub, the shops, the park - everywhere. It wouldn't have been a surprise to anyone if the announcer on the radio had suddenly broken into the middle of a piece of music and informed the nation that Dave and Maggie had broken off their engagement. It still remained a mystery why it had happened. There was a wall of secrecy surrounding the whole affair which it was virtually impossible to break through. One reporter on the local paper however was determined to break down the barriers and get to the bottom of the matter. Andrew had known the couple since schooldays and hadn't been long as a reporter but had already made himself a name by discovering things that the rest of the reporters would never have found out mainly because they would never break with tradition and use the unconventional methods Andrew employed. There was the occasion when Andrew caught a burglar breaking into the local bank. He had had a tip-off about the burglary and had managed to persuade the local manager to let him spend the night in the bank so that he could get pictures of the man actually as he broke in. Then there was the time he had actually got a picture of a man breaking out of a prison situated about ten miles away The editor had tried in vain to break Andrew of his unconventional habits but gave up because in the end he realised his stories helped sell the paper. On this occasion too he English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 46 had made up his mind to break away from the others who were simply asking the members of the two families polite questions. He devised a plan which he was sure would work. Christmas was approaching and the schoolchildren had broken up for the holidays and this gave Andrew an ideal opportunity to talk to Maggie's younger brother to find out what the two families were doing on Christmas Day. As usual they would spend Christmas together but the unhappy couple were not going to talk to each other. On Christmas evening Andrew dressed up in a Father Christmas outfit broke in upon their festivities, succeeded in making everyone laugh and after a few drinks Dave divulged the reason for the break-up. As always in these situations, the explanation was very simple: Maggie had accused him of being a coward because he had refused to take part in a charity parachute jump. In all honesty Dave broke out in a sweat at the very idea of jumping but had stuck to his guns and declined the offer. Being called a coward was just the last straw and it was he who had broken off the engagement. Armed with this information together with Dave's help Andrew put his plan into action. Now, it so happened that Maggie owned a horse which had been broken in but was still a bit wild. Early next day, Boxing Day just as the sun was breaking out, a loud bang was heard at the back of Maggie's house apparently near the stable. As everyone was very sleepy, little notice was taken. Within an hour Andrew was banging on the family house asking for Maggie. He told her that her favourite horse had broken out of its stable and run away but Dave fearlessly had rescued it from drowning in the river with waves breaking over him and was on his way back with the animal. Miraculously Dave now earned himself the title hero instead of coward and the wedding was on again. Joy broke out in the village at the news and the local paper was full of the story together with graphic pictures of the rescue. The editor broke off talking at a meeting to congratulate Andrew on another scoop. Mrs. Swenderbin was delighted too and resumed collecting ingredients for the cake. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 47 21. Expressions with break or «Have a break!» There's a television advertisement about a chocolate biscuit called Kit Kat that has been running now for some years. It's a confection consisting of thin bars of chocolate-covered biscuit joined together. The slogan is: «Have a break — Have a Kit Kat». When the words have finished, you hear a snapping sound as a piece of the biscuit is broken. So «Have a break» in this sense means not only relax but also break off something. Break in fact is a very versatile word in its different aspects of verb and noun. At this time of the year many of us take a break — have a holiday — and of course around this period most of the schools «break up» — close for the holidays. Of course in the old days the «annual break» (yearly holiday) was the conventional bucket and spade type by the seaside. And in the small island of Britain there's plenty of choice with hundreds of miles of coast from the luxurious 5 star hotel to the humble bed and breakfast. And there we go again — «break fast» — when we stop the so-called «fast» (having no food) during the night and then start eating again. Today most of us «break with» (no longer follow) this tradition and travel to exotic places hoping we won't be «breaking the bank» (spending more than we can really afford) in order to do so. While you're away you hope that nobody will «break into» (burgle) your house. If you're travelling by car, you hope that your car won't «break down» (stop working) as you set off on your long journey at the «break of day» (dawn). Another occurrence at this time of the year is the constant phone calls «breaking the news» (announcing) that you have won a fabulous holiday. You are invited to «break off» (stop) doing what you had planned for your holidays and come along to a presentation at a local hotel. So we decided to «break the habit» of a life time (do something we had never done before) and go along and listen to what this holiday company had to offer. When we arrived, we were offered a drink to «break the ice» (make the occasion more relaxing) as it were and the sat down to see what happened next. Well the first half was quite interesting but after the «break» (interval) it started to get very serious. What we had thought would be free, turned out to cost more and more and if you did accept their scheme, you would quite honestly be lucky to «break even» (not lose any money). As the speakers continued their presentation, we became increasingly bored, checked to see which exit was free and «made a break for it» (made an attempt to escape) but were stopped by one of the staff, who tried very hard to persuade us to stay but we broke in on (interrupted) his little speech, said we were not well and got away. So we've decided to «go for a short break» (quick holiday) the other side of the channel. Just think all those thousands of years ago if what is mainland Britain hadn't broken off from (become separated from) what is mainland Europe, I could actually drive all the way without having to cross the channel by boat but then of course we wouldn't have a south coast. I don't like the idea of the channel because I like to see where I'm going! The place we've chosen is English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 50 before her minister, which saved him some embarrassment and for which he was very grateful. Her name was becoming known both in the House of Commons and also in her constituency where her efficiency was even bringing round to her point of view those electors who had voted against her. Everything seemed to be going her way. She was on the point of bringing off a very difficult task given to her by her minister when she found herself being brought back to earth with a bang. Another young politician, a bit older than her, was also trying to make his name and he was able to bring about what she had failed to achieve in time. From then on there was great rivalry between the two, which brought about a lively debate in the national press. Although her natural courage and strong character brought her through this stressful time, for some reason Sheila had taken a strong dislike to David Evans. She even brought her mother in on the concerns she was expressing to colleagues about her sense of unease whenever she had any dealings with the man. Her mother, she was convinced, had shuddered at the mention of the name «Evans». At the end of the first year just before the summer recess, a revelation was brought to light, which was to change Sheila's life. The celebrated Mr Evans was brought before the court and found guilty of a financial irregularity. His political career was brought to an abrupt end. This news brought out the worst in the tabloid press, which brought up everything they could concerning Evans and his family. It wasn't long before one newspaper brought the discussion round to the subject of Mr Evans senior. Within weeks during the summer holiday one major paper brought out the details of the case concerning the late Mr Evans senior. He too had been responsible for a financial scandal but the blame had attached to Sheila's father. At the news Mary had fainted. As Sheila brought her mother round with smelling salts, she assured the press as she always did by affirming that they way you were was solely the result of the way you were brought up. Vocabulary Explanations brought up by her mother reared/educated by her mother his business had been brought down his business had gone bankrupt criminal charges had been brought against him he had been faced with criminal charges bring up this information reveal this information Mary would always bring up the rear Mary would always be there in the background English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 51 she decided to bring her daughter on in the art of public speaking she decided to develop her daughter's public speaking skills the awareness brought her up against the awareness had forced her into being cautious the whole business had brought shame on the family name the whole business had dishonoured the family name bring about a reconciliation effect a reconciliation was even bringing round to was even convincing bringing off achieving success he was able to bring about he succeeded in (+ing) which brought about a lively debate which caused a lively debate she even brought her mother in on she even involved her mother was brought to light was revealed Mr. Evans was brought before the court Mr. Evans was charged his political career was brought to an abrupt end his political career ended precipitately This news brought out the worst This news caused the worst to come out brought the discussion round to steered the discussion towards one major paper brought out the details one major paper published the details Sheila brought her mother round Sheila revived her mother the way you were brought up the way you were reared Here will see some sentences (in italics) as they occur in the story with a re-written version below. Some of the sentences in italics are abridged. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 52 She owed it all to the way she had been brought up by her mother, Mary. She owed it all to the way her mother, Mary, had reared her. Her father had died of a heart attack when she was only two after his business had been brought down following a financial scandal. Her father had died of a heart attack when she was only two after his business had gone bankrupt following a financial scandal. Criminal charges had been brought against him but the matter was closed on his death. He had been faced with criminal charges but the matter was concluded after he died. The press decided to bring up this information without being able to get at the truth thanks to Mary's skilful management. The press decided to make this information public with being able to reveal the truth due to Mary's professional management. In fact during the election as Sheila went round from house to house canvassing, Mary would always bring up the rear. In fact during the election as Sheila went round from door to door promoting her candidacy, Mary would always be there in the background. Her mother had observed early on that Sheila was very good at sticking up for herself and always arguing her case well, which had decided her to bring her daughter on in the art of public speaking. Her mother had noticed early on that Sheila was very good at standing her own ground and always fighting her case well, which had decided her to develop her daughter's public speaking skills. The awareness that Sheila had had all her life about her father's apparent «disgrace» brought her up against the necessity constantly to be on her guard. The realization that Sheila had always about her father's so-called «shame» had forced her into being cautious all the time. All she would hint at was that the whole business had brought shame on the family name, although her father was totally innocent. All she would point out was that the whole business had dishonoured the family name, although her father was not at fault at all. After only six weeks in the job she even managed to bring about a reconciliation between two of her colleagues who were having a petty dispute and also succeeded in bringing a matter before her minister.... Only six weeks after she had entered the job she even managed to effect a settlement between two of her colleagues who were having a quarrel and also succeeded in raising a topic with her minister... Her name was becoming known both in the House of Commons and also in her constituency where her efficiency was even bringing round to her point of view those electors who had voted against her. Her name was becoming popular both in the House of Commons as well as in her constituency where her competence was even English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 55 23. Phrasal verb hold or «Hold on» This is another story with lots of Phrasal Verb examples. As you probably know phrasal verbs are made up of two parts — the verb + a preposition. I'm sure you have noticed that one phrasal verb can have hundreds of different meanings. In this story we focus on the verb hold. Before we start I'd like you to look at this example: «Please hold on a minute I'll be right back!» Can you guess the meaning of this sentence? You're right. It means «Please wait a minute, don't go away until I'm back.» Would you like more examples? Read this story and try to guess the meaning of the 24 expressions with the verb hold in italics. «Hold on» Some people can't stand open spaces. That's called «agoraphobia». Some people can't stand closed spaces. That's called «claustrophobia». I suffer from the latter. Whenever I travel in a lift, I have to hold myself together just in case I get the urge to shout and scream. I must admit I do hold off doing things like that whenever other people are present. The other day I was put to the test and had to hold on to every bit of self control I had. I was late for an appointment on the fifth floor of the building because my train had been held up through some technical hitch or other. Despite my endeavour to lose weight and use stairs wherever possible I had no alternative but to use the lift on this occasion. I ran to catch it just as the doors were closing until someone kindly held them back for me. We went first to the second floor and three people got out leaving a total of six, well within the specified maximum load. Then the wretched thing stopped between the third and fourth floor. The different reactions were interesting. First there was silence for a minute, everyone holding to the old- fashioned belief in Britain that you don't talk to strangers. The first person to hold forth was an old man with a long grey beard. He didn't know how people nowadays could be so inefficient. «How», he asked his captive audience, «did these people hold down their jobs?» When he was a young man, he continued when no-one answered his question, «you held on to a job only if you did it properly.» Most people held off making any comments because they were too preoccupied with the irritation of being delayed. I decided to hold out a helping hand mainly to control my nerves by suggesting that we pushed the emergency button, wondering just how long I could in reality hold out without breaking out in a sweat or screaming. The young woman standing next to the control panel dutifully pressed the red button. We waited. The silence was broken by the old man announcing to the group that he «personally didn't English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 56 hold with this newfangled technology In his younger days he ... » — but we were spared another history lesson when a voice was heard crackling through the speaker grill telling us that it was aware of our situation. At this we all laughed including the old man. It broke the ice. Feelings were not being held in any longer. Comments were exchanged as to how long we would be held up in the lift. One man dressed appropriately in black looked mournful not holding out much hope for a speedy repair. He had experienced problems with this lift on another occasion. Meantime I was actively holding back my feelings of stress and anxiety as everyone else was being so calm. I tried to think of other things and wondered whether my appointment could be held over for another day, promising next time to hold to my plan of using stairs. Fortunately our spirits held up very well. We all seemed to hold ourselves up to each other as models of calmness and patience so that nobody dared show any weakness. This certainly helped me. Every ten minutes or so the disembodied voice consoled us inviting us to hold on for just a bit longer. As time ticked by the voice told us its name was Eric. We got to know Eric quite well that morning as he held out promises of an early release. He made us laugh, too. His last pronouncement telling us to hold on yet again was followed by the reassuring: «Now, don't go away, will you?» We did of course — two hours later. Vocabulary Explanations I have to hold myself together I have to compose myself I do hold off doing things I delay doing things hold on to cling to held up stuck in held them back stopped them holding to the old-fashioned belief maintaining the old-fashioned belief hold forth speak out hold down their jobs continue to keep their jobs held on to a job retain/keep a job English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 57 held off making any comments refrained from making any comments hold out a helping hand offer a hand hold out without breaking out hang on without breaking out into a sweat hold with this newfangled technology believe in this newfangled technology feelings were not being held in any longer feelings were not being suppressed any longer held up in the lift trapped in a lift holding out much hope offering much hope holding back my feelings suppressing my feelings my appointment could be held over for another day my appointment could be postponed to another day hold to my plan stick to my plan our spirits held up very well our spirits remained high we all seemed to hold ourselves up we all seemed to remain in high spirits hold on for just a bit longer stay on for just a bit longer held out promises offered promises hold on stay on English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 60 took him aside he led him to one side to talk to him privately take up much of his time occupy much of his time took up a piece of paper picked up a piece of paper take the matter up discuss the matter take the matter further discuss the matter in greater detail take himself off dismiss/fire himself take in the news absorb/grasp the news taken up with himself preoccupied with himself sales would soon take off sales would soon rise considerably take up all those hobbies start doing all his hobbies take to his new life enjoy his new life taken aback by the news shocked by the news take Henderson by the throat strangle Henderson he took after his father he was like his father take in the possible advantages comprehend the possible advantages taking it out on Henderson blaming Henderson taken up with making preparations preoccupied with making preparations what task he had taken on what task he had committed himself to English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 61 he took out a loan he negotiated a loan the bank manager taken with the bank manager was impressed by took on two of the fifty that applied employed/hired two of the fifty that applied taken on another ten staff employed/hired another ten staff taken over a local agency become owner of a local agency they took him for they regarded him as they took back all their critical remarks they retracted all their critical remarks take in a large amount of business generate a large amount of business taken the tax away from his earnings deducted the tax from his earnings he didn't take on airs he didn't behave in a conceited way taking off the boss mimicking the boss he had taken upon himself to apply for a job he had decided to apply for a job take Henderson down humiliate Henderson as he took down Henderson's details as he wrote down/jotted down Henderson's details take on a role accept a role he took to the idea immediately he liked the idea immediately Charlie took out a video Charlie removed a video Henderson was taking everything in Henderson was absorbing/grasping everything English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 62 Here will see some sentences (in italics) as they occur in the story with a re-written version below. Some of the sentences in italics are abridged. When he was forty-two, Charlie Banham was made redundant. At the age of 42 Charlie Banham lost his job. He didn't take to the idea at all. He didn't like the fact that he had lost his job. His boss, Angus Henderson, whom Charlie had not taken to the moment he'd taken over from his previous boss eighteen months before, took him aside early one Monday morning and asked him to come to his office, assuring him as he did so that it wouldn't take up much of his time. Angus Henderson had been Charlie's boss for 18 months and throughout that time Charlie hadn't really liked him. Early one Monday morning Angus wanted to talk to Charlie in private and told him it wouldn't take long. Henderson asked him to sit down, took up a piece of paper and proceeded to read from it. Henderson asked him to sit down, picked up a piece of paper and started reading from it. The content of the speech was that Charlie would have to go but of course, if he wished, he could take the matter up with the managing director and take the matter further. In summary Charlie had to leave the company and he was told that if he liked he could talk about this matter with the managing director and have additional discussions. In other words Charlie was being asked to take himself off as quickly as possible. In other words, Charlie was being asked to remove himself as quickly as possible. It took several minutes before Charlie could really take in the news. It took several minutes before Charlie could really grasp what had happened. What really galled him was that Henderson was so taken up with himself that he couldn't even be bothered to thank Charlie for his services over the last ten years. What really made him angry was that Henderson was so preoccupied with himself that he couldn't even be bothered to thank Charlie for his services over the last ten years. Charlie was apparently being blamed for the drop in sales of his new product which he had convinced everyone would soon take off. Charlie was obviously being blamed for the decrease in sales of his new product which he had persuaded everyone would soon be successful. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 65 25. Phrasal verb look or «Look out!» This story contains a lot of combinations with the phrasal verb look. Do you know the meaning of all of them? Read the story and then look at the explanations below to check your knowledge. «Look Out!» If you happen to report to the authorities you've seen a U.F.O (Unidentified Flying Object), very often you are looked on as if you're someone who needs looking after. In other words they don't believe you. People are usually reluctant to believe the extraordinary. You happen to have a room in a hotel looking on to the lake in Scotland where there's supposed to be a monster and you're just looking out of the window and there is the monster. You're looking at it now. You point at it and tell everyone to look out of the window because you've seen it. What do they do? They look away. They've heard it all before. I suppose it's not surprising because whenever you look at photographs of so-called monsters and beasts, they're never very clear. People sometimes look into the matter but there never seems to be any proof. Whenever I read in the newspaper about someone who has allegedly had a mystical or strange encounter with a person or thing and is looking for support or is looking forward to finding someone who will accept their story, I look back to a time some years ago when something similar happened to me. At the time I was living in a house which had a small alley at the side. When you walked down the path you passed a window in the house next door and you tried to look ahead of you to avoid looking through the window and seeing what was going on. This house had been empty for some time but now seemed to be occupied. One night as the light was on in the room I couldn't resist looking through the window and saw a very short woman waving at me. She opened the window, introduced herself and invited me to look in on her one day soon. I looked her up and down because she seemed so small and spoke in a strange cracked voice. I forgot all about the invitation when one morning in the high street I noticed a woman seeming to come towards me. I took no notice because I assumed she was about to speak to the person next to me. I obviously didn't know her. To my surprise she addressed her remarks to me: «'I've been looking out for you. You looked right through me as though I wasn't there.» Several shoppers round about looked on wondering what was happening. «We spoke through the window — I'm from next door.» I apologized, agreed to come round the following afternoon and said I was looking forward to meeting the rest of the family. I looked round to take a closer look at the woman but there was no sign of her. The reason why I wanted to look her over again was that she seemed to be twice the height. The face was the same and the voice. My imagination was telling me that possibly she was a witch. Although I was a little apprehensive about the visit, I had agreed to look her up and duly called the next day. As I looked about the hall, I noticed signs of the zodiac cut into the floor and a large broom leaning in the corner. «The rest of the family» I had referred to in English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 66 the high street consisted of seven black cats. Fortunately my hostess remained the same size as we chatted over a cup of tea. She said how delighted she was that I had agreed to visit her as she had the feeling that the other neighbours looked down on her. After an hour and a half I looked her straight in the face, made some excuse about an appointment and left hoping that I hadn't been put under a spell for telling a lie. When I got home, I looked up the word «witch» in my encyclopedia and was amazed to find that one of abilities a witch has is to change size. From then on I tended to walk down the left side of my house after that near my other neighbour, Mrs. Tendett. Some weeks later she hailed me as I came home: «Things are looking up», she exclaimed. «That empty house on the other side has apparently been sold at last.» It didn't seem a good idea to inform Mrs. Tendett that I had had tea in the «empty» house with a witch, especially as she had always looked up to me for some reason. I didn't make a particular point of looking out for my new neighbours but when I did meet them they seemed a normal enough young couple. What disturbed me slightly was the name. To make sure I had heard it right, I looked it up in the telephone directory: Mr. and Mrs. Broom. Vocabulary Explanations often you are looked on often you are regarded needs looking after needs medical attention looking onto the lake with a view on the lake just looking out of the window just looking through the window You are looking at it now You can see it now They look away They look in the other direction look at photographs see photographs look into the matter investigate the matter looking for support hoping for support looking forward to finding awaiting with pleasure the idea of finding I look back to a time I reminisce about a time English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 67 to look ahead of you. look in front of you looking through the window looking through the window to the other side look in on her visit her I looked her up and down I examined what she looked like looking out for you trying to find you looked right through me ignored me looked on watched looked round turned to look look her over again check what she looked like again look her up pay her a visit looked about the hall had a good look at the hall looked down on her despised her looked her straight in the face looked at her face to face looked up the word checked the meaning of the word things are looking up things are improving looked up to me respected me looking out for my neighbours trying to see my neighbours English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 70  going along continuing  went well together suited each other  go back return  go for it take a chance  went ahead proceeded with  went off exploded  go around suffice/be sufficient  my heart went out I felt sympathy for  went down came down  gone over practised  go into detail explain exactly  going up increasing  going down getting worse  nothing going for him nothing to recommend him  go without everything no longer have anything English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 71 27. Phrasal verb run or «A Christmas postman» This story contains a lot of combinations with the phrasal verb run. Do you know the meaning of all of them? Read the story and then take the four interactive tests below to check your knowledge. «A Christmas postman» My main reason for becoming a temporary postman during the Christmas holiday period was because I had run up some rather large bills and what was more important I had run out of money. My trainer was a postman by the name of Ted with a life time of experience in doing all the walks in the town. It was all a question of order, he said and then he ran through the steps I had to take the moment I got into the sorting office. He didn't want any of his trainees to run away with the idea that being a postman was an easy job. He was fed up with people he ran across every so often who claimed that it was only a part-time job because it was all finished by mid-day. He ran over the sequence very carefully. The first thing was to be punctual since you started at a time when most people were still asleep. Immediately you arrived you had to start sorting the mail into the different pigeon holes. Sometimes you ran up against some terrible handwriting and didn't know where the letter should go. He was always running down teachers for not teaching children to write properly. These letters should be put to one side and old Charlie, the handwriting expert, would run through them later. The next step was to run off some cold water, fill the kettle and then make a cup of tea. Ted was always calm and optimistic. He never let himself get run down by the job. He left me alone for an hour to follow his method and asked me to call him if I ran into any difficulties. As he had been running about his house since two that morning because of a burst water pipe, he went to have a quiet rest. At first I got on famously finding the right pigeonholes, checking Ted's list and putting the letters in bundles. After about two hours of this my internal battery started to run down and I found myself running out of patience. It was at this stage that Ted came running in encouraging me to finish and get out on the road. The post office in this country district didn't run to vans because of the expense. I had to make do with a bicycle that looked as though it had been run into several times. Once out in the open air I ran into a violent shower but soon the sun came out. The shouts of joy coming from some houses as I put the mail through the letter box made up for the discomfort and I was beginning to feel like a real Father Christmas. I then came to number 56 that Ted had warned me about. They had a ferocious dog. The only way to deal with this one, Ted recommended, was to run at the door shove the letters through the door and run away as quickly as possible. I did just that but in my haste I dropped a small packet that fell into a puddle. I didn't have the courage to make another assault on the house. Instead I took the packet home to dry it out. I knew if I told Ted, he would run on about being strictly against the rules but I was convinced it would not matter. In my kitchen I ran my eyes across the address and saw the recipient was a «Master Richard» I was ashamed of my English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 72 cowardice and thought I was depriving a young child of his Christmas present from some loving relative. I rubbed the package with a towel and ran back to number 56. Running down the path in the true spirit of the season, clutching the precious bundle in my hand I thrust it through the letter box expecting to hear a happy yelp of surprise from young Richard. As I ran away to the sound of the barking dog, I ran by accident into the garden gate just in time to hear a voice shouting: «Master Richard! When will that woman realise I'm over fifty and can't stand hand knitted socks!» English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 75 29. Phrasal verb get I don't recommend it as it can get you into an embarrassing situation if you're not careful but then I was persuaded by a good friend of mine. I am referring to the time I returned to my old school some fifteen years after I'd left. The friend had been invited to speak as the guest of honour at some function or other at the school. He had been so insistent on my going that I couldn't really get out of it. Mind you, I had got on quite well at school but I wasn't really looking forward to coming face to face again with certain of the teachers. There was one in particular who must have been getting on because he'd seemed pretty ancient when I was there. His name was Harrison and he and I just didn't get on at all. There was something about the way he looked at you or me, anyhow as if he was about to say something unpleasant about your hair, your shoes or the way you walked and he always passed derogatory comments. It began to get on my nerves. I felt as I was being persecuted, being got at. Things had got to such a state that in my last few weeks at the school I'd written what I thought was a fairly satirical piece making fun of him without mentioning him by name. Nobody on the teaching staff made any mention about it before I left and so I imagined I had got away with it. The strange thing was that Harrison usually liked to have the last word and could not bear to be humiliated. Apparently the function at the school was to be a formal affair and the men were supposed to wear dinner jackets, which I thought was a bit over the top. On the day of the function I was flying back from abroad and by the time I got back there was only a couple of hours to change and drive to the school. I say 'change' but I had no formal clothes to change into because the case with my dinner jacket had gone missing. But I didn't let that get me down and thought the best thing was to get down to the school as quickly as possible. I arrived therefore dressed in my holiday attire, got round the doorman by explaining my predicament and sneaked into the back of the hall and sat down. The proceedings got off to a good start and my friend gave a brilliant speech. The only worrying thing was that up on the platform sat the dreaded Harrison and I had the horrible feeling that he had spotted me and he had that strange look on his face as if he was up to something. From what I had heard from people around me , some of the former students had got up a collection in order to make a presentation to Harrison as he was retiring this term. There was I thinking I had got through the evening unscathed and now I had this presentiment that somebody was about to be got at and that somebody was going to be me. The presentation was made by the headmaster saying he didn't know how the school would get on without him and other complimentary things and then handed him his leaving present. Harrison rose with an evil smile on his face and assured the Head that the school would certainly get by without him. He only hoped he would be able to get by on his pension. It all seemed to be quite harmless but I just wished he would finish his speech and get it over. Then suddenly he made a comment about English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 76 how they must remember how fussy he always was about appearance and being properly dressed. He had, he said, got a special prize for the best dressed old boy. I heard my name being called out. All I wanted to do was get out but I had no choice and strolled as casually as I could to loud cheers and cat calls, in my holiday outfit, up on to the stage. As he handed me a small book entitled 'How to look smart' and shook my hand, he whispered: "I've waited fifteen years for this!" Get out of this!, I said to myself. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 77 30. Word story: Health Health — This word seems to have its origins in the word «whole» or «wholeness» since it is an abstract word that refers to the physical state of a body, which is usually human. In other words we usually associate it with the physical state of a human or living being. People are said to be «in good health» or «enjoying good health». On the other side they could also be «suffering from poor health» or be «in poor health». It isn't until we get to the adjective «healthy» that we are talking about being «in good health». Athletes and sportsmen and women are usually «healthy». We can also use the adjective to describe not only a physical attribute but also a moral one. You can have a «healthy attitude towards religion or sex», which means that you are objective in the views that you hold on those topics. At the same time we can use the adjective «healthy» for states or conditions that are not directly to do with living things. We speak of the economy of a country being «healthy», which means that the country does not have huge debts. When we raise a glass of drink to someone, we address the other person with the words: «Your health». We are in fact wishing that they are in «good health». And of course your personal health is a very important matter. A very common comment passed between people when they are talking about their money problems or their job prospects is «As long as you've got your health». This is a way of cheering themselves up by realising that whatever their problems, at least they don't have any problems with their «health». English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 80 33. Word story: Search engines The Internet is truly a wonderland that can take you into any world, any field of knowledge you desire. The trouble is where to start and how to get where you want to. That's where we need the guidance and help of «search engines». They come in all shapes and sizes and have the most unusual names like: Abasearch, Altavista, Ask Jeeves, Clickey, Excite, SoDado and possibly the most famous of all, Google. All these «search engines» will take you to your chosen site in seconds and then give you thousands, if not millions of possibilities. Search engines is yet another expression that has been created in the age of the Internet and computing and as so often it is made up of words that are in common use with their original meanings. «Search» simply means «examine in detail» usually with the purpose of trying to find someone or something. If you mislay your car keys You search the house from top to bottom because you know that they are somewhere in the house. Again if the police suspect that someone is carrying something like an illegal drug, they may well «search» that person, which means they will check pockets and all items of clothing. And then there is the other half of the expression: «engine». This means a machine that with the help of some kind of power will be enable something to move, like the «car engine, the steam engine». When the word first came to be used it had the idea of natural ability or genius. So when you put the two words together as «search engines» there is a certain appropriateness when you consider how clever these devices are. The question is: How do they work? To be honest I really don't know or to use an expression meaning that you haven't the slightest idea how to answer a question: «Search me!» English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 81 34. Word story: Weather The trouble with English is that there are so many words that sound exactly alike but have no connection with each other whatsoever. A case in point is «weather» which often gets muddled up with whether. In fact the only way to differentiate between them when speaking is to aspirate the first aitch with emphasis. But whether it's whether or «weather«, the topic of this little story is the one to do with the climate — «weather». If you live in the UK and your English vocabulary is limited, you can always fall back on expressions like these: «Lovely, isn't it? « — «Couldn't be better, could it?» — «What a pleasant change!» — «Makes a difference, doesn't it?» Yes, they all refer to the weather. Apart from polite conversation the word «weather» also appears in several expressions. If you're feeling under the weather, you're not feeling very well. If you «make heavy weather of something», you're making things more difficult than they need to be. Someone gives you a job to do which would normally take about half an hour and if you are still doing it 3 hours later, then that's «making heavy weather of it». If a business is having financial problems but somehow manages to survive and be back in credit, it is said to «weather the storm». If you «keep a weather eye open», you are being very careful to see there's no trouble. The burglar or thief «keeps a weather eye open» making sure there are no police around. You may think you have a good friend but you only know how loyal they are when you want their help in a crisis. If they turn away when you need them most, we call them «fair weather friends». I don't think I've got anything more to say really. Oh, yes I've just looked out of the window and it's turned out nice again — the «weather» I mean. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 82 35. Saying it twice or «Save our animals» There are several pairs of rhyming words that have come into the language with the job of emphasising and strengthening the meaning of one of the words. I have written a short story where I have used as many of these couplets as possible and after each one I have put the meaning in brackets (). When you are finished reading the story you can take the three tests below to check your knowledge. «Save our animals» From a very early age Cathy had been passionate about looking after animals. She used to hob nob (socialise) with people who thought the same way as she did. These people were not all fuddy duddy (uninteresting) or indeed hoity toity (supercilious) and their main interest in life was to ensure that all animals were treated well. She soon got to know one of the local big wigs (important people) in a local organisation aimed at stopping cruelty to animals. He had been in his hey day (at his most successful time) an important figure in a government department for agriculture. In fact because he had refused to kow tow to (accept without question) some of the official regulations, he had been forced to take early retirement. But as far as Cathy was concerned he was the bee's knees (someone to admire) and when she left school, she went to work as his assistant in the Society for the Protection of Animals. Her parents however were not all that pleased about where she had decided to work. They lived in a des res (very attractive house) and her father, John Fortune, who was really a bit of a fat cat (wealthy business man) thought that all this animal business was a lot of hocus pocus (nonsense). Cathy and her father had several pow wows (conversations) about her decision but it usually ended up with a lot of argy bargy (arguments). What her mother and father objected to most was the endless tittle tattle (gossip) in the village about a young woman working for this hot shot (well known entrepreneur) who was also regarded by some as a bit of a wheeler dealer (someone who does business in an underhand way). Cathy didn't believe any of this and was delighted to be working for Geoffrey Winton if for no other reason than that living at home was very hum drum (boring). The rest of the organisation thought that she and Winton were a dream team (ideal partners) because she was enthusiastic and he was very experienced. After all she thought her brother was enjoying himself and had gone abroad to work in America as a result of the brain drain (talented people leaving their own country to work for better pay in another). One morning there was quite a hubbub (loud noise and activity) in the Fortune household when Cathy came rushing into the sitting room helter skelter (running at a great speed) and announced what she thought was a cheerful earful (a good piece of news) and that was she had been invited to attend a demonstration in the capital. As far as her father was concerned this was simply double trouble (two problems - first working for Fortune and now getting involved in English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 85 continue with the sale until you're absolutely satisfied. One weekend I decided to leave my car at home and go by train to a large car centre. I was feeling in the pink — very fit as we approached the man standing by the sales office. He had one of those arrogant expressions that act rather like a red rag to me — somehow provoke me. I told him straight that I knew his centre had been black listed by motoring organizations — no longer approved by them and therefore it was no good him trying to white wash — excuse all the stories I'd heard. That wiped the arrogant expression off his face. The only trouble was that I discovered that I'd not been talking to the sales manager but a fellow customer. In my confusion I tripped over a spare tyre, rolled over and ended up in a ditch. When I got home I was black and blue all over — covered in bruises. By the sixth weekend of looking I was understandably feeling rather blue — somewhat depressed. I'd even considered getting a car through the black market — by some dishonest means. But every cloud has a silver lining — things improve in the end. And that Sunday was a red letter day — a special day to remember, since we finally found a car. We were out driving in the countryside when out of the blue — totally unexpectedly, we saw a notice advertising cars for sale in a farm yard. We saw a man in a brown study — deep in thought sitting in a small hut. He was the farmer cum salesman from whom I eventually bought the car. He quickly dispensed with all the red tape — all the formalities and very soon I had it in black and white — in writing that the car belonged to me. It's quite a good car and it's white or to be more accurate, it's more what you would call two tone. You see with the white there's quite a bit of brown — known less colourfully as rust. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 86 37. Cool expressions or «From one extreme to the other» In this story will find many idioms with the word cool. As you know an idiom is a fixed phrase that only makes sense when you learn it as a whole because if you look at its words separately the phrase doesn't make much sense, does it? Look at the following example: «This job seems to be a bit of a hot potato as nobody really wants it.» Now, I'm sure you understand this in this sentence the expression the hot potato is nothing to eat but rather a task or a responsibility that no-one wants to do or take. Maybe, you have your own examples for hot potatoes? If so, you can send them to us via email and we will help you cool them off. In the meantime you might want to enjoy the following story. Do you know what all the cool expressions in italics mean? «From one extreme to the other» As the railways lines start to buckle, the beaches continue to attract thousands and the treasured pot plants in my garden wither in the extreme heat, my befuddled brain, searching for air as the temperature soars, has turned to the use we make in English of expressions to do with the variations of hot and cold. Let me tell you a story to show you what I mean: Charlie could be relied on to get hot under the collar about almost anything that upset him. Whereas most people who disagree with you in an argument simply give you a frosty look and then move on. Charlie would react in an entirely different way. When the argument had hotted up, he would lose his cool and start to rant and rave. Friends would take him to one side at his favourite pub and point out that behaving like that in the heat of the moment was not doing his heart any good. Getting hot and bothered over the smallest things was not conducive to a long and happy life. Women, they said, would tend to give him the cold shoulder if he continued to carry on like this. Then someone in the pub who was noted for being practical and could always see clearly as he said in the cold light of day, mentioned that he'd read somewhere of a course to help people like Charlie. Another punter said he actually had a leaflet hot off the press giving details of the course. The question was who was going to mention it to Charlie as he could well flare up at the very idea. Dave, who at first blew hot and cold at the idea, eventually agreed to take on the task. There was a bit of tension at first as people waited for Charlie to react but although he didn't exactly give it a warm welcome, he did indicate that he would think it over and that helped to take the English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 87 heat out of the moment. One evening in the pub someone came rushing in saying he'd come hot foot from Charlie's flat with news about the course. The general expectation was that Charlie had got cold feet about joining but the fact was that he had signed up and would be away for one whole week. Throughout the next seven days many of the regulars were in a cold sweat wondering what the outcome would be. One diner in the snack bar had such a heated argument over it with another diner that by the time he'd got round to eating his piping hot soup it had become stone cold. Even the casual customers who were so to speak somewhat out in the cold because they didn't know what had been happening, quite warmed to the idea and decided to join in with the betting that went on as to whether Charlie would be a changed man or not. The landlord even hit on the idea of creating a new cocktail called «Cool Charlie», which sold like hot cakes. Eventually the day arrived when it was known that Charlie would come to the pub again. It was also agreed that someone should be available to make a remark that would normally have caused him to lose his temper. Now, this was a bit of hot potato and nobody really wanted the job knowing that they might get into hot water. In the end Martin, the oldest member of the club, found himself in the hot seat and reluctantly agreed. Suddenly the door opened and in burst Charlie. It was impossible to tell whether the course had succeeded in transforming him. It was then that Martin, virtually in cold blood spoke making some derogatory remark about Charlie's lack of success with women. Everyone's blood ran cold and those that were nearest to Charlie couldn't move an inch, they were frozen in their tracks. Charlie laughed quietly and then announced something that was to warm the cockles of everyone's heart. «Ah yes», he said cool as a cucumber walking over to a young woman sitting in the corner, «let me introduce you all to my fiancée.» English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 90 39. Greeting expressions or «Well, hello!» Not so long ago the word «cheers» was reserved for when you raised your glass and drank to someone's health and the other person or the others if it was a group responded with another «cheers». A variation of the word also crops up in the word «cheerio», which is a friendly way of saying «good-bye». And of course they're all related to the word «cheer» - which has a very old meaning of «comfort» as in the archaic expression «be of good cheer» - roughly meaning «be happy/comfortable». Again we can try and «cheer someone up» - help them to feel «cheerful/happy». And also if we're watching our favourite tennis player or team, we can «cheer» them by shouting out enthusiastically when they're doing well. So as you can see it's a busy little word and as you can't keep a good word down, it's come back in force as «cheers» and in the UK you might think it was the most popular word in the language because you hear it endlessly. When a sales assistant hands you something to sign it is used, when you sign it and hand it back, it's used again. If you hold a door open for someone, up it comes. Even if you accidentally knock into someone in the street and step aside, the recipient of your accidental knock will probably say it and just to show you meant no harm you say it too. To someone of the older generation returning to the UK after a long absence it might seem every member of the population was spending their time drinking. That's the trouble. There is a very limited vocabulary used for the ordinary day-to-day salutations and certain words seem to do all the work. The strangest thing of all is when you are introduced to someone. A says «How do you do?» And then B says «How do you do?» as well. The result is that two questions are left hanging in the air and unanswered. But then the English tend to be reticent in other forms of typical conversation. A says «Thank you» and B just grins and says nothing. If the thanking is very effusive and goes on, there are one or two expressions you can employ: «You're welcome» or «Don't mention it» and if you really don't feel too talkative you could simply say «Not at all». Now in many languages this just isn't good enough and there are set expressions that you use in your response. More problems come in the business of what you say when you meet someone out in the street. Of course if you are a coward, you could «cut them dead» - totally ignore them - but then that is a bit rude and isn't a good idea. «Hi» is becoming a firm favourite in the street, on the telephone and of course as a way of starting your email. «Hello» is a close runner up and both are clearly informal. More formal ways of greeting come in the following way: «Good morning/afternoon/evening». But again people tend to use these expressions when addressing a group or an audience. If you are very surprised to see someone in an unusual place there is another expression. You might be taking a stroll through the Gobi desert and suddenly you meet your next-door neighbour. Now «Hi» or «Hello» would be inappropriate and it would be better to say «Fancy seeing you here!» In the countryside where everybody is not so busy rushing about as in the town meeting a stranger in a lane would probably require a «Good» something just to be polite even if the English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 91 recipient is a total stranger. That reminds me of a student of mine some years ago when I was teaching in central London. She was a young and very sociable girl from the West Indies. At home she lived in a very small village where everybody knew everybody else. What she couldn't understand at first was why nobody reciprocated her bright «Good morning» to everybody she met during the rush hour on the London underground stations. She soon learnt that people in big cities hurrying to work aren't a friendly lot. Then of course there are words you use when you part, go away, leave. In a previous century you might use the very dramatic «Farewell» but please don't say that when you've just bought a newspaper and are leaving the shop - they might start talking about you. «Good-bye» or simply «bye» are the favourites. «See you» is popular too and one that intrigues me because in most cases it is never fulfilled «See you later». Becoming even more common and perhaps this is a sign of the dangerous times we live in is «Take care». Following up a question raised in our Internet Forum recently to do with «last night» and «yesterday evening» where the former is very late and possibly after bedtime and the latter is prior to that, what do we say as a salutation at the end of the day particularly if it's dark? You can of course fall back on «Hi» and «Hello» but somehow darkness seems to call for formality and «Good evening» would be right and if it's very late, «Good night» would be fine. And now I've got to find a way to finish this newsletter - oh I know «CHEERS!» English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 92 40. Sea expressions Let's start with three 'Sea Expressions':  All at sea  Sea change  Sea of faces If you live in Britain, as I do, it doesn’t take long to realise that whatever direction you take, it isn’t long before you reach the sea. And of course if you don’t like flying, as I don’t, and you want to travel to another country, you have to cross that strip of water between England and France called the Channel. It will come as no surprise therefore that this mass of water we call ‘sea’ and all the things people do on it have had a great influence on daily language. In terms of expressions where the word ‘sea‘ itself appears, the emphasis is on its great size. After all more of the earth is covered with water than land and it wasn’t that long ago when people thought that once you went over the horizon in your boat, you fell off the end of the world! Imagine that you’ve just started in a new job and only a few days later you find yourself alone in your place of work. Then the telephone rings and you very nervously answer it. You get asked lots of questions. You don’t know the answers and you don’t know where anything is kept. You are totally confused and can’t help the caller – ‘You are all at sea.’ At lunchtime you feel you must have something to eat after all the problems you’ve had and you go into the firm’s canteen. The trouble is that as you’re new, you don’t know anyone and the place is full of hundreds of people and you think they’re all looking at you. You go down the stairs and can see this enormous number of unknown faces – ‘a sea of faces’. Let me finish with an expression some hundreds of years old created by our greatest national poet, Shakespeare, which is still very much in use today. When we want to talk about a dramatic alteration taking place that affects many people like for example the ending of apartheid in South Africa, we call this in Shakespeare’s words – ‘a sea change.’ And now as it’s high summer, I’d like to go for a long walk in the countryside but I can’t really because as well as being surrounded by sea in this small island, we have a few problems with another mass of water inland too – in other words it’s raining! English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 95 42. Expressions with the word order or «Order into chaos» In this story you will find words and expressions in the first half to do with order, tidiness and correctness but in the second half you will find their opposite — words and expressions to do with disorder. That is why I have called this story «Order into chaos» Maurice Carpenter used to love order. Everything had to be in its place. You only had to look at his desk to realise that; there were three rows of pencils all lined up, two rows of pens and a pad of paper dead centre in the middle of his desk. Everything you could say was in apple pie order. His appearance also gave you a clue to his fondness for fastidiousness. His head was immaculate as there wasn't a hair out of place. His tie, as he always wore one even on holiday, was totally symmetrical. Maurice had a very important job, at least he thought so. He worked for the district council as one of the planning officers. He and his colleagues had the responsibility to check whether the local residents had submitted plans for alterations to their houses correctly. Whereas the other two were fairly lenient, Maurice was a nitpicker, which is another word for a fusspot, which is another word for someone who insists that every detail is correct and all the «i's» are dotted and all the «t's» are crossed. People would sometimes have to wait weeks for a decision if their plans were not correct down to the last detail. He inherited this liking for precision from his father whose favourite saying was «There's a place for everything and everything has its place.» He grew up knowing where everything was in the house. As a result nothing was ever lost or misplaced. His long- suffering mother knew her place as well. Heaven forbid if she didn't lay the cutlery in the right way at mealtimes. If a fork or a knife were even slightly askew, there would be a long lecture about tidiness. Correct car parking was another obsession that Maurice inherited from his father. Whenever he went shopping in a large supermarket, he would take down the numbers of those cars that were not properly aligned within the white lines and report them to reception. Most of the receptionists knew him and assured him the matter would be reported and then did nothing about it. At work he would also accept what his boss told him even when he really disagreed. He never stepped out of line. His boss knew he could rely on him to toe the line on every occasion. But all this stopped one hot July morning 3 years ago. At precisely 8.36 Maurice arrived at work having parked his car in his special space and having assured himself that the car was bang in the middle. As he walked into his office he saw a young woman sitting by his desk. At first glance he thought how untidy and dishevelled she was. She was the complete antithesis of what a young woman should look like. Her hair was a mess, for starters. Her jacket was crumpled as well. Maurice found it difficult not to tut tut English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 96 aloud at her unkempt appearance at least from the back. When he came to sit at his desk and see her from the front, something inside him snapped. He felt strange and this to him was totally out of order because he didn't usually take much notice of young women in the office especially if they looked as disorderly as she did. But she did have wonderfully blue eyes and a dazzling smile though perhaps her lower lip was a little lopsided. She had come, she explained to query a decision about the garage she wanted to be built next to her house. As she clumsily argued her case, Maurice found he was not listening but gazing into her bright blue eyes. His thoughts for the first time in his life were jumbled and chaotic. At the end of her explanation he found himself agreeing to her objection and even against his will he was asking her out. Within weeks they were engaged and not longer after they married in a small church with a crooked spire, which actually made Maurice laugh. They now have two children whose toys lie higgledy-piggledy over the floor. They run helter-skelter to meet visitors . I say «they» but in fact the younger one runs up to you in a zigzag fashion, the older one walks sedately. His mother is convinced that the latter will make an ideal planning officer. She said this once in front of him and almost as if he understood, he walked up to his mother and tried to straighten her tousled hair. English Grammar through Stories by Alan Townend Photocopiable © www.english-test.net 97 43. Expressions with the word name or «The name of the game» The parents of a very good friend of mine decided to give as their son's second name the word we use for the current month — August. Naturally as a child he tended to keep quiet about it and now only uses it as an initial in his signature, which is probably the best thing to do. Mind you girls' names are different. April, May and June are quite pleasant to the ear and you forget that they are also the names of months. And that's the funny thing about names. We tend to associate a particular personality with a specific name although we could be completely wrong. A celebrated case in point concerns a certain Dr Mudd. The American President Lincoln was shot by a man named Booth, who broke his leg trying to escape and got medical help from a country doctor called Samuel Mudd. Mudd was quite unaware what Booth had done and gave him appropriate treatment. The next day he informed the police and despite his ignorance of the assassination at the time, he was arrested, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. Fortunately he was pardoned 4 years later but the poor doctor's name has gone into the language and to say to someone: «Your name's mud» (the extra «d» has now disappeared) means that you have a bad reputation. «To clear your name» is to prove that you were not involved in a crime of which you were accused. This finally happened to our doctor friend Samuel but not until the 1970's. In fact «giving someone or something a bad name» is to damage their reputation. So if a company is known to make faulty products, then this will give it a bad name. On the positive side you can of course get well known for your great ability or success. If an actress has been applauded not only by audiences but also by the critics, she is said to be «making a name for herself». There are those who love to impress others with the people they know or have met. They possibly know that famous actress — well they know someone who knows her but they like to give the impression that they know famous people and like to mention these names in the course of a conversation. This harmless pursuit is known as «namedropping». I once had a conversation with a previous Prime Minister of the UK when he visited the college where I was the deputy principal and couldn't resist telling people about this whenever I could. That gentleman is now out of favour and people have started «calling him names» (being rude about him) and so I don't mention him at all now. But then that's what happens in politics — «that's the name of the game» — that's the central thing about that kind of profession. Magic plays a part in these expressions, too. Some people are universally respected and their name alone evokes all kinds of favourable feelings. It can be in sport, in show business or indeed in manufacturing. This is said to be «a name to conjure with» and when you mention it, everyone is impressed. And on the negative side of this that very name can be used in a disrespectful way very often in religious contexts where the leader of a religion is spoken of in an abusive way and that's what we call «taking someone's name in vain». This expression can be found in the English translation of the