School life

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Reading

Reading comprehension

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School life

Unit 2

Skill: Skimming

Get the general idea of a text quickly by reading the title, the subtitle and subheadings. To get a general idea of each paragraph, you can read the first and last paragraphs, and the first and last sentences of the other paragraphs.

Answer the following questions.

1. According to the article, what can we understand through virtual reality?

2. What is the article about?

A. The use of VR headsets in class is common.

B. VR helps us understand what schools were like in the past.

C. A teacher is teaching a class in the 1950s.

D. Students love their school because it is well equipped.

What were schools like fifty years ago? Where did students have lessons? You can understand what a lesson was like at that time through virtual reality (VR).

Imagine you put on a VR headset and it takes you to the 1950s.

On the rooftop of a seven-storey building, a teacher is writing on the blackboard. She is teaching nearly fifty students English. Some students are running around. Suddenly, an airplane flies over. You see a student shouting but you can only hear the plane.

There is no library, no music room or computer room. There is no air conditioner or even walls.

You take off the VR headset and come back to the real world. Are you happy that your school is well equipped?

virtual reality (phr.) 虛擬實境headset (n.) 頭戴裝 置rooftop (n.) 天台 storey (n.) 層 well equipped (adj.) 設備齊全的

Vocabulary help

The two questions at the beginning of the article tell you about the topic.

Smart tip

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Unit 2 School life

3. Where are the students having lessons?

A. on the rooftop of a building B. on the seventh floor of a building C. in a library

D. in a music room

4. The students are having a/an lesson.

A. Maths B. Computer

C. Chinese D. English

5. According to paragraph 2, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The teacher is shouting at a student.

B. The students are having the lesson quietly.

C. There are 40 students in the class.

D. The sound of the plane disturbs the lesson.

6. What facility does the school in the 1950s have?

A.

C.

B.

D.

7. Choose the best title for this article.

A. VR headsets today

B. A classroom with no air conditioner C. Time travelling with VR

D. How a teacher taught in the 1950s

The whole article is about the VR experience.

Smart tip

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Vocabulary

Exercise

A. Put the vocabulary above in the appropriate categories.

B. Fill in the blanks using the vocabulary above.

janitor (n.) 護衛 laboratory (n.) 實驗 室

Liberal Studies (phr.) 通識

librarian (n.) 圖書管 理員

Vocabulary help

foreigner (n.) 外國 人recommend (v.) 推 薦assembly (n.) 集會 Vocabulary help

Music Room Teachers School hall English Visual Arts Library Principal Computer Room

Janitor Students Mathematics Laboratory Liberal Studies Librarian Physical Education

School facilities People in a school School subjects

My favourite subject is (1) because I love ball games. I am afraid of talking to foreigners because I find (2) very difficult. I love reading.

I often go to the school (3) at

lunchtime and after school. The (4)

is my friend. She always recommends some good books to me. Every day we have morning assembly in the

(5) . The (6)

tells us some important things during the assembly.

Pay attention to the words and phrases before or after the blanks to get the answers.

Smart tip

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Unit 3 Neighbourhood

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Grammar

Countable and uncountable nouns

Countable nouns are nouns that you can count. They can be either singular or plural, e.g.

This shop is very special. (singular) My neighbour has two dogs. (plural)

There are different ways to form the plural form. You add -s to most nouns.

Noun You should Example

Nouns ending in -s, -x, -ss, -ch and -sh

add es gas ➔ gases box ➔ boxes

class ➔ classes beach ➔ beaches dish ➔ dishes

Nouns ending in a vowel + -y

add s day ➔ days

Nouns ending in a consonant + -y

delete y and add ies party ➔ parties

Nouns ending in -o add s or es zoo ➔ zoos potato ➔ potatoes Some nouns ending

in -f or -fe

delete f or fe and add ves

leaf ➔ leaves knife ➔ knives

Uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns are nouns that you cannot count. They have only one form, e.g.

Mary likes drinking milk. Love is all around.

Exercise

A. Write the plural form of the following nouns. Write ‘U’ if it is uncountable.

1. house 2. air 3. tooth

4. sugar 5. wolf 6. watch

7. toy 8. box 9. baby

B. Read the text. Fill in the blanks using the correct form of the nouns in the box. Each noun in the box can be used once only.

parent bicycle grass child sandwich water

First decide whether the nouns are countable or uncountable.

Then pay attention to the ending of the nouns.

Smart tip Some special nouns add letters at the end, change the vowel(s) or change some letters at the end to form plurals, e.g. child ➔

children, man ➔

men.Some nouns make no change for the plural form, e.g.

fish ➔ fish.

Smart tip

This is a lovely afternoon. The (1) are playing in the park. Their (2) are sitting on the bench. Some children are riding

(3) . When they are tired, they sit on the (4) to rest.

They drink a lot of (5) because they are thirsty. They also enjoy the

(6) they bring there.

bench (n.) 長櫈 Vocabulary help

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Demonstrative pronouns

There are four demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these and those. They are used to replace nouns. They show which person or thing you are talking about.

Demonstrative Singular Plural Near Far

this 4 4

that 4 4

these 4 4

those 4 4

e.g. I just found a wallet here. Is this yours? (singular, near)

Look! My neighbour made some cookies and gave these to me. (plural, near) Can you see the black building over there? That is the new cinema. (singular, far) Ben bought a pair of trainers yesterday. Those were limited edition. (plural, far)

Exercise

C. Complete the sentences by choosing one of the options in brackets.

1. (These / This) is a difficult question.

2. Are (those / these) your exercise books over there?

3. Could you pass (this / that) bottle of water to me?

4. My brother has more than 50 models in his room. (That / Those) are all his collection.

5. John used red and blue to paint this picture. (This / These) are my favourite colours.

D. Read the conversation. Fill in the blanks by choosing one of the options in brackets.

Ann: Here we are at the museum. (1) (This / That) is really big! The exhibitions here are interesting. (2) (Those / These) are all new to me.

Mum: I am glad that you like it.

Ann: Look at the dinosaurs over there. (3) (Those / These) look so real.

Mum: Yes. There are so many things for us to see. The map can tell us all the information.

(4) (That / Those) is very useful. Shall we go to the rat house next?

Ann: No, (5) (that / this) is not interesting to me. Shall we go to see some experiments? A scientist is going to make a cloud.

Mum: Oh, really? I want to see (6) (this / that) too.

exhibition (n.) 展覽 dinosaur (n.) 恐龍 real (adj.) 真實的 scientist (n.) 科學家

Vocabulary help replace (v.) 取代 trainers (n.) 運動鞋 limited edition (phr.) 限量版

Vocabulary help

Pay attention to what each demonstrative pronoun replaces.

Smart tip

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Unit 3 Neighbourhood

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Skill: Listening for keywords

While listening to a conversation, pay attention to the question words. They provide hints on what information you are going to get. Also listen for the keywords, such as the place, time, thing or person, in the responses. Here are some examples.

Listening

Exercise

A. Read the extract from an audio script. Circle the question word and underline the keywords in the response. Then complete the sentence.

Kelvin: Where is Jack?

Emily: He is doing a project in the library.

Emily can see Jack .

B. Listen to the conversation and complete the note sheet.

Name Description

Mr Chan • Always puts (1) in the pocket of his shirt.

Mrs Leung • Goes to the supermarket and buys (2) bags of shopping.

• Buys (3) , snacks and (4) .

Mr and Mrs Smith

• Go to the park in the (5) and in the

(6) .

• Mrs Smith is so kind because she often makes delicious

(7) and shares them with us.

Terry • Is a clown and can do (8) and make

(9) .

• Is afraid of (10) .

Where are you going?

When does the movie start?

What is the exhibition about?

I’m going to the post office.

It starts at 4:15 pm.

It’s about the history of Hong Kong.

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Integrated skills

Situation

You are John Lee, the chairperson of the Student Union. You are planning some activities for your schoolmates with another committee member. Listen to the conversation. As you listen you can make notes on the note-taking sheet.

Listening note-taking sheet

Activity    Remark

Rope skipping competition enhances

Marathon requires physical

Book sharing shares

Data File

Study the Data File for relevant information to be included in the writing task.

1. Email from Miss Chan to John 2. Memo from the librarian to John Dear John,

As usual, the Student Union is going to organise a movie night on Christmas Eve. Night at the Museum is a cool movie. I guess our students

will like it.

Eva

Exercise

Complete the memo using information from the Data File and your notes.

Dear schoolmates,

The is going to organise some activities so that we can have fun together.

First we will have on Christmas Eve. We will show in the library. We will also organise . This activity can . At the end of the year, we will have

because . Details will be given later.

Finally, we want to ask for your opinion about whether you would like to

with your schoolmates in a session.

Cheers,

rope skipping (phr.) 跳繩

enhance (v.) 增強 marathon (n.) 馬拉 松

Vocabulary help

Make use of information from the situation as well. Not all activities in the note-taking sheet will be put in the memo.

Smart tip

Hi John,

I would suggest organising a singing contest at the end of the year. It seems that most of the students like singing.

Thanks, Miss Chan

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Unit 5 Food and drink

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Informal email: Using informal language

You write informal emails to your family, friends or classmates. You adopt a friendly style and can use colloquial language, contractions and exclamation marks.

An informal email should include the following:

Greeting

Address the recipient by his/her first name, e.g. Hi Sandy, Dear Sandy.

Opening

State the purpose of writing. Thank the recipient if you are replying to his/her email.

Body paragraph(s)

Present your ideas or make suggestions in detail.

Closing paragraph

Summarise your ideas, call for action or simply express your hope that he/she is doing well.

Complimentary close

End with an appropriate closing, e.g. Love, Cheers, Best wishes, and type your name.

colloquial (adj.) 口 語化的contraction (n.) 縮 寫

complimentary close (phr.) 結尾語

Vocabulary help

league (n.) 聯賽 semi-final (n.) 準決 賽

Vocabulary help

Exercise

You are Alex Chan. You have received an email from your Korean friend, Tom Lee. Write a reply to him in about 80 words.

To: Alex Chan

Subject: Your cooking competition Hi Alex,

How are you? I hope you’re well.

I am pretty busy this month. My football team made it to the final in this year’s National Secondary Schools Football League. I have to practise five times a week.

I heard you are attending the semi-final of the Secondary Schools Cooking Competition. What is the date and time of the competition? What dish are you going to make? How is your preparation going? I wish I was there to cheer you on in Hong Kong.

I have to go for my football practice now. Write soon.

Cheers, Tom

Writing

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challenging (adj.) 富挑戰性的 contestant (n.) 參賽 者harsh (adj.) 嚴格的 proud (adj.) 自豪的 support (v.) 支持 teammate (n.) 隊友 training (n.) 訓練 trial and error (idiom) 反覆試驗

Vocabulary help

Since both of you are having a match/

competition soon, use the simple future correctly in the email.

Smart tip

Step 1: Planning — organiser

Step 2: Writing

Recipient of this email

Opening • Thanks for your email. It’s good to hear from you.

•

Body paragraphs Part 1: Answering all questions about the cooking competition

•

•

•

Part 2: Asking details of Tom’s football match

• I know you practised very hard. I am so proud of you.

• Complimentary close

To: Tom Lee

Subject: Let’s try our best!

Dear ,

Thanks for your email. It’s good to hear from you.

The semi-final of the Secondary Schools Cooking Competition will be on

at . I am thinking of

. It is a dish. I have .

I know you practised very hard. I am so proud of you.

My family is planning to visit Seoul during the Easter holiday. We may meet up soon.

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Unit 3 Neighbourhood

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Starting and ending a presentation

You may have to give a presentation on a topic in an oral exam. You can give your teachers or examiners a good impression if you start and end your presentation well.

You can take the following steps to start a presentation:

1 Greeting

e.g. Hello, everyone. / Good morning/afternoon, everyone.

2 Introducing the presentation topic

e.g. Today I am going to talk about… / I want to share with you…

3 Previewing the content of your presentation

e.g. I will divide my presentation into…parts. / I will tell you…and…

4 Putting forward your first idea e.g. First, I will talk about…

You can take the following steps to end a presentation:

1 Signalling the end of the presentation e.g. To summarise/conclude,…

2 Ending the presentation

e.g. That’s all I want to say. / That’s the end of my presentation.

3 Thanking everyone for their attention

e.g. Thank you. / Thank you for listening. / Thank you for your attention.

presentation (n.) 演 講oral exam (phr.) 口 試

examiner (n.) 監考 員impression (n.) 印 象preview (v.) 預告 signal (v.) 示意 attention (n.) 留心

Vocabulary help

Speaking

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healthy diet (phr.) 健康飲食spacious (adj.) 寬 敞的trainer (n.) 教練 variety (n.) 多樣化

Vocabulary help Apart from the opening and closing, divide your presentation into a few paragraphs. First describe your favourite place.

Then explain why you love it. After that mention what you do there.

Smart tip

Exercise

You are going to give a presentation on one of your favourite places in your neighbourhood.

Write an 80-word script in the space below. You can use some ideas from the following notecard and/or your own ideas in your presentation.

Favourite place in my neighbourhood: sports centre – not far away, a 10-minute walk from home

Why I love it:

– using the latest technology – facilities are in good condition

What I do there:

– go to gym

– play badminton with family – learn how to eat a healthy diet

Good morning, everyone. Today I am going to talk about

. I will tell you and

.

My favourite place is . It is

. I love it because .

I usually .

To conclude, .

That’s the end of my presentation. Thank you.

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Unit 2 School life

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1. pass with flying colours

2. as easy as ABC

3. bookworm

4. learn one’s lesson

5. hit the books

A. Finish the crossword puzzle about some school facilities with the help of the clues.

Fun break

B. The following words and phrases are related to school life. Match each of them with the correct meaning in the right column.

Idiom

A. to give help to someone A. someone who likes reading

very much

A. to give help to someone

C. to learn what (not) to do in the future because you have had a bad experience

Meaning^Meaning

surf (v.) 瀏覽 experiment (n.) 實 驗

Vocabulary help

B. very easy

D. to study hard

E. to do something successfully

ACROSS

1. The morning assembly takes place in the . 4. We do painting in the .

5. We can play the piano in the . 6. We buy snacks and drinks at the . 7. There are many books in the .

DOWN

1. We go to the if we are hurt.

2. We can surf the Internet in the . 3. We do experiments in the .

T H

R

R

1 2

5

4 3

6

7

Clues

Most of the facilities have two words.

Smart tip