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LESSON 1: FANTASTIC EXPERIENCES
Lesson 1
UNIT 1
FANTASTIC EXPERIENCES
– Do you think that your life has been interesting? Why/not? – Have you ever thought your life was boring? Why/not? – Have you ever followed your dreams against all odds?
VOCABULARY
1. Match the two parts of the phrases. Tell which of these you have or haven’t done in your life.
For example: I’ve been on a roller coaster … /I haven’t been…
8 THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU ARE YOUNG
1) ride 2) get 3) sing 4) eat 5) win 6) write 7) speak 8) send a) to a famous person b) a poem c) home after midnight d) a prize in a competition e) someone a Valentine’s card f) a song in public g) snails h) on a rollercoaster
2. What was your best and worst experience this summer? What was the most dangerous experience in your life?
READING
3. Have you ever been in the wild? Have you seen the wild animals in their natural habitat? Look at the picture and tell what kind of place it is, where you can find it.
Read the comment and tell if you would like to to visit
Sabi Sabi private reserve to enjoy it’s beauty.
Bill
On behalf of our entire family, I would like to extend our most sincere thanks and appreciation to you Steve and the rest of your terrific staff for making our short stay with you one of the most incredible times of our lives. We find it hard to express the excitement, euphoria, and sheer enjoyment we have experienced while on safari, the memories we have of what we have seen and heard will stay in our minds forever.
Our accommodations were wonderful and perfect for our African adventure; our dining experiences were delightful; and the service we received was perfect and as warm and friendly as we have ever experienced anywhere in the world. However, the highlight of our stay took place in the bush.
We found it hard to believe that we were able to see everything we did in just a few short days, and you made it all possible. Please be sure to tell your staff how wonderful they made our times in the bush, and how much we appreciated their incredible efforts on our behalf.
Just to show you how extraordinary our safaris were, I have included a few pictures out of the thousands I took during the three days we stayed with you.
Thanks again for giving us a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience. I hope we will be able to stay in touch, and I can learn when the best time of the year will be for our return visit soon, and perhaps learn more about the exciting things that are happening at Sabi Sabi.
4. Match the definitions below to the words in colour from the text. Use them to tell about your adventures or experiences in life.
1) very special because you will probably only have it once 2) when everything is wonderful 3) an outstanding part of an event or period of time 4) an extremely enjoyable experience 5) unbelievable 6) pleasant
GRAMMAR
GRAMMAR BANK
THE PRESENT PERFECT & THE PAST SIMPLE TENSE
We use the Present Perfect tense to talk about experiences that happened at any time in the past. We don’t have to use a precise time expression to say when the event happened. Ex.: My friend has won another prize. Present Perfect can appear with an incomplete time expression such as today, this week, this month, recently, so far, many times, etc. Ex.: I’ve met so many people this morning. (It is still morning.) Past Simple appears with a definite and indefinite point in time: last week, when I was a child, yesterday, in 2001 or the other day, ages ago, a long time ago etc. Ex.: People lived in caves a long time ago. We use the Present Perfect tense to give the new information. But if we continue to talk about it, we normally use the Past Simple tense: Ex.: – My friend has won another prize. – Ow! How did she do that? – She tried really hard.
NOTE!
Gone to means that you’ve traveled to some place and haven’t returned yet. Been to means that you’ve traveled to some place and have already returned.
5. Find the examples of the Present Perfect and the Past Simple tenses in the text in
Ex.3. Try to explain their use. If necessary, you can use the Grammar Bank above. 6. Complete the email with the Past Simple or the Present Perfect tense of the verb in brackets.
Hi there Mom and Dad!
I 1) (not/be) sure about the Summer Camp when I first heard about it, but I 2) (have) the most amazing time since I got here! And to think that it wasn’t so long ago that I 3) (pack) my bags and 4) (kiss) you goodbye! Two weeks down and three to go! Every day we have new guest speakers and the talks 5) (be) fascinating so far, at least until yesterday when Peter 6) (have) to cancel because of a cancelled flight.
Lesson 1
UNIT 1
Lesson 1
UNIT 1
Our camp leaders then 7) (decide) to bring us to the laboratory, and we 8) (make) eggshell geode crystals instead. Well, you know that I 9) (do) a lot of different experiments in my life, but this one 10) (be) truly cool, and unlike my chemistry experiments gone wrong, nothing 11) (explode). The world of science sure 12) (change) a lot in the last few years! 13) (you/hear) about the discovery of water on Mars? Last August the Mars Orbiter 14) (use) an imaging spectrometer and 15) (detect) presence of hydrated minerals. This confirmed what NASA 16) (suspect)! We 17) (learn) so much about our Solar System since we first 18) (land) on the Moon and these are things that 19) (seem) impossible to study just one hundred years back!
This 20) (be) such an amazing opportunity and I love every minute.
Lots of love, Rebecca
7. Look at the table and talk about these people and their vacations. Use the Present Perfect and the Past Simple tenses to make up sentences. Add necessary time expressions.
1) Hi mom, I’m calling you from New York City! – visit the Statue of Liberty – watch a Yankees baseball game – practice my English – buy some souvenirs – walk up the Empire State Building – see many strange people 2) Dear Murray, I am writing you this postcard from Canada!
– see a bear – ride a horse – catch a lot of fish
– swim in Lake Ontario – climb a mountain – camp in the National Park 3) Hello, Dad! I’m phoning from Hawaii – watch the smoking volcano – go scuba diving – swim with a dolphin – try surfing in the waves – learn how to paddle a canoe – drive a boat
4) Hi Lucy, I’m texting you from Rome!
– visit the Coliseum – practice my Italian – go to the Vatican Museum – visit Italian brand shops – eat a lot of pasta – hike up Mount Vesuvius
8. Match the sentences (1-6) with the responses (a-f).
1) Your sister’s very tanned. 2) Where’s your sister? 3) Aren’t your parents at home? 4) Have we got any milk? 5) Does Paul know London well? 6) Is Paul in London? a) Yes, he’s been there three times. b) She’s been to Majorca on holiday. c) No, they’ve gone shopping. d) Yes, he’s gone there for the weekend. e) Yes, mum and dad have been shopping. f) She’s gone to Majorca with her friends.
LISTENING
9. Listen to the extract from a radio show interview with a very famous, but quite an extraordinary, traveller and news reporter Julie Ventura. After listening, say which statements about her life are true (T) and which ones are false (F).
1) She has travelled by train. 2) She has flown over the Rockies in a hot air balloon. 3) She has been to Mars. 4) She has ridden a camel. 5) She has eaten alligator burgers. 6) She has never been to Japan. 7) She has climbed Mount Everest. 8) She has been to the Sahara Desert twice.
10. Answer the following questions. What do you think was the strangest Julie Ventura’s experience? Which would you never agree to do in your life? Which would you like to try?
1) How many times has Julie travelled around the world? 2) Which animals has she ridden? 3) What’s the most interesting place she’s ever been to? 4) Which mountain has she climbed twice? 5) Which famous cities has she visited? 6) What’s the strangest food she has ever tried? 7) What unusual food has she eaten? 8) What’s one place she has never been to?
SPEAKING
11. Make up questions using the following prompts. Take turns asking and answering questions in pairs. Ask if your partner has tried it and how it happened.
break your limb / read a book in English / swim in the ocean / win money in the lottery / drive a race car / swallow a fly / be on television / sing in public / lose your wallet or ID / ride on a Ferris wheel / do anything brave
For example: – Have you ever eaten snails? – Yes, I have. – How was it? – I didn’t like it at all. They were too slimy. What about you?
WRITING
12. Describe an experience you have had in each of these categories. Provide details.
– something exciting – something romantic – something horrible – something creative – something frightening – something unusual
