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Lesson 1 - Introductions
I.
II.
Introduce yourself to the teacher
Talk about things like your name, nationality and hobbies
Further Discussions with teacher
a. How many languages do you speak?
b. Why are you learning English? For how long have you been learning
English?
c. Which mediums (books, movies, news, music) do you use to learn
English?
d. What is your profession? And how long have you been working at
your company?
First Exercise
Read the following story and answer the questions below. You will then
discuss the answers with your teacher during the lesson.
Mike and Maria
It was a Sunday morning at Mike and Maria's house. The clock had just struck eight.
Maria had awoken from bed, and was cleaning out the eye boogers from her eyes.
Mike was still sound asleep.
It was another beautiful day in the state of California. Maria loved to wake up early in
the morning, and cook breakfast. Mike, on the other hand, would much rather sleep
in. Maria made sure to wake up Mike by offering him a home cooked breakfast Mike
could never refuse. "Wake up, Mike. It's time to rise and shine," she said, shaking him
back and fourth. Mike covered his face with a pillow, and let out a long groan. "It's
too early Maria. Can't we keep sleeping?" he asks. "It's Sunday for goodness sake!"
Maria pulls the pillow from his face, and taps his face with her hand. "Come on!
Wake up! I'm going to cook breakfast. I'm making pancakes and eggs, your favorite,"
she says to Mike, hoping to get him out of bed. Mike reluctantly gets out of bed, and
walks to the kitchen. He could not say no to pancakes for breakfast. Maria made the
best pancakes in the world. He was indifferent about eggs. Maria did not know about
this.
The sun peered through the window and blinded him. He closed the shutters to block
the sunlight. Maria began to cook, while Mike served himself a tall glass of orange
juice. Mike sat down at the kitchen table, and let out a big yawn. Unlike Maria, he
was not an early bird. Maria finished cooking the eggs and pancakes, and served both
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her and Mike the food. She sat down with Mike, and had a conversation while eating
breakfast.
I.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Questions
What is the short essay about?
Where do Maria and Mike live?
What did Mike and Maria make for breakfast? Does Mike like eggs?
What is an “early bird”?
Pronunciation: Read the last paragraph out loud to your teacher.
Second Exercise
Read the following story and answer the questions below. You will then
present your findings to the teacher during the lesson.
Last week something really funny happened. It was Saturday morning, and my sister
and I were getting ready to go to the grocery store with my mother. When we were
almost ready, my mother suddenly stopped.
“Oh no!” she said.
“What?” I asked her.
“I can’t find my keys! Where are my keys?” she yelled.
My mother looked very worried. She thought she had lost her keys, and she was
worried that my dad might get angry. She started running around the house, looking
for her keys.
“Mom!” I said.
“Not now!” she said, running around the house. “I need to find the keys!”
“Uh, Mom!” I said again.
“What!?” she stopped and looked at me with an angry face.
“Your keys are in your hand!” I said. My mother looked in her hand, and there they
were. She was holding the keys the whole time. My mother looked very
embarrassed, and my sister and I couldn’t stop laughing!
II.
Questions
a. Define the highlighted words and create a new sentence with each one.
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Third Exercise
Define the words in the table and fill in the opposite word, also known as
the Antonym. A similar word is known as a Synonym.
Words
Fast
Rich
First
Low
Noisy
Fat
Late
Far
White
Opposite
Slow
Words
Clean
Easy
Short
Sad
Dry
Left
Dark
Hot
Old
Opposite
Fourth Exercise
Listening Exercise: Listen to the recording made available on the Beginner Course
page on the Language121 website. Then answer the following questions.
Questions
1. Why can't Elaine Strong answer the phone?
a) She's in a meeting.
b) She's out of the office.
c) She's talking with another customer.
2. What does the caller want the secretary to send?
a) information on after-sales service
b) a picture of the newest computers
c) a list of software products
3. What time should the secretary send the material?
a) 2:30 PM
b) 3:30 PM
c) 5:00 PM
4. What is the caller's name?
a) Cordell
b) Kordel
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c) Kordell
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5. What is the caller's telephone number?
a) 560-1287.
b) 560-1828
c) 560-2187
Post-Listening Exercise
Imagine that you are opening your own clothing store or some other business. Answer
the questions below based upon that idea.
1. What kinds of office equipment and supplies do you think you will need to run
your business?
2. How much will this equipment cost?
3. Will you rent the equipment or buy it?
4. Do you create a Website for your business?
Discuss your ideas with the teacher during the lesson.
Fifth Exercise
Directions: Choose the pair of words that best express a relationship similar to that of
the original pair. Then write the bridge sentence(s) to the right.
1) MOUNTAIN : HIGH
A) river : ugly
B) valley : low
C) forest : lonely
D) desert : wet
Bridge Type: Characteristic
Bridge Sentence:
2) TEACHER :EDUCATE
A) senator : represent
B) lawyer : instruct
C) coach : condemn
D) priest : annoy
Bridge Type: Function
Bridge Sentence:
3) UNKNOWN : FAME
A) rapid : speed
B) ignorant : education
C) refined : manners
D) lovely : sight
Bridge Type: Lack
Bridge Sentence:
A characteristic of a mountain is to be high.
A characteristic of a __________ is to be __________.
The function of a teacher is to educate others.
The function of a __________ is to __________ others.
Someone who is unknown lacks fame.
Someone who is __________ lacks ___________.
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4) SLAVE : SUBMISSIVE
A) murderer : violent
B) circus : laughable
C) professor : ignorant
D) professional : bossy
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Bridge Type: Characteristic
Bridge Sentence:
A characteristic of a slave is to be submissive.
A characteristic of a __________ is to be __________.
5) PERMANENT : TEMPORARY
A) ordinary : plain
B) imaginary : fake
C) astonishing : surprising
D) skeptical : trusting
6) COWARDLY : BRAVE
A) numerous : many
B) foolish : wise
C) awful : dreadful
D) anxious : nervous
Bridge Type: Definition (Antonyms)
Bridge Sentence:
Permanent is the opposite of temporary.
_____________________________________.
Bridge Type: Definition (Antonyms)
Bridge Sentence:
Cowardly is the opposite of brave.
________________________________________.
End of Lesson
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