Unit 3 – Talent

Getting Started – Talent

A) Look at the picture and answer the questions as a class:

1. What is the woman doing? What do you think her name is? How old is she?
2. Why do you think she is alone?
3. What could she be thinking about?

B) Discuss the questions

1. What makes something a work of art?
2. Is talent more important than discipline?
3. Do famous artists have natural talent? Or is their success due to luck, hard work or something
else? Why do you think so?

1
 Activity 1: Reading and Speaking – Learning to Learn
Learning objective: Discuss about learning new things.

A) Discuss the questions:

- How long does it take to learn something well?

- What’s the best time of day to learn something new?
- How important is memory when we learn something new? Is your memory good?

B) Read Learning to learn. Then discuss the questions in part C.

C) Discuss the questions

- What information in the text surprised you?

- Are you an early bird or a night owl?
- Have you had any experience of the ideas discussed in the text?
- Do you think you’ll change your learning practices as a result of the information?
- How disciplined are you?
- Is discipline something that can be learned or trained?
 Activity 2: Vocabulary
Learning objective: Use words related to achievement and ability to describe people you know.

A) Look at the adjectives in bold and answer questions 1–4.

1. Which two adjectives describe a good level of ability?

2. Which adjective describes a good level of achievement?
3. Which three adjectives describe a very high level of ability or achievement?
4. Look at the noun in bold in the last sentence. Are the musicians world famous now or are they likely
to be in the future?

B) What are the noun forms of the following adjectives?

1. Skilled
2. Talented
3. Brilliant
4. Able
5. Successful

C) Complete the sentences with the words in the box?

at for to (2x)

1. He’s very talented playing the guitar.

2. He has lots of potential succeed in his career.
3. She’s got a real talent drawing.
4. She definitely has the ability become a brilliant actor.

D) Discussion. Think of an example of someone who:

1. Is skilled at some kind of sport or art.

2. Has a talent for some kind of musical instruments.
3. Is famous and you think is brilliant.
4. You think is exceptional in their field.
 5. Is the most successful person you know.

Activity 3: Grammar – Multi-word verbs (phrasal verbs)

Learning objective: Use multi-word verbs to discuss about learning

A) Read about multi-word verbs with your teacher. Then, complete exercise B.

B) Matching exercise. Select the correct answer. Sometimes more than one answer is correct.
C) Rewrite these sentences 1 to 8 replacing the verbs in bold with multi-word verbs. Use a verb
from the ‘Verbs A’ table and one or two particles from the ‘Particles B’ table.

Verbs A
come be go take look let figure run

Particles B
up into out off about of with into out down on

1. How did you invent a name for your How did you come up with a name for your shop?
shop?

2. Have you investigated the cause of the

accident?
3. I’ve liked jazz since I was at
university.
4. We’ve almost used all our food.
5. I hate to disappoint you.
6. I can’t understand it.
7. I know I was wrong. Stop repeating it!
8. Do you think this product will be
successful?

Activity 4: Speaking – Multi-word verbs

Learning objective:
A) Think of something you’ve done that you have put a lot of effort into. For example:

- Your job
- A free-time activity
- Study of some kind
- Playing a musical instrument
- Learning a language

Make notes about these questions:

1. What special skill or talent do you need?
2. What level of ability do you think you have achieved?
3. How have you learnt new information necessary for this activity?
4. Do you need to remember a lot of things to do this well?
5. How much time have you put into it?

B) Use your notes in part A to tell the class about your activity. Make sure to use multi-word
verbs and the vocabulary you’ve learned.
 Activity 5: Speaking
Learning objective: Discuss about sports.

A) Discuss the questions:

1. Are sports important to you?
2. Do you think people go too crazy about sports sometimes? Do you dress up to support your team?
3. Do you think any sport will ever replace baseball in the Dominican Republic?

B) Look at the pictures and discuss the questions.

1. What sports to they show?
2. How many of these people do you recognize?
3. Do you know why they’re famous?
C) What do you think makes a successful athlete or sportsperson? Choose the five things in the box
you think are most important. Are there any you think are unimportant?

Attitude General level of fitness Luck

Desire for money Genetic make-up Support from the community
Parents Training and practice

Activity 6: Grammar – Present perfect simple and continuous

Learning objective: Use the present perfect simple and continuous to talk about a free time activity
a) Match the sentences 1–4 with the uses of the present perfect simple and continuous (a–d).
Discuss the use of the present perfect simple and continuous.

1 You’ve been playing baseball since you were a child.

2 I’ve also read the book.
3 I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently.
4 I’ve lived in San Juan myself.
 b) What are the most likely combinations? Match the sentence halves. Discuss your selection.

c) Concept checking questions

- Sentence: I’ve met Jessica Ennis-Hill.

Questions: Has she met Jessica Ennis-Hill? Do we know when she met Jessica Ennis-Hill?

- Sentence: I’ve been training for the competition for six weeks.
Questions: Is he still training for the competition? When did he start training?

- Sentence: He’s competed in the Olympic Games.

Questions: Has he competed in the Olympic Games? Do we know when he competed?

d) Think about a sport (or other free time activity) that you have been doing for some time. Make
notes about questions 1–4.

1. How good are you at it?

2. How long have you been doing it? Why did you start?
3. What are the main reasons you’ve become good at it (or haven’t!)? Does it have to do with…?
o Your genetic make-up and natural ability
o Developing technique and practicing
o Support from other people

e) Tell the class about your activity from part E.

 Activity 7: Reading and Speaking
Learning objective: Discuss about a sports case study

A) Read about Alex Rodriguez and answer:

1. Is the information up to date? What do you know about Alex Rodriguez?

2. By the time this article was written, Alex Rodriguez had been banned from playing after
taking steroids. Do you agree that the banning was the best decision?

3. If ‘sport isn’t as fair as we like to think’, should players be allowed to find ways to improve
their performance? Which these ways do you think are acceptable? Why?
o Training hard
o Having an operation (e.g. replacing arm muscles, improving eyesight)
o Taking legal substances to enhance their performance (e.g. energy drinks)
o Taking illegal substances to enhance their performance (e.g. drugs)

4. Alex Rodriguez is now the chairman of Presidente beer. He said in an interview that people
who drink Presidente get very, very offended if their beer isn’t very cold. Do you agree with
this statement?
 Activity 8: Integrated activity – video lesson
Learning objective: Discuss about careful suggestions in an integrated video activity.

a) Discuss the questions:

1. What kind of events do people usually celebrate in the Dominican Republic?
2. Do you prefer small or big celebrations? Why?
3. Do you think the idiom ‘go big or go home’ applies to birthday celebrations?

b) Look at the photo below and answer the questions.

1. Where do you think Becky and Tom have been?
2. What do you think has happened?
3. Do you think they’re married, engaged or are just friends?

c) Watch the video until 1:15 and check your ideas from part B.

Video link: https://youtu.be/_Kn0m8e-dcE

d) Watch the rest of the video and answer:

- What do they talk about?
- What are they worried about?
- Who seems more focused on wedding plans? Why do you think so?

Careful suggestions
e) Becky and Tom make careful suggestions to each other. Why do you think they do that?
1. They feel the subject-matter is a bit sensitive and they don’t want to offend each other.
2. The wedding won’t happen for a few months, so it doesn’t feel real to them.
f) Look at these examples of careful suggestions. Match the examples to the correct uses below.
a) Don’t you think it’s a good idea to …?
b) How does it sound if we/I …?
c) Another idea might be to …?
d) I think maybe we should ….
e) I thought maybe we could ….

1. Putting forward an idea carefully

2. Asking the other person to give their point of view

Activity 9: Speaking – Role play

Learning objective: Give careful suggestions in a role play about a party.

A) You are going to have a class party. Work with a partner and think of ideas for the party.
o When
o Where
o Party theme and music
o Food and drinks

f) Create a dialog in which you discuss ideas for the party. Use the phrases from activity 8, part F to
find ideas on how to make careful suggestions and agree on the details.

g) Role play your conversation for the class. Make sure to have your camera on.
 Activity 10: Writing – Complex sentences
Learning objective: Use subordinating conjunctions to write complex sentences

Summary for Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWmKnrtlTHU

Complex Sentences
A complex sentence is made up of an independent clause and one or more dependent
clauses connected to it. A dependent clause is similar to an independent clause, or complete sentence,
but it lacks one of the elements that would make it a complete sentence.

Examples of dependent clauses include the following:

because Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon
while he waited at the train station
after they left on the bus

Dependent clauses such as those above cannot stand alone as a sentence, but they can be added to an
independent clause to form a complex sentence.

Dependent clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions. Below are some of the most common
subordinating conjunctions:

after
although
as
because
before
even though
if
since
though
unless
until
when
whenever
whereas
wherever
while

The dependent clauses can go first in the sentence, followed by the independent clause, as in the
following:
 1. Because Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon, I did not see them at the
station.
2. While he waited at the train station, Joe realized that the train was late.
3. After they left on the bus, Mary and Samantha realized that Joe was waiting at the train
station.

Tip: When the dependent clause comes first, a comma should be used to separate the two clauses.
Conversely, the independent clauses can go first in the sentence, followed by the dependent clause, as
in the following:

1. I did not see them at the station because Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before
noon.
2. Joe realized that the train was late while he waited at the train station.
3. Mary and Samantha realized that Joe was waiting at the train station after they left on the bus.

Tip: When the independent clause comes first, a comma should not be used to separate the two clauses.

Complex sentences are often more effective than compound sentences because a complex sentence
indicates clearer and more specific relationships between the main parts of the sentence. The word
"before," for instance, tells readers that one thing occurs before another. A word such as "although"
conveys a more complex relationship than a word such as "and" conveys.

Activity 11: Writing – Paragraph

Learning objective: Use simple, compound and complex sentences to write a paragraph about a skill/talent
you have.
How to write a good paragraph:

Use the following video to learn about writing a good paragraph.

Video link: https://youtu.be/L1J9ZPVydrc

What is a paragraph?
A paragraph is a sentence or group of sentences that support one main idea. The following model contains
all the elements of a good paragraph. Read it carefully two or three times, and try to analyze its structure.

Gold

Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics. First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is
resistant to corrosion. Therefore, it is suitable for jewelry, coins, and ornamental purposes. Gold never needs to be
polished and will remain beautiful forever. For example. a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the
day it was minted twenty-three centuries ago. Another important
characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science. For many years, it has been used in hundreds of
industrial applications. The most recent use of gold is in astronauts' suits. Astronauts wear gold-plated heat shields
for protection outside spaceships. In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also for its utility.
A paragraph has three major structural parts: a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding
sentence. The topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph. It not only names the topic of the
paragraph, but it also limits the topic to one or two areas that can be discussed completely in the space of
a single paragraph. The specific area is called the controlling idea. Notice how the topic sentence of the
model states both the topic and the controlling idea:

(Topic) (Controlling idea)

Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics.

Supporting sentences develop the topic sentence. That is, they explain the topic sentence by giving
reasons, examples, facts, statistics, and/or quotations. Some of the supporting sentences that explain the
topic sentence about gold are:

 First of all, gold has a lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion.

 For example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was minted
 twenty-three centuries ago.
 Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science.
 The most recent use of gold is in astronauts' suits.

The concluding sentence signals the end of the paragraph and leaves the reader with important points to
remember: In conclusion, gold is treasured not only for its beauty but also for its utility.

Unity means that you discuss only one main idea in a paragraph. The main idea is stated in the topic
sentence, and then each and every supporting sentence develops that idea. If, for example, you announce
in your topic sentence that you are going to discuss two important characteristics of gold, discuss only
those. Do not discuss any other ideas, such as the price of gold or gold mining.

Coherence means that your paragraph is easy to read and understand because (1) your supporting
sentences are in some kind of logical order and (2) your ideas are connected by the use of appropriate
transition signals. For example, in the paragraph about gold, there are two supporting ideas: Gold is
beautiful, and gold is useful. Each of these supporting ideas is discussed, one after the other, and an
example is given for each one. This is one kind of logical order. Furthermore, the relationship between the
ideas is clearly shown by using appropriate transition words and phrases such as first of all, for example,
another important characteristic, and in conclusion. In summary, a well-written paragraph contains five
elements: a topic sentence, supporting sentences, a concluding sentence, unity, and coherence.
 Activity 12: Self-assessment
Review your progress.

How well did you do in this unit?

I can discuss ability and achievement.

Started but need more practice.
Able to do this with some help.
Competent without help.
Competent and able to help others.

I can discuss sport activities and achievements.

Started but need more practice.
Able to do this with some help.
Competent without help.
Competent and able to help others.

I can make careful suggestions.

Started but need more practice.
Able to do this with some help.
Competent without help.
Competent and able to help others.

I can write a paragraph.

Started but need more practice.
Able to do this with some help.
Competent without help.
Competent and able to help others.