TRIMESTER 2 UNIT 7

LEVEL A2|В1 WEEK 7

Lexical material: Young family budget and main expenditure items

Grammatical material: Gerund. Verb+- ing, gerund with or without change of meaning

GRAMMAR
Gerund. Verb + ing
A gerund is a verb form that ends in -ing and functions as a noun or object in a sentence or
phrase. Though a gerund may look like a verb, it doesn’t behave like one in a sentence. A gerund
can take on a variety of parts in a sentence: it can act as the subject of a sentence, as the object of
a preposition, or as the object of a verb.
Internet links on “Gerund with or without change” theme:
https://www.thesaurus.com/e/grammar/whats-a-gerund/
Now practice the rules in the following exercises.
Task 1. Choose the correct gerund or infinitive from the parenthesis at the end of the
sentence.
1. Alan can’t stand _________ on trains. (riding/ to ride)
2. Mr. Harris enjoys _________ people out to dinner. (inviting / to invite)
3. Eva is having trouble _________ on the exam. (concentrating / to concentrate)
4. Please allow me ____________ your Facebook page. (joining / to join)
5. You won’t forget _________milk on your way home, will you? (picking up /to pick up)
Gerunds are formed from verbs and result in verbs, but they function as nouns. R.L. Trask does
a great job of explaining this: A gerund is derived from a verb by adding the suffix -ing. The
result is still a verb, and it exhibits ordinary verbal properties, such as taking objects and adverbs.
Example: In football, deliberately tripping an opponent is a foul. Here the verb trip occurs in its
gerund form tripping, but this tripping is still a verb: it takes the adverb deliberately and the
object an opponent.
Internet links on “Gerund with or without change” theme: https://youtu.be/h-nI0d94WjM
Check your knowledge here: https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/tests/infinitive-gerund-3
Now practice the rules in the following exercises.
Task 2. Complete the sentences using either the Infinitive or Gerund.  Insert prepositions if
necessary. 
1. He used ... (think) that life ended at 40, but now when he’s 41, he knows it’s not true.
2. ... (make) such a terrible noise!
3. It’s five in the morning. I’m not used ... (get) up so early
4. It’s impossible... (cut) with this knife. It’s blunt.
5. My father enjoys ... (listen) to jazz music.
A gerund accompanied by its objects, complements, and/or modifiers is called a gerund
phrase or simply a noun phrase. Like nouns, gerunds and gerund phrases can function
as subjects, objects, or complements in a sentence. Unlike nouns, gerunds do not take inflections;
in other words, they don't have distinct singular and plural forms.
Now practice the rules in the following exercises.
Task 3. Fill in the correct form gerund or infinitive
1.Alvaro admitted __________________ during the English test. (cheat)
2.The teacher reminded us __________________ irregular verbs. (learn)
3.The boy refused __________________ what his mother said. (do)
4.Brenda really hates __________________. (study)
5.I used __________________ basketball during my college years. (play)
 VOCABULARY

Family values: traditional ideas about what a family should be: "Some political parties often
emphasize family values and the importance of marriage."(noun)
To bring up/ raise a family: to have and look after children: "It's difficult to raise a family on
one income."(v)
Generation: a group of individuals belonging to a specific category at the same time(noun)
to break up: to end a romantic relationship(verb)
Teenagers: A person aged between 13 and 19 years(noun)
Behavior: the manner of conducting oneself (noun)
to get on well with: to understand someone and enjoy similar interests (verb)
Debit: to take money from (an account) (verb)
Child Benefit: money received regularly by families from the government to help pay for the
cost of taking care of children(noun)
Budget: is a detailed plan of operations for some specific future period. (noun)

Task 1. Read David Miller’s family history. Fill in the verbs in the required tense from the box
below.

Meet, go out, call, go, get married, live, graduate, have, break up, be get divorced,
have, be divorced

My brother David…… to university at the age of eighteen where he……Ann. He ….. with her.
She….. his girlfriend for three years. When David ……from university they……. . A year later
they…… their child, a boy. They…….. him Timothy. But later they…… lots of rows,
they…….and………. . So, my brother David……. now. He…… with his son Timothy.
Task 2. Match the verbs with its similar meaning.
1 to break up а to share similar interests
2 to have a lot in common b to give up the single life and start a family
3 to get on well with c to get married
4 to tie the knot: d to end a romantic relationship
5 to settle down e to understand someone and enjoy similar
interests

READING
Pre-reading task:
Before reading the text, answer these questions.
1. Who does shopping in your family?
2. Do you buy things on credit? If so, what do you think of it?
3. What will you need to buy? 
4. What are your saving goals?
5. Is your life likely to change?

Making a family budget

Sara is get married to Adam and they have three children who are all at primary school. Adam
works as a postal delivery worker and gets £1,266 take home pay per month. He gets the bus to
work which costs him £25 per week and he eats lunch in his work canteen which costs£15 per
week. Sara works as a teaching assistant in a school and gets £742 take home pay per month. As
the school is near her house, she walks to work and on the way home, she buys some take-away
food for her lunch. This costs £20 per week. They don't have a car, but they would like to get one
in the future. The three children all take packed lunches to school. Sara buys their school
uniform at the supermarket as the clothes there are good value. One of the children does extra
maths and English tuition after school, which costs £7 per week and another one learns the
violin, costing £4.50 per week. These lessons take place all year round. Sara does most of their
weekly shopping in the supermarket, but sometimes gets fresh fruit and vegetables at the local
market. She looked through her shopping receipts and worked out that she spends about £520 per
month on food and other household goods. Sara and her husband both have mobile phones on a
contract and together they cost£60 per month. They also have a house phone and an internet
connection which costs£30 per month. Their other household bills are paid monthly, by Direct
Debit. As a family treat, they like to go to the cinema once a month which costs £30 for the
tickets and £10 for drinks and popcorn.
While-reading task:
Fill in the missing words.
1. Sara is married to…… and they have……. who are all at primary school.
2. As the school is near her house, she……. to work and on the way home, she………. for her
lunch.
3. One of the children does……. and English tuition after school, which costs……… and
another one learns the violin, costing…… per week.
4. They also have…….and an…… which costs….. per month.
5. As a family …., they like to go to the cinema …….
Post-reading task:
1. Are these statements true or false?
1.Adam works as a postman.
2.Sara makes her own lunch at home.
3.Adam and Sara both take the bus to get to their workplaces.
4.All three children do extra activities during the week.
5.They only use mobile phones and don't have a land line.

LISTENING Divorce
Pre-listening task:
Answer the following questions.
1. What are some of the common causes of divorce?
2. Is divorce legal in your country? Has it always been legal?
3. Is it easier to get a divorce now that in the past? Why?
4. Is divorce more common now than in the past? Why or why not?
5. Some people say that children of divorced parents are more likely to divorce themselves.
What do you think?
While-listening task: Fill in the gaps. https://listenaminute.com/d/divorce.html

Divorce ______________________ increase around the world. It seems divorce rates are rising
in ______________________ every country you read about. I know in my country, divorce
______________________ unusual. More than thirty per cent of marriages
______________________. I suppose it’s easier nowadays to get a divorce, and it’s
______________________ acceptable. I know it was more ______________________ divorced
50 years ago. People thought that there was something wrong with you
______________________ a divorcee. Today, it’s common to get through two, three, even more
marriages. Perhaps people should ______________________ more before they get married.
Divorce is ______________________ children. When a divorce gets ugly, the kids really suffer.
Sorting out divorce settlements ______________________ business.
Post-listening task:
1. With your partner(s) talk about these grounds for divorce. Rank them from the most
understandable to the least understandable.
  adultery  lack of physical attraction
 boredom  the idea of single life being better
 unequal burden of housework  physical abuse
 greed  not sharing the remote control

SPEAKING

Task 1. Divide the group into 2 subgroups. In groups, provide argumentative views and
discuss the issue.
1. At what age did your parents get married?
2. Give your opinion of marriages of the previous centuries
3. Do you think it is possible for a modern girl of eighteen to start a family?
4. People should not get married unless they are deeply in love, should they?
5. What can be done by both spouses to prevent a divorce?
Task 2. In small groups, you are going on holiday together. The budget is given. You must
agree the details of your holiday.
1. Destination
2. Transport
3. Food
4. Accommodation
5. Entertainment
You must keep to your budget (for the poorest group estimate how much you will need for
a hitch hiking, camping trip, richest group make sure that you have than you could
possible spend).

WRITING
Task 1. On reading this paragraph, find and underline topic sentence, supporting
sentences, and concluding sentences.
“Honor your mother and father and you will live long and be well, if not, you will die” – says the
Bible. Some families are happy, some are dead. It seems to me the reason is misunderstanding of
each other in the family. One more thing, teenagers can take on most of the rights and responsi-
bilities of adulthood. Before this occurs, however, they go through the period of adolescence and
most of them experience conflicts at that time. They change rapidly both physically and
emotionally and they search self-identity as they grow up and become more independent.
Sometimes teenagers develop interests and values different from those of their parents. That sets
a conflict between two generations, which leads to a gap in mutual understanding. Traditional
disagreements are: the time to come home at night, doing work about the house and the friends
to spend time with. I'd like to point out, that teens face a number of problems: drinking alcohol
or using drugs. Moreover, some children run away from their homes. Most of them return after a
few days or weeks, but some turn to crime and become juvenile delinquents. I'm convinced that
sometimes parents do not bring up their children in a good way. It is exactly at that age when
young people need a piece of advice or help.