Name: _________________

Mind Your Language

Season1 Episode1
“The First Lesson”

Summary
Ali Nadim asks Miss Courtney for directions to the classroom. He leaves for room 5, where the
EFL (English as a foreign language) class is held, but, as he is leaving, he bumps into Mr. Brown.

Mr. Brown enters Miss Courtney's office and introduces himself as the new EFL teacher. Miss
Courtney is not happy about this because she dislikes male teachers after the former teacher Mr.
Warburton was driven insane from teaching EFL students. However, she accepts Mr. Brown as a
new teacher and gives him the job on a month's trial.

Mr. Brown enters his classroom and asks about the students' names, nationalities, and occupations.
Ali and Ranjeet insult each other, while Giovanni and Max argue over Danielle. For the first time,
Mr. Brown teaches the class about the verb to be. Some students answer correctly when he asks
them to construct a sentence using the verb to be, while others do not. As the class ends, Mr. Brown
gives them homework on their experience in England and exits the classroom, sighing with relief.

A. Answer the following question

1. Why is Mrs. Courtney unsatisfied with Mr. Brown as a teacher?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
2. What happened to Mr. Warburton?
_______________________________________________________________________________
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3. What do Giovanni and Max fight for?
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4. Do any other students have trouble with one another? Why?
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5. How much do the students have to pay for their lessons?
_______________________________________________________________________________
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6. What homework is the student expected to complete for the upcoming class?
_______________________________________________________________________________
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 7. Complete the students’ information.

Name Sex Nationality Occupation

1. Maximillian Andreas
Greek A shipping office worker
Archimedes Papandrious
2. Anna Schmidt German
3. Giovanni Capello Chef at Ristorante dei Popoli
4. Jamila Ranjha Indian
5. Ali Nadim
6. Ranjeet Singh Punjabi London Underground attendant
7. Taro Nagazumi An executive at Bushido Electronics
8. Juan Cervantes Bartender
9. Danielle Favre French
10. Chung Sulee Diplomat

B. Match the words with the definitions.

a) corridor b) efficient c) strain d) cope e) Sikh f) disgusting
g) depart h) demented i) tolerate j) stamina k) Infidel l) snap
m) qualified n) naked  o) colour-blind p) short-sighted
q) assure r) grateful get along/ get on

1. __________ (n) a long passage inside a building with doors on each side

2. __________ (v) to die/ to go away or leave, especially on a journey.
3. __________ (adj) mentally ill
4. __________ (n) pressure caused by a difficult situation
5. __________ (n) the ability to work hard or to make a lot of effort over a long period
without getting tired
6. __________ (v) to deal successfully with a difficult situation or job
7. __________ (v) to speak to someone in a sudden, angry way/ to suddenly lose control
and become extremely angry or upset because a difficult situation
8. __________ (adj) extremely unpleasant
9. __________ (adj) not wearing clothes
10.__________ (adj) be able to do something because you have the knowledge, skill, or
experience that is needed
11.__________ (v) to tell someone confidently that something is true, especially so that
they do not worry
12.__________ (adj) someone who is efficient works well and quickly and is good at
organizing their work in the way that gets the best results
 13.__________ (n) a member of an Indian religious group that separated from Hinduism
in the 16th century
14.__________ (v) to like each other and are friendly to each other
15. __________ (v) to allow someone to do something that you do not like
16.__________ (n) an old word used as an insult for someone who has no religious
beliefs or who has religious beliefs that are different from yours
17. __________ (adj) not able to see things clearly if they are far away from you
18. __________ (adj) unable to see the difference between some colours, especially red
and green
19. __________ (adj) feeling that you want to thank someone because they
have given you something or have done something for you

C. Complete the blanks with some words from exercise B. Change the form of the words if necessary.
1. I went along the _______________ to her office.
2. He _______________ this life in the winter of 1973.
3. The plane _______________ at noon.
4. She was nearly _______________ with worry when her son didn't come home.
5. The company is taking on more staff to help to ease the _______________.
6. He has been under great _______________ at work recently.
7. She has been suffering from considerable emotional _______________.
8. ‘What do you want now?’ he snapped angrily.
9. I’m sorry I _______________ at you just now.
10. He lay _______________ on the bed.
11. A _______________ body was found on the beach
12. That soup tastes __________________!
13. He won’t _______________ anyone questioning his decisions.
14. Older people can’t _______________ very well with the heat.
15. Some new mothers feel that they aren’t able to _______________.
16. I don’t have the _______________ to work all night.
17. "Don't worry, your car will be ready tomorrow, " the mechanic ___________ him.
18. I ___________ well with most of my colleagues.
19. Thanks for coming with me. I’m really _____________.
 Glossary
1. stark naked (completely naked): She stood there stark naked.
2. strip naked (take all your clothes off): He stripped naked and got into the shower.
3. naked to the waist (not wearing clothes on the top part of the body)
4. syllabus (n) a list of the main subjects in a course of study
5. Oxon (abbr) Oxford University
6. BA (abbr) Bachelor of Arts: a first degree from a university in a subject such
as languages or history
7. credentials (n) documents that prove who you are or that show your qualifications
8. Impeccable (adj) perfect in every way
9. academically (adv) relating to education or learning
10.Morals (n) standards for good or bad character and behaviour