LANGUAGE SUMMARY - UNIT 11 TECHNOLOGY

ACTIVITIES DESCRIPTION
11.0 TALKING ABOUT IDEAS AND INVENTIONS 11.1 DESCRIBING
GADGETS
KEY NOUNS WORD BUILDING Touch -sensitive
Breakthrough: a unconventional Lightweight
discovery or a solution inspirational Rounded
Commercial Success: uninspiring Metallic
something that sells a lot illogical Slim
and makes a lot of money unnatural Handheld
Drawback: disadvantage unoriginal High-tech
Early Adopters: people nontraditional Cutting-edge
1 VOCABULARY who buy / use new high-
teach products when they GETTING IDEAS
first appear on the It struck them that
market. They figured out a way
Flash Of Inspiration: a to…
sudden very good idea. Someone came up with
Gadget: device or tool. the idea of…
Gimmick: something The inventor got the
intended to draw attention idea from…
but isn't really useful

11.1 RELATIVE CLAUSES: (that, who, which, where, whose...)

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES: The sentence is incomplete or does
not make sense without the extra information, without commas,
/something specific. Relative clauses can be omitted.
- I called my brother who lives in USA (I have more than one)
- I visited my aunt who lives in Ancash
- I study at the university that is near San Miguel
- The man who lives next door is very friendly.
- My best friend who lives in La Molina loves his dog so much

NON- DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES The sentence is complete.

It gives additional information, it’s used between or after commas,
speak in general. Relative clauses can’t be omitted. Do not use that.
- After, which is Anna´s Saga, is my favorite book
- My cat, which is brown in color, broke a shoe.
- Spain, which is a beautiful country, has delicious food
2 GRAMMAR 11.2 SO/SUCH AS INTENSIFIERS
SO+ADV/ ADVERB
- She so tall. -They were so kind during my stay there.
- She runs so fast. - He walks so slowly.
SO + QUANTIFIER (much/many/little/few) + NOUN
- I have so many gadgets.
- I have so few apples
- Sarah has so much homework
- I’m working a lot, so I have so little time these days.
SUCH+ A/AN + ADJ+ NOUN (COUNTABLE/ UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS)
- He is such an intelligent person
- I´ve never written such an excellent essay.
- He gave me such beautiful flowers.
- These new smartphones use such sophisticated technology.
- I spend such a lot of time online.
SUCH + NOUN (TO MEAN “THIS KIND/TYPE OF”)
- Such technology will soon be available to the public.
- Such criticism is unacceptable.
 DEALING WITH TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
• It says on the box that I plug them into this socket.
• I’ve already tried plugging it in there.
• Is it meant to slow the computer down?
• Have you tried downloading a media player?
• I’ve finally managed to get this shaver to work.
• the instructions say you’re supposed to charge the battery
before you use it.
FUNCTIONAL LANGUAGE
3 DISCUSSING PROS AND CONS
(FIXED EXPRESSIONS) • On the one hand, it’s larger than other e-readers.
• But on the other hand, it’s incredibly light and thin.
• One thing to bear in mind, though, is that you …
• Of all the options, it has the greatest functionality.
• It has a touch-sensitive screen, while the kindle uses
buttons.
• But on the downside, it costs more than the others.
• Another thing in favor of the Skiff is that it’s flexible.
• They all seem to have their pros and cons.

A FOR-AND-AGAINST ESSAY STRUCTURE

• INTRODUCTION: Introduce the topic
• MAIN BODY: 2 paragraphs – one with arguments for and
one with arguments against.
• CONCLUSION: your opinion or a balanced view of the topic.

PHRASES:
TO INTRODUCE AN INITIAL ARGUMENT
WRITING BANK:
• First of all, ...
4
• To begin with...
(FIXED EXPRESSIONS)
• One argument in favor of/against

TO ADD ARGUMENTS
• Another negative aspect of…

TO CONCLUDE
• Overall, I believe...
• In conclusion…