P 20. UNIT 3- BEING INDEPENDENT
GETTING STARTED

Activity 1: Listen and read.

Activity 1: Listen and read.
Mai: I can see that you and Hoang Minh have become close
friends, Lan.
Lan: We have. I really like him because he doesn't rely on other
people for help and isn't influenced by other people's opinions.
Mai: I see. So he's very independent.
Lan: Yes. He's also a very responsible student.
He always completes his tasks on time, and never needs to be
reminded about assignments and other schoolwork.
Mai: Right.
Lan: He's also reliable. Last week, our group worked on a project
and he was assigned the most difficult part of it. He tried very hard
and did it well.
Mai: It's good to have a friend you can rely on. He seems very
determined.
Lan: He is. Last month, we were given a very hard Maths problem.
While most of us gave up, he spent the whole night on it and
solved it in the end.

Activity 1: Listen and read.

Mai: That's amazing!
Lan: Yeah. Even our Maths teacher was very surprised to read his answer.
Another good thing about him is that he's self-reliant. He always tries to
find solutions to his problems and seldom needs help from others.
Mai: His parents must be really pleased to have such a son.
Lan: Of course. He also helps around the house a lot. But he still has time
to read, so he's well-informed about what's happening around the world.
It's interesting to talk to him.
Mai: I'll talk to him sometime.
Lan: Yes, you should. He's also very confident and decisive. He always
believes in himself, and I really admire his ability to make decisions so
Quickly. He's a very independent person!
Mai: That's great! You're lucky to have a close friend like him.

Activity 2. Answer the questions about the conversation.
1. Why does Lan like Minh?
2. Why does Lan think Minh is a very responsible
student?
3. What is an example showing that Minh is very
determined?
4. Why does Lan think that Minh is self - reliant?
5. What are the characteristics of an independent person
according to Lan and Mai?
6. Which of Minh's characteristics do you have? Which
do you like most?

1. Why does Lan like Minh?
Because Minh doesn't rely on other people for help
and isn't influenced by other people's opinions.
Lan: We have. I really like him
because he doesn't rely on other
people for help and isn't influenced
by other people's opinions

2. Why does Lan think Minh is a very responsible student?
Because he always completes his tasks on time, and never needs
to be reminded about assignments and other schoolwork.

Lan: Yes. He's also a
very responsible student.
He always completes his
tasks on time, and never
needs to be reminded
about assignments and
other schoolwork.

3. What is an example showing that Minh is very determined?

He tried hard and spent the whole night on a hard
Maths problem when most students in the class had
given up.
Lan: He is. Last month, we were given a very hard Maths
problem. While most of us gave up, he spent the whole night on
it and solved it in the end.

4. Why does Lan think that Minh is self - reliant?
He always tries to find solutions to his problems and
seldom needs help from others.
Lan: Yeah. Even our Maths teacher was very
surprised to read his answer.
Another good thing about him is that he's selfreliant. He always tries to find solutions to his
problems and seldom needs help from others.

5. What are the characteristics of an independent
person according to Lan and Mai?
Responsible, reliable, self – reliant, determined,
well-informed, decisive and confident.

6. Which of Minh's characteristics do you have?
Which do you like most?
=> Well-informed, self-reliant. I like his determination
most because I think this will greatly help him to
overcome difficulties and achieve any targets that he
aims for. I will try my best to follow his example. 

Activity 2. Answer the following questions.
1. Because Minh doesn't rely on other people for help
and isn't influenced by other people's opinions.
2. Because he always completes his tasks on time, and
never needs to be reminded about assignments and
other schoolwork.
3. He tried hard and spent the whole night on a hard
Maths problem when most students in the class had
given up.
4. He always tries to find solutions to his problems and
seldom needs help from others.
5. Responsible, reliable, self – reliant, determined,
well-informed, decisive and confident.

Act 3. Read the conversation again. Match the words with their
definitions.  

1. reliable
2. determined
3. self-reliant
4. well-informed
5. confident
6. decisive

a. feeling certain about your own ability to
do things and be successful
b. able to make decisions quickly
c. strongly motivated to do something and
not allowing anyone or any difficulties
to stop you.
d. that can be trusted to do something well;
that you can rely on.
e. capable of doing or deciding things by
yourself, rather than depending on other
people for help
f. having a lot of knowledge about current
topics or a particular subject

1. reliable /rɪˈlaɪəbl ̩/ (adj)
2. determined /dɪˈtɜːmɪnd/ (adj):
3. self-reliant /ˌself rɪˈlaɪənt/ (adj):
4. well-informed /ˌwel ɪnˈfɔːmd/ (adj):
5. confident /ˈkɔnfɪdənt/ (adj):
6. decisive /dɪˈsaɪsɪv/ (adj)

*Activity 4. Find the sentences with toinfinitives after adjectives or nouns in the
conversation and write them in the space
below.
Form:
Noun
Adjective

+ to - infinitive

Eg. I'm very glad to see you again.

Activity 4: Find the sentences with to-infinitives after adjectives or
nouns in the conversation and write them in the space below.

Mai: I can see that you and Hoang Minh have become close
friends, Lan.
Lan: We have. I really like him because he doesn't rely on other
people for help and isn't influenced by other people's opinions.
Mai: I see. So he's very independent.
Lan: Yes. He's also a very responsible student.
He always completes his tasks on time, and never needs to be
reminded about assignments and other schoolwork.
Mai: Right.
Lan: He's also reliable. Last week, our group worked on a project
and he was assigned the most difficult part of it. He tried very hard
and did it well.
Mai: It's good to have a friend you can rely on. He seems very
determined.
Lan: He is. Last month, we were given a very hard Maths problem.
While most of us gave up, he spent the whole night on it and
solved it in the end.

Activity 4: Find the sentences with to-infinitives after adjectives or
nouns in the conversation and write them in the space below.

Mai: That's amazing!
Lan: Yeah. Even our Maths teacher was very surprised to read his
answer.
Another good thing about him is that he's self-reliant. He always tries to
find solutions to his problems and seldom needs help from others.
Mai: His parents must be really pleased to have such a son.
Lan: Of course. He also helps around the house a lot. But he still has
time to read, so he's well-informed about what's happening around the
world. It's interesting to talk to him.
Mai: I'll talk to him sometime.
Lan: Yes, you should. He's also very confident and decisive. He always
believes in himself, and I really admire his ability to make decisions so
Quickly. He's a very independent person!
Mai: That's great! You're lucky to have a close friend like him.

*Which characteristics do we need to become
an independent person?

reliable
responsible

confident
well-informed

AN INDEPENDENT
PERSON

self-reliant

decisive

determined

- Do extra exercise about words and phrases
related to being independent (see handout 2)
- Read unit 3 - Lesson 2- Language at home

Extra Exercise
Circle the letter A, B, c, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the
following sentence.
1. When getting into troubles, Jack never __________ on other people for
help. He always solves them on his own.
A. determines            B. influences            C. relies             D. manages
2. He suffered _________ serious depression after losing his beloved pet.
A. in                B. from                   C. with                  D. for
3. It was essential for him to be financially_________ of his parents, so he
decided to find a part-time job.
A. dependent          B. independent           C. dependable         D. undependable
4. My parents are glad_______ my success in finding a job after graduation.
A. to see                   B. seeing                  C. see                  D. saw
5. It is unnecessary for_______ to do this task. It's not ours.
A. we                    B. us                 C. they                       D. our