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E. LANGUAGE FOCUS
Unit 15:
Space Conquest
I.PRONUNCIATION:
Practice reading aloud this dialogue:
/d/
/t/
A: Florence, Mr. Barnes went on the tenth of last month.
/s/
//
/z/
//

B: Oh. I have warned you, haven’t I? Did he pay the rent?
/t/

A: Only to the seventh.
//

B: Only to the seventh?
//

A: Yes, and we may have no chance to see him again. Is

he your friend?
/s/
/d/

B: No, Mr. Barnes is not my friend and if he phones, remind

him that he must pay the rent to the end of the month.
/z/
/d/
/z/
/d/
/t/
/d/
//
A: Don’t be so tense. We’ll have a new tenant on the thirteenth of this month
/s/
/t/
//
//
/t/
II. GRAMMAR: Could/be able to
Similarities:
Ex: When he was young, he could play football well.
 When he was young, he was able to play football well.
- “Could” and “was/were able to” are used to express general one’s skills or abilities in the past.
-”Could not” and “was/were (not) able to are used in all situations
Ex2: She was tired last night, so she couldn’t/ wasn’t able to finish her homework
Differences:
Could
Was/were able to
- is only used to express general skills or abilities in the past.
Ex: she could swim when she was a child.
- is used to express general skills or abilities and specific skills or abilities gained by making effort in the past.
Ex: Although she was tired last night, she was able to finish her homework.
- Can be used especially with sense verbs: See, hear, smell, taste, feel, remember, understand,…
Ex: When we went into the house, we could smell burning.
- Can NOT be used especially with sense verbs: See, hear, smell, taste, feel, remember, understand,…
Task 1: Work in pairs. Complete the sentences, using could, couldn’t or was/were (not) able to
1. Laura had hurt her leg and _______________________ walk very well.
couldn’t/ wasn’t able to
2. Sue wasn’t at home when I phoned but I ____________ contact her at her office.
was able to
3. I looked very carefully and I _______________ see a figure in the distance
could/was able to
4. I wanted to buy some tomatoes. The first shop I went to didn’t have any but I ____________ get some in the next shop.
was able to
5. My grandmother loved music. She __________________ play the piano very well.
could/was able to
6. I had forgotten to bring my camera so I _____________________ take any photographs
couldn’t/ wasn’t able to
II. GRAMMAR: Tag questions
What is the tag question?
- is a short question at the end of a statement
- used to confirm that something is true or not, to encourage a reply from the person we are speaking to.
- the main statement and the tag question are separated by commas
You are a student
Ex:
, aren’t you?
Tag question
She didn’t spoke English
, did she?
Tag question
A positive statement
+
A negative tag question
You
are
a student
,
aren’t
?
+
-
you
She spoke English
, didn’t she ?
 A positive statement is followed by a negative tag question
you
A positive tag question
You
aren’t
a student
are
A negative statement
,
?
_-0
+
She didn’t spoke English
, did she ?
+
_-
+
A negative statement is followed by a positive tag question
 Notes:
 If the subject is “I am” =>change “am” into “are I” or “aren’t I” in the tag question
Ex: I am a student, aren’t I?
 “Let’s” in the statement => “shall we” in the tag question
Ex: Let’s go to the beach, shall we?
 “an imperative sentence” in the statement => “ will you” in the tag question
Ex: Close the window, will you?
 If the subject is “nothing”, in the tag question is “it”:
Ex: Nothing can happen, can it?
 If the subjects are indefinite pronouns “everyone, someone, nobody, anyone,….”, in the tag question is “they”
Ex: Somebody wanted a drink, didn’t they?
 If the statement is “it seems + clause”, we use “clause” to make the tag question:
Ex: It seems that you are right, aren’t you?
 If the subject is “a noun clause”, we use “it” in the tag question
Ex: What you have said is wrong, isn’t it?
 If the statement is “I wish”, we use “may” in the tag question
Ex: I wish to study hard, may I?
 If the subject is “One”, we can use “you” or “one” in the tag question:
Ex: One can be one’s master, can’t you/one?
 Notes:
 If the statement has negative words such as: never, hardly, little, seldom, rarely….., we use a positive tag question:
Ex: He seldom drinks wine, does he?
 If the statement has two clauses: main clause and minor clause and the subject of main clause is “I”:
+ “main clause I + think, believe, suppose, figure, assume, fancy, imagine, reckon, expect, seem, feel”
 We use “minor clause” to make the tag question
Ex: I think he will come here, won’t he?
Main clause
Minor clause
 If the statement has two clauses but the subject of main clause is NOT “I”, we use “main clause” to make the tag question:
 Notes:
+ “main clause” S (without “I”) + think, believe, suppose, figure, assume, fancy, imagine, reckon, expect, seem, feel”
Ex: She thinks he will come, doesn’t she?
 If the statement is:
+ ‘d better = had better, we use “had” in the tag question
+ ‘d rather = would rather, we use “would” in the tag question
Ex: He’d better stay, hadn’t he?
He’d rather go, wouldn’t he?
Task 2: Work individual. Complete the questions by adding the tag questions:
Lan enjoys watching TV after dinner, __________________?
Tam didn’t go to school yesterday, ___________________?
They will buy a new computer, __________________?
She can drink lots of tomato juice every day, _____________?
Hoa never comes to class late, _______________?
6. Your mother has read these fairy tales for you many times, ________?
He seldom visits you, __________________?
No one died in the accident, ________________?
They’d better come to see me, _______________?
Let’s dance together, _________________?
Don’t talk in the class, _________________?
doesn’t she
did he
Won’t they
can’t she
does she
hasn’t she
does he
didn’t they
had they
shall we
will you
Homework:
do task 2 (pp.176-177)
learnt by heart these structures