2016-09-17 Saturday: 7 Living space

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk
“2016-09-17 Saturday: 7 Living space”
---
p. 81 parts 2-3 - Discuss the questions with your partners. (Part 2 - share your experiences with these things. What were some good things and some bad things about each one?)
What are the advantages and disadvantages of different living arrangements?
---
p. 82 part 1 - Which of these features are important or necessary in your living space, and which aren’t important? What other things are necessary for you?
---
part 2 - What are some advantages and disadvantages of the first three types of house? Would you like to live in any of them?
---
p. 83 part 4 - Listen to the woman talk about houses and shelters. Complete the sentences with the correct information.
---
Grammar: Comparatives and Superlatives

We can connect two things with double comparatives:
The colder the climate, the warmer your house needs to be.
The uglier your friends are, the prettier you will look next to them.
The uglier the bridesmaids’ dresses are, the prettier the bride’s dress will look.
The older the wine, the better the taste. (This makes sense even though there are no verbs.)
The fewer the kids, the easier the work.

We can also describe changes over time with a repeated comparative:
Modern houses are getting smaller and smaller.
We hope our English is getting better and better.
Boston is getting colder and colder.
Shoes are getting more and more comfortable. (We only repeat “more”.)
---
Remember: we use “-er” with short adjectives and “more” or “less” with long adjectives
	(Two-syllable words are “short” if the last syllable is -y or -le. Otherwise they are “long”.)
---
Equatives (as...as):
I am taller than my sister. = My sister is not as tall as I am.
---
Superlatives: about more than 2 things, “-est” for short adjectives, “most” or “least” for long adjectives.
---
p. 83 part 7 - Rewrite the sentences to use the words in parentheses. The bold word should be the subject.
1 Houses are less appropriate for local conditions.
2 A cave house is not as small as you think.
3 An igloo is not as cold inside as you might think.
4 New houses are getting more and more expensive every year.
5 My tent is the best in camp.
6 This house is the oldest.
7 A house on stilts survives more easily in floods. (“easily” is an adverb, not an adjective)
8 You can put up a ger more quickly than (you can put up) a brick house.
---
Remember the irregular comparatives:
good-better-best
well-better-best
bad-worse-worst
badly-worse-worst
	(“worse” and “worst” sound very similar, but the difference in meaning is important)
---
BREAK (15 minutes)
---
What are some comparisons we can make between Boston and New York City?
NYC is bigger than Boston.
Boston is as cold as NYC.
NYC is more crowded than Boston.
NYC is more expensive to live in than Boston.
NYC is busier than Boston.
The buildings in Boston aren’t as tall as the ones in NYC.
Boston is older than NYC.
Boston is more beautiful than NYC.
NYC is not as quiet as Boston. / Boston is not as loud as NYC.
NYC is not as safe as Boston. / Boston is not as dangerous as NYC.
NYC is better to visit than to live in.
Tourism in NYC is better than Boston.
The night life is better in NYC than in Boston.
NYC has better shopping than Boston.
NYC is more cosmopolitan than Boston. (It’s more international.)
---
p. 84 part 2 - Complete the sentences about NYC with words from the box.
1 atmosphere
2 public transportation
3 financial
4 modern
5 built-up (means it has a lot of buildings everywhere, no open or green spaces)
6 skyscrapers
7 residents
8 neighborhoods
run-down (adj) = in bad condition because it’s old and not repaired
---
Boston was founded in 1630 (on September 7). What do you think the city was like at that time?
Boston used to be much smaller.
Boston used to have fewer people. / There used to be fewer people.
Boston used to be less developed than it is now. = Boston didn’t use to be as developed as it is now.
What did the Back Bay use to be? It used to be a bay, full of water.
---
Grammar: “used to” / “would” to talk about the past.
I used to have long hair. = I had long hair for a while in the past, but now I don’t have long hair.
My grandparents used to live there. = They lived there in the past, but now they don’t live there.
My grandparents didn’t use to live in Boston. = They didn’t live here in the past, but now they do.
I used to walk to school. = I walked to school regularly in the past, but now I don’t.
	(If it happened once, no “used to”. If it’s the same now, no “used to”.)

I would always walk to school in the morning. - past repeated (habitual) action
	(We talk about the past with “would” especially when we feel nostalgic and we’re reminiscing about our past.)
---
part 9 - Change these sentences to include “used to”, if it’s possible.
1 New York used to be a lot greener than it is now.
2 There used to be a lot of forest and natural landscapes.
3 The early residents didn’t use to live in a large city. (or no change, because the early residents still don’t live in a large city; they are all dead)
4 People used to hunt beavers for their skins.
5 (no change, because it happened once)
6 What originally used to be in the area where Fifth Avenue is now?
---
Two Truths and a Lie
Write three sentences about your past with “used to”. Two sentences should be true and one should be a lie. Then the other people in your group will try to guess which one is the lie.
---
p. 88 part 1 - What are some important things to consider or ask about when deciding where to live?
part 2 - Listen to the conversation. What six things does the customer specify?
part 3 - Listen again and complete the sentences with the words you hear.

would rather + base form: I’d rather walk.
rather A than B: I’d rather walk than drive.
prefer + noun: I prefer an apartment.
prefer + verb(ing): I prefer walking.
prefer + infinitive: I prefer to walk.
prefer A to B: I prefer an apartment to a house.
---
p. 89 - Read the website about Sandgate.
part 1 - What type of website is this from? How do you know?
city-dweller = someone who lives (dwells) in a city
---
“like” and “as”

As a city-dweller, I enjoy mass transportation. = I am a city-dweller, so I enjoy mass transportation.
Like a city-dweller, I enjoy mass transportation. = I’m not a city-dweller, but I am similar to city-dwellers, because I enjoy mass transportation.

I cried as a baby. = I cried when I was a baby.
I cried like a baby. = I recently cried similarly to how a baby cries.

As it’s raining, I will bring my umbrella. (“as” can mean “because”)

There are many things to do, such as visit museums or walk in the park. (“such as” can give examples)
There are many things to do, like visit museums or walk in the park. (“like” can give examples)
---
Homework: Write a promotional description of your neighborhood (here or in your country) similar to the one on p. 89.
	Also, do parts 2, 3, 4 on p. 98 about the articles on p. 99.