Unit 2

School life
Reading

Skill: Skimming
Get the general idea of a text quickly by reading the title, the subtitle and subheadings. To get
a general idea of each paragraph, you can read the first and last paragraphs, and the first and
last sentences of the other paragraphs.

Reading comprehension
Read the following article. s
Vocabulary help

virtual reality (phr.)

What were schools like fifty years ago? Where did students have lessons? You
headset (n.) can understand what a lesson was like at that time through virtual reality (VR).
rooftop (n.) Imagine you put on a VR headset and it takes you to the 1950s.
storey (n.)
well equipped On the rooftop of a seven-storey building, a
(adj.)
teacher is writing on the blackboard. She is
teaching nearly fifty students English. Some
students are running around. Suddenly, an
airplane flies over. You see a student shouting
but you can only hear the plane.

There is no library, no music room or computer room. There is no air

conditioner or even walls.

You take off the VR headset and come back to the real world. Are you happy
that your school is well equipped?

Answer the following questions.

1. According to the article, what can we understand through virtual reality?

2. What is the article about?

Smart tip
A. The use of VR headsets in class is common.
The two questions
at the beginning B. VR helps us understand what schools were like in the past.
of the article tell
C. A teacher is teaching a class in the 1950s.
you about the
topic. D. Students love their school because it is well equipped.
3. Where are the students having lessons?
A. on the rooftop of a building
B. on the seventh floor of a building
C. in a library
D. in a music room

4. The students are having a/an lesson.

A. Maths B. Computer
C. Chinese D. English

5. According to paragraph 2, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. The teacher is shouting at a student.
B. The students are having the lesson quietly.
C. There are 40 students in the class.
D. The sound of the plane disturbs the lesson.

6. What facility does the school in the 1950s have?

A. B.

C. D.

7. Choose the best title for this article.

Smart tip
A. VR headsets today
The whole article
B. A classroom with no air conditioner is about the VR
experience.
C. Time travelling with VR
D. How a teacher taught in the 1950s
 Vocabulary

Vocabulary help

janitor (n.)
laboratory (n.) Music Room   Teachers   School hall   English
Liberal Studies Visual Arts   Library   Principal   Computer Room
(phr.)
librarian (n.)
Janitor   Students   Mathematics   Laboratory
Liberal Studies   Librarian   Physical Education

Exercise
A. Put the vocabulary above in the appropriate categories.

School facilities People in a school School subjects

B. Fill in the blanks using the vocabulary above.

Vocabulary help

foreigner (n.) My favourite subject is (1) because I

recommend (v.) love ball games. I am afraid of talking to foreigners because

assembly (n.) I find (2) very difficult. I love reading.

I often go to the school (3) at

Smart tip

Pay attention to
lunchtime and after school. The (4)
the words and
phrases before or is my friend. She always recommends some good books to
after the blanks to
get the answers. me. Every day we have morning assembly in the

(5) . The (6)

tells us some important things during the assembly.

6 – S.1
 Grammar

Countable and uncountable nouns

Countable nouns
Countable nouns are nouns that you can count. They can be either singular or plural, e.g.
This shop is very special. (singular) My neighbour has two dogs. (plural)

There are different ways to form the plural form. You add -s to most nouns. Smart tip

Noun You should Example Some special

nouns add letters
Nouns ending in -s, add es gas ➔ gases box ➔ boxes
at the end, change
-x, -ss, -ch and -sh class ➔ classes beach ➔ beaches the vowel(s) or
dish ➔ dishes change some
Nouns ending in a add s day ➔ days letters at the end
to form plurals,
vowel + -y e.g. child ➔
Nouns ending in a delete y and add ies party ➔ parties children, man ➔
consonant + -y men.
Some nouns make
Nouns ending in -o add s or es zoo ➔ zoos potato ➔ potatoes no change for the
Some nouns ending delete f or fe and add leaf ➔ leaves knife ➔ knives plural form, e.g.
in -f or -fe ves fish ➔ fish.

Uncountable nouns
Uncountable nouns are nouns that you cannot count. They have only one form, e.g.
Mary likes drinking milk. Love is all around.

Exercise
A. Write the plural form of the following nouns. Write ‘U’ if it is uncountable.

1. house 2. air 3. tooth

4. sugar 5. wolf 6. watch
7. toy 8. box 9. baby

B. Read the text. Fill in the blanks using the correct form of the nouns in the box. Each
noun in the box can be used once only.
Vocabulary help

parent  bicycle  grass  child  sandwich  water bench (n.)

This is a lovely afternoon. The (1) are playing in the park. Their Smart tip

First decide
(2) are sitting on the bench. Some children are riding whether the nouns
are countable
(3) . When they are tired, they sit on the (4) to rest. or uncountable.
They drink a lot of (5) because they are thirsty. They also enjoy the Then pay
attention to the
(6) they bring there. ending of the
nouns.
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Vocabulary help Demonstrative pronouns

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replace (v.) There are four demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these and those. They are used to replace
trainers (n.)
limited edition nouns. They show which person or thing you are talking about.
(phr.)
Demonstrative Singular Plural Near Far
this 4 4
that 4 4
these 4 4
those 4 4

e.g. I just found a wallet here. Is this yours? (singular, near)

Look! My neighbour made some cookies and gave these to me. (plural, near)
Can you see the black building over there? That is the new cinema. (singular, far)
Ben bought a pair of trainers yesterday. Those were limited edition. (plural, far)

Exercise
C. Complete the sentences by choosing one of the options in brackets.
1. (These / This) is a difficult question.

2. Are (those / these) your exercise books over there?

3. Could you pass (this / that) bottle of water to me?

4. My brother has more than 50 models in his room. (That / Those) are all
his collection.

5. John used red and blue to paint this picture. (This / These) are my
favourite colours.

D. Read the conversation. Fill in the blanks by choosing one of the options in brackets.
Ann: Here we are at the museum. (1) (This / That) is really big! The
Vocabulary help
exhibition (n.) exhibitions here are interesting. (2) (Those / These) are all new to
dinosaur (n.) me.
real (adj.)
scientist (n.)
Mum: I am glad that you like it.

Ann: Look at the dinosaurs over there. (3) (Those / These) look so real.
Smart tip
Mum: Yes. There are so many things for us to see. The map can tell us all the information.
Pay attention
to what each (4) (That / Those) is very useful. Shall we go to the rat house next?
demonstrative
pronoun replaces. Ann: No, (5) (that / this) is not interesting to me. Shall we go to see some
experiments? A scientist is going to make a cloud.

Mum: Oh, really? I want to see (6) (this / that) too.

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26 English Summer Fun P.6 – S.1
 Listening

Skill: Listening for keywords

While listening to a conversation, pay attention to the question words. They provide hints on
what information you are going to get. Also listen for the keywords, such as the place, time,
thing or person, in the responses. Here are some examples.

Where are you going? I’m going to the post office.

When does the movie start? It starts at 4:15 pm.

What is the exhibition about? It’s about the history of Hong Kong.

Exercise
A. Read the extract from an audio script. Circle the question word and underline the
keywords in the response. Then complete the sentence.

Kelvin: Where is Jack?

Emily: He is doing a project in the library.

Emily can see Jack .

B. Listen to the conversation and complete the note sheet.

Name Description

Mr Chan • Always puts (1) in the pocket of his shirt.

Mrs Leung • Goes to the supermarket and buys (2) bags

of shopping.
• Buys (3) , snacks and (4) .

Mr and Mrs • Go to the park in the (5) and in the

Smith (6) .
• Mrs Smith is so kind because she often makes delicious
(7) and shares them with us.

Terry • Is a clown and can do (8) and make

(9) .
• Is afraid of (10) .

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Integrated skills

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Situation
You are John Lee, the chairperson of the Student Union. You are planning some activities
for your schoolmates with another committee member. Listen to the conversation. As you
listen you can make notes on the note-taking sheet.

Listening note-taking sheet

Vocabulary help Activity    Remark
rope skipping (phr.)
Rope skipping competition enhances
enhance (v.)
marathon (n.) Marathon requires physical

Book sharing shares

Data File
Study the Data File for relevant information to be included in the writing task.
1. Email from Miss Chan to John 2. Memo from the librarian to John
Hi John, Dear John,
I would suggest organising a singing As usual, the Student Union is going to organise
contest at the end of the year. It seems a movie night on Christmas Eve. Night at the
that most of the students like singing. Museum is a cool movie. I guess our students
Thanks, will like it.
Miss Chan Eva

Exercise
Complete the memo using information from the Data File and your notes.

Dear schoolmates,
Smart tip

Make use of
information from The is going to organise some activities so that we can have fun
the situation
as well. Not all together.
activities in the
note-taking sheet First we will have on Christmas Eve. We will show
will be put in the
memo. in the library. We will also organise . This
activity can . At the end of the year, we will have
because . Details will be given later.

Finally, we want to ask for your opinion about whether you would like to
with your schoolmates in a session.

Cheers,

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58 English Summer Fun P.6 – S.1
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Writing

Informal email: Using informal language

You write informal emails to your family, friends or classmates. You adopt a friendly style
Vocabulary help

and can use colloquial language, contractions and exclamation marks. colloquial (adj.)

contraction (n.)
An informal email should include the following:
complimentary
Greeting close (phr.)
Address the recipient by his/her first name, e.g. Hi Sandy, Dear Sandy.
Opening
State the purpose of writing. Thank the recipient if you are replying to his/her email.
Body paragraph(s)
Present your ideas or make suggestions in detail.
Closing paragraph
Summarise your ideas, call for action or simply express your hope that he/she is
doing well.
Complimentary close
End with an appropriate closing, e.g. Love, Cheers, Best wishes, and type your name.

Exercise
You are Alex Chan. You have received an email from your Korean friend, Tom Lee. Write a
reply to him in about 80 words.

Vocabulary help
league (n.)
To: Alex Chan semi-final (n.)
Subject: Your cooking competition

Hi Alex,
How are you? I hope you’re well.
I am pretty busy this month. My football team made it to the final in this year’s
National Secondary Schools Football League. I have to practise five times a week.
I heard you are attending the semi-final of the Secondary Schools Cooking
Competition. What is the date and time of the competition? What dish are you
going to make? How is your preparation going? I wish I was there to cheer you on
in Hong Kong.
I have to go for my football practice now. Write soon.
Cheers,
Tom

Unit 5 Food and drink 49

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Step 1: Planning — organiser

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Vocabulary help Recipient of this email
challenging (adj.)
Opening • Thanks for your email. It’s good to hear from you.
contestant (n.) •
harsh (adj.) Body paragraphs Part 1: Answering all questions about the cooking competition
proud (adj.)
support (v.) •
teammate (n.) •
training (n.) •
trial and error
(idiom)
Part 2: Asking details of Tom’s football match
• I know you practised very hard. I am so proud of you.
•

Complimentary close

Step 2: Writing
Smart tip

Since both of
you are having To: Tom Lee
a match/
competition soon, Subject: Let’s try our best!
use the simple
future correctly in Dear ,
the email.

Thanks for your email. It’s good to hear from you.

The semi-final of the Secondary Schools Cooking Competition will be on

at . I am thinking of

. It is a dish. I have .

I know you practised very hard. I am so proud of you.

My family is planning to visit Seoul during the Easter holiday. We may meet up
soon.

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50 English Summer Fun P.6 – S.1
 Speaking

Starting and ending a presentation

You may have to give a presentation on a topic in an oral exam. You can give your teachers
Vocabulary help

or examiners a good impression if you start and end your presentation well. presentation (n.)

oral exam (phr.)

You can take the following steps to start a presentation:
examiner (n.)
1 Greeting
e.g. Hello, everyone. / Good morning/afternoon, everyone. impression (n.)

preview (v.)
2 Introducing the presentation topic signal (v.)
attention (n.)
e.g. Today I am going to talk about… / I want to share with you…

3 Previewing the content of your presentation

e.g. I will divide my presentation into…parts. / I will tell you…and…

4 Putting forward your first idea

e.g. First, I will talk about…

You can take the following steps to end a presentation:

1 Signalling the end of the presentation
e.g. To summarise/conclude,…

2 Ending the presentation

e.g. That’s all I want to say. / That’s the end of my presentation.

3 Thanking everyone for their attention

e.g. Thank you. / Thank you for listening. / Thank you for your attention.

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Exercise

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Smart tip You are going to give a presentation on one of your favourite places in your neighbourhood.
Apart from the
opening and
Write an 80-word script in the space below. You can use some ideas from the following
closing, divide notecard and/or your own ideas in your presentation.
your presentation
into a few
paragraphs. First
describe your Favourite place in my neighbourhood: sports centre
favourite place.
Then explain why – not far away, a 10-minute walk from home
you love it. After
Why I love it:
that mention what
you do there. – using the latest technology
– facilities are in good condition
What I do there:
– go to gym
– play badminton with family
– learn how to eat a healthy diet

Vocabulary help
healthy diet (phr.) Good morning, everyone. Today I am going to talk about

spacious (adj.) . I will tell you and

trainer (n.)
variety (n.) .

My favourite place is . It is

. I love it because

I usually .

To conclude, .

That’s the end of my presentation. Thank you.

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Fun break

A. Finish the crossword puzzle about some school facilities with the help of the clues.
Smart tip
1
H 2
Most of the
facilities have two
words.

R
4
T

5
R

Clues
ACROSS DOWN Vocabulary help

1. The morning assembly takes place in the . 1. We go to the if we are hurt. surf (v.)
experiment (n.)
4. We do painting in the . 2. We can surf the Internet in the .
5. We can play the piano in the . 3. We do experiments in the .
6. We buy snacks and drinks at the .
7. There are many books in the .

B. The following words and phrases are related to school life. Match each of them with
the correct meaning in the right column.

Word/Phrase
Idiom Meaniing
Mean ng

1. pass with flying colours A. someone who likes reading

A. to give help to someone
very much

2. as easy as ABC
B. very easy

3. bookworm C. to learn what (not) to do in the future

A. to give help to someone
a bad experience
because you have had

4. learn one’s lesson

D. to study hard

5. hit the books E. to do something successfully

Unit 2 School life 21

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