Classroom thoughts! :)

Page 115 Use of English

He was hours behind schedule, close to exhaustion and utterly alone, his companions having fallen far behind.

I spoke to another teacher and we agreed that in British English, when we have coordination clauses, that it's not possible to use had after a comma but the present participle needs to be used.

Phrasal Verbs

bring in

Close

present tense
I/you/we/they	bring in
he/she/it	brings in
present participle	bringing in
past tense	brought in
past participle	brought in

1. 1

   to use the skills of a particular group or person
   

   An independent investigator will be brought in to look at the allegations.

   This is an opportunity to bring in new talent.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of bring in
2. 2

   to be the reason that someone or something receives a particular amount of money
   

   Overseas students bring in more than £30 million a year in tuition fees.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of bring in
3. 3

   to introduce a new law or system
   

   She said the government would bring in the necessary legislation to deal with the problem.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of bring in
4. 4

   to involve someone in a radio or TV discussion
   

   And here I’d like to bring in James Walker to hear his comments.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of bring in
5. 5

   bring in a verdict to say officially whether someone is guilty or not
   

   There were gasps when the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of bring in

 

Close

present tense
I/you/we/they	bring about
he/she/it	brings about
present participle	bringing about
past tense	brought about
past participle	brought about

1. to make something happen, especially to cause changes in a situation
   

   social changes that have been brought about by new technology

   Major spending is required to bring about substantial improvements in housing.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of bring about

This is the British English definition of bring about. View American English

bring about

 

Classroom Thoughts - Commas

Today in class, we were talking about the usage of commas.


In particular the use of a comma before 'so'. In the following example we need to use commas before co-ordinating conjunctions

The thief was wearing impractical high heels, so she could not run fast.

If you want to do some exercises on this, please click on the following links:

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_45.htm

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_46.htm

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_47.htm

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_48.htm

Website of the Week! Sentence Transformation

I just found this cool website which has some practice exercises on the sentence transformation exercise:


http://www.imparareinglese.co.uk/esercizi_inglese/CPE_key_word_transformation_1.html


http://www.imparareinglese.co.uk/esercizi_inglese/CPE_key_word_transformation_2.html


Hope you find it useful! : )

Overview of the CPE Exam

Here's some information about the exam for the new students that have joined us this week:

Details of the various papers are as follows:

Certificate of proficiency in English - Exam papers

	PaperTtitle	Length	Percentage of final mark
1.	Reading	90 minutes	20%
2.	Writing	120 minutes	20%
3.	Use of English	90 minutes	20%
4.	Listening	40 minutes	20%
5.	Speaking	19 minutes	20%

The CPE exam is graded on the following scale, or something very similar:

C = 60-74%
B = 75-79%
A = 80-100%


The writing paper (2) is judged according to five bands (1-5) and these are then converted to a percentage. The interview is judged on another scale.


http://www.docstoc.com/docs/27982913/CPE-(Certificate-of-Proficiency-in-English)

Classroom Thoughts

Past Participles:

Participles can be used as a verb, an adjective, an adverb or a clause.

We have a few exceptions with certain verbs e.g. Dream

As it can be 'dreamed' or 'dreamt':

They're both grammatically correct. "Dreamt" is usually more commonly used in British English' whereas 'Dreamed' is normally used in American English.

As an adjective you can say for example:

- it was dreamt-up  or...
- it was dreamed-up.

Although I would use 'dreamt-up'.

Be careful as there are some special past-participle forms:

drunken driving
a shrunken head
a sunken ship
rotten fruit.

spread

Related dictionary definitions

• spread noun
• middle-aged spread noun
• middle-age spread noun
• spread out phrasal verb
• spread betting noun
• spread like wildfire
• spread/stretch/try your wings

Menu

1. affect larger area
2. disease affects many
3. open something folded
4. cover with soft food
5. divide/reduce something
6. be present in wide area
7. give information to many
8. move parts of body apart
9. cause feeling in many
10. +phrase

1. [intransitive] to gradually affect or cover a larger area
   

   UN leaders hope to prevent the fighting from spreading.

   Rain will spread from the west this evening.

   Anti-globalization protests spread rapidly across the globe.

   Within less than an hour, the fire had spread to the fuel stores.

   She heard a shot, then saw a dark-red stain spreading across his shirt.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread

   1. a.

      if a smile or other expression spreads across or over your face, it becomes gradually bigger or more obvious
      

      He let a slow smile spread across his face.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread
2. [intransitive/transitive] if a disease spreads, or if something spreads it, it affects more people as it is passed from one person to another
   

   Cholera spread quickly through the refugee camp.

   Soldiers returning from the war soon spread the disease through most of the region.

   a computer virus that spread rapidly through users’ email systems

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread
3. or
   

   spread out

   [transitive] to open something that is folded so that it covers a surface
   

   spread something on/over something:
   

   We spread the blanket on the grass and sat down on it.

   The map was spread on the floor.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread

   
   

   spread

4. [intransitive/transitive] to cover a surface with a thin layer of a soft food
   

   Butter spreads more easily when it hasn’t been in the fridge.

   spread something on something:
   

   Maureen spread jam on her toast.

   spread something with something:
   

   First, spread the bread with mayonnaise.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread
5. [transitive] to divide and share work or obligations among several people
   

   We will bring in extra staff to spread the workload.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread

   1. a.

      [transitive] to divide an amount of money that you owe into parts and pay it in several instalments instead of all at one time
      

      spread something over something:
      

      You can spread your payments over two, three, or five years.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread
   2. b.

      or
      

      spread out

      [transitive] [usually passive] to make something happen at several times during a long period instead of all at once
      

      Attacks of the illness were spread over a three-year period.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread

      
      

      spread

   3. c.

      [transitive] if you spread a risk, you invest in several different things so that if one fails, you do not lose everything
      

      Smythe spread his financial risk by investing in a wide range of businesses.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread
6. [intransitive/transitive] [usually passive] to be present in many parts of a large area
   

   be spread over/across something:
   

   There are 54 community colleges spread across California.

   Indonesia is a nation of over 200 million people, spread over 17,000 islands.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread
7. [transitive] to give information to many people
   

   Someone has been spreading nasty rumours about Stella’s private life.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread

   1. a.

      [intransitive] if information spreads, it becomes known by more people than before
      

      spread to:
      

      News of the attack has already spread to the islands.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread
8. or
   

   spread out

   [transitive] to move your arms, legs, or hands so that they are far apart
   

   First, lie on the floor with your arms spread wide.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread

   1. a.

      to open something wide
      

      The bird spread its wings and flew away.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread

   
   

   spread

9. [transitive] to cause a lot of people to have a particular feeling
   

   Smiling at people was Debra’s way of spreading a little happiness.

   A gang of drug dealers was spreading terror in the neighbourhood.

   Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread

phrase

• spread the word/gospel/message

  to tell a lot of people about an idea that you believe in
  

  They are spreading the word on the need for healthy eating.

  Campaigners worked tirelessly to spread the environmentalist message.

  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread