Lessons 5A–7A and Life Skills Household problems, giving instructions, a report,

• I can talk about household problems and solutions.
• I can give instructions.
• I can write a report.

Can you fix it? Household problems and their verbs

Are you a practical person? Do you know how to:

• change a bulb?
• remove a carpet stain?
• fix a leaking pipe?
• repair a flat tyre?
• Have you ever helped to decorate a house?

Replace the underlined verbs in Exercise 1 with the verbs from the box. Use one of the verbs twice.

Four photos, four everyday problems. Which tip solves which?

• First sweep it up with a dustpan and brush.
• Then press a piece of cloth onto the floor to pick up the remaining tiny pieces.
• Rub toothpaste on it and then wipe down with a damp dishcloth.
• Arrange the cables and label them with folded masking tape.
• Soak it in warm soapy water. Then gently pull it until it regains its original size and shape.

Read the online article. Match 1–4 below with problems a–d in Exercise 3.

Rub toothpaste on it and then wipe down with a damp dishcloth.

Study Active Vocabulary and complete the text with the correct forms of the phrasal verbs.

The other day I went into the kitchen and 1 ___ a puddle of water on the kitchen floor.

It turned out that the freezer 2 ___ and was leaking.

So I 3 ___ the water.

The kitchen had only recently been 4 ___ and the walls were freshly painted.

So I 5 _ the wall with a damp cloth while my brother 6 _ the bits of broken coffee cup.

Replace the underlined parts in Exercise 5 with pronouns. Change the word order where necessary.

Phrasal verbs: can you split them?

• Some phrasal verbs have no object, e.g. The freezer broke down.
• When a phrasal verb has an object, sometimes the verb and particle can be separated, e.g. Switch the light on. / Switch on the light.
• If the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and particle, e.g. Switch it off. (NOT Switch off it.)

• With some phrasal verbs, the verb and particle cannot be separated, e.g. We’ve run out of toothpaste. (NOT We’ve run toothpaste out of.)

Now use them to finish a kitchen disaster story.

The household word list

Revise the lesson’s words before moving on.

Giving instructions: what to do, what not to do

Have you ever assembled flat-pack furniture? Did you enjoy it? Say why.

Listen to Habib giving DIY (Do It Yourself) instructions. Who does not like DIY?

• Explaining what to do
• It’s advisable to …
• The first 1 ___ you do is …
• When/2 ___ you’ve done that, …
• What you do is …
• 3 ___ you have to do is …
• The key/main thing to remember is …
• It’s vital/essential 4 ___ you …

• Explaining what not to do
• Make sure you don’t …
• Try to avoid (+ -ing) …
• I’d advise you not to …
• There’s no need to …
• 5 ___ you do, don’t …
• Finishing the instructions
• And that’s it.

Study the Speaking box. Listen again and complete the phrases with one word in each gap.

Study Watch Out! Then rewrite the sentences starting with the words given.

You just need some scissors and masking tape. All ___ .

You turn on the oven by pressing this switch. The way ___ .

I used a damp dishcloth to remove the stain. What ___ .

Next you soak it in water. What ___ .

He’s really good at DIY. What ___ .

Sound emphatic: What you do is …

• We can make a sentence more emphatic by beginning with What …, e.g.
• Slide the door to the right. → What you do is slide the door to the right.
• I covered it with tape. → What I did was cover it with tape.

• We can use … the way (that) … to emphasise how something is done, e.g.
• The way that you do it is to … / by + -ing …
• The way it works is …

A report model: the student common room

Does your school have a common room where students can study?

Here is a model answer. Look for the problems and the solutions.

Read the Writing task below and the report. What kinds of problems are described? What are the solutions?

Report language: aims, opinions, conclusion

• Body: report the opinions
• Some … 3 ___ a wish for/preference for/ concern that …
• Many … were 4 ___ the opinion/view that …
• … had no strong 5 _ on the 6 _ …
• Opinions were 7 ___ about …
• Some people commented that …

• Conclusion and recommendations
• In conclusion, it 9 ___ /appears that …
• I would strongly recommend …
• The best solution would seem to be …

Complete the Writing box with examples from the report.

How many? Quantifiers from all to none

• Use quantifiers to express people’s opinions
• Just over half … 8 ___ half …
• The majority of …
• Some/Several/Many/All/None/Hardly anybody …
• A few/A large/A significant number of …

The book places quantifiers on a scale from all to none.

Complete the diagram with quantifiers from the report.

Which of the quantifiers in Exercise 4 can be used with … a countable nouns?

b uncountable nouns?

c both countable and uncountable nouns?

Study Watch Out! Then read the sentences and correct the mistakes if there are any.

A few of the floorboards are loose.

Nearly all the stains have been removed.

Most the chairs need repairing.

The majority us like the common room.

Quantifiers and «of»: when to add it

• We use of after (a) few, (a) little, much, many, some, several, most when they are followed by a pronoun (it, them) or another determiner (a, the, this, my), e.g. Some of the students … (NOT Some the students …).
• When they are followed by a noun, we do not use of, e.g. Some students (NOT Some of students).
• We always use of after long quantifying phrases, e.g. a number of … the majority of …

Volunteering: three notices, three projects

How are the volunteers in each picture helping others or the environment?

Read notices A–C on a volunteering website. Match them with questions 1–4.

Which volunteering opportunity … can be fun?

asks you to bring your own equipment?

does not involve working in a team?

asks for about an hour’s commitment a week?

Then plan your own project, step by step.

Before you apply: three questions to ask yourself

• What can I offer?
• What causes are important to me?
• What skills do I have that I could offer?
• What experience do I have that will help?
• What can I realistically commit to?
• How much time can I afford to give?
• Am I better at working alone or in a team?
• What can I learn?
• What skills would I like to learn?
• What experience can I get?
• What else could I learn from volunteering?

Notice B asks for readers in a children’s hospital.

Notice C asks for a friend for an older person.