Unit 18: A nip and a tuck: cosmetic surgery
Relative clauses
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- 18 A nip and a tuck: cosmetic surgery
- 19 I'm really sorry...
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- 28 Dodgy dating
- 29 Annoying advice
- 30 I'll have been studying English for thirty weeks
Session 1
NASA, LOL, OMG! Why say the whole expression when you can say a few letters? Learn more about acronyms in this session.
Activity 2
Is that a word?
The shorter the better
In 6 Minute English we learned some acronyms for organisations, and a few acronyms that we use in everyday life. Some of them, like NATO, are said as words and some, like ATM, are said as letters. Strictly speaking, we should call the second group 'intialisms' – because they are formed from the initial (first) letters of each word.
So, what happens if you're reading a text in English and you see a group of capital letters – do you read them as a word or just read out the initial letters individually? This game will help you learn a few common examples.
Read the text and complete the activity
To do
Drag each acronym and initialism into the correct column. Some were in the programme, some are new. Tip: Try to read each one out loud – is it possible to read it as a word? If so, it could be a true acronym.
There is a list of their meanings under the quiz.
Words and letters
8 Questions
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
The UN is made up of many organisations. This is one of them. It has vowels between the consonants... Try to read it as a word... can you do it?Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
Can you read this as a word? There are vowels there, but it looks difficult to read in English.Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
This is another UN organisation. It was in the 6 Minute Vocabulary programme. There are some vowels here, but can you say it as a word?Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
You use these to watch movies and store information.Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
Be careful with this one. It looks like a common word. So if it was read in the same way, that might be confusing...Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
This was in 6 Minute Vocabulary. It's another international organisation.Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
Do you watch a lot of science-fiction movies? If so, you might have seen one of these in the sky. But how is it pronounced?Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
This is used at the end of meetings.Question 1 of 8
Read as a word
Read as letters
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Words and letters
8 Questions
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
The UN is made up of many organisations. This is one of them. It has vowels between the consonants... Try to read it as a word... can you do it?Question 1 of 8
Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
Can you read this as a word? There are vowels there, but it looks difficult to read in English.Question 2 of 8
Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
This is another UN organisation. It was in the 6 Minute Vocabulary programme. There are some vowels here, but can you say it as a word?Question 3 of 8
Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
You use these to watch movies and store information.Question 4 of 8
Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
Be careful with this one. It looks like a common word. So if it was read in the same way, that might be confusing...Question 5 of 8
Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
This was in 6 Minute Vocabulary. It's another international organisation.Question 6 of 8
Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
Do you watch a lot of science-fiction movies? If so, you might have seen one of these in the sky. But how is it pronounced?Question 7 of 8
Help
Activity
Which of these do you read as words? Which do you read as letters?
Hint
This is used at the end of meetings.Question 8 of 8
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Acronyms and their full meanings
AOB
Any Other Business (used in meetings and business communication)
DVD
Digital Versatile Disc
FYI
For Your Information (used in business communication, and sometimes spoken)
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
UFO
Unidentified Flying Object
UNESCO
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
UNICEF
United Nations Children's Fund
WHO
World Health Organisation
Next
Well done. Now it's time to look at a few acronyms and initialisms in context and work out the meanings. See you there.
Session Vocabulary
AOB
Any Other Business (used in meetings and business communication)DVD
Digital Versatile DiscFYI
For Your Information (used in business communication, and sometimes spoken)NATO
North Atlantic Treaty OrganisationUFO
Unidentified Flying ObjectUNESCO
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural OrganisationUNICEF
United Nations Children's FundWHO
World Health Organisation