Unit 29: Annoying advice
Verb patterns
Select a unit
- 1 Pop-ups
- 2 Hidden talents
- 3 Can't buy me love
- 4 Travellers' tales
- 5 The colleague from hell
- 6 Jurassic mystery: unpacking the past
- 7 Career changes
- 8 Art
- 9 Project management
- 10 The dog ate my homework!
- 11 The diary of a double agent
- 12 Fashion forward
- 13 Flat pack skyscrapers
- 14 Extreme sports
- 15 Food fads
- 16 Me, my selfie and I
- 17 Endangered animals
- 18 A nip and a tuck: cosmetic surgery
- 19 I'm really sorry...
- 20 Telling stories
- 21 Fakes and phrasals
- 22 Looking to the future
- 23 Becoming familiar with things
- 24 From rags to riches
- 25 Against the odds
- 26 Our future on Mars?
- 27 Where is it illegal to get a fish drunk?
- 28 Dodgy dating
- 29 Annoying advice
- 30 I'll have been studying English for thirty weeks
Session 4
Finn's babysitting. He's got no idea what to do. Luckily he's got his phone with him. Who will he call for advice?
Activity 1
Babysitting advice
No chocolate before bed!
A house full of screaming kids is no fun for parents. It can be even more difficult for a babysitter!
In this session, Finn is babysitting for his friend. Unfortunately he's not very experienced and things aren't going well. The children are fighting, haven't eaten dinner and won't go to sleep. What to do? He can't call the parents, so he decides to call… his friend Neil, who is a father. But will Neil pick up the phone?
To do
Listen to Finn as he tries to call Neil for advice. Then try to answer the questions. The first four relate to Finn's problems with the kids, and the last four relate to advice Neil might give.
Listen to the audio and complete the activity
SFX: Children crying and phone ringing
Finn
Come on Neil. Come on Neil, pick up.
Neil
Hi, you've reached Neil's phone…
Finn
(to himself) Oh, great.
Neil
I'm not here right now. Please leave a message and I'll give you a call.
Finn
Hi, hi Neil, er… Listen, I've got a bit of a problem. (to child crying) Shhhh… OK… Shh…
I'm babysitting, as you can hear. I know you're going to say, what a terrible idea, Finn you're useless with kids! I know. And that's why I'm calling – I need your help mate. Listen.
Listen, I offered to look after Mike's kids a long ago – he needs a break.
So I've had little Max and Gwyn all day. You know, they're beautiful kids, but… they've been a nightmare. Shhh. OK! Seriously. You know, I thought I would try and win them over, so when I arrived this morning I promised them a trip to the park and an ice-cream. OK…
Mike did warn me not to feed them anything before lunch. But I… well… I forgot and I bought them ice-creams. And so… after that they didn't eat lunch, and they got hungry again before dinner… so I gave them some chocolates and jelly – OK. Stupid me. I know… it was all I could find. Mike did tell me not to give them anything sweet. But, yeah, oh well. He actually recommended I make them something healthy and nutritious like stew, but – I mean – how can you with two screaming kids? And actually I did start making stew, but then I stopped to take Max to the toilet and then… well, let's just say chocolate seemed the easiest option.
Where were we?
So now it's well past their bedtime and Max has been jumping on his bed for about an hour. Gwyn won't stop crying. Yes Gwyn… I know. I've tried to explain that she needs to be sleep before Mummy and Daddy get home because otherwise I'll be in, I mean they'll be in lots of trouble.
What a mess! Anyway, Neil, what do you suggest I do? Yeah, just, yeah just call me back when you hear this.
Stop crying!
8 Questions
You are going to answer eight questions: four questions to check your understanding and your knowledge of verb patterns, and the other four will be Neil's advice. For each one, they have to be correct BOTH grammatically and in terms of the story.
Help
Activity
You are going to answer eight questions: four questions to check your understanding and your knowledge of verb patterns, and the other four will be Neil's advice. For each one, they have to be correct BOTH grammatically and in terms of the story.
Hint
Chocolate was a bad idea…Question 1 of 8
Help
Activity
You are going to answer eight questions: four questions to check your understanding and your knowledge of verb patterns, and the other four will be Neil's advice. For each one, they have to be correct BOTH grammatically and in terms of the story.
Hint
What is the word order for negative statements?Question 2 of 8
Help
Activity
You are going to answer eight questions: four questions to check your understanding and your knowledge of verb patterns, and the other four will be Neil's advice. For each one, they have to be correct BOTH grammatically and in terms of the story.
Hint
Be careful - the pattern that follows 'stop' affects the meaning.Question 3 of 8
Help
Activity
You are going to answer eight questions: four questions to check your understanding and your knowledge of verb patterns, and the other four will be Neil's advice. For each one, they have to be correct BOTH grammatically and in terms of the story.
Hint
What did he actually promise?Question 4 of 8
Help
Activity
You are going to answer eight questions: four questions to check your understanding and your knowledge of verb patterns, and the other four will be Neil's advice. For each one, they have to be correct BOTH grammatically and in terms of the story.
Hint
There's an important difference in meaning here.Question 5 of 8
Help
Activity
You are going to answer eight questions: four questions to check your understanding and your knowledge of verb patterns, and the other four will be Neil's advice. For each one, they have to be correct BOTH grammatically and in terms of the story.
Hint
Check what can follow 'promise' in our Grammar Reference.Question 6 of 8
Help
Activity
You are going to answer eight questions: four questions to check your understanding and your knowledge of verb patterns, and the other four will be Neil's advice. For each one, they have to be correct BOTH grammatically and in terms of the story.
Hint
Look at 'ask' and 'tell' in our Grammar Reference if you need.Question 7 of 8
Help
Activity
You are going to answer eight questions: four questions to check your understanding and your knowledge of verb patterns, and the other four will be Neil's advice. For each one, they have to be correct BOTH grammatically and in terms of the story.
Hint
'Recommend' can be followed by 'that' + an independent clause, or by a gerundQuestion 8 of 8
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
End of Session 4
That's it for this session. Let's hope Finn follows Neil's advice and manages to get the children to sleep!
In Session 5 we join Gulliver again on his travels in Part 9 of our Drama. Gulliver arrives in a land of very intelligent horses who can talk. They make him consider his own place in the world.
Session Grammar
Examples of verb patterns
Verb + infinitive with to
- I decided to take the car to work.
- She pretended to be asleep.
- He offered to cook the dinner.
Verb + gerund
- He admitted eating the last biscuit.
- It took years but I've finally quit smoking.
- After she finished reading the book she turned off the light and went to sleep.
Verb + (that) clause
- I understand (that) you weren't happy with your pay rise.
- She assumed (that) the bill had already been paid.
- I suggest (that) you try the salmon: it's delicious.
- I decided to take the car to work.
Session Vocabulary
screaming
crying loudlybabysitter
someone who looks after someone else's kidswin them over
make them like me or agree with menutritious
healthy, containing things that are good for you