Dayton High School is celebrating its centenary this year. In this article, former students share their memories of their school years.
Grammar
Subject and object questions
Write questions for these answers. The questions should ask about the words in italics.
David went out with Julia yesterday.
When did David go out with Julia?
1 Francesca’s studying Maths at university.
_____________________________________________ .
2 Lucy enjoys university.
_____________________________________________ .
3 Ben failed his driving test.
_____________________________________________ .
4 Paula and Jamie started school last week.
_____________________________________________ .
5 The neighbours get to college by bus.
_____________________________________________ .
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2 used to / would
Correct the mistakes in the sentences.
I was used to live in Canada.
I used to live in Canada.
1 We would have two dogs and two cats when we were children.
_____________________________________________ .
2 Tom didn’t used to enjoy going to school.
_____________________________________________ .
3 My parents wouldn’t to let us stay up late on school nights.
_____________________________________________ .
4 Did you used to study hard at university?
_____________________________________________ .
5 I used to teach English for ten years.
_____________________________________________ .
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Modals of ability
Choose the correct answer in italics.
My brothers can not / can’t play football well.
1 Were you able to / could you get tickets for the concert yesterday?
2 When I was a teenager I couldn’t / didn’t manage to speak French very well.
3 I want to can / be able to take my driving test this year.
4 The roads were really busy but we could / managed to get to school on time.
5 I can / able to read very quickly.
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Vocabulary
Learning
Which verb cannot be used with the nouns? Choose a, b or c.
lectures
a go to b attend c make
1 a degree
a do b revise c get
2 an exam
a pass b fail c revise
3 a course
a get b do c take
4 notes
a take b make c do
5 a subject
a pass b make c take
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Qualities of teachers
Complete the sentences with the correct words.
Although our French teacher was very small, she was quite f _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ because she had a loud voice.
Although our French teacher was very small, she was quite frightening because she had a loud voice.
1 Our Geography teacher is so k _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. She can answer all our questions.
2 I know I’m not very intelligent but my teachers are so e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ and they always tell me I can do well.
3 Our class is very loud and the boys are quite naughty but Mrs Smith always remains c _ _ _ and she doesn’t get angry.
4 Good teachers must be p _ _ _ _ _ _ because they often have to repeat things several times before everyone understands.
5 It’s important to be s _ _ _ _ _ if you want discipline and good behaviour in the classroom.
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6 learning: idioms and phrasal verbs
Choose the correct answer (a, b or c).
Learning irregular verbs is so easy. In fact, it’s a piece of _______ .
a bread b pie c cake
1 If you don’t know the answer, just make a _______ guess.
a wild b crazy c mad
2 I need to brush _______ 19th century French literature if I want to do well.
a down on b up on c up to
3 Hannah seems to pick _______ languages really easily when she travels.
a up b on c over
4 Alex has always been the teacher’s _______ because he’s obedient and he studies hard.
a dog b cat c pet
5 Although I didn’t know some of the answers, I managed to get _______ the exam.
a through b over c by
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Pronunciation
Word stress in word building
Listen and underline the stressed syllable in these words.
employee
1 frightening
2 electrician
3 scientific
4 enthusiastic
5 inspiration
6 enthusiasm
7 boring
8 imagination
9 artistic
10 imagine
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Connected speech
Listen and tick (ü) the sentence you hear.
I managed to do it. ü
I manage to do it.
1 You must forget what I just said.
You mustn’t forget what I just said.
2 We were able to get tickets.
We weren’t able to get tickets.
3 I could do anything.
I couldn’t do anything.
4 He was able to stop.
He wasn’t able to stop.
5 We start to eat at 6.
We started to eat at 6.
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How to …
Describe a learning experience
Complete the sentences with the missing prepositions.
I’m training for the London Marathon.
1 I took a one-day crash course _______ digital photography recently.
2 I’ve always been able to pick _______ languages easily.
3 Brad has started to take an interest _______ politics.
4 Everyone should learn the basics _______ cooking.
5 I must start revising _______ my exams.
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Reading
Read the article and answer the questions.
Dayton High School is celebrating its centenary this year. In this article, former students share their memories of their school years.
‘I just remember being completely terrified on my first day at Dayton High’ recalls former Head Girl, Julia Franks. ‘Everyone was so grown up and all the classrooms seemed so big but the teachers were all very kind and patient so we soon settled down and I look back over my years there with great affection.’
Leonie Brand, however, doesn’t share these warm memories. ‘From the moment I stepped through the door into my new classroom, I felt uncomfortable. It was a steep learning curve for me because my parents had educated me at home until I was 11. I don’t think I ever really fitted in so my parents decided to take me away after a term when they realised things weren’t improving.’
For academic children like Cora Dyson, the school was perfect. ‘The more homework, the better! That’s what I thought in those days. I was like a sponge and wanted to learn everything. No doubt everyone thought I was the teacher’s pet and maybe I was but I didn’t care.’
‘I don’t really remember that much about school except that we had to learn loads of poems by heart. Our English teacher was a great fan of 19th century literature and poetry so she would make us learn endless poems and then recite them in front of the class. I hated it because I could never remember all the words and she would invariably get annoyed with me,’ said Joe Sexton.
Clare Howard used to envy the girls who made everything look so easy. ‘I remember one girl in particular, Stella, who passed all her exams with flying colours. How did she do it I would ask myself. She had everything. She was pretty, popular, funny and intelligent while I had to study so hard to do well.’
‘It’s funny but when I was at school I was really bad at French grammar though I found it quite easy to pick up the slang when we went on a school trip to Paris,’ remembers Lucy Freeman. ‘I think it had something to do with the fact that our French teacher wasn’t very interesting so we didn’t pay attention in class.’
0 Who didn’t find exams easy? Clare Howard
1 Who was probably the favourite of her teachers? ____________
2 Who has a bad memory? ____________
3 Who found it hard to settle down? ____________
4 Who found it easier to learn outside the classroom? ____________
5 Who remembers her teachers as good people? ____________
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