Unit 8
I’ll send you a photo of Lucky.
Dear Miss Li,
I’d like to thank you for sending money to “Animal Helpers”, an organization set up to help disabled people. For sure, you have helped make it possible for me to have “Lucky”, who has filled my life with pleasure. Let me tell you my story.
Being blind, deaf, unable to walk, or use your hands easily is something that most people cannot imagine. But there are many people who face these challenges, and I am one of them. Because I can’t use my arms or legs well, normal things like answering the telephone, opening and shutting doors, or carrying things have always been difficult for me. Then one day last year, a friend of mine said that she would like to help me out. She said she would talk to “Animal Helpers” to see if it would be possible for me to get a specially trained dog. she also thought a dog might cheer me up. I told her that I love animals, and that I’d love to have a dog.
After six months of training with a dog at “Animal Helpers”, I was able to bring him home. My dog’s name is “Lucky” – a good name for him because I feel very lucky to have him. You see, I’m only able to have a :dog-helper” because of your kind donation!
How does Lucky help me, you might ask? Well, he has been trained to understand different instructions. For example, I say, “Lucky! Fetch my book,” and he does it at once. He is very clever, and understands many English words, even some difficult ones like “upstairs”.
Lucky is an amazing dog. I’ll send you a photo of him if you like, and I could show you how he helps me too one day. And so I thank you again for supporting “Animal Helpers”. It is very important that this organization does not run out of money. Your donation is greatly appreciated and the money is well used to help disabled people like me.
Best wishes,
Liz Smith
Unit 9
Do you know when basket was invented?
If you travel around China you will notice a very popular activity everywhere you go - basketball. This much-loved and active sport is enjoyed by many, for fun and exercise.
The sport of basketball is a little over a hundred years old. It is played by more than 100 million people in over 200 countries including China, where basketball has been play in parks, schools, and even in factories.
Basketball was invented by a Canadian doctor named James Naismith, who was born in 1861. When he was at college, his class was once asked to invent a new game that could be played indoors during the long winters. Dr Naismith created a game to be played on a hard wooden floor, so the safety of the players was important. Knocking into players and falling down would be dangerous.
Dr Naismith divided the men in his class into two teams and taught them how to play his new game. The aim of basketball is for players to get a ball into the "basket";a new hanging from a metal hoop. Plays shoot from below the basket and may use the "backboard" for guiding the ball into the basket. Players move towards one end of the court while throwing the ball to each other.
It is believed that on December 21st, 1891, the first basketball game in history was played. Then in 1936 in Berlin, it became an Olympic event. A team from China took part, and although they didn't win they used the experience to help develop the game at home. Since then, the popularity of basketball has risen worldwide, and the number of foreign players in America's NBA (National Basketball Association) has increased. Basketball has also become a more popular sport for people to watch, and many young people dream of becoming famous basketball players.
Unit11
Could you please lend me your pen?
Asking for information or help is a very common and necessary activity, especially when we visit a foreign country. So knowing how to ask for information politely is important. In English, “Where are the restrooms?” and “Could you please tell me where the restrooms are?” are similar requests - both are correct English, but the first could sound rude. It’s important to use correct language, but sometime this alone is not enough - we need to learn how to be polite when we make requests.
In English, just like in Chinese, we change the way we speak when talking with different people. The expressions you use might depend on whom you are speaking to or how well you know them. If you say to your teacher, “Where is my book?” your question will sound much more polite. On the other hand, it might be alright to say “Where is my book?” in some situations, perhaps with people you know well.
And you would not usually say, “Peter, lend me your pen.” A very direct order like this can sound rude in English. Usually in English polite questions are longer and include extra language such as “Could you please….?” or “Can I ask```?” It sounds more polite to say, “Peter, Could you please lend me your pen?” Sometimes we might even need to spend some time leading in to a question or request, for example, if you stop a stranger in the street, we might first say, “Excuse me, I wonder if you can help me” or “I’m sorry to trouble you but,” before asking them for help.
It might seem that speaking politely is more difficult than being direct, and in a way this may be true. However, in order not to offend people, learning about language etiquette is just as better at English, or any other language you wish to speak.
Unit 12
You’re supposed to write quickly!
Can you write in English? And can you also write e-mail English? Maybe not. E-mail English is a new kind of written English that is being used to save time.
A lot of e-mail English words might look unfamiliar to us – many look like rubbish! This is because they come from a computer program called ICQ, which means I seek you. ICQ is an e-mail “chatline” that people use to have online conversations with friends. One Canadian teacher says, “People can use their computers to talk to each other. But you are supposed to type quickly so the other person doesn’t get bored. Using e-mail English helps you write quickly.”
E-mail English mostly uses two types of words. The first are “abbreviations”. These are formed by using the first letter of each word in the phrase. For example, BTW means “by the way”, and GSL means “can’t stop laughing”. The second kind of word is a “homophone”- it’s created by combining letters and symbols, or numbers to sound like other words. An example of this would be to write “great” as “gr8”, or to write “see you later” as“CUL8r”.
When you write e-mail English you do not use punctuation marks only in the traditional way. You are also supposed to use them to show the emotion you are feeling. These are called “emoticons”. The advantage of using punctuation marks is that you can make faces with them. The most common one is the happy face - it looks like this :) and it is made with a colon and a right bracket beside it.
E-mail English is fun - it’s almost like writing riddles. You can learn it easily by yourselves, and experiment with your own ideas. It is not rude to write e-mail English, but it is important to use it only at the proper time - when you are e-mailing a friend, or sending a message to a friend on mobile phone. But you shouldn’t use it in class, and remember your teachers will not be pleased if you write e-mail English in a test!