Monthly Archives: January 2012

Writing Assignment: The Restaurant (Solutions)

1. Is the restaurant completely full?
No, there are some empty tables.

2. Are the people in this restaurant dressed elegantly or simply?
The people are elegantly dressed.

3. What is the woman in the foreground drinking?
The woman in the foreground is drinking coffee.

4. What kind of food is on the table in the bottom left corner?
There is a slice of bread, a couple of pats of butter, some celery, and a bowl of peas.

5. What kind of seasonings do you usually find on the dinner table?
We usually find salt and pepper on the dinner table, as well as sugar.

6. What kind of silverware is to the right of the plate?
To the right of the plate is a spoon and a knife.

7. How many forks does each guest get in this restaurant?
In this restaurant, each guest gets two forks.

8. Do you begin eating with the left or the right fork?
We begin eating with the left fork.

9. What stands in the middle of each table?
In the middle of each table stand a vase with a rose.

10. At the second table does the man or the lady order the meal?
At the second table, the man is ordering the meal.

11. What is the man by the waiter reading?
The man by the waiter is reading the menu.

12. What is on the top of the stairs?
On the top of the stairs is a potted plant.

13. Who is setting the table in the background?
A waiter is setting the table in the background.

14. What is the couple in the middle waiting for?
The couple in the middle is waiting for a table.

15. Who is wearing a corsage?
The lady at the table in the lower right-hand corner is wearing a corsage.

16. What is the lady on the first table on the right eating?
She is eating a steak.

17. Where do you see a column in this picture?
We see a column on the right-hand side in this picture.

18. Do you say “cheers” when you’re drinking coffee or when you’re drinking wine?
We say “cheers” when we’re drinking wine.

19. Do you say “enjoy your meal” before or after you have eaten?
We say “enjoy your meal” before we’ve eaten.

20. When do the guests get the check from the waiter?
The guests get the check from the waiter after they’ve eaten dinner.

Paragraph: A Meal in a Restaurant

Write a paragraph about a meal you ate in a restaurant. What did you have to eat? How did you enjoy it? What kind of restaurant was it? Was the restaurant elegant and fancy, or was it plain and simple?
yummy appetizer

On New Year’s Eve we went out to eat at Chili’s. Chili’s is a mid-level, casual dining restaurant – it isn’t a fancy restaurant where people have to get dressed up, but neither is it a fast food place. This restaurant focuses on a “Tex-Mex” (Texan-Mexican) cuisine. Many of the flavorings of their dishes come from hot peppers, giving the restaurant its name.

The first thing that we had was an appetizer called an onion “blossom.” It is an onion that is cut to resemble a flower with its petals wide open. The onion is dipped into a batter and then deep-fried. The individual “petals” of the onion flower look like French fries, and can be dipped in a sauce that comes with the appetizer.

After the appetizer, we had our main meal. I ordered a grilled chicken breast, and my husband ordered steak. Hannah ordered chicken strips, as she usually does. We both enjoyed our dinner, but the steak seemed a little on the small side. I thought about having some dessert, but after finishing the meal I was full.

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Writing Assignment: The Restaurant

Vocabulary

1. to begin
2. dressed
3. a toast, cheers
4. corsage
5. big, bigger, biggest
6. check
7. column
8. to get, receive
9. plate
10. flight of stairs
11. silverware
12. enjoy your meal
13. to cross
14. to order
15. full
16. lady
17. background
18. before
19. to set the table
20. in the front
21. corner
22. everyone
23. foreground
24. simply
25. coffee drinking
26. elegantly
27. waiter
28. to wait
29. to eat
30. light
31. what kind of
32. meal, food
33. wine drinking
34. fork
35. middle
36. for what
37. completely
38. after
39. first
40. guest, customer
41. couple, pair

1. Is the restaurant completely full?

2. Are the people in this restaurant dressed elegantly or simply?

3. What is the woman in the foreground drinking?

4. What kind of food is on the table in the bottom left corner?

5. What kind of seasonings do you usually find on the dinner table?

6. What kind of silverware is to the right of the plate?

7. How many forks does each guest get in this restaurant?

8. Do you begin eating with the left or the right fork?

9. What stands in the middle of each table?

10. At the second table does the man or the lady order the meal?

11. What is the man by the waiter reading?

12. What is on the top of the stairs?

13. Who is setting the table in the background?

14. What are the couple in the middle waiting for?

15. Who is wearing a corsage?

16. What is the lady on the first table on the right eating?

17. Where do you see a column in this picture?

18. Do you say “cheers” when you’re drinking coffee or when you’re drinking wine?

19. Do you say “enjoy your meal” before or after you have eaten?

20. When do the guests get the check from the waiter?

Paragraph: A Meal in a Restaurant

Write a paragraph about a meal you ate in a restaurant. What did you have to eat? How did you enjoy it? What kind of restaurant was it? Was the restaurant elegant and fancy, or was it plain and simple?

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Grammar Basics: Unit 6 – Simple Present, Negative (Solution)

Exercises: Write negative sentences from the following words. Be sure to put the verb “do” in the right form (do // does).

Example: have / horses / wings ==> Horses don’t have wings.

1. Steve doesn’t play the piano any more.

2. The bird doesn’t sing at night.

3. The children don’t like broccoli.

4. I don’t watch TV on weekdays.

5. We don’t mow our grass in the fall.

6. The Nelson sisters don’t drive after dark.

7. He doesn’t study enough.

8. Cats don’t eat vegetables.

9. The phone doesn’t work.

10. The car doesn’t start.

11. Mother doesn’t cook on Sundays.

12. Father doesn’t get up early on weekends.

13. Jim doesn’t drink coffee.

14. He doesn’t like tea, either.

15. We don’t sell magazines at our store.

16. Turtles don’t walk fast.

17. You don’t eat very much.

18. Mary doesn’t sing in the choir.

19. They don’t have any more tickets.

20. They don’t like bad weather.

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Idiom Focus: Common English Idioms 8

Every Saturday I’ll give you a couple of idioms to learn.  An idiom is a saying or phrase whose meaning cannot be taken from the literal meanings of the words.  Currently, we’re looking at some common English idioms.

drop someone a line:  write a brief note / letter

Example:

Jack promised his grandmother he would drop her a line once he got settled at university.

 

figure something out:  solve a problem, understand something

Example:

Have you figured out how to use that new software yet?

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Grammar Basics: Unit 6 – Simple Present, Negative

To make the negative of a simple present sentence, use the appropriate form of the verb DO together with NOT, followed by the dictionary form of the main verb of the sentence.

Examples:

I/you/we/they + do not (don’t) + V

Examples:

  • I eat ==> I do not (don’t) eat
  • You drive ==> You do not (don’t) drive
  • We walk ==> We do not (don’t) drive
  • They talk ==> They do not (don’t) talk

he/she/it + does not (doesn’t) + V

Examples:

  • He sings ==> He does not (doesn’t) sing
  • She runs ==> She does not (doesn’t) run
  • It rains ==> It does not (doesn’t) rain

Note that for third person singular, there is NO “s” after the end of the main verb. Instead, the “s” goes on DO: do ==> does.

Examples:

  • John doesn’t like pizza.
  • They don’t eat out at all. (“eat out” = eat at a restaurant)
  • I don’t do my homework when I feel sick.
  • You don’t have your key with you, do you?
  • He doesn’t have a chance of winning the election.

Exercises: Write negative sentences from the following words. Be sure to put the verb “do” in the right form (do // does).

Example:
have / horses / wings ==> Horses don’t have wings.

1. any / more / piano / play / Steve / the

2. at / bird / night / sing / the

3. broccoli / children / like / the

4. I / on / TV / watch / weekdays

5. fall / grass / in / mow / our / the /we

6. after / dark / drive / Nelson / sisters / the

7. enough / he / study

8. cats / eat / vegetables

9. phone / the / work

10. car / start / the

11. cook / Mother / on / Sundays

12. early / Father / get / on / up / weekends

13. coffee / drink / Jim

14. either / he / like / tea

15. at / magazines / our / sell / store / we

16. fast / turtles / walk

17. eat / much / very / you

18. choir / in / Mary / sing / the

19. any / have / more / they / tickets

20. bad / like / they / weather

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Culture Focus – Names

English names follow a typically Western naming convention: first name, middle name, and last name. A child is given his name at birth, which is recorded with the hospital and county before the child goes home from the hospital. In olden days when babies were born at home, the official name registration was more likely to done at the time of the child’s christening, or baptism, which was generally held sometime during the child’s first month.

The first name is also called the given name, since it is the name given to the child at birth by the parents. Middle names are also typically given to a child, but they are seldom used except in official documents. Also, since parents usually use a child’s full name (first, middle, last) when reprimanding the child, most people associate the use of the full name with getting in trouble. The last name (also known as family name or surname) comes from the father. Girls have their father’s name until they are married, at which time they generally give it up and assume their husband’s family name. For this reason, we speak of a woman’s maiden name (the name she had before she married) and her married name.

Typical boys’ names (with shorter versions in parentheses) are: John, David (Dave), Michael (Mike), Mark, Stephen (Steve), Robert (Bob, Rob), Timothy (Tim), Bradley (Brad), William (Will, Bill), and Thomas (Tom). Typical girls’ names are: Mary, Diane (Diana), Cheryl (Sherry, Sheri), Sarah, Julia (Julie), Ann, Nancy, Deborah (Debby, Deb), Barbara (Barb), and Carol. According to the Social Security website, the top ten baby names for boys and girls in 2010 are:

Boys:
1. Jacob
2. Ethan
3. Michael
4. Jayden
5. William
6. Alexander
7. Noah
8. Daniel
9. Aiden
10. Anthony

Girls:
1. Isabella
2. Sophia
3. Emma
4. Olivia
5. Ava
6. Emily
7. Abigail
8. Madison
9. Chloe
10. Mia

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Grammar Basics: Unit 5 – Simple Present (Solution)

Exercises: Write sentences from the following words. Be sure to put the verb in the right form (sing, sings, etc.)

1. It always rains at night.

2. He works at a restaurant.

3. Tom studies after school.

4. We go on vacation every summer.

5. She practices the piano three hours every day.

6. They cut their grass on Saturdays.

7. Dad takes a shower every morning.

8. The schoolkids have their yearly picnic at the end of May.

9. John likes skiing.

10. He hates bowling.

11. They live in Hawaii.

12. Sam never listens to music when he reads a book.
(Or, Sam never reads a book when he listens to music.)

13. The moon rises later each day.

14. The piano needs tuning.

15. Apples taste good.

16. Mother bakes cookies for Christmas.

17. Cats have soft fur.

18. Babies sleep all the time.

19. This vacuum cleaner has good suction.

20. I usually read a book before I go to bed.

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Grammar Basics: Unit 5 – Simple Present

The Simple Present Tense is used for things that are generally true, or for things that happen sometimes/all the time.

The Simple Present is formed like this:

I/you/we/they + V

Examples:

  • I eat
  • You drive
  • We walk
  • They talk

he/she/it + V +(e)s

Examples:

  • He sings
  • She runs
  • It rains

Verbs that end in –s/–sh/–ch/–o need –es instead of –s:

Examples:

  • watch ==> watches
  • wash ==> washes
  • miss ==> misses
  • do ==> does

Verbs that end in –y need –ies instead of –s:

Examples:

  • cry ==> cries
  • study ==> studies

Verbs used with adverbs of frequency are in the simple present:

Examples:

  • He never cries.
  • I usually exercise in the morning.
  • She always eats toast for breakfast.

Exercises: Write sentences from the following words. Be sure to put the verb in the right form (sing, sings, etc.)

1. always / at / it / night / rain

2. a / at / he / restaurant / work

3. after / school / study / Tom

4. every / go / on / summer / vacation / we

5. day / every / hours / piano / practice / she / the / three

6. cut / grass / on / Saturdays / their / they

7. a / Dad / every / morning / shower / take

8. at / end / have / May / of / picnic / schoolkids / the / the / their / yearly

9. John / like / skiing

10. bowling / hate / he

11. Hawaii / in / live / they

12. a / book / he / listen / music / never / read / Sam / to / when

13. day / each / later / moon / rise / the

14. need / piano / the / tuning

15. apples / good / taste

16. bake / Christmas / cookies / for / Mother

17. cats / fur / have / soft

18. all / babies / sleep / the / time

19. cleaner / good / have / suction / this / vacuum

20. a / bed / before / book / go / I / I / read / to / usually

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Education Focus: American Educational System

In this post I want to give you an introduction to the American Educational System. We’ll start off with some general information.

The United States has compulsory education. This means that children are obligated to attend school for a certain number of years, for a specific age range. The actual ages depends on which state you live in. Generally, children in Illinois must attend school from the ages of 7 to 17. The school may be public or private.

Some children attend a pre-school (nursery school) prior to attending Kindergarten. The pre-school format varies greatly, but generally is only a few hours a day, a couple days a week, since the children are as young as 3 or 4 years old. Pre-school is not mandatory, although some states are considering adopting “universal pre-school” legislation. This would make pre-school available for all children, but it would not necessarily mean that all children would be required to attend.

Most children begin attending school by entering Kindergarten at age 5 or 6. Like pre-school, Kindergarten not mandatory, and is not full-time. Kindergarten is generally only a half-day of school; some children attend in the morning, while others attend in the afternoon. The subjects that children learn in kindergarten vary, but the emphasis tends to be on social skills and reading readiness.

More formal education starts with First Grade. It is in the First Grade that children are required to attend school full-time – typically, about six hours a day, five days a week. Grades 1 – 5 are variously called primary grades or elementary grades, and a school that teaches these grades is typically called a grade school or an elementary school.

Children in Grades 6 – 8 are said to attend junior high school, or middle school. The term “middle school” is becoming increasingly more common. Junior high can be thought of as a transition from the lower grades to high school. In grade school, children stay in one classroom and are taught nearly all subjects by the same teacher. In high school, children move from classroom to classroom to take different subjects taught by different teachers. By contrast, in junior high, children move from classroom to classroom similar to high school, but the children all move together and take the same subjects.

High school represents the final stage of compulsory education. There are four grades in high school: Grades 9 – 12, with the students in each year (or class) designated according to which grade they are in. Ninth graders are in their first year of high school, and are called “freshmen.” Tenth graders, or second-year students, are called “sophomores.” Together, freshmen and sophomores are known as “underclassmen.” Students in their last two years of high school have the status of “upperclassmen”: third-year students are “juniors,” and fourth-year students are “seniors.”

Once a child has completed high school, or attained the age set forth in compulsory education laws (17 years old in Illinois), the child has satisfied the compulsory education requirements and is free. Many students, however, choose to continue their education by attending college or university.

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Crossword – Basic Vocabulary 1 (Solution)

crossword puzzle solution

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