Monthly Archives: April 2012

Culture Focus: Getting a Driver’s License

Posted on 2012/04/11
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In most states in the US, 16 is the minimum age to obtain a driver’s license. Some states are lower. For example, 14-year-olds may get a driver’s license in South Dakota. New Jersey is at the other extreme, requiring drivers to be at least 17 years of age. Also, most states require that student drivers take and pass a driver’s education class before they are eligible to take an official driver’s licensing exam from the driver licensing facility, or DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles), as it is called in many states.

getting a driver's licenseA driver’s education class typically has two parts. The first is a classroom component, where students learn about driving safety and “rules of the road” (laws regulating drivers). The second is a practical component (“behind the wheel”), where students practice driving with an instructor. In some classes, students must spend several sessions on a “simulator,” or mock car, before they are permitted to drive an actual car on the road. A student driver must successfully pass both components of driver’s education. He must also spend a minimum number of hours driving outside of class. Then he is given some sort of certificate to verify completion of the requirements and eligibility for taking the official driver’s exam, or “road test.” (When I was in school, we called this a “blue slip,” because it was blue.)

At the driver license facility, the student driver registers and waits for his turn to take the road test. An examiner will go in the car with him and give him various driving tasks to do. The examiner might ask him to drive down a certain road or turn left at a stop sign. The examiner might ask the student driver to parallel park by a curb. The examiner might even ask the student driver to do a three-point turn or a two-point turn. The examiner carries a clipboard with a checklist, and notes how the student driver did. He will check to see if the student driver performed the requested maneuver correctly. He will check to see if the student driver used turn signals properly. He will check to see if the student drove in an unsafe manner, and so on. If the examiner is satisfied with the student’s driving, he will pass the student. Then the student can exchange his “blue slip” for an actual driver’s license.

For adults who already know how to drive, a vision test and a written test (based on the “rules of the road”) are usually required in addition to a road test. The vision test is to make sure the driver can see well enough to drive. In Illinois, the requirement is 20/40 vision or better, plus peripheral vision (140 degrees). If the driver’s vision is not 20/40, he must wear glasses while driving. The glasses should correct the vision to 20/40 or better. The written test is not very hard. It consists mainly of sign recognition, and rules pertaining to specific situations (for example, does a driver commit a moving violation if he passes a stopped school bus?). Driver license facilities have booklets available for study. These booklets list the rules of the road that all drivers are expected to know. Studying these booklets gives a person enough knowledge to pass the written test.

After passing all the necessary tests, the student can get his driver’s license. He hands in all the paperwork and waits. When it’s his turn, the official will call his name and take his picture. After a few minutes, his driver’s license is finished, and he is now a full-fledged driver.

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Grammar Basics: Unit 33 – should (Solutions)

Posted on 2012/04/11
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Exercises:  Complete the following sentences, using “you should” + and one of the following verbs:

Example:

If you are tired, _________ to bed.  (go) ==>  If you are tired, you should go to bed.

1.    When you go swimming, you should wear swim goggles.
2.    If you are going to the party, you should bring a gift.
3.    When you plant some seeds, you should water them.
4.    If you gain weight, you should go on a diet.
5.    If you hurt someone, you should apologize to them.
6.    That’s a very interesting TV program.  You should watch it.
7.    If you get your clothes dirty, you should put them in the laundry.
8.    When you have finished, you should turn off the lights.
9.    If you’re leaving the house, you should lock the door.
10.    If you make a mess, you should clean it up.

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Grammar Basics: Unit 33 – should

Posted on 2012/04/10
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“should” is used with a verb in its infinitive form.  It has the same form for all persons and number:

Pattern:

I / you / he, she, it / we / they “should” + V (inf.)

When you “should” do something, that means it is a good thing to do, or it is the right thing to do:

It’s cold out – you should put on a coat.  (It is a good thing for you to put on a coat.)
You should brush your teeth after every meal.  (It is a good thing for you to brush your teeth after every meal.)
You should help your neighbor if he is having trouble.  (Helping your neighbor is the right thing to do.)

To use the negative, put “not” between “should” and its verb:

Pattern:

I / you / he, she, it / we / they “should not” + V (inf.)

When you “should not” do something, that means it is not a good thing to do, or it is the wrong thing to do:

Tom should not work so hard.  (It is not a good thing for Tom to work so hard.)
You should not be rude.  (Being rude is not the right thing to do.)
Jane should not be late for class.  (Being late for class is not the right thing to do.)

Many times we give advice by saying, “I think you should…”:

I think you should go visit your mother.
I think Jack should get a haircut.
Matt thinks Susan should buy a new car.

For the negative form:  “I don’t think you should…”:

I don’t think you should give James a hard time.
I don’t think Jack and Jill should go up the hill.
Mr. Miller doesn’t think Peter should go into second grade yet.

If we want to ask someone for advice, we can say  “Do you think I should…?”:

Do you think I should go to Hawaii for vacation?
Do you think I should buy this necktie?
Do you think I should invite Sam to the party?

Note:  “should” is not the same as “have to”.

  • “Have to” means there is an obligation.
  • “Should” does not imply obligation.  It only means that it is a good idea.

Instead of saying “should,” you can also say “ought to”:

I think you ought to go visit your mother.
You ought to brush your teeth after every meal.
Do you think I ought to buy this necktie?

Exercises:  Complete the following sentences, using “you should” + and one of the following verbs:

Example:

If you are tired, _________ to bed.  (go) ==>  If you are tired, you should go to bed.

Use these verbs:

apologize
bring
clean
go
lock
put
turn off
watch
water
wear

1.    When you go swimming, ______________ swim goggles.
2.    If you are going to the party, ______________ a gift.
3.    When you plant some seeds, ______________ them.
4.    If you gain weight, ______________ on a diet.
5.    If you hurt someone, ______________ to them.
6.    That’s a very interesting TV program.  ______________ it.
7.    If you get your clothes dirty, ______________ them in the laundry.
8.    When you have finished, ______________ the lights.
9.    If you’re leaving the house, ______________ the door.
10.    If you make a mess, ______________ it up.

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Education Focus: Report Cards 2

Posted on 2012/04/09
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Look, Ma - Straight As again!Let’s continue our look at report cards, which we started last week.  Although students are given a letter grade based on the percentage earned from their assignments, tests, and quizzes, this letter grade is converted to a number for the purpose of calculating the GPA (grade point average).  With this conversion, an “A” has the value 4.0, while an “F” has a value of 0.0.  The full breakdown of values is as follows:

A+ (97%) – 4.0
A (93%) – 4.0
A– (90%) – 3.7 (3.67)
B+ (87%) – 3.3
B (83%) – 3.0
B– (80%) – 2.7 (2.67)
C+ (77%) – 2.3
C (73%) – 2.0
C– (70%) – 1.7 (1.67)
D+ (67%) – 1.33
D (63%) – 1.0
D– (60%) – 0.7 (0.67)
F – 0.0

With these values, then, it is easy to calculate a student’s GPA:  a student who had three As, two Bs, and one C would have a GPA of 3.3:

three As:    4.0 X 3
two Bs:    3.0 X 2
one C:        2.0 X 1
20 points for 6 classes = 20/6 ==> 3.3

One of the drawbacks of calculating the GPA in this way is that an “A” in a relatively easy class (such as typing) is no different than an “A” in a more difficult class (such as calculus or physics).  This means that some students would probably take classes that are easy, instead of classes that are more challenging, because they are trying to keep their GPA as high as possible.  A solution to this is the concept of “weighted grades.”  Weighted grades are used primarily at the high school level, but not all high schools use weighted grades.

Weighted grades take into account the level of difficulty of the particular subject.  Harder subjects in general, or honors classes in particular, are worth more in terms of their GPA value than easy subjects / non-honors classes.  So in a weighted-grade system, an “A” in calculus would have a GPA value of 5.0 (for example) instead of the normal 4.0.  With weighted grades, then, it is possible to have a GPA that is higher than 4.0 (which is the maximum GPA under a non-weighted-grade system). Weighted grades help to reward the risk to a student’s GPA in taking more challenging classes.

Report cards used to be completed by hand, and the teacher would pass them out at the end of the term.  The student would then be expected to take them home for the parents to look at (who had to sign them, indicating that they had seen the report card), and then bring them back to school.  Of course, there were many students who were afraid to bring home their report cards (or pretended to “lose” or “forget” their report cards) because they were ashamed of their grades!

Nowadays, report cards are addressed to the parents and mailed to the student’s home.  Not as many excuses for “lost” or “forgotten” report cards this way!  Many schools also let parents log in and check their student’s grades at any time during the school term, as well as check for missing assignments, etc.  If a parent has concerns about his student’s academic performance, he can also request a parent-teacher conference.

Next week we’ll wrap up this little series on report cards with a look at why GPAs are important to students.

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Crossword – Basic Vocabulary 10 (solution)

Posted on 2012/04/09
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crossword puzzle solution

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Crossword – Basic Vocabulary 10

Posted on 2012/04/08
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crossword puzzle
Across
1 very good; excellent (5-4)
6 to do something in a particular way or for a particular reason (3)
8 a small, bitter, egg-shaped black or green fruit, used as food and for making oil (5)
9 the power exerted by a horse in pulling (10)
12 a place where sick people go to get better (8)
15 the process of sending out a signal or message using radio, TV, or similar equpiment (12)
17 an estimate (13)
19 firm, hard, or difficult to bend (5)
21 a device used to measure how hot or cold something is (11)
25 conjunction used for comparing two things (2)
26 an adjective used to indicate there is just one thing, and no others (4)
27 a mark that is difficult to remove, especially one made by a liquid such as coffee, blood, ink, etc (5)
29 the final part (3)
30 a salty body of water (3)
31 to move from one place to another (2)
33 an examination of how two or more things are similar (10)
36 auxiliary verb (2)
37 a strong protest or objection (6)

Down
1 the part of a room that you stand on (5)
2 liquid water coming from the sky (4)
3 at a particular time in the past or the future (4)
4 one of the little bones in your mouth that you use for eating and talking (5)
5 a particular way of thinking about a problem or subject (9)
6 the number of years someone has lived, or something has existed (3)
7 without stopping or interruption (10)
10 a little sticker from the post office that lets you mail a letter (5)
11 opposite of no (3)
13 opposite of crooked (8)
14 a place where a river or stream falls down a rock or over a cliff (9)
16 caring and feelnig sorry about someone’s problems (11)
18 a part of the inside of a building that has its own walls, floors, and ceiling (4)
20 idea (7)
22 to decay by a gradual, natural process (3)
23 the first day of the work week (6)
24 a piece of electronic equipment that lets you listen to programs (5)
27 a part inside a plant or animal that is shaped like a bag and contains liquid or air (3)
28 the part of your body that connects your hand to your body (3)
30 unhappy (3)
32 a straight, narrow beam of light (3)
34 a preposition used to show what a part belongs to or comes from (2)
35 opposite of yes (2)

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Idiom Focus: Animal Idioms 16

Posted on 2012/04/07
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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.

horse around:    rough or noisy play

Example:  

The lifeguard kicked out the boys who were horsing around on the diving board.

horse of a different color:    something totally separate and different

Example:  

You’re planning on going to State U. instead of Harvard?  That’s really a horse of a different color.

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Writing Assignment: At a Church (Solution)

Posted on 2012/04/07
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Listening to preaching
1.    Where is this picture taken?
This picture is taken inside a church.

2.    What are the people doing?
The people are sitting and listening to the man talk.

3.    Who is the man in the front?
The man in the front is the pastor (minister).

4.    What is he doing?
The pastor is talking.

5.    What kind of benches are the people sitting in?
The benches that the people are sitting in are called pews.

6.    What is the wooden lectern behind the man called?
The wooden lectern behind the man is called a pulpit.

7.    What kind of book might the people have with them?
The people might have a Bible with them.

8.    What kind of book might be in the people’s seat?
A hymnal (songbook) might be in the pew.

9.    What kind of music might there be in a church service?
In a church service there might be piano music, or organ music, or choir music.

10.    What kind of songs do the people sing?
The songs that the people sing are called hymns.  Sometimes they also sing praise songs.

11.    Who else might sing in church?
The choir might sing in church, or maybe a soloist.

12.    What part of the church are the people in?
The people are in the part of the church that is called the sanctuary.

13.    If you need help finding a seat, whom can you ask?
If you can’t find a place to sit down, you can ask an usher for help.

14.    What do people do when they go to church?
When people go to church, they sing songs, read the Scriptures, pray, and listen to the pastor talk.

15.    What can you read at a church to help you follow the different parts of a service?
You can read a bulletin to help you follow the different parts of a church service.

16.    Who does most of the talking at a church service?
The pastor does most of the talking at a church service.

17.    What is the pastor’s talk usually called?
The pastor’s talk is usually called a sermon.

18.    What is it called when people give money to the church?
When people give money to the church, it is usually called an offering.

19.    What does the pastor often do at the end of the service?
At the end of the service, the pastor often gives a short blessing, or benediction.

20.    What might the people do after the service?
After the service, the people might have fellowship together, eating doughnuts and drinking coffee, or even having a potluck dinner.

Paragraph:  At a Church Service

When you go to a church service, you are often welcomed at the door by greeters, or an usher.  They can help you to find a seat in the sanctuary, and will give you a bulletin for the service.  The bulletin has the order of the service, and it often has announcements and other useful information for the congregation (the people attending the church service).  Sometimes people are engaged in quiet contemplation before the service starts, but other people like to say hello to their friends.  Many times the organist or pianist will play a short piece of music just before the services starts.  This short piece of music is called a prelude.  Then the church service starts:  sometimes with a prayer, sometimes with a song, sometimes with a responsive reading or a call to worship.  After that, several songs or hymns are sung.  Then it is time for prayers to be said.  After prayers come some announcements, and an offering is taken.  Then the choir sings, followed by a brief prayer, and the pastor gives his sermon.  After the sermon generally comes another brief prayer, and a closing hymn.  Finally, the pastor dismisses the congregation with a blessing, or benediction.

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Writing Assignment: At a Church

Posted on 2012/04/06
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Going to Worship
Vocabulary

pastor
minister
sermon
Bible
hymnal
hymn
sing
pew
usher
offering
offering plate
bulletin
aisle
pulpit
choir
sanctuary
organ
organist
piano
pianist
choir director
service
fellowship
cross
pray
prayer
communion / Lord’s supper
Lord’s prayer
creed
benediction

1.    Where is this picture taken?
2.    What are the people doing?
3.    Who is the man in the front?
4.    What is he doing?
5.    What kind of benches are the people sitting in?
6.    What is the wooden lectern behind the man called?
7.    What kind of book might the people have with them?
8.    What kind of book might be in the people’s seat?
9.    What kind of music might there be in a church service?
10.    What kind of songs do the people sing?
11.    Who else might sing in church?
12.    What part of the church are the people in?
13.    If you need help finding a seat, whom can you ask?
14.    What do people do when they go to church?
15.    What can you read at a church to help you follow the different parts of a service?
16.    Who does most of the talking at a church service?
17.    What is the pastor’s talk usually called?
18.    What is it called when people give money to the church?
19.    What does the pastor often do at the end of the service?
20.    What might the people do after the service?

Paragraph:  At a Church Service

Have you ever been to a Christian church service?  What was it like – inspiring, interesting, boring?  Were there a lot of people attending?  Write a brief paragraph describing a time you attended a church service, or some other religious service if you haven’t been to a Christian church.

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Grammar Basics: Unit 32 – must (Solutions)

Posted on 2012/04/06
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Exercises:  Complete the sentences. Use “must be” and one of the following verbs.

Example:

Your sister had a new baby? Congratulations! You must be (hungry, happy, tired)!  ==> You must be happy!

  1. Jack worked all night. He must be tired.
  2. It must be windy. I see everyone is using an umbrella.
  3. Class is canceled today. Mrs. Smith must be sick.
  4. John just sits on the couch and sighs. He must be bored.
  5. Mary gets straight As every semester. She must be very smart.

Exercises:  Complete the sentences. Use “must” and one of the following verbs.

Example:

Everything in Susie’s room is pink. She must (hate, like, know) the color pink.  ==> She must like the color pink.

  1. Miss Brown teaches two kindergarten classes every day. She must have the patience of Job.
  2. Tom studied for six hours last night. He must know all the material well enough for the test by now.
  3. The Jones have a large vegetable garden. They must eat plenty of fresh vegetables in the summer.
  4. Jane used to have long hair, but now it’s short. She must have gotten a haircut.
  5. Jack seems to know so much. He must read a lot.

Exercises:  Complete the sentences. Use “must” and one of the following verbs.

Example:

You are going to Disneyworld for your vacation? You must (take, give, bring) a lot of pictures.  ==> You must take a lot of pictures.

  1. Hospital visiting hours are over. You must go home now.
  2. All passengers must have their passports ready when going through Customs.
  3. In most states, you must be 21 to drink alcohol.
  4. You must sign this form before submitting it to the office.
  5. You must do your homework if you want to pass the test.

Exercises:  Complete the sentences. Use “must” or “must not”.

Example:

Jack never goes out after work. He (must / must not) like socializing.  ==> He must not like socializing.

  1. Matt rides a bike every day, even in the winter. He must not have a car.
  2. Jane has the flu. She must not feel very well.
  3. Tom works at the zoo. He must like animals.
  4. Grandpa needs a magnifying glass to read the paper. He must not see very well.
  5. Mary’s pie has won a blue ribbon at the county fair. She must be a good cook.

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