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Speaking English Course A
Lesson A8

In The Town

Click and listen to each sentence as many times as you like

Say each sentence as many times as you like

Practise saying each sentence until it sounds right

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

The first part of this lesson will help you identify various buildings in the town.
You will also be given practice in asking directions.

We planned to attend a public meeting in the town and I got off the train at the main station, hoping to meet my friend Susan. I waited patiently for half an hour but she didn't show up. I thought I had better walk to the Town Hall where the public meeting was to be held. I made the mistake of turning right after leaving the station. I should have turned left. What I didn't realise was that I had left the station by the back exit. If I had left by the main exit I would have found myself in the High Street and I would easily have found the Town Hall, about 200 metres along the road. When I realised my mistake I asked a man the way. I arrived fifteen minutes late for the meeting, so I crept in and sat at the back.    

See if you can answer these questions:

    1. Who did Brenda hope to meet at the station?

2. How long did she wait?

3. Where was the public meeting to be held?

4. What mistake did Brenda make?

5. Which exit did she use?

6. Which exit should she have used?

7. How far was the Town Hall from the station?

8. What did she do when she realised her mistake?

9. How late was she for the public meeting?

10. What did Brenda do on arriving at the meeting?    

    Here are the Answers

1. Brenda hoped to meet her friend Susan at the station.

2. She waited over half an hour.

3. The public meeting was to be held at the Town Hall.

4. Brenda turned right instead of left.

5. She left by the back exit.

6. She should have used the main exit.

7. The Town Hall was 200 metres from the station.

8. She asked someone the way.

9. She was 15 minutes late for the public meeting.

10. Brenda crept in and sat at the back.    

Places of Worship: Cathedral, Church, Synagogue, Mosque.

Places of Education: University, College, School.

Places Providing a Service: Dry Cleaners, Shoe Repairers, Library, Travel Agent, Estate Agent, Bank, Building Society.    

   Listen to someone asking the way.

"Excuse me please. Could you tell me where the bank is?"

"Yes, cross over the road at the next crossing down there, can you see it?"

"Yes!"

"Then carry on past the shops until you get to the pub on the corner."

"Right!"

"Turn right, up West Street. The bank is about three hundred metres up West Street on your left."

"Thanks very much."

Here is another similar situation.

"Excuse me! Where will I find the Cathedral please?"

"You need to take the first street on the left, then the second right, you'll see the spire at the end of the road, you can't miss it!"    

    Listen to this telephone conversation about a visit to a museum.

"Hello Pauline! Megan here. I thought I might go into town to visit the museum today. Would you like to come with me."

"Yes I would. That'll be great! I believe they have some new exhibits on display. I'd love to see them, especially the ones from ancient Rome."

"I think it's best to go by bus as it's difficult to park."

"O.K. Let's go early and have lunch in that little Italian restaurant on the corner of High Street and Castle Street. You know the one! They serve excellent pizzas."

"That's a good idea. I think there's a bus at about ten to twelve. That should get us there at about half past."

"Right! Meet you at the bus stop in about half an hour."

"Bye!"    

Now go through these conversations again and repeat them sentence by sentence.

"who" always refers to people.

"which" mostly refers to animals and things.

For example:-

Who painted your house?

In this sentence you are asking for the name of the person.

Which programme are you watching?

In this sentence you are asking for the title of the television programme.    

    Now you say these sentences.

Who painted your house?

Which programme are you watching?

What would you like for your birthday?

How do you operate the machinery?

When does the bank close?

Why were you late?

Who should we address the envelope to?

Who are you buying the present for?    

   Adjectives describe nouns.

For example:-

a fast car;
a tiny baby;
a young child.
an old man.
a clear, blue sky.   

For example:-

He walked slowly.
She danced beautifully.
The band played loudly.
The man was profoundly deaf.
The baby's mother crept silently down the stairs.    

   You can add 'ly' to some adjectives to turn them into adverbs as shown in the table below.

Turning Adjectives into Adverbs

Adjectives	Adverbs
beautiful	beautifully
silent	silently
strict	strictly
careful	carefully
slow	slowly
natural	naturally
proper	properly
quiet	quietly
sudden	suddenly
heavy	heavily
nasty	nastily

Notice that 'heavy' and 'nasty' already end in 'y' so, to change the adjective into an adverb, we change the 'y' into 'ily'.

	Adjectives	Adverbs
	fast	fast
	good	well

For example:-

She drives a fast car.    Don't speak so fast.

You speak good English.    She speaks English well.    

For example:-

always
never
often
seldom
sometimes
soon
just
still    

I always leave the house at 7.45 a.m.

He never goes home until he has finished all of his work.

They have often gone on holiday together.

During the summer, it seldom rains.

Sometimes the children play in the park.

The bus will arrive soon.

His parents have just arrived from Hong Kong.

It is still raining.    

My father brought up our family very s - - - - - -.

(silently, suddenly, stupidly, strictly)

The teacher spoke q - - - to the pupils.

(queerly, quietly, quaintly, quiveringly)

Animals live n - - - - in the wild.

(nicely, naturally, nearly, nervously)

The students learnt to speak p - - - -.

(properly, poorly, persistently, previously)

    Listen to what you could have said:-

My father brought up our family very strictly.

The teacher spoke quietly to the pupils.

Animals live naturally in the wild.

The students learnt to speak properly.    

Now try some adjectives

Choose the best adjectives to describe these nouns:-

a b - - - - - - woman.

(beastly, beautiful, bulky, burly)

a s - - - train.

(silent, strict, slow, shaggy)

a c - - - - driver.

(careful, creaky, crowded, cloudy)

an old s - - - - movie.

(sleepy, strict, sudden, silent)

   Listen to what you could have said:-

a beautiful woman.

a slow train.

a careful driver.

an old silent movie.    

Examples:-

The Cathedral is older than the Town Hall.

This television programme is more interesting than your book.

With some adjectives we use 'er' and 'est'.

With other, longer, adjectives we use 'more' and 'most'.    

Look at the tables below:-

Comparatives and Superlatives
using 'er' and 'est'

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
fast	faster	the fastest
tiny	tinier	the tiniest
old	older	the oldest
loud	louder	the loudest
heavy	heavier	the heaviest

Comparatives and Superlatives
using 'more' and 'most'

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
beautiful	more beautiful	the most beautiful
careful	more careful	the most careful
famous	more famous	the most famous

When a word has several syllables, one or more of the syllables is spoken with more emphasis or 'stress' than the others.

Practise saying the following words with the correct pronunciation and stress.

Place the emphasis on that part of the word which is THIS colour.

Be careful of differences between spelling and speech.

The letter in yellow is silent.

    station    cathedral    synagogue    university    mosque    seldom    always    properly    conversation   patiently   building society    realised   exhibits   excellent   television programme   whenever   machinery   a hundred metres    

Tailpiece

A Steady Hand Ploughs a Straight Furrow.

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Course  A End of Lesson A8

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Link to Introduction

Links to other lessons in Course A : 1   2   3   4   5   6   7  *  9   10

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