Starting Off

1. Work in pairs and answer the questions.

• The pictures show four classrooms. Tell each other what you can see in the photos.
• Which room is more like yours? Which is the most different? Give reasons.

Listening

1. Work in pairs. Tell your partner about these things

• Where is your junior high school?
• What kind of classrooms do you have in junior high school?

2. With your partner, look at questions 1-6. Who will you hear? What is the situation in each conversation? Write your answer in the box. 

3. Look at these questions. You will hear people talking in 6 different situations. For each question, choose the correct answer.

4. Listen again and check your answer.

Grammar

1. Singular and plural nouns

Singular noun is a noun that refers to one thing. It can be a person, an animal, or an object. Plural nouns are nouns that refer to more than one thing. They can be people, animals, or objects. To make singular nouns into plural nouns, we usually add -s or -es to the noun. Study this list of rules:

• For most noun, we add -s.

• For nouns that end in ch, x, ss, or s sounds, add -es.

• For nouns that end with f or fe, change f or fe to v, add -es.

• For nouns that end with consonant and o, add -es.

• For nouns that end with vowel sound and y, add -s. For nouns that end with consonant and y, change y to i and add -es.

• Singular noun uses singular verb:
  The kid catches a fish.
  A cat eats the fish.
  The cat is happy
• Plural nouns use plural verbs:
  The kids catch a fish.
  Three cats eat the fish.
  The cats are happy.
• Irregular plural
  Some nouns are irregular. We do not add -s or -es to make them plural. These nouns sometimes have different plural forms and sometimes have the same form.

Exercise

You will hear 5 conversations. Listen and complete the conversations with the correct singular or plural noun.

2. Articles a, an, the
Article a/an is called indefinite article because it is used before a noun that is general or when its identity is not known.

• We use article a/an for singular nouns. We cannot use article a/an for plural nouns (more than one).
  We have a cat at home.
  They buy an iguana.
  There is a lizard on the wall.
• We usually use article a/an when talking about people’s jobs.
  She’s a doctor.
  My mother is an architect.
  He is a teacher.
• For noun that begins with consonant sounds, we use article a.
  a cat
  a pink umbrella
  a university
  Note that even though the spelling of university begins with a vowel ‘U’, the pronunciation begins with a consonant sound “YU”. So, we use article a
• For noun that begins with vowel sounds, we use article an.
  an invitation
  an obvious fact
  an hour
  Note that even though the spelling of hour begins with a consonant ‘H’, the pronunciation begins with the vowel sound “O”. So, we use article an..

Article the is called definite article because we use the for noun that is specific.

• We use article the when the listener already knows which thing we are talking about because it was mentioned before or because there’s only one of them.
  I’m going to take the dog for a walk.
  Have you seen the car key?
  They go to the school next to the bridge
• We also use article the when we talk about a particular group of things.
  I am amazed by the students at this school. (These are the particular students in this school, not students in general.)
  We went to the zoo and saw the kangaroos. (These are the particular kangaroos in that zoo – not kangaroos in general.)
• When we talk about things in general, we normally use a plural or uncountable noun with no article.
  Birds eat worms.
  Water freezes at 0°C.
  Children need a lot of sleep

Exercise

Choose the correct answer to complete the sentence.

Speaking

Pronunciation /s/, /z/, /iz/

1. Try saying these words. Which ones end with /s/? Which end with /z/? Which end with /iz/?

belongs               catches              changes              chooses              does              finishes              forgets              gets              goes              likes              lives              loves              passes              plays              practices              prefers              sees              speaks              studies              thinks              uses              walks              wants            washes              wears              works

2. Listen and check.

3. Work in pairs. Think of a friend or family member. Tell your partner these things about them.

• Facts, example: she lives in . . . , she goes to . . .
• Things he/she often does, example: He often plays. . . , she likes . . . 
• Something your friend is doing around now, example: she’s learning English.
• What you think your friend is doing right now, example: he’s walking home.

Grammar
Prepositions of Place

• We use prepositions of place to say where something is.
• We use at with points
  at the bus stop, at the station, at home, at school
• We use in with spaces or to say something is inside another thing.
  in the kitchen, in the sea, in the car, in France
• We use on with surfaces
  on the wall, on the floor, on the ceiling, on the table

Exercise

1. Choose the correct option in italics.

2. Complete the gaps with at, in and on.

3. Put the words in order to make questions. 

4. Match the questions with the answers.

5. Work in pairs. Ask and answer the questions from Exercise 3 and 4. Use the correct prepositions in your answers.

6. Listen and complete the dialogue with the correct form of the verbs in brackets and prepositions of place and time. 

7. Work in pairs. Ask and answer questions from exercise 6.