Sample

O ^Contents

^Unit Reading strategy Vocabulary Listening strategy Grammar Writing/Speaking

strategy Fun break Page

Friends

Noting references Informal email

Vocabulary about personality traits

Listening for specific information

Simple present tense Present continuous tense Countable and uncountable

nouns

Writing an informal email Using informal language

Phrasal verbs relating to friendship

2

Camping

Paraphrasing Review

Vocabulary about campsite facilities

Listening for directions Simple past tense Past continuous tense Order of adjectives

Writing a review

Using positive and negative language

Idioms relating to feelings 14

Pets

Identifying the writer’s tone, mood and views Letter to the editor

Vocabulary about the SPCA’s aims

Listening for appearance and size

Yes/No questions Wh-questions Imperatives

Making use of the mind map Riddle game about pets 26

Festivals

Identifying the sequence of events Drama script

Vocabulary about different festivals

Identifying facts and opinions

Simple future tense

Future tense with be going to

Personal and possessive pronouns

Writing a drama script Writing stage directions and

emotions

Board game about how different countries celebrate New Year

38

Shopping

Making inferences Story

Vocabulary about a department store

Listening for colours and patterns

Adverbs of manner and degree

How many and How much Some and any

Writing a story Recounting events

Word search puzzle about items at a department store

50

Nature and the environment

Working out the meaning of unfamiliar words

Speech

Vocabulary about natural disasters

Listening and making changes to information

Prepositions of location and movement

Modal verbs: can, could, should

Conjunctions: and, but, or

Making suggestions Matching the highest mountains with the places where they are located

62

• Popular Culture •

• Popular Culture •

• Debating •

• Drama •

• Drama •

• Popular Culture • • Short Stories •

• Short Stories •

• Social Issues •

• Debating •

1

5

4 3 2

6

Sample

Unit Reading strategy Vocabulary Listening strategy Grammar Writing/Speaking

strategy Fun break Page

Friends

Noting references Informal email

Vocabulary about personality traits

Listening for specific information

Simple present tense Present continuous tense Countable and uncountable

nouns

Writing an informal email Using informal language

Phrasal verbs relating to friendship

2

Camping

Paraphrasing Review

Vocabulary about campsite facilities

Listening for directions Simple past tense Past continuous tense Order of adjectives

Writing a review

Using positive and negative language

Idioms relating to feelings 14

Pets

Identifying the writer’s tone, mood and views Letter to the editor

Vocabulary about the SPCA’s aims

Listening for appearance and size

Yes/No questions Wh-questions Imperatives

Making use of the mind map Riddle game about pets 26

Festivals

Identifying the sequence of events Drama script

Vocabulary about different festivals

Identifying facts and opinions

Simple future tense

Future tense with be going to

Personal and possessive pronouns

Writing a drama script Writing stage directions and

emotions

Board game about how different countries celebrate New Year

38

Shopping

Making inferences Story

Vocabulary about a department store

Listening for colours and patterns

Adverbs of manner and degree

How many and How much Some and any

Writing a story Recounting events

Word search puzzle about items at a department store

50

Nature and the environment

Working out the meaning of unfamiliar words

Speech

Vocabulary about natural disasters

Listening and making changes to information

Prepositions of location and movement

Modal verbs: can, could, should

Conjunctions: and, but, or

Making suggestions Matching the highest mountains with the places where they are located

62

Appendices

⁷⁴

• Popular Culture •

• Popular Culture •

• Debating •

• Drama •

• Drama •

• Popular Culture • • Short Stories •

• Short Stories •

• Social Issues •

• Debating •

Sample

Shopping

O 5

• Popular Culture •

O D id you know? id you know?

PMQ

Before revitalisation, PMQ was built in 1951 as the Police Married Quarters. In November 2010, the HKSAR government announced the plan to preserve the site for the use of creative industries. PMQ was officially opened on 21 June 2014. It is a creative hub and heritage site. You can find fashion and household design, food & dining, furniture, jewellery and watches, etc. there. If you want to find something unique, check out PMQ and you will be surprised.

Making inferences

Making inferences is to read between the lines to find the extra information that is not directly stated in the text. You can infer the meaning of words, attitude, mood and tone of the writer. The following steps will help you to do this:

Look at the writer’s choice of words. Ask yourself questions like ‘What does the writer want me to believe?’ or ‘What does the writer say about…?’

Look for clues or keywords that give hints, e.g. modal verbs, adverbs or adjectives.

Use your prior knowledge to evaluate the hints and identify the extra information.

Your turn Your turn

Read the text and answer the question below.

This morning, Betty sneezed. She sneezed again and couldn’t stop. She felt very warm and her head was heavy. She tried very hard to leave her bed and called her friend, Cathy. She told Cathy that she wasn’t able to go shopping with her that day.

Why couldn’t Betty go shopping with Cathy?

R

eading strategyeading strategy

Useful website

O O

Check the following website to know more about PMQ:

www.pmq.org.hk

Sample

Unit 5 • Shopping •

O

⁵¹

Read the following story.

O R eading comprehension eading comprehension

Answer the following questions.

1. David and Cindy wanted to buy a jade ring because it was . A. their father’s birthday

B. their mother’s birthday

C. their grandmother’s birthday A B C D

D. their parents’ wedding anniversary

TSA

• Short Stories •

Jade market in Temple Street

David and his sister Cindy wanted to buy a jade ring for their mother’s birthday.

They set off to the local jade market in Temple Street and had a look.

They entered a small store. Mr Wong came over and greeted David and Cindy.

‘How may I help you?’ asked Mr Wong. ‘We would like to buy a jade ring for our mum’s birthday,’ said David.

‘As this is a small shop, we don’t actually have many options,’ Mr Wong said to them. ‘But we have two fabulous rings here.’

Mr Wong took them to the safe where the two rings were kept. One of them was very big and the other was very tiny.

Cindy wanted to buy the tiny ring while David liked the big one. They walked a few steps away from Mr Wong to discuss it.

They couldn’t make a decision. Cindy suggested having a race by running to the park. The fastest could decide which ring to buy. David agreed.

When they were about to start, David told Cindy that her shoelace was untied.

When Cindy looked down, David started to run.

David ran very fast and Cindy was running behind him. Finally, David won so they would buy the big ring.

However, when they went back to the shop, the big ring had gone. They asked Mr Wong where it was. ‘A couple bought it a few minutes ago,’ explained Mr Wong.

David looked at Cindy and sighed. He then turned to Mr Wong and said, ‘Winning the race doesn’t mean winning the prize!’ David smiled sadly. ‘We’ll now take the tiny ring please.’

Sample

2. Who is Mr Wong?

3. Use ONE word to fill in each blank.

David wanted a (i) ring while Cindy wanted a

(ii) ring.

4. Why did David tell Cindy that her shoelace was untied?

A. Because it was dangerous for Cindy when she ran.

B. Because David was cheating.

C. Because David wanted to remind Cindy. A B C D

D. Because Cindy ran too fast.

5. What does the underlined word mean?

safe /seɪf/

adjective

1. free from danger or harm

My parents don’t feel safe letting me go out alone.

2. (of a place) where someone/something is not likely to be lost Remember to keep your personal belongings in a safe place.

3. not involving any risk; sure

It’s safer to shop at bigger shops as most of them offer a money-back guarantee.

noun

4. a metal container with a lock, used for storing valuable things in

My grandfather has a safe at home to keep all his favourite collections.

A. 1 B. 2

C. 3 A B C D

D. 4

6. Find a word from the story which is the opposite in meaning to each of the following.

(i) foreign (ii) ordinary

7. What present would you buy for your mother’s or father’s birthday? Why?

HKDSE

TSA

TSA

HKDSE

Sample

Unit 1 • Friends •

O

⁵

generous arrogant

easy-going lazy considerate

cheerful indecisive

impatient trustworthy emotional

Your turn Your turn

A. Put the vocabulary above in the appropriate categories.



Good personality traits



Bad personality traits

B. Fill in the blanks using the vocabulary above.

O V ocabulary _{ocabulary O}

O

Howard is my good friend. He is (1) . He is always in a good mood. He is quite (2) . He doesn’t mind if we have any new ideas in group projects. He is also a (3) person. I can share everything in my life with him.

However, I don’t like doing projects with Kitty. She is

(4) and doesn’t do any work. She doesn’t have many friends because she is (5) . She may cry now but laugh like crazy later. Many of my classmates find her difficult to work with because she is (6) . She doesn’t show any thought for other people.

Sample

Listening for appearance and size

Sometimes you may be asked to distinguish people or pets by listening to the description of their appearance and size. You should pay attention to the words or phrases which give you hints. Here are some common words and phrases to describe appearance and size.

Appearance

big mouth chubby furry long tail

round eyes sharp ears skinny small nose

Size

big mini small tiny

Your turn Your turn

A. Read the description and put a tick (✔) to the correct picture.

I have a dog called George. George is furry and has long white hair. His eyes are big and he has pointed ears. George has a lovely short tail.

B. Listen to the conversation and put a tick (✔) to the picture if it is John’s cat. Put the name of his cat(s) in the spaces provided.

L

istening strategyistening strategy

(i) (ii) (iii)

Track 5

(i)

(iv)

(iii)

(vi) (ii)

(v)

Sample

Unit 3 • Pets •

O

³¹

Situation

You are Jessica Lai, a volunteer at the Puppy Adoption Centre. You receive a phone call from Mr Wong reporting a stray dog. Listen to the conversation. As you listen you can make notes on the note-taking sheet.

Listening note-taking sheet

Data File

Study the Data File for relevant information to be included in the writing task.

1. Email from the manager to Jessica 2. Memo from Irene to Jessica

Your turn Your turn

Complete the letter using information from the Data File and your notes.

Dear Sir/Madam,

There is a dog waiting for adoption.

We hope someone can adopt the dog.

Yours faithfully, Puppy Adoption Centre

O I ntegrated skills ntegrated skills

Track 6

Sex: Fur colour:

Hair: Height:

Weight:

Special features: 1. 2.

Dear Jessica,

Thanks so much for helping to write a letter to invite adoption. Please include these two main points in your letter.

• Owners must be responsible.

• We will visit the dog regularly.

Regards,

Manager, Puppy Adoption Centre

Hi Jessica,

Please remember to include your contact information at the end of the letter.

People can contact us if they have any questions or want more information. Our hotline is 2644 5928.

Thanks, Irene

Sample

Adverbs of manner and degree

Adverbs can be used with verbs, adjectives and other adverbs to tell you more about them.

There are different kinds of adverbs.

Adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner tell you how something happens. They are usually put after a verb or the object of a verb.

e.g. Salespeople should speak politely to customers.

We go shopping crazily.

Adverbs of degree

Adverbs of degree are used in front of adjectives. They can be used in front of adverbs of manner to make them stronger or weaker. Sometimes two adverbs of degree can be used together. Here are some common adverbs of degree.

a bit absolutely almost completely extremely fairly hardly highly just nearly quite rather really slightly too very e.g. My aunt is very upset because she could not buy the limited-edition handbag, while my

mum is a bit upset about that.

Katy is running very fast so that she can reach the shop before it opens.

The discounted items were almost completely sold out.

Your turn Your turn

A. Read the text and underline the correct adverbs.

Hong Kong people work very (1) ( hard / hardly ). Shopping has become one of the activities for them to relax. My brother is no exception. He is (2) ( extremely / a bit ) happy about shopping. Last Sunday, he went to different places for shopping. First, he went to Sham Shui Po. He was (3) ( rather / really ) excited when he saw all the electronic gadgets in the computer mall. He couldn’t stop himself from looking at every one of them (4) ( eagerly / easily ). He stayed in the computer mall for (5) ( slightly / nearly ) three hours. Next, he wanted to buy some clothes in Mong Kok. After he went out of the MTR station, he had to walk (6) ( very / too ) (7) ( slowly / slow ) because there were so many people. He found it difficult to shop

in these (8) ( almost / absolutely ) crowded streets at the weekend. Therefore, he gave up and decided to go there

O G _{rammar rammar}

Adverbs of manner are usually formed by adding ly to an adjective. Note that some adjectives also end in -ly, e.g. friendly, lively and silly.

O Useful tip O

Sample

Unit 4 • Festivals •

O

⁴⁵

Future tense with be going to

You can also use be going to + bare infinitive to talk about the future.

It is used to talk about events that you are sure will happen soon.

e.g. We are going to have fun at the Easter party.

The luncheon is going to begin at half past twelve.

It can describe planned decisions.

e.g. John and Henry are going to take part in the dragon boat race this Sunday.

Mum is not going to buy the cake I mentioned yesterday because she is going to make one herself.

Your turn Your turn

B. Read the conversation and fill in the blanks using the simple future tense or future tense with be going to.

: Santa Claus, (1) you (give)

me a gift at Christmas?

: Sure. Are you a good girl?

: How can I be a good girl?

: You need to help your mum do housework.

: OK, I (2) (help) my mum with housework next week.

: What about homework?

: I promise I (3) (not submit) my homework late.

: Do you love your brothers and sisters?

: Yes, I do. We (4) (love) each other more this year.

: Good girl! You (5) (get) a gift from me if you do all these things.

: Thanks Santa Claus. I (6) (be) a good girl.

Sample

Informal email: Using informal language is written to your family, friends or classmates.

adopts a friendly style by using informal language, so contractions, colloquial language and exclamation marks showing emotions are always used.

What should be included in an informal email?

An informal email should include the following:

W

riting strategyriting strategy

Your turn Your turn

You are Polly Fung. You have received an email from your best friend, Mandy Wong, who is going to study at a new school. Write a reply to her in about 150 words.

Salutation/Greeting

Address the recipient by his/her first name, e.g. ‘Hi Leo’, ‘Dear Leo’.

Opening

State the purpose of writing. Thank the sender if you are replying to his/her email.

Body paragraphs

Make suggestions or present and sequence different aspects in different paragraphs.

Closing paragraph

Summarise your points, call for action or simply express your hope that he/she is doing well.

Complimentary closing

Include an appropriate complimentary closing, e.g. ‘Love’, ‘Cheers’, ‘Best wishes’.

To: Polly

From: Mandy

Subject: Any advice?

Dear Polly,

How are you? I’m writing to ask for your advice.

You know I’m going to study at a new school in September. I’m very nervous now because I don’t know if I can make any new friends there.

I haven’t slept these past few days. What should I do? Help!

Best, Mandy

Sample

O

12 Discovering English in Summer • Book 2 •

Step 1: Planning — guiding questions

1. Who is the recipient of this informal email?

2. What is its main purpose?

3. What suggestions will you make?

Step 2: Writing

O Useful tip O

You can use modal verbs, e.g. can/may/

should + bare infinitive, or expressions like ‘You had better’ and ‘Why don’t you…?’ when giving advice.

Sample

Making suggestions

Whether in an individual presentation or a group discussion, you may make suggestions about something.

When you are making suggestions, make sure your suggestions are relevant to the topic and are feasible.

How should you make suggestions?

There are two ways to make suggestions:

S

peaking strategypeaking strategy

Giving reasons

You can use because, as and since to show reasons for your suggestions.

e.g. Let’s join the ‘Clean the Beach’ campaign because we can help make our Earth clean and we can play on the beach afterwards.

Describing the good points

You can use positive adjectives to describe the good points of your suggestions.

e.g. I’m going to list ten simple things we can do to save our world while living a happier and healthier life.

There are a number of expressions you may use to make suggestions.

Does it matter…? Don’t you think…?

Let’s… Shall we…?

What about…? Why don’t…?

You can use modal verbs could and should to make suggestions.

e.g. You could go hiking to learn more about the beauties of nature.

We should switch off the light when we are not using it.

Here is an example.

When there is an earthquake, first, we should stay calm. Then, let’s hide under a table because it can protect us from falling things. We could also stay wherever we feel safe. Why don’t we wait there until the firemen or rescue team save us?

What should we do when there is an earthquake?

Sample

O

72 Discovering English in Summer • Book 2 •

Your turn Your turn

You are going to give a presentation. The topic is ‘How can we, as students, protect the environment?’ Complete the mind map and write a 150-word script in the space below.

Track 14 Useful

vocabulary

O O

carbon dioxide emission, greenhouse effect, incineration, organic/eco-friendly products, save electricity/water, public transportation

Sample

The underlined phrasal verbs in the left column are used in the context of friendship. Match each phrasal verb with the correct meaning in the right column.

O F un break _{un break}

Below is a list of items you have learnt in this unit. How well do you understand each of them? Put a tick (✔) in the appropriate box.

O S elf-evaluation elf-evaluation

1. You can decide if you want to accept his suggestion as the ball is in your court now.

1. Peter got on with George very quickly because they have many common interests.

Meaning^Meaning

C. run out of time B. to be good friends

C. run out of time D. to tolerate D. try your best A. to make someone

feel bored or not interested

3. Give it your best shot and you’ll surely score the highest marks in the Maths test.

3. We have to put up with different people because we all have different personalities.

2. You will blow the competition away if you wear this necklace to the party.

2. James fell out with Danny because they always had arguments.

4. It should be no sweat if we have to handle all household chores together!

4. Yuki doesn’t cooperate in the project. She turns me off.

4. It should be no sweat if we have to handle all household chores together!

5. Fiona is a helpful girl. You can turn to her if you need help.

Fully understand Don’tunderstand

^{at all}

3 2 1 0

Four types of friends

Reading strategy — Noting references Vocabulary about personality traits

Listening strategy — Listening for specific information

Simple present tense Present continuous tense

Countable and uncountable nouns Writing strategy — Informal email Phrasal verbs relating to friendship

Idiom Phrasal verb

E. win easily C. to ask someone

for help

E. win easily E. not to be friends

any more

Sample