Lesson 19 (Lloyd)

Numerals: Times and Dates

If I want to know the time I look at my watch. I’ve got a gold wrist watch with a leather strap. It keeps fairly good time, but occasionally it goes wrong. When it does that I take it to a watchmaker and have it repaired, cleaned and regulated. I don’t think you’ll find it very difficult to tell the time in English. First of all let’s deal with the hours. We say it’s one o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock and so on. Twelve o’clock may refer to midnight or to midday. Then for the quarters we say, for instance, it’s a quarter past eight, half past eight, a quarter to nine. Sometimes people just say eight fifteen, instead of a quarter past eight and eight thirty, instead of half past eight. We say other times as follows: five minutes past eight, or simply, five past eight. Similarly, ten past eight, twenty past eight, twenty-five past eight, twenty-five to nine, twenty to nine, ten to nine, five to nine.

Referring to dates, we say, for instance, Henry VIII (the eighth) was born on the 28^th of June 1491 and died on the 28^th of January 1547. Be careful to pronounce distinctly: thirteen-thirty, fourteen-forty, fifteen-fifty, sixteen-sixty and so on. Then learn a hundred, a hundred and one, two hundred and seventy-six, a thousand, three thousand three hundred and eighty-seven.

Lesson3

Our House

Many families in London live in flats. But most people live in their own houses in the suburbs. We too have a house in a London suburb. I bought it about 15 years ago when I got married. Like most of London suburban houses it consists of only two floors: the ground floor and the first floor. On the ground floor there’s the dining-room, the lounge or sitting-room, the kitchen and the hall. In the hall you see a stand for hats, coats and umbrellas. The staircase leads from the hall to the landing on the first floor. On this floor there are four bedrooms, a bathroom and a lavatory. On top of the roof there are three chimneys.

In front of the house we have a small garden in which we grow flowers: roses, tulips and so on. At the back of the house there is a much larger garden where we grow all kinds of vegetables, such as potatoes, cabbages, cauliflowers, onions and tomatoes. At the side of the house is a garage where I keep my car. The garden is enclosed by a fence with a gate in it.

Lesson 4

Conversation

• Now let`s have a talk about our house .Can you tell me where we live?

• Yes, I can. You live in a house in the suburbs of London.

• Quite right.Now tell me, is it a large house or a small one?

• Well, it`s neither very large nor very small.

• When did I buy it?

• You bought it about fifteen years ago.

• Is there a garage?

• Yes, there is.

• How many rooms are there in the house?

• Let me see. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Yes, seven, including the kitchen.

• Are the bedrooms upstairs or downstairs?

• Upstairs, on the first floor.

• Which rooms are on the ground floor?

• The dining-room, the lounge and the kitchen.

• Have we got a garden?

• Yes, you have.

• Where do the flowers grow?

• In the front garden.

• Are there any fruit trees there?

• No, there aren`t. They are in the back garden.

• Have we got many fruit trees?

• No, not many, just a few.

• Do you like fruit?

• Yes, I do, very much, especially pears and apples.