Match the phrasal verbs with their definitions.

Phrasal verb	Meaning
bring out	to think of, develop, or find something
run away with	1) to make progress; 2) to manage in difficult circumstances
dish out	vent one's frustration or anger on a person or object.
do away with	1) to come to a quick unfounded conclusion; 2) to cause to lose self-control
get along with	to make clear, to show; to nurture and develop to best advantage; to reveal or expose
take it out on	to abolish, to get rid of
come up with	to dispense freely

Complete the following sentences using the appropriate phrasal verbs.

1. How skillful he should be to _____ the importance of that minor fact. (bring out)

2. They've tried to _____ a solution. Over the summer they're hoping to come up with 100,000 volunteers. (come up with)

3. She let her imagination _____ her. Her tongue ran away with her and she regretted afterwards. (run away with)

4. Don’t worry about money, we shall _____ all right. (get along)

5. You're upset, but there's no need to _____ me! (take it out on)

6. Paul tends to _____ unwanted advice. (dish out)

7. Can you say that we have _____ prejudices? (done away with)

III. GRAMMAR

Read the passages from Up the Down Staircase by B. Kaufman once again and circle all gerunds.

A gerund (also called a verbal noun) is derived from a verb by adding -ing to the base form of the verb (and making any necessary spelling changes). Gerunds can act:

• as subjects: Doing things too hastily can lead to trouble. Aging can be difficult for some people.

• parts of the predicates: Balance means including all foods. Your health will improve as soon as you give up smoking.

• direct and indirect objects: Many people are guilty of overscheduling their lives. Fancy us (our) having to walk a mile in a wind like this!

• attributes: The idea of him being in Paris was not a pleasant one. Imagine his surprise at seeing me.

• adverbial modifiers: I don’t ask any questions in spite of there being a lot of questions to ask. She dressed without making a sound.

Study the following sentences. Identify all gerunds and state the functions they perform.

1. Creative writing is one of my grandmother’s talents.

2. Writing letters to a friend keeps her in touch with the world.

3. Watching the news on television every day keeps her up to date with current events.

4. The teacher accepted John’s turning in his report after the deadline since he had been ill.

5. I bet you would appreciate saying goodbye to those unnecessary age lines forever!

6. His not appreciating her help surprised me.

7. You won’t enrich your vocabulary without making use of an English dictionary.

8. I made an excuse for being sarcastic.

9. You can count on my being early.

10. We lost ourselves through not knowing the way.

11. I anticipate my mother’s arriving late.

12. I won’t put up with your misbehaviour.

Find the gerunds in the passages below and try to figure out what they do in the sentences.

[1] By studying human nature, the variety of people in the world today and in the past, and the relationship of the human species to others, we are better able to understand why we behave in the way we do. The physical anthropologists gives us valuable information about the uniqueness and limitations of our physical structure. Why are we different from apes, for example?

[2] No anthropologist can work without the awareness of the past, of what the particular sequence of events was that led to the situation under study. In describing another culture or in comparing aspects of two cultures, the anthropologist dares not ignore the cultural background. Yet there is no doubt that history and anthropology are distinct disciplines.

[3] The study of language from an anthropological perspective forms a third branch of the discipline – anthropological linguistics. Anthropologists ask questions about language from the point of view of the human species rather than trying to describe the language and its structure

(Helen Hoyt Schmidt Advanced English Grammar, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents 1995, 302)

Work in pairs; fill the gaps in the following sentences with a phrasal verb or an expression ending in preposition from the box.

if necessary there is no point in as a consequence get out of to do with make a living out of talk (someone) out of take up instead of get over in spite of there’s no harm in

1. _____being made redundant, he lost his house, because he couldn’t pay the mortgage any more.

2. Why don’t you do something positive, _____ sitting here complaining?

3. Why not apply for the job? All right, you probably won’t get it, but _____ trying, is there?

4. Oh no, there’s Andy! Just _____ walking as if you hadn’t seen him.

5. She never _____ losing her daughter so tragically.

6. _____ being popular with everyone, she still feel insecure.

7. You’re such a lazy slob, you’re always trying to _____ doing any work around the house.

8. He hasn’t got a job, but he _____cleaning windows.

9. He’s _____jogging recently, in an attempt to get fit.

10. _____ getting angry with me, there’s nothing I can do about it!

11. ‘What’s the letter?’ ‘I don’t know, it’s something _____ stopping a big supermarket being built in the village.’

12. You are a friend of his, he’ll listen to you. See if you can ______ resigning.

(From Nexus)

SPOT THE ERROR

Identify and correct all the errors in the following sentences.

1. The children appreciated them mom taking them to go to the monies. (The children appreciated their mom letting them go to the movies)

2. We discussed to have living there at the same time. (We discussed having lived there at the same time)

3. Having given the wrong mail so many times before, I always check the address before you call back. (Having been given the wrong mail so many times before, I always check the address before opening anything)

4. I can’t tolerate him to smoke. (I can’t tolerate his smoking)

5. Jenny’s mother hates her watch that movie. (Jenny’s mother hates her watching this movie)

V. SPEAKING

Work in pairs to discuss these questions. Make sure you give reasons for your opinions.

1. What is the most important quality in a good teacher?

2. Do well-behaved children deserve more of a teacher’s attention than badly behaved children?

3. Should a teacher encourage children to treat him/her like a friend?

4. Which is more important for children: freedom of expression or formal correctness?

5. What do you think are the components of a good education?

6. What is your philosophy of education?

7. Were sufficient funds available for education activities in your university?

8. What kind of effective techniques did your teacher use?

9. What kind of interaction was expected between students and the teacher?

10. What comments do you have about the educational system as a whole?

VI. TEXT ANALYSIS

Analyzing the style

19. Give the gist of Text Five.

20. Discuss Browning's words "A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?", a) Comment on the quotation. b) How would you answer Miss Barrett's question as to whether it is wise to aim higher than one's capacity? With which group of pupils would you side? c) Illustrate the quotation by a literary example, d) Make up dialogues dealing with the ideas Browning's words arouse. [143]

21. Comment on the phraseological unit "to hitch one's wagon to a star".

22. Reread Text Five to speak on the following points of its style.

a) The story is told in the form of a letter. Is it a modern or an old-fashioned form? (Prove your point) What is the author's purpose in resorting to it? Point out some of the characteristic features of the style resulting from the choice.

b) What is gained by telling the story in the first person? How does the fact in- fluence the mood and atmosphere of the narration?

c) What impression do you form of the character of Sylvia Barrett from her let- ter? Is she detached in her attitude to the facts she describes? Prove your point.

d) What method(s) of characterization does the author use?

e) Point out the sentences bearing touches of humour or irony. (Prove which it is.)

f) Comment on the language.

Six pre-requisites of developing creativity at school

1. Create an environment in which pupils feel safe to take risks and get things wrong.

2. Develop a habit of always looking for the second right answer, and the third...

3. Encourage pupils to regularly re-visit and re-examine all the rules, and change them if appropriate.

4. Find the right balance between teaching skills and inspiring creative expression.

5. Learn to suspend judgement.

6. Allow the 'slow thinking, dreamy, playful mind' the time it needs to come up with new ideas.

 This article first appeared in Teaching Expertise, April 2005.