Unit 7: Roots, English vocabulary and grammar

Unit 7: Roots

Lesson 1 Vocabulary: Talking About Ancestry

VOCABULARY: TALKING ABOUT ANCESTRY

• Ancestor (n.) - a person related to you who lived a long time ago.
• Ancestral (n.) - relating to members of your family from the past.
• Ancestry (n.) - your ancestors who lived a long time ago, or the origin of your family.
• Adopt (v.) - to legally take another person's child into your own family and take care of him or her as your own child.
• Adoption (n.) - the act of legally taking a child to be taken care of as your own.
• Adoptive (adj.) - an adoptive parent is one who has adopted a child.
• Adopted (adj.) - an adopted child has been legally taken by another family to be taken care of as their own child.
• Ethnic (adj.) - relating to a particular race of people.
• Ethnicity (n.) - a large group of people who have the same national, racial or cultural origins, or the state of belonging to such a group.
• Genes (n.) - a part of the DNA in a cell that controls the physical development, behavior, etc. of an individual plant or animal and is passed on from its parents.
• Genealogy (n.) - (the study of) the history of the past and present members of a family or families.
• Genetic (adj.) - belonging or relating to genes received by a person, animal or plant from their parents.
• Hereditary (adj.) - passed to a child from its parents before birth.
• Heritage (n.) - a person's religious or ethnic background; the cultures, countries, religious groups, etc. that a person's family or ancestors come from.
• Inherit (v.) - to have the same physical or mental characteristics as one of your parents or grandparents.

Lesson 1 Negative and Limiting Adverbials

NEGATIVE AND LIMITING ADVERBIALS To add emphasis, you can start a sentence with a negative or limiting adverbial phrase. Example of limiting adverbials include only (when/then), little and hardly: "Only when we got to the top of the mountain did she tell me about the zipline!" Examples of negative adverbials include never (again/before), no way and not until: "No way would anyone ever push me out of a plane." "Never have I ever even considered ziplining!"

Word Order After Negative and Limiting Adverbials

WORD ORDER AFTER NEGATIVE AND LIMITING ADVERBIALS When we use a negative or limiting adverbial in initial position for emphasis, the word order in the verb phrase changes so that the auxiliary verb comes before the subject. When the verb is in the simple present or simple past, remember to include do/does or did:

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INCORRECT: Not until you're halfway down the parachute opens. Little I knew that she had something very different planned! CORRECT: Not until you're halfway down does the parachute opens. Little did I know that she had something very different planned!

• Negative and limiting adverbials at the beginning of a sentence add emphasis.
• After a negative or limiting adverbial, the subject comes after the auxiliary.
• When you use the simple present, you need to use do/does.

Lesson 1 Examples

EXAMPLES

• Never again will we buy anything from this store!
• Not until I got to work did I think about my report.
• Never again will I hike two days just to look at some old ruins!
• Hardly had we arrived at the beach when it started raining.
• Never before had Marco seen the ocean.
• Not until he has finished his work will Carlos take a break.
• No way will she pass all her exams!
• Never in my life have I felt so happy!
• Little did we know (that) we'd have so much fun.
• Awful! No way am I going to pass!
• Only when I got home did I tell anyone my news.
• Not only was she late buth she was rude as well.
• No way am I going to accept that job offer!
• Not until the rain sttoped could we go outside.
• Never again will I forget your birthday!
• Only then did we understand what he meant.
• Not only do they store the data, but they also sometimes share it with other organizations.
• No way would I have done the test if it hadn't been a present.
• Never had I imagined that I had ancestors from Asia.
• Not until then did I appreciate my wonderful adoptive parents.
• Never before had I seen so many people gathered in the town square.
• Little had I imagined how much fun I would have!

Lesson 2 Vocabulary: Customs and Traditions

VOCABULARY: CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS

• Festivities (n.) - events that people organize in order to celebrate something.
• Honor (v.) - to show great respect for someone or something.
• Keep (something) alive (v. Phr.) - to continue to practice a tradition, custom, etc. so that it keeps happening.
• Mark (v.) - if you mark an occasion, you do something to celebrate it.
• Observe (v.) - to obey a law, rule, or custom; to celebrate a holiday in a traditional way.
• Pay tribute to (v. Phr.) - to thank someone or say that you admire someone or something, especially in public.
• Practice (n.) - something that is usually or regularly done, often as a habit, tradition, or custom.
• Rite (n.) - a ceremonial act or action.
• Ritual (n.) - an activity or a set of actions that are always done in the same way or at the same time.
• Significance (n.) - the importance or meaning of something.
• Signify (v.) - to be a sign of something.
• Symbolize (v.) - to represent something.

Lesson 2 Fronting Adverbials

FRONTING ADVERBIALS To add dramatic effect to a story or anecdote, you can bring adverbials of place or movement to the front of the sentence. When a verb does not take a direct object, the subject and verb of the main clause sometimes change position. This is true when ...

• The verb is be: "Next to the tomatoes are some beautiful basil plants."
• The verb indicates place: "On the table sit little dishes of olives."
• The verb indicates movement: "Out comes the food!" In a sentence with a direct object, such a "We found family portraits in the library," the word order does not change when there is a fronting adverbial. X INCORRECT: In the library found we family portraits. CORRECT: In the library we found family portraits. The word order does not change when ...
• The verb has a direct object: "In the library we found family portraits."
• The subject is a pronoun: "Inside the house, it's dark and cool." "So out we go."

Examples of Fronting Adverbials

EXAMPLES

• "The apartment was on the first floor. There were two bedrooms." On the first floor was an apartment with two bedrooms.
• "There was a cabin in the woods. A young couple lived in it." In a cabin in the woods lived a young couple.
• "A small child lies on the couch." On the couch lies a small child.
• "A young girl is in the picture." In the picture is a young girl.
• "The children watch TV in the living room." In the living room, the children watch TV.
• "Twenty eager students sat in the classroom." In the classroom, sat twenty eager students.
• "My grandfather rushed into the room." Into the room rushed my grandfather.
• "They planted beautiful gardens behind the house." Behind the house they planted beautiful gardens.
• "They never expected to hear their ancestral language being spoken by so many people." Never did they expect to hear their ancestral language being spoken by so many people.
• Around the fence hung strings of colored lights.

Vocabulary

VOCABULARY

• Enroll - sign up to do a course or attend a school.
• Widely - by many people, or in many places.
• Extinct - not now existing.
• Pre-verbal - before being able to speak.
• Preserve - keep something alive, or safe from harm or danger.
• Roughly - approximately.
• Preschool - relating to children who are between three and five years old; a place where children who are younger than five years old.
• Returnee - someone who returns to a place after living or spending time elsewhere.
• Idyllic - perfect.
• Frantically - Anxiously and at speed.
• A stone's throw - A very short distance.

Pronunciation for Listening

PRONUNCIATION FOR LISTENING

• I don't know why I waited so long!
• I think I can understand that. The t in don't isn't pronounced because it comes between two consonants - the sound /n/ in don't itself and the first sound in know. The second d in understand isn't pronounced because it comes between two consonants - the second /n/ in understand itself and the first sound in that. When the letters t and d come between two consonants in a word or phrase, they are often not pronounced.

Speaking Skills

SPEAKING SKILLS

• I can see how it would be a little weird - strange.
• Sounds really interesting - intriguing.
• How did you deal with that? - handle.
• It must have been pretty overwhelming - I'm sure it was.
• It must have been hard - can't have been easy.
• It's difficult to put into words.
• ... If you know what I mean.
• It's hard to describe.
• That was the best part!
• It's difficult to say why exactly.
• To tell you the truth ...
• To be perfectly honest ..
• I can see how it would be strange - I think I can understand that.

Pronunciation for Speaking

PRONUNCIATION FOR SPEAKING

• /er/ strange
• /ai/ describe, signify, alive, rites
• /or/ disappointment, choice, enjoy, unspoiled
• /ou/ overwhelming
• /au/ background, crowded, however, sound

Writing Skills

WRITING SKILLS When we summarize information from several texts which present different points of view, we often use parallel structures with conjunctions and phrases such as On one side ... , while on the other ... and On the one hand ... , but on the other hand ... to introduce contrasting arguments and express the ideas in a way that is more concise. Remember to use the same verbs other than tense in parallel structures. Say can be replace with maintain, point out, feel, argue, claim. It is a good idea to use different verbs other than say to add variety when summarizing. When you're writing a formal summary of different people's work, it is not appropiate to let your own opinion or personal bias show. Summaries are only meant to inform the reader, for example: "Human-interest stories like these draw attention to the issue of minority languages." Opinion pieces are usually intended to inform and persuade, for example: "Human-interest stories like these draw attention to the issue of minority languages, but they tend to oversimplify the situation."

Points for Writing

POINTS FOR WRITING

• The focus: Make sure all the information you choose is relevant.
• Opening sentence: Introduce the topic briefly, with a question or general statement that connects ideas from the different articles.
• Sequencing the arguments: decide on the order in which you're going to present the information.
• Summarizing the arguments: decide on which arguments you want to include in the summary. Present different/contrasting perspectives by using parallel structures.
• Register: Keep your style simple and succinct and do not give your opinion.

WRITING 1 UNIT 7: THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DNA TESTS. WRITING 2 UNIT 7: THE VALUE OF WRITING BY HAND. Use the checklist below and make any revisions you feel are necessary.

• Is all the information relevant?
• Have you introduced the topic in the opening sentence?
• Have you included information from all three articles?
• Have you sequenced the arguments logically and clearly?
• Have you used parallel structures correctly?
• Is your style simple and succinct?