50 MIXED-ABILITY GRAMMAR LESSONS

3 Working abroad
Enter
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Present simple and present continuous

Andy left school last year and is going to study French at university in six months time. But right now, hes working as a diving instructor in the Caribbean. He went to the Caribbean in November. Now its April. Hes coming home at the end of May.

Put the verbs in brackets in the present simple or the present continuous.

Dear Mum and Dad, Hi! How are you all? I 1 (celebrate) the end of the tourist season! At last! I am really tired. There arent many tourists here now. Life is much slower. I still 2 (get up) early. The birds 3 (make) a lot of noise when the sun comes up its hard to sleep after six. I usually
4

(take) a walk along the beach and 5 (have) a swim a mango from the tree outside my room. I 8

before breakfast. I 6 (have) breakfast at the moment. This morning I

7 (eat)

(drink) coffee, although I usually 9 (have) tea. Ive only got two trips today. I 10 (take) the first group of tourists to the coral reef at 7.30. And then one at about 3.30. It 11 (get) dark at about 6.30. Each trip 12 (last) about two and a half hours. And in between theres time for a long lunch and a long sleep! Only one more month of paradise. I 13 (love) this island. I
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(fly) home on 24 May, I think I 15 (book) my ticket

this afternoon. Can you meet me at Heathrow? The plane (TA321) 16 (land) at 7am, Terminal 4. Sorry its so early! Time to go my group for the reef trip 17 (just arrive). See you in a month! Love, Andy.

Work in pairs. One of you is Andys mum. The other is Andys friend, Joe. Joe asks about Andy. Have a conversation.
50 MIXED-ABILITY GRAMMAR LESSONS MARY GLASGOW MAGAZINES, AN IMPRINT OF SCHOLASTIC INC.

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50 MIXED-ABILITY GRAMMAR LESSONS

3 Working abroad

Present simple and present continuous

Step up
11 Read Andys letter in Enter 1. Which tense do we use to talk about: a) what is happening now? ................ c) what happens every day? ............... e) future plans? ........................................ Find an example of each one. Example: a) what is happening now? b) temporary states?
.......................................

d) future facts? ................................................... f) our feelings? ...................................................

This morning Im eating a mango

When we talk about our feelings and senses, we dont usually use the present continuous. Read this conversation between two friends. Circle the verbs that you think are in the wrong tense. Kate: Please try to like Abi. You and Abi are my best friends and you are hating each other. Kelly: I dont hate her. Im just not liking her very much. We dont have much in common. Shes always talking about music and stuff. Im not interested in that. Kate: She likes other things too. Shes knowing a lot about films and theatre. Shes belonging to that drama group. Youre loving drama. Kelly: Oh, youre not understanding! She looks at me sometimes like Im an insect or something Kate: Youre just imagining it

Fly
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Imagine you are working for a few weeks on the Ionian island of Kefalonia in Greece. Here are the details of your stay.
Where: Mounda Beach, Kefalonia How long: 5 weeks, between May and October

Project: conservation of loggerhead turtles

Accommodation: shared villas with bathroom,

kitchen
Weather: 30-35 C; hot and dry; occasional storm Useful qualifications (not essential): science degree;

knowledge of Greek
Free time activities: diving at Fiskardo; exploring

the island
A typical nights work: start at 10 pm, finish at 7 am.

Walk up and down the beach (up to 10km per night); find female turtle; when female is laying eggs, measure female, check for disease, count eggs, measure one egg, tag female, wait until she returns to sea, record position of nest

A typical days work: start at 8 am, finish at 6 pm

Talk to tourists about the turtles and project; cook and clean at the villas.

Write two diary entries about your stay on Kefalonia one for when youre working (either day or night) and one for when youre free. Try to use the present simple and the present continuous check how Andy uses them in his letter in Enter 1. 12
50 MIXED-ABILITY GRAMMAR LESSONS MARY GLASGOW MAGAZINES, AN IMPRINT OF SCHOLASTIC INC.