SYKES ACADEMY DAY 14

IDIOM OF THE DAY: Nuts and bolts

The nuts and bolts of something are the detailed facts and the practical aspects.
EXAMPLES: “The agents discussed the nuts and bolts of the new plan with the customer.”

What is a Silent Letter?

In an alphabetic writing system, a silent letter is a letter that, in a particular word, does not
correspond to any sound in the word's pronunciation. They produce no sound when read
aloud in English.

These are the most common rules:

Exercise 1: Read the following sentences with your partner. Make sure you don’t
pronounce the silent letters.

A: I don’t want to have a lot of debt before I get to work.

B: There is a foreign transaction fee for using the card abroad.
C: Wednesday is my favorite day of the week!
D: Could you lend me your scissors?
E: Don’t worry, you will get through this.
F: She likes to sigh every time she watches a romantic film.
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Exercise 2: Take turns with your partner reading the sentences below. Your partner will
choose the word you read.

A: How do you spell ‘talk’ / ‘tall’?

B: Did you say ‘Howard’ / ‘hour’?
C: Could you tell me how you pronounce ‘guarantee’ / ‘warranty’?
D: He never learned how to say ‘receipt’ / ‘receive’.
E: Did you say ‘have’ / ‘half’?
F: How do you spell ‘island’ / ‘Iceland’?
G: Did you say ‘cooled’ / could’?

PERFORMANCE:

Write a 200-words text including words with kn, gn, wr, mb, gh, and any other silent letter
seen above, check grammar and punctuation mistakes. Finally, upload it to Edmodo with a
recording of your voice reading it.
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Abbreviations and Acronyms

An abbreviation is a shortened or contracted form of a word or phrase, used to represent

the whole, as Dr. for Doctor, U.S. for United States, lb. for pound.

An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters or groups of letters of words in a set
phrase or series of words, for example FBI comes from Federal Bureau of Investigation,
NASA comes from National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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Now! Play and learn with this awesome US States game:

https://online.seterra.com/en/vgp/3003
SYKES ACADEMY DAY 14
 SYKES ACADEMY DAY 14
EXERCISE. Write the postal abbreviation for each state next to it.
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MODALS

Modals are the small verbs like can, must, and might which give certain meanings to main
verbs.

Positive is formed by putting the modal between the subject and the main verb:
It should be solved in no time. I ought to call you back. They might charge you the
fee.

Negative is formed by adding not (or n’t) after the modal:

You shouldn’t worry. You ought not to have to call again. She might not help
you.

Questions are formed by changing the position of the modal and the subject

Should we talk later? Shouldn’t you worry?

Ought I to call you back? Oughtn’t you to have to call again?
Might they charge you the fee? Mightn’t she help?

Notes

Need can be needn’t (modal form) or don’t need (verb form) Negative questions generally
use n’t. If not is used, there is a different word order:

Shouldn’t he answer? Should he not answer?

SUMMARY CHART OF MODALS

AUXILARY USES PRESENT / FUTURE PAST

1- polite requests
may 2- formal permission
3- less than 50%
certainty
1- less than 50% certainty
might 2- polite request (rare)
1- advisability
He may have been
May I assist you? assisting
Where's John? He may
be a customer.
at the IT department
Where's John? He might have been
He might be at the IT attending a meeting.
department.
Might I assist you?
I should have talked
I should talk politely. politely.
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2- 90% certainty (future We should answer all
should only, the We should have answered
not present) questions. all the questions.
1- possibility and ability (in
the She can help you. She could help you.
Could I check the
past, we use COULD) Can I check the database?
can/could 2- make requests database? We couldn’t come late
We can’t come late
3- ask for or give permission every yesterday.
day.
You ought to answer You ought to have
1- advisability calls answered
ought to 2- 90% certainty properly. calls properly.
(future only, not present) We ought to ask We ought to have asked
questions. questions.
1- advisability with You had better be on (past form uncommon)
time, or we will lower
had better threat of bad result your
salary.
1- strong necessity I must come early. I had to come early
2- prohibition (negative) You must speak English yesterday.
must 3- 95% certainty every day. Mary must have been sick
Mary isn't in her cubicle. yesterday.
She must be sick.
(present only)
I had to find your
1- necessity I have to find your information
2- lack of necessity
have to (negative) information. yesterday.
I don't have to
disrespect I didn't have to go to
you. disrespect you yesterday.
1- necessity I have got to write your I had to write your
information in the data
have got to information in the data base
base. yesterday
1- 100% certainty I will be here at 6:00.
2- willingness (future only).
will 3- polite request The phone is ringing. I'll
get it.
Will you please give me
your name?
1- 100% certainty He is going to be here at I was going to write
everything down, but I
2- definite plan 6:00. (future only) didn't
be going to I'm going to write have time.
everything down.(future
only)
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Exercise 1: Choose the correct modal to complete each statement.

1. When a client asks for help, you (should, must) help him as soon as possible.

2. (May, Might) I come in?

3. David (can, could) advice you in anything you need.

4. A: Do you think it (can, might) be correct?

Yes, probably. We don’t want to be wrong in this, so we (should, must) double

check.

5. Jenny tried to reach him, but she (can’t, couldn’t).

6. We (can, might) call you today or tomorrow, we are not sure yet.

7. In this job everybody (should, must) talk to their customers in English.

8. (Can, May) you hold this for me, please?

9. I know they enjoy their work, but they (shouldn’t, mustn’t) work at the weekends.
It’s not good for them. I think they (should, must) spend time at home with their families.

10. The solution (can, may) be done tomorrow.

Exercise 2: Complete the sentences with can, could, may, might, should or must in the
positive or negative.

1. Richard has only answered ten calls, but I know he ………. do it very well.

2. There………. be any mistakes by now. You practiced a lot.

3. ………… I help you with something?

4. After doing the training, you……….. go to the floor and start your job.

5. You …….. remember to be efficient.

6. ………….. you take the call please?

7. He ….... have answered the client incorrectly. We don’t know.

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8. Agents ……….. smoke inside the building.

9. Where is the information? It ………….. be there.

PERFORMANCE:

Role-play how to update personal information: Using the fake name generator website,
practice collecting and spelling back information: account authorized user, address change,
phone number and e-mail address.

VOCABULARY - HOTEL LIFE1

1. Messy
2. Front desk
3. Disorganized
4. Fancy
5. Pretty
6. Look for
7. Comforter
8. Might
9. Conditioner
10. Hairbrush

LISTENING EXERCISE: Fill in the blanks of Trina´s conversation

Adrienne: So, Trina, with your new job, you travel a lot, where do you stay when you you're
traveling?
Trina: I stay in hotels.
Adrienne: How do you like that?
Trina: I like it. It depends on the hotel though. Some of the hotels we stay in are very, very
nice and some of the hotels we stay in are not so nice.
Adrienne: Mm, tell me about the ones that are not so nice.
Trina: Mm, the ones that are not so nice, generally they're just a little bit more messy than
the nicer hotels we stay at, so front desk is a little disorganized. The rooms aren't as nice.
They aren't as fancy, they aren't as pretty, but they're nice.
Adrienne: So what do you look for in a good hotel?
Trina: A comfortable bed, down comforter, English speaking TV, and a bathroom.
Adrienne: A bathroom in your room you mean?
Trina: Yes.
Adrienne: Have you ever stayed in a hotel that didn't have the bathroom in your room?
Trina: No, not yet.
Adrienne: OK, well you might some day, and it is nice to have one inside your hotel. Is there
anything you ever like to take from the hotels?
Trina: Yes, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, hairbrush, that's about it.

1
http://www.elllo.org/english/0351/386-Trina-Hotel.htm
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Adrienne: OK, well that's good. Those are all the things you are meant to take away. Have
you ever found that you really like a shampoo, or soap or something that you found at a
hotel?
Trina: Yes, several times, but sometimes you can't never find it again.
Adrienne: Ah, that's a good point.

EXERCISE. Put the words in the correct place:2

destroyed, attractions, historic, capital, blocks, cheaper, century, incredible, concentrated, tr
ap
1. This is a very modern city. There aren't many buildings.

2. Almost all of the are located in the central area.

3. All the sights are in this area.

4. Most of the city was during the war, and rebuilt afterwards.

5. This building is from the 17th . It used to be a royal residence.

6. A tourist is a place (restaurant, store, etc.) designed to attract

travelers/tourists. There types of places are usually more expensive than places where
"locals" go.

7. Wow! What an view!

8. This used to be the of our country.

9. We're not looking for an expensive hotel. We want something that's .

10. The post office? Go straight for three . You'll see it on your right.

2
https://www.englishformyjob.com/english-tourist-information1.html