UNIT Proficiency

6
Talking about unusual or special experiences

It changed my life! Telling stories

LISTENING: Have you ever?

A. Listen to Carlos talk about his past vacations with Sam and
Diana. Answer the questions.

1. What was happening before Carlos came?

____________________________________________________
2. Who invited Carlos to join them?
____________________________________________________
3. What will Carlos do soon? _____________________________________________________
4. What places does Carlos talk about?______________________________________________
5. What was Carlos’s best vacation? ________________________________________________

B. Listen to the dialogue again and answer the following questions.

1. Where has Carlos traveled to? Circle all that apply:
A. Brazil B. California C. Canada D. France E. Italy F. Mexico G. Spain
2. Which place was his favorite vacation and why?
A. California. He went bungee jumping. C. Spain. He stayed with relatives.
B. France. He loved the food. D. Canada. He rode a motorcycle.
3. What was the craziest thing Sam has ever done?
A. He has driven a motorcycle D. He has gone bungee jumping.
without a helmet.
E. He has seen the redwood trees.
B. He has ridden on a motorcycle.
C. He has gotten in an accident while
riding on a motorcycle.
4. What happened at the end of the dialogue?
A. Carlos and Diana went to the library. D. Carlos left, and Sam and Diana stayed.
B. Sam and Diana went to the library. E. Diana went to take a test.
C. Sam went to the library alone. Carlos
and Diana kept talking.

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GRAMMAR REVIEW: Present perfect--indefinite past
Statements has + past participle
I have been to Mexico before.
You have called her too many times.
They have flown in an airplane before.
We have already done that unit.
He has driven a car before.
She has seen that movie many times.
It has never rained this much before!
Negatives
I have not done this before.
We have not eaten yet.
They have not taken that class before.
He has not eaten octopus before.
She has never hiked in these mountains.
Question
Have I seen that movie before?
Have you ever been to Mexico?
Have we met before?
Have they ever travelled abroad?
Has he called you yet?
Has she ever driven a car?
Has it ever snowed this much before?
Past participles
Regular verbs → -ed
I’ve walked to school before.
She has used that service many times.
Irregular verbs
be → been
come → come
drive → driven
eat → eaten
go → gone
hear → heard
take → taken
write → written
153-155 for more irregular verb forms.
UNIT 6
Contractions
I’ve been there twice.
You’ve finished already?
We’ve already eaten.
They’ve taken that class before.
He’s eaten sushi before.
She’s ridden in a helicopter once.
It’s been done before.
Negative Contractions haven’t/hasn’t
I haven’t been there before.
We haven’t eaten yet.
They haven’t taken that class before.
He hasn’t eaten octopus before
She has never hiked in these mountains.
Short answer
Yes, I have. No, I haven’t. (No, I have not)
Yes, you have. No, you haven’t.
Yes, we have. No, we haven’t.
Yes, they have. No, they haven’t.
Yes, he has. No, he hasn’t. (No, he has not.)
Yes, she has. No, she hasn’t.
Yes, it has. No, it hasn’t.
Have you talked with the professor yet?
Have you called your mother lately?
I’ve been in Brazil before.
He’s never come to my house.
Have you ever driven a car before?
I’ve never eaten a snake.
She hasn’t gone to bed yet.
Have you heard this song before?
I haven’t taken Biology 1010 yet.
He has written her love letters many times.
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UNIT 6
A. Complete the following sentences with the correct present perfect form of the verbs.
1. I ________________ a celebrity in person once. (meet)
2. His father ________________ to over 30 countries. (travel)
3. She ________________ three jobs at the same time before. (work)
4. More than 8000 people ________________ to the top of Mount Everest. (climb)
5. Only 12 people ________________ on the moon. (walk)
6. Do you think aliens ________________ our planet? (visit)
7. ______ you ever ____________ the movie Titanic? (see)
8. ______ Alyssa _____________ her keys yet? (find)
9. She ________________ the driving test yet. (take, not)
10. I ________________ skydiving yet, but I want to. (try, not)

B. Form the words into proper questions in the present perfect. Then answer the question with a
short answer (Yes, I have or No, I haven’t).
Ex. you travel abroad Have you ever traveled abroad? Yes, I have.

1. you have a full-time job _______________________________ ? _______________________

2. you drive a car _______________________________________ ? _______________________

3. you win a prize_______________________________________ ? _______________________

4. you do charity work __________________________________ ? _______________________

5. you be in a car accident _______________________________ ? _______________________

6. you be in a fight ______________________________________ ? _______________________

7. your best friend lie to you______________________________ ? _______________________

8. your grandfather or grandmother give you money

____________________________________________________ ? _______________________

9. your family moved to a new city

____________________________________________________ ? _______________________

10. your favorite sports team win a championship

____________________________________________________ ? _______________________

C. Share your answers with a partner.

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 UNIT 6
GRAMMAR: Simple past-regular verbs

A. In the word search puzzle, find and circle the past participle of each word in the box.

be see drive go eat write speak have read

walk work tell try make use find give meet

S Q E X DDG UQG CHU T C D Y WND

HX AQA R E O R OD OOGY J S E T N
WA L K E D I I E N X L R S V P V P E U
AWQ L T R V V R E D Z H Z O I B T UO
L O U E H V MW E R C Y W K G V T D B F
VR A Z T DF I DN T K E Y D I UA F Z
OK S E F O K A S N BN R K R E WE G S
T E ME UWTWP B W T RWBO S R Z Q
RD E H E H A DOW U B E E N X J U C R
I I QV DN FR KH S L AUB B T S T K
E D AMA D E J E U H I D DY S S E G E
D E A T E N NU N N E XM E V I E DQM
B. Fill in the following sentences with the words you found in the word search puzzle.
Each word should only be used once.
Have you ever _been_ in love? Have you ever _____ scuba diving?
Have you ever _____
seen a ghost? Have you ever _____
eat sushi?
Have you ever ______
drived a car? Have you ever _____ a letter by hand?
Have you ever ______
spoken
English with a foreigner? Have you ever ______ a book in English?
Have you ever ______ chopsticks? Have you ever _____someone
found
famous?
Have you ever ______ for more than five miles? Have you ever ______ money on the street?
Have you ever ______ dinner for your parents? Have you ever ______ a beggar money?
Have you ever ______ a lie to your parents? Have you ever ______ in a restaurant?
Have you ever _______an extreme sport? Have you ever ____ surgery?

Ask and answer the questions in B with a partner.

• Answer with short answers: Yes, I have. No, I haven’t.
• If you answer “yes,” tell your partner what happened.

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UNIT 6
SPEAKING: How well do you lie?

A. Write five sentences about interesting or unusual things you have done. You can also write
sentences about things that almost everyone has done, but you have not. Use present
perfect for all your sentences.
Two of your sentences must be true (you have really done this), and two must be false (you
have never really done this). The other sentence can be either true or false, your choice.

1. ____________________________________________________________________________ .
2. ____________________________________________________________________________ .
3. ____________________________________________________________________________ .
4. ____________________________________________________________________________ .
5. ____________________________________________________________________________ .

B. Get in groups of three or four. The first student reads all five sentences to the group.
The other group members have to guess which of the sentences are true and which are lies.
To better guess if the speaker is lying or not, the group members should ask some questions
about any of the statements.

C. Each group member makes his/her guesses. The speaker then reveals the truth. For each
statement correctly guessed, the group member gets one point. The student with the most
points at the end of the game is the winner.

Grammar Note:
In your first sentence, you should use present perfect grammar:

“I have encountered a shark while scuba diving before.”

When your partner asks you for more details, you should switch to the simple past grammar
“When did that happen?”
“It happened two years ago when I was on vacation in Costa Rica.”
“What kind of shark was it?”
“It was a hummerhead shark.”

Common expressions to show distrust:

That sounds suspicious. I find that hard to believe.
I find that hard to swallow. I don’t buy that.

Common expressions to defend one’s statements:

Really! I’m telling the truth! I swear that this is true.
You can trust me on this one. I’m not making this up!
You’ve got to believe me! Seriously, this is true.

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 UNIT 6
SPEAKING: Have you ever tried...
A. Which of the following activities is shown in each picture?

bungee jumping paragliding kayaking mountain climbing

river rafting rock climbing scuba diving skydiving surfing
skiing or snowboarding ice skating roller blading golfing

B. For each of the above sports and hobbies, answer the following question:

Have you ever tried/gone ___________?

• If yes, when did you do it? How was it?
• If not, do you want to try it someday?

Examples:
A: Have you ever tried bungee jumping?
B: No, I haven’t.
A: Do you want to try it someday?
A: Yes, I guess so.

A: Have you ever gone scuba diving?

B: Yes, I have.
A: When did you do it?
B: I did it about two years ago. It was amazing!

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UNIT 6

GRAMMAR: Simple past vs. present perfect (specific vs. indefinite time)

Present perfect: Indefinite time Simple past: Specified past time

Have you ever been lost before? I got lost when I was about 10 years old.
Have you ever been to New York? Did you go to New York last year?
Have you traveled abroad before? I traveled abroad once last year.

A. Complete the following dialogue. Use the simple past or present perfect form of the given verb.

Carlos: What song is that?

Rachel: It’s called ‘Stray.’ It’s by Grace Vanderwaal. _______ you _________ (hear) of her?
Carlos: No, I haven’t. Is she famous?
Rachel: Well, she _________ (be) on TV a few times before. She ______ (be) on the TV show
America’s Got Talent about five years ago.
Carlos: I _____________ (watch) that show a few times. I don’t remember seeing her, though.
______ she ________ (win) that year?
Rachel: Yes, she did. She ______ (be) only 12 years old at that time!
Carlos: What _____ she ______ (do) since then?
Rachel: She __________ (made) several CDs, and she ____________(win) a few awards. She
_________ (won) a Best New Artist award in 2018, as a matter of fact.
Carlos: It sounds like she’s doing OK.
Rachel: She’s more than OK. She’s amazing.

LISTENING: Interesting experiences

A. Listen to Ann and Carlos talk about things they sometimes do on the weekends. Write short
answers to the following questions.
Simple present sentences
He plays golf
1. What does Carlos do regularly? ______________________________________.

2. How often does he do it? He plays once a month in the spring and summer.

3. What does Ann do regularly?____________________________

4. How often does she do it? _________________________

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 UNIT 6
Present perfect sentences

5. Who has golfed only once? _____________________________________________________

6. Who has golfed many times? ___________________________________________________
7. Who has gone on long hikes before? _____________________________________________
8. Who has never gone on a long hike? _____________________________________________

Simple past sentences

9. When was the last time Carlos went golfing? _____________________________________

10. What happened at that time? __________________________________________________
11. When was the last time Ann went golfing? _______________________________________
12. What did she think about it? ___________________________________________________
13. When was the last time Ann went hiking? _______________________________________
14. Who did she go with? ________________________________________________________

SPEAKING: Interesting experiences

A. Look at the activities in the box and do the following:
• Mark the activities that you do regularly with A.
• Mark the activities that you don’t do regularly, but you have tried before with B.
• Mark the activities that you have never done before with C.
B. Add three more activities (one A category, one B category, and one C category) in the box.

____ Play golf ____ Play tennis ____ Play volleyball ____ Go on 10+ mile hikes
____ Play chess ____ Travel abroad ____ Go camping ____ Go to a nightclub
____ Make online videos ____ Smoke cigarettes ____ Speak to native English speakers
____ ___________________________ ____ _______________________ ____ ___________________________

C. Discuss your answers with your partner. Use the sentences below to share your information.

A B C
I ___________
play volleyball regularly. I don’t _______ often, but I have I have never done this,
I ________ about ________ a ____. done it before.
• ...but I would like to try it some-
The last time I __________ was
day.
______________. I ____________ about _______ ago.
Or
I will probably _____ again I will (probably/probably not) do it • … and I will probably
___________. (when) again. never do it.

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UNIT 6
Reading: What events help define you?
A. Read about Ann, Sam, and Carlos talking about events in their lives that had a big impact on
who they are and what they want.

Ann: I’ve been interested in art for as long as I can remember. My

mother says I started drawing when I was about 4 years old. My aunt
bought me a crayon set and coloring book, and after that I drew all
the time.
I didn’t think about art seriously, though, until middle school. I had
an art teacher that I just loved. I liked the way she talked about art
and encouraged us. She had so much passion.
One day, I was still working on a drawing even after the class finished.
She came to me and said that she thought I had true talent. She said
that I could be a great artist if I wanted to. Those words had a big impact on me. She not only
got me thinking about art as a career but also made me a better student in all my classes. I used
to daydream a lot in class, and I drew pictures in my textbooks more than I read them. After that
day, however, I started to change. I’m really grateful for her.

Sam: I’ve always been a good student. My mother says I began

reading when I was about 4 years old! I was always happy to learn
new things and get good grades, but I didn’t think so seriously about
what I wanted to be.
In high school, I had a literature class, and I didn’t think too much
about it at first. A few months into the class, we had to read a book
called To Kill a Mockingbird. It was a great book. It’s still my favorite.
The main character was a really brave lawyer, Atticus Finch. I was
angry at the injustice in the book, and I realized that there is still injustice today. A lawyer is
someone who can make a real difference. They don’t just talk about making the world better; they
really can do something. I decided to become a lawyer then, and I’ve never had any second thoughts.

Carlos: When I was younger, I was actually a good student. I

wanted to be successful like my father.
Something changed when I got into high school. It wasn’t just one
thing. I realized that my father didn’t have much time to relax and be
with our family. He was, and is, incredibly busy all the time. When
he’s in front of people, he’s all smiles and handshakes, but when he’s
not in public, he’s always stressed and anxious. I started to wonder
about that kind of success. What’s the point of making a lot of
money if you are stressed and unhappy all the time?
There was one more thing. I watched a movie called Into the Wild. It’s about a young man who
walks away from an easy and comfortable life and goes to Alaska to live alone. It actually doesn’t
have a very happy ending, but the movie really got me thinking. Life should be more of an
adventure and a challenge. To really live life is to go out and try new things and have new
experiences. I don’t think you can get that working from 9-5 in a regular office job all day until
you die of an early heart attack. I was never the same after that year. I see everything differently now.

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 UNIT 6

B. Answer the following questions based on the reading.

1. Who was changed by a movie? __________________________________________________

2. Who was changed by another person? ___________________________________________

3. Who was changed by a book? ___________________________________________________

4. Who is most likely to move to a new country? _____________________________________

5. Who will most likely make a lot of money?________________________________________

C. Select the best answer for each question.

1. Which of the following is NOT true about Ann?

A. She didn’t care about school when she was an elementary school student.

B. Ann’s aunt and her middle school art teacher influenced Ann to be an artist.

C. Ann’s aunt told Ann that she will be a great artist someday.

2. Which of the following is NOT true about Sam?

A. Sam wasn’t serious about school before he was in high school.

B. Sam feels that justice is important.

C. Sam will probably not change his mind about becoming a lawyer.

3. Which of the following is NOT true about Carlos?

A. Carlos was a better student in middle school than he was in high school.

B. Carlos thinks his father has a good life.

C. Carlos doesn’t want to have a regular job.

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UNIT 6

WRITING & SPEAKING: 5-minute conversations

A. Write at least four sentences for each question. See page 143 for tips on how to think of
things to write and say on a topic.

1. When was the last time you were sick?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Have you ever been seriously hurt?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3. What are some household chores you have to do these days?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4. If a friend of yours wanted to get better grades, what advice would you give?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

5. What are some unusual experiences you have had before?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

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 UNIT 6
6. What’s a sport that you do regularly?

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

7. What sport or exercise have you tried before, but you don’t do it often.

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

8. What’s a sport or exercise that you’ve never tried?

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

9. Has a trusted person ever lied to you?

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

10. What are some other things you’ve never done but want to try someday?

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

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