UNIT 3:

LIVES

OBJECTIVE: IN THIS UNIT, YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO

ASK AND PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT ONESELF
AND OTHERS IN FORMAL AND INFORMAL CONTEXTS,
USING APPROPRIATE LEXICAL AND GRAMMATICAL
STRUCTURES.
 Warm up:
Watch the following video. Then answer and discuss
the questions with a partner.
 Think about this:

What’s your occupation?

What does your best friend do?
What’s your father’s job?
Do you have friends who are doctors or lawyers?
What’s the most well-paid job in your country?
What’s the most dangerous job in Chile?
Jobs and Occupations

A: What does your dad do?

B. He is a dentist
A: What does a dentist do?
B: He cleans and fixes people’s teeth.

A: What does your wife do?

B: She’s a fashion designer.
A: What does a fashion designer do?
B: She makes nice clothes.
A: What does Laura do?
B: She is a teacher
A: What does a teacher do?
B She educates and trains
students.

A: What does Chuck do?

B: He is a butcher.
A: What does a butcher do?
B: He cuts and sells meat.
 Activity :
Answer these questions according to your opinion.
Write full answers in the blank spaces.

1. According to your opinion, which job is the weirdest in the

world?
_____________________________________________
2. Would you take any job if you were desperate?
_____________________________________________
3. What does a “policeman” have to do?
_____________________________________________
4. What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
_____________________________________________
5. Which jobs would you never ever take?
_____________________________________________
 Talking about the past
When we want to ask something related to the past or express
ideas or situations that already happened, we can use Past
Simple structures. Verbs can be regular (add -ed / -ied after the
verb) or irregular (they change when they take the past form, but
there isn’t a rule for those changes). Look at the chart and check
out some examples:
Irregular verbs Regular verbs
go - went travel - traveled
drink - drank stay - stayed
leave - left play - played
be - was / were study - studied
sleep - slept work - worked
do - did start - started
drive - drove ask - asked
shake - shook wash - washed
steal - stole play - played
A: Where was Mario born?
B: Mario was born in China.
A: Did you drive a lot last
night?
B: I drove for 6 hours man!
A: Did you drink vodka last
weekend?
A: Yep. I drank a lot of vodka.
A: Where did Mario live last
month?
B: Mario lived in Turkey last
month.
A: What did you do last night?
B: I played X-box.
A: I washed my car yesterday.
B: Hallelujah.
 Interrogative form of the past form

Form:
Question word + did + subject + infinitive verb + rest + ?

● Where did you sleep last night?

● Who did you go with?
● Did she like watching movies?
● Did you eat breakfast in the morning?
● Did they study for the test?
Let’s practice!

Write 5 sentences in the

interrogative form with the simple
past in a separate piece of paper.
 Negative form

Form:

Subject + did + not + infinitive verb + rest

● I didn't work too much today.

● Anna didn’t call us.
● They didn’t bring any money.
● The Headmaster didn’t show up.
● Sean and Gina didn’t get married.

Let’s practice!
Write 5 more examples in a
separate piece of paper.
Conversation practice:
A:What did you do last weekend?
B: I went to the beach and swam a little bit…
A: Really!? And what else did you do?
B: We had a barbecue at night and sang around the fire…
A: You had a lot fun dear!
B: What about you?
A: I didn’t do too much…it was a boring weekend...poor me…
A: Why didn’t you go with us?
B: I had too much to study for next week…
Another important thing to remember is that TO BE does not
need an auxiliary to structure its negative and interrogative
forms:
●AFFIRMATIVE: I / she / he / it was 14 years old last year
●NEGATIVE: I / she / he / it wasn’t a student 5 years ago.
●INTERROGATIVE: Where were you / we / they born?
Examples:
Were you at the
party yesterday? No, I wasn’t.

Was your mom at Yes, she was.

home this morning?
Activity: Read this short biography and write the past forms of
the verb to be in the blank spaces:

John Winston Lennon _______born in Liverpool on October 9, 1940, the

only child of Fred and Julia Lennon. His parents split when he ________a
toddler and he ________ raised by his aunt, Mary Smith. His first band
__________ a skiffle group called The Quarrymen, named after his school,
Quarry Bank High. A 15-year-old Paul McCartney joined in 1957, followed by
George Harrison a year later.
By the mid-60s, The Beatles __________ the world's biggest band, and
Lennon & McCartney's songwriting skills __________ developing at
breathtaking speed.
 Let’s Practice! Check out these biographies and notice the
use of simple past forms
John Wycliffe was a famous preacher of the Middle Ages.
He was born in the North of England but we do not
know the exact year (it was around 1328). John Wycliffe
was educated at Oxford University and he soon became
famous there for his learning and his skill in debate.
In the Middle Ages the Church was immensely
wealthy and powerful. John Wycliffe was concerned
by the situation and he taught that the state had the
right to confiscate the property of corrupt clergymen.

Jane Austen was a great woman novelist of the early 19th

century. Jane was born on 16 December in Steventon
Rectory on 16 December 1775. Even as a child Jane Austen
loved writing and she wrote a lot of short stories called the
Juvenillia. . About 1795 she wrote a novel she called Elinor
and Marianne. In the years 1796-97. Jane Austen wrote
another novel she called First Impressions. It was later
published as Pride and Prejudice. Then in 1811 Sense and
Sensibility was published. Pride and Prejudice was published
in 1813. Meanwhile Jane Austen wrote Persuasion
but she died before it could be published. It was published
posthumously in 1817.
 Time for Practice!! ☺

Use these prompts to write your own short

biography in your notebook:

I was born in…..

I was a ………..boy/girl
I used to…..
I studied at….
My parents were from…..
I moved from….
I liked to…...
 Activity:
Read the biography about Steve Jobs and fill in the missing verbs with the past
form of be and simple past form.

Steve Jobs, the American businessman and technology visionary,

___________(be born) on February 24th, 1955 in California. His parents
___________ (be) two University of Wisconsin graduate students, Joanne Carole
Schieble and Syrian-born Abdulfattah Jandali. Jandali said he ___________
(have) no choice but to put the baby up for adoption because his girlfriend's
family objected to their relationship.

Paul Reinhold Jobs (1922–1993) and Clara Jobs (1924–1986) __________ (adopt)
him.
The Jobs family _________ (move) from San Francisco to Mountain View,
California when Steve ___________ (be) five years old.
The father _____________(no / show) Steve how to work on electronics in any
special place, it ___________ (be) in the family garage. He __________ (teach)
his son how to take apart and rebuild electronics such as radios and televisions.
Jobs then attended Cupertino Junior High and Homestead High School in
Cupertino, California. During the following years Jobs __________ (meet) Bill
Fernandez and Steve Wozniak, a computer “whiz kid”. Following high school
graduation in 1972, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Jobs ____________(drop out) of college after six months and spent the next
18 months dropping in on creative classes. He ____________ (continue)
auditing classes at Reed while sleeping on the floor in Friends’ dorm rooms,
returning Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the
local Hare Krishna temple.
Jobs ____________ (die) at his California home around 3 p.m. on October 5,
2011, due to complications from a relapse of his previously treated pancreatic
cancer.
 Dates and months

We use IN with the months of

the year:

●My vacations start in January

●Winter is in June

●Christmas is in December
In English, we don't use cardinal numbers for dates. We use
ordinals. Besides, we use the preposition ON with dates, e.g.:

● My birthday is on July 20th. Click here to listen

● The exam is on the 25th of September.
 Activity:
Watch and Learn—Practice at the end of the video.
 Let’s practice!
Watch the video and write 10 different dates you hear.

Dates:

1.____________________
2.____________________
3. ____________________
4. ____________________
5.____________________
6.____________________
7.____________________
8.____________________
9._____________________
10.____________________
Expressions of time:
They are used to specify some point in the past. Adjectives or
adverbs may be used to structure the idea ,e.g.: last, ago, yesterday,
etc. There are many combinations to use with these expressions:
Here are some examples:

A: What did you do in your last holidays?

B: We went to Vegas and had fun in a Casino.
A: When did his parents marry?
B: His parents married in 2004
A: Did you text your friend yesterday?
B: I didn’t text my friend yesterday.
A: Did you miss the bus this morning?
B: No I didnt.
Think about this...

1.What did you do last weekend?

2.Where were you ten years ago?
3.Did you take a shower yesterday morning?
4.Where did you have lunch yesterday afternoon?
5.Did your best friend meet you last week?
6.Where did your classmates go last vacations?
 Activity:
Drag and drop the sentences to match the pictures and the sentences about the past.

We had a barbecue last friday Mia went swimming 3 days ago Yesterday, I played tennis

John studied for 6 hours last night They did the dishes one hour ago

__________________________________

__________________________________
__________________________________

__________________________________

___________________________________
Reading comprehension activity:

United States of America (USA) - Important Dates

Federal holidays and observances

The US recognizes various federal holidays. Some are to commemorate certain
events, such as Independence Day, while others are to recognize specific people
important to the history of the nation. Most of these are birthdays of previous
Presidents. There are also holidays to honor important leaders in the Civil Rights
movement, such as Susan B. Anthony and Dr. Martin Luther King.
The following is a list of federal holidays:

January 1: New Year's Day

Third Monday in January: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
January 20 (the first January 20 following a presidential election): Inauguration Day
Third Monday in February: Presidents' Day
Last Monday in May: Memorial Day
July 4: Independence Day
First Monday in September: Labor Day
Second Monday in October: Columbus Day
November 11: Veterans' Day
Fourth Thursday in November: Thanksgiving Day
December 25: Christmas Day

All of these federal holidays are observed as “Bank Holidays,” meaning that banks
and other government offices (including schools) are closed; however, some workers
within other sectors may not receive paid time off on these days.
Answer the following questions according to the text
in a separte piece of paper

1.- What do Americans celebrate on November 11th?

a)Independence Day
b)Veterans’ Day
c)Labor Day

2.- What does “Bank holiday” mean?

a) It means that Banks and government offices are closed

b) It means that all stores are closed
c) It means that Banks workers receive paid time off.
3.- What is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November?

a) Thanksgiving Day
b) Columbus Day
c) Memorial Day

4.- When is labor day celebrated in the U.S.?

a) Second Monday in October

b) Third Monday in February
c) First Monday in September

5.- When is Martin Luther King’s day?

a) Third Monday in February

b) Third Monday in January
c) Third Monday in March
ANSWER KEYS
Activity: Read this short biography and write the past forms of
the verb to be in the blank spaces:

John Winston Lennon was born in Liverpool on October 9, 1940, the only
child of Fred and Julia Lennon. His parents split when he was a toddler and
he was raised by his aunt, Mary Smith. His first band was a skiffle group
called The Quarrymen, named after his school, Quarry Bank High. A 15-year-
old Paul McCartney joined in 1957, followed by George Harrison a year later.
By the mid-60s, The Beatles were the world's biggest band, and Lennon &
McCartney's songwriting skills were developing at breathtaking speed.
 Activity:
Read the biography about Steve Jobs and fill in the missing verbs with the past
form of be and simple past form.

Steve Jobs, the American businessman and technology visionary, was born (be
born) on February 24th, 1955 in California. His parents were (be) two University
of Wisconsin graduate students, Joanne Carole Schieble and Syrian-born
Abdulfattah Jandali. Jandali said he had (have) no choice but to put the baby up
for adoption because his girlfriend's family objected to their relationship.

Paul Reinhold Jobs (1922–1993) and Clara Jobs (1924–1986) adopted (adopt) him.
The Jobs family moved (move) from San Francisco to Mountain View, California
when Steve was (be) five years old.
The father didn’t show (no / show) Steve how to work on electronics in any
special place, it was (be) in the family garage. He taught (teach) his son how to
take apart and rebuild electronics such as radios and televisions. As a result, Steve
became interested in and developed a hobby of technical tinkering.
Jobs then attended Cupertino Junior High and Homestead High School in
Cupertino, California. During the following years Jobs met (meet) Bill
Fernandez and Steve Wozniak, a computer “whiz kid”. Following high school
graduation in 1972, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon.

Jobs dropped out (drop out) of college after six months and spent the next 18
months dropping in on creative classes. He continued (continue) auditing
classes at Reed while sleeping on the floor in Friends’ dorm rooms, returning
Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare
Krishna temple.
Jobs died (die) at his California home around 3 p.m. on October 5, 2011, due to
complications from a relapse of his previously treated pancreatic cancer.
 Activity:
Drag and drop the sentences to match the pictures and
the sentences about the past.

Yesterday, I played tennis

__________________________________

We had a barbecue last friday

__________________________________
 John studied for 6 hours last night

__________________________________

Mia went swimming 3 days ago

__________________________________

They did the dishes one hour ago

___________________________________
Answer the following questions according to the text
in a separte piece of paper

1.- What do Americans celebrate on November 11th?

a)Independence Day
b)Veterans’ Day
c)Labor Day

2.- What does “Bank holiday” mean?

a)It means that Banks and government offices are closed

b)It means that all stores are closed
c)It means that Banks workers receive paid time off.
3.- What is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November?

a)Thanksgiving Day
b)Columbus Day
c)Memorial Day

4.- When is labor day celebrated in the U.S.?

a)Second Monday in October

b)Third Monday in February
c)First Monday in September

5.- When is Martin Luther King’s day?

a)Third Monday in February

b)Third Monday in January
c)Third Monday in March