Unit 20: Telling stories
Narrative tenses
Select a unit
- 1Pop-ups
- 2Hidden talents
- 3Can't buy me love
- 4Travellers' tales
- 5The colleague from hell
- 6Jurassic mystery: unpacking the past
- 7Career changes
- 8Art
- 9Project management
- 10The dog ate my homework!
- 11The diary of a double agent
- 12Fashion forward
- 13Flat pack skyscrapers
- 14Extreme sports
- 15Food fads
- 16Me, my selfie and I
- 17Endangered animals
- 18A nip and a tuck: cosmetic surgery
- 19I'm really sorry...
- 20Telling stories
- 21Fakes and phrasals
- 22Looking to the future
- 23Becoming familiar with things
- 24From rags to riches
- 25Against the odds
- 26Our future on Mars?
- 27Where is it illegal to get a fish drunk?
- 28Dodgy dating
- 29Annoying advice
- 30I'll have been studying English for thirty weeks
Session 4
Your friend tells you that he got on a bus one day - and Justin Bieber was the driver! What do you say? Learn expressions to use when you hear surprising information
Activity 2
Get out of here!
Sounding surprised
Most of the things Brian said were suprising. His friend Ken used expressions to show that he was surprised - or that he thought that what Brian said was unbelievable.
But these expressions alone are not enough. It's important to use your voice to make sure you sound surprised! To sound surprised, make your voice a little bit louder than normal and use a wider range of intonation than normal. If your voice is too flat, then these expressions will sound strange. But beware: if you sound surprised when the information isn't very surprising, you will also sound strange. This activity should help you to hear the difference.
ፅሁፉን ያንብቡና ቀጣዩን ክንውን ይሞክሩ
To do
Read each sentence and decide if the information is surprising or not. Then listen to the audio clips of the replies to the information. Decide if option 1 or option 2 sounds like the best response. Remember that surprising information needs a surprised-sounding response!
Who sounds surprised?
7 Questions
For each question, first read Brian's sentence and decide if it's surprising - or not. Then listen to the audio clips of Ken's responses and choose which one best matches Brian's sentence.
ድጋፍ
Activity
For each question, first read Brian's sentence and decide if it's surprising - or not. Then listen to the audio clips of Ken's responses and choose which one best matches Brian's sentence.
ፍንጭ
How does a surprised person sound?Question 1 of 7
ድጋፍ
Activity
For each question, first read Brian's sentence and decide if it's surprising - or not. Then listen to the audio clips of Ken's responses and choose which one best matches Brian's sentence.
ፍንጭ
Is this surprising information?Question 2 of 7
ድጋፍ
Activity
For each question, first read Brian's sentence and decide if it's surprising - or not. Then listen to the audio clips of Ken's responses and choose which one best matches Brian's sentence.
ፍንጭ
Is this surprising information?Question 3 of 7
ድጋፍ
Activity
For each question, first read Brian's sentence and decide if it's surprising - or not. Then listen to the audio clips of Ken's responses and choose which one best matches Brian's sentence.
ፍንጭ
Is it unusual to eat pizza for lunch?Question 4 of 7
ድጋፍ
Activity
For each question, first read Brian's sentence and decide if it's surprising - or not. Then listen to the audio clips of Ken's responses and choose which one best matches Brian's sentence.
ፍንጭ
How surprising is this information?Question 5 of 7
ድጋፍ
Activity
For each question, first read Brian's sentence and decide if it's surprising - or not. Then listen to the audio clips of Ken's responses and choose which one best matches Brian's sentence.
ፍንጭ
Is it surprising or unusual for a person to have a birthday?Question 6 of 7
ድጋፍ
Activity
For each question, first read Brian's sentence and decide if it's surprising - or not. Then listen to the audio clips of Ken's responses and choose which one best matches Brian's sentence.
ፍንጭ
Would you be surprised if someone told you this?Question 7 of 7
Excellent!Great job!መጥፎ እድል ነጥብ አስመዝግበዋል :
To do
How was the quiz? Why not get together with a friend and practise using some of these expressions? One of you can say a surprising or unbelievable thing and the other one can respond. Remember to sound surprised!
End of Session 4
No way! That's the end of this session. In Session 5 you can hear the final part of our drama The Importance of Being Earnest.
Session Vocabulary
Ways of showing surprise
No way!
Get out of here!
You're kidding!
Really?
Are you for real?
Oh yeah?
You're not serious!
