Parents' Evening
Hello to Lidia and all of our World Service Readers
To read today’s blog, you will have to put these one of these verbs into each of the gaps.
i. You must also put the verbs in the correct tense, that is, the simple present (do), the simple past (did) or the present continuous (doing).
ii. Remember to use the correct form of the verb, it must agree with the subject of the sentence!
can ..... climb ..... crack ..... do ..... expect
fall ..... find ....... get ....... go ........ know
make ..... meet ....... mess ..... phone ..... play
read ..... say ....... show ..... start ..... is
I had some really great news last night. It _____ (1) parents’ evening at my son’s school. I _____ (2) you have parents’ evening in your countries, but just in case you don’t, it’s an evening once a term when parents _____ (3) to their child’s school to _____ (4) the teachers. Usually, I _____ (5) these meetings painfully embarrassing, because his teachers basically tell me that my son is lazy and that he _____ (6) around in class. They never _____ (7) it directly, but they make comments like, “he gets distracted easily”, “he always seems to be having a great laugh with his friends” or “he enjoys making everyone laugh”. So, reading between the lines, his teachers were saying that he is the class clown, who _____ (8) jokes all of the time, and never does any work. He always _____ (9) poor grades in his tests, hardly ever _____ (10) his homework, and _____ (11) up all kinds of excuses to his teachers, including lies about me (for example, that I had told him not to do his homework!).
It is particularly awful for me to go to these parents’ evening, because some of his teachers _____ (12) that I am a teacher too! I often feel that they are disapproving of me, that my son should be better because of my job. When we get home from parents’ evening, I’m always angry and tell him that he has to be more serious, and do his homework properly. For a couple of weeks, he studies a bit harder, but then he always goes back to his old ways. He has his own interests, he likes to play with his friends and school is just not very important to him. He loves _____ (13) comics, _____ (14) trees and _____ (15) hide and seek.
So, as usual, I was expecting the worst last night from his teacher. In fact I had already set my face into an expression of apology as the teacher _____ (16) to speak: “Well..” she said, (“Here we go”, I thought), “I have to say that your son has had a tremendous change of attitude this term … and … I’m so pleased with him, he’s really worked hard!” (I was so shocked, I _____ (17) speak). “And what’s more, he’s got some excellent results in his tests, in fact, we don’t expect the children to get these grades until the end of the year!”. Well, I was almost ready to faint with a combination of disbelief and wonder. I think my mouth _____ (18) open! I can’t really remember the rest of the conversation, I was too shocked to take it in!
We came back home and we told my husband. Then I _____ (19) my parents to tell them. They called my sister, and she called me! Everyone was amazed and pleased! So, it just _____ (20) that whatever your personality or age, it’s never too late to change!
That’s all for tonight, tomorrow we will look at ways of practising your speaking skills. Answers for the gap-fill tomorrow!
Best wishes,
Samantha.
USEFUL WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS
be distracted by (verb)
to lose attention / focus on what you have to do
read between the lines (idiom)
this means to understand what is hinted at or said indirectly
disapproving (adjective)
expressing or showing displeasure or rejection
Comments
Hello Samantha! You are right. It´s never too late to change something in our lives to better! I´m glad that your son is doing well at school. I hope that he keep on doing the good work. By the way I really enjoyed your blog today. It makes me feel more alert about what I was reading. It was very nice. I´m looking forward to the answer in your next entrance. Best wishes, Ana Paula.
Good evening Samantha. I'm not sure but at least I tried. My answers are: 1- was 2- know 3- go 4- meet 5- find 6- messes or is messing 7- say 8- does 9- gets 10- reads 11- makes up 12- expect 13- falling 14- climbing 15- playing 16- started 17- couldn't 18- cracked 19- phoned 20- shows If you allow me, when I was at the university, I taught students who were in trouble at school. Once I had one described previewsly by his mum and classmates as the worst of the students. It was not what I found. He was really smart and was just needing a right direction for his energy. Once I showed him how to do that, he did the same as your son. I think your son has all the characteristics of a bright and healthy child. Maybe the teacher has changed her behaviour toward him because if he had any problem, how could he surpass himself in this way? He just showed that the problem is not with him. If I was his teacher I would note his leadership skills. I think he is so smart that while everybody were worried about him, he was just laughing because he knew he could do his best if he wanted.
Hello Samantha , what a exercise , to be honest at first when I saw the exercise I thought to myself " I'm going to do this exercise without any difficulty as I've been used to doing a lot of exercises but this one is different , I think it was pretty amazing to try answer this exercise and at the same time we try to figure out what was happening with you at your son's school , wow … your son made your day. By the way you made me think a lot of each word , now I'm not sure whether the answer is right , but whatever the right answer is , let me say thank you for all what you are doing for us to improve our skills in English language . here we go … (1)was (2)know (3)go (4)meet (5)find (6)messes (7)say (8)cracks (9)gets (10)does (11)shows (12)read (13)making (14)climbing (15)playing (16)started (17)couldn't (18)fell (19)phoned (20)expects
Hello Samantha, this is a very interesting blog. Really, I feel like a student again giving a test of english. The answers are: 1. was, 2. expect, 3. go, 4. meet, 5. find, 6. messes, 7.say, 8. plays, 9. gets, 10. shows, 11. makes, 12. know, 13. reading, 14. climbing, 15. playing, 16. started, 17. couldn't, 18. cracked, 19. phoned, 20. said. Waiting for the correct answeres. Farida
I am not sure whether we are supposed to post our answers. Anyways my answers would be: 1. was 2. expect 3. go 4. meet 5. find 6. messes 7. say 8. cracks 9. gets 10. doing 11. making 12. know 13. reading 14. climbing 15. playing 16. started 17. couldn't 18. fell 19. phoned 20. shows
Dear Samantha,thank you for your vivid description about your lovely son,who makes great progress both on his study and his behavior.Although i have no child of my own,i could feel your strong care and love towards your son.I think smart children are a little bit naughty when in school,so if parents can keep an eye on the key periods in their growth,they will become better and better.As for the task,my answers:1,was;2,expec;3,go;4,meet;5,find;6,messes;7,say;8,cracks;9,gets;10,does;11,makes;12,know;13,reading;14,climbing;15playing16,was starting;17,couldnot;18,fall to;19,phoned;20,showed. After finishing,NO.18 is tripped me up.Looking forward to your next entry.
You gave us a very useful task again today, thank you Samantha for keeping us tuned. As I am going away this weekend, I printed the task to take with me. I will do the exercise while I sit in the car as a passenger. I do hope Lidia is OK. Best wishes to everyone.
hi,Samantha here is the answers for you. 1.was 2.expect 3.go 4.meet 5.found 6.is messing around 7.said 8.is cracking 9.gets 10.does 11.is making up 12.know 13.reading 14.climbing 15.playing 16.started 17.could not 18.was/felt 19.phoned 20.shows i am really happy for you that your son turns into a healthy,fun-loving and bright boy.i reckon that he makes you exhilarated and that is a big present for you on Mother's day from Alex.talking to Mother's day,i've been to my son's school assembly.that meeting was for thanking to mothers and grandmothers who are looking after children.my son's class children had to say something to their mums or grannies in front of about 300 people.my son was the first child to
Hi,Samantha I am really happy for you that your son turns into a healthy,fun-loving and bright boy.I reckon he makes you exhilarated and that is a big present for you on Mother's day.I've been to my son's school assembly.There were over 300 children and parents in the school hall.My son's class children had to say something to their mums or grannies.My son was the first one to say and I was excited and very curious what he was going to tell.Do know what he said? he looked at me and said "I love my mummy because she makes me dinner" with a sweet smile. The children had drawn their mums' picture and waved them to us and sang a song for all parents who were there.It was brillant and the little children let us know that being parents is very special and they are irresistable gift from God. Would give your son big applause for me which he is deserved?,and have a fantastic day! hyoshil
Dear Samantha, thank you for the most cheerful entry! Your story about your son and parents' evening is amazing, you have really wonderfull child! Best wishes,
Hello dear Samantha! Thank you for your lovely exercise. It was a pleasure to do it. I had a difficulty with writing to read, to climb and to play. Because I was puzzled whether I needed to write “He loves to read comics, to climb trees and to play hide and seek.”or “ He loves to read comics, climb trees and play hide and seek.” . But I often notice that native speakers even when there are two verbs in an indefinite tense in the sentence, they still use “to” just with the first verb. I realized my mistake only after I noticed that I have no one –ing form of the verb. Obviously, I should put all three verbs- read, climb, and play in –ing form. What a silly mistake I have hardly done! My answers to this test are: 1-was 2-expect 3-go 4-meet 5-find 6-messes 7-say 8-cracks 9-gets 10-does 11-makes 12-know 13-reading 14-climbing 15-playing 16-started 17-couldn’t 18-fell 19-phoned 20-shows. I have learned a new expression from this text: crack a joke. Now I have to put it in my left pocket and try to use it. Dear Samantha, this your tip with re-laying cards I’ve found the most interesting and useful for myself. I am very grateful to BBC team for all your work. Especially I’d like to thank for adding mp3 files to “Flatmates”. It’s just as you’ve heard my prayers! :-) As I have limited traffic I prefer to download things on my computer and use offline as much as I want. Thanks very much to ALL.
Hi Samantha, I felt very involved reading your last blog. I'm a teacher and I often feel right like you when I meet my doughter's teachers... Thank you also for the nice description and exercise. Good for my English! Love
Dear Samantha, I like your blogs with suggestions for lerners. I have felt your idea to give an exercise as energizing, so this is my trial: (1)was (2)know (3)go (4)meet (5)find (6)messes (7)say (8)cracks (9)gets (10)does (11)makes (12)expect (13)reading (14)climbing (15)playing (16)started (17)couldn't (18)fell (19)phoned (20)shows I wish you and your family an amazing weekend!
Dear Samantha, here are my answers: 1 was, 2 expect, 3 go, 4 meet, 5 find, 6 messes, 7 say, 8 cracks, 9 gets, 10 does, 11 makes, 12 know, 13 reading, 14 climbing, 15 playing, 16 started, 17 could not, 18 fell, 19 phoned, 20 shows. I enjoy reading your blog and I cannot wait to see the answers! Best wishes, Filippo
Dear Samantha,Im a fresher in this blog. Again, I feel, Im a student by asnwering fill up the blanks. Thank you for your nice story & exercise. I promise I would be a regular student of you. Thank u once aginn.
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