way2go! 6, Schulbuch

54 Unit 04 | It’s traditional 1 … is a popular tradition in our family. 2 … is the most boring way to celebrate New Year’s. 3 … is really bad for your health. 4 … will really annoy your neighbours. Listen to part of a lecture on the importance of traditions. Why do traditions matter? Take notes. Compare your notes in class. Which argument do you agree with most and why? Some students at your English partner school are writing articles on popular customs around the world for their school magazine. They have asked you to send them an article about a custom that is popular with many young Austrians. In your article you should:  present the custom  explain where in Austria it is popular  specify why young people like it Write around 250 words. Give your article a title.  See Writing coach, Article , p. 178. LISTENING 11 a 09 b WRITING 12 Read text A in exercise 8 again. Find an example for each of the three uses above. Add a gerund construction as a subject to complete the following sentences. b 14 Example: Eating grapes at midnight is a popular tradition in our family. Here are some examples of sentences with phrases expressing likes and dislikes. Highlight the gerunds, then change the sentences so that they are true for you and write them down. 1 I don’t mind spending New Year’s alone as I’m not a big fan of parties anyway. 2 I look forward to meeting the entire family at Christmas, I rarely see them otherwise. 3 I don’t fancy celebrating in a cemetery at night. I’d be really scared there. 4 I am keen on taking a trip to London soon. Maybe we could even celebrate New Year’s there? 5 I dislike playing party games with my little cousin. He’s such a bad loser. There are many more expressions that can be followed by a gerund. Complete the sentences with an expression from the box in the correct form, then highlight the gerund following it. 15 16 Gerunds Gerunds are verbs used as nouns. You make gerunds by adding -ing to a verb. Look at three common uses of gerunds and match them to the examples. LANGUAGE 13 a M p. 26 1 as the subject of a sentence 2 after verbs, often expressing likes or dislikes 3 after prepositions a Pat enjoys gardening. b She’s good at looking after plants. c Spending time outside is what she loves. admit  avoid  can’t help  consider  delay  get used to   give up  involve  keep on  recommend   suggest 1 Mum suggested going to a ski lodge for New Year’s. 2 I trying to keep to my diet over the holidays. I can never keep it up. 3 James just can’t living with the cold weather in Austria. 4 You should driving through the town centre. There are roadworks.  See Grammar revisited, Gerund and infinitive , p. 171. Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv