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Presentation Talking about ability
1. The four extracts below all talk about different abilities. Match Extracts 1-4 with topics a)-d). a) learning a new dance b) acquiring new artistic skills c) being a gifted musician d) developing various talents despite challenges
1. Ms. Walsh has a talent for music. She has perfect pitch, can hear a melody once and pick it out on the piano and can sing pieces of classical music, such as Brahms's Requiem, by heart. She can sing 2,000 songs in 25 different languages and once brought a Bosnian porter at the airport to tears by singing him a song in his native tongue. http://www.wsf.org/family/news/singing.htm
2. Elbé van Rooyen exhibited her work for the first time at the age of fourteen; even at this early stage her unique talent had already become evident. After completing her studies at two universities, she built a career as an executive in the corporate world. This demanding life, however, could not separate her from her passion for painting. She was so talented, so creative. She could paint, she could act, she could write. As her reputation as an artist grew, she decided in 1999 to devote all time and effort to her art. http://www.saartistsonline.co.za/
3. Art departments can teach students how to become better artists, become experts in art history, or teach them how to teach art education in the classroom. Students will be able to take classes in each of these disciplines, but must choose one of these programs in order to earn their degree. Art students will be able to master their skills as painters, sculptors, ceramic artists, or photographers. http://www.jobprofiles.org/programs/arts-humanities/art.htm
4. Four or five of them made it look s easy. And I followed this young man, and he’d got the jeans and the shirt on and the right kind of boots, and he could do it perfectly. And he said to me, “When the music’s really quick like this”, he said, “do the steps a bit smaller.” When I came out of there, I managed to get a lift home from somebody who did not live far from me, and they brought me all the way home.
2. Which of the underlined phrases in the extracts: ■ express ability (or inability): a) in the present? b) in the past? ■ are about ability (or inability): a) to do something at any time? b) to do something on one occasion?
1. In sentences 1-10, do the underlined verbs and expressions refer to the past, present or future or are they a perfect form? Do they talk about general (g) or specific (s) ability?
In three sentences the verb or expression of ability can be replaced with could or couldn't.
2. Choosing the best form Underline the correct verb or verb phrase. (Sometimes both are possible.)
Example: Animals can / manage to communicate with each other.
1 I managed to / could persuade him to come to the restaurant with us. 2 She managed to / could persuade anybody to do anything. 3 I couldn't / didn't manage to understand the instructions for the game. 4 Pierre wasn't able to / couldn't wash the car because he had to leave early. 5 'I can smell / I'm smelling something burning,' said Natasha. 6 To be an airline pilot you must be able to / can react quickly in difficult situations. 7 Rebecca won't be able to / can't come at the weekend after all. 8 I've been able to / can drive since I was 17.
3. Completing a text Fill in each gap in the sentences below with a verb of ability. (More than one is possible for most of the gaps.)
• Monkeys can count up to nine, and 1.__________ recognise which groups of objects are larger than others. Scientists have shown that animals 2. __________ think, even though they 3.__________ talk. Humans 4. __________ look at groups of four or fewer objects and know how many things are in the group without having to count. Researchers found that the monkeys 5. __________ count to four, so they were then tested on five to nine objects. They did just as well. They 6.__________ do this, the researchers say, because they had learnt some rules about numbers and counting. • Some years ago in Atlanta, Georgia, a bonobo chimpanzee called Kanzi 7. __________ slice his food by breaking a rock into small pieces and using a sharp part to cut with. • British experimenters tested sheep's abilities by showing them photographs of each other. Now we know that sheep 8. __________ recognise each other from photographs. /From Developing Grammar in Context. Mark Nettle and Diana Hopkins/
Speaking Sea Battle
1. Look at the grid below. Highlight seven boxes containing the abilities which you have or used to have earlier in your life. Do not show your partner your grid!
2. Work in pairs and ask each other in turns about the abilities given in the grid you think your partner may have. (e.g. Can you perform modern dances?) Your aim is to find the seven boxes your partner highlighted. If you hit one, find out some details about the partner’s abilities. (e.g. How long has he or she been able to do sth? Why did he or she give it up? Has he or she ever received any prize (or has somehow been praised) for his or her ability?) Use the other grid to keep a record of your partner’s answers.
The pair which finds all the seven highlighted boxes of each other and can give a detailed description of each other’s abilities – WINS!!!
[1] Lowry, Glenn - Director, Art Gallery of Ontario Date: 2015-01-02; view: 1210
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