GRAMMAR
1 Complete the following questions using the correct past participle. Then answer
the question below.
1 Have you ever (take) ______ a photo every day?
2 Have you ever (eat) _______ something unusual?
3 Have you ever (bike) ________ to school or work?
4 Have you ever (climb)______ Mount
Kilimanjaro ?
5 Have you ever (learn)_______ to play a musical
instrument?
6 Have you ever (write) _______ a novel?
7 Have you ever (give up) _____ sugar?
2 Are these questions about a specific time in the past,
or your experience up to now?
3 VIDEO
Watch Matt Cutts talking about his 30 day challenges. Which of the activities in exercise 1 has he done?
A Doing
a challenge helps him to slow down and appreciate his life.
B Achieving
something new made him feel better about himself.
C He
is not really a very adventurous person.
D Anything
is possible for a short period of time.
E He
has the ability to be a great novelist.
F It
isn’t a good idea to try to do something very difficult.
5a
VOCABULARY Look at some examples of idiomatic language from the video. Can you
guess the meaning?
1 A
few years ago, I felt like I was stuck
in a rut….
2
So I decided to follow in the footsteps of the great
American philosopher, Morgan Spurlock* and try something new for 30 days.
3 …instead
of the months flying by, forgotten,
the time was much more memorable.
4
Every November tens of
thousands of people try to write their own 50,000 word novel, from scratch, in 30 days.
5
So why not think about
something you have always wanted to try, and give it a shot for the next thirty days?
*Morgan
Spurlock is an American film-maker, well-known for documentaries where he tries
something for 30 days.
Transcript
Fill in
the gaps using between two and four words.
A few years ago, I felt like I was stuck in a rut. So I decided to
follow in the footsteps of the great American philosopher, Morgan Spurlock and
try something new for 30 days.
The idea is actually pretty simple. Think about something you’ve always
wanted to _____________________________ (1) , and try it, for the next 30 days.
It turns out that 30 days is just about the right amount of time to add a new
habit, or subtract a habit, like _____________________________ (2), from your
life.
There’s a few things I learned while doing these 30 day challenges. The
first was, instead of the months flying by, forgotten, the time was _____________________________
(3). This was part of a challenge I did to take a picture every day for a
month. And I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day.
I also noticed that as I started to do _____________________________ (4)
30 day challenges, my self-confidence grew. I went from desk-dwelling computer
nerd to the kind of guy who bikes to work... _____________________________ (5).
Even last year I ended up hiking up Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa . I would never have been that adventurous before I
started my 30 day challenges.
I also figured out that if you really want something badly enough, you
can do anything for 30 days. Have you ever wanted to write a novel? _____________________________
(6) tens of thousands of people try to write their own 50,000 word novel, from
scratch, in 30 days. It turns out all you have to do is to write 16,667 words a
day for a month. So I did. By the way, the secret is not to _____________________________
(7) until you’ve written your words for the day. You might be sleep deprived,
but you’ll finish your novel.
Now, is my book the next great American novel? No, I wrote it in a month,
it’s awful! But, for the rest of my life, if I meet John Hodgman* at a TED
party, I don’t have to say, ‘I’m _____________________________ (8).’ No, no, if I want to, I can say, ‘I’m a
novelist.’
So here’s one last thing I’d like to mention. I learned that when I made
small, sustainable changes, things I could keep doing, they were more _____________________________
(9). There’s nothing wrong with big, crazy challenges. In fact, they’re a ton
of fun. But they’re less likely to stick. When I gave up sugar for 30 days, day
31 looked like this…
So here’s my question to you, ‘What are you waiting for?’ I guarantee
you the next 30 days _____________________________ (10), whether you like it or
not. So why not think about something you have always wanted to try, and give
it a shot for the next thirty days?
* John Hodgman is an American author and humourist.
Check your answers in "comments". Click here to see the script.
1 1 taken 2 eaten 3 biked 4 climbed 5 learned/learnt 6 written 7 given up
ReplyDeleteThese questions are about experience up to now. If we refer to a specific time in the past we will use present simple or continuous, not present perfect.
3 1,3,4,6,7
4 True
A Doing a challenge helps him to slow down and appreciate his life ‘The first was, instead of the months flying by, forgotten, the time was much more memorable. …And I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day.’
B Achieving something new made him feel better about himself. ‘I also noticed that as I started to do more and harder 30 day challenges, my self-confidence grew.’
D Anything is possible for a short period of time.’ I also figured out that if you really want something badly enough, you can do anything for 30 days.’ F It isn’t a good idea to try to do something very difficult. ‘There’s nothing wrong with big, crazy challenges. In fact, they’re a ton of fun. But they’re less likely to stick.’
False
C He is not really a very adventurous person (he is now)
E He has the ability to be a great novelist. (he says his novel is terrible)
5a VOCABULARY Look at some examples of idiomatic language from the video. Can you guess the meaning?
1 A few years ago, I felt like I was stuck in a rut (in a situation which is boring and difficult to change)
2 So I decided to follow in the footsteps (do the same work or achieve the same success as someone before you) of the great American philosopher, Morgan Spurlock* and try something new for 30 days.
3 …instead of the months flying by (going quickly-used about time), forgotten, the time was much more memorable.
4 Every November tens of thousands of people try to write their own 50,000 word novel, from scratch (from the very beginning, so you have to do everything yourself), in 30 days.
5 So why not think about something you have always wanted to try, and give it a shot (make an attempt to do something) for the next thirty days?