UNIT 4 : DAILY ROUTINES

1. A DAY IN MY LIFE
________________________________________________________________
VOCABULARY PRACTICE
afternoon breakfast dinner evening finish get up
go to bed go to work / school lunch midday morning
night early weekend late
1.Look at the words in the box. Find:
five times of the day
three meals
two things you do everyday
2. Complete the sentences with words from the box:
You have..in the morning. You have dinner in the.. . You . At night.
People.work at five in the afternoon. Many people dont work at the . You
have.. at midday or in the afternoon. You get up in the. . People start .. at
half past eight in the. .
READING PRACTICE
1.Youre going to read a magazine article about Sonya Philips, who is a presenter on
breakfast television in Britain. What time do you think her day starts and finishes?
MY WORKING DAY
My working day starts very early. From Monday to Friday I get up at half past three
and I have a shower and a cup of coffee. I usually leave the house at ten past four because
the car always arrives a few minutes early. I get to the studio at about five oclock and
start work. Good Morning Britain starts at seven oclock and finishes at nine oclock.
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Then I leave the studio at a quarter past ten. After that, I get home at three oclock. A
woman helps me with the housework and the ironing. I read the newspaper and do some
work. Then my husband gets home at half past five in the afternoon and I cook dinner.
We stay at home in the evening. We dont go out because I go to bed very early. We
usually watch television and then I go to bed at half past eight. Im usually asleep by nine
oclock.
At week-ends, I dont get up until ten oclock In the evening we often see some
friends or go to the cinema. But Im always up early again on Monday morning.
WRITING AND SPEAKING PRACTICE
1. Write the questions the journalist asked Sonya.
Example: What time do you get up?
2. Read the following text about a busy American teenager. What does she do on
week days? And on week-ends?
Sandy is a very busy teenager. She never has enough time for all she wants to do.
Like many other American teenagers, she spends hours on the telephone, talking to her
friends. She goes out on dates on week-ends, and she baby-sits for other
familieschildren. And, of course, during the school year she has lots of homework to do.
During the football season, Sandy is busier than ever. She and several other pretty
girls are cheerleaders for the high school football games. They lead the crowd in cheering
for the schools team. The girls jump up and down, cheering when the team has played
well. When the team is not playing so well, the cheerleaders try to encourage the players.
The cheers are usually not long, but it takes a long time to practice shouting them
together.
3. Look at the following activities. Which ones do you always, usually or sometimes
do? At what time do you do them? Which ones do you never do?
go to a club; go to a party; do some work / homework; get up; play music; have
breakfast; go out on a date; have lunch; go to bed; have dinner in a restaurant; go to a
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concert; meet friends; play football; go shopping; cook dinner; go to the cinema;
telephone a friend; write letters; go to work / school.
4. Read and rewrite the statements in Daily routines around the world so they are
true for your country:
Example: We dont start work at eight, we start at
Daily routines around the world:
- In Austria children go to school at half past seven in the morning.
- In Germany people go to work between seven and nine in the morning.
- In Holland people start work at eight in the morning and finish work at five in the
afternoon.
- In Greece children start school at eight and finish at one-thirty or start at two and
finish at seven in the evening.
- In France people have lunch at midday.
- In Spain people have lunch at three or four oclock in the afternoon.
- In the USA people finish work at five in the afternoon.
- In Norway people have dinner at five in the afternoon.
- In Spain people have dinner at ten or eleven in the evening.
5.Complete these sentences with on, in or at:
My mother was born.the 1950s. I work bestnight. We always have a big family
meal New Years Eve. I spend at least two weeks by the seathe summer. I star work
every morning 9 a.m. I always try to get home from work time to read my children
a bedtime story. I never have a nap the afternoon. I would like to have lived the
Middle Ages. My birthday is March; in fact, its 6
th
March. I started learning
English 1999. Nothing special happens in my family Christmas. My boss never
starts meetings time; shes usually at least ten minutes late. I usually feel depressed
Monday mornings. I spend a lot of time with my friends the weekend. Im enjoying
life the moment.
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1. Recently, a survey entitled Europeans: Citizens of the World questioned
people about "A Day in the Life of a European'. We often tend to stereotype
people from other countries. But do these stereotypes live up to scrutiny?
Read the text.
A day in the life of a European
EARLY BIRDS
The earliest risers are the Czechs although almost the same number of Hungarians
get up before 6.00. The people who stay in bed the latest are the Spanish together with
the other lie-in-beds, the Irish.
NIGHT OWLS
Despite their early rising, many Eastern Europeans stay up late but not nearly as late
as the Italians, more than half of whom stay up beyond midnight.
NAPPING
Interestingly, the industrious Dutch are unveiled as Europe's most avid nappers,
considerably more than the allegedly siesta-loving Spanish, whereas the Irish are the
people in Europe least prone to napping.
NEWSHOUNDS
A few more of the Swiss will have read a newspaper than the Norvegians but less
than a third of Greeks will have read a newspaper. The Danes were easily the most avid
radio listeners.
ON THE BUS
Almost as many Swiss as Czechs are likely to go to work by bus but nowhere near as
many Finns - only 6.6% do so. Indeed the results seem to show that these days fewer and
fewer Scandinavians are travelling by public transport.
EATING OUT
The Swiss are by far the most assiduous restaurant patrons, closely followed by the
Czechs. The least likely to be found in a restaurant are the Ukrainians and Russians.
BAD TEMPER
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The hottest tempers were found in Turkey but the researchers were more than
surprised to find that it was almost the same number as the allegedly phlegmatic British!
HAPPINESS
Another surprise was that supposedly gloomy Scandinavians felt a great deal happier
than the Greeks and Russians, and quite the saddest nations in Europe were the Italians
and British!
Was there anything you found surprising, predictable, interesting?
7. How would the results in the article compare with any non-European nationalities
you know? Compare your country with other countries you know.
8. Correct the mistakes in these sentences.
1. We are most serious nation of the world.
2. Obviously the Irish go to church much more that the secular Swedes.
3. The Swedes are almost same than the Russians in this.
4. Bigger bath fans in Europe are the British.
5. The most keen showerers are the Danes.
9. Complete the following description with for, during, by, until, at, in, or on.
Eleanor is a nurse who works the night shift
How does she manage?
`Well I finish work (1) ...6.34 a.m. Then I go home, have a bath and try to be in bed
(2) ... half past eight.(3) ... the same time as I'm getting ready for bed, Jeffrey, my
husband, and our five-year-old daughter, Elaine, are getting up. Jeffrey takes her to
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nursery school. I usually sleep (4) .... about 3 o'clock (5) .....the afternoon. I have to be at
the school (6) ... 3.34, to collect Elaine. We come home and I play with her, and try to
get some housework done (7) .... the same time. When my husband comes home, we eat.
If I'm lucky, I can relax (8) ..... an hour before putting Elaine to bed. Then I do some of
the housework that didn't get done (9) ..... the day. I allow plenty of time to get to the
hospital because if I'm not there ... time, another nurse will have to go on working (11 )
..... I arrive. I'm often very tired (12) .... the time I finish, but I don't really mind. There's
a special atmosphere in the hospital (13) ... night. And the hours suit us, (14).... the
moment, anyway. I may want to work days when Elaine goes to a different school.
Perhaps I'll be ready for a change (15) ... then.'
8. Video exercise (Grapevine): A Day in the Life of Dennis Cook.
Watch the movie and answer the questions:
- How old is Dennis Cook?
- How old is he? And his wife?
- Where do they live?
- What time do they get up in the morning?
- What do they do after they get up?
- What time do they go to bed in the evening?
- What is Dennis Cooks job?
_______________________________________________________________
2. FITTING IN AN APPOINTMENT________________________________
LISTENING AND READING PRACTICE
1. An actress and her secretary are trying to fit an appointment into a busy
schedule. Listen to their dialogue, and fill in the times of the appointments.
Cross out appointments that are being changed and write in the new ones.
fit in meet with attend spend time cancel noon
luncheon graduating class film (a movie) direct (a movie)
rehearsal role makeup session hairdresser
fashion designer autobiography
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DIALOGUE
Secretary: What should I do about Mr. Romero? Remember? He said it was
important and couldnt wait. I think he may want you for that new movie hes directing.
Actress: Thats absolutely correct. Now, look, we have to fit him in somewhere.
Uhwhat does Monday morning look like?
Secretary: Mm that doesnt look so good. You have a makeup session starting at
six a.m., then filming starts at eight, and thats going to take the whole morning.
Actress: Oh, thats right! Well, whats after that?
Secretary: Well, the you have lunch with your agent to discuss a new film offer, and
youre to meet him at one oclock at the restaurant.
Actress: Oh, terrific. Listen, I cannot miss that. This role sounds so good!
Secretary: Well, now, youve got a three oclock appointment with Mr. Murami, the
fashion designer.
Actress: Thats right. You know, he is showing the latest fashions from Japan. You
know that loose-fitting look? Those clothes are so in this year! And the Academy
Awards are coming up!
Secretary: At four-thirty you have an appointment with your hairdresser. Then at
seven you have dinner with a newspaper columnist.
Actress: Oh, darn! Do I have to? That wont be easy, and its likely to run late.
How does Tuesday look?
2 Monday
April
6 a.m.__ makeup
session
_______ filming
_______lunch w/agent
_______ fashion
designer
_______ hairdresser
_______ dinner
newspaper
columnist
3 Tuesday
April
_______photography session
_______graduation
luncheon speech
_______publisher
_______rehearsal TV show
_______
_______
4 Wednesday
April
6 a.m. makeup session
8 a.m.
3:30p.m. filming
_______
_______
_______
_______
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Secretary: Well, you have to spend the whole morning at the photographers.
Theyre taking photos to publicize your new movie. Then, at noon, you have to attend a
luncheon and speak to the graduating class of Hollywood Acting School.
Actress: Ugh! Why on earth did they ever ask me? I have absolutely no idea of
what to say; Am I free after that luncheon?
SPEAKING AND WRITING PRACTICE
1. Work in pairs. Describe to each other your typical daily schedule, from
getting up to going to bed.
2. Fill in George Thompson' appointments for the week of the 23
rd
.
3. Read the following article:
TIME-SAVING TIPS: LISTS
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