lesson 8 - unusual things.

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L ESSON 8 : T HAT S UNUSUAL !

Warm-up :

You're going to read some unusual coincidences. First, look at the five
titles of the stories. What do you think they're about?

Reading : Five amazing coincidences

Life is full of coincidences things that happen to us that we just can't explain. But some
coincidences are more unusual than others.
1. The Baby
Mr Joseph Figlock was walking down a street in Detroit during the 1930S when a baby fell from
a window. Figlock caught the child and neither were harmed. A year later, the same baby fell
from the same window onto Mr FigJock as he was passing beneath. Once again. both of them
survived.

2. The Book
American novelist Anne Parrish (1888-1957) was looking through some books in a shop in Paris
once when she found one of her favourites: Frost and Other Stories. She picked it up, showed
it to her husband and told him about the hook she'd loved so much as a child. Her husband
opened it and found the following inscription on the inside cover: "Anne Parrish, 209 N. Weber
Street. Colorado Springs. It was Anne's very own book.
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3. The Game
In America in 1858, Robert Fallon was shot dead during a game of cards. The other players said
that Fallon had won his $600 by cheating. However. none of the other players were willing to
take the unlucky $600. So, they found a new player to take Fallon's place and gave him the
dead man's money. Within a short time. the new player had turned the 5600 into $2 ,200 in
winnings. Soon afterwards, the police arrived. They ordered the new player to give the original
5600 to Fallon's nearest relative. Incredibly, it turned out that this new player was actually
Robert Fallon's son, who hadn't seen his father for seven years!

4. The Brothers
Twin brothers, Jim Lewis and Jim Springer, were separated at birth and adopted by different
families. Both families named the boys James, or Jim for short. Both boys grew up not knowing
that they had a brother, but both trained as police officers, and both were good at mechanical
drawing and carpentry. later, they both married women called Linda, both had a son (one of
whom was named James Alan and the other James AlIan), and later they both divorced their
wives and married other women called Betty. Oh, and they both owned dogs called Toy.

5. The Friends
In 1953, American television reporter Irv Kupcinet was in London to cover the coronation of
Elizabeth 11. He was staying at the Savoy Hotel. In one of the drawers he found some items
that belonged to a man called Harry Hannin - a basketball star with the famed Harlem
Globetrotters, and also a good friend of Kupcinet's. Two days later. Hannin sent Kupcinet a
letter. He said that while he was staying at the Hotel Meurice in Paris. he'd found a tie with
Kupcinet's name on it in a drawer in his hotel room.

Questions
1. Which story seems the most unusual to you? Explain why.

2. Find a new title for each story, that explains what happened a little bit better.

3. Do you know an unusual story from country?

4. Did something unusual happen to you? How do you explain it?

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Match the questions (1 to 6) to the answers (a.f).

1. What was wrong with the DVD player? a. I couldn't get the DVD out.

2. What was the saleswoman trying to sell b. To the shops.

you?
c. I was sleeping on the sofa.
3, What were you doing when I called?
d. A subscription to a payperview TV
4. What were Kate and her friends doing
last night? channel.

5. Why didn't you answer the door? e. Because I was wearing my pyjamas.

6. Where were you going this morning? f. They were eating out in a restaurant.

Read the instant messages. Then,

answer the questions.

1, What was Owen doing at 9pm last night?

2. Who had he invited to his place?

3. Why couldn't he answer the phone?

4. Why did he burn the main dish?

5. Where's Chloe going tonight?

6, What's Owen going to do?

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Grammar checkpoint : the past continuous

Answer the questions. Invent where necessary.

What happened while you were ...
... walking in the park?

... reading in bed?

... watching the film?

... Iistening to the music?

... playing tennis?

... talking to a friend?

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Look at the photos. What can you see? Make four sentences using the Past
Continuous.
For example: The girl on the top right was sleeping

Sentence creation
Create as many sentences as you can in the Past Continuous in just two minutes. Use the verbs
below. Use both affirmative and negative forms.

watch, work, walk, take, drink, fight, fly, get,

give, go, hide, hit, hurt, wear, keep, sell, show,
shoot, see, run, call, learn, think, move
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Task 1 : Complete the sentences with the right word

Task 2: Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs
in brackets. Use the Past Continuous or Past Simple.

1. As I was talking to her, the phone _________ (start) to ring.

2. While we _____ (eat), the last two guests arrived.

3, I was sleeping on the sofa when I _________ (hear) the scream.

4. As she was Sitting in the park, it suddenly __________ (begin} to rain.

S. We (have) a drink when the police officier walked in.

6. While they were walking in the park, they _________ (see) Phoebe.