Objectives & Sequence: This lesson is intended to be used as a review of Grammar - Making Requests.
Part One: Warm Up
Discuss the following questions with a partner or group:
- How often do you read novels?
- What is the most difficult book you have ever read? Why was it so difficult to read?
- Have you read any books that were written more than a hundred years ago?
Part Two: Listening
Exercise
Open Exercise One to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document. Then, go on to Exercise Two.
Transcript
Jeff: Hey, Steve. How you doing?
Steve: Hey, Jeff. Not bad. Would you mind if I sat with you?
Jeff: Not at all. What's up?
Steve: Oh, not much. You?
Jeff: Yeah, not much. Just reading this novel.
Steve: Oh, yeah? What is it?
Jeff: Oh, just a novel.
Steve: Come on. Will you tell me the name?
Jeff: Okay, sorry. It's called The Brothers Karamazov. It was written by an author in Russia called Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Steve: Dostoyevsky. Yeah, I know all about him. His books are really interesting. I read his books when I was in my Russian literature class in university. I haven't read that one yet, though.
Jeff: No way. I didn't know you liked literature.
Steve: Yeah, I think everyone should read more. These days, it seems like people only care about movies, TVs, and video games.
Jeff: Yeah, I know what you mean. I wasn't allowed to play video games when I was a kid, so I read a lot. I actually prefer reading to watching movies. Are you the same?
Steve: Well, I don't know about that, but I definitely like reading. So what's the book about? Could I take a look?
Jeff: Well, I haven't gotten that far into the book yet, but so far, it seems to be about three different brothers fighting to get their father's money. The characters are pretty crazy.
Steve: Wow, 800 pages. It says on the back that this was the author's last book before he died. Did you know that in the 1800s in Russia, novelists like Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy wrote chapters and published them in magazines before they had finished their books?
Jeff: Really? So people had to wait for the next chapter to be printed in a magazine before they could read it?
Steve: Yeah. So for a book like War and Peace by Tolstoy, it took everyone four years to read the book because it had so many chapters.
Jeff: Wow, that's crazy. Why did they do that? They should have just printed the whole book.
Steve: Yeah, I agree. Four years is a long time to read a novel.
Jeff: Yeah, well, I should go now. I've got to go to work this evening.
Steve: Would you mind lending that book to me when you're finished?
Jeff: Sure, no problem. Shall I call you when I've finished with it?
Steve: That would be awesome. Thanks, man.
Jeff: No problem. Take care.