English Plus Options Grade VII DVD transcripts
Unit 1
Opening vox pops: How you spend time
I = Interviewer, A = Amelia, E = Elijah, R = Renee, H = Harry, L = Lilly, D = Darius
1 Amelia
I What are your favourite places in town?
A When I’m with my friends in town we spend most of our time at the shops. Sometimes we go to fast food restaurants.
2 Elijah
I What about when you're at home? Do you stay in your room a lot?
E Yes, I quite like being alone sometimes, so I spend a bit of time in my room. Usually when I come home from school.
3 Renee
I Do you stay in bed later at the weekends?
R No, I don’t spend a lot of time in bed. I go to school on Saturday morning. And on Sunday I don’t spend any time in bed: I prefer to get up and do something. See friends, do sport, watch TV. That kind of thing.
4 Harry
I Are you online a lot?
H Quite a lot, I suppose, yes. My parents say I spend too much time in front of screens. I use my phone a lot, and then there's my computer. That's for homework but I play games on it, too.
5 Lilly
I Do you spend much time on your homework?
L No, not much. Maybe 30 minutes a day.
I And at the weekend?
L I spend more time on my homework at the weekend. Maybe an hour. But I don’t spend more than an hour.
6 Darius
I How long does it take to get to school in the morning?
D When there is a lot of traffic, I spend about 40 minutes on the bus getting to school. It's a long time!
I What do you do on the bus?
D I spend all of my time on my phone.
Speaking dialogue: Thinking of things to do
J = Jamie, L = Lisa
J What are you doing today?
L Nothing much. Shall we do something?
J I don’t want to stay at home all day. It’s boring.
L Well, what do you want to do?
J I don’t know. I just want to go out.
L Why don’t we go for a bike ride? We can take a sandwich.
J It’s really cold. I don’t feel like cycling when it’s cold.
L Mmm. Well, I don’t want to play computer games all day.
J How about going into town? There’s a new café on the High Street. They say it’s very good.
L That sounds like a good idea. We can go to the shopping centre, too.
J I don’t know about the shopping centre, but the
café sounds good. Let’s finish our homework now
and then get the bus into town.
L OK.
Culture documentary: A typical American teenager
This is Blair Feldman. She’s fifteen years old and she lives in New Jersey on the east coast of the United States.
Blair is in the 9th Grade at West Milford High School, in New Jersey. She goes to school from Monday to Friday. Students at Blair’s school don’t wear a uniform.
The school day starts early at 7.20am and finishes at 2pm. There are a lot of after school clubs at West Milford High. The school band is very popular, but Blair doesn’t play an instrument. Art and photography clubs are popular, too, but Blair likes sport so she usually goes to the Volleyball club after school.
Today is Saturday, so Blair is enjoying her free time. Blair’s family have got a nice house. She’s got her own room. It isn’t very big, but she likes it. She’s got a lot of books and photos of her friends. She hasn’t got a TV in her room, but she’s got a laptop and she’s also got a mobile phone. These are her favourite possessions.
During the week Blair gets up very early to go to school but she sometimes stays in bed late at the weekend. It’s half past eight now and she’s in her room chatting with her best friend online on her laptop.
Blair doesn’t go to school on Saturday, but she’s usually got around three hours of homework at the weekend. She usually does all her homework on Saturday morning. She often works in the kitchen so she doesn’t check her instant messages all the time.
Today, Blair’s dad is at work and her sister is away at university, so she’s at home with her mum and her dog, Sophie. Blair loves playing with Sophie, and taking her for walks with her mum.
Blair loves listening to music, too. She’s got a lot of music on her phone. Her favourite singer is Beyoncé. Dancing is Blair’s favourite pastime. She goes to dance class every Saturday afternoon. Her mum drives her to the class in town.
After dance class Blair sometimes goes shopping or goes to the cinema with her friends. But today she’s tired, so she’s watching TV at home. At 8pm her friends come round to hang out and chat. It’s a great way to end a relaxing Saturday.
Unit 2
Opening vox pops: Comparing answers
I = Interviewer, R = Rebecca, H = Harry, S = Steve
1 Rebecca, Harry and Steve
I Do you spend a lot of time talking to friends on the phone?
S Of course, all the time.
R Not much. What about you?
H Me neither. We use instant messaging most of the time.
2
I Did you know that young people only spend 3% of their communication time making phone calls?
S Really?
I Did you know that?
H I’m not surprised.
R Neither am I.
3
I Do you use email?
S Absolutely.
I Did you know that teenagers only spend 2% of their communication time writing emails?
S Wow, no. I’m surprised.
I Are you surprised by that?
R Of course not, email is for adults.
H That’s right.
4
I How often do you have face-to-face conversations with friends?
R All the time.
H Me, too.
S Umm, sometimes. About once a week probably.
H Really?
R I’m surprised.
Speaking dialogue: Making plans over the phone
A = Anna, M = Mike
A Hello?
M Hi, Anna. It’s Mike.
A Hi there. How are things?
M Good. Are you at home?
A Yes. Why?
M Well, I’m having a coffee with Sally in town. We’re thinking of going to the cinema. Are you interested?
A I’d like to come, but I can’t right now.
M What are you doing?
A Nothing special. I’m waiting to Skype my cousin in Canada. What time’s the film?
M It’s at four o’clock.
A Oh, that’s OK. I can make it at four. That’s lots of time to Skype and then get the bus into town.
M Cool! Text me when you’re on the bus.
A OK. See you later.
Curriculum extra documentary: Regional languages in the UK
English is a global language. Around 375 million people around the world speak it as a first language and around 1.5 billion people learn it as a second, third, or fourth language. But, in the United Kingdom, English isn’t the only language people speak.
People from all over the world live in the UK. People living in London speak more than 100 different languages. Some of the most common languages are Polish and Bengali.
And more surprisingly, different parts of the UK have got their own languages, too. Thousands of people born in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and in Cornwall in the South-West England don’t speak English as their first or preferred language. They speak one of the UK’s four minority languages.
In Scotland, around 60,000 people can speak Scottish Gaelic. Scottish Gaelic is most common in the north-west of Scotland. The language is quite different to English. You can see it in the area’s names and signs.
In Northern Ireland around 10 per cent of the population can speak Irish Gaelic or Gaeilge. Irish Gaelic is the official first language of the Irish Republic, and it’s an official language of the European Union, too.
In Wales, around 20 per cent of the population can speak Welsh. Welsh is a very different language to Scottish Gaelic and Irish. Today, nearly half of all school students in Wales can speak some Welsh. And there are many schools where students have all their lessons “yn Gymraeg”, in Welsh, and learn English as a second lan...
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