Anti-Cheating Hats
Friends discuss censorship in the schools. The Grammar focus is on Verbs plus Prepositions.
Sadler: “They are practising censorship in some schools now.”
Carlisle: “It depends on where you live.“
Sadler: “I know they do it in Florida.”
Carlisle: “I would never live there. Too many old people, too many hurricanes.”
Sadler: “I think the good part is the sunshine.”
Carlisle: “That’s true, but is it worth it?”
Sadler: “What, to sell your soul for that?”
Carlisle: “Ya. Do you want to teach kids phony-baloney history?”
Sadler: “Not my kids.”
VOCABULARY WITH IDIOMS
Sell your soul means to abandon your values or morals in return for some highly desired benefit, typically success, power, wealth, etc. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Phony-baloney means fake, or made up. See online Idioms Dictionary.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Suggested Topic for Comments: Verbs with Prepositions
“It depends on where you live.” Some verbs co-occur with certain prepositions. This is one such combination: “To depend on.” Others are “to rely on,” “to consist of,” “to detract from.” Sometimes a verb will have two different prepositions and result in two different meanings, e.g. “to provide for” and “to provide with.”
INTERMEDIATE-ADVANCED DIALOGUE
Friends discuss anti-cheating hats seen in the Philippines. The English Grammar focuses on Complementation.
Tamara: “Did you see those anti-cheating hats they’re wearing in the Philippines?”
Karli: “With egg cartons, cardboard boxes and Halloween masks? Ya, that went viral. Their teacher asked them to design hats and they went crazy.”
Tamara: “Wish we had teachers like that.”
Karli: “I know, can you imagine? Asking for creativity instead of spinning our wheels until graduation?”
Tamara: “I guess we don’t appreciate what we’re supposed to.”
Karli: “Tamara, I can’t even bring certain books to school with me. They’re censored.”
Tamara: “You’re preaching to the choir. I have two books in my bag they’ve suppressed because of sex or some other reason.”
Karli: “Good sex?”
Tamara: “No, it’s nothing, unless you grew up in Spain in the 13th century.”
Karli: “I see. Well, at least they’re not burning anyone at the stake yet.”
Tamara: “Ya, you think that’s far off?”
Karli: “Maybe not so far off, depending on the midterms.”
VOCABULARY WITH IDIOMS
Go viral means to quickly and widely circulate on the Internet, as of a picture, video, or post. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Spinning our wheels means wasting time, expending effort with no result. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Preaching to the choir means arguing in favor of a viewpoint already held by one’s audience. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Far off means at a great distance, absolutely or relatively. See online Idioms Dictionary.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Suggested Topic for Comments: When is the complementizer “that” optional?
“Wish we had teachers like that” vs. “Wish that we had teachers like that.” Both are correct. Simple sentences generally do not require the complementizer. The formality of the discourse is also a factor: the more formal the register, the more likely it is for that to be expressed. Therefore that is omitted most frequently in conversation and least frequently in academic prose.
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