1. Read.

Read the first part of a fable and put the pictures in order.

Little friends, great friends

One day, when a lion was sleeping, a little mouse began running up and down his body. This soon woke up the lion, who picked up the mouse in his huge paw and opened his mouth to swallow him. "Forgive me, King", begged the little mouse “Forgive me this time and I will never forget it. Who knows, maybe I will be able to help you one day.” The lion was so amused at the idea of the mouse being able to help him that he let him go. The mouse ran away, grateful.

2. Time phrases.

Choose the correct option to complete the first part of the story.

3. Giving descriptive information.

Choose the correct option to complete the first part of the story. Before you read, be sure you understand these words: trap, hunter, wagon, chew

4. Write.

Choose ONE of the alternatives below.

Alternative 1 – An animal folk story
What folk stories do you know that include animals? Choose one and write it.

Write about 150 words. Check spelling, grammar and organization carefully before sending the text to your tutor.


Alternative 2 – Reporting conversations
Read the two conversations and choose an answer to the two questions below. Note the use of the words in bold:

  • the past continuous, to describe an action in progress in the past
  • the past simple, to describe events or finished actions
  • reporting verbs like ask, explain, suggest, ...

Conversation 1
Today I was having a break at work and I talked to a colleague about photography. My coworker asked me if I had albums of family photos. She explained that these days people have thousands of digital photos – too many to look at. She suggested that it's a good idea to select the best photos, print them and put them in an album to look at. I replied that I thought that was a good idea.

Conversation 2
Later, I was talking to another coworker about the coffee machine. "The coffee from this machine doesn't taste very good," my coworker complained. "Yes," I replied, "and it's not cheap." I said that the price was the same as a coffee from a café, but the quality was worse. I suggested that we phone the coffee machine company to ask for a different machine.

Questions
1. Who had a good idea about photos?          The writer   /  The coworker
2. Who complained about the coffee first?      The writer   /  The coworker

Now compare your answers with the correct answers.

1. The coworker, 2. The coworker

Think about two conversations that you have had recently. Write to your tutor and explain what you were doing and what the people said. Try to use the past tense and the past continuous, and these reporting verbs:

said
asked
explained
suggested
begged
complained
promised
replied

Write about 150 words. Check spelling, grammar and organization carefully before sending the text to your tutor.