Grammar and usage

Look at some idioms and change idioms to plain English in each sentence. Jack did not achieve good grades in school, but his sister was a real egghead. (a very clever person) We are leaving for London tomorrow, rain or shine. (no matter what difficulties we face)

Sherry really enjoyed chemistry, so writing an essay about it was a child’s play. (Anything that is easy to do.)

Idioms Idioms are fixed expressions with meanings that are not obvious. The meaning of an idioms is usually different from the meaning of the individual words. Idioms are usually used in informal language. Many idioms use noun phrases.

e.g. I thought the exam would be a piece of cake, but it was much harder than expected. (something very easy)

2. Some idioms use prepositional phrases. e.g. This allows you to prepare good answers and means you won’t have to answer questions off the top of your head during the interview. This idiom means answer something quickly without having time to think about it.

3. Idioms can also be verb phrases. A good interviewer is able to tell if you’ve done your homework about the company. ‘Do one’s homework’ means to find out as much as possible about something.

4. Some idioms use the as…as pattern. If you follow my advice, landing a job should be as easy as pie. This idiom means that something is very easy to do.

More idioms

1. Don’t worry about having butterflies in your stomach before the interview. Nervous feeling

2. A: “Was your father upset when you came home at 3 AM?” B: “He was more than upset. He blew his top!” blow one’s top become extremely angry

3.“Can you help me with this problem? I’ve been beating my brains out with it, but I just can’t solve it.” beat one’s brains out try very hard to understand or do something.

4.A: “I don’t believe what Bob said. Why is he bad-mouthing me?” B: “He’s probably jealous of your success.” bad-mouth say unkind, unflattering, embarrassing (and probably untrue) things about someone.

5.A: “Is something wrong?” B: “Not really, but I feel kind of down in the dumps.” down in the dumps depressed; blue.

Part A 1. If you are cool as a cucumber, you are____. A. very calm B. panicked 2. It is raining cats and dogs, you would______. A. call a vet B. take an umbrella A B

3. If it is not your cup of tea, you would_____. A. like it B. do not like it 4. If something costs an arm and a leg, _______. A. you have to go to hospital. B. it is expensive B B

5. If someone says, “I have butterflies in my stomach”, they are________. A. nervous B. having a good meal A 6. If you say that someone is holding firm, you are saying that they_______. A. are holding a hard object. B. believe in something strongly. B

Part B Wang Chunlan is telling her cousin about how she got her first job. Read her story and fill in the blanks using the idioms from part A. You may need to make changes in some cases.

Answers: (1) my cup of tea (2) held firm (3) raining cats and dogs (4) an arm and a leg (5) had butterflies in my stomach (6) as cool as a cucumber

Writing a covering letter Task Writing a covering letter

Skill building 1: Understanding a job advertisement Read this part and answer the following questions: 1. When reading an advertisement, we should pay more attention to 1) _____________________________ 2) _____________________________ ______________________________ 3) _____________________________ what position is being offered. what sort of person the company is looking for. how to apply for the job.

2. Read the advertisement and answer: 1) What position is being offered? 2) The sort of person the company is looking for? 3) How to apply for the job? Software developer. a degree in computer programming, at least four years’ experience, speak fluent Chinese and English, creative ideas, able to work in a team Send your CV and covering letter.

Step 1 Listening to a job advertisement A. Listen and take notes. Then fill in the blanks on page 26. B. Listen again and complete the notes.

Answers 1. United 2. China 3. services 4. managers 5. management 6. research 7. weekend 8. Business Administration 9. English 10. work hard B. 11. full CV 12. the 14th of June/ 14 June/ June 14

Discuss Suppose you are very interested in the job advertisement and you want to apply for this job. What could you do first? 1. search for more information about the company 2. discuss it with parents or friends 3. ask a careers officer for advice 4. writer a cover letter 5. prepare a CV

C. Read the following example of a covering letter and underline all the examples of the applicant’s qualifications, experience, skill and personal qualities.

Qualifications: 2. Experience: graduated from Jingnan University in 2008 with a diploma in Computer science. have been working as a software engineer for Hanyang Computers

3. Skills: 4. Personal qualities: have good fluency in English and have no problem communicating with English speakers a team player and get along well with other people; work on my own; honest and hard-working

Skill building 2 Talking about personal qualities. I have some job-hunters here. Please find out their qualities. John is a construction worker. He can work very well with others. He is a team player.

This girl likes to learn This girl likes to learn. She is always improving her knowledge and skills. She is willing to learn.

She is a successful woman She is a successful woman. She can work on her own without being told what to do. She is a self starter.

Bill is an astronaut. He always has strong reasons for wanting to do something. He is has the motivation to succeed.

The bees are happy to work hard. They are hard-working.

She is a film star. She is always excited and interested in what she does. She is enthusiastic.

He is a famous compere. He finds it easy to talk and listen to other people. He is a good communicator.

Talk about your personal qualities: a team player willing to learn a self-starter have the motivation to succeed hard-working enthusiastic good at communicating with others

Step 2: getting advice from a careers officer She is a careers officer. And you are a job hunter. You want to work in groups with other trainees to conduct research and support managers. Here are some useful words. Please role play it in pairs. can work with other people, find it easy to talk with and listen to others.

Want to improve your knowledge and skills. You want to be a famous architect. You want to build more beautiful houses. Role play the scene. Want to improve your knowledge and skills.

You want to run a company and be a boss yourself. work on your own without being told what to do have strong reasons for wanting to do your work excited and interested in work

You are a student. You want to further your degree but lack money. You want to work extra hours. For example, weekend. willing to work hard.

formatting a covering letter Skills building 3 formatting a covering letter 1. Why should we write a good covering letter? It will increase our chances of getting a job. 2. What should your letter be like? It should not be more than one page long and should only contain information relevant to the job advertised.

3. How many paragraphs does a usual covering letter have? 4. What should you say in para one? 5. What should you say in para two? Four. Why I am writing and where I saw the advertisement. Give my background and experience. My abilities and achievements, my qualifications experience and skills to those mentioned in the ad. Ask the reader to look at your CV.

6. What should you say in para three? 7. What should you say in para four? 8. What should you do after you have finished the letter? My personal qualities linked to those mentioned in the ad. I’m available for an interview. Read it through very carefully. Check for spelling and grammar mistakes. Check that nothing missed.

9. What had you better do when your letter is ready? 10. When should you send your letter? To ask someone else to read it. When I am certain that it is definitely without mistakes.

Homework write a covering letter You are a would-be graduate from Tsinghua university majoring in English. Write a letter to a company applying for a position. Your letter should include: 1. An introduction of yourself. 2. Your qualification for the position. 3. Asking for an interview.