Dear Marjorie
I'm having problems with my studies at school. I find it difficult to get down to work in the evenings and I can't concentrate on anything at the moment. I spend most of my time listening to records or watching TV instead of doing my homework. The other students in my class are much better than I am and I have difficulty in keeping up with them. I sometimes have problems with following the lessons as well. I can't always take down the important things my teacher says because I write so slowly. She has told me that I'm falling behind with my studies. I'm not good at writing essays and I usually hand in my homework late because I put off doing it until the last minute. So I often have to invent silly excuses to explain why I haven't done the work. I'm sure I'm not going to get through my final exams in June. I scraped through the mock exams last February with 54% - all the other students passed with flying colours. I'm now so far behind that I don't know how I'm going to catch up with them. My teacher spent some time going through my homework with me but she found so many mistakes that I felt even more depressed. What do you suggest I do? Yours desperately George
3. Work in pairs. Do you have any of the following study problems? If you do, discuss them with your partner.
4. Work in group. Underline the multi-word verbs in the letter and try to work out what they mean.
4.1. Match the multi-word verbs in A with the definitions in B.
4.2. Ask your partner the questions below. Try to use the multi-word verbs from this unit in your questions and answers.
A How are you getting on with your studies? В At the moment I'm falling behind a little, so I'll have to work harder to catch up with the rest of the class. a. How are you getting on with your studies? b. What things do you write down in lessons? c. Do you always do your homework immediately? d. How do you check there are no mistakes in your work before you give it to your teacher? e. How do you think you will do in your future exams?
4.3. Fill in the gaps below.
to have difficulty in ________ (doing) something to have problems with_______(doing) something to concentrate on_______(doing) something
to be good/quite good at________ (doing) something
4.4. Use the phrases in the boxes above to write some sentences about yourself. Then discuss them with your partner. Find out how many things you have in common.
A I'm good at using computers and learning languages. What are you good at? В I'm quite good at using computers, but I have problems with learning languages. I have difficulty in remembering the grammar rules!
Pre-reading
Express your feelings about the following pastimes. The expression given in the boxes are just suggestions.
Reading Read the text and answer the questions.
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