ENGLISH THE AMERICAN WAY: A FUN ESL GUIDE TO LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN THE U.S. Sheila MacKechnie Murtha, M.A. Jane Airey O’Connor, M.Ed. Research & Education Association Visit our website at: www.rea.com Research & Education Association 61 Ethel Road West Piscataway, New Jersey 08854 E-mail: [email protected] English the American Way: A Fun ESL Guide to Language and Culture in the U.S. Published 2015 Copyright © 2011 by Research & Education Association, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Control Number 2010937924 eISBN-13: 978-0-7386-0676-7 LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: Publication of this work is for the purpose of test preparation and related use and subjects as set forth herein. While every effort has been made to achieve a work of high quality, neither Research & Education Association, Inc., nor the authors and other contributors of this work guarantee the accuracy or completeness of or assume any liability in connection with the information and opinions contained herein and in REA’s software and/ or online materials. REA and the authors and other contributors shall in no event be liable for any personal injury, property or other damages of any nature whatsoever, whether special, indirect, consequential or compensatory, directly or indirectly resulting from the publication, use or reliance upon this work. All trademarks and product names cited in this publication are the property of their respective owners. Cover Image © iStockphoto.com/mstay REA® is a registered trademark of Research & Education Association, Inc. A 14 Table of Contents About the Authors Letter from the Authors Authors’ Acknowledgments How This Book Works Symbols Used in the Book About REA Acknowledgments Unit 1 New Friends Hi There! Meet the Neighbors Those Crazy Kids! GRAMMAR REMINDERS: 1. Verb to be—Affirmative Statements and Contractions 2. Verb to be—Questions and Negatives Unit 2 Getting Around Riding the Bus Going Underground: The Subway Hey, Taxi! GRAMMAR REMINDERS: 1. The Present Simple Tense—Affirmative Statements 2. The Present Simple Tense—Negatives, and Questions with does 3. The Future Simple Tense—Affirmative Statements, and Negatives 4. The Present Simple Tense—Negatives, and Questions with do Unit 3 Taking a Drive Everybody Loves the DMV Let’s Go for a Ride! Oops. Sorry, Officer Grammar Reminders: 1. The Present Simple Tense—Short Answers 2. Comparatives 3. Superlatives Review: Units 1–3 Unit 4 Dining in Style Zipping Through the Drive-Thru A Little More Upscale Is This What I Ordered? Grammar Reminders: 1. Stative Verbs 2. Would You Like or Do You Like? 3. Count/Noncount Nouns 4. More Count/Noncount Nouns! Unit 5 Get Moving! Play Ball! Members Only! Joining a Gym Extreme Sports Grammar Reminders: 1. Modal Verbs of Ability—Can 2. Modal Verbs of Ability—Could 3. Will Be Able to for future ability Unit 6 Get Away from It All Day Tripping Going Wild Fancy-Schmancy Grammar Reminders: 1. The Past Simple Tense—Affirmative Statements, Regular Verbs 2. The Past Simple Tense—Affirmative Statements, Irregular Verbs Review: Units 4–6 Unit 7 Home Sweet Home To Buy or Not to Buy; That Is the Question City Life or the 'Burbs Nothing but Bills! Grammar Reminders: 1. The Past Simple Tense—Negatives, Verb to be 2. The Past Simple Tense—Negatives, Regular Verbs 3. The Past Simple Tense—Negatives, Irregular Verbs Unit 8 Ooh, Money, Money! Stash the Cash! Get Started with Banking Making the Big Bucks Grammar Reminders: 1. The Past Simple Tense—Questions, Verb to be 2. The Past Simple Tense—Questions, Regular and Irregular Verbs Unit 9 Shop 'Til You Drop It’s All at the Mall Food, Glorious Food! Saving Some Dough Grammar Reminders: 1. Expressions of Quantity—much, many; few, less 2. More Expressions of Quantity! Review: Units 7–9 Unit 10 Emergency 911 HELP! HELP! FIRE! HELP! HE’S NOT BREATHING! HELP! STRANGER DANGER! Grammar Reminders: 1. Modal Verbs of Necessity—Have to, Must 2. Modal Verbs for Requests—Can, Could 3. Modal Verbs of Advice, Possibility, Ability—Should, Would, Could Unit 11 What’s Up, Doc? Under the Weather Health Insurance: What’s Up with That? Grammar Reminder: Modals Review Unit 12 What’s Up Now? Open Wide Let’s See WOOF! Grammar Reminders: 1. The Past Simple Tense—Short Answers 2. Prepositions of Time Review: Units 10–12 Unit 13 Around Town Where Am I? At Your Service Grammar Reminders: 1. Prepositions of Place 2. The Present Continuous Tense—Affirmative Statements 3. More Present Continuous Tense Unit 14 Culture Vulture What’s Happening? See the Capital… and the Capitol Grammar Reminders: 1. The Present Continuous Tense—Questions 2. The Present Continuous Tense—Negatives Unit 15 Helping Out Helping Hands, Giving Back Good Citizen? Good Neighbor! Grammar Reminder: Even More Present Continuous Tense Review: Units 13–15 Unit 16 The Better Half The Dating Game Will You Marry Me? It’s Over! Grammar Reminders: 1. Phrasal Verbs 2. Suggestions and Proposals Unit 17 That’s Life! And Baby Makes Three That Bundle of Joy Grammar Reminders: 1. Will and Going to 2. Used to Unit 18