Distracted Drivers

A cell phone	A mobile phone (US)
Put a lipstick on	To apply a lipstick
Leaf through	Look through a book or other written material; “He thumbed through the report”; “She leafed through the volume”
Legal brief	A document stating the facts and points of law of a client’s case
Clip nails	To cut, cut off, or cut out with or as if with shears or scissors
Distracted	Having the attention diverted
Multitasking	The concurrent operation of two or more processes
Rest stop	A designated area, usually along a major highway, where motorists can pause to relax. Also called a rest stop.
Weave from .. to (around) Weave, Wove, Woven	To move from .. to or about, changing directions at random. The drunken driver wove around all over the road. He was weaving from one lane to another.
Eye tracker	It is a device for measuring eye positions and eye movements

Instructions for completing the listening exercise

• Listen to the recording once and answer the questions below.
• Read the Vocabulary, and listen to the recording the second time. Correct and complete your answers.
• Read the Script and check your answers

Detail questions

1. What activities are mentioned as some of the most frequent distracters of driving?
2. Why are drivers who talk on the phone while driving considered to be intoxicated?
3. What findings did the research of Ph.D. David Strayer reveal?
4. What was the reaction of the general public to these findings and statistics?

Listening Comprehension Summary

Write a 50 words summary of the recording you have listened to.

A sentence expresses a complete thought, whereas a sentence fragment does not.

Sentence: John installed a new operating system. (complete)

Fragment: Installed a new operating system (Who? Why? When? – incomplete)

Sentence: The project was cancelled after the completion of the Planning Phase. (complete)

Fragment: After the completion of the Planning Phase. (By whom? What happened? – incomplete)

All sentences have two basic parts: the subject and the predicate.

Subject: (who? or what?)	Predicate (Develops or completes the idea)
The technician	checked the installation.
John and Bob	have outlined the product’s main features.
The best performing team	was awarded by a performance bonus and a trip to the Prague Castle.

A sentence often contains a subject, verb and an object in order to complete a thought.

A Direct Object receives the action of the verb.

The instructor explained the task.

The instructor: subject – who?

explained: verb – did what?

the task: object – explained what?

An Indirect Object provides us extra information, such as to whom, to what, or for whom, for what. Indirect Objects appear between the verb and the Direct Object.

The instructor explained trainees the task. (Trainees are the Indirect Object of explained).

The instructor explained the task to trainees. (Trainees is not an Indirect Object here)

Try it

Indicate which sentences contain Indirect Objects:

1. The participants showed to the presenter their progress.
2. John studies English every day.
3. The company did not pay out dividends to its shareholders last month.
4. The manger awarded the most dynamic team member with an incentive bonus.
5. The General Manager instructed the staff of new policy changes.

Present Simple, in general, is used to express facts, laws, general events, routines and states of mind, sense, emotion, etc. (permanent situations)

Auxiliary verbs:

Be: am, is, are

Do: do, does

Present Continuous is usually used to emphasize that the situation is temporary or is in progress now (transitional situations).

Auxiliary verbs:

Be: —-

Do: be verb+ing

Try it

1. Put the verbs in brackets into the Present Simple or Continuous form:
2. You can’t talk to John now. He (have) meeting.
3. When she often (go) to cinema?
4. I (take) the bus today because my car is at the service station.
5. You (leave) now?
6. How often you (read) books?
7. Tom (call) the customer at the moment. He usually (meet) customers in person.
8. I (see) that a new complaint has just been posted in our system. But, I can’t read it because I (not wear) my glasses.
9. The cake (smell) great.
10. I (hear) a loud noise outside.

Listening Comprehension Answer Sheet

Detail questions

1. What stereotypes do female soldiers have to deal with in the Army?

That females serving in the Army are prostitutes, lesbians, undermine unit cohesion, panic in emergency or under stress and unable to hold the command.

2. What reasons are given to prevent women to serve in the military?

Hygiene and health issues

3. Have women contributed to or only complicated the cohesion of ground forces?

The contribution the female soldiers have made in the last nine years far outweighs all inherent complications.

4. Are soldiers allowed to date each other?

Yes, soldiers can date each other and even marry.

5. Is sexual intercourse prohibited among unmarried soldiers?

No, it is not explicitly prohibited any longer.

6. Have there been cases when female soldiers were physically attacked by male soldiers?

Yes, the number of reported sexual assault cases rose slightly in 2008.

7. What issues are female soldiers being confronted with in Iraq now?

Although the tension and the controversy connected with women serving in US Army has subdued over time, female coalition soldiers have yet to find ways of serving along male Iraq soldiers.

Listening Comprehension Summary

Write a 50 words or less summary of the recording you have listened to.

In spite of lingering stereotypes and ever present dangers of the combat zone, female soldiers have reshaped the underlying culture of and made essential contribution to the US military forces.

Writing tips – Avoiding Padded Sentences

A padded sentence contains useless phrases that bury the main idea. Improve a padded sentence by eliminating the useless expression or by revising the sentence totally. Some groups of words using “who is, which is, or that is” may also be used unnecessarily in sentences. Use such expressions only when they add to the meaning of the sentence.

 

 

 

Try it

Improve these sentences. More than one answer is possible.

1. For three years we lived in New Orleans, which is as you know, in the state of Louisiana.

For three years we lived in the city of New Orleans in Louisiana.

2. I think that Gwen should be elected because she is, in my opinion, the most qualified of the candidates running for treasurer.

Gwen should be elected because she is the most qualified of the candidates running for the treasurer.

3. Jack is a dependable employee owning to the fact that he is always at work on time.

Jack is a dependable employee because he is always at work on time.

4. Bob will be late for work due to the fact that he overslept.

Bob overslept and will be late for work.