Gateway 2 Unit 2: Cultural Issues

The vocabulary of the unit

Some values and their meanings

1. culture: The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively
2. Altruism: Selflessness, generosity, and kindness
3. Citizenship: The set of rights and duties
4. Initiative: The ability or opportunity to act before others do
5. Tolerance: The ability to accept and respect the opinions and beliefs of others
6.  Intolerance: Unwillingness to accept views, beliefs, or behavior that differ from one’s own
7.  Coexistence: The ability to live together in harmony
8.  Cooperation: Participating and working together towards the same end or objective
9.  Equity: Equal treatment to anyone
10.  Diversity: Showing a great deal of variety; very different
11. Stereotype: A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person.

Some values and their antonyms

• Altruism vs selfishness
• Tolerance vs intolerance
• co-operation vs individuality
• Equity vs injustice
• Responsibility vs irresponsibility 
• Love vs hatred
• Harmony vs conflict

Some Collocations related to Cultural Issues

• culture diversity
• civic education
• moral obligations
• cultural shock
• common good
• global citizenship

Compound adjectives

Compound adjectives are adjectives made up of two or more words usually with hyphens (-) between them. In general, we put a hyphen between two or more words (before a noun) when we want them to act as a single idea (adjective) that describes something.

• a well-known writer
• a brightly-lit room
• deeply-rooted traditions
• a good-looking boy
• a free-standing tower
• a tongue-tied boy
• a sun-dried fruit
• a short-sighted man
• a long-haired lady
• a world-famous singer
• a last-minute solution
• deep-sea diving
• a part-time job

Functions: Expressing lack of understanding and asking for clarification

It is a situation when there is something not clear for you, it’s an ambiguous one. Expressing a lack of understanding can be done in different ways. Here are some :

Showing lack of understanding

• I beg your pardon.
• I beg your pardon, but I don’t quite understand.
• I’m not quite sure I know what you mean.
• I’m not quite sure I follow you.
• I don’t quite see what you mean.
• I’m not sure I got your point.
• Sorry, I didn’t quite hear what you said.
• Sorry, I didn’t get your point.
• I don’t quite see what you’re getting at.
• I can’t see what you are driving at

2- Asking for clarification

When something is not clear then obviously and evidently you ask for clarification. In other words, you want the interlocutor to make it clear for you. This can be done in many ways. Here are some:

• What do you mean by…?
• Do you mean…?
• Could you say that again, please?
• Could you repeat it, please?
• Could you clarify that please?
• Would you elaborate on that, please?
• Could you be more explicit?
• Could you explain what you mean by…?
• Could you give us an example?
• I wonder if you could say that in a different way.
• Could you put it differently, please?
• Could you be more specific, please?

Grammar: past perfect

To see this lesson click here: Past Perfect lesson

Writing: Descriptive Essay

A descriptive paragraph or essay is characterized by the use of Adjectives. It tells how something looks, feels, smells, tastes, and/or sounds. A good description is a word picture; the reader can imagine the object, place, or person in his or her mind. When describing a person, you should speak about the physical appearance of that person and of his/her personality.

• what does s/he look like? (physically)
• How does s/he dress?
• what does s/he look like? (personality)
• What attracts you to that person?
•  What do you like most about him or her?

When I was two or three years old, I lived in a house that had a strange, atmosphere. I do not remember anything about the house except the stairway. It was dark, squeaking, and quite narrow, and its steps were a little high for me to climb up. From the bottom of the stairway, it seemed like an endless climb to the top. Beyond the darkness at the top of the stairway, there was an elegant, middle-aged woman leaning against the wall. I had to pass her every time I went to my room, for my room was the first room beyond the stairs on the second floor. The woman wore a beautiful dress with a quiet pattern and a tinge of blue, and her peaceful eyes stared at me every time I went up the stairs. As I carefully climbed up the last step, her eyes became fixed on me. She didn’t talk, nor did she move. She just stood there and watched me climb up the stairs. One day I touched her, but she did not react. Her face did not change expression, nor did she even blink. She just kept staring at me with her glittering eyes. Later, we moved out of the house, and I never saw her again. Now I know that the woman was a mannequin. My aunt, who lived in the house used it for her dressmaking class.

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