TRANSITIONS Unit 6

Lesson A
A. Match the stage of life to the description.
1. infancy a. an adult
2. old age b. a baby
3. adulthood c. a teenager
4. adolescence d. a child
5. childhood e. a senior citizen

B. When do most people do these things? Write the stage of life.

1. learn to talk infancy
2. get married
3. stop working
4. have their first boyfriend or girlfriend
5. learn to read
6. finish their education

C. Circle the correct form of each verbsimple past tense or present perfect tense.
1. I dont want to eat at Pizza Palace tonight. I (ate/have eaten) there twice this week.
2. Jessica (knew/has known) her best friend since they (were/have been) six years old.
3. I (worked/have worked) for this company since 1998, and I like it very much.
4. Marina (had/has had) a baby last month.
5. I (finished/have finished) my homework, so I can go out tonight.
6. We (saw/have seen) that video before. It (was/has been) terrible!

D. H
 ave you done these things? If so, when did you do them for the first time? Write sentences
with the present perfect tense and simple past tense.

1. Ive ridden a horse. I rode one in 2005. OR Ive never ridden a horse.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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 UNIT 3

Lesson B
A. Unscramble the sentences to make a conversation.
(hear/you/the big news/did) (to drive/is/Mark/learning)
Beth: ? .
(but/16/hes) (to/thats/too/young/drive)
Julia: ! .
(about/oh/I/know/that/dont) (careful/very/hes) (teaching/and/his father/is/him)
Beth: . . .
(a few years/think/true/thats/but/I/he/wait/should)
Julia: , .
(the best age/well/to drive/what/do you think/is/to learn)
Beth: , ?
(graduated high school/I think/people/should/their drivers license/after/get/
theyve)
Julia: .

B. Melissa is 15. She just got a job. Write a new conversation like the one in exercise A.
Your friend:
You:
Your friend:
You:
Your friend:
You:

C. Say these words out loud. Circle the unstressed syllables with the e sound.
1. important 3. pizza 5. animal 7. listen
2. travel 4. apartment 6. woman 8. transition

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 TRansitions UNIT 6

Lesson C
A. Read the meanings and unscramble the expressions.
1. stopped working: (dertrie)
2. with the energy of a younger person: (flotuuyh)
3. between 30 and 39: (nirhetthrsiise)
4. acting like a child: (ilshidhc)
5. old enough to make good decisions: (tremau)
6. looking and acting old: (yeellrd)
7. between 40 and 60: (eilmdd-dega)

B. Read the sentences. Use how to ask questions about the underlined words.
1. My friend Lana is very tall.
How tall is she?
2. My brother sings really badly.

3. I just found out that Mr. Sloan is very wealthy.

4. I love to eat at Janies house because she cooks so well.

5. The test was really difficult, and now Im worried.

C. Katie has a new boyfriend, and her parents are asking a lot of questions about him. Fill in their questions with how.

1. ? 5. ?

Hes 19 years old. He speaks English very well.

Hes spoken it all his life!

2. ?

He studies very hard.

3. ?

Hes very mature.

4. ?

He drives very carefully. Hes

never had an accident.

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 Lesson
UNIT 3 D

Celebrating
Transitions
E very country has special celebrations to mark transitions in life. Here are three
examples of important days for young people in different countries.

Do you remember your first day in school? Many children feel scared, but in
Germany, the kids are very excited. Their first day in school, when they are six,
is a big celebration called Schulanfang. All of the kids have new clothes, and
their parents give them a Zuckertuete, a big colorful cone full of candy and small
presents. Parents take pictures of their child holding the Zuckertuete. Then they
meet their new teachers and classmates, and they sing songs and play games to
celebrate. There is also a party for the parents after school with coffee and cake.

Girls in Mexico and other countries in Latin America

are very excited about their fifteenth birthday. For
them, it marks the transition from girl to young
woman, and there is a special celebration called
the Quince Aos. The girl gets a beautiful and very
expensive dress that looks a little bit like a wedding dress. On the morning of her birthday,
the girl goes to church with her family and all of her friends. In the evening, there is a huge
party in a restaurant, with a big cake in the same colors as the girls dress. People enjoy
music and dancing until very late at night.

For young people in Japan, their twentieth birthday is very important, because that is when
they become adults. There is a national holiday called Coming-of-Age Day to celebrate
this. On the second Sunday in January, each city has a ceremony for people who had
their twentieth birthday in the last year. All the new adults go to the City Hall to listen to
speeches and get a present from the towns mayor. Everyone wears new clothes, and many
women wear beautiful kimonos. Their families take lots of pictures.

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 TRansitions UNIT 6

A. Complete the chart with information from the reading.

Transition Schulanfang Quince Aos Coming-of-Age Day
Country

Age of people
celebrating
When

Where

What do people do?

B. Answer the questions.

1. Which of these celebrations sounds like the most fun? Why?

2. Which birthdays are the most important in your country? Why?

C. Write about a celebration of a life transition such as a birthday party or a wedding. Who was the party for?
What was the person celebrating? Why was it important? What did you do at the party?

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 UNIT 3

Review
Solve the crossword puzzle with
vocabulary and grammar from this unit.

1 2 3 4

5 6

9 10 11

12

13

14 15

16

Across Down
1. being a baby 2. being an adult
5. Old enough to make good decisions 3. become husband and wife (2 words)
6. I (see) ___ that movie three times. I love it! (2 words) 4. Hes 2029 years old. (3 words)
7. finish your education 5. 4060 years old
8. stopped working 9. My brother ___ married last year.
10. elderly person (2 words) 11. acting like a child
13. 1319 years old 12. get a different house or apartment
14. I (do) ___ all my homework, so I can go out tonight. 14. My sister ___ a child two years ago.
(2 words)
15. looking and acting old
16. having the energy of a young person
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