r*:sent Simple and Present Continuous

,r-:ie an informal email

Speaking and listening

a Read these quotes about friendship. Ticl<(4 :he ones you agree with. Compare your ideas 'r;ith a partner.
'To like and dislike the same things. That is a true friendship.'

'l

have never had better friends than the ones I had when I was twetve.'

'Strangers arc just friends r'vaiting to happen.'

'A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.'

'Make new friends and keeP the old. One is silver; the other is gold.'

b c

Complete the sentence with your ideas.

:. real friend is ...

Read your sentences to the ctass.

a lD r z 3 4 s b

Listen to the dialogues about how people met their friends. Which spealcer met

their friend:
by using a computer? at work? in a car park? in an airport? white studying?

Vocabulary I usinga computer

4 a Which of the following can a computer
write
do?

poetry

help people become friends

compose

music recognise voices

Listen again. Complete each speaker's words.

Speaker 1: ... we

b
of

What else can a computer do?

One of the collocations is not possible.

for a while

Speaker z: Luckily, we've got the same

Which one?
work I print I shop I research ontine
You can work, shop ond research online but

Speaker 3: ... and I really enioy Speaker 4: ... we've found that we have a lot Speaker 5: After that trip, we just Discuss.

not

print online.

in

r z 3

ln genera[, do you have lots of friends you don't see often, or a few friends that you are
ctose to?

Where do you go to meet new friends?

How did you meet your closest friend?

t z z 4 5 b e

send f receive lforward I catch a message

accessfsurflswitch

onluse the lnternet visitlshutlfindljoin a website

on lstop a computer surf afile

shut down lrepairlwork downloadl deletelsavel

Can you add any verbs

ofyour own?

Which of ihe things in Ex. 5a have you done in the last week? Which do you do most days?

Reading
6
Read the text about friendsters.com and answer the questions.

r z

What is the relationship between Louise and Juanita? What are the benefits of joining websites like this?

*
{

is a friend of mine'
Louise Henry, a 3'l-year-old business dangers to meeting people you don't

executive from London, arrives at her

desk and turns on her computer. She is happy as she is expecting a message from her new best friend Juanita, a museum worker who lives in Vancouver,
Canada.

know. Because of this, these websites only accept members who are invited by their real-life friends. 0nce members are accepted they can put their whole social network on the website. This way, friends can get to know friends' friends, without going out t0 parties t0 meet Friendsters can chat, meet for a and, of course, become

Louise and Juanita email every day, and by doing this they are part of a new social trend that is spreading around the world. From London to Sydney, New York to Singapore, you don't have to live in the same city to make new friends, or even on the same continent. You can form new friendships on the lnternet. ln the past there were pen pals. Now there is friendsters.com, whrch has over 1.5 million members. And a British service, everyonesconnected. com, has over 500,000 members and more are joining every day. These new

them. ,i coffee I friends. I \

Louise became friends with Juanita by five steps: her friend Colin, a computer

consultant, knew Jess, a secretary, who was friends with Catherine, who went

to school with Peter, who worked with Juanita a few years ago. The connections
became apparent when they both joined
eve

*small

world hypothesis

ry0nesc0nnected. Ihe two f riends

Stanley Milgram believed that everyone in the

have been in touch ever since. Louise says: 'Juanita and I chat over the lnternet all the time, about films, religion and her new flat. Although she lives in Canada, we have a lot in common. We're both doing photography courses at the moment. l'm on the site to meet new people in a society where I don't think its easy to make new friends.'

world is connected by no more than six'degrees' of separation, i.e. by following a path of friends, friends' friends' friends' friends' friends, etc, you
can get from one person t0 any other person in no more than six steps. T0 test the theory, a team

websites are based on the 'small world hypothesis'* developed by an American sociologist, Stanley Milgram, in the
1

of researchers asked computer users t0 contact

stranger by emailing acquaintances. So Bruce in

960s.

the

UK

was asked to find 0lga, in Siberia. Bruce

The potential for making friends on

did this through his uncle David, in Uganda, who he knew had computer pen pals across Russia. He completed the task in .iust four steps.

the lnternet is huge, but there are also

Read the text again and answer the questions.

r
2 3

Discuss.

How often are Louise and Juanita in touch with each other?

Where do they [ive? What is the 'new socialtrend'?

How do people join one of these websites?

lf one of your friends invited you, would you join a website like friendsters.
com? Why lWhy not?
Do you think it's easy to make new friends? Why/ Why not?

4
5

According to the article, what is the advantage of meeting your friends'friends on the lnternet? What do Louise and Juanita have in common? Why does Louise Henry use the lnternet site? What is the main idea of 'the small world hypothesis'?

z 3

6
7

Have you made any new

friends on the lnternet?

Grammar I
Continuous

Present Simpte and Present

naake questions from the prompts using the

Present Simpte or Present Continuous.

9 a Look at the Active grammar box. Match the

example sentences (r-S) to the rules (a-e).

r z 3 4 s 6 z 8 9

What/youido? 0ob/occupation) What/you ldolat work (or schoot)/at the

moment?
How often/you/go out with friends?

What is the difference in meaning between the two sentences?

r z

What do you think about our new teacher? What are you thinking about?

What/you/tike/do? Whatfitms/you/tike/watch? What/you/usuatty/doi at the weekends?

You/readi a good book/at the moment? Youi ptay (or watch)/any sports/these days?

Active grammar

Why/you/study/Engtish/this year?

We are both doing photogrophy courses at the moment.

ro You/do/any other courses/at the moment?

z She is expecting o message. 3 Louise ond luanita write every day. 4 She lives in Vancouver. 5 There ore many dangers.
Use the Present Simple for:

Person to person 12 Rsk your partner the questions in Ex. n. Tell

the class anything interesting you learned.

Writing
13
Hi,

a) habits/routines, e.g. sentence:

b) things that are always true/permanent, e.s. sentence:

fina ten mistakes in the email.

c) describing a state, e.g. sentence:

Use the Present Continuous for:

d) things that are happening now at this precise moment, e.g. sentence: e) temporary situations that are happening around now, e.g. sentence:

ltalian My name is Stefano and I'm Rome' student. I am coming from which I am thinking is the most

beautiful citY in the world' At the moment I studYing Engineering at university in Pisa' other ,o I u* living in a flat with three a lot in common and students. We have

Some verbs are not usually used in the

continuous form, e.g. hate, want, need. see Refere nce pa{Je

1Z

of humour' are sharing the same sense

and on

1O

put the verbs into the correct form of the Present Simple or Present Continuous. (you/read) that book? Can I see it? t _ z Sasha (not work) on Tuesdays so she's at home now.
3

Most nights we listen music' disco and Saturdays we usually go to a who dance all night. All except Marco' Chemistry' He is very bortng is studying

I'm so tired. I

(need) a holiday!

and is never going out a week This year I am study English twice work for an American J""*." I would really like to company when I am finish mY degree' you soon' Look forward io hearing from
All the best' Stefano

4
5

That looks hard.

(you/want) any help?

6
7

Where - (you/live) at the moment?

(you/understand) this computer
manual?
You look very happyl Who

(not have) any tea I'm afraid we because I always drink coffee.

of me and the PS I have attached some photos

Leaning Tower

(you/think)

about?
|

L4
(not/want) to leave too late because (hate) driving in the dark.
I

What horrible weather! until the rain stops.

l-

(stay) inside

Read the email and complete the exercises in the Writing bank on pages 16z-3. Write an email introducing yourself to a new friend (in the ctass).