D9. Noisy neighbours
Text organizers: but for... etc.
Adam was a student in a large university in London. He was living in a college hall of residence during his first year. After he had been there for a month, his mother came to visit.
‘How have you been enjoying university life, then, Adam?’
‘It’s great, mom. Well, it’s great, except for my neighbours. But for them, it would be perfect.’
‘So what’s wrong with them?’ his mother asked.
‘They're such noisy people!’, Adam replied. ‘You see, the student who lives on the right hand side keeps banging his head against the wall, and won't stop. And the one on the left hand side screams and screams all through the night!’
His mother sympathized with him, ‘Oh, dear! You poor thing! How do you manage to put up with such noisy neighbours?’
‘Well, there’s not much I can do apart from trying to ignore them,’ he answered. ‘I just stay here quietly in my room playing my trumpet!’
Grammar: text organisers
except,
except for, apart from, but for
You can talk about exceptions in several ways.I'm
the only one in my
family with brown
hair.
Everyone in my family has brown hair apart from me.
Except for me, everyone in my family has brown hair.
Everyone in my family except me has brown hair.
But for our hair colour, my sister and I would look almost identical.
Everyone in my family has brown hair apart from me.
Except for me, everyone in my family has brown hair.
Everyone in my family except me has brown hair.
But for our hair colour, my sister and I would look almost identical.
These expressions are sometimes followed by a gerund form:
The
holiday was completely
free, apart
from spending a little on food.
My old printer is fine except for making a slight noise when I turn it on.
My old printer is fine except for making a slight noise when I turn it on.
Complete these sentences so that the meaning stays the same. Use the word given in brackets.
1.
I like
everything about living here but I don't like the cold
weather.
I like everything about living here ______________ [from]
2. Nearly all the students passed the exam. Only Mike failed.
______________, all the students passed the exam. [for]
3. I feel fine but I'm a little tired.
I'm fine ______________ a little tired. [feeling]
4. I'm taking nothing with me apart from a towel and a book.
I'm ______________ with me - just a towel and a book. [hardly]
5. The car is very nearly perfect. There's just a small scratch on the driver's door.
The car is perfect _____________ a small scratch on the driver's door. [apart]
6. You mostly look smart but you need a hair cut.
You look quite smart _______________ a hair cut. [needing]
7. I don't like any of the photos except for this picture of you.
The ______________ the photos I like is this picture of you. [only]
8. The only thing that wrong that day was that we lost our map.
Nothing went wrong that day ______________ our map. [losing]
I like everything about living here ______________ [from]
2. Nearly all the students passed the exam. Only Mike failed.
______________, all the students passed the exam. [for]
3. I feel fine but I'm a little tired.
I'm fine ______________ a little tired. [feeling]
4. I'm taking nothing with me apart from a towel and a book.
I'm ______________ with me - just a towel and a book. [hardly]
5. The car is very nearly perfect. There's just a small scratch on the driver's door.
The car is perfect _____________ a small scratch on the driver's door. [apart]
6. You mostly look smart but you need a hair cut.
You look quite smart _______________ a hair cut. [needing]
7. I don't like any of the photos except for this picture of you.
The ______________ the photos I like is this picture of you. [only]
8. The only thing that wrong that day was that we lost our map.
Nothing went wrong that day ______________ our map. [losing]
Vocabulary exercises
Match the halves of the broken sentences.
1.
When I was at university I lived...
2. It's sometimes difficult for new students to adapt...
3. My computer keeps making...
4. I sympathize...
5. I hope you are enjoying...
2. It's sometimes difficult for new students to adapt...
3. My computer keeps making...
4. I sympathize...
5. I hope you are enjoying...
A.
yourself in London.
B. a strange noise.
C. in a hall of residence.
D. with you but there's nothing I can do to help.
E. to university life.
B. a strange noise.
C. in a hall of residence.
D. with you but there's nothing I can do to help.
E. to university life.
Choose the correct word to complete these sentences.
1. I don't know what's bad / wrong / problem with this machine. It just won't work.2. Don't take any notice of him. Just ignore / put up / keep him and he'll go away.
3. I can't put off / put up / put on with all this noise a moment longer!
4. I had trumpet lessons when I was a child but I never managed / able / succeeded to learn more than a few tunes.
5. Why do you continue to / remain / keep banging the back of your chair against the wall?