Post CPE Saturday Group - Lesson 2

Lesson 2 (11/10/14)

Thinking in English and tense choice.
http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/41658221/English%20Grammar%20and%20Thinking%20in%20English
http://seansenglishclassroom.pbworks.com/w/page/11442655/The%20English%20Tense%20System

Homework

• Noticing: Find a short text (written or audio) and highlight the tenses. Concentrate on one aspect - simple, continuous or perfect - and consider why the speaker/writer had made this particular choice. Are there other choices available? If you changed the tense how would it change the meaning or the context? 
• Thought Experiment: Read the thought experiment by Julian Baggini below. What issues does it raise? What real world issues does it refer to? What different viewpoints are there on these issues? How would you resolve these issues?

4. Sustainable development

The Green family realised that their success was exacting a high price. Their country farmhouse included their home and their business premises. But while their enterprise was creating a healthy profit, the vibrations caused by the heavy machinery used on site was destroying the fabric of the building. If they carried on as they were, in five years the building would be unsafe and they would be forced out. Nor were their profits sufficient to fund new premises or undertake the repairs and structural improvements required.

Mr and Mrs Green were determined to preserve their home for their children. And so they decided to slow production and thus the spread of the damage.

Ten years later, the Greens passed away and the children inherited the family estate. The farmhouse was falling to pieces. The builders said it would cost £1m to put right. The youngest of the Greens, who had been the accountant for the business for many years, grimaced and buried his head in his hands. "If we had carried on at full production and not worried about the building, we would have had enough money to put this right five years ago. Now, after 10 years of underperformance, we're broke."

His parents had tried to protect his inheritance. In fact, they had destroyed it.