Communication
A. Managing subjects and topics
Kathryn Taylor is speaking to her colleagues at a weekly business meeting. She gives an outline of what she is going to say.
Well, there are a couple of matters which I want to bring up [1] today for discussion. But before we get on to [2] those questions, I just want to run through [3] the schedule for the next week’s sales conference, which you all have copies of. Someone asked me if we could talk about the new computer system, but I’d prefer to leave that aside [4] for today and come back to [5] it another time. I’m sure I don’t need to spell out [6] how important it is that we’re all thoroughly prepared for next week’s conference, so maybe we can deal with [7] that first. So, let’s have a quick run-through [8] of the schedule and discuss each event in turn.
1 start to talk about
2 start talking about after discussing something else
3 repeat something, usually quickly, to make sure it is correct
4 not discuss it so that we can discuss something else
5 return to discuss it at a future time
6 explain in detail
7 discuss or give our attention to
8 noun: a practice or repetition to make sure something is correct (from the verb run through)
B. Communicating and interacting with others
In these dialogues the second speaker uses a phrasal verb to repeat the first speaker's meaning
Jim: I wish they had done what they said they would do.
Nan: Yes, they should have kept to what they promised and not changed their minds.
Freda: I don't know who to ask for help or advice on this matter. It's very delicate.
Lou: Yes, it's difficult to know who to turn to, isn't it?
Anne: Lucy was extremely enthusiastic and excited about coming to work for us.
Fiona: Yes, she was absolutely bubbling over with excitement when I spoke to her.
Paul: She acts as if she was the boss, telling everyone what to do.
Mia: Yes, she's always ordering people about/around.
Karen: I saw a sign saying that the car park will be closed tomorrow. Can you tell
everybody else, please?
Tony: Yes, I'II pass the news on*. I'II send an e-mail to everyone in the office.
Harry: I see Grace said no to the job.
Zoe: Yes, she turned the offer down*.
*The object can also appear after the partide in these two phrasal verbs.
Kathryn Taylor is speaking to her colleagues at a weekly business meeting. She gives an outline of what she is going to say.
Well, there are a couple of matters which I want to bring up [1] today for discussion. But before we get on to [2] those questions, I just want to run through [3] the schedule for the next week’s sales conference, which you all have copies of. Someone asked me if we could talk about the new computer system, but I’d prefer to leave that aside [4] for today and come back to [5] it another time. I’m sure I don’t need to spell out [6] how important it is that we’re all thoroughly prepared for next week’s conference, so maybe we can deal with [7] that first. So, let’s have a quick run-through [8] of the schedule and discuss each event in turn.
1 start to talk about
2 start talking about after discussing something else
3 repeat something, usually quickly, to make sure it is correct
4 not discuss it so that we can discuss something else
5 return to discuss it at a future time
6 explain in detail
7 discuss or give our attention to
8 noun: a practice or repetition to make sure something is correct (from the verb run through)
B. Communicating and interacting with others
In these dialogues the second speaker uses a phrasal verb to repeat the first speaker's meaning
Jim: I wish they had done what they said they would do.
Nan: Yes, they should have kept to what they promised and not changed their minds.
Freda: I don't know who to ask for help or advice on this matter. It's very delicate.
Lou: Yes, it's difficult to know who to turn to, isn't it?
Anne: Lucy was extremely enthusiastic and excited about coming to work for us.
Fiona: Yes, she was absolutely bubbling over with excitement when I spoke to her.
Paul: She acts as if she was the boss, telling everyone what to do.
Mia: Yes, she's always ordering people about/around.
Karen: I saw a sign saying that the car park will be closed tomorrow. Can you tell
everybody else, please?
Tony: Yes, I'II pass the news on*. I'II send an e-mail to everyone in the office.
Harry: I see Grace said no to the job.
Zoe: Yes, she turned the offer down*.
*The object can also appear after the partide in these two phrasal verbs.
Describing situationsA. Dialogues commenting on situations
Mary: It's such a cold day. I wish I could get out of the bike ride Jack's planned. [avoid doing something that you should do, often by giving an excuse]
Bill: Why, don't you suggest cancelling it? I'm sure the others would also prefer not to go in weather like this.
Sandy: I have identical twins, Flora and Florence, in my class - I always mix them up. [confuse two people or things by thinking that one person or thing is the other person or thing]
Mike: Yes, I muddle them up too. It doesn't help that their names are so similar. [confuse two people or things in your mind]
Meg: I really don't like sharing an office with Sue - she thinks the whole world revolves around her and her insignificant problems. [thinks she's more important than anyone else]
Anna: Yes, I know. I think she is one of the most self-centred people I've ever met.
John: We've been running up against [1] quite a lot of problems here recently.
Rita: I know. As soon as we deal with one problem, another immediately crops up [2] and now I feel I can't bank on [3] things turning out [4] well in the end.
1 beginning to experience
2 suddenly appears, usually when you are not expecting it
3 depend on something happening
4 happening in a particular way or having a particular result
Milly: The situation at work is so annoying at the moment! There's been a small mix-up [1] of orders and everyone is making a great drama out of it.
Tom: Oh come on! You can rise above [2] that. Just back off [3] and let others handle things.
1 (noun) mistake caused by confusion
2 not allow something bad that is happening or is being done to you upset you or affect your behaviour
3 stop being involved in a situation, expecially to let others deal with it themselves
B. An island revolution
Holidaymakers who were caught up [1] last week in a revolution on the Caribbean island of St. Maria have now returned home. The situation first hotted up [2] when rebels seized the Presidential Palace. The returning tourists report that they were all thrown together [3] in one of the largest hotels and were not allowed to leave until the situation calmed down [4].
1 (always in passive) involved in a situation, often when you don't want to be
2 (informal) became more exciting, with a lot more activity
3 forced to be together and get to know each other
4 became more peaceful
Mary: It's such a cold day. I wish I could get out of the bike ride Jack's planned. [avoid doing something that you should do, often by giving an excuse]
Bill: Why, don't you suggest cancelling it? I'm sure the others would also prefer not to go in weather like this.
Sandy: I have identical twins, Flora and Florence, in my class - I always mix them up. [confuse two people or things by thinking that one person or thing is the other person or thing]
Mike: Yes, I muddle them up too. It doesn't help that their names are so similar. [confuse two people or things in your mind]
Meg: I really don't like sharing an office with Sue - she thinks the whole world revolves around her and her insignificant problems. [thinks she's more important than anyone else]
Anna: Yes, I know. I think she is one of the most self-centred people I've ever met.
John: We've been running up against [1] quite a lot of problems here recently.
Rita: I know. As soon as we deal with one problem, another immediately crops up [2] and now I feel I can't bank on [3] things turning out [4] well in the end.
1 beginning to experience
2 suddenly appears, usually when you are not expecting it
3 depend on something happening
4 happening in a particular way or having a particular result
Milly: The situation at work is so annoying at the moment! There's been a small mix-up [1] of orders and everyone is making a great drama out of it.
Tom: Oh come on! You can rise above [2] that. Just back off [3] and let others handle things.
1 (noun) mistake caused by confusion
2 not allow something bad that is happening or is being done to you upset you or affect your behaviour
3 stop being involved in a situation, expecially to let others deal with it themselves
B. An island revolution
Holidaymakers who were caught up [1] last week in a revolution on the Caribbean island of St. Maria have now returned home. The situation first hotted up [2] when rebels seized the Presidential Palace. The returning tourists report that they were all thrown together [3] in one of the largest hotels and were not allowed to leave until the situation calmed down [4].
1 (always in passive) involved in a situation, often when you don't want to be
2 (informal) became more exciting, with a lot more activity
3 forced to be together and get to know each other
4 became more peaceful
Giving and getting informationA. Referring to information in academic writing
Verbs which are useful in academic writing.
Come under sth = be included in or may be found in: Sanderson (1985) studied mistakes involving prepositions, tenses and other items which come under the heading of grammatical errors in second language learning.
Draw on/upon sth = use information or your knowledge or experience of something to help you do sth: In designating the experiment, Fiona Farr draws upon earlier studies done in America and Asia.
Point out sth (often that) = present a new fact, especially one that is important in the present discussion or situation: Willis (1998) points out that economic statistics often show a sharp rise just before a serious recession.
Turn to sth/sb = begin to think, speak or write about a subject: I should now like to turn to another issue which is often neglected: parental control.
B. Noticing and understanding information
In these conversations, the second person repeats what the first person says, using a phrasal
verb.
Pam: I didn't fully understand what he was saying for a few minutes.
Ed: Yes, it took me a few minutes to latch on to what he was talking about.
Rory: I found it difficult to understand the full importance of the decision.
Suraya: Yes, me too. I found it hard to take in its significance at fist.
Briony: We must be careful to notice any difficulties that occur once we start the project.
Winston: Yes, we'll have to watch out for possible problems.
Pepe: Could you try and get some information about how to contact Keith Phelps?
Rana: Yes, I'II try and find out his contact details.
Olivia: Jill, will you make sure that Rita has sent those faxes for me?
Jill: Yes, I'll check up on her right away and see if she's done them.
Aine: Don, I can't find that market report we wrote about three years ago?
Don: OK, I'll try and track it down. I must have it on the computer somewhere.
C. Other verbs connected with information
Sally: What's the capital of Ecuador?
Mick: Oh, Bogota? No? Caracas? Oh, I don't know, I give up. [stop trying to think of the answer to a joke or question]
Sally: It's Quito.
In these conversations, the second person repeats what the first person says, using a phrasal
verb.
Pam: I didn't fully understand what he was saying for a few minutes.
Ed: Yes, it took me a few minutes to latch on to what he was talking about.
Rory: I found it difficult to understand the full importance of the decision.
Suraya: Yes, me too. I found it hard to take in its significance at fist.
Briony: We must be careful to notice any difficulties that occur once we start the project.
Winston: Yes, we'll have to watch out for possible problems.
Pepe: Could you try and get some information about how to contact Keith Phelps?
Rana: Yes, I'II try and find out his contact details.
Olivia: Jill, will you make sure that Rita has sent those faxes for me?
Jill: Yes, I'll check up on her right away and see if she's done them.
Aine: Don, I can't find that market report we wrote about three years ago?
Don: OK, I'll try and track it down. I must have it on the computer somewhere.
C. Other verbs connected with information
Sally: What's the capital of Ecuador?
Mick: Oh, Bogota? No? Caracas? Oh, I don't know, I give up. [stop trying to think of the answer to a joke or question]
Sally: It's Quito.
I said something that upset Mo. I didn't mean to, it just slipped out. [I didn't intend to say it]
The total on the bill and the total on the credit card statement should match up, but don't
[be the same]. There must be a mistake.
The total on the bill and the total on the credit card statement should match up, but don't
[be the same]. There must be a mistake.
TASK: WRITE AN EXTRACT FROM A DETECTIVE STORY (250 words).
10 comments:
Samantha was running through her notes waiting for the meeting to begin. Lieutenant asked her to deal with the prime suspect- Michael Valente. In the past few days he seemed obsessed with this matter…ordered everyone about. Her colleagues eventually got out of his sight and Sam just couldn’t back off: she felt that this case was going to hot up soon. Besides, she knew that lieutenant…Mac…banked on her…he and Michael were long-term rivals. And, knowing Michael, Sam took in the issue clearly: she was the only person who could talk to him openly and get truthful answers. And in their circumstances, Valente was the only key to the mystery; it seemed that the whole world revolved around him at that moment.
Samantha was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t here Mac enter.
- I am going to leave aside the details, but you should know one thing: Valente is not guilty. But! This information is for internal use only. Do not pass it to anyone.
- Don’t you think you could have spelled out a little more?
- Right now I’m not going to bring it up. But I promise: we’ll come back to it. Sam, I want you to get onto Valente’s schedule and see if there’s something particular about it. I’m going to have a run-through the files of other suspects. I keep on mixing and muddling up the evidence of the two women. It cropped up to me this morning: what if that was false testimony? Anyway, John, check up on Jason Briggs, find out all you can, stay on guard: something might slip out. That’s it. I’ll see you at 6 sharp.
Sam didn’t latch on to what made Mac change his mind. What made him give up the idea? But right now she had to rise above all the doubts and prejudices and try to match up what they knew so far.
Once a number of very curious thefts had happened in one of the London’s supermarkets. Once a week during two months somebody took a Teddy bear, at first it was imperceptible, but then the shop-managers pointed out the loss of the toys and they decided to call for the police.
The policemen supposed it as a joke, but the toys were continuing to disappear and they decided to spell out what was happening. So they interviewed the sellers and it turned out that the thief was coming every Friday evening, when there were a lot of the other clients. That’s why there was a nice chance to take a toy invisibly.
Their first action was putting the cameras near the shelf with the toys. But when Friday came it turned out that all Teddy bears were sold the day before. So there was nothing that the thief could take today but next week the thief was caught up. The result was really unpredictable.
it turned out that Teddy bears were stolen by a student, which was studying in one of the London’s colleges. He didn’t have enough money to buy many presents for his girlfriend, so he made up a decision to steal them. And as she was fond of such Teddy bears, his choice is quite clear.
It was one of the most romantic crimes at the history, and police decided not to arrest this person, but present him one more bear.
Once a number of very curious thefts had happened in one of the London’s supermarkets. Once a week during two months somebody took a Teddy bear, at first it was imperceptible, but then the shop-managers pointed out the loss of the toys and they decided to call for the police.
The policemen supposed it as a joke, but the toys were continuing to disappear and they decided to spell out what was happening. So they interviewed the sellers and it turned out that the thief was coming every Friday evening, when there were a lot of the other clients. That’s why there was a nice chance to take a toy invisibly.
Their first action was putting the cameras near the shelf with the toys. But when Friday came it turned out that all Teddy bears were sold the day before. So there was nothing that the thief could take today but next week the thief was caught up. The result was really unpredictable.
it turned out that Teddy bears were stolen by a student, which was studying in one of the London’s colleges. He didn’t have enough money to buy many presents for his girlfriend, so he made up a decision to steal them. And as she was fond of such Teddy bears, his choice is quite clear.
It was one of the most romantic crimes at the history, and police decided not to arrest this person, but present him one more bear.
Yesterday a parcel of drugs had been cropped up by a customs official. Today this piece of news was passed on.
Major Lyckov decided to find out who had tried to conceal the drug smuggling. He turned to Major Gordon. They took in the significance of the situation and dealt with their future operations. However, they left aside locus delicti and eye-witnesses. Of course, Gordon latched on to it at once. He pointed out that they were to take a group of smugglers. They worked a plan of the operation. As Lyckov used to order people about, he said Gordon to spell out the plan to their colleagues and to run through it.
One of their colleagues wanted to latch on to the smugglers his counterspy. But Lyckov turned his offer down. The officer tried to rise above it, but still he backed off.
The next day the operation began. It was very cold and the officers bubbled over with anger. They left aside all the recommendations and drew upon their experience. And there was no wonder that they mixed up the trains. Moreover, they warmed themselves at the railway-station and they didn’t watch out. Surely, gangsters took in that the police were checking up on them.
Thus, it took the officers several months to track the smugglers down. However, drug smuggling didn’t stop. And Gordon decided to run through their 21st plan without Lyckov.
But it is another chapter.
- All right, gentlemen – started Colonel Richardson – there are some really important questions I’d like to bring up for our discussion. I think we should deal with them as soon as possible because Miss Wilder’s life is in danger, we should rise above that.
- Oh no, Colonel, please, don’t mix everything up. The murderer is in prison and it isn’t worth thinking that the whole world revolves around Miss Wilder. Confess that you just like her and wish to spend more time near her, but she is not in danger at all. I’d like to point out that we still have two unsolved crimes apart from protecting this helpless lady…
- What? What did you say, Major? Helpless lady?
- Sorry, Colonel, I didn't mean to, it just… just slipped out…
- Stop it. You may regard it as my command. I order you, Captain, to draw upon your earlier contacts and get all information possible about Mr. Black’s accessory, that is still not arrested.
- I thought we proved that he was just caught up in this crime..
- You know that in our business nothing can be absolutely proved. I insist on it, Captain.
- But our work can’t bank on your suppositions only, Colonel! Don’t muddle up your feelings and our job! I refuse to work under your supervision. I’d better do some paper work as a staff sergeant than spend time on this nonsense!
All the detectives who were trying the murder case gathered together in the agency. There were Ann, Jane, Tom and David. Only Erik was absent. To tell you the truth Erik was sometimes very lazy. The day was cold and he didn’t sleep all night spying on Mr. Green. He wanted to spend all day in bed and get out of the meeting. But at the last moment he got up and at the moment he was going to the agency. He was late but he thought that better late than never. The meeting was really very important. There was a mix-up of the results of the investigation. So it was necessary to arrive and decide everything.
Meanwhile there was an animated discussion in the agency which was being hotted up and already growing into an argument. Jane was shouting at Tom that he didn’t understand anything in the job of a detective. Ann tried to calm them down. David was nervously smoking sitting in an armchair.
Then suddenly entered Mr. Stetson. In the same instant there fell silence and David even dropped his pipe.
“Well, well, well. I know we have some difficulties. Problems always crop up when you think everything goes all right. But that’s not the reason to argue. Rise above that. We will deal with this investigation, - told Mr. Stetson. – I’m sure you take in the significance of our meeting and I don’t need to spell that out. Let’s get on to what you have found out. By the way, where is Erik?”
At that moment the door opened and there was Erik on the threshold.
"Hushh!" - Jane said to herself slinking by along the corridor where every board was about to let her down with its squeak sound. "I’ve got only five minutes!”"
She opened the door and came into the room of Mrs. Harsley. That was a study. Old-fashioned bookcases were lined up along three walls of the room, in the center there stood a sofa and a coffee table and there was a massive bureau near the window but the most outstanding detail was the fireplace with a solid fretted mantelpiece made of metal. It looked huge and sinister and made every visitor feel uncomfortable...
Jane became flustered. What to do? Where can I find a prompting? Think more quickly!
She looked around. That’s it! The books! Hundreds of them...
She started examining the titles on spines of the books... Of course! It’s like in all that detective stories she read...She took from the shelf E. Brontë’s "Wuthering Heights" - mother’s favorite novel!
Jane stood turning over the pages hastily. Suddenly some sheets of paper fell down on the floor. She stooped down to lift them up. She had nearly put them back but decided to check it just to make sure that there was nothing of great importance. There were two prescriptions signed by Dr. Morgan and a ragged paper with brown stains on it.
Who was Dr. Morgan? Mr. Braceman was the family doctor of the Packerfields for long time. Jane remembered that he often came at their place to converse with her parents over a cup of tea. That’s strange!
Then Jane unfolded the other paper. Her mother’s will! It’s her handwriting and her signature, for sure! But where did Mrs. Harsley get that? And wait a minute! The brown stains were the drops of blood! But whose was it? How one’s blood could happen to be on this document?
At this moment she heard someone’s steps on the stairs. Hide! But where? She gave a glance at the wardrobe in the far corner of the room... This is the only way!
A man and a woman entered. Jane held her breath not to be discovered.
- I hope I don’t need to spell out how delicate the matter is, Dr. Morgan? That’s the family secret! - said the woman and Jane recognized Mrs. Harsley’s voice.
- I understand. Keeping secrets is my specialization, - answered Dr. Morgan.- That’s my job I take money for.
- I‘d like to get out of the formalities... so here it is, - she handed an envelope over to the man. - Let’s come back to the details later.
- We should think over the case before any problem crops up... And one more thing, Mrs. Harsley. Do not mix the phials up! That can be very dangerous!
- Well, you know, life itself is the most dangerous thing, young man. – she laughed.
After that they left the room. Jane could come out from her shelter.
These two people are planning to do something really terrible, she thought. Who are the phials for? I should call for suggestions but whom I can speak to? And what if I took the things wrong?
She tried to calm herself down...
He woke with a start. It was only 4 a.m. and he couldn’t understand what awoke him. He lay in his bed and it took him several minutes to latch on to what it was – oh, yes, the noise. Someone was pacing the room upstairs, back and forth, back and forth, as if he (or she?) was waiting impatiently. He hearkened to the steps above. Suddenly, everything calmed down. He turned from side to side and almost fell asleep when a shocking thought cropped out: the apartment upstairs had been tenantless for quite a long time already! And the previous owner was murdered! Yes, a couple of months ago local police came and asked him questions, but he had just returned from a business trip to Kuala Lumpur, so he had an alibi and they left him in peace and very soon he managed to rise above all that mess… Yet now he was caught up, he would pass as a witness!
The stride above resumed. A muffled talk could be heard this time. Obviously it was a male and he was talking on the phone. Or were there more than one visitor? 4 o’clock in the morning, a stranger or a whole lot of them walking overhead in the scene of crime. He had to do something. Or maybe lie back and listen and wait until things would turn out well?
He reached out for the phone and dialed the number.
Sidney Young walked along the dark desert street, lit with dim light, approaching his block of flats. His mind hotted up when came back to the events of the last three days and then started to run through all the facts they managed to collect by now – something was missing, some tiny, but, perhaps, extremely significant, detail was missing. Sidney could not get it out of his head, the thought got stuck within his brain.
He went up to the fifth floor and entered his flat and without turning the light on fell on couch, completely worn out.
Maybe they were mixing something up. But they had already checked up on all the suspects, they were going all out to find out every single trifling thing about those four men. The result was nothing. They had never run up against the case like this before. Sidney made an attempt to calm down and took a deep breath. He will leave that all aside until tomorrow morning and deal with it later. Tomorrow someone may bring up a couple of fresh ideas to contemplate on and it may give a new impulse to the investigation.
Suddenly his mobile rang.
- Yes?
- Sidney, it’s Lauren. Sorry for a late call, but… we tracked the killer down. We’re sure he’s got to be our fellow. We need you here.
Anxiety stirred within Sidney.
- Does Cox know?
- Yes, we’ve passed the news on to him. He’s on his way.
- Okay, I’m coming.
Fabel felt that the answer was near, but what?.. He saw the link between all these murders, there should something common. Trying to remember any hint, he opened his sketch-book and wrote the names of the victims. He stopped writing “Paula Ilas” and shouted: “Of course!!!” He didn’t even mention Anna’s approaching. “What’s up, chef?” – “It’s he! It is Fendrisch! Paula’s teacher!” – “Well, I don’t really think so. I can’t believe” – “Anyway, we should talk to him tonight. We have no time”.
Anna stood shocked. She didn’t want to disturb Fendrisch twice, and she was surprised by Fabel’s behavior. She wanted him to spell out the reason why Fendrisch must be the murderer. She thought about it and shrugged when Fabel said: “Oh, sorry, let’s leave it aside for a moment and deal with you.. Why did you come?” – “Oh… me… I… yes! Chef, we have another victim”
While they were in the car on the way to the place of crime, Anna said quietly: “Could you come back to Fendrisch? It seems to me that you don’t want to explain your choice, are you trying to get out of it? Let’s get on to objective reasons” - “Anna, calm down. You will just talk to him and that’s all! Do need to run through his contacts?”
“Does he really think that the whole world revolves around him???”
Lieutenant Smith was rereading the letter again and again, running through words, trying to analyse the personality of the kidnapper. He tried to take in its significance the regular allusion to Bernard Shaw…He signed his recurrent letter: “Bernard Shaw”, – this was his pseudonym.
Nothing more about the criminal…
The only thing that confused him was that so called Mr. Shaw often mixed up the letter A in the surname of the writer in his message. He often wrote ShOw instead of ShAw. Lieutenant Smith didn’t have any other peg except for this misspelling.
“Misspelling??? No!” – Lieutenant Smith latched suddenly on this mistake.
He immediately made a phone call to his workmate, spelling out his revelation.
- Bernard Shaw in the poison-pen letter is not a writer, Bernard Show is a cabaret near Theatre of Modern Arts! Find out everything about this institution and call me at once! I’ll go there right now in order not to attract attention. And you assemble the troop and make for this place as soon as I give you a sign!”
- Excuse me, Sir, but this cabaret has been demolished 2 weeks ago, there is nothing in that place.
- Just do what I’ve told you! I think, I’ve got to the core of Show’s plan… No time for explanation! I rely on you! Set about carrying out the order!
- But Sir…
- …
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