FEWER OR LESS

“What can I say? I was an English major.”
What do you see in this picture? Please write your answers in COMPLETE sentences.

1. Where do you think this takes place? ____________________________________________________________
2. Have you ever seen this sign?

__________________________________.
If so, where?
____________________________________________________________
3. What is an “English major?” ____________________________________________________________
Circle your answer.
4. The words “What can I say? I was an English major.” were spoken by
the ( customer / cashier ).
5. The word “fewer” was written by the ( customer / cashier ).

6. “What can I say?” means “There is nothing more to say except. . .” so the meaning of “What can I say? I was an English major” is this:



GRAMMAR A. Let’s make a list of nouns. Work with a partner.

1. COUNT (plural) NON-COUNT











2. Why did the cashier cross out the word “less” and write in “fewer”?
He crossed out the word “less” and wrote in the word “fewer” because ______________________________________________________________________ .

COMPARISONS WITH FEWER and LESS
B. Use the word “fewer” with count plural nouns
such as fewer potatoes, fewer people, fewer classes .
1. She eats fewer potatoes now than she used to because she wants to lose weight.
2. There are fewer people here when it’s bad weather.
3. I am taking fewer classes this semester than I did last semester.
4. How many items can you have if you go to this cashier?

5. YOUR TURN Write one sentence using FEWER with a count plural noun.


C. Use “less” with non-count nouns such as less rice, less homework, less time.
1. My husband eats less rice now than he did when he was younger.
2. Sally gives us less homework than Mary does.
3. I have less time for watching TV now than I did when I was unemployed.

6. YOUR TURN Write one sentence using LESS with a non-count noun.

________________________________________________________________________
YOUR TURN
Choose two more nouns (one count and one non-count) and write two more sentences.

7.

8.______________________________________________________________________

Happy New Year 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2010

New Year's Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, looking forward to the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make. The new year is a time to resolve to follow through on those changes. If you haven’t made any new year’s resolutions, here are ten ideas.

1. Spend more time with family & friends.
2. Fit in fitness.
3. Lose weight.
4. Quit smoking.
5. Enjoy life more. Have more leisure time.
6. Quit drinking.
7. Get out of debt.
8. Help others.
9. Get organized.
10. Learn something new.

VOCABULARY
1. reflect (verb) It’s a time to reflect on what has already happened.
a. give back some money b. review; study c. think over; contemplate

2. resolve (verb) The new year is a time to resolve to do something.
a. to ring a bell b. to solve a problem c. to decide

3. From the short reading above, can you tell me what a New Year’s resolution (noun) is?
4. What does the verb “fit in” mean in #2?
a. be the right size. b. make enough time for c. be comfortable

5. fitness (noun)
a. good health or physical condition
b. happiness
c. able to ride a bicycle

6. What’s the difference between these two words?
lose (verb) [pronounced LOOZ] and loose (adj.) [pronounced LOOS]
Can you write a sentence for each one? YOUR TURN

lose ______________________________________________________________

loose _____________________________________________________________

7. leisure (adj.) [pronounced LEEzhur]
a. for sure; certain b. free time; freedom from work or duty c. tight clothes

8. debt (noun) [pronounced DET]

GRAMMAR

The verb in each of these resolutions is in the form of a command. It comes from the infinitive (base form), but as a command, it is directed to another person.
For example: Spend more time . . . is a command for someone else to spend more time doing something.

In the case of a resolution, it is you, yourself, you are talking to.
You say to yourself: I SHOULD SPEND more time . . .


What is the verb in each of these resolutions? Some are two-word verbs.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

CONVERSATION

1. How can you spend more time with your friends and family?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. How can you “fit in fitness”?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. How can you lose weight (or control your weight)?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4, How can you quit smoking or how can you help someone else quit smoking?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What can you do in your leisure time?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. How can you quit drinking or quit gambling or help someone quit.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. How can you get out of debt?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


8. How can you help others?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. What can you do to get more organized?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. How can you learn something new?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. Talk to your partner and find out two resolutions your partner made.
Write them down.

1. __________________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________________


12. Write two resolutions YOU made for 2010.

1. __________________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________________

White Christmas

BING CROSBY singing in HOLIDAY INN 1941


I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know.
Where the tree tops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write.
May your days be merry and bright,
And may all your Christmases be white.

VOCABULARY
1. glisten (verb) “tree tops glisten”
a. listen carefully
b. glitter; be shiny
c. stand tall

2. white (adj.) white Christmas
a. snowy
b. for white people
c. pretty

3. What words rhyme?
a. snow rhymes with ______________________
b. listen rhymes with ______________________
c. white rhymes with ____________________________________

4. How do you pronounce these words?
a. dresses b. dishes c. watches d. churches e. boxes
f. buzzes g. garages h. fences i. Christmases
What is the rule? _______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________

GRAMMAR
1. Make a list of the verbs. Tell what tense and give the infinitive.
Subject verb tense infinitive

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.


3. the ones I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know.

a. I like Fuji apples. They are the ones I usually buy.
b. The 30 Stockton and the 45 are the busses I take to school, but they are the ones that
are always crowded.
c. I am taking Sally’s Grammar/Listening/Conversation class this semester. It’s the one
I’m going to take next semester, too.
d. I like Kung Fu movies. They are the ones I always go to see.
e. Toyota makes good cars. They are the ones you see everywhere in San Francisco.

YOUR TURN Please write a sentence using the one and the ones.

the one ____________________________________________________________

the ones ____________________________________________________________

4. USED TO (infinitive)
something you did (or was) before but don’t do (or aren’t) any more.

a. I used to smoke, but I don’t do it any more.
b. I used to be a teacher, but now I’m a student.

YOUR TURN Please write a sentence using USED TO and DIDN’T USE TO

used to ____________________________________________________________

didn’t use to ___________________________________________________________________
5. You can wish something good for someone by using
MAY and a VERB:
a. May your days be merry and bright..
b. May all your Christmases be white.
c. May you be happy and healthy in the year to come.
d. May you have a very Happy New Year.

Try the above sentences with I HOPE. (I hope that + a clause)
aa. I hope your days are (will be) merry and bright.


bb. I hope_______________________________________________________


cc. I hope_________________________________________


dd. I hope _________________________________________


CONVERSATION
1. What are you dreaming of? [day dreaming = fantasy thinking while awake, especially about happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions about the future or reminiscences of the past.




2. Do you celebrate Christmas? If not, are there any holidays when you get together with friends or family and exchange gifts?

To Lie Down

to lie down

lie/lies lay (have/has/had) lain
(am/is/are/was/were) lying



(pres. continuous)
1. The lion and the lamb ____________________ next to each other.



2. (past)
Two dogs _________________________ on the grass.



3. (past)
Yesterday was a beautiful day, so my friend Susan
___________ on her back in the sun.






4. (present)
He always ___________________ on his side when he sleeps.


5. (past continuous)
The baby _____________awake in her crib waiting for her mom to pick her up.


6. (past)
She was so tired when she came home from work that she just
_________________down on the couch and fell asleep.



7. (past)

The protesters got out of their car and ____________ on the ground.

YOUR TURN (Write a sentence using the verb to lie down.
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

Down by the Riverside

I'm gonna lay down my burden
Down by the riverside (3)
And study war no more.

CHORUS
I ain’t gonna study no more
Study war no more (2)
I ain’t gonna study no more
Study war no more (2)



Gonna lay down my sword and shield.
Down by the riverside (3)
And study war no more.

CHORUS

I’m gonna walk with the Prince of Peace
Down by the riverside
And study war no more.

CHORUS

The Star-Spangled Banner

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER
Congress proclaimed it the U.S. National Anthem in 1931



Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light


What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars


through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts
we watched
were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare,

the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.


Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?


"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defense of Fort McHenry”, a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old poet and lawyer, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. The British wanted to take Baltimore, so they attacked Fort McHenry (which was protecting the harbor). At dawn on the 14th, Key noted that the huge American flag, which now hangs in the Smithsonian's American History Museum, was still waving and had not been removed in defeat. The sight inspired him to write the poem

1. What words rhyme in this poem/song?
a. light rhymes with ___________________________________
b. gleaming rhymes with ______________________________
c. glare rhymes with ____________________ and ______________________
c. wave rhymes with ___________________________

2. Who wrote the Star-Spangled Banner?


3. When is dawn? ___________________________________
4. When is twilight? __________________________________
5. What is an “anthem”? ______________________________
6. If peril means danger, what is a “perilous fight”? __________________________________________________________________
7. Who were the American fighting against?
________________________________________________________________
8. When Mr. Key saw the flag still flying after the battle, this was proof that the Americans had not been beaten. PROOF is “any factual evidence that helps to establish the truth of something.” Can you use the noun “proof” in a sentence?


9. Answer these questions in complete sentences please.
a. What colors are the American flag? ___________________________
b. How many stripes does the flag have? _________________________
c. What do the stripes represent? _______________________________________________________
d. How many stars does the flag have? _________________________
e. What do the stars represent? ________________________________________________________



The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and Great Britain from June 1812 to the spring of 1815, although the peace treaty ending the war was signed in Europe in December 1814. The main land fighting of the war occurred along the Canadian border, in the Chesapeake Bay region and along the Gulf of Mexico; extensive action also took place at sea.
This conflict was caused mainly by the U.S. resentment of British naval harassment. The British were already at war with France. They seized American ships and took seamen from them, some who were U.S. citizens.
Two days before the declaration of war, Great Britain agreed to repeal the naval laws which were chiefly responsible for the conflict. Speedy communication would have also eliminated the greatest battle, the Battle of New Orleans that occurred 15 days after a peace treaty had been signed.

A Thanksgiving Story

A first-grade teacher asked her class to draw a picture of something they were thankful for. She tried to think of some things that these children from poor neighborhoods could actually be thankful for, but she knew that most of them would draw pictures of turkeys or tables with food. The teacher was taken aback by the picture Douglas handed in -- a simple childishly-drawn hand.


But whose hand? The class wanted to talk about Douglas’s drawing.
“I think it must be the hand of God that brings us food,” said one child.
“I think it’s a farmer’s hand,” said another, “because he raises the turkeys.”
Finally when the others were busy at work, the teacher bent over Douglas’s desk and asked whose hand it was. “It’s your hand, Teacher,” he mumbled.
She recalled that frequently at recess she had taken Douglas by the hand. She often did that with the children, but it really meant a lot to Douglas.
Perhaps this is what Thanksgiving means, not to be thankful for material things but to be thankful for the chance, in whatever small way, to give to others.

I. VOCABULARY (words and idioms)
1. thankful (adj.) be thankful for
a. careful
b. grateful
c. doubtful

2. be taken aback by ( aback = adv.) The teacher was taken aback by the picture.
a. be shocked or surprised
b. be taken away
c. be happy

3. childish (adj) He acted in a childish way. She has a childish voice.
It was a childishly-drawn picture. (adv.)
a. like an adult
b. foolish
c. lacking in maturity; characteristic of a child

4. at work (adverbial phrase) Everybody in the class was hard at work.
a. doing the school assignment
b. in the office
c. doing homework

5. bent over (past tense of bend verb) The teacher bent over Douglas’s desk.
a. stood up straight
b. looked at
c.. curved or crooked posture

6. mumbled (verb) When he talked, he mumbled.
a. spoke in a loud voice
b. talked in a low and indistinct voice
c. yelled

7. frequently (adverb) Frequently at recess, she had taken Douglas by the hand.
a. not often
b. very often
c. always

8. at recess (adverbial phrase) Frequently at recess, she had taken Douglas by the hand.
a. not often
b. very often
c. always

9. by the hand (adverb) Frequently at recess, she had taken Douglas by the hand.
a. played with him on the playground
b. took him home
c. held his hand

10. material things (adverb) I am not thankful for material things; I am thankful for things you can’t touch.
a. mountains
b. physical objects that can be bought with money
c. thoughts



Look at the two-word verbs (phrasals) used in the story.
1. be thankful for Be thankful for the chance to give to others.
YOUR TURN (Talk about yourself.)
___________________________________________________________
2. think of She tried to think of things (that) the children could draw.
YOUR TURN
___________________________________________________________
3. handed in Douglas handed in a simple drawing.
YOUR TURN
___________________________________________________________
4. be taken aback by (something) I was taken aback by his nasty remark.
[something that is startling enough to make us jump back in surprise]
YOUR TURN
___________________________________________________________


II. GRAMMAR
1. WHOSE
possessive adjective requesting a person for an answer
(DO NOT CONFUSE THIS with Who is? Who's))
As a question . . . WHOSE noun ?
Whose hand? God’s hand.
Whose book is this? It’s my (her, his, your, our, their) book.
(It’s) Sally’s book.
I know whose book this is. Whose is it?
I went to a house whose owners were from China.
YOUR TURN
a. Please ask a question using WHOSE.
______________________________________________________
b. Please use WHOSE answer your question.
______________________________________________________

Possessives: possessive nouns
singular The student’s books are at her house.
plural Three students’ books are on my desk.
also These men’s jackets are on sale for $100.

Possessive proper nouns (capital letter)
Douglas’s hand was funny-looking. (Charles’s car, Mr. Jones’s car)
Safeway’s managers are very helpful.
Walgreen’s [store] is open from 8-11p.m.
YOUR TURN
a. Please write one sentence using a singular possessive noun.
_____________________________________________________________
b. Please write one sentence using a plural possessive noun.
_____________________________________________________________
c. Please write one sentence using a proper possessive noun.
_____________________________________________________________
to raise (transitive verb S V O You need an object with this ver.
raise /s raised raised

Examples with objects.
a. I raised my hand.
b. She was too weak to raise her head.
c. The janitor raises the flag every morning.
d. I have raised three children.
e. My boss raised my pay.
f. The chicken farmer raises chickens.
YOUR TURN Please write a sentence using RAISE.

_____________________________________________________________________




III. CONVERSATION
What are you thankful for? Talk with your partner and share your thoughts. Then write the answer to this question.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

THINK ABOUT THIS:
Let us stand up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little; and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick; and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.