Weekly Lesson States and Territories Use your browser's print command to print this lesson. |
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Vocabulary
to be classified |
V. to be put into a category, to be arranged in classes or groups |
a district |
N. an area of land or political division used for official purposes |
geographical |
A. relating to geography |
New England |
N. a cultural region in the United States known for its small towns, traditional culture, countryside and colored leaves in autumn |
a region |
N. a large area or part |
self-governing |
A. independently run, not controlled from the outside |
a state |
N. a smaller, partly self-governing division of certain countries |
to stretch |
V. to spread out, extend |
to be tied |
V. to be connected with rope or string |
a territory (territories) |
N. an area of land ruled by a government Territory often suggests that the area of land is not given full recognition or equal power in the political process. |
Vocabulary in Conversation
Use the above vocabulary to fill in the blanks in the following conversation. Your answers can be checked by clicking at the bottom of the page.
Simone: Tina, I'm studying American geography at school right now, but I am a little confused about the terminology they are using. Can you explain the basic ______________________ divisions to me.
Tina: Well, the U. S. is made up of fifty ______________________. Some of them are quite small such as Rhode Island or Hawaii; others are very large such as Alaska or Texas.
Simone: My teacher mentioned that the capital of the United States is special. Do you know what he was talking about?
Tina: The capital is Washington D.C. - the "D.C." stands for ______________________ of Columbia. Washington D.C. is not in a state; it is a separate political division. The United States also includes many ______________________ such as Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. And of course, Puerto Rico ______________________ as a commonwealth.
Simone: What exactly is a commonwealth?
Tina: That means that Puerto Rico ______________________ to the United States, but it is largely ______________________.
Simone: What about the cultural divisions?
Tina: Americans divide the United States into many different cultural ______________________: the Northwest, the West Coast, the West, the South West, the deep South, the Midwest, the East Coast and last but not least ______________________.
Simone: Where's that?
Tina: It is a cultural region in the far Northeast that ______________________ from Connecticut to Maine.
Vocabulary follow-up
Use the above vocabulary to fill in the blanks in the following sentences. Your answers can be checked by clicking at the bottom of the page.
1. The deserts of the Southwest ______________________ from Texas to California.
2. That island has been controlled by the central government for years; however, many of the locals want to be ______________________. They want to decide their own future.
3. Scientists are convinced that this ______________________ of the brain is connected to language skills.
4. Whales ______________________ as mammals. They are not fish.
5. This school ______________________ is well organized and provides excellent education to all of its students even though it receives less money from the government.
6. Canada doesn't have ______________________ - it has provinces.
7. In Canada, the Yukon is classified as a ______________________; the population is too small to become a province.
8. Now, these two countries ______________________ together politically and economically; however, before the peace agreement they had been at war for several centuries.
9. ______________________, those two nations are very similar. They both have huge stretches of rain forest in the South and dry desert regions in the North.
10. Peaceful country towns, rivers, forests - I would love to visit ______________________ ! Especially, when the leaves change color in autumn.
"Get"
A)
"Get" can be used as a passive form which suggests that the subject of the sentence causes the action to happen.
A) Mary was invited to Bob's party. Examples B and C mean the same thing. They suggest that Mary did something special to cause Bob to invite her to the party. "Get" can be used alone, the word "herself" is optional. Passive sentences which do not suggest that the subject causes the action cannot use "get". |
Rewrite the following sentences using the "Get" passive form. Use "himself," "herself," "themselves," "yourself," or "itself" for emphasis. Some sentences cannot be changed. The first one has been done for you.
1. If he doesn't look before he crosses the road, he is going to be run over by a car.
If he doesn't look before he crosses the road, he is going to get himself run over by a car.
2. She was allowed to enter the contest.
3. He tried to steal a car and ended up being arrested.
4. They showed up late to work several times and were fired.
5. Darren and Molly were kicked out of their apartment because they never paid their rent.
6. He was measured to see if he would fit the suit.
7. The cow wandered into the swamp and was stuck in the mud.
8. The school was rebuilt by the city.
9. If they are not careful, they are going to be killed.
10. The students are given text books to use at home.
B)
"Get" can also be used to say that a person caused something to happen to someone else. A) Sam got Mary invited to Bob's party. Example A suggests that Sam did something special to cause Bob to invite Mary to the party. |
Rewrite the sentences below using the "Get" form.
1. Mr. Jones helped Lucy be accepted to the university.
Mr. Jones got Lucy accepted to the university.
2. Their loud parties caused them to be kicked out of their apartment.
3. James caused Rheda to be fired.
4. Simon's constant talking caused him to be removed from history class.
5. The recommendation letter from Ms. Robbins helped Mark be hired.
Focus on Verbs
The following passage should be completed by putting the verb in parentheses in the Past Perfect or Past Perfect Continuous. If you are confused, you should refer to the English Page's Verb Tense Tutorial.
Be On Time
I'm sorry I left without you last night, but I told you to meet me early because the show started at 8:00. I (try) _____________________ to get tickets for that play for months, and I didn't want to miss it. By the time I finally left the coffee shop where we were supposed to meet, I (have) _____________________ five cups of coffee and I (wait) _____________________ over an hour. I had to leave because I (arrange) _____________________ to meet Kathy in front of the theater.
When I arrived at the theater, Kathy (pick, already) _____________________ up the tickets and she was waiting for us near the entrance. She was really angry because she (wait) _____________________ for more than half an hour. She said she (give, almost) _____________________ up and (go) _____________________ into the theater without us.
Kathy told me you (be) _____________________ late several times in the past and that she would not make plans with you again in the future. She mentioned that she (miss) _____________________ several movies because of your late arrivals. I think you owe her an apology. And in the future, I suggest you be on time!
Weekly Lesson Answers States and Territories |
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Vocabulary in Conversation
Simone: Tina, I'm studying American geography at school right now, but I am a little confused about the terminology they are using. Can you explain the basic geographical divisions to me.
Tina: Well, the U. S. is made up of fifty states. Some of them are quite small such as Rhode Island or Hawaii; others are very large such as Alaska or Texas.
Simone: My teacher mentioned that the capital of the United States is special. Do you know what he was talking about?
Tina: The capital is Washington D.C. - the "D.C." stands for District of Columbia. Washington D.C. is not in a state; it is a separate political division. The United States also includes many territories such as Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. And of course, Puerto Rico is classified as a commonwealth.
Simone: What exactly is a commonwealth?
Tina: That means that Puerto Rico is tied to the United States, but it is largely self-governing.
Simone: What about the cultural divisions?
Tina: Americans divide the United States into many different cultural regions: the Northwest, the West Coast, the West, the South West, the deep South, the Midwest, the East Coast and last but not least New England.
Simone: Where's that?
Tina: It is a cultural region in the far Northeast that stretches from Connecticut to Maine.
Vocabulary follow-up
1. The deserts of the Southwest stretch from Texas to California.
2. That island has been controlled by the central government for years; however, many of the locals want to be self-governing. They want to decide their own future.
3. Scientists are convinced that this region of the brain is connected to language skills.
4. Whales are classified as mammals. They are not fish.
5. This school district is well organized and provides excellent education to all of its students even though it receives less money from the government.
6. Canada doesn't have states - it has provinces.
7. In Canada, the Yukon is classified as a territory; the population is too small to become a province.
8. Now, these two countries are tied together politically and economically; however, before the peace agreement they had been at war for several centuries.
9. Geographically, those two nations are very similar. They both have huge stretches of rain forest in the South and dry desert regions in the North.
10. Peaceful country towns, rivers, forests - I would love to visit New England ! Especially, when the leaves change color in autumn.
"Get"
A)
1. If he doesn't look before he crosses the road, he is going to be run over by a car.
If he doesn't look before he crosses the road, he is going to get himself run over by a car.
2. She was allowed to enter the contest.
(Cannot change)
3. He tried to steal a car and ended up being arrested.
He tried to steal a car and ended up getting himself arrested.
4. They showed up late to work several times and were fired.
They showed up late to work several times and got themselves fired.
5. Darren and Molly were kicked out of their apartment because they never paid their rent.
Darren and Molly got themselves kicked out of their apartment because they never paid their rent.
6. He was measured to see if he would fit the suit.
(Cannot change)
7. The cow wandered into the swamp and was stuck in the mud.
The cow wandered into the swamp and got itself stuck in the mud.
8. The school was rebuilt by the city.
(Cannot change)
9. If they are not careful, they are going to be killed.
If they are not careful, they are going to get themselves killed.
10. The students are given text books to use at home.
(Cannot change)
B)
1. Mr. Jones helped Lucy be accepted to the university.
Mr. Jones got Lucy accepted to the university.
2. Their loud parties caused them to be kicked out of their apartment.
Their loud parties got them kicked out of their apartment.
3. James caused Rheda to be fired.
James got Rheda fired.
4. Simon's constant talking caused him to be removed from history class.
Simon's constant talking got him removed from history class.
5. The recommendation letter from Ms. Robbins helped Mark be hired.
The recommendation letter from Ms. Robbins got Mark hired.
Focus on Verbs
Be On Time
I'm sorry I left without you last night, but I told you to meet me early because the show started at 8:00. I (try) had been trying to get tickets for that play for months, and I didn't want to miss it. By the time I finally left the coffee shop where we were supposed to meet, I (have) had had five cups of coffee and I (wait) had been waiting over an hour. I had to leave because I (arrange) had arranged to meet Kathy in front of the theater.
When I arrived at the theater, Kathy (pick, already) had already picked up the tickets and she was waiting for us near the entrance. She was really angry because she (wait) had been waiting for more than half an hour. She said she (give, almost) had almost given up and (go) gone (same subject so you do not need to repeat "had") into the theater without us.
Kathy told me you (be) had been late several times in the past and that she would not make plans with you again in the future. She mentioned that she (miss) had missed several movies because of your late arrivals. I think you owe her an apology. And in the future, I suggest you be on time!