Mark SparkStudent Book
Mark Spark
Student Book
Write in the space what ideas the children have.
Tick the ideas which Miss Moss has accepted.
Mark: Hi Great Gran, I’m back from school.
Gran: Get off of me, you human whirlwind!
Mark: I’m really hungry. What have you prepared for me this afternoon?
Gran: There are marmite and crisp sandwiches and jammy buns.
Mark: Wow, great!
Gran: How’s school today? Anything special that happened?
Mark: We are going to raise money to train a guide dog. You know, that
kind of dog that leads the blind.
Gran: Yes, I do. The young girl I see up at the eye hospital is getting a
guide dog soon. By the way, what ideas did your class have?
Mark: There were a number and one of them was to have a bring and buy
sale. Gran, I have a problem. I don’t know what to take school.
Gran: No worry, Mark. I will knit you a pair of socks.
Mark: Thanks Gran! I also need to think about what to do in the concert.
I can’t sing as Jason and dance as Louise.
Gran: Why don’t you say a poem? You’re ever so comic.
Mark: Right Gran, I can put on a puppet show. I can speak in both
Roseanne and Sir Jasper’s voice.
Gran: I am sure your show is the smash hit of the concert.
Mark: Gran, once we’ve raised enough money for the guide dog, I will make
sure that you get the dog and no one else.
Gran: Don’t be silly! What would I be doing with a dog at my age? I can’t
even get out myself, let alone take a dog for a walk.
Mark: That’s the point, Great Gran. You don’t have to take the dog for a
walk. The guide dog can take you for a walk. Besides, there are other things a guide dog can do for you.
Gran: But Mark I’m too old a dog to learn new tricks. I don’t think I will
learn how to look after it.
Mark: Gran, you are forever young in my eyes! I don’t care, I just want
you to have a guide dog.
Gran: Silly boy, let’s not talk about this. Let’s talk about something else.
Context: Four people are waiting to get a guide dog. You are one of the members of a committee which decides to whom the guide dog should be given. On the next page is the information of four people who are eligible to apply for the guide dog.
*******************************
Task 1
Refer to the examples in the box and use the sentence pattern shown.
In groups, work out two more criteria.
Criterion 1
Criterion 2
Task 2: In groups, discuss who should get the dog and report back to the class.
Read the following and decide which idiomatic expression to use for each situation.
- We cannot go hiking nor have barbecue outdoor because it’s ______outside. All we can do is watch TV and play card games. We have to check the weather forecast next time before we plan for our holiday.
- He is ______, always busy day and night. So despite the good money he makes, he doesn’t feel happy at all since he gets no time to enjoy life.
- You don’t have to worry about him at all. He just complains and complains but he never follows up his complaints with actions. He is a good example of ______.
- The fact that he ______suggested that he had starved for a long long time. If not seen by me on the spot, I could not believe he could finish ten dishes of food in the buffet lunch within half an hour.
- ______. Since the boss has gone on a business trip on Monday, none of the employers is punctual for work.
- The children of the billionaire have longed for the death of their father to get a share of the inheritance. The grief and sorrow shown on their faces were simply______.
- Any lawsuit between the rich and the poor in a corrupted country is compared to ______. The latter stand very little chance of winning.
- The girl has scared a lot of her boyfriends away as she insists strongly the “______” philosophy. She wants her boyfriend to be kind and generous to her family, her friends, her relatives and her colleagues.
Animals, both Human friends and Great helpers
As we all know, animals can keep us company and so they have been kept as pets for long. On top of making good human friends, animals are also great helpers to human mankind.
Below is a list of functions that animals can perform. Put in brackets examples of animals that perform the functions.
As carriers of heavy load (e.g. elephants, )
As means of transport on land (e.g. )
As entertainers to give performances (e.g. )
As senders of mail (e.g.)
As fortune tellers (e.g. )
As a source of food (e.g. )
************************************
What other functions can you think of which animals perform?
What animals will you choose for them?
- 1 -