Unit 2 - The Land of Liberty

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Unit 2 - The Land of Liberty

United States of America

In which country can you
see this building?

1. United States
2. Britain

What is the name
of this bridge?

1. Brooklyn Bridge
2. Golden Gate Bridge
3. Tower Bridge

What can you see or
do in the Met?

1. Check out art collections.
2. Find books you want to read.
3. Go to a football game.

This is ...

1. Highliner
2. a railway station
3. The High Line

Musicals like 'Phantom
of the Opera' can
be seen on ...

This is the ...

1. Chrysler Building
2. Empire State Building
3. Shard

Which of these spellings is typically American rather than British?

1. colour
2. favourite
3. theater
4. centre

What do you say in American English if you don't want to eat?

1. I already ate.
2. I've already eaten.

If an American says, “I’ll take the elevator,” what would a Brit most likely say instead?

1. “I’ll take the stairs.”
2. “I’ll take the lift.”
3. “I’ll take the escalator.”

Which of these foods is often considered a classic part of American culture?

1. Fish and chips
2. Curry and naan
3. Croissants
4. Hot dogs and hamburgers

Which holiday is uniquely American?

1. Thanksgiving
2. Halloween

New York - Alicia Keys

Grew up in a town that is famous as a place of movie scenes

Noise was always loud, there are sirens all around

and the streets are mean

If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere, that's what they say

Seeing my face in lights or my name on marquees found down

on Broadway

New York - Alicia Keys

Grew up in a town that is famous as a place of movie scenes

Noise was always loud, there are sirens all around

and the streets are mean

If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere, that's what they say

Seeing my face in lights or my name on marquees found down

on Broadway

Even if it ain't all it seems, I got a pocket full of dreams

Baby, I'm from New York

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothing you can't do

Now you're in New York

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Hear it from New York, New York, New York!

Even if it ain't all it seems, I got a pocket full of dreams

Baby, I'm from New York

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothing you can't do

Now you're in New York

These streets will make you feel brand new

Big lights will inspire you

Hear it from New York, New York, New York!

On the avenue, there ain't never a curfew, ladies work so hard

Such a melting pot, on the corner selling rock, preachers pray to God

Hail a gypsy-cab, takes me down from Harlem to the Brooklyn Bridge

Some will sleep tonight with a hunger far more than an empty fridge

On the avenue, there ain't never a curfew, ladies work so hard

Such a melting pot, on the corner selling rock, preachers pray to God

Hail a gypsy-cab, takes me down from Harlem to the Brooklyn Bridge

Some will sleep tonight with a hunger far more than an empty fridge

One hand in the air for the big city,

Street lights, big dreams all looking pretty

No place in the world that can compare

Put your lighters in the air, everybody say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

One hand in the air for the big city,

Street lights, big dreams all looking pretty

No place in the world that can compare

Put your lighters in the air, everybody say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

p. 49 

Read about one of the tourist sights in the US and tell your classmates all about it. 

Study the vocabulary on p. 55 for 3 minutes. 

Choose a word and a fellow student. 
This student needs to make a sentence with the word of your choice. 
Describe who uses this equipment and why.

p. 62 Uptown or downtown 

Which is always capitalized?

1. I
2. President
3. Earth

Which are NOT normally capitalized?

1. days of the week
2. months of the year
3. names of the seasons

Check capitalization: The President Tweeted, "The Country has its first Great Leader."

1. all correct except "Tweeted"
2. all wrong except "The"
3. all correct

Which word is wrongly capitalized? "The Police searched a blue Honda near St Paul's Cathedral."

1. Police
2. Honda
3. Cathedral

Which words did the writer forget to capitalize? "Our professor taught buddhist philosophy at Oxford university."

1. Professor, Buddhist
2. Buddhist, Philosophy, University
3. Buddhist, University

When do we use capital letters?

Search the internet and create your own overview of when to use capital letters in English. 

Capital letters: overview
1. names of days and months

2. titles followed by a proper name and titles referring to one person

3. names of institutions

4. names of religions, their adherents and adjectives derived from them

5. certain abbreviations and acronyms

6. names of holidays and special days

  

7. words in titles of books, films, poems, newspapers, television channels, songs (except for small words like 'a', 'the')
8. the personal pronoun I
9. proper names (people, languages, brands, countries, nationalities, buildings, places, ...)
10. historical events and eras
11. the first word in a sentence
12. the beginning of a quotation if the quotation is a complete sentence

p. 66 A roof over your head

Make a sentence with the word 'atop'.

Make a sentence with the word 'emerge'.

Make a sentence with the word 'surface'.

Make a sentence with the word 'abandon'.

Make a short video about the Mole People.

• Find 5 gripping photographs that deal with the Mole People.
• Include at least 4 of the words we have seen in ex. 5 on p. 69
• Duration of the video: 

alone: 1 minute

in pairs: 2 minutes

You have to be in the video! 

The Mole People

Who are they?

Where do they live?

When?

Why do they live here?

How do they organise their lives? 

Other interesting facts? 

File 3: A nation under fire

Laws and regulations

Why do the US elections matter to Europe? 

- The US democracy is at stake

- Insecurity of future transatlantic relations. Trump’s open support for Europe’s autocratic governments, such as Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party in Hungary, will also legitimise the continent’s far right parties.

- In Europe, the impacts will be felt most strongly in three main areas: defence (eg. war in Ukraine), trade (protectionist, imposing tariffs) and climate policy (eg. Trump wants to increase oil and gas production).

Key policies

Foreign Policy

Immigration

Economy and tax

Abortion

Education

Democracy

Climate

Crimes and guns

The Constitution (Grondwet)

Bill of Rights: the name for the first 10 amendments of the Constitution. 

Eg. Free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, the right to keep and bear arms 

Check the graphs in your book. 

Study the vocabulary on p. 73-74 for 5 minutes. 

A nation under fire (p. 71)

Always be prepared (p. 78)

This video is no longer available

explain

How to give advice in English? 

We use MODAL VERBS. 

1. Go to Scoodle and watch the video. 
2. Make a summary of the modal verbs that can be used to give instructions/advice in English. 
3. Do exercises 'a' (easy), 'b' (intermediate) or 'c' (harder). 
4. Go to p. 78 in your book and rewrite 7 of the instructions using a different modal verb every time. 

shouldn't

Roe vs. Wade (p. 83-84)

A new year, new laws in the US

Abortion

The issue of abortion and reproductive rights was a major one in the election. Donald Trump, who took credit for the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, removing the constitutional right to an abortion in the country, has repeatedly said that his position is to let states decide their own abortion laws.

The Equal Rights Amendment, which passed in 2024, has been added to the state constitution as of January 1. The amendment expands anti-discrimination protections to include terms such as gender identity, pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health care.

Social Media

Several states are introducing new laws in 2025 to regulate social media platforms and protect children online.

For exampe:
In Florida, a measure prevents children from having social media accounts. Children under 14 will not be allowed to create or maintain social media accounts at all, while teens aged 14 and 15 will require parental or guardian consent to access social media platforms. 

Gun Safety

A raft of new gun safety laws are coming into effect in several states. With school shootings still regularly occurring, the debate on how to reduce gun violence while upholding the Second Amendment continues to divide the nation, with some states imposing restrictions on gun owners, and others giving them more rights.

Data Privacy

Texas will implement stricter online data privacy regulations, amid an ongoing national debate about the way large tech companies like Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and Alphabet, which owns Google, make most of their money: by surveilling users' sensitive personal data without their knowledge and using that data to sell targeted placements to third party advertisers.

Artificial Intelligence

California is enacting two laws to safeguard individuals from unauthorized AI-generated digital replicas of their voice and likeness, as AI deepfake technology continues to advance.

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/new-laws-that-come-into-force-in-2025/ar-AA1wNv7V

Marijuana

Medical marijuana will become legal in Kentucky in 2025, but smoking the plant remains prohibited. Users can access raw plant material, but must use it in non-combustible forms like vaping. Violating these restrictions could result in license suspension or legal penalties. Public consumption and growing marijuana at home are also banned.

Organise your own debate. 

Get in groups of 4-5 people. 

Decide which topic you want to explore. 

Decide who is pro and con. 
Find information and prepare your arguments in a shared Google Doc. 

Possible topics

Age of Consent

Education System

Gun Control

Privacy Laws

Healthcare System

Abortion
Voting
Cannabis Legalization

...

Participating in a debate

Defining the topic

We are talking about …

The topic in this discussion is …

This debate is about …

The question we are going to deal with is …

So we are looking for an answer to the question …
Defining your position

My viewpoint is …

I believe that / I am convinced that …

In my opinion …

I totally agree  when he / she states that …

According to the author of this article, …

Picking up a statement or asking for confirmation

So what you are saying is …

Are you suggesting that …?

Are you really convinced that …?

Contradicting an argument

I hold a different opinion.

But the facts are …

But you can’t deny that …

The author suggests that …, but …

I’m afraid I totally disagree with you there.

I agree with you there, but you should take into account that …

https://www.bustle.com/life/gossip-girl-filming-locations-new-york-city