If-clauses (1)

Grammar

If-clause type III: complete the sentences with the correct forms of the verbs in brackets.

1. I _____  (come) if you _____  (tell) me about the concert a little bit earlier.
2. If my teacher _____  (explain) to us how to do these exercises, I _____  (do) my homework.
3. If it _____  (not snow) yesterday, we _____  (take) the car instead of the train.
4. If I _____  (buy) another ticket for the show, Jimmy _____  (come) with us tonight.
5. I _____  (send) you a postcard from California if _____  (have) a bit more time during the holidays.
6. If someone _____  (see) what the man did to the girl, he _____  (be) in prison now.

Writing

1. Read the following interview about the topic "Violence at a British school".

Interviewer:  I am now talking to the headmaster of Rosemary School in Bristol. Mr Adams, can you tell me why you had to call the police last Friday?

Headmaster:  Yes, of course. It’s unbelievable. Some of my teachers had told me about a new habit of our pupils. You know that nowadays young people don’t go anywhere without their mobile phones. Well, we saw them standing around in the break, looking at the mobile of one of the boys. It was the way they were looking at it that was strange. So I went outside to see what was on it.

Interviewer:  What did you find when you looked at the mobile? 

Headmaster:  I couldn’t believe my eyes. They had a film scene where some boys beat up a younger boy. It was only later that I realized that this fight had taken place at my school, here in Bristol.

Interviewer: How old were the boys?

Headmaster:  Well, the poor one that was beaten up was only ten years old. The boys who gave him a hard time were older, two of them were already 15 years old, three of them between 13 and 14. And all of them were pupils at thisschool. Nice boys, it seemed. Who could have imagined what terrible things they did after school?

Interviewer:  Did you find out why they hit the boy?

Headmaster:  That’s the most terrible thing I ever heard a young person say. The boys explained that it hadn’t been a matter of having arguments. They thought it was just a joke, to film how they hurt him. They had chosen this pupil because he was rather weak and couldn’t defend himself. They just wanted to shoot a good film to show their friends. Can you believe that? 

Interviewer:   Indeed, violent scenes on mobile phones are a problem in Great Britain. It is cool to have such a film on your mobile, the more violent the better. Young people send the films from mobile to mobile. It’s like a competition, everyone wants to have the most violent film. And the losers are the victims. Mr Adams, how do you want to improve the situation at your school? 

Headmaster:  The boys are now facing punishment. Of course, they are too young to go to court, but the police have agreed with the parents that the boys will have to do some hours of community service in their free time.

Interviewer: What exactly does that mean? 

Headmaster:  They will have to help in an animal refuge, that’s a home for pets without owners. We hope that the work with these poor animals will teach them that violence is not cool. 

Interviewer:  And what about all the other young people at your school? 

Headmaster:  As a first step, mobile phones are not allowed at my school anymore. The kids have to leave them at home. I think, the real problem is that the children see a lot of violence on TV. They are so used to it and don’t know how terrible it is and how much it hurts. So we also started a programme called “Stop the aggression”. This way we want to teach them that doing sports or playing games in the real world is much better than watching TV or playing computer games in your free time. We also had an information evening for the parents, where we advised them to check their children’s mobile phones from time to time. “Know what your child does”, that’s the slogan!

Interviewer:  And it’s the best thing parents can do! Thank you, Mr Adams.

2. Write a report about violence at a British school. Use the information given in the interview with the headmaster of the school. Remember to use connectives to make your text sound good. You may also include quotations (= Zitate) but you should mainly use your own words.