O R A L P R A C T I C E Lessons 1 - 25 - Shenker

OP 23 - SERIAL - Summer by the Sea. Episode Three: Three years without a note of music
- Let's talk about the Serial. Do you remember the title? / And the title of episode three?
If you do step (1), you can present step (2) as a kind of "reprise" ("OK, let's go over that again…").
If you skip step (1), you can present step (2) directly as a Gapfill exercise.
This whole exercise should be fairly informal, and quick.
(1) Get the students to tell you what happened in this week's thrilling episode.
Now, can you tell me what happened…?
2) Reprise of the episode, à la Gapfill exercise. (This includes information supplied by the narrator in
Italian on the tape, i.e. some things that you cannot learn from reading the tapescript alone.)
The episode begins a few days after Alice's VISIT to Mr Murray's shop.
Alice was painting, on the ROCKY CLIFF above the beach, when Nat APPEARED. He wanted to talk to
her. He wanted to EXPLAIN why he didn't like dogs. But Alice didn't want to listen to him, and she
started to leave. Then she FELL, and hurt her foot. She couldn't walk, so Nat had to carry her -
to his cottage.
At Nat's cottage, Alice said she was sorry. Nat told her about his wife, and the terrible car accident.
He also told her that after the accident it was impossible for him to work - "three years without writing
a note of music". But now, since that day on the beach when he met Alice, he could "feel the music
coming back".
Alice was an INSPIRATION for him. Things were changing for Nat, and evidently things were changing
for Alice, too. Maybe they were falling in love…
(3) Questions on the episode. Answers need not be complete sentences, nor contain all of the information
given in the right-hand column.
And now, some questions…
Does the episode begin on the beach, or above the beach? Above the beach. (on the "rocky cliff")
What was Alice doing, when Nat APPEARED? She was painting.
Did he want to talk to her? Yes, he did.
Did she want to listen to him? No, she didn't.
Who started to leave? Alice did.
Did she get very far? No, she fell and hurt her foot.
Could she walk? No, she couldn't.
Did Nat take her to the hospital? No, he took her to his cottage.
Did Alice APOLOGISE to Nat - did she say she was sorry for what she had said? Yes, she did.
Did Nat finally explain his phobia about dogs? Yes, he did.
Alice suggested that maybe Nat had a phobia about women, too.
Do you remember Nat's reaction to that? "You're probably right."
Was Nat able to write music after the accident? No, he wasn't.
But he could feel that the music was coming back. Why? What inspired him? Alice.
Do you think they were falling in love? […]
Possible segue:
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