Comparisons 4: Opening Sentence



A sentence beginning with although or even though can be an effective way to start a speaking task or even an essay introduction.

1. Look at the table below

Activities Places Animals
 Things
play tennis/golf Japan/USA  lion/tiger  train/plane
watch TV/movie at cinema  Hachioji/Shinjuku shark/dolphin J-pop/enka
eat spaghetti/steak Mt. Fuji/Mt. Everest cat/dog  university/j.h.s.
 
2. Now look at some sample sentences comparing the pairs in the first row.

Although playing tennis and playing golf are both very popular in Japan, no really world class Japanese players have emerged in either sport.
Even though golf is as easy to learn as tennis, it is much more difficult to play well.
Although neither tennis nor golf are team sports, only golf can be played alone.
Even though Japan is an advanced country and so is the USA, they have very different political systems.
Although the USA imports lots of oil, as does Japan, neither has invested much in solar energy.
Although Japanese baseball players are as good as American ones, Japanese teams usually lose in games against American teams. Although neither Japan nor America are European nations, they trade extensively with the EU.
Even though tigers eat meat and so do lions, their styles of hunting are not similar.
Although lions and tigers can be very dangerous people have been known to keep them as pets.
Even though a lion is as powerful as a tiger, its reputation is less fearsome.
Although tigers, like lions, are not found naturally in Japan, both can be seen in zoos.
Although both planes and trains are efficient methods of transportation, trains are more effective at carrying heavy or bulky goods.

3. Look at some examples of how a topic might be answered with the use of such a sentence as an opener.
Topic: Which do you prefer, sending an email or writing a letter?
Opener: Although both writing letters and sending emails are very common in Japan, sending an email is much easier.

Topic: Which city would you recommend a foreign tourist visit, Tokyo or Osaka?
Opener: Although Osaka is a big city and so is Tokyo, the characters of their inhabitants are quite different.

Topic: Which animal is more useful to your society, cow or horse?
Opener: Although both cows and horses are domestic animals, they are used by humans in very different ways.

Topic: Which is more important in life, studying or working?
Opener: Even though working and studying are both very tiring activities, we can obtain different benefits from each.

4. Now you try to make up some sentences using the pairs in the second and third rows of the table above.

5. For an example of how this type of sentence can start a speaking task Click Here and listen.
Topic: Which would you prefer to visit, Hokkaido or Okinawa?
To see the tapescript of the speaking task, Click Here .

6. For another example of how this type of sentence can start a speaking task Click Here and listen.
Topic: Which animal is more useful to your society, cow or horse?
What was the opening sentence?
What was the topic statement?
What were the main points?
To see the tapescript of the speaking task, Click Here .

7. For another example of how this type of sentence can start a speaking task Click Here and listen.
What was the topic of this speaking task?
What was the opening sentence?
What was the topic statement?
What were the main points?

Task 5
Listen again and try to write down everything the speaker said.

To see the tapescript of the speaking task, Click Here .

8. For more practice, look at the table below and try to make speaking task opening sentences using although or even though.


Activities
 Places
 Animals
 Things
Eat fish/eat meat  City/country Giraffe/zebra Eraser/pencil
Feeding baby/dog Hokkaido/Okinawa Sheep/goat Skirt/trousers
Going to sea/ mountains Tokyo/Manhattan Rabbit/mouse Chocolate/candy
Basketball/soccer Disneyland/Universal studios Cow/horse Paper/electronic dictionary
Running/ walking
 Arctic/Antarctic   Snake/worm Spoon/fork
Studying/working
 Paris/London Bat/eagle Letter/email
Bowling/karaoke
 Osaka/Tokyo Panda/koala Tea/coffee
novel/newspaper
 Library/home study Fox/wolf Sports car/family car
Piano/guitar
  Korea/USA  Tuna/sardine War/peace
Singing/dancing
 Zoo/amusement park Hamster/cat Kabuki/Noh
Have bath/shower
 Himeji jo/Osaka jo Pigeon/hawk Sokadai/Todai
Reading/listening
 Apartment/house Monkey/man English/Latin

Task 4
Find a partner. Pick one of the pairs above. Your partner make up a topic using that pair. Now you make an opening statement.
Do this 10 times each.

 Task 5
Change partners and do this again.

Task 6
Record yourself using Soft Recorder. Speak for 45 seconds on the topic
Would you rather live in a big city or in the countryside? Why?

Send the file to me

 
  Now you can move on to the next unit.