Улучши свой английский: курс усовершенствования

В.С. Матюшенков

IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH

A Refresher English Course

УЛУЧШИ СВОЙ АНГЛИЙСКИЙ

Курс усовершенствования

4-е издание, исправленное и дополненное

Москва  
Издательство «ФЛИНТА» 
2024 

ISBN 978-5-02-034632-1 (Íàóêà)

(Ôëèíòà)

УДК 811.111(078.8) 
ББК 81.432.1я73 
М35 

Матюшенков В.С. 
       М35       Улучши свой английский : курс усовершенствования / В.С. 
Матюшенков — 4-е изд., исп. и доп. — Москва : ФЛИНТА, 2024. — 420 с. 
— ISBN 978-59765-0123-2. — Текст : электронный. 

Íàñòîÿùàÿ êíèãà àäðåñîâàíà âñåì, êòî èíòåðåñóåòñÿ ñîâðåìåííûì 
àíãëèéñêèì ÿçûêîì. Ñîáðàííûå â íåé ìàòåðèàëû ïîìîãóò æåëàþùèì 
óñïåøíî ñäàâàòü ðàçëè÷íûå ýêçàìåíû è òåñòû ïî àíãëèéñêîìó ÿçûêó. 
Íåñîìíåííóþ ïîìîùü äàííîå ïîñîáèå îêàæåò è ïðåïîäàâàòåëÿì, òàê 
êàê àâòîð íà ñîáñòâåííîì îïûòå àíàëèçèðóåò è îáúÿñíÿåò íàèáîëåå 
ðàñïðîñòðàíåííûå îøèáêè ñòóäåíòîâ â èñïîëüçîâàíèè ÿçûêà. Î 
ïðàêòè÷åñêîé íàïðàâëåííîñòè êíèãè ãîâîðèò ñîáðàííûé ñïðàâî÷íûé 
ìàòåðèàë ïî ãëàâíûì òðóäíûì âîïðîñàì ãðàììàòèêè, ïîäáîðêà ñîâðåìåííûõ 
àíãëèéñêèõ îáîðîòîâ è âûðàæåíèé, óïîòðåáëÿåìûõ â ðàçëè÷íûõ 
êîììóíèêàòèâíûõ ñèòóàöèÿõ, èíòåðåñíûé ìàòåðèàë ëåêñè÷åñêîãî õàðàêòåðà, 
ñîâåòû ïî ïîäãîòîâêå ê ñäà÷å ýêçàìåíîâ. 
       Äëÿ êðóãà ëèö, èçó÷àþùèõ àíãëèéñêèé ÿçûê êàê ñàìîñòîÿòåëüíî, òàê è 
â âûñøèõ ó÷åáíûõ çàâåäåíèÿõ, à òàêæå äëÿ ïðåïîäàâàòåëåé àíãëèéñêîãî 
ÿçûêà. 

УДК 811.111(078.8) 
ББК 81.432.1я73 

ISBN 978-5-9765-0123-2 
© Матюшенков В.С., 2017 
© Издательство «ФЛИНТА», 2017 

The mediocre teacher tells. 
The good teacher explains. 
The superior teacher demonstrates. 
The great teacher inspires. 

William Word 

In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and 
the rest of us would have to settle for something else. 
Lee Iacocca 

Contents 

How To Be a Good Teacher .................................................................. 6 

Classroom Speaking ............................................................................. 8 

Classroom language for very young learners ................................... 15 

The English Language ......................................................................... 16 

English Grammar .............................................................................. 20 

Present Simple ................................................................................... 21 

Past Simple ........................................................................................ 26 

The Past Habitual Tense ................................................................ 28 

Future Simple ..................................................................................... 30 

Will or Going to? ............................................................................... 31 

The Future in Adjectival Clauses ................................................... 33 

Other Ways of Indicating the Future .............................................. 33 

Forward Planning from the Time in the Past ................................... 34 

Future Simple in the Past .............................................................. 34 

Present Progressive ............................................................................ 35 

Present Progressive Used for Proposed Future Action ..................... 37 

Past Progressive ................................................................................. 40 

Past Simple versus Past Progressive ............................................... 43 

Future Progressive ............................................................................. 45 

Future Progressive in the Past ....................................................... 46 

Present Perfect ................................................................................... 47 

Past Simple versus Present Perfect .................................................. 50 

Past Perfect ........................................................................................ 52 

Past Simple versus Past Perfect ....................................................... 53 

Future Perfect .................................................................................... 54 

Future Perfect in the Past .............................................................. 54 

Present Perfect Progressive ............................................................ 55 

Present Perfect versus Present Perfect Progressive ........................... 56 

Past Perfect Progressive ................................................................ 57 

Future Perfect Progressive ............................................................. 58 

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Future Perfect Progressive in the Past............................................ 58 

Passive Voice ..................................................................................... 59 

Structures after Verbs, Adjectives, and Nouns ........................................ 64 

Verbs with Two Objects ................................................................ 64 

Phrasal Verbs ................................................................................64 

Infinitives with and without “to” .................................................... 66 

“-ing” forms ............................................................................... 69 

Past Participle .............................................................................. 73 

Sequence of Tenses and Reported Speech ...................................... 74 

Modals ........................................................................................ 77 

Subjunctive Mood and Conditionals ............................................... 85 

Tag Questions ............................................................................. 91 

Nouns ......................................................................................... 96 

Adjectives .................................................................................. 101 

Adverbs ..................................................................................... 108 

Articles ............................................................................................ 112 

Determiners .................................................................................... 118 

Pronouns ........................................................................................ 120 

Numerals ........................................................................................ 124 

Prepositions .................................................................................... 126 

Strategies for Unlocking Word Meaning .............................................. 133 

Part A. Determining a Word’s Meaning from Context ..................... 133 

Part B. Determining Meaning Through Word Analysis................... 135 

 Concise Dictionary of Difficulties in English…………………………………...149 

Some Recommendations and Preparation Tips for Exams .................. 327 

Reading ..................................................................................... 327 

Writing ...................................................................................... 328 

Listening and speaking ............................................................... 332 

Functional English ........................................................................... 333 

Useful Language in Some Special Cases ....................................... 352 

Some Common Topics ...................................................................... 358 

Bibliography .................................................................................... 418 

5

How To Be a Good Teacher 

Teaching is a professional activity, requiring human warmth, tact, 
sensitivity, resolve and professional detachment. The management of 
pupils needs to be calm, patient and measured. Your comments should 
be as positive as possible and finally systematic evaluation is the key to 
any effective teacher development. 
A good lesson is fun, includes games, has a varied pace, gives students 
a sense of achievement, matches the students’ expectations, makes 
students feel involved, follows methods the students are used to, has a 
wide range of activities, has clear goals for the students, doesn’t depart 
from the teacher’s lesson plan. 
Children especially like playing roles. This is an opportunity when they 
have to be creative and to enter a world of imagination and fantasy — 
a world of their own. 

How good are you at organizing your time at work? 

Punctuality 

1. Do you allow enough time to:
(a) work
(b) your lesson.
2. Do you keep breaks to the right length?
3. Do your lessons usually last the right length of time?

Lesson Time 

4. When do you plan your lessons?
5. When do you make any materials for your lessons?
6. Do you always check beforehand that machinery for your lesson is
working?
7. When do you get together your books, etc. for your next lesson?
8. Do you find the correct place on a cassette / video before the lesson?
9. How quickly do you usually return your students’ homework?

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Improving Classroom Management 

(a) make your classroom look attractive. 
(b) show videos. 
(c) arrange furniture in the way you need. 
(d) move around the room a lot. 
(e) decide where pupils should sit. 
(f) plan a range of work to suit everyone. 
(g) vary your activities. 
(h) repeat all instructions. 
(i) have quiet times and noisier times. 
(j) praise rather than punish. 
(k) be consistent in your behaviour. 
(l) never threaten. 
(m) run for help when you need to. 
(n) evaluate your lessons. 
 
The Qualities of a Good Teacher 

Strictness, willingness to communicate, gentleness, fairness, under- 
standing, empathy with the student as someone who needs to have 
things explained, being able to put oneself in the same position as / on 
the same level as the student, respect, kindness, patience, tolerance, 
personality, a basic teaching knowledge, being able to help students 
rather than order them, pleasure in contact with others, sociability. 
Be patient, empathise with your students, be sociable, enjoy teaching, 
help your students, be tolerant. 
Good teachers care more about their students’ learning than they do 
about their own teaching. They use variety within a secure setting and 
need to walk a fine line between predictability and surprise, without 
lurching into either monotony or anarchy. 
 
A Teacher’s Character 

The most important traits for a teacher: dynamism, thoughtfulness, care 
for people, sense of humour, love of performing, generosity, tough- 
ness, intelligence, determination, enthusiasm, patience, calmness, flexi- 
bility, sensitivity, imagination. 

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Classroom Speaking 
 
 
 
Agreement: 

Right; Absolutely; Exactly; That’s it. 
 
Disagreement: 

I doubt it; That’s very unlikely; That’s just not the case; I don’t agree. 
 
Classroom instructions: 

OK, now this time we’re going to listen (to) the excerpt again but in 
greater detail; I want you to complete the summary of the excerpt as 
you listen. OK? That’s right, fill in the blanks in this passage; Now 
before you listen again, could (would, can) you read the summary to 
make sure (certain) you understand it and to know what are you 
listening for? If there are any words you don’t understand, just ask me. 
 
Hesitation: 

Now, let me think. 
 
Correcting yourself / rephrasing: 

I mean...; Sorry what I meant to say...was; What I mean is...; How can 
I put it? Or rather... . 
 
Stopping interruptions: 

Hold on; Just a minute; I just wanted to add. 
 
Classroom instructions: Introducing a conversation lesson 

Right, now today we’re going to do something (very quite) different 
from anything we’ve done before; It’s a kind of conversation (practice / 
activity). OK? Now I’m going to ask you to (get / split / divide) into 

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groups of six and I’m going to give each group a cassette recorder. Right, 
now, in your groups you’re going to (have / hold) a conversation and 
you are going to record what you say. OK? Now while (as) you’re 
talking I’ll be here, walking around, and if there’s anything you (want, 
need) to ask me, like how to say this or that, you just call me and I’ll 
come and help; Now what are you going to talk about?; I’d like to choose 
a topic from... 

Interest: 

Really? Did you? Were you? Right. 

Sympathy: 

I can imagine; How awful; That sounds dreadful; Oh, dear. That must 
have been horrible. 

Admiration: 

How amazing!; That must have been really exciting; That sounds 
wonderful. 

Classroom instructions: Introducing a reading activity 

Right, now we’re going to move (on) to something different; We’re 
going to read a passage in which a teacher talks about his experience as 
a teacher. Now the first time you read it, I’d like you to read it fairly 
quickly and don’t pay attention to the details of the passage or worry 
about any words you don’t understand — we’ll come back to them 
later.; OK? Right, now, I just want you to read it (through) quickly 
and answer the question. I’ll write it on the board. OK. Are you clear 
about what are you’re going to do? Could someone explain (to) us, 
please. OK, fine, thanks, yes, that’s right. Now the passage starts on 
page 22. So, could you find it, please? Everybody, OK? Can you start 
reading? 

Special ways of changing the subject: 

Anyway; Sorry, but; By the way...; I’d just like to say something else...; 
That reminds me of ...; Another point; Besides that... 

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Classroom instructions: Introducing a writing activity 

OK, now I’d like you, (us) to move on to (do, doing) some writing. What 
I’d like you to do is to write a review of a course book you know well. And 
I’d like you to imagine that your partners are the people you’re writing 
the review (for). Because after you’ve written your reviews I’d like you to 
(stick, put) them up on the wall somewhere where everyone can read 
them, so you’ll be able to (get, have) an idea about what some course 
books are like. OK? Is that (OK, clear) all right? You are going to write 
a review of a course book and (afterwards, then) display it on the wall 
where everyone else will be able to read it. If you want to, you can (refer, 
go) back to the questionnaire on pages 31 and 32 for ideas. 

Classroom instructions: Preparing for a speaking activity 

OK, can you stop what you’re doing? Right, we’re going to go (on) to 
something else, some speaking practice. Can you look at Section 5, Activity 
1 on page 41 (in, of) your books? Got it? Now in that activity, there are 
ten statements. Wait a minute; Hold on a minute. If you agree with the 
statements, I want (you) to tick them. If you don’t agree, what do you 
think you should do? Yes, that’s right, put a cross next to them. OK, so do 
you understand what you’ve got to do? Read the statements and tick the 
ones you agree with. OK, off you go. 

Bringing people into a conversation, inviting people to give their opinion 

What / How about you, Maria? What do you think? Would you agree 
with that? What’s your opinion, Maria? Would you go along with 
that? How does that strike you? How does that sound? 

Classroom instructions: Giving instructions for homework 

Right, I’d like to give you some homework. We’ve done a lot of listening 
and speaking today but we haven’t done much reading, so I’d like you 
to do some reading. It’s the texts and tasks on pages 48 and 49 of your 
books. Can you look at them now? Just read the exercises through to 
make sure you know what you have to do. OK? Now for Activity 1 just 
write a very short answer; for Activity 2 just write the feeling against / 
next to / beside the number of the text and for Activity 3 write me a 

10

paragraph (on, about) each situation. OK? Is this clear? Manuel, could 
you explain the homework to (us, everybody) the class (the others)? 
Thank you. Now, could you do the homework on a piece / bit / sheet of 
paper and get it to me by / on Friday? OK? 
 

Classroom instructions: Introducing a true / false activity 

So, now you’re going to listen to the excerpt again but this time for 
another reason. You’ll need to reason much more carefully this time 
because you’ll be listening for detail. When you listen, I want you to 
decide (if / whether) some statements are true or false. The statements 
are in Section 7, Activity 3 on page 61. Can you find them, please? 
Found / got them? All right, now before you listen, I’d just like you to 
read the statements through. If there’s anything you don’t understand, 
just ask me. Was there anything, you didn’t understand? Everything 
clear? OK, then I’m going to play you the cassette. As you listen, 
decide if each statement is true or false. Put a T against / next to the 
true ones and an F against the false ones. 
 

Asking for clarification: 

What do you mean by...?; What does...mean?; Sorry, what did you 
say?, Sorry, I didn’t quite understand; How do you say...?; What’s the 
English for...? What do you call it when you...?; Could you speak a 
little more slowly / a bit louder? 
 

Classroom instructions: Introducing a grammar activity 

OK, now we’re going to do some grammar work. Now, I’ve written 
4 sentences on the board. They’re all taken from the passages we’ve just 
read, so they’re all about “My Perfect School”. Now, can / could 
anybody tell me what these sentences have in common? Yes, that’s 
right. They all contain “would”, they are hypothetical, they are all 
examples of the Second Conditional Tense. And that’s the grammar. I’d 
like you to study now. OK, now, first of all, tell me — are these 
sentences talking about something that has happened, something that 
might happen, or something that hasn’t happened? 

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Classroom instructions: Setting up a role play 

Right, OK, everybody, today we’re going to do a role play. It’s about a 
family who are trying to decide if they should emigrate or not. Would 
you like to emigrate?; What do you think you would think about when 
trying to decide? OK. Now I’m going to divide / split / put you into 
groups of four and each group will be a family of four: mother, father 
and two grown-up children. But before I divide you up, I’d just like 
you to read the information about the family, which is on the sheets 
I’m going to give you. 

Expressing uncertainty and enthusiasm: 

I don’t know if I’d like...; I don’t know if I could cope with...; I’m not 
sure if I’d manage...; I think I might (not)...; I’d really like to...; I’d 
love to...; I really fancy going...Sounds fantastic! 

Classroom instructions: Introducing pronunciation work 

Now we’re going to do some pronunciation work on word stress. Can 
you look at the words in Section 2, Activity 2 on page 82 and decide 
which / what the stressed syllable is in each word. The stressed syllable 
is the one that is given most emphasis when you’re speaking, right? 
OK. Now what I’d like you to do is mark the stressed syllable by putting 
dot / mark above it. Then afterwards we’re going to listen to the words 
on the cassette so that you can check your answers. Then after that I’ll 
ask you to listen to the words or the cassette again and repeat them. I’d 
like you to pay special attention to your word stress. OK. So, first mark 
the stress, then listen and check, and finally listen and repeat. Is that / 
everything clear? 

Classroom instructions: Introducing pair work 

Right, now, we’re going to do some pair work — just working in two, 
Maria and Pedro together, etc. OK. Now, I’m going to give out / you 
this questionnaire. Look at it — it’s got two columns. Fill in the first one 
about yourself, and then with your partner, ask each other the questions 
and write the answers in the boxes in the column. OK. So, do you 
understand what you’ve got to do? Ana, could you tell me? Yes, that’s 
right. You ask one another the questions and then you write the answers 

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