Level III – Unit 3: What do you think about it?

Task 3: Contrasting ideas.

Time: 4 hours

In this task, you are going to contrast ideas.

Pre-task

Using linking words to show contrast (Usar palabras de

enlace para mostrar contraste)

We use linking words to join ideas together when we're talking or writing. Sometimes we
want to link two ideas that are different from each other (for example, one is a positive idea
and one is a negative idea) or we want to link one idea to another one which is surprising or
unexpected. We can use linking words like 'however', 'although' and 'despite' to do this.
Usamos palabras de enlace para unir ideas cuando hablamos o escribimos. A veces queremos
vincular dos ideas que son diferentes entre sí (por ejemplo, una es una idea positiva y la otra es una
idea negativa) o queremos vincular una idea a otra que sea sorprendente o inesperada. Podemos
usar palabras de enlace como 'sin embargo', 'aunque' y 'a pesar de' para hacer esto.

Although (AUNQUE)
We can use 'although' at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. It is used in front of a
clause (a clause has at least a subject and a verb that agrees with the subject).
Podemos usar 'aunque' al principio o en el medio de una oración. Se usa delante de una cláusula
(una cláusula tiene al menos un sujeto y un verbo que concuerde con el sujeto).

 Although the weather is bad, I love London.

 I love London, although the weather is bad.

Despite / in spite of
We use 'despite' or 'in spite of' before a noun or a gerund. It can also go in the middle or at the
beginning of a sentence. 'Despite' and 'in spite of' mean exactly the same thing. You can choose
whichever one you like! If you want to use 'despite' or 'in spite of' before a clause, you need to
add 'the fact that'.
Usamos 'a pesar de' o 'a pesar de' antes de un sustantivo o un gerundio. También puede ir en el
medio o al comienzo de una oración. 'A pesar de' y 'a pesar de' significan exactamente lo mismo.
¡Puedes elegir el que más te guste! Si desea usar 'a pesar de' o 'a pesar de' antes de una cláusula,
debe agregar 'el hecho de que'.
 I love London despite the bad weather.
 I love London in spite of the bad weather.
 Despite the bad weather, I love London.
 In spite of the bad weather, I love London.

 Despite the fact that the weather is bad, I love London.

 In spite of the fact that the weather is bad, I love London.
 I love London despite the fact that the weather is bad.
 I love London in spite of the fact that the weather is bad.

However
We use 'although' and 'despite / in spite of' to connect two clauses in the same sentence. On the
other hand, 'however' isn't used to connect two clauses. Instead, we usually put the two ideas in
two separate sentences. We put 'however' in the second sentence, and we can put it at the
beginning, at the end, or after the subject.
Usamos 'aunque' y 'a pesar de / a pesar de' para conectar dos cláusulas en la misma oración. Por
otro lado, 'sin embargo' no se usa para conectar dos cláusulas. En cambio, generalmente ponemos
las dos ideas en dos oraciones separadas. Ponemos 'sin embargo' en la segunda oración, y podemos
ponerlo al principio, al final o después del tema.

 I love London. However, the weather is bad.

 I love London. The weather, however, is bad.
 I love London. The weather is bad, however.

1. Take a look at the following image, those words are called “linking words” and you can use them to contrast
ideas. Your teacher will give you some examples using those words, listen to him and take note in your
notebook.
2. Click on the screenshot and watch the video, it’s about how to contrast ideas. Take note of the different
words and phrases in your notebook.

3. Read the following paragraph and identify the ideas it contrasts.

Even though Arizona and Rhode Island are both states of the
U.S., they are strikingly different in many ways. For
example, the physical size of each state is different.
Arizona is large, having an area of 114,000 square miles,
whereas Rhode Island is smaller, having an area of only 1,214
square miles. Another difference is in the size of the
population of each state, Arizona has about four million
people living in it, but Rhode Island has less than one
million. The two states also differ in the kinds of natural
environments that each has. For example, Arizona is a very
dry state, consisting of large desert areas that do not
receive much rainfall every year, however, Rhode Island is
located in a temperate zone and receives an average of 44
inches of rain per year. In addition, while Arizona is a
landlocked state and thus has no seashore, Rhode Island lies
on the Atlantic Ocean and has a significant coastline.

During task:

4. Think about the pandemic situation we are going through in Colombia. The government has set out laws and
policies to be followed during this time of covid 19. Share some of the contrasting ideas you find in the
behavior of the government and the citizens.
5. Work in the same pairs, now contrast these ideas in different ways:
  It was raining. We went to the beach.
 He was rich. He was unhappy.
 They live in a small house without a garden. They have a large dog.
 The dog looks friendly. The dog bites people sometimes.
 She was tired. She cooked dinner.
 The wine was bad. The food was excellent.

Choose the right answer:

1.      she is beautiful, everybody hates her.

2. The children slept deeply      the noise.

3.      earning a low salary, Sara helped her parents

4. Jane rarely sees Alan      they are neighbors.

5. Kate did not do well in the exam      working very hard.

6.      I was very hungry, I couldn't eat.

7.      the difficulty, they managed to solve the math problem.

8. Liza never talked to him      she loved him.

9.      it was cold, Marie didn't put on her coat.

10.  Clare did the work      being ill.

11.        the weather was bad, we had a good time.

12.        all our hard work, a lot of things went wrong.

13.        we had planned everything carefully, a lot of things went wrong.

14. I went to hospital        I was feeling very ill.

 15. I went to work the next day        I was still feeling ill.

16. She accepted the job        the low salary.

17. She refused the job        the low salary.

18. I managed to sleep        the hotel was noisy.

19. I could not get to sleep        the noise.

20. He runs fast        his old age.

 Choose the correct connector.

        1. We're studying now   there's an interesting film on TV.

        2. I’d like to talk to you    I know you’re busy.

        3.    her efforts, she failed the exam.

        4.   we were having difficulties, we felt optimistic.

        5. We didn’t win the game   all all our hard work.