Communicative Tasks : Task 1 Key for reference: close Lu: Hi! John. Glad to see you here. John: Hi! Lu. I'm crazy about parties, you see. There are so many people here. And I've made a lot of new friends. Lu: Speaking of parties, did you find any difference between the Chinese parties and American ones? John: Yes, quite a lot. For one thing, we have more parties in the United States. And they are less formal. People come and go whenever they wish. They may attend several parties the same evening. Lu: We also dream of having more parties. But we always have piles of school work to do. John: That explains why you Chinese students always get good marks in exams. ... and for another thing, in my country, we drink tons of beer at parties. We have keg parties in almost all the universities. Lu: What are keg parties? John: K-E-G, keg. It's a small kind of barrel containing beer. We play drinking games at keg parties. They are magnets for freshmen and underage drinkers. There are many tragic stories of young people who drank too much one night. Lu: What a shame! In China, college students are discouraged from drinking. If such things happen, they may be kicked out of school. And I heard that some universities in your county are trying to ban alcohol abuse. John: Yes, the authorities have become aware of the seriousness of alcohol abuse on campus and they are taking actions. But some students feel rules are made to be broken.

Situation: A Chinese student meets John, an American student, at a party hosted by the Foreign Students?Association. At the party they discuss the differences between Chinese and American parties. Tips: Here are some things the Chinese student can say or ask: What kinds of parties do you like best? How formal or informal are your parties? Does everyone arrive and leave at the same time? Here are some things the American student can say: Some of my classmates go to parties at least once a week. At wedding parties and some other big parties like graduation parties there is usually music and dancing. I enjoy parties with a live band, not just recorded music. Most of our student parties are not very formal. People usually dress casually and arrive or leave whenever they wish. Sometimes they come with a date or a guest. Except for wedding parties there’s no need to bring a gift. Here are some things both of them can say: Some parties are good places to meet new friends. Some parties are too noisy or crowded for talking. It’s not safe to drink too much at parties. It’s a bad idea to stay too late at parties.

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