maps

Intro

With all of the technology available to us today, it’s surprising that anyone ever gets lost. There are cutting-edge inventions like GPS that are more and more common in cars and phones. It seems like we’re never far from cell phone service, either, so a quick call is all that needs to happen before help will arrive.

Even the Luddites among us have tools available to make sure everyone can reach his or her destination. Using a map and a compass, it’s easy to orient and navigate oneself back to a car or nearby city. Yet every year, people lose their way. It’s easy to do in this vast world of ours.

Find out Lily and Marni’s opinions about getting around in this English lesson about maps..

Dialogue.

Lily: You know what I cannot live without?.

Marni: What?.

Lily: My GPS on my phone. I get lost all the time. I can’t help it..

Marni: I think GPS is great. I’m all about cutting-edge technology. But if I need to navigate somewhere, I swear, I still need a paper map. I put myself inside and orient myself, and then find my destination..

Lily: Do you still use a compass?.

Marni: No, no, I’m not that old-fashioned, but I guess in some ways I am a bit of a Luddite. There are just certain things I don’t use technology for. When I need to get somewhere, I get the map of the city, and I just figure it out. I like plotting certain points..

Lily: It’s kind of old-fashioned, but I can understand why you would want to have something concrete in front of you instead of a digital thing where you’re at the mercy of your phone either giving out or losing battery. It is also nice to have that little dot on the GPS that tells you exactly where you are and exactly where you’re going..

Marni: I guess I like a little more of a challenge..

Discussion

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Lily is in love with the GPS system on her phone. Using GPS, she can find her way around town and doesn’t worry about getting lost. Plus, it’s easy. All she has to do is look at her phone and it will tell her where she is. She doesn’t have to waste time with a map..

Marni thinks of herself as a Luddite because she prefers to use maps. She thinks a compass is a bit old-fashioned, but she likes feeling like she’s inside the map because then she can orient herself. Lily understands why Marni would appreciate a map instead of GPS since a map doesn’t need electricity, but she still thinks that GPS is best..

Have you ever been really lost? Do you like to use a map and a compass, or would you rather use GPS? What do you think is the best way to find your destination?.

Grammar Point.

Phrasal Verbs.

Lily and Marni talk about the problem with phones “giving out.” Give out is a phrasal verb..

Phrasal verbs are composed of a verb + a preposition or adverb that alters the original meaning of the verb. For instance, a lot of phrasal verbs take the preposition “out.” Examples include break out (escape), hand out (distribute), and, of course, make out (kiss a lot)..

Some phrasal verbs are non-separable, meaning the preposition must directly follow the verb. For instance, you can say “I dropped by the bar” but not “I dropped the bar by” because “drop by” is non-separable. On the other hand, “drop off” is separable. You can say, “I have to drop off my son at school” or “I have to drop my son off at school.”.

In the example above, “give out” is non-separable when describing something ceasing to work. However, it’s still OK to separate “give” and “out” when talking about handing items to people, such as “His brother is giving invitations out to his friends.”.

Which is correct, “He works out at the gym every night,” or, “He works at the gym out every night”?.