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Practical English for Adults
Cover of Make Your Meaning Clear: Explain the situation, give clear reasons, and handle the follow-up questions that come next.

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Practical English for Adults · Book 2

Make Your Meaning Clear

《把事情说清楚》

Explain the situation, give clear reasons, and handle the follow-up questions that come next.

Knowing how to say a sentence in English and being able to explain something clearly are two related but different skills.

This book practices organizing information you already have: first say what you want to discuss this time, then the current status; when explaining a problem, separate what happened, the cause and the impact; when comparing choices, use the same criteria; when reporting, distinguish what is done, what is in progress and what is not done yet. When the other person misreads you, asks for details or changes the conditions, you adjust your next line to the new information.

  • 24lessons
  • 6units
  • 96key expressions
  • 166pages (PDF)

Who it is for

  • Adults who are native Chinese speakers and have studied basic English, but tend to get stuck in real conversations
  • Readers who can already ask people to repeat themselves and want to go further, explaining situations, reasons and progress clearly
  • This book can be read on its own; the front of the book includes a quick reference for communication repair that you can use first when you didn't catch something or can't say it yet

The characters in the books, Lin and Maya, are fictional adult colleagues, and the situations are mostly training, work arrangements, community events and everyday errands. The English is common American usage; you are not expected to imitate any particular accent. The three books build on one another step by step in communication skills and do not correspond to CEFR or other language levels.

What you will practice

  • Let the other person know the main point: introduce yourself and your role, and say what you want to discuss, what the current situation is and what has happened
  • Explain problems and causes: say clearly what went wrong, the possible causes, the impact and urgency, and what you have already tried
  • Compare and explain choices: describe similarities and differences, state preferences, reasons, limits and conditions, and give examples to support them
  • Report and update plans: distinguish what is done, in progress and not yet started; explain delays; adjust plans when new information comes in; admit mistakes and offer a fix
  • Make sure you both understand the same thing: politely ask for details, notice when the other person has misunderstood, sum up the main points in two or three sentences, and check understanding
  • Explain at length and respond: keep explaining when suddenly asked for an update or pressed with "Why?", and break complicated matters down

Real pages from the book

Actual pages from the full PDF: a unit opener, all four pages of “Describing the current situation”, and its answer key. Tap to enlarge.

  • Sample page: Unit 1 opener
    Unit 1 opener
  • Sample page: L03 · Situational dialogue
    L03 · Situational dialogue
  • Sample page: L03 · Core expressions
    L03 · Core expressions
  • Sample page: L03 · Response branches and practice
    L03 · Response branches and practice
  • Sample page: L03 · Using it in a new situation
    L03 · Using it in a new situation
  • Sample page: L03 · Answer key
    L03 · Answer key

These pages are also in the free sample PDF.

The four pages of every lesson

  1. Situational dialogue

    A continuous dialogue written for the lesson, in English and Chinese side by side. Read it through once and mark where you get stuck.

  2. Core expressions

    Four ways to say it, with explanations in Chinese and notes on when to use each.

  3. Response branches and practice

    How to carry on when the other person responds in different ways; exercises ranging from multiple choice to prompted speaking practice.

  4. Using it in a new situation

    Say it yourself in a different situation, with a self-check list.

The 4 core expressions of L03 “Describing the current situation”

  • At the moment, we have twelve confirmed participants.目前有12人确认参加。
  • Two people haven't replied yet.两人还没回复。
  • Registration closes this afternoon.报名今天下午截止。
  • I don't know the final number yet.我还不知道最终人数。

Contents

24 lessons in 6 units. Tap a unit to see its lessons.

Unit 1Leading with the main point
  1. Briefly introducing yourself and your role
  2. Starting with what you want to discuss
  3. Describing the current situationIn sample
  4. Walking through events in order
Unit 2Explaining problems and causes
  1. Saying exactly what went wrong
  2. Explaining why without jumping to conclusions
  3. Explaining the impact and urgency
  4. Saying what you've already tried
Unit 3Comparing and explaining choices
  1. Describing similarities and differences
  2. Saying what you prefer and why
  3. Explaining limits and conditions
  4. Giving examples to support your point
Unit 4Reporting progress and updating plans
  1. Done, in progress, and not yet started
  2. Explaining a delay
  3. New information, change of plans
  4. Admitting a mistake and offering a fix
Unit 5Making sure you're on the same page
  1. Politely asking for more details
  2. When they seem to have misunderstood
  3. Summing up in two or three sentences
  4. Checking that they understood
Unit 6Explaining at length and responding
  1. Asked for an update on the spot
  2. When they ask “Why?”
  3. Breaking down something complicated
  4. Integrated challenge: Explain a problem and a solution

Also: front matter (starting task with answer check; quick reference for communication repair), unit reviews, Integrated task 1: Updating event preparations; Integrated task 2: Explaining a fault and the options, and at the back the full answer key and expression index.

Version and file

Version
v1.0
Format
PDF (complete reading edition), 8×10-inch pages, full color, fonts embedded
Pages
166
File size
5.1 MB
File name
把事情说清楚-成人实用英语第二册-v1.0.pdf
SHA-256
3af1801abe94b4885451d3f80f24b968ee5a2d70dfb37ae85cdda5f5399d5bd1

What you receive

  • One PDF of the version above. Your order records the exact version and checksum delivered.
  • A download link on the confirmation page and by email (the file is not attached).
  • Not included: printed book, print-ready files, audio, video, online course, web exercises, app or editable source files

How this book was made

The text, exercises, Chinese explanations and color illustrations in these books were generated with AI tools and revised through several rounds of AI review; the layout was done by software; the characters and situations are fictional. The books have not yet had a final review by an independent human language editor, and have not yet been tested with target readers.

The other two books