General English Level 4 Version 2.1 © 2004 acl Pty Ltd GELEV4 Unit 04 Topic 03.doc Ming, Jackie and Lucas say: Ming: Are you good at horse riding Lucas? Lucas: No, not really, I'm a novice. Jackie: So, go on, did you rent the horse? Jackie really wants to hear Lucas' story so she encourages him to keep going. Here are some other ways we encourage a speaker to keep telling a story: Examples Listen to the examples. 1. What happened next? 2. Go on! 3. Ah huh 4. And… 5. And so did he get fired? 6. What happened then? 7. What did you do? 8. How did that happen? 4. Interrupting Lucas, Jackie and Ming say: Lucas: Oh no, what happened then? Ming: The boat driver had to suddenly stop the engine and I dropped from the sky, 30 metres into the water! Lucas: Hang on a minute, you dropped 30 metres? That sounds awful! Jackie: Yeah and the parachute fell on top of you and you almost drowned, didn't you Ming? Lucas can't believe Ming fell 30 metres into the water. He interrupts him and checks to see if it is true. Here are some other ways to politely interrupt a conversation: Examples Listen to the examples. 1. Hang on a minute … 2. Err, just a minute … 3. Excuse me… 4. Sorry but, … 5. Can I ask something? 136