Jason: It’s World Cup time! It’s a worldwide craze, I mean, for a lot of countries it’s, you know, way bigger than the Olympics or anything.

 

Jeff:  Yeah, I think America’s finally starting to catch up with that.

 

Jason:  The US is in it this year, which is cool. But it’s still not a craze here like it is other places. I think the US team kind of has the luxury of playing with some of the lowest pressure of any other team, because there aren’t legions of football hooligans here in the US just, like, waiting to riot if the team loses or something. Did you play soccer when you were a kid?

 

Jeff:  Yeah, I did, I played from the age of five till I was about 18. I played it more than I watched it.

 

Jason:  Nice.

 

Jeff:  So the World Cup excitement is kind of a new thing for me.

 

Jason:  Are you going to follow the World Cup this year?

 

Jeff:  I think I will. It’s always pretty exciting. Head down to the pub. Have a few pints.

 

Jason:  Definitely!

 

Jeff:  Watch the footballers do their thing.

 

Jason:  We can pretend we’re in Europe, you know? It’ll be like a little vacation without leaving the city.

 

Jeff:  That’s right.

 

Discussion

 

Jason and Jeff are excited to watch the World Cup. Although it is more important in other countries than in the US, many Americans have begun to watch more soccer in the last decade or so. In fact, a lot of American kids these days grow up playing soccer. That makes them more excited to watch the sport when they get older.

 

Still, soccer is a much more popular sport in other parts of the world. In some countries, it is such a craze that the fans act really wild. They have even been known to start riots after big matches.

 

Have you been watching the World Cup this year? Which team do you think will win? Have you ever acted like a hooligan at a match?

Grammar Point

 

Count and Noncount Nouns

 

Jeff plans to watch the World Cup while having a few pints at the pub. Pint is a count noun. Count nouns are nouns you can count. These nouns can be pluralized. You can have a pint, two pints, or a few pints.

 

Noncount nouns are nouns that can’t be counted or broken into parts. These nouns cannot be pluralized. They have no plural form. Liquids such as coffee or water, abstractions such as love or peace, and collective nouns such as furniture or luggage are all examples of noncount nouns.

 

Which is correct, “I don’t want a pint, but I will have some wines” or “I don’t want a pint, but I will have some wine”?

Quiz

 

 

Which is true?

 Jeff watched more soccer than he played.

 Jeff played more soccer than he watched.

 Jeff watched and played the same amount of soccer.

 Jeff neither watched nor played soccer.

 

When did Jeff start playing soccer?

 When he was 5.

 When he was 10.

 When he was 18.

 When he was 22.

 

You will have to practice a lot if you want to _ with James in basketball.

 catch on

 catch to

 catch up

 catch over

 

The airline lost my…

 ...luggage.

 ...luggages.

 ...few luggage.

 ...a luggage.

 

Are there many _ in your town?

 pub

 pubs

 some pub

 some pubs