18.1 Obligation and permission Presentation

Read the two paragraphs below, and answer the questions

A ‘Your temperature has gone down now, so you needn’t stay in bed any longer. You can eat whatever you like, but you mustn’t drink any alcohol until you’ve finished taking the tablets. And you must stay indoors for at least three days. After that you can go out for short walks, but you mustn’t do anything too energetic.’

В ‘We’re allowed to have guests in our rooms, but they have to leave by nine o’clock. And we aren’t allowed to have parties — in fact, we can’t even have the radio on after seven p.m. At least we don’t have to clean our own rooms - there are cleaning ladies who come and do it for us. And we can stay in bed as long as we like, only if we get up after nine o’clock we have to make our own beds.’

Complete these sentences from the two paragraphs:

Obligation 1. A: You stay indoors. В: We make our own beds. 2. A: You drink any alcohol. В: We have parties.

Permission 1. A: You eat whatever you like. В: We have guests in our rooms. 2. A: You stay in bed any longer. В: We clean our own rooms.

Why are the verbs used in the two paragraphs different?

18.2 Doctor’s orders Practice

A is a doctor. В is his patient in hospital. С and D are other patients.

Examples

A to В: You	must stay in bed. mustn’t get up.
С to D: Poor В –				he’s got to stay in bed. he’s not allowed to get up.
A to В: You		can get up now. needn’t stay in bed any longer.
С to D: Lucky В –			he can get up now. he doesn’t have to stay in bed any longer.

Here are some other things the doctor says to B. In groups, talk about them in the same way.

1. You must have an injection every day. 3 You must lie flat on your back.

2. You needn’t take the tablets any more. 4 You must drink five litres of water a day.

You mustn’t talk to anyone. You can go out for short walks. You mustn’t smoke.

You mustn’t move. You mustn’t drink. You needn’t stay here any more.