English Together · B1 Preliminary · Britain Explained · Study Guide

Unit 1: How a City Moves

A one-page guide to the unit — for the learner, and for anyone at home following along. Guia da unidade — para o aluno e para quem acompanha em casa. No nível B1, o curso já fala inglês com você; este guia também.

What this unit teaches

The grammar of the unit: past simple vs present perfect — the choice that runs Tom's whole story. Finished time takes past simple (“I started on the buses in 1981”); unfinished time — from then up to now — takes present perfect (“Since then I have driven most of the routes”). The time expression is always the clue: in 1981, that Saturday → past simple; since, ever, never, up to now → present perfect.

The 18 words and phrasal verbs of the unit (transport and the commute):

commute · rush hour · fare top deck · terminus · depot get on / get off · set off pull in · tap in lost property · detour shift · crowded · platform route · single (fare) idiom: packed like sardines

Three questions for the dinner table

Ask them in English — B1 answers should come in full sentences, with reasons. Faça em inglês — no B1 a resposta vem em frases completas, com motivos.

1How long have you studied English?

Expected shape: “I have studied English for … / since …” — present perfect with for and since.

2What is the best journey you have ever taken?

Expected shape: “The best journey I have ever taken was … We went … and it took …” — perfect for the frame, past simple for the details. That switch is the whole unit.

3What would you change about your daily commute?

Expected shape: “I would change … because …” — this is the unit's Talking Point, so the answer has already been rehearsed out loud.

How to use the episode (10 minutes)

Ears first — the golden rule at every level. Listen to the whole episode before opening the task page: on the bus, over breakfast, wherever.
Two halves: the story (Tom, a lost wedding cake and the number 38, told across thirty years of bus driving) and the Culture File (how London actually moves: the facts, the fares, the Hopper trick).
The pauses are yours. When Nila asks the Talking Point, speak out loud — then do the second version, adding one thing you would change. B1 examiners reward exactly that extra clause.
Twice is better than once — a second listen later in the week, eyes on the transcript, is what moves the phrasal verbs from “seen” to “owned”.

The game and the story

In “The Cake Run” you drive Tom's Saturday yourself — nine stops from the terminus to Saint Anne's church, and every wrong option is a mistake B1 learners really make (have set off for a 1994 morning, payed, I am agree). On the unit page, the full episode script is highlighted word by word: amber for the transport vocabulary, teal for every present perfect. Read it after you listen and watch the grammar appear in front of you.

Pronunciation point of the week

The disappearing have. In natural speech, present perfect have/has shrinks: “I have driven” → “I've driven”, “She has been” → “She's been”. Your ear must catch the tiny 've and 's, because that is often the only signal of the tense — and B1 Listening loves to hide it. Say the pairs out loud: I worked / I've worked · she finished / she's finished.

What NOT to do: do not translate the phrasal verbs one word at a time — set off is one verb, not two words. Learn them inside their sentences from the story, the way the SRS cards serve them. Não traduza phrasal verbs palavra por palavra — aprenda a frase inteira.