Give Me Your Tongue
B1 IntermediateB1 · Module 08Class 29

B1 · Module 08 · Class 29 — Complete Review

Repaso Integral

Phase 3, Week One

Phase 3 began on a Monday. Santiago arrived at the office before anyone else.

 

He had one task for the morning: write the Phase 3 engagement opening letter. Not an email — a letter. Formal, complete, intended to sit at the front of every file the Vantage team opened for the next six months.

 

He had been thinking about it since Friday. The letter needed to do several things at once: acknowledge the journey so far, set expectations for what was coming, name the risks honestly, and project confidence without overclaiming. It needed to sound like everything they had learned — about the markets, about each other, about how this kind of work actually got done.

 

He opened a blank document and wrote the first line: "Phase 3 begins from a position of earned clarity."

 

That was the tone. Now he needed the language to carry it.



B1 Grammar Repaso — Modules 1–7 

This table summarises the key grammar point from each module with a core pattern and a professional example. Use it as a checklist: tick the structures you are confident with, circle any you need to review before the evaluation.

 

Module / Focus

Core Pattern

Professional Example

M1 — Reported Speech

said (that) / told (obj) that / asked if / whether / asked (obj) to

Claire said that the committee had deliberated. She asked whether Altius could begin Phase 3 immediately.

M2 — Hedging & Nominalisation

may/might/could + base verb | noun forms of verbs/adjectives | it appears/seems that

The delay may affect the procurement schedule. There is a risk of regulatory non-compliance. It appears that the window is narrowing.

M3 — Cause-Effect & Passives

result in / lead to / because of / as a result of | modal passives | passive reporting

The regulatory delay resulted in a revised timeline. The risk must be assessed before Phase 3. It is estimated that approval will take eight weeks.

M4 — Relative Clauses

who/which/that/whose/where | non-defining with commas | reduced clauses | prep-fronted

Rodrigo Mendez, who heads Grupo Celanova, confirmed the procurement window. The register submitted last week, which covered all eight risks, was accepted by Vantage.

M5 — Conditionals & Emphasis

If + had + p.p. → would have | It is X that | fronting | emphatic do/did

Had we received the minutes earlier, the timeline would have been shorter. It is the regulatory sequence that determines the entry window. The data did confirm the projection.

M6 — Modal Perfects

should/ought to/could/might/must/can't/needn't + have + p.p.

The register should have been submitted earlier. Vantage must have known about the clause. The delay needn't have occurred had we begun immediately.

M7 — Gerunds & Infinitives

verb + -ing | verb + to | verb + obj + to | meaning-change: remember/forget/stop/try

I recommend reviewing the timeline. Elena agreed to implement the checklist. Santiago asked Marco to flag any uncertainty. He stopped to read the clause carefully.

 

Self-Check: Rate Each Module

M1 Reported Speech: [ ] Confident   [ ] Review needed

M2 Hedging / Nominalisation:  [ ] Confident   [ ] Review needed

M3 Cause-Effect / Passives:   [ ] Confident   [ ] Review needed

M4 Relative Clauses: [ ] Confident   [ ] Review needed

M5 Conditionals / Emphasis:   [ ] Confident   [ ] Review needed

M6 Modal Perfects:  [ ] Confident   [ ] Review needed

M7 Gerunds / Infinitives: [ ] Confident   [ ] Review needed

 


The Phase 3 Engagement Opening Letter

Read Santiago's Phase 3 opening letter. Every underlined section contains a grammar structure from one of the seven B1 modules. In Section E, you will label each one.

 

ALTIUS CONSULTING GROUP

Phase 3 Engagement Opening Letter

To: Vantage Capital Partners  |  From: Santiago Reyes, Senior Account Director

─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

 

Phase 3 begins from a position of earned clarity.

 

When we were first asked to assess the viability of the Colombia and Chile

corridors, the mandate was exploratory. Claire Beaumont told us that Vantage

was not yet committed — that the committee wanted to understand the landscape

before deciding whether to proceed. [M1]

 

What followed was six months of work that may fairly be described as the most

rigorous fieldwork Altius has conducted on an emerging-market infrastructure

mandate. The analysis appears to confirm what the interim presentation argued:

the opportunity is real, the risks are quantifiable, and the window — while

narrower than originally projected — has not closed. [M2]

 

The Colombia corridor, which presents the stronger near-term entry point, is

the primary focus of Phase 3. Rodrigo Mendez, whose cooperation was critical

to the fieldwork, has confirmed his ongoing engagement. The adjusted timeline,

agreed following the phase-gate review, is the framework within which we are

now operating. [M4]

 

It is the regulatory sequence — not market appetite — that determines the pace

of Phase 3. Had the Senate committee minutes been available at the proposal

stage, the original timeline would have been achievable. They were not. We

adapted. The data did support the revised approach. [M5]

 

The risk register submitted under Clause 9.1 identified eight risks, each of

which has been assigned an owner and a mitigation plan. The preliminary register

should have been submitted earlier — we acknowledge that. It was not submitted

in time, resulting in a contractual note that must be managed going forward. [M3, M6]

 

We recommend approaching Phase 3 as a continuation of what we have already

built, not as a fresh start. I have asked Marco Delgado to lead the operational

track. He has agreed to flag any uncertainty before it reaches the client. [M7]

 

Phase 3 begins today. We intend to deliver.

 

Santiago Reyes  |  Senior Account Director  |  Altius Consulting Group

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