Showing surprise and interest (A) 1. Ive hurt my leg! 2. Ive just won the lottery! 3.

Ive just been sacked! 4. Last week I met Bruce Willis. 5. Im going to learn Chinese next year. 6. Ill have to go to New York next week. 7. I dont feel like going to the party tonight. 8. I had a wonderful time last night. 9. Peter is going to split up with Vicky! 10. I dont know what to do about my son. Showing surprise and interest (B) 1. I felt really ill last week. 2. Im afraid I have got some bad news for you. 3. Sorry, but well have to put the meeting off until next month. 4. I failed my exam last week! 5. David and Phil really dont get on very well. 6. The fire alarm went off in the middle of the night! 7. I received a really strange email this morning. 8. I still havent managed to contact sally. 9. Im worried about my friend, Tony. 10. I had to go to the dentist yesterday morning.

Teachers notes The idea of this exercise is to get students to improvise mini conversations. By using echo questions and reply questions they can show interest in the news, and elicit more details.

Examples: A: Ive hurt my leg! B: Hurt your leg? (echo question with rising intonation) A: Yes, I was playing tennis when I slipped and twisted my ankle. Cont...

Or

A: I felt really ill last week. B: Did you? (reply question using the relevant non-inverted auxiliary verb) A: Yes, I think it was something I ate. Cont...