Instructor’s Page

Past Perfect 4. To model the activity, ask a volunteer

Nature vs. Nurture
Activity type: Conversation Cards
Level: High Intermediate to Advanced
Purpose: Students practice asking and
answering questions using the past
perfect form with time clauses.
Set-up: Whole class
Time: 5 minutes to prepare / 25 minutes
to do the activity
Materials Preparation:
1. Use scissors to cut out the cards on
the Student’s Page.
2. If your class has more than 16
students, make a copy of the Student’s
Page and cut out as many extra cards
as needed (duplicate cards are OK).
to read a question to the class.
Encourage a few students to share their
answers, and be sure they are using the
past perfect correctly. Model an answer
if necessary.
5. Tell students that after they ask the
question on their card and respond to
the question on their classmate’s card,
they must trade cards. Then they should
find another classmate and ask their
new question. Ask students to repeat
this process until you call time (allow
about 15–20 minutes).
Follow-up
Choose a few questions from the
Student’s Page to ask the whole class.
Allow time for different answers to the
same question from several students.
Encourage the students to ask their
classmates additional questions to find
out more information about each item.

Procedure
1. As a warm-up, ask students a few
questions about nature vs. nurture. Use
the past perfect in your questions, for
example, Had you thought about this
subject before reading the articles about
twin studies? Had you thought that
family environment was more important
than genetics before you had your own
children? Encourage students to use the
past perfect in their responses.
2. Tell students that they will use past
perfect with time clauses to ask each
other questions about their childhoods
and their thoughts about family
influence. Introduce and define any
vocabulary on the cards that students
may be unfamiliar with (ancestor,
intrinsic, influence).
3. Pass out one card to each student.
You may copy step 2 and step 3 from
the Student’s Page onto the board for
students to refer to.

Grammar and Beyond Communicative Activities © Cambridge University Press 2012 Photocopiable
 Student’s Page

Past Perfect | Conversation Cards

Nature vs. Nurture

1 Cut out the cards and pass them out. Everyone gets one card.
2 Find a classmate. Ask your question and answer his or her question. Try to use the
past perfect in your answer. Exchange cards.
3 Find another classmate. Ask your new question, and answer your classmate’s new
question. Exchange cards again. Continue until your teacher calls time.

By the time you What do you have

What is your birth
were seven years Had you met a pair in common with
order? How might
old, had you of twins before you your brother, sister,
you be different if
discovered a talent were 12? In what or cousin? Had you
you had been the
for music, art, or ways did they look realized this
oldest (or youngest)
anything else? Tell and act alike? similarity when you
child?
me about it. were still children?

Were your parents

As a child, what had In what ways do you
strict or relaxed? What is something
you dreamed of take after your
How might your you had never
becoming? Had parents? By what
personality be thought about until
your goals changed age had you
different if your you or one of your
by the time you discovered these
parents had been friends had a child?
were an adult? similarities?
different?

Until what age were

How might you be
Do you think that Tell me something your parents a
different if your
you could be an interesting that an major influence on
parents had moved
artist today if your relative had done your life? What
to another country
parents had taken before he or she got important value had
before you were
you to art lessons? married. you learned from
born?
them by that time?

How had you

expected your living What are some of
Do you think that
conditions to Before you got to your intrinsic
singing ability is
change before your know your closest characteristics?
genetic? By the time
family experienced friend, had you How soon after you
you finished high
a major change expected that you were born had your
school, had you
(such as a move to would get along? parents noticed
sung in public?
another country or them?
the birth of a child)?

Grammar and Beyond Communicative Activities © Cambridge University Press 2012 Photocopiable