3 Sport

Unit Objectives
Grammar: quantifiers; definite and zero articles
Vocabulary: idioms; self-, abstract nouns
Scenario: using emphasis and comparison; giving a presentation
Study skills: understanding essay questions
Writing skills: a for and against essay

3.1 FAIR PLAY SPEAKING

IN THIS LESSON
Lesson topic and staging
Students brainstorm what they know about different
sports. They read an article about football and extract
vocabulary about different aspects of sports, focusing
particularly on idioms (e.g. be on the ball). Finally,
students practise this language to talk about their
own experiences.
Objectives
By the end of the lesson, students will have:
• extracted specific information and language items
from a reading text
• extended their range of vocabulary and idioms
related to sport
• practised this language in group discussions.
Timings
If short of time, set Exercises 7a and 7b as homework.
Possible lesson break: after Exercise 6.
WARM-UP
• Write on the board: prefers rugby to football (soccer),
doesn’t like tennis, likes watching football but can’t
play, understands the rules of baseball, used to play
basketball at school.
• Students have to find someone for whom the
statements are true by asking questions. Encourage
them to ask follow-up questions (e.g. Did you play
in a team at school?).
• In feedback, ask students to tell you any other
information they found out.
George Orwell quote: This quote suggests that
when played at a high/professional level, sport
becomes a very serious matter and people are only
interested in winning.
1a Read the instructions and list of prompts. Focus
students on the photo on page 26 as an example of
a sport (downhill skiing) in which people compete
against the clock (question 8).
• Put students in pairs and set the time limit.
1bStudents compare ideas with a different partner.
• If students don’t know the name of the sport in
English, tell them to draw a picture or say how
and where the sport is played.
• Elicit students’ ideas to the board so that the class
can copy the vocabulary they want to keep.
Students’ own answers.
2 Check students know complicated (a lot of rules,
hard to understand) and take up (start doing).
• Put students back in their pairs from Exercise 1a.
Give them five minutes to discuss the questions.
• Elicit one answer from six different pairs. For
question 3, elicit/give cricket as this appears in the
article in Exercise 3.
Take this opportunity to revise which verb (play,
do or go) collocates with each sport (e.g. play
football, do judo, go swimming). Ask students to label
each of the sports on the board with one of the
verbs and then check answers with the class.
Students’ own answers.
READING
3 Ask students whether anyone knows the person in
the picture on page 27 (Charles Miller) or what the
beautiful game is. If not, see if they can guess.
• Ask students to read the headings (a–h) and give
them two minutes to read the article and match.
• Ask students to compare with a partner before
you check answers with the class.

1f 2d 3c 4a 5h 6e

New Language Leader Upper Intermediate Sport 1

4 Give students five to eight minutes to read the
article again and answer the questions. They can
use their dictionaries if necessary.
Ensure students understand the not given option as
this is a common source of confusion.
If appropriate for your class, remind students that
this exercise is similar to the IELTS Reading task,
where there are true/false/not given options.
• Ask students to compare with a partner before
you check answers with the class.
1 F (He was amateur.) 2 T 3 NG 4 F
(Argentina) 5 NG 6 NG (Although they’ve
won more times than any other country.) 7 T
(the chaleira) 8 F (The club already existed,
but played mainly cricket.)
Pelé was given the title Athlete of the Century by
the International Olympic Committee and was
awarded the title of Greatest Ever Player by the
International Football Association (FIFA).
5 Give students a maximum of two minutes to
underline all the relevant words they can find.
• Put them in pairs to match the words with the
categories (1–5), using dictionaries if necessary.
• Check answers with the class and check students’
pronunciation of amateur.
1 spectator 2 fan 3 coach 4 referee
5 amateur
6 Critical thinking: Justifying opinions. Giving
reasons and justifying opinions is a good habit to
establish, especially at the higher levels.
This is a key skill in many academic and exam
tasks.
• In pairs, students discuss the questions. Try to
ensure that at least one person in each pair knows
about football. If this is not possible, do as group
or class discussion.
• Remind students that they should explain/justify
their views for each question.
VOCABULARY: idioms
7a Ask or tell students what an idiom is (a phrase
that has a meaning not necessarily given by the
individual words in the phrase).
• Check that students understand goalposts (draw
this on the board), field (a flat area of grass), level
(flat) and score (get a point; in football = kick the
ball through the goalposts).
Sport
• Do question 1 as an example. Give students two
minutes to complete the gaps and tell them to
guess if they don’t know.
• Ask students to compare with a partner before
you check answers with the class.
• Finally, ask students if they know the meaning of
any of the idioms, but don’t give the answers as
these are checked in Exercise 7b.
1 ball 2 goalposts 3 eye 4 field 5 game
6 goal 7 ball
7b Students do this activity in pairs before you check
answers with the class.
• Tell students that these idioms are used in many
situations, not just sport, and give examples to
reinforce the meaning (e.g. in business, start the
ball rolling means ‘start something/a process).
• For further practice, ask students to do Exercise
V1– 5 on page 131 in the Language reference.
a5 b1 c7 d2 e3 f6 g4
SPEAKING
8 Put students in groups of three. Emphasise that
they should practise some of the idioms from
Exercise 7.
• Students should take a moment to consider their
experiences before sharing with their group.
• In feedback, ask one member from each group to
share one of the experiences with the class.
HOMEWORK OPTIONS
Students do the vocabulary exercises for this lesson
in MyEnglishLab.
Students research a famous sportsperson and write
an article similar to the one in this lesson.
Students do Exercise V1–5 on page 131 in the
Language reference.
2
3.2 MARTIAL ARTS
IN THIS LESSON
Lesson topic and staging
Students listen to a karate teacher talking about his
experiences and then read a leaflet for a karate club.
Next, students focus on vocabulary contained in the
leaflet: combinations with self- and abstract nouns.
Finally, students study the grammar focus
(quantifiers) and practise using these to discuss true
statements about exercise in their country.
Objectives
By the end of the lesson, students will have:
• extracted specific information and language items
from a listening and a reading text
• extended their range of word combinations
beginning with self- and abstract nouns
• revised/extended their knowledge and use of
different quantifiers (none, almost none, etc.)
Timings
If short of time, set Exercise 13 or 14 as homework.
Possible lesson break: after Exercise 8.
WARM-UP
This topic introduces different martial arts (along
with other sports/exercises).
• Write on the board:
Group 1: t’ai chi, karate, kick boxing, cricket, boules,
curling, bullfighting, lacrosse
Group 2 : Japan, Thailand, China, Scotland, Spain,
France, India, Canada/the USA.
• Students work in pairs and match the sport/
exercise with the country it’s most strongly
associated with. Each country can only be used
once. They can use their dictionaries if necessary.
• In feedback, use karate as a lead in to Exercise 1.
t’ai chi: China; karate: Japan; kick boxing:
Thailand; cricket: India; boules: France; curling:
Scotland; bullfighting: Spain; lacrosse: Canada/
the USA
LISTENING
1 Focus students on the photos on page 28. Elicit
karate and martial arts.
• In pairs students think of other martial arts (e.g.
t’ai chi, judo) and reasons for doing them. Get a
few ideas from the class.
Sport
Students’ own answers.
2 Introduce the context. Ask if any students do
karate or would like to. Check they understand
belts (show the black belts in the photos).
• Play the recording once, then check the answer.
He is a karate teacher and fifth level black belt.
Audio script 3.1
Interviewer, Mr Cole
I: How long have you been doing karate?
C: OK. My time in karate is just over 32 years
now. I started back in 1981 in my final year at
university down in Bath and I’ve been
training ever since on the basis of something
like between two and five times a week. So, 32
years in karate. Like, we say it takes about
five to six years to get to black belt – that’s
what we say is the beginning of karate. So I
achieved my black belt in 1987 and since then
I’ve been working my way as a black belt
through the various levels and I’m now at the
fifth level of black belt.
I: What gives you the most satisfaction in
teaching karate?
C: Well, I think I’m going to sum it up with one
word. Impact; having an impact on people –
our students – students who now these days
range from four to … I was going to say 64,
but we’ve had someone of 73 in one of our
clubs. We can measure progress through
different belts – something which was
introduced in the West. These days people
need to measure their achievement and that’s
good. It’s a way to distinguish different
levels. And when students achieve their new
belt, I take tremendous joy in seeing their
reaction – you get smiling faces, you get some
children coming up and saying, ‘Wow, it’s
the best day of my life!’ I mean, for the adults
it may be simply an expression of relief – the
fact that they’ve got through an exam 20
years after having left school and not taking
anything of this like before.
But I’d like to take that a step further. I take
greatest satisfaction from witnessing the
change in a student’s approach and attitude.
When I see students who cross a barrier from
just doing movements to feeling or living
3
 their karate, then I feel great – we’ve made a
change somewhere and I can think of a
number of incidences where I’ve had, say,
children who are floppy and not really with
it, and after a certain level something snaps –
all of a sudden they are down in their stances,
they’re breathing, they’re concentrating,
they’re looking, things are working and for
me that’s a case of, well, between us, them
and me, we’ve made a change.
3 Play the recording. Students put the topics in order.
• Play the recording again. Students check/complete
their answers. Get them to compare answers with
a partner before you check with the class.
c, b, a, g, e, f, d, h
4 Ask students to read the questions and then play
the recording without pausing.
• Students compare with a partner before you check
answers with the class.
Follow up by asking the class which of the
question 2 points are the best reasons to do karate.
1 a hobby 2 attracted by glamour/excitement,
they see it on TV or on Playstation, parents
encourage them to do it, they believe it gives
discipline and control, child can learn things
that help them protect themselves physically
Audio script 3.2
Interviewer, Mr Cole
I: Is it a hobby or is it more of a way of life?
C: Yeah, this is a classic question, really. I mean,
for most people who do it these days it’s
undoubtedly a hobby. Mmm, for some,
lessons learnt in karate can be part of their
life, it can become part of their life if they do
it for longer and longer.
I: Why do people start karate?
C: The majority of the new starters these days
are children and either they are attracted
themselves by the glamour and excitement of
karate, the martial arts, they’ve seen it on TV,
they’ve enacted it on their Playstation games,
they see the noise, the excitement, they see
the fast-flowing kicks and so on. Or it may be
because their mum or dad has encouraged
them to attend. And there could be the twin
attractions there of karate instilling discipline
and control in their children. As is
Sport
increasingly the case these days, maybe
things don’t work at home, parents are out at
work more often. Maybe the school doesn’t
instil discipline. Very often these days
teachers are restricted in terms of what they
can say and do and parents bring their
children and say, ‘Sort them out.’ And the kid
can also – from a parent’s perspective – their
child can also learn stuff which enables them
to look after themselves and that’s an
admirable aim in itself because everyone’s
fearful of their child being out of their sight.
5 Critical thinking: Reacting to the topic. Students
discuss the questions in pairs.
• Ask a few pairs to share their ideas with the class.
READING
6 Give students 90 seconds to read the text. Make it
clear that they are not reading for detail, but just to
get an idea of what it is about.
• Take general feedback in class, but do not go into
too much detail at this stage.
to attract people to the karate club
7 Individually, students answer as many of the
questions as they can.
• Students read again, to check/complete answers.
• Ask students to compare with a partner before
you check answers with the class.
1 F (do not come easily or overnight) 2T 3T
4 NG 5 T 6 NG 7 NG 8 T
8 Read the instructions with the class. Emphasise
that students should cross out the options that are
not correct. Tell students that if an item is not
mentioned, they should cross it out.
• Do not pre-teach vocabulary because students will
study it in Exercises 9 and 10a.
• Students re-read the text and complete the
activity. Allow a maximum of five minutes.
• Ask students to compare with a partner before
you check answers with the class.
These should be crossed out:
1d 2a 3d 4c
4
VOCABULARY: self-, abstract
nouns
9a Students do this activity individually and then
compare answers with a partner.
• In feedback, write each word on the board and
mark the main stress (underlined in the answer
key below). Tell students that in compound nouns,
both words are stressed.
1 self-respect 2 self-confidence 3 self-control
4 self-defence 5 self-discipline
6 self-development
9b Students do this activity individually, referring to
the meanings discussed in Exercise 9a if necessary.
• In feedback, correct pronunciation if necessary.
• For further practice, ask students to do Exercise
V2–6 on page 131 in the Language reference.
1 self-defence 2 self-control 3 self-respect
4 self-confidence 5 self-discipline
10a Students scan the text to find the abstract nouns
connected to the adjectives.
• Check answers with the class and model the
pronunciation, asking students to repeat.
agility, calm, coordination, courtesy, flexibility,
tolerance
10b Students can use their dictionaries to do this
exercise if necessary. Check answers with class.
The body: coordination, flexibility, agility
Polite behaviour: courtesy, tolerance
GRAMMAR: quantifiers
11a Ask students what a quantifier is (tells you the
amount/quantity of something) and elicit one or
two examples from the class.
• Put students in pairs to find and underline the
quantifiers in the text. Set a time limit.
11a/11b
last few years (C), some ability (B), a lot of
simple and effective techniques (B), Far too
many people (B), a lot of respect (B), at all
times (B), many benefits (C), Some of you (B),
a few of you (C)
11b Elicit examples of countable (e.g. cars, people) and
uncountable (e.g. money, sugar) nouns and elicit/
Sport
tell students that many can go with cars and people,
but not with money or sugar.
• Students divide the other quantifiers into groups.
Refer them to the Language reference on page 130
if necessary. Tell them to write U (uncountable), C
(countable) or B (both) next to each quantifier.
• Check answers and then read through the
Grammar tip with the class.
U: little, much, far too much B: hardly any,
none; almost no
12 Put students in pairs to discuss the questions.
In feedback, explain that context can influence the
meaning of quantifiers.
1 a few means some (positive meaning – I’m
pleased to say) 2 few means not many
(negative meaning – unfortunately) 3 little
means not much (negative meaning), not some.
(Note: To give a positive meaning to this
sentence, we would use a little, not little.) 4 a
little means some
13 Students do this exercise individually and refer to
the Language reference on page 130 for help.
• Check answers with the class. Ask students to tell
you why the sentences they corrected are wrong.
1 Several of my friends 2 Far too much many
3 a little help 4 A little Few/A few of the
parents 5 Hardly any of the spectators
6 a few tickets 7 a little information
14 Do the first sentence with the class, using your
own country as an example. Tell students why
you used the quantifier you did and encourage
them to ask follow-up questions.
• Students have three minutes to make the sentences
true for their country. Put them in pairs to
compare and ask follow-up questions.
• In feedback, encourage more follow-up questions.
HOMEWORK OPTIONS
Students do the listening, grammar, vocabulary and
pronunciation exercises for this lesson in
MyEnglishLab.
Students use the internet to research one of the
sports/exercises from the Warm-up and write a fact
sheet about it.
Students do Exercises V2–6 and G1–1 on page 131 in
the Language reference.
5
3.3 GETTING TO 2 Give students two minutes to individually answer
the questions. They should not read for detail at
THE TOP this stage.
• Students compare with a partner before you check
IN THIS LESSON answers with the class.

Lesson topic and staging 1 a triathlete 2 You need to be obsessive

This lesson looks at women in sport. Students read about sport and give up a lot to get to the top.
an article about a triathlete and focus on vocabulary 3 a blog 4 the triathlete
from the text. Next, students study definite and zero
articles in the text and finally, they discuss important 3a Ask students to read the questions. Elicit what kind
characteristics for being successful in sport. of answers they would expect (e.g. a: a reason,
because it includes why; c: a yes/no answer). This
Meet the expert video will help students think more deeply about
Watch the video to hear from a sports psychologist. questions forms.
• Students match the questions with the gaps in the
Objectives
text. They compare answers with a partner.
By the end of the lesson, students will have: • Take class feedback and explain the answers.
• extracted specific information and language items
from a reading text
1b 2d 3a 4c
• revised/learnt about the use of definite and zero
articles and practised using these 3bIf helpful for your class, get students to find the
• discussed the most important characteristics for other questions in the text before thinking about
being successful in sport this question. Discuss together as a class.
Timings
to gain our attention and interest and to make
If short of time, omit Exercise 5.
us think about the answers before we read on;
Possible lesson break: after Exercise 6b.
questions can motivate the reader
WARM-UP 4 Critical thinking: Inferring. Some of the points
This activity introduces the topic of famous women. made in listening and reading texts are not always
• Write the following on the board: clear. Inferring meaning (i.e. predicting whether
1 Marie Curie a art certain statements are true or false based on their
2 Indira Gandhi b science understanding of other parts of the text) is
3 Martina Navratilova c writing therefore an important skill. It is also a particularly
4 Doris Lessing d sport important exam skill, e.g. in PTE-A listening and
5 Sarah Bernhardt e politics reading exams, where it is identified as a specific
6 Rachel Whiteread f acting micro-skill which may be tested.
Students work in pairs to match each woman to • Give students 90 seconds to answer the questions
her field. Give one point for each correct answer. based on their first reading. Tell them to guess an
• Students can use these women for the topic of an answer to all six questions in the time if necessary.
article in the Homework options. • Allow a further 90 seconds to check predictions.
• Students check in pairs, and come up with a
‘consensus’ set of answers.
1b 2e 3d 4c 5f 6a
• Check answers with the class. In each case, get
students to justify and explain their answers.
READING
1 Students discuss the questions in pairs. If 1T 2T 3T 4T 5F 6F
necessary, prompt them with Jessica Ennis-Hill
5 Students discuss the questions in pairs. Take
(British Olympic athlete), the Williams sisters
feedback from three or four pairs.
(American tennis players), etc.

Sport 6
6a Give students five minutes to find the words/
phrases individually. Emphasise that two of the
answers are more than one word. They should
then check with a partner.
• In feedback, ensure students’ pronunciation of the
target language is correct.
1 make sacrifices 2 intensity 3 extremes
4 determination 5 to set someone apart
6 obsessive
6bStudents answer individually and then check in
pairs. They should refer to Exercise 6a for help.
• Take class feedback.
With weaker classes, it may help initially to get
students to predict what kind of word should go
in each gap.
1 determination 2 made a lot of sacrifices
3 obsessive 4 set him apart 5 intensity
6 extremes
GRAMMAR: definite and zero
articles
7a Give students one minute to find and underline
the phrases.
7bAsk the class what the definite and zero articles
are (the and no article used).
• Tell students to use the underlined phrases from
7a to help them complete the gaps.
• Students compare with a partner before you check
in class. Ensure you clearly explain all the
grammatical language.
1 the only girl 2 the best 3 the table 4 push
to the limits 5 Johannesburg 6 birthday
parties 7 drive
8 Focus students on the photo in the article on page
31 and ask them if they know who this is.
• Set the activity as follows: 1 Students brainstorm
what information they expect to find in the text.
2 Students read the text quickly to compare their
ideas. 3 Ask students for the most interesting piece
of information they read.
• Set the task and give students a maximum of ten
minutes to edit the text.
• Students compare with a partner and give reasons
for making the corrections. They can refer to
Exercises 7a, 7b and the Language reference on
page 130 if they need help.
Sport
• Check answers with the class and elicit the reasons
for the corrections.
According to Richard Krajicek, Esther Vergeer
‘maybe the most successful athlete of all the
time’. The wheelchair tennis champion from the
Netherlands retired in 2013 after going over ten
years unbeaten, ending one of the most amazing
careers in any sport.
The Llast time she lost was on 30 January 2003
in the Sydney. She went on to win the next 470
matches.
She took the number one spot in her sport in
1999 and won the first of her four gold Olympic
medals in Sydney in 2000. She won her last
Olympic gold beating Aniek van Koot in the
Paralympics final in the London in 2012. She
will not now surpass the longest run of wins in
sport – 555 by the Pakistani squash legend,
Jahangir Khan.
Vergeer started playing the wheelchair tennis at
the age of eight after losing the use of her legs
following the spinal surgery.
She is an ambassador of the Laureus foundation
for the children with disabilities. The children
are encouraged to develop and express
themselves.
Roger Federer praised her, ‘She is an astonishing
athlete, a huge personality, and she has achieved
one of the most amazing feats in our sport.’
PRONUNCIATION
9 Weak forms of the. Tell students that the definite
article is often difficult to hear because it is weak
(not stressed). However, we can often use the
context of a sentence to decide if there is a definite
article or not.
• Ask students to read the nouns in 1–5 and check
that they understand captain (leader of a team)
and wrist (point to your wrist).
• Play the recording, pausing after each sentence,
and tell students to tick the noun if there is a
definite article and put a cross if not.
• Ask students to compare with a partner before
you check answers with the class.
• Finally, play sentences 1 and 2 again and highlight
that the article in 2 is weak. Ask students to repeat
the sentence to practise saying the weak form.
1× 2 3 ,  4 ×, × 5 ×, ×
7
SPEAKING
10a Students read the instructions in pairs.
• Elicit a definition of each word from the class.
• Ensure students are clear about the two parts of
this exercise. First, they identify the four most
important characteristics. Secondly, they rank
them 1–4 (1 = most important). Tell them that
there is no right or wrong answer – it is a matter
of opinion.
10b Put two pairs together and get them to compare
their answers. Explain that pairs should try and
change the mind of the other pair.
• In feedback, ask if anybody changed their mind
based on the discussions.
MEET THE EXPERT
1 In pairs, students briefly discuss the questions.
2 Get students to read the questions and answer any
questions about vocabulary that they have.
• Students watch the video and answer the
questions individually. They then check in pairs.
• Check answers with the class.
1 a and c 2 very important 3 how important
concentration is
Meet the expert video
Elizabeth Pummell, sports psychologist
I’m Doctor Elizabeth Pummell. I’m a sport
psychologist. I work with athletes to help them to
enhance their performance and I’m also a lecturer at
Kingston University in London. So I teach students
about sport and exercise psychology and I also
conduct research in important topics in sport and
exercise psychology, so things like athlete well-being
and promoting physical activity. And there are two
main focuses in sport psychology. The first one is
how we apply psychology to sport to help athletes to
enhance
their performance.
So we try to educate athletes about psychological
skills and how they can benefit them when they’re
participating. And often athletes will have specific
areas that they want to work on, so perhaps they get
very nervous before competitions or perhaps they
get frustrated when they aren’t playing very well.
And we try to teach them skills to help them to be
able to cope with those problems and to enhance
their performance.
Sport
A second focus in sports and exercise psychology is
how taking part in activity can benefit mental health.
So we know now that taking part in exercise can be
good for self-esteem and also exercise is sometimes
now used as a treatment for depression. So it’s really
critical that we promote physical activity amongst
the population, but we do need to be careful that
when people take part in sport or exercise, that it’s
structured in such a way that it promotes self
esteem, especially in youth sport. It’s really
important that the
environment is enjoyable for the young athletes.
The mind is really important in sport. We know not
just from scientific research how important it is, but
also from athletes themselves. So all athletes will talk
about how critical their mental skills are, and
particularly at the top level. Athletes will say that
their mental skills made the difference between
winning and losing, or perhaps getting a medal at
the Olympics or
missing out on a medal in such a situation.
Other reasons why the mind is so important in sport
is because every sport has a set of psychological
demands which the athlete has to meet in order to
succeed in that sport. So, for example, if we look at
something like tennis, it’s a sport which is played
over an extended period of time. So a match,
particularly at the top level in a grand slam event,
might last five hours or even more sometimes; so the
athlete has to be able to keep their concentration
point after point, for that duration of time. It doesn’t
matter how good they are at hitting the ball if they’re
not able to focus
for that period of time.
One aspect of sport psychology which is often talked
about is mental toughness. Now this is something
which isn’t necessarily well understood, but the
research now does seem to suggest that it’s made up
of a number of factors which give an athlete a
psychological advantage. So there are things like
being confident, being focussed, being determined
and being in control under pressure. In terms of how
it’s developed, we’re not really sure whether it’s
something that’s innate or whether it’s something
that has to be worked on, but it does seem to
fluctuate through an athlete’s career, which suggests
that it’s
something an athlete has to work at.
An example of a mentally tough athlete is Roger
Federer. So he’s an athlete who, throughout his
8
 career, has always been able to cope with pressure
situations. However, he wasn’t always like that. As a
teenager there are lots of reports that he used to get
very frustrated and he used to throw his racquet. So
it’s certainly something that he’s had to work on.
So one of the techniques which sports psychologists
use to help athletes to cope with pressure is imagery.
So leading up to an important competition, the
athlete can feel quite uncertain about whether they
can cope with the demands of the situation. So we
would encourage them to imagine themselves
successfully dealing with those demands in order
that they can feel
more confident leading up to that competition.
One of the other techniques we use in sports
psychology is helping athletes with their
concentration. So it’s really important that they’re
able to stay in the present moment. So not thinking
too much in the future about whether they’ll win or
lose, or thinking in the past about
mistakes that they’ve made.
So we start to help athletes to develop their
concentration skills away from sport. So in a quiet
room we would give them something to focus on
which could be their tennis racquet, for example,
and they continually bring their attention back to
that focus, regardless of any irrelevant thoughts.
And we gradually move that into the sport situation.
So into training where they’re trying to bring their
attention back to what they’re doing, perhaps it’s the
next serve that they’re making. And then gradually
into competition so that they’re able to focus on the
present moment in
competition.
So a lesson that we can all learn from top athletes is
how important concentration is. So all athletes at all
levels will have negative thoughts while they’re
playing. So it’s really important that athletes realise
this and that they work on their concentration skills,
so that they don’t believe the thoughts that they’re
having in their head are true. So they need to be able
to focus on what they’re doing while they’re playing,
rather than on those negative thoughts.
Show students the following images from the
video and ask them what they were used to
illustrate: 1:08 (coaching), 1:32 (teamwork), 1:43
(young people participating), 2:30 (concentration).
3a Check the difference in meaning between mental
toughness (where someone has a strong mind),
mental skills (the ability to make logical decisions
Sport
and think clearly) and mentally challenging (when
something is difficult to understand).
• Put students in two groups, A and B. Tell them
that each group will answer different questions.
Explain that they need to listen in detail and note
down as much information as possible.
• Groups read through their questions. Check that
they are clear what they should be listening for.
• Play the video again. Students take notes.
3bStudents compare notes in their groups. Ensure
that they understand what task 3c is, so that they
get as much accurate information as possible.
3c Put students in pairs, A and B. They exchange
answers to their questions. Encourage students to
ask related follow-up questions.
Group A: 1 getting nervous before competitions,
getting frustrated when they aren’t playing well
2 They can make the difference between winning
or losing, or getting a medal or not at the
Olympics.
3 being confident, being focused, being
determined and being in control under pressure
4 dealing with the demands of the situation
Group B: 1 enjoyable 2 The athlete has to be able
to focus for a long time. 3 He wasn’t always like
that; it’s something he’s had to work on. 4
staying in the present moment
4a Give students five minutes to prepare. Ensure
they don’t write a whole speech. Notes are fine.
4b Students exchange their ideas in small groups.
HOMEWORK OPTIONS
Students do the grammar, reading and vocabulary
exercises for this lesson in MyEnglishLab. They can
also do the MyEnglishLab video activities after this
point.
Students use the internet to research another famous
woman and write a short article about her.
Students do Exercises G2–2, G2–3 and V3,4–7 on
page 131 in the Language reference. (Note: Exercise
V3,4–7 includes vocabulary from Exercise 6 in
Lesson 3.2.)
9
3.4 SCENARIO: WHO
IS THE GREATEST?
IN THIS LESSON
Lesson topic and staging
Students are introduced to the scenario of a TV
sports channel competition to decide the greatest
modern sportsperson. Students discuss criteria for
choosing this person and then listen to a woman
talking about her own choice. Finally, in the Task,
students practise the Key language and give a talk
about their choice for the greatest sportsperson.
Objectives
By the end of the lesson, students will have:
• extracted specific information and language items
from a reading and a listening text
• learnt useful phrases for emphasising and
comparing information
• used this language in a ‘real-life’ situation to give a
talk on the most outstanding modern sportsperson.
Timings
If short of time, cut the options in Exercise 3a.
Possible lesson break: after Exercise 6.
WARM-UP
This activity focuses on different sports and the
people who do them.
• In pairs, students look at the photos on pages 32
and 33 and discuss the following questions:
1 What’s the name of these sports? 2 Have you tried
any of them? 3 Which are popular in your country?
4 Which do you think is the most dangerous?
• Put two pairs together to compare their answers.
• Get a few ideas for each question from the class. If
students are interested in this topic, ask more
specific questions about the people, such as:
1 Who won ten Olympic Medals (nine gold)? 2 Whose
nickname was ‘the Greatest’? 3 Who won a record 20
Wimbledon titles? 4 Who scored a record 1281 goals
in their career? 5 Who hit 714 home runs in their
career? 6 Who has never finished lower than third in
their career?
1 Carl Lewis 2 Muhammad Ali 3 Martina
Navratilova 4 Pelé 5 Babe Ruth 6 Yuna Kim
Sport
SITUATION
1a Set the activity. Tell students the famous
sportspeople they think of do not need to be
currently doing the sport.
• If they can think of none or only one name in a
sport, they should move on to the next one.
• Give students a time check after one minute and
stop them at exactly two minutes.
1bPut pairs together to compare, then elicit answers
from the class and write them on the board
(students can use these in Exercises 7 and 8).
• Award one point for each sportsperson named.
The pair with most points wins.
Students’ own answers.
2 Tell students to read the questions and check they
understand channel (i.e. a TV channel).
• Allow three minutes to read the situation and
answer the questions. Elicit answers from the class.
1 to attract viewers’ interest – it’s a new
channel 2 the greatest in the last ten years
3 viewers write an email about a sportsperson,
selected writers take part in a TV debate, the
audience will vote on the greatest sportsperson
3a Read through the instructions and criteria and
check that students understand charisma
(characteristic which makes people love or respect
you), status (how others think/feel about you), role
model (an example for others to follow), fame
(being famous), overcome (find solutions to).
• Put students in groups of three or four. They must
agree on which six criteria to choose.
3bElicit answers for Exercise 3a from each group.
Discuss with the class which six they think were
most popular.
4 Focus students on the photos of Yuna Kim. Tell
them/Elicit that she’s a Korean ice skater.
• Students read the questions. Play the recording
without pausing.
• Ask students to compare with a partner before
you check answers with the class.
1 There were not many public ice skating rinks
in South Korea. 2 Very successful – she won a
gold medal. She was given the highest ever
scores. 3 She is a very good singer.
10

Audio script 3.4 and answer key to Exercises
5b and 5c
Yuna Kim is a South Korean figure skater. She
was born in Gumpo, South Korea in 1990. She’s a
truly remarkable sportswoman and some people
say she’s the greatest modern sportswoman. Let
me tell you about her.
When she was still very young, her coaches
noticed she had the perfect body for skating.
However, she had to overcome difficulties to
develop her talent. There’s no doubt she’s a very
determined person because at that time, there
were not many public ice rinks in South Korea, so
she had to practise very early in the morning or
late at night. The rinks were so cold that she
risked injuries. In spite of this, at the age of
twelve, she won the senior figure skating title in
the South Korean championships. An outstanding
achievement for such a young person. She was
the youngest woman ever to win the
championship. After that, she won many
international championships. She won her first
World Championship title in 2009 and at the 2010
Olympic Games she won a gold medal. Yuna
Kim’s skating programmes were given the highest
scores since the International Skating Union had
judged the competition.
You can watch her astonishing performance in
the competition on YouTube. Experts have
described it as ‘amazing’, ‘breathtaking’ and
‘phenomenal’. She seemed to skate faster than the
other competitors, her jumps were higher and
more artistic. She moved more elegantly and more
athletically than the other skaters in the
competition and she appeared to hear the
rhythms better than everyone else.
After her success in the Olympics, she worked
hard to promote ice skating in South Korea and
also to ensure that her country won the bid for the
Winter Olympics in 2018. She presented television
programmes and also wrote books on her sport,
giving advice to young skaters.
In 2013, she took part in the South Korean Ladies
Championship. She won the competition and,
once again, people admired her extraordinary
technical skills, her artistry and elegance.
She is a role model not only for young people in
South Korea, but also for skaters all over the
world. She is one of the highest-paid female
Sport
athletes in the world. Because of her fame, her
beauty and, above all, her admirable personal
qualities, she is asked to endorse all kinds of
products. She was a UNICEF Goodwill
Ambassador and often represents South Korea at
international events. What’s also extraordinary
about her is that’s she’s so versatile. She’s a fine
singer and has recorded a number of songs
written by Korean pop stars. There seems to be
no end to Yuna Kim’s remarkable talents. She is
undoubtedly a superstar.
KEY LANGUAGE: using emphasis
and comparison
5a Read through the instructions and examples with
the class. Play the recording again.
• Pause after each paragraph to give students time
to note down any relevant language.
• Students compare the language they have found.
adjectives: remarkable sportswoman; greatest
modern sportswoman; youngest woman ever;
highest scores; astonishing performance;
amazing; breath-taking; phenomenal;
extraordinary technical skills; highest-paid
female athletes; admirable personal qualities;
remarkable talents.
adverbs: truly remarkable; more elegantly;
more athletically; better than everyone else
expressions: above all; no end to Yuna Kim’s
remarkable talents; undoubtedly
5bIn the same pairs, students check the audio script.
They should note down any emphatic words/
phrases they missed under the correct heading.
• In feedback, do not go through all the language,
but ask students if there were any points they did
not understand and need clarified.
5c Students identify as many comparative words or
phrases as they can and then check with a partner.
Finally, check answers with the class.
6 Students do this activity individually, then
compare with a partner. In feedback, write the
answers on the board so that everyone can check.
• Ask students if they’ve heard of any of these
people. If possible, elicit a few facts about each.
Students may want to talk about one of these
sportspeople in Exercises 7 and 8 later.
1 Pelé was a truly fantastic Brazilian footballer.
2 Jessica Ennis is an incredibly talented and
11
 versatile sportswoman. 3 Mia Hamm is
considered to be the best female soccer player
in history. 4 What’s extraordinary about
Serena Williams is her determination. 5 Usain
Bolt is perhaps the greatest athlete in modern
times. 6 Compared to Federer, most other
tennis players are not as versatile. 7 Lionel
Messi is far more skilful than most other
footballers. 8 Li Na played unbelievable tennis
to win the US Open Championship. 9 What
was remarkable about Yuma Kim’s performance
was its elegance. 10 What’s so amazing about
Li Shiwen is her youth. 11 Babe Ruth was
arguably the greatest baseball player of all time.
12 In my opinion, Ayrton Senna/Michael
Schumacher was a far better driver than
Michael Schumacher/Ayrton Senna.
TASK: giving a presentation
7a Remind students of the situation outlined earlier
in this lesson. Students work individually. Give
them four minutes to decide which sportsperson
they want to talk about.
7bTell students to think about the structure of their
presentation, how to make it interesting and
persuasive, how to engage their listeners and how
to introduce and conclude.
• Remind students to include the Key language.
• Give students 20–30 minutes to make their notes
and monitor to help as necessary.
8a Set the activity. Check that students understand
the scoring mechanism below the table. Remind
them to complete all the six criteria agreed in 3b.
• In turn, students give their presentations. One
student should also be timekeeper. Other students
ask questions at the end.
• Monitor to note mistakes using the Key language.
8bAsk each group who their winner was.
• To extend the discussion, ask whether students
were surprised at the sportspeople who won.
• If appropriate, go through any mistakes you noted
during the presentations.
HOMEWORK OPTIONS
Students do the reading, listening and Key language
exercises for this lesson in MyEnglishLab.
Students use their notes from Exercise 7b to write a
fact sheet about the sportsperson.
Students do Exercise KL–4 on page 131 in the
Language reference.
Sport
3.5 STUDY AND
WRITING SKILLS
IN THIS LESSON
Lesson topic and staging
This lesson focuses on understanding essay questions
and writing a for and against essay. Students discuss
what makes a good essay and analyse the language
used in essay questions. Next, they listen to a lecturer
giving advice about essays and analyse a question.
Students read an essay and focus on the content,
organisation and the language used (e.g. formal
expressions) before writing their own essay.
Objectives
By the end of the lesson, students will have:
• extracted specific information and language items
from a listening and a reading text
• learnt (more) about the language used in essay
questions, how to write an essay and the structure
and language of a for and against essay
• written a for and against essay.
Timings
If short of time, students plan their essay together in
Exercise 11b, but write it individually for homework.
Possible lesson break: after Exercise 4.
WARM- UP
This activity introduces the topic of how much
sportspeople should be paid.
• Write on the board: tennis player, surfer, motor
racing driver, mountaineer, boxer.
• Check that students understand the terms. They
then rank them according to who should be paid
the most (1) to who should be paid the least (5).
• Put students in pairs to compare and give reasons
for their lists. Then elicit a list from two or three
students and ask the class if they agree.
STUDY SKILLS: understanding
essay questions
1 Explain that students are going to write an essay
later in the lesson.
• Set the question, focus students on the example
and then put them in pairs to make a list.
• Elicit a few ideas from two or three pairs and ask
the class if they agree.
12
2a Understanding key words. Put students in pairs
and ask them to underline the key words in each
question as they discuss it.
• Elicit the key words from the class, but not what
each question word means as this is checked in
Exercise 2b.
1 Analyse 2 Compare, contrast 3 To what
extent 4 Account for 5 Outline 6 Discuss
7 Describe
2bStudents do this activity individually. They then
compare with a partner before you check answers
with the class.
• In feedback, check students understand to what
extent and how far by explaining question 3 in
Exercise 2a (e.g. Is winning the most/least important
thing or is it somewhere between?).
1c 2g 3d 4a 5f 6e 7b
3a Essay writing. Set the activity and play the
recording without pausing. You might point out
that there are six questions in total.
• Individually, students write down the questions,
then check with a partner. Take class feedback.
If you think your class might find this exercise hard,
get students to paraphrase the questions rather than
try and write them down word for word.
Audio script 3.5 and answer key to Exercise 3a
Lecturer, Students
L: Right, thank you very much for coming and I
hope you found the session useful. Now, if
there are any questions, I’ll be here for a few
minutes if anyone wants to discuss anything.
S1: I have this essay to write and I’m finding it a
real struggle. Could you give me a few tips?
L: Sure. Gosh, where do I start? OK, well, a
common mistake new students often make is
about the purpose of an essay. An essay is
basically a question which needs an answer.
Erm, I mean, it isn’t an opportunity for you to
show how much you know about a particular
subject. So, if you don’t actually answer the
question, you’ll fail the task, however good
your writing is. A lot of people forget this.
S1: I see, that makes sense. So what’s the best way
of preparing to write an essay, do you think?
L: Well, the first thing I would do is analyse the
title. I think it’s helpful to underline any key
words and work out what you’re actually
Sport
being asked to do. Then decide what kind of
structure the title indicates to you. For
example, is it a for and against essay or are
you being asked to compare and contrast or
even offer solutions to a problem?
S1: OK, thanks. That’s good. Then, what do you
recommend I do next?
L: Well, then I think you should make some
notes. Start by writing the exact title at the top
of a new sheet of paper to focus your
attention and then brainstorm your ideas. I
find it’s helpful for students to get into the
habit of starting with the topic area and just
noting down any topic vocabulary which
comes to mind.
S1: Oh, OK. That’s a good idea. What next?
L: Well, I suggest that you ask yourself questions
such as ‘What do I already know? What do I
need to find out?’ Get all your ideas down on
paper, however crazy they may seem. Then
organise your notes – it’s really important
that you have a clear and logical structure in
your mind before you start writing.
S1: Yeah, I think that’s one of my problems,
getting to that. Thank you very much.
L: That’s OK.
S2: I was wondering if you could give me some
advice on how I should go about actually
writing the essay?
L: Sure. A good approach to writing is what I
call ‘the beginning, middle and end
approach’. I think that good essays tend to
follow this.
S2: Oh, right. What does that mean?
L: Right, I’ll explain. I think at the beginning or
in the first paragraph you should restate the
question in your own words and introduce
the topic. The next two, three or four
paragraphs are the middle or main part of the
essay, where you state the arguments for and
against the proposition or offer solutions to
the problem. The third part and final
paragraph is a conclusion where you should
refer back to the question and offer your own
opinion if that is appropriate.
S2: That’s useful, thanks very much. Is there
anything special about academic writing that
we should think about?
L: Mmm, let’s think. Yes, firstly, most questions
involve some kind of comparison and
contrast, if only looking at the for and against
of something, or assessing which solution to a
13
 problem is better. Secondly, good academic
writing will have a logical argument and
guide the reader through the argument, using
examples and supporting the points you
make with examples where necessary and
appropriate. You should also put similar
ideas in a single paragraph – you know, all
the reasons for a particular thing, that sort of
thing.
S2: OK, great, thanks.
S3: Could I ask about the language itself?
L: Mmm, good point. Most important: academic
writing tends to be neutral in tone.
S3: Neutral? What exactly do you mean?
L: Well, you need to stand back and to appear to
look at the question from a distance – to be
emotionally detached. A good way of
achieving this is to leave yourself out of your
writing; don’t keep writing I think, but
instead use phrases like it is clear that and it is
obvious that, this shows that, it is true that and
so on. You can put in your own experience,
but it’s often better to make this sound more
general by introducing personal opinions and
experiences with phrases like for many people
and a lot of men, women, younger people find … .
Passive structures are often used because they
help to give that distance and objectivity.
Finally, you should avoid abbreviations and
contractions if it’s a formal academic essay.
S3: Well, thanks very much. You’ve really been
helpful. I think I’m ready to make a start now.
L: No problem, I hope it helps.
3bStudents complete as many of the gaps as they can
based on the first listening. They then listen again
to check/complete the gaps. It may be useful to
quickly discuss with your class what type of
words should go in the gap.
• Students do the activity individually and then
check in pairs.
• Check answers with the class and check that they
understand brainstorm (note ideas quickly in no
particular order), restate (say/write again) and
abbreviations (shortened words).
1 Analyse 2 underline 3 Decide 4 Make
5 Brainstorm 6 Ask 7 Organise 8 middle
9 end 10 restate 11 introduce 12 refer
13 offer 14 neutral 15 yourself 16 Passive
17 abbreviations
Sport
4 Give students five minutes for this activity.
Remind them that Exercise 2b will help them
analyse the question they choose.
• If necessary, give students a few ideas of the kind
of thing they might include in an essay (examples,
arguments for and against, your opinion, others’
opinions, etc.).
• For feedback, ask students how many chose each
of the questions in Exercise 2a. Then ask for a few
ideas of what might be included in each.
WRITING SKILLS: a for and against
essay
If you have students preparing for IELTS or
PTE-A, highlight that a for and against essay is a
common essay type in the exam. Set a time limit of
40 minutes for the essay in Exercise 11b.
5 Explain that students are going to read an essay
about how much sportspeople earn.
• Ask students who the people in the photos are
(Jenson Button, a motor racing driver, and Anna
Kournikova, a tennis player). Ask why Button has
logos on his clothes and why Kournikova is in
front of a Porsche. Use this to pre-teach sponsorship.
• Give students a few minutes to discuss this
question and then elicit some ideas from the class.
6 Students read the questions. Allow four minutes
to read the essay and answer the questions.
• Ask students to compare with a partner before
you check answers with the class.
1 football, golf, tennis, boxing, motor racing
2 salaries, prize money, sponsorship deals,
advertising contracts 3 The writer thinks that
sportspeople should be paid what they are –
they’re worth it.
7 Students work individually, then compare with a
partner before class feedback. Explain that the
points refer to the structure of an essay.
a4 b5 c1 d3 e2
8a Introductions. Put students in pairs to discuss this
question. Answers are checked in Exercise 8b.
Students should base their discussions on
articles/essays they have read before and also
articles/essays they have written.
8bGive students a maximum of one minute to read
and check, then elicit answers from the class.
2, 3, 4
14
9a Ask students to read the introduction and then • Monitor to help with vocabulary or provide
give them three minutes to answer the questions. prompts if necessary.
You should explain that getting to know time • Allow 30–40 minutes for students to write their
words/phrases can significantly improve the essays.
quality of their writing. If you have students preparing for IELTS, set a
• Ask students to compare with a partner before limit of 240 words and a time limit of 40 minutes.
you check answers with the class. • Take essays in for marking, paying attention to
structure and use of expressions from this lesson.
To talk about changes: 1 (present perfect), Alternatively, ask students to edit each other’s
3 (present perfect), 4 (present perfect), work and then rewrite the essays with corrections
6 (present perfect) before you take them in for marking.
To generalise: 2 (present), 5 (present)
7 (present) HOMEWORK OPTIONS
(Note: the tenses for all items can be simple or
Students do the study skills, dictation, writing skills,
continuous.)
reading and academic collocations exercises for this
All the expressions under To talk about changes can lesson in MyEnglishLab. This is also a good time to
also be used to introduce generalisations: it do the MyEnglishLab video activities.
depends on the noun phrase that follows (e.g. In
Refer students to the Warm-up activity, in which
the past decade, most people have …).
they decided which kind of sportsperson should be
9bGive students ten minutes to write three or four
paid more than others. Write the following on the
opening sentences while you monitor to correct.
board: X should be paid more than all other sportspeople.
• Elicit two or three good examples to the board as a
Discuss. Students then write a for and against essay
model for the class.
for homework.
10 Formal expressions. Tell students to underline the
expressions in the essay. They may find two for
question 3.
• Ask students to compare with a partner and then
elicit answers from the class.
• Ask students why this is a good essay and refer
them to the ideas they had in Exercise 1.
• Finally, ask students if they agree with the writer’s
opinion and why/why not.

1 The objective of this essay is to decide

2 for instance 3 Many people argue, It can
also be argued that 4 In simple terms 5 In
contrast 6 It is also clear that 7 In conclusion
8 On balance

11a Put students in pairs. Ask them to spend four

minutes discussing each question and give regular
time checks. Depending on time, you might take
general class feedback from a few of the pairs.
11b Ask students to decide which title they found
most interesting or which generated most
discussion in Exercise 11a. Advise them to choose
this title for their essay.
• Give the pairs 15–20 minutes to plan their essay
and emphasise that they should only make notes
on content and structure, not write full sentences
at this stage. Both students need a copy of the notes.

Sport 15