4.1   I predict...

We won’t be able to reverse the effects of climate change.

✂

Using robots instead of soldiers will become normal within fifty years.
✂

We’ll never make contact with aliens.

✂

Instead of one global superpower, we’re going to see a handful of global powers.
✂

I’ll speak fluent English one day.

✂

The gap between the rich and the poor is going to become a huge issue.
✂

We’re all going to eat much less meat in the future.

✂

Within twenty years, all sorts of different things will be sold in plain packages.
✂

A four-hour work day will be normal by 2030.

✂

Privacy is going to be a thing of the past within ten years.

✂

Driverless cars will be the norm within ten years.

✂

We’ll all soon be able to buy high-quality emotions online.

✂

Hi-tech clothing will make invisibility a reality.

✂

No one will need to learn foreign languages anymore.

✂

Within a hundred years, people are going to start living on other planets.

Sports Health Food Education

My country My family Me Technology

Transportation Lifestyle Culture Cities

Photocopiable Communicative Activities Worksheets  203

4.2   What’s going on?
Music
Death by Metal Top heavy metal rock band plays at City Stadium. Fri and Sat 3:30, $50–75.
Nubian Heart Up and coming indie soul band plays at Green Room. Sat 8 pm, $20.
Gypsy Time Techno-folk crossover. Live band followed by club night. The Dome. 9 am–2 pm., $15.
Symphony in the Park Bartok’s Sixth Symphony. St. Peter’s Park. Sun 3 pm. Free.
Sing! Karaoke Place on Main St. 12:00–3:00 daily. From $6 per person. Groups and children’s parties welcome.

THEATER
Matilda Award-winning musical based on the Roald Dahl book. City Theater. Sat 3 and 8 pm. $20–80.
Macbeth Shakespeare’s play reworked by the city’s leading amateur company. The Arts Center. Sat and Sun 8 pm. $5–20.

MOVIES
Guardians of the Galaxy Latest volume in the Marvel series. 3:00 (not Sun), 6:05, 8:50, 12:05 pm.
Parent and Baby Screening Screening of the classic Italian movie, Cinema Paradiso, with subtitles. Sun 3 pm.
Kids Club Beauty and the Beast. Sat 10 am. The BFG (Big Friendly Giant) Sun 8 pm.

Art
Malevich Exhibition of Russian master’s painting including his famous black square. City Gallery. Open 9am–5pm. Entrance $10.
Green, Green Grass of Home Exhibition of regional landscape artists. West Arts Center. Open 10 am–4 pm. Free.
Decaying Man Controversial installation in Main Square. A two-meter replica of Michelangelo’s David made from fat and seed is
slowly being eaten by mice, birds, and bacteria. Free.

Events
City-wide Food Festival All weekend, all the city’s cafes and restaurants will be offering 20% discount. Just take your pick! Reservations
recommended in the evening. Look out for pop-up street food in Main Square, St. Peter’s Park, and Westtown Shopping Mall.
Teddy Bear’s Picnic Fun for all the family. Bring a picnic and your teddy bear. Fairground rides, clowns, and other entertainment
throughout the day. Sat 11 am–6 pm. St. Peter’s Park. Entrance free.
Family Fun Run Run to raise money for the homeless. 10km, 5km, or 2km. Prizes for winners and costumes. Start Sun 10 am. Town
Hall, Main St. Entry fee: $5.
Paintball Pop-up paintball continues in the disused chocolate factory. 10 am–4 pm. daily. Prices from $8/person.

Museums
Natural History Museum Open daily 8 am–4 pm. Entrance free. Aquarium: $2.
City Museum Open daily 8 am–4 pm. Silk Road – special exhibition: $3.

Sports
Football Jets play in the first round of the playoffs. Sun 5 pm. $15.
Basketball The Nets take on the Vikings. Sat 6 pm. $10.
Tennis Junior regional finals. Lane’s Tennis Club. Sat and Sun. Final Sun 3 pm. Free.

Workshops
Big Bake-Off Weekend cake baking and decorating course. Sat and Sun 9 am–1 pm. $40, $20 students and seniors.
Jewelry Making Learn to make necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Sun 9 am–4 pm. $30, $15 students and seniors.
204  Photocopiable Communicative Activities Worksheets
4.2  What’s going on? Role-play cards

You are a retired

You are a college
You are a 15-year-old. You are a parent person. You live on
student studying
You get $5 allowance with a 9-year-old your own and don’t
English. You don’t
and have $50 saved. daughter. have family, but you
have much money.
are quite active.

You really like

You like painting and
You are a parent with cooking, learning
other arts and crafts.
a six-month-old baby. about food, and You are a 17-year-old.
You have $10 saved,
You usually go and eating. You have a You get $15 allowance
but your parents are
see your parents on budget of $40 to and have $120 saved.
happy to pay for
Sunday. spend over the
anything educational.
weekend.
✂

You are a student You are a student

You are a 17-year-old.
starting college and You are a parent with starting college and
You get $15 allowance
studying Physics. You a 9-year-old daughter. studying Physics. You
and have $120 saved.
have a Saturday job. have a Saturday job.

You are a teenager You are a parent with

You are a college
who is really into a six-month-old baby. You are a 15-year-old.
student studying
sports. You play on a You usually go and You get $10 allowance
English. You don’t
team that has games see your parents on and have $60 saved.
have much money.
on Saturday. Sunday.

You like painting and You really like

You are a retired You are a teenager other arts and crafts. cooking, learning
person. You live on who is really into You have $10 about food, and
your own and don’t sports. You play on a allowance, but your eating. You have a
have family, but you team that has games parents are happy to budget of $40 to
are quite active. on Saturday. pay for anything spend over the
educational. weekend.

Photocopiable Communicative Activities Worksheets  205

4.1  I predict… • When a few groups have finished discussing their predictions
for each general them, put groups together and ask them to
Aim To practice a range of future forms used when making share their predictions, discussing how likely they feel each
predictions one is. Check that students are doing the task correctly and
notice errors, difficulties, or where they use L1. Help them by
Language will / won’t and be going to for predictions correcting or giving them the English they need, and make
note of any language points to go over with the class.
A range of responses to the predictions
• At the end of the task, give some feedback about new
Time Approximately 30 minutes language that came up and focus on errors to correct, which
you may have written on the board. You can also share some
Preparation A copy of one set of statements and category cards interesting things you heard with the class.
for every group of four students, cut up
Expansion
Procedure • Get students to write their best predictions on separate pieces
• Tell students they are going to discuss how likely they find of paper. Collect all the pieces and distribute them randomly
various predictions for the future. First, write some basic ways of for other groups to discuss.
expressing likelihood on the board, e.g., It’s bound to happen. It’s • Get students to research online one or two predictions that
almost inevitable. It’s highly (un)likely. I guess it could happen. It’s caused the most discussion. They can do the research in L1 if
not impossible. I can’t see it happening myself, but I could be wrong. they want to. They then report back (in English!) on their
• Optional Write the phrases on the board in no particular findings. See if anyone has changed their mind in light of what
order and ask students to rank them from most likely to least. they find.
• To model the task, before you give out the strips, tell students • Get students to think of at least two things that would happen
one prediction: It’ll soon be normal for most people to live to a if each of the predictions actually did come true.
hundred. Ask for students’ ideas and reasons. Emphasize that
there are no correct answers.
• Put students in groups of four or five. Tell each group they need
to appoint a secretary, who should have a pen and some paper.
Hand out a set of strips to each group, face down on the table
and tell students not to touch them yet. Then explain they
should pick up one strip at a time and discuss how likely they
think the prediction is. They should debate their ideas until they
reach a general consensus and make a note of their opinions.
• As students do the task, check that they are doing it correctly
and notice errors, difficulties, or where they use L1 and help
them by correcting or giving them the English they need. Be
ready in case students ask about any language on the strips.
• At the end of the task, give some feedback about new
language that came up, and focus on errors to correct, which
you may have written on the board. You can then ask the whole
class to shout out how they feel about each prediction—or
about some of the predictions that generated most discussion.
Where there are differences of opinion, let students argue their
case. See if you can get whole-group consensus. Give your own
opinions if you want to.
• Next, change the groups around and hand out the general
theme cards. Ask students to turn over a card and explain that
now they have to make at least three predictions based on this
general theme. Get a few examples from different groups.
Explain you want them to note the best prediction they come
up with for each general theme.

184  Communicative Activities: Teacher’s Notes

4.2  What’s going on? • Optional In groups, students discuss anything in the guide
which sounds interesting to them (as themselves) and how it
Aim To practice making arrangements compares to what’s going on where they live. How could
social life in their area be improved? You might want to write
To discuss free-time activities these questions on the board while the students discuss this,
either mingling or sitting down.
Language Phrases to express likes and dislikes
Phrases to make suggestions, reject suggestions, and suggest Expansion
alternatives You could ask students to do one of the following:

Time Approximately 30 minutes • Decide on the best and fullest schedule.

• Write a What’s going on? guide for where they live. They can use
Preparation their existing knowledge and also invent things they would like
• One copy of the worksheet for every student or think would be fun. They can then display these or exchange
• A copy of one set of role-play cards for every group of twelve them with another pair to compare and decide what to do.
students, cut up • If your students have access to the Internet, ask them to find
out what’s going on this weekend in another city via the
Procedure website Time Out (+ city) or other What’s going on guides, and
• Hand out the What’s going on? page to each student, along with decide what they’d like to do. They then report back about
one role card per student. (Note that some of the role cards are what they plan to do.
identical.) Students should not show each other their role cards.
The expectation is that students will find their partner through
the role-play of making arrangements, but this is not essential.
• Ask students to look through the worksheet and find four
things that the person on their role card might be interested in
doing over the weekend. Tell them that if prices or places are
not mentioned, they should think of the places or prices
where they live.
• Tell students they are going to stand up and move around the
class to find someone who would like to do the same things
on the weekend. They shouldn’t say exactly who they are, but
they must stick to their role. (Get them to throw away their
role card to ensure this, if you like.) Within their role, they can
change their mind and accept a different suggestion. Ask
them to refer to the Useful language on p. 54 of their Student
Book, which they could use now.
• Tell students they must agree to do three different things over
the weekend with the same partner. If students can’t make an
arrangement, they should politely find a way to end the
conversation and move on. Demonstrate the process by taking
on a role yourself and chatting with one or two students.
• Get everyone to stand up and find their partner. When
students have found someone, they should sit down together
and compare their role cards. Were they the same person or
different people? If they were different, was it surprising that
they agreed on the activities?
• When the discussion quiets down, get feedback as to whether
they had found anyone with the same role card and what they
decided to do in role.

Communicative Activities: Teacher’s Notes  185