Life goals

1. Look at the list of life goals below. Choose the ones you think people often achieve before they
are twenty-one. Explain your ideas.

■ get married ■ find a job ■ buy a house

■ have children ■ travel and/or live abroad ■ learn how to drive

2. Read and listen to the poem. Who is it about? What was his life goal? Did he achieve it?

Geography Lesson
by Brian Patten
1 4
Our teacher told us one day he would Then halfway through his final term
leave He took ill and never returned.
And sail across a warm blue sea And he never got to that place on the map
To places he had only known from maps, Where the green leaves of the orange
And all his life had longed to be. trees burned.

2 5
The house he lived in was narrow and grey The maps were redrawn on the classroom
But in his mind's eye he could see wall;
Sweet-scented jasmine clinging to the His name was forgotten, it faded away.
walls, But a lesson he never knew he taught
And green leaves burning on an orange Is with me to this day.
tree.
6
3 I travel to where the green leaves burn,
He spoke of the lands he longed to visit, To where the ocean's glass-clear and blue,
Where it was never drab or cold. To all those places my teacher taught me
I couldn't understand why he never left, to love
And shook off the school's stranglehold. But which he never knew.

GLOSSARY
* in his mind’s eye = in his imagination
* clinging to = holding on tightly to
* longed to = wanted to
* drab = dull
* stranglehold = complete control over someone
* fade away = disappear
3. Read the poem again. Match summaries a-f to verses 1-6.

a) He loved these places, but he didn't leave the school I didn’t know why.

b) At school, people tidied up his classroom. They forgot about him, but I didn't forget.

c) My teacher told our class that he wanted to travel the world and see different countries.

d) He lived in an ugly house, but he often thought about the beautiful places he wanted to visit.

e) Today, | visit the countries my teacher loved. I love these places, too.

f) Then one day, my teacher didn't come to school because he was ill. He never visited the places
he talked about.

4. Think about the poem and discuss the questions.

1. The poet couldn't understand why the teacher didn’t leave the school. Can you think of reasons
why he stayed?
2. The poet says: 'But a lesson he never knew he taught Is with me to this day.' What was that
lesson?
5. Grammar: Expressing probability
5.1. Read these students' life goals. Study the phrases in blue. Then complete the diagram and the
rules.

1) I will probably travel to other countries. I'd like to visit America.

2) Perhaps / Maybe / will learn to drive. I might / may buy a car, too.

3) I definitely / certainly won't get married or have children.

4) I will definitely/certainly learn another language.

5) It's possible that I will find a good job.

______________________________________________________________

_____ I will probably travel to other countries. __________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________
6. Rewrite the sentences. Use the words in brackets.

1) It's very likely that I'll earn lots of money, (definitely)

2) It's possible that I won't own a big house, (probably)

3) I'll probably have a dog or a cat. (may)

4) I might buy a motorbike instead of a car. (possible)

5) I'm sure that I won't live in another country, (certainly)

6) It's possible that I'll marry someone from my school, (maybe)

7) I might not go to university, (perhaps)

8) But perhaps I'll write a book of poetry! (might)

HOMEWORK
SPEAKING.
7. Which of the sentences in exercises 5 and 6 might be true for you? Give reasons for your answers.