BAD HABITS

Speaking Activity

Use the illustrations to talk about bad habits (imagination).

A B C D

E F G H

Questions

Discuss the following questions with your teacher and classmates.

1. Do you have any bad habits? What are they?

2. Do you or have you ever smoked?

3. What do you do when you feel nervous? (Bite your nails, fidget, etc.)

4. Do you slouch and have good posture?

5. Are you messy?

6. Do you get enough sleep?

7. Do your friends, family members, or co-workers have any bad habits that annoy you?

Watch the video and answer the questions.

https://youtu.be/bAQpiQWWn1Q

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Listening Questions

Watch the YouTube video and answer the following questions.

1. What does Tony tell Joey he should do?

2. When did Tony quit smoking?

3. How did Tony quit smoking?

4. What did Tony start to do after quitting smoking?

5. According to Tony, what isn’t as bad as smoking?

6. Did Tony take any medicine to help him stop smoking?

7. Did Tony keep eating junk food?

8. Did Tony gain weight when he stopped smoking? Did Tony smoke a lot every day?

Word Bank

old habits die-hard | tough | right | used to | a while

junk food | heavy smoker | bite my nails | cold turkey
bad habit | medicine | I didn’t take anything
cut out gain weight | watch what (I) eat | two packs a day

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Vocabulary Builder

Choose the word or phrase from the Word Bank that have the same or similar meaning as
the words below.

1 stop1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

2 did something in the past but not anymore _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3 put on weight _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

4 stop2 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

5 stop suddenly without help _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

6 correct _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

7 to do something that isn’t good for you _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

8 difficult _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

9 a period of time _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

10 food that isn’t good for you _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

11 pay attention to (something) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

12 a drug that makes you feel better _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Fill in the Blanks

Choose the correct word from the Word Bank to complete the sentences.
You may have to change the form of the word.

1 He’s a very _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. He smokes two packs per day.

2 Do you have any _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _? I bite my nails all the time.

3 I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ a lot of weight over the holidays. I need to go on a diet.

4 I eat very healthy food every day. I don’t like _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ very much.

5 Jeff quit _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. He didn’t take anything to help him stop.

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Grammar

Fill in the blanks with the correct tense.

1 I used to drink a lot of beer, but I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (stop) six months ago.

Grammar
2 I used to eat a lot of junk food, but I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (cut) it out over a year ago.
Grammar
3 I used to have a sweet tooth, but I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (decrease) how much I eat.

4 I used to eat really big portions of food, but I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (reduce) my portion

size.
Grammar
5 I used to fidget a lot, but now I _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (control) it because it annoyed my
co-workers.

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Transcripts

Tony: You should really quit smoking.

Joey: I know. Old habits die-hard.

Tony: I used to smoke but I stopped nearly five years ago.

Joey: Really? How did you stop?

Tony: To tell you the truth it was really tough. I quit cold turkey. After I quit, I started biting my

nails and then I started eating a lot of junk food.

Joey: I see. So, you went from one bad habit to another.

Tony: Yes, but smoking is much worse than junk food or biting your nails.

Joey: Yes, you are right. Did you take any medicine to help you stop?

Tony: No, I didn’t take anything and after a while I even cut out the junk food.

Joey: Really? I heard that many people gain weight after they quit smoking.

Tony: Yes, at the beginning I did but then I started watching what I ate.

Joey: Were you a heavy smoker?

Tony: Yes, I used to smoke two packs a day.

Joey: You’re kidding. Well, I think it’s time to quit.

Tony: You can do it. If I can do it, anyone can do it.

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Answer Key

Listening Answers
1 He tells him that he should quit smoking.

2 He quit smoking about five years ago.

3 He quit cold turkey.

4 He started to bite his nails and eat a lot of junk food.

5 Biting your nails and eating junk food is better than smoking.

6 No, he didn’t.

7 No, he cut out the junk food.

8 Yes, he did but then he cut out the junk food. Yes, he did. He smoked two packs per day.

Vocabulary
1. quit/cut out 2. used to 3. gain weight 4. quit/cut out 5. cold turkey 6. right 7. bad habit 8. tough
9. a while 10. junk food 11. watch (something) 12. medicine

Fill-in-the-blanks
1. heavy smoker 2. bad habits 3. gained 4. Junk food 5. cold turkey

Grammar Practice
1. stopped 2. cut 3. decreased 4. reduced 5. control

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