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GENERAL ENGLISH · GENERAL ISSUES · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

BEING
KIND
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1 Warm up

In pairs, look at the images and answer the following questions.

1. What have you done recently that was kind?

2. How important do you think it is to be kind?
3. What does someone who is ‘kind’ do?
4. What happened the last time someone was kind to you?

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BEING KIND

2 Focus on vocabulary
Part A: Match the vocabulary to the definitions.

1. tolerance (n) a. deeply worried and anxious

2. warm-hearted (adj.) b. the population of the world
3. considerate (adj.) c. thinking about the needs of others
4. distressed (adj.) d. caring and nice in their manner
5. humanity (n) e. the choice of kindness when you have power over someone
and can do them harm
6. mercy (n) f. the ability to accept ideas, opinions or behaviours that are
different to yours
7. charitable (adj.) g. of a friendly and kind nature
8. kindly (adj.) h. having a caring and giving attitude towards other people

Part B: Now complete the following sentences with a different part of speech from the vocabulary
from Part A in brackets. You may need to use a dictionary.

1. She’s always convinced that she’s in the right and is incredibly of ideas other than
her own. She’s terrible to work with. (tolerance)
2. Our house was always full of friends and family, largely because of the of my
mother who welcomed and fed anyone who showed up. (warm-hearted)
3. I don’t understand what goes on in the heads of people who drop litter. They’re so
and arrogant. (considerate)
4. We watched a horror film last night. I hated it. I thought the violence was nasty and I found it
quite . (distressed)
5. My sister left yesterday with other doctors on a mission to where the worst of
the tornado hit. (humanity)
6. He was quite upset following his professor’s criticism of his dissertation. He’s
going to have to rethink it entirely. (mercy)
7. My brother’s attitude towards refugees is quite . He’s always talking about how
they should stay in their own country or go somewhere else. (charitable)
8. I found out that my daughter was making some really remarks about someone at
school on Instagram. She can forget about going out for a while. (kindly)

Now in pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Who do you know who you’d describe as warm-hearted? What do they do that makes you think
that?
2. Would you describe yourself as charitable? Why/Why not?
3. Do you see a positive or negative future for humanity? Why?
4. What do you have a very low level of tolerance for?
5. In which situations have you been quite distressed? Why?
6. Who is the most considerate person in your family? Why do you think this?

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BEING KIND

3 Listening
You are going to listen to three people talking about kindness.

Part A: First, look back at the questions in the Warm-up section. Tick the questions that you think
are being answered. You will not use all of the questions.

Part B: Now, listen to the speakers again and complete the table with ticks in the correct box.

Who ... Speaker 1 Speaker 2 Speaker 3

(a) lost their money?

(b) helped an elderly

person?

(c) believes you need

to help strangers to
be truly kind?

(d) received help from

someone at night?

(e) performed a
physical task for
someone?

(f) knew the person

who they helped?

(g) lives with their

mum and dad?

4 Reading for gist

In the next sections of this worksheet, you are going to read an article called Random acts - What we
know about kindness (page 5).

First, look at the following titles and match them to paragraphs A - D. There are two titles that are
not needed - mark them as Not used.

1. The joy of kindness

2. Kindness around the world

3. The kindness of strangers

4. A kind hero

5. The trouble with kindness

6. The benefits of kindness

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5 Reading comprehension

Now, read the article again and complete the following sentences with one, two or three words.

1. Captain Tom’s efforts to raise money for hospitals , resulting in more

than £32 million being raised.

2. Studies have found that can lower the chances of serious medical
issues such as arthritis, cancer and diabetes.

3. It’s been noted that giving blood hurts patients less than when it is taken for a test, with the
conclusion that doing things for others can .

4. Concern that kindness will be confused with causes some people

to hesitate to help others.

5. Others don’t want to cause to themselves or others by offering

help when it isn’t required.

6. The way we respond to reward corresponds with the same sensations caused by
to people.

7. The pandemic created an increased concern for the of others in

Germany.

8. It has been noted that a , such as a pandemic or a war, can increase

the frequency with which people commit acts of kindness.

Random acts ...

What we know about kindness

A. On the 6th April, 2020, Captain Tom Moore began
walking in his garden to raise money for British
hospitals. The world was at the beginning of the
B.
Covid-19 pandemic and hospitals were having an
extremely difficult time. His aim was to do ten lengths
of his garden per day which may not sound like much,
but Captain Tom was 99 and needed a walking frame
to get around. He aimed to complete his goal before
his 100th birthday on 30th April and raise £1000.
He gained international attention and was hailed as
a hero. He ended up raising over £32 million. His
efforts symbolised the kindness towards others that
were needed at such a difficult and frightening time
for the world.
But kindness isn’t just good for the people on
the receiving end. Studies show that it is good
for the person bestowing their kindness on others.
Volunteering, for example, can lead to the chance
of an early death being 24% lower than if you
don’t give up your time to help others. It reduces
the type of swelling which causes heart disease,
arthritis, cancer and diabetes. Perhaps unsurprisingly,
volunteers spend roughly 38% fewer nights in
hospital, according to studies conducted in Spain,
Jamaica, Uganda and Egypt. Kindness can also reduce
pain. People who were giving blood were shown to
feel less pain than those who were having their blood

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BEING KIND

extracted for a test, even though a larger needle was
being used for the former.
C. Despite this, acting kindly can be difficult for many,
particularly with people we don’t know.
of people worry that acts of kindness will be
misunderstood or perceived as weakness. Take for
example, offering someone a seat on a bus. Some
people will infer that you are seeing them as more
fragile and may respond in a hostile way.
embarrassment of offering a seat to a pregnant
woman only to be informed she isn’t pregnant has
happened to more than a few good-hearted people.
Yet we all welcome acts of kindness. A BBC survey
reported that 16% of participants had received an act
of kindness from others within the last hour, 43%
within the last 24 hours. Words such as ‘grateful’,
‘happy, ‘loved’ and ‘pleased’ were used to describe
the experience.
D. Neuroscientists have found that doing things for
others lights up the same parts of our brain which
respond to reward. It may explain why, during times
of crisis, people can be more motivated to help
others. In the UK during the first six months of 2020,
A lot the British donated £800 million more to charity
than they had during the same period the previous
year. In Germany, the percentage of people who
said that they cared about the well-being of others
increased by 22% between February and June. Those
The whose job it is to help others, medical professionals
around the world, became the focus of much public
gratitude. In France, a florist left bouquets of flowers
on the cars of 400 workers at the local hospital. It was
a difficult time, but the sense of shared crisis led many
to find joy in helping others. So, if you’re in need of a
boost to your mood, perhaps you should go and do a
random act of kindness for someone. You’ll both feel
better for it.
Source: The BBC

6 Talking point

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Do you know of anyone in your country who raised a large amount of money for a cause? What
happened?
2. Have you ever raised money for charity or a cause? What did you do?
3. Are you, or anyone you know, involved in volunteering? What do you/they do? Who is it to help
and why?
4. What are the most popular charities in your country? Why are they the most popular?
5. Do you think people feel that being kind can be seen as a weakness? Why/Why not?
6. Do you think young people should have to volunteer to help a charity or cause when they are
younger? Why/Why not?

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BEING KIND

7 Homework/optional extension - Skimming for vocabulary

Read the article on page five and find words which mean the same as the following.

1. a metal structure to help elderly people or people with leg problems move
around (n, para. A)
2. describe someone in a positive way (v, para. A)

3. being the person that a particular action or emotion is directed at (idiom, para.
B)
4. give in a respectful way (v, para. B)

5. a condition where something gets larger due to infection or a medical problem

(n, para B)
6. take something out (v, para. B)

7. very weak or easy to hurt (adj., para. C)

8. angry and aggressive (adj., para. C)

9. a display to show how thankful someone is (n, para. D)

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BEING KIND

Transcripts

3. Listening

Speaker 1 (male): I think above all they show tolerance towards all people. Some people are kind,
but just towards people they know or people they secretly want something from.
That’s not really being kind. I think real kindness is when you can be warm-
hearted towards people from all backgrounds. Also, you need to be considerate
of people around you. An elderly lady picked up my wallet that I’d accidentally
dropped the other day and gave it back to me. I was really touched. She was
carrying her shopping, so I carried it to the bus stop for her. I felt great all day
about that. She was really thankful and she saved me a lot of trouble as my
wallet had all my cash and credit cards in it.

Speaker 2 (female): Oh, well I’d been out with my friends to the theatre for the evening and I was
on my way home. I got to the train station and realised that I didn’t have my
purse with me. I still don’t know if I’d put it down somewhere or if it had been
stolen. Either way, I had no money, it was raining and there was only one more
train. I had no idea what I could do because none of my friends lived close by
and obviously, I had no money or cards or anything! This guy came over to me.
I was worried at first, but I think he could just see I was really distressed and
asked if I was OK. He ended up giving me the money for the train ticket home
and when we got to the station, he called my parents for me to come and pick
me up. He even waited with me to make sure I was OK. It really restored my
faith in humanity.

Speaker 3 (man): It snowed really heavily a few weeks ago and I knew my elderly neighbour was
going to be in a difficult situation. I didn’t want her to be at the mercy of the
ice, so I went and cleared her garden path for her without her asking me – not
that she could ask me because she was trapped in her house (laughs). She said
it was really charitable of me and I felt good about it. It was really good exercise
too! She’s a really kindly lady and always used to give us sweets at Halloween
or gifts on our birthdays. She has always been a good neighbour, so I felt that
helping her out like that was the least I could do.

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BEING KIND

Key

1. Warm up

5 mins.
This gives students an introduction to the topic and also serves as a basis for the listening part later. Ask students
to discuss in pairs or small groups and circulate and help as needed.

2. Focus on vocabulary

5 mins.
Ensure students can correctly pronounce the target vocabulary. Ask students to do the task unaided in the first
instance, but allow them to use a reference later if needed.
Note: In the script, ‘mercy’ is used within the idiom ‘at the mercy of’. When the students have completed Part
A, you may want to elicit the meaning of the idiom. Give them an example, such as ‘I found myself without an
umbrella at the mercy of the wind and the rain.’ See if they can produce the meaning, which is: being unable to
stop something harming you or causing you difficulty if it chooses to.

1. → f. 2. → g. 3. → c. 4. → a. 5. → b. 6. → e. 7. → h. 8. → d.
Part B
10 mins.
Allow students to use a dictionary to complete this. You may want them to decide which part of speech can fill the
gaps before attempting to complete them. When they have finished, ask them to discuss the questions in pairs or
small groups to practise using the vocabulary.

1. intolerant 2. warm-heartedness 3. inconsiderate 4. distressing

5. humanitarian 6. merciless 7. uncharitable 8. unkind

3. Listening

Part A: Listening for gist

5 mins.
This gives students an opportunity to listen to the speakers ahead of the comprehension questions and get an
overview of what is being said.
The answers are:
Speaker 1: What does someone who is ‘kind’ do?
Speaker 2: What happened the last time someone was kind to you?
Speaker 3: What have you done recently that was kind?

Part B: Listening comprehension

5 mins.
Ask the students to read the questions before listening again and ticking the boxes. Note that they may have to
tick more than one box for each question.
Answers - table

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Speaker 1: (possibly a), b, c, e

Speaker 2: a, d, g
Speaker 3: b, e, f

4. Reading for gist

5 mins.
Set a strict time limit to encourage students to skim rather than read for detail.

1. Paragraph D 2. Not used 3. Paragraph C

4. Paragraph A 5. Not used 6. Paragraph B

5. Reading comprehension

10 mins.
Ask students to read more carefully and complete the sentences so that they are grammatically correct with one,
two or three words from the text. You may want to pair weaker students with stronger ones.

1. gained international attention 2. volunteering

3. reduce pain 4. weakness
5. embarrassment 6. being kind
7. well-being 8. shared crisis
Sources:
www.bbc.com/future/article/20220323-what-stops-people-from-being-kinder
www.bbc.com/future/article/20210921-what-we-do-and-dont-know-about-kindness
www.bbc.com/future/article/20201215-why-being-kind-to-others-is-good-for-your-health

6. Talking point

10 mins.
Ask students to discuss the questions in pairs or small groups.

7. Homework/optional extension - Skimming for vocabulary

5 mins.
This offers additional vocabulary support and can be completed before or after the reading comprehension.

1. walking frame (n) 2. hail (v) 3. on the receiving end (idiom)

4. bestow (v) 5. swelling (n) 6. extract (v)
7. fragile (adj.) 8. hostile (adj.) 9. gratitude (n)

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