English B1 Threshold

In this unit, you will learn how to use modal verbs at the moment of making
UNIT IV: any decisions or suggestions also, you will learn about the first conditional to
do possible events in the future.

Lesson 1: Making decisions and suggestions

Can do: Give advice and suggestions to people

Vocabulary: Decisions and Suggestions

Grammar: Modals: Might, May, Will and Should

1 LISTENING/WRITING

a. Listen to a short audio about Carolina’s word of the year. Answer the next questions.

1. What was the speaker’s word of the year last year and
why?

2. Why did the speaker choose this year’s word of the year?

3. What new things she wants to improve in this year?

b. What is the purpose of the speaker in this audio?

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 Unit IV - Lesson 1: Making decisions and suggestions

2 READING/SPEAKING

a. Read the short text about Hurricane Mitch. Then, answer the following questions.

Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch struck Central America in late October
1998, leaving more than 11,000 people dead, destroying
hundreds of thousands of homes and causing more than
$5 billion in damages. It began as a tropical depression
on October 22, 1998 and by October 26 had intensified
into a Category 5 hurricane. Sustained winds reached 180
mph, while gusts were more than 200 mph. After making
landfall in Honduras on October 29.

Honduras and Nicaragua were especially hard hit by the

hurricane. In Honduras, floods and mudslides brought on by
heavy rainfall washed away entire villages, and the majority
of the country’s crops and infrastructure were destroyed. The
hurricane also took a major toll on Nicaragua.

in total, more than 11,000 people (some estimates put

the figure as high as 18,000) died because of Hurricane
Mitch, making Mitch the most deadly storm in the Western
Hemisphere since the Great Hurricane of 1780 in the eastern
Caribbean, in which more than 20,000 people perished.

In the aftermath of the disaster, the World Meteorological

Organization retired Mitch from its list of Atlantic Ocean
hurricane names, due to the storm’s devastating impact.
(Editors, 2009)

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1. When did the Hurricane strike Nicaragua?

2. How powerful were the sustained winds?

3. How many people passed away in Hurricane Mitch?

4. What were the countries that Hurricane Mitch struck?

b. Write a paragraph on your notebook giving recommendations about what to do at the

moment of a hurricane. questions.

e.g.
Nowadays, we can suffer from any natural disaster where we can lose many things even
our family, friends and pets. In this kind of situation people should keep calm and look for
a safe place…

Look at the example sentences with modals POSSIBILITY

might, may, will and should.
1. I will volunteer at Pablo Antonio Cuadra Certainly true Will
school. Probably true Should
2. I may start studying groups at night. Possible Might
but not sure May

Modals: Might, May, Will and Should

Go to grammar appendix on page 139

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 Unit IV - Lesson 1: Making decisions and suggestions

3 SPEAKING

a. Work in pairs. Give suggestions or recommendations about what to do in the different

situations shown in the pictures.
e.g.
Patricia’s dog is sick, she should take it to the vet…

1. dog is sick 2. hurricane 3. pollution 4. earthquake 5. civil war 6. car accident

b. Work in pairs. Ask and answer the following questions. Add two more questions.

1. Do you think the weather will be nice tomorrow?

2. Tell me something that you might watch tonight.
3. Someone that you may see or visit this week.
4. ____________________________________
5. ____________________________________

c. Work in groups. Make Role plays.

You are a doctor, give some advice to the following patients.

1. Patient A: 45 years old. Smokes 40 cigarettes each day.
2. Patient B: 17 years old. Suffers from asthma.
3. Patient C: 25 years old. Got indigestion.
4. Patient D: 35 years old. Suffers from diabetes.
5. Patient E: 10 years old. Suffers from gastritis.

4 WRITING

a. Give some recommendations to a friend who is going through a difficult situation.

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Lesson 2: Talking about real situations

Can do: Ask and answer questions in realistic possibility in the present or in the future
Vocabulary: Confusing words
Grammar: First conditional

1 READING

a. Read the following text about technology. Decide where the next sentence could best suit.
Then listen and check.
“What’s more, viewing posts with a lot of likes activates the rewards system in our brain.”

TECHNOLOGY NOWADAYS!
Thanks to the Internet and the widespread availability of personal
electronics, there has been a historic increase in the amount of
information available to the public. There is concern that this deluge
of information is physically restructuring our brain and negatively
impacting our cognitive abilities.

_________________________Technological advancement is taking place at a blinding speed

and shows little to no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Many people cannot live without internet. Nowadays, technology is like our daily bread. If everyone
continues giving much importance to this, the mankind will not have management of themselves.
Like it or lump it, technology develops many kinds of resources either good or bad that we live
stuck to. Social media is a major part of life. _________________________________
Teens spend more than half of their waking hour online. This could be worse than alcoholism.
Teens use some of their time to post pictures and create profiles
on social media accounts. But most of what they do is to read and
respond to posts of friends and family.
Clicking on a thumbs-up, heart or sad icon is an easy way to keep
in touch. But those likes can have power that goes beyond a simple
connection. _________________________________That means
that what you like online has the power to influence not just what others like, but even what they
do.
Almost all teenagers ask for money to their parents to have internet connection. Parents prefer to
pay for internet for their children to do their homeworks instead of buying books and they assume
that’s what their kids do, but they don’t really know. If they don’t supervise their children, they will
surf on any type of website. Our children will get out of our hands if we don’t look after them.

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 Unit IV - Lesson 2: Talking about real situations

b. According to the first paragraph, which of the following is a true statement?

1. It allows people spend more than half of their waking hours online.
2. It has led to an increase in the amount of available information.
3. Nowadays, technology is like our daily bread.
4. It might have a positive impact in our brains.
5. If they don’t supervise their children, they will surf on any

c. What type of text is this?

Unknown words
1. a newspaper
2. an article deluge = a great flood of water.
mankind = human beings thought of as a group without reference to sex
3. a history
Like it or lump it = to accept or allow something unpleasant or unwanted.
4. an essay
thumbs-up = an instance or gesture of approval or ncouragement.
beyond = on or to the farther side

d. Write true (T) or false (F).

1. Teens spend more than half of their waking hour online. __

2. Parents prefer to buy books for their children to do their homeworks instead of paying
Internet data plan____
3. Technological advancement doesn’t take place at a blinding speed and shows little to no
signs of slowing down any time soon. ___
4. technology is like our daily bread and it can make us feel like a robot. ___

Look at the example sentences with first conditional.

1. If everyone continues giving much

importance to this, the mankind will First conditional
not have management of themselves. Go to grammar appendix on
2. Our children will get out of our hands If page 141
we don’t look after them.

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2 LISTENING

a. Match the definitions with the words from the box. Then, listen and check.

1. used when you are saying what is true about a situation. ____ advise – advice-
2. used to give another reason for something. ____ principle–principal
currently-actually
3. to give something to someone for a period of time. ____ career-major
4. Not firmly or tightly fixed in place. ____ lend–borrow
5. Main, or most important ____ besides-beside
loose-lose
6. suggestions about what you think someone should do. ____
7. next to someone or something. ____
8. To tell someone that they should do something. ____
9. a belief about how you should behave. ____
10. To no be able to find someone or something. ____
11. at the moment. ____
12. to use something that belongs to someone else and then return it to them. ____
13. a job that you do for a lot of your life, especially one for which you are trained. ____
14. greater in dignity, rank, importance, or interest. ____

b. Listen to the next audio and complete with the correct word in the box.

advice, advise, beside, besides, lose, loose, principal

1. Many people refuse to eat meat on _____.

2. She was appointed university _______ in 2008.
3. Some people are very competitive and hate to ________a game or competition.
4. The surface is mainly composed of______soil and small stones.
5. The company’s main office is____ the railway station. _______ their regularly daytime
job, many people do extra work in the evening.
6. Can you __________ me on the best course of action to take?
7. He offered me some excellent ________.

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 Unit IV - Lesson 2: Talking about real situations

3 SPEAKING

a. Work in pairs. Ask and aswer the following questions.

Student A

1. What will you do if you don’t pass your

English exam?
2. If there is another global recession, do
you think you’ll be affected?
3. If the weather is good at the weekend,
will you go out?
4. If global temperatures continue to rise,
do you think it will be a problem?
5. If artificial intelligence continues to
improve, will it be the end of the human
race?

Student B

1. If you learn to speak English perfectly, how will it change your life?
2. If you have problems sleeping tonight, what will you do?
3. If you get a pay rise this year, what will you spend it on?
4. If you find 100 euros or dollars in the street this evening, what will you do?
5. If you are invited to a party this weekend, will you go?

b. Work in groups. Create a story using confusing words and the first conditional.

e.g.
1) if it is sunny this weekend, we will go to the park and I’m going to meet my brother-in-
law there…

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4 WRITING

a. Correct the mistakes from the paragraph and rewrite it on the space below.

Minerva is a single mother; she has a

handsome son. He is 7 years old. She didn’t
want to loose her lovely relationship, but she
couldn’t do anything to fix it. Minerva was
sitting in her room when she found some
photos of her wedding. After that, she saw the
pictures; she started to laugh at it instead of
crying. That day, she got dressed a lose dress.
A soon as she got divorced Minerva rented
a house with two friends. She lived with her
friends for 2 years. When she decided to not
continue living with her friends she went to her
mother’s house with her son. She actually lives with her mon. she didn’t want to live with her
mum, but she has to. She waits to have a good moment in family.

Now it is your turn…

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 Unit IV - REVIEW

REVIEW

1. Reading/Listening
Read and listen to the next text. Then, fill in the gaps.

If we _____________ our planet, it _________ major damage.

One of the problem is pollution and car fumes. If we ________
public transportation more often, our cities ________ cleaner. If the
Earth ______ warmer, the sea _______ warmer. And this will be a
complete disaster. If the sea _____ warmer, the ice at the north and
south poles _________. If sea levels _________there __________
floods around the world. That’s why it is important to be aware of
this big problem which affects everyone.

2. Speaking
Read and listen to the next text. Then, fill in the gaps.

1. Health
2. Money
3. Love

2. WRITINGad and

Work in groups. Write questions using the prompts below. Make sure to use Modal verbs in
negative or positive.

1. Cars use batteries instead of fuel

2. More people are homeless
3. People work less hours
4. People still read books
5. Computer games are more popular than TV
6. Everyone spends less time watching TV
7. A woman becomes president
8. We make contact with aliens
9. Scientists are able to clone human beings
10. We have enough food to feed the world
11. Men are able to have babies
12. Governments make laws about how many children you can have

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