Oxford worksheets 30 pages

Oxford University Press ELT

Activity Worksheets


1
Dear Educator,
Thank you for participating in our survey! To show our appreciation, here are 15 reproducible
worksheets that can be used in any course. The worksheets have been chosen for a variety of
levels, language focus, and activity types. Also, where possible, both American and British
English options are given.
This material has been excerpted from our best-selling adult titles: Smart Choice, American
Headway / New Headway, and American English File / New English File. Each worksheet also
comes with its accompanying instructions and answer key.
For more free activities and information about each of these series, please visit:
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Contents
Worksheet
Guess who?

Find the differences

A visitor!

Language Focus
Present
continuous
third-person;
yes/no
questions
Present
continuous
questions and
statements
Questions and
answers with
can

Snakes and ladders

Articles

Baker’s dozen

Have to

What’s the phrase?

A game of past, present,
future

The birthday present

Verbs and nouns
that go together,
e.g., make a
complaint
Questions
formation with
Present Simple,
Past Simple and
going to and
question words
Past Simple and
Continuous

Freud painting tops Tate
Gallery card sales

Relative clauses

Did it really happen to you?

Narrative tenses

Describing game

Vocabulary

Wishes
Guess the sentence
Grammar auction
Revision

Wish + past
simple, would, or
past perfect
Clauses of
contrast and
purpose
Third-person
pronouns with
be
General revision

Time

Activity

Source

25-35
minutes

Guessing game

Smart Choice
Starter

30-40
minutes

Picture cards

Smart Choice 1

30-40
minutes
25-30
minutes
35-45
minutes

Gap-fill
Board game
Crossword

20-35
minutes

Phrase cards

25-40
minutes

Three in a row

25-40
minutes
20-30
minutes
25-35
minutes
25-35

minutes

American
Headway 2

New Headway
Pre-Intermediate

Picture story
Reading/Gapfill
Question
prompts

American English
File 4

Picture game

30-40
minutes

Two-page
activity

30-40
minutes

Pair work
activity

30-40
minutes

Grammar
game

40-45
minutes

Question
prompts

New English File
UpperIntermediate


Unit 7 Worksheet 1

Smart Choice Starter Second Edition

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Guess who?

Aim
To guess a mystery person
Language focus
The present continuous third-person yes/no questions
Lesson link
Use after Language Practice (p. 47)

Materials
One worksheet per student
Customize your worksheet by:
•

Changing the names of the people. You can include the names of people the students will know.

•

Changing the activities the people are doing and the clothing that they are wearing.

•

Including any additional vocabulary that your students have learned.

Set-up (5 minutes)
Divide the students into groups of four. Give a handout to each student.
Write on the board:
Ms. Green
Now: dancing
writer
pants
T-shirt
boots

Ms. Brown
Now: dancing
writer
pants
shirt

boots

Tell the class that you are thinking of one of these people. Have the students ask you yes/no questions to
guess the person. For example:
Q
A
Q
A
Q
A

Is she dancing?
Yes, she is.
Is she wearing a T-shirt?
No, she isn’t. She’s wearing a shirt.
Is she Ms. Brown?
That’s right!

Procedure (20 minutes)
Have the students choose one person from the chart. They must not say who it is.
Students ask questions to find out the other students’ secret person. A correct answer wins one point. The
student with the most points wins. Have the students take turns asking questions.
Extension (10 minutes)
Divide the students into new groups of four. Have the students describe what their former partners are
wearing. The others try to guess the classmate.

© Oxford University Press. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.


UNIT 7 • W ORKSHEET 1

SMART CHOICE STARTER SECOND EDITION

GUESS WHO?

Guess who?
Ms. Hall

Ms. Fernandez

Ms. Christie

Ms. Elliot

Ms. Reno

Now: watching TV

Now: dancing

Now: dancing

businesswoman
jeans
shirt
boots

writer
pants
T-shirt

boots

Now: listening to
music

Now: listening to
music

Ms. Kobayashi

Ms. Lee

Ms. Jones

Ms. Sella

Ms. Di Matteo

Now: watching TV

Now: listening to
music

Now: dancing

Now: watching TV

Now: dancing

student

pants
T-shirt
sneakers

writer
jeans
sweater
boots

businesswoman
shorts
T-shirt
sneakers

teacher
jeans
T-shirt
boots

teacher
shorts
shirt
sneakers

businesswoman
shorts
sweater
sneakers

writer

pants
shirt
boots

teacher
shorts
sweater
sneakers

Ms. Keegan

Ms. Wong

Ms. Green

Ms. Smith

Ms. Suzuki

Now: dancing

Now: watching TV

Now: dancing

Now: watching TV

businesswoman
pants
shirt

boots

writer
jeans
sweater
sneakers

Now: listening to
music

teacher
shorts
T-shirt
sneakers

businesswoman
pants
shirt
boots

Ms. Black

Ms. Brown

Ms. Goode

Ms. White

Ms. Kim

Now: watching TV

Now: dancing

Now: watching TV

retired
jeans
T-shirt
sneakers

teacher
pants
shirt
boots

Now: listening to
music

Now: listening to
music

writer
shorts
shirt
sneakers

businesswoman
pants
sweater

boots

Is she listening
to music?

Is she wearing boots?

Is she Ms. Green?

© Oxford University Press. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.

student
jeans
T-shirt
sneakers
Yes, she is. She’s
listening to music.
No, she isn’t. She isn’t
wearing boots.

That’s right! She’s Ms.
Green. OK. Your turn.

writer
pants
sweater
boots


Unit 5 Worksheet 2

Smart Choice Level 1 Second Edition

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Find the differences

Aims
To find the differences between two pictures
Language focus
Present continuous questions and statements
Lesson link
Use at the end of the unit
Materials
One pair of cards per pair of students; one student gets Picture A and the other gets Picture B
Set-up (5 minutes)
On the board draw a stick picture of a person with a ball at his feet. Write the name Simon under the picture.
Ask one student what Simon is doing. Elicit “Simon is playing soccer.” Erase the ball and ask what he is doing
now. Elicit “Simon is walking” or “Simon is going for a walk.”
Procedure (25 minutes)
Divide the students into pairs. Give each pair a set of pictures, A and B. Have the students ask each other two
questions about what the people in the pictures are doing.
Have each pair of students find six things about the pictures that are different. If necessary, help them by
writing an example on the board:
A: What is Ali doing in your picture?
B: Ali is reading a fashion magazine.
A: Oh! In my picture, Ali is reading a sports magazine.
When they have found six differences, have them take turns making sentences to describe the differences: In
Picture A, Joe is eating cake; but in Picture B, he is eating ice cream.
Extension (10 minutes)

Divide the students into groups of four. Have Students B, C, and D in each group perform a different action.
Student A says what each person is doing. Then have Student A turn around. One of the other students
performs a different action. The other two perform the same action.
Student A turns around and tries to find the student performing the different action. Student A then reports
what the new action is.

© Oxford University Press. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.


UNIT 5 • W ORKSHEET 2

SMART CHOICE LEVEL 1 SECOND EDITION

FIND THE DIFFERENCES

A
Kelly

Yukiko

Miranda

Ricardo

Joe
Jeff
Ali

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------

B
Kelly

Yukiko

Miranda
Joe
Jeff

Ali

© Oxford University Press. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.

Ricardo


Unit 9 Worksheet 2

Smart Choice Level 1 Second Edition

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

A visitor!

Aim
To have a conversation about things we can do in town
Language focus
Where can I ___?; You can ___ at ___.
Lesson link
Use at the end of the unit

Materials
One story sheet per student
Customize your worksheet by:
•

Replacing the pictures with pictures of students, teachers, or celebrities.

•

Changing the dialogue to include different activities, places, and interests.

Set-up (10 minutes)
Give one story sheet to each student. Give the students a minute or two to look the sheet over.
Have one student come to the front of the class with their story sheet. Say to the student, “I am Tiffany. Let’s
read together.” Perform the first five lines of the dialogue; read the Visitor lines and have the student read the
You lines.
Then say to the student, “Now, you are Ross.” Repeat the Set-up, this time reading the You lines while the
student reads the Visitor lines.
Procedure (20 minutes)
Divide the students into pairs. Have one student play the role of Tiffany. Ask them to perform the dialogue
together. The student playing the role of Tiffany imagines what type of questions she would ask.
Have the students repeat the dialogue twice, with the student who played Tiffany going on to play one other
role. Then have the students change places and perform the dialogue two more times.
Extension (10 minutes)
Have the students perform the dialogue two more times, with the students asking real-life questions based on
their own preferences and interests. When they finish, have them switch roles. If time allows, students can
report to the class what their partners wanted to eat, see, buy, and do.

© Oxford University Press. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.

UNIT 9 • W ORKSHEET 2

SMART CHOICE LEVEL 1 SECOND EDITION

A VISITOR!

A Visitor This Weekend!

Who is your visitor?

Tiffany

Ross

You

Welcome to ________________________! How are you?

Visitor

Good, thanks. But I’m really hungry! Where can I get something to eat?

You

You can go to ______________________________________________.

Visitor

OK. Also, I want to go shopping. Where can I buy ___________________?

You

Why don’t you go to ________________________________________?

Visitor

Thanks. Oh, and where can I __________________________________?

You

____________________________________________________.

Visitor

What else can I see and do here?

You

_________________________________________________________.

Visitor

Wow! Everything sounds really fun! Thanks!

You

You’re welcome!

© Oxford University Press. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.

Grandma


*$)

Snakes and ladders

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Explain that students are going to play a game of snakes and
ladders to practice the grammar and vocabulary from Unit 4.
Brainstorm quickly all the things they studied in the unit. Ask
them what they found easy and what they found difficult.

s

Make sure students are familiar with the language they need to
play the game, e.g., roll the die, move the marker, it’s your/my turn,
go up the ladder, go down the snake.

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Divide students into pairs or groups of three and give each group
a copy of the board game, some markers, and a die. (If you have a
large class, ask each group to choose a student as referee and give a
copy of the answers to him/her.)

s

Look at the board game with the class. Explain that there are three
types of questions: say the missing word (e.g., 2, 4, 6), correct the
sentence (with Correct it!), and choose the correct answer (e.g., 5,
12, 16).

s

Tell students to put their markers on the Start square. They take
turns rolling the die, moving their markers, and doing the tasks
on the squares they land on. If the answer is correct, the player can
roll again. If the answer is not correct, the player’s turn ends. (The
referee does not say the correct answer in case another player lands
on the square.)

s

If a player lands on a square with a ladder, he/she moves to the
top of the ladder, but only if he/she answers the question at the
bottom correctly. If a player lands on a snake’s head, he/she moves
to the bottom of the snake and waits until his/her next turn before
rolling again. Go around the room to check that students are
playing correctly, and to act as referee if necessary.

s

The first student in each group to reach the Finish square wins
the game.

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*)

**

She’s very
popular.
a
of stamps

)0

I need
some shaving
cream / liquid.
)(

How
people came?

Correct it!

Correct it!

)/

Athens is
capital of Greece.

))

We have the
dinner at 8 P.M.

I have a cold.
I need to
buy some
diapers / tissues.

I need
more time.

Correct it!

)+

(.

(*

(+

Correct it!

(-

You buy olive
oil in a
supermarket /
drugstore.

He speaks a
English.

/

),

I booked tickets
on
Internet.

a
of milk

0

)-

a
of
toothpaste

(/

()

('

).

My father’s
policeman.

Did you
get
nice for your
birthday?

You put a
card in
a package / an
envelope.

*,

FINISH

I’m bored.
There’s
good on
television.
(0

((

Correct it!

)*

She has a lot
friends.
)'

*+

I’ve done my
homeworks.

likes her.
*'

Correct it!

Correct it!

How much it
costs?

.

I don’t
have
money, just
a couple of
dollars.

a
of toilet paper
(

)

Correct it!

*

+

What
beautiful day!

START
a
of bread

(,

-

,

bookstore / library

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Baker’s dozen

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s Play a job guessing game with the class. Describe a job for
students to guess, e.g., This person has to work outside all day. He/
She takes care of animals (farmer).

s Ask individual students to describe a job for the class to guess.
s Sketch a crossword puzzle on the board and elicit the word
crossword. Use the puzzle to elicit the words across and down.

s Check that students are able to use language for taking turns
correctly, e.g., You start. Should I start? It’s my/your turn. Whose
turn is it?

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s Explain that students are going to work in pairs to complete a
job crossword puzzle. Students are going to take turns giving
definitions to their partners. Explain the significance of the
activity title (a baker’s dozen means thirteen). (This was the way
bakers supplied bread in the past. They always added an extra
loaf because there were big fines to pay if they were found to be
supplying bread under an agreed weight.) Tell students that the
activity is called Baker’s dozen because there is a thirteenth secret
job. The aim is to complete the other jobs to find out what it is.
The letters making up the thirteenth job are in the shaded boxes.

s Divide students into pairs. Give Students A crossword A, and
Students B crossword B. Tell them not to show each other
their crosswords.

s Allow students time to prepare their definitions. Encourage
students to define their jobs as clearly as possible to help their
partners complete the blanks. Go around the room helping with
vocabulary as necessary. You may want to pair Students A and
Students B during this preparation stage.

s Students work in pairs to complete the crossword and then try to
figure out the mystery job (hairdresser).

s Review the answers as a class.

s Play Twenty questions with the class. Think of a job, e.g., dentist.
Students can ask you a maximum of 20 questions to try to guess
the job, e.g., Do you work inside? Do you earn a lot of money? Do
you have to wear a uniform? You can answer only Yes or No.

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Ask a student to come to the front of the class and sit with his/her
back to the board. Tell the class that you are going to write a
verb/noun phrase on the board and they are going to describe it
to help the student guess the phrase. They can do this by
explaining the phrase or giving an example in context, but they
shouldn’t say the phrase.

s

Write tell a lie on the board and invite students to call out an
explanation, e.g., If you say something that is not true, you do this.

s

When the student has guessed both the verb and noun correctly,
invite another student to sit with his/her back to the board and
write another phrase on the board, e.g., miss the bus. Students
might elicit this by giving an example in context, e.g., Sorry I’m
late, but I … .

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s

Explain that students are going to play the same game in groups,
to review the verb/noun phrases that they studied on Student
Book page 77.

s

Divide students into groups of three to five. Give each group a set
of cards, placed in a pile facedown on the table.

s

In their groups, students take turns picking a card and describing
the verb/noun phrase. The first student in the group to guess the
phrase correctly wins the card. Go around the room checking
that students are playing correctly, and helping them with their
definitions if necessary.

s

Play continues until all the cards have been described. The
student with the most cards in each group wins the game.


s

Dictate the following sentences to the class or write them on
the board:
Are you good at keeping secrets?
Is it ever necessary to tell a lie? When?
Have you ever lost any money?
Do you keep a diary?
What’s the best present you’ve ever received?

s

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Students discuss the questions in pairs.

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make a complaint

carry an umbrella

give someone a ride

do your homework

give advice

make a phone call

tell a lie

give someone a present

carry a briefcase

keep a diary

tell a story

keep the peace

miss the bus

lose weight

miss the target

wear a watch

discover gold

lose the game

keep a secret

discover a cure

lose your way

~

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Headway
New

TEACHER’S NOTES

Unit 1 A game of past, present, future
AIM
To practise asking and answering questions
about the present, past, and future

LANGUAGE

Pre-Intermediate

FOURTH EDITION

Pre-activity (5 minutes)

t
t

Questions formation with Present Simple, Past
Simple and going to and question words

SKILLS
Speaking

MATERIALS
One copy of the worksheet for each group of
four students

HOW TO CUSTOMIZE
You can change this worksheet on computer
or by hand, using the customizable version.
Here are some ideas:
™ Change the questions to make them
relevant to the members of your class.

SB p7

t

Write Where? on the board. Elicit more question words from the class,
and write them on the board as a list.
Write short answers to the questions in a jumbled order. For example:
Where?
What?
Why?
When?
Who?
How?
How many?
How much?

Because I was tired.
By car.
Two weeks.
A lot.
Two
A bicycle.

My mum.
Last week.

How long?

Barcelona

As a whole-class activity, students match the questions with the answers.

Procedure (20 minutes)

t
t

t
t

Students work in pairs. Hand out one copy of the worksheet to groups
of four students – two sets of pairs.
Students are going to play the game Three in a row, where they ask and
answer three present, past, or future questions from adjacent prompts
on a game board. The aim is for each pair of students to ask and
answer three questions correctly, each with a follow-up question and
answer, e.g. Where / go / last summer?
A Where did you go on holiday last summer?
B I went to Italy.
A Who did you go with?
B I went with my family.
The questions for each round must be next to each other – vertically,
horizontally, or diagonally.

The other pair judge whether the questions and answers are correct. For
each question the pair ask and answer correctly, Pair A draws a cross (x),
Pair B draws a circle (o) next to that question on the game board.
If either pair gets three questions correct in a row, they ‘win’ those
questions and can cross them out – the other pair may now not use
these crossed out questions.
What / like
about living
in your home
town?

t
t
t

Where / do /
homework?

Who /
live with?

The game is over when there are no questions left to ask. The winning pair
is the one who has the most points (so the most sets of ‘three in a row’).
Go around listening, checking that students are using question forms
correctly. Make a note of any common errors.
When everybody has finished, have a class feedback session. Write up
common errors on the board, and ask students to correct them.

Extension (15 minutes)

t

Ask pairs to choose three questions from the game and write out dialogues
for each of these. The dialogues should include three or four questions.
Photocopiable Teacher’s notes © Oxford University Press 2012


Headway
New

Unit 1 A game of past, present, future

SB p7

Pre-Intermediate

FOURTH EDITION

THREE IN A ROW
Married?

What / like
about living
in your
hometown?

Where / do /
homework?

Who /

live with?

What type /
mobile / have?

Why / chose
/ to study
English?

Who / favourite
teacher /
secondary
school?

How many
friends / have
on Facebook?

What / the last
film / see?

Where / go /
last summer?

Where / go
holiday?

What / get /
last birthday?

Where / born?

Which part /
English / find
most difficult?

How/
learn new
vocabulary?

What / do /
next weekend?

Know how /
use chopsticks?

Where / buy /
shoes?

What /
favourite meal?

Use / Twitter?

Can / play /
instrument?

How much
water / drink
every day?

How many
texts / send
a day?

Which /
favourite room
/ your house?

When / learn /
read?

How often /
use / Internet?

In your class
whose hair /
longest?

How often /
send emails?

Where /
parents / from?

What / average
salary /
your country?

How often /

make mistakes
/ English?

How often /
chat / friends
online?

How old /
grandfather?

What / have in
common with /
mother?

How many
languages /
teacher speak?

Where / meet
your best
friend?

Photocopiable Worksheets © Oxford University Press 2012


Unit 3 The birthday present
AIM
To put a picture story in order, then retell the
story

LANGUAGE
Past Simple and Continuous
(Extension: adverbs.)

SKILLS
Speaking and Writing

MATERIALS
One copy of the cut up worksheet for each
pair of students

HOW TO CUSTOMIZE
You can change this worksheet on computer
or by hand, using the customizable version.
Here are some ideas:
™ Replace the pictures, either drawn by hand,
or from another source.
™ Invite your students to draw their own
pictures.

ANSWERS
Suggested order: c, f, i, a, e, l, b, d, k, h, j, g
A married couple was window-shopping in a
fashionable shopping mall when the woman saw a
beautiful hat that she really liked in a designer shop.
It was her birthday the following day, so her
husband decided to buy her the hat. He also
bought them tickets to the theatre to see
a popular show. His wife was very happy
when she received her birthday presents: the

beautiful hat and the theatre tickets.
They were having dinner at home when the
man realized they were late for the theatre.
They arrived at the theatre just in time to catch
the start of the show – they barely had time to
check in their clothes at the cloakroom. They sat
comfortably and watched the show. Afterwards,
the man quickly checked out their clothes from
the cloakroom, but the cloakroom attendant didn’t
give him the beautiful new hat! His wife was really
upset, and she cried while her husband was having
an argument with the cloakroom attendant.

Headway
New

TEACHER’S NOTES

SB p23

Pre-Intermediate

FOURTH EDITION

Pre-activity (5 minutes)

t
t

Ask students what the most expensive thing they ever bought in a shop

was. Ask them if they bought it for themselves or as a present.
Ask them how they felt about buying it, and if they still have the
object.

Procedure (20 minutes)

t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
t

Explain that students are going to put some pictures from a story
about a birthday present into the correct order and then retell the
story. Write The birthday present on the board.
Pre-teach/check the following key vocabulary:
window-shopping designer shop gift box queue
box office cloakroom cloakroom attendant
Divide the students into pairs and give each pair a jumbled set of
picture cards.
Ask students to look at the pictures first and make a list of all the
adjectives they could use to describe the objects, the people, or the
people’s feelings in the pictures.
Tell students that the letters a–l do not give the correct order.
Ask students to try and put the pictures into the correct order. Ask

them as a class to say which they think is the first picture (c).
Explain that they need to talk in detail about what happens in the
story. Allow up to 10–12 minutes for them to do this.
Go around helping students where necessary. Encourage them to add
adverbs, and use both the Past Simple and Past Continuous forms.
Ask students to work with another pair. Each pair should retell their
story. The pairs can then discuss/debate any similarities or differences
between their stories.
The teacher should choose a pair who have the correct story and
ask them to retell it to the whole class. If there are any interesting
variations on the story, you may like to elicit those as well.

Extension (15 minutes)

t
t
t

Brainstorm some adverbs students could use to describe the events in
the story.
In pairs, students write down the story of The birthday present in their
notebook. This could be done as a dictation.
Encourage students to use adverbs and add details to make their
stories more interesting. Go around helping with vocabulary as
necessary.

They waited until everyone had taken their
clothes, but they still couldn’t find the new hat.
The man tried to comfort his wife.
The same evening, the man took his wife back

to the designer shop just before it was closing.
He bought her another hat.
When they got home, they realized the birthday
present was still on the table – they hadn’t taken
the new hat to the theatre after all!
Photocopiable Teacher’s notes © Oxford University Press 2012


Headway
New

Unit 3 The birthday present

SB p23

Pre-Intermediate

c

f

i

a

e

l

b

d

k

h

j

g

FOURTH EDITION

Photocopiable Worksheets © Oxford University Press 2012


American English File 4

7C relative clauses
_________________________________________
a
2 whose 3 who 4 whose 5 whose 6 whom
7 which 8 that / which 9 who 10 which
b
2 The man who / that I was talking to is a coworker
of mine. / The man to whom I was talking is a
coworker of mine.
3 She looks sick, which is a bit worrying.
4 He’s the famous politician whose wife left him last
week.

small groups
SS are dealt cards with prompts for anecdotes. They plan
what they are going to say, inventing details if they
haven’t had the experiences. Copy and cut up one set of
cards per group of three.
LANGUAGE Narrative tenses: simple past, past

continuous, past perfect (simple and continuous)
x Put SS in groups of three, and give each group a set of
cards, face down. The cards are then dealt out between
them, and each student looks at his / her cards. Now set
a time limit, e.g., two minutes, for SS to plan what they
are going to say. Stress that if they have had the
experience, to tell the truth, if not, to invent the details.
Help SS with the vocabulary they need if necessary.
Extra support SS may want to make notes on their
cards to help them tell their anecdotes.

5

This house, which was built in 1734, is one of the
oldest houses in the village. / This house, which is one
of the oldest houses in the village, was built in 1734.

The relative pronoun can be left out in sentence 1 and the
first possibility of 2 (i.e., with the preposition at the end
of the clause).

x Suggest that each student starts with I’m going to

tell you about a time when … Then SS take turns
telling their first anecdote. After each person has
spoken, the other two decide if the anecdote is true
or not. Monitor, help, and correct any misuses of
narrative tenses.
x If there is time, let each student tell three anecdotes.
Elicit responses to find out who was able to convince
the group of a story that wasn’t true.
Non-cut alternative Make one copy per pair. Put SS
into pairs and give them a few moments to read through
the cards. Tell SS to each choose two anecdotes to tell
each other. Give them a few minutes to plan what they are
going to say. They then alternate telling anecdotes.
Encourage SS to ask for more information where
appropriate.


American English File 4

SS define words / phrases for other SS to guess. Copy and
cut up one set of cards per pair or small group.
VOCABULARY Crime and punishment, weather, phrases

with take
x Put SS in pairs or small groups. Give each group a set
of cards facedown or in an envelope.
x Demonstrate the activity by choosing a different word
from one of the two Vocabulary Banks, and describe it
to the class until someone says the word, e.g., It’s a
noun. It’s a person who steals things from other

people’s houses = burglar.
Highlight that SS are not allowed to use the word on
the card in their definition.

x SS play the game, taking turns to take a card and
describe the word or phrase. The person who is
describing can’t let his / her partner see what’s on the
card. Tell SS to wait until the person has finished his /
her description before trying to guess the word.
Extra idea You could get SS to play this in groups
as a competitive game. The person who correctly
guesses the word first keeps the card. The player with
the most cards at the end is the winner.
Non-cut alternative Put SS in pairs. Copy one sheet
per pair and cut it down the middle. SS take turns
describing the words to their partner until he / she
guesses the word.


7
C

American English File 4 Teacher’s Book
Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2009

Grammar relative clauses

a Complete the article with which, who, whose, that, or whom.

N

Freud painting tops Tate Gallery card sales

A painting by the artist Lucian Freud is now the

painted with an intensity that is often shocking

best-selling postcard at the Tate Britain gallery in London.

and disturbing.

The sales of Freud’s Girl with White Dog have now

Although he works in a figurative style, Freud’s

overtaken the previous best-selling work of art,

work cannot be categorized easily. His importance,

1

7

which

was Ophelia, by John Everett Millais. Lucian

Freud, 2

had been recognized for a long time in

Britain, turned into a super-celebrity status after a

grandfather Sigmund Freud is known

as the father of psychoanalysis, was born

retrospective exhibition 8

in Berlin. The family moved to England

was held in Washington, D.C. in 1987.

in the 1930s, when his father, 3

Robert Hughes, 9

was an architect, decided to escape the

art critic for TIME magazine, described

threat of Hitler’s Germany.

Freud as “the greatest living realist

Lucian Freud, 4

was the

painter.”

paintings

Even more fame came later,

sell for large sums of money, is regarded
as one of the world’s most gifted

when a portrait by Freud sold for

figurative artists. He tends to concentrate

$33.6 million at an auction in 2008.

on portraits, 5

The painting, 10

subjects are

is a 1995

often friends or even relatives. These

portrait of a woman named Sue Tilly,

non-professional models, many of

broke the record for a work sold by

6

a living artist.

remain anonymous, are
Self portrait by Lucian Freud

b Link the sentences using a relative pronoun. In which ones do you not need to use a relative pronoun?
1 That’s the book. I told you about it.
That’s the book that / which I told you about .

4 He’s a famous politician. His wife left him
last week.
He’s the

2 I was talking to a man. He is a coworker of
mine.

.

The man
.

5 This house was built in 1734. It is one of
the oldest houses in the village.
This house,

3 She looks sick. It’s a little worrying.

.

She looks
.

178

EF_UpInt_TB_PCMs.indd 178

11/20/08 4:33:22 PM


2

B

Communicative Did it really happen to you?

A time you met (or were
very close to) a celebrity
N Where were you? Who were you
with? What had you been doing?

N Who was the celebrity? What was
he / she doing there? What did
he / she look like?

N Did you talk to him / her at all?
What about?

N Did he / she seem different

in any way in real life?

A time when your parents were
very angry with you about
something
N How old were you? What had you
been doing? Who with?

N How did your parents find out?
N Did they punish you? How?

American English File 4 Teacher’s Book
Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2009

A time when you read
something in your horoscope
and it came true

A time when you overslept
and missed something
important

N Where did you read it? What did

N What were you supposed to be

it say?

N How much later did it come true?
What exactly happened?

N Had anything like this ever
happened before?

N Do you still read your horoscope
regularly?

doing?

N Had you gone to bed very late the
night before? Why?

N Had you set an alarm clock?
N How late did you wake up? What
did you do?

N What happened in the end?

An important exam or test
you failed

A time when you lost
something important

N When did you take it?
N What kind of exam / test was it?
N Had you studied before you

N What was it? When?
N What had you been doing when

took it?

N How did you feel on the day of the
exam / test?

N Were a lot of people taking it at the
same time as you?

N How did you find out that you had

you realized you had lost it?

N How did you find out you’d lost
it? How did you feel?

N What action did you take?
N Did you ever find it again?
N Did losing it cause you any
problems?

failed? Were you surprised?

A time when you had a really
great birthday
N
N
N
N

How old were you? Where were you?
Who was celebrating with you?
Why was the birthday so great?
How did it end?

A time you won something
N What was it?
N When? Where? How old
were you?

N Were you expecting to win?
N How did you feel when you
realized you’d won?

A family vacation you
didn’t enjoy
N Where / When was it?
Who went?

N Had you been there before?
N What did you do there?
N Why didn’t you enjoy it?

N Did you celebrate? What did
you do?

200

EF_UpInt_TB_PCMs.indd 200

11/20/08 4:33:36 PM


1
3

American English File 4 Teacher’s Book
Photocopiable © Oxford University Press 2009

Vocabulary Describing
A
game

a burglar

a judge

a vandal

a hurricane

a jury

shoplifting

scorching

a storm

100

90

80

70

a blizzard

a flood

to kidnap

a slippery road

a fine

a pickpocket

lightning

a drought

to sweat

sunburned

to shiver

to take a risk

to take care of

to take it easy

foggy

below zero

223

EF_UpInt_TB_PCMs.indd 223

11/20/08 4:33:56 PM


7
A

7
C

Wishes

A pairwork activity
SS write about their wishes into a chart. They then swap
charts with a partner and ask each other to explain the
information. This is a two-page activity. Copy an A and a B
page for each pair.
LANGUAGE

L

L

L

L

L

wish + past simple, would, or past perfect

Put SS in pairs, A and B, and give each student their
corresponding sheet.
Focus on a and the instructions for the circles. Point out that
they each have different instructions for what to write. Make
it clear too that SS should just write words in the circles, not
sentences with wish, e.g. in A’s circle 1 he / she should write:
to play the piano – not I wish I had learned to play the piano.
Give SS five minutes to write answers in at least seven
circles. When they have finished, focus on b and c, and tell
them to fold their sheet in half (or tear off the instructions).
Now get SS to swap circles. Demonstrate the activity by
taking a copy from one student and asking him / her: Why
did you write…? and elicit: Because I wish… Ask follow-up
questions too to continue the conversation.
SS now do the activity in pairs. Tell SS that they can ask
about the information in any order. Monitor and help where
necessary, correcting any errors SS make using wish.

7
B

A class grammar game
SS revise the main grammar points of the book by playing a
game where, in pairs, they have to bid to try to ‘buy’ correct
sentences. Copy one sheet per pair.
LANGUAGE

L

L

L

A pairwork activity
SS practise using linkers of contrast and purpose by trying
to guess the missing part of their partner’s sentences. Copy
one sheet per pair and cut into A and B.
Clauses of contrast and purpose:
even though…, despite…, so as to …, etc.

Put SS in pairs, A and B, and give out the sheets.
Demonstrate the activity. Write these two sentences as large
as possible on two pieces of paper.
I’m going to the supermarket to buy some eggs because I want
to make a cake.
We enjoyed our holiday, even though the weather was bad.
Then write them on the board with the underlined phrases

gapped, and get the class to suggest which words could
complete the gaps. Tell them that they have to guess your
sentence, i.e. what you have written on a piece of paper. If
they guess wrongly, say: Try again. When they get the right
one say: That’s right, and show them the piece of paper.
L Focus on the activity and tell SS that half of their sentences
have gaps and that where A has a gapped sentence B has the
completed sentence and vice versa. The aim of the activity is
for SS to try and guess the missing phrases. They should
continue trying until they say the exact phrase their partner
has in his / her completed sentence. Highlight that there are
often several possibilities, but that SS have to try to say the
same sentence that their partner has. Their partner should
help and prompt as necessary.
L Give SS a few minutes to read their sentences and try to
think of possible phrases to fill their gaps.
L Student A begins by trying to guess the missing phrase in
his / her first sentence. Emphasize that when SS make their
guesses they should say the whole sentence. If it is wrong,
B says: Try again until A gets the right phrase, which he / she
writes it in the gap.
L Now B tries to guess his / her first phrase, and they continue
alternately.
L Find out which phrases SS found hard to guess.
196

General revision

Put SS in pairs. Give each pair the list of 21 sentences. Elicit
what an auction is = a public sale where things are sold to

the person who offers most money. Explain that SS have
1,000 euros (or dollars, depending on which currency they
are most familiar with). They have a list of sentences, some
of which are correct and some incorrect. They have to bid to
‘buy’ as many correct sentences as they can. Bids start at 50,
the next bid is 100, then 150, etc. SS must record on their
sheet how much they have spent on a sentence, in order to
calculate how much money they have left. The pair which
buys the most correct sentences is the winner.
Start with the first sentence and invite bids. Make the
activity more fun by using typical language of an auctioneer,
e.g. How much am I offered for this fantastic sentence? 50
euros, 100? Do I hear 150? Going, going, gone to Marc and
Andrea for 150 euros.
When you have ‘sold’ all the sentences, go through each one
eliciting whether it is correct or not and what the mistake is.
Then find out who bought the most correct sentences.
1 
2  Her name’s Marta, isn’t
it?
3 
4  She has beautiful long
dark hair.
5 
6  She’s a wonderful
student and she works
hard.
7  The missing man is
thought to be from
Manchester.

8 
9 
10  I would have enjoyed
the film more if it
hadn’t had subtitles.

Guess the sentence

LANGUAGE

Grammar Auction

L
L

7

11  He can’t have seen
you or he would’ve
said hello.
12 It looks as if it’s
going to rain.
13  We’d better go
now.
14 
15 
16 
17  I need to buy some
new furniture for
my living room.

18 
19  I wish I had more
free time!
20 
21 

Revision

Questions to revise vocabulary, verb forms, and
tenses
SS ask each other questions about the main vocabulary areas
from New English File Upper-intermediate using a range of
tenses and verb forms from Files 1–7. This could be used as
a final ‘pre-test’ revision. Alternatively it could be used as an
oral exam. Copy and cut up one set of cards per pair.
LANGUAGE
L

Grammar and vocabulary of the book

SS work in pairs. Give each pair a set of cards. Set a time
limit, e.g. ten minutes. SS take turns to take a card and talk
to their partner about the topic on the card, using the
prompts. Encourage SS to ask follow-up questions. Monitor,
help, and correct.