24244 never ever

PRINT & TEACH LESSON

MARCH 2010

NEVER EVER
Language Function:

listening comprehension; understanding lyrics

Grammar Focus:

present perfect with time words; present perfect vs past simple

This lesson requires a
recording of
All Saints’ song:

Never Ever

advanced
upper-intermedia te
intermediate
pre-intermediate

focus on grammar:
present perfect with time words
I have never been an intellectual
but I have this look.
When we talk about events with words that mean
‘at some/any time up to now’, we normally use
the present perfect.

Have you ever been in love?
I’m almost sure I’ve met him before.
Have you seen any good films
recently? I’ve already read this book.
My son has never been to England.
I haven’t finished my homework yet.
We do not normally use the present perfect with
expressions which refer to a finished time, such
as: last month, two weeks ago, yesterday, etc.

I have never been
an intellectual but I have this look.

Were you in love when you married him?
I’m almost sure I met him two weeks ago.
Did you see any good film last night?
I read this book a couple of years
ago.
My son went to England when he was 16.
I didn’t go to school last week.


NEVER EVER

Activity 1. Choose the correct tense.
1. (Has / Did) the postman come yet?

6. She (has left / left) at six this morning.

2. We (havenʼt seen / didnʼt see) Johnʼs

daughter recently.

7. I donʼt think we (have met / met) before.

3. I (have received / received) an email from him
yesterday.

8. The shops (have already closed / already closed) for
the day.

4. When (have you got / did you get) married?

9. We (have stayed / stayed) in a 5 star hotel during
our holidays.

5. I (have never worked / never worked) for this
company.

10. I (have made / made) a lot of mistakes in my life.

focus on listening
Activity 2. Listen to the beginning of the song. What
questions the singer would like to ask her exboyfriend?
‣ How ..............................................................
..................................................................... so?
‣ What .............................................................
.............................................................. wrong ?
‣ How long ......................................................
.................................................................... on?
‣ Was .............................................................

......................................................... attention ?
‣ Did ..............................................................
......................................................... affection ?
‣ Did .............................................................
................................................................ right ?
‣ Did ..............................................................
................................................................ fight ?

All Saints enjoyed tremendous
success in Britain, the States and
Australia during the late 1990s. Their
biggest hit was Never Ever. Shazney
Lewis, one of four girls forming the
band, wrote the song after splitting
up with her boyfriend.
The song won 1998 Brit Awards for
Best Single and Best Video.


NEVER EVER

Activity 3. Listen to the whole song and underline the correct word in every pair.

All Saints

Album: All Saints
Lyrics and Music: Robert Jazayeri,
Shazney Lewis, Sean Mather

NEVER EVER

lyrics
A few questions that I need to know
how you could ever hurt me so
I need to know what I've done wrong
and how long it's been going on
Was it that I never paid enough attention?
Or did I not give enough affection?
Not only will your answers keep me sane
but I'll know never to make the same mistake again
You can tell me to my face or even on the phone
You can write it in a letter, either way, I have to know
Did I never treat you right?
Did I always start the fight?
Either way, I'm going out of my mind
all the answers to my questions
I have to find
My head's 1)
[steaming / spinning]
Boy, I'm in a 2)
[daze / days]
I feel 3)
[isolated / I’m so late]
Don't wanna communicate
I'll take a 4)
, I will scour [show / shower]
I will 5)
[run / rub]
To find peace of mind
The happy mind I once 6)
, yeah [owned /

owed]
7)
vocabulary runs right through me
[lesson / vexing]
The alphabet runs 8)
from A to Z [light /
right]
Conversations, hesitations in my mind
You got my conscience asking questions that I
9)
find [can / can’t]
I'm not crazy
I'm sure I ain't done nothing wrong, no
I'm just waiting

'Cause I heard this feeling
won't last that 10)
[long / wrong]
Never ever have I ever felt 11)
[so low /
solo]
When you gonna take me out of this 12)
hole? [rat / black]
Never ever have I ever felt so sad
The way I'm feeling yeah, you got me feeling really bad
Never ever have I had to find
I've had to 13)
away to find my own peace of
mind [dig / be]
I've never ever had my conscience to fight

The way I'm feeling, yeah, I just don't feel right
I'll keep 14)
[surgeon / searching]
15)
within my soul [Deep / Live]
For all the answers
Don't wanna hurt no more
I need peace, got to feel at ease
Need to be.
Free from pain - going insane
My heart aches, yeah
Sometimes vocabulary runs ...
I'm not crazy,
I'm sure ...
Never ever have I ever felt ...
Never ever have I had to find ... x4
You can tell me to my face,
You can tell me on the phone,
Uh, You can write it in a letter, babe
'Cause I really need to know


NEVER EVER

focus on vocabulary
Activity 4. Find these words and expressions in the lyrics of the song.
1.

.....................................................

not mentally ill

2.

....................................................

to turn around and around quickly

3.

....................................................

4.

....................................................

5.

....................................................

6.

....................................................

unable to think normally
to remove dirt from something by rubbing it hard with
something rough
causing someone to feel angry, annoyed or upset
the part of you that judges how moral your own actions are
and makes you feel guilty about bad things that you have

done
relaxed

7.

.....................................................

Game
You need: Objects which can be used as tokens
How to prepare: Sit in a circle (groups should consist of at least 4
players). Hand out the same number of tokens (e.g. 10) to each
person playing the game.

How to play: Each person, when it is his/her turn, says something

he/she has never done, but which he/she thinks or knows other
players have. For instance, the first person says, “I’ve never eaten
octopus”. All players who have eaten octopus must put one token in
the centre on the circle. They now have nine tokens left. The next
player says his/her sentence, “I’ve never driven a Porsche”.
Whoever admits they have driven a Porsche must put their token in
the middle. After a few rounds, players have fewer and fewer tokens.
Once someone turns in their last token, they are out of the game.

Who wins: The player who is the last person still in the game