NEW OPPORTUNITIES UPPER INTERMEDIATE WEBSITE RESOURCES

MODULE 1

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

This is a listening and speaking activity which you can do after Lesson 1 (Autobiography) of New
Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

‘SPOT THE LIES’

Materials: None (though you may wish to prepare some notes about your own life history – see
Step 1 below).
Time: One class lesson.

Step 1: Tell the students that you are going to tell them about your life. They must listen and guess
things that are not true (you could tell them how many things).

Step 2: Tell the students about your life. Try not to give away the false information!

Step 3: Divide the class into pairs. Students compare what they think was false in your
autobiography.

Step 4: Students tell you what they think was false and you say if they are right or not.

Follow-up
Students write notes for their own ‘autobiography’, including three or four false bits of infomation.
If students know each other well, tell them to think of some things that the other students cannot
possibly know about already. Students then take turns to tell the others about themselves. The others
guess the false information.

Example life story of Michael Harris, co-author of New Opportunities.

I was born in Cardiff, Wales, in 1955. I was very premature and only survived because the hospital
had installed an incubator in the hospital the week before. My first language was Welsh. I only
learned English when I went to live in England. I was brought up in the country on the borders of
England and Wales.
My first memory was nearly drowning in a sheep-dip (the place where they wash sheep) on a local
farm. I was saved by one of the farm labourers who heard the splash.
I went to school from the age of eight to thirteen on a small island off the island of Anglesey, which
is off the coast of Wales. School was a kind of Welsh Alcatraz with very harsh conditions. I tried to
escape twice, but was caught both times before reaching the mainland.
From the age of thirteen to eighteen I went to school in Devon in the south-east of England. My
favourite sports were cross-country running and rugby. I played twice in the England under-16
rugby team.
After leaving school I worked in Holland for three months building a park. I was sacked for
crashing a small tractor into a lake. I then hithchiked around Europe and got as far as Turkey before
running out of money.
I studied History at Cambridge University and then did a postgraduate course in education at
Oxford. After completing my studies I taught in Spain for a year and then a few months in Scotland.
When living in Edinburgh I took up playing the bagpipe, but had to give up due to complaints from
the neighbours.
I then spent two years travelling and teaching in South America. I worked in the Dominican
Republic, Colombia and Bolivia. I lived in Bolivia in a large house, most of which was in ruins. It
had scorpions in the bathroom and was invaded by hundreds of bats. I once spent a night in the local
prison for breaking the curfew. There was military rule in Bolivia at the time and a ten o’clock
curfew was in place. I spent a month travelling down the Amazon on cargo boats and was attacked
by piranhas while swimming in the river.
I returned to Europe and went to work in Madrid. I met my Spanish wife(to be) a week after
arriving. I worked for ten years in the British Council and then in the University of Alcala de
Henares. I met one of my co-authors while we were both were doing a hang-gliding course, and we
started writing materials together in 1987.
I currently live on a mountainside above the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in Spain at
1100 metres, higher than the highest mountain in England.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
(There are six things that are false in the example above:
1 first language was not Welsh, 2 didn’t try to escape from school, 3 didn’t play in the under-16
England Rugby Team, 4 didn’t play the bagpipe, 5 swam in the Amazon but was not attacked by
piranhas, 6 did not meet a co-author while on hang-gliding course)

MODULE 1

NAME: ____________________________________________________ CLASS: ____

AROUND BRITAIN QUIZ

1 Where is the main tennis tournament in the UK held?
a) Old Trafford

b) Twickenham

c) Wimbledon

2 Which two countries does the Channel Tunnel join?
a) England and Belgium

b) England and France

c) England and Ireland

3 Which writer was born in Stratford-upon-Avon?
a) Geoffrey Chaucer

b ) Charles Dickens

c) William Shakespeare

4 In which forest did Robin Hood live?
a) Nottingham Forest

b) Sherwood Forest

c) Swindon Forest

5 What was the birthplace of The Beatles?
a) Leicester

b) Liverpool

c) London

6 There is a dragon on the flag of which country?
a) England

b) Scotland

c) Wales

7 What is the approximate population of the UK?
a) fifty million

b) sixty million

c) seventy million

8 What does Wales have more per square kilometre than any other European country?
a) castles

b) coal

c) sheep

9 What is Spaghetti Junction?
a) A complicated road system
in Birmingham

b) an area of Liverpool with
many Italian immigrants

c) An Italian restaurant in
London

10 What is the only poisonous snake in the UK?
a) the adder

b) the python

c) the viper

11 What is the longest river in Scotland?
a) the Clyde

b) the Severn

c) the Tay

12 What is the oldest uiversity in Britain?
a) Cambridge

b) Durham

c) Oxford

13 In which city was Guy Fawkes born and Dick Turpin executed?
a) London

b) Oxford

c) York

14 In which city would you find Arthur’s Seat?
a) Camelot

b) Edinburgh

c) Norwich

15 What year did Elizabeth II become queen?
a) 1942

b) 1952

c) 1962

1 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

AROUND BRITAIN QUIZ

This is a reading activity you can do after Lesson 3 (National Identity) of New Opportunities
Upper Intermediate.

Materials: Copies of the quiz (one between two students will do)
Time: Twenty minutes.

Step 1: Give out copies of the ‘general knowledge’ quiz. Divide the class into pairs if you wish.
Give a set time to answer the questions (ten minutes?).
Step 2: Check the answers to the quiz. (It might be fairer to ask students to mark someone else’s
answers!) and find out who answered most correctly.

Answers and Background Notes
1c. Wimbledon. Old Trafford is the name of Manchester United football club’s stadium and also
Lancashire Cricket Club’s ground. Twickenham is the home of English rugby.
2b. England and France. There are only air and ferry links to Belgium and Ireland.
3c. William Shakespeare. Chaucer was probably born in London. Dickens was born near
Portsmouth.
4b. Sherwood Forest. Nottingham Forest is the name of a football club. Swindon forest exists, but
was not part of the Robin Hood legend.
5b. Liverpool. Their music gave birth to the ‘Mersey Sound’ of the early 1960s (named after the
river Mersey near Liverpool)
6c. Wales. The English flag is white with a red cross (St George’s cross) and Scotland’s is blue with
a white cross (St Andrew’s). Not to be confused with the national UK flag (the Union Jack) which is
red, white and blue.
7b. Sixty million.
8a. Castles.
9a. A complicated road system in Birmingham (named this for obvious reasons!)
10a. The adder.
11c. The river Tay. The Clyde runs through Glasgow. The Severn is in England.
12c. Oxford. The exact date is unknown, but it was founded before 1167, probably about 1117.
Cambridge was founded in about 1209. The oldest university is the Al-Azhar University of Cairo,
founded in 988. Durham is relatively modern, dating from 1832.
13c. York. Guy Fawkes plotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London in 1605, but was
caught ans executed. Dick Turpin was an eighteenth century English bandit who robbed
stagecoaches between London and York. He was hanged in York.
14b. Edinburgh. It is the name of the main peak of a group of hills near Edinburgh and may have
been named after a reference to King Arthur in an early Scottish poem. Camelot is the legendary
castle of King Arthur.
15b. 1952 (although the coronation ceremony did not take place until June 1953).

Follow-up: Ask students (in pairs) to think of a cultural or historical question about their country to
ask the class.

MODULE 1 Which Tense?

Task sheet for the student:

WHICH TENSE?

Choose the correct sentence for each context.

1. You're talking about your hobby.
a.  I collect coins from all over the world.
b.  I'm collecting coins from all over the world.

2. You have an appointment with your dentist.
a.  I'm going to the dentist tomorrow.
b.  I'll go to the dentist tomorrow.

3. You're inviting friends for dinner.
a.  I've been cooking a Thai curry.
b.  I've cooked a Thai curry.

4. You didn't see the robber.
a.  The robber had run away when I came into the room.
b.  The robber ran away when I came into the room.

5. You wanted to help the casualties of the accident.
a.  I called an ambulance when the accident happened.
b.  I was calling an ambulance when I the accident happened.

6. You are explaining why your trousers are dirty.
a.  I fell of my bike.
b.  I've fallen off my bike.

7. You are telling a story from your childhood
a.  I was in hospital for three weeks.
b.  I've been in hospital for three weeks.

8. You are a taxi driver.
a.  I am in the army.
b.  I've been in the army.

MODULE 2

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

Storytelling

Materials: None.
Time: One class lesson.

Step 1: Divide the class into pairs. Write the first and last sentence of a story on the board. Explain
they have to invent what happened in the middle.

Beginning: The most embarrassing thing that happened to me was when I went to a fancy dress
party ...

End: … to cut a long story short we started going out together.

Step 2: Students can write some notes if they wish, but they shouldn’t write the story in full.

Step 3: Students tell their stories to the rest of the class in the first person like a personal anecdote.
After they finish, they can vote which was the best version.

Follow-up: You might like to read out another version of the story (below).

The most embarrassing thing that happened to me was when I went to a fancy dress party. I was
going as Tarzan so I got hold of this costume. It consisted of a pair of swimming trunks made of
artificial leopard skin and a few artificial leaves.
Well, my dad dropped me off at the house where the party was. It was miles away from the centre
of town. So I got to the house and knocked on the door. After about ten minutes, there was still no
reply and I started to get a bit irritated. There was absolutely nobody there. Then I realised I’d got
the wrong day! It was on Friday, but it was the wrong week! Anyway, there aren’t any buses in
that part of town so I was in a real mess. It was about half past seven in the evening and I didn’t
have any money at all. So I had to start walking. It was a good thing that it was the middle of the
summer and it wasn’t very cold! Of course, people started looking at me as if I were crazy. A
group of kids laughed at me and made jokes like ‘Hey Tarzan! Where’s Jane?’ And then I got
totally lost. I haven’t got a very good sense of direction at the best of times, and I did not know
the area very well. So I had no idea where I was. Things were getting beyond a joke!
Well, I went up to this guy waiting at a bus stop. He was fortyish. I asked him how to get to the
centre and he started speaking to me in a foreign language. I think it was German, but I’m not
sure.By this time I was in a real state. But just at that moment, this girl came up. She’d been
standing in the queue for the bus. She was about my age, and she was wearing a kind of thing that
the Japanese wear - a kimono. She asked me where I wanted to go and I told her. Then when I
explained I hadn’t got any money, she offered to pay for my bus fare to the centre. Well, it turned
out that she’d been invited to the party and had made the same mistake as me! I asked her out
and, to cut a long story short, we started going out together.

MODULE 2

NAME: __________________________________________________ CLASS: _____

THE PICKWICK PAPERS by Charles Dickens

1 Before you read, check you understand these words.

cling, clutch, drown, emerge, faint, float, redden, scream, shout, skate, slide, splash, tremble,
turn pale

Which of them are related to these things?

· ice · holding people   · nervous reactions · noise   · water

2 Read the extracts from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. Choose the best alternative
according to the text - a, b or c.

1When someone suggested going ice skating, Mr Winkle was …
a) embarrassed b) enthusiastic c) bored
2 Sam had to help Winkle to his feet because he was …
a) very cold b) afraid of falling over c) very tired
3 When Sam said it was ‘not uncommon’ for ice to be slippery, he was being …
a) mildly sarcastic b) very helpful c) observant
4 Winkle mentioned the coats and the money to Sam because …
a) he was being generous b) he was delaying going on the ice c) Sam was helping him
5 Winkle crashed into Bob Sawyer because …
a) Sam deliberately made him crash b) he wasn’t looking c) he couldn’t stop
6 It was ... to get Mr Pickwick out of the water.
a) difficult b) easy c) impossible

Mr Pickwick and his friends visit Mr Wardle in the country at Christmas.
‘Now,’ said Wardle, after a substantial lunch; ‘what do you say to an hour on the ice? We have
plenty of time.’
‘Capital!’said Mr Benjamin Allen.
‘Prime!’exclaimed Mr Bob Sawyer.
‘You skate of course, Winkle?’said Wardle.
‘Ye-yes; oh yes;’ replied Mr Winkle. ‘I - I - am rather out of practice.’
‘Oh, do skate, Mr Winkle,’said Arabella. ‘I like it so much.’
‘Oh, it is so graceful,’said another young lady.
A third lady said it was elegant, and a fourth expressed her opinion that it was ‘swan-like’.
‘I should be happy, I’m sure,’said Mr Winkle, reddening; ‘but I have no skates.’
When someone announced that there were plenty of skates, Mr Winkle expressed exquisite
delight, and looked exquisitely uncomfortable.

Everyone went outside to the frozen pond and Bob Sawyer started skating brilliantly.
All this time, Mr Winkle, with his face and hands blue with the cold had been putting his skates
on. At last, with the assistance of Sam, Winkle was raised to his feet.‘Now, then, Sir,’ said Sam,
‘off vith you, and show ‘em how to do it.’
‘Stop, Sam, stop,’ said Mr Winkle trembling violenty, and clutching hold of Sam’s arms with the
grasp of a drowning man. ‘How slippery it is, Sam!’
‘Not an uncommon thing upon ice, Sir,’ replied Sam
‘Now Mr Winkle,’ cried Mr Pickwick, quite unconscious that there was anything the matter.
‘Come: the ladies are all waiting.’
‘Yes, yes,’ replied Mr Winkle with a ghastly smile. ‘I’m coming.’
‘Now, Sir, start off,’ said Sam.
‘Stop a moment, Sam,’ gasped Mr Winkle, clinging most affectionately to Sam. ‘I’ve got a
couple of coats at home that I don’t want, Sam. You may have them, Sam.’
‘Thank’ee, Sir,’ replied Sam.
‘You needn’t take your hand away,' said Mr Winkle quickly. 'I meant to give you five shillings
this morning for Christmas. I’ll give it to you this afternoon, Sam.’
‘You’re wery good, Sir,’ replied Sam.
‘Just hold me at first, Sam, will you?’ said Mr Winkle. ‘There - that’s right. Not too fast, Sam, not
too fast.’
At that moment Mr Pickwick innocently shouted - ‘Sam! Here, I want you.’
‘Let go, Sir,’ said Sam. ‘Don’t you hear Mr Pickwick calling? Let go, Sir.’
With a violent effort, Sam moved away; and in doing so gave a considerable push to the unhappy
Mr Winkle. That unfortunate gentleman went quickly towards the centre of the ice where Mr Bob
Sawyer was skating beautifully. Mr Winkle hit him and with a loud crash they both fell heavily
down.’

After this incident, some of the people started to slide on the ice without skates.
‘Do you slide?’ asked Wardle to Mr Pickwick.
‘I used to do it, when I was a boy,’ replied Mr Pickwick.
‘Try it now,’ said Wardle.
‘Oh do, please, Mr Pickwick,’ cried all the ladies.
Mr Pickwick pulled off his gloves, and put them on his hat, took two or three short runs and then
stopped. At last, he took another run and went slowly down the slide, to the shouts of all the
spectators who soon joined in.
The sport was at its height, the sliding was at its quickest, the laughter was at its loudest, when a
crack was heard. A large piece of ice disappeared and Mr Pickwick’s hat and gloves were floating
on the surface; this was all of Mr Pickwick that anybody could see.
The males turned pale and the ladies fainted. Mr Tupman ran off as fast as possible, screaming
‘Fire!’
At that very moment, a face, head and shoulders emerged from beneath the water, and disclosed
the features and spectacles of Mr Pickwick. After a lot of splashing and struggling, Mr Pickwick
was finally rescued and stood on dry land.

3 Has anything amusing happened to you while you were taking part in a sport?

MODULE 2

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

THE PICKWICK PAPERS by Charles Dickens

This is a supplementary reading activity which you can do after Module 2 (Laughter) of New
Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Materials: Copies of the text and questions.
Time: 30-40 minutes.

Step 1: Ask students to tell you what they know about Charles Dickens and then give them some
background to the text they are about to read.

The Pickwick Papers (1847) was the first novel by Charles Dickens (1812-1870) and it brought
him sudden fame. The book is about a group of gentleman who get together to form a club to
travel around England under the leadership of Samuel Pickwick. Key members of the club are the
romantic Tracy Tupman, the shy and nervous Nathaniel Winkle and the poetic Augustus
Snodgrass. They are accompanied by a servant called Samuel Weller. Later you can point out
some examples of Weller’s speech in the text, e.g. wery good for ‘very good’ and thank’ee or
thank thee for ‘thank you’.

Step 2: Give out the copies of the text and questions. Ask students to look at the vocabulary in
Exercise 1. Let them tell you which words they know. Either tell them the others or let them use
dictionaries to look them up.

Step 3: Ask students to read the extracts and answer the questions in Exercise 2. Remind them to
look at the strategies for answering multiple-choice questions in New Opportunities Upper
Intermediate page 16.

Answers: 1a, 2b, 3a, 4b, 5c, 6a.

Step 4: Ask the class to tell you any amusing things that have happened to them while playing sport.

Now write your own responses. Use the words in brackets and the correct tense.

1. You're out of breath.

Yes, ……………………………………………………….. (run 2 miles)

2. Can you give me a lift to town?

Sure, ………………………………………………………. (drive to town in the afternoon)

3. Did you hear the explosion?

No, ……………………………………………………….. (listen to some loud rock)

4. Do you like Mexican food?

Yes, ……………………………………………………….. (eat in a Mexican restaurant)

5. What time did Maggie come home last night?

I don't know, ……………………………………………… (go to bed early)

6. Which girl are you talking about?

That one, ………………………………………………….. (wear a black dress)

7. The kitchen floor is completely wet!

Sorry, ……………………………………………………… (wash up)

8. Is Jack your new boyfriend.

You can say so, …………………………………………… (see him a lot recently)

MODULE 3

NAME: ___________________________________________________ CLASS: ___

PICTURE DESCRIPTION

1 At home, look for two interesting photos in magazines and cut them. Or you could use photos
you have taken yourself. The two photos must be related in some way, showing …

• people in different moods (e.g. looking nervous, happy, sad), or

• people in different situations (e.g. on holiday, at a party, at work), or

•  people in different places (e.g. at the shops, in a restaurant, in the street).

2 Be prepared to answer these questions about your photos in class. Example answers are in
italics.

•  What are the situations in the two photos?
The first photo is taken in a very expensive restaurant showing a couple having dinner. The second
photo shows two people in a fast food place eating hamburgers.

•  What differences and similarities are there between the photos?
In both photos people are eating, but there are a lot of differences. The people in the first photo are
much older, maybe in their fifties, and they look as if they have got quite a lot of money. The people in
the second photo are in their teens, probably in their last year of school or maybe just starting
university. The first restaurant is much more expensive, but the young people seem to be enjoying
themselves more, They’re laughing and smiling, but the older people look a bit more serious

•  Which place would you prefer to go to?
The expensive restaurant! The food looks much nicer. The only problem is the price. To be honest, I
don’t really like fast food. I prefer local food from own country. Fast food is cheap, but can be
unhealthy because has lots of additives in it.

3 In class, present your photos to the other students and be prepared to talk about them for
about two or three minutes.

3 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

This is a speaking activity to practise taking about photos. You can do it during or after Module 3
(Style) of New Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Material: Each student needs to cut out two photos from magazines or bring two photos of their own.
Time: Preparation at home plus thirty minutes class time.

Step 1: A week before you want to do the activity, give out the task sheets and ask the students to look
for two interesting photos in magazines and to cut them out. The two photos should be related in some
way showing …

• people in different moods (e.g. looking nervous, happy, sad), or …

• people in different situations (e.g. on holiday, at a party, at work), or …

• people in different places (e.g. at the shops, in a restaurant, in the street).

Go through the task sheet with the class and explain what they have to do. Agree on a lesson (or
lessons) when students should bring their photos to class.

Step 2: Divide the class into groups of three or four. Students take turns to present their photos to the
rest of the group. Go around and listen to as many students as possible.

Step 3: Students decide on the best photo from the class.

Option: Alternatively, you can set the class some written work (e.g. exercises from the Powerbook)
and get students to come to your desk and present their photos to you individually. You can assess
them using the assessment criteria in the Assessment Guide of New Opportunities Upper Intermediate
Teacher’s Book.

3 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

OPTICAL ILLUSIONS

This is a fun speaking activity you can do anytime during Module 3 (Style) of New Opportunities
Upper Intermediate.

Materials: Photocopies of the worksheet (one between two).
Time: Fifteen minutes.

Step 1: Explain the expression ‘optical illusion’ (something that deceives you because it appears to be
something else). The best way of explaining it is to give out the worksheets and look at the first item
together. Everyone will agree that the three lines look different lengths, but in fact they are all the
same. Alternatively, if you have a large board ruler, you could draw the first illusion on the board to
demonstrate the activity.

Step 2: Ask students to look at the other optical illusions together and to try and explain them. Elicit
some explanations from the class. This can be tricky – and fun!

Possible Explanations
1 The lines are all the same length. The other small lines direct our vision outwards and make us think
the others are longer than the top one. It is known as the classic ‘Muller-Lyer’ illusion.
2 The horizontal lines are parallel. It is the staggered black and white squares that make them look as
if they are going up and down.
3 This is a realistic version of something known as the ‘Necker Cube’, named after the Swiss
mathematician, Louis Necker. It is, of course, an impossible shape, but its realistic shadow and light
effects at first persuade us otherwise.
4 There is no answer to this illusion. The lines are drawn in such a way that if you follow what you
believe to be a surface, it then leads nowhere and turns out to be space between other surfaces. Best to
leave this one before you go dizzy!
5 This is similar to the previous puzzle. Parts of the drawing which begin as legs lead nowhere, and
what appears to be a leg turns out to be a space between the trunk and a front leg, etc. Again, there is
no answer as to how many legs there are.
6 This is known as a ‘Hermann Grid’, named after L. Hermann who designed it in 1870. There are, in
fact, no black dots at all!
7 Created in 1915 by British cartoonist, W.E: Hill, this classic drawing sometimes appears to be a
young woman in a fur coat and a fancy hat with a feather, and sometimes appears to be an old woman
with a black fringe, large nose and pointed chin.
8 Just hope that there’s a bright mathematician in the class to explain this one! Email the website if
you can explain it, please.

MODULE 3 Story-writing

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

In this activity students practise writing a narrative and using participle clauses, with both
present and past participle.

Materials
Slips of paper with participle clauses to be used in a story.

Time
20 minutes

Preparation
Prepare a set of participle clauses (see below) for each group.
Before you start the activity, remind the class what participle clauses are used for. Give
examples:
I've never met the girl dancing with Jake.
Then I saw my books, completely destroyed by the hooligans.

broken into pieces

covered with blood

made of gold and diamonds

called 'The Circus'

painted a crazy green

decorated with white lilies

well-known for his criminal past

sold in most supermarkets

smiling sweetly

kissing passionately

driving a black Mercedes

standing quietly in the shadow

running along the street

wearing a long black coat

carrying a very heavy suitcase

trying to open the door

Step 1
Divide the class into small groups (3-4 students). Give each groups a number of participle
clauses, each on a separate slip of paper. Explain that the task is to write a narrative, using all
the participle clauses from the slips.

Step 2
The students write their stories. Monitor their activity, helping if necessary and correcting
mistakes.

Step 3
The groups read their stories to the whole class. They can have a vote for the most original
one.

MODULE 4

NAME: _____________________________________________ CLASS: ____

POEM

1 Read the poem. Use a dictionary to help you with difficult words.
Which of these words would you use to describe its tone?

a) happy b) pessimistic c) sad
d) angry e) thoughtful f) humorous

My Busconductor, by Roger McGough

1

My busconductor* tells me
he only has one kidney
and that may soon go on strike
through overwork.

Each busticket*

takes on a different shape

and

texture.

He holds a ninepenny single

as if it were a rose

and puts the shilling in his bag

as a child into a gasmeter*.

His thin lips

have no quips

for fat factorygirls*

and he ignores
the drunk who snores

and the oldman* who talks to himself

and gets off at the wrong stop.

He goes gently to the bedroom

of the bus

to collect

watch familiar shops and pubs passby*

(perhaps for the last time?)

The sameold* streets look different now

distinct

as through new glasses.
And the sky

was it ever so blue?

And all the time

deepdown* in the deserted busshelter* of his mind

he thinks about his journey nearly done.
One day he’ll clock on and never clock off

or clock off and never clock on.

* These words are joined together deliberately by the poet.

2 Read the poem again. Match the words (1-7) with the images from the poem (a-g).

1 kidneys stop working
2 hold a bus ticket
3 put money into a bag
4 the upper passenger area
5 better eyesight
6 his inner thoughts
7 die

a) clock on and never clock off

b) as a child into a gasmeter
c) the deserted busshelter of his mind
d) go on strike through overwork
e) the bedroom of the bus
f) as through new glasses

g) as if it were a rose

3 Which of the images in Exercise 2 are similes?

4 Work in pairs. Choose one of the jobs below (or any other).

· cook   · doctor · farmer   · police officer · secretary · waiter or waitress

Think of objects or activities associated with the job you have chosen.

Example: cook – saucepan, menu, cooker, making sauce, frying chips, etc.

Think of a dramatic personal situation for your character.

· in love · going to die · separated from wife/husband · sacked

5 Now try to write a poem (or just a couple of lines!) about how the person feels and acts at work
in that situation.

Example.

Love is on the menu for the cook at my local café,
And her heart is as soft as buttered toast.
She cries with happiness when chopping the onions,
And, as she passionately peels the potatoes
Or blows kisses at the baked beans,
She doesn’t even notice the milk boiling over
Or the bacon burning under the grill.

6 Read your poem out to the class.

4 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

POEM

This is a reading and creative writing activity. It can be done after Lesson 13 (Poetry) of New
Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Materials: Copies of the poem and questions (one between two will do)
Time: One class lesson plus homework.

Step 1: Tell students something about Roger McGough:

Roger McGough was a member of a pop group in the 1960s called The Scaffold which produced
a couple of hit singles (eg ‘Lily the Pink). In 1967, along with Adrian Henri and Brian Patten, he
produced The Mersey Sound which became the best selling anthology of poetry ever in Britain.
‘The Liverpool Poets’ produce popular poetry which tries to connect with people. Roger
McGough is an excellent performer and has given readings of his poems all over the world. He is
now British Telecom’s poet in residence on the Internet. Tell students they can read more poems
and articles by him on these websites.

http://www.poetrysoc.com/places/roger1.htm

http://www.uktouring.org.uk/rogermcgough

Step 2: Explain that a bus conductor is someone who collects fares and gives out tickets on buses.
Most buses in Britain do not have them any longer - the driver does this task.
Ask students to read the poem. Encourage dictionary use. Ask them to decide on its tone.
Answers: sad, thoughtful and humorous.

Step 3: You may like to read the poem aloud to the students and explain any outstanding words.

Step 4: Ask students to match words with the images from the poem and say which are similes.
Answers: 1d, 2g, 3b, 4e, 5f, 6c, 7a. (b, f and g are similes; the others are metaphors).

Step 5: Divide the class into pairs (if they are not already in pairs) and ask them to follow the stages of
preparation for a poetry writing activity. They may need time at home to finish the activity, but make
sure you have time in a future class to read out some of their efforts.

MODULE 4

NAME: __________________________________________________ CLASS: ____

A FILM SCENE

1 Listen to a piece of music. Imagine it is part of the soundtrack for a film. Close your eyes and
imagine a scene from the film.

2 Listen again and think about these things.

•  Where is the scene taking place?

another planet café car cave desert   forest house lake mountain plane   spaceship
street train

•  What can you see? What is it like?

beautiful breathtaking   bright   busy crowded dark   dirty   dusty   enormous impressive
lonely magical   mysterious noisy   old pretty   quiet scary   solitary   strange stunning   tiny
typical

•  What time of day is it? What’s the weather like?

blue sky dark clouds early evening   foggy   freezing   hot late   misty morning   night
rainy   snowing storm sunny thunder warm windy

•  What is happening? Is anybody in the scene? What are they doing?

arguing   crying   dreaming driving   kissing reading running   shouting sitting   smiling
sleeping whispering working    writing

• How do they feel?

angry bored desperate embarrassed excited exhausted happy nervous relaxed sad
scared shy terrified tired worried

3 Write a short description of your film scene and then read it out to the class.

Example.
A young woman is in a room in an old house. She is sitting by the window. Rain is runing down the
glass. She is looking out of the window and is holding a letter in her hand. She looks sad. Then she
gets up and …

4 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

A FILM SCENE

This is a listening and creative writing activity. You can do it after Lesson 15 (Music) in New
Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Materials: A CD or cassette player. Photocopies of the tasksheet. You will need to select and bring in
to class some suitable instrumental music.
Time: One class lesson.

Preparation: Choose a piece of instrumental music to bring to class. It need not be classical, but
should be good ‘mood’ or ‘atmospheric’ music. If you want to do the activity more than once (see
Option below), you will need two or more extracts with clearly different moods.

Step 1: Give out the tasksheets and explain the activity – students listen to a musical extract and
imagine a scene from a film. Play the piece of music once while students close their eyes and let their
imaginations wander.

Step 2: Direct the students to the cue questions and words in Exercise 2 on the tasksheet. Then play
the piece of music again.

Step 3: Students now write out a description of the film scene they imagined and take turns to read it
to the whole class or smaller groups if you prefer. Groups could then choose the best one in their
group to read to the class.

Option: You may prefer to skip the written part and just have students describe to the class what they
imagined. This would not take as long and would allow you to repeat the activity with different types
of music.

MODULE 4

Add your comment!

Complete the sentences. Write statements which fit the comments.

1. ………………………………………………., which annoys me.

2. ………………………………………………., which makes me laugh.

3. ………………………………………………., which is unbelievable.

4. ………………………………………………., which helps people to keep in touch.

5. ………………………………………………., which we all appreciated.

6. ………………………………………………., which took us a lot of time.

Now comment on the facts.

7. The TV show films and programmes from all over the world, ………………

8. Being fit is in fashion nowadays, …………………………………………………………………

9. Footballers earn a lot of money, ……………………………………………………………………

10. The climate is getting warmer, …………………………………………………………………………

11. More and more tourists visit old monuments around the world, ……………..

12. People can cure most of known diseases, ………………………………………………………

MODULE 4 Add your comment!

Notes for the teacher
In this activity students practice using which with sentential relatives. One of the main aims
is to get students to use which in this context, as a common mistake is to use what instead.
You can use this activity after finishing Module 4 of Opportunities Upper-intermediate,
especially Language Awareness 3.

Materials
A task sheet for each student.

Time
10 minutes

Step 1
Do a quick revision of sentential relatives, so that the students feel more confident while
doing the activity. Put one or more examples on the board.
I always get good grades, which makes my parents suspicious.
There was a power cut last night, which caused a lot of problems in the city.

Step 2
Distribute the task sheets.

Step 3
The students complete the first part of the task individually. After they finished ask some of
them to read out their sentences.

Step 4
The students work in pairs and complete the second part of the task sheet. When they have
finished, check their sentences with the whole class.

MODULE 5

GOOD WORLD, BAD WORLD

1 Which of the inventions below do you think have had most impact? Which has been the most
positive and which has been the most negative?

• the atomic bomb

• the aeroplane

• the car

• the computer

• electricity

• guns

• gunpowder / explosives

• penicillin and antibiotics

• photography and the cinema

• printing

• television

• vaccinations

2 Write notes to back up your opinions. Think of these things.

• when and where it was invented
• what effects it has had and how it affects our lives

• how it might affect the future

3 Work in groups. Discuss the inventions and decide which is the most important.

4 Tell the class your opinions.

Have a class vote about …

● the most beneficial invention ● the most damaging invention

5 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

This is a speaking activity. You can do it after Module 5 (New Frontiers) of New Opportunities
Upper Intermediate.

Material: Photocopies of the worksheet (one between two students is fine).
Time: One class lesson.

Step 1: Give out the worksheets. Elicit background information about the inventions.

Background

• The atomic bomb was first manufactured in World War 2 and dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

• The aeroplane. Early attempts to fly failed because they were based on human energy. The design

of 19

century gliders helped the Wright Brothers who added an internal combustion engine. They

made the first powered and controlled flight on 17 December, 1903.

• The car. Steam-powered vehicles were invented in the late 18

and early 19

century, but only

with the internal combustion engine did the ‘horseless carriage’ become practical. The Daimler
brothers produced an engine which Karl Benz developed to produce the first cars by 1890.

• The computer. The first practical machines were built in the USA and Britain during the 2

World

War. The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) has the best claim as the first
computer and it was developed by the US navy.

• Electricity. Static electricity was known about by the ancient Greeks, but current electricity was

not demonstrated until the early 19

century by Volta, Ampere and Faraday.

• Guns. Practical cannons were invented in the 14

century (by a German monk, Berthold Schwarz).

Primitive guns were first developed in the 15

century, pistols, rifles and machine guns being

developed subsequently.

• Gunpowder & explosives. Gunpowder (a mixture of potassium nitrate, sulphur and powdered

charcoal) was invented in China. Modern explosives that were much more powerful were
developed from the 19

century onwards, e.g. dynamite was invented by Nobel in 1864.

• Penicillin & antibiotics. Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and this was

later developed as an antibiotic.

• Photography & the cinema. The first photograph was taken in 1826 by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.

Dauguerre invented the first practical camera in 1839.The first motion picture was shown to an
audience by Louis and Auguste Lumière in 1895.

• Printing. The oldest methods appeared in China and Japan before 800 AD. In 15

century Europe,

movable print was developed and this made printing much more economical.

• Television. This was invented by John Logie Baird in 1926. He produced colour pictures in 1928.

• Vaccinations. The first was performed by Edward Jenner in 1798. Jenner noticed that people who

caught a mild form of smallpox never contracted the disease. He then injected patients with very
small doses of smallpox and this protected them from the disease.

Step 2: Give time for students to think about their choices and to write notes. Make sure that students
do not write out what they are going to say. Refer students to the Function File in Module 4 (Lesson
15, page 45: opinions, agreeing and disagreeing).

Step 3: Divide the class into groups of three or four. Students discuss their choices. Monitor the
activity and note any important mistakes.

Step 4: Find out the opinions of each group. If you wish, finish off by having a class vote on the
inventions.

Follow-up: If you have time, go over the important mistakes that were made during the discussion.
Write them up on the board and ask students to correct them.

MODULE 5

NAME: _______________________________________________ CLASS: _____

SPACE – THE LAST FRONTIER

1 Read the article. Match these headings with the paragraphs (A-E)

● Life on Mars ● The Space Race ● The Last Frontier
● Globetrotters ● Into Deep Space

(A) ‘What’s beyond that hill?’ ‘What’s on the other side of that river?’ Curiosity and the desire to
explore have been with us since our ancestors left Africa to spread out over the world. By the
beginning of the 21

century, virtually all of Planet Earth has been visited, photoed, described,

mapped. We have left our mark (and our rubbish) in the four corners of the globe. Now only one
frontier remains to explore - space.

(B) The age of space exploration began in 1957, when Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviet
Union. The first successful manned flight took place in 1961, when Yuri Gagarin was shot into
space. This triggered the ‘space race’ between the USA and the USSR, culminating in the moon
landing in 1969. After this, there was something of an anticlimax and the number of manned
missions dropped off largely due to the end of space race. Nevertheless, space probes like
Pioneer and Voyager continued to be sent out in order to explore neighbouring planets such as
Mars and Venus. The American shuttle and the Russian Mir space station were also ground-
breaking, as they developed the practicalities of space travel.

(C) In recent years there has been renewed interest in space as a result of photos from the Hubble
Telescope. It was launched in 1990 so that astronomers could observe space without interference
from the Earth’s atmosphere. The Hubble has provided views of such phenomena as distant
galaxies, dying stars and black holes. Because of its precision, over fifty new planets have been
located beyond our solar system. Other exciting developments have been the Prospector and
Pathfinder probes for exploring our solar system, looking for water and primitive life on Mars.

(D) The International Space Station is being built in the Earth’s orbit and will be working as a
permanently manned scientific base, so as to research life in space and provide a stepping stone in
case future manned missions are sent out. Further space probes, such as Deep Space, will be sent
out in order to detect small Earth-like planets where there might be life. A permanent base will
probably be established on the Moon in the next twenty years and a manned mission to Mars
might take place some time after that. Later in the century, some scientists believe we may
develop the technology so as to be able to begin interstellar exploration, starting with our nearest
star, Proxima Centauri, four light years away.

(E) In conclusion, space exploration is still in its infancy, but the possibilities are incredible.
While our innate curiosity remains, we will keep exploring, looking for another frontier to cross.
The sky is no longer the limit.

2 Find sentences in the text that mean the same as these colloquial sentences.

1 The space age kicked off when they sent up Sputnik 1. (paragraph B)
2 But they carried on sending out robot ships to have a look round. (B)
3 Space exploration is in again because of that new telescope. (C)
4 It’s so good that it’s found loads of new planets. (C)
5 They’re going to launch robot ships to find places like Earth. (D)

3 Match these words with the idiomatic expressions from the text.

in its early stages / all over the world / a stage on the way / the possibilities are endless / started /
shown we have been

1 We have left our mark everywhere.
2 The four corners of the globe.
3 It triggered the space race.
4 It’s a stepping stone.
5 It’s in its infancy.
6 The sky’s the limit.

4 Rewrite the sentences using the words in brackets.

1 Take an umbrella because it might rain. (in case)
2 Bring your costume and then we can swim in the river. (so that)
3 It was foggy so the speed limit was reduced. (due to)
4 If you want to get a good seat, come early. (in order to)
5 My aunt’s coming, so don’t come round. (because)
6 Give him a ring and check if he’s in. (to)
7 Wear warm clothes as these nights can be very cold. (in case)
8 You might spill it if you fill the jug too much. (so as not to)

5 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

This is a supplementary reading activity. You can do it after Module 5 (New Frontiers) of New
Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Materials: Photocopies of the worksheet.
Time: One class lesson or homework plus time for checking.

Step 1: Give out the worksheets and explain the task. You can do it in one lesson or ask the students to
do it at home and then check it in the next lesson. For the last exercise, refer students to the text and
exercises in Lesson 20 (Communication Workshops).

Answers
Exercise 1
A Globetrotters
B The Space Race
C Life On Mars
D Into Deep Space
E The Last Frontier
Exercise 2
1 The age of space exploration began … when Sputnik 1 was launched.
2 Nevertheless, space probes like Pioneer and Voyager continued to be sent out in order to explore
neighbouring planets.
3 There has been renewed interest in space as a result of photos from the Hubble Telescope.
4 Because of its precision, over fifty new planets have been located.
5 Further space probes … will be sent out in order to detect small Earth-like planets.
Exercise 3
1 shown we’ve been
2 all over the world
3 started
4 a stage on the way
5 in its early stages
6 the possibilities are endless
Exercise 4
1 Take an umbrella in case it rains.
2 Bring your costume so that we can swim in the river.
3 The speed limit was reduced due to the fog
4 Come early in order to get a good seat.
5 Don’t come round because my aunt’s coming.
6 Give him a ring to check if he’s in.
7 Wear warm clothes in case the nights are cold / in case it’s cold at night.
8 Don’t fill the jug too much so as not to spill it.

MODULE 5 What do they do?

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

In this guessing game students practise the Future Continuous. They talk about future
activities that will be in progress at a certain time.

Materials
Pieces of paper with names and jobs of imaginary characters. See examples below.

Chris – a policeman
Bruce – a rock musician
Kylie – a waitress
Mike – a high school student
Jack – a doctor
Fred – a TV journalist
Miriam – a teacher
Sara – an artist
Gina – a politician
Stephen – a professional footballer
Laura – an astronaut
Anna – a six-year old girl
Gerry – a millionaire
Tina – a cleaner
Kate – a traveller
Kevin – a criminal

Time
10 minutes

Step 1
Write on the blackboard five different points of reference in the future, e.g.:
tonight at 8 p.m. tomorrow at 5 a.m. on Saturday at 10 a.m.
on Saturday night next week at this time

Step 2
Give each student in class a character (name + job). The students write five sentences about
their character in Future Continuous, using the time adverbials from the blackboard.
Encourage them to use different verbs.
Example
Ted – a shop assistant
Tonight at 8 p.m. Ted will be coming home from work.
Tomorrow at 5 a.m. Ted will be sleeping.
On Saturday at 10 a.m. Ted will be serving customers.
On Saturday night Ted will be having a good time with his friends
Next week at this time Ted will be opening the shop.

Step 3
Students in turn read out their sentences. The rest of the class guess who their character is.

Alternative
If the class is very big you can do this activity in groups of 5-8 people

MODULE 6

AT THE DOCTOR’S

1 Check you understand the expressions in the table below.

DOCTOR

PATIENT

• Good morning. What’s
the problem?

• I’ve got … a temperature / a bad headache

/ stomach ache.

• I feel sick. I’ve got diarrhoea.

• I’m sneezing / coughing a lot.

• My ankle / arm / back / elbow / knee / leg

hurts.

• When did this start?

• How did it happen?

• Yesterday / After dinner last night / At the

weekend.

• I fell on the stairs / in the gym / in the

street

• I think you’ve got … a virus / a cold / the

flu / an allergy / food poisoning

• You’ve … sprained your ankle / broken a

bone

• You need to … take a day off school /

stay in bed for a couple of days / take
these tablets / take this medicine / have an
x-ray / go straight to hospital

• I don’t think it’s anything serious. You

can carry on as normal.

• Do I have to …?

• Is it alright if I …?

• When will I be able to…?

2 Play this game roleplay.

• Choose some students to be doctors. The others are patients.

• The patients have an important maths exam tomorrow that they want to avoid. They must ‘visit’ the

doctors and persuade them that they can’t go to school.

• The doctors must listen to the patients’ symptoms and decide if they are really ill. If they think the

problems are real, they must give the patients a sick note to be off school for a day.

• The patients should queue and visit as many doctors as they can.

• The winner is the patient in the class with the most sick notes!

6 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

This is a speaking activity. You can do it anytime during Module 6 (Soft Machine) of New
Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Material: Photocopies of the tasksheet.
Time: One class lesson.

Step 1: Give out the tasksheets and check students understand all the expressions in the table.

Step 2: Set up the roleplay activity. The majority of students are patients, but some are doctors. The
number of doctors depends on the class size, but the ratio should be something like one doctor to three
patients. Position the doctors around the class.

Step 3: Explain the game. The patients have to visit the doctors and get a ‘sick note’ by persuading
them they are ill and so cannot go to school tomorrow. The patients must move around and sit in the
imaginary waiting rooms and wait their turn for each doctor. They must try to get as many sick notes
as possible.

Step 4: Give the students some time to prepare thir roles and then begin the game. During the
roleplay, move around and sit in ‘waiting rooms’ and listen for any major mistakes which you might
like to go over later. You may even visit one or two of the doctors yourself!

Step 5: Find out which of the patients has the most sick notes. Find out who was the hardest doctor
and who was the softest.

MODULE 6

NAME: ___________________________________________ CLASS: _____

HEALTH QUIZ

Do this quiz and then check your answers with your teacher.

1 On average, how many glasses of water should you drink per day?
a) 1-3

b) 4-7

c) 8-10

2 Approximately how much of the human body is water?
a) 35%

b) 65%

c) 95%

3 What percentage of a fast-food burger is fat?

a) under 20%

b) about 30%

c) over 50%

4 What poisonous, colourless, odourless gas is in cigarette smoke?
a) carbon monoxide

b) carbon dioxide

c) methane

5 Where in your body is the labyrinth?
a) brain

b) ear

c) stomach

6 If you’re feeling ‘down’, which of these is the best thing to do?
a) eat some chocolate

b) go to bed for an hour

c) go for a walk

7 Which part of the body does the adjective ‘brachial’ refer to?
a) arms

b) heart

c) lungs

8 How many calories are in a glass of water?
a) one hundred

b) fifty

c) none

9 What is the trachea also called?
a) heart

b) lungs

c) windpipe

10 Which of these groups is not a good source of calcium?
a) dairy products

b) fruit

c) vegetables

11 We need iron for healthy blood. Which of these is a good source of iron?
a) chicken

b) green vegetables

c) fish

12 We need some fat in our diet. Which of these is the least healthy source of fat?
a) butter

b) olive oil

c) salmon

6 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

HEALTH QUIZ

This is a fun reading activity which you can do during or after Module 6 (Soft Machine) of New
Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Materials: Photocopies of the quiz.
Time: Fifteen minutes (including checking).

Step 1: Give out the quiz. Either ask students to do it at home or give them ten minutes of class time.

Step 2: Check the answers with the class.

Answers
1c. 8-10 glasses – or more on an active day.
2b. 65%.

The brain is composed of 70 % water, blood is 82 % water and the lungs are nearly 90 %

water.
3c. Over 50%.
4a. Carbon monoxide.
5b. The ear.
6c. Go for a walk.
7a. Arms.
8c. None.
9c. The windpipe.
10b. Fruit. It’s good for other things, such as vitamins, of course!
11b. Green vegetables are the best source of iron.

12a. Butter.

MODULE 6 What would happen, if …?

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

In this grammar activity students practise various types of conditional sentences.

Materials
A set of slips with if-clauses for each pair of students

Time
10 minutes

Preparation
Copy and cut up a set of if-clauses for each pair of students. You can use the ones below or
prepare your own set of if-clauses with past, present and future time reference.

If it rains at the weekend, ………….

If I lived on a Pacific island, …………

If I was adult, ………………….

If we didn't have to go to school, ……………..

If Europeans hadn't conquered the Americas, ……………….

If the climate on earth gets warmer, …………..

If I was a pop star

If I had gone to primary school in England, ……………

If there were only girls in our class, …………..

If we have a test next week, …………………….

If I had chosen another high school, …………………

If I had a lot of money, ….........................

Step 1
Tell the class to work in pairs and give each pair a set of conditional clauses. They place the
slips upside down on their desk.

Step 2
The students in turn pick an if-clause and continue the sentence in a logical and grammatically
correct way.
Example
If I had chosen another high school, …………………
If I had chosen another high school, I wouldn't have met so many nice people.
If I had chosen another high school, I wouldn't have to learn so much.

MODULE 7

‘CHAIN STORY’

Read about places in the USA. Think about which places you would like to visit and what you
would like to do. Also think about some of the problems you might have on a trip round the
States, for example, getting lost or being bitten by insects.

• Chicago, situated on Lake Michigan, is famous for its architecture. It has some famous sky

scrapers such as the Sears Tower.

• The Grand Canyon is a vast gorge in Arizona formed by the Colorado River. It has spectacular

scenery and an ideal place for trekking, rafting and canoeing.

• Los Angeles is an enormous city. You can visit Hollywood or spend the day on the beach in Santa

Monica.

• Miami is a resort city in Florida with pleasant temperatures even in winter. You can spend the day

on the beach or go on an excursion to the Everglades to see some alligators. Disney World in
Orlando is also nearby.

• New Orleans is a city founded by the French and was the centre of jazz. It has a very interesting

old town and lots of lively nightlife.

• New York is the business centre of the USA. There are lots of things to see and do here. Sights

include the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. Shops are excellent, museums and art
galleries are numerous and the nightlife is amazing. Why not see a musical on Broadway?

• San Francisco is situated on a peninsular between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay.

Among its famous landmarks are the Golden Gate Bridge and Chinatown. The city’s trams and
sloping streets are also famous.

• Washington is the capital of the USA. Landmarks include the White House and the Capitol (where

the Congress and Senate are). You can also visit the Washington and the Lincoln Memorials, the
National Gallery of Art, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Washington National Cathedral.

• Yellowstone Park is the largest national park in the USA. It is in Wyoming and parts of Montana

and Idaho. It has thousands of acres or unspoilt forests and incredible flora and fauna. It is also a
volcanic area and has geysers like Old Faithful which erupts roughly every hour.

Instructions

1 Work in groups of three or four. Imagine you have just been on an amazing holiday with your
friends travelling around the USA. Talk about what happened on your journey. Take turns to
say sentences about it. Try to link your sentence to the last person’s and try not to leave long
pauses.

Example
Student A: We arrived in New York early in the evening.
Student B: We got a taxi from the airport into the centre.
Student C: The taxi driver wanted to charge us $100.
Student A: But luckily a police officer was walking past when we were getting out.
Student B: We asked her the correct fare and she took the taxi driver’s number.
Student C: We went to our hotel and had a shower.
Student A: Then we went out for a walk in the streets near the hotel.
Student B: After some time we realised that there were three big guys following us.
Student C: We started to walk faster, but they started to walk faster too.
Student A: We went in a shop and they walked past.
Student B: When they were walking past we heard them talking our own language.
Student C: We found out that they were fellow tourists who were lost …

2 Tell the rest of the class about the most interesting parts of your journey.

Example
‘We were walking around in New York and we thought we were being followed by three guys. But it
turned out that they were tourists from our country. We went out together and had a great time!’

3 Decide which group’s journey was the most interesting.

7 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

Materials: Photocopies of the tasksheet
Time: One class lesson.

Step 1: Give out the tasksheets. Give students time to read the information and think about where they
would like to visit and what problems they could have. Explain any vocabulary they don’t know.

Step 2: Divide the class into groups of three or four. Students talk about an imaginary journey that
they made together around the States. Each student has to continue from the previous sentence and the
story must have some continuity. Encourage them to use their imagination! While students are doing
the activity, you can go around and listen - noting important mistakes to go over later.

Step 3: A spokesperson from each group tells the rest of the class the more interesting bits of their
journey. You can ask students which journey sounded the most interesting.

Follow Up: If students enjoyed the activity, they could do it again later in the year based on a journey
around Britain or Europe or their own country.

MODULE 7

NAME: ______________________________________________ CLASS: ____

POLAR DREAM

1 Skim the text below. Where is it from? Circle the text type.

● newspaper story ● book review ● magazine article

‘POLAR DREAM’ by Helen Thayer

Helen Thayer was the first woman to ski solo to the North Pole. She was accompanied only by her thoughts,
her sledge and her Arctic husky dog, Charlie. This was a great achievement, made even greater by the fact
that Helen was over fifty years old!

In her book, Polar Dream, she chronicles her journey. It is the story of a woman and her dog passing
icebergs and polar bears, dealing with the unpredictable weather, shifting ice and imprecise navigation.
Obviously, she experienced discomfort, fear and loneliness on her trek, but she always emphasises the
positive aspects. After getting severe frostbite on her hands in only the first week, she says: “I knew self-
pitying thoughts would never get me to the pole.....The facts are, I’m alone, I’m on foot. I’ll deal with things
as they come.”

According to the book cover, Helen had been a professional mountain guide and sledge racer before her
record-breaking journey. However, she says: “There is really no way to prepare yourself for the emotions of
being alone in the great polar desert.....I could never really relax. I always had to maintain strict control over
my thoughts and emotions. My survival depended on it.” Occasionally in the book, she lets her emotions free:
“As the ice fog grew even denser, reflected sunlight created a pale golden curtain around us.....Without
thinking, I put my hand out to touch it, but met only empty space. I was standing in a golden world with
Charlie..... Sunlight and ice crystals had turned this harsh, unforgiving polar desert into an oasis of quiet,
golden beauty.”

The lowest point of her journey followed an immense storm. Her eyes had been damaged by flying ice, and
she had spent hours curled up next to Charlie, exposed to the Arctic weather. When the storm was over, she
put up her tent. It was then she realised she had lost her food rations. Only one small bag of walnuts
remained! There were seven days to go, so she divided the nuts into seven small piles. “I wasn’t despondent.
This was the Arctic, after all.”

If there is a message in this book, it is that all challenges can be met if you are physically and mentally
prepared. And if you are, go and find the challenges and don’t let the years go by without pushing yourself to
your limits. This book is not just about a polar trek - it is also a lesson in confronting life and leaping feet first
into your dreams.

Polar Dream, by Helen Thayer, (Simon & Schuster, 1993). Rating: ****

2 Read the text more carefully. According to the text, are these statements true (T) or false (F)?

1 Helen never felt lonely on the journey.

2 She got frostbite in the last week.

3 She never really felt at ease on the journey.

4 Her eyes were damaged by the bright Arctic sun.

5 She lost most of her food rations because of the bad weather.

3 Find the words in bold in the text. Choose the best meaning, a, b or c, according to the context.

1 chronicles (line 4)
a) plans b) describes c) evaluates

3 deal with (line 9)
a) confront b) survive c) remember

5 piles (line 22)
a) numbers b) quantities c) packets

2 severe (line 7)
a) difficult b) intense c) simple

4 curled up (line 19)
a) lying b) sleeping c) rolled up

4 Imagine an interview with Helen Thayer produced these answers. Think of possible questions
for the answers. Examples are given for number 1.

1 Were you ever afraid? OR Do you ever dream about your experiences? OR Did you get lost?
Yes, sometimes.

2 ______________________________________________________________________

Because no woman had done it before.

3 ______________________________________________________________________

Twenty-one.

4 ______________________________________________________________________

Yes, very painful.

5 ______________________________________________________________________

No, I didn’t.

6 ______________________________________________________________________

Yes, he was a great companion.

7 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

POLAR DREAM

Materials: Photocopies of the worksheet.
Time: One class lesson or homework plus checking in class.

Step 1: Ask the class what would make an ideal polar traveller. What would the best age be? Would it
be better to travel alone, with a friend or in a group? What equipment would you need?

Step 2: Give out the worksheets and ask the students to read the first paragraph. Does Helen Thayer fit
their description of an ideal polar traveller?

Step 3: Now, in class or at home, ask students to read the text and do the tasks on the worksheet.

Step 4: Check the answers. For Exercise 4, ask students to read out their questions and write a variety
of question forms on the board. Correct any serious errors as necessary.

Answers
1 It is a book review.
2.1 False. (… she experienced discomfort, fear and loneliness on her trek.)
2.2 False. (…frostbite on her hands in only the first week.)
2.3 True. (…I could never really relax.)
2.4 False. (Her eyes had been damaged by flying ice …)
2.5 True. (When the storm was over, she put up her tent. It was then she realised she had lost her food
rations.)
3.1b
3.2b
3.3a
3.4a
3.5b

MODULE 7 Bag of verbs

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

In this game students revise verbs patterns (verbs and expressions followed by gerunds or
infinitives). You can use it after finishing Module 7 of Opportunities Upper-intermediate.

Materials
A number of slips of paper with sentence openers (see below)

Time
10-15 minutes

Preparation
Prepare a number of slips of paper with the following sentence openers. Put the slips in a bag
/ hat/ etc.

I can't get used to …………

I should stop …………

I've never tried …………

It's worth …………

I am used to …………

I'm learning…………

Many people enjoy …………

I don't remember …………

It's no use …………

Young people aren't interested in …………

I'm planning …………

I'm looking forward to …………

I can't stand …………

When I was younger I used to …………

I regret …………

I don't mind …………

I never risk …………

I managed …………

I'd like to put off …………

I try to avoid …………

Step 1
Divide the class into teams. There should be 5-6 people in a team.

Step 2
The teams in turns draw a sentence opener from the bag and read it out. They have 15 seconds
to come up with a sentence which starts with the sentence opener and continues with a verb.
Example.

I'd like to put off

Student: I'd like to put off getting a job.

The team scores one point for each correct sentence.

8 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

GLOBAL ISSUES QUIZ

This is an Internet activity which you can do any time during Module 8 (Global Issues) of New
Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Materials: Photocopies of the worksheet.
Time: This depends on the luck and browsing skill of the students! They can do the task at school if
you have enough computers or for homework and compare results in class.

Preparation: If you want to do the task at school, make sure you reserve the use of the computers. It
would be a good idea to try and find the information yourself before you set the task.

Step 1: Give out the worksheets and explain the task. If students do the task at school, you could
introduce a competitive element to see who is the first to find the information. You could also divide
the class into pairs so students can share ideas for which words to key into the search. If students are
going to do the task at home, you could divide the questions to ease the homework load, e.g. half the
class do questions 1-4, the other half 5-8.

Step 2: Stop the activity ten minutes before the end of the class and go over what information students
have found. Or go through their answers in the next class if they have done it for homework.

MODULE 8

NAME: _____________________________________________ CLASS: ____

THE STATE OF THE WORLD

Read this information and complete it with these numbers to give facts about the state of our
world. You must use each number once.

1 6 8 14 21 35 50 57 70 80

If the entire population of the planet is represented by one hundred people …

•  _____ live in Asia.

•  _____ live in Europe.

•  _____ live in North and South America.

•  _____ live in Africa.

•  Half the world’s wealth is in the hands of _____ people, who are all from the USA.

•  _____ people can’t read or write.

•  _____ suffer from malnutrition.

•  _____ do not have access to safe drinking water.

•  _____ live in sub-standard housing.

• Only _____ has a university education.

Check your guesses with your teacher.

Which fact did you find the most surprising? And which the most depressing?

8 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

THE STATE OF THE WORLD

This is a reading activity which you can do during or after Module 8 (Global Issues) of New
Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Materials: Photocopies of the worksheet (one between two will do)
Time: Ten or fifteen minutes.

Step 1: Ask the class what the current population of the world is. (It was six and a half billion in
2006). Give out the worksheets and ask the students to imagine that just one hundred people represent
the world’s population. Bearing this in mind, ask students to try and complete the facts about the
world with the numbers from the list. They must use all the numbers only once each.

Step 2: When they have finished, go through the answers with the class. Ask them which fact
surprised them most and which was the most depressing.

Answers
If the entire population of the planet is represented by one hundred people …

57 live in Asia, 21 in Europe, 14 in North and South America and 8 in Africa. Half the world’s wealth
is in the hands of 6 people, who are all from the USA. 70 people can’t read or write. 50 suffer from
malnutrition. 35 do not have access to safe drinking water. 80 live in sub-standard housing. Only one
has a university education.

This activity is based on a slide used by the Canadian Forces Peace Support Training Centre to
explain the nature of the world to Canadian soldiers. It is mentioned in the book Shake Hands with the
Devil by Romeo Dallaire, Random House Canada, 2003.

MODULE 8 Gossip!

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

In this activity students practise impersonal report structures (He is known / said / believed
to + infinitive)

Materials
None

Time
15-20 minutes

Preparation
You may want to revise impersonal report structures with your class before doing the activity,
to avoid mistakes later on. It could be a good idea to do a round of the activity with the whole
class so that students understand what to do.

Step 1
Divide the class into small groups. Give each group the name of a famous person and ask
them to think of what they know about their character. Point out that they don't have to
include only information they are absolutely certain about but think of some gossip as well.

Possible famous people:
Tony Blair, Kevin Costner, David Beckham, Paris Hilton, Angelina Jolie, Martin Luther
King, Ronaldo, Elvis Presley, The Queen, Princess Diana, Jamie Oliver

Step 2
The groups brainstorm information and gossip about their character's past, present and future.
They put the information down on a sheet of paper with the name of their character at the top.

Step 3
The groups swap their notes.

Step 4
The groups report the information and gossip to the class using impersonal reporting
structures:
He/she is known to……………….
He/she is believed to ……………………
He/ she is said to ………………………….
Example
David Beckham earns a million dollars per week.
David Beckham is believed to earn a million dollars per week.

MODULE 9

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

A TV DEBATE

This is a speaking activity with an element of role play. It can be done after Module 9 (Society) of
New Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Materials: Set of role play cards (see below)
Time: One class lesson.

Preparation: Photocopy and cut out the role play cards. Make extra copies of the ‘Couch Potato’,
‘Parent’ and ‘Teacher’ cards so that everyone in the class has a role. Give the cards out to the students.
For homework they should think about the title of the debate and their roles. The title of the debate is:

“Is television violence the main cause of real-life violence?”

Explain that the class is going to role play a TV debate in the next lesson. One student will be the
presenter of the programme, some students will be invited guests, and the others will be members of
the TV audience.

Step 1: Arrange the seating. The guests should sit at the front of the class, facing the ‘studio
audience’. The ‘presenter’ can stand, holding an imaginary microphone.

Step 2: The ‘presenter’ introduces the programme, gives the title of the debate and introduces the
‘guests’. The guests should open the debate by giving their views. The presenter and other guests can
ask each other questions.

Step 3: The presenter should open the debate to the ‘studio audience’. Members of the audience
should put up their hand when they want to speak or ask a guest a question. As a teacher, you should
take no part in the debate, other than to try and make sure everyone speaks at some time during the
debate.

Step 4: The presenter should close the debate with a vote – a show of hands from the studio audience.

Option: You may like to follow up the activity by setting the title for homework as an essay.

A TV Debate: Roleplay Cards

You are the PRESENTER OF THE PROGRAMME. This is an important role.

• Begin your TV show by explaining the title of the studio debate to your audience.

• Introduce your guests (an actor, an actress, two film directors and a police officer)

• Allow each guest to give his/her views on the subject of the debate.

• Open the debate to the studio audience – people can give their views and/or ask the guests

questions.

• Make sure everyone has an opportunity to speak – but stop any noisy arguing!

• Close your programme with a vote – ask the audience to vote for or against the title of the

debate.

You are a ‘COUCH POTATO’ (= TV
fanatic)

• How much TV do you watch?

• Do you ever watch violent programmes?
• Do you enjoy violent programmes?

You are an ACTOR. You are a guest on the
programme.

• You have been in films containing violent

scenes. Think of examples.

• Have you ever refused to be in a violent

film? Why or why not?

You are an ACTRESS. You are a guest on the
programme.

• You have never been in a film containing

violence. Would you consider a part in a
violent film? Why or why not?

• What sort of films do you prefer?

You are a POLICE OFFICER. You are a
guest on the programme.

• You believe TV violence has an influence

on crime and has led to ‘copycat’ crimes.
Think of examples.

You are a PARENT.

• You try to control what your children

watch on TV. How and why?

• How old are your children?

You are a PARENT.

• You allow your children to watch what

they want on TV. Why?

• How old are your children?

You are a TEACHER.

• You are worried that your students watch

too much TV. Why?

You are a PARENT.

• You are worried about what your children

watch on TV. Why?

• How old are your children?

You are a FILM DIRECTOR. You are a
guest on the programme.

• You have directed violent, action films.

What is your opinion on censorship?

• What do you think about violence in

children’s cartoons?

You are a FILM DIRECTOR. You are a
guest on the programme.

• You direct films suitable for all the family.

Are you against violence on the screen?

• What do you think about violence in

children’s cartoons?

MODULE 9

THE HOMELESS

1 Read the interview. Are these statements about homeless people true (T) or false (F)?

1 They are to blame for their own situation.

2 The majority are drug or alcohol abusers.

3 Most of them are dangerous.

4 The majority of them are uneducated.

5 Most of them are unemployed.

Issue of the Week: Homeless People

Interviewer: A lot of people think that when a person is homeless it’s his or her own fault.
What’s your reaction to that comment?
Expert: Well, to begin with, I’m afraid it just isn’t true. Many have suddenly lost their jobs, and
this means they can’t afford to pay their rent or mortgage. Another thing, latest figures show that
fifteen percent of homeless people are children – you can hardly blame them for their situation! In
short, homeless people are not to blame.
Interviewer: What about the popular image of the homeless as dangerous people who are into
drugs?
Expert: First, let me say that homeless people are more likely to be the victims of crimes, not the
perpetrators. And as for drugs, according to statistics in the USA, only one in four of homeless
people are drug or alcohol abusers.
Interviewer: So, that’s another myth. Are most homeless people uneducated?
Expert: Most of them have completed their secondary education and many have, in fact, been to
university.
Interviewer: But surely they have problems getting work if they have nowhere to live.
Expert: Yes, that’s true in a lot of cases. But despite this, according to the lastest data, thirty
percent of homeless people have very low-paid full-time or part-time jobs.

2 Underline the parts of the text that mean the following.

1 It’s not their own fault.
2 Only 25% of homeless people have drug or alcohol problems.
3 The majority of homeless people have finished compulsory education.
4 About a third of homeless people get low pay.

3 For each of these words from the text, find two synonyms in the box.

● true ● show
● statistics ● surely

accurate, certainly, correct, data, demonstrate, figures, indicate,
undoubtedly

9 NOTES FOR TEACHERS

This is a supplementary reading activity which you can do during or after Module 9 (Society) of New
Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Materials: Photocopies of the text and questions.
Time: Fifteen to twenty minutes or set it for homework.

Step 1: Begin by discussing a few issues about homeless people.

• how does a person become homeless?
• what problems do homeless people face?

•  how can a homeless person resolve his/her problems?

Step 2: Give out the worksheets and ask the students to complete the tasks. Then go over the answers.
Ask students if any of the information surprised them.

Note: If you prefer, you could set the tasks for homework and go over the answers in the next lesson.

Answers
Exercise 1
1F, 2F, 3F, 4F, 5T
Exercise 2
1 … homeless people are not to blame.
2 … only one in four of homeless people are drug or alcohol abusers.
3 Most of them have completed their secondary education …
4 … thirty percent of homeless people have very low-paid full-time or part-time jobs.
Exercise 3
true: accurate, correct
show: demonstrate, indicate
statistics: data, figures
surely: certainly, undoubtedly

MODULE 10

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

‘FREEZE FRAME’

This is an oral grammar practice activity which gives students practice in asking a variety of
question forms. The ‘drama’ situations are all connected with the theme of ‘conflict’ and the activity
could be done anytime during Module 10 (Conflict) of New Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Materials: One situation card for each group (see below); there are enough suggested roles on each
card for three or four students.
Time: Twenty minutes.

Preparation: Photocopy the sheet of situations and cut them out ready to give to each group. If you
wish you could stick them on card so you can use them again in the future.

Step 1: Divide the class into groups of three or four.

Step 2: Give each group a card which they must NOT show to other groups. Explain the activity.
Students have to imagine the situation depicted on their card is part of a video and they are playing the
suggested roles. They choose a point in this situation to press the imaginary ‘pause’ button and
practise their poses - hence the name ‘freeze frame’. When they are ready, students go to the front of
the class and ‘freeze’ in their poses.
For example, for the ‘tennis’ situation, one student could be crouching down (the ball boy or girl), one
could be pretending to throw his/her racket down (an angry player) and one could be sitting on a chair
pointing a finger (the umpire). They are all motionless. The rest of the class have to ask ‘yes / no’
questions in order to guess what the situation is, who the people are, what has happened, what’s going
to happen next, etc. Students in the ‘frame’ can only answer yes or no.

Step 3: Groups take turns to pose in a frozen frame in front of the class. The rest of the class ask
questions to guess the situation. You may like to limit the number of questions to about ten.

MODULE 10

‘WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?’

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

This is a speaking activity which you can do any time after Lesson 39 (Conflict Resolution) of New
Opportunities Upper Intermediate.

Materials: Photocopies of the ‘problem cards’, one set per group (see below).
Time: Thirty minutes.

Preparation: Photocopy the ‘problem cards’ (one set per group) and cut them out. Put each set in an
envelope.

Step 1: Divide the class into groups of three or four students. Give each group an envelope containing
a set of problem cards.

Step 2: Explain the activity. The envelope contains cards with problem situations. One student takes
out a card from the envelope and shows it to the others. Together they have to discuss the problem and
agree the best way to resolve it. Then another student takes out another problem card and the process
is repeated until the group has discussed all the problems. Go round the groups and monitor the
activity.

Step 3: After about fifteen or twenty minutes, bring the activity to a close. Ask each group to choose
one of the problems and tell the others how they would resolve it. The other groups say if they agree
or disagree.

Problem Cards

1
Sandra fancies her best friend’s boyfriend, and
she thinks he likes her. What should she do?

2
A brother and sister want to watch their favourite
TV programmes - but they are on at the same
time on different channels. What should they do?

3
Tom is being bullied at school by Pete - Pete
throws his books on the floor, takes his lunch
money, hides his homework. Tom’s parents never
listen to him. What should he do?

4
Carol is fifteen. Her parents are going on holiday
soon, but she doesn’t want to go with them. She
thinks it will be boring. They are worried about
leaving her at home. What should they do?

5
Dan had a date with his girlfriend but she didn’t
turn up. She said she’d forgotten and stayed in.
Dan later found out she’d been out with a boy
from his class. What should Dan do?

6
Lydia’s little brother (aged 3) is always going in
her bedroom and messing up her things. Lydia’s
mum says he’s only a baby and there’s nothing
they can do. What do you think?

7
Monica’s best friend, Lucy, is always copying her
homework and ideas, but Lucy always seems to
get better marks! Monica is sure the teacher
thinks she copies from Lucy and not the other way
round. Should she say anything?

8
Your school has been given a large amount of
money to spend on a new building and educational
materials. How do you think they should spend
the money?

MODULE 10

Correct me

NOTES FOR TEACHERS

In this game students practise cleft sentences (It was in New York that John Lennon was
assassinated.)

Materials
A number of incorrect statements

Time
10 minutes

Preparation
Copy and cut out a set of incorrect statements (see below) for each group of students.

England won the last World Cup.

The most famous film festival is organised in Hollywood.

The Little Red Riding Hood met a fox in the forest.

New York is the capital of the United States.

World War II finished in 1949.

The Beatles split up after John Lennon died.

Elephants live in South America.

Leonardo da Vinci was born in France.

Astronauts have landed on Mars a few times.

Einstein left Nazi Germany when World War II broke out.

People love wearing famous brands because they are cheap.

Woody Allen has produced a lot of war films.

Step 1
Revise cleft sentences with the class. Put some examples on the board.
Example:
It was during World War II that radar was invented.
It is Charlie Chaplin that was the most famous actor of the 1920s.

Step 2
Divide the class into groups of four. Place the set of statements, upside down, in the middle of
each group.

Step 3
The students in turns draw a statement and read it out. The student on their left is supposed to
correct them using an emphatic cleft sentence.

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