Cambridge English Empower B2
n i t 4
ULanguage skills
1 SPEAKING
a Tell students they are going to read three stories
about people whose language or accent mysteriously
changed. Ask for suggestions on how this could happen
and how they think they would feel if they woke up with
a different accent or able to speak a different language
fluently.
In pairs, students discuss the statements. Monitor and
help with language as necessary. Ask for volunteers to
share their ideas with the class. Encourage students to say
if they agree or disagree with the statements and to give
reasons.
2 VOCABULARY:  Words connected to
spoken language
a Tell students to work individually, matching the words
and phrases to the definitions before comparing in pairs.
Go over answers with the class and monitor for correct
pronunciation, especially the long vowel phoneme /i:/
in speech.
Answers
1 e
2 d
3 b
4 a
5 c
b Give students two minutes to think of three other
words they know connected to spoken language.
Help them to use dictionaries to check spelling and
pronunciation if necessary. Students test each other
in pairs.
3 READING 1
Before reading, you may wish to pre-teach the words in
the box.
VOCABULARY SUPPORT
therapy (n) = a treatment that helps someone feel better
or grow stronger, especially after an illness
case (n) = a person being dealt with by doctors
weird (adj) = very strange and unusual, unexpected or not
natural
raised (v) past participle from the verb to raise – to take
care of children until they are completely grown
Cambridge English Empower B2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE
READING PLUS
a Direct students to read the newspaper headlines 1–3 and
answer the questions individually. Go through options 1–3
and ask students to identify the differences in meaning.
Ask students to ‘hold’ a summary of each option as they
read the headlines.
b Give students two minutes to read articles 1–3 quickly
to check their answers to exercise 3a. Remind students
or elicit that they need to confirm whether or not the
language changes, the accent changes, or the language
remains the same but the accent is of a different language
as they read articles 1–3 to check their answers.
Ask for volunteers to give answers and explanations, and
see if the class agrees.
Answers
1 = 3 (Rory Curtis now speaks French),
2 = 1 (Sarah Colwill now speaks English with a Chinese accent), 
3 = 2 (Lisa Alamia now has a British accent).
c Ask students to read the questions and options and check
vocabulary as necessary before choosing the best answers
for questions 1–6. As you check answers, encourage
students to explain the information in the text which
supports their answer.
Answers
1 b
2 c
3 a
4 b
5 a, b
6 a
d Ask students to read the text again and decide if the
statements are true or false. Take feedback as a class, and
ask for volunteers to explain their answers.
Answers
1 True; Sarah is frustrated when people have problems
understanding her.
2 True; Lisa doesn’t mind; she’s comfortable with her new British
accent.
3 False; Rory found learning French at school difficult and gave it
up, but now he can have fluent conversations in French.
1
 Unit 4

BETTER READING: G UESSING THE MEANING OF NEW 5 SPEAKING

VOCABULARY
Go through the introductory sentence and talk through
the example. Give students time to find the word identity.
Check students understand the meaning of the word ‘clue’,
that they probably won’t find a definition of the word, but
there will be some information or facts which will help them
understand the general idea or meaning.
1 Do the first item together as a class if you feel students
need more support. Monitor and help as necessary as
students continue individually. Ask students to compare
in pairs before going over the answers with the class.
Suggested answers
Text 1
bizarre: surprising, unexpected (a Chinese accent in someone who
is not Chinese);
rare: unusual situation, difficulty (understanding); frustrating:
inconvenient, a problem (something negative)
Text 2
drawl: a way of pronouncing things, an accent
Text 3
spectacular: big, amazing, dramatic;
wrecked: terrible; it took 40 minutes to cut him free; (something
negative)
a Ask students to read the statements and give each
one a number from 1 to 4, where 1 is disagree and 4 is
agree.
You could also ask students to mingle and find another
student who agrees with them. If they can’t find somebody
who agrees completely, they find the person whose views
are the closest.
OPTIONAL EXTRA ACTIVITY
Please note: There are no instructions on the worksheet for this
activity.
Ask students to change the following words in each sentence
in exercise 5a to make the statements true for themselves:
1 English
2 French
3 the far south of my country
4 the same accent
5 often
Put them into pairs or small groups to compare ideas and
discuss. Ask students to report their findings back to the
class.

4 READING 2
a Direct students to article 4 and set a two-minute time limit
for students to read it quickly to answer the question. Ask
for volunteers to explain their answer.
Answer
2 An academic – in the introduction to the interview, the writer(s)
describe her as a linguist.

b Students read article 4 again and put the topics in order.

Students compare their answers in pairs then check them
as a class to the board.
Answers
a 1
b 2
c 4
d 3

c In pairs, students discuss the question. Take feedback as a

class and ask for explanations and see if the class agrees.
Answer
Article 3; it is the story of somebody who can suddenly speak a
different language, not a story about accent change.

Ask students to choose another word and look for clues

to guess meaning. Students compare their ideas in pairs
before checking in a dictionary and reflecting on how
helpful the clues they identified in the text were. Pairs can
present their findings to the class.

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