UNIT 04: THE BEST

OF BOTH WORLDS!
LESSON 01: NATURAL WONDERS!
Write it down!

What do you What do you want to What have you

know about know about natural learned about
natural wonders? wonders? it?

During this lesson, we will talk about nature and natural landscapes,
we will talk about how to use certain descriptive expressions and
useful vocabulary for tourists who are looking for a specific location or
for directions.

What are some

Do you know how to describe
famous/beautiful natural
nature and its landscapes?
places in your country/city?

First let’s take a look at some landscapes we can talk about:

NATURE IS BEAUTIFUL!

1. BARRIER REEF 2. MOUNTAINS

3. HILLS 4. BODIES OF WATER

5. ISLAND 6. VOLCANO

7. WATERFALL 8. CLIFF
BEWARE THE DANGERS!

Traveling is an amazing activity, but we have to be careful with a few

things, let’s take a look at some expressions that can help us while we
are in an unfamiliar place:

I’M LOST!
What do you
If you are lost these two expressions might help you find your way:
know about
1.natural wonders?
“I need some help with directions.”
2. “On Google Maps.”
3. “Where the _____ is?/Where is the ___?
4. “The nearest”

These expressions can be used in a number of ways, let’s take a look

at some examples using dialogues:

Daniel: Hey, excuse me. Can you help me with directions? Where is
the local theater?.
Sarah: Oh yeah, sure! Lemme see… According to google maps the
nearest theater is close by.
Daniel: Yeah, I was following directions until I got close, but then I got
lost.
Sarah: No problem, I live close by so I know this area really well. I think
that if you take the main avenue heading downtown and turn right
after you see the Gas Station you should be right next to it.
Daniel: Head towards downtown, turn right after the Gas Station. Ok, I
think I got it. Thanks a lot!
Sarah: It’s all good. People around here are pretty friendly so ask
around if you get lost again. Bye!
WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE!

Next we will take a look at some expressions and idioms that come
from nature and the wilderness:

AS OLD AS THE HILLS / OVER THE HILL:

Expressions used to say that something is old
and no longer beautiful or useful, examples:
What do you
know about
● That
natural professor is as old as the hills I have no idea how he is still
wonders?
working here.
● This technology is over the hill we should upgrade our PCs.

CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE::

This is an informal expression used to indicate or insinuate that
someone is not speaking or saying anything, sometimes because
they are hiding something:

● What? Now that you got caught the cat got your tongue?

PAPER TIGER:
A force which seems really strong and dangerous but in reality is
meek and feeble:

● Their team looks scary, but they are just paper tigers.

WILDERNESS
WILDERNESS

Word
Word used
used to
to describe wild
describe wild
land and land
regions.
and regions.
BEAT AROUND/ABOUT THE BUSH:
Expression used to show that someone is avoiding or delaying
talking or doing something embarrassing or unpleasant::

● This press conference is a joke he keeps beating

around/about the bush and doesn’t give clear answers.
What do you
know about
natural wonders?
BE IN DEEP WATER:
Used to describe a situation in which a person is in trouble or going
through a serious problem:

● If we don’t pay the rent this month we will be in deep water.

Real examples:

● “Students of all walks of life on challenging wilderness

experiences.” - Outdoor Education Professional | What I do &
how much I make | Part 1 | Khan Academy
● “Let's not beat around the bush." - Could You Fart Your Way to
the Moon?

Recommendations:
★ Documentary - My Octopus Teacher, available on Netflix
★ Man vs. Wild (with Bear Grylls), on Discovery Channel
LESSON 04: GREEN TRACK!

ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

In a lot of languages we have two different ways of asking

questions yes/no questions and information questions.

Information questions help us find out more about a certain

subject, and what type of information we can obtain depend on
the question word used:

WHEN TIME WHOM TARGET

WHO PERSON HOW MANNER

WHAT OBJECT WHY REASON

WHICH OPTION WHOSE OWNER

Let’s take a look at examples using question words in the next

page.
 Hey, when are
you arriving?

What do you A: I’ll be there in 5 minutes.

know about
natural wonders?

Where are we
going exactly?

A: We are going to the park.

What is this?

A: This is our roadmap for

the semester.
 Whose phone
it this?

What do you A: Oh, that is my phone.

know about
natural wonders?

Which one do
you think is
better?

A: I think the right one is

better.

Why did you

break this?

A: Because I was angry.

Real examples:

● “...why people are concerned, both here and around the

world.” - Obama on the state of the world: the extended Vox
conversation.
● “How often do you get it in your own life?." - Harnessing the
Limits of Human Possibility | Jason Silva and Jamie Wheal

What do you
Recommendations:
know about
natural wonders?
★ Everything, Everywhere, All at Once - available on Prime
Video.

★ Quiz games - Sporcle.com

LESSON 04: MEDICINE 101!

WE ALL START SOMEWHERE…

In English the number 101 can represent initiation to a topic, in

other words basic knowledge about something. So for example, if
you see a book or class saying: Mathematics 101. It means it will
teach you the basics of Math.

ONE APPLE A DAY…

Do you know how to talk about medical emergencies?

There is an expression that says “One apple a day, keeps the doctor
away” but what about when we have to go to the doctor, how do
we go about doing that? Let’s start with some simple vocabulary
words

1. CAST 2. WHEEL CHAIR

3. FRACTURE 4. SYRINGE

What do you
know about
natural wonders?

5. DOCTOR 6. NURSE

Now let’s take a look at some expressions and in what kind of

scenario they might be useful.
 I think I
have a cold

A cold and the flu are

different respiratory
diseases.

IS IT A COLD, OR IS IT THE FLU?

A cold and the flu are caused by different viruses, but they can have
similar symptoms, normally the flu is accompanied by more serious
ones, take a look at the chart to understand the differences:

The name flu
comes from the
virus influenza.
 SIGNS AND
COLD FLU
SYMPTOMS

Symptom onset Gradual Abrupt

Fever Rare Usual

Aches Slight Usual

What do Chills
you Uncommon Fairly common
know about
natural wonders?
Fatigue, weakness Sometimes Usual

Sneezing Common Sometimes

Chest discomfort,
Mild to moderate Common
coughing

Stuffy nose Common Sometimes

Sore throat Common Sometimes

Headache Rare Common

WHAT ARE YOU FEELING TODAY?

dry cough.
I have a tickly cough.
chest cough.
 I am hoarse.
I have a sore throat.

What do you
know about
natural wonders?

I have a fever. I must be

coming down with
something.

I have a stuffy nose.

My nose is runny.
HERE IS YOUR PRESCRIPTION

Normally a doctor will prescribe you some meds to help you get
better, we have to be careful because taking the wrong medication
can cause undesirable side-effects. Here are some commonly
prescribed medications:

● Antibiotic ● Anti-inflammatory
● Morphine ● Painkiller
● Sedative ● Water pill
● Vitamin D ● Amoxicillin

HELLO HOW MAY I HELP YOU?

When visiting the doctors there are some common questions they
may ask you, here are some of them:

● What happened?
● When was it?
● Where were you?
● When did it start?
● You should have come
in sooner
DO YOU HAVE THE PRESCRIPTION?

Of course after a visit to the doctor it is common to go to the

drugstore, here are some questions you might hear/use there:

● What is the name of the

medication?
● How should it be taken?
● What if I get the dose
wrong?
● When should I return to
the doctor?

Real examples:

● “...like the vaccines we have for hepatitis B or flu or polio.” - The

Open Mind: Moonshot to Cure Cancer - Laurie Glimcher.
● “Coronavirus is likely spread through a cough, sneeze or other
contact with saliva." - How Doctors Stay Safe Battling
Coronavirus | WSJ
● “Was the baby vomiting? Did they have a fever?” - A smarter,
more precise way to think about public health | Sue
Desmond-Hellmann
● “... all these symptoms of a miserable species…” - The Open Mind:
We’re All Made of Stars - Moby

Recommendations:
★ Magic Medicine - Available on Netflix

★ Grey’s Anatomy - Available on Star+

LESSON 01: BATTLE OF WILLS!
During this part of the lesson we will talk about the simple future
tense, how and when to use it properly.
When talking about the future it is quite common to not be
completely certain about what is going to happen. We can make
plans for the future and have schedules and appointments but
sometimes in life spontaneous things happen all the time.

The simple future is used to talk about the more uncertain future, to
talk about things that may or may not happen, let’s take a look at
some examples:

TO GIVE AN INVITATION:
Are you inviting someone to a party?
Using the simple future is ideal in
this case, considering you don’t know
if your invitation will be accepted.

PREDICTING THE FUTURE:

If you are trying to take a guess about
what will happen in the future and you
don’t have 100% certainty using the
simple future is ideal.
TO GIVE ORDERS:
This one shows a little more certainty and
agency over the future, it is usually used
in the context of an individual imposing
something to another.

PROMISES, REQUESTS, REFUSALS AND

OFFERS:
The simple future is often used when
talking about the future in a spontaneous
manner, these uses fall in that category.

FIRST CONDITIONAL:
The conditional structures have their own
set of rules, but the first conditional is
quite simple, the basic idea is:
- If something happens in the
present, there will be a
consequence in the future.

Examples:

● Will you go to the party tonight? No, sorry I won’t. (invitation and
refusal)
● You will get up and finish or homework or else… (order)
● If you don’t study you will get a bad grade. (first conditional)
● I think Brazil will win the world cup this year. (prediction)
The simple future structure is quite simple and can be summed up
like this:

SUBJECT + WILL + MAIN VERB + COMPLEMENT

Some examples to illustrate the structure in use:

● They will buy a new car, when they have enough money.
● My friends (they) will be here any second.

Note that in these examples the auxiliary modal will doesn’t have a
specific meaning, it is used to show that the action or event happens
in the future.

The negative form is created by adding “NOT” to the structure:

SUBJECT + WILL + NOT + MAIN VERB + COMP…

● Mary will not take part in the debate.

● She said she won’t watch the movie next week.

The contracted form of will not is won’t and they can be used
similarly, using the non-contracted form can be used to give
emphasis.

Finally, for the interrogative form we change the order of the

structure a little bit:

WILL + SUBJECT + MAIN VERB + COMP…

● Will Deborah invite him to the ceremony?

● Will we be okay after this?
PREDICTING THE FUTURE:

We can use other modal verbs to make predictions about the future:

★ COULD

★ MAY

★ MIGHT

These modals convey the idea of future possibility, talking about

things that can happen in the future but are not certain.

Examples:

● His favorite team might win the tournament.

● Some people may leave after the music stops.
● They could get in trouble because of this.

IMPORTANT: MAY SHOWS A STRONGER POSSIBILITY.

SHALL WE…?

We sometimes use shall instead of will to indicate an invitation or

suggestion:

Examples:

● Shall we go to the movies today?

● Shall I bring you something to eat?

Real examples:

● “... and you might find that they will challenge your
assumptions.” - Color blind or color brave? | Mellody Hobson
● “… how easily what you might call meritocratic plutocracy can
become crony plutocracy." - Chrystia Freeland: The rise of the
new global super-rich
● “... we shall have to redefine man, redefine tool, or accept
chimpanzees as humans.” - Dr. Jane Goodall: Maybe I Dreamt It,
It's Too Exciting | MasterClass Moments | MasterClass
● “And so there won’t be another epic journey in the ocean.” -
Never, ever give up | Diana Nyad

Recommendations:

★ Documentary - The future Of, available on Netflix

★ Movie - Interstellar, available on Prime Video.
LESSON 02: ITCHY FEET!!
Take a look at the way these two people are talking about the future:

Julie: There's no milk.

Julie: There's no milk.
John: I know. I'm
John: Really? In that
going to go and get
case, I'll go and get
some. some when this TV
program finishes.

What do you think is the difference between the way they are
talking?

SPEAKING WITH CERTAINTY!

So far we talked about making predictions concerning the future,

and making spontaneous decisions, now we will take a look at how
we can express ideas about plans and intentions that are more
certain.

● I am going to watch a movie at 8:30 PM.

● She is going to go out in a few minutes.

When we want to be more assertive when talking about the future
we use the be going to structure, as shown in the examples. As we
can see we use the verb to be to create these structures, so it’s
important to pay attention to that. Here is a table showing the
possibilities we can use and find:

I am (I’m)
do
You are (you’re)
try
He is (he’s) buy
She is (she’s) going to cry
not going to swim
It is (it’s)
deal
You are (you’re) place
We are (we’re) change
They are (they’re)

Examples:

● Shelley is going to travel next month.

● Dave and I are not going to get back together.
● I am not going to eat this.
● Britney is going to go on tour next year.

GONNA
In spoken English it’s common to see people using gonna (going to)
instead, this is just an adaptation and doesn’t alter the meaning of
the structure.
ARE YOU GOING TO…?

As always we can also create questions using the be going to

structure, in that case only the verb to be changes location:

Am I
do?
Are you
try?
he buy?
Is she cry?
going to
it swim?
deal?
you place?
Are we change?
they

Examples:

● Is he going to move to a different city?

● What are you going to do about it?
● Am I going to go out like this?
GOING TO vs WILL…

They will try something new next year.

They are going to try something new next year.

When interacting with the English language we will find sentences

talking about the future using will and using be going to, the
difference between the meaning of these two structures is the
degree of certainty or agency over the action or event happening in
the future. But they will basically mean the same thing.

SCHEDULES AND APPOINTMENTS:

You can also use the simple ● I have a meeting

present to talk about tomorrow at 8:00 AM.
things in a timetable, like ● They have a class at
an appointment. noon next week.

Here are some informal expressions used to indicate certainty:

★ YOU BETCHA

These expressions are

★ RIGHTO
normally used to confirm
something or to show
★ OKEY-DOKEY confidence when
agreeing.
Real examples:

● “... and where are they going to find sources of consolation?” -

Atheism 2.0 | Alain de Botton
● “They’re smokey, and that ain’t no jokey. Okey-dokey” - 14
Popular Sausage Brands Ranked Worst To Best
● “Brian Fox: You betcha.” - Champions of Change: Greening Our
Cities and Towns Part 1
● “...because 94 percent of federal IT projects are over budget or
behind schedule.” - How a start-up in the White House is
changing business as usual | Haley Van Dyck

Recommendations:

★ Movie - Ready Player One, available on Prime Video

★ Movie -Blade Runner 2049, available on Paramount plus.
LESSON 03: TRIP DOWN ON MEMORY
LANE!!

This expression means: to remember things about the past.

TALKING ABOUT THE PAST!

❏ Last lesson we talked about the future now we will take a look at
things that happened in the past. The simple past is a structure
used to talk about:
❏ Actions that started and finished at a specific time in the past.
❏ Several actions completed in the past.
❏ A process that started and finished in the past.
❏ Past habits, similar to expressions created with “used to”.

● I went to school everyday at 7 AM.

● They visited me yesterday.
To create affirmative sentences in the simple past we need to know
the main verb’s past form or 2nd column. Here are a few examples:

BASE FORM PAST FORM

WALK
WALKED
TALK
TALKED
FLY
FLEW
GO
WENT
BUILD
BUILT
BUY
TYPED
TYPE
BAKED
BAKE
TOOK
TAKE

Notice that some verbs have similar past forms where we add ED at
the end of it, these are regular verbs. The verbs that are modified in
other ways are called irregular verbs. Let’s take a look at some
examples:

Examples:

● My friends called me to talk about the party yesterday.

● They invited their spouses to come over.
● This went exactly as planned.
● I walked for 5 kilometers last week.
THE AFFIRMATIVE FORM:

Now that we know what verb form to use in affirmative sentences

let’s take a look at the complete structure:

THEY FINISHED THEIR HOMEWORK YESTERDAY.

PAST
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
FORM
THE NEGATIVE FORM:

The negative form is simpler, in the negative we use the auxiliary

verb did, and we don’t use the main verb past form:

THEY DID NOT FINISH THEIR HOMEWORK YESTERDAY.

DID NOT MAIN

SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
Examples: (DIDN’T) VERB

● Stacey did not tell me about her boyfriend.

● John didn’t buy the car he said he would.
● My teacher didn’t allow us to use our phones.
● Oh, so you didn’t think about that.
THE INTERROGATIVE FORM:
As any interrogative form we place the auxiliary verb in the
beginning of the question, in the simple past we also use the base
form of the main verb:

DID THEY FINISH THEIR HOMEWORK YESTERDAY ?

MAIN
DID SUBJECT COMPLEMENT
VERB

Examples:

● Did you really think about it ?

● Did they take your place at the line?
● Did you see that?
● Did that really happen?

Real examples:

● “Fortunately we had had a dry run that was just fortuitous

several months ago, and that went flawlessly.” - The Business in
the World Around Us | Google Zeitgeist
● “… to ask, how did you get them altogether and play nice so to
speak?" -KC Sourcelink, Entrepreneurial Resources | Kauffman
Foundation, Thom Ruhe | Top of Mind Episode 25

Recommendations:

★ Series - The Empress, available on Netflix.

★ Series - The Crown, available on Netflix.
1) Which of these options is NOT a natural landscape?.

a. Mountain
b. Building
c. Forest
d. Ocean
e. Desert

2) Complete the expressions correctly:

a. Water under the ___________.

b. As old as the _________.
c. _______ got your tongue..
d. Paper ________.
e. Beat around the _________.

3) Choose the correct definition for wilderness::

a. A place where you buy things.

b. A big city.
c. A place without civilization and people.
d. A small town.

4) Look at the questions and answers and complete the questions

correctly:

a. _________ did you go yesterday? A: I went to the bar.

b. _________ are you leaving for work? A: In about 30 minutes.
c. _________ did you stop? A: Because the light was yellow.
d. _________ they get here so quickly? A: They got an uber.
e. _________ of these is the best option? A: I think the grey one is good.
5) Complete the sentences with the correct medicine related
vocabulary:

a. If you break your leg you put a _______ on it.

b. A fever, a cough and sneezing can be symptoms of a _________ or a
_________.
c. When you get vaccinated nurses use a _____________.
d. If you are sick you need to go to the ________.

6) Complete the sentences using the simple future structure and the
verbs in parentheses:

a. Me and my friends _________ to the beach for new years. (go)

b. They _________ a good time at the party I’m sure. (have)
c. Beth needs to get a grip she _________ her marriage like this. (ruin)
d. Dan _________ here any second now. (be)

7) Choose the option that contains all the modal verbs that can be
used to talk about the future:

a. would / could / should

b. may / should / would
c. can / may / should
d. could / may / might

8) Choose the option that explains correctly the difference between

the simple future and the to be going to structures:

a. The simple future is used for scheduled events and certain plans
and going to statements are used for guessing and spontaneous
decisions.
b. Going to statements are used for scheduled events and certain
plans and the simple future is used for guessing and spontaneous
decisions
9) Write down the correct past forms of the verbs below:
a. Talk -> _________
b. Go -> _________
c. Buy -> _________
d. Call -> _________
e. FInish -> _________
f. Do -> _________
g. Make -> _________

10) Complete the simple past sentences correctly using the verbs in
parentheses:

a. Sheila _____________ to me for a week after that. (not talk)

b. Matthew _____________ with her last week. (break up)
c. _____ you ______ her to give you her number yesterday? (ask)
d. I _____________ this in your bag when I was looking around. (find)
e. That _______ a tragedy. (be)
1) 7)

B D.

2) 8)

a. bridge B.
b. hills
c. cat 9)
d. tigers
e. bush a. talked
b. went
3) c. bought
d. called
c. e. finished
f. did
4) g. made

a. Where 10)
b. When
c. Why a. didn’t talk
d. How b. broke up
e. Which c. Did / ask
d. found
5) e. was

a. cast
b. cold / flu
c. syringe
d. doctor

6)

a. will go
b. will have
c. will ruin
d. will be