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 FLED 302
LESSON PLAN
THIRD CONDITIONAL

BOĞAZİÇİ UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATION

SPRING 2019

Efe GÜLTAN – İremnur AYGÜN

2016105066 – 2014105111
 THIRD CONDITIONAL

1. INTRODUCTION

In English the grammatical form ‘conditionals’ is used to express factual, hypothetical

situations, what we see as possible or probable to happen, to express real, unreal

situations or to talk about an event that didn’t happen in the past i.e., how things might

have happened differently as a result of that imaginary condition.

The conditional sentences consist of two clauses; one of them is the dependent clause

called protasis and the other one is main clause the apodosis which expresses the

consequence (Haspelmath; König; Oesterreicher; Raible, 2001).

In the sense of conveying meaning, there are two types of conditional sentences. The

first type consists of two sub-types, one of them is implicative (or factual) and the other is

predictive conditional sentences. An implicative is used to state that if one fact is valid so

is the other one the, as with the universal and certain truths and scientific expressions like

‘‘If you heat water to 100 hundred degrees, it boils’’ or logical deductions like ‘‘If it’s

stormy, then the sea is rough’’ The facts are stated in every grammatical tense and if the

sentence stating the fact is not declarative then main clause is in the form of a question or

order e,g., ‘‘What will you do, if you see him?’’. And the other sub-type, the predictive

sentence is used to state an event dependent to a possible/hypothetical future situation. A

predictive usually consists of a main clause in simple present, future and past tense and a

dependent clause in present tense e,g., ‘‘If it is snowy, then the last weather forecast was

wrong.’’ The second type of conditional is counterfactual conditional, which is used to

express a situation dependent to a false, uncertain or hypothetic condition (Mead;

Stevenson,(1996). The dependent clause of a counterfactual sentence may be in all

grammatic forms and main clause doesn’t necessarily agree with the dependent clause in

tense wise e.g., ‘‘If I were queen, I could start a war.’’

In English conditional sentences are entitled as zero, first, second, third and mixed

conditional (Thane, 2010).

‘‘If it rains (dependent clause), the roads get wet (main clause).’’

This is an example of the zero-type conditional. Zero-type is used to express factual

things happening in present and future and consequences that are real and probable.

‘‘If you overeat (dependent clause), you will gain weight (main clause).’’

Type one conditional is used to express real situations happening now and in future and

the probable consequences coming into being as a result of them. In this form the

dependent clause is in the simple present and the other one is in the simple future.

‘‘If my aunt had a moustache (dependent clause),she would be my uncle (main clause).’’

Type two conditional is used to talk about an unreal situation and a time range which is

now or any time. It is used to tell the probable result of conditions hypothesized by us. In
this form the dependent clause is in the simple past and the other one is in the present

conditional.

‘‘If you had worked harder (dependent clause), you wouldn’t have been fired (main

clause).’’

Type three conditional is used to express imaginary situations in the past that are

unhappened reality and their probable results. In this form the dependent clause is in the

past perfect present and the other is one is in the perfect conditional. Type three

conditional can also be expressed with omission of the conjunction as such:

Had you worked harder (dependent clause), you wouldn’t have been fired (main

clause).’’

We can also form the main clause of third conditional using the modals could, might,

may with changing the meaning slightly, in that we mitigate the possibility of the

consequence. Using would we say that the consequence of the condition occurs hundred

percent definitely, while using could, might or may the possibility of the consequence to

occur reduces, as in the examples:

‘‘If you had worked harder (dependent clause), you couldn’t have been fired (main

clause).’’ (Slightly reduced possibility of the consequence compared to would)

‘‘If you had worked harder (dependent clause), you might not/may not have been fired

(main clause).’’ (Least possibility compared to would and could)

The last alternative usage of conditional type three is the way that is generally used to

emphasize the importance of the agent or stimulus of a past event/condition:

‘‘If it had not been for/but for the soldiers’ heroics (dependent clause), our country

would have been invaded main clause).’’

There is also one more type of conditional which is called mixed-type conditional.

Mixed-type conditional has the same meaning as the third type with regard to the

dependent clause being imaginary and happened in the past, but the difference lies in the

main clause or the consequence part, which is still in effect in present, as opposed to the

third type.

If I had graduated from a better university (dependent clause), I would be earning more

(main clause).’’

The purpose of this lesson is to teach students the form of third conditional in a

meaningful communicative context, using the grammar teaching method of ‘focus on

form’. To serve this purpose the lesson involves both authentic and non-authentic
teaching materials, texts tailored to students’ needs and language level and controlled

writing exercises which engage students to the grammatic form.

As a warm-up session the teacher introduces the students to an authentic song, The

Hollies-Why Didn’t You Believe, and distributes a handout involving the lyrics of the

song made bold to focus students to the grammar structure. Upon completion of the

handout, the teacher discusses the meaning of the song with the students and have the

students predict the meaning relation between the sentences and the form. Then the

teacher writes the given sentences to the whiteboard and he/she focuses on the form and

given meta-linguistic information about the structure. The main aim of this activity is to

familiarize the students with the structure in the sense of form and meaning.

After the warm-up activity the teacher starts the main activity consisting of four parts, of

which the first one is solely form focused and the second one both meaning and use.

After the first step the teacher distributes a sheet to students and have students

individually fill in these sheets as a controlled and form focused writing exercise. After

this activity the teacher presents students with a reading text tailored to focus their

attention to the form. Upon reading the text the students complete a guided writing

exercise in which they form sentences in the target form using the pre-given words. After

they complete these activities, it is assumed by the teacher that the students have enough

knowledge with regards to the form and meaning dimensions of the target structure and

that they are able to be given more freedom in doing further activities.

The third part of the main activity involves a reading text comprising ample examples of

the target structure but no explicit focus to it. After they read the text students are given

some meaning comprehension questions which requires them to use the target
grammatical form, in answering the questions in groupwork. By means of this activity,

students not only comprehend the reading text, but also they become equipped with the

necessary linguistic knowledge to hypothesize about the consequences about past events

on their own, and able to identify and express the cause and effect relations using the

target form of third conditional.

When they are done with answering the questions the teacher starts the final part of the

main activity. In the final part, students are required by the teacher to write a short text

individually through which they express their regrets in their life and the things they want

to change if they’ve had the chance in the past. Then the teacher starts an in-class

discussion about the writings, giving also the students feedback about the accuracy of

their answers. This activity will provide the students with the ability to express

themselves freely by using target structure, in both oral and written form and without

needing any assistance.

Finally, the teacher gives general feedback with regards to the overall performance of the

students and as homework students are required to write an apology letter pretending that

they are writing to one of their superiors in a workplace using the target structure. By

doing this, not only will the students have the ability to use the target structure to fulfill a

communicative purpose, but also they will explore the conventions of letter genre and

able to use them in writing a formal letter.

2. Background Information

The school is a public Anatolian High School. The students are 11th graders, they are

seventeen years old. Their proficiency level is B2 (upper intermediate). In early lessons

this year they have been taught all forms of the past tense including past perfect. They

have also been taught all types of conditionals. After having learned past perfect and

other conditionals, they became ready to learn the final stage conditional, the type three.

A lesson before this one, the teacher has revised the conditionals (0,1,2) so the students

has become more able to better realize the meaning difference between all types of

conditionals. At that lesson the teacher has also revised the subject past perfect to have

students ready to deal with the grammatical underlying of the type three conditional. The

classroom is a regular one with regular seating order and single seater chairs.

3. Objectives

• Students will be able explore the form, meaning and use aspects of the target

structure.

• Students will be able to hypothesize about the possible consequences of past

events.

• Using target form, students will be able to express their past regrets and the things

they would have changed if they had the opportunity.

• Students will be able to identify all the alternative usages of the target structure.
 • Students will be to be aware of the Chernobyl disaster, its consequences and

possible measures that could have prevented it.

Through a series of activities with each one focusing on one of the three dimensions

(form, meaning, use) of the target, students will be well equipped with sufficient

knowledge of the target structure and they take control of the form in its all aspects,

achieving the objectives above (As elaborated in the introduction part).

A possible challenge the teacher anticipate that the students may face in achieving these

objectives lies in the existence of the complex lexicon in the reading text of Chernobyl.

To deal with this problem the teacher will provide vocabulary assistance to the students

by providing them with the vocabulary chart and encourage them to ask for unknown

words in case they encounter unfamiliar vocabulary.

4. Contextual Information

I. Warm-up activity (Time allocated: 15 minutes, Materials & Equipment:

Smartboard, whiteboard, hi-fi speakers, board markers, lyrics handouts.)

The teacher distributes the handouts to students, has the students listen to the

song, then draws students’ attention to the sentences bolded in the lyrics and gives

explicit instruction about the target form on the whiteboard.

II. Main activity: (Time allocated: 45 minutes, Materials & Equipment: Form-

focused handouts, reading passage handouts, vocabulary chart, blank

papers, whiteboard, board markers.)

 a. Filling in the form-focused handout activity: The teacher distributes the

students a form focused hand out, which they perform a controlled writing

exercise, later the teacher provides corrective feedback.

b. Form oriented reading passage and guided writing activity: The teacher

distributes students a form-oriented reading passage and have them perform a

guided writing activity using the target structure.

c. Meaning and use focused comprehension activity: The teacher distributes

students a reading passage and expose them to comprehension questions

through which they practice the target structure in a meaningful context.

d. Free writing and speaking activity: The teacher asks the students to express

their experiences regarding their lifetime regrets and the things they would

have wanted to change if they’ve had the opportunity by writing a small text

and then starts class discussion about the students’ writings.

III. Feedback and Homework: (5 minutes)

The teacher asses the overall performance of the students and give feedbacks

about it, then assign them a homework that the students are supposed to bring a

formal letter of apology written to their imaginary superiors in a workplace.

5. Lesson Plan

Context: EFL Setting

Institution: Public School

Course/Level: Upper-Intermediate level, English Grammar Lesson

Time Allocated: 60 Minutes

Students: 11th Graders, ages around 17, Turkish native speakers

Expected number of students: approximately 20 students

Assumed knowledge of the Students: They are expected to acquire type 0,1,2 conditionals and
past perfect tense.

Overall Course Goals: Teaching the third conditional.

Texts/materials: A song for listening, the lyrics paper of the song, two reading texts, a word
chart, two form-focused activity papers.

Anticipated problems for students: Students may have difficulty in understanding the reading
text of Chernobyl disaster due to complex vocabulary.
Anticipated problems for teacher: Students may have difficulty in shifting tense when forming
sentences of third conditional.
Solutions to those problems: The teacher will provide the students with a word chart to deal
with the complex vocabulary of the reading text. To overcome problems in tense shifting the
teacher will make extensive form-focused practice and provide constant corrective feedback.
Key vocabulary necessary for the lesson: The conjunction ‘‘if’’ is necessary to form
conditionals.
Lesson aims: Students will be able to express their hypothetical thoughts in relation with past
events using third conditional.
Answer Key: Answer key for each activity is included in the appendix.
Activity/ Objectives Materials/ Step by step details Seating and Contingency plans/ other notes
timing equipment interaction
Introduction Students will be Smartboard The teacher starts the Classic The teacher also gives
to class able to explore Whiteboard lesson by having the classroom instructions about the logic
Warm-up the target form, to Song (see students listen to the arrangement, underlying the use of the third
activity observe its usage Appendix. song and then s/he conditional.
(listening a in authentic 1) distributes the Teacher Talk,
song- The material. handout of the lyrics,
Hollies – then s/he sets out a Listening a
Why Didn’t mini-lesson through song
you which s/he instructs
Believe), in detail about the
and a target form.
detailed
form-
focused
instruction
to introduce
students to
the form of
third
conditional

15 minutes
Form- Students will be Whiteboard The teacher has the Classic If the teacher encounters any
Focused able to practice Practice students fill in the classroom student error s/he provides
Activity the target form handout 1 handouts arrangement, immediate assistance and
(Filling in through individually and s/he corrective feedback.
the handout controlled- gives feedback by Teacher-
including writing. examining the Students
form- handouts.
focused
practice.)

7 minutes

Form and Students will be Whiteboard The teacher has the Classic The teacher will assist students
use focused able to practice Reading students read the classroom in case of any unknown
activity the form by text 1 graded text and then arrangement. vocabulary or struggle when
Reading the guided-writing Practice distributes the doing the guided writing.
text and and to explore its handout 2 handout of the Teacher-
answering use by reading a guided-writing students.
the graded text. practice. Then, she
questions in gives corrective
the form of feedback.
guided
writing.

8 minutes
Meaning Students will be Whiteboard The teacher first Seats are In addition to the word chart
and use to able to use the distributes the word arranged in distributed in advance the
focused target structure in Reading chart and then has groupwork teacher will also provide
activity a meaningful Text 2 the students read the style. additional support with regard to
Reading a context. Handouts- text, finally s/he possible unknown vocabulary.
text and comprehens distributes the Teacher-
writing and Students will be ion comprehension Students
answering able to explore questions questions, to have
comprehens the Chernobyl and the students answer by Students-
ion disaster. word chart working in groups. students
questions Later s/he has the
students speak out
10 minutes the answers they’ve
written and s/he
provides feedback
and correction.

Meaning Students will be Whiteboard The teacher has the Seats are Teacher limits the assistance to
and use able to use the students write a arranged in minimum to see the,
focused target structure to paragraph groupwork unguided/free performance of
writing and express their past individually about style the students. S/he only assists
speaking regrets both in their past regrets upon students’ demands.
activity. oral and written using the target Teacher-
Writing a form. structure and then students
paragraph s/he sets out a class
and discussion. Students-
discussing students
activity.

15 Minutes
Feedback & Students will be The teacher provides Classic
Homework able to get students with overall classroom
evaluated in feedback then arrangement.
Writing a terms of their assigns them the
formal overall letter for the Teacher-
work letter performance. upcoming lesson. students
stating Students will be
able to use the
apology
target structure in
the
communicative
5 minutes
context of writing
a formal letter

6. Summary of the Grammar Structure

Third conditional is used to speculate/hypothesize about unhappened conditions and their

consequences. These sentences are completely hypothetical, unreal and they have an

implication of regret because of the fact that both the condition and its consequences

stated in the sentence are things of the past now. We use this form to simply imagine

what would have been different if the conditions had been different.

Examples:

If I had graduated from the college, I would have found a better job.
The if clause can be placed oppositely in the sentence as in the example:

I would have been an engineer, if I had gone to college

If we want to decrease the possibility of the consequence of the past condition, we can

use could and might/may instead of would as in the examples in order to gradually

decrease the possibility:

If I had had the opportunity, I could have found the solution.

If I had had enough time, I may have repaired the bicycle.

If I had had money, I might have not been in such a trouble.

We can form third conditional sentences by omitting to use as in the example:

Had I found you, I would have given you a hug.

We can use the contraction ‘d both for would and had as in the example:

If I’d (had) been late, I’d (would) have apologized to you.

Reference:

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-grammar/third-

conditional
7. Teacher Talk

Hi everyone, how are you this morning? Everybody is doing well, right? Okay, today we will

do some exercises about our new topic after we listen to the song I picked for you. We will

try to understand the song and its meaning, in order to do that in a more easy and fun way, I

am now giving each of you a hand-out. These hand-outs have the lyrics of the song written

on them, this way you can both follow the sentences while you listen to the song in order to

understand it better. Okay, does everyone have a copy? Great, then we can start. I don’t think

you know the band, but if you do, that’s nice. Before we start, you see some of the lyrics are

bolded, it is because I need you to try to figure out how the form is used and how it affects

the meaning of the sentence. Just try to understand and we will discuss it in detail afterwards.

Yeah, what do you think? Did you like the song, or did you find it boring? I don’t think it is

boring, but I wouldn’t listen to it every day either. Now, we will listen to it one more time,

while listening I will be writing some things about the bolded part of the hand-outs you have.

Let’s see what you got. Did you understand the general meaning of the song? Or what did

you understand overall? Yeah that’s correct, it talks about Jesus and asks people “Why didn’t

you believe in him?”. It asks people why they didn’t believe in him, that they should have but

they didn’t. If you did something and you cannot change it, but you regret it or somehow you

are responsible for the consequences and you or people around you are not happy with these

consequences. That’s when you use this Type 3 Conditional form, to be able to tell that you

did something, if you hadn’t done it, this other thing would/wouldn’t have been like… On

the hand-outs, it says “If you had listened, you would have discovered”, so it says you

didn’t listen at the time but if you had listened, you would have discovered. As I’ve written

on the board, you see in the lyrics we have the same kind of grammar structure. You all can
tell that the tense is past tense, but there is more detail in this form. Yeah it is a different type

of “conditional”, and it is called third conditional. If you remember, we talked about type 0, 1

and type 2, and we worked on them. Now we are meeting a new kind. This type, as you can

see, consists of two sentences – just like other two types we saw before. This one is also in

past tense, again this time – just like type 2. However, this type is used to talk about things

happened in the past, so about the things which you cannot change. The sentence with If, If

clause, is our dependent clause; and the other sentence is our main clause. We use Past

Perfect Tense with the if clause, and we use would + have + V3 with the main clause. If you

understand the meaning of the structure, the grammar form is easy to apply in sentences. As

you guys are familiar with Past Perfect Tense and Conditionals, this will not be so difficult

for you to understand. In order to understand it more clearly, we are going to do some

practice. Take one of these worksheets and pass them to your friend, after everyone has a

copy we may start. Okay, you see there are twenty sentences, and you need to use the correct

third conditional form in the sentences. It already says if you should use negative form or not,

or which modal you are going to use (would/could/may/might). The only difference between

these, is probability level of the situation. Other than that, there is no difference regarding the

grammar form itself. Everyone has a copy right? Okay, you can start working on the

sentences, you have seven mins to fill in the blanks. After you finish, we will check your

answers all together.

Yeah you did great here guys, that’s very nice. If you have any questions, anything you

didn’t understand, please ask. Anything you are not feeling good about? Nope? Okay. Then

now, we will move on to the next exercise, I will give each of you a reading text, you will

read it and then you will answer the questions below the text using the third conditional. The
text is not difficult to understand, and it consists of a series of events so maybe it’ll help you

to develop a better understanding of this type three conditional. Now you can start reading,

you have 8 mins to complete the sentences according to the text. Again, we will check your

answers together after you finish. Okay, have you finished? Nice, let’s begin then. You seem

like you don’t have a problem with the structure, and you did fine with the questions. Any

questions? Anything you want to ask?

Okay now, let’s move on to the next activity we have. This is a text about Chernobyl, the

accident happened in Ukraine, in 1986. I’m sure most of you have heard about it and some of

you may know more about the accident. After reading the text, you will answer the questions

about the text. It may scare you when you first see the passage but don’t worry; it also has a

vocabulary list below so that you can check the words you don’t know the meaning of. Plus,

in order to answer the questions, you don’t need to understand every single detail in the text,

but you need to understand enough. Okay, now that everyone has a copy, you can start

reading, you will work in pairs so each group will be answering one question. You have 10

mins to complete.

Did you like the text, what do you think? According to answers you’ve given to the

questions, I can say that you get the main idea of third conditional form. Of course, it is

normal for you to have a little difficulty in understanding some terms and vocabulary, but

you did a great job. We can move on to the next activity if you don’t have any questions

regarding this one.

As the last activity of this lesson, we will write a small text about the things we regret, the

things we did and cannot change. I need everyone of you to think about your past and the
things you did, anything you regret or anything you would want to change via using third

conditional form. You have 15 mins to finish, after you finish you will read the text to your

friends and you will talk about them.

Now that we’ve heard about our regrets, and finished the activity as we planned, I want to

thank you guys for the courage you’ve had today. It was an enjoyable class for me, I hope it’s

been like that for you too. Overall performance of the class was pretty good actually, we need

to practice a little more about it to become more professional about using the third

conditional form.

So, you have a homework. You will write a regret letter to anyone you wish to apologize or if

you don’t have someone to write, you can think of some imaginary person and write to them.

You won’t be sending these letters to the person you’ll write to of course but we will be

reading them in class and correcting our mistakes if there is any.

Thanks for the teamwork everybody, see you on Thursday. We will continue to practice the

same structure with different types of activities. See you.

APPENDICES
Put in the correct third conditional verb form using would or could/might/may in the main
clause:

1. If I ______________ (not / be) late, we ______________ (not / miss) the flight.

2. If he ______________ (study), he ______________ (could/pass) the course.

3. If they ______________ (arrive) earlier, they ______________ (may/see) the artist.

4. If you ______________ (go) to bed early, you ______________ (not / wake) up late.

5. If I ______________ (become) a musician, I ______________ (record) a CD.

6. If Mert ______________ (go) to medical school, he ______________ (could/become) a

doctor.

7. If we ______________ (be) born in a different country, we ______________ (might/learn) to

speak a different language.

8. If they ______________ (go) to university, they ______________ (may/study) French.

9. If we ______________ (not / go) to the meeting, we ______________ (not / meet) them.

10. If he ______________ (take) the job, he ______________ (not / go) travelling.

11. They ______________ (could/be) comfortable if they ______________ (stay) at home.

12. Zeynep ______________ (pass) the exam if she ______________ (study) more.

13. We ______________ (not / get) married if we ______________ (not / go) to the same
university.

14. You ______________ (might/be) late if you ______________ (not / take) a metro.

15. I ______________ (not / meet) him if I ______________ (not / come) to Istanbul.

16. You ______________ (may/buy) a car if you ______________ (have) a lot more money.

17. She ______________ (call) him if she ______________ (not / forget) her phone.
18. I ______________ (might/come) if I ______________ (be) invited.

19. You ______________ (not / do) it if you ______________ (know) she was sick.

20. He ______________ (be) on time if he ______________ (leave) earlier.

Read the text below and then answer the questions accordingly using the correct third

conditional verb form:

Melis is a woman of 27 who lives in a small house on her own and she had a bad day yesterday.

She forgot her bus ticket when she was leaving her house. She realized this after she got to the

bus stop, so she had to go back to the house in a rush. She opened the door, put her keys on the

kitchen table, went to her room to find the bus ticket and left again without her keys.

She caught the 8:30a.m. bus instead of 8:15a.m. bus and arrived at work about fifteen minutes

late. Ms. Ataşoğlu, her boss, was in a bad mood yesterday and she yelled at Melis when she

arrived. Then, they had an argument in front of the others working in the office and Ms. Ataşoğlu

told Melis that she would have to work extra for fifteen minutes at lunchtime to finish an

important task.

At lunch, Melis only had time for a toast and couldn’t go to the office cafeteria with her friends

as normal. Everyone came back to the office very happy because they had met a new employee

who had told very funny jokes. Melis was not happy at all, instead she was hungry and

exhausted.
Because she was very hungry, she left the office at 5 o’clock and bought a hotdog from the

woman on the main street. In an hour, she started feeling sick and had a stomachache. It was not

her day!

When she went home and she realized that she didn’t have her keys, so she had to walk three

miles to her brother’s house to get the duplicate keys. Then she went into her house, closed the

door and went straight to bed.

Create a sentence using third conditional putting the given words below in the correct

order.

bus ticket | have to | not | bus ticket | at home |If | she

1. …………………………………………………………………………, she wouldn't have

had to return home.

would | not | them | forget | she | have

2. If she hadn't put the keys on the kitchen table,

……………………………………………………………..

not | would | she | late | been | have

3. ……….……………………………………………………………, if she had caught the

earlier bus.

if | a bad mood | she | been | in | have | not

4. Ms. Ataşoğlu wouldn't have yelled at Melis,

…………………………………………………………………

they | argue | not | would | have | in the office

5. If Melis hadn't been late,

……………………………………………………………………………………….

meet | the new employee | would | Melis | have

6. ……………………………………………………………………………., if she had gone

to the cafeteria.

she | have | feel | would | not | sick

7. If Melis hadn't bought the hot dog,

………………………………………………………………………….
 she | if | stay | at home | all day | have

8. Melis would have had a better day,

…………………………………………………………………………….

Read the article below and answer the questions accordingly using the correct third

conditional verb form.

 The 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, then part of the former

Soviet Union, is the only accident in the history of commercial nuclear power to cause fatalities

from radiation. It was the product of a severely flawed Soviet-era reactor design, combined with

human error. Much of the underlying circumstances were particular to the Chernobyl reactor and

the Soviet government’s response.

Key differences in U.S. reactor design, regulation and emergency preparedness mean that an

accident like the one that took place at Chernobyl could not occur in the United States.

The reactor built at Chernobyl is a RBMK reactor, which was never built by any country

outside the USSR because it had characteristics that were rejected everywhere outside the Soviet

Union. Chief among these was its inherent instability, especially on startup and shutdown.

Because of the way the reactor used graphite where American reactors use water, when Soviet

operators tried to reduce power the RBMK had a tendency to sharply increase power production

instead. As overheating became more severe, power increased even more.

Thirty-one people died within a few weeks of the accident from the initial steam explosion,

exposure to radiation and thermal burns, and one due to cardiac arrest.

In 2018, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation

(UNSCEAR) reported that the accident also was responsible for nearly 20,000 documented cases

of thyroid cancer among individuals who were under 18 years of age at the time of the accident

in the three affected countries including Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federation. This was

due to the high levels of radioactive iodine released from the Chernobyl reactor in the early days

after the accident. Radioactive iodine was deposited in pastures eaten by cows who then

concentrated it in their milk which was subsequently ingested by children. This was further
exacerbated by a general iodine deficiency in the local diet causing more of the radioactive

iodine to be accumulated in the thyroid.

Both the IAEA and UNSCEAR report that health studies of cleanup workers fail to provide a

direct correlation between radiation exposure and an increase of any other forms of cancer

attributable to radiation exposures. However, the psychological effects of Chernobyl remain

widespread and profound resulting in suicides, alcohol abuse and apathy.

Most emergency workers and people living in contaminated areas received relatively low

whole-body radiation doses, according to a United Nations study published in 2008. The study

found no evidence of increases in solid cancers, decreased fertility or congenital malformations.

However, there is “some evidence of a detectable increase” in leukemia and cataract risk among

workers who received higher radiation doses when engaged in recovery at the site. Long-term

health monitoring of these workers is ongoing.

What Happened

The accident, which occurred at reactor 4 of the plant in the early morning of April 26, 1986,

resulted when operators took action in violation of the plant’s procedures. Operators ran the plant

at very low power, without adequate safety precautions and without properly coordinating or

communicating the procedure with safety personnel.

The four Chernobyl reactors were pressurized water reactors of the Soviet RBMK design, or

Reactor BolshoMoshchnosty Kanalny, meaning “high-power channel reactor.” Designed to

produce both plutonium and electric power, they were very different from standard commercial

designs and employed a unique combination of a graphite moderator and water coolant.
 The reactors were highly unstable at low power, due to control rod design and “positive void

coefficient,” factors that accelerated the nuclear chain reaction and power output if the reactors

lost cooling water.

These factors all contributed to an uncontrollable power surge that led to Chernobyl 4’s

destruction. The power surge caused a sudden increase in heat, which ruptured some of the

pressure tubes containing fuel.

The hot fuel particles reacted with water and caused a steam explosion, which lifted the 1,000-

metric-ton cover off the top of the reactor, rupturing the rest of the 1,660 pressure tubes, causing

a second explosion and exposing the reactor core to the environment. The fire burned for 10

days, releasing a large amount of radiation into the atmosphere.

The Chernobyl plant did not have the fortified containment structure common to most nuclear

power plants elsewhere in the world. Without this protection, radioactive material escaped into

the environment.

After the accident, the crippled Chernobyl 4 reactor was originally enclosed in a concrete

structure that was growing weaker over time. As of November 2018, it is now encased in an

enormous steel and concrete sarcophagus which is expected to last 100 years or more.

Officials shut down reactor 2 after a building fire in 1991 and closed Chernobyl 1 and 3 in 1996

and 2000, respectively.

Vocabulary List:
Commercial: ticari
Fatality: ölüm (kaza sonucu olan)
Inherent: kendinde var olan
Instability: değişkenlik, dengesizlik
Graphite: grafit
Tendency: eğilim
Initial: ilk
Steam: buhar
Exposure: maruz kalma, maruz bırakma
Cardiac Arrest: ani kalp durması
Iodine: iyot
Subsequently: ardından
Ingest: yemek (f)
Apathy: hissizlik
Accelerate: hızlandırmak, hızlanmak
Rupture: parçalanmak, kırılmak
Fortify: desteklemek, kuvvetlendirmek
Sarcophagus: lahit, taş sandık
Questions:

1. Which characteristic of the Chernobyl accident makes it the one and only in the history of

commercial nuclear power?

2. What kind of errors caused the accident?

3. What would have happened if it had been in U.S.A?

4. What would have happened if overheating hadn’t become more severe?

5. How many people were documented having thyroid cancer?

6. What was the main cause of these thyroid cancer cases?

7. How the psychological effects of Chernobyl result in?

8. What would have happened if the power surge hadn’t caused a sudden increase in heat?

9. What wouldn’t have happened if the Chernobyl plant had had the fortified containment

structure?

10. Why officials did shut down reactor 2 in 1991?

ANSWER KEY

a.

1. If she hadn’t forgotten her bus ticket at home, she wouldn’t have had return home.

2. If she hadn’t put the keys on the kitchen table, she wouldn’t have forgotten them.

3. She wouldn’t have been late, if she had caught the earlier bus.

4. Ms. Ataşoğlu wouldn’t have yelled at Melis, if she hadn’t been in a bad mood.

5. If Melis hadn’t been late, they wouldn’t have argued in the office.

6. Melis would have met the new employee, if she had gone to the cafeteria.

7. If Melis hadn’t bought the hot dog, she wouldn’t have felt sick.

8. Melis would have had a better day, if she had stayed at home all day.

b.

1. If I hadn’t been late, we wouldn’t have missed the flight.

2. If he had studied, he could have passed the course.

3. If they had arrived earlier, they may have seen the artist.

4. If you had gone to bed early, you wouldn’t have woken up late.

5. If I had become a musician, I would have recorded a CD.

6. If Mert had gone to medical school, he could have become a doctor.

7. If we had been born in a different country, we might have learned to speak a different

language.

8. If they had gone to university, they may have studied French.

9. If we hadn’t gone to the meeting, we wouldn’t have met them.

10. If he had taken the job, he wouldn’t have gone travelling.

11. They could have been comfortable, if they had stayed at home.

12. Zeynep would have passed the exam, if she had studied more.

13. We wouldn’t have gotten married, if we hadn’t gone to the same university.

14. You might have been late, if you hadn’t taken the metro.

15. I wouldn’t have met him, if I hadn’t come to Istanbul.

16. You might have bought a car, if you had had a lot more money.

17. She would have called him, if she hadn’t forgotten her phone.

18. I might have come, if I had been invited.

19. You wouldn’t have done it, if you had known she was sick.

20. He would have been on time, if he had left earlier.

c.

1. That it caused fatalities as a result of radiation.

2. A severely flawed Soviet-era reactor design combined with human error caused the

accident.

3. An accident like the one happened at Chernobyl wouldn’t have happened if it had been

in U.S.A.

4. If overheating hadn’t become more severe, power wouldn’t have increased even more.

5. Almost 20,000 people documented having thyroid cancer.

6. The main cause was the high levels of radioactive iodine released from the Chernobyl

reactor in the early days after the accident.

7. They resulted in suicides, alcohol abuse and apathy.

8. Some of the pressure tubes containing fuel wouldn’t have ruptured if the power surge

hadn’t caused a sudden containment structure.

9. Radioactive material wouldn’t have escaped into the environment if the Chernobyl plant

had had the fortified containment structure.

10. Officials shut down reactor 2 because of a building fire in 1991.

 REFERENCES

• Haspelmath, Martin; König, Ekkehard; Oesterreicher, Wulf; Raible, Wolfgang: Language

Typology and Language Universals, Walter de Gruyter, 2001, p. 1002.

• Mead, Hayden; Stevenson, Jay (1996), The Essentials of Grammar, p. 55

• Craig Thane, Teacher Training Essentials: Workshops for Professional Development,

Cambridge University Press, 2010, p. 67.

• https://www.nei.org/resources/fact-sheets/chernobyl-accident-and-its-consequences

• http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-grammar/third-

conditional

• https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/type-3-conditional/

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