English Lesson
Topic: City Living

Introductory Questions
 Do you live in the country or the city?
 Do you like it?
 Why/why not?
 What do you like most about it
 Have you always lived in the city/country?

Introductory Questions
 What do you think are the advantages of
living in a city?
 What are the disadvantages?
 Do you want to move to the country/city
later in life?

Vocabulary
 Building
 Skyscraper
 Apartment, flat
 Public transport
 Traffic

Vocabulary
Parking lot Subway, public transport
Park Shopping center, mall

Vocabulary
Pollution
Sidewalk, footpath
Suburb
Rush hour

Vocabulary
 Exhibition
 Gallery
 Museum
 Crime
 Freeway
 Traffic lights

Video and Questions
High five escalator- Video 1
 Where does the video take place?
 Watch for the signs the people hold up.
What do they say?
 How many high fives does Rob get?
 What did you think of this action?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abt8aAB-Dr0&eurl=http://improveverywhere.com/

Frozen Grand Central Video2
 Where does the video take place?
 What does the action involve?
 What were the reactions of onlookers?
 What do you think the organisation ‘Improv
Everywhere’ is trying to achieve?
 Would you be willing to participate?
Here is their website:
http://improveverywhere.com/

May and might
Rules

May and might.
It may rain.
It might rain.
What’s the difference?
Just as could is the past tense of can,
might is the past tense of may: We
thought we might win the
tournament. But might can also be
used as a substitute for may to show
diminished possibility.

Thus, saying:
We might go to the movies means that
the likelihood of going is somewhat less
than if you say We may go to the
movies.
When used to express permission, might
has a higher degree of politeness than
may. Thus, Might I express my opinion
conveys less insistence than May I
express my opinion.

Study this example situation:
You are looking for Bob. Nobody is sure where
he is, but you get some suggestions.
l He may be in the office (= perhaps he is in his
office)
l he might be having lunch (= perhaps he is
having lunch)
l Ask Ann. She might know(= perhaps she
knows)

We use may or might to say that
something is a possibility.
 It can be true or It might be true
 She might know or She may know
The negative forms are may not and
might not
 It may not be true
 She might not work here any more

May and might
Exercises

Write the setences in a different way
using might
l Perhaps Helen is in her office.
_____She might be in her office_______
l Perhaps Helen is busy.
l Perhaps she is working.
l Perhaps she wants to be alone.
l Perhaps she was ill yesterday.
l Perhaps she went home early.
l Perhaps she had to go home early.
l Perhaps she was working yesterday.

For the past we use may have (done) or
might have (done) :
A: I wonder why Kate didn't answer the phone.
B: She may have been asleep. (= perhaps she was
asleep)
A: I can't find my bag anywhere.
B: You might have left it in the shop. (= perhaps you
left it in the shop)
A: I was surprised that Kate wasn't at the meeting
yesterday.
B: She might not have known about it. (= perhaps
she didn't know)
A: I wonder why David was in such a bad mood
yesterday.
B: He may not have been feeling well. (= perhaps he
wasn't feeling well)

Study the structure:
may be (true / in the
I / you / he (not) office)
(etc.) might be (doing/working)
know/work/want

Use might not
1. Perhaps she doesn’t want to see me
2. Perhaps she isn’t working today
3. Perhaps she wasn’t feeling well yesterday

Study the structure:
may been (asleep / at home etc.)
I/you/he (not) been (doing / working / feeling
might have etc.) known / had / wanted / left
etc.

Could is similar to may and might:
 It's a strange story, but it could be true. (= it may/
might he true)
 You could have left your bag in the shop. (= you
may/might have left it)
But couldn't (negative) is different from may not
and might not. Compare:
Sarah couldn't have got my message. Otherwise
she would have replied. (= it is not possible that
she got my message)
I wonder why Sarah hasn't replied to my message.
I suppose she might not have got (= perhaps
she didn't get it, and perhaps she did)

Complete each sentence with a verb in the
correct form
l Where’s Sam?
I'm not sure. He might .....be having....lunch.
l Who is that man with Emily?
I'm not sure. It might ....... her brother
l Who was the man we saw with Anna
yesterday?
I’m not sure. It may ............... her brother.
l What are those people doing by the side of the
road?
I don't know. They might ................ for a bus.
5. Do you have a stamp?
No, but ask Simon. He may ..........one.

Read the situation and make sentences
from the words in brackets. Use might.
l I can't find Jeff anywhere. I wonder where
he is.
l (he/go/shopping) He might have gone shopping
l I’m looking for Sarah. Do you know where
she is?
l (she/watch/TV/in her bedroom)
l she/go/out)
l I can’t find my umbrella. Have you seen it?
l (it/be/in the car)
l (you/leave/in the restaurant last night)

Simulations
 The teacher lives in the country and you live in the
city. Try and convince your teacher that living in
the city is better.
 The teacher is a real estate agent and you are
looking for a new apartment. Tell the real estate
agent what sort of home you are looking for (how
many rooms, whether you need an elevator, the
type of neighbourhood etc.). Give a lot of detail.

Simulations
 Tell your teacher how you get to school. How do
you think this would be different if you lived
somewhere else?
 The teacher is a tourist in your city who you meet
on the street. He/she wants to know what the most
interesting things to do in the city are. Try to give
as much information as possible.

What are Modal Verbs?
Modal verbs are special verbs which behave
very differently from normal verbs. Here are
some important differences:
1. Modal verbs do not take "-s" in the third
person.
Examples:
* He can speak Chinese.
* She should be here by 9:00.

2. You use "not" to make modal verbs negative, even
in Simple Present and Simple Past.
Examples:
* He should not be late.
* They might not come to the party.
3. Many modal verbs cannot be used in the past
tenses or the future tenses.
Examples:
* He will can go with us. Not Correct
* She musted study very hard. Not Correct

Common Modal Verbs
Can
Could
May
Might
Must Ought to
Shall
Should
Will
Would
For the purposes of this tutorial, we have included
some expressions which are not modal verbs
including had better, have to, and have got to.
These expressions are closely related to modals in
meaning and are often interchanged with them.

Modal Verbs Exercise 1 Gap-fill Exercise
Complete the sentences using the words listed in the
box below, then click the "Check" button to check your
answers. Don't forget to capitalize when necessary.
Some gaps may have more than one correct answer.
can could have to must might should
1. Ted's flight from Amsterdam took more than 11
hours. He_____ be exhausted after such a long flight.
He ________ prefer to stay in tonight and get some
rest.
2. If you want to get a better feeling for how the city is
laid out, you _________ walk downtown and explore

can could have to must might should
3. Hiking the trail to the peak be dangerous if you are
not well prepared for dramatic weather changes. You
_______ research the route a little more before you
attempt the ascent.
4. When you have a small child in the house, you
_________ leave small objects lying around. Such
objects __________ be swallowed, causing serious
injury or even death.
5. Dave:_________ you hold your breath for more
than a minute?
Nathan: No, I can't.
6. Jenny's engagement ring is enormous! It ________
have cost a fortune.

7. Please make sure to water my plants while I am
gone. If they don't get enough water, they
________die.
8. I _________ speak Arabic fluently when I was a
child and we lived in Egypt. But after we moved back to
Canada, I had very little exposure to the language and
forgot almost everything I knew as a child.
Now, I _________ just say a few things in the
language.
9. The book is optional. My professor said we
_________read it if we needed extra credit. But we
_________read it if we don't want to.

10. Leo: Where is the spatula? It________ be in this
drawer but it's not here.
Nancy: I just did a load of dishes last night and they're
still in the dish washer. It_______ be in there. That's
the only other place it _________be.
11. You ___________ take your umbrella along with
you today. The weatherman on the news said there's a
storm north of here and it __________ rain later on
this afternoon.
12. _________ we pull over at the next rest stop? I
really use the bathroom and I don't know if I hold it until
we get to Chicago.
13. Oh no! Frank's wallet is lying on the coffee table.
He ________ have left it here last night.

14. Ned: ________ I borrow your lighter for a minute?
Stephen: Sure, no problem. Actually, you _________
keep it if you want to. I've given up smoking.
15. I ________ believe she said that to Megan! She
_______ insult her cooking in front of everyone at the
party last night. She _________ have just said she was
full or had some salad if she didn't like the meal.
16. Do you _________ chew with your mouth open like
that? Geez, it's making me sick watching you eat that
piece of pizza.
17. Mrs. Scarlett's body was found in the lounge just
moments ago, and it's still warm! Nobody has left the
mansion this evening, so the killer _______be someone
in this room. It ________ be any one of us!!!

18. Ted: I don't know why Denise starting crying when I
mentioned the wedding.
Pamela: It _______ have been what you said about her
brother. Or, perhaps she is just nervous. After all, the
big day is tomorrow.
19._________ you always say the first thing that pops
into your head? __________you think once in awhile
before you speak?
20. I was reading the book last night before I went to
bed. I never took it out of this room. It __________be
lying around here somewhere. Where ______ it be?