Cambridge english empower_a2_reading_plus_teachers_notes

Unit 1
Meeting people
Cambridge English Empower A2
1 SPEAKING
a Direct students to the photos and ask them what the people
are doing. (texting, talking / speaking to friends, meeting
friends). Tell the class that you talk to your friends every
day/week and in what way(s), e.g. that you sometimes
talk on the phone or Skype, Facebook, etc. Students then
ask and answer Question 1 in pairs. Conduct open class
feedback before introducing Question 2.
Make sure students understand the meaning of meeting
people. You could approach one or two students, hold out
your hand to shake hands, and say, ‘Hello. Nice to meet
you.’ Repeat the word meet and elicit the meaning. Ask
students where you can meet new people. (Some possible
places: at school, at work, at parties, on social media). Ask
students to discuss the question in pairs. Monitor and help
as necessary before bringing the class together. Ask three
or four pairs to feed back to the class.
2 READING
BETTER READING: SCANNING
Scanning is a skill all readers use in their L1 but not always in
their L2. It means to look across a text very quickly to identify
specific information. Students often tend to read on a word-
by-word basis, sometimes actually following a finger moving
slowly along the text as a word is decoded or understood.
Tell students that if they want to find a specific piece of
information in a text, then reading word-by-word is not a
very efficient technique. Ask students why they would scan
this text and direct them to the questions. Elicit or give the
following answers: you might use the technique to know if
this is a conversation among many people, or just a dialogue
between two. You could set a very short time limit of, say, one
minute to nudge students into scanning.
Ask for volunteers to give answers, and nominate others to
see if they agree before feeding back.
Answers
a four (Ariel, Simone, Martin, Chris)
b the names are highlighted in blue (hyperlinks in social media)
a Direct students to read questions 1–6 and check vocabulary
as necessary. Ask students to identify key words in the
questions which will help them to find information in the
social media post. Ask students to compare answers in pairs
before feeding back.
Answers
1 Martin 2 Ariel 3 Toni 4 Tom 5 Chris 6 Simone
b Read through the instructions and point out that the post
in which students can find the answer is given in each
question. You could do the first item together as a class,
pointing out that there is a clue in the meaning in item 1 –
people is plural. Monitor and help as necessary. Check
answers as a class.
Answers
1 contacts 2 local 3 show you around 4 to be honest
5 get together (with)
c Ask students to read the questions and optional answers
and check vocabulary as necessary. Before students
do the activity, explain that they should consider each
option carefully and be prepared to say why the answer
they choose is the best answer. Ask students to work
individually before comparing in pairs. Ask for volunteers
to give answers and see if the class agrees before feeding
back. Ask for another volunteer to say why the answer is
correct. Do not over-correct for accuracy and help students
get their meaning across as necessary.
Answers
1 b (She asks, ‘What’s he like?’)
2 c (‘He’s married to a famous Brazilian singer’)
3 a (‘I know an Irish woman’; ‘Tina Cross? From Ireland?’)
4 b (‘Cross? I know an Irish woman … with the same surname’)
3 SPEAKING
a Put students into pairs to discuss the questions.
Monitor and encourage students to say more than just
‘yes’ or ‘no’ and to explain their answers. Encourage them
to ask follow-up questions, if necessary by writing ‘who,
what, where, why, when’ on the board.
Ask for different pairs to volunteer to present their
discussions to the class. Finally, you could take a class
vote on each of the discussion topics to see how popular
each of the actions is.
1
Cambridge English Empower A2 © Cambridge University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE
READING PLUS

Unit 2
Queuing
b Read the instructions and ask students to read sentences
1–5 and check vocabulary as necessary. Ask students to
make a note of the evidence in the text that leads them to
decide if the sentences are true or false. Put students into
pairs to compare answers and evidence before asking for
volunteers to suggest answers.
Answers
1 True (the customers give it 5 stars)
2 False (you have to return when your turn comes)
3 True (they will get the thing and deliver it to your address)
4 False (you have to pay travel costs)
5 True (comments like ‘terrible’ or ‘is like a slow death’)
c Read through the instructions. Ask students to read items
1–7 and check vocabulary as necessary. Tell students that
they can underline key words in the items and this will
give them focus on the general idea. Do the first item
together as a class. Ask students to say which words or
phrases will help them find the information. Ask students
to work through the exercise individually and monitor and
help as necessary. You could suggest that students check
their answers in a dictionary. Put students into pairs to
compare answers before feeding back to the class.
Answers
1 earn 2 charger 3 form 4 trust 5 deliver 6 travel
costs 7 service
3 SPEAKING
Monitor and encourage students to say more than just
‘yes’ or ‘no’ and explain their answers. Encourage them to
ask follow-up questions and give positive feedback where
possible.
discussions to the rest of the class. Finally, you could
take a class vote on each of the discussion topics to see
how popular each of the questions is. As an alternative,
you could ask students to mingle and ask and answer the
questions.
1 SPEAKING
a Make sure that students understand the word queue:
direct students to the photo, ask them when they usually
have to do this and when was the last time they did
it. Point out that the pronunciation is like the letter Q
(despite the complicated spelling).
Put students into pairs to discuss the questions. Monitor
and help students get their ideas across. Bring the class
together and ask for volunteers or nominate individuals to
share their ideas.
2 READING
BETTER READING: SKIMMING
Read through the information about skimming with the
class, explaining that they do this naturally when they read
a text in their own language. You can illustrate the idea of
skimming by miming a flat stone being thrown across water.
Read the information about the two people, Harry and
Emma. Ask students to skim the texts and match each person
with an advert. You could set a short time limit to discourage
students from reading every word.
Ask for a volunteer to give answers and to explain why. See if
the class agrees before feeding back.
Answers
Text A is more useful for Emma because it’s a job advert, and she’s
looking for work.
Text B is more interesting for Harry because it’s an advert for a
queuing service. He’s short of time, and he can’t waste it queuing.
a Tell students that they’re going to read the texts again,
more carefully. Go through the instructions and ask
students to work in pairs to answer the questions about
Matt. Monitor and help as necessary, pointing students in
the direction of the relevant parts of the text. Go through
each action in turn and ask for volunteers to give answers.
Answers
eat (he takes a picnic), read (he takes a book), watch films (he takes
a tablet with some movies), sit (he takes a beach chair), probably
listen to music (he takes a tablet so he would be able to)
1
READING PLUS

Unit 3
Tourism
a Go through the instructions. Direct students to look
carefully at the possible topics for the paragraphs and
say if any are similar (both a and b mention gondolas;
both a and c mention a city). Elicit or tell students that
for this activity, they should read the texts carefully and
check that all parts of the topics are mentioned. You
could do the first item together with the class, pointing
out that paragraph 3 contains information about different
gondoliers in Venice.
Ask students to do the activity individually before
comparing in pairs. Monitor and help as necessary,
encouraging students to justify their answers based on the
information in the paragraphs and topics where necessary.
Answers
a 3 b 1 c 4 d 2
b Direct students to the questions and ask them how they
are going to read to find the answers – skim, scan or read
slowly and carefully? (They should scan the text to find
the location of key words in the questions and then read
the part of the text carefully to find the answers). Do item
1 together to model the activity if necessary. Then ask
students to work individually to identify key words before
looking for the answers and then to compare in pairs.
Ask for volunteers to give answers and nominate another
student to see if there is agreement, before feeding back.
Answers
1 Marco’s gondola
2 Some of Marco’s customers
3 Giorgia
4 Women who want to become gondoliers
5 Most shops in Venice
c Read through the instructions and go through item 1
as a class to demonstrate the activity. Check students
understand the meaning of the phrase from side to side. Ask
students to read paragraph 1 and as they do to look for
something that isn’t very wide (the canal). Ask students
for the word that tells the reader this (narrow). You
can use hand gestures to indicate wide and narrow. Put
students into pairs to continue the activity and monitor
and help if necessary. You could suggest that students
check their answers in a dictionary. Ask for volunteers to
give answers and help with pronunciation as necessary.
Answers
1 narrow 2 selfie stick 3 licence 4 souvenirs 5 crowds
1 SPEAKING
a Tell students they will be reading and talking about
well-known cities and landmarks in different places
around the world.
Put students into pairs to discuss the questions and
monitor and help with pronunciation of place names as
necessary. Ask for volunteers to suggest answers and see if
the class agrees before feeding back.
Answers
1 The Blue Mosque – Istanbul; The Statue of Liberty – New York;
The Eiffel Tower – Paris
They are famous views in these cities, and tourists take photos
to show family and friends that they were there.
2 Possible answers: Flamenco dancers in Spain, Corcovado
in Brazil, Red Square in Russia, Macchu Picchu in Peru, the
Bosphorus Bridge in Turkey, the Colosseum in Italy
2 READING
BETTER READING: PREDICTION
Explain to students that prediction helps us to read more
efficiently by activating schemata or information we already
have in our minds which relates to the topic of a text. In our
L1, we do this subconsciously when we see the titles and
images that accompany a text. Ask students to look at the
title, photo and caption accompanying the text and to think
what the text will be about. For example, for this text:
Who = gondoliers
What = gondolas on canals
Where = Venice
Elicit the meanings of the following words from the caption
and title – gondola, canal, gondolier – before asking students
to choose two of the given topics. Remind students to skim
the text for key vocabulary and ideas connected to the four
topics. Put students into pairs to compare and explain their
choices before checking answers as a class.
Answers
2 The daily life of a gondolier; 3 What gondoliers think of
their customers
1
READING PLUS

d Ask students to read the questions and optional answers
individually before comparing their ideas in pairs. Ask
for volunteers to give answers and see if the class agrees
before feeding back. Ask for another volunteer to say why
the answer is correct. Do not over-correct for accuracy and
help students get their meaning across as necessary.
Answers
1 b 2 c 3 a 4 c
3 SPEAKING
Monitor and encourage them to say more than just ‘yes’ or
‘no’ and to explain their answers. Encourage them to ask
their partner follow-up questions.
discussions to the class. The class listens and votes on
which student asks more follow-up questions.
2
Unit 3

Unit 4
Food
c Read the instructions and do the first item together as a
class to demonstrate the activity. Put students into pairs
and monitor and help as necessary as students continue.
Go over answers with the class.
Answers
1 The pufferfish
2 Eating too much red meat
3 Salad
4 The amanita mushroom
5 Tetrodoxin
6 The poison in one pufferfish
d Read the instructions and stress that only one of the
sentences 1–6 is true before asking students to read and
check understanding of vocabulary in items 1–6. Before
students continue individually point out that, although
they may remember some of the answers, they should
always read carefully to check their answers. Ask students
to compare their answers in pairs before going over them
as a class.
Answers
1 False. Eating too much red meat can give you heart disease.
2 False. Dirty salad is bad for you.
3 False. Amanita mushrooms are dangerous to eat.
4 False. Some mushrooms are dangerous.
5 True
6 False. Eating pufferfish will kill you if it is not carefully prepared.
3 SPEAKING
a Read the instructions and ask students why they
think the writer has started and ended the text with a
question (to get the reader thinking about and interested
in the topic). Put students into pairs to discuss the
questions. Remind them to say more than just ‘yes’ or
‘no’ and to explain their answers. Encourage students to
ask their partner follow-up questions and give examples
whenever they can.
Ask for different pairs to volunteer to have their
discussions for the class. The class listens and says which
student asks more follow-up questions.
1 SPEAKING
a Check students understand the meaning of the word
dish before asking them to discuss the question in pairs.
Monitor and ask for suggestions around the class.
2 READING
a Direct students to the title of the text and the
accompanying pictures. Put students into pairs to discuss
the questions. Monitor and help with vocabulary and
pronunciation as necessary.
b Read the question and ask students how they are going to
read the text. Suggest they skim to get the general idea,
and then return to relevant parts of the text to read more
slowly for detail. Advise them to guess, more or less, what
a new word or phrase refers to before reading on. Students
read the text and talk to a partner about whether or not
they found anything surprising. Ask for volunteers to
share their reaction with the class.
BETTER READING:
GUESSING THE MEANING OF
SPECIALIST WORDS
Point out to students that, no matter how well they speak a
language, there will be words they won’t know, for example,
specialist science or technology words. Tell students they
will still be able to understand the text and that they should
guess what kind of thing the word refers to. Explain that
often other words that come before or after it can give a
clue to the meaning of the word. Do the first item together
to demonstrate. Ask them to scan the text to find the word
amanita, to read the sentence containing the word more
carefully and decide what it is an example of. Tell students
to read the paragraph entitled mushrooms carefully and to
find mention of the amanita. Ask them to read the other
paragraphs quickly to see if there is any more information in
the text.
Ask students to continue individually finding the other
science words. Monitor and help as necessary, before putting
students into pairs to compare their ideas.
If students are finding it difficult to come up with a term to
describe each of the items, write the following words and
phrases on the board: something in the blood, bacteria,
mushroom, poisons. Nominate students to suggest answers,
and others to say if they agree or not before feeding back.
Answers
salmonella (in the paragraph entitled Salad): bacteria
tetrodotoxin, cyanide (in the paragraph entitled Pufferfish): poisons
amanita: mushroom cholesterol (in the paragraph entitled Red
meat): something in the blood
1
READING PLUS

Unit 5
Shopping
a Tell students to read the text by focussing only on the
content words and to answer the question. Put students
into pairs to compare before asking them to share their
answers with the class.
Possible answer
A guidebook or website about Canada; a travel feature in a
newspaper or magazine
b Read the instructions and set a short time limit for
students to scan the texts to find the numbers and to read
content words to find what the numbers refer to. To help
speed up the process in a noticeable manner, students
could read and you could feed back one item at a time.
Answers
1 people who use RÉSO every day
2 kilometres of tunnel in RÉSO
3 winter temperatures in Montreal
4 shops in RÉSO
5 cinemas in RÉSO
6 offices in RÉSO
c Direct students to the questions and ask them how they
are going to read to find the answers – skim, scan or
slowly and carefully? (They should scan the text to locate
the key or content words in the questions and then read
the part of the text carefully to find the answers). Do item
1 together to model the activity if necessary before asking
students to work individually to identify content words
before looking for the answers and then compare in pairs.
Ask for volunteers to give answers and nominate another
student to see if there is agreement before feeding back.
Answers
1 because it’s very cold in winter
2 because it’s not all underground – some of the tunnels are on or
above the ground
3 hockey
4 No, there are hotels and nightclubs.
5 a metro station
6 It’s an indoor area.
1 SPEAKING
a To introduce the topic, you could write some true/
false statements about Canada and Montreal on strips of
paper and give one to each pair of students. Ask students
to check, using online resources if possible, whether or not
the sentences are true or false.
Alternatively, put students into pairs to talk about what
they know about Canada and Montreal. Encourage them
to think of location, size, geography, climate, cities,
languages, currency and so on.
Each pair takes turns to present its information to
the class.
2 READING
BETTER READING: INCREASING READING SPEED
Tell students that they can become faster readers by getting
into the habit of focusing on content words and skipping
over function words, such as auxiliary verbs, articles and
connectors. Ask students when they might want to read
more quickly (suggested answer: to get the general idea of
information in the text to decide if they want to read the text
or not).
Tell students they will practice increasing their reading speed
by following the instructions on parts of the text Montreal’s
Underground City.
1
Students do the task: They read paragraphs 1 and 2
and time themselves - or in a smaller class, the teacher
could time them, with students putting their hands up to
indicate they have finished. Students may use calculators
on their phones to calculate reading speed in words per
minute.
2
Go through the instructions and help students identify the
content words in the first sentence in paragraph 3 (easily,
spend, day, shopping, RÉSO). Monitor and help as students
continue individually. Help them calculate their reading
speeds. Ask them what the differences are between their
answers to reading tasks 1 and 2.
3
Monitor and help as students repeat the activities with
paragraphs 5 and 6.
1
READING PLUS

d Read through the instructions. Tell students to read items
1–8, check vocabulary as necessary and point out the
paragraph number where students will find the answer.
Do item 1 together as a class, reminding students to focus
on content words as they read. Ask them if they think
there will be any similarities between the answers (they
are all nouns).
Put students into pairs to continue the activity and
monitor and help if necessary. You could suggest that
students check their answers in a dictionary. Ask for
volunteers to give answers and help with pronunciation as
necessary.
Answers
1 complex
2 pedestrian
3 department store
4 tunnel
5 nightclubs
6 conference centres
7 exhibition
8 network
3 SPEAKING
Monitor and encourage them to say more than just ‘yes’ or
‘no’ and explain their answers. Encourage students to ask
Ask for different pairs to volunteer to have their discussion
on the first question for the class. The class listens and
votes on which student asks more follow-up questions. For
the second question, students could do a class survey and
report back class preferences on shopping areas.
2
Unit 5

Unit 6
Different brother
c Read through the instructions and do items 1 and 2 as a
class. Put students into pairs to continue the activity and
monitor and help if necessary. You could point out that
students can check the meaning of words and grammatical
information in their dictionaries. Ask for volunteers to
give answers and help with pronunciation as necessary.
Answers
1 single 2 wore 3 strict 4 bought 5 fun-loving
6 knew 7 unusual
and check vocabulary as necessary. Before students do
the activity, remind them that they should consider
each option carefully and be prepared to say why the
answer they choose is the best one. Ask students to work
correct. Do not over-correct for accuracy and help students
get their meaning across as necessary.
Answers
1 c 2 a 3 b 4 c 5 a
3 SPEAKING
a Give students about five minutes to make notes on
their answers to the questions and monitor and help with
ideas and vocabulary as necessary.
Put students into pairs to discuss the questions. Monitor
and encourage them to say more than just ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and
explain their answers. Encourage them to ask their partner
follow-up questions and to comment on whether or not
they agree with their partner and why or why not.
discussions for the class. The class listens and votes on
which student asks more follow-up questions.
1 SPEAKING
a Read through the instructions and make sure students
know the meaning of get on well together – to be friends;
to have a good relationship. Put students into pairs to
discuss the question and monitor and encourage them to
use examples from their own family or people they know.
Bring the class back together and ask for volunteers to tell
the class about their discussions. Do not over-correct for
accuracy and help students get their ideas across.
2 READING
a Encourage students to give their predictions about what
the text is about. Don’t confirm answers at this stage.
b Go through the instructions and check students understand
all the words in the descriptions. Use this opportunity
to pre-teach the meanings of parent, sibling, personalities
and career, all of which occur in the text. Set a short time
limit of about three minutes to encourage students to read
quickly.
Answer
Why siblings don’t usually have the same personalities.
BETTER READING:
SKIMMING TO IDENTIFY THE MAIN
IDEA IN A PARAGRAPH
As the students have already seen in unit 2, skimming, or
reading for gist, is about getting an impression of the overall
meaning or general idea of a text and not being distracted
by small details. This is especially important when you are
reading in an L2, where it is easy to be distracted by words
you don’t know and might give up altogether. Here the skill is
applied to identifying the idea in each paragraph of a text.
1
As a lead-in activity, ask the students if they remember
what skimming is. Get them to discuss their ideas in pairs
before asking them for feedback. Explain that skimming is
also known as reading for gist.
Ask students to read items a–f and check students
understand that in item 1, strict means expecting people
(especially children) to follow rules, whereas easy-going
could describe parents who do not have many rules for their
children. Do the first item as a class to remind students how
to do the activity. Put students into pairs and monitor and
help as they continue. Nominate students to give answers
and others to say if they agree or not before feeding back.
Answers
a 4 b 6 c 1 d 5 e 3 f 2
1
READING PLUS

Unit 7
Travel
BETTER READING: INFERRING
Explain to students that sometimes a writer doesn’t explicitly
state information, but leaves it to the reader to ‘read
between the lines’. Read the instructions and go through item
1 with the class, directing students to the specific parts of the
text which leads the reader to infer the relevant information.
(See possible answers below).
Ask students to continue the activity individually, before
putting them into pairs to compare. Bring the class together
to check answers: ask for volunteers to give answers and
reasons and others to say if they agree.
Possible answers
1 Javiera – No, she took the opportunity when she was in Quito
for some other reason.
Alexis – Yes, he was prepared. He knew it was possible to have a
stopover.
2 Javiera – No, the trip was an opportunity, in other words, not
something she could do any time.
Alexis – No, he could speak only ‘a little’ Russian, so he’s not
from Russia.
3 Javiera – No, she was with her brother.
Alexis – Yes, he never mentions another person going with him;
he only uses ‘I’.
4 Javiera – I don’t know. There’s nothing in the text about that.
Alexis – Yes, he talked a lot to people on the train and made
friends with people in the village.
e Explain to or remind students that they can often guess
the meaning of unknown vocabulary from the context,
that is by using other information in the text. Go through
the instructions, example and answer together with the
class to demonstrate the activity. Monitor and help as
necessary as students continue individually. Help with
pronunciation as you check answers.
Answers
goggles: glasses for protecting the eyes when seeing under water
ancient: very old
wildlife: animals, giant tortoises, marine iguanas, lizards, sea lions
stopover: stopping for a while, usually for at least one night, in the
middle of a journey
delicious: tasty (for food); ‘It was the best part of the whole trip!’
lakeside: on the side of a lake
f Put students into pairs to discuss the questions.
Encourage the students to say more than just ‘yes’ or ‘no’
and to ask follow-up questions. Ask for volunteers to tell
the class any other interesting travel ideas they discussed.
Do not over-correct for accuracy and help students get
their ideas across.
1 READING
a Go through the instructions for the activity and set a short
time limit of about two minutes for students to look at the
pictures and answer the questions. Put students into pairs
to compare ideas. Ask for suggestions, write notes on the
board and ask for a show of hands to see which one is
most popular.
Possible answers
It’s on the coast because there are sea animals. It’s on a large
continent because the river is big.
b Read the instructions and ask students to read the texts
quickly to see if they matched the photos and the texts.
Answers
b, c and d are in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador; a and e are in
Siberia, Russia.
c Tell students to read the texts again to find words and
phrases for the things in the photos. Do the first item
together with the class, pointing out that students
should find the name (noun) and other adjectives in the
text which are part of the phrase. Monitor and help if
necessary. Ask for volunteers to give answers and see if
the class or other students agree before feeding back. Help
with pronunciation as you check answers.
Possible answers:
a the bridge over the Amur river b ugly marine iguanas
c a shark d famous giant tortoises e a lakeside village
d Direct students to read items 1–6 and check vocabulary as
necessary. Go through the example with the class before
asking students to read the blog posts again carefully and
decide if the statements are true or false. Monitor and help
as necessary before putting students into pairs to compare
their answers.
Answers
2 True
3 False. ‘The baby sea lions were so friendly – they actually come
and play with you’
4 True
5 True
6 False. ‘That’s a very long train ride … It takes seven days non-stop,
but it took me longer …’ It = the whole journey. He did ‘it’.
1
READING PLUS

Unit 8
Fantastic sports
You could suggest that students check their answers
in a dictionary. Ask for volunteers to give answers and
explanations and help with pronunciation as necessary.
Answers
1 creature 6 parachute
2 imaginary 7 head-first
3 breathing 8 brave
4 wingsuit 9 urban
5
wings
10
skyscrapers
BETTER READING: INTENSIVE READING
Read through the information and ask students for an
example situation when they need to read intensively (for
example, following instructions or studying).
Tell students they will practise intensive reading and explain
that not only will they read very carefully, they should also
ignore background noise or the movement of others so they
can give the text their full attention.
Ask students to read the first paragraph very carefully and
then write down what they remember. Tell students they
could give themselves a mark for their notes (for example,
as above as a percentage) and that they can practise this
activity at home using the other paragraphs or different short
texts.
d Go through the instructions and the first item with the
class. Tell students that while they are using their own
ideas, the answers the give must be coherent within the
context of the information given in the text.
Monitor as students continue individually, and
occasionally ask individuals to explain an answer. Put
students into pairs to compare. Bring the class together
and ask for volunteers to suggest answers. Accept any
answers which can be justified with reference to the text.
Possible answers
1 Because you are under the water.
2 You hit the ground very hard and probably die.
3 You arrive at the bottom of the hill.
4 It’s dangerous for them and for the climber.
3 SPEAKING
Monitor and encourage them to ask their partner follow-
up questions.
Ask for different pairs to volunteer to choose a question
and present their discussion to the class. At the end,
the class votes on which student asks more follow-up
questions.
1 SPEAKING
a Ask students to read the title of the article, tell them
they can use their dictionaries to check any unknown
vocabulary and ask for suggestions of what the text
might be about. Write the first three suggestions on the
board and take a class vote to see where there is most
agreement.
Put students into pairs to tell each other about their
outdoor sports or activities. Monitor and help with
vocabulary and encourage students to ask one another
for more information. Ask for volunteers to tell the class
about their partner.
2 READING
a Read the question. Ask students to look at the pictures and
the article. Elicit or point out that the subtitles of each of
the paragraphs contain a clue, and more information is
given in the following paragraphs. Ask students to do the
activity individually and check answers as a class.
Return to the suggested topics of the text, and ask students
if they have changed their minds at all and, if so, why.
Answers
a BASE jumping b mermaiding c skeleton
d urban free climbing
b Tell students to read the questions and check vocabulary
as necessary. Ask students what they are going to do to
find the answers (identify key words in the questions,
scan the text for relevant information and then read
carefully to find the answers). Tell students to do the
activity individually before putting them in pairs to
compare. Ask for volunteers to give answers and help with
pronunciation as necessary.
Answers
1 urban free climbing
2 mermaiding
3 skeleton
4 BASE jumping
5 skeleton
6 skeleton
7 urban free climbing
8 mermaiding
c Read through the instruction and go through item 1
together as a class. Ask students to read paragraph 1 and
as they do to look for a word that means something that
isn’t a human being (creature). Put students into pairs to
continue the activity, encourage students to explain their
answers to each other and monitor and help if necessary.
1
READING PLUS

Unit 9
Airport shopping
BETTER READING: IDENTIFYING THE WRITER’S
ATTITUDE
Explain to students that they can often guess how the writer
feels about the topic. For instance, they may use words with
a negative connotation such as mistake or trick. They may
give favourable or unfavourable facts. For example, in the
context of a consumer magazine, prices being too expensive
is a bad thing.
Tell students they are going to identify the writer’s attitude
in the article. Ask students to read options 1–4 and check
vocabulary as necessary. Put students into pairs to discuss
each of the options and to find information in the text which
supports the best option.
Answers
1 Airport departure areas are getting more and more like
shopping centres, and make no mistake – everything is planned.
The path they make you take through the duty-free shop is
winding: they know that will make us spend more.
c Read the instructions and ask students to read items 1–5
and check vocabulary as necessary. Monitor and help
as necessary, directing students to the corresponding
paragraph if they seem to be struggling to locate the
information (see below). To check answers, first ask if the
sentences are true or false to check for consensus. Then
ask for a volunteer to correct a false sentence.
Answers
1 True (paragraph 1)
2 False. Businesses call it the ‘golden hour’ (paragraph 1)
3 True (paragraph 2)
4 False. A lot of those things are cheaper outside the airport
(paragraph 3)
5 False. The prices are sky-high. It is better to buy before you come
to the airport (paragraph 5)
3 SPEAKING
a Discussion questions. Begin by asking students to
discuss the questions in pairs, encouraging them to say
more than just ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and explain their answers.
Encourage the students to ask follow-up questions.
You could regroup the students or make small groups
of four to choose one of the topics. Monitor and help
students get their ideas across before bringing the class
together and asking for any points of interest from the
discussion. Help students to express their ideas.
1 SPEAKING
a Ask students about the last time they went into a
duty-free shop at an airport – ask What did you buy? Was
it cheap? If there are students who have never been to an
airport duty-free shop, get them to ask questions to the
others. Encourage students to react to what the others say.
Tell them to look at the title, photo and caption and to
answer the questions.
Possible answer
Students will probably make the point that duty-free is good for
some things but not others.
2 READING
a Go through the instructions and ask students how they
are going to read to do the activity. Elicit or suggest they
underline key words in the options, scan the text quickly
to find relevant information and then read more carefully
to check. Do the first item together as a class before
asking students to continue individually. Tell students
to be prepared to say how they decided on the answers.
Students can compare in pairs before volunteering their
answers to the class. Check everyone agrees before feeding
back.
Answers
1 c (‘in the first 60 minutes’)
2 d (‘The path they make you take’)
3 b (‘the fact is …’)
4 e (‘people shop more in busy places’)
5 a (‘their last opportunity to buy something special to …’)
b Read the instructions and do the first item together as
a class. Tell students that they can replace the words or
phrases in the article with the idea in the exercise to check
to see if they answer if correct.
Monitor and check students seem to be scanning the text
as they continue with the activity individually. Put them
into pairs before comparing and checking their answers.
Check answers as a class.
Answers
1 last but not least
2 the price is sky-high
3 make no mistake
4 high street
5 souvenirs
6 winding
7 fake
8 tricks
1
READING PLUS

Unit 10
The Amazon online
BETTER READING: PRONOUN REFERENCE
Ask students to look at the highlighted words in the text and
ask Are they nouns, verbs or pronouns? (They are pronouns).
Point out that by using pronouns in speaking or writing,
it is possible to avoid repeating the same word or piece of
information. Explain that this means that it is essential to
follow the links across the text created by pronouns and the
things they refer to in order understand what the writer is
saying.
Direct students to the first highlighted pronoun they in the
text and ask what it refers to (tribes). Read the sentence
aloud or copy it onto the board, stressing the words tribes
and they to flag up the connection. You could also read the
next sentence and point out that them also refers back to
tribes.
Ask students to continue with the activity individually and
monitor and help as necessary. Check answers as a class.
Answers
a tribes
b the Trio tribe
c the mines and paths leading to them
d the difficult journey
e the satellite equipment
f sharing information about the large farms
c Read through the instructions, ask students to read items
1–6 and check vocabulary as necessary. Put students
into pairs to continue the activity and monitor and
help if necessary. You could suggest that students use a
dictionary to check their answers. Ask for volunteers to
give answers and see if the class agrees before feeding
back. Help with pronunciation as necessary.
Answers
1 government
2 destroying
3 traditional
4 charity
5 mine
1 VOCABULARY
a Put students into pairs to answer the questions before
bringing the class together and seeing what they know
about WWW.
Possible answers
‘World Wide Web’, also called ‘the Web’, is the ‘www’ in
website addresses
b This exercise will help students understand some of
the vocabulary in the text. You could do the activity
as a whole class: draw two columns on the board and
write the words in the correct column according to
students’ answers. Help with pronunciation as necessary.
Alternatively, students do the activity individually and
compare in pairs. Check answers as a class.
Answers
rainforest: canoe, hut, tribe, village
technology: digital age, online, satellite, selfie
2 READING
a Tell students not to worry about any vocabulary they
don’t understand at this stage. Set a short time limit of
about three minutes for students to read the text quickly
and answer the question. Nominate several students to
answer before feeding back.
Answers
It’s good – it may help to protect the rainforest.
b Tell students to read the paragraph titles a–d and check
vocabulary as necessary. Ask students to work individually
before comparing in pairs and identifying corresponding
information in a paragraph which matches the selected
title.
Answers
1 b 2 d 3 a 4 c
1
READING PLUS

correct (or not). Do not over-correct for accuracy and help
students get their meaning across as necessary.
Answers
1 c 2 a 3 c 4 b
3 SPEAKING
a Put students into pairs to ask and answer the
questions. Monitor and encourage them to give detailed
answers to question 1. Encourage students to ask follow-
up questions.
Ask for different pairs to volunteer to practise their
conversation for the rest of the class. The class listens and
votes on which student asks more follow-up questions.
Tell students to talk about the advantages and
disadvantages of the Internet and monitor and help
students express their ideas. Bring the class together and
ask for volunteers to give advantages and disadvantages.
Take a class vote on whether or not the class thinks, in
general, that the Internet is a good or bad thing.
2
Unit 10

Unit 11
Films
b Direct students to the questions and ask them how they
are going to read to find the answers – skim, scan or
slowly and carefully? (They should scan the text to locate
key or content words in the questions and then read
the part of the text carefully to find the answers). Tell
students to read questions 1–6 and ask if any of them will
have answers in common – all apart from question 5 will
give a reason for something. Do question 1 together to
model the activity if necessary. Then ask students to work
individually to identify content words before looking for
the answers and then compare in pairs. Ask for volunteers
to give answers and nominate another student to see if
there is agreement before feeding back.
Answers
1 Because they started to get televisions, videos and DVDs
2 Because they were set in the western part of the USA
3 Because the desert looked like the American west
4 As examples of other kinds of films made here
5 Cowboy towns and Mexican villages
6 Because people can see films on their computers and
other devices
c Read through the instruction. Tell students to read items
1–7, check vocabulary as necessary and point out that the
paragraph number where students will find the answer is
given.
Do item 1 together as a class, reminding students to focus
on content words as they read. Put students into pairs to
continue the activity and monitor and help if necessary.
You could suggest that students check their answers in a
dictionary. Ask for volunteers to give answers and help
with pronunciation as necessary.
Answers
1 Wild West 5 ghost towns
2 moviegoers 6 popularity
3 classic movies 7 entertainment
4 film sets
3 SPEAKING
a Students ask and answer with a partner. Encourage
the students to say more than one-word answers and
explain their answers. Encourage the students to ask
follow-up questions. Monitor and help students get their
ideas across but do not over-correct for accuracy. To
round off the activity, set up open pair questions. Ask for
a volunteer to choose a question and to nominate another
to give a detailed answer. The second student chooses
another question and nominates a third student to give a
detailed answer. Continue until everyone has had a turn.
1 VOCABULARY
a This exercise includes both words that the students will
know and a few that they won’t. They all relate to films,
and appear in the text. Ask students to read items 1–8 and
check vocabulary as necessary before putting them into
pairs to continue the activity. Monitor and help as necessary
and suggest that students use their dictionaries to help.
Answers
1 actors 5 location
2 producer 6 cinema
3 movie 7 action
4 western 8 the big screen
Note: producers organise the making of the film, for
example getting the money together. Directors actually
tell the actors what to do during filming.
A location is a place outside the studio selected by the film
makers to film in.
‘The big screen’, literally a large screen, is also used to
mean the cinema as opposed to TV or other home or
electronic device. The term ‘small screen’ is sometimes used
to contrast with ‘the big screen’, meaning the screen on a
TV or other electronic device where you can watch films.
2 READING
BETTER READING: TOPIC SENTENCES
Tell students that the first sentence in a paragraph is very
often a ‘topic sentence’. A topic sentence provides an abstract
of what the paragraph will be about. Good readers get some
idea of what a paragraph will say from the topic sentence.
1
Tell students to read the topic sentences of the four
paragraphs from the article and check vocabulary as
necessary. Ask students how they are going to read to
match the topic sentences with each of the paragraphs
(scan to locate key words and then read carefully to
check). Monitor and help as students do the activity
individually. Bring the class together and check answers.
Answers
a 2 b 1 c 4 d 3
a Ask students to read the article carefully to answer the
question. Ask for suggestions and write key words on the
board before confirming ideas.
Suggested answer
An area in the desert near Almeria, in Spain, which was used for
making many famous western films.
1
READING PLUS

Unit 12
Too many tourists
2 READING
a Ask students to read the article for gist to get a general
idea of the places and to say whether or not they would
like to visit any of the places. Put them into pairs to
compare answers and give reasons.
During the feedback phase, you could make one or two
notes about each of the places on the board and see which
of the places is the most popular with the class.
Possible answers
Yes, because they’re beautiful places
No, because they have too many tourists already
Note: UNESCO = United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization
BASE jumping is a sport in which people jump from high
places and fall, landing with a parachute. Many BASE
jumpers wear a suit with wings to control their fall. (The
first part of the name is written in capitals because it is
originally an acronym from building, antenna, span, and
Earth.)
1 SPEAKING
a Put students into pairs and ask them not to read
the text yet, but to look at the photos and discuss the
questions together. Monitor and help as necessary before
bringing the class together to check answers.
Ask students if they know the names of the places in
the photos and if they can guess which country they
are in. Don’t say whether their guesses are correct yet.
Tell students they will need to read the text to find this
information, which they will need in order to complete
the table on page 2.
Answers
1 Macchu Pichu – Peru
Santorini – Greece
Pulpit Rock – Norway
Bath – England / UK
Possible answers
2 Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Statue of Christ in Rio, Pyramids,
Big Ben, Elephants and Kilimanjaro, Table Mountain, Istanbul
skyline
BETTER READING: READ AND MAKE NOTES
Explain to students that reading and taking notes is a useful skill, especially for people who are going to study in English.
1
Point out that sometimes it is a good idea to make notes in a table as this helps make the differences between different items more
obvious. Ask students to look at the information already given in the table and to see if they notice anything. Ask, Are the notes
written in complete sentences? (no).
Monitor and help as necessary as students work individually to complete the table. Ask for different volunteers to give a small amount
of information so you can involve as many students as you can in the feedback stage.
Answers
Macchu Picchu Santorini Pulpit Rock Bath
1 Country Peru Greece Norway England
2 What’s there? Inca city white buildings, blue sea,
volcano
rock high above fjord Roman baths, hot springs
3 A big number 2,500 metres high
built 600 years ago
10,000 visitors a day
new 8,000 visitors limit
600 metres above sea level
600 metres high built 2,000 years ago
4 A problem on UNESCO list of places in
danger
visitors from cruise ships accidents and emergencies tourists annoy locals
5 The result guide and paths daily limit of 8,000 laws to stop climbers locals give tourist bus a
shower
1
READING PLUS

d Ask students to find the answer the questions and to
decide whether or not they agree with them. Encourage
students to give reasons and help them get their ideas
across.
Possible answers
Lorraine has decided not to go to famous tourist places anymore.
Andy has decided not to tell people about the beautiful place
where he lives.
3 SPEAKING
Monitor and encourage them to say more than just ‘yes’
or ‘no’ and explain their answers. Encourage them to ask
Ask for different pairs to volunteer to have their
discussions in front of the class. The class listens and votes
on which student asks more follow-up questions
b Tell students that the words are in the same order as
they appear in the text. Do the first item together as a
class. Ask students to find the word annoy and ask them
to think about the type of word – is it a noun or a verb,
for example, and to use information in the text to guess
the meaning. Ask for suggestions and help students get
their meaning across. Point out that the first sentence in
the first paragraph is about making people want to visit
places, but this is followed by the word but, suggesting
that the word annoy probably means something negative
(to make angry).
Monitor and help as necessary as students continue in
pairs and ask for volunteers to give answers.
Answers
annoy: adjective, make angry
spectacular: adjective, very beautiful and amazing
enormous: adjective, very big
cruise ships: noun, ships for tourists
laws: noun, rules about what people can and can’t do
open-topped tour bus: noun, a bus with no roof so that tourists
get a better view
hot springs: noun, place where natural hot water comes from
the ground
c Read through the instruction and go through item 1 as a
class to demonstrate the activity. Put students into pairs
to continue the activity and monitor and help if necessary.
Ask for volunteers to give answers and see if the class
agrees before feeding back. If there is any disagreement,
encourage students to explain why they have chosen the
answer.
Answers
1 a 2 c 3 b 4 a 5 c
2
Unit 12

Cambridge english empower_a2_reading_plus_teachers_notes

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