1. Game freaks
9.1 Can you talk about recent news?
Unit9
1 Unscramble these words and match 3 Expand the sentences in Activity 2.
them to the definitions. a _______________________________________
He’s just had a shower.
a emsesag ___________
message b _______________________________________
b trahc ___________ c _______________________________________
c hsarc ___________ d _______________________________________
d otslule ___________ e _______________________________________
e eioepsd ___________ f _______________________________________
f crmneeoy ___________
1 When you can’t speak to someone, you 4 Complete this conversation using
leave them a ___________
message. these prompts.
2 When a car hits something, there is a
__________________.
3 One part of a series of a TV programme
__________________.
4 A formal event like a wedding is a type of
__________________.
5 A list of pop songs that have sold the most
is a ______________ _.
6 When a film is very popular and all the
tickets are sold, it is a ________________.
GUY: What’s up? You look like you’ve just
2 Match these pictures with the words (a) ______ (see) a ghost!!
seen
JO: It’s nothing serious, I’ve just
below.
(b) __________ (leave) the computer
room. Sue and I were playing the new
741193U9P42H1 Tomb Raider game…
G: Cool! So have you just (c) ________ (win)?
1 2
J: No, Lara Croft has just (d) ___________
2 (fight) against the Egyptians and we’ve
(e) __________ (stop) the game.
G: I really want to buy it, but it has
3 (f) _______________ (sell out) so I have
1 to wait until next week!
3 4 J: Well, we’ve (g) ___________ (decided) it
4
is really tough!
G: No sweat!
5
5 6
6 5 Write about things you have or have
not done today.
a He / just / have / a shower. ____1 a I’ve finished my homework
b He / just / meet / a famous singer. ____ b _______________________________________
c They / just / see / a film. ____ c _______________________________________
d She / just / buy / some flowers. ____ d _______________________________________
e He / just / drop / a bottle of cola. ____ e _______________________________________
f She / just / win / a race. ____ f _______________________________________
42 © Richmond Publishing, 2004 PHOTOCOPIABLE

2. Game freaks
9.2 Vocabulary
Unit9
1 Fill in the gaps using the following 3 Use the words in Activity 2 to
words. complete these sentences.
best blockbuster ceremony charts a It was impossible to get tickets — the
race rating sell-out top show was a complete _________
sell-out
b Can you turn down the music please? It’s
too ___________.
c My father had a car __________ last week,
but he wasn’t hurt.
d The hockey coach explained her
__________ to her players.
e This Maths equation is very ____________,
I’ll never understand it.
f The world-famous singer Julian Church
was never very _____________ at school.
g This summer’s ____________ is a romantic
comedy, starring Minnie Drover and James
Cairie.
Matt Demon was in town yesterday for the
Oscar (a) ceremony His latest film, Angels in my
________. 4 Circle the correct answer.
Dreams has been the biggest (b) ____________ a Which of these would not have a rating?
this year: 100 million dollars at the box-office! 1 a film
His song Angels in my Dreams has been at the 2 a book
(c) ______________ of the (d) ____________ for
3 a window
ten months and shows no signs of b The opposite of convincing is … .
disappearing. The (e) ________________ for the 1 unconvincing
Oscar for Best Film is between Angels and My 2 inconvincing
3 imconvincing
Life is a Video Game by Peter Alodove. The
c The opposite of popular is … .
film has been a complete (f) ________________
1 unpopular
in all the cinemas across the country. The
2 impopular
critics’ (g) _____________ is 10 star — one
3 inpopular
critic called it ‘the (h) ______________ film ever
d The opposite of complicated is … .
made’. Recommendation: MUST SEE! 1 difficult
2 facile
2 Fill in the first and last letters of the 3 easy
e Which of these things cannot crash?
words. Use the clues to help you.
1 a computer
a __ell-ou__
s t when there are no more tickets 2 a train
left 3 a pen
b __opula__ something/someone that most f The words top, chart and pop are all
people like related to … .
c __trateg__ a plan to do something 1 films
normally in a war or campaign 2 music
d __omplicate__ the opposite of simple 3 books
e __ras__ when two or more cars hit g Loud, popular and enjoyable are all … .
each other 1 nouns
f __lockbuste__ a best-selling film 2 adjectives
g __ou__ the opposite of quiet 3 adverbs
© Richmond Publishing, 2004 PHOTOCOPIABLE 43

3. Game freaks
9.3 Can you compare things?
Unit9
1 Write the superlatives 4 Complete this conversation using the
of these adjectives. prompts.
superlative
a bad _____________
the worst
b complicated _____________
c loud _____________
d popular _____________
e good _____________
f boring _____________
g enjoyable _____________
2 Match the adjectives in Activity 1
with their definitions.
a The opposite of good is ______.
bad
b The opposite of bad is ___________. Hey, Al, you’ve got Well, it’s (b) _______
Predator 3. Is it (fast) than Predator 2,
c Another word for noisy is ____________.
(a) _______ (good)
better but Predator 2 is
d The opposite of interesting is ___________. than Predator 2? (c) ________________
e The opposite of simple or easy is __________. (realistic).
f When people like something a lot it is
____________.
g When something gives you pleasure it is How about this
one? Look: The Red Planet Redux?
____________. That’s rubbish! It’s
(d) ______________
(e) the ______________
(enjoyable) game you will
3 Unscramble these sentences. buy this year! (unconvincing) game I’ve
played!
a than / is / Shoot ‘em Up 3 / more /
Raider 2 / realistic / .
_______________________________________
Shoot ‘em Up 3 is more realistic than_____
OK, then, which one I think Planet
_______________________________________
Raider 2. should we get? This one Manager 2 is the
b is / most / the / Raider 3 / complicated / is (f) ______________ (g) ________________
game / . (cheap) than that (good). It’s complicated
_______________________________________ one… but enjoyable!
_______________________________________
c sports games / simulations / than / more /
popular / are / . 5 Complete these sentences with true
_______________________________________ information.
_______________________________________ a In my opinion the best TV programme is
d is / than / Timeshifter / Shapeshifter / faster / . _______________.
The Simpsons
_______________________________________ b My family has the most _______________.
_______________________________________ c My best friend is better at ______________
e enjoyable / the / Warning 2 / most / game / is / . than I am.
_______________________________________ d The students in this class are the most
_______________________________________ _______________ in the school.
f the / Dirty Angel / all / games / better / e I think that playing _____________ is more
than / is / other / . enjoyable than playing ____________.
_______________________________________ f Our President is more _____________ than
_______________________________________ the President of the USA.
44 © Richmond Publishing, 2004 PHOTOCOPIABLE

4. Game freaks
9.4 Reading and writing
Unit9
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
1 Match these descriptions to the games and toys.
a ___ 4000 BC A board game, possibly an antecedent of chess, is played in Babylonia.
1
b ___ 3000 BC A game resembling backgammon is played in Ancient Sumeria. (Games similar to
backgammon have probably been played in Egypt, Greece and Rome for thousands of years.)
c ___ 3000 BC Stone marbles are first used in Egypt. Later, glass marbles become popular in the
USA in the 1800s.
d ___ 1000 BC Kites first appear in China.
e ___ 1000 BC Stone yo-yos are used in Greece.
f ___ 969 AD Playing cards are used for the first time in Asia.
g ___ 1759 AD Roller skates are invented.
h ___ 1901 AD Joshua Lionel Cowen, 22, creates a battery-powered train as an ‘animated
advertisement’ for a display window. To his surprise, customers are more interested in
purchasing his toy train than the merchandise in the display. Toy trains are born.
1896 AD A version of the Indian game Parcheesi is introduced in England with the name
Ludo. Parcheesi is a type of ‘cross and circle’ game and was played in the Korean, Syrian, and
Aztec cultures.
i ___ 1949 AD Ole Christiansen from Denmark begins to manufacture a plastic brick that can be
locked together to construct anything! The name Lego comes from the Danish leg godt, which
means ‘play well’. Just six bricks fit together in 102,981,500 different ways.
1979 AD Two Canadian journalists invent Trivial Pursuit after having an argument while they
were drinking beer. It was originally called Six Thousand Questions.
j ___ 1983 AD A Japanese company, Nintendo, brings a home video game system to the United
States. With fifty-two colours, realistic sound, and high-speed action, it is an immediate success.
1989 AD Nintendo releases Game Boy, a battery-powered, hand-held video game system.
2 Write questions for these answers. Use the past tense.
a ____________________________________________________________________
When did Nintendo release Game Boy? In 1989.
b ____________________________________________________________________ In China.
c ____________________________________________________________________ Glass marbles.
d ____________________________________________________________________ In 969 AD.
e ____________________________________________________________________ ‘Play well’.
f ____________________________________________________________________ Joshua Lionel Cowen.
g ____________________________________________________________________ For thousands of years.
© Richmond Publishing, 2004 PHOTOCOPIABLE 45

5. Game freaks
9.5 Culture
Unit9
1 Do you know what these people are playing? Do you know how to play it?
Find words in the text that mean the same as the pictures or descriptions.
a the opposite of interested ___________ _________
_
b finished (two words) __________________ _______
c two important pieces of wood ________________
d another word for started _____________________
e _______ f
_ _______ g _______ h _______
_ _ _
Nobody knows how cricket began, but one thing is certain — it is one of the oldest team games in
the world!
Most people think it began in England about 700 years ago, although others think it began in France.
Perhaps shepherds used to play it when they were bored of looking after their sheep. One stood in
front of a gate in a fence that kept the sheep in place, and another threw, or bowled, a stone or
something at him. The first shepherd had to hit the stone with his curved stick, which was called a
crook or a cricce. That’s possibly where the name comes from.
Over the years, the shape of the stick changed — it was like a hockey stick, and then became more
like a modern flat bat. A ball was used instead of a stone.
The gate became three sticks in the ground — that’s called the wicket. Originally there were two,
and at one time, four. The size changed too — in the 17th century, it was up to two metres wide!
On the top of the wicket are the bails — two more bits of wood. They’re important, because if they
fall off, it's all over. In fact, that’s the idea of the game. The person with the ball has to try to knock
off the bails with the ball or catch the ball when the person with the bat hits it. But if the person
with the bat hits the ball well, he can score points by running up and down the grass.
It may sound a little strange, but it’s a very popular sport. There are millions of people who play
cricket in England, Australia, India, the Caribbean and many more countries. And as we said at the
beginning, it’s been around for a very long time … so why don’t you try it?
2 Read the text. If you can’t understand the rules, don’t worry! Most people can’t!
Invent a new game using a bat and a ball. Write the rules (no more than five)!
_________________________________________________
THE RULES OF CRICKET
_________________________________________________
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. _________________________________________________
Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and _________________________________________________
when he's out, he comes in and the next man goes in _________________________________________________
until he's out.
_________________________________________________
When they are all out, the side that's out comes in _________________________________________________
and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get
_________________________________________________
those coming in, out.
_________________________________________________
Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
_________________________________________________
When both sides have been in and out including the
_________________________________________________
not-outs, that's the end of the game.
_________________________________________________
46 © Richmond Publishing, 2004 PHOTOCOPIABLE