American English File 3 Coolers

1A
Give students a “books-closed” memory test on Alice Freeman and Jacqueline Fabre from the
reading on Student Book page 4. Give them a minute to read the information again. Then have
students close their books. Read the following statements, and have students say if the
information is about Alice or Jacqueline.

Statements:
She’s an IT consultant. (Jacqueline)
She doesn’t think it’s healthy to cut out entire food groups in a diet. (Alice)
She’s trying to eat less chocolate. (Jacqueline)
She eats three meals a day. (Jacqueline)
She’s trying to eat more whole wheat bread. (Alice)
She heats up frozen meals and orders takeout. (Alice)
She cooks for her family. (Jacqueline)
She lives in San Francisco. (Alice)
She makes traditional French dishes. (Jacqueline)
She thinks fast food is bad for you. (Jacqueline)

1B
Put students in small groups and tell them you are going to give them a quiz about a famous
athlete. You could use, for example, Jesse Owens, an American track and field athlete.
Alternatively, use an athlete of your choice to make the quiz more relevant to your students’
knowledge and interests. Write questions about the athlete on the board. Give the groups a few
minutes to discuss the questions and decide on their answers. Then go over the answers with
the class.

Possible questions (about Jesse Owens):

When was he born? (He was born in 1913.)
When did he die? (He died in 1980.)
What was he doing in the summer of 1936? (He was competing in the Berlin Olympics.)
How many gold medals did he win in 1936? (He won four gold medals.)
How many world records had Owen set before the 1936 Olympics? (He had set 3 world records.)
How many children did he have? (He had three daughters.)

1C
Have students work in pairs. One student makes up a person and describes his / her personality.
The other student predicts three things about the person’s future.

Example:
Student A: This person is an only child. Her name is Sheila Stern. She’s unfriendly and
aggressive. She’s very responsible. She’s also jealous.
Student B: Sheila will become a lawyer. She won’t have many friends. She’ll be very rich.

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2A
Go around the room making sentences in the present perfect, followed by a sentence in the
simple past. Start by saying, I’ve been to New York three times. Choose a student to follow your
statement with an appropriate one in the simple past, e.g., I went in 1994, 2001, and 2007. That
student then says a statement in the present perfect, e.g., I haven’t seen the Statue of Liberty yet.
The student next to him / her then continues with a sentence in the simple past, e.g., My brother
saw the Statue of Liberty three years ago. Continue until everyone has had a turn. Alternatively,
have students work in small groups.

2B
Say a sentence with since and a date. For example, Anna has been teaching English since 1995.
Ask a student to rephrase the sentence using for. For example, Anna has been teaching English
for 13 years. Next, the same student says a sentence with since to the student sitting next to
him/her. That student then converts the sentence using for. Continue around the room until every
student has had a turn. Alternatively, put students in a few large groups for the activity.

2C
Divide the class into two or three groups. Give each group one of the phrases below. They must
decide together what the answer is and why. Tell them that there are no wrong answers, only
their opinions, but they must come to an agreement. Each group then presents their answer and
reasons to the class.

Phrases:
The best restaurant in your town / city
The most exciting place to go on vacation in your country
The fastest way to get to (a place in your town / city)
The most dangerous street in your town / city
The least difficult subject at school
The worst movie that is out right now

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3A
Put students in groups of three or four. Tell the groups that a student from another country is
coming to visit. Ask them to think of things to tell the exchange student, explaining what is
appropriate for their country. Each group makes a list of ten items, using must, have to, don't
have to, and should. When students finish, have the groups compare and discuss answers as
a whole class.

Example:
You must arrive on time for meetings.
You should take dessert or drinks when you are invited to dinner at someone's house.

3B
Write the following names on the board: Marc Anthony, Enrique Iglesias, Benicio del Toro. Then
read the following:
This person is a singer. He sings in Spanish and in English. People think he must live in Spain, but
he actually has lived in the U.S. since 1983. His father, Julio, is also a famous singer. Who is he?

Have students guess, and then tell them the correct answer: Enrique Iglesias. (Marc Anthony is a
Puerto Rican singer from New York City. He sings in Spanish and English. He has also been in a
few movies. He’s been married to Jennifer Lopez since 2004. Benicio del Toro is an actor from
Puerto Rico. He has been in Spanish and English speaking movies. He has won an Academy
award and an Oscar.) Alternatively, use three local celebrities. After they guess the answer,
students do the same activity in pairs. One person thinks of three people, writes them down, and
then describes one of them. The other student guesses. Then they change roles.

3C
Give each student five "counters," such as coins or scrap pieces of paper. Say an activity you
could do, e.g., I could play the piano when I was a child. Then ask if the students could do the
activity, e.g., Could you play the piano when you were a child? Students who could do the activity
come to the front of the room and put a counter in a box (or on your desk). Go around the room,
having students take turns stating things they could do in the past, followed by a question. The
student who gets rid of all his or her counters first wins. Play the game as many times as needed
so that each student gets a chance to make a statement and ask a question. Alternatively, have
students play in small groups. You can also play making statements with can or be able to.

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4A
Make sentences with the first conditional and future time clauses around the class. Start by
saying If I finish my homework … Ask a student to repeat your phrase and finish the sentence,
e.g., If I finish my homework, I’ll go to a movie. That student then starts a new sentence and
chooses another student to finish it. Repeat until every student has had at least one turn.
Alternatively, divide the class in a few large groups.

4B
Divide the class into two teams. Ask a student from one team to come up to the board. Show the
student one word from the Vocabulary Bank on Student Book page 151, e.g., a chimney. He / She
has one minute to draw it on the board while the rest of his / her team tries to guess what it is. If
they guess correctly within one minute, show the student another word. After one minute, he / she
must stop drawing and sit down. A student from the other team comes up. Show him / her the word
the first student was trying to draw, if the first team didn’t get it, or show a new word. Give him / her
one minute to continue. If his / her team guesses the phrases, show a new phrase, etc. The winning
team is the one with the most correct guesses after three turns for each team.

4C
Draw this chart on the board:
/s/ /z/

Ask students to tell you a word that includes one of the sounds in the chart. For example: /s/ –
snake, sister, promise; /z/ – zebra, lose, friends. Divide the class into pairs and have them copy
the chart. Tell them to look at all the words on page 150 in the Vocabulary Bank in the Student
Book, and find words that include both sounds in the chart. Give students about 10 minutes to
complete the chart with the words they have found, and then go over their answers with the class.
The pair with the most words wins.

Answers:
/s/ /z/
pass preschool was
start principal hours
school professor because
study secondary exams
must post-secondary is
test university gives
history boss includes
some senior has
studying sentences bachelor’s
students discipline sentences
US strict results
parents schedule words
furious subject physics
used to results
this yourself
last physics
semester

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5A
Give students a “books-closed” memory test on “slow food” from the article on Student Book page
70. Give them a minute to read the article again. Then read the information below. Students raise
their hands whenever you give the wrong information (in bold, with the correct answer in
brackets) and say the correct information from memory.
The Slow Food movement was founded the day that an American chef [Italian journalist], Carlo
Petrini, saw that a fast-food restaurant had closed [opened] in Piazza di Spagna, the beautiful
fountain [square] in Rome. He thought it was wonderful [tragic] that many people today live too
quickly to sit down for a proper meal and only eat mass-produced fast food. He decided that he
had to try to do something about it and so he started the Eat Right [Slow Food] movement.
Although he didn’t succeed in buying [banning] the fast-food restaurant from Piazza di Spagna,
Slow Food has become a global organization and now has more than 800,000 [80,000] members
in 10 [100] countries.

5B
Write these words on the board:
However according to while on the other hand also
Make a statement, e.g., English is one of the hardest languages to learn. Ask a student to make a
statement to follow yours using one of the words on the board, e.g., However, it can be easy if you
live in an English-speaking country. Have students work in pairs and take turns making statements
and follow-up statements. Pairs continue until they have used all of the words on the board.

5C
Describe a job to students using words from the Vocabulary Bank on Student Book page 152.
Students guess the job. The first student to guess correctly describes another job to the class.
Continue until everyone has had a turn describing a job. Alternatively, have students do the
activity in groups.

Possible start:
I work full-time. I work with contracts. I make sure they are legal. I have a lot of experience. I used
to work for a big firm, but now I’m self-employed. People come to me for legal advice. What am I?
(a lawyer)

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6A
Have students work in groups of three or four. Write the dialogue below on the board. Tell
students to write a story changing all of the direct speech to reported speech. Tell students they
can invent the characters. You can give them the beginning of the story as an example. Have
groups share their stories with the class.

Direct speech:
A: “I’m going shopping.”
B: “I want to go, too.”
A: “I can’t find my keys.”
B: “Did you leave them at work?”
A: “They must be in the house.”
B: “Are you sure?”
A: “I found them.”
B: “Oh, no! The mall is closed.”

Possible beginning:
It was a rainy afternoon. Julia and her husband were at home. Julia said that she was going to go
shopping.

6B
Give a dictation with the sentences below. Tell students that they will hear an active sentence, but
they must write it in the passive.
Quentin Tarantino made that movie in 1992. (That movie was made in 1992 by Quentin Tarantino.)
People in Brazil speak Portuguese. (Portuguese is spoken in Brazil.)
Someone found my purse at a restaurant. (My purse was found in a restaurant.)
Many tourists have visited Hawaii. (Hawaii is visited by many tourists.)
Someone is repairing my computer right now. (My computer is being repaired right now.)
A company will release Jo-jo’s CD next year. (Jo-jo’s CD will be released next year.)

Ask students to tell you their answers and write them on the board.

6C
Have students look at the SPEAKING activity on Student Book page 95. Then have them repeat
the activity with the following categories:
World Leader Family Member Author Friend Superhero

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7A
Put students in teams of three or four. Draw the chart below on the board. One person on each
team should draw it on a piece of paper.

noun + adjective - adjective + adverb - adverb

1.
2.
3.
4.

Tell students that you are going to say a noun, and the first person in each group has to write it
down. The first student passes the paper to the next person in the team. That person writes down
the positive adjective form of the noun. Then the students pass the paper to the next person, who
writes the negative adjective. Continue the same way with positive adverb and negative adverb.
Then start again with word number two. When they have completed the chart for number four,
write the correct answers on the board. Have the teams count their points. They get one point for
each correct word that is spelled correctly. The team with the most points wins.

Suggested nouns:
1. luck (lucky, unlucky, luckily, unluckily)
2. fortune (fortunate, unfortunate, fortunately, unfortunately)
3. care (careful, careless, carefully, carelessly)
4. patience (patient, impatient, patiently, impatiently)

7B
Ask questions around the class using tag questions. Start by saying to one student: You get up at
7:00, don’t you? That student answers your question (e.g., No, I don’t. I get up at 8:30.), and then
asks the student next to him / her another tag question (e.g., You’ve been to Mexico City before,
haven’t you?). The next student answers that question, and then asks one of his / her own to
another student. Continue around the room until every student has had a chance to answer and
ask a question. Alternatively, have students work in groups.

7C
Divide the class into two teams. Say a sentence from the list below to one student on the first
team. He / she must give you a follow-up sentence using a phrasal verb from the unit. If he / she
is correct, the team gets a point and another student on the second team gets the next sentence.
If he / she is not correct, a student from the second team gets a chance to guess. If the student
from the second team guesses correctly, they get half a point and the same student gets another
sentence. If the student from the second team guesses incorrectly, they don't get any points but
the same student gets another sentence. Continue until you have used all of the sentences
below. The team with the most points wins.

Sentences:
1. There are no white T-shirts left at the store! (They’re sold out.)
2. Your teacher doesn’t want you to have your cell phone on. (Turn it off.)
3. You are late for class. (Hurry up.)
4. You have too many old papers in your desk. (Throw them out. or Throw them away.)
5. You left something in the classroom. (Come back.)
6. You want the salt and it is near your friend. (Ask for it.)
7. You are driving too fast. (Slow down.)
8. A car is coming toward you. (Look out.)
9. You dropped your pen. (Pick it up.)
10. You can’t wait to see your grandparents. (You look forward to it.)
11. You need to research whales for a report. (You need to find out about them.)
12. You can’t hear the TV. (Turn it up.)

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