Town or country?
1 LISTENING AND SPEAKING
Town or country?
A Keira and Justin are describing where they live.
B Listen to Keira and Justin again, then answer these questions.
2 PRESENTATION
They couldn’t watch TV
A Listen to Mary McGee.
Mary McGee was born on the Isle of Skye eighty years ago.
‘I was born on Skye and I can’t imagine living anywhere else. But it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, as they say. We’re farmers and, when I was a child, life here was hard. Our food was very simple. You couldn’t buy sweets or crisps or fizzy drinks. And when it was cold, we couldn’t just turn on the central heating. We didn’t have a TV, and we didn’t have a telephone until I was 15. In those days, of course, people couldn’t ‘go online’ because the internet didn’t exist. But we were never bored. We could climb trees, play games, walk along the beach, collect shells. I had a wonderful childhood.
We’ve got central heating now, and a washing machine. These days, you can buy most things at the supermarket in Portree. And you can get to the mainland easily because there’s a bridge now. Before 1995, you couldn’t drive to the mainland because there wasn’t a bridge. But some things never change. You can still trust your neighbours, and I can still hear the sea when I wake up in the morning. It’s magic!’
B Listen again, then read these sentences. Choose the correct verb each time.
3 GRAMMAR
can/can’t; could/couldn’t
Complete the examples with the right form of can.
4 WRITING AND SPEAKING
An interview
Use what you know
Write an imaginary interview with an older person in Slovenia. What was life like when he/she was young? What is life like now?
Check your grammar and then read your conversation to the class.
A: What was your life like when you were a child?
B: Life was very different seventy years ago! You couldn’t …
A: Is your life better now?
B: Yes and no. I can’t climb trees these days!