Unit 7B: Develop Your Listening

Develop Your Listening - Unit 7B

Understand Discussions & Talk About Hypothetical Situations

👋 Welcome Back!

Great to see you again! Today we’re building your listening skills — understanding news discussions, debates, and those “what if…?” ideas we use when we talk about possibilities that haven’t actually happened.

Warm-Up: Talk About News

Start with these quick questions — think or say your answers:

1. What are the biggest news stories right now?

> Floods, new laws, sports results… what’s everyone talking about?

2. Who do you discuss news stories with?

> Family? Friends? Classmates? Online?

3. Do you ever agree or disagree strongly with what you hear?

> That’s exactly when we use hypothetical language!

Listening Tasks: 5 News Discussions

You’ll listen to five short conversations. Here’s what to focus on:

Part A: First Listen

Answer these for each discussion:

AUDIO: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Eo-jLjVGTwmT4QjCR9A4A9JTbEKCnL71/view?usp=drive_link

#	Question	What to listen for
1	What is the news story about?	The main topic (rainfall, trains, sports, politics, plane landing)
2	What do the speakers disagree about?	Where their opinions differ

Part B: Second Listen — Details

Discussion	Specific Questions
1 – Rainfall	How much rain has London had so far this year? How much water should we each use daily?
2 – Trains	Average fare increases? What happens next year without action?
3 – Sports	Which competition stage are they in? Who’s the next opponent?
4 – Politics	What did the Prime Minister do? What will replace them?
5 – Plane landing	How many people were hurt? What might have caused the problem?

Focus: Hypothetical Situations

This is today’s superpower 🦸‍♀️ — talking about imaginary or possible situations that are NOT real yet.

📖 The Focus Box

We use hypotheticals to:

Purpose	Example Phrases
1. Suggest someone is being selfish	What if everyone behaved like you? Imagine if everyone did that.
2. Move a discussion forward	Yes, but what if it were true? Just imagine! What if they did win?
3. Explain why a point isn’t logical	If that were the case then we’d all be in trouble. If that were true then everyone would do it.

✏️ Match the Statements

Which discussion does each one come from?

a But imagine if she does resign. → Discussion 4 (politics)
b If that were true then nothing would ever change. → Discussion 4
c Yeah, but what if they did? Just imagine! → Discussion 2 (trains)
d If that were the case, they would have cancelled all flights. → Discussion 1 (rainfall/water)
e What if everyone did that? → Discussion 6 (your turn — your opinion!)
4️⃣ Practice: Predict & Complete
Now you’ll hear more short discussions. Use your new phrases to guess what comes next!
Part A: Predict

Conversation	What might the speaker say?
1 – Hurricane	Person A doesn’t think it will strike. Person B replies with a hypothetical…
2 – Local politics	Person A stays out of politics. Person B challenges them: “Oh come on, ______?”
3 – Cure aging	Person A says it’s impossible. Person B replies: “If ______.”

Part B: Fill in the Gaps

Here’s what you might hear — notice the pattern:

A: I don’t think the hurricane will strike here.
B: Yeah, but what if it does?
A: I don’t get involved in local politics.
B: Oh come on, what if everyone thought like that?
A: You can’t cure aging.
B: If that were true, then we wouldn’t even be trying new research!

5️⃣ Your Turn: Speak & Share

Work in pairs — pick a news topic and give your opinion. Use hypothetical phrases!

💬 Example Dialogue

A: I don’t really care about the floods in the south. I don’t have any family there.
B: That’s a bit heartless, isn’t it? What if everyone thought like you? We should all care.
A: Hmm, you’re right. Imagine if no one helped when we needed it…
B: Exactly! If we all gave just a little, things would get better faster.