5F Story telling
A Match the future in the past sentence halves. Write a−f in the boxes. Then write alternative endings to the sentences.
1 My cat had disappeared. I hoped it would
2 The girls were delighted because they were
3 On Friday evening, the exchange student arrived. She was to
4 It was the trip of a lifetime, which she would
5 Max had made a decision. He was going to
6 Violet was a bit apprehensive about the week ahead. Her parents were
a stay in our home for a month.
b ask Evie out on a date.
c remember forever.
d come back soon.
e leaving her alone in the house for the first time.
f going to a gig the following evening.
B Rewrite these direct speech sentences with correct punctuation. Then replace the verbs in italics with a synonym.
1 It was all my fault Josie admitted.
2 Just leave me alone screamed Mia storming out of the room.
3 Why haven’t they found any evidence Charlie wondered.
4 What drives me mad complained Sally is when you don’t recharge the battery.
5 I can’t stand this subject. It’s so dull Joe muttered yawning widely.
6 What a lovely dress you’re wearing Fiona commented smiling.
7 You’ll be pleased to know the teacher announced that tomorrow’s test is cancelled.
8 Watch out cautioned Ruben. That dog looks vicious.
C Read the opening paragraph to a story. In pairs, discuss what might go wrong for the couple in the story and how the
problems could be resolved.
‘I can’t bear flying. I really don’t know why we couldn’t have driven,’ moaned Erin, gripping the armrest even more
tightly. ‘Just relax. Flying is one of the safest ways to travel,’ Adam calmly reassured his girlfriend, taking her
hand in his. Erin and Adam had been married for almost a year and this was to be their first trip abroad together.
They would be celebrating their first anniversary in a luxurious five-star hotel in Nice. It would be a trip they’d
remember forever.
Solutions 2nd edition Upper-Intermediate © Oxford University Press • Photocopiable
5G Story telling
Aims To review and practise using the future in the past. To
give students practice in writing sentences with direct speech,
focusing on accurate punctuation and varied use of speech
verbs. To give students a further opportunity to generate ideas for
and to write a story.
Time 10 minutes + extra time to write a story
Materials 1 handout for each student
• Tell students to match the sentence halves in task A. Check
answers as a class, taking the opportunity to review the rules
for using the future in the past.
Answer Key
1 d 2 f 3 a 4 c 5 b 6 e
• Tell students to complete the sentences with their own ideas
and then to read out their suggestions to a partner. Get
feedback on any amusing or original answers.
• Tell students to complete task B. Check answers as a class.
Answer Key
1 ‘It was all my fault,’ Josie acknowledged.
2 ‘Just leave me alone!’ bellowed Mia, storming out of the room.
3 ‘Why haven’t they found any evidence?’ Charlie asked himself.
4 ‘What drives me mad,’ grumbled Sally, ‘is when you don’t
recharge the battery.’
5 ‘I can’t stand this subject. It’s so dull,’ Joe mumbled, yawning
widely.
6 ‘What a lovely dress you’re wearing!’ Fiona remarked, smiling.
7 ‘You’ll be pleased to know,’ the teacher declared, ‘that
tomorrow’s test is cancelled.’
8 ‘Watch out!’ warned Ruben. ‘That dog looks vicious.’
• Working in pairs, students complete task C. Elicit from the
class as many ideas as possible for how the story could
progress and end.
• Students should now write the rest of the story using some
of the ideas generated at the previous stage. They should
write a further three paragraphs describing: what problem
arises, efforts to resolve the problem, how the story ends.
Encourage them to use some examples of direct speech,
future in the past and a range of descriptive language.
• To make the writing activity more interactive, students could
produce the story in pairs. Another option would be to get
pairs to write the second paragraph and then swap stories
with another pair, who then write the subsequent one.
Students then exchange papers a final time and add the
conclusion. The completed stories could be displayed in the
classroom, for students to read each other’s work.
• If there is insufficient time in class to write the story, this
could be set as a homework task.
Solutions 2nd edition Upper-Intermediate © Oxford University Press
