SA
I, Do you think that there's more cheating in soccer than in
the past?
JA Yes, I think so.
I Why?
JA I think it's because there's so much money in football today
that it has become much more important to win. Also
football is much faster than 1t used to be so it's much more
difficult for referees to detect cheating.
How do soccer players cheat?
JA Oh, there are many ways, but for me the worst thing in
football today is what we call "simulation.· Simulation is
when a player pretends to have been fouled when in fact
he hasn't. For example, sometimes a player falls over in
the penalty area when, in fact. nobody has touched him
and this can result 1n the referee giving a penalty when it
wasn't a penalty. In my opinion. when a player does this
he's cheating not only the referee, not only the players
of the other team, but also the spectators, because
spectators pay money to see a fair contest.
c 3 9>)) Now tell Sts they are going to hear Part 2 of the
interview. Give them time to quickly read sentences
1-6. Make sure Sts know that they must fill in the
blanks with one to three words.
Play the audio once all the way through. Then play it
again, pausing after each answer is given.
Get Sts to compare their answers with a partner and
then play the audio again if necessary.
Check answers.
1 the right decisions 4 the exceptions
2 fast 5 with the ball
3 the rules 6 typical superstar
3 9>))
(script in Student Book on page 126)
Part 2
I What's the most difficult thing about being a referee?
JA The most difficult thing is to make the right decisions
during a match. It's difficult because you have to make
decisions when everything's happening so quickly -
football today is� fast. You must remember that
everything is happening at 100 kilometres an hour.
Also important decisions often depend on the referee's
interpretation of the rules. Things aren't black and white.
And of course making decisions would be much easier if
players didn't cheat.
Do you think that the idea of fair play doesn't exist anymore?
JA Not at all. I think fair play� exist - the players who
cheat are the exceptions.
Finally, who do you think is the best player right now?
JA I think most people agree that the best footballer today is
Leo Messi.
I Why do you think he's so good?
JA It's hard to say what makes him so special, but a study was
done on him which showed that Messi can run faster Y!'.i.tb
the ball than many footballers can do� the ball.
Apart from his great ability, what I also like about him is
that he isn't the typical superstar footballer. You can see
that he enjoys playing football and he behaves in public
and in his personal life in a very normal way. That's unusual
when you think how famous he is. And what's more he
doesn't cheat - he doesn't need to!
Extra supp ort
• If there's time, you could play the audio again while
Sts read the scripts on paBes 125-126, so they can see
what they understood/ didn't understand. Translate/
explain any new words or phrases.
d Either get Sts to answer in pairs, or do the questions as
an open-class activity. Encourage Sts to give reasons to
justify what they say.
6 GRAMMAR past tenses: simple,
continuous, perfect
a Do these as an open-class activity and elicit sports
where cheating is common and different ways of
cheating.
b Focus on the instructions and the question. Elicit the
meaning of take a short cut.
Give Sts time to read the article and answer the
question.
Get Sts to compare with a partner and then check the
answer.
In the Boston Marathon, she jumped out of the crowd
during the last half mile. In the New York City Marathon, she
took the subway.
Extra supp ort
• You could read each text aloud, eliciting or
translating/ explaining any new words, and ask
a few more comprehension questions to check
understanding, e.g., Which marathon was Rosie Ruiz
rumiinB in? Did she win?, etc.
c Focus on the highlighted verbs. Get Sts to answer the
questions individually or in pairs.
Check answers.
1 was, finished
2 had happened, had also cheated, had taken
3 wasn't sweating
d 3 10 >)) 3 11 >)) 3 12 >)) 3 13 >)) Tell Sts to go to
Grammar Bank SA on paBe 140. Focus on the
example sentences and play the audio for Sts to listen
to the sentence rhythm. You could also get Sts to repeat
the sentences to practice getting the rhythm right.
Then go through the rules with the class.
Additional grammar notes
• In American English File 2 Sts learned the simple
past, the past continuous, and the past perfect in
separate lessons, so this will be the first time Sts
see the three tenses together.
• Highlight that these three tenses are the ones that
we normally use to tell a story / anecdote in the
past. Most verbs tend to be in the simple past, when
we are describing consecutive actions (First ...
then ... , etc.), but we often use the simple past in
conjunction with either the past continuous and
past perfect or both, e.g., I got home late and my wife
had already.finished her lunch and was watching the
news on TV.
You may want to draw a timeline on the board to
show Sts how the three tenses work together:
Igor home.
------x-----xxxxx-----..
My wife had She was
finished watching
lunch. the news.
+++