Giáo án A Closer Look 2

Ss activate prior knowledge about problems of city life and get ready for the idea of linked change.

T shows a picture of a congested street and a quiet street. T asks: 'What problems do big cities have?' and 'What happens to the roads when more people use buses?' T writes the sentence on the board: 'The more people use buses, the less crowded the roads become.' T asks Ss to guess what the sentence means.

• Ss list at least three problems: congestion, air pollution, noise (and/or too few parking spaces).
• Ss explain the sentence in their own words: when the number of bus users rises, the roads become less crowded; the two changes go together.

Ss understand the meaning and the form of double comparatives and avoid the mistake of using 'more' with a comparative -er form.

T presents the structure: 'The + comparative clause, the + comparative clause' expresses linked change. T gives the examples: 'The more people use buses, the less crowded the roads become.' and 'The earlier we leave, the quieter the roads are.' T asks: 'Which words are comparative forms?' and 'Why do we say quieter, not more quiet?' T shows the error 'The streets are more safer' and asks Ss to correct it. T asks Ss to find the subject and verb in each clause.

Ss write the rule in their notebooks:

• Structure: The + comparative (clause), the + comparative (clause).
• Short adjectives: add -er (quiet → quieter, safe → safer). Do not add 'more' to an -er form: 'more safer' is WRONG; 'safer' is correct.
• Long adjectives: use more or less (crowded → less crowded).
• Countable plural nouns use fewer (fewer cars); uncountable nouns use less.
• Ss correct 'The streets are more safer' → 'The streets are safer.'

Ss learn the meaning and the use of the phrasal verbs get around, carry out and cut down on, and four vocabulary items about city life.

T presents the phrasal verbs: get around (travel), carry out (conduct), cut down on (reduce). T presents the vocabulary: congestion (tình trạng ùn tắc), public transport (giao thông công cộng), liveable (đáng sống), construction site (công trường xây dựng). T reads each example aloud and asks Ss to repeat (for example, 'Congestion delays the morning bus.' 'Public transport can reduce traffic.' 'A liveable city has safe public spaces.' 'A construction site must be fenced.').

Ss write in their notebooks:

• get around = travel (Ex: 'It is easy to get around the city by bus.')
• carry out = conduct (Ex: 'The city will carry out a transport survey.')
• cut down on = reduce (Ex: 'We should cut down on car journeys.')
• congestion = traffic jam; public transport = buses, trams, metro; liveable = pleasant to live in; construction site = building area.

Ss practise choosing the correct double comparative, phrasal verb and comparative form, and judging correct and incorrect sentences.

Ss do Worksheet 1, Part A (Exercises 1–6) individually, then check in pairs. Exercises 1–4 are multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank; Exercise 5 is a word-order task; Exercise 6 is a true/false judgement. T may also use the NeoEdu interactive exercises on the page for quick self-checking.

Answer key for Worksheet 1, Part A:

1. A (the fewer; cars is countable plural, so fewer).
2. quieter (the comparative of quiet).
3. B (cut down on = reduce).
4. out (carry out = conduct).
5. The more you practise, the easier it becomes.
6. a) The streets are more safer. → S (Safer already has -er; do not add more.) b) The safer the streets are, the more people walk. → Đ, correct (write T for true, F for false, or Đ/S as used in the book).

Ss combine two sentences into a double comparative and explain the meaning of a double comparative sentence in clear English.

Ss do Worksheet 1, Part B (Exercises 7–8) in pairs. Exercise 7: Combine the sentences using a double comparative: 'We use more buses. The air becomes cleaner.' Exercise 8: Explain the sentence 'The busier the road is, the more carefully we should cross it.'

Answer key for Worksheet 1, Part B:
7. The more buses we use, the cleaner the air becomes. (Accept valid alternative word order and standard variants.)
8. As traffic increases, greater care is needed. (Busier is the comparative of busy; carefully becomes more carefully. Accept any equivalent defensible explanation.)

Ss use double comparatives and the target phrasal verbs to propose solutions to a problem in their city, and present them in a group poster.

Groups of four discuss the problem of congestion in their city and make a poster with three double comparative sentences that propose solutions. Each sentence must use one of the phrasal verbs (get around, carry out, cut down on) or one of the vocabulary items (congestion, public transport, liveable, construction site). Example: 'The more people use public transport, the less congestion we have.' Groups then present their poster to the class, and peers check the grammar.

Each group produces a poster with:

• A problem title (for example, 'Traffic in our city')
• Three double comparative sentences, each with the correct form (+ comparative, the + comparative) and at least one target phrasal verb or vocabulary item.
• Example sentences: 'The more we cut down on car journeys, the cleaner the air becomes.' 'The earlier the construction site is cleared, the sooner the roads become liveable.'