Unit 5 — The United States Today

Learning objectives Link to heading

• I can read a short first-person text about visiting an American city and describe two things that surprised the visitor.
• I can choose between will-future and going-to depending on the situation.
• I can use English articles (a / an / the / —) with country names and city names.

Bildungsplan alignment Link to heading

• 3.2.1 Soziokulturelles Orientierungswissen / Themen — life in the United States, regional diversity.
• 3.2.2 Interkulturelle kommunikative Kompetenz — moving past national stereotypes.
• 3.2.3.2 Leseverstehen — short first-person narrative.
• 3.2.3.5 Schreiben — short personal text.
• 3.2.3.8 Grammatik — future forms; articles with proper nouns.
• 3.2.4 Text- und Medienkompetenz — recognise the writer’s voice in a personal essay.

(Source: https://www.bildungsplaene-bw.de/,Lde/LS/BP2016BW/ALLG/SEK1/E1)

Lead-in story Link to heading

Maya stepped off the plane in Phoenix, Arizona. She had imagined the United States as a single image: tall buildings, yellow taxis, a song her grandmother liked. The air at the gate of the airport was warm. The air outside the airport was something else — like opening an oven with your face. Her cousin Jorge was waiting in the parking lot in a small white car. The car had been running, with the air conditioning on, for fifteen minutes. “Welcome to the desert,” he said. “We don’t sit outside here in July. We move from box to box.”

1. Activate Link to heading

Map prompt. On the slide there is a blank map of the United States. With your partner, mark with sticky notes:

• Three cities you have heard of.
• One state you can name (any).
• One thing you already know about the country that is not from a film.

Compare with another pair.

2. Input Link to heading

Reading text — The Sound of the Desert Link to heading

The first thing Maya noticed in Phoenix was the sound of the air conditioning. It was everywhere: in the supermarket, in the car, in the hotel lobby. Outside, the heat had a sound too — the steady drone of cicadas in the desert trees. Her cousins said you stop hearing the cicadas after about a week. She did not believe them. By the end of the third day, she realised they were right. The desert had its own kind of silence, and it was full of noises she would not have called noises a week earlier.

Quick comprehension (oral):

• What does Maya notice first? Why?
• What did her cousins predict?
• What does the writer mean by “its own kind of silence”?

Language focus — future: will vs. going to Link to heading

English uses two main futures with different uses.

In speech, will is often heard as the contraction ’ll.

Language focus — articles with proper nouns Link to heading

3. Practise Link to heading

Niveau G — controlled Link to heading

A. Will or going to?

1. Look out — that glass __________ (fall)!
2. I __________ (call) you back later, I promise.
3. According to the forecast, it __________ (be) windy tomorrow.

B. Insert a, an, the, or — (no article).

4. Maya is visiting __________ United States.
5. She lives in __________ Phoenix.
6. The capital of __________ Germany is Berlin.
7. They want to see __________ Grand Canyon.

Niveau M — productive Link to heading

C. Build a short prediction with evidence. Use going to.

8. (sky full of black clouds) → ___
9. (your phone battery says 1%) → ___
10. (your sister is reaching for the cake on the top shelf) → ___

D. Articles in connected text. Fill in.

11. ___ Mississippi is one of ___ longest rivers in ___ world.
12. ___ Rocky Mountains run through ___ western United States.
13. ___ Phoenix is ___ city in ___ desert.

4. Produce Link to heading

Writing task — A Place I Would Visit. Write 100–120 words about an English-speaking country or region you would like to visit. Cover the three points from the class test (“Klassenarbeit”):

• one fact you already know,
• one thing you imagine the daily life is like,
• one thing you would want to find out for yourself.

Use would twice and one future with will or going to.

Sample student response (Niveau M, 118 words) Link to heading

I would visit New Orleans because of the music. I already know it is a city in the south of the United States, and that it is below sea level in some parts. I imagine the daily life is slower than in big northern cities, with longer evenings on the porch and people who actually talk to each other on the street. I would want to find out whether the music is everywhere all the time or whether the postcards exaggerate. If I save enough money next year, I am going to spend three days there with my aunt, who speaks French and English and used to live two streets from a famous saxophonist.

5. Reflect Link to heading

• I can read a short first-person American text and explain two surprises.
• I can choose between will and going to with reason.
• I can use the / no article correctly with country names.

One sentence in your notebook: What is one stereotype about the United States I want to test against a real source this week?

Exam example Link to heading

Task 1 — Reading (18 BE) Link to heading

Read the short text below.

The first thing Maya noticed in Phoenix was the sound of the air conditioning. It was everywhere: in the supermarket, in the car, in the hotel lobby. Outside, the heat had a sound too — the steady drone of cicadas in the desert trees. Her cousins said you stop hearing the cicadas after about a week. She did not believe them. By the end of the third day, she realised they were right. The desert had its own kind of silence, and it was full of noises she would not have called noises a week earlier.

1. Where is Maya visiting? (2)
2. What sound does she notice first? (2)
3. What sound does she notice outside? (2)
4. What did her cousins predict? Did the prediction come true? (5)
5. What does the writer mean by “its own kind of silence”? (7)

Task 2 — Use of English (12 BE) Link to heading

A. Will-future or going-to (6 BE). Choose the better option.

1. Look at those clouds! It __________ (will rain / is going to rain) any minute.
2. I think the new film __________ (will be / is going to be) very popular.
3. Don’t worry, I __________ (will help / am going to help) you with that bag.

B. Articles (6 BE). Insert a, an, the, or — if no article is needed.

4. Maya is from __________ Stuttgart, but her cousins live in __________ United States.
5. Phoenix is __________ city in __________ desert.
6. She wants to see __________ Grand Canyon next summer.

Task 3 — Mediation (10 BE) Link to heading

Your German friend sends you this WhatsApp message:

“Meine Tante schickt jeden Sommer Fotos aus Texas. Es sieht immer extrem heiß aus. Ich verstehe nicht, wie die Menschen dort wohnen können, ohne den ganzen Tag im Schatten zu sitzen.”

Write three sentences in English to your American pen-pal explaining your friend’s question. You do not need to translate every word.

Task 4 — Writing (20 BE) Link to heading

Write 100–120 words about a place in an English-speaking country that you would like to visit. Cover:

• one fact you already know about the place,
• one thing you imagine the daily life is like,
• one thing you would want to find out for yourself.

Use would twice and the future with will or going to at least once.

Downloads Link to heading

Common pitfalls Link to heading

• I will rain → ✗; It is going to rain → ✓ (subject + visible evidence).
• I’m going to call you tomorrow at 6 — fine if it is a planned call; I’ll call you back later for spontaneous offers.
• the Germany → ✗; Germany → ✓ (no article with most country names).
• the New York → ✗; New York → ✓ (no article with cities).
• Pronouncing the before a vowel as /ði/: the United States → /ðə/, because the u in United sounds like you.

Further reading / listening Link to heading

• BBC News — US & Canada section (short articles for upper-Niveau-M readers). https://www.bbc.com/news/world/us_and_canada
• The New York Times — The Daily podcast extracts. https://www.nytimes.com/column/the-daily
• VOA Learning English — short news pieces with audio. https://learningenglish.voanews.com

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