May 6, 2010

Surrogates: Passive Voice with Future Tenses

The original idea of the movie plot is amazing. I liked the movie from the very beginning, which is intriguing and perfect for this activity I planned in order to teach passive voice with future tenses, the grammar point I'm teaching my Thomas Prime 8 students this week.





A. Watch the movie segment. The segment takes place in the year 2024 and talks about what will happen from today until 2024. The movie starts 14 years ago, 2010. Take a look at the timeline of the scientific developments that took place in the next 14 years and rewrite the sentences you saw in the segment in the passive voice.

B. Rewrite the sentences from the movie in the passive voice.


2011



1. In 2011, monkeys will operate mechanical arms with nothing but their thoughts.

In 2011, _______________________ with nothing but their thoughts.


2. Physically disabled people are going to operate fully synthetic bodies.

__________________________________.


2014



3. We are going to see this more and more.

__________________________________ more and more.


4. We will witness an event of evolutionary significance.


___________________________________.


2018



5. Over 98% of the world population will use a surrogate in all facets of their daily lives.


___________________________________ in all facets of their daily lives.


6. We are going to see crime rates record lows.


__________________________________.



2021



7. By 2024, a minority will have opposed surrogates.


By 2024, ____________________________.


8. Many people will have seen this as the invasion of the inhuman.


____________________________ as the invasion of the inhuman.


9. They will have established surrogacy-free zones in major cities around the country.


__________________________________ in major cities around the country.



2024



10. People had predicted that surrogates would solve all their problems.


People had predicted that ______________________.


11. They had believed that one day the future was going to bring nothing but happiness.


They had believed that one day _______________________.


B. Discuss the following questions in pairs.


1. What's your opinion about the segment. Do you think it will actually happen in the future?
2. Do you think that surrogates are a good idea? Explain it.
3. Would you like to have a surrogate for you and your family? Why (not)?
4. If you would, what would you use it for?
5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having surrogates among us?


WORKSHEET

MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - SURROGATES

Anwer key:

1. mechanical arms will be operated by monkeys

2. fully synthetic bodies are going to be operated by physically disabled people.

3. this is going to be seen

4. an event of evolutionary significance will be witnessed

5. a surrogate will be used by 98% of the world population

6. crime rates record lows are going to be seen

7. surrogates will have been opposed by a minority

8. this will have been seen

9. surrogacy-free zones will have been established

10. all their problems would be solved by surrogates

11. nothing but happiness was going to be brought by the future A peer of mine said that he had used a slides presentation with links to my passive voice activities. I was sent the link and came across this really cool and thorough class on passive voice. I'm glad Simon Friend used my blog for his video activities. His slides are effective, fun and constructive. Thanks Simon Friend for these really cool slides. Thanks for linking my site to it.


5 comments:

Unknown said...

Cláudio, you know I'm your fan, don't you? :)
I've made a list with the best blogs/sites for teachers, please take a look: http://teachercarinafragozo.blogspot.com.br/2012/06/top-7-blogssites-para-professores-de.html

Cheers,

Carina

Claudio Azevedo said...

Thanks, Carina. I have checked your post and your other suggestions are great. Thanks for promoting and using my blogs. Miss your activities... See you.

site said...

Goodness, there is a lot of worthwhile info above!

Straykitten said...

Hi, could you please give me the direct link to youtube? Many thanks!

Claudio Azevedo said...

The video was directly uploaded to the blog, not youtube. It is hosted at youtube, but it does not have a URL there because of copyright issues. The link for the video segment download, though, is at the end of the post.