Landing on the Moon

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Check your understandingReading comprehension
7. 7Listen: Ruth's memoryListening comprehension
8. 8Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
9. 9What does it show?Grammar exercise
10. 10The past perfect continuousGrammar rule
11. 11Before the landingGrammar exercise
12. 12Say it naturallySpeaking practice
13. 13A moment I won't forgetSpeaking practice
14. 14Let's discussDiscussion
15. 15Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: past perfect, simple or continuous?Grammar exercise
4. 4Homework: a moment I'll never forgetDiscussion

Words

• mission/ˈmɪʃn/

  an important job that someone is sent to do, like a flight into space

• launch/lɔːntʃ/

  to send a rocket or spacecraft into the air (also a noun)

• crew/kruː/

  the people who work together on a ship, plane or spacecraft

• orbit/ˈɔːrbɪt/

  to move around a planet, moon or star in a curved path (also a noun: in orbit)

• descent/dɪˈsent/

  a movement down, toward the ground

• touch down/ˌtʌtʃ ˈdaʊn/

  to land on the ground (for a plane or spacecraft)

• alarm/əˈlɑːrm/

  a sound or light that warns you about a problem

• fuel/ˈfjuːəl/

  a material, such as gas or oil, that is burned to make power

• splash down/ˌsplæʃ ˈdaʊn/

  to land in the ocean (for a spacecraft)

• legacy/ˈleɡəsi/

  something from the past that people still have or feel today

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about space.

1. What do you think was the most dangerous moment of the first moon landing?
2. Would you go to space if someone offered you a free seat? Why, or why not?
3. Is there a historic event that your parents or grandparents still talk about?

Grammar rule

The past perfect continuous

had been + -ing: an activity up to a moment in the past

The fans had been standing in the rain for three hours when the band finally appeared. (how long, up to that moment)

had + past participle: finished before a moment in the past

By the time we reached the gate, the plane had already taken off.

Compare

Her face was red because she had been running. (an activity, with signs you could see) · She was proud because she had run a marathon. (a finished result)

The continuous often comes with for, since and how long. State verbs (know, own, like, believe) usually stay simple: I had known him since college. (not had been knowing)