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UNIT 16 Past experiences

16.2 Phrasal verbs auction

Warm-up

1 Elicit some phrasal verbs that students are already familiar with by miming or paraphrasing,

e.g. put your coat on, turn the light off , the plane took off at 10.30.

2 Divide students into pairs. Give each pair a set of Phrasal verb cards. Tell them to spread them out

on the table and find the matching pairs, i.e. sentence and correct particle(s).

3 When everyone has finished, check that they have the correct pairs and ask students to explain the

meaning of each phrasal verb. Then collect in the cards before starting the Main activity.

Main activity

1 Explain what happens at an auction and introduce some of the associated vocabulary,

e.g. auctioneer , hammer , to bid for something, going, going, gone! , sold !.

2 Tell the students they haveB

5000, or the equivalent in their currency, to spend at the auction.The lowest acceptable bid is B200. Their aim is to buy as many correct sentences as possible.

3 First ask pairs to decide on their maximum bid for each sentence, and write it in the first column.

Resist giving any clues about whether sentences are correct or not.

4 To begin the auction read out the sentences one at a time and ask for bids. Sell each sentence to

the highest bidders and tell them to write down in the second column of the auction sheet how

much they paid.

5 When all the sentences have been auctioned, go through the list and tell students whether each

sentence was correct or not. Try not to elicit the correct sentences until the Follow-up.

6 The winners are the students who have bought the most correct sentences.

Answers

The incorrect sentences are – 3 (broke down), 4 (took me on), 8 (let me down), 9 (give up),

11 (put me through to).

Variation

Ask a student to take on the role of auctioneer.

Follow-up

Ask students to change each incorrect sentence into a correct sentence. Check suggested corrections

with the whole class.

Homework

A Look up each of the phrasal verbs from the activity in a monolingual English dictionary and notedown more examples of their use.

B Write questions for a class survey in the following lesson, using phrasal verbs from the activity,

e.g. Where were you brought up? What would you most like to cut down on? 

AcknowledgementAs far as we know, the idea of auctioning language items was first suggested in Grammar Games by MarioRinvolucri (Cambridge University Press 1984).

Level

Intermediate

Time

40–45 minutes

Aim

To focus students’ attention on

the meaning and use of some

common phrasal verbs

Materials

For Warm-up, one set of 

Phrasal verb cards, cut up, foreach pair of students

One set of Sentences for

auction for each pair of 

students

Key vocabulary

break down

break up

bring up

cut down on

cut off 

cut out 

find out 

give up

let down

 put across 

 put down

 put through

run out of 

take after 

take on

take up

tell off

 S a m p l e p a g e s f r o m  G a m

 e s f o r V o c a b u l a r y P r a c t i c e

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Phrasal verbs auction

From Games for Vocabulary Practice by O’Dell & Head  © Cambridge University Press 2003  PHOTOCOPIABLE 

16.2

after He took his mother in up We had almost given hope

both looks and personality. that he was still alive.

on She was taken as a up She decided to take

laboratory assistant. medicine as a career.

down She broke in tears when up They broke just a month

she failed her driving test again. before their wedding.

through I phoned reception and they put off Her father told her for coming

me to customer services. home so late.

down She was her father’s least favourite off Six villages were cut by the

child and he always put her . heavy snow that had fallen overnight.

across He found it hard to put his ideas down on To save money she tried to cut

to the other committee members. her number of shopping trips.

up After her husband left she brought out We phoned the cinema to find

their children on her own. what time the movie started.

out of They ran money so they had to down He said he would finish the work by Friday

find work to pay the bills. but he let me .

Phrasal verb cards

Sentences for auction

Maximum bid Price paid

1 My father always said I took after him but I don’t agree.

2 After my parents died I was brought up by my grandparents.

3 When she heard the sad news she broke up and cried.

4 The job interview went badly, so I was surprised when they took me up.

5 The car ran out of petrol on the way home.

6 At school I was always being told off for talking in class.

7 Why did Bill and Judy break up?

8 Jane really let me out by not helping me when I needed her so badly.

9 I had to give in my job because I hated my boss.

10 Even though she cut down on sweets, she was still very overweight.

11 The receptionist put me across to Mr White’s extension.

12 Did you manage to find out what the film was about?

13 My manager always used to put me down in front of other people.

14 To help improve my concentration I took up yoga.

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