Teach english new edition r

E Examples of language system teaching 
(pages 87-96) 
Grammar
Read the following text and answer the questions that follow:
Archery Target
When I opened my eyes that morning, I knew I should have stayed asleep. My head felt 
terrible and when I got up, it felt worse.
I lit a cigarette and dragged the electric razor across my chin. The noise it made hit the 
hangover in my brain like the ‘Dies Irae’ from Verdi’s 
Requiem -
that’s the bit with the bass 
drum, the shrieking chorus, and the full orchestra for those of you who don’t know their 
Verdi. I hadn’t managed to sleep it off after all. It was going to be one hell of a day.
As I opened the door the sunlight blasted into my eyes like a searchlight. It hurt. So did 
the jogger who sprinted past me as I stumbled into the street. I should have realised then 
that something was wrong. We didn’t get many joggers in our neighbourhood - certainly 
not ones with bright-green running suits.
I staggered down towards the coffee shop for my morning coffee. I was moving at 
a snail’s pace, but even that was faster than Easy Eddie who I met shuffling along the 
sidewalk. He was always shuffling along the sidewalk and I had got used to him by now.
Jeremy Harmer 
Howto Teach English
© Pearson Education Limited 
2007
20 5
PHOTOCOPIABLE

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He gave me a cheerful greeting. I muttered ‘Hi.’
Someone strode past me and hurried down the street. He wasn’t wearing a running suit, 
he was wearing a morning suit - with a tail coat and a white bow tie. I reckoned I must be 
hallucinating. For the hundredth time I swore I’d never drink Bourbon again.
I turned into Mission Boulevard and there she was. She was sauntering along on the 
other side of the street, colored like an archery target, with head held high and that 
innocent look of hers. Then, from the corner of my eye I saw the running suit again and 
suddenly the fog blew right out of my head. 
I knew what was going to happen!
I dashed 
across the road, weaving in and out of the early taxis and the garbage trucks as they hit 
their klaxons and shouted curses at me. But I was too late. I just had time to see the 
jogger stop her and the man with the morning suit touch her back - almost gently - and 
then they were gone.
“Lauren, Lauren,” I called through dry lips. She seemed to hear. She turned her head in 
my direction and limped towards me and then she just kind of fell in a rustling heap right 
there on the sidewalk. By the time I reached her she was gone.
I 
pulled another cigarette from the crushed packet in my pocket. One day, I swore, I’d 
give them up, but not now. Especially not now.
a What level could you use this text with?
b 
How would you use this text to revise/teach different ways of talking about the past? 
c How would you introduce the text?
d How would you get students to practise the different past tenses in the text? 
e What other activities would you use with this text?