Talking about hypothetical situations (What would you do?)

1. Task 1: Listen to someone doing a speaking task and answer the questions below.
Does the speaker make any kind of opening statement? If so, what did he say?
What is the topic statement?
What are the main points?
Which verb tenses are most commonly used?
How are they used?

Click here to hear this speech.
Compare your answers to the questions with a partner. Were they the same?

2. Now click here to see the transcript of the speech.

Can you see the pattern and relationship between the two most commonly used verb tenses?

3. Task 2: Now listen to another speaking task and answer the same questions.
Does the speaker make any kind of opening statement? If so, what did he say?
What is the topic statement?
What are the main points?
Which verb tenses are most commonly used?
How are they used?

Was the pattern you noticed in the first speech repeated in the second one?

Click here to hear this speech.
Compare your answers to the questions with a partner. Were they the same?

4. Now click here to see the transcript of the speech.
Were your answers correct?

5. Task 3: Now listen to a third speaking task and answer the same questions.
Does the speaker make any kind of opening statement? If so, what did he say?
What is the topic statement?
What are the main points?
Which verb tenses are most commonly used?
How are they used?
Was the pattern you noticed in the first speech repeated in this one?

Click here to hear this speech.
Compare your answers to the questions with a partner. Were they the same?

6. Now click here to see the transcript of the speech.
Were you correct?

7. Look again at the transcript of the first speech and read the explanation below.

When we are talking about hypothetical situations we usually use a conditional tense such as ‘I would like to visit….’ or ‘I would buy a house….’ Very often this is followed by sentence which tells us something about the choice we made and explains why we made it, e.g. I’d most like to go to China. I’m very interested in history and China has a long history. Notice that the conditional tense I’d most like to go… is followed by i) I’m very interested…and ii) China has….Phrase i) tells the listener why the speaker wants to go to China and ii) mentions the quality China possesses which makes the speaker feel this way. Notice that the statement of the speaker’s choice uses ‘would’ and then he switches to simple present tense ‘I’m’  and ‘China has’ to explain why.

IMPORTANT!!!
This does NOT always happen, but it does happen very frequently and is a useful structure in dealing with these types of questions.

8. Look at some examples of how this might be used.
Topic: What kind of pet would you like to have?
I would like to have a dog. Dogs are very intelligent and friendly animals. You can play with a dog.

Topic: What is one change you would make to your university?
I would change the library system. Now, the library closes too early. Students need to able to study till late. Sometimes they want to study all night. Also, the library does not have enough computers.

Topic: Which would you buy for your zoo, a lion or a tiger?
I would buy a tiger. Tigers usually live alone, so they wouldn’t be lonely in a zoo. Tigers look more impressive than lions. I’m a fan of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team.

9. Task 4: Now you try making up one or two (or as many as you wish) sentences for the possible topics listed below.

a) Which part of Japan would you like to visit?
b) What would you give as a present to a 10 year-old boy?
c) What would you give as a present to a 10 year-old girl?
d) What kind of book would you take to read on a long plane trip?
e) What would you study at university if you had the chance to do a second degree?
f) What sport would you like to learn to play?
g) How would you get to Fukuoka if you had to go there on a business trip?
h) Would you ever become a vegetarian?
i) What kind of house or apartment would you like to live in?
j) What is one change you would make to your hometown?
k) If you had a large sum of money to give to charity, what kind of charity would you give it to?
l) If you had the power to eliminate one disease, which one would you eliminate?

10. Speaking Task 1
Make a plan for the topic: In the future, which city would you like to live in?

Now give your response to your partner and then listen to your partner.
Tell your partner what his/her main points were.
Now record yourself. Target speaking time 45 seconds.

11. Speaking Task 2
Make a plan for the topic: If you could create a new English class in the WLC, what kind of English class would it be?

Now give your response to your partner and then listen to your partner.
Tell your partner what his/her main points were.
Now record yourself. Target speaking time 45 seconds.

10. Speaking Task 3
Make a plan for the topic: If you had to study another language (not English), which language would you study?

Now give your response to your partner and then listen to your partner.
Tell your partner what his/her main points were.
Now record yourself. Target speaking time 45 seconds.
This completes our look at the TOEFL iBT independent speaking free response task.
You can now move on to the next unit that deals with the TOEFL iBT independent speaking paired response task.