Layoffs and cutbacks can lead to start-ups (phrasal nouns)

Leanne | Feb 11, 2022Mar 28, 2025

LESSON OVERVIEW

In this lesson, students read a short article about a start-up surge and learn some phrasal nouns by working out their meaning from the context. They also use the phrasal nouns in a discussion and a crossword. 

WARM-UP AND PHRASAL NOUNS

The lesson starts with a warm-up activity in which students have to predict the contents of an article based on a short headline and an image of people working on a business agenda. Students then read the article about a surge in start-ups which was triggered by the pandemic. After that, they share their thoughts on start-ups, the reasons for the boom, as well as their experience with new businesses. Next, students read what phrasal nouns are and see some examples (input, start-up). They then look back at the article to find eight phrasal nouns in it (e.g. cutback, lockdown, meet-up). After that, they move on to an exercise in which they match them with their definitions. 

PRACTICE

In this part of the lesson, students read eight dialogue beginnings and match them with the correct endings. Each of the dialogues contains a phrasal noun (e.g. go-ahead, get-together, meltdown) and students have to explain the meanings of them. In the next activity, students have to discuss a few questions (e.g. What is your opinion of meet-up apps?, If you have to give a presentation, do you usually have a run-through first?). Finally, students work in pairs and play a crossword game. Each student gets a copy of a crossword which is half empty. They need to ask for explanations of the words they are missing from their version of the crossword. The other student in the pair explains what the phrasal noun is. They do it until both of their crosswords are complete.

WORKSHEETS

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