Before we start...

Try to guess the decade.

Try to guess the decade.

Try to guess the decade.

Try to guess the decade.

Try to guess the decade.

A Words, words, words

A1 Listen and repeat. Flip to check the meaning.

A1 Listen and repeat. Flip to check the meaning.

A1 Listen and repeat. Flip to check the meaning.

A1 Listen and repeat. Flip to check the meaning.

A1 Listen and repeat. Flip to check the meaning.

A2 Match.

A2 Match.

A3 Match, study and translate.

B Reading and listening

B1 Read and listen to the texts.

Freddie is writing a history column called The Interesting Side of History for his school’s online magazine. He has made a timeline for Britain in the second half of the 20th century. Here's what he has written so far.

B2 Read the texts again and choose the correct decade.

B2 Read the texts again and choose the correct decade.

B2 Read the texts again and choose the correct decade.

B2 Read the texts again and choose the correct decade.

B2 Read the texts again and choose the correct decade.

B3 Sort out.

B3 Sort out.

C Listening

C1 Freddie has collected people’s real-life stories about three of the decades mentioned in his text. Listen to the people speak, and match them to the decades they talk about.

C1 Freddie has collected people’s real-life stories about three of the decades mentioned in his text. Listen to the people speak, and match them to the decades they talk about.

C1 Freddie has collected people’s real-life stories about three of the decades mentioned in his text. Listen to the people speak, and match them to the decades they talk about.

C2 Listen again. Choose the correct person.

D Grammar time

Past simple tense

Past simple tense

Past simple tense

D1 How do we form past simple tense?

D3 Play the game of noughts and crosses.

D4 Let's practise irregular verbs some more!

For curious minds

Find out how fashion changed through decades.

Lesson 1A: The Good Old Days

Before we start...

Try to guess the decade.

A Words, words, words

A1 Listen and repeat. Flip to check the meaning.

A2 Match.

A3 Match, study and translate.

B Reading and listening

B1 Read and listen to the texts.

Freddie is writing a history column called The Interesting Side of History for his school’s online magazine. He has made a timeline for Britain in the second half of the 20th century. Here's what he has written so far.

1 The sound of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones was in the air. Transistor radios became available. Pirate radio stations played pop music; Radio Caroline was the most popular one. Women wore miniskirts. Young people loved psychedelic designs and vivid colours. The English football team was on top of the world. 

2 Stereos were blasting out pop music as boy bands and girl groups topped the charts. The Spice Girls spread girl power globally. Oversized shirts and chunky boots were a big thing. Britain got closer to Europe when the Channel Tunnel opened. The Game Boy hit the shops. Harry Potter mania began. The World Wide Web became available to people, and the Internet became widely used.

3 Pop art was born in Britain. The air-pollution disaster known as the ‘Great Smog’ hit London. The Clean Air Act was introduced. Queen Elizabeth II was crowned. People watched the event live on black-and-white TVs. Tiny waists and long, full-circle skirts were very fashionable. People danced the jive and listened to rock and roll on their gramophones.

4  Prince Charles married Lady Di. Leggings, a high waist and massive shoulder pads were a must, as well as a big, messy hairstyle. It was a great decade for British comedy, with Only Fools and Horses topping the list, and an even better decade for British music. People listened to Queen, George Michael, Eurythmics and Depeche Mode on their Walkmans.

5 It was all about glam rock and punk, with David Bowie and the Sex Pistols in the lead. Flared trousers, sequins, nail polish, colourful hairstyles and platform shoes were fashionable. The era of colour television and cassette recorders started. The nation celebrated the Queen’s 25th year on the throne. Britain had its first woman Prime Minister.

B2 Read the texts again and choose the correct decade.

B3 Sort out.

C Listening

C1 Freddie has collected people’s real-life stories about three of the decades mentioned in his text. Listen to the people speak, and match them to the decades they talk about.

C2 Listen again. Choose the correct person.

1 Albert, 72: Those were the days! People were full of hope and optimism. To a young person such as myself, everything seemed shiny and . Music defined the decade, and it defined us as well. I would spend hours listening to the Beatles and later the Rolling Stones on my pocket transistor radio. Did you know that, back then, we used to listen to pirate radio stations? They played music from ships in international waters to challenge BBC radio, which was dominant at the time. They would play pop music all day long, while the conservative BBC played it only for a couple of hours a week. We were rather , and we dressed that way, too. We wore clothes that went against the strict rules of the time. Miniskirts became the big thing back then, and almost all the girls wore them. As for the boys, we loved wearing shirts. You’d probably laugh at them now, but they were a huge hit back then!

2 Melanie, 40: I have extremely fond memories of this decade. I grew up playing Game Boy, which was a sort of video-game console, and listening to pop music on the stereo. Britpop, a type of rock music that first started in the UK, was very popular. However, I didn’t really listen to it: I had a serious ‘girl power’ phase. The Spice Girls were the biggest British pop success since the Beatles. I would spend hours in front of the mirror pretending I was one of them, and I cried for days when they . Imagine that! Hmm, what else happened? Oh, yeah, the Channel Tunnel opened and got us closer to the rest of Europe. Every spring, Dad would take us on a day trip to Paris, because it was just a two-hour ride away. Another very important thing at the time was the Internet. Going online wasn’t as easy as it is today, but it was very exciting!

3 Harriet, 75: I was a child then, so I don’t remember much about the decade, but what I do remember is how foggy it was when I woke up one December morning. It soon became clear that the thick fog that covered the whole city was something quite unusual. My dad used to work at a car factory. That morning, the bus didn’t come, so he had to go to work on foot. When he returned, he was having trouble breathing. Outside, the smog was so thick that you couldn’t see what was in front of you. Everything stopped: the entire city was for five days. Why did it happen? Well, back then, we used to burn to heat our homes. With no wind, the smoke from the chimneys got trapped over the city, creating terrible atmospheric pollution. Thousands of people died from , and thousands . We have problems with air pollution today as well, so I feel like we haven’t learnt anything from the past.

D Grammar time

Past simple tense

D1 How do we form past simple tense?

D2 Read the story about being a teenager in the 70s. Complete the text with the verbs in past simple.

D3 Let's practise irregular verbs some more!

For curious minds

Find out how fashion changed through decades.