Erica Santana – English Course

Intermediate
Unit 3
Wonders of the
world
 Erica Santana – English Course

Contents

 Talk about the best, worst, and most beautiful things in

your city and country.
 Describe natural features.
 Use short responses to be a supportive listener.
 Use superlatives for emphasis.
 Read an article about world records.
 Write a factual article about your country.
 Erica Santana – English Course

1. Human wonders

1º Look at the pictures. What is the quiz about? Are you good at
these kinds of quizzes?

2º Listen to the quiz. Can you guess the correct answers? Circle
a, b, or c.

3º Complete the questions.

1. What’s the _____________ (big) train station in the

world?
2. What’s the _____________ (busy) airport in the world?
3. Where is the ____________ (large) building in the world?
4. What’s the _____________ (expensive) city in the world?
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2. Grammar: Superlatives
Superlative adjectives are used to compare three or more people,
places, or things to say one has more (or less) of a quality that the
others. Superlative adjectives before nouns are mostly used with
the.

For short adjectives

The + adjective + est

What’s the busiest restaurant?

What’s the tallest building in the world?

For long adjectives

The + most/least + adjective

What’s the most interesting city in your country?

What’s the least expensive store?

Irregular superlatives

Good = the best Bad = the worst

What’s the best country to visit?

What’s the worst problem in your country?

Superlatives with nouns

The most + noun

Which country has the most tourism?

Which stadium has the most seats?

*After superlatives, use in to refer to the place or group.

Spelling rules

For two-syllable adjectives ending in y, change the y to i and add

-est.

happy – happiest
 Erica Santana – English Course

For adjectives ending in e, add -st.

nice – nicest

For most one-syllable adjectives ending in a vowel + consonant,

double the final consonant before adding -est.

big - biggest thin – thinnest

4º Complete these questions about your country. Use the

superlative form of the adjectives or the superlative with nouns.

1. What’s __________ (large) city?

2. Which airport has _________ (flights) every day?
3. What’s __________ (fast) way to travel?
4. What’s ___________ (beautiful) region?
5. Which city has ___________ (tourism)?
6. Where’s ___________ (famous) monument?
7. What’s ___________ (bad) problem for people?
8. What’s ___________ (good) university?
9. Which city has __________ (big) population?

5º Answer the questions above.

6º Complete the facts and tips about different places in the

world. Use the superlative forms of the adjective or the
most/the least with nouns.

1. ___________ (big) national park in the world is in

Greenland.
2. __________ (fast) rollercoaster in Europe is in Spain.
3. Canada has __________ (long) coastline in the world. It’s
great for sightseeing.
4. _____________ (expensive) hotel in the world is in Dubai.
The rooms cost over $10,000 a night.
5. ____________ (good) time to visit Thailand is from
November to February. These are the months with
 Erica Santana – English Course

_________ (good) weather because there is ________

(rain).
6. Summer is ___________ (bad) time to visit Venice
because that’s when there are ___________ (tourists).
7. The city that has _________ (people) in the United
States is New York City.
8. The city with __________ (large) population in the world
is Shanghai.
9. ___________ (deep) lake in the world is Lake Baikal in
Siberia.
10. ___________ (small) country in the world is Vatican City
in Rome. It’s also _________ populated country with only 500
inhabitants.

7º Can you think of similar facts and tips for visitors to your
country?

3. Speaking practice: Liking and deletion with

superlatives

8º Listen and repeat the questions above. Notice how the final
st is linked to vowel sounds and the sounds /h, l, r, w, y/.
However, the final t is deleted before – and the s is linked to –
most consonant sounds.

9º Answer the questions above about your city.

 Erica Santana – English Course

4. Vocabulary: Natural wonders

10º Complete the facts below with seven of the natural
features in the box. Which facts did you know?

Archipelago – desert – island – mountain – rain forest – river

Coast – glacier – lake – ocean – reef - volcano

11º What natural features are in your country? Complete the

chart.

Features we have Features we don’t have

 Erica Santana – English Course

12º Fill in the missing labels on this map of Australia.

Archipelago – mountains – bridge – ocean – coast – rain forest

Desert – reef – island – river – lake - volcano

5. Grammar: Questions with How + adjective…?

13º Can you complete the questions and answers?

1. How _______ is the Nile River?

2. It’s 6,695 kilometers __________.
3. _______ high is Mount Everest?
4. It’s 8,850 meters ___________.

We can use How + adjective for questions about measurements.

How high is Mount Everest?

It’s 8,850 meters (29,035 feet) high.

How long is the Nile River?

It’s 6,695 kilometers (4,160 miles) long.

How wide is the Grand Canyon?

It’s about 29 kilometers (18 miles) wide.
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How deep is the Pacific Ocean?

It’s about 11,000 meters (36,000 feet) deep.

How large is the Sahara Desert?

It’s 9.1 million square kilometers (3.5 million square miles).

How hot does it get in Death Valley?

It can reach 48 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit).

Some measurements can be followed by an adjective: high, tall,

long, wide, deep.

Tips: Converting measurements

1 feet = 0,3048 meters.

1 miles = 1,60934 kilometers.
1 square miles = 1,852 kilometers.
1 Fahrenheit = -17,2222 Celsius.

14º Write two questions about each of the natural features below.

Questions:

1. The longest river in Canada.

2. The highest mountain in South America.
3. The smallest continent.
4. The widest canyon in the world.
5. The deepest lake in the world.
6. The coldest place in the world.

Answer:

1. The Mackenzie River / 4,241 kilometers.

2. Mount Aconcagua / 6,962 meters.
3. Australia / almost 7.7 million square kilometers.
4. The Grand Canyon / 29 kilometers.
5. Lake Baikal / 1,741 meters.
6. Antarctica / -89.6 degrees Celsius
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15º Complete the questions and answers about Spain. Use the
words from the box. If you don’t need a word to complete the
answers, write a dash (-). Some words are used more than once.

Big – deep – high – hot - long

1. Q: How ______ is Mount Teide in Tenerife, Spain?

A: It’s 4,964 meters (16,286 feet) ___________.

2. Q: How ________ is the coastline?

A: It’s 7,517 kilometers (4,671 miles) _________.

3. Q: How _________ is the population of Spain?

A: It’s almost 47 million people ______________.

4. Q: What is the largest natural lake in Spain? How ____ is it?

A: Lake Sanabria is 51 meters (167 feet) ________.

5. Q: How ______ is it in southern Spain in August?

A: It is usually around 35ºC (90°F) _______.

6. Listening practice: What do you know?

16º Take the quiz below. Circle a, b, or c, and guess the answers
to the questions.

1. The world’s tallest trees grow in ___.

a. Japan b. Brazil c. the United States
How tall are they? They’re ______________.
2. ____ is the highest lake in the world.
a. Lake Victoria b. Lake Titicaca c. Lake Superior
How high is it? It’s __________.
3. The longest mountain range is ___.
a. The Andes b. The Himalayas c. The Rocky Mountains
How long is it? It’s ___________.
4. The world’s largest archipelago is _____.
a. The Philippines b. Greece c. Indonesia
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5. The world’s deepest canyon is in ___.

a. the United States b. Tibet c. Australia
How deep is it? It’s ___________.
6. The world’s smallest volcano is in ____.
a. the Philippines b. Italy c. Mexico
How high is it? It’s ___________.

17º Listen to the quiz show. Were your guesses correct? Write
the correct answers above.

7. Conversation Strategies: Being a supportive

listener
18º Are there any national parks in your country? Which one is
the most beautiful? Which one is the largest?

19º Listen to Kim and Diego. What do they say about Sequoia
National Park?

Kim: This is the most incredible place!

Diego: Yeah, it really is. It feels good to be out of the city.
Kim: It sure does. You know, these trees are just awesome.
Diego: They really are. Have you ever been to Sequoia National
Park?
Kim: No. Have you?
Diego: Yeah. I went last year. The trees, there, are the tallest in
the world.
Kim: Really? I didn’t know that.
Diego: Yeah. I had the best time. I mean, it’s just the greatest
place to hike.
Kim: We should go hiking there sometime.
Diego: You’re right. We really should.

20º Notice how Kim and Diego use short responses sometimes
with really and sure to agree and to be supportive listeners.
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21º Match the comments (1-5) with the responses (a-e).

1. The weather was great last Saturday _____.

2. This city doesn’t have many parks. _____.
3. We should go hiking sometime. ____.
4. The lake here is a great place to go swimming. ____.
5. I like being out of the city. You can hear the birds. ____.

a. You’re right. We really should.

b. Yeah, you sure can.
c. Yeah. It sure is.
d. It really was. I spent the whole day outdoors.
e. No, it really doesn’t. That’s too bad.

8. Strategies plus: Using superlatives for emphasis

You can use superlatives to emphasize your opinions or feelings.

This is the most incredible place!

I had the best time.

22º Complete the answers with the superlative form of the

adjectives.

1. A: Where’s your favorite place to hang out?

B: Well, I really like going to cafés. You see ___________
(interesting) people.
2. A: Where’s a good place to go to get out of the city?
B: I like going into the mountains. It’s so quiet, and you can
see ____________ (amazing) wildlife.
3. A: I heard that you can take a boat trip down the river.
B: You sure can. You can get __________ (good) views of
the city. You really should do it.
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4. A: How was your vacation? Was it fun?

B: Yeah. We went sailing around some islands. I had
__________ (good) time.

9. Listening practice: Travel talk

23º Listen to a radio interview. Number the experiences 1 to 4
in the order you hear them.

24º Listen again. How does Jill answer these questions?

Complete the sentences.

1. What’s the most interesting place you’ve ever been to?

Petra. It’s ______________________________
2. What’s the most beautiful place you’ve seen? Antarctica
has ___________________________________
3. What’s the best trip you’ve taken? Copper Canyon. The
colors _________________________________
4. What’s the most exciting thing you’ve done on a trip? I
rode ___________________________________
5. What was your worst trip? A Caribbean cruise. The cruise
was great, but I ___________________________

25º Answer the questions above.

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10. Reading practice: Is that a fact?

26º Read the questions in the article. Can you guess the correct
answers? Then read the article. Were your guesses correct?
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27º Read the article again. Circle the correct words to make the
sentences true according to the article.

1. The most popular video war game sold 6.5 million copies in
one day/month.
2. The longest snake is shorter/longer than the world’s
longest long jump.
3. The people at 1, Ebenezer Place have no/a few next-door
neighbors.
4. The worst time for accidents on the road is during the
wet/cold season.
5. Shibam / Dubai/ Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers.
6. The oldest living tree is/ is not in one of the oldest
forests.

28º Find the bold words in the article. Then choose a or b to

complete the sentences.

1. After a launch, a company starts to ______ a product.

a. Sell b. design
2. An inhabitant is a thing or person that _____ a place.
a. Visits b. lives in
3. If a street consists of one house, it means it _____ one
house.
a. Has b. is famous for
4. When something happens annually, it happens every ____
a. Month b. year
5. A city that has 7,000 citizens has 7,000 ____
a. People b. buildings
6. A towering building is very ____
a. Short b. tall
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11. Speaking and writing practice: interesting facts

29º Discuss these questions about your country. Find out as
many facts as you can about each thing.

What is…

 The highest mountain? The longest river?

 The longest bridge? The tallest building?
 The best-known natural feature?
 The best time of year to visit?
 The city with the most historic sites?

Adding information

Mount Aconcagua is the highest mountain in Argentina. + It is a

peak in the Andes range. = Mount Aconcagua, a peak in the
Andes range, is the highest mountain in Argentina.

Many people come to Argentina to see the Andes. + They are the
longest mountain range in the world = Many people come to
Argentina to see the Andes, the longest mountain range in the
world.

Notice that the information you are adding comes right after
the name of the thing the information is about. Also notice the
use of commas.

30º Read the article. Then write an article about an interesting

place in your country.