Guess the Place- Speculating Practice

Guess the place speculating practice

Modals of deduction/ probability/ possibility and determiners with place names

Choose a place below or a more specific example of it and give hints about where you are thinking of. After each hint, your partner will try to make a true statement with one of the guessing phrases below, e.g. “It could be Belgium”. Continue giving hints and listening to your partner’s guesses until they feel sure enough to say “It must be…” (which means they think there is only one possibility, i.e. it couldn’t be anywhere else), then tell them if that final guess is correct or not. Before they say “It must be…”, don’t say if they have guessed the actual correct place or not, only say “That’s true” if the statement that they made is possible (including having the right level of certainty or uncertainty). Say “Actually,…” if there is something that makes that statement the wrong level of certainty or uncertainty. 

 

Useful language for describing places

• There are (a few/ many)…
• There is a famous/ an ancient/ a huge/ a beautiful/ a World Heritage/ a ruined/ an important/ a unique/… + a beach/ seaside/ shore/ big wheel/ bridge/ canal/ river/ stream/ castle/ fort/ church/ cathedral/ temple/ shrine/ mosque/ synagogue/ city walls/ gallery/ museum/ hill/ slope/ mountain/ historic house/ traditional buildings/ traditional architecture/ historic quarter/ island/ lake/ palace/ park/ garden/ parliament building/ town hall/ city hall/ skyscraper/ square/ stadium/ sports ground/ theatre/ opera house/ theme park/ tower
• It’s (a bit/ fairly/ very) polluted/ green/ quiet/ big/ famous/…
• A good/ bad point is…
• It’s (located)…

 

Useful phrases for guessing

• It must be…
• It’s almost certainly…
• It’s probably…
• It might be/ It may be…
• It could (possibly) be…
• It probably isn’t…
• It almost certainly isn’t…
• It can’t be…

 

Useful phrases for responding to guesses

Positive responses

• Mmm, yes, that’s possible.
• It could possibly/ may/ might/ can’t be./ It probably/ almost certainly is(n’t).
• Yes, that’s right. It must be… and it is.

Negative responses

• Well, it could be that place but I wouldn’t say “probably” because there are many different options/ because…
• Well, it could be that place but I wouldn’t say “must” because there are some different options/ because…
• No, it can’t be… because…
• Actually, it must be… because there aren’t any other options/ because…

Places to describe and guess

• The Alps (e.g. Mont Blanc)
• Antarctica/ The South Pole
• The Arctic/ The North Pole
• Austria (e.g. Vienna)
• The Caucasus (e.g. Chechnya and Georgia)
• Central America
• Central Asia (e.g. Kazakhstan)
• The Czech Republic (e.g. Prague)
• Eastern Europe
• The EU
• Former Yugoslavia (e.g. Croatia or Macedonia)
• The former USSR (e.g. Ukraine or Russia)
• Germany (e.g. Munich or Cologne)
• Greece (e.g. Athens)
• The Himalayas (e.g. Mount Everest or K2)
• Ireland/ The Republic of Ireland
• Italy (e.g. Milan, Rome, Naples, Venice, Florence, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, or Turin)
• Mainland China (e.g. Beijing, Guangzhou or the Great Wall of China)
• The Low Countries (e.g. Bruges or Brussels in Belgium, or The Netherlands)
• The Maldives
• The Mediterranean (e.g. Cyprus, Malta or The South of France)
• The Middle East (e.g. Jerusalem, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, or Jordan)
• North Africa
• North Korea
• Paris (e.g. the Eiffel Tower)
• Perth
• Portugal
• Scandinavia (e.g. Sweden)
• The Seychelles
• South America (e.g. the Amazon)
• South Asia/ The Indian Subcontinent (e.g. India or Nepal)
• South Korea (e.g. Seoul)
• Southeast Asia (e.g. Phi Phi Island in Thailand, Vietnam or The Philippines)
• Sub-Saharan Africa (South Africa, The Democratic Republic of Congo, etc)
• Switzerland (e.g. Lake Geneva)
• The (United) States (e.g. Washington DC, “The Big Apple”, The Rockies, Mount Rushmore, The Great Lakes or LA)
• The UK/ The United Kingdom (e.g. Northern Ireland, London, Lake Windermere in the Lake District, the Cotswolds, The Thames, or Wales)
• The area that you are in now
• The county/ prefecture/ region/ state that you are in now
• The nearest station to where you are now
• The closest (big) shopping area to where you are now
• The tallest mountain in this country
• A nearby river or lake

 

Without looking above or writing anything, discuss what could go below and in what order:

Expressions for saying how likely or unlikely something is

100% sure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0% chance

 

Discuss where the phrases below the fold could go in the space above (again, without writing anything)

 

--------------------------------------fold, cover or cut---------------------------------------

Mixed expressions for saying how likely or unlikely something is

• It can’t be…
• It could (possibly) be…
• It might be/ It may be…
• It must be…
• It probably isn’t…
• It almost certainly isn’t…
• It’s almost certainly…
• It’s probably…

 

Check your answers with the first page.

 

Articles with place names presentation

Brainstorm kinds of places that take “the”, first of all without looking above.

 

One expression on each line below is wrong without “the” and the other is correct now and would be wrong with “the”. Put “the” next to one expression on each line. 

Alps                                                       Mont Blanc

Antarctica                               South Pole

Former USSR                                     Russia

Himalayas                             Everest

Ireland                                                   Republic of Ireland

Florence                                               Leaning Tower

Mainland China                    Great Wall of China

Belgium                                                Netherlands

Maldives                                               Phi Phi Island

Mediterranean                                    Cyprus

South of France                     South Asia

Middle East                                         Saudi Arabia

UAE                                                       Turkey

Paris                                                     Eiffel Tower

EU                                           Eastern Europe

South Asia                             Indian Subcontinent

Thailand                                             Philippines

Amazon                                 Lake Geneva

United States                                      Central America

Washington DC                                   Big Apple

Rockies                                                 Mount Rushmore

UK                                           Northern Ireland

Great Lakes                                         Lake Windermere

Check your answers above.

Which kinds of words usually take “the”?