Boom and bust — ready-made English lesson, C2

Lesson goal: Students can discuss economic cycles, government policy and personal finance in precise terms, using nominalisation to sound analytical.

Add the lesson to get your own copies of the word set and exercises; the lesson opens in the builder, where you can adjust the steps and teach it.

Lesson plan

1
Warm-up
Questions to get the student talking and lead into the topic.
- Have prices where you live changed noticeably in the last year?
- Do you remember an economic crisis? How did it affect people around you?
- Is it better to save money or invest it?
2
New words
Meet the words and practise them in games.
FlashcardsMaze chase
recession · inflation · subsidy · fiscal policy · volatile · asset · liability · speculate · austerity · default on a loan · plummet · monopoly · disposable income · a safety net · boom
All words in the set
3
Exercises
The lesson's words in context. Only you see the answers.
1. Fill the gap
  When ___ is high, the money in your savings account buys less every year.
  Answer: inflation
2. Fill the gap
  Unable to keep up the repayments, thousands of homeowners began to default ___ their mortgages.
  Answer: on
3. Fill the gap
  After a decade of ___, public services had been cut to the bone.
  Answer: austerity
4. Fill the gap
  The ___ of the national currency led to a sharp rise in import prices. (devalue)
  Answer: devaluation
5. Multiple choice
  Choose the most formal, nominalised version.
  The sharp decline in consumer confidence prompted a reduction in interest rates.Because consumers felt much less confident, the bank cut interest rates.Consumers stopped feeling confident, so rates went down.
6. Multiple choice
  Prices that rise and fall sharply and unpredictably are ...
  volatilefiscaldisposablespeculative
7. Multiple choice
  The part of your income left after tax and essential bills is your ...
  disposable incomeassetliabilitysafety net
8. True / false
  Read: "The boom of the early 2000s was fuelled by cheap credit and property speculation. When prices began to plummet, banks that had treated mortgages as safe assets suddenly found them to be liabilities, and the economy slid into recession." The writer suggests that banks had misjudged the risk of mortgages.
  Answer: True
9. True / false
  Read the text again. The recession came before the fall in property prices.
  Answer: False
10. Discussion question
  In a recession, should governments cut spending (austerity) or increase it? Write a short analytical paragraph, using at least three nominalisations.
  Sample answer: The case for increased spending rests on the assumption that a reduction in public investment deepens a downturn. Austerity, by contrast, prioritises the restoration of fiscal credibility. In my view, the evidence from the last crisis points towards targeted stimulus combined with a gradual consolidation once growth returns.
4
Speaking
The student answers using the new words.
- Should governments subsidise industries that are struggling?
- Is a monopoly ever good for consumers?
- How strong should a welfare safety net be, and who should pay for it?
- Is buying property a sound investment or a form of speculation?
- What would you do differently with your money if you knew a recession was coming?
5
Review
A quiz on the lesson's words. With a student, it's homework on their link.
Quiz

Lesson plan

Warm-up

Questions to get the student talking and lead into the topic.

Have prices where you live changed noticeably in the last year?
Do you remember an economic crisis? How did it affect people around you?
Is it better to save money or invest it?

New words

Meet the words and practise them in games.

FlashcardsMaze chase

recession · inflation · subsidy · fiscal policy · volatile · asset · liability · speculate · austerity · default on a loan · plummet · monopoly · disposable income · a safety net · boom

All words in the set

Exercises

The lesson's words in context. Only you see the answers.

Fill the gap
When ___ is high, the money in your savings account buys less every year.
Answer: inflation
Fill the gap
Unable to keep up the repayments, thousands of homeowners began to default ___ their mortgages.
Answer: on
Fill the gap
After a decade of ___, public services had been cut to the bone.
Answer: austerity
Fill the gap
The ___ of the national currency led to a sharp rise in import prices. (devalue)
Answer: devaluation
Multiple choice
Choose the most formal, nominalised version.
The sharp decline in consumer confidence prompted a reduction in interest rates.Because consumers felt much less confident, the bank cut interest rates.Consumers stopped feeling confident, so rates went down.
Multiple choice
Prices that rise and fall sharply and unpredictably are ...
volatilefiscaldisposablespeculative
Multiple choice
The part of your income left after tax and essential bills is your ...
disposable incomeassetliabilitysafety net
True / false
Read: "The boom of the early 2000s was fuelled by cheap credit and property speculation. When prices began to plummet, banks that had treated mortgages as safe assets suddenly found them to be liabilities, and the economy slid into recession." The writer suggests that banks had misjudged the risk of mortgages.
Answer: True
True / false
Read the text again. The recession came before the fall in property prices.
Answer: False
Discussion question
In a recession, should governments cut spending (austerity) or increase it? Write a short analytical paragraph, using at least three nominalisations.
Sample answer: The case for increased spending rests on the assumption that a reduction in public investment deepens a downturn. Austerity, by contrast, prioritises the restoration of fiscal credibility. In my view, the evidence from the last crisis points towards targeted stimulus combined with a gradual consolidation once growth returns.

Speaking

The student answers using the new words.

Should governments subsidise industries that are struggling?
Is a monopoly ever good for consumers?
How strong should a welfare safety net be, and who should pay for it?
Is buying property a sound investment or a form of speculation?
What would you do differently with your money if you knew a recession was coming?

Review

A quiz on the lesson's words. With a student, it's homework on their link.

Quiz