Future plans: English 3AC reading and listening
Practise English 3AC listening with future plans and experience: original audio, transcript, new illustrations and comprehension exercises with answers.
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By the end of this lesson, you can
- Recognise an existing plan and an uncertain idea.
- Identify an experience without a finished date.
- Support an answer with a verb form and a stated fact.
Before you startRead short English sentences and identify the subject and verb.
Un bon cours, ça se partage.
Listen to the text
Listen before opening the transcript. This original English practice text is read by a synthetic voice.
Show the transcript
Amine: What are you going to do during the school break, Youssef? Youssef: I am going to help my uncle in his bicycle repair shop for three mornings. Amine: Have you repaired a bicycle before? Youssef: Yes, I have changed a tyre, but I have never repaired a brake. My uncle will show me how to check one. Amine: Are you going to work there every day? Youssef: No. I want to have time for my homework. I might also join a drawing workshop, but I have not decided yet. Amine: That sounds like a busy break.
What should I listen for in a plans dialogue?
Amine asks Youssef about the school break. Listen first for the main plan. Then note the place, length of the activity and reasons for limiting it. The plan is to help in a bicycle repair shop for three mornings, not to work there every day.
Read the questions before the first listening, but keep the transcript closed. For a reading version, use the transcript later and underline the words that show plan, experience and uncertainty. This makes the grammar useful for understanding meaning.
How do the verb forms help comprehension?
I am going to help presents an intention Youssef already has. I have changed a tyre describes experience without giving a finished date. I have never repaired a brake describes an experience he does not have. His uncle will show him how to check one.
Might also join a drawing workshop gives a possible extra activity. The words I have not decided yet confirm the uncertainty. A good answer should not change this possibility into a certain plan.
How can I give an exact answer?
For a how long or how many mornings question, give three mornings. For why he is not at the shop every day, give his stated reason: he wants time for his homework. Avoid adding reasons about money, transport or school rules that the dialogue does not mention.
After checking your answers, read the two parts aloud and change one plan and one experience. Keep the grammar patterns suitable for a 3AC classroom task. The synthetic-voice audio is original practice, not a textbook recording or practical bicycle-repair instruction.
A worked example
A plan and a possible extra activity
Question: Is the drawing workshop certain? Answer: No. Youssef says he might join it and has not decided yet. In contrast, helping his uncle for three mornings is presented as his existing plan with going to.
- Find the words that show the speaker's certainty.
- Support the answer with might and not decided yet.
- Do not treat every future activity as equally certain.
How should I use this English 3AC lesson?
- Try the exercises before reading the answers.
- Explain a correction in your own words.
- Return to the examples when two structures look similar.
Frequently asked questions
How do I understand future plans in an English 3AC listening?
Does might always mean a confirmed plan?
How does present perfect help in this dialogue?
Quiz: 3 questions
3 questions are randomly selected from this lesson’s 3-question bank. Choose one answer for each question and get an immediate explanation.
Q1The existing plan is to help for...
Incorrect answer
Youssef gives the exact amount as three mornings.
Correct answer: three mornings
Youssef gives the exact amount as three mornings.
Q2Which experience does Youssef have?
Incorrect answer
He says that he has changed a tyre.
Correct answer: Changing a tyre
He says that he has changed a tyre.
Q3Might join means...
Incorrect answer
The following words confirm that no decision has been made.
Correct answer: joining is possible but not decided
The following words confirm that no decision has been made.
Your score
0/3
Start with the worked examples
Read the lesson in small sections. Write your own example for each rule and try the Easy exercises before returning to the quiz.
Review: 3 missed questions
The existing plan is to help for...
Correct answerthree mornings
Youssef gives the exact amount as three mornings.
Which experience does Youssef have?
Correct answerChanging a tyre
He says that he has changed a tyre.
Might join means...
Correct answerjoining is possible but not decided
The following words confirm that no decision has been made.
Exercises with answers
6 exercises, from easy practice to challenges. Try each one yourself, then reveal the answer and explanation.
Exercise 1
EasyWhat is Youssef planning to do for three mornings?
Answer and explanation
Help his uncle in the bicycle repair shop. Going to presents this as an existing intention.
Exercise 2
EasyWhere does his uncle work?
Answer and explanation
In a bicycle repair shop.
Exercise 3
IntermediateWhat has Youssef already done?
Answer and explanation
He has changed a tyre. No finished date is given for that experience.
Exercise 4
IntermediateWhat does Youssef say he has never done?
Answer and explanation
He has never repaired a brake. His uncle will show him how to check one.
Exercise 5
ChallengeIs the drawing workshop a confirmed plan? Explain.
Answer and explanation
No. Might and I have not decided yet show that it is only a possibility.
Exercise 6
ChallengeWhy does Youssef not plan to work in the shop every day?
Answer and explanation
He wants time for his homework. This is the reason stated in the dialogue.