The audio files are available on the student companion website.

Also includes communication activities, grammar reference and audioscripts at the back of the student book.

"National Geographic Learning brings the world to your classroom with Life, a six-level integrated-skills series that develops fluency in American English. Through an exploration of real world content from National Geographic presented through stunning images, text, and video, learners will strengthen their existing global connections while learning the English skills needed for communication in the 21st century.

To encourage a generation of informed decision-makers, Life prepares learners to think critically while teaching the English skills needed communicate effectively through:
Information-rich topics that naturally promote curiosity and challenge learners to understand the themes In English on a deeper level.
Developing the 21st century skills needed in a technology-rich environment, like questioning authors and using visually literacy skills to infer meaning.
Explicit 'Critical Thinking' sections that take language learners from understanding, to evaluating, and finally to creating their own texts in English." (Publisher's Website)

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Unit 1 - RELATIONSHIPS
Grammar: present tenses review; the passive voice
Vocabulary: friends: nouns and phrasal verbs; wordbuilding: forming adjectives from nouns; word focus: get
Real Life (Functions): meeting people you know
Pronunciation: expressive intonation
Listening: part of a radio show about animal friendships
Reading: an article about changing attitudes in China; an article about immigrant families in New York
Critical Thinking: identifying the main theme
Speaking: your friends; the generation gap; family influences
Writing: text type: an informal email (1)
Writing skill: greetings and endings
Video: Immigration
Review

Unit 2 - STORYTELLING
Grammar: simple past and present perfect; past tenses review: past continuous, simple past, past perfect, past perfect continuous
Vocabulary: books and movies; wordbuilding: synonyms; word focus: keep
Real Life (Functions): reacting to stories
Pronunciation: contracted negative forms; linking and assimilation
Listening: an interview with a film critic
Reading: a true story about dangerous animals; an article about the brothers Grimm
Critical Thinking: close reading
Speaking: the movie of the book; a famous writer or filmmaker; narrow escapes; storytelling
Writing: text type: a story
Writing skill: using descriptive words
Video: History of film
Review

Unit 3 – SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Grammar: future forms review: will, going to, about to, present continuous; simple present; future continuous and future perfect
Vocabulary: wordbuilding: prefixes; wordbuilding: compound nouns (noun + noun); useful devices; word focus: out of
Real Life (Functions): asking for and offering technical help
Pronunciation: stress in two-syllable verbs
Listening: a presentation about overpopulation
Reading: an article about augmented reality; an article about appropriate technology
Critical Thinking: balancing arguments
Speaking: global problems; overpopulation; information age; predictions; technological solutions
Writing: text type: short email requests
Writing skill: being polite
Video: Augmented reality
Review

Unit 4 – ART AND CREATIVITY
Grammar: expressions of quantity; determiners
Vocabulary: wordbuilding: suffixes; word focus: cool
Real Life (Functions): describing likes and dislikes
Pronunciation: weak form: of
Listening: part of a radio show about what’s on in Melbourne; an artist’s opinion about what art is
Reading: an article about unusual street art; an article about the origins of rap
Critical Thinking: analyzing contrasts
Speaking: participation in the arts; an art competition; music and values
Writing: text type: an online review
Writing skill: personalizing your writing
Video: Urban art
Review

Unit 5 - DEVELOPMENT
Grammar: verb + infinitive or –ing; verbs with –ing and to + infinitive
Vocabulary: features of a city; redevelopment; wordbuilding: adverb + adjective; re- wordbuilding: prefix re- with verbs and nouns; word focus: pick
Real Life (Functions): making decisions
Pronunciation: rhyming words
Listening: an interview with a reporter about social development in southern India
Reading: an article about urban development in Dubai; an article about a hydroelectric dam in Laos
Critical Thinking: fact or opinion
Speaking: changes in your town; a happy society; sensitive development; evaluating a development project
Writing: text type: an opinion essay
Writing skill: linking words
Video: Aquarium on wheels
Review

Unit 6 – ALTERNATIVE TRAVEL
Grammar: not; negative and tag questions
Vocabulary: phrasal verbs with in and out; wordbuilding: phrasal verbs with in and out; word focus: mind
Real Life (Functions): getting around
Pronunciation: intonation in questions; intonation in sentences with two clauses
Listening: an interview about volunteer vacations
Reading: a blog about vacations at home; part of a travel magazine article on unusual hotels
Critical Thinking: claims and justifications
Speaking: local knowledge; planning a staycation; opinions about travel; ideas for an unusual hotel
Writing: text type: a letter of complaint
Writing skill: formal language
Video: East Timor
Review

Unit 7 – NATURAL RESOURCES
Grammar: mixed conditional sentences; wish, would rather, and if only
Vocabulary: conservation, oil, wordbuilding: collocations related to one word; strong feelings; word focus: better
Real Life (Functions): making your point
Pronunciation: sentence stress
Listening: four people talking about saving water
Reading: an article about Ecuador’s plan to protect resources; an article about Madagascar’s unique ecology
Critical Thinking: emotive language
Speaking: how we use water; conservation; wishes
Writing: text type: a letter to the editor
Writing skill: giving vivid examples
Video: Galapagos energy
Review

Unit 8 – THE NEWS
Grammar: reporting verbs; passive reporting verbs
Vocabulary: photography; the feel-good factor; wordbuilding: forming adjectives from verbs; word focus: word
Real Life (Functions): reporting what you heard
Pronunciation: the schwa
Listening: four feel-good news stories
Reading: an article about an iconic image; an article about the power of the press
Critical Thinking: different perspectives
Speaking: the ethics of taking photographs; feel-good news; stories; reputations
Writing: text type: minutes from a meeting
Writing skill: impersonal language
Video: Mount Fuji
Review

Unit 9 – TALENTED PEOPLE
Grammar: articles: the or no article?; relative clauses; reduced relative clauses
Vocabulary: careers; wordbuilding: verb (+ preposition) + noun; collocations; word focus: long
Real Life (Functions): describing skills, talents, and experience
Pronunciation: difficult words
Listening: an interview about Emerging Explorers
Reading: an article about an extraordinary career; an article about a woman who was king
Critical Thinking: weighing the evidence
Speaking: a career path; personal qualities; women at work
Writing: text type: an online profile
Writing skill: writing in note form
Video: Queen of Egypt
Review

Unit 10 – CUSTOMS AND BEHAVIOR
Grammar: habitual actions: present tenses, will; used to, usually, be used to, and get used to
Vocabulary: raising children: verbs; food and eating habits; word focus: common; weddings; wordbuilding: word pairs
Real Life (Functions): describing traditions
Pronunciation: the letter s
Listening: part of a radio show about a tribe with an unusual diet
Reading: an article about a ‘tiger mother’ approach to parenting; an article about body language
Critical Thinking: sources
Speaking: typical behavior; food and eating habits; customs in your country; wedding traditions
Writing: text type: an informal email (2)
Writing skill: elision in informal writing
Video: Eating insects
Review

Unit 11 – KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING
Grammar: could, was able to, manage to, and succeed in; future in the past
Vocabulary: wordbuilding: idiomatic expressions; learning; word focus: learn
Real Life (Functions): getting clarification
Pronunciation: contrastive sentence stress; linking in question forms
Listening: a talk by a psychologist on memory
Reading: an article about an ethnobotanist; an article about a parrot
Critical Thinking: reinforcing ideas
Speaking: acquiring knowledge; memory tests; why you forgot; types of learners
Writing: text type: an email about a misunderstanding
Writing skill: linking contrasting ideas
Video: Paraguay shaman
Review

Unit 12 – THE ECONOMY
Grammar: focusing adverbs only, just, even; focusing adverbs too, as well, also; causative have and get
Vocabulary: money; domestic help; wordbuilding: the + adjective; getting things done; word focus: hard
Real Life (Functions): negotiating
Pronunciation: the sounds [ʃ], [tʃ], [ʒ], and [dʒ]; sentence stress in idiomatic phrases
Listening: an interview with the author of The Servant Economy
Reading: an article about Norway’s riches; an article about an alternative economic model
Critical Thinking: signposts to key information
Speaking: the economy in your country; getting things done; gift giving and exchange
Writing: text type: a report
Writing skill: subheadings and bullet points
Video: Japan
Review

Communication Activities

Grammar Reference

Audioscripts

For advanced (C1 - CEFR) ESL learners.