Learning to Say No
B1 reading: When I started volunteering at a local film club, I agreed to almost every request. Includes vocabulary, six comprehension questions, discussion prompts and full-sentence answers.
What’s in the worksheet?
- 4 vocabulary explanations
- Six comprehension questions and two discussion prompts
- Separate full-sentence answer key and teaching notes
Examine how a film-club volunteer learns that being reliable means making manageable promises, not agreeing to every request. Learners connect an excessive workload with assumptions made by the organiser.
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Page 3 of 3 · Answer key · A4 printable PDF
A simple way to teach it
Before the lesson
Prepare the reading and question pages and reserve the key. Check depend on, assumed, shift and reliable. Learners can discuss fictional commitments rather than private pressures.
- Read for why the narrator initially says yes. Locate the missed meals, late college work and forgotten tickets as signs of overload.
- Answer the six questions, distinguishing the organiser's assumption from anger. Identify which duties the narrator keeps and how others share the work.
- Compare the key's meanings, then practise discussing a polite refusal and why limiting a promise can make it more dependable.
Support and extension
Provide before / after duty lists for support. Extend by drafting a brief, courteous response that declines one request while offering a realistic contribution.
Suggested approach. Adjust the pace and number of questions to suit your class.
