B2 - LESSON 5 - Health & Medicine: Injuries, Pain and Recovery
LESSON 5 - Health & Medicine: Injuries, Pain and Recovery
Level: B2
Length: 75–90 minutes
Main focus: injuries, physical pain, accidents and recovery
Skills: speaking, reading, vocabulary, storytelling
Grammar in context: past tenses and narrative language
1. WARM-UP — "How Did It Happen?"
Look at these situations and imagine what happened.
- Someone is walking with crutches.
- Someone has a huge bruise on their leg.
- Someone has a bandage around their hand.
- Someone is wearing uncomfortable shoes and walking strangely.
- Someone has a swollen ankle.
- Someone has bright red skin after a day at the beach.
For each situation, ask:
- What probably happened?
- How painful could it be?
- What should the person do?
- Have you ever had a similar injury?
Personal questions
- Have you ever seriously injured yourself?
- Have you ever broken a bone?
- Have you ever sprained an ankle?
- Have you ever had stitches?
- What's the most painful injury you've experienced?
- Are you careful when doing sports?
- Do you think people underestimate minor injuries?
2. VOCABULARY — Injuries & Pain
Complete the sentences
- After the accident, he had to ______ surgery.
- She ______ from severe back pain.
- His ankle was badly ______.
- The painkillers helped to ______ the pain.
- He ______ out after standing in the sun for too long.
- Fortunately, he came ______ quickly.
4. READING — "The Marathon Nobody Expected to Finish"
The Last 10 Kilometres
When Emma signed up for her first marathon, she had no idea how difficult it would be. She had trained for six months and felt confident that she was ready.
For the first 25 kilometres, everything went according to plan. She maintained a steady pace, drank plenty of water and felt surprisingly energetic.
Then, at around kilometre 30, she noticed a strange pain in her ankle.
At first, it wasn't too bad, so she decided to continue. But several kilometres later, the pain became much worse. Her ankle began to swell, and every step became painful.
Emma considered stopping. However, she had spent months preparing for the race and didn't want all that effort to be wasted.
Then something unexpected happened.
A woman running behind her noticed that Emma was struggling. She stopped and asked if she needed help. When Emma explained what had happened, the woman strongly advised her not to continue.
"You don't have to finish the marathon today," she said. "You have to finish it someday."
Emma finally agreed.
A medical volunteer examined her ankle and suspected that she had badly sprained it. Emma was taken to a medical centre, where doctors confirmed the injury.
For the next few weeks, Emma had to rest and undergo physiotherapy. She found the recovery frustrating. She couldn't run, and even walking was uncomfortable.
But slowly, her ankle got better.
Three months later, Emma returned to running. Six months after the original race, she completed another marathon.
This time, she finished it.
"I learned something more important than how to run a marathon," Emma said afterwards. "Knowing when to stop isn't weakness. Sometimes it's the smartest thing you can do."
- Why do people sometimes continue exercising despite pain?
- Is "no pain, no gain" a useful attitude toward sport?
- Can determination sometimes become dangerous?
- When should someone stop exercising?
7. SPEAKING — "Accident Reconstruction"
You fell while cycling.
Scenario B
You injured yourself playing football.
Scenario C
You slipped on a wet floor.
Scenario D
You spent six hours hiking in new shoes.
Scenario E
You spent an entire afternoon at the beach without sunscreen.
Tell the story using:
- At first...
- Suddenly...
- A few minutes later...
- Eventually...
- As a result...
- Unfortunately...
- Fortunately...
- In the end...
"People should sometimes ignore pain and push through it."
Write 180–200 words:
"The day I learned to take injuries seriously"
Use at least:
- 8 vocabulary items;
- 4 collocations;
- 3 narrative linking expressions.