Doctor Who · That Can’t Be Possible

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Hibiscus Teach · Series

Doctor Who

That Can't Be Possible

Express surprise, test an assumption and explain an unfamiliar invention.

B2 English60-minute tutor lesson

Created by , British English teacher.

Content note: Science-fiction suspense, a threat outside and a mild toilet joke.

Clara checks the impossible

Clara discovers that the Doctor's small box contains an unexpectedly large space.

Watch for: How does she describe the contradiction?

Original source

Clip A quiz · 6 questions

Choose one answer for each question. Check your answers, then read the feedback.

1. What does Clara enter?
2. What surprises her about its size?
3. What does she do to compare what she sees?
4. How does she phrase the size difference?
5. How does the Doctor react to that phrasing?
6. Which assumption has the discovery challenged?

1–2 minGrammar in a minuteC1 · Done recovering a lexical action in a perfect reply
“I have done for a long time now.”

Clip 1, quotation excerpt

The preceding question asks whether he lives in the box. Have done recovers have lived there, with done substituting for that lexical predicate. For a long time now extends the experience to the present.

Which full expansion keeps the omitted action and its present connection?

Useful English

Original practice phrases.

That is not what I expected at all.

Express a strong contrast with expectations.

Let me check that I have understood.

Pause to test your understanding.

Keep talking · 3 questions

Say your answer aloud before opening the support. With a partner, take turns and ask a follow-up question.

  1. What can you do when a demonstration contradicts your expectation?

    Support and one possible answer

    I can…

    I can check what I actually observed before deciding that my first explanation was right.

  2. Why can a different description help explain the same thing?

    Support and one possible answer

    It can…

    It can highlight another relationship that the listener has not noticed.

  3. React to an imaginary object that expands inside.

    Support and one possible answer

    I expected… but…

    I expected a small container, but there is a whole room inside. Let me check that I have understood.

Bill wants a practical explanation

Bill tries to understand an extraordinary machine using familiar ideas.

Watch for: Which ordinary explanation does she try first?

Original source

Clip B quiz · 6 questions

Choose one answer for each question. Check your answers, then read the feedback.

1. Who is discovering the TARDIS in this scene?
2. What ordinary place does she initially compare the interior to?
3. What does she check about the structure?
4. Who already treats the machine as familiar?
5. What capability is explained or demonstrated?
6. What does Bill's sequence of reactions show?

1–2 minGrammar in a minuteC1 · The focused object of a final preposition
“It's the second part people normally get stuck on.”

Clip 2, quotation excerpt

The second part is the focused stage; it supplies the object of get stuck on. Normally limits the generalisation. The cleft can foreground on the second part without shifting the focus to a kind of person.

New practice based on the quote: Which new cleft preserves the focused stage and usual, rather than universal, difficulty?

Useful English

Original practice phrases.

Could you compare it with something familiar?

Ask for an accessible analogy.

So it can do this, but it is not an ordinary example of that.

Check a distinction.

Keep talking · 3 questions

Say your answer aloud before opening the support. With a partner, take turns and ask a follow-up question.

  1. What makes an analogy useful, and where can it fail?

    Support and one possible answer

    It helps… but…

    It helps by connecting to something familiar, but it fails when the differences are hidden.

  2. What question could you ask after an explanation is too technical?

    Support and one possible answer

    Could you…?

    Could you compare it with something I already know?

  3. Explain an imaginary invention using a familiar comparison.

    Support and one possible answer

    It is like… except…

    It is like a notebook, except the pages can display any document you choose.

Mastery quiz

Use language from both clips in new situations.

Mastery · 6 questions

Choose one answer for each question. Check your answers, then read the feedback.

1. Something differs from what you anticipated. It is ___.
2. You accept an idea before checking it. It is an ___.
3. You look for similarities and differences. You ___.
4. A familiar everyday object is ___.
5. Which response checks understanding without pretending certainty?
6. Which request is most likely to produce an accessible analogy?

Put it all together — speaking

Speak first, then use the support if you need it. For the final conversation, take a role each or practise both roles alone.

  1. How do Clara and Bill use familiar ideas differently?

    Support and one possible answer

    Clara… Bill…

    Clara reverses the size description. Bill initially interprets the space as a familiar kind of room.

  2. What should an inventor explain to a first-time user?

    Support and one possible answer

    They should explain…

    They should explain the main function, a familiar comparison and the limits of that comparison.

  3. Can you demonstrate an imaginary invention to a sceptical listener?

    Support and one possible answer

    State a function, use an analogy and answer two clarification questions.

    It looks like a small notebook, but it can display a whole library. Think of it as a shelf whose books appear when selected. Let me show you what changes and what stays the same.

Role A

You have invented a notebook that can display any one of your documents. Explain the fictional function without claiming it is real technology.

Role B

You are interested but sceptical. Ask about size, operation and the limits of the comparison.

Check your conversation

  • Use an accessible comparison and name its limit.
  • Ask and answer two clarification questions.
  • Use three target items and revise an initial assumption.

Try again: Repeat the final interaction once. Improve one expression and one response to your partner.

1–2 minGrammar masteryC1 · No more … than
“That's no more a box than you are a governess.”

From this lesson’s clip, quotation excerpt

No more X than Y can reject both descriptions. Here it is not a comparison of physical amounts.

Which interpretation preserves the speaker’s rejection of the two labels?

Original teaching activities: Hibiscus Teach. Film and television clips belong to their respective owners.