Gambling, Pain, & Addiction (Upper-Intermediate Lesson)

ESL/EFL Level: B2/C1 (Upper-Intermediate)
Lesson Topics: gambling, addiction, social media
Skill Focus: Listening, Speaking, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 2 hours
Lesson Plan Download: gambling-addiction-upper-intermediate-102025.docx

  • The lesson begins with warm-up questions about gambling and addiction.
  • Next, students watch a 4-minute interview between an older man, possibly homeless, and a reporter. The older man shares some wisdom on addiction and gambling. The conversation ends with a discussion on the harms of social media addiction.
  • The video is followed by comprehension questions.
  • For vocabulary, students match 11 terms from the video to definitions and then use them to create discussion questions to ask a partner.
  • The lesson has two debate topics about addiction.
  • The lesson has two roleplay scenarios. The first involves a sports club owner who would like his team to have a new sponsor -- a sports betting company. The owner must convince the league regulator to allow the sponsor. The second roleplay is between a TikTok representative and a politician who believes social media needs regulation.
  • As something lighter, the next activity has students rank health and harmful behavior on a scale from 1-12.
  • Continuing with speaking activities, students then give a short presentation to a group of high schoolers about tips that can help them beat addiction and improve their lives.
  • This is followed by four famous quotations about gambling, addiction, and pain.
  • As the lesson draws to a close, students review the key vocabulary and collocations. Finally, the lesson ends with some final discussion questions.

A reporter talking to a wise street man.

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2/C1) Lesson on Gambling & Addiction

Warm-up Questions

  1. What type of gambling is popular in your country? Do you gamble?
  2. What addictions (other than drugs) do you think are becoming more common today? Do you have any?
  3. Have you known anyone with a serious addiction?

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This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. ChatGPT was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.

Comprehension Question Answer Key

  1. He believes addiction, not gambling itself, is the real problem. His main message is that people must learn to deal with pain and trauma through empathy and love, not by banning things.
  2. Because banning gambling doesn’t remove addiction—people will always find something else to gamble on or become addicted to.
  3. He uses Jesus’s clothing to show that gambling has existed since ancient times; it’s part of human nature and can’t simply be eliminated.
  4. By learning to deal with pain in healthy ways—through love, empathy, and helping others rather than turning to addictive behaviors.
  5. The interviewer says social media and constant distraction are the biggest barriers for young people; they prevent real human connection and focus.
  6. He warns that social media addiction can rewire the brain, making people more likely to develop stronger addictions later, such as to drugs.
  7. He now enjoys creative and healthy outlets—singing, teaching, and art—as forms of self-expression and fulfillment.
  8. The lack of filler words makes his speech sound confident, sincere, and intelligent, strengthening the power and clarity of his message.                                      

Vocabulary answer key: 1-b, 2-i, 3-j, 4-f, 5-c, 6-d, 7-k, 8-e, 9-g, 10-a, 11-h

Collocations: 1-b, 2-i, 3-g, 4-h, 5-d, 6-a, 7-e, 8-f, 9-c

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