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Lesson
B1ENWould You Rather? Impossible Choices — Second Conditional Practice
Face impossible choices, defend the indefensible, and discover what your decisions say about you. Practice second conditional, opinion language, and persuasive speaking through increasingly difficult dilemmas. A practical B1/B2 English lesson on conditionals, giving opinions, and defending choices under pressure. Ideal for adult learners, English tutors, and language schools.
How this lesson works
Students participate
Students interact directly with the lesson — responding, speaking, solving tasks, making decisions and joining activities.
You see what is happening
See student responses, answers, mistakes and activity in real time where supported.
You guide the experience
Guide the lesson, manage activities and timing, and respond to what students are doing where supported.
Everyone participates
Students actively contribute and interact instead of simply consuming lesson content.
Easy Start — Quick-Fire Choices. Talk Time
Talk Time
- Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible? Why?
- Would you rather live in a big noisy city or a quiet village with no shops? Why?
- Would you rather always say what you think or never speak again?
- Would you rather know when you will die or know how you will die?
- Would you rather give up your phone for a year or give up all sweets and junk food for a year?
Decision and Opinion Vocabulary. Speed Match
Speed Match
- Trade-off→Giving up one thing in order to gain something else
- Dilemma→A situation where you must choose between two difficult options
- Consequence→The result that follows from a choice or action
- Priority→The thing that matters most to you when making a decision
- Compromise→Accepting something less than perfect to reach an agreement
- Sacrifice→Giving up something valuable for a more important reason
- Perspective→A particular way of looking at a situation
- Weigh up→To carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages before deciding
- Gut feeling→An instinctive feeling about something without logical reasoning
- Deal-breaker→Something so bad that it makes you reject the whole option
- Hypothetical→An imagined situation that has not actually happened
- Justify→To give reasons that explain why a choice is right or acceptable
Lesson Board
Lesson Board
Defend Your Choice. Word Choice
Word Choice
- If I would havehavehad to choose, I would definitely pick the first option.
- I'd preferbetterrather live in a quiet village because I need peace and nature.
- The baddownsideproblem of choosing money over free time is that you never relax.
- For me, it getsgoescomes down to one simple question: which option lets me sleep at night?
- I couldwouldwill go with option B because the consequences are less serious.
- If I would beamwere invisible, I'd use it to avoid awkward conversations, not to spy on people.
- That's a tough one, but if I really havewouldhad to pick, I'd say freedom over money.
- The way I seelookthink it, both options are terrible — but A is slightly less awful.
- I wouldwillcould never choose money over health, no matter what the amount was.
- If someone would givegavegives me this choice in real life, I'd probably panic and not choose at all.
The Philosophy of Impossible Choices. Jigsaw Reading
Jigsaw Reading
The Calculator
Some people make decisions by counting: which option produces the most good for the most people? This is called utilitarianism. If you had to choose between saving five strangers or one family member, a utilitarian would say save the five — because five is more than one. It sounds logical, but most people find it impossible to follow in practice. When the choice is personal, numbers stop mattering.
The Rule Follower
Others believe that some things are simply right or wrong, regardless of the outcome. This is called deontological ethics. A rule follower would say lying is always wrong, even if the lie saves someone's feelings. They would say stealing is always wrong, even if you steal bread to feed a hungry child. The strength of this approach is consistency. The weakness is that rules sometimes break in the real world.
The Gut Instinct
Many people don't calculate or follow rules — they just feel what's right. Psychologist Daniel Kahneman called this "System 1 thinking" — fast, automatic, emotional. When you say "I just know," that's your gut talking. It's often right, because your brain processes thousands of signals you're not aware of. But it can also be wrong — especially when your gut is shaped by bias, fear, or habit.
The Storyteller
Some people make decisions by imagining the future: which choice gives me a better story to tell? If both options are terrible, which one would I be prouder of in ten years? This approach is not about logic or rules — it's about identity. You choose the option that fits who you want to be, not who you are right now.
Comprehension questions
- Which thinker's approach is closest to how you actually make decisions?
- Can you think of a real-life situation where you used one of these approaches without knowing it?
- Is there a "right" way to make impossible choices, or does it always depend on the person?
Explain It Without the Word. Taboo
Taboo
Sacrifice
- give up
- lose
- cost
- price
- pay
Compromise
- agree
- middle
- half
- both
- share
Consequence
- result
- happen
- effect
- after
- because
Risk
- danger
- chance
- safe
- lose
- gamble
Priority
- first
- important
- main
- top
- number
Regret
- sorry
- wish
- mistake
- back
- undo
Freedom
- free
- choice
- control
- rules
- trapped
Responsibility
- duty
- job
- must
- should
- fault
Courage
- brave
- fear
- hero
- strong
- dare
Selfish
- me
- only
- mine
- care
- yourself
Sell the Worst Option. Elevator Pitch
Elevator Pitch
Useful phrases
- I know this sounds crazy, but hear me out...
- If you think about it, the real advantage is...
- Consider this: if you had to choose between...
- Most people assume that... but actually...
- The way I see it, the real question is...
- At the end of the day, what matters more is...
Convince the group that living without the internet forever is better than living without music forever.
Everyone disagrees with you. Use second conditional, analogies, and real-life examples to make your case. You have 60 seconds.
Argue that knowing exactly when you will die is better than not knowing.
Most people find this terrifying. Find the positive side and make it sound like a gift, not a curse.
Defend the position that you should always tell the truth, even when it hurts someone you love.
Your audience believes white lies are kind and necessary. Persuade them that honesty — even painful honesty — is always the better choice.
Make the case that being famous is worse than being completely unknown.
Your audience dreams of fame and followers. Show them the dark side and make anonymity sound attractive.
The Hardest Would You Rather — Defend Your Answer. Speed Debate
Speed Debate
- Would you rather be extremely rich but have no close friends, or have amazing friendships but always struggle with money?
- Would you rather know everything but be unable to change anything, or know nothing but have the power to change the world?
- Would you rather live a short exciting life or a long boring one?
- Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or always 20 minutes early?
- Would you rather have everyone forget who you are, or forget everyone you have ever known?
- Would you rather be the funniest person in the room or the smartest?
- Would you rather live in a world with no privacy or a world with no trust?
- Would you rather be feared or forgotten?
Why Edugine?
Turn your lessons into experiences.
Edugine helps tutors create and run live learning experiences where students actively participate, interact and collaborate — while tutors see what students are doing and guide the lesson in real time.