Spotlight – September 2019

24 Spotlight 9/2019 GRAMMAR TALES

⋅ I’m^ going to eat you up!

When we talk about the future, we use

“be (am, are, is) going to” + infinitive

to talk about plans and things we’ve

already decided to do:

⋅ The billy goats are going to see if the

grass is greener on the other side.

⋅ The big billy goat is going to cross

the bridge last.

The “going to”-future is also used to

talk about the future when we expect

something to happen, often because of

specific signs we observe:

⋅ Getting away from the troll isn’t

going to be a problem.

⋅ All three goats are going to get to

the other side.

The middle goat skipped off to join his

little brother eating the long, lush grass.

The biggest billy goat waited until the

troll was engrossed in his video game be-

fore starting out across the bridge. Tip,

tap, tip, tap, tip, tap, went his hooves.

“Who’s that walking over my bridge?”

shouted the troll, as he pulled himself up

on to the bridge.

“Oh, hi!” said the goat, staring at the

troll’s big, round, nasty face. “It’s me, big

billy goat Gruff. I’m awfully sorry. I didn’t

mean to disturb you. It’s these bloody

hooves! They make such a racket. Now, if

you’ll just let me past...”

“No way!” wheezed the troll. “I’m going

to eat you up!”

“Huh?” said the goat. “Well, you learn

something new every day. I thought trolls

were vegan.”

The goat shook his head in mock dis-

belief. “Vegan?” said the troll. “What’s

vegan?”

“Vegan. You know? It’s when you don’t

eat any animal products like meat or milk.

Actually, eggs are off the menu, too.”

“You can’t tell me what not to eat!”

shouted the troll. “Who do you think you

are?”

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t in-

terfere,” said the billy goat. “It’s just that

the health benefits of a plant-based diet

are well documented, and you soon get

used to the flatulence.”

While he had been talking, the big bil-

ly goat had been slowly edging his way

across the bridge. The troll stared, his

mouth wide open, as the last goat to cross

the bridge now made a final leap into the

lush meadow on the other side.

“Goodbye, Mr Troll!” bleated the three

goats.

“Mammy was right,” laughed the lit-

tlest billy goat Gruff. “The grass is greener

on the other side!”

Answers

bleat [bli:t]

, meckern

edge: ~ one’s way [edZ]

, sich langsam voran­

arbeiten

engrossed [In(grEUst]

, vertieft, versunken

flatulence [(flÄtjUlEns]

, Blähungen

health benefits

[(helT )benIfIts]

, gesundheitliche

Vorteile

hoof (plural: hooves)

[hu:f / hu:fs]

, Huf/Hufe

huh? [hV] ifml.

, hä?, was?

interfere [)IntE(fIE]

, sich einmischen

leap [li:p]

, Sprung

meadow [(medEU]

, Wiese

menu [(menju:]

, Speiseplan

mock [mQk]

, vorgetäuscht

plant-based diet

[)plA:nt beIst (daIEt]

, pflanzliche Ernährung

prompt [prQmpt]

, Stichwort

racket [(rÄkIt]

, Lärm

skip off [(skIp Qf]

, fortspringen

start out [stA:t (aUt]

, sich aufmachen

Read the situations and use the

prompts to write sentences with

“going to”.

A. Oh, no. There’s a traffic jam!

I _______________________________

_________________________________

(be late for work).

B. Look at the big, dark clouds.

It ______________________________

_________________________________

(rain).

C. He’s been late every day this week.

He _____________________________

_________________________________

(get fired).

D. They don’t seem to get on very well.

I think they _____________________

_________________________________

(break up).

E. She’s put on a lot of weight! —

Didn’t you know?

She _____________________________

_________________________________

(have a baby).

F. You haven’t even looked at any of

your notes!

You ____________________________

_________________________________

(not pass the exam).

Exercise 2

Exercise 1

What did the troll say?

1. A. ’sB. isn’tC. ’mD. isE. areF. aren’t2.A. I’m going to be late for work.B. It’s going to rain.C. He’s going to get fired.D. I think they’re going to break up.E. She’s going to have a baby. F. You’re not going to pass the exam.(Other answers are possible.)

Complete the sentences with the cor-

rect form of “be”.

A. The troll thinks he _____ going to

have a billy goat for lunch.

B. The troll _____ going to eat the goat

raw.

C. The troll shouts, “I _____ going to

eat you up!”

D. The goats don’t think the troll _____

going to be able to catch them.

E. The goats _____ going to start eating

as soon as they reach the other side.

F. The goats _____ going to be hungry

for a while.

E