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B1 Level • 20 Mins Vocabulary & Pronunciation

🌾 Rice around the world

Learn 10 words about rice farming, food and daily life.

💡 How to use this lesson

👩‍🏫

For Teachers

Direct students through the table, practice, and shadowing sections in 20 minutes.
Check answers together using the provided answer key after completing each task.

🎓

For Learners

Read the word table first and try the memory tips to remember new words.
Then complete the 16 practice tasks and finish by recording your voice in the shadowing section.

Lush green terraced rice fields in Southeast Asia during morning sunlight with a traditional farmer

Rice farming is an important part of daily life around the world.

📖 Word table

Study these 10 essential B1 words, their meanings, forms, collocations, and memory tricks.

🚜 Theme 1: The Farm (sow, plough, fertile, mill)

Word	Meaning	Common Collocations	Word Forms	Example Sentence	Memory Tip
sow	to plant seeds in the ground	sow seeds, sow crops	sow (v)	Farmers sow rice seeds in early spring.	"sow" sounds like "sew" - sewing clothes puts thread in, sowing puts seeds in!
plough	to turn over soil before planting	plough the field, plough the land	plough (n, v)	They use oxen to plough the rice field.	"plough" has "LOW" - you push the blade LOW into the dirt.
fertile	able to produce good crops	fertile soil, fertile land	–	The river valley has very fertile soil.	Starts like "fern": ferns and crops grow well in fertile soil.
mill	a machine or building for crushing grain	rice mill, flour mill	mill (n, v)	The farmer takes his rice to the village mill.	Think of a big machine that turns hard grain into soft flour.

🍚 Theme 2: The Food (fluffy, fragrant, nutritious)

Word	Meaning	Common Collocations	Word Forms	Example Sentence	Memory Tip
fluffy	light, soft, and full of air	fluffy rice, fluffy pancakes	–	Cook the rice until it is soft and fluffy.	Think of a FLUFFY white cloud or sheep!
fragrant	having a pleasant, sweet smell	fragrant rice, fragrant flowers	fragrance (n)	Jasmine rice has a very fragrant smell.	Starts like "fragrance" (perfume): a fragrant flower smells sweet.
nutritious	full of things your body needs to be healthy	nutritious meal, nutritious food	nutrition (n)	Brown rice is a very nutritious food.	"nutritious" comes from NUTRIENT - good fuel for you!

🏠 Theme 3: Daily Life (typical, depend, plenty)

Word	Meaning	Common Collocations	Word Forms	Example Sentence	Memory Tip
typical	normal and expected for a person or place	typical meal, typical day	–	Rice is part of a typical Asian meal.	"TYPE" - it fits the normal TYPE of meal.
depend	to need someone or something for help	depend on, depend upon	dependent (adj)	Millions of people depend on rice for food.	Depend on = lean on: picture a child leaning on a parent.
plenty	a large amount; more than enough	plenty of rice, plenty of time	–	There is plenty of food on the table.	"PLENTY" means your PLATE IS FULL!

✍️ Practice

Complete these 16 items from easy to hard to test your understanding.

1 Collocation Matrix: Verbs & Nouns / Prepositions

Match each verb to its natural phrase context based on the word table:

1. sow

Verb

the field before sowing

seeds in spring

on rain

grain into rice

sow

____the field before sowing ____seeds in spring ____on rain ____grain into rice

2. plough

Verb

on rain

grain into rice

seeds in spring

the field before sowing

plough

____on rain ____grain into rice ____seeds in spring ____the field before sowing

3. mill

Verb

grain into rice

seeds in spring

the field before sowing

on rain

mill

____grain into rice ____seeds in spring ____the field before sowing ____on rain

4. depend

Verb

the field before sowing

grain into rice

seeds in spring

on rain

depend

____the field before sowing ____grain into rice ____seeds in spring ____on rain

2 Gap-Fill with Word Bank

Word Bank: typical plenty fertile fluffy

5. Short Dialogue A

A: Is the land near the river good for farming?

B: Yes, it has very [blank] soil for growing rice.

Type the missing word: ____

6. Short Dialogue B

A: How do you like your cooked rice?

B: I love it when it is soft and [blank].

Type the missing word: ____

7. Short Dialogue C

A: What do people usually eat for dinner in Vietnam?

B: A [blank] meal includes rice, soup, and a side dish.

Type the missing word: ____

8. Sentence Practice

There is [blank] of food for everyone at the family gathering.

Type the missing word: ____

3 Choose the Word (Contextual Choice)

Select the option that makes the sentence accurate in meaning:

9. The soup smells very _____ today.

____ a. fluffy ____ b. fragrant ____ c. nutritious

10. Fresh vegetables make a _____ breakfast.

____ a. fluffy ____ b. fragrant ____ c. nutritious

11. Steam the rice with a lid on so it becomes _____.

____ a. fluffy ____ b. typical ____ c. fertile

12. Rice with curry is a _____ meal in India.

____ a. fertile ____ b. fluffy ____ c. typical

4 Word-Formation Gaps

Fill in the blank using the correct word form listed in our vocabulary table:

13. The rose garden has a sweet _____.

Base word: fragrant

____

14. Good _____ helps children grow strong.

Base word: nutritious

____

15. Small farms are _____ on seasonal weather.

Base word: depend

____

16. The farmer works hard at the rice _____.

Base word: mill

____

🎙️ Shadowing

Listen to each native audio model and record your pronunciation clear and natural.

Part 1: Key Collocations (4 items)

Item 1

sow seeds

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 2

fertile soil

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 3

fragrant rice

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 4

depend on

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Part 2: Short Everyday Sentences (4 items)

Item 5

Farmers plough the field every spring.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 6

Cook the rice until it is fluffy.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 7

Brown rice is healthy and nutritious.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 8

We have plenty of rice for dinner.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Part 3: Natural Fluent Sentences (2 items)

Item 9

In general, people here eat rice with most meals.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 10

They bring the grain to the local mill.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Part 4: Focus Pronunciation (2 Challenge Words)

Item 11 • Word Focus

nutritious

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Item 12 • Word Focus

fragrant

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Vocabulary & Pronunciation: Rice around the World

🌾 Rice around the world

💡 How to use this lesson

For Teachers

For Learners

📖 Word table

🚜 Theme 1: The Farm (sow, plough, fertile, mill)

🍚 Theme 2: The Food (fluffy, fragrant, nutritious)

🏠 Theme 3: Daily Life (typical, depend, plenty)

✍️ Practice

1 Collocation Matrix: Verbs & Nouns / Prepositions

2 Gap-Fill with Word Bank

3 Choose the Word (Contextual Choice)

4 Word-Formation Gaps

🎙️ Shadowing

Part 1: Key Collocations (4 items)

Part 2: Short Everyday Sentences (4 items)

Part 3: Natural Fluent Sentences (2 items)

Part 4: Focus Pronunciation (2 Challenge Words)

Related lessons

Generalising carefully

Reading: Rice Around the World

IELTS Speaking: Rice around the world

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B1 Vocabulary: Studying and Collocations

Vocabulary: Everyday Phrasal Verbs