Supporting material
When you arrange a video call with someone far away, you may need to check two clocks. Time zones help explain why. As Earth turns, different places face the Sun at different moments. Noon therefore does not happen everywhere at once.
Before standard time became common, towns often kept their own local time, based on the Sun. Small differences mattered less when journeys were slow. Railways made them inconvenient: passengers and railway staff needed clear, shared timetables. In Britain, railway companies helped spread the use of Greenwich Mean Time.
In 1884, an international conference selected the meridian through Greenwich as a common reference for longitude and timekeeping. However, time zones did not suddenly become identical worldwide. Their boundaries reflect political decisions and practical needs, so they do not follow perfectly straight lines. Some places use offsets that include half-hours or quarter-hours.
Today, Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC, provides a shared reference. Local clocks use different offsets from it. Seasonal clock changes, where used, are a separate adjustment. Time zones help us organise travel and communication, but they also create challenges: a convenient meeting for one person may interrupt another person’s evening.
Choose three to five questions for a short conversation. Follow-ups and sentence starters are tucked under each prompt.
Choose at least one question to present, download or print.
Arrange your selected questions ↑ ↓
Move questions into the order you want to present or download.
Start talking
Discuss, give a reason and ask a follow-up.
Why did local time become a problem when railways developed?
Follow-up & speaking support
ASK A LITTLE MOREHow did shared timetables help?
TRY STARTING WITH“Before…, but railways…”
Why are time-zone boundaries not perfectly straight?
Follow-up & speaking support
ASK A LITTLE MOREWhat does the text say about offsets?
TRY STARTING WITH“They reflect… Some places…”
Explore examples
Discuss, give a reason and ask a follow-up.
Have time zones ever caused a problem when booking meetings or appointments with people in different countries?
Follow-up & speaking support
ASK A LITTLE MOREWhat happened, and how could the problem have been avoided?
TRY STARTING WITH“There was a mix-up because… We could have checked…”
How would you choose a fair meeting time for people in different time zones?
Follow-up & speaking support
ASK A LITTLE MOREWho should sometimes accept an inconvenient time?
TRY STARTING WITH“I would suggest… and take turns…”
Compare ideas
Discuss, give a reason and ask a follow-up.
Would you enjoy working with people in other time zones?
Follow-up & speaking support
ASK A LITTLE MOREWhat could make it easier or harder?
TRY STARTING WITH“One advantage would be…”
What could go wrong if a travel booking did not clearly show local times?
Follow-up & speaking support
ASK A LITTLE MOREHow could the information be made clearer?
TRY STARTING WITH“Someone might… The booking should…”
Make a choice
Discuss, give a reason and ask a follow-up.
- Stretch
Would one worldwide clock make life simpler?
Follow-up & speaking support
ASK A LITTLE MOREWhat new problems might it create?
TRY STARTING WITH“It could help with… but…”
- Stretch
What advice would you give someone arranging their first international online event?
Follow-up & speaking support
ASK A LITTLE MOREWhich detail should they check twice?
TRY STARTING WITH“They should… before…”
Something to say.
8 useful words & phrases
- time zone — an area that uses the same standard time
- local time — the clock time used in a particular place
- timetable — a schedule of times for journeys or activities
- meridian — an imaginary line running from the North Pole to the South Pole
- reference — something used as a basis for comparison
- offset — a difference from a reference time
- coordinate — organise things so they work together
- convenient — suitable and easy for someone
Choose. Talk. Share.
Three colleagues have different available meeting slots, supplied orally by the teacher. Negotiate a suitable time, explain who is inconvenienced and agree how to share that inconvenience next time. Use fictional schedules; no live time-zone calculation is required.
Speaking aim
B1–B2: explain causes, compare practical options and negotiate a fair meeting time.
Preparation
Introduce time zone, local time and offset. Explain that UTC is a shared reference and seasonal clock changes are a separate issue. Avoid treating the passage as a current country-by-country time guide.
Run the activity
Read the passage, clarify the first two answers orally, then discuss selected questions. For the final speaking task, give each partner a fictional available slot aloud, such as morning for one and evening for another. Invite a proposal, a reason and a compromise.
Model exchange
Teacher: My evening is your morning. When could we meet? Learner: We could meet in your evening. Teacher: That is difficult for me. Learner: Could we take turns with the inconvenient time?