Looking at Both Sides- Dominoes

Looking at Both Sides- Dominoes
Work together to put the cards that you are given together to make phrases that can be
used to talk about good points and bad points. There might sometimes be more than one
possible match, but there is only one way to put all of them together. When you finish they
should make a single big circle, with the first one joined to the last one. Note that there is
no link between the right and left side of each card, so you only need to look at individual
matches between cards.

Brainstorming stage
Without looking at the cards, brainstorm as many of the things below as you can into the
gaps given. Many expressions not above are also possible.

Pairs of expressions which mean “advantages and disadvantages”

Expressions for changing from looking at one to looking at the other

Expressions for coming to a conclusion

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2018

1

Mixed answers
Use the mixed answers below to help with the brainstorming task above, matching up the

positive and negative expressions.



… (easily) outweigh…



… is the most important factor for…, so…



… Nevertheless,…



… Nonetheless,…



against



Although there are also selling points to this, in modern society…



Although…, it is difficult to see any merit in…



bad



benefits



cons



Despite the disadvantages explained above,…



drawbacks



(arguments) for



(Looking at…) from another point of view,…



good (point)



In opposition to those arguments, it can also be said that…



in support



Looking at…



Moving on from… to…



negative (effect)



On balance,…



On the other hand,…



On the other side of the coin,…



People on the other side (of the argument) say that…



positive (consequence)



pros



There are (far) more benefits than drawbacks.



There are also, however,….

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2018

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

There are far more… than.,.



Turning from… to….



Turning our attention (from…) to…



We can safely ignore… due to…. Therefore,…



Weighing up… against…



Weighing up… and….

Look at the cards to help, then check all your answers as a class.

Play an actual game of dominoes with the same cards, dealing out seven cards each and

taking more if you can’t match either end of the dominoes on the table to any in your hand.

The person with the fewest cards left at the end of the game wins.

Try to use as many of the phrases as you can in a roleplay debate.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2018

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Cards to cup up/Suggested answers

the coin, we have to
consider…

There are far more

pros

than cons.

There are both

advantages and
disadvantages to
this policy.

There are

arguments both for

and

against

this

research
methodology.

The benefits easily

outweigh the
drawbacks.

Turning from the

good

to the bad points,…

As well as the

positive side, there

are also negative
aspects to this
trend.

Although it is popular, it is difficult

to see any merit in
continuing

this

approach.

Arguments in

support of

and against this
course of action
include…

One of the many

disadvantages of
this is…

The

main advantage of
this is…

Along with the many

negative effects,

one positive

consequence of this
is…

Moving on from the

arguments against

to the arguments in
support of this
course of action,…

There are several

major drawbacks to

this approach.

Nevertheless,

it is a good
approach in the
majority of cases.

On the other

hand, it can be
difficult to implement
in practice.

Looking at it from

another point of

view, it can also be
said to lead to…

On the other side of

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2018

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