Why Billionaires Buy Bunkers

This C1 lesson explores the world of billionaire doomsday bunkers and the strange philosophy behind preparing for the end of the world. Students will read about why the ultra-rich invest in underground hideaways, explore concepts like accelerationism, and debate whether money can really buy survival. The lesson includes advanced vocabulary practice with words such as contingency, fortified, and bolt-hole. Activities feature critical reading, collocation work, and a structured discussion task where students pitch their own “apocalypse hideaway” using persuasive language.

💡 Teaching tip: Send your students a podcast recap after class. Listening to the material again feels way less like studying and way more like a friendly review that actually helps them remember and feel more confident.

Teaching guide

Lead-in
This C1 lesson begins with a stimulating lead-in designed to activate students’ imagination and critical thinking. The class opens with a world map and the question: “If the world ended tomorrow, which country or location would you choose as your safe hideout?” Students share and justify their choices, setting the stage for the theme of bunkers and survival. To deepen engagement, three more follow-up questions encourage learners to reflect on safety, survival, and the role of wealth in such scenarios. This warm-up builds context, sparks curiosity, and creates a natural bridge to the vocabulary work.

Vocabulary Preview, Definitions
Students then move into the main reading: a 1200-word article with an estimated six-minute reading time. After reading, learners identify the three main reasons why billionaires buy bunkers and explain the concept of accelerationism in their own words. This is followed by five comprehension questions to check understanding and ensure close reading. Finally, students respond to five thought-provoking opinion prompts about the wealthy, survival, and society. This sequence blends intensive reading skills with high-level critical discussion, making the text both accessible and intellectually challenging.

Article, Questions, Opinions
Next, students watch a short video where different people talk about red and green flags. While watching, they focus on new words and the general idea. After the video, they complete a comprehension task: marking the flags mentioned and explaining their choices. Finally, they answer reflection questions to share their ideas and personal opinions.

Practice
The practice stage focuses on grammar and vocabulary in use. First, students combine two short sentences into one longer, more sophisticated sentence using the target keyword. This develops syntactic control and flexibility. Then, learners find two common collocations for each target word and create six original example sentences with their chosen collocations. Depending on class size and dynamics, these tasks can be completed individually, in pairs, or collaboratively, ensuring that both fluency and accuracy are reinforced.

Speaking
For the speaking task, students step into the role of sales representatives pitching a luxury apocalypse hideaway to wealthy clients. Using the four provided 3D designs, they prepare a 2–3 minute presentation that includes descriptive language, target keywords, and persuasive techniques. This task pushes learners to be creative, convincing, and expressive, while also recycling vocabulary from the lesson. Encourage students to think beyond the obvious, adding humor, exaggeration, or unexpected features makes the task lively and authentic.

Extra
The final page offers an extension activity around the Doomsday Clock, created in 1947 by scientists as a symbol of global danger. Students explore the clock’s meaning, its historical shifts, and the current setting: just 89 seconds to midnight, the closest in history. With links provided, they can investigate global events that shaped these changes and discuss how the clock reflects humanity’s choices and challenges. This optional discussion is an excellent way to end the lesson, offering both a historical perspective and a forward-looking debate.

Podcast
The podcast is AI-generated audio discussion centered on the lesson topic. Featuring clear, high-quality voices, it’s designed as an optional study tool. Students may listen before class for preview purposes or after class for reinforcement, based on their learning preferences.