Breaking News English

        

1. PHONE HACKING: Walk around the class and talk to other students about phone hacking. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.
2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

FBI / British government / investigating / victims / journalists / phone messages / defend / scandal / editor / tabloids / public outrage / crisis / getting annoyed / tired

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.
3. NEWSPAPERS: Are they always right? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

	Anything good?	Anything bad?
Celebrity photos
Reporting gossip
Phone hacking
Paparazzi
Advertising
Supporting politicians

4. PRISON: Students A strongly believe journalists should go to prison for phone hacking; Students B strongly believe they are just doing their job.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
5. NEWS: Which do you like best? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

sports political local celebrity

financial national international technology

6. MEDIA: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘media’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	The FBI is investigating the British government over phone hacking.	T / F
b.	There is proof News Corporation hacked the phones of 9/11 victims.	T / F
c.	News international hacked the phones of terror victims in the U.K.	T / F
d.	A hacking scandal forced a 168-year-old British newspaper to close.	T / F
e.	The News Corp CEO was slow to come to the defense of his company.	T / F
f.	British people are angry a former newspaper editor has not been fired.	T / F
g.	The editor said her newspaper didn’t pay police officers for information.	T / F
h.	Rupert Murdoch is happy with the way the press is covering this story.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	probing	a.	claims
2.	inquiry	b.	let go
3.	allegations	c.	investigation
4.	shocked	d.	deal with
5.	in print	e.	investigating
6.	handle	f.	at first
7.	fire	g.	published
8.	claimed	h.	press
9.	initially	i.	dismayed
10.	media	j.	stated

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	joined the British government in	a.	call for an FBI inquiry
2.	The FBI is investigating	b.	heart
3.	Peter King led the	c.	over it
4.	journalists illegally intercepted	d.	defend his company
5.	168 years of being	e.	probing the media giant
6.	Murdoch has been quick to	f.	to appear
7.	personally	g.	in print
8.	He initially refused	h.	claims
9.	a change of	i.	the phone messages
10.	I'll get	j.	handle the scandal

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has                  (1) ____________ the British government in probing the media (2) ____________ News Corporation for phone hacking. The FBI is investigating (3) ____________ that News Corp. tried to hack phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks. American politician Peter King led the (4) ____________ for an FBI inquiry following allegations in Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper that News Corp workers hacked the phones of 9/11 (5) ____________. The British government and public are shocked that News Corp journalists illegally intercepted the phone (6) ____________ of child murder victims, those who died in the 7/7 terror attacks in London and the phones of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The                (7) ____________ led to the closing of Britain’s best-selling News Of The World newspaper on July 10, after 168 years of being in (8) ____________.		messages claims print joined scandal giant call victims
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has been quick to                   (9) ____________ his company. He flew from America to Britain last week to personally (10) ____________ the scandal. He angered Britons by refusing to fire the CEO of News International Rebekah Brooks, who was Editor of News Of The World when journalists hacked the phone of a (11) ____________ schoolgirl in 2003. She also claimed the (12) ____________ paid police officers for information. Mr Murdoch has agreed to answer questions in Britain’s parliament next week. He                       (13) ____________ refused to appear but public outrage appears to have created a change of (14) ____________. Mr Murdoch believes his company has dealt with the crisis "extremely well in every way (15) ____________”. He told reporters he was “getting annoyed” with the way the media is reporting the scandal, but said, “I'll get (16) ____________ it. I'm tired".		over murdered heart defend initially possible handle tabloid

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ___________________ government in probing the media giant News Corporation for phone hacking. The FBI is investigating claims that News Corp. ___________________ victims of the 9/11 attacks. American politician Peter King led the call for an FBI inquiry ___________________ Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper that News Corp workers hacked the phones of 9/11 victims. The British government and ___________________ News Corp journalists illegally intercepted the phone messages of ___________________, those who died in the 7/7 terror attacks in London and the phones of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The scandal ___________________ Britain’s best-selling News Of The World newspaper on July 10, after 168 years of being in print.
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch ___________________ defend his company. He flew from America to Britain last week to personally handle the scandal. He angered Britons ___________________ the CEO of News International Rebekah Brooks, who was Editor of News Of The World when journalists hacked the phone of a murdered schoolgirl in 2003. She also ___________________ paid police officers for information. Mr Murdoch has agreed to answer questions in Britain’s parliament next week. He initially ___________________ public outrage appears to have created a change of heart. Mr Murdoch believes his company _____________________ "extremely well in every way possible”. He told reporters he was “getting annoyed” ______________________ is reporting the scandal, but said, “I'll get over it. I'm tired".

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘media’ and ‘giant’.

media

giant

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?
4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.
5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

joined claims call workers died print

quick fire 2003 initially possible over

STUDENT PHONE HACKING SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about phone hacking in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.
When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

 
 

PHONE HACKING DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘hacking’?
c)	What do you know about this scandal?
d)	What do you think of journalists hacking the phone of a murdered schoolgirl?
e)	What should the punishment be for phone hacking?
f)	Should the punishment be greater for hacking the phone of murdered children and terror victims?
g)	Is hacking OK if it provides news in the public interest?
h)	Where do you think the FBI investigation will lead to?
i)	How do you think the family of those hacked feel about this story?
j)	Was it right that the News Of The World closed?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What should Rupert Murdoch do now?
c)	Should he fire Rebekah Brooks?
d)	Why do you think Rebekah Brooks is still in her job?
e)	What do you think of reporters paying the police for information?
f)	What new laws should there be to stop reporters going too far?
g)	Does the press have too much freedom?
h)	Is it bad if the press is too friendly with politicians?
i)	Do you feel sorry for Rupert Murdoch – he’s annoyed and tired?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Rupert Murdoch?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has (1) ____ the British government in probing the media giant News Corporation for phone hacking. The FBI is investigating (2) ____ that News Corp. tried to hack phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks. American politician Peter King led the (3) ____ for an FBI inquiry following allegations in Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper that News Corp workers hacked the phones of 9/11 victims. The British government and public are shocked that News Corp journalists (4) ____ intercepted the phone messages of child murder victims, those who died in the 7/7 terror attacks in London and the phones of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The scandal led (5) ____ the closing of Britain’s best-selling News Of The World newspaper on July 10, after 168 years of being in (6) ____.
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has been quick to defend his company. He flew from America to Britain last week to personally (7) ____ the scandal. He angered Britons by refusing to fire the CEO of News International Rebekah Brooks, who was Editor of News Of The World when journalists hacked the phone of a (8) ____ schoolgirl in 2003. She also claimed the tabloid paid police officers (9) ____ information. Mr Murdoch has agreed to answer questions in Britain’s parliament next week. He initially refused to appear but public (10) ____ appears to have created a change of heart. Mr Murdoch believes his company has dealt (11) ____ the crisis "extremely well in every way possible”. He told reporters he was “getting annoyed” with the way the media is reporting the scandal, but said, “I'll get (12) ____ it. I'm tired".
Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	joined	(b)	joint	(c)	jointed	(d)	jaunted
2.	(a)	claimed	(b)	claims	(c)	claimants	(d)	claiming
3.	(a)	shout	(b)	whisper	(c)	call	(d)	speak
4.	(a)	illegal	(b)	legalized	(c)	illegals	(d)	illegally
5.	(a)	up	(b)	in	(c)	of	(d)	to
6.	(a)	publish	(b)	publication	(c)	print	(d)	printed
7.	(a)	handle	(b)	lock	(c)	keyhole	(d)	hinge
8.	(a)	murder	(b)	murdered	(c)	murderous	(d)	murders
9.	(a)	by	(b)	to	(c)	for	(d)	at
10.	(a)	outrage	(b)	outage	(c)	outing	(d)	ousted
11.	(a)	for	(b)	to	(c)	on	(d)	with
12.	(a)	under	(b)	over	(c)	in	(d)	on

 
 

WRITING

Write about phone hacking for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about the News Corporation phone hacking scandal. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. PHONE HACKING: Make a poster about phone hacking. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?
4. NEWS CORP: Write a magazine article about News Corp. Include imaginary interviews with its CEO Rupert Murdoch and people whose phones have been hacked.
Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).
5. LETTER: Write a letter to Rupert Murdoch. Ask him three questions about phone hacking. Give him three of your opinions on the phone hacking scandal. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

T

d.

T

e.

F

f.

T

g.

F

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	probing	a.	investigating
2.	inquiry	b.	investigation
3.	allegations	c.	claims
4.	shocked	d.	dismayed
5.	in print	e.	published
6.	handle	f.	deal with
7.	fire	g.	let go
8.	claimed	h.	stated
9.	initially	i.	at first
10.	media	j.	press

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	joined the British government in	a.	probing the media giant
2.	The FBI is investigating	b.	claims
3.	Peter King led the	c.	call for an FBI inquiry
4.	journalists illegally intercepted	d.	the phone messages
5.	168 years of being	e.	in print
6.	Murdoch has been quick to	f.	defend his company
7.	personally	g.	handle the scandal
8.	He initially refused	h.	to appear
9.	a change of	i.	heart
10.	I'll get	j.	over it

GAP FILL:

FBI joins News Corp phone hacking

America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has (1) joined the British government in probing the media (2) giant News Corporation for phone hacking. The FBI is investigating (3) claims that News Corp. tried to hack phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks. American politician Peter King led the (4) call for an FBI inquiry following allegations in Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper that News Corp workers hacked the phones of 9/11 (5) victims. The British government and public are shocked that News Corp journalists illegally intercepted the phone (6) messages of child murder victims, those who died in the 7/7 terror attacks in London and the phones of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The (7) scandal led to the closing of Britain’s best-selling News Of The World newspaper on July 10, after 168 years of being in (8) print.
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has been quick to (9) defend his company. He flew from America to Britain last week to personally (10) handle the scandal. He angered Britons by refusing to fire the CEO of News International Rebekah Brooks, who was Editor of News Of The World when journalists hacked the phone of a (11) murdered schoolgirl in 2003. She also claimed the (12) tabloid paid police officers for information. Mr Murdoch has agreed to answer questions in Britain’s parliament next week. He (13) initially refused to appear but public outrage appears to have created a change of (14) heart. Mr Murdoch believes his company has dealt with the crisis "extremely well in every way (15) possible”. He told reporters he was “getting annoyed” with the way the media is reporting the scandal, but said, “I'll get (16) over it. I'm tired".
LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - b

3 - c

4 - d

5 - d

6 - c

7 - a

8 - b

9 - c

10 - a

11 - d

12 - b

Back to the top