Breaking News English

        

1. 2011 AND 2012: Walk around the class and talk to other students about 2011 and 2012. 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.

poll / Americans / two-thirds / optimistic / economy / glad / lost faith / politics / momentous / Arab Spring / uprising / natural disasters / nuclear / population

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. THIS YEAR / NEXT YEAR: Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

	Good in 2011	Bad in 2011	Hopes for 2012
You
English
Your country
The Earth
War
Sport

4. BETTER 2012: Students A strongly believe 2912 will be better than 2011; Students B strongly believe not.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. 2012: Which of these do you hope for most in 2012? Rank them and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

more money better English better figure world peace

better friendships stronger religious belief healthier body a new leader for your country

6. 2011: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the year ‘2011’. 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 article says the world believes 2012 will be better than 2011.	T / F
b.	Over three-quarters of Americans believe their family life will be better.	T / F
c.	Less than a third of Americans said 2011 was a poor year.	T / F
d.	One American suggested politicians only cared about their own wallets.	T / F
e.	In January, people power fell to the Tunisian government.	T / F
f.	Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi died at the end of September 2011.	T / F
g.	Japan’s earthquake and tsunami officially killed fewer than 16,000.	T / F
h.	The world’s population rose above 7 billion in 2011.	T / F

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

1.	poll	a.	showed
2	conducted	b.	rolled out
3.	revealed	c.	historic
4.	hard to come by	d.	carried out
5.	faith	e.	passed away
6.	momentous	f.	survey
7.	spread	g.	destroyed
8.	resign	h.	belief
9.	devastated	i.	difficult to get
10.	died	j.	leave office

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

1.	The study revealed that 62 per cent	a.	in Washington politics
2	they are glad to see the back	b.	nuclear disasters
3.	Jobs were hard to	c.	their pockets
4.	lost faith	d.	one around the world
5.	how they are going to line	e.	of 2011
6.	the year 2011 was a momentous	f.	Japan’s northern coastline
7.	popular uprisings spread	g.	come by
8.	devastated much of	h.	hit 7 billion
9.	one of the world’s worst	i.	are optimistic
10.	The world population officially	j.	across the Arab world

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

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

A poll (1) ____________ by the Associated Press (AP) shows almost two-thirds of Americans (2) ____________ 2012 will be better than 2011. The study revealed that 62 per cent are (3) ____________ about what 2012 will bring for their country, and 78 per cent believe 2012 will bring better times for their family. Over two-thirds of those polled (4) ____________ 2011 as a poor year. Many said they are glad to see the (5) ____________ of 2011 because of the poor economy. Jobs were hard to come by and prices for things like healthcare, food and fuel continued to (6) ____________. South Carolina resident Mary Burke told the AP she had lost (7) ____________ in Washington politics, saying: “They don't care about me and you. They only care about how they are going to line their (8) ____________."		faith described believe back pockets conducted rise optimistic
The year 2011 was a (9) ____________ one around the world. The shape of the Middle East changed after the Tunisian government fell to (10) ____________ power in January. This event started the Arab Spring that saw Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak (11) ____________ and popular uprisings (12) ____________ across the Arab world. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s murder in October (13) ____________ his country’s successful uprising. There were many natural disasters in 2011. The biggest was the earthquake and tsunami that (14) ____________ much of Japan’s northern coastline. It killed 15,840 people and created one of the world’s (15) ____________ nuclear disasters. Floods in Rio de Janeiro and Thailand killed thousands. The world population officially (16) ____________ 7 billion, although Osama bin Laden, Apple’s Steve Jobs and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died.		spread people worst completed momentous hit resign devastated

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

__________________ the Associated Press (AP) shows almost two-thirds of Americans believe 2012 will be better than 2011. The __________________ per cent are optimistic about what 2012 will bring for their country, and 78 per cent believe 2012 __________________ for their family. Over two-thirds of those polled described 2011 as a poor year. Many said they are glad __________________ 2011 because of the poor economy. Jobs were hard to come by and prices for things like healthcare, food and fuel continued to rise. South Carolina resident Mary Burke told the AP __________________ Washington politics, saying: “They don't care about me and you. They only care about how they are going __________________."

The year 2011 was __________________ around the world. The shape of the Middle East changed after the Tunisian government __________________ in January. This event started the Arab Spring that saw Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak resign and popular __________________ the Arab world. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s murder in October completed his country’s successful uprising. There were many natural disasters in 2011. The biggest was the earthquake and tsunami that __________________ Japan’s northern coastline. It killed 15,840 people and created one of the world’s __________________. Floods in Rio de Janeiro and Thailand killed thousands. The world population __________________, although Osama bin Laden, Apple’s Steve Jobs and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

middle

east

• 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:

conducted 62 78 back faith pockets

shape resign October biggest worst although

2011 AND 2012 SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about 2011 and 2012 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.

2011 AND 2012 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 year ‘2011’?
c)	How was 2011 for you?
d)	How was 2011 for your country?
e)	Do you have any regrets about 2011?
f)	What hopes do you have for 2012?
g)	Are you glad to see the back of 2011?
h)	What do you remember most about events in your country in 2011?
i)	What do you wish hadn’t happened in 2011?
j)	What three adjectives would you use to describe 2011 and why?

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

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the year ‘2012’?
c)	What do you think 2012 has in store for you?
d)	How momentous do you think 2011 was?
e)	What do you remember about the first few months of the Arab Spring?
f)	What was the biggest news story of the year?
g)	If you were a journalist, what even would you like to have covered?
h)	Whose death in 2011 had the biggest impact on the world?
i)	What was the greatest thing about 2011?
j)	What three pieces of advice would you give to a baby born at midnight on December 31, 2011?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

A poll (1) ____ by the Associated Press (AP) shows almost two-thirds of Americans believe 2012 will be better than 2011. The study (2) ____ that 62 per cent are optimistic about what 2012 will bring for their country, and 78 per cent believe 2012 will bring better (3) ____ for their family. Over two-thirds of those polled described 2011 as a poor year. Many said they are glad to see the (4) ____ of 2011 because of the poor economy. Jobs were hard to (5) ____ by and prices for things like healthcare, food and fuel continued to rise. South Carolina resident Mary Burke told the AP she had lost faith in Washington politics, saying: “They don't care about me and you. They only care about how they are going to (6) ____ their pockets."

The year 2011 was a (7) ____ one around the world. The shape of the Middle East changed after the Tunisian government fell (8) ____ people power in January. This event started the Arab Spring that saw Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak resign and popular uprisings (9) ____ across the Arab world. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s murder in October completed his country’s successful uprising. There were many natural disasters in 2011. The biggest was the earthquake and tsunami that devastated (10) ____ of Japan’s northern coastline. It killed 15,840 people and created one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters. Floods in Rio de Janeiro and Thailand killed thousands. The world population officially (11) ____ 7 billion, (12) ____ Osama bin Laden, Apple’s Steve Jobs and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	conducted	(b)	impacted	(c)	restricted	(d)	compacted
2.	(a)	reveled	(b)	revealed	(c)	revolved	(d)	revered
3.	(a)	timing	(b)	timed	(c)	times	(d)	timers
4.	(a)	chest	(b)	body	(c)	neck	(d)	back
5.	(a)	get	(b)	go	(c)	arrive	(d)	come
6.	(a)	like	(b)	live	(c)	line	(d)	lice
7.	(a)	momentous	(b)	moment	(c)	monument	(d)	memento
8.	(a)	at	(b)	to	(c)	of	(d)	as
9.	(a)	spared	(b)	speared	(c)	spread	(d)	spree
10.	(a)	much	(b)	many	(c)	entire	(d)	whole
11.	(a)	strike	(b)	punched	(c)	slapped	(d)	hit
12.	(a)	so	(b)	although	(c)	nevertheless	(d)	furthermore

 
 

WRITING

Write about 2011 and 2012 for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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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 2011. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. 2011 AND 2012: Make a poster about your life in 2011 and 2012. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. 2011: Write a magazine article about 2011. Include interviews with family, friends, teachers, etc. to include their thoughts on the year.

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 a 2011 expert. Ask him/her three questions about 2011. Give him/her three of your opinions on it. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

T

c.

F

d.

T

e.

F

f.

F

g.

T

h.

T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	poll	a.	survey
2	conducted	b.	carried out
3.	revealed	c.	showed
4.	hard to come by	d.	difficult to get
5.	faith	e.	belief
6.	momentous	f.	historic
7.	spread	g.	rolled out
8.	resign	h.	leave office
9.	devastated	i.	destroyed
10.	died	j.	passed away

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	The study revealed that 62 per cent	a.	are optimistic
2	they are glad to see the back	b.	of 2011
3.	Jobs were hard to	c.	come by
4.	lost faith	d.	in Washington politics
5.	how they are going to line	e.	their pockets
6.	the year 2011 was a momentous	f.	one around the world
7.	popular uprisings spread	g.	across the Arab world
8.	devastated much of	h.	Japan’s northern coastline
9.	one of the world’s worst	i.	nuclear disasters
10.	The world population officially	j.	hit 7 billion

GAP FILL:

2012 to be better than 2011

A poll (1) conducted by the Associated Press (AP) shows almost two-thirds of Americans (2) believe 2012 will be better than 2011. The study revealed that 62 per cent are (3) optimistic about what 2012 will bring for their country, and 78 per cent believe 2012 will bring better times for their family. Over two-thirds of those polled (4) described 2011 as a poor year. Many said they are glad to see the (5) back of 2011 because of the poor economy. Jobs were hard to come by and prices for things like healthcare, food and fuel continued to (6) rise. South Carolina resident Mary Burke told the AP she had lost (7) faith in Washington politics, saying: “They don't care about me and you. They only care about how they are going to line their (8) pockets."

The year 2011 was a (9) momentous one around the world. The shape of the Middle East changed after the Tunisian government fell to (10) people power in January. This event started the Arab Spring that saw Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak (11) resign and popular uprisings (12) spread across the Arab world. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s murder in October (13) completed his country’s successful uprising. There were many natural disasters in 2011. The biggest was the earthquake and tsunami that (14) devastated much of Japan’s northern coastline. It killed 15,840 people and created one of the world’s (15) worst nuclear disasters. Floods in Rio de Janeiro and Thailand killed thousands. The world population officially (16) hit 7 billion, although Osama bin Laden, Apple’s Steve Jobs and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died.

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

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