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Man pushes vegetable up mountain with his nose (5th August, 2014)

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

People do many crazy things to raise money for charity. The latest crazy stunt came from an English man who decided to push a Brussels sprout up the highest mountain in Wales – with his nose. He wanted to raise $8,500 for a cancer charity. Stuart Kettell, 49, said he loves challenges and will try to do anything for charity. His other challenges include walking 800 kilometers on stilts and sitting in a box for a week. He said: "I have seen first hand the amazing work [the charity] Macmillan Cancer Support does, not only for the patient but their family and friends too." He added: "People’s cancer stories inspire me even more to carry on, and my challenges are going to get even more crazy."

It took Mr Kettell three days to push the Brussels sprout up the 1,085m-high Mount Snowden. He wore a specially designed face mask so he wouldn't scrape the skin off his face. He practised for his charity mission by pushing a Brussels sprout around his garden. He chose a large sprout for his Snowden challenge. It was about the size of a table-tennis ball. He said he wanted a larger one because it would not fall down a crack. He spent three days on his hands and knees with his nose a centimeter or two above the ground. He told reporters there was "a huge amount of pain" in his knees, wrists and back. He said he was happy because his training worked, he reached the summit, and he raised money for the charity.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/macmillan-fundraiser-climbs-mount-snowdon-7553022
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-28621775
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/man-nose-pushes-brussels-sprout-up-snowdon/33221/

Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice, drag and drop activities, crosswords, hangman, flash cards, matching activities and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

The 40 Lesson Activities on the PDF Handout

WARM-UPS

1. CHALLENGES: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about challenges. Change partners often and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, talk about these topics or words from the article. What will the article say about them? What can you say about these words and your life?

crazy things / stunt / highest mountain / cancer charity / challenges / amazing / inspire / three days / mask / skin / face / hands and knees / pain / training / raised money

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

3. RAISING MONEY: How could these challenges raise money? What other benefits could there be? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	What? / How?	What other benefits?
Climb Mt Everest
Run around the world
Eating
Gaming
English language
Environment

4. DOING SOMETHING: Students A strongly believe everyone should do something for charity every year; Students B strongly believe every year is too much. Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

MY e-BOOK

ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers

See a sample

5. CHARITY: Rank these with your partner. Put the most important charities at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• World Wildlife Fund

• Sport For All

• Cancer charity

• AIDS charity

• Red Cross / Red Crescent

• Environment charity

• Amnesty International

• Médecins Sans Frontières

6. CRAZY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "crazy". 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.	A man from Wales pushed a vegetable up a mountain.	T / F
b.	The mountain was the highest mountain in Wales.	T / F
c.	The man once spent a week in a box for charity.	T / F
d.	The man said he will not do any more crazy things.	T / F
e.	The man wore a special mask to protect his skin.	T / F
f.	The man practiced for his charity event on mountains in Wales.	T / F
g.	The vegetable the man used was the size of a tennis ball.	T / F
h.	The man's wrists hurt but his back was OK.	T / F

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

1.	crazy	a.	most recent
2.	latest	b.	created
3.	raise	c.	personally
4.	first hand	d.	selected
5.	inspire	e.	mad
6.	designed	f.	trained
7.	practised	g.	enormous
8.	chose	h.	collect
9.	huge	i.	top
10.	summit	j.	motivate

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

1.	crazy things to raise	a.	for a cancer charity
2.	up the highest	b.	of pain
3.	He wanted to raise $8,500	c.	more to carry on
4.	I have seen first	d.	off his face
5.	cancer stories inspire me even	e.	money for charity
6.	He wore a specially	f.	down a crack
7.	scrape the skin	g.	the summit
8.	it would not fall	h.	mountain in Wales
9.	a huge amount	i.	designed face mask
10.	he reached	j.	hand the amazing work

GAP FILL

People do many crazy things to (1) ____________ money for charity. The latest crazy (2) ____________ came from an English man who decided to push a Brussels sprout up the highest mountain in Wales – with his nose. He wanted to raise $8,500 for a (3) ____________ charity. Stuart Kettell, 49, said he loves challenges and will try to do anything for charity. His other (4) ____________ include walking 800 kilometers on stilts and sitting in a box for a week. He said: "I have seen first hand the (5) ____________ work [the charity] Macmillan Cancer Support does, not only for the (6) ____________ but their family and friends too." He added: "People's cancer stories (7) ____________ me even more to carry on, and my challenges are going to get (8) ____________ more crazy."

patient
challenges
even
stunt
amazing
raise
inspire
cancer

It took Mr Kettell three days to push the Brussels sprout up the 1,085m-(9) ____________ Mount Snowden. He wore a specially designed face mask so he wouldn't (10) ____________ the skin off his face. He practised for his charity (11) ____________ by pushing a Brussels sprout around his garden. He chose a large sprout for his Snowden challenge. It was about the (12) ____________ of a table-tennis ball. He said he wanted a larger one because it would not fall down a (13) ____________. He spent three days on his hands and (14) ____________ with his nose a centimeter or two above the ground. He told reporters there was "a huge (15) ____________ of pain" in his knees, wrists and back. He said he was happy because his training worked, he reached the (16) ____________, and he raised money for the charity.

crack
amount
mission
summit
high
size
knees
scrape

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	People do many crazy things to raise money ______
	a. for charities b. from charity c. for charity d. from charities
2)	Stuart Kettell, 49, said he loves challenges and will try ______
	a. to do something b. to do anything c. to do nothing d. to do a thing
3)	walking 800 kilometers on stilts and sitting in ______
	a. a box from a week b. a box for all week c. a box for the week d. a box for a week
4)	not only for the patient but their family ______
	a. and friends to b. and friends two c. and friends true d. and friends too
5)	People's cancer stories inspire me even more ______
	a. to carry on b. to carry off c. to carry all d. to carry in
6)	a specially designed face mask so he wouldn't scrape the ______
	a. skin off this face b. skin off his nose c. skin off his face d. skin on his face
7)	He said he wanted a larger one because it would not fall ______
	a. down the crack b. down a crack c. down a cracked d. down a crackle
8)	on his hands and knees with his nose a centimeter or two ______
	a. above the ground b. above the grand c. above the grind d. above the gourd
9)	He told reporters there was "a huge amount of pain" ______
	a. in his needs b. in his kneels c. in his niece d. in his knees
10)	He said he was happy because his training worked, he ______
	a. reached the some it b. reached the summit c. reached the sum it d. reached the sun it

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

People do many crazy things (1) ___________________ charity. The latest crazy stunt came from an English man who (2) ___________________ Brussels sprout up the highest mountain in Wales – with his nose. He wanted to raise $8,500 for a cancer charity. Stuart Kettell, 49, said he loves challenges (3) ___________________ anything for charity. His other challenges include walking 800 kilometers on stilts (4) ___________________ for a week. He said: "I have seen first hand the amazing work [the charity] Macmillan Cancer Support does, not only for (5) ___________________ family and friends too." He added: "People's cancer stories inspire me (6) ___________________ on, and my challenges are going to get even more crazy."

It took Mr Kettell (7) ___________________ the Brussels sprout up the 1,085m-high Mount Snowden. He wore a specially designed face mask so he wouldn't (8) ___________________ his face. He practised for his charity mission by pushing a Brussels sprout around his garden. He chose a large sprout for his Snowden challenge. It was (9) ___________________ table-tennis ball. He said he wanted a larger one because it would not fall down a crack. He spent three days (10) ___________________ with his nose a centimeter or two above the ground. He told reporters there was "a (11) ___________________" in his knees, wrists and back. He said he was happy because his training worked, he (12) ___________________, and he raised money for the charity.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	What did the article say people do for charity?
2.	How much money does the man want to raise?
3.	How far did the man walk on stilts?
4.	What kind of stories inspire the man?
5.	What is going to happen to his challenges in the future?
6.	How high is Mount Snowden?
7.	What did the man wear?
8.	Where did the man practise?
9.	What was there in his knees and wrists?
10.	What did the man reach?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	What did the article say people do for charity?	6.	How high is Mount Snowden?
	a) very little b) lots of training c) eat d) crazy things		a) 1,083m b) 1,084m c) 1,085m d) 1,086m
2.	How much money does the man want to raise?	7.	What did the man wear?
	a) $8,000 b) $8,500 c) $18,000 d) $18,500		a) a mask b) pyjamas c) mountain climbing clothes d) a helmet
3.	How far did the man walk on stilts?	8.	Where did the man practise?
	a) 500km b) 600km c) 700km d) 800km		a) on a mountain b) in a gym c) in his garden d) at a farm
4.	What kind of stories inspire the man?	9.	What was there in his knees and wrists?
	a) Brussels sprout stories b) charity stories c) cancer stories d) Mount Snowden stories		a) muscles b) pain c) scratches d) fat
5.	What is going to happen to his challenges in the future?	10.	What did the man reach?
	a) they'll stop b) they'll get more dangerous c) there'll be fewer of them d) they'll get crazier		a) the summit b) a good weight c) perfection d) a world record

ROLE PLAY

Role A – World Wildlife Fund

You think the World Wildlife Fund is the most important charity. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell the others which is the least deserving of these (and why): Sport For All, Red Cross / Red Crescent or an AIDS charity.

Role B – Sport For All

You think Sport For All is the most important charity. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell the others which is the least deserving of these (and why): World Wildlife Fund, Red Cross / Red Crescent or an AIDS charity.

Role C – Red Cross / Red Crescent

You think Red Cross / Red Crescent is the most important charity. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell the others which is the least deserving of these (and why): Sport For All, World Wildlife Fund or an AIDS charity.

Role D – AIDS charity

You think an AIDS charity is the most important charity. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell the others which is the least deserving of these (and why): Sport For All, Red Cross / Red Crescent or World Wildlife Fund.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'charity' and 'challenge'.

charity

challenge

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:

latest
decided
loves
hand
family
even

took
skin
large
crack
ground
summit

CHALLENGES SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about challenges 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.

CHALLENGES 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 'challenge'?
c)	What do you think about what you read?
d)	What crazy things have you done?
e)	What things have you done for charity?
f)	What do you think of the idea of pushing a vegetable up a mountain with your nose?
g)	What kind of challenges do you like?
h)	Why don't people do more for charity?
i)	What kind of stories inspire you?
j)	What would you like to do for charity?

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

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

a)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
b)	What charities would you like to support?
c)	What kind of training would the man need?
d)	How far would you push a vegetable with your nose to raise money for charity?
e)	What are the difficulties with pushing things with your nose?
f)	Would nose-pushing be a good sport?
g)	Have you ever been in a lot of pain doing something active?
h)	What have you trained for in your life?
i)	What message would you like to give Stuart Kettell?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Stuart Kettell?

DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

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

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	________________________________________________________
2.	________________________________________________________
3.	________________________________________________________
4.	________________________________________________________
5.	________________________________________________________
6.	________________________________________________________

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

People do many crazy things to raise money for charity. The (1) ____ crazy stunt came from an English man who (2) ____ to push a Brussels sprout up the highest mountain in Wales – with his nose. He wanted to raise $8,500 for a cancer charity. Stuart Kettell, 49, said he loves challenges and will try to do (3) ____ for charity. His other challenges include walking 800 kilometers on stilts and sitting in a box for a week. He said: "I have seen first (4) ____ the amazing work [the charity] Macmillan Cancer Support does, not only for the (5) ____ but their family and friends too." He added: "People's cancer stories inspire me even more to carry (6) ____, and my challenges are going to get even more crazy."

It took Mr Kettell three days to push the Brussels sprout up the 1,085m-high Mount Snowden. He wore a specially (7) ____ face mask so he wouldn't scrape the skin off his face. He practised for his charity mission by pushing a Brussels sprout around his garden. He (8) ____ a large sprout for his Snowden challenge. It was about the (9) ____ of a table-tennis ball. He said he wanted a larger one because it would not fall down a (10) ____. He spent three days on his hands and knees with his nose a centimeter or two above the ground. He told reporters there was "a (11) ____ amount of pain" in his knees, wrists and back. He said he was happy because his training worked, he reached the (12) ____, and he raised money for the charity.

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

1.	(a)	latest	(b)	recent	(c)	latent	(d)	recently
2.	(a)	deciding	(b)	decision	(c)	decided	(d)	decisive
3.	(a)	nothing	(b)	all	(c)	anything	(d)	whole
4.	(a)	wrist	(b)	knee	(c)	foot	(d)	hand
5.	(a)	patience	(b)	patiently	(c)	patient	(d)	patents
6.	(a)	off	(b)	on	(c)	up	(d)	over
7.	(a)	making	(b)	designed	(c)	fit	(d)	scraping
8.	(a)	chosen	(b)	chose	(c)	choice	(d)	choosing
9.	(a)	amount	(b)	volume	(c)	size	(d)	dimension
10.	(a)	space	(b)	line	(c)	ledge	(d)	crack
11.	(a)	painful	(b)	higher	(c)	largely	(d)	huge
12.	(a)	atop	(b)	slope	(c)	bottom	(d)	summit

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	raise money for rycthia
2.	he loves cahnsgeell
3.	cneuild walking 800km
4.	the ganmaiz work
5.	only for the patntie
6.	stories siperin me even more
Paragraph 2
7.	He wore a specially sedgedin face mask
8.	he wouldn't psaecr the skin
9.	fall down a ckacr
10.	above the ounrdg
11.	a huge unmtoa of pain
12.	he reached the iumtsm

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( 1 )	People do many crazy things to raise money for charity. The latest crazy stunt came from
( )	mission by pushing a Brussels sprout around his garden. He chose a large sprout for his Snowden challenge. It was about the size
( )	crack. He spent three days on his hands and knees with his nose a centimeter or two above
( )	and back. He said he was happy because his training worked, he reached the summit, and he raised money for the charity.
( )	designed face mask so he wouldn't scrape the skin off his face. He practised for his charity
( )	more to carry on, and my challenges are going to get even more crazy."
( )	an English man who decided to push a Brussels sprout up the highest mountain in Wales – with his
( )	It took Mr Kettell three days to push the Brussels sprout up the 1,085m-high Mount Snowden. He wore a specially
( )	week. He said: "I have seen first hand the amazing work [the charity] Macmillan Cancer Support does, not
( )	nose. He wanted to raise $8,500 for a cancer charity. Stuart Kettell, 49, said he loves challenges and will try to do anything
( )	of a table-tennis ball. He said he wanted a larger one because it would not fall down a
( )	only for the patient but their family and friends too." He added: "People's cancer stories inspire me even
( )	for charity. His other challenges include walking 800 kilometers on stilts and sitting in a box for a
( )	the ground. He told reporters there was "a huge amount of pain" in his knees, wrists

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	crazy things to raise money . for charity People do many
2.	raise He cancer $8,500 wanted charity for to a .
3.	I have seen first hand the amazing work.
4.	more on stories even carry cancer me to People's inspire.
5.	get crazy challenges to more My going even are.
6.	mask face designed specially a wore He.
7.	off wouldn't his scrape face the skin He.
8.	his knees spent on and He days hands three.
9.	huge amount of pain He told reporters there was a.
10.	training He was his he because worked said happy.

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

People do many crazy/ crazily things to raise money for charity. The latest crazy stunt / stint came from an English man who decided to pushy / push a Brussels sprout up the highest mountain in Wales – with / within his nose. He wanted to raise $8,500 for a cancer charity. Stuart Kettell, 49, said he loves challenging / challenges and will try to do anything for charity. His other challenges include walking 800 kilometers on stilts and sat / sitting in a box for a week / weekly. He said: "I have seen first hand the amazing work [the charity] Macmillan Cancer Support does, not / none only for the patient but their family and friends too / well." He added: "People's cancer stories inspire me even more to carry on, and my challenges are going to get even most / more crazy."

It took Mr Kettell three days to push / pushy the Brussels sprout up the 1,085m-high Mount Snowden. He wore a specially designer / designed face mask so he wouldn't scourge / scrape the skin off his face. He practised for his charity mission by pushing a Brussels sprout abound / around his garden. He chose a large sprout for his Snowden challenge. It was about the size / amount of a table-tennis ball. He said he wanted a larger one because it would not fall down a creek / crack. He spent three days on his palms / hands and knees with his nose a centimeter or / for two above the ground. He told reporters there was "a huge amount of pain" in his knees, wrists and back / front. He said he was happy because his training worked, he reached the summit / sums, and he raised money for the charity.

Talk about the connection between each pair of words in italics, and why the correct word is correct.

INSERT THE VOWELS (a, e, i, o, u)

P__pl_ d_ m_ny cr_zy th_ngs t_ r__s_ m_n_y f_r ch_r_ty. Th_ l_t_st cr_zy st_nt c_m_ fr_m _n _ngl_sh m_n wh_ d_c_d_d t_ p_sh _ Br_ss_ls spr__t _p th_ h_gh_st m__nt__n _n W_l_s – w_th h_s n_s_. H_ w_nt_d t_ r__s_ $8,500 f_r _ c_nc_r ch_r_ty. St__rt K_tt_ll, 49, s__d h_ l_v_s ch_ll_ng_s _nd w_ll try t_ d_ _nyth_ng f_r ch_r_ty. H_s _th_r ch_ll_ng_s _ncl_d_ w_lk_ng 800 k_l_m_t_rs _n st_lts _nd s_tt_ng _n _ b_x f_r _ w__k. H_ s__d: "_ h_v_ s__n f_rst h_nd th_ _m_z_ng w_rk [th_ ch_r_ty] M_cm_ll_n C_nc_r S_pp_rt d__s, n_t _nly f_r th_ p_t__nt b_t th__r f_m_ly _nd fr__nds t__." H_ _dd_d: "P__pl_'s c_nc_r st_r__s _nsp_r_ m_ _v_n m_r_ t_ c_rry _n, _nd my ch_ll_ng_s _r_ g__ng t_ g_t _v_n m_r_ cr_zy."

_t t__k Mr K_tt_ll thr__ d_ys t_ p_sh th_ Br_ss_ls spr__t _p th_ 1,085m-h_gh M__nt Sn_wd_n. H_ w_r_ _ sp_c__lly d_s_gn_d f_c_ m_sk s_ h_ w__ldn't scr_p_ th_ sk_n _ff h_s f_c_. H_ pr_ct_s_d f_r h_s ch_r_ty m_ss__n by p_sh_ng _ Br_ss_ls spr__t _r__nd h_s g_rd_n. H_ ch_s_ _ l_rg_ spr__t f_r h_s Sn_wd_n ch_ll_ng_. _t w_s _b__t th_ s_z_ _f _ t_bl_-t_nn_s b_ll. H_ s__d h_ w_nt_d _ l_rg_r _n_ b_c__s_ _t w__ld n_t f_ll d_wn _ cr_ck. H_ sp_nt thr__ d_ys _n h_s h_nds _nd kn__s w_th h_s n_s_ _ c_nt_m_t_r _r tw_ _b_v_ th_ gr__nd. H_ t_ld r_p_rt_rs th_r_ w_s "_ h_g_ _m__nt _f p__n" _n h_s kn__s, wr_sts _nd b_ck. H_ s__d h_ w_s h_ppy b_c__s_ h_s tr__n_ng w_rk_d, h_ r__ch_d th_ s_mm_t, _nd h_ r__s_d m_n_y f_r th_ ch_r_ty.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

people do many crazy things to raise money for charity the latest crazy stunt came from an english man who decided to push a brussels sprout up the highest mountain in wales – with his nose he wanted to raise $8500 for a cancer charity stuart kettell 49 said he loves challenges and will try to do anything for charity his other challenges include walking 800 kilometers on stilts and sitting in a box for a week he said "i have seen first hand the amazing work [the charity] macmillan cancer support does not only for the patient but their family and friends too" he added "people's cancer stories inspire me even more to carry on and my challenges are going to get even more crazy"

it took mr kettell three days to push the brussels sprout up the 1085m-high mount snowden he wore a specially designed face mask so he wouldn't scrape the skin off his face he practised for his charity mission by pushing a brussels sprout around his garden he chose a large sprout for his snowden challenge it was about the size of a table-tennis ball he said he wanted a larger one because it would not fall down a crack he spent three days on his hands and knees with his nose a centimeter or two above the ground he told reporters there was "a huge amount of pain" in his knees wrists and back he said he was happy because his training worked he reached the summit and he raised money for the charity

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

Peopledomanycrazythingstoraisemoneyforcharity.Thelatestcraz
ystuntcamefromanEnglishmanwhodecidedtopushaBrusselsspro
utupthehighestmountaininWales–withhisnose.Hewantedto
raise$8,500foracancercharity.StuartKettell,49,saidheloveschall
engesandwilltrytodoanythingforcharity.Hisotherchallengesinclu
dewalking800kilometersonstiltsandsittinginaboxforaweek.Hesai
d:"Ihaveseenfirsthandtheamazingwork[thecharity]MacmillanCa
ncerSupportdoes,notonlyforthepatientbuttheirfamilyandfriendst
oo."Headded:"People'scancerstoriesinspiremeevenmoretocarry
on,andmychallengesaregoingtogetevenmorecrazy."IttookMrKet
tellthreedaystopushtheBrusselssproutupthe1,085m-highMou
ntSnowden.Heworeaspeciallydesignedfacemasksohewouldn'tsc
rapetheskinoffhisface.Hepractisedforhischaritymissionbypushin
gaBrusselssproutaroundhisgarden.HechosealargesproutforhisS
nowdenchallenge.Itwasaboutthesizeofatable-tennisball.He
saidhewantedalargeronebecauseitwouldnotfalldownacrack.Hes
pentthreedaysonhishandsandkneeswithhisnoseacentimeterortw
oabovetheground.Hetoldreporterstherewas"ahugeamountofpai
n"inhisknees,wristsandback.Hesaidhewashappybecausehistrain
ingworked,hereachedthesummit,andheraisedmoneyforthechari
ty.

FREE WRITING

Write about challenges for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

Charities for people are better than charities for animals. Discuss.

_____________________________________________________________________________

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

3. CHALLENGES: Make a poster about challenges. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. CHARITY: Write a magazine article about doing things for charity. Include imaginary interviews with people who do things for charity and with charity bosses.

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. WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? Write a newspaper article about the next stage in this news story. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

6. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on challenges. Ask him/her three questions about challenges. Give him/her three of your ideas on how to raise money for charity. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

A Few Additional Activities for Students

Ask your students what they have read, seen or heard about this news in their own language. Students are likely to / may have have encountered this news in their L1 and therefore bring a background knowledge to the classroom.

Get students to role play different characters from this news story.

Ask students to keep track of this news and revisit it to discuss in your next class.

Ask students to male predictions of how this news might develop in the next few days or weeks, and then revisit and discuss in a future class.

Ask students to write a follow-up story to this news.

Students role play a journalist and someone who witnessed or was a part of this news. Perhaps they could make a video of the interview.

Ask students to keep a news journal in English and add this story to their thoughts.

Also...

Buy my 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers eBook. It has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for:

News
Warm ups
Pre-reading / Post-reading
Using headlines
Working with words
While-reading / While-listening
Moving from text to speech
Post-reading / Post-listening
Discussions
Using opinions
Plans
Language
Using lists
Using quotes
Task-based activities
Role plays
Using the central characters in the article
Using themes from the news
Homework

Buy my book

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ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE (p.4)

a

F

b

T

c

T

d

F

e

T

f

T

g

F

h

F

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	crazy	a.	mad
2.	latest	b.	most recent
3.	raise	c.	collect
4.	first hand	d.	personally
5.	inspire	e.	motivate
6.	designed	f.	created
7.	practised	g.	trained
8.	chose	h.	selected
9.	huge	i.	enormous
10.	summit	j.	top

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Many crazy things
2.	$8,500
3.	500km
4.	Cancer stories
5.	They'll get crazier
6.	1,085m
7.	A face mask
8.	In his garden
9.	A huge amount of pain
10.	The summit

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

d

2.

b

3.

d

4.

c

5.

d

6.

c

7.

a

8.

c

9.

b

10.

a

ALL OTHER EXERCISES

Please check for yourself by looking at the Article on page 2.
(It's good for your English ;-)

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