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Britain says yes to 3-parent babies (5th February, 2015)

The Reading / Listening - Level 3

Lawmakers in the U.K. have voted to allow doctors to create babies from the DNA of three different people. It will be the first country in the world to do this. There was a vote in Britain's parliament, where 382 lawmakers voted for allowing three-person babies and 128 voted against the idea. The idea behind three-person babies is to stop diseases being passed from a mother to her newborn baby. Doctors say that as many as 150 babies a year could be born using the new technique. The first baby to be born using the DNA from three people could be as early as next year. The technique will help families with mitochondrial diseases. These are incurable and affect about one in 6,500 children worldwide.

The technique is quite simple. It combines the DNA of the two parents with the DNA of another woman. Doctors replace the unhealthy, disease-carrying DNA in the mother's egg with healthy DNA from the donor. The result is that the baby receives about 0.1 per cent of its DNA from the donor woman. Lawmakers said the technique was "light at the end of a dark tunnel" for many families. Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We're not playing God here. We're just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one." Critics say the technique could be dangerous. They say it would open the door to the genetic modification of children and "designer babies" in the future.

Try the same news story at these easier levels:

Level 0, Level 1 or Level 2

Sources

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31069173
http://www.scotsman.com/news/health/three-parent-babies-could-be-born-next-year-1-3678635
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/britain-votes-to-allow-world-s-first-3-parent-ivf-babies/

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. THREE-PARENT BABIES: Students walk around the class and talk to other students about three-parent babies. 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?

lawmakers / DNA / parliament / diseases / newborn / technique / incurable / worldwide / simple / unhealthy / mother's egg / donor / dark tunnel / parents / dangerous

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

3. BABIS: Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	What?	Why?
Best name
Best toy
Best clothes
Best song
Best age (in months)
Best look on face

4. DESIGNER BABIES: Students A strongly believe scientists should never start creating designer babies; Students B strongly believe they should. 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. BABY GIFT: Rank these with your partner. Put the best gifts at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• clothes

• rattle

• teddy bear

• iPad

• blanket

• Pampers

• spa voucher for Mum

• baby music

6. DNA: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "DNA". 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.	Doctors in the UK will soon create babies from the DNA of 3 people.	T / F
b.	Fewer than 100 lawmakers voted against 3-person babies.	T / F
c.	Doctors say 150 three-person babies could be born next year.	T / F
d.	The DNA technique could possibly help 6,500 children a year.	T / F
e.	The DNA technique is a very risky and difficult one.	T / F
f.	The baby gets about 1% of its DNA from a female donor.	T / F
g.	Mothers have to sit in a dark tunnel while DNA is replaced.	T / F
h.	Critics warn of the dangers of "designer babies".	T / F

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

1.	allow	a.	effect
2.	create	b.	prevent
3.	stop	c.	method
4.	passed	d.	hazardous
5.	incurable	e.	let
6.	technique	f.	transferred
7.	result	g.	certain
8.	sure	h.	make
9.	dangerous	i.	lead to
10.	open the door to	j.	untreatable

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

1.	create babies	a.	to her newborn baby
2.	128 voted	b.	modification
3.	passed from a mother	c.	from the DNA
4.	as early	d.	simple
5.	affect about one in 6,500	e.	a dark tunnel
6.	The technique is quite	f.	as next year
7.	DNA in the mother's	g.	babies
8.	light at the end of	h.	children worldwide
9.	genetic	i.	egg
10.	designer	j.	against the idea

GAP FILL

Lawmakers in the U.K. have (1) ____________ to allow doctors to create babies from the DNA of three different people. It will be the (2) ____________ country in the world to do this. There was a vote in Britain's parliament, where 382 lawmakers voted for (3) ____________ three-person babies and 128 voted against the (4) ____________. The idea behind three-person babies is to stop diseases being passed from a mother to her (5) ____________ baby. Doctors say that as many as 150 babies a year could be born using the new (6) ____________. The first baby to be born using the DNA from three people could be as early as next year. The technique will help families with mitochondrial (7) ____________. These are incurable and affect about one in 6,500 children (8) ____________.

technique
allowing
voted
idea
worldwide
first
newborn
diseases

The technique is quite (9) ____________. It combines the DNA of the two parents with the DNA of another woman. Doctors replace the (10) ____________, disease-carrying DNA in the mother's egg with healthy DNA from the donor. The (11) ____________ is that the baby receives about 0.1 per cent of its DNA from the donor woman. Lawmakers said the technique was "light at the end of a dark (12) ____________ " for many families. Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We're not playing God here. We're just making (13) ____________ that two parents who want a (14) ____________ baby can have one." Critics say the technique could be dangerous. They say it would open the (15) ____________ to the genetic modification of children and "designer babies" in the (16) ____________.

tunnel
healthy
result
future
simple
door
sure
unhealthy

LISTENING - Guess the answers. Listen to check.

1)	allow doctors to create babies from the DNA of ______
	a. three difference people b. three diffident people c. three differential people d. three different people
2)	It will be the first country in the ______
	a. world to doing this b. world to do this c. world to done this d. world to did this
3)	stop diseases being passed from a mother to ______
	a. her newly born baby b. her newer born baby c. her newborn baby d. her knew born baby
4)	The first baby to be born using the DNA from three people could be as ______
	a. early as this year b. early as next year c. early as last year d. early as one year
5)	These are incurable and affect about one in ______
	a. 6,500 children worldwide b. 6,600 children worldwide c. 6,700 children worldwide d. 6,800 children worldwide
6)	It combines the DNA of the two parents with the DNA ______
	a. for another woman b. from another woman c. by another woman d. of another woman
7)	Doctors replace the unhealthy, disease-carrying DNA ______
	a. in the mother's egg b. in the mothers' egg c. in the mothers egg d. in the mother is egg
8)	the baby receives about 0.1 per cent of its DNA from ______
	a. the donated woman b. the done woman c. the donor woman d. the donors woman
9)	We're just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby ______
	a. can be one b. can do one c. can take one d. can have one
10)	open the door to the genetic modification of children and "designer babies" ______
	a. on the future b. to the future c. in the future d. by the future

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Lawmakers in the U.K. have (1) ___________________ doctors to create babies from the DNA of three different people. It will be the first country in the (2) ___________________. There was a vote in Britain's parliament, where 382 lawmakers voted for allowing three-person babies and 128 voted against the idea. (3) ___________________ three-person babies is to stop diseases (4) ___________________ a mother to her newborn baby. Doctors say that as many as 150 babies a year could be born using the new technique. The first baby (5) ___________________ the DNA from three people could be as early as next year. The technique will help families with mitochondrial diseases. These are (6) ___________________ about one in 6,500 children worldwide.

The technique (7) ___________________. It combines the DNA of the two parents with the DNA of another woman. Doctors replace the unhealthy, disease-carrying DNA in the mother's (8) ___________________ DNA from the donor. The (9) ___________________ baby receives about 0.1 per cent of its DNA from the donor woman. Lawmakers said the technique was "light (10) ___________________ dark tunnel" for many families. Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We're not playing God here. We're just (11) ___________________ two parents who want a healthy baby can have one." Critics (12) ___________________ could be dangerous. They say it would (13) ___________________ the genetic modification of children and "designer babies" in the future.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1.	Who voted to allow three-person babies in the UK?
2.	How many countries in the world currently allow three-person babies?
3.	How many votes against the idea were there?
4.	When could the first three-person baby be born in the UK?
5.	How many children do mitochondrial diseases affect worldwide?
6.	Where do doctors put the healthy DNA from the female donor?
7.	How much of the donor's DNA does the baby get?
8.	What did lawmakers say was at the end of a tunnel?
9.	Who said they weren't "playing God"?
10.	What did critics say there could be in the future?

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ

1.	Who voted to allow three-person babies in the UK?	6.	Where do doctors put the healthy DNA from the female donor?
	a) lawmakers b) doctors c) babies d) parents		a) in water b) in a fridge c) in a test tube d) in the mother's egg
2.	How many countries in the world currently allow three-person babies?	7.	How much of the donor's DNA does the baby get?
	a) 5 b) 2 c) 0 d) 7		a) 0.0000001% b) 0.00001% c) 0.01% d) 0.001%
3.	How many votes against the idea were there?	8.	What did lawmakers say was at the end of a tunnel?
	a) 125 b) 126 c) 127 d) 128		a) a hospital b) light c) a door d) a baby
4.	When could the first three-person baby be born in the UK?	9.	Who said they weren't "playing God"?
	a) September b) next year c) August 11th d) 2020		a) lawmakers b) doctors c) Britain's leader d) a mother
5.	How many children do mitochondrial diseases affect worldwide?	10.	What did critics say there could be in the future?
	a) 6,500 b) 6,600 c) 6,700 d) 6,800		a) donor babies b) designer babies c) babies in shops d) disease-free babies

ROLE PLAY

Role A – Clothes

You think the best present for a baby is clothes. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their presents aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): a teddy bear, a blanket or baby music.

Role B – Teddy bear

You think a teddy bear is the best present for a baby. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their presents aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): clothes, a blanket or baby music.

Role C – Blanket

You think a blanket is the best present for a baby. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their presents aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): a teddy bear, clothes or baby music.

Role D – Baby music

You think baby music is the best present for a baby. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their presents aren't so good. Also, tell the others which is the worst of these (and why): a teddy bear, a blanket or clothes.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

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

parent

baby

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:

allow
first
passed
early
help
6,500

simple
replace
0.1
end
sure
designer

THREE-PARENT BABIES SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about three-parent babies 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.

THREE-PARENT BABIES DISCUSSION

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

1)	What did you think when you read the headline?
2)	What springs to mind when you hear the word 'baby'?
3)	What do you think about what you read?
4)	Do you think it is bad to create babies in this way?
5)	What do you know about DNA?
6)	Is this technique OK if it stops diseases?
7)	What are the dangers of this technique?
8)	Why did so many lawmakers vote for this idea?
9)	How would you vote, and why?
10)	What is the best thing about babies?

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

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

11)	Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12)	Do you think this technique should be allowed in all countries?
13)	How natural or unnatural is this technique?
14)	How might the baby change if it has the donor's DNA?
15)	Why is this "light at the end of the tunnel"?
16)	What do you think of genetic modification of humans?
17)	Are doctors "playing God" here?
18)	Would you like to choose what your baby looks like?
19)	What do you think of designer babies?
20)	What questions would you like to ask the researchers?

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

Lawmakers in the U.K. have voted to (1) ____ doctors to create babies from the DNA of three different people. It will be the first country in the world to (2) ____ this. There was a (3) ____ in Britain's parliament, where 382 lawmakers voted for allowing three-person babies and 128 voted against the idea. The idea behind three-person babies is to stop diseases (4) ____ passed from a mother to her newborn baby. Doctors say that as many as 150 babies a year could be born using the new technique. The first baby to be born (5) ____ the DNA from three people could be as early as next year. The technique will help families with mitochondrial diseases. These are (6) ____ and affect about one in 6,500 children worldwide.

The technique is (7) ____ simple. It combines the DNA of the two parents with the DNA of another woman. Doctors replace the unhealthy, disease-carrying DNA in the mother's (8) ____ with healthy DNA from the donor. The result is that the baby receives about 0.1 per cent of its DNA from the (9) ____ woman. Lawmakers said the technique was "light at the end of a dark tunnel" for many families. Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We're not (10) ____ God here. We're just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one." Critics say the technique could be dangerous. They say it would open the (11) ____ to the genetic modification of children and "(12) ____ babies" in the future.

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

1.	(a)	allowed	(b)	allowing	(c)	allow	(d)	allows
2.	(a)	do	(b)	be	(c)	give	(d)	let
3.	(a)	allow	(b)	vote	(c)	lottery	(d)	count
4.	(a)	was	(b)	be	(c)	been	(d)	being
5.	(a)	used	(b)	useful	(c)	using	(d)	uses
6.	(a)	cured	(b)	incurable	(c)	cures	(d)	incurability
7.	(a)	quite	(b)	quit	(c)	quiet	(d)	quilt
8.	(a)	baby	(b)	NDA	(c)	yolk	(d)	egg
9.	(a)	donates	(b)	donated	(c)	donor	(d)	donation
10.	(a)	paving	(b)	praying	(c)	paying	(d)	playing
11.	(a)	baby	(b)	door	(c)	doctors	(d)	fridge
12.	(a)	designer	(b)	brand	(c)	exclusive	(d)	expensive

SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	allow doctors to tracee babies
2.	stop esaisesd
3.	ronbenw baby
4.	using the new ihtqecneu
5.	These are eraulbicn
6.	6,500 children rdloewwid
Paragraph 2
7.	The ehqnituce is quite simple
8.	DNA from the onrdo
9.	light at the end of a dark enlnut
10.	parents who want a laeythh baby
11.	icntege modification
12.	nesigder babies

PUT THE TEXT BACK TOGETHER

Number these lines in the correct order.

( )	idea. The idea behind three-person babies is to stop diseases being passed from a mother to her newborn
( )	replace the unhealthy, disease-carrying DNA in the mother's egg with healthy DNA from the donor. The result
( )	different people. It will be the first country in the world to do this. There was a vote in Britain's
( )	be born using the DNA from three people could be as early as next year. The technique will help families
( )	baby. Doctors say that as many as 150 babies a year could be born using the new technique. The first baby to
( )	technique was "light at the end of a dark tunnel" for many families. Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said:
( )	with mitochondrial diseases. These are incurable and affect about one in 6,500 children worldwide.
( 1 )	Lawmakers in the U.K. have voted to allow doctors to create babies from the DNA of three
( )	The technique is quite simple. It combines the DNA of the two parents with the DNA of another woman. Doctors
( )	"We're not playing God here. We're just making sure that two parents who
( )	want a healthy baby can have one." Critics say the technique could be dangerous. They say it would
( )	open the door to the genetic modification of children and "designer babies" in the future.
( )	is that the baby receives about 0.1 per cent of its DNA from the donor woman. Lawmakers said the
( )	parliament, where 382 lawmakers voted for allowing three-person babies and 128 voted against the

PUT THE WORDS IN THE RIGHT ORDER

1.	in doctors voted UK the to Lawmakers allow have .
2.	country first the be will It do to world the in .
3.	mother a from passed being diseases Stop .
4.	as 150 babies a year could be born As many .
5.	6,500 in affect are children about incurable , one and These .
6.	parents two the of DNA the combines It DNA the with .
7.	disease DNA replace , carrying Doctors unhealthy - the .
8.	donor 0.1% The of baby its receives DNA about from the .
9.	many for tunnel dark a of end the at Light families .
10.	say Critics dangerous be could technique the .

CIRCLE THE CORRECT WORD (20 PAIRS)

Lawmakers in the U.K. have voted to allowance / allow doctors to create babies from the DNA of three different people. It will be the fast / first country in the world to do / be this. There was a vote in Britain's parliament, where 382 lawmakers voted for allowing / allowed three-person babies and 128 voted against the idea. The idea back / behind three-person babies is to stop diseases being passed / past from a mother to her newborn baby. Doctors say that as many / much as 150 babies a year could be born using the new technique. The first baby to be birth / born using the DNA from three people could be as beginning / early as next year. The technique will help families with mitochondrial diseases. These are incurable and affect / effect about one in 6,500 children worldwide.

The technique is quite / quiet simple. It combines the DNA of the two parents with the DNA of another / other woman. Doctors replace the unhealthy, disease-carrying DNA in the mother / mother's egg with healthy DNA from the donor / donate. The result is that the baby receives about 0.1 per cent of it's / its DNA from the donor woman. Lawmakers said the technique was "light at the end / bend of a dark tunnel" for many families. Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We're not praying / playing God here. We're just making sure / surely that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one." Critics / Critiques say the technique could be dangerous. They say it would open the door to the gene / genetic modification of children and "designer babies" in the future.

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)

L_wm_k_rs _n th_ _.K. h_v_ v_t_d t_ _ll_w d_ct_rs t_ cr__t_ b_b__s fr_m th_ DN_ _f thr__ d_ff_r_nt p__pl_. _t w_ll b_ th_ f_rst c__ntry _n th_ w_rld t_ d_ th_s. Th_r_ w_s _ v_t_ _n Br_t__n's p_rl__m_nt, wh_r_ 382 l_wm_k_rs v_t_d f_r _ll_w_ng thr__-p_rs_n b_b__s _nd 128 v_t_d _g__nst th_ _d__. Th_ _d__ b_h_nd thr__-p_rs_n b_b__s _s t_ st_p d_s__s_s b__ng p_ss_d fr_m _ m_th_r t_ h_r n_wb_rn b_by. D_ct_rs s_y th_t _s m_ny _s 150 b_b__s _ y__r c__ld b_ b_rn _s_ng th_ n_w t_chn_q__. Th_ f_rst b_by t_ b_ b_rn _s_ng th_ DN_ fr_m thr__ p__pl_ c__ld b_ _s __rly _s n_xt y__r. Th_ t_chn_q__ w_ll h_lp f_m_l__s w_th m_t_ch_ndr__l d_s__s_s. Th_s_ _r_ _nc_r_bl_ _nd _ff_ct _b__t _n_ _n 6,500 ch_ldr_n w_rldw_d_.

Th_ t_chn_q__ _s q__t_ s_mpl_. _t c_mb_n_s th_ DN_ _f th_ tw_ p_r_nts w_th th_ DN_ _f _n_th_r w_m_n. D_ct_rs r_pl_c_ th_ _nh__lthy, d_s__s_-c_rry_ng DN_ _n th_ m_th_r's _gg w_th h__lthy DN_ fr_m th_ d_n_r. Th_ r_s_lt _s th_t th_ b_by r_c__v_s _b__t 0.1 p_r c_nt _f _ts DN_ fr_m th_ d_n_r w_m_n. L_wm_k_rs s__d th_ t_chn_q__ w_s "l_ght _t th_ _nd _f _ d_rk t_nn_l" f_r m_ny f_m_l__s. Br_t__n's Pr_m_ M_n_st_r D_v_d C_m_r_n s__d: "W_'r_ n_t pl_y_ng G_d h_r_. W_'r_ j_st m_k_ng s_r_ th_t tw_ p_r_nts wh_ w_nt _ h__lthy b_by c_n h_v_ _n_." Cr_t_cs s_y th_ t_chn_q__ c__ld b_ d_ng_r__s. Th_y s_y _t w__ld _p_n th_ d__r t_ th_ g_n_t_c m_d_f_c_t__n _f ch_ldr_n _nd "d_s_gn_r b_b__s" _n th_ f_t_r_.

PUNCTUATE THE TEXT AND ADD CAPITALS

lawmakers in the uk have voted to allow doctors to create babies from the dna of three different people it will be the first country in the world to do this there was a vote in britain's parliament where 382 lawmakers voted for allowing three-person babies and 128 voted against the idea the idea behind three-person babies is to stop diseases being passed from a mother to her newborn baby doctors say that as many as 150 babies a year could be born using the new technique the first baby to be born using the dna from three people could be as early as next year the technique will help families with mitochondrial diseases these are incurable and affect about one in 6500 children worldwide

the technique is quite simple it combines the dna of the two parents with the dna of another woman doctors replace the unhealthy disease-carrying dna in the mother's egg with healthy dna from the donor the result is that the baby receives about 01 per cent of its dna from the donor woman lawmakers said the technique was "light at the end of a dark tunnel" for many families britain's prime minister david cameron said "we're not playing god here we're just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one" critics say the technique could be dangerous they say it would open the door to the genetic modification of children and "designer babies" in the future

PUT A SLASH ( / ) WHERE THE SPACES ARE

LawmakersintheU.K.havevotedtoallowdoctorstocreatebabiesfromt
heDNAofthreedifferentpeople.Itwillbethefirstcountryintheworldtod
othis.TherewasavoteinBritain'sparliament,where382lawmakersvot
edforallowingthree-personbabiesand128votedagainsttheidea.Thei
deabehindthree-personbabiesistostopdiseasesbeingpassedfromam
othertohernewbornbaby.Doctorssaythatasmanyas150babiesayear
couldbebornusingthenewtechnique.Thefirstbabytobebornusingthe
DNAfromthreepeoplecouldbeasearlyasnextyear.Thetechniquewillh
elpfamilieswithmitochondrialdiseases.Theseareincurableandaffecta
boutonein6,500childrenworldwide.Thetechniqueisquitesimple.Itco
mbinestheDNAofthetwoparentswiththeDNAofanotherwoman.Docto
rsreplacetheunhealthy,disease-carryingDNAinthemother'seggwit
hhealthyDNAfromthedonor.Theresultisthatthebabyreceivesabout0.
1percentofitsDNAfromthedonorwoman.Lawmakerssaidthetechniqu
ewas"lightattheendofadarktunnel"formanyfamilies.Britain'sPrimeM
inisterDavidCameronsaid:"We'renotplayingGodhere.We'rejustmaki
ngsurethattwoparentswhowantahealthybabycanhaveone."Criticssa
ythetechniquecouldbedangerous.Theysayitwouldopenthedoortothe
geneticmodificationofchildrenand"designerbabies"inthefuture.

FREE WRITING

Write about 3-parent babies for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC WRITING

We should never mix the DNA of three people to make a baby. 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 three-parent babies. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. THREE-PARENT BABIES: Make a poster about three-parent babies. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. DESIGNER BABIES: Write a magazine article about designer babies. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against this.

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 three-parent babies. Ask him/her three questions about three-parent babies. Give him/her three of your ideas. 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

T

b

F

c

T

d

T

e

F

f

F

g

F

h

T

SYNONYM MATCH (p.4)

1.	allow	a.	let
2	create	b.	make
3.	stop	c.	prevent
4.	passed	d.	transferred
5.	incurable	e.	untreatable
6.	technique	f.	method
7.	result	g.	effect
8.	sure	h.	certain
9.	dangerous	i.	hazardous
10.	open the door to	j.	lead to

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS (p.8)

1.	Lawmakers
2.	None
3.	128
4.	Next year
5.	6,500
6.	In the mother's egg
7.	0.01%
8.	Light
9.	Britain's leader David Cameron
10.	Designer babies

MULTIPLE CHOICE - QUIZ (p.9)

1.

a

2.

c

3.

d

4.

b

5.

a

6.

d

7.

c

8.

b

9.

c

10.

b

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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Britain says yes to 3-parent babies (5th February, 2015)

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